Lovers of the Red Sky Episode 13-14 Jumps the Shark Where Every Character Does Something Dumb and Makes Everything Worse
This drama is estúpido, so so stupid now that I wonder where that bright, charming, creative, weird sageuk with potential went? Probably got contaminated by the addled brains of EVERY SINGLE MAJOR character, because that’s the only way to explain the sheer dumbass plot in the entirety of episodes 13-14 of Lovers of the Red Sky. Thank god next week is the finale two episodes otherwise it’s bad enough I would bail, but I’m in it so long might as well finish. These two episodes actually was chock full of “action” but the decision making, behavior, and dialogue were just inane and so inexplicably dumb all across the board it negated everything. Ha Ram admits he’s the Spy Master and goes with Prince Juhyang as his captive waiting to be offered up during the ceremony to extract the Demon (Mawang). Chun Gi feverishly paints the Royal Portrait. Ha Ram learns the ring he gave Chun Gi has magical powers to control the Demon. Prince Yangmyung gets a magical sword ready to slay Ha Ram/Demon if the sealing ceremony goes awry, and even in that he fails. The sealing ceremony is across the board a clusterfuck and Prince Juhyang actually CRIES when he sees the Demon isn’t going to possess him *headdesk*.
Chun Gi can’t take a single order to stay put and runs out when the ceremony goes sideways and leads to getting her eyes nearly plucked again. Ha Ram gets stabbed by Prince Yangmyung but no harm done, magical dagger just put the Demon back in him. They make a wildly slow escape, which must be by magic because a BLIND MAN can ride a horse perfectly out of the Palace. Prince Juhyang goes nuclear, grabs Chun Gi’s dad to lure her out and takes all the painting team hostage as well. Chun Gi runs to save Dad and gets captured again. Blind as a bat Ha Ram waltzes into Prince Juhyang’s place to rescue the dumb father-daughter duo and sacrifices the only smart and useful character in the drama his bodyguard. Dad also dies, kinda good riddance. Chun Gi cries, and then Prince Juhyang gets ready to chop the entire painting team’s heads off to make her come back, therefore negating the big rescue because duh Chun Gi has to give herself back to Prince Juhyang to repaint the stupid painting again. And then ta da! The King isn’t incapacitated after all and is back! Okay, everyone please replenish your brain cells now.
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Hahaha.. well said koala.. like you I was disappointed midway into the drama which has so much promise in the beginning ?? Just staying now for the pretty and the acting of the cast.
Lol. My interest slowly dwindling after episode 10. And I have not watched last week’s episode 11 and 12.
It’s hard to find a good sageuk lately. The King’s Affection also fares no better where I dislike the acting once transition to adulthood.
Sigh ?
I thought it’s just me but really it’s SO BAD! The child actress playing twins completely out acted everyone and the adult cast is horrible! The directing is clunky and I somehow even dislike the OST! So disappointing!
you know how they say “that meeting could’ve been an email” to laugh at comically long meetings where you feel you wasted your time? well, this drama could’ve been a 4 episode special to be honest. not even the ML makes an effort to act blind anymore, this is just a mess in all possible ways. third miss in a row for KYJ who seems to be struggling to find adult projects that properly work for her.
That 19 year time jump where after the leads act more juvenile than their child counterparts should have been a sign of things to come. Bad is just an understatement at this point. Nobody ever bothered to give any of the characters the semblance of a personality let alone a brain.
I feel like both Kim yoo-jung and Kim so-hyun are having bad scripts handed to them. couldnt really pass through both of their dramas. Both are good actresses but with really bad scripts.
I agree. Maybe because of their age? Almost of the best scripts are written for mid to late 20s females.
Nevertheless, I am still hopeful that they will have their time to have good script especially, So Hyun, now, she is under Culture Depot.
To be fair, scripts being handed to Kim So Hyun are not on the scale of terrible that Kim Yoo Jung’s scripts usually are. If anything, her dramas are mostly okay, just overall boring. And while she doesn’t really have a ratings hit, all her transition to adulthood dramas with the exception of radio romance and ruler actually did something to her career. That’s something you can’t say about Kim Yoo Jung’s projects after LITM. Which is weird considering that she’s not a bad actress. She’s actually good.
KSH still transitioned pretty smoothly baring that time in 2017 but she has a much more mature image and has been more experimental in her choices.
Ruler and River were considered ratings hits though.
Both cannot get anything right.
I don’t touch “sageuk” anymore but thanks for the laughs. Yi Soon-shin and Jumong are rolling over in their graves.
Koala I dont watch this drama but I laughed @your comment lol. Such a mood
Hahahah! Truelala. Poor bodyguard. He should have not died. My only consolation is it will end next week. Thanks goodness.
I guess it really was the PBG magic that saved her previous sageuk but this writing is not just off the walls it’s worse than wattapad. The drama underperformed majorly despite being on SBS and having a star PD and no scandals to ruin it’s momentum.
LOL. The drama’s success is not solely because of a popular male lead only. It’s the story, directing and acting.
You always want to discredit her.
Record of Youth would beg to differ. If not for Bogum it would be in the 1% ratings hell.
PBG’s latter dramas after moonlight was’nt really any good ,so dont think it was only because of him.
both of his latter works had really popular female leads but it was still bad.
pbg dramas after litm weren’t good. but he has a star power to bring the rating way above the average, especially for tvn channels. that’s the star power that he hold. he should take more dramas in public channel instead of repeatedly taking from cable channels.
To be fair the writing has been bad since day 1 but people were more focused on the horrible cgi to notice. As time went on the bad writing just became more apparent and leads just aren’t interesting together as they were in the beginning. Everything is falling apart and honestly even the acting is mediocre now. Everyone just looks so done with this like they can’t wait to move on.
True AHS especially looks like he wants to run away from this ASAP. The leads have diminishing chemistry on screen and none off screen. He really looks like he wants nothing to do with her. The rumors about him dating LSK are probably true but we’ll know after his drama with KSJ which frankly looks like a better match for him.
LSK is Lee Sung-kyung, his Dr. Romantic co-star?
@yaru: Yes, the writing has always been bad tbh. The first 2-5 eps were alright, but I felt it started falling apart after. Nothing makes sense. Initially I think many watched cos we were curious abt what was coming after. But after awhile it just got boring and confusing.
@pita: lol he does look out of it sometimes. I think they had quite alright chemistry in the beginning – probably due to the slightly tighter writing then. But agree that off screen and after the early eps, there isnt any chemistry. Doesn’t help that alot of their scenes tog aren’t romantic per se. They both seem uncomfortable with one another, but AHS is generally not someone who is very comfy with his co-stars, even bts.
Rumors with lsk? as in the weird LSK fans who think that they both might be interested in one another just cos ahs resembles her ex njh in age and height? Lol. If they are dating, there’s been zero hints. He looks very uncomfortable ard her and they look v awkward ard each other in general.
if the rumors are true then AHS is more like a replacement of her ex..!!
OK, I’ll skip these episodes then and just watch the last 2 remaining lol
Yet another drama with a dumb FL who cries all the time and needs to be rescued.
Oh no, how terrible for women to need help!!!
couldn’t agree more. damsel in distress fl doesn’t work anymore yet the writer still go to this route. hong chungi character reminded me of the fl of rmotm. both are a cry baby but hcg has more annoying character. thank god lotrs doesn’t have a secondary female lead. otherwise, many peoples will root for her instead. this drama actually is so bland due to the missing of other young female characters.
Your writing skills are excellent. You put these episodes in perspective for me and I laughed at the outrageous tropes, but darnnit AHS makes a beautiful Ha Ram and the eyes are piercing so I’ll finish this one. Some dramas will be remembered and others we will totally send to the recesses of our brains. I would add to your observations: does CG have a paint by numbers kit for the royal portrait ’cause darn she’s on her 2nd one, and we’ll see if she paints a 3rd next week.
When do you riview the king’s affection?
Your bad review doesn’t make the drama less lovable.
It is still well loved in their timeslot in Korea.
Only bcoz all the other dramas are worse. Pick the devil or the deep blue sea no option is good.
@Carla, I agree. While we respect opinions of those who dislike the drama, it must be remembered that this is fantasy.
The sealing ceremony failed for two reasons:
a. It wasn’t the right time to do it. The 2nd prince moved it at an earlier date.
b. Ma Wang still hasn’t gotten back his eyes.
Sam Shin told Tiger Spirit in Episode 3 that Cheong Gi would be painting a vessel to contain Ma Wang for eternity, not the re-painting of the late King’s portrait, as what they did.
In order for her to realize the painting, I guess her loss and heartbreak would help her.
Just like the story in Episode 1 where Sam Shin narrated that upon the loss of the woman’s lover, she painted the demon, prayed to Sam Shin, and the latter granted her wish.
Sam Shin contained the demon in her painting.
Anyway, my other thoughts on the drama:
1. I find all actors acting well except for Haram. After episode 6, it felt like he got bored and stopped making the effort to act accordingly.
Is it just me though? I never watched his previous dramas. I only checked out clips on Youtube.
I found his acting mediocre. It’s weird that he should have stepped up the plate, acting wise, since this is his first period drama.
Don’t talent agencies take the effort to promote their talents? We never hear from the respective agencies of the 4 actors.
No photos, videos, magazine covers, or dance/sing promise for ratings.
2. Some people started noticing his disconnection with KYJ when the BTS of Episode 2 was released.
He was just there. His fans would go on to say that he’s just shy at first. That it takes time to warm up with his co-stars.
However, even on the Episode 6 BTS where KYJ surprised him with a birthday cake, he still acted nonchalantly. Was he still shy that time?
I also noticed he didn’t look at KYJ in a normal or casual way, unless when the cameras started rolling.
Can his long-time fans share their thoughts on his personality?
On KYJ’s part, on the other hand, she did her best spending time talking with her co-stars. She and Gong Myung always laughed a lot, joked around, and whatnot.
3. Another thing I’ve noticed about KYJ is the fact that whenever she has new projects, she never fails to get bashed.
I wonder why. Is that what you call “witch hunt” in the industry?
She seems genuine, professional and down-to-earth, so I wonder what’s up with her past projects being trashed by anti-KYJ people.
4. Some people got bored with the story because nothing is promoted from SBS.
We only get to watch them on the drama airing and BTS videos.
During their presscon, for example, the cast didn’t even bother to look at each other with glee, to think they filmed the drama for 8 months.
Why then would SBS bother to take up this story and not spend time on PR?
Kindly share your thoughts on these points. Thank you. ?
Witch hunt for KYJ is normal in this blog I guess. All type of hate comments, you can read it here.
@yaru: Yes, the writing has always been bad tbh. The first 2-5 eps were alright, but I felt it started falling apart after. Nothing makes sense. Initially I think many watched cos we were curious abt what was coming after. But after awhile it just got boring and confusing.
@pita: lol he does look out of it sometimes. I think they had quite alright chemistry in the beginning – probably due to the slightly tighter writing then. But agree that off screen and after the early eps, there isnt any chemistry. Doesn’t help that alot of their scenes tog aren’t romantic per se. They both seem uncomfortable with one another, but AHS is generally not someone who is very comfy with his co-stars, even bts.
Rumors with lsk? as in the weird LSK fans who think that they both might be interested in one another just cos ahs resembles her ex njh in age and height? Lol. If they are dating, there’s been zero hints. He looks very uncomfortable ard her and they look v awkward ard each other in general.
UGHH I wrote a super long comment and it got swallowed by the comment above (ignore it).
@no idea: I’ve been watching AHS since his debut work and my fav of his is still 17 though it was a very one-note character. His acting is generally mediocre though unless the writing for his character is consistent and elevated (still 17, queen of the ring, romantic docs2). he’s not an actor that can elevate poor writing. if you read other drama blog recaps etc, many ppl tend not to have confidence in his acting lol.
one big reason is I think he lacks alot of emotional connection in his portrayals. like u see him acting, but there’s something missing, u just cant connect with it emotionally. he also lacks chemistry with most of his leading ladies (it’s lukewarm at best). and i think those things are connected.
his personality seems to be rather 4D, shy at first, laidback but introverted, dreamy, and he only clicks with certain people I feel. He comes across quite cold and not v chatty otherwise. He doesnt seem close to many of his costars and his celeb friendship circle is quite small (rowoon, lee jae wook, yang sejong and maybe a couple others).
his lack of interactions with kyj are not shyness i feel. he could interact with kim seul gi and park bo young quite alright bts. though ppl like shipping him with pby and lee sung kyung, he has zero chemistry with both. he always looks uncomfortable, awkward and never really initiates conversations with either. it’s the same i’m seeing with kyj. he doesnt talk much to gong myung if you notice too.
I think the lack of chemistry is just him being him. lol.
As with the lack of promotions. It has been really disappointing. There are very few cast photos on ig, no magazines, interviews etc. They have some bits and pieces of promotions on other channel varieties, smh. AHS does promote the show quite abit on his ig, not sure about other actors. But overall SBS hasn’t been putting in effort. Maybe they knew the writing was on the wall – that it was gonna be bad and decided not to bother lol.
I stalled on this drama around episode 10 and was considering jumping back in…but,nope, I probably will watch the last episode for closure. Thanks @Koala for watching so I didn’t have to. I am enjoying the new historical on Netflix and looking forward to the two that are coming up.
I am a little bummed about this because it actually had a solid start.
Thanks at least saved me from wasting time watching these 2 episodes. I was waiting for the drama to finish, it had so much potential during the beginning. I’d say blame the writer for how the story derailed. Maybe it would be better if this was just 12 episodes no wonder the ratings stopped going up.
I was on episode 6 when a kind of a clear realization came through: a dejavu of me watching King Eternal Monarch Ep2 and realizing it will be a mess, coz whoever’s directing, writing etc of the drama will try to make it look/sound/deliver a high grade drama and end up f’ it big time. Boy, was I right on this one, too. I wanted this to be good esp for the male lead, coz he deserves a good drama for his talent. I am floored by the chaotic and dumb plots/stories they wrote for this drama. Makes me want to say “where’s all the talented storytellers of Korea now?” Just uhhh. I’m frustrated as heck. They think their audience are all brainless cartoons not capable of recognizing less than mediocre writing.
I was actually waiting for this series and HCCC to end to start binge-watching, but now I don’t know if I should. Might as well start my cdramas “plan to watch”, these days imo they are more entertaining.
P.s. @koala this too is a funny article but still nothing compared to NIW’s constipated noodle article lmao
k-dramas lost its touch. None of the dramas are watchable now-a-days. Its plain boring. c-dramas are getting lot better with plot and chemistry. Even thai dramas are better than K-dramas these days…!!
Oh that’s such a shame, I got as far as ep 6 and was actually enjoying it (OTP chemistry looked good, story looked unpredictable, even AHS acting seemed decent and suited to the role), why do these dramas lose their way so badly in their second half?
I’m kinda disapointed too. The painting contest was so good. It’s sad the demon part took the main part of the drama, painting was the best part.
Oh Koala, it didn’t just jump the shark. It jumped the poor dolphins, whales and every sea life out there. What the hell happened to the drama I loved? Last week was awful but this week was just ghastly. I should know better by now but still – why do K-dramas always do this? Argh.
@Anna, thank you for your reply.
1. So, it’s true that AHS doesn’t have chemistry and connection with his co-stars. I thought I was the only one who saw it that way.
Yes, I’ve noticed he didn’t talk much with other actors either.
Gong Myung initiated small talks with KYJ in general.
In Episode 14, KYJ and KSY (2nd prince)’s scene was good because both acted well.
AHS is generally a wallpaper. If his co-stars won’t make an effort to talk to him, then he’s just going to stay there, as it is.
It’s just weird that for 8 months, no friendship developed from them. Haha!
2. During the presscon, when the host read the questions submitted by media outlets on how can they appeal their love line, AHS didn’t appeal his romance with the character Hong Cheong Gi.
He said that he can set Hong Cheong Gi free to be with 3rd prince if that will happen.
Didn’t he understand the question or he just got flustered?
The host and other cast laughed a bit. Gong Myung even told him why he didn’t promote his love line.
Gong Myung then explained his thoughts, while KYJ asked when can they hear her opinion. Everyone laughed again.
KYJ even answered that she would just choose the 2nd prince actor. She explained the characters well afterwards.
3. In Episode 6 BTS video, there was a cute moment where they will be filming the kiss scene.
AHS slipped twice then he tapped KYJ’s head. Everyone was laughing. Haha!
In Episode 10, I also like the ‘morning after’ bedroom and Walk of Shame scenes.
4. I hope he can work out his shyness, awkwardness and disconnection with his co-stars in the future.
It would be nice to build friendships with colleagues, you see. ?
5. Yes, lack of promotions. Not even photos of them together uploaded on their respective IG accounts.
8 months of filming the drama. Nada! Haha!
For the promotion, there are video on viu but in each channel with no english subs… But there were mainly the male cast.
@ no idea
1. It’s not just us, quite a number of ppl feel that way about his acting ? he seems to take his roles v seriously n puts alot of effort into them but there’s just no spark with anyone.
2. I too found his responses at the presscon odd. Cos these qns are usually cleared by the companies n the actors know they will be asked them n usually have answers prepared. I was surprised he went off script n just never answered in the way I thought he should.
3. Another thing I’ve noticed abt ahs is perhaps cos he’s spent most of his youth in Canada, he doesnt seem very into the Korean entertainment culture way of doing things. He’s not very fanservicey for instance and doesnt go out of his way to force himself to do things other Korean actors will do to promote his work. He just does the bare necessary lol. I kinda like this abt him tbh. And it could also explain why he doesnt bother to interact too much with his costars (cos korean actors usually do this as part of promotions n fanservice).
4. The viu promotions sayaris was talking abt. Gosh I watched that video. It was sad. Very stilted n clearly not much friendship or chemistry amongst the male actors. So the whole interaction came off looking awkward and uncomfortable :/
kim too Jung is always in f.l.o.p dramas except her dramas with PBG.
How can it be a flop drama when throughout its run, 14 episodes so far, it is number 1. This maybe the reason that there’s no extra promotion from SBS.. only those bts clips at their IG or youtube accounts.
Can’t believe the Gods can do everything than just getting the leads together. I mean there are so many demons and gods that it sometimes feels they are being developed solely for serving as fillers.
Also, the devil’s plot is so confusing and what’s that sudden addition of the ring.
And Prince Juhyang has taken over completely and everyone is just abiding against their better judgment?
FML’s crying is getting cringey now.
The part where they should have shown emotions (her father’s death) was treated so simply.