Plot
Perfect Crown (21st Century Grand Prince's Wife in South Korea) is set in modern-day South Korea, which is under a constitutional monarchy. Grand Prince Ian (or Lee Wan as a commoner played by Byeon Wooseok) is currently the regent to the King (Kim Eunho), his nephew and the son of his deceased older brother who was the former king (Sung Joon of Can This Love Be Translated and High Society). The Grand Prince is always being suspected of trying to take away the throne from his nephew.
On the other hand, Seong Huiju (IU) is an heiress to a rich family. She is the CEO of Castle Beauty. Despite her success and achievements, however, Huiju has been in a constant struggle to prove herself, especially since she's an illegitimate child. To elevate her status and power, Huiju proposes marriage to the Grand Prince, her senior in high school. After several rejections, Huiju finally succeeds after the Grand Prince realizes that he can also use her to fend off his enemies.
The story takes us through how a seemingly innocent contract marriage with an agreement to divorce in three years, evolves into a deeply passionate and romantic (albeit chaotic) fairy tale love story.
IU as Seong Huiju
We know that When Life Gives You Tangerines is difficult to match/top for IU. It didn't help that she was also exceptional in most of her dramas/movie like Persona and My Mister. This show is more in the mold of Hotel del Luna, Moon Lovers, The Producers, You are the Best, and Dream High. And the biggest challenge was that Seong Huiju closely resembled IU's character in Hotel Del Luna.
So yes, while IU still managed to pull off a good performance here, I admit that this is not one of our favorites. But we'll give our best girl/Oppa's list member a break because she probably needed something lighter to work on.
Byeon Wooseok as Grand Prince Ian/Lee Wan
IU lovers were concerned that Byeon Wooseok might be too stiff for the role, with some even saying he looks like he got botox. We've seen him on 20th Century Girl, Lovely Runner, Record of Youth, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, and Moon Lovers, and we've been mostly on the fence with him. Sometimes okay, but sometimes not so much.
But that stiffness actually worked for me here. Because the Grand Prince's character called for it. Byeon Wooseok perfectly captured that royal look. And yes, those dimples were stunning. While this role didn't really demand much heavy acting, I can say that I still enjoyed it.
Grand Prince and Huiju
No, the chemistry between these two was not there right away. But it didn't take long for me to warm up to them. Because they look good together. And they make a good team especially against the Dowager (Gong Seungyeon), and Huiju somehow "humanizes" the Grand Prince. She gives him that "commoner" vibe.
Then we witness how their love story evolves. How they pick each other up when they're down. The Grand Prince often seems stiff and cold but he's actually so soft and protective towards the people he cares about like Huiju and the King. He was always there to save her - during the car crash, the Palace audit when she was suspected of being an arsonist, the time when his fans threw eggs at her after their engagement was publicized, or even from her own dad (Jo Seungyeon of A Taxi Driver, Love Next Door, Hospital Playlist 1 and 2, and Suits).
And Huiju's there for the Grand Prince too, especially when it comes to protecting him against the Dowager.
Yes, the show's quite formulaic and it has certainly been done before (think Princess Hours). But it still managed to make me feel giddy here and there. Like that kiss on the yacht where the Grand Prince admitted that he was not merely caught in the moment.
Then you have Huiju asking him if he liked her because there was a certain twinkle in his eyes when he looked at her and instead of being coy and going around the bush, he confessed right away and he even confirmed that she was his first kiss.
And ooohhh, how angry he was when she was poisoned that he ordered Prime Minister (PM) Min Jeongwoo (Noh Sanghyun of Soundtrack 2) to investigate the Palace and how he ran in the hospital when she finally woke up. Yes, quite over the top but it was sweet nonetheless. And it gave me Crash Landing on You feels (with Byeon Wooseok crying like Hyun Bin too, which is not necessarily a good thing, hihi).
And all those petty fights they had in between (like who should be safe and in danger) and their first night together after the wedding.
Of course, we cannot miss how the Grand Prince said that what they had was real and it was only fake in the beginning. And Huiju admitting to the PM that she really liked the Grand Prince a lot and how she even knelt in front of her dad to ask for help in saving the Grand Prince. If these things don't prove how much they love each other then nothing can.
The choice of third party (the PM) was interesting. I enjoyed watching the tension between the PM and the Grand Prince like how distressed the PM was when the Grand Prince proposed and during the royal wedding. And the Grand Prince had cute little jealous moments too.
The PM was likable (initially!). He offered to marry Huiju and give her the status she was after. And he's always been there for her like that moment in high school when he saved her after she almost missed an exam after being stuck in an elevator.
At one point, I was rooting for him and the Dowager to be together. :D
Execution
Let's begin with the stuff that were not that okay. There was a tendency for some of the characters to be a bit over the top like Huiju's assistant Hyejung (Lee Yeon of D.P. 1 and 2 and Crash Course in Romance) and the Grand Prince's assistant Mr. Choi (Yoo Subin of Exit, D.P. 2, Big Mouth, Startup, Crash Landing on You, Live and Prison Playbook). Some of the supposed funny moments felt quite contrived like that time when Huiju tried hard to make her face look pale to gain sympathy after the poisoning incident.
And typical of K dramas, we're given a bit of that long and winding love story. The Grand Prince broke up with Huiju and called off their wedding to protect her and as requested by the PM - when there were absolutely other ways of doing that. Huiju said it perfectly when she called the Grand Prince a coward for breaking up with her when he should be attacking the people who were attacking the people he loved to protect them.
Then comes Huiju's turn when she asks for divorce. I just don't get why these characters love making things harder than they already are. And she still pushed through with it even after he begged. Yes, everything made sense after she spoke to the council and I bet he also felt the love although I also understand how he concluded that she didn't trust him. And there's definitely a better way of explaining things. And she made a u-turn shortly thereafter anyway.
And there's the somehow unrealistic stuff. Like my beef with overly sweet and caring male leads, which make women question their life choices everytime their husbands/boyfriends talk down on them or mansplain stuff.
Or how the public was overreacting about the royals especially when the contract marriage was revealed. Didn't they have bigger problems than that? And wasn't the leakage a more serious matter? Like who stole it?
And how obvious it was that the Grand Prince's life was in danger, yet he's free to roam around whenever and wherever. They were aware that the Dowager's dad (Jo Jaeyun of SKY Castle, Descendants of the Sun, and Reply 1994) was after the crown and the Grand Prince has not yet accepted the King's abdication yet no extra precautions were taken. And when that dangerous moment finally arrived, we have our cute and petite Huiju bravely saving the Grand Prince from the burning building.
I found the whole issue with the Dowager quite confusing. But I eventually enjoyed it because it was captivating to see the chess/PR matches between the Dowager and the Grand Prince and the Palace and Castle Beauty. It was interesting to see their next moves. And I found it quite sad that the Dowager and the Grand Prince used to be okay.
Now on to the stuff I liked. I enjoyed watching the Grand Prince with his nephew, the King. And I liked how the show touched on how problematic it is to have young kings, how they're prone to threats and manipulation, and the pressure. I loved how the Grand Prince was the King's safe place and how Huiju validated the Grand Prince by telling him that sometimes, protecting our loved ones means attacking those who want to hurt them.
It was nice to witness how lavish and opulent everything was - the designer clothes, the flashy cars, and how they all seemed to come out of a fairy tale book.
It was cute to see how the Grand Prince's strict nanny (Park Junmyun) helped and favored Huiju and how his house staff (like Mr. Kim (Lee Sihun of Parasite, Our Unwritten Seoul, Hometown Chachacha, Encounter, Mr. Sunshine, and Something in the Rain)) loved her too.
I loved the focus on girl power! How often women have to claw their way to the top to prove themselves, especially in a family corporation setting, only to still be elbowed out by incompetent men in the family like Huiju's brother (Lee Jaewon of Welcome to Samdalri and Record of Youth). And how women always need to be on their toes and they can never relax and make mistakes, otherwise, those flaws can be used against them. Then there's that need to strike a balance between power and grace because women are often accused of being manipulative boss ladies. Such as that scene where Huiju tried to handle everything on her own when the Grand Prince was being pressured to give up his regency but you have the Grand Prince feeling offended that Huiju didn't trust him to protect her.
I enjoyed the cliffhanger endings like those episodes that ended with the poisoning incident and the leak of the contract marriage. I also appreciated how the show dealt with the whole contract marriage thing, getting it out of the way early on in the series to avoid overextending that storyline.
The side love story between Hyejung and Mr. Choi was okay. Despite their tendency to exaggerate, it was cute to see them find love amidst all the chaos.
Huiju's family grew on me too. I couldn't figure out dad's deal in the beginning, like was he sincere or not. He was so cold and stiff yet he asked the Grand Prince to cherish his daughter and he even slapped the Grand Prince after Huiju was poisoned. And while Huiju's brother was annoying, he came through for her when needed like that win-win situation where he came out as the hero for allegedly protecting Huiju when he supposedly thought of that divorce clause/agreement.
I also liked how the show kept us guessing on who the real villain was. Was it Dowager? Her dad? And what's with that little plot twist that seemed to suggest that the Dowager liked the Grand Prince. And how the Dowager was undone by her son when he admitted that he knew everything. And how the Dowager became one of the heroes in the end.
Of course the show kept us in the dark if the PM was on Huiju's side or not. Was his rage just out of blind love for Huiju or was it something deeper like a desire for power and greed? And I loved how Huiju bravely took on the PM. That was pure girl power in the firing range or when she barged into the meeting when the cabinet refused to approve the Grand Prince turned King's proposal to abolish the monarchy.
I loved how Huiju spelled things out for the Grand Prince, helping him reconcile his dilemma by telling him that sometimes he needed to be greedy so he can protect those who need protection.
While the finale had its moments like how Huiju and her brother became closer and how dad finally admitted that he didn't actually want Huiju to lose, rather, he just wants her to stop fighting all the time and how they were finally acting like a family that Huiju calls it reassuring, most of that final episode felt underwhelming.
I recognize that there was an attempt to make things overly dramatic with the power struggle angle like Huiju's grand entrance to the cabinet meeting where she revealed that the PM tried to kill the Grand Prince who was now the King but somehow things felt quite lacking.
And I found it quite shallow that the PM turned evil solely because he was jealous of how the King got Huiju. It might have been more acceptable if he committed all those crimes because he had deeper reasons like furthering his political ambitions.
The general vibe the show wanted to project was obviously a happy one but somehow things felt quite fake and contrived in the end like that baseball game they watched.
But then all's well that ends well so yes, it was still worth my time. And no, I won't bother going to the historical inconsistencies the show's being bashed for because it's not my place and I get that the show is fictional anyway.
Oppa says...3.9.
Noona says...4.3.