Alcohol, Stars, Water , Chicken and Jealousy

This episode starts with an investigative journey to suppose-to-be location of Lee Gon's mother ( version from Republic of Korea). As expected the location was a hoax thus confirming the fact that perhaps the Song Jeong-Hye is with Lee Lim. Nevertheless, there's a silver lining of this though, it just means an opportunity to spend some time together and for questions that only Lee Gon can answer. ( a bit of humor here, you should watch to see how they bicker with one another regarding other women in Lee Gon's life, naval uniform and steak and rice, and yes in that context and order).First shocker. Apparently another person was being added to the Republic of Korea world as a child. That person only have memories of the emblem and the child wailing ( that was Lee Gon mourning his father and doing his first duty as king). A confrontation and a feeling of betrayal with Tae Eul happened next. This somehow brought a little strain in each other's relationship. Jo Yeong and Eun Sop Swap. Jo Yeong needs to remain in the Republic to catch and kill Lee Lim ( King's orders). You have to enjoy this part as it is pretty hilarious. For the meantime, Eun Sop have to adjust as he takes over Jo Yeong's character as captain of the Royal guard and as Jo Yeong to the king himself.This episode is quite intense as Lee Gon gathered quite the information on how Lee Lim moves about the two worlds and all the things he is up to. We see a different side of the king here. I must say Lee Min Ho did a good job in transforming his demeanor and personality to someone of that of a king!On another scene, we caught a glimpse and background of Prime Minister Koo's past life and ex-husband. They seem to be cozy for comfort. Is there something more than her visit in prison? A hidden agenda of the prime minister is revealed. Her term as prime minister has a limit of 5 years unless re-elected by the people whilst of that of the queen is infinite.Another date happened between our two main leads but this time, its more of a farewell while Lee Gon goes back to his world and take care of some very important things. Back in the Kingdom of Corea, King Lee Gon began entrapping all known allies of the enemy Lee Lim. Once again his superior aura as King is very evident in this episode! And Lee Min Ho's superb acting doesn't disappoint, not a single bit at all!Do you believe in fate? You can never know what will happen in life. But if there is a place you would want to reach, even if your life may be at risk, then that's fate. The footsteps you take by risking your whole life is what's fate.This episode ended with a hair-raising face to face between Lee Lim and Lee Gon.

Read More

Two Worlds Collide and A Confession of Love

The tension of worlds colliding is building on this episode. First part of this episode revealed where Tae Eul's new ID was. Lee Lim now knows the existence of Luna ( Kingdom of Corea) and Lt. Tae Eul ( Republic of Korea). Mysterious Boy with the Yoyo with a Red String. His role in this show wasn't revealed yet causing a lot of viewers to speculate in frenzy, thus one of the reasons that this show keeps us on our toes episode after episode. As the mysterious boy was being shown in this segment, Tae Eul narrates: "Lee Lim is alive and the two worlds are getting mixed up. At least at the moment, when I sensed the transcendental power that was trying to restore balance. I should have known before we had to face this situation. That it’s something like fate, so to speak." Surprisingly, Luna and this boy know each other. She retrieve a key attached to a dog tag from the boy and they have a baffling conversation. Out of curiosity, how come they are meeting outside this mysterious bookstore? And a place where Lee Lim receives information from his followers.LUNA Up Close and Personal. So she is out from prison and about to assault a guy who apparently stole her money. Base on her demeanor, she is a person whose got nothing to lose. Meanwhile, Lee Lim visited Prime Minister's mother and retrieves his umbrella he left not so long ago at her place, leaving Prime Minister's mother to be curious about her mysterious customer.{{ SPOILER'S ALERT***}} This episode is fun to watch! Look out for the part where Jo Yeong receives punishment for calling the King "a fool"! Hilarious!CONFESSION of Love. Tae Eul is a detective and have seen her share of crime and blood. Beneath that hard shell is a woman who choses to accept her fate and took a chance at a love founded in a parallel universe where not only distance, misery, uncertainty possibly a lot of tears and sadness along the way. One of the highlights of this episode are the words from Tae Eul's lips: "When its fate, there are no coincidences. Your fate is determined by the choices you make, but there are times, when your fate chooses you.Things are bound to happen are taking place even at this moment. I was struck with a sad premonition that this will be short-lived, but I decided to love my fate that chose me. I love you."On a more serious matter, looks like Lee Lim's followers were busy transporting some key people over at KOC and vice versa. He is definitely cooking up something. Good thing, our King is here to catch up on him and his plans as he come across a person in a restaurant who recognized him as King and knows his captain as well. Get to know Kang Sin Jae ( Kim Kyung Nam). He gets the chance to tell his story and how significant his story is in the next episodes to come. A stunning revelation highlights this episode's ending.

Read More

Welcome to the Republic of Korea

First scene. A visit from the past. In the previous episode, Prince Beayong wants to relieve himself of the guilt he made of burying the truth behind Lee Lim's autopsy from 24 years ago. He meets with Lady Noh and discussed the repercussions of their actions and the impact of that in present time. I have to say this show isn't reluctant to show some blood and scenes of crimes. It's but another day in the life of Lieutenant Jeong Tae Eul. This time the team got a murder of passion case ( or they thought they did). Oblivious of the fact that her world and Lee Gon's world is about to collide in more ways than one. CROSSOVER. Now this is where it gets exciting for our other main role character Jo Yeong and Eun Seop. One of the funniest scenes in this show! I cannot get over how they try to live together in one world much more in the same space as small as the taekwondo center or Eun Sop's house! At this point, amidst his better judgement, Jo Yeong came to a conclusion that Tae Eul and Luna ( Tae Eul's doppleganger and a criminal and fugitive in KOC) isn't the same person after all. He was also able to conclude the difference between his life and Eun sop's life amidst having the same parent's faces. FIRST DATE in the Republic of Korea. After finally giving in to her feelings towards Lee Gon, Tae Eul finally let herself go and admitted that she is after all a woman and standing in front of a very handsome king! Might as well be in the moment. Our lovers long-distance relationship isn't something of the ordinary. What's normal for us isn't. Casing point, calling Tae Eul on the phone after ending the day , talking about things that happened isn't something they can't normally do as they both lived in a different world. They vow to experience the "normal things of life" as much as they can. For the meantime, it seems to be that Lee Lim ( the villain in this show) is quite busy setting things in order. He somehow got his wealth by manipulating people around particularly chairman of large companies and exchanging them with either people from the kingdom of Corea or vice versa. Another thing , Lee Lim began to notice the frequency of King Lee Gon leaving the palace and going back as well by how many times time keeps on freezing. In another instance, Lee Gon and Tae Eul decided to collaborate and join forces in further investigating Lee Lim's mysterious body from 25 years ago based on the newfound information they have including the real death certificate of Lee Lim that Prince/Professor Yi Jong In ( 2nd to the throne to be king and Lee Gon's uncle and closest relative/friend) have hidden to protect the Royal court.Introduction to LUNA. She is Tae Eul's doppleganger from the Kingdom of Corea. Same face and fingerprints but with a criminal record and in jail as of the moment. Prime minister Koo was able to get hold of this information and she was flabbergasted that the King would be associated with a person of her background. This magnified her curiosity and began thinking of how she is going to use this information to her advantage.This episode ended with Prime Minister Koo and Luna meeting face to face for the first time. Chills.

Read More

Our Time Was Short But Sweet...Missing You My King

Dating continues as opening of this episode. After the sweetest conversation they had using their fingers and palms aboard the King's helicopter the date followed by Lee Gon cooking steak and rice in a pot for our leading lady, Tae Eul. He then showed her the ID he acquired 25 years ago. Tae Eul confirmed that it was indeed hers but what does this confirmed? She still believes that the earth is flat. Their time together was short lived as a sign of a would-be war with Japan is brewing on the seas of the Kingdom of Corea. At least Tae Eul gets to see her Majesty in navy uniform with a promise that she will wait for him to come back. The scene aboard the Yi Sun-Sin Destroyer was indeed epic. I thought I was watching the movie Battleship. In this scene, his Majesty King Lee Gon exhibited his skill in the art of war. Him being a mathematician was a great advantage! Quite a scene on this one. Before leaving the Kingdom of Corea, Tae Eul bought a an imaginary flower seed from KOC and planted it on the place between 1 and 0. Lee Gon was skeptic as flowers don't bloom in that place ( the scientist that he is ) but Tae Eul contradicted that we will never know unless somebody tries. I believe this scene right here would have a greater impact in the next episodes to come. She is in fact hopeful in a very unpredictable world and relationship. She is willing to invest amidst uncertainties. Meanwhile, back in Tae Eul's world, where her father hardly noticed her absence, her detective life must go on. It looks like her earth is a bit rounder this time. Subsequently, she made a quite disturbing discovery that a current case she is working on seems to intertwined with the world she just left from. It took awhile for Lee Gon to come back to her thus the reason for her longing for him. Talk about a long distance relationship when you both belong to only one universe. This love story is quite a whole new level of long distance relationship. This episode ended with a very warm embrace from both our main characters.

Read More

Kingdom of Corea

I have to emphasize that the production team of TKEM really loves their flashbacks. Tae Eul finally agreed to come with Lee Gon to his world! Dating can now start at last!In this episode, Lee Gon showed Tae Eul his "soft" side and of course his "king" personality! All those things that Tae Eul said and berated him off suddenly came back to hunt her. "You reap what you sow" is lack of a better metaphor for the whole situation. It was so much fun to watch our FL being introduced to Lady Noh and how important she is to Lee Gon's life. She met Eun Sop's and Nari's dopplegangers. She ROMANCE can finally begin. I love how the lines were meticulously well -thought of to the point of being so funny. I was smiling the whole time as Tae Eul and Lee Gon's softer interaction takes place before my eyes. Our ML and FL's chemistry flourished in this episode. This episode have a lot of "loving" moments from both our ML and FL so please do enjoy...I did.LEE GON as a MAN to Tae Eul. Lee Gon showing his sweet, caring, thoughtful and vulnerable side is just epic! Him showing up in the hallway with food cart in tow and wearing his bedroom robe clearly had most of the palace court baffled including his captain of the Royal Guard! Plus he is a king that can cook! Tae Eul's reference to Alice in Wonderland as she wants Lee Gon to taste her food shows that they have more than enough things in common. What more could you ask for? With Lee Gon showing off his skills, may it be sports ( basketball), giving out inspiring speeches and charity work ( visiting disaster areas in his kingdom)..all these are but enough for our girl Tae Eul's heart to flutter a million times over!LEE GON as a KING. Tae Eul was able to know more of the Lee Gon's history and how he grew up up to this day. She got to witness how the people of the kingdom adores and love their king so much! PALACE and the King's wealth. Tae Eul experienced it first hand and have heard it from one of KOC's citizen, how vast the King's wealth is. Lee Gon being thoughtful, had Jo Yeong secretly followed her around as she gets to explore the land rather than being imprisoned in the study. This episode ended with Lee Gon having to rescue Tae Eul in style ( having to fetch her in the royal helicopter) as she misses her train back to Busan from Seoul.

Read More

Back to the King's Reality

I will enumerate the three highlights and favorite scenes in this episode. #1. As King Lee Gon was back in the palace in time for Prime Minister Koo's visit, it was another day in the office for him. The scene where the PM insisted in barging in to his office just to prove her suspicion that all of the royal courts were lying on the king's whereabouts and instead of being cooped up in his study, he is in fact missing. The surprise on her face when she saw him in the study! In this scene, the great power of the king was being depicted. No one is going to be indebted to the king, not even the prime minister whom the people has chosen. Every moment of the king's life is history and he wants that history to last forever! This is in fact a very powerful statement and I like the way Lee Min Ho acted on this one and showed the prime minister (Jung Eun Chae) who is King around here!#2. I like how the writer of this story shows that even if he is the all powerful King, he is after all a human being with flaws. He doesn't wear ties only when necessary as he doesn't want anything constricting his neck especially. This just shows that amidst his strong facade, he is in pain and was traumatized by Lee Lim. #3. Bromance. It was indeed a great decision casting Woo Do Hwan to play the King's captain of the Royal guard! The King has to show a steadfast and unwavering image but when no one is looking , Lee Gon can easily act all gullible around Jo Yeong. But this Unbreakable Sword would gladly climb mountains and take a bullet for his Majesty. #4. Mysteries slowly unfolding. The introduction of the mysterious boy ( or girl ) or was he/she introduced during the previous episode. Tae Eul lost her ID as it went down the drain. Apparently, somebody has been feeding Lee Lim some information of the whereabouts of the king. The mysterious library. And the fact that Lee Gon's mom version in ROK is kept alive by Lee Rim, what is his end game by doing this? The appearance of a scar on Lee Gon's shoulder every time there is lightning. This show is never EVER boring for that matter.#5. LONGING. Tae Eul begins to miss Lee Gon and his usual banter of a parallel universe. She went to the bamboo forest and the park where they were maybe hoping to see him once again? With the next turn of events , she begins to suspect that perhaps maybe Lee Gon is telling the truth after all. This episode ends with a horse ride to the parallel universe and a whole new world for our female lead, Tae Eul.

Read More

The First Proposal

You might be taken aback by how this episode starts. YES, it started with the proposal of the ever dashing ( but now broke ---he used up all his diamonds for clothes and stuff) king Lee Gon to Tae Eul to be his queen and that she just became the reason why he should stay in the Republic of Korea! Lee Gon being the mathematician that he is explained in detail through the use of zeroes, square root and equations. How crazy is that! Tae Eul, getting frustrated ridiculed Lee Gon to lead the way to this parallel universe he is raving about. Scene at the bamboo forest: Finally, a decent conversation where they both learn about each other's desires and slight history why they are what they are now. Tae Eul slowly saw something in Lee Gon and his sincerity in all that he speaks of. First time time stops for Lee Gon: He doesn't understand why this is happening but he considered it a blessing. As he was able to appreciate Tae Eul's beauty while time freezes. Kudos to the production team for showing us something cinematic at this point. Another side of Lee Gon: While Lee Gon was able to witness Tae Eul at the bravest circumstance, he didn't fall short of his skills and the fact that he wants to show off his other skills is one of the highlights of this episode. He also felt jealousy for the first time as he felt that he was being the third wheel betwen Kang Sin Jae and Tae Eul.One has to pay attention to every tiny detail given to us by the screenwriter. Every scene has its purpose and weight as each background of our characters in this story unfolds.

Read More

After 25 years of waiting...

Continuing with the cliffhanger of episode 1, this episode started with LG going down from his horse and walking towards JTE with that shocked look in his eyes but with a longing. "I've finally met you, Lieutenant Jeong Tae-Eul!" Imagine the feeling when a complete stranger approached you like this! But both the lead stars somehow conveyed the emotion coupled with the perfect OST music! I love her reaction on this one. It's not "noisy" you know when I mean? I watched some FL's reactions when they are surprised and I am just amused how they are all over the place. Both FL and ML really knows the personalities of their characters that I am just amazed on their reactions. What I love about this episode is the fact that LG being the "King" as he is and having no clue how people are in this part of the universe. He is a mathematician after all so he answers like one. I am an engineering graduate but I have never could imagine that quantum mechanics could be that sexy when Lee Gon is the one explaining it to me! The introduction of Eun sob whom LG thought to be his captain and Unbreakable Sword Capt Jo Yeong was epic in this episode. I have to say the king adapted splendidly to this universe, good thing that he has the "capacity" (diamond buttons) to somehow live comfortably in this universe! hahaaaha...As the rest of the characters were being introduced into this episode, I am convinced that this show is going to be epic!

Read More

An Introduction Into the Parallel World

I wrote this review after watching the first episode for the 5th time. Being a fan of western TV shows like The Flash, Arrow and others and being a fan of the whole Marvel universe as well, I am intrigued how Koreans particularly writer Kim Eun Sook perceives the parallel world. One has to brush up on a little bit of Korean history as well to know the difference and to appreciate what KES wants to depict in this tv show. The description "a sad love story in a parallel universe" intrigues me. A lot of people are suckers for sad love stories ! {SPOILERS ALERT***}The first scene shows that our FL (Kim Go Eun) and SL (Kim Kyung Nam) interview the said villain in this story. LL (Lee Jung Jin) is describing how this story started and the turn of events thereafter that makes up the whole momentum of this story. Apart from the intriguing events and the romance of our FL and ML (Lee Min Ho) and how the other supporting actors and actresses fits in the whole parallel realm makes this a worthwhile show to watch. I have been watching a lot of rom-coms and Kdrama and never have I been so intrigued in the plot and story that episode after episode makes you do your own research and to question your own understanding of the whole thing. This makes the show MORE intriguing to watch! It breaks the whole norm of knowing whats going to happen next thus making it MORE unpredictable...something that dramas are lacking of sometimes. I highly recommend this show to anyone who wants to challenge themselves while fully enjoying the whole journey altogether.

Read More

Intense!

The ML actor ( LJS) clearly went beyond on this episode. I have learned from watching his previous drama that he easily shed tears but the part ...SPOILERS ALERT *** where he just got his father's belongings really left me in tears and was indeed a very emotional scene. I have been watching American tv series with the same plot ( aka hospital scenes) but whatever is going on in the OR somehow is more intense and dramatic in here.I am still halfway through this drama and still very confused of what the real mission is plus I think I am kind of rooting for the second leading lady in this series hahahahah...my bad. But I think I am a Dr. OH and Dr. Hun shipper!Anyway...I will continue watching this series as I am curious.

Read More