i have two words only: absolutely mindblowing!

much has been analyzed about my dearest solely itself, but i wanted to use this review to stir conversation and draw some comparisons to another fantastic (and may i dare add, even more intriguing) sageuk-- the red sleeve-- in order to encapsulate my frustrations with the storyline of my dearest's main couple and where i see room for improvement.

(warning: some major spoilers ahead for the red sleeve).

1) equality of contributions in their relationship.

what the red sleeve does so well, even amidst a severe power imbalance between a crown prince and his court maid, is demonstrate that the ML and FL view each other as equals. despite the FL's lowly status of a court maid, she saves the ML on multiple occasions that made my heart SWOON, which ultimately restores balance to their power dynamic and also, reaffirms their mutual love for each other. that is what makes the love between them so discernible to the audience. i could FEEL it in my toes.

on the other hand, what was so frustrating in my dearest is jang-hyun's constant unreciprocated affection toward gil-chae. though both shows have this period of "unrequited love" from the MLs to the FLs, although refusing to become the crown prince's concubine, the red sleeve's FL constantly contributed to their relationship and protected the prince as much as the prince is protecting her, which made their affection for each other palpable. although the FL denies her feelings for him, you can see through her facade and really feel her love for him even with their massive gap in social status (which i'll delve into later). as for my dearest, although jang-hyun's love for gil-chae was so painstakingly obvious, i never felt as if gil-chae reciprocated it. the discrepancy between number of times he has protected her vs. the number of times she has protected him is just too large to imagine gil-chae loving jang-hyun with the same intensity and depth in which he loves her. honestly, as part 2 progressed, i started to pity jang-hyun immensely for his all-consuming passion for someone who seemed like she was indebted to him rather than her being in love. i also think this inequality in their respective contributions to their relationship is made worse with the durations of both shows. TRS is 17 episodes in compared to MD's 21, which may have helped me overcome the excruciating unrequited love phase and hang on to TRS's story much more than MD's.

2) the driving obstacle toward their relationships

in the red sleeve, we've always understood why the main couple could not be together; as a concubine, the FL would lose her freedom and be entirely devoted to a man who simply cannot be entirely devoted to her. what made their story so tragic is that their circumstances are entirely out of their control; it was fate that made the FL a court lady and the ML a prince. in addition, the pay-off of the couple finally getting together was truly rewarding in that the audience finally witnesses how becoming a concubine heartbreakingly stripped the FL of her personality and charm. the regret that she feels for giving in to the prince is tangible. the warning that she has been alerting both the prince and the audience over the entire course of the drama has finally (and tragically) come to fruition.

however, for my dearest, the obstacles that inhibited their relationship was the intervention of other characters as well as a simple lack of communication. to me, rather than tragic, these roadblocks were frustrating. to prove to gil-chae that he truly truly was committed to her, jang-hyun should've told her about the dozens of pairs of floral shoes he purchased during his agonizing time in simyang. to show jang-hyun that she was in love with him, gil-chae should've cleared up that his "younger brother" literally told her that he was dead, and also that she was staying with officer gu because she had a duty to her family, not because she didn't love him. their poor communication eventually lead to misunderstandings and it was KILLING me. furthermore, i never felt as if the pay-off of jang-hyun and gil-chae getting back together was as satisfying because their entire story was soon marred with hardship that seemed if it had no end.

despite these frustrations, my dearest has been an absolute roller-coaster exploring love in its most pure, raw, and honest shapes and sizes. jang-hyun's love and devotion toward gil-chae was so admirable. and alas, despite both being sageuks, the red sleeve and my dearest are two completely separate shows with separate romances featuring separate issues of the time period. either way, i highly highly recommend my dearest to those looking for a truly epic, slow-burn love story!

(on a final note, i wish men like jang-hyun were real.)