I was enthralled from the beginning by the male/female characters of Choong Ta, played expertly by a veteran actress who is clearly enjoying the unusual characters. Funny, strange, not good nor evil - I think that would be my favorite character to play if given the chance.

I have been surprised by the moments of true despair several characters have expressed and caused me to tear up in empathy. The entire first flashback opening sequence aside, I have gotten chills from the wails of pain from the ML and Ak Hee (each separately, though played by the same person), and the Eunuch crying for his briefly acquired “daughter” was possibly the saddest moment of all.

I think many of the poor reviews are from those who gave up near the beginning, assuming they understood where the story was going. I can honestly say that I’ve been surprised along the way. The plot twists are not groundbreaking in the genre, but they don’t play out predictably, nor do they follow traditional storylines. The fact that the ML let the FL leave the palace and trusted her to handle herself, despite worrying about her, was nice to see. And there’s no big attempts at misunderstandings, trying to convince each other that they don’t care in order so save each other.

Some of the side characters complications seem burdensome, like the queen and the bodyguard. There’s been no attempts to show that relationship develop or how deep it may or may not be. The father of the queen is also playing the cards so close to his chest that it makes it impossible to feel there could be a sense of resolution at the end because he’s clearly playing both sides all the way.

These “messy” elements are good red herrings that keep you guessing, however. It’s got enough palace drama to keep that crowd happy, and supernatural elements to keep that crowd happy. The only thing I wish there was more of is the push and pull of romance with Ak Hee and ML, maybe more confusion from FL about who is who or who she really loves. I think she made up her mind too clearly too soon. However, there needed to be a reason AkHee would refuse to come out and give ML a chance to bloom. So I understand that as well.

Overall, I think it’s worth a watch if you appreciate watching good actors dig deep and take chances in scenes.