I enjoyed watching this every single week but it was not without faults. I agree with the comments that it could have been cut down to 16 episodes. The first four episodes, as well as episodes eight-ten were my favorite in the whole series. Despite having more than enough time, the ending still felt rushed and poorly paced.

[spoiler] How the heck did Dam-i survive the poison?? [/spoiler]

What kept me watching each week was the really fantastic cast and their antics.

Eun-bi was stellar. She managed to pull off a cold, aloof King with an air of grace and charm. [spoiler] The scene in episode seven where she loses her cool and beats the sh*t out of the envoy from Ming, and then faces the real and emotional consequences was my favorite scene in the whole drama. [/spoiler]

Rowoon as Jung Ji-woon, was such a golden retriever boy, each scene with him falling for the "King" was so cute to watch.
I felt the most invested in the conflict between Ji-woon and his father (very skillfully acted by Bae Soo-bin), and was very satisfied with how that story played out.

I also was so impressed by the relatively new (at least to me) Nam Yoon-su as Lee Hyun. His dimples stole every scene he was in, and I can't wait to follow his next projects.

I do wish the drama had given more depth and understanding to Choi Byung-chan as Kim Ga-on. There was a bit of mystery of his character in the beginning that was very compelling, but they never effectively drew on him as a character and in the later half of the drama he was seemingly a glorified errand boy. And I don't even want to talk about the [spoiler] sheer ANNOYING plot point of alternative marriages to people you don't love and how underutilized and underdeveloped Noh Ha-kyung and Shin So-eun were. I had to roll my eyes anytime they were on screen and I know it was not the actresses fault but sloppy writing.[/spoiler]

I'd say this is a solid 7/10 for me.

Women should be allowed to be King more often! LOL

No, but seriously, this drama was top notch.

This was my first time seeing Park Eun Bin in anything but I'm convinced there wasn't a more perfect choice for the role out there. Not only was she physically a great choice, but she also killed it acting wise. She was so level-headed and composed most of the time, but when her emotions bubbled over she really stole the show. She was so badass and brave. But also humble and unafraid of being vulnerable. I really liked both the character and how Eun Bin brought her to life.

As for Rowoon, it's amazing how much better his acting has gotten! He's improved so much. He did a great job as Ji Un. It was so adorable seeing him be all confused and flustered over his budding feelings for the Crown Prince/King. And his chemistry with Eun Bin was electric. It was a joy to see them in every scene they had together.

The rest of the cast also deserves a shout-out. From Hyun, Eunuch Hong and Court Lady Kim, to commander Yoon, Ji Un's father and even all the kid actors. Choi Byung Chan was maybe a bit expressionless and monotone as Kim Ga On, but then again that was kind of the character's personality.

For a 20 episode drama there was a surprising amount of things that were barely addressed. [spoiler] Hwi's mother's death and her marriage come to mind, one came out of nowhere and the other wasn't even shown. Not to mention the rise to power of Hwi's paternal grandfather. A bit more backstory on the Uncle and her two cousins also maybe would have been helpful.[/spoiler]

Lastly, I have to applaud whoever was involved in picking the OST. They really deserve a prize for a job well done. And the team that made the intro. I'm one of those people who always skip the intro sequence in dramas, but this one was so beautiful and went so well with the music that each episode I looked forward to it.

> Dragged show ! It didn’t need 20 episodes

The King's Affection felt like an exaggerated version of Lovers of the Red Sky. I can't help but compare these 2 because they are produced around the same time period. The former is obviously a lot better than the latter but still the amount of dragging the script to produce more episode is the same.

SCREENPLAY ( 0/10)
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Its fair to say the Most Disappointing Show of 2021 given the excitement that was bought upon in the first 4 episodes. This series was written by a woman who intended to write the romance purely to create a "forbidden love" out of historical implications behind King's/Prince's position but remembered, last minute, it was still historical so they slapped together some cheap politics to create tension.Screenwriter Han Hee Jung and director Song Hyun Wook’s ‘ The King’s Affection’ attempted to offer viewers the best of two worlds; a Sageuk ( historical drama) and an arguably more “ modern” love story. However against its more intriguing setup ‘ The King’s Affection’ found itself shoehorned into a slow-paced trope extravaganza by the second-half.

I'll start off by saying I don't understand why this ended up being 20 episodes. It could have been concluded with the typical 16 episodes. HALF of the show didn't progress for it to deserve more. This is a classical example of bad writing. If it was shorter, the flaws of the drama would be less glaring. There were some excellent shows that deserved more airtime than this one

**Ok that's enough rant about pacing for today **

CAST ( 6/10)
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Main actress Park Eun Bin undeniably offered one of the strongest performances of the series; adding an air of charm to her onscreen counterpart. The female lead Dami was undeniably the epitome of the “ inserted” and frequently-used cross-dressing trope by having to play the role of her brother l the Crowned Prince Lee throughout most of the events of the series . Whilst with plot context it was necessary for driving the storyline, there were a lot of loose threads considering other story points including exactly why her grandfather ordered her to be killed ( aside from merely just being an “ unnecessary girl”), as well as one evident fact; the female lead’s feminine features and vocal intonations are evident even as her male counterpart . Admittedly whilst this may have just been passed off by members of the royal court it did hit a point blank in plot logic when many scenes and close-ups easily giving away Park Eun Bin’s softer features. Later episodes did little to truly allow Dami to come to terms with these cut-out subplots surrounding her storyline, ultimately reducing her seemingly intriguing character-drive to the equivalent of cannon fodder by the latter-half.

Costarring alongside Park Eun Bin is idol-actor Rowoon. Rowoon’s performance as main lead Jung Ji Woon did undeniably see some surprisingly bittersweet performance moments as his onscreen persona comes to terms with his sexuality and growing feelings for the Prince, as well as his initial motives for entering the palace. However Ji Woon’s initial establishment as the “ mysterious tutor” is subverted in later episodes to the “ lovelorn sweetheart”; pledging his own life to “ protecting” Hwi ( despite his initial reasons early on in the series) and benignly chasing after the female lead’s affections in a dragged-out and anticlimactic love story. This often resulted in a test of patience for viewers as Ji Woon and Hwi’s sense of gradual chemistry and growth was shoehorned into a lacklustre onscreen relationship despite dominant screen time.

As a consequence of lacking development time potentially intriguing characters such as Lee Hyun-Hwi’s protective cousin ( Nam Yoon Su), the Prince’s mysterious bodyguard ( Choi Byung Chan), **Shin So Eun** - the daughter of the Minister of Interior ( Bae Yoon Kyung) and **Noh Ha-Kyung**; the youngest daughter of the Minister of War ( Jung Chae Yeon) were often enforced into staid plot setups and cliches with their character arcs and drives often being cut short. If you are going to make love triangle make them interesting by giving the secondary characters more time and emotions and not just plot conveniences that come and disappear.

Production ( 7/10)
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The cinematography and OST of the series could admittedly vary from scene to scene. Whilst there were some admittedly beautiful shots and powerful soundtracks combined with scenes of the palace and period outfits presented by director Song Hyun Wook, more subtle emotions and scenes could often feel lackluster from poorly-placed camera angles and song choices onscreen. To many slow-motion scenes about catching falling potential love interests.

OVerall (7/10)
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So what is left to say about ‘ The King’s Affection’? Is it worth watching or is it a waste of time? The ‘ King’s Affection’ is the epitome of a “ hot mess” series - stunning outfits, an intriguing premise, a fairly good cast lineup and an especially dynamic performance from main actress Park Eun Bin undeniably remained the drama’s greatest takeaways. However the twenty-episode formula applied to a story-line which was written better for no more than sixteen- episodes, created a slow-moving and disengaging second-half for viewers with intriguing subplots and characters left in the background in order to make way for a lackluster romance which gradually dwindled to an unsurprisingly anticlimactic resolution. Overall whilst the 20-episode drama whilst not unwatchable and certainly decent enough if you are willing to watch out of sheer boredom, it does admittedly lack a more definitive spark of feeling well-rounded also.

P.S : I have applied MAX(rating) and the only reason it gets a 7 is because i thoroughly enjoyed the first 4-6 episodes as the story of star-crossed lovers unfolded since childhood to adulthood ; the introduction or the lack of story there-after has diminished the experience drastically and it was a struggle to finish the last 4 episodes with all the cliches in it .

Well, let me tell you, that this drama was a life-changing experience because after enduring its mind-numbingly brilliant writing that clearly must have been penned by a troupe of hyper-intelligent amoebas, I now have an entirely new appreciation for the fine art of cringing. It's not every day you witness such a harmonious symphony of terrible acting, contrived plot devices, and dialogue that would make a robot's attempts at humor seem positively Shakespearean, all neatly packaged in a show that proudly screams a truly modern marvel of disappointment.