The second to last episode of River Where the Moon Rises is here and it entertained me well enough for an hour since it led to so many eyerolls I was wondering how much more I can hate all the major male characters not named Ondal. I wonder how Kwon Hwa Woon‘s manager sold him this guest starring role as the grown up crown prince, like “hey, do you want to playing the biggest dipshit in Three Kingdoms?”. The young king spends the episode bristling after Ga Jin releases emo and suicidal Go Geun (along with Mo Young) back to Shilla to avoid giving them a reason to attack, which leads to her imprisonment and execution. I wonder if the King spent his teen years with the equivalent of watching Gorguyeo Tik-tok videos instead of learning the books, strategy, and governance principles. Ga Jin is resigned to die because don’t we all have that useless kid brother who offs us for the first infraction. Ondal learns some death faking skills from the Monk and then makes his way back to the Palace just in time to dramatically stop Ga Jin’s execution and then agree to go conquer a castle back from Shilla in exchange. Ga Jin won’t let him kill again and demands she lead the army, and the sniveling King sees a chance to have his cake (win a castle) and eat it too (have his shiny and more popular princess sister and her lunky husband die in battle and not be a threat to his throne) so he sends them both. That gives us a cute interlude pre-battle where Ga Jin talks about how many kids she wants with Ondal, and it’s good number. Back in Shilla, even the Shilla King won’t fall for Go Geun’s offer to conquer Gorguyeo for him since it’s all motivated by his personal vendetta so he takes the troops off to battle leaving Go Geun to end the episode winning the prize as lamest dude in episode 19.
Streaming platform Tencent aired the most hit C-dramas this year in 2024 so it's list…
I loved this new preview for Motel California which brought in the current Christmas season…
Well this is as Tang dynasty a drama as it gets. The era is polarizing…
I feel like K-movies are lacking in that big cast and big budget allure in…
The casting of two female leads of the same vibe and competitiveness could be a…
The C-viewers have spoken as a glance at the Douban ratings for K-dramas aired in…
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
KSH and NIW should have had more scenes together in the penultimate episodes.
I’m really impressed by the actor playing the Silla King. His tone and speech is perfect for the saguek theme. I wish someone like him should have played the goguryeo king(gajin’s dad role) and the main villain. Gajin and ondal are the best characters in the drama along with maybe the village chief and ondal’s mom and the young crown Prince. I think the present queen is also okay. Gajin’s friend, the girl I forgot her name, doesn’t suit a historical drama at all. I keep thinking she feels too modern. I really hope dramas invest carefully on their side characters too, since they give so much time to other characters , they all need to deliver for the drama to be good. Alas I can’t wait to watch the last episode , even with all the weaknesses the main otp helped me survive the drama.
Somehow, I kinda understand the crown prince's insecurities over her sister. The princess is cool, independent and competent. She doesn't need a man to protect her and she can even protect the country. She leads her own troops, she fights, and win wars. All this and being a woman. Plus she's smart. Still, that doesn't excuse him being a wuss. They are siblings for blood sake.
On a side note, I wish I didn't see the preview for last episode. I'm sure someone is going to die except Master Go, that's too obvious. I will only accept an ending that Ga Jin wants. 4 kids with daughter as a maknae.
the thing i don't get about the king is that he was a tame, nice kid when he was younger?? did i miss something? he looked like he could've been a regular, wise king but then the grown up version gave me total whiplash with his antics. if they had shown him as a bitter and jealous nasty boy then maybe the king version wouldn't be so annoying.