동이 Dong-yi

I’ve finally finish watching 동이 (Dong-yi), a 60-episode Korean historical drama about the life of a King’s mother. The drama depicted how Dong-yi, with her kindness and intelligence, raised from being a lowly water maid in the palace to being King Sukjong’s concubine. In the drama, Dong-yi faced numerous adversities as she gradually gained power in the palace, yet all along she stayed true to herself. Her selfless-ness portrayed in the drama (as with so many others) could sometimes seem unrealistic to me because she appeared too kind and selfless, leading me to think if such a selfless person like her really exists in the world today. Probably a thought that stemmed from the absence of such value in myself but then again, it’s a drama which meant a lot of things are dramatized.

Fan-made mv depicting the love between King Sukjong and Dong-yi.

I’m a fool for love stories especially the ones between unlikely couples which in this case, a 천민 (cheonmin, lowest class of people) and a King. Despite the struggles faced by Dong-yi as part of the main storyline, the drama still managed to stay focused on the emotional bonds between the characters, especially between Dong-yi and the King, and the brotherly love between the Crown prince and Prince Yeoning.

For a lengthy 사극, the story can be quite draggy and unfortunately, Dong-yi has also fallen victim to draggy storylines. From the few 사극 I have watched, there is always the typical storyline and I like to label them as “battle no. 1”, “battle no. 2” and so on, depending on how lengthy the drama can get. These fights are between the group of protagonists and antagonists, with several rounds throughout the drama. The protagonists might win the first round, but the antagonists would take the lead in the second, but ultimately it usually ends with the protagonists winning, unless they have a tragic ending in real historical records. In Dong-yi, I felt there is quite a never-ending of “battles” for Dong-yi until the very 2nd or last episode. Although these battles might be gripping, it’s personally quite tiresome to have to keep following them. Overall the storyline was good and it is definitely worth watching (almost) all 60 episodes!