kdrama - Dong Yi

before my usual review stuff, i have to say, this drama is super long and hence my blog was quiet for a bit.

official website:
http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/dongyi/

drama title:
동이 (同伊) / Dong Yi

main cast:
Han Hyo Joo as Choi Dong Yi
Ji Jin Hee as King Sukjong
Bae Soo Bin as Cha Chun Soo (Dong Yi's 'bro')
Jung Jin Young as Seo Yong Gi (Dong Yi's dad's friend and court official)
too many names and faces. check out this link to associate them: http://asianmediawiki.com/Dong_Yi

synopsis:
Dramatization of life of Dong Yi, who lived in olden Korea, who rose from commoner to dowager queen status.

it's kinda long, cos there is lots of stories from her childhood, to working as a maid in the court, then getting promoted to court lady, and finally concubine.

my score: 9 out of 10.
at least, that's the score for the first 2/3 of the drama. she had to run for her life as a child, and then to fight the court schemes when she started out in court, all the while looking for evidence to prove her dad's innocence (and also her brother who died together with her dad. Chun Soo is actually not her real bro, but a close follower of her dad who managed to escape with Dong Yi, and has sworn to protect her)

why you should watch it:
some of the schemes and counter schemes are truly in the realm of the brilliant. there is one more brilliant counter scheme towards the end of the drama, but by then you are pretty much drained and hoping she is dead.

there's not much eye candy and most of that is covered up anyway. so this is really a drama that appeals to those who appreciate the slow build up of evidence that leads to conviction of the guilty parties, who are not sitting idle to be caught, but always finding ways to eliminate the evidence or Dong Yi and her pals, whichever comes first.

there is also quite a bit of comedy relief, so that it's not all about police and thieves.