Title : The Last Empress, Empress’ Dignity, Last Empress
Episode : 52 (half an hour each, 26 full one hour)
Genre : Politics, Tragedy, Drama, Romance, Melodrama, Crime, Revenge, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Action, Royalty, Fantasy
Story : 8 out of 10
Characters : 7 out of 10
Cinematography : 8 out of 10
A long drama that had an odd plot, but it kept the thriller element up till the very end.
Story
In an alternative universe, in 2018, Korea still has monarchy. Hyuk is the emperor, ruling along with his mother. They are both beloveds by their people, but, behind the scenes, they are ruthless, killing people and hiding secrets. When Hyuk starts an affair with one of the court ladies, Yu Ra, the empress plots against that relationship. So, she introduces to the public Sunny, a young actress, who acts in small musical productions and had met the emperor before, as his future bride. She also suggests that the emperor is in love with her. Sunny believes that and, after being swayed by Hyuk, she marries him.
However, the emperor is just using her to cover up his crime of killing an old woman when he was out with Yu Ra. The later has her own secrets, as she was the one behind the crime, as the woman was her mother in law. She was also Wang Shik’s wife. Wang Shik is seeking revenge, but the emperor, after Yu Ra’s suggestion, tries to kill him. Wang Shik survives and, after learning how to fight, becomes the emperor’s bodyguard with a fake identity, aiming to get his revenge by being close to him and Yu Ra, both of whom he hates.
Meanwhile, Sunny is the new bright eyes empress. She loves Hyuk and she tries to keep up with the palace formalities. However, after the emperor tried to kill her and get himself rid of her so he could have Yu Ra as his empress, Sunny comes back determined to unveil the palace secrets and the royal tyranny. And she finds an unexpected ally, Wang Shik.
The story had many layers, to begin with. The story was a bit odd, with the alternative monarchy universe. However, the pace was fast and, although the drama is kind of long, the story was interesting throughout the fifty-two episodes. The twists, some of them expected, some of them not, were really thrilling and spiced up the plot. Though, the comedy parts were few and mostly just cute. Also, another thing that was a bit off was Sunny’s relationship with the king. At first, he was this psychotic maniac who cared only about himself. Then, he grew to be this fluff ball with just mommy issues. So, the romance between him and Sunny was there, but he was so damaged and had done some really unforgivable things that it was hard to root for them.
So, to sum up, even though there were some mishaps, the story was fast-paced, full of action and suspense. And the ending, (SPOILER : hence the tragedy tag) was just unexpected and left some questions unanswered. But, the characters, all of them, change from the bad guy to the good guy and vice versa, so some of them may surprise you.
Characters
Sunny is a bright young lady who dreams of becoming an actress. She also has a celebrity crush on the emperor. So, after he shows interest in her, she is willing to believe him and she even agrees to marry him. However, their marriage isn’t smooth. But Sunny chooses to ignore the signs and have faith in her husband. So, she appears to be ignorant and naive, and overall not ready for the palace, at first. But, after she learns about the true horrors of her new family, she comes back more dynamic than ever. She was, in fact, a ticking bomb, ready to explode. Jang Na Ra was a chameleon, using her cute characteristics to hide a fighter that was set to take the royal family down.
Hyuk is the ruthless emperor, who cares only about himself. He acts psychotic and he even kills people without remorse. He is, in reality, really hurt by his family, who always mistreated him and compared him to his younger brother. So, he is easily swayed by his mother and Yu Ra. He, eventually, falls for Sunny, but the mistakes of his past can’t redeem him in her eyes. Shin Sung Rok didn’t have many leading roles in the past, but he was just amazing, especially when he acted like a crazy person.
Wang Shik is a happy man, who waits for his wife, who works at the palace, to come back and care for her family. He loves her, however, so he doesn’t press the matter. But, after Yu Ra’s betrayal, he loses everything and he has to recreate himself, with the sole aim to take revenge. Choi Jin Hyuk acts in another drama straight after devilish joy. And this one was actually his best, although, the “metamorphosis” of the old Wang Shik to the new one was a bit off.
Cinematography
Except for the transformation, that wasn’t handled nicely, the rest of the drama was executed quite well.
Overall
My overall rating for this drama is 8 out of 10. There were some mistakes, but the drama was really enjoyable and full of suspense.
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