Early Access: The King's Affection E2

E2. I'm still feeling cautiously positive about this show, in that, I really liked the rest of the childhood portion of our story, but I'm a little thrown by the tonal shift that we get, as we transition into the adult portion of our story.

I'll talk more about the tonal shift later, but first, let me say again, that Choi Myung Bin is the bomb. She literally carries the entire early portion of our story, and with aplomb, too. There is so much that Dam Yi goes through, this episode, and so many deep and complicated emotions at play, and she delivers all of it in such a convincing manner, that I instinctively felt for Dam Yi, and got sucked into her journey, as she finds her entire world turned upside down.

I feel for the Crown Princess, because her entire world is turned upside down, as well. She desperately wants to protect both her children, but ends up suddenly losing her son, and then, without having proper time nor space to grieve, she has to move on, by impressing on her newly found daughter, that she now must carry on in her brother's place.

This lady hasn't ever had the time to grieve, or rest, has she? From the moment she gave birth to the twins, she'd had to scramble in fear for her daughter's life, and now, she doesn't even get to give her son a proper send-off, after he's been killed. It's completely heartbreaking, and even more so, that the person behind Hwi's death, is the Crown Princess's own father.

It's no wonder she gets sick not long after, and dies. It's just so much to bear, and swallow. Plus, she did say to Dam Yi that she will take on all the blame, so it kind of feels like Show is making her atonement take the form of an early death. What I love about the Crown Princess, is that she is first and foremost, a mother. She doesn't care about the faction fights; she's only interested in the survival and wellbeing of her children. That's why she'd sent Dam Yi away, and that's why her last request of her husband, on her deathbed, is for him to protect their child.

She doesn't care about what her father says - that everything he's done, is for the good of their family. In her eyes, he killed her son, and she will never forgive him for that.

At the same time, given our context, I can understand where her father, who's listed as Left State Councilor Han, is coming from. Given that the law at the time, is that there can be no royal twins, his choices were basically, 1, allow both babies to be killed under that law, or 2, kill only one baby, and cover up the fact that there was ever a twin.

Put that way, it's hard to say that he was absolutely wrong to want to kill one child, since the other option is to kill both. Also, while it can be argued that he could have hidden one child and allowed the child to live, I do understand his perspective, that it is too dangerous to do so. If that deception were to be discovered, that would mean death for everyone involved, as Show impresses on us, this episode.

I really felt for Dam Yi, as she adjusts to life in the palace. The demands are so high, and she has to adapt to everything as quickly as possible, so as not to blow her cover - and risk death for everyone. Talk about having to function well under pressure!

Plus, she has to reconcile herself with leaving her old life behind. She may not have had much, but that life had been hers. She'd had friends, and she'd had that special connection with Ji Un as well. These people had been important to her, but she'd had to give them up, without even saying goodbye.

And then, there's the thing where she sees her friend and roommate I Wol killed by Ji Un's father, for her connection with Dam Yi. That's awful, and I can imagine how Dam Yi would blame herself for I Wol's death.

Not only that, I can also see why Dam Yi would blame herself for Hwi's death. After all, the person they'd really been after, had been Dam Yi herself. How can that not mess with her mind and her heart?

On top of all this, Dam Yi has to grapple with the fact that she really is the daughter of the Crown Princess, but had been given up, as an infant - because her own grandfather had wanted her dead.

It's A LOT, and it's testament to Dam Yi's resilience, that she only breaks down and tries to run away, after several days. I feel like most people in her shoes, would have given up much sooner.

I really felt for Dam Yi, in that scene where Ji Un comes to visit, and she gives him the set of dice. It's something that she'd wanted to give him, and it's a relief that she actually does get to give it to him, but it's so sad, that she can't give it to him as herself, and has to mask it as a gift that she'd been asked to pass along.

Her tears during this scene are so heartbreaking to watch. There's so much more going on here, than her cut-off friendship with Ji Un. I believe she's being confronted by just how final and complete her severance with her old life is, and it's all very overwhelming for her.

And then there's the scene where Eunuch Hong cries for Dam Yi, in her difficult situation, and Dam Yi shows herself. Her tears, as Court Lady Kim holds her and tells her that it's not her fault, are so plaintive.

Last but not least, Dam Yi's tears, as she sits by her mother's deathbed, are so full of heartbreak and fear. It's awful, that Dam Yi loses the one person who would have been her rock, in the palace. It's true that she still has Court Lady Kim and Eunuch Hong, but they have no real influence in court matters, and have no way of protecting Dam Yi, if she ever needed protecting.

Altogether, I think Show does a very solid job of showing us why Dam Yi needs to forsake her true personality, and take on a harsher, more prickly, arrogant sort of persona. In a dog-eat-dog world that is the palace, where there are people around every corner who would like to get rid of her, Dam Yi's best line of defense, is to become a strong personality who would not hesitate to exert her power. This is the safest way to ensure not only the preservation of her own life, but also, the preservation of the lives of Court Lady Kim and Eunuch Hong, who are helping her keep her secret.

I am pretty impressed with how Park Eun Bin channels her inner Crown Prince, because when we meet Dam Yi after the 10-year time skip, I can clearly see all the mannerisms and gestures that make up the male vibe that goes into creating the persona of Lee Hwi. Sure, her features are delicate, but she can't help that, and it's true that there are some men who have very dainty features.

What's important to me, is how she carries herself, and to that end, I find Park Eun Bin's delivery very excellent indeed. I find that it's not hard to convince myself that this is a Crown Prince who's had to deal with teasing and behind-his-back ridicule, for being small, and looking like a girl.

That said, I did feel a little bit of whiplash, with Show's tonal shift between our childhood portion and the adult portion of our story. The childhood portion is straight-up drama, with touches of whimsy when it came to the bond between Ji Un and Dam Yi, while the introduction to the adult portion of the story, feels like a lighthearted rom-com - with emphasis on the "com" part of the equation.

Honestly, if you'd told me that Show had assigned the childhood and adult portions of our story to different writers, I'd halfway believe you.

I dunno, everything feels a little OTT and theatrical to my eyes, for a start. In particular, I feel like Prince Changun is made out to be some kind of larger-than-life baddie type, with his overtly insulting remarks, and his outright disrespect for the Crown Prince.

Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but I'd had the impression, from other sageuks, that even if people didn't think much of one another in the royal court, they were very careful to keep up a polite and pleasant front, even if they were actively scheming to have the other person killed. I found this obvious disrespect, which I would argue is strong enough to be called animosity, rather jarring.

On a tangent, I also just wanted to say that while the beautiful release of Dam Yi's long hair is completely unrealistic, I feel like Show deserves a pass on this, because so many other shows have used this device before. In almost every cross-dressing period drama, whether it's Korean or Chinese, I feel like there's a high chance of an accidental hair release moment, where the long hair cascades beautifully like in a shampoo ad, even though there's no way a single pin could have held the entire 'do together, up to that point. This is basically par for the course, as far as I'm concerned, so I don't hold it against Show in the least.

I find the treatment of Ji Un so far, a bit too comedic for my taste, what with the tall tale of how he'd save the Ming official from choking to death, and then the intended-to-be-funny way he discovers that he is fresh out of the herb that he needs, to treat a demanding patient.

At this point, I don't have much to say about Ro Woon's outing as Ji Un, because he hasn't been required to do very much so far, aside from looking handsome, and a little startled. I'm hopeful that Ji Un's character will settle into something reasonably appealing, as we go.

I rationalize that perhaps Show is trying to say that after 10 years, the angst of the past has settled, and life in general has a bright and laidback tone to it..? I'm hoping that this lens works.

I get that all the events in the last quarter of the episode, are to get Ji Un and Dam Yi back in each other's orbits, and perhaps the desire to have Ji Un and Dam Yi in the same frame by the end of the episode, is what caused the relative rush at the end of the episode. Honestly, it did feel like a case of connect-the-dots writing, where writer-nim rushes from one narrative milestone to another, in order to have the OTP in the same scene, within a limited time frame.

While I didn't much care for how we rushed headlong into that final scene, I have to admit that I do rather like where we leave our OTP. Ji Un is suitably startled, like I mentioned, but it's Dam Yi's fierce, suspicious, almost feral vibe, as she faces off with him, that has my attention. That's totally the look of someone who's learned to be wary of everything and everyone, and is ready to kill if necessary, in order to protect herself.

Even though I've heard that Show tends to veer into tropey territory with its story from this point forward, I'm still hopeful that it'll be enjoyable. Tropes done well are fine by me; fingers crossed that Show manages to achieve that!

Next episode notes will be out on: Monday, 22 Nov 2021!