Qin Shi Li Ren Ming Yue Xin

Hats off to the entire unit for bringing out this series for all to see. A peak into history, the action scenes with swords are just mind boggling, captured so well. Our values, principals, beliefs, words and actions make us who we are. All of this is so wonderfully portrayed by this drama. Thanks to the HLBN entertainment for their brilliant translation in English, where you could feel the emotions of every scene and character without which it would have been impossible to relate to this beautiful work of art.

The story of The King's Woman is based on the fictional love story of the first emperor of China, Qin She Huang, born as Ying Zheng, the prince of Qin. There's also a story arc about a murder attempt on his life that has been written down in history.

The plot: Gong Sun Li (Dilraba Dilmurat) is the granddaughter and disciple of the powerful military commander Gong Sun Yu. The first disciple Jing Ke (Liu Chang) and Li have always been in love with each other since childhood. When the Qin troops attack, Jing Ke is poisoned while trying to protect Li. In order to save Jing Ke, Li agrees to marry Ying Zheng (Zhang Bin Bin), the King of the Qin State, but she discovers that she is already pregnant with Jing Ke's baby.

Ying Zheng has always been in love with Li and accepts the child as his own. As Li gets to know the kinder, gentler side of the ruthless ruler, she begins to fall in love with him. Where will her allegiance lie when Jing Ke comes to the palace to assassinate Ying Zheng?

The good: Somehow I must be twisted af, because I really liked this show. Why else can I relate to all these crazy characters? I am feeling for a girl, Gong Sun Li, who's suffering from a severe form of Stockholm Syndrome. She's showing sympathy, and eventually love, to a terrorist king who holds her in hostage. Moreover my heart is aching for this brute tyrant, who just can't help himself, because he lacks trust and love since childhood. I guess this madness is partly due to the good looks, and acting, of Zhang Bin Bin, who displays all kind of contrary emotions within seconds. The beautiful cinematography isn't helping either.

The bad: The only way to watch this love story with your sanity in tact, is preparing yourself for the ending. One should know this is not the era of happy campers.

I really wanted to like this, but there are so many plot points that don't make sense. So many actions that just fly in the face of reason, even for those times, it just didn't work for me.

Most of the actors do a good job, production values are better than average, but the script is just too difficult to believe. The actor playing the King is somewhat wooden in this show as he also was in Love 020. I initially thought that was because of the way his character was written, but now that I've seen him in two shows, I think it is just his acting.

The main point of this is that the King has grown up with little to no people he can trust in his life, so he is cruel and paranoid. He desires, I wouldn't say loves, the female lead, Gong Sun Li, because she helped save him when they were younger.

SPOILERS BELOW: As King of the most powerful kingdom he is able to use force and blackmail to get what he wants. And, so Sun Li comes to the palace as a concubine, but she is pregnant with Jing Ke's child.

The King favors her and treats her well enough that eventually she falls for him as she realizes the cause of his cruelty. This isn't Stockholm Syndrome because that isn't really a thing, it isn't listed in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders". It is simply the natural empathy most people can feel when they spend time together and begin to appreciate the good with the bad.

There are many mistakes in the script, an example would be in episode 31 when Sun Li is in a palanquin with Min Dai, who has stolen her dagger. Min Dai pulls the dagger and cuts herself putting the dagger in Sun Li's hand. The main problem I have with this is Sun Li is a martial arts expert, especially with a sword (or even a dagger) and Min Dai has no martial arts skills. This being true, how come Sun Li didn't take the dagger away from Min Dai while they were talking? Or, why is the dagger in her hands after Min Dai cuts herself? Min Dai tells the King that Sun Li tried to kill her? If Sun Li had tried to kill Min Dai she would be dead.

Another, very simple complaint is when people are chained, in prison, the handcuffs are three times larger than their wrists and could easily fall off? I know there is a limited budget for every show, but really?

I'm not a fan of the deuxs ex machina, magical poison of the last episode that allows the King to win in martial arts. It feels like a cop-out for poor writing skills.

I have many more criticisms, but those are enough of a sample, so you can decide if I am too critical or not.

And, finally, you do need to know that this is a tragedy. It is important because sometimes I want to watch a show that leaves me feeling uplifted and sometimes I don't care.

I am sure I heard this was a big hit in its country of origin. So, I got curious and had quite a bit of an expectation. After completing the drama, I am just utterly disappointed. I almost dropped this because of the poor casting choices. They could have chosen better actors in the leading role. I guess they went after who is popular at the moment. The actor playing the King is so wooden and uninspiring. I can't believe they got him to play the famous Qin Shi Huang. He was supposed to be an authoritarian tyrant. He exuded so much power and vitality in him but I couldn't feel it with this actor. He had almost the same expressions all throughout the entire drama. He looked and acted weak. Gongsun Li's character was supposed to be vibrant, smart and outstanding. Again, I couldn't feel it with this actress. She was bland. I like the actors playing Jing Ke and Madam Chu. I like her little facial expressions and the way she talks. She had this irritating persona and therefore, was a really effective character. I prefer Han Shen over everyone on this drama. You could feel his suppressed emotions. He portrayed the character of a man in love with a woman he could never have well. As for the visual effects, they looked like it was done by amateurs. Lastly, there were so many plot holes and inconsistencies with the characters. I really wanted to like The King's Woman but I just can't. It is a good story but ruined by poor execution.

I enjoyed the actors in this series. I enjoyed getting trapped in the plot and passion. My opinion: I was devastated at the end. I didn't want my heart to break so badly, but it's a tragedy so prepare yourself.