Captivating The King

I very much enjoy watching period dramas from the Joseon times, they are quite exotic for a European in terms of clothes, duties and people's behavior. Be it France, Great Britain, Ottoman Türkiye, or Joseon.... the king's court is an unpleasant place. One thing remains the same across the world - plotting in the king's court to control as much as possible, as long as he didn't realize it and still making him think that he is ruling the country. Captivating The King is no different. 

What's happening in this court?

King Yi Sun adores his brother Grand Prince Yi In. The brothers care for each other very much and are loyal to each other, which does not please the court. When the prince is taken hostage by the Qing dynasty, the court does everything to make the king start to suspect his younger brother of treason and begins to hate him. Wandering aimlessly around the capital, Yi In encounters an unknown baduk player. He is completely fascinated by him, but the game is interrupted by the sudden death of the current king. Yi In is crowned and his behavior changes dramatically. Although the king is aware of the court census, he does not know that the best baduk player is Kang Hee-Soo (Shin Se-Kyung), the daughter of the current prime minister. Fate makes him become a spy and has a plan to take revenge on the king.

 

In terms of general content, we are dealing here classically with scheming in the king's court, inciting him, controlling his decisions and a greedy queen mother. But we also have something new here! A king who knows that anyone is plotting and acting one step ahead of them. Moreover, he confronts them and fights them openly. I like this break from the king who blindly believes in government and family but I'm not convinced by Jo Jung Suk portraying the king. He was rather odd, good but odd 😳

I have seen Jo Jung Suk only once before and he was just a secondary character in The King 2 Hearts but liked him pretty much there. Here... yeah... something was missing. As a king he was fine but as a lover, tragic. His zero chemistry with Shin Se-Kyung hurt 😑 there could have been hot scenes here that would keep ones glued to the seats and make want to watch subsequent episodes even more. Their romance scenes were flat and lackluster. There was no sense of their internal conflict in any scene throughout the series 😑 That was the clue of the drama no? I heard some time ago that Shin Se-Kyung has no chemistry with any male lead, because I like her characters I didn't want to see it ... but it so true. It seems tat Shin Se-Kyung only plays the characters but doesn't feel them. 

I admit that it was a different drama from my recent ones - Story of Park's Marriage Contract and Wrong Carriage Right Groom. It was dark, basically no funny moments so the lack of strong emotions was expected but the scenes between the leads should be different. They should have been filled with them. The leads should have their bubble and show their true feelings there, explode with emotions that are tearing them left and right, try to understand each other. In return we got the same... The scenes of the dying Lady Oh and the poisoned Court Lady were the most exciting of the entire series. I know Kang Hee-Soo was all about revange but COME ON! A bit of love never killed anyone 🙈

Moving on to the secondary characters. Ladies did a very good job. Lady Oh, Princess Jang Ryung, Court Lady Dong and Queen Park, they all belivable and real caracters. Although each of them came from different backgrounds and had different tasks, they had a strong backbone and background that allowed us to understand their actions 👍

For most of the series, I was wondering which side Kim Myung Ha would be on. His feelings towards the king and Hee Soo were mutually exclusive and I wouldn't blame him for "an attempt on a king". He had all rights too it. I very much liked this actor but totally cannot remember him from any other drama. Unlike the actors playing Yoo Hyun Bo and Kim Jong Bae, whom I saw many times. Yang Kyung Won created a fantastic character, but I found it strange to watch him as evil and scheming 😣

I would have to add something about the content... unfortunately the series didn't blow me away. I was hoping for something more with these actors. Captivating The King is a good series, it has a strong story and well-acted characters but it lacks that pull on the screen. There is no anchor. And like the earlier Story of Park's Marriage Contract and Wrong Carriage Right Groom, Captivating The King is no different - I could just pause, walk away from tv any moment and not think about the characters' actions for hours or days 😐 I didn't feel an urge to watch the next episodes. Only the last 3-4 parts attracted me to the screen, but that was the end. It won't make up for the whole thing 😕

Final sentence - I can't say that the drama is bad, although it may seem that way based on my complaints 😅 I liked the main couple separately, but together hell no. Leads... they lead in the show. When they are weak, the drama is weak. Therefore 6.75/10 is an absolute maximum.