Friday, March 29, 2024
FILM&DRAMA

Is Dong Yi too slow?

I’ve just come back from a few weeks in the UK for a holiday and there was a pile of recorded Dong Yi episodes waiting for me. Normally I’d sit down and keep watching one episode after another, but this time I watched a couple of episodes and then took a few days break. This means that this drama is still not gripping me as much as Lee Byeong Hoon’s previous ones did. It’s slower and not as exciting and I was asking myself why.

 

King Sukjong at the daily meeting, Dong Yi, MBC

So I started thinking back to his other historical dramas that l’ve watched – Heojun, Dae Jang Geum, and Sang Do and I was trying to work out what the difference is. And it’s this: In the other dramas the main characters have a special skill that helps them succeed and beat the baddies. And they are intense and passionate about what they do – Dae Jang Geum wants to be a fantastic palace cook, Heojun strives to be the best doctor he can be, and in Sangdo, the merchant wants to become the most successful merchant in Joseon. They struggle to become the best overcoming the jealousy and opposition of others and throughout the dramas I struggled along with them, cheering them on. After all, as a palace doctor or a palace cook, the wrong prescription or a dodgy meal could be life-threatening for the hero or heroine.

But in Dong Yi I don’t feel that there’s a real struggle for her. OK, so she is exiled from the palace because of her family history and she has to bring her son up away from the King. She misses the King and she’s a mother and wants to protect her son. I get that. But when there is any trouble, it’s the King or the bodyguard who comes to save her. She is quite a passive leading character really. When she first entered the Court Lady Investigation Bureau she solved some crimes, and so perhaps if this problem solving part of her character could have been used more, then maybe I’d feel that she had a stronger role to play. A female Sherlock Homes perhaps.

Having said that, I suppose this drama is meant to be more of a romance than a detective story! And there are lovely parts to the drama. I enjoyed the beginning of episode 46 where the King finally gets to bond with his son even if his son doesn’t know who he is. And the Korean wrestling sirum scene was pretty funny. The gentle romance between the King and Dong Yi is cute too especially when they go out of the palace and try to blend in with the people.

But I’m not completely addicted. Hee Bin and her brother are great villains but their naughty plans aren’t given the time to brew and create enough tension to make me worry about Dong Yi’s fate.

6 thoughts on “Is Dong Yi too slow?

  • i don’t understand the ending, can somebody explained .. what happen in the last episode of dong yi ?

    Reply
    • Ok in the last espoide of dong yi shes dies of a rare form of nosebleed called exptaxis and then shes waits for sukjong then they walk together in a field which turns out to be heaven but before that happens dong yis king yeongjo comes king of joseon but thats after dong yi and king sukjong in the last espoides its pretty sad though

      Reply
  • I don’t think so. I love her character much. She never wants to be the best, instead, she just wants to help others to resolve their problem and hold up the justice, no matter who they are. Finally, she gets all she wants and be happy of that, but her happy is not about a riches or status, it is about share to aothers. Her kindness, humble, and not hunger of status touch my heart. Moreover, how she teachs her son makes me cry. She is really noble in heart and mind, even she is just a lowborn.

    Reply
    • Hey leave dong yi alone dude her character role in the tv show was better that dong yi have a bettet heart cared about helpin out the lowborn people ( urban workin class people) to get wat they need so they not would not suffer but not all people were like that wen comes helpin out

      Reply
  • if there’s one thing i really hate about Korean nobela’s is that they always have a sad or tragic ending., Same with Queen Seon dok, protagonist died in the end..

    is their any explanation about it.

    I’m just wondering

    Reply
  • Hey stop all hatin u got goin on dont like korean dramas thats,ur problem but dont go hatin on it and second of korean drama got mo action mo adventure mo emotion and of course mo dramas

    Reply

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