Total candy, but I thought its political fantasy was unexpectedly powerful: what if a rebel farmer and a sheltered but visionary prince had the same dream? Oddly enough the fact that the show isn't about this, and that it is indeed for the most part a romantic caper, kind of helped underline how optimistic and forward-looking the idea really was.

If there was a single reason I powered through this show, it was because of its uniformly excellent performances; I'm yet to see a drama with three better-looking men competing for attention than PBG, Kwak Dong-yeon and Jinyoung (with that fairytale dimple at the end of his mouth, like Mrs Darling's kiss!) -- all of whom turned out to be good actors too. How did that happen?

I'd mark this down more severely for setting up a really great character in Hong Sam-nom/Ra-on, and then hamstringing her so that the crown prince's character could shine. It's also upsetting that they didn't fully do justice to the second female lead, who deserves a full show of her own. But it's normal for candy to leave you feeling slightly guilty for eating it afterwards, and I'll chalk down the aftertaste of its gender politics to that.