The King: Eternal Monarch Drops in Episode 3 Ratings to Single Digits and Feels Like a Faded Facsimile of a Kim Eun Sook Drama

View Comments

• KGE cannot bring in ratings. Her acting in dramas is bad and she has no charisma and screen presence. She should stick to movies.

  • LMH playing Gu Jun-pyo 3.0 is worse lmao

    • He was great in BOF but GJP got depressed in Heirs and he is a bore in TKEM.

    • Exactly. Both leads are not giving good acting performances, not just KGE lmao. And why blame her for not bringing ratings when her co-star is supposedly the actor with the greatest star power according to his fans lol.

    • It's TRUE that the drama ratings have fallen due to the unlikeability of the plot the actors are doing fine I think the drama will improve as more episodes come .. so all the fans should take it slow on criticising the leads.it can be quite burdensome, there are always ups and downs

  • I blame writer KES more than the actors. I think the actors are doing fine but it is tiring seeing them both playing similar characters to previous dramas.
    The cast talents are being wasted.

    • Somewhat agree. The story is so repetitive. And... the actors failed to deliver the characters. Totally mess in every single aspect. Gotta quit watching it.

    • @yui
      It’s pretty horrid but I’m committed to watching unless it becomes a train wreck due to my bias for lee min ho. There’s holes on my ship already, wish me good luck LOL ?

    • I agree, the writing is terrible, and so as the directing.

      But the two leads LMH and KGE obviously have their faults. They kept choosing to play similar characters and playing safe (by choosing the star-writer KES' drana) and yet not improving in their acting.

    • @alexa
      I think you’re right. I hope they choose roles that challenges them more in the future. I want to see Lee Min Ho to follow Park Seo Joon career route.

    • Laura. I really cannot see LMH able to remove his shirt acting as a fighter like PSJ in FMY nor cut his hair very short like PSJ in IC nor cry like PSJ when thinking about his father in IC. LMH is now too look & image conscious, he must comb his hair perfectly, wear nice clothes and pick the same boring chaebol character. I would much prefer him picking a poor working class character as a comeback project but it is too late now. He is too type casted by KES unfortunately.

    • I super duper agree with koala. Sharp assessment, straight to the point.

      @laura
      I agree with you. The script is dull and long winded

    • @ Kelly
      I’m praying for a career resurrection haha I think he has potential, let’s wait and see his next project .

    • I think, it's time to KES to take a break even for one year. Viewers already have enough of her repetitive drama formula.

    • Absolutely correct..writer instead of giving good story is banking on leeminhos acting already same old scenes and iam sure he is more capable of .still love him so much.

  • i find KGE as a mediocre actress, i dont know, probably she is not just my cup of tea. i watched her in Goblin and cheese in the trap but i did nt really like her acting. i did not resonate with me at all.
    I stopped watching The king at Episode 2 because i just find it boring.

    • Hey I feel the same about her acting.

    • I like KGE in cheese in trap but she was overshadowed by gong yoo, lee dong Wook and yoo in na in goblin.

    • @Rei.... is there anyone overshadowing KGE in The King? Why is she still so bland?

    • KGE is good in her previous films but after Goblin, she have been accepting downgraded roles. Her being whiny highschool student desperate for BF and playing aegyo in Goblin is so cringeworthy.

  • I totally agree with you. I think they should have a better choice for the leading lady

  • I can't wait psycho but it's ok Kim Soo hyun ?? I don't care about Lee min ho her acting skills is not enough to give the good ratings on her own dramas. ? Like her last drama legend of the blue sea 1st episode already 20% ratings. Because of Jun ji hyun and not because of Lee mim ho??

  • excuse me, look at the rating of goblin geez

• A whole lot of nothing happened in episode 3. I’m incredibly sad that writer KES is wasting the cast talents esp my bae Lee Min Ho. Chemistry is like a myth or folklore for this drama, it’s like almost unattainable. I don’t get it.

  If things don’t turn around, writer kes winning streak is going to end. Even the mighty Rome empire collapse much less a mere human writer. It’s like she made this project as a career review of her entire work portfolio. She mixed together some of her old leading stars and added some imitated certain scenes and cliches from her past dramas and regurgitate this boring product. It’s pretty but it’s empty inside. I’m so disappointed. Maybe things will be better when kge alter universe character Luna comes out, her story sounds interesting in the articles.

  • Laura + 1,000,000

    With a messy script even for a good actor like Park Seo Joon, I think it would be An Upheaval task to save the entire show. So I am not gonna blame LMH

    • Rei. I am VERY SERIOUS here. Do u think PSJ will take a cheesy king role? Look at him in IC. DO NOT BRING PSJ into this drama discussion. I am serious!! PSJ is 100 x better in IC. Butt off! Gals, PSJ has worked very hard to get to his status now, with no nice clothes, no nice hairstyles!!! What’s with you all here trying to bring PSJ into this discussion. Leave him alone. Do not mention PSJ!! Get it?!!! And don’t give LMH any more excuses.

    • @ kelly and jenny

      I don’t think Rei is dragging or looking down on Park Seo Joon. He’s a phenomenal actor, great in every project! She’s just trying to say that no actor may it be PSJ or even the best actor in the world could save this drama. She even stated that he’s a good actor.

      Just miscommunication between friends haha

    • Laura. Thank you. I was over-reacting and I apologize. I don’t think comparing PSJ with LMH is fair to PSJ who has worked so hard to get to where he is now.

    • @ Kelly
      No sweat, and by the way I loved Park Seo Joon since A Witch Romance. He’s a winner.

      Keep it low key but there are days I pretend that he’s my boyfriend hahaha

    • PSJ is such a good kisser in Witch Romance. I totally sound like an oppa fan girl now.... I should rewatch Witch Romance again.

    • @kelly
      LOL I watched it thrice. It’s one of the few times where I wished I was older than him, a noona because of that show hahaha He sang one of the ost for that drama, his voice is heavenly. I almost had a heart attack when he walk into the party wearing a formal suit haha

  • Rei. I think you have crossed the boundary. If you are a fan of LMH, state it. Do not drag any other actors into this drama!

• Everything is wrong in this drama. From the directing, writing and down to acting. This is the second time after Heirs that a KES' drama did not meet buzz in ratings for the first three episodes. Not to mention that LMH starred in both dramas. Hoping The King will catch up soon. I guess KES has something to bring in our table. So, patience is thr key.

  • The heirs got the high rating after my love from another star ended. Bcuz i've watched those dramas at the same time and following per episode.

    But agree, this one is meh. Totally meh.

    • No you're wrong. The Heirs aired BEFORE MLFTS, it was literally on the same channel (SBS) in the same time slot (Wed-Fri).

      The Heirs was overshadowed by another drama - the underdog Secret Love.

    • Its secret love, thats my fav drama ever!

    • Just so y’all know, Heirs aired after Master’s Sun (in the same time slot), so it could’ve benefitted from that show’s ratings.

    • Ah i was wrong, sorry, thanks.

      But i saw in asianwiki that the heirs got higher rating than secret love. And i watched secret love too. Jisung oppa ???

      But the heirs was also very popular back then. But comparing to this one, i guess the heirs got more attention with the ending episode got 25% rating.

• Female lead was over acting all through episode 3. And she had a lot of screen time. It got so boring.

• Nothing surprising given the Japanese building controversy and poor acting skills.

• I won't write this off just yet because it is KES after all but epi 3 was extremely boring. Nothing happened and the acting was dull by everyone but the directing was worse. the lack of bgm in most of the scenes is ruining the mood of the drama.

• Good lord I want to like this drama so much but I can't. I agree that KGE is overacting and it's frustrating because I loved her in Cheese in the Trap and think she is capable of more, but she's not cutting it in this role. The two worlds don't seem to be well intertwined for a drama of this genre. Don't get me wrong, they don't have to be connected; but they need to have a link, and I'm not seeing it here. KGE and the entire police crime squad seem to belong to another drama from LMH's. There's absolutely no spark between the leads. Everything feels so forced. The writing and directing is all over the place. I hope things get better in the next few eps because I have never been in a star-studded drama that is so boring.

  Oh and before anyone chimes in to agree with me that the FM is miscast, that is NOT what I meant. I don't advocate blaming a boring project on the FM (why does the FM always have to take the blame?) The lack of chemistry comes from both actors and KGE has played a rough character quite nicely before (Coin Locker Girl) so I think the problem here lies in both the acting and directing departments.

  • I enjoyed the first episode but episode 2 & 3 reversed my good feelings. It’s definitely a misdirection, all shots were misfired. Everyone did play a role on how mediocre this project is becoming. Although I blame the writer more, I do admit now the actors do play a part, they should be able to transcend the horrid scripts given to them and make their characters at least somewhat like-able. Their characters are getting on my nerves with each episode. The editing is barely passable. It’s unbelievable since this drama is pre-produced, so they should have had plenty of time to edit perfectly.

    • Tell me about it! -__- That's the downside of pre-produced dramas I guess, since these fatal mistakes cannot be remedied when the show is running. Let's just hope the editting can do a better job in the next episodes, and not suck the very little liveliness left out of some assumedly romantic scenes.

  • Yeah the lack of chemistry did bug me a lot. And the actors can atleast work that out even if the plot is sloppy (which I believe not). The script so far is still holding my interest.
    I don't know if anyone has seen or not but the drama "My Princess" had a really crappy plot. But the characters played by KTH and SSH had such a great chemistry that people didn't give a damn about the plot. So I believe it is upto the actors to make their romance believable. Confessing your love without a proper reason and that too with a bland expression is not enough to convince the viewer of the budding romance .

    • I watched my princess, I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments. Chemistry depends on the actors not the scripts.

• Nah the only Lee Gun for me is Jang Hyuk in FTLY.

• flop

• All of the character in this drama are poorly written on top of that poor execution. Drama is bound to be doomed. Neither the character or the actors have charm to carry this drama.