Perfect Crown is set in a fictional Korea where there is a constitutional monarchy and follows the romance between a chaebol heiress (IU) who has everything, but her commoner status creates problems for her and a prince (Byeon Woo Seok) who has nothing but an empty title.
IU plays Seong Hui Ju who is a chaebol heiress. Despite her riches and success in life, her commoner status has held her back. This leads her to pursue a royal title by entering in to a contract marriage with the Grand Prince.
Byeon Woo Seok is Grand Prince I An. Born to the King but with no direct line to the throne, he has lived in silence behind the scenes hiding his true self and desires. But after receiving a marriage offer from Hui Ju, he starts seeing possibilities he hadn’t thought of before.
Then we have Gong Seung Yeon as Queen Yun I Rang. After her husband, the King, passes away, her son ascends the throne. She is a powerful woman in the palace and always seeks to be in control.
Finally, we have Steve Noh as Min Jeong Woo. He is the Prime Minister and works closely with the royal family. He also has had a close relationship with Hui Ju for many years.
Perfect Crown was a mostly solid drama. It has many things it does well, but it also has some shortcomings. I love modern dramas that incorporate a monarchy. It really gives it this sort of modern historical vibe which is a lot of fun. The story itself is well done and intriguing. There are a lot of interesting characters from the heroes to the villains. The drama also features lovely cinematography with beautiful sets and gorgeous costumes.
Of course, IU was easily the standout of the drama. She delivers a feisty character that is strong willed, independent, and a bit quirky, yet she is kind and very approachable. She always lit up the screen when she was on it and brought a wonderful performance.
The romance between Hui Ju and I An is an engaging story that explores one woman’s goal to rise above her station in life and a man’s desire to reclaim himself. I liked the dynamics between them, and it was interesting to see all of the issues they had to navigate as a couple. They had a nice chemistry and emotional connection.
Now for some of the negatives. The drama has all the makings of a powerful and grand story. It definitely felt like it wanted to be grand, but it really fell short in this department. The drama felt rushed in many ways, and it seemed like we were always just getting a sort of highlight reel of all the main plot points. It never really had any time to just breathe and experience the world and relationships.
The story has enough complexity built in that I really felt like it needed more time to explore everything. This especially includes the romance itself. Many of the key developments move swiftly with little time to let anything really take hold and settle in. It felt like a lot of the feelings came out of nowhere. While I appreciated the big moments, they didn’t really hit emotionally.
Many of the other characters suffered from the same situation. The Queen is an incredibly interesting character, and I felt like we needed more time to go into her past as well as her fathers. There’s also Hui Ju’s relationship with her father and brother which had a lot to explore, but that too was kind of a highlight reel.
We do touch upon a variety of issues including family, relationships, politics, and class. The class issues are a central driver of the plot, and it would have been really nice to go deeper with. All of these topics would have really enhanced the show with time to explore them adequately.
Overall, Perfect Crown was a decent drama though. The actual story is good with solid characters and nice performances from the actors. But it felt rushed and never took time to go deep with the characters or the plot. So while I definitely enjoyed it, I couldn’t help but see what it was missing and how it could have been truly amazing.
My Rating: 7/10
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