It’s too late to be talking about Empress Ki in 2020, but I’ve sunk 30-odd hours of my life into this show so here we go.
Just wanted to talk about ships and put on paper why I like the Emperor vs Wang Yu despite Wang Yu being the better guy on paper. Like, I was just thinking about it and I realised that the Emperor is just not a good guy, romantically. He’s whiny, possessive and acts like he’s entitled to Yang’s feelings just ‘cos she rode horses with him that one time. I understand why he’s obsessed (the first person to actually give him confidence and all that), but he’s still extremely creepy about it, especially when she’s working under him as a court lady.
By contrast, Wang Yu is noble, capable, good at everything and respects Yang’s boundaries. He’s more mature and manly. And that’s it. I actually struggled writing out those traits because there’s really only one thing to Wang Yu and that’s he’s very, VERY noble. He doesn’t come with any interesting flaws, he’s not multifaceted, he’s just kinda there. Meanwhile, the Emperor is insecure, self-loathing because he knows how powerless he is, desperately wants to be a capable man and so overcompensates where he can and is genuinely caring of Yang in spite of everything. He’s ‘worse’ on paper, but way more interesting.
This is even reflected in the performances. Joo Jin-mo is a good actor but with Wang Yu, he’s really got one expression, which is staring nobly out into the distance. Sometimes he’s staring happily-nobly, sometimes it’s sadly-nobly. It’s a miracle JJM can even extract that much emotion out of him. Meanwhile Ji Chang-wook is given SO MUCH to work with, and he nails it consistently. Apparently, being played by JCW covers a multitude of sins - if it was any other actor, Ta Hwan would be such a flop, oh my days.
And naturally, I just think Yang has more interesting chemistry with Ta Hwan than she does with Wang Yu. I was never sold on her love for Wang Yu tbh, and when they officially got together, the relationship couldn’t quite shake off that leader-subordinate vibe. Meanwhile, as childish as the Emperor is, his dynamic with Yang is way more fun to watch. Their chemistry is just more playful and more like an actual relationship. Wang Yu just gives off the vibe that he would mansplain to Yang even though I know that’s not the case. It’s just that Yang was at her least interesting whenever she was yoked in servitude to Wang Yu (I’m thinking about the arc where they had to find Jeok-ho, which was really not interesting), whereas she’s really coming into her own now as a concubine in the Inner Court. There’s something strangely satisfying about the irony there.
Whatever. I’ve written too much about this now. I don’t care who Yang ends up with as long as she keeps being an ice-cold badass. I cannot wait to see Yeon Chul and his clan GO DOWN.
