knight flower was thisclose to garnering a perfect 10 in my book, but the last two episodes fell off somewhat plot-wise, so we have a solid 9.5 on our hands instead.

the show does a remarkable job juggling comedy, historical gender politics, palace politics, and age-gap romance. it is primarily concerned with comedy and romance, but it can also effortlessly shift to the show's more serious endeavors into the hierarchal shackles of the joseon dynasty when it wants to. even the palace politics, an area that i often find lacking in kdramas, were reasonably well-written for what small part it played in the first half of the show.

now onto the real highlights of the show. the actors & their characters.

i've never seen lee jong won in a drama before, and can i say that this man absolutely served in this show. his aesthetics were on point and he played suho convincingly. can we all just take a moment and appreciate how swoonworthy lee jong won's suho was?

and honey lee. i won't lie, i wasn't sold on the casting for yeohwa at first. but she quickly proved that she was perfect for the role, and her comedic timing was unparalleled. when it comes down to it, i wholeheartedly believe that honey lee as yeohwa carried the show -- she made all of it work so well together. she set the tone of the show whenever she was onscreen, never let any heavier issue drag its feet, and commanded charm, charisma, and chemistry with effortless finesse. her yeohwa was strong, funny, clever, innocent, and cute all at once. i've no doubt that the show's frequent shifts in tones were made seamless mostly by honey lee's exemplary performance. in short, honey lee is magnificent in this role.

also i don't know about y'all but our main romance was sizzling despite its age gap. these two actors absolutely nailed their dynamic. their characters were well-developed on their own, and their relationship was organic. no love at first sight (unlike the webtoon, whew!), no childhood imprinting, no contrived misunderstandings, just good old organic growth. and i call that refreshing.

now the plot was fine for a good chunk of the story, and that was enough for me, because this is primarily a comedy with romance that's character-centric. however, when the show really dives into the politics, its weaknesses began to show. this is made especially obvious by the puppet king's play for power in the penultimate episode -- that was... dumb. the whole overthrowing of the villain was a little oversimplified for all its setup. i'd also like to point out that at one point, when the main characters crashed an enemy fort of sorts and fought off an entire group of people who were supposed to be well-prepared with their expert swordsmanship -- that arrows are a whole thing.

but the thing is, except for the last two episodes where the show tries to bite off more than it can chew by taking a stab at being traditionally epic, the show knows, for the most part, that it's a comedy with not one but two considerably shippable couples. and when it's focused on what it does best, it excels. it also does a remarkable job of being swoonworthy without need for much showcasing of skinship.

in all, this was a heck of an entertaining ride that i would have easily given 10 stars, if not for the slightly lacklustre final week. the ending though, stuck its landing.

absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a fun and lighthearted show!!