You'd think they'd learn... NOBODY in kdramaland ever manages to exterminate a whole family without leaving a young survivor to grow up and seek revenge.

And speaking of... revenge, damnesia, split personalities, hanbok designer... trope salad designed to keep you awake.

FWIW, I didn't like the hanbok designer bit in Jang Ok Jung, Live for Love 10 years ago and it doesn't improve with age, although it seems to improve with marriage arrangements, so there's hope :)

I'm the opposite, Park Ji-Hoon is a part of why I don't like it. I can't help myself to see him as a pretty boy. I don't find him charismatic at all. But it's on me, he's not a bad actor. So he was cute as the designer who loves his art but he's not Yeo Jin-Goo who can change in a despot like he wants.

The switch of personality is not clear, how it happened, who knows, can he control it?

I wonder why they always described the FL as an assassin and we never see her killing! She looks more like a mercenary. And she's not so good because he guessed so easily her job and she can't recognize poison in the air?

She worked with Hwang Hee to kill the King. I wonder how they will work the 3 of them.

*raises eyebrows through the roof*

I cannot think of a single part of this that was good.

.
.
.

The editing and directing is choppy and jumps all over the screen.

The villains are cartoonish, and seem to think screaming or laughing madly is all that’s needed to make you interesting.

The plot set up was janky and unbelievable, not the least because characters acted incredibly stupidly out of necessity for said set up to happen.

The young leading cast, is, as predicted, green, and miscast. They neither of them have any screen presence here, and their acting is very one note.
I personally found their scenes together awkward, lacking chemistry and boring to watch.

None of the rest of the cast is selling it for me either, and their delivery and lines feel over rehearsed.
The dialogue is tacky too. For example, why is a child spontaneously giving the villain a Curse Monologue? I know why, it’s because she’s the Main Character, and it is trying to set up her desire for revenge, but it feels unnatural; the result feels like a bad stage play of what the actual story is supposed to be. And you don’t NEED a Curse Monologue to set that up. It’s reminiscent of another flaw of the show, that rears its head in dialogue elsewhere: that of overwrought exposition, a lack of subtlety, and telling not showing.

The fight choreo is bad, even for this genre. (I also can’t help but feeling that Jian would work better than ever popular curved hwando. I know it’s a fantasy so historic timing doesn’t matter; I just think Jian would look aesthetically and stylistically better here. Then again, with this choreo, they would likely butcher the swordplay even more with Jian, so, probably a good thing.)

She’s a terrible assassin and gives all the rest of us assassins a bad name. For shame!

The whole DID/Possessed by the Manifestation of my Trauma/Sudden Curse/Whatever the everloving shit is going on there is both very poorly set up, and terribly executed: His other identity kidnapped her, wiped her memory, and made her his concubine to show her how “sincere” he is… If I’m already questioning the need for something to exist, you’ve failed somewhere. Multiple somewheres, in this instance.

The costuming was awful and cheap – why Korea still hasn’t figured out good wigs yet idk. And why does Hwang Hee get any kind of wig, and the ML just extensions? Ironic, for a ML that is supposed to be a dressmaker/tailor.

The design of the show, as well as the worldbuilding, mainly political and logistical, seems very poorly thought-out.

I don’t care about anyone. The background plot is a dime a dozen these days, and a bad example of its kind. None of the emotional beats land because they’re too obvious, too over the top, and badly acted; I don’t care if this is supposed to be some moving story and the ML is supposed to be tragic, because it’s just doing a shitty job of telling that, with bad tropes.

I honestly don’t care about...

For me this drama is a new low. Clearly a nod towards C-drama where, I did not know this before, split personality is a common theme. The crown prince, suffering from this condition, is a skilled tailor with soft hands for a few days, but also a great swordsman for the rest of the days. All these sword games should make calloused hands! Add to that a few pretty dancers/assassins, prey for a horny, evil king!

Well, I am out! The cast is good, they could do so much better.

Park Ji Hoon is Gong Yoo with a babyfilter on, you can't unsee it.

Sajo Hyun is definitely an interesting character but as I said elsewhere, despite the fact that he's doing well in the role, not being a Park Ji-hoon fan makes it harder for me to really get into this drama. It's better than I thought it would be, though, so that's something!

I didn't think the evil spirit angle was at all necessary considering the fact that boy has suffered enough psychological trauma to develop disassociative identity disorder several times over. But I guess that makes it easier to resolve it down the road.

I agree that the dancing and the fast pace make this very watchable Overall, the drama is a mash-up of old school tropes with modern (and sometimes gimmicky) direction, editing, and cinematography, and that's not boring. At the same time, I'm not really feeling the romance (again, this is likely a me problem due to my dislike of PJH in romantic roles), and disliked the amnesiac twist (which I didn't think was necessary to advance the story). So, jury's out.

I guess I'm alone in this but I like this first episode!
It's so bizarre in many ways... but I didn't get bored for a second.
I think Park Ji Hoon is a very talented actor (I liked him in At a distance... and loved him in Weak Hero Class 1), PDnim directed some good dramas (King of Baking, Healer...) and the screenwriter wrote one of my favorite shows, Girls Generation 1979.

I liked the background music too.

So I have hope on this.

I must say that this is my first time I heard s*d*my is discussed or mentioned in a kdrama 🙈

I think I would have to watch this a second, possibly a third time because my first watch just had me going wtf? Haha

First, is this supposed to be comedic because I chuckled every time there was a zoom sound effect when Ak Hee was running. I also chuckled when he seemed to forget how short he (his legs) were and tried to do one of those "cool" blocking with your leg moves (that I think I've only seen in mangas haha) only to clop his foot on the floor haha. Also when he met the girl, she knows him as the drapery guy and that caused him to start stuttering/stammering haha.

I don't know how to put Ak Hee & Sajo Hyun's characteristics into words. For Hyun to be the dominant/primary personality, Ak Hee seems more of the focus. He's the one first became intrigued by the girl, his actions are what led to her being the consort, and he's the one who could most directly challenge the father (from what I understand). Is Hyun's only things to be into designing/making hanbok and being insulted while Ak Hee is the one who can do all the other stuff?

I get why Ak Hee is interested in her but no idea why she would be interested Hyun or Hyun interested in her. I guess that will be shown in the next episode.

This was such an easy watch because it just zips by. The same way the girl is confused by the end of the episode, is somewhat how I felt because you just get so much information and it's like what? Haha

The girl has 3 names (Yeon Wol, Gyera, Consort Hyo) so I don't even know what the call her.

I thought Ak Hee was supposed to be the "bad" guy and Hyun the "good" but then Ak Hee seemed comedic so I thought maybe that's *not* what this is about but then he somehow drugged her and made her his concubine so now I am just so confused what even is this story.

I liked the first episode. The plot reminded me of historical romances set several centuries ago in Scotland. In which enemies from two clans (or one is Scottish and the other English) are destined to meet each other, although theoretically they should kill each other or stay away from each other. Their love will bring them much evil and only a little good. There is also an element of a split personality, so sometimes the main character will be nice to FL, and sometimes he will surround her with his "courtships". It's as if FL had two men in her life, but was physically one person. Toxic and unhealthy, but fun in the sense that it is something that should not be taken seriously and should not be "used at home". Most importantly, in the case of this drama, it is a Korean drama with young actors who can act.

Wait the one who poisoned her and came in front of her after she lost her memories was Akhee though, not Sajo Hyun. It was clearly visible to me.

Thank you for the recap. As usual you've made it more fun than the actual episode. I guess I'm not the only one getting Moon in the Day vibes.

How (and wae) is the evil guy more fun. Is there a ghostly possession / other supernatural reason for his existence. 😳 And is that his impression of Bateman's cowl.

Really what is with all these entrepreneurs in Joseon engaged in fashion designing.

Are we now getting plot confusion on speed. A drama needs a "setup" in episode 1 but are we getting flash forwards without enough backstory.

My tumblr feed had been gushing about this one a lot, so I've read a few posts, including drama and webtoon comparisons... Hmm, looks like one of those stories that turn craziness and angst up to 11 for the sake of it and not to actually make any strong point as result. Nothing wrong with that, ofc, many people are just here for the vibe, but I prefer torturous insanity in fiction as an instrument, not the end goal. Maybe if I was 10... eh... 15... fine, 20 years younger... Good luck and nerves of steel to everyone who plans to stick around - from what I've seen, you're gonna need it)))

P.S. One day I'll finally encounter a pre-Joseon sageuk that doesn't look like a DIY high school play in terms of aesthetics... I know that there are a few, but all of them are so ANCIENT, and not just in a sense of portrayed era!

C’mon Beanies. This is clearly bad bad so please watch “Like Flowers in Sand” and come join us. It is so much fun.

After reading the web comic I didn't think the story could get more complicated, yet the show manages to do just that.

Watched three ep ,it looks like a XianXia, i have the feeling any moment Hong YeJi is gonna speak manderin.
That Jekel & Hide thing is nonsensical . is hedonism trending ? Kitan War idem .

I am just glad I haven't read this review and the comments here before jumping into the first episode of this drama. I usually don't watch dramas that have bad reviews. I actually started watching this one because I don't feel like watching the other dramas that are airing atm and I think the FL is really pretty. It's my second Park Jihoon drama as the first is Weak Hero (though I've only watched the first episode) and i'm liking his acting so far. I really enjoyed the first episode and I hope it won't change in the next few episodes.