In anticipating the upcoming Sword and Flower (The Blade and Petal), part of the excitement stems from knowing this drama has the potential to be all about the quality acting. Setting who looks hot or not, this sageuk will be about visuals stemming from the direction rather than the actors faces. Korean entertainments predilection for facial conformity these days make it harder to come by a drama main cast with the potential to throw the audience into the story and away from the real life actor or actress embodying a role. Uhm Tae Woong has always been sexy beyond belief for me because of his acting talent even if in real life he’s pretty darn dorky, here he looks to be back in fine form with the intensity and smolder that I’ve been dying to see. Kim Ok Bin looks fierce and feminine, and she and Uhm Tae Woong look so good together I could frame their drama portrait. The low-born bastard son of General Yeon Gae So Mun and the royal-born Princess to the King of Goguryeo. The press conference for the drama was held yesterday and was lots of fun, with the cast dressed in modern clothes and all looking snappy with the exception of the forever strange Choi Min Soo who decided to unleash his West Hollywood Biker persona. But his goofing around with Uhm Tae Woong, who is not much younger than him in real life but in the drama they play father and son, is just the cute touch to convince me they’ve got the chemistry to play the powerful roles. Not to be outdone, Kim Young Chul and Kim Ok Bin are also looking very father-daughter like and I’m loving how there are multiple levels of conflict between all the characters. From the two daddies battle for the throne to the two kids lovelorn class-and-family generated conflict, this drama not only looks fantastically filmed from the just released long preview below but it also has a story that already feels compelling right from the start. This one doesn’t have the obligatory childhood sequence so expect episode 1 which airs this Wednesday on KBS to jump right into the good stuff. Check out the press conference and long teaser below. Continue reading