The Crowned Clown (2019)

The premise is not so unique in itself, but choosing to show it as history is what sets it apart. The characters and the politics carry the drama, so if you like that in a series, you have come to the right place.

The story progression was paced well, not too slow or too fast. The characters were a major element of the whole story, so their development within the politics was refreshing to see. Each person had their own motivation and was chained to it. The grey area some major characters walk on is worth acknowledgment. No intention seemed incorrect if you looked at in the person' shoes, but the way some chose to carry it out helped differentiate right and wrong. There were those who took some questionable actions for what they perceived as a greater good, and that will make you question what exactly is being a hero; it is established that to remove dirt, you have to get your hands dirtied too, and I think that is a very realistic outlook to it. Moreover, the idea of effect of power on the purest of people is experimented here.

Despite that, I think the writers could have added more to the story - for example using the little group The Chief Secretary was a part of in the final few episodes in more ways. Another reason to withhold my score is the inconsistency of Ha Seon's motivations around episode 11 and 12. The writers added a few throwaway lines that strayed from his character.

The acting was well done. In the words of the real king, the FL was a true Frozen Queen - composed and unwavering in her principles, which probably turned her so cold, and Lee Se Young portrayed felt every bit of it. When it comes to Yeo Jin Goo, he was marvelous as the King, enough so that you believed that Ha Seon and the King to be different people, like the drama wanted us to. Kim Sang Kyung, to me, delivered a great performance as a man consistently struggling with himself I liked the character on paper, and he made him come to life. Jang Young Nam was memorable as the antagonist.

The BGM consistently delivered. Never did it feel as if some external force was intruding upon your viewing experience. It was pleasant to listen to and built moments of suspense, sadness, and even happiness. I think this was actually the part I looked most forward to - the music that accompanied the scenes one anticipated. Music can honestly make or break stories, and here it helped cement the over all presentation. They rarely used OSTs, if at all, but the ones they did sounded melodious.

One would rewatch it to see the character dynamics, and maybe a political scuffle. The team put together a great piece - give it a try if you want a break from the repetitive,. :p

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The ending is what diminished it for me

7,5/10 is my rating. This is a 2019 (Josean era) fictional drama with 16, 60 minute, episodes.

Ha-seon (Yeo Jin-goo) leads a relatively care free life traveling around performing comedic skits that primarily make fun of the royalty. Yi Heon, the King (also played by Yeo Jin-goo) was a benign noble as a Crown Prince but became a paranoid, vicious and crazed king. He is bloodthirsty which is driven by opium induced delusions about being killed. When one of his close advisers comes across Ha-seon by a chance encounter, he is stunned to realize the clownish actor looks exactly like the king. The king has become increasingly concerned about assasination attempts and has tasked his close advisers to find a way to get him out of danger. The adviser who encountered the look alike proposes to the king that he be used as a stand in and the King is more than willing to have the doppelgänger stand in for him. Through a combination of coercion and persuasion they talk Ha-seon into playing the greatest role, that of the king, while the real king slips away to a quiet retreat. As Ha-seon becomes acquainted with palace life and gets to know the inhabitants, Queen Yi Kyu (Kim Sang-kyun) quickly steals his reluctant heart and is surprised herself to find that this new side to her husband is stirring romantic feelings for him she did not have before. Nothing could go wrong - right?

spoiler 🚨 I liked the first half of this very well I thought the male lead did an excellent job playing both the clown who was kind and the king who was bloodthirsty and crazy. I like the female lead who played the queen as she was calm and kind. However, the way the king was and all the palace intrigue reminded me of the American show “Game of Thrones“. As is often the case in Royal courts, it seemed as if everyone was out to poison or kill everyone else for the throne. In the middle of the show, there was a part where the Crowned Clown bowed down to one of the evil villains and I wound up fast forwarding because I knew that eventually he would win out and I couldn’t take watching it go on for so long. After that part it got good again and I thought “well there’s just that one part that doesn’t detract from the movie too much.“. At that point, had it ended well, I probably would’ve given it an 8.5 or possibly a 9. The show literally went down in the last episode or so when it seemed like nearly every character I liked had something tragic happen to them or someone they cared about. Then to top it off, the male lead steps down and gives the crown over to someone we were barely introduced to. After everything that he had gone through as well as all the people that supported him it seemed like a waste for him not to reign longer. The Queen also had been made barren and it would’ve been nice if they would’ve found out that wasn’t true after all. Because it felt like Ha-seon did in part step down because she was unable to bear an heir. Then they aren’t done with the tragedy because as he steps down and leaves the palace, one of the last characters that I still liked gets killed as some crazy ninjas say they are avenging the dowager queen who died a year before and we never really got to know these people to know why they would be so loyal to her even a year later. In fact, when the dowager was alive you didn’t really see her do anything all that great nor did they refer to any great things she had done in the past. Then they make you think the male lead is dead and you get to see the queen, who had stepped away from the throne to be with him, grieve for over two years. Then he just suddenly shows up and says he’s been in what would amount to a coma (how they would’ve supported someone in a coma in the Josean era is a bit of a mystery) and they have this long emotional moment. Rather than being heartwarming, their reunion felt a little bit cheesy and over done. It is a shame that it did not end better because it could’ve been a good show. This is the third TV series I’ve seen with this male lead and I have to say all three have not ended as I like them to. It is to the point where if he is in something I will likely read spoilers to make sure it doesn’t have a poor ending. If you don’t mind tragedy and like things that are a bit nebulous, you may like this better than I did. It is worth watching because a lot of the show is quite good and if you’re able to look past that middle part and the end then you may enjoy it.

#TheCrownedClown
#YeoJinGoo
#KimSangKyun

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"The Crowned Clown" is a great historical drama in so many ways. Don't think of it as just a Korean version of "The Prince and the Pauper". It has an excellent cast, an intriguing story, and is visually beautiful, but this is the kind of sageuk that I think you have to be in the mood for, and for me, the slow deliberate pace made me a little less excited as a viewer. However, Yeo Jin Goo is so good in the title role that I had to keep watching no matter what.

I do think everyone in the cast was excellent, with no weak links, but Yeo Jin Goo is exceptional playing a completely convincing dual role as a King in the middle of a mental breakdown, and a clever clown forced to serve as his double. The fact that he is only 21 is amazing to me, and clearly means he has an awesome acting future ahead of him. The fish out of water/imposter storyline is pretty overdone, but this story is told with so much depth that it feels original and even plausible. His performance alone is enough to make me recommend this drama.

Although Lee Se Young is great as his love interest, and they have some sweet romantic moments, the relationships that interested me more were between Ha Seon and the Royal Secretary, Guard, and Eunich, and the host of villainous rivals within the royal court. Maybe it's because the character of Queen Yoo So Woon was so stoic that their romance felt more understated than exciting. Watching how Ha Seon faced the challenges of his dual life is what held my interest when the pace started to feel slow. A few characters are incredibly frustrating to watch like Ha Seon's sister, The Queen Dowager, and The Left State Councilor, and this also helped to keep the story exciting, and even had me wanting to yell at the screen more than once. The cast helped to make every aspect of the story feel authentic no matter what.

When it comes to the plot I am torn. I think it really was well written from beginning to end, but it still felt like it dragged in some moments. Even though the plot itself stayed interesting, with a few unexpected twists, this drama seemed to linger on certain moments for too long making me almost want to fast forward through some of it. This is the part where I admit that I may have just not been in the mood to watch this style of drama. Instead of enjoying watching the story slowly unfold I felt myself getting impatient while watching several times. That's also why my rewatch score is pretty low. Now that I know what happens it would be hard to watch this again without wanting to skip a lot of it. I'm a fan of this director's other dramas ("Money Flower", "Fated to Love You"), and I loved the way this drama looked, so I suspect that maybe the writers are more to blame when it comes to the overall pacing, including some longwinded dialogue at times too. Still, once I started rooting for Ha Seon, I knew I had to keep watching till the very end.

Overall fans of historical dramas should definitely watch "The Crowned Clown". Even though I shockingly didn't cry once, this is definitely a drama that may evoke emotions. Those looking for fast-paced action, romance with a lot of chemistry, or hilarious comedy should probably save this on their MDL queque for another time, but there's still enough action, romance, and comedy to make the story feel balanced, and not just non stop political betrayals and revenge. I'm personally glad I watched it, even if it didn't quite fit my current mood, and I definitely felt satisfied by the ending. What was good about this drama outweighed what could have been better. I'm certainly now a fan of grown-up Yeo Jin Goo for sure! I guess it takes a good actor to play a good actor.

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This drama is just excellent. It has so many strong points - the cinematography is on a whole new level, the props and locations are flawless and everything is wrapped in mesmerizing music. The fact that the story and acting are there as well, is just a cherry on top.

I can't stop praising Yeo Jin Goo's acting enough. He made this drama for me and carried it so well. There are so many distinctions between his portrayal of both characters that is hard to believe, that he plays both. I also enjoyed his interaction with Kim Sang Kyung, Jang Gwang and mostly with Lee Se Young. I am a sucker for these kind of, almost innocent, love story.

There are so many motives here that deserve praise and attention. This drama uses things that are so often used in historical dramas, yet makes them interesting and shows them in a different light. In a way, the audience takes a journey with Ha Seon and the deeper he gets into the role of the king, the more you see and understand. The political aspect of the drama therefore is not as boring as it is in some others of this genre.

There are lumps and bumps in the story, some aspects feel rushed as it draws to a close, but it's not something that would ruin the overall well made drama. I enjoyed it very much, was looking forward to every episode and I will think about it for a long time after it ended.

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As a big fan of Yeo Jingoo I was really excited for this drama. I was hooked right from the beginning, the story is really good and then, around episode 10 it starts to drag on and the second half isn't as entertaining as the first one. Don't get me wrong, it is a good drama but episode 10 to 13 focus way too much on the romance between the clown and the Queen and everything else is put aside, so I found them quite boring. I was really into the political aspects of the drama but sometimes the romance is too present, it's getting annoying. I like a little bit of romance in this kind of drama but for me it was too much for a political drama. However, the last two episodes bring back the political aspect in the first row, making them as enjoyable as the first ones. The ending though is too long as the last 40 minutes could have been done in 15.
The humour was enjoyable and allowed the viewer to take a breath from the tension arising from each episode.

The acting was VERY VERY good. Yeo Jingoo is wonderful in both roles, he portrayed really well the duality between the two characters and it is a shame we didn't get to see more of it. The scene in the first episode when the King and the clown met is, for me, the best scene of the drama. Jang Youngnam as the Queen Dowager was great, her acting in the last few episodes blew me away. All the actors are great in their roles. I'm a little perplexed about Lee Seyoung but in front of Yeo Jingoo, it's hard to shine, or maybe it was her character who wasn't that well written.

The music is good, especially the one they put at the end of each episode, it keeps the tension going up and you just want to know what comes next.

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This drama is everything a drama should be. If you are looking for a cheesy no brainer drama, this is not for you. It is a drama that covers all aspects of being a King and what a King should be. The acting by the very handsome and talented lead male Yeo Jin Goo is extremely impressive and all I can say is, he better get the best actor award. The acting by all the cast is great and the chemistry between not only the leads but between all the cast is amazing. The production level of the drama is first rate. The music score is perfect in every episode. If you have not watched this drama I highly recommend that you do. It is Daebak!!! If I could give it 100 stars, I would. I have watched countless dramas over the years, and this drama impresses me the most.

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I screamed so many times watching this series. Loved the plot. Look a like takes place of king. What happens when the fake is better than the authentic and it shows? The show was absolutely amazing. It was funny, up beat, heartfelt and at times intense. I feel a bit wicked because I celebrated one of the villains demise with one of those joyous screams but who cares it was so rewarding for me as a viewer to see such karma. I waited until it was completely subbed to watch it and I’m so glad I did. I will say that the crowned clown was anything but a clown. The loyalty, pureness, and determination for righteousness was on an epic scale. This male lead officially has a new fan. When I say his acting was on point, I mean it was on???????? point ????????. Playing to roles too ????. The entire cast was awesome. Ending was pleasing, can’t complain too much but I was hoping something just as grand as the series itself. Still quite please though. I got my closure. On to the next.

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The plot was painfully predictable, the romance did not grab the attention, most of the characters had nothing innovative going on for them and the villains never felt like a real threat. And yet, somehow... I love this drama. I could not explain why, but I was interested from the beginning till the end. Everything just worked well and made me anticipate the next episode.

One of the best parts of the drama for sure was the acting. Dare I say, this was the best Seo Jin Goo’s role. While I am sad we did not get more scenes with the mad king (boy he was an amazing character and interesting to watch), Jin Goo's emotional scenes as Ha Sun were just as captivating. The duality in his performance left me in awe. I also appreciate that we as viewers could easily see which character we were currently watching on the screen. They had distinguishing characteristics, so I was never left in confusion.

That said, the whole show was stolen by Haksan, the loyal Chief Royal Secretary. The most complex character in the drama, with an amazing development and true depth. The internal and external conflicts he had to face were heartbreaking and made me cry more than once. I always anticipated his scenes and wished there were more of them, even though he was already one of the main characters. Kim Sang Kyung truly aced the role.

The weakest parts of the drama were romance and the villains. While Queen So Woon might have been a loyal and nice person, there was not much to her character, except for being the support for Ha Sun.

It was interesting to watch the villains try to win, but from the get go it was obvious they had no chance in this fight. All of the battles were too weak and they lost too easily and quickly.

All things considered, somehow this drama worked perfectly and was a true enjoyment to watch. Would recommend watching it for sure and I'm extremely happy I decided to try it myself.

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I was not expecting this drama to hit me in the feels like that. It has been a while since I watched a tv show especially that can make me tear up from the force of acting and meaning behind the scene.

Key words: Intriguing, Thought Provoking, Heart Warming/Wrenching (at the same time)

Plot:
I watched this drama while taking a break from a Game of Thrones marathon and let me tell you...the plot did not disappoint me when it came to court politics and scheming. The story kept me glued until the very last moment and at one point when some of the plot twists were revealed, I thought "what is there left to do?!" but they managed to exceed my expectations and surprise me with more twists.

Acting:
-Yeo Jin Goo did an amazing job with playing two characters that are opposites yet the same, he made me love and hate the king at the same time. For such a young actor, it is clear that he will have a bright future if he keeps picking roles that can showcase his talents

-Lee Se Young: At the beginning of the show, she highly deserved the nickname "ice princess" because oh boy was she cold with that poker face! I think that was the reason why I did not connect with her but later on, she managed to make me warm up and root for her.

-Kim Sang Kyung: MARRY ME! I had to get it out of my system! Everytime he shows up on screen I feel a wash of safety and calmness because I KNOW he will fix everything. Now excuse me while I go watch everything he starred in

-Shin Soo Yun: I have never seen her act before but she is good! It is rare for me to connect with young actors but this girl made sob and smile like I'm enchanted.

Romance:
Now this is the reason I did not give 10/10 to this drama..I loved that it was not insta love per se. But I did not feel the chemistry between the King and Queen until half way through the show. But in total, it did feel like an adult relationship without all the teen angst or tropes that are usually in dramas.

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The story was really well and interesting made and the cast's performance shined throughout the whole drama (maybe some ups and downs here and there, but not often). Yeo Jin Goo did an amazing job, you just have to praise him for that, even though many others were outstanding as well. Though I enjoyed him more in the first half (and those of you who watched the drama might know why that is :p).

What I loved the most was the development between Ha Seon and Haksan which led to that special overwhelming moment later. I also found Ha Seon's character development well written and shown. If you watch the first episode again and right after one of the last ones, you can see the difference as if it was night and day. Same goes for Haksan's character. I appreciated that they weren't all white or black but had dark secrets and grey zones with difficult decisions to make while walking their paths.

What I don't like in other sageuks but really love here is that they actually let a good king overrule petitions of its court people. You usually only see the bad kings do that while the good ones can't seem to go against their ministers. But here was actually a quite nice balance created.

I also enjoyed the queen's scenes and I'm so happy that Lee Se Young finally got a good main role. She was great in her role, but I also have to admit that you can still see that she's a young actress who doesn't have the range of expressions like her seniors yet. Especially in the later episodes I found some of her dialogues a bit... wooden. Sorry to say that. I still loved her scenes with Yeo Jin Goo though and I'm sure she will become better in the future.

The antagonists were an interesting bunch of people and it was refreshing that not all of them worked together but also were suspicious of each other, too. But as I said in some other post, sometimes the constant anxiety due to their intrigues were a bit too much. Even though it keeps you on edge, I think they overdid it other times, too. Excitement is welcomed, but only to a certain degree.

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Phenomenal Yeo Jin Goo

Wow! The Crowned Clown knocked off Kingdom to become my favourite sageuk drama. The combination of a well written story, strong cast, excellent directing, beautiful cinematography, stirring background music and all the attention to details produced MAGIC.

The director brought out the best in all the important characters. Best performances I've ever seen in Lee Se Young (Queen Yoo So Soon), Kwan Had Hyo (Shin Chi Soo - baddest of the lot) and Jang Hwang (Eunuch Jo). I've not watched Kim Sang Kyung (Chief Royal Secretary) before, but will go searching for his previous works soon. Yeo Jin Goo (Clown Ha Seon and King Lee Hun) takes the cake though with his phenomenal acting that was so nuanced and note perfect. From the flickers in his expressions to how he used his postures, he was completely mesmerising.

There's romance to keep the romcom girl in me happy. But my favourite relationships were the ones between Ha Seon and Chief Royal Secretary, as well as between Ha Seon and Eunuch Jo. It was such a pleasure to watch their bonds evolve and strengthen.

The overall story is far from unique, but how well the story was told and the layers in all the main characters made it a truly enjoyable journey.

Highly recommended watch.

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