High Profile Lee Young Ae Comeback Drama Saimdang Wraps Up Disappointing Run But Makes Money Overseas

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• I watched it all the way through but I can't quite pinpoint what I didn't like it about it. It was just kinda there. She's really quite good at playing historical figures. But I have little understanding of korean historical figures. I am thinking she needs to branch out into some newish characters, ones with a little edge to them maybe?

  I also think all the wait etc just dimmed interested in the drama. I think it also had kinda slow pacing in certain parts. Otherwise, there were some good parts. I didn't think it was dated looking show. I thought it was beautifully shot. But again, I have no desire to rewatch it. So I guess that says something.

  • Can I ask you for a spoiler? What's the scoop behind the love story in this one? I thought it was so odd to give someone who was historically known for virtue and fidelity a love interest who was not her husband.

    • SPOILERS!!! -

      Well, in the past section Saimdang and Yi Gyeom were childhood sweethearts, but alas, tragically parted and it was not to be. As adults they were friends and he was her artistic champion. In the present, THEY NEVER MEET. Honest to freaking god. He sees her from afar, they email about counterfeit art. AND NEVER MEET. The drama gods were not kind.

      The odd thing about this show was how badly it integrated the past and present sections. I think that if it has stuck with one or the other, it would have been more compelling. However, it had several other things wrong with it: Lee Young Ae can act circles around Song Seung Heon - he was badly outclassed; In the present portion Lee Young Ae struggled with some of the rather nonsensical situations - the portions in the club come to mind.

      On the upside, they looked beautiful together. I mean, seriously pretty. It was beautifully shot.

      It was terribly directed and edited and poorly constructed narratively. It had absolutely no flow and generally was ....stupid. I mean...just dumb.

      Honestly, the only reason I watched it was because I had it running in the background while I was doing something else.

      Give it a pass. It isn't worth the bandwidth.

• i commend it makers very much for their sound business acumen and their foresight in preselling the rights to soo many countries including china earlier and not being greedy and wait to see the drama hit big to capitalize on its success by asking for big money instead,this saves them.

  the opposite is what legend of the blue sea makers did with respect to china sales.at first they wanted 1 million dollars for each episode,the chinese asked for reduction but they refuse.soo sure that it will become a big hit like my love from stars,they waited for it to begin airing before selling china rights to capitalize on its success not knowing that thaad will reveal its ugly head by the time its start showing around the world.now they got nothing from china.

  soo sad that lee young ae couldnt achieve success in her comeback drama,i wish her luck in her next project.

• i commend it makers very much for their sound business acumen and their foresight in preselling the rights to soo many countries including china earlier and not being greedy and wait to see the drama hit big to capitalize on its success by asking for big money instead,this saves them.

  the opposite is what legend of the blue sea makers did with respect to china sales.at first they wanted 1 million dollars for each episode,the chinese asked for reduction but they refuse.soo sure that it will become a big hit like my love from stars,they waited for it to begin airing before selling china rights to capitalize on its success not knowing that thaad will reveal its ugly head by the time its start showing around the world.now they got nothing from china.

  soo sad that lee young ae couldnt achieve success in her comeback drama,i wish her luck in her next project.

• I stopped watching it early on and took a few weeks off before marathoning the rest. The break helped and I wished that they didn't chop it by two episodes because that really made a detrimental difference to the story.

• I thought the posters for this were beautiful, and this genre is right up my alley. However, I just cannot jump into a drama that is over 20 episodes without getting viewer feed back. I do not care about ratings at all in terms of my own personal viewing, but I do care about what people are saying who are committing hours of their life to the drama. As far as ratings go, one viewer commented that this drama might have done well 10 or so years ago but just seemed dated now. I had already decided to skip this one but thanks @momosan for confirming this was the right decision. I hope the actress has better luck next time and jumps into something quickly. I think she should pick a comedy or something totally different.

  • If you want to try a longer 30 episode drama, Rebel is much better. Which is a surprise because the leads are all new or not really that famous other than Lee Ha Nui, but it's really good. Even the childhood portions are great.

• There are two versions - domestic (SBS), which was edited into 28 episodes, and the original 30 episodes which was broadcast internationally. Narratively, the international is far superior, giving equal prominence to both timelines and the link between the two, unlike the SBS version, which suffers from a lopsided narrative, emphasising on the historical timeline, rushing through the modern timeline, and cutting out scenes that would have far better fleshed out the story. Regardless, the drama is captivating and performances strong, and there is a beauty in the parallelism between the two timelines and characters LYA portrays, making it relatable and memorable. LYA and SSH give us some of the most poignantly beautiful performances in the drama. It is truly a shame that so many of the disparaging reviews and comments have been based on the weaker SBS version. Certainly, for me at least, it is well worth the 30+28 hours x multiple versions of subs that I spent watching, and I truly miss the characters and universe now that it is over.

• There are two versions available - the SBS (domestic) with 28 eps, and original which is broadcast internationally with 30 eps. Narratively, the international is far stronger, giving equal emphasis to the two timelines and tying them together well, compared to the SBS which has a lopsided narrative emphasising on the historical, rushes through the modern timeline and removes scenes which would have far better fleshed out the story. Regardless, it is captivating and beautiful, and boasts strong performances, with LYA and SSH giving us some of the most poignant, devastating deliveries in the drama. The original version also gives us a beauty in parallelism between the two timelines, making LYA's characters relatable and believable. For me at least, it is well worth the 30 and 28 hours x multiple subs that I spent watching, and I definitely miss the universe and its characters very much, now that it is over.

• I always give a drama atleast 4 episodes if it's 16 episodes long before writing it off but I was struggling to get past even 3rd episode of this one. I honestly can't even recall clearly how that 3 episodes went by too.

  Maybe her next drama will be better. :/

• I watched the whole thing. It was beautifully shot and I actually enjoyed the slow pace. I think what was disappointing was the end of the love story. After you accept that their love has to remain platonic in the past, there is a strong wish that in the current timeline they have better luck. Justice was just not enough. They could have killed her modern spouse and open a door to new romance. Or not given her a husband and son.
  If you compare with Goblin, which was slow and had a beautiful melancholy tone, this one was more vibrant but lacked the payoff at the end.

• The Korean press unanimously criticized LYA's performance for being dated and lackluster, but actually commended SSH's.