Okay, in the beginning I came here for Bae Soo Bin (Cheon Soo). I immensely enjoy his acting. But then I discovered Ji Jin Hee (King Suk Jon) who was just absolutely captivating. I’ve watched a ton of these historical dramas and I have to say the chemistry between the ML and FL in this series is off the charts. In their moments of happiness and levity your heart just soars….such joyful moments on the screen. Moments many of us wish we were experiencing in our own lives. What would it be like to have someone, your Beloved to be that Loyal….to be by your side thru terrible lows? To be willing to sacrifice everything they are for you? This is what Dong Yi is about. It is also about how respect for each other and choices they make that might not be where you want to go at all, but because you love them, you grant them that freedom of choice and support them in those choices.

This series is about Trust. Will you trust someone when everything points to the contrary? Will you believe in them just because they ask you to? How many of us can say that their family or friends would trust us even if their lives would be in danger to do so?

The Korean dramas always have a way of fostering compassion for even the most nefarious deeds that the characters commit. This series is no different. It is written in such a way that you can really understand why they do what they do. Sadness comes as we realize that this is a mirror reflection of our world right now also. People with tunnel vision making bad decisions.

This series is 60 episodes. It bogs down in the middle a bit. But persevere because it is worth slogging through repetitions of the same misfortunes….it does get better. Hang in there.

My only negative is that I cannot fathom why the director had three of the characters be so ridiculous. You know who they are when you watch this. It ruined those scenes entirely. What was the director thinking, to create such over the top clownish characters? Those scenes were really irritating.

I will rewatch at the minimum, the scenes between Dong Yi and The King. Bae Soo Bin did not disappoint….Perfect acting as usual. I also really enjoyed Jung Jin Young as Seo Yong Gi, the police commander; and Jung Sun as the Eunuch to the King.