7/10 - swoo
Picaresque story of intertwined lives of slaves/masters/officials and Koreans/Chinese in 1600's Korea, mix of comedy/tragedy/drama/action/politics, probably worked better viewed live because they string out one of the plot points for sixteen! episodes of cliffhangers which kind of gets weird when binged, pretty good fight action for 2010 kdrama and some beautiful shots of Korean countryside not in most kdrama, amusing that men looking bedraggled and women looking like models with clean clothes and perfect hair on weeks long road trip on foot and roughing it in countryside, the second female lead, a prostitute with heart of gold almost steals the show, the female lead has more tragic writing/subdued performance, there is also a lot of sexual assault implied due to the time period/slavery
review created: January 21, 2021