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The East Palace is a supernatural historical drama from Netflix, which comes in at only 8 episodes.
The current King (Cho Seung Woo) is plagued by a supernatural being bent on revenge, which hopes to sever his bloodline. With the young crown prince in danger, he forces the help of Gu Cheon (Nam Joo Hyuk), a reluctant pawn in the King’s game who can see and interact with the spirit realm. To keep Gu Cheon in check, he has court lady Saeng Gang (Roh Yoon Seo) join the secret assignment.
This becomes rather laughable, when it’s often the pair or even just Saeng Gang on her own, that is causing trouble and not being very subtle about it.
For a short drama, The East Palace packs in a lot of action, humour and heart. We learn a lot about the different spirit types, as well as the different terrible acts committed by and for the crown within the palace walls.
Due to the length of the drama, it did lack in character development for some important players. This was most notable in Saeng Gang’s grandmother (Hwang Young Hee), the Dowager Queen (Jang Young Nam) and even the Crown Prince (Kwak Dong Yeon) – which is mostly due to the secrecy of this plot point.
Despite not feeling that the Dowager Queen was used to her full potential and how having a longer run time would have really solidified her intentions and reach within the palace, Jang Young Nam was fantastic. She had my attention in every scene. I also feel the same way about the Shaman (Lee Hong Nae), like they couldn’t have given me more information about this strange man?
Sageuks set in the palace are just better, as it’s such a beautiful and rich atmosphere, and the tension is often exacerbated due to the political intrigue interwoven within the fabric of the place. Again, I would have loved more time for this to really be a strong established element, especially as the whole drama’s plot is hinged on political scheming and what these royals are willing to do to keep or gain power.
The CGI and effects were great and added such a nostalgic and fun feeling to the whole thing. There were definitely creepy moments and some of those creatures were not fun to look at! It felt more real and less artificial than most of the effects that we see nowadays. It has also been confirmed that no AI was involved with the making of The East Palace. I’m also obsessed that Gu Cheon would seemingly have a different wardrobe in the spirit realm.
More nostalgia came from the fight scenes which felt very reminiscent of martial arts films. The air is also a perfectly reasonable place to have a sword fight and you’re a coward if you think otherwise!
I had a lot of fun with this and I’m certainly sure that another series is going to be made. I’m normally not a fan of multiple series, when it comes to Kdramas, but this felt so short and I would definitely be seated, especially as I have a great fondness for our main two.
Nam Joo Hyuk and Roh Yoon Seo had great chemistry and their dynamic progressed nicely. Both characters were strong in their beliefs and I loved that they often never had secrets from each other and Gu Cheon, though begrudgingly sometimes, was always willing to explain.
Overall, a great time, but lacked a lot of depth which would have easily been achievable if it were longer.
- my rating: 3.5โญ
- director: Choi Jung Gyu
- cinematography: Park Jung Hoon
- screenwriter: Kwon So Ra, Seo Jae Won
- network: Netflix
- images: HanCinema
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What were your thoughts on The East Palace? Do you think we’ll get a second series? Thanks for reading!
I hope youโre having a lovely day and staying safe ๐
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