K-Drama Premiere: “The Last Empress” Surges To A Quick-Paced Thriller With Standout Villains

A shower of varying anti-heroes makes The Last Empress an intriguing watch.

Jang Na Ra looks ready to jump into a den of villains in the inventively imagined premise of The Last Empress.

Premiere Week Rating: 

SBS’s new series assumes a setting where Korean constitutional-monarchy takes place, with the Royal Family as the focal cast to which the narrative will spin.

Shin Sung Rok, Lee Elijah and Shin Eun Kyung had already paraded different concepts of antagonist that they will don in the series as the emperor, the emperor’s secretary-cum-lover, and the emperor’s mother.

Choi Jin Hyuk, who will portray Na Wang Shik, is yet to grace his appearance.

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Pilot Week Recap

Set in present day South Korea under a reigning monarchy, Emperor Lee Hyuk (Shin Sung Rok) is attacked from a luncheon he has hosted with selected citizens.

He is saved by musical actress Oh Sunny (Jang Na Ra), and later finds out his mother’s involvement to the death of the assailant. His secretary Min Yu Ra (Lee Elijah) reveals the Queen Mother’s secret surveillance plotted in the emperor’s chamber. The latter stages a drowning event that will determine if Yu Ra’s claims are true and confronts the sad affirmation by going out to gamble and drown in liquor.

Yu Ra accompanies him to the Royal Family’s rest house, and spends the night with him. Yu Ra, a local in the town, visits her adopted mother to bid goodbye to her adopted family, but her mother follows her and finds out her relationship with the emperor.

Yu Ra hits her with a rock just in time when the emperor’s car passes by bumping the escaping unfortunate woman. When the two meet again, the emperor reveals what had happened so they set forth to dump the body.

Na Wang Shik, her adopted mother’s son and lover, finds a broken piece from a car, and matches it on the car parked in the rest house. Yu Ra and the emperor escape, but Wang Shik sees the face of the emperor.

Emperor Lee Hyuk commands his right hand to wipe out traces of him going to the rest house, and connives with Yu Ra’s proposed alibi of using Oh Sunny’s musical invite to set a concrete excuse of his whereabouts.

Expectant on the emperor’s promise of marrying her, Yu Ra beams when the emperor brings her to a family event, but just about the emperor tries to reveal his romance with his secretary, Queen Mother quickly sneaks in to place Oh Sunny as the woman the emperor is supposed to be dating.

Pilot Week Afterthoughts

Here we go to an exciting race of conspiracies, betrayals and good-versus-evil battles starring Korea’s royal family.

But set in modern times is making this quasi-historical drama interesting. Not to mention, the baddies’ camp appears intent to be each other’s villain, so we can’t wait for those showdowns.

I’m not sure how Jang Na Ra will blend in the story given her usual bright and emotional strengths as an actress. But since the groundwork has seemed decently laid plus Choi Jin Hyuk is trustworthy, we can place a safe bet on this new series.

The Last Empress airs on SBS every Wednesday and Thursday.

All photos from SBS.

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ABOUT THE WRITER

abbyinhallyuland reads and sleeps a lot when she is not traveling. Her calendar reminders are mostly K-Drama broadcast schedules and birthdays of her favorite Korean actors. Promoting K-Drama watching as stress therapy is her life advocacy. She is fond of Spencer Reid, Gregory House, Kenshin Himura, Starwars saga, Haruki Murakami and Hunter x Hunter.

Recommended Korean Dramas: Reply 1988, Nine, Misaeng, Gaksital, Discovery of Love, Because This is My First Life, Descendants of the Sun, My Love from the Star, Healer, Punch, You’re Beautiful, Coffee Prince, Princess Hours, The Greatest Love, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, City Hunter, and The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.

E: abby@hellokpop.com