The best yet

I'm so sorry we're halfway through already. :(The king's investigation is taking too long though. It's been 15 years since his father died and he's just now finding the poison that killed him.

Loved everything about this episode

The intrigue, the revelations, the romance, the plotting, Lord Seok's dialogue with the king... it was all so perfect.

Episode could stand alone as a film in its own right

Flesh out the characters & story a bit more and voila! You have an award-winning feature length film. This is one of the single best episodes of a K-drama I've ever watched - up there with "Move to Heaven" & "Deserter Pursuit 1".

The intrigue is intrigue-ing

The Councilor (Big Bad1) plotting with the merchant (Big Bad 2) was quite the turn. I love how Lee Ha Nee went full-out block. Everything she does is so fun to watch.

Getting better

The show seemed to settle down and find its path in this episode. I hope subsequent episodes continue in the same vein.

Weird shifts in tone

Started off kind of bleak but got better. The shifts in tone were jarring & awkward so I was ready to drop this one.As a fangirl, I was initially disappointed that Lee Han Nee and Jang Hyuk weren't the main couple, but I managed to get over it pretty quickly.Still, the episode was not a strong start to the series so it only gets a 6/10 from me.

Great start

A lot of details I overlooked at first viewing: the flower petal on the king's shoulder; Park Soo Ho is Im Kang's son and therefore the Royal Secretary's adopted brother.I can't wait to see where all this leads.I hadn't realized that Lee Ha Nee was in this, so it was a pleasant surprise. She is so radiant & charismatic and I always fall in love with her whenever I see her.So yeah for the first historical drama I am truly enjoying & looking forward to.

Poignant & bittersweet

Having those extra hours can't make up for a lifetime. Alice made the right choice. I'm even more proud of her after this episode.

It’s fitting that in a series where a cosmetics…

It’s fitting that in a series where a cosmetics company serves as a backdrop all the actors have had their faces surgically enhanced to an inch of their lives. So much unnaturalness is distracting though and a bit off-putting.

I don't know if the ML & FL are going…

I don't know if the ML & FL are going to have a romantic relationship, but that "Kiss Me" ballon going up the stairs has to be one of the most romantic things I've ever seen in a K-drama. *swoon*

I'm really starting to enjoy this one.…

I'm really starting to enjoy this one. I am a bit disappointed that the show is using the cheating husband trope. All the main characters seem to be decent people, so it's sad to see them unhappy or behaving badly.

Why did Tanioka Hisako say the housekeeper…

Why did Tanioka Hisako say the housekeeper had a daughter when she had a son? That priest was weird so I'm kind of not surprised at that outcome. By the time we got around to Gonda I was no longer surprised. Still, lots of twists & turns. I'm glad Zaizen wasn't the bad guy and Mika was happy. Despite Zaizen's plot, he was one of the purest souls.

I knew since episode two that that dude was…

I knew since episode two that that dude was shady AF. Is Daikoku Zaizen's long lost mother too? I was surprised that the mother was the one caught up to no good because that son seems too weird. What is going on? Nobody in this drama is trustworthy.

So the aggrieved father in episode one wasn’t…

So the aggrieved father in episode one wasn’t above board either.It’s incredibly inept that the detective agency never confirmed his identity when taking the case. Was Yagi involved too? This all feels like a horrible nightmare where no one can be trusted and potential villains lurk around every corner.

This series starts off with a bang and a hell…

This series starts off with a bang and a hell of a twist. With only five episodes, there is no time to be lost in hours and hours of set up. My impression of the main character flipped in a split second and I’m still in shock. How don’t know how this guy could look himself in the mirror or sleep at night over the past 18+ years.OAN, I didn't even recognize Fujiki Naohito. I've only ever seen him in Last Cinderella when I was Team Tachibana, so that's probably why.