Let’s get it out of the way, the ratings for episode 12 of The King: Eternal Monarch is 6.1% and 8.1%. This drama with the big name screenwriter, cast, and budget is an unequivocal flop domestically, which is the most important barometer of a drama’s success because it’s the ruler by which advertisers assess whether to buy ads and how much to pay. For analogy the Super Bowl isn’t measured by how well it airs overseas or on streaming, the biggest television event in the US remains measured by domestic ratings, period. With that said, everyone can go back and parse through the myriad reasons for the failure of TKEM, that needs to happen and from failure comes learning to be better. Single failures are nothing to be embarrassed about, who has’t failed before, it’s what one does from it that differentiates the long game winners from the losers.
With that said, episode 12 continued to suck majorly because half of the running time was devoted the quite possibly the dumbest romance Kim Eun Sook (queen of romance) has ever written. The only possible way to redeem the OTP is if they have fallen in love before (off screen) in an alternate time line in addition to the parallel universes so really their first meeting at the end of episode 1 was a “reunion” ergo we viewers need to accept the love developed properly we just didn’t get to see it. Aside from there is no foundation laid and the romantic moments are so cringey I can’t even. I want more reveals and didn’t get that many still. What a shame as there is only 4 more episodes left to explain it all.
Definitely didn’t expect the bombshell that the head court lady is originally from South Korea…….or that the damn prime minister somehow managed to get through to the other universe??!? Plus the scar thingies and how they only seem to affect some people and not others. This drama churns out twice as many problems as it does answers and expects to be patted on the back for it for some reason.
The OTP is just exhausting to me at this point. From her going from annoyance to true love mode in like three episodes to him announcing her as the future queen to the guards without any preambles or considerations. The bullet train doesn’t seem to be stopped anytime soon and I now fully expect her to be pregnant in the next few episodes if they really did bone in this one (and not just kiss lying down on a mattress -_—)
I agree!
The biggest question is WHY? I could care less if Lady Noh is from planet Mars at this moment. Why are they trying to make her relevant when there’s a circus number of characters they need to develop? They cray cray
I’m with you on this one lol! Cheers to a show that fans say you need to be ‘super intelligent’ to enjoy! ? Smh. Apparently if you find fault with this ‘masterpiece’, you’re too dumb to understand it. This drama is not rocket science. It’s just a failure in entertainment, smh.
From what i can see, scars appear only to those who have counterparts that are already dead. Lee Lim, Lee Gon, lim’s right hand man, the horse stable man and… prime minister???
@Watcher.
Great point. You could be right. It would explain why it’s on some, and not on others. I guess that little boy IS God in the drama, and what he said to Jung about restoring the balance, finally makes a lot of sense! So, we are to assume that old Court Lady’s doppelgängers is alive, somewhere since she doesn’t have it? But hasn’t Shin Jae’s counterpart been dead since he was little? And he’s never had the scar, either. I’m guessing the scar only shows up on people whose doppelgängers were murdered or died from unnatural causes before their time. Or even only on those whose doppelgängers were killed as a result (either directly or indirectly) of Lee Lim’s actions. Very interesting.
The prime minister koo’ doppleganger still alive in Republic of Korea but she has the scar too… My head has been non stop thinking about the scar… i think there’s another reason for the scar…
Maybe the PM’s doppelgänger is dead? At least at the time when the Prime Minister has the scar. It may be a part of the PM’s agreement to cross over to the parallel world. Timelines in this drama is unreliable at best, but it wouldn’t surprise me, if one day the doppelgänger’s dead body showed up and Jung Tae Eul was called in to investigate.
If i observations didnt failed me, those ppl who crossed over mostly lured by promise of a better life.
So my question is, why PM Koo crossed over whn she is at the top of her game in kingdom? U knw being the youngest female PM, powerful, beautiful,etc etc . In republic, her doppleangle is a nobody.
Hahahaha. Exactly. You know sometimes there is a need for a clue to show what they did. Like…flowing white curtains or…yea idk. Usually it is the holding of the hand.
Is anyone reminded of king2 hearts scene with seung gi and ha jiwon ?
I haven’t seen the TKEM SCENE but the pic reminded me of TK2H where hang ah was hurt and jeah comforts her
I think I saw someone mentioned that no one watches TV anymore nowadays and TV is outdated. Well, I am sure TWOTM with its explosive rating was showing in Saturn’s or parallel universe’s TV station.
let them delulus enjoy being delusional ?
Because TWOTM was not on Netflix so where else will the people watch? Hence , the ratings.
@Anj
Internationally, TWOTM was and still is available on VIU since the beginning, and don’t know about other countries, but here in Indonesia, one of our national channels have been airing it around 2 weeks before its last two episodes in South Korea.
So, won’t be surprised if there’s also a streaming deal made for the drama to air in South Korea other than with Netflix?
Hence why I don’t think the ratings were high because it’s not on Netflix, on the contrary, ratings were high because it’s popular, with or without the help of streaming sites (legal or illegal sites).
hey i mean who tf cares about korean tv ratings anymore? international fans love this series <3TKEM<3 who cares about korean viewers only us LMH die hard fans have the mental capacity to appreciate a complex story (that quite literally can be processed by anyone with less than half a brain). like cmon? surely the whole japan vs corea trope wasnt fanservice to spur feelings of patriotism among koreans. like cmon the war in 1950?? who will get that unless you are a korean or have studied korean history. I wonder if the die hard *intelligent* fans even caught on to what the court lady said at the end of episode 12 without heading to soompi forums for some kind of explaination because this drama requires a lot of *thinking*.
but still, am i the only one here who actually enjoyed the PM going to the ROK, the hurting scars and the court lady plot twist? at least something was happening LOL. honestly i think the latest 2 episodes are passable and interesting at times. i watched it while scrolling through my phone and just ignored most of the otp moments and it made the drama more tolerable.
I loved this drama. Not the traditional drama. Very complex and complicated. The scar/burns may have to do with killed doppelgängers. Per LMH’s character, something about rule broken and perhaps restoring balance?
Dude I agree ….i can’t wait for the next episodes. Too much suspense! The thing which pissing me off is the reviews that I am reading after every single episodes…like whyy
I think we can all agree that it did not meet expectations in SKorea in terms of tv/cable ratings, but I doubt this has much impact to the careers of the actors and actresses in the series. So I hope no one gets depressed or anything, especially hearing how stressful the SKorean entertainment industry is for the actors/actresses. It might slightly impact the careers of the screenwriter and PD though, but again, one miss is not a career-killer. Curious how this fares in Netflix streaming compared to the other series.
I agree with you I don’t think this will particularly deter any of the cast from getting roles from now on as they are all pretty talented and lee min ho and kim go eun are already A-listers so this is probably a blip on their resumes. i just feel bad for the rising stars as they probably assumed that a kim eun sook drama would have given them that boost but unfortunately and unexpectedly this was a massive flop. Still I don’t see this massively affecting any of their careers. Except for maybe lee min ho who would have to diversify th kind of roles he takes in the future since everyone is tired of seeing him play the same roles again
I wouldn’t say that’s totally a bad thing for Lee Min Ho,though. A good wake up call that it’s time to reimagine himself and his career. It’s time to grow.
I agree. Though the guy is good-looking and eve he needs to change his roles.I am sick of seeing him in the same role.
Agree. When many more rising actors/actresses getting attention nowadays who are also handsome and beautiful who also good at acting (like Han So Hee for female).
I get what you mean how the build up of romance wasn’t there it was just forced. Although I for one liked their kissing scene. I saw so many people who watches it went crazy about it. If from Ep 1 they were more substantial evidence of falling in love not just him finally meet his crush for 25 years this would have been a really good side of romance for the drama. I also wished the writer wrote the king character with more meat so LMH has more to work on and not overshadowed by the other characters. KGE characters were both tough so it is hard to have that soft romance going on when she’s a tough cop with a black belt and being weepy lovesick isn’t what she should be. They doppelgängers should have more use in early episodes, especially the prime minister instead of trying to be queen (while wearing that mask?) and that in itself was baseless too. I will watch til the end. I know it’s not a masterpiece but I like the cast and I’m entertained. I wish it could be better but I’m just going to enjoy it as it is.
the writer, KES is to be blamed for this bombing ratings of TKEM and no one else. Shes failing to make the story relatable and easily understood and appreciated by viewers (exluding the cast fans , of vourse) KES is like a smart, well known professor who fails to clearly explain to her students the subject matter. it is not that the students ARE DUMB
it’s just the professor is failing to do her/his job well. in short,
To those who love TKEM and are enjoying it, Congratulations,
But please atop saying that TKEM can only be appreciated and liked by smart person only. OH MY thats so cruel.
For all you know,a professor may prefer to watch TKEM than the Secret of Forest, and an ordinary Joe may prefer to watch Signal rather than My Love From the Stars. So,stop judging someone’s intelligence based on whether that person watched TKEM or not, unlessyou have a proper data orstats about IQ level and this drama
Episode 12 biggest downfall is giving the nauseating couple 3/4 of the screen-time. They did nothing to earn this.
I barely remember what happened this episode because I was trying hard not to upchuck my breakfast.
That ending was one of the worst cliff-hanger. I don’t care that lady noh is a korean. Can they just focus on the other stories? There’s only 4 episodes left for goodness sake
i really love koalas blog but TBH, im getting tired reading anything related to TKEM
theres nothing new to talk about. It’s a bad drama,Poorly written expensive drama, ratings are bombing, only the fans of the leads ( espcially Lee Min No nos
fans) are loving it, no chemistry between the leads, the Femaile lead is unpleasant to watch/to look at/ she is supppppeeeeeeer annoying
i just want this drama to end Excited For Backstreet Rookie/Comvenience store. The Female lead, Kim Go Eun, shoyld take acting lesons from Kim Yoo jung.
TKEM is hopeless.
it’s all hyped. Too much promotion and gimmicks.
No offense to Kim Yoo Jung fangirls, but Kim Yoo Jung’s acting in CwP was mediocre at best. She was exaggerating her cute acting too much, so she overacted.
She was better in darker roles like in Angry Mom instead.
I took a little peek at a scene where LMH was running to the physically-hurt KGE and she was waiting for him to hug her. That was so … eeekkk. I said this before, her countenance is in perpetual haughtiness and exhaustion. That is a big problem with me. I’m psychologically exhausted and depressed just watching her. Same thing happened when she was the lead of Goblin. I didn’t realize it before but it is so pronounced here. Plus LMH in love is… not feeling it.
They should have replaced the female lead at Ep 3, really. Especially if they’re focusing on the love story. Who does casting like that. It is so obvious on screen right at the bat that they are not visually, emotionally, physically and psychologically matching.
At this point for TKEM when it has failed to get a strong footing in, any buzz is good buzz, all good or bad criticisms included. Koala and people here are actually talking about it, which is probably better for this drama where opinions skew wildly than if it was to quietly finish airing and disappear without leaving any footprints. Many dramas wish they had this type of reception.
Also Koala is probably contributing to that international Netflix rating that fans love to toot so much, so telling frustrated viewers who have been voicing their criticisms to stop watching isn’t going to help TKEM.
Truth! All of these frustrated viewers, at the end of the day, are added revenue.
I agree with what you said on the lack of chemistry between the leads. Just saying KGE was better portraying her characterin Goblin compared to TKEM. I honestly felt like she was a bit lackluster. Most of the time she lacks expression in her eyes. No hate on her though but she really needs to study her character well in the future.
I enjoyed episode 11 and 12. It cannot be helped the story was poorly told in the first episodes so it is a bit messy. But I can’t deny that it is interesting esp these later episodes.Looking forward to next episodes.
you are right. The latest episodes have been quite great really. I am enjoying it a lot. I would say it’s a better drama than goblin story wise. But just my two cents of course lol.
But I think it’s a little too late at episode 11 & 12? Only 4 more episodes to answer all the questions that keeps on cropping up.They would have more time to put more depth to the storyline if they minimized the half-baked romance story from the beginning.
ep 11 should be ep 1, then we go to flashback about how it all unfold in 6 episode and episode 12 can be ep 7,
I think this drama need re-edit into 10-12 episode with better pacing so it actually become enjoyable
@hhhh I agree with this. If the sequence was done differently. I for one had to explain to my friend when she started the drama and by Ep 3 got confused with the timing etc. Although I’ll still finish till the end as I’ve invested 12 episodes already. It’s fine I don’t think it’s that amazing but its ok for me not the best one I’ve seen but certainly not one of the worst. As I would’ve dropped it by Ep 3 too if I didn’t find it interesting.
I think one of the entertainment value of this show is figuring out how the story should’ve been told. It’s like an exercise in creative writing. “Here are the things you shouldn’t do”.
I’m loving the show purely because in a time of crazy times, I get to laugh, or cry or even get giddy in moments that I like. I don’t think people who don’t understand or can related are dumb it’s just not their cup of tea. I understand the negative comments as we are entitled to our opinions. But I think it’s gone so far as we are not in charge of the production or wrote the story and as it’s preproduced I doubt we can change things so much with all the comments. . I think people should either just stop watching if they don’t like. I don’t understand the need to continue with negative comments and some are hurtful and below the belt. I think koalas is giving a fair criticism she doesn’t say things personally about them but the comments here do. It’s been heard, the ratings show it. But I personally like the show even if I am aware of what the drama lacks. It had a lot of potential and I’m not gonna blame them if I don’t like it I’ll just quit like I did with other dramas that even got higher ratings because they’re not my kind of drama. We all have our preferences, favourite actors/actresses or actors and actress we don’t like. I see differently because there are moments In the drama that I personally liked and wished were more highlighted. Maybe it’s just me as a person I don’t waste my precious time to go criticise dramas or actors I didn’t like. I’m sure they know and have heard. With all the suicide rates in SK entertainment I feel for them. I hope they won’t get so sad with this and instead grow from this and become better in their next drama and the writer i am gonna give her chances. Her dramas in the past made me smile and laugh and time and again I go rewatch them coz it brings me a tad bit of happiness and I remind myself this is all drama.Just a story I won’t take it personally .
Very well said… if it isn’t your cup of tea, might as leave in peace. Besides, in this chaotic world, it is STILL worthy to note that being able to sit down and watch something regardless of the ratings game, is already a blessing, instead of lying on the hospital bed fighting to stay alive. So enough for the negativities. Although, criticisms are good sometimes, but not to the extent that we hit them hard as if their lives are ours or as if they owe us theirs.
Peace everyone and just stop watching if you do not find anything good about TKEM.
Now that the rating pick up you didn’t used it as your headline topic, but in episode 11 you were like TKEM has drop in rating.God have Mercy on you
You cannot compare the rating of Friday and Saturday. On Friday, the viewership ratings are always lower than Saturday. You also do not compare ice cream sales in the winter versus the summer.
If you really want me to be mean, then I can tell you the following: the episode for the first episode dropped in comparison to last week Saturday. So the ratings are worse. It recovered in the second episode vis-a-vis last week. But at 8.1%, it is still low. In comparison, even the special episode of TWOTM aired yesterday did better than TKEM. In absolute terms, it did slightly better and would have achieved a rating of 8.5% if aired on public channel.
This.
And they say only people who have the brains are able to enjoy TKEM. Yet they failed to understand the differences in ratings and that you have to compare the ratings weekly and to other shows.
The ratings for 12 are exactly the same for episode 8 and then episode 9 dropped to 5.something. Let’s hope episode 13 continues to rise and not drop like episode 9 did.
@Nippon
Hopefully. But, I am a tad skeptical if you see the average movements for Fri-Sat episodes since the beginning. Minor spikes here and there but nothing worthwhile to point out its gaining more viewers. With 4 episodes to go, and barring any drastic storyline decisions by the team, I think it’s going steady in the 6-9% level.
Friday ratings are usually lower because Three Meals a Day airs at same time. Isn’t Lee Kwang Soo guesting next week? TKEM could easily dip into 4% territory.
It picked up but it didn’t exactly hit 10 and above.
All the fans of TKEM are always playing the high-IQ card, but whenever I read their posts I find it interesting that their texts have bad grammar and spelling and are incoherent. Normally, you can guess someone’s intelligence based on the structure of their sentences. Not that I am hating, I am just stating my observations.
I also do not want to belittle Kim Eun Sook, but she majored in creative writing. I have a hard time believing that she can produce intelligent masterpieces. You need to be critical and have a good understanding of logic to write a deep and layered stories. You do not need to study the hard sciences per say, but a study such as philosophy, political sciences, economics or even psychology (as it allows you to understand how humans interact) can suffice. Literature or theology are also options, as you try to deconstruct the writings of other people academically. All the best fantasy writers have a strong focus on logic: JRR Tolkien, Lewis Carroll and CS Lewis. Even Christopher Nolan (to whom I see many TKEM fans compare KES to) studied English Literature at UCL.
KES uses a creative approach in writing The King, but I strongly believe that you need to have a conclusion in mind or a system if you want a good story about time travel, parallel worlds etc. She is trying to solve a puzzle without having a system in mind. My two cents though.
I admire her creativity, SKorea should be grateful for having her, I’m so glad she is a lady.
Yes, she can be entertaining, but spare me the nonsense that she is writing a story that requires intelligence at another level. The rambling about 0 and 1 is funny. Why can’t you be 0 and 1 at the same time? Quantum computing allows for it… Does not really matter, but this is typically a case of “stick to what you know” or at least consult some knowledgable people
I don’t think you’re hating but also you need to consider that maybe English isn’t their first language? A lot tkem fans or actors fans come different parts of the globe hence their English isn’t as eloquent or their sentences are written well especially when the structure is different with the English language. English is my first language but I still make mistakes, plenty even perhaps with this post I’m making ?. Although I don’t agree with them using the High Iq card since the drama itself has flaws that even people with the highest Iq can’t comprehend. But I agree with what you said about her trying to solve a problem without having a system in mind because that becomes a serious problem when delivering a story. I’m going to finish watching the show till the end. With 4 episodes left I can only see if it was what worth to have stayed till the end or not. But then that’s just my problem not anyone else’s.
I understand that English is not their first language. It is also not mine. Hence, I specifically pointed out that coherence is also a problem. A lot of the fans talk like kids. Check for example Ledum’s message above you. I do not understand how “I admire her creativity” connects with “I am so glad she is a lady”. I also do not understand how “SKorea should be grateful for having her” has to do with everything. That is what I call lack of coherence and that has nothing to do with mastery of the language, but with structuring your thoughts (i.e. logic)
On the other hand, the haters – although most of them are trolling – are often coherent in what they are saying. I guess it is also easier to justify their thoughts, because there is factual proof in the form of low viewership ratings. It is just more difficult to convince someone if you have no actual factual evidence to back you up. I am pretty sure that if The King was doing well, the haters would have been the ones spew inconsistent verbal garbage to defend their case because of the aforementioned reason
@NegativeNancy With your defense, sounds like the IQ card is reasonble afterall. lol
Please explain, as I do not understand what you are referring to. If you are insinuating that I am saying that you need to be stupid and lack logic to like TKEM, then you are sort of right.
If you claim that what I wrote, shows that I am stupid, then sure… whatever you feel.
Anyways, explain what you mean with “sounds like the IQ card is reasonable afterall”, because I was not able to decipher what you meant.
Funny that they playing high IQ card…when they became fans of LMH due to his cringey dramas like The Heirs, Boys Over Flowers and Legend of the Blue Sea LMAO.
I only watched WDH and WDH doppleganger’s scenes.
Random, but why are they always dressing KGE like a middle aged soccer mom? With the mom jeans and sweatpants?
It’s like they’re trying to make her look as plain and frumpy as possible. I know she’s a cop, but women cops can still look cool (like Kim Hye Soo in Signal)
I feel the same they should have made her look like a cool and sassy cop instead of focusing on her pressing on that balm ? it would have been more effective since I prolly would check out where she got her outfit. Make her look more feminine and fashionable as her other character is already badass to show a bit of stronger contrast. I’ve done the same with other dramas where I really liked that outfit and searched for it online. ? oh my goodness I must be so bored today I have plenty of time to reply to comments. Anyway have good Sunday everyone.
I am not trying to defend the drama but some comments are just exaggerated.
You encounter questions like, Why KGE character is always on jeans or sweat pants? Goodness gracious, she is a crime police officer or a detective, an athletic and a taekwando blackbelt. With that description, who on earth would wear sassy clothing in real life.
Am I the only person who likes her clothes? ???
@Jushi
I like her wardrobe. Wardrobe is one of the few departments that are not lacking in this drama, LOL.
KGE wardrobe is just right for the character.
The Prime Minister is a bit over-the-top but if you look at her character in more details, she is a gold digger. She came from a humble beginning, married a rich crooked businessman to get where she is, so maybe it’s reasoble to dress like that. But really?
Please work on your reading comprehension. I specifically gave an example of a female cop who still looks cool and fashionable.
@adsf
Maybe you should expand your knowledge before picking on my reading comprehension.
You have to understand there are different types of cops and different police agencies. Each agency or department what their own culture, dress code is included. Have you actually watched the drama and see how the detectives dressed up.
Geez some people pretend to be intelligent. ?
Now you’re an expert in police agencies lmao. Or just a thirsty LMH fangirl trying to defend his drama at all costs.
Pretty sure there is no police department in the world that requires employees to wear sweatpants, but nice try pretending to be intelligent.
Koala – I am so glad you are reporting on this so I do not have to watch it!
There is noting as depressing as watching wasted potential and a dud OTP.
Our Hand Towel Oppa is coming back to us in a week, maybe his Hand Towelness will revive me from my depression caused by The King: Eternal Massive Waste of Potential
Someone is definitely very obsessed with this drama and the give away hint is the quoting of the fans and visiting all places of the dramas fans hangouts etc etc.
90% of the comments is irregular and from the same person probably from the writer herself example names like Laura, Mel, Catherine and many more user are indeed the same person using multiple name changing.
They can’t even gather together 50 dislikes on the social media platforms such as Youtube swoon channel but here it’s the person going berserker rage even visiting all places the fans of the drama hangout. Why keep mentioning them on the comments section?
The writer wrote the article then proceeded to expression her rage thru many user name specifically mentioning the fans. this is kindergarten stuff going on here lmao. Bizarre to be honest
Sure, if that’s what you want to believe.
It’s a simple fact. The posting pattern is similar in many users as I can detect and on top of that they tend to spew alot of revisionism and most of the posts are revisionistic in nature in hope of wanting to start somewhat of back and forth debate. So the blog takes off in discussions. You don’t need to be math genius to see thru this
Yep. We are all one and the same. We’re a bizarre bunch of people playing mind games with ourselves. Wooohhh! ???
@Yalla
Sure, Jan.
Keep spamming your own comment sections koala
@Yalla
Go on finish writing your revisionism essay homework. Perhaps if you research more you’d actually know the meaning of revisionism. Spouting off about a Leninist term and wrongly implementing it in a discussion about a freakin’ KES drama.
Revisionist is someone who wants to re-do history and revise history trying to change the segments of events or to put it short trying to rewrite history. Keep spamming your comment section with newly created users good luck
@Yalla
Now, now, only relying on Wikipedia? Pfft, thought you did your research with how many times you used that term in almost all of your posts? You’re not even using that term correctly to explain away your accusations about us who are criticizing the drama. So, pray tell, how are we a “revisionist” about a KES drama?
If that’s the meaning of revisionist, “changing history or distorting history”, I’d KES is the revisionist. If people her have actually watched the drama, she was trying inject some form of propaganda.
She probably paid by the ‘Red’ at the exchange of selling the drama.
I personally don’t want to entertain this discussion but What I said was that the comments are revisionistic in nature! now let me enlighten on how. The comments were either dropped by infants or someone high on revision who is looking for discussion.
You would see something like this often. Here it goes
”The Lead can’t carry a drama”
”They could have cast better cast”
”LMH can never carry a drama”
”KGE can never carry a drama”
”KES can’t write to safe her own life”
”Gong Yoo carried Goblin and he can carry all dramas only him”
”LMH has always been a flop”
”This writer and LMH has the worst track record ever”
All these comments are infantile in nature or revisionism I tend to lean on the last one meanning the person behind them wants discussion but it’s so low that how can anyone even reply even to this infantile thing.
Answer do you know who the lead are first of all? Have you seen all the other major hits they have under their belt. Someone with conscious would have not said that unless they have been living under a rock or simply just looking for debate like the blogger here. Do you know the track record of LMH and KES? someone couldn’t possible miss out on that unless they are new to this or just simply trying or looking for discussion they are Kdrama itself period these two with best track there ever is. Gong Yoo all tho a good actor is not such a big name in Kdrama nor has such track to carry dramas his small in comparison and has small body of work in kdramaland. KGE can’t carry a drama? KGE can’t carry a drama? all she do is hits of recent memory.
In reality it’s just a bunch of revisionism spewed in order to start nonsensical debate and I ain’t got time for that nor the strength to addresse infantile reasoning
@Yalla You probably don’t understand what I meant about KES being a revisionalist as per your definition of the world.
Btw, why are stressing out fighting against people opinion? Did you just say that Gong Yoo is not a big name in kdrama? Seriously?
I know what’s the problem is, you also try to put other actors down to emphasize that LMH is much bigger than any other actors. Because he isn’t. He is just as big as his last project and that has short expiry dates.
@Yalla. It’s interesting that you’re attributing those hate comments to people who didn’t even say it. Or that you’ve reduced lengthy, well-explained opinions to one-liners that you’ve failed to capture what the comments were about in the first place. I suggest you read with an open-mind then engage. Also, don’t take every criticism made on the show as a direct attack on you or the actors you like. I wouldn’t say that everyone here are expressing their opinions nicely. But don’t conflate every single negative comment as hate speech. That’s disingenuous.
Whatever rocks your boat. Poor thing, Wikipedia isn’t exactly a source known for resource. One of the clear signs that the over-fanatic-drama fans has sunk so low that they only look up to YouTube Swoon and Wikipedia(which are not credible sources), while disregarding trusted market research company Nielsen and SBS itself.
Yalla, if what you believe makes you happy, go for it.
My goodness, this is a whole new level of self-delusion.
Yeah, keep on believing your ‘fact’ when you cannot prove it yourself.
Hi Yalla. Are you on LSD? Gong Yoo is one of the biggest and most popular actors in Korea. Why do you think that Dong Baek in When The Camellia Blooms said that Gong Yoo was her ideal guy? Because he is the definition of a superstar. Korea sees him in the same light as Hyun Bin and Jo In Sung. Lee Min Ho is definitely a level below him.
Kim Go Eun has never carried a drama herself. She has only been in three of them. Cheese In The Trap was carried by Park Hae Jin and Seo Kang Joon. The overseas popularity of Cheese In The Trap was fully attributable to Park Hae Jin’s popularity in China. In fact, she was so unpopular that they refused to cast her for the Cheese In The Trap movie. Goblin was her second drama and that was made popular by Gong Yoo. Whenever you mention Goblin, everyone is associating it with Gong Yoo. The third drama of Kim Go Eun… Well you know it better than I do… 5% viewership rating on SBS… Geez… Yalla, you are a bit “dalla” (FYI, that is the Korean word for “different”)…
Oh about Yeah No. Another certified koala duplicate post because people have left debate resorting to even more revisionism.
@RobertMyers
Hi, Yalla! Hope you’re good with your revisionism essay homework!
Now, that you start Communism 101 might be a good idea to start with Marxist and Socialism first before you tackle Leninist. Fighting!
Mel – Koala
Hahahaha. Okay Okay. Time to exit chat. I my gosh you are relentless
We could say the same about you. How do we know YOU haven’t responded to these posts under different usernames? Perhaps all posts similar in tone to yours were written by YOU?
This is glorious, mountain peaks level of delusions.
I can’t stop laughing. You have one of the most hilarious theories of all time HAHAHA
@Kkoala, this user is suggesting I’m one of your alias HAHA
—sorry to break it to you buddy, I’ve been on this site way before this travesty aired.
Maybe you should utilize your vent-up frustration and shout at the production and writer team at the top of your lungs for giving us this easy-bake oven garbage lol
This is glorious, mountain peaks level of delusions.
I can’t stop laughing. You have one of the most hilarious theories of all time HAHAHA
@Kkoala, this user is suggesting I’m one of your alias HAHA
—sorry to break it to you buddy, I’ve been on this site before this travesty aired.
Maybe you should utilize your vent-up frustration and shout at the production and writer team at the top of your lungs for giving us this easy-bake oven nonsense lol
@Laura
That’s why I troll him/her.
Accusing us as koala when we’re not. Spouting off communism term (revisionism) irresponsibly and wrongly and using it for a discussion about a Freakin’ KES drama is just laughable for me 😀
I am enjoying TKEM – watching it earnestly and liking the interesting story line. In my opinion, a major reason why this drama is not as enthralling overall is the miscasting of the female lead to act opposite LMH in the titular role of the King. Here, KGE does not have the screen presence, aura and the right style for the role and in this sort of drama. This role requires a taller actress, pretty and alluring enough to make it believable that the male lead quickly fall head over heels in love with her, and sharper styling to match the rest of the cast and the grandeur of most of the scenes. KGE is probably very good in other dramas but too insipid looking in the love story aspect of TKEM (right from the beginning). I truly think that if a different actress has been cast as the female lead instead, the whole feel of this drama would be very different. (The likes of Kwon Na-ra, Nana, Lee Sung Kyung, just for example.)
I beg to disagree. The story, and the storytelling itself has major issues that even if you had a better cast than you already have it would still fail because there are just too many loopholes in the plot the pacing and directing was not the best I’ve seen considering it has a huge budget. And I’m sorry to disagree that one has to be so pretty for us to believe he’s in love with her. There are so many successful dramas with leads with than perfect looks and it worked and same with dramas with good looking cast and it didn’t work to their advantage.There was just lacking with the building up of the romance as the Koala has pointed out in the blog. But as I said I’ll watch it till the end, not the best drama I’ve seen, but like you I enjoy it for entertainment purposes. ?
Funny that you diss KGE on her screen presence, aura and style and then manage to name Kwon Nara as a potential replacement. Kwon Nara is the epitome of deadpan acting. She always has the deer-in-the-headlight look and her mouth is always half open. She is one of these actresses that is casted in the right shows (IC, My Ahjussi and Dr Prisoner), but she is never the one that shines in the show. In IC, she was outshone by Kim Da Mi, Park Seo Joon, Yoo Jae Myung and Ahn Bo Hyun. Ahn Bo Hyun was not even a main character… In My Ahjussi, she played a side-role, so she was not overly present. In Dr Prisoner, she was outshone by the full male cast, whilst she was the only female lead. This can only happen if you have zero aura. Acting presence is something like Shim Eun Woo and Lee Hak Joo in TWOTM. Both were side-characters, but still left an impact.
To be fair to you though, I must admit that there are not really a lot of young actresses that have the height and the aura. Han Hyo Joo is the only “young” actress I can think of.
In general, we are in a lost generation with subpar idol actresses. Luckily, we are seeing some improvement recently with Han So Hee, Shim Eun Woo, Lee Hak Joo, Ahn Bo Hyun and Kim Da Mi. I am also happy that there are more actors entering the kdrama-world from Chungmuro and lately also theatre/musicals. These people have at least clear diction and non-weird expressive acting. Now we only need to find one that also have a bit of height to replace Choi Jin Woo, Bae Doona, Han Hyo Joo and Jun Ji Hyun.
Right from the start I told my wife that this drama is disappointing and probably I will just fast forward to those scenes that I want yo watch. I find it a complete waste of talent put into scripts that failed to deliver the entertainment of the audience. I did not complete watching ep 1 and so is the rest of the episodes. It’s either skip or fast forward. Ep 11 was the worst among the rest. Ep 12 has not loaded at Netflix yet but I don’t forsee it to be exciting too. Actors and actresses are excellent but the storyline has brought them to dust. Sad.
Someone said that writer is spamming the comments herself well ofcourse seems they just realized it now and in other news water is wet
This. everybody kinda knows it lowkey
?
It’s best she converse with herself in entirety confined in here
@Jonas/NRT/RobertMyers
Hi, Yalla! ?
How is your revisionism homework coming along? Do you need more reference books? I got plenty ?
you seem to be talking about yourself lmao
lee sung kyung, and kwon Nara to replace Kim Go Eun? are you kidding? yes.
kwon Nara- her acting so stiff and only her eyes and lips are moving? i mean too much neutotoxin, as in Botox?
Lee sung kyung is one of the worst actress or probably the worst. shes Chae soo bin, thr born again actress level. Have you watched Lee sung kyung in cheese in the trap? and in that super flop TVN drama about time?
why did you bring chae soo bin here smh. just put your argument without dragging down anyone else. her acting is not the problem in apoym and she was getting praised for her last year theatre performance.
Why people are stressing about rating? Why some are engrossed at unreasonbly bashing the drama? Most of the negative comments are mostly written for the sake of hating. If you can’t comment constructively and just comment negatively due to your personal choice, why waste your time?
Why some people are bashing KGE? She’s actually doing a fantastic job.
While I have issues with the first part of the series, The second half is actually good. Ep 11& 12 are actually engaging and hope it will get even better in the succeeding episodes.
@mistyeyes I also like KGE’s acting in this drama. I have the problem with the writing of the and the pacing of the drama and how some of the characters were written. I also don’t care about the ratings and I’m sure the actors will survive after this drama as worst scandals happened to other actors and they were able to bounce back and this rating problem happens to every actor at some point of their careers. Also, there will always be people who have a different opinion than yours or mine, or preference of drama or favourite actors. For some who passionately hate the actors and have time to comment negative things that’s their issue. For those who defend their fave actors/ actress/ screenwriters/ dramas that deserve the criticism for them to grow then that’s their choice too. I do wish there will be less below the belt comments that are unnecessary. Constructive criticisms are important for everyone in this industry to be better in their craft. I wish they take this in a positive light and become better but also to realise they can’t be loved by everyone. I am hoping that the last few episodes will be good with an epic ending to prove the critics wrong or at least to make my sticking til the end worth it. ?
I was all excited for this. The idea of a Korean monarchy as a parallel world? I was hooked!
But despite the arguments about TV vs. ratings, audience intelligence, etc, we all have to admit that the storytelling could have been tighter. At this point, I am just confused on what the real issue is about that split bamboo stick. Then the show says it will stop time? Now where did that come from?
Writer-nim, I would have liked to explore the idea of a present day korean monarchy and its problems. I wish you built a more compelling reason to unite said darn bamboo stick.
And yes, I will still call it a darn bamboo stick, even if I am not entirely sure if it is made of bamboo.
What do you mean issue with the Bamboo stick? Was it shown already if it was a stick? It was hidden in Lee Gun stick or wand and Lee Rim at with his umbrealla.
As of now there are known two gateways to the other world. One key is with Lee Gun and the other is with Lee Rim. It was explained why Lee Rim can leave his in the monarchy world and why Lee Gon has to carry his key when he crosses to the other side, all this is just based on Lee Gun’s theory. At this stage, whether the gate will totally shut is just Lee Gun theory that he’s trying to find answer or proof. It’s only on ep 12, so there are still more things to unfold.
If we viewers expect to know all the answers from the start, why would they have to run the drama for 16 episodes.
@moonqueen The last paragragh is not intended specifically for you. I said that in general.
“It’s only on ep 12, so there are still more things to unfold.”
With 4 episodes left and with the kind of storytelling and editing they’re doing now? Hoping to God you’re right and that they have enough time to unfold all of those in just two weeks.
@Misty Eyes
Are you sleeping or what? It is already at episode 12/16. It should already address the issue of editing and storytelling. Something should be done at earlier episodes. You definitely need to take a class in how-to-produce-a-TV drama.
Yah right Einstein
Ohh pls, don’t tell me you didn’t enjoyed that neck kiss? That was sooo sexy.. I got interested there, and I love Woo Doo he’s great…
My two cents worth: after reading all the comments negative or positive I noticed that no one cites the kind of directing on the series. I think part and most definitely important to is the directing. The story might be poorly written but as a director he has the capacity to do the storytelling for it to be interesting too. As well as the acting of the actors. A good director can motivate and awaken emotions on the actors. Though LMH is not bad he can still deliver much more as well as KGE if the director is doing his job DIReCTINg the course properly.
@Stay@homemom
I agree with you. If you read the other articles on TKEM in Koala’s blog. I commented multiple times that the main problem with this drama is the editing and directing. This is even more of a problem than the acting. I just didn’t want to sound like a broken record mentioning it again in this article. Imho, no matter how bad or inexperienced an actor or actress is, they can shine with a good script, good editing and great directing. Here, there’s a lack of these three, so the actors flaws become more glaring. And they get criticized the most because the viewers are focused on the actors, at the end of the day. LMH, KGE and the rest of the cast are not inexperienced, however, neither the pacing of the script, the directing or even the editing did them any favors.
I’m actually wondering if the script was already finished when it was greenlit into production. I’m under the impression that it wasn’t. They were still shooting up until last month I believe.
Couldn’t help but think of the downfall of Game of Thrones when the production was forced to come up with a 2 season worth of show without a decent script because the book is not yet finished. Same issue with Harry Potter.
Now, GOT and HP are of course above and beyond more complex stories. But the same argument can be made; if the director is not fully aware of what’s to come up next, he can only do so much.
@Jushi
Goblin was also shooting until the last minute. The pre-production that happened was only for the overseas shoot and some early episodes (CMIIW).
Mr. Sunshine as well.
KES only fully pre-produced DOTS.
I don’t know the timeline of the completed scripts though, perhaps a KES fan will have more info about this, as based from GY’s interviews, he was approached w/ the Goblin script (dunno if it’s draft or completed, though) soon as he was discharged from the military (2009/2010?)
Mr. Sunshine was also an old script of KES, if I’m not mistaken.
So, I don’t think it’s quite the same as GoT.
“If the director is not fully aware of what’s to come up next, he can only do so much.”
Though I don’t agree with the comparison with GoT or HP’s situations, I absolutely agree about how the director could be “walking blind” without knowing beforehand of what’s coming up next.
But, that’s a bit disappointing/amateurish for a veteran writer such as KES.
@Mel I feel like Goblin already has a finished script before they went into production. Correct my assumption if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming that the preproduced scenes were those that were shot in Canada. And as far as I know those scenes were used in various episodes even up until the very last. If that’s the case, the director knew from the beginning what the whole story was about, where it was going, etc. There were no misplaced scenes.
That’s not the case here in The King. Scenes are disjointed, some don’t even make sense. At the top of my head, that overly dramatic crying scene in the bamboo forest. It was at the beginning of episode 9. None in the succeeding scenes nor episodes explained what that was about. I’m aware that the story jumps in linear and nonlinear time-line. But even the linear ones are hard to figure whether it was a week or months that have passed. And it is important to clue in the audience of the timeline because it is an important element in the story. Has it been months since they last saw each other? It wasn’t explained. Am I supposed to wait until the last episode to know? Huh.
But the major blunder in the writing is not in the details alone, but in the overall overarching theme. Is this a political fantasy drama ala Kingdom or is it fantasy romance? I know that it’s both and both are waaay underdeveloped. Hence you have a less compelling OTP and an underwhelming villain.
Kim Eun Hee, I think about you every time I’m watching the show. Because I know this is so within your wheelhouse and you’ll do great.
@Jushi
Agree with you on this. But based on what we know of the productions of KES three more recent dramas (DOTS, Goblin, Mr. Sunshine) the scripts were ready for production when they started to roll cameras. Perhaps there were few tweaks along the way for making the shooting process a lot easier, so yes, I think you’re right, the directors for the three dramas already know the whole story prior to shooting them.
So, what went wrong with the script-making process this time? I am hoping for a tell-all interview after the drama is done with KES, as I’ve been left boggled with this, lol.
@Jushi
And God, yes! Kim Eun Hee will certainly aced this freaking plot, bringing depth and more darkness, much needed for this drama. I guess she’s too busy working on the script for Signal 2 to help KES out of her funk 😀
@Stay@homemom – agree. A lot of people have commented on the directing as well in the past post. Actually the overall production of this drama is lackluster,but yes, the director is the captain of the ship so to speak. I don’t think the director even understands what he wants to convey in every episode lol.
You actually read my mind as to when tae eul started to actually fall for lee gon. I agreed with the lack of build up on the romance department of the story. I feel that if the were a couple more episodes to define it, then it would probably be better. But I’m still hoping that there will be (at some point) an episode where in it shows it.
I think LMHs acting in this drama is very good when his uncle is killed and he is in a kitchen tries to cook and cries or when time freezes when they were taking a picture and he just looks at Tae Eul and cries again. Or when he sees lee lim again after so many years
I really liked episode 11, except for the ending where Lee Gon & his men were riding their horses and wielding swords to rescue Tae Eul. I thought it was laughably misplaced. But this episode showed the most progress. This should have been the pace they adapted at first. Maybe I would have been on board with the romance if there was a buildup.
Episode 12 was a massive fan service episode for the OTP worshippers. I couldn’t comment on it because I skipped LG/TE parts.
I wonder where the other international viewers reside as I’ve read here frequently that this is doing well internationally despite doing poorly domestically. I live in the Midwest area and the only kdramas consistently showing in my netflix trending list are CLOY, Itaewon Class, Hospital Playlist, and Vagabond. I don’t use social media, so I’ll give that to them.
I really liked the premise of this show, but the execution is horrible. It’s trying to be smart by interjecting quantum physics and math & history & politics, but the creators/writers shouldn’t put much of the onus on viewers to figure most things out.
In a parallel universe, this is handled by better hands and more creative minds, critically and universally praised, and breaking TV ratings.
I think the scar stare on red person who were present at the murder of the king 20 years ago as they are the ones who were involved and were injured.
Sorry, scars are on the persons who were present at the murder of the king 20 years ago and were involved in the event and were also injured.
However, the Prime Minister now has the scar and she was not present at the king’s murder 20 years ago. She was the daughter of a fish seller at that time, how would she have been able to gain access to the palace? And Tae Eul who was supposedly present through time travel has no scar.
Awkwardddddd the romance is awkwardddddd!!!
LMH acting is improve a lot. Why he is not like this since beginning? Its too late now
Ideas behind the script are good.
Script is bad.
Directing and editing are bad.
Actors are good.
Products placement are AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
Guys imagine you being an actor or actress
You try your best
You pick roles you dim fit to do
And people start trashing you
To be honest if you don’t likeLMH please stop watching his series
He had Bad mental health last year Because of all this
You know instead of you commenting negativity
You could be sleeping or watching cartoons
But instead you waste your time here
That guy has never hurt you has he
Stop watching his dramas if you don’t like it