The Tale of Lady Ok | HIGHLY Recommended K-drama!

The Tale of Lady Ok has become one of my favorite period K-drama of all time. It adds to my list with The Crowned Clown and Captivating the King on it. It's just special in a way that the female protagonist was born as a lowly slave, pretended to be a noble and served the people (noble and slaves) equally as a Legal Advocate and then when her real identity got revealed in the end, people were still very accepting of her because of the life she has led as a Legal Advocate. In short, a lowly slave has saved a lot of people and that became her saving grace from being convicted and criticized for the rest of her life. 

Another thing that made the whole drama special to me was the male protagonist, Seung Hwi. He has displayed his undying love for Gudeok/Tae Young all throughout the series. Without him, I don't think Tae Young would have survive a life full of enemies that wants to bring her down. Obviously, as a Legal Advocate, Tae Young earned a lot of enemies but she also gained a lot of allies like my favorite ally of her, Lady Kim. I seriously like her. She's basically that first enemy that Taeyoung helped as a Legal Advocate that became loyal to her throughout the series. Tbh, if Seung Hwi was Tae Young's loyal lover then Lady Kim is Tae Young's loyal friend. 

The storyline of this drama was really good and every character has distinguished developments as the story progressed. You'll come to love even more the characters you've already loved before and you'll learn to forgive and love as well those characters you've hated before. However, there's this one character that was obviously used only to pull everything back together at the end after all the chaos that has been made, and it's none other than, Yoon Gyum. Yes, that doppelganger of of Cheon Seung Hwi and brother of Do Gyum. Till the very end we didn't know why he and Seung Hwi looked alike. lol But because of that, the main characters were able to get saved several times in the drama. I guess we shouldn't question that anymore if it's the case. kkk In The Crowned Clown drama, a performer looked the same as the King as well and that's where the story evolved too... yet the drama turned out really good as well. (One of my favorites too!) Well, perhaps it's a norm in a period drama with such theme to not ask further question as long as it's executed really well. kkk

Anyway, the drama was well received locally (SK) as it reached double digits in the viewership ratings. The finale got its all time high nationwide viewership rating of 13.575%. It's also part of top 10 TV series on Netflix during its run. It may not have been as popular as those mainstream dramas to kdrama fans around the world but it's still considered a success for sure!

The final verdict is here. Will I recommend this K-drama?! Definitely YES! Tbh, it's been a while since I have listed a new kdrama to add on this special list of mine and I'm so glad that it's finally here. 

Lim Ji Yeon's "The Tale of Lady Ok" Reached 9.5% Nationwide Viewership Ratings with Episode 8 | Their Highest Record to Date

Episode 8 of The Tale of Lady Ok achieved a personal best record of 9.5% in the nationwide viewership ratings. It's so close to achieving double digits!! The show is actually really good and I'm happy that it's doing well locally (SK). This drama's run actually reminds me of Captivating the King. It has a good storyline with impressive cast, it's doing well locally but a little quiet reception from the international kdrama viewers. The drama is fighting in the Netflix top 10 tv series in my country though. So much alike of what had happened before to Captivating the King too. 

Here's a short recap and review for episode 8:

Due to Taeyoung's chosen profession of being a Legal Advocate, she inevitably gained a lot of enemies. Lady Song from the Baek family is one of them. Due to her toxic and obsessive mindset about the disparity of nobles and slaves, she has put her family in danger most especially her own son. If you could remember Baek Yi's case from the early episodes of this show, the young master took the blame of Baek Yi's death even though it was actually his mother who was the real mastermind of everything that happened to Baek Yi. So years after getting their punishment, Lady Song's husband and son (the young master) both died. And so she's enraged and became devoted to avenge their death against Taeyoung using her own daughter, Miryeong. 

Miryeong was manipulated by her own mother, Lady Song, that it was all Taeyoung's fault for the death of her brother and father. This became her driving force to deceive and take revenge against Taeyoung. She approached Do Gyum and got married with him with the thought of revenge at first but later, she found out about the real truth from Taeyoung. This ended her being manipulated by her own mother's delusions and lies. In the end, Miryeong became truly devoted to Taeyoung as well as her husband Do Gyum after coming clean and apologizing to Taeyoung. 

Yoon Gyum, on the other hand, is slowly becoming one of my hated characters of the show. TBH, I liked him in the early episodes due to his mission but now I no longer know what he's really fighting for. I do get it that he may not be informed about the real situation of what his family had gone through throughout the years but seriously, everything started from him. He should've been curious as to how it affected his family's lives because of his selfishness. Yep, I call it now selfishness because that's how I see him now. He's only thinking about his own survival, not thinking about his wife and most especially his little brother. Sigh. He's asking for everyone to understand him and the likes of him but he's not even trying to understand those people around him.

Seung Hwi and Taeyoung reunited again after Taeyoung fought and won a case for Seung Hwi. Obviously, they both still love each other and were holding back their feelings because of the situation Gudeok was in. But I hope, a time will come that the both of them will be free to express their love for each other. 

Choo Yeong Woo Sets Out on a Journey Alone, Leaving Lim Ji Yeon Behind in "The Tale of Lady Ok" Episode 4

Sung Yoon Geum learned about Ok Tae Young's real identity as Gudeok and in return, he revealed his secret as well to her. He's a man that cannot embrace a woman and even with this he proposes marriage to Tae Young and promised to protect each other's secrets. With that, their marriage proceeded and there, Cheon Seung Hwi (the story teller) found out that Gudeok's groom shares the same identical face as him. This instantly became the saving grace of Yoon Geum later in the show though.

One of the villains, Lee Chung Il, commenced a mining with workers composed of young slaves to get him gold in the mountains. Afraid that he might get caught doing this illegal mining, he had to stop the magistrate from doing raid in the mountains by discovering and revealing about the Devoted Hearts Organization. This secret organization helps those children who are considered an outcast during that period of time. It turned out that this secret organization's leader and founder was none other than Sung Yoon Geum. His mission was to rescue and protect those people who are like him (yes, in a much understandable word, he's homosexual). During this period of time that they're living in, homosexuals aren't accepted even if they're born nobles which is why Yoon Geum trained the people he rescued some self defense to fight for themselves against oppressors. However, Lee Chung Il identified them as rebels quickly and caused turmoil in their country which led to the magistrate losing his position. Something that made Lee Chung Il victorious. 

Every member of this secret group has a Chinese character of heart stamped on their shoulder, therefore Yoon Geum has this mark. The only reason he survived the search was because Seung Hwi helped him by switching with him before showing his shoulder to the military. And once Yoon Geum survived, he went out on a journey alone, living his father and Gudeok behind. 

I honestly feel bad for Gudeok here, he has no one to turn to again. Magistrate is out of office and her husband has to hide from their country. I guess, only this way, she'll be able to reunite with her first love, Cheon Seung Hwi and be together this time. Seeing the preview for the next episode, it seemed like Gudeok will once again have to return as a slave as she goes on a journey with the story teller until her husband return to their land. 

The Tale of Lady Ok Reached All Time High Personal Record of 7.8% Nationwide Viewership Ratings with Episode 3

My cravings for historical kdrama lately has finally ended when Lim Ji Yeon's The Tale of Lady Ok has begun airing. This drama started Nov. 30 and as of writing, it already has 3 episodes available. Tbh, just watching the first 2 episodes, I'm already captured by it. There's really something about historical dramas that captivates me especially when the story is well written. Well, a historical drama + well written script is perfection to me. I always love it when historical characters, may it be royalties, nobles or slaves, I'm fascinated by how they live their lives, outsmart their enemies and speak eloquently. A lot of people may be bored with this type of drama especially when there are lots of words being thrown here and there, but if the script is well written and conveyed in a convincing way.... there's no way I'm gonna be bored with it. This is why I loved Captivating the King before too. Not much people or kdrama fan pages talked about it, but I did. Because it's just perfection, it served exactly what I wanted in a historical Kdrama. And that's what exactly is being served to me too in The Tale of Lady Ok. 

Anyway, Gudeok is a slave whose master is the daughter of Kim Nak Su. She witnessed how cruel these nobles treated them like animals. Her mom died because she got sick and was thrown out of the house instead of giving her medicine. Gudeok worked very hard to save up money outside the Kim's house to fulfill her dream to reside by the sea with her father. Working outside was prohibited by the Kims so when Gudeok worked for Song Seo In/ Cheon Seung Hwi's kitchen, So Hye tasted the food served to be very familiar. And that's how Gudeok got busted by her master. Unfortunatly she was found at So Hye's husband-to-be's room which caused outrage from So Hye (the Kims' daughter/Gudeok's master). 

Gudeok ran away with her dad from the Kim's outrage and cruelty but got separated for years. Gudeok worked at the inn and there she met the Lady Ok Tae Young. A noble woman who treats slaves as equal. A wonderful woman who aspires to be a local advocate to serve people equally. Tae Young became friends with Gudeok and even took her as a family (adopted sister). But due to the bandits attack to the inn, Tae Young and her father died which left Gudeok as the only survivor. So one day, when Gudeok opened her eyes, she was found by Tae Young's grandma and there she lived as the new Lady Ok Tae Young. 

After many years that passed by, in episode 3, Gudeok who's living now as Ok Tae Young sees her master again. Waaaaah! That bitch needs to learn her lesson and hopefully Gudeok will be the one to do that. Only if she won't get busted though! 

Nationwide Viewership Ratings:

Episode 1: 4.2%

Episode 2: 6.8%

Episode 3: 7.8%