Moon Lovers : Scarlet Heart Ryeo - A gripping first half, but falters later on.

My main problem with the show was this - Why exactly is Hae Soo/Go Ha Jin, travelling back in time?

We understand from the first scene that she is in huge debt, and at a shock after being cheated by her boyfriend and her best friend. So, a travel to the past, is a nice way of saying, here, I am going to dump you in an era, where brothers kill each other for the throne, but hey, at least you are debt free!

It works to an extent. Within an episode, Hae Jin (a.k.a Hae Soo in Goryeo) gets used to the huge gap in technological advancements, language, importance of family statues etc etc. And for some part it doesn't matter. The show progresses tightly, showing us the blooming romance between Wang Wook and Hae Soo, and parallely the tragic story of Wang So, the abandoned prince. But it goes downhill once Wang Wook turns his back on Hae Soo, and then we are getting the half hearted turns of the brothers to ascend the throne. Everything and anything that happens is pinned on the heroine, and she suffers the consequences. Honestly, it stops surprising you after some time.

The second half loses the consistency of the former half. Characters become mere sketches, to fulfil a stereotype in the story. Wang Wook changes into a stoic man, whose only aim becomes acquiring the throne, Yeon Hwa oscillates between wanting to marry So, make her brother the king, or make herself become the queen. (It gives a headache at times.) Wang Yo becomes the guilt ridden (cues towards Macbeth) king and remove or keep Prince Eun, and Wo Hee, it doesn't matter for the story.

Instead,I would have loved to see more of Wang So's past, to why he became so brutal, to why his own mother resents him so much, and his relationship with his other two brothers going beyond their goals of becoming kings.

The problem also was that I kept expecting some tie between the past and the present to show up, as an evidence to why Hae Soo is actually here to change the past. But we are never shown that. If we had seen Wang So as a bloody tyrant, it would have been exciting to watch Hae Soo, try change and events in the past, to prevent him from becoming a king, or a tyrant.

I also never bought Wang So's and Hae Soo's love story, as I did with Wang Wook. The confused feelings of hatred, fear and love between them, was never sorted out, but rather just shown and then solved by a mere hug, or few gentle words, till the next problem popped up.

All this doesn't hinder the fact that the drama was beautifully shot. The locations, the costumes, everything was gorgeous. And as this is my first historical drama, it was a breath of fresh air - away from the towering glasses in Seoul to the calm, large courtyards of palaces.