10/10 binge-ability.

I don't typically enjoy Joseon dramas all that much because the villains tend to suck and painstakingly explain all their awful plans step by step as they plot along. There was quite little evil plotting here, while still delivering lots of drama, so this show was a very welcome surprise!

There were so many different plots happening in short and long arcs that I never got bored. There was a big mystery regarding a dethroned king, there was relationship drama, there were power struggles within the court and also the journey of a group of women trying to find their place and be acknowledged in a male-centric world. The show even took the time to give some backstory to a couple of the other historians, which could have been boring but wasn't because it ended up helping me better understand their actions and motivations.

The cast was huge, and everyone did a fantastic job. This was my first time seeing a drama with Shin Se Kyung and she was absolutely wonderful. And Cha Eun Woo as Prince Rin was just too precious for words. He was so earnest, sweet and pure. I liked the different power dynamic of having the female lead be the older, more confident one in the relationship and her male co-star be the innocent, unsure one. They were great together. And the Crown Prince and Historian Min deserve some recognition, too. Along with the other three female historians, the eunuch that always accompanied the Prince and Hae Ryung's maid.

A wonderful drama all around.

This is one of the best examples I've came across to what I like to call a "cosplay show", it had little to no serious consideration for its proposed era. The trend continued when the drama started to get preachy from a modern society point of view while being in no position to allow it to attempt such a thing. These could have been avoided if the drama was a parody, of which, it was not. There were obvious other problems and inconsistencies too, but what stood out the most was the mundane sequences filling the biggest portion of the drama, these were a real brain rot.

What did the drama want to be? A social commentary, a political play, a profession spotlight, a slice of life, or a light romcom? It never embraced any aspect of fully committed to a theme. Whenever it tried to delve deeper, it pulled itself back up to the surface. Unsuccessful mix, regardless. There were other points to be made about the cast, chemistry, and romance but I don't feel like repeating myself.

>"A Prince with a Princess Heart and a commoner who acts like a Prince meet and that's story ///"

Hae-Ryung is an unmarried , undesired 26 yr old woman who is atleast 300 years advanced in culture. She is might be wearing a prince clothes ; but she is the prince in the story ; selfish -know it all - history who seem like she has born with upright principles and talking down upon even the Prince/King.

Lee Rim is a prince with Princess Syndrome locked in tower like Disney Princess ; he reads a lot and writes romance novels ; yet he falls for un-woman like girl on first sight and his attempts to woo her ,sacrifices , dialogues are cringy and barfing.

The Eunuch and other maids are the fun part of the show.

The historians records and don't show it to anyone ; its like a secret book club ; whats the point of recording history when you don't allow others to read. How will you learn from the past if you don't read the history. Why is the king and court so afraid of history that they let 1 apprentice torture them.

This show tries to prove that 'Pen is mightier than Sword ' but it takes it an unbelievable next level in a world where if the king kills half a dozen historians and replace them with loyal subjects nobody would bat an eye ...

'Pen is not mightier than Sword ; even in 21st century when the information travels faster than light speed.

Overal this is an enjoyable show but the historians are overglorified and dramatized making them GOD like and totally unrealistic for 18th and 19th century Joseon.

[spoiler]
If you take the tensions between the Royal Court and Historians it is not an enjoyable show as the romance between the main characters didn't feel natural ; as the prince without received any love just falls for the first woman he meets outside the palace ( 6yr old one) and just sacrifices everything for her to make her shine and be a historian ?
[/spoiler]

This is just for a causal watch ;albeit enjoyable if you don't think much of the plot ; which could be quessed with in first 5 episodes but the show got dragged a bit.