OVERALL A story very much worth watching, but know that you may get frustrated by the shift in focus half way through though. Watch it if 1) you wanted to watch a historical drama less focused on struggles for the throne, 2) you like gripping, suspenseful storylines. Don’t watch if 1) you like well-developed love stories, 2) you can’t stand injustice and characters getting mistreated (it is a show about slaves after all). THE STORY The good: Those who complained that historical dramas were always centered on the palace and political factions get to see a show focused more on the life of the lowest class, that is, for half of the drama. The show never becomes boring and the plot, for better or for worse, grips you until the end. The drama has great cinematography, and the first half, deep conversations and steady character and romance development. The bad: Unfortunately, the writers decided not to risk it fully and cut all the political business out of the story, so the magic of the show – namely, the focus on maids – went away about half way through the drama. As the plot was becoming more palace-conflicts-centered, character and relationship development stagnated. All romances lost their charm, and the characters too. The Ugly: As the characters lost their charm, they also lost themselves, because their actions became increasingly incoherent. The show, that was initially quite innovative and fresh, became quite predictable by the end, with unnecessary drama. Bottom line: Started out really good, slowly decayed, but managed to pull off an okay (just okay) ending. Not quite a disappointment, but almost. THE ACTING All secondary cast was absolutely great, especially Kim Dong Wook (my Coffee Prince was gone!). Jung Yoo Mi gained my esteem. I didn’t think she was a bad actress and I liked her since Dong Yi, but she wasn’t impressive. In here, she’s definitely impressive, and the only thing I regret is that she had no chemistry with Oh Ji Oh. As for him, I can’t put him in the same basket. He was good enough in his role, but his acting just doesn’t convince me. THE MUSIC I liked! Without being something of another world, it wasn’t typical historical-drama music. Fitted super well with the story and scenes too. It was dark and suspenseful. I liked! REWATCHABLE VALUE Uff. I don’t know. I loved the beginning so much, but the last few episodes…Ok, well, definitely rewatchable, just maybe not until the end.