Good balance of romance, comedy and mystery with a logical explanation for the time slip

For me the show was very well done and well paced, first 4 episodes focused on female lead’s journey and how she adapts to the modern world, next 4 episodes which I’d call the 2nd act focused on the leads falling in love and what the male lead was up against, because this provides the basis for the female lead time traveling to save him, and in the 3rd act - last 4 episodes, we get to see the back stories of the individual characters including the villains - both their Joseon and Modern day versions, and how that forms the premise of the overall story.

I particularly liked that some of the villains, particularly the female ones weren’t plain vanilla, but grey, and were mostly victims of circumstance. However, the show did not try to justify their actions, but had them make restitutions that were consistent with their characters.

I’m a sucker for bittersweet endings, and with all time travel shows, there’s always that element of loss when the time traveler goes back into their world. It was nice to see Yeonwoo going back in time to change Joseon Taeha’s fate and ending things nicely with him, I felt sad for him, but knowing he reincarnates in the future took away that sadness, even though he doesn’t have his past memories.

Unlike most time travel shows where we do not know the basis for the time traveler traveling, I’m glad this one provided a logical explanation for Yeonwoo traveling. It was also nice to see how they explored female empowerment, with Yeonwoo acquiring skills which she used to work and earn a living in new Joseon and using her noble woman status and money earned to help vulnerable women in Old Joseon.

It was great to see that the leads were very good at communicating their feelings and the concerns they had. Even where noble idiocy was employed, it didn't last more than 20 minutes, and it was all in a single episode.

The chemistry between the leads and entire cast was amazing, great acting from everyone, the comedic timing was awesome and the comedy wasn’t cringe, the music scoring was great, as well as the cinematography and the style of directing in certain scenes was exceptional, there were also some notable dialogues.

Overall, for a time slip drama, I think this was well executed and one of the best ones in recent times, it’s no surprise it had the highest rating of all the time slip dramas done last year.

If you’re still considering watching this, I’ll suggest you dive right in and make a decision after the first two episodes. The first episode is fully sageuk, while the second takes place in modern day. Only the first and last episodes take place in Joseon, and the flashbacks wasn’t overly done.

Some people might think some aspects of the show was rushed, but given that it’s only 12 episodes, I think they tried to make it as concise as possible. It’s one of those shows where you really have to pay attention because they do a lot of “show then tell (explain),” which is the mystery element of the show and the main driver of the story.

PS: This has a good balance of mystery, romance and comedy, however the comedy is utilised more in the first half and the second half is heavier on the mystery and romance. If you are expecting a simple, cheesy romcom, then this is not the show for you.

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