[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The King's Affection" Episode 3

It's been awhile since I've checked in on "The King's Affection" and I'm not the only one. The historical drama had its ratings high point in the second episode with 6.7%. In the most recent sixth episode, it trickled down to 5.5%- almost half of the 10.4% ratings "Lovers of the Red Sky" had in its finale. The lack of competition might help "The King's Affection" out, but a glance at the third episode gives some hints as to why viewers may be losing interest.

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The most obvious issue is that there's still a lot of exposition to be had, almost all of which should have shown up earlier. Apparently Hyejong is indeed king now. And also, apparently this entire time he had a concubine, who for some reason doesn't appear to have a name, although she does have a son, Je-hyeon (played by Cha Sung-je). In other words, characters with good reason to want to see Crown Prince Lee dead, even if Je-hyeon clearly looks up with admiration to his older sister...er...brother.

The royal court dynamics are by far the most interesting. Among other things they explain why people are trying to kill our heroine. But most of this episode is hand-wringing about whether Crown Prince Lee needs to kill Doctor Jeong, since he knows her secret. Maybe. The people in this drama are way too quick to just try and solve all their problems with murder, especially considering the murders create more problems than they solve.

As for Doctor Jeong, we get an explanation of why he's a doctor rather than a scholar. Apparently, Inspector Jeong murdering a palace maid for reasons he refused to explain really messed Doctor Jeong up. So he rebelled against his family by choosing to study the low prestige profession of...doctor. It makes sense if you don't think about it. The important part is that Inspector Jeong is mad, and Doctor Jeong is not on board for all the murder that goes on at the palace.

"The King's Affection" is really more of a goofy show than a bad one, and even then only really because most of the stakes aren't clearly defined. At one point characters express concern that Crown Prince Lee might have taken advantage of the assassination attempt to make a run for it. And that actually presents a good question. Why doesn't Crown Prince Lee just make a run for it? What does she care about her murderous grandpa's political ambitions?

Review by William Schwartz

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"The King's Affection" is directed by Lee Hyun-suk, Song Hyeon-wook, written by Han Hee-jeong, and features Park Eun-bin, Rowoon, Nam Yoon-su, Choi Byung-chan, Bae Yoon-kyung, Jung Chae-yeon. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/10/11~Now airing, Mon, Tue 21:30 on KBS.