Karie the Maknae: So Kdrama Jen said I should watch a thing. I trusted her and watched the thing. And now we will banter about it while she makes my head spin with all the Korean names.
Kdrama Jen: Hey, I am simply trying to educate our Maknae. It’s not my fault they happened to cast both Kim So Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun in the same drama. But, seriously. What did you think? Moon Embracing the Sun is an absolute must-watch because you get to see so many of the current big name stars when they were just young foals galloping around dramaland.
Karie the Maknae: Ha! Oh the imagery! And those young foals did gallop. The older horses, not so much. It’s possible I’m extending the metaphor a little too far. I’ll explain in a minute.




On the other hand, the nearly complete casting change threw me off for a LOT of the drama. I liked the younger versions better. Though there was one point when the king was reminiscing and the younger version of himself took him to task and gave him the whole shoulder-knock as he walked by — that was pretty cool and almost made the casting change worth it.
Kdrama Jen: I agree that they should have let Siwan stay on as the adult version of Teacher Heo.
Karie the Maknae: SiwOn was not in this, my dear sunbae….
Kdrama Jen: No, no, my eager maknae, I am referring to the lovely and talented Im Siwan from Misaeng–not the awesome and amazing Choi Siwon of Super Junior/She Was Pretty/King of Dramas fame. Wait. Misaeng is on this “list” you are keeping, right?
Karie the Maknae: My ever-growing list? Yes, yes it is. Ah, Im Siwan! He was good. I’m looking forward to watching more of his work. And with Choi Siwon’s comeback, I’m looking foward to watching more of *his* work too. So much Siwan/Siwon!!

SiwAn, SiwOn, LeviOsa, LeviosA, etc….
Kdrama Jen: And don’t forget to watch My Love From Another Star too to catch Kim Soo Hyun as the swoonworthy Do Min Joon!
Karie the Maknae: But not Kim So Hyun, because she’s not in that one . . . right?
Kdrama Jen: Ok. Don’t be mad; there IS a Kim Hyun-Soo in My Love From Another Star. She plays the younger version of the female lead (ducking!).
Karie the Maknae: *forehead slap* I am NEVER going to keep them straight.
Anyway. I loved the head eunuch, Hyun Sun. He was great comic relief without being cheesy. And all of our villains were well and properly evil. They were purely gunning for power. I never once felt sorry for them and was rather happy to see them taken out of the picture. My husband walked through the room at one point when I was watching the Queen break into hysterics and laughed at the fact that I was cheering for her to lose her mind. I was so tired of her.
Those last two episodes — what a bloodbath!! Not that I didn’t see that coming — with as corrupted as the court had become, there was no way to fix things without completely eliminating the perpetrators.



Oh, a KDrama Retreat! I’m all for a weekend at a (largish) cabin or retreat center with snack, pjs, quizzes and maybe a soju or two.
And pizza! There must be pizza.
Can’t stop laughing at the great name debate
RIGHT. I have a hard enough time keeping *character* names straight, and now THIS.
Someone else who enjoyed the first part more than the last!! Woot. I watched this before I knew the younger cast members so it’s interesting to see it from the other side. Nice review, ladies!
Thanks! We had fun.
I do want to lodge a complaint. It has come to my attention that Karie the Maknae has rated METS LOWER than Heirs on her drama list. Dear Readers, please help her see reason. I think we need to stage an intervention. This cannot stand.
I’m dumbfounded. That is a tragic misuse of the rating system.
I WAS YOUNG. And trying to be nice to Heirs at the time. Sheesh. You people are MERCILESS. I”m going to fix it now.