Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung (2019)

I freely admit that I watched this Kdrama for Cha Eunwoo, first and foremost. I’m a fan, sue me. But it was also a very good drama. It started as a funny rom-com but soon it became so much more. It told the story of how Christianity first came to Korea, of vaccination and female emancipation… Very intriguing themes that you rarely see in historical Kdramas.

The relationship that I loved best was the romance between Prince Yi Rim and the female historian Goo Hae Ryung. He was 20, she was 26. He was romantic, she was realistic, even cynical. They both wanted to be free but where for her it meant being able to work and having a career, not just marrying and having kids, for him it meant literally getting out of the palace where he’s been held almost a prisoner his whole life long. It was so interesting!

And the second relationship that pushed all my buttons was the one between Prince Yi Rim and the Crown Prince, Yi Jin. Yi Jin was the closest family Yi Rim had. And for Yi Jin, his little brother was the only person in the whole world that he could really trust. He adored Yi Rim. I would go as far as saying that Yi Rim was the only person Yi Jin actually loved. And because of that, the twist with Yi Rim’s true identity hit Yi Jin so hard…

This is a really great drama that’s mainly about the meaning of family, how far you’re willing to go to protect your loved ones and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for your ambition. Both thumbs up from me!

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Rookie Historian really has it all: gorgeous costumes, sweeping romance, laugh-out-loud moments as well as cry-your-eyes-out ones, and - most importantly to me - complex female characters who actively engage with the plot and confront social issues that are just as relevant today as they were in the Late Joseon Era.

You may have your issues with Shin Sekyung, or you may have heard Cha Eunwoo is a bad actor, but neither of those things matter here. The former crafts the best performance of her career with a career so vibrant that it seems to have been designed for her, and the latter rises to the occasion and improves HIS craft as the story delves deeper into his character and explores his personal growth. I personally loved their chemistry and the pacing of their romance, and I find their resolution to be entirely fitting.

As for the rest of the cast? Top-notch acting and well-fleshed out characters all around. There are various arcs, both on the political and personal front, which bring a great deal of satisfaction without resorting to a bunch of extra beta ships that go nowhere. Park Kiwoong as the Crown Prince, Lee Jihoon as Officer Min, and the three other female historians played by Park Jihyun, Lee Yerim, and Jang Yubin are all noteworthy. The last group are especially great because we get to see a strong female friendship play out throughout the show, but Rim (Eunwoo) also gets his own set of friends who are equally adorable to watch.

There are times when the introduction of Catholicism can seem a bit heavy-handed, but overall the theme of a changing world and the impact of globalization is really well-executed and very unique compared to any saeguk (or even modern drama) I've seen. It's obvious the writer and her team did their research, and the story is engaging even if there are one or two over-indulgent episodes.

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