Moon
Lovers: Scarlet Heart: Ryeo
달의 연인 - 보보경심 려
SBS (2016) 20 Episodes & 2 Specials, Grade: B
Historical Fantasy / Time Travel / Based on Chinese Drama
Korean Drama Review by Jill, USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have to say up front that I'm old
enough to be someone's grandmother, so I probably
wasn't the ideal audience member this writer and
production team were aiming their drama at. They
filled Moon Lovers:
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo (2016) with
popular idol type actors in an attempt to grab a
young audience. I haven't been young in a long, long
time! ;)
I started and stopped this drama several times, over
several months, until I finally finished it, and the
reason I kept trying was because I've always enjoyed
actor Jun Ki Lee's performances, in films and
dramas, since 2004. However the drama itself just
wasn't that inspiring ... how many times in
K-dramas can characters (in this case played by
I.U.) fall into bodies of water and suddenly be in a
different historical era? Yawn. It's getting really,
really OLD and CONTRIVED, folks! Korean drama
writers need to start exploring more unique stories
than just time travel plots. This drama is fine for
someone new to K-dramas but once you've finished
hundreds of them like I have you're looking for
something unique and original, something that you
haven't seen before.
Personally, my favorite of Jun Ki Lee's performances
is Two
Weeks (2013) where he played a modern
guy who discovers to his chagrin that he fathered a
daughter years earlier with an old girlfriend, and
now the child has leukemia and needs a bone marrow
transplant, so he decides to dedicate his life to
saving her life. I think Jun Ki is way overdue for
more modern dramas now -- give it a rest, please,
with all the sageuk (historical dramas). At least
for a couple of years. I'd love to see him play a
family man, maybe a cop or detective, or how about a
politician, engineer, teacher? there are LOTS of
possibilities for him! Look how beautiful his
performance as a modern character was in Two
Weeks! Sniff! Wipe away tears!
Apparently he was so into this role that
he sought therapy to come out of his character
and return to "normal" after the show was
over.

Scarlet Heart: Ryeo Story Line:
While trying
to rescue a drowning child, a 25-year-old 21st
century woman, Go Ha Jin (Lee Ji Eun aka I.U. -
who was MUCH better in the masterpiece My
Mister), goes underwater and is
transported back in time to the Goryeo Dynasty.
She wakes up in the year 941 AD, in the body of a
maiden named Hae Soo, and there she encounters the
many royal princes (all of them handsome, of
course) of the ruling Wang family. (You haven't
lived until you've seen them all take their shirts
off in the first episode, another Korean drama
cliche that really needs to bite the dust for its
predictability).
She initially falls "in like" with the gentle and
warmly charming 8th Prince Wang Wook (Kang Ha
Neul, Angel
Eyes, Missing
Noir M), but he turns out not to be
such a trustworthy fellow after all, and later she
becomes smitten with Wang So (Jun Ki Lee), the
fearsome 4th Prince, who hides his face behind a
partial mask and is given the derogatory label
"Wolf Dog" by the people. He proceeds to sweep her
off her feet, literally, shades of Phantom of
the Opera!
Meanwhile, rivalry and politics
ensue among the various princes in a fight for the
throne, as Hae Soo finds herself unwittingly
caught between all their games and strategies for
gaining royal power for themselves. The show has a
rather sad ending, which supposedly matches the
original Chinese drama, but I wouldn't know
because I've never seen the Chinese version (and
have no desire to watch it, either). So if you are
a teen or twenties something you'll probably love
this drama, but if you're Grandma age like me
you'll probably be bored. ;) Nevertheless
check it out, it's still very popular to this day,
and worth a look. Enjoy.