Tag: seven day queen

Seven Day Queen, Episode 5 [DROPPED]

Posted on by Audrey

TL;DR: We have a fundamental incompatibility in regards to what can and cannot be considered romantic.

I’m going to make this short and quick: wow, did I hate this episode. Enough that, coupled with the warning that even more forced kisses will be showing up later on, I am dropping the show immediately. Show, you only had one job: convince me that Chae-gyeong and Jinseong/Yeok/Nak-cheon were the romance for the ages and then tragically separate them. Instead, I spent this entire episode being bitter about all the emotional labor Chae-gyeong was preforming for Yeonsangun and then wanting to claw out Yeok’s eyes for the historical equivalent of sex-shaming Chae-gyeong and then force kissing (AKA SEXUALLY ASSAULTING) her as a punishment.

And the damned music director decided that would be the best moment to play one of the romantic songs. NOPE. Continue reading “Seven Day Queen, Episode 5 [DROPPED]” →

Seven Day Queen, Episodes 3 & 4

Posted on by Audrey

TL;DR: “If we get married, let’s live like friends and have fun, like this, forever.” <– What you should never say if you actually want this to happen.

Would you look at that: a saguek where the end of the childhood portion is marked by tragedy, bloodshed, and the separation of the OTP. AKA, standard fare for sageuks. It felt a little hollow to me, partly because Yeonsangun’s tendency to make what could have been written off as a childhood indiscretion/impulse as something being on par with treason is just plain tiring, and partly because I’m really annoyed that they bothered to separate Chae-gyeong and Jinseong at this point in time. Continue reading “Seven Day Queen, Episodes 3 & 4” →

Seven Day Queen, Episodes 1 & 2

Posted on by Audrey

TL;DR: Oh no, it’s cute.

That’s not to say there aren’t some problems. Episode one in particular feels remarkably uneven at points due to the jarring juxtaposition of comedic and dramatic scenes. (And, as is usual for me, I find the style of humor more irritating than enjoyable.) Still, despite some pet peeves, Seven Day Queen manages to do the most important thing well: putting us solidly behind plucky country girl and future queen, Chae-gyeong. Continue reading “Seven Day Queen, Episodes 1 & 2” →

4 Hopes for Seven Day Queen

Posted on by Audrey

It’s not often that a woman gets to be the center of a sageuk, and that alone would have probably been enough for me to be interested. But once you toss in Park Min-young and the director of Healer, you definitely get my attention. I’ll be checking out the show this weekend; in the meantime, here are the things I really want from the drama:

  1. Chae-kyung will have her own story arc. Okay, yes, I know that the whole point of this drama is going to be the tragic love story, but wouldn’t it be excellent if she had scenes that had nothing to do with either prince? I’d honestly love to see her adjusting to life as the wife of a prince, see her interactions with the other palace ladies, etc.
  2. The drama passes the Bechdel Test in 50% of its episodes. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Flower in Prison, which passed the Bechdel Test in almost every episode, but I would love it if Seven Day Queen did the same. There are a bunch of ladies listed in the cast: the eventual queen dowager, a future deposed queen, a concubine, the queen that will succeed Chae-kyung, etc. It might be hard not to talk about the despot king and his evil deeds, but surely you will all have a subject to talk about among yourselves that does not involve a man at some point. I believe in you!
  3. It is the tragedy of an era when Chae-kyung and Lee Yuk (King Jungjong) are separated. Convince me that they should make my (extremely short) kdrama OTP list and then cruelly rip them apart. I want this drama to spend the bulk of its romantic screen time showing me that these two are soulmates, that their love will conquer everything, that they are happiest when they are next to each other—and then separate them. FOREVER. Which brings me to—
  4. I want this drama to make me cry. I am 100% serious on this one. Look, this is a tragic story about thwarted true love—make me weep, dammit. Maybe not every episode, but I want to bawl at some point. Knowing me, this shouldn’t be all that high of a bar to clear (Circle almost got a tear or two already).

Is Seven Day Queen on your watch list? Have you already seen this week’s episodes? What are your hopes for the show? Let me know!