A cursed Crown Prince and a woman accused of murder become the ultimate crime-solving duo…
The theme is nailed early on in this palace intrigue/murder mystery, when Min Jae-yi (Jeon So-nee, Encounter, Soulmate), rants: “Whoever said to a Joseon girl—‘Yes, you can. Do it. Try it’.”
Well, the Crown Prince (Park Hyung-sik, Hwarang, Happiness) does when he throws the challenge back in her face: “Yes, you can. Do it. Try it.”
Not that he necessarily believes she’ll succeed, but because they’re in desperate circumstances. A year before, he received a mysterious letter, apparently from a ghost, detailing a pernicious curse on him. There’s no aspect of his life that will escape unscathed, from his physical health to his succession to the throne to his very sanity. When he’s then shot by a poisoned arrow, it appears the first line of the curse will come true, that he will be unable to use his arms (heaven forbid, there should be a disabled crown prince, there was no disability lobby back then). But determined to maintain his position at court, and deter scurrilous rumours, he’s been regaining his strength in secret. Nevertheless, the whole situation has left him isolated and irritable, to say to least, with serious trust issues. Especially since the letter stated his friend would one day point a sword at him.
And his best friend is (or was, since the Crown Prince has sworn off friendship) Han Seong-on (Yoon Jong-seok, My Dangerous Wife), son of the Left State Minister and Sergeant of the Investigation Bureau, who is betrothed to none other than—
Jae-yi, making a memorable entrance in the annals of female leads—fleeing pursuers, fighting off soldiers by using slingshots, swords, well-executed martial arts moves and… ultimately falling off a cliff (a common hazard in these dramas), and doing it all in a lovely dress and pretty shoes (no small feat in itself). Her entire family has been poisoned and she is accused of their murder.
But amidst her grief echo her father’s dying words: “Protect the Crown Prince.” Bearing this in mind, and wanting to avenge her family, she infiltrates the patrol guarding the Prince during a military training/hunting exercise and confronts the Prince (though not in the way she expected since she’s nearly arrested for attempting to murder him), which eventually brings about the exchange this review started with. If she wants his help she must prove herself: find a way to legitimately enter the palace. And she does. She’s nothing if not resourceful and, as it turns out, no stranger to men’s clothes, solving numerous criminal cases under her (now deceased) brother’s name. So in short work she enters the Prince’s palace… as a eunuch.
This is the first of many tests she must face to gain his trust. Because if she has the restrictions placed on women to overcome, he has those road-blocking trust issues. Above and beyond these obstacles, are the pressing issues to resolve: who has murdered her family and who is trying to destroy him—and are these crimes related? It is inevitable that they team up, inevitable that they fall in love along the way. That’s no spoiler; it would be criminal if they didn’t.
In some ways, there’s little in the political intrigue aspect of this we haven’t seen before: the villainous minister (he’s so villainess he occasionally tips into pantomime, at other times he’s quite convincingly dangerous), and the fact he isn’t the only destructive force at work. It does, however, cleverly dovetail. And the curse is an intriguing touch, initiating many scandalous revelations.
There are definitely aspects that set this above other dramas. Women are really doing it for themselves and underestimated by the men at their peril. It’s more than commendable that Jae-yi’s loyal maid, Ga Ram (Pyo Ye-jin, Taxi Driver) is given equal time and a well-developed romance of her own. Also on the run with a capture-and-return order hanging over her head, she is Jae-yi long-time partner in crime solving and resourceful in her own right. She teams up with the Chief Minister’s wayward (in his family’s stern estimation) youngest son. A polymath, an eccentric, a corpse dissector par excellence, Kim Myung-jin is played by Lee Tae-sun and you can tell he’s having great fun hamming it up in this comedic role, one so different from his dual roles in Hotel Del Luna he’s scarcely recognisable.
Of course, what is pivotal to the success of this series is the chemistry between Jae-yi and the Crown Prince. They are eminently watchable. They spar, they flirt, they deny their feelings, they meld into one heart and mind. The fleeting expressions that cross his face—shock, horror, enlightenment, admiration and affection—within the conversations where she’s expressing her views on love, marriage, female emancipation and the joys of alcohol are priceless. He also has a fine line in dirty looks when she oversteps the mark—she can be uncommonly rude. It’s a good thing he’s not inclined to cut off her head. In the Joseon era, he would have cause. Park Hyung-sik pulls off the neat trick of showing us exactly the kind of much put-upon but fair king the Crown Prince will be, should he survive. Jeon So-nee as Jae-yi has a meaty role she executes brilliantly (and loveably), side-stepping the hysterics that are too often employed.
There is a plot hole or two, some weirdly abrupt editing here and there, the occasional thing left unexplained that perhaps should have been and one death that deserved more laments than it received. While violence is de rigueur, there is one scene that even as a seasoned old viewer, I found shocking in this context. But you can forgive a few flaws in a series as essentially good-humoured and well-acted as this. Ga-Ram and Myung-jin are always on hand to provide light relief. When the two couples team up the Crown Prince gets a much-needed chance to be up close and personal with his subjects. Not to be missed is the fiery polo match between the Crown Prince and love rival Han Seong-on. It’s a spectacle I’ve rewound… ahem… multiple times. In a story that clips along apace, the last two episodes in particular are both exciting and moving.
At the end of the day, Our Blooming Youth is blooming good entertainment, well worth a weekend binge.