Sorry for the dragged review but I just had to.
I was excited to watch it but sadly it did not meet my expectations. I liked the side characters which includes: the royal guard who was Woo DO Hwan and his counterpart Eun sop because honestly not just were the characters very interesting but also his acting and his duality was INCREDIBLE which made me love him even more, Shin Jae was also a very interesting character and the actor was just amazing with what he was given, the prime minister's character could've been so much better and stronger than what they made her, and Na-ri and her counterpart were also my fav characters but given their limited screen time I was disappointed.

I hated how the whole "love" part was over exaggerated and forced like the whole drama would have been perfect without it. But seeing as they intended to include it, they could have added more of a reason for them to fall in love not just a forced type of love like they didn't seem to have anything in common but I would like to admit that Lee Min Ho's scenes where [spoiler] saves her from his uncle and the scene where he traveled for yours for her [/spoiler] were romantic but didn't work with the forced relationship.

Jung Tae Eul's character wasn't very interesting or entertaining and nor was Lee Min Ho' overly scientific and know it all character.

And do not get me started on the ending which was stupid to say the least.

Also, some things were left unanswered and were confusing:
[spoiler]
- Why was lady Noh brought from the other universe.
- What was the yo-yo kids story and how is he from both universe'?
- How is Lee Lim young even though time passed? Is it because he travels the universe's and if so is it happening to The King as well?
- When Lee Gon changed the past how exactly did it effect the future and was the change in the past supposed to happen?
- When Lee Gon went back to the past during the row competition why did he leave the stables access card in the jacket for Luna?
and many more confusing things.

[/spoiler]

I still don't think the drama deserved the hate it received right from the beginning. How people could go and judge it after 4 aired episodes is beyond me. So I'll try to give this constructive criticism, because I don't say that this drama is a masterpiece when it isn't.

After the first 4 episodes I had a blank mind, couldn't say if I liked or disliked the drama. I didn't feel bored, nor excited.
It's the same after I completed it, just that my head is now full of thoughts about all the questions that were left unanswered. I won't go into detail but if you like your drama end to tie all loose ends, look elsewhere because the writer left us with lots of empty room for interpretation.

What's positive about the story is the setting and the idea itself. I found it interesting and still think it could make a good drama. Sadly, as the drama kept going it only got more confusing. There were some moments when I wasn't sure if I missed something or the scriptwriter herself got more and more confused with all this traveling between worlds.
It might have been better to keep it more simple but that's not how it is. And yes I have to admit there are some filler scenes that we could do without and plot holes throughout the drama. But just as much plot holes there are product placements which personally I find just as distracting and annoying.

Bottles with coffee, chicken, food delivery service, beauty products, bakeries, car brands and more. The most annoying for me was the coffee and beauty stuff. More than once it looked like I had accidentally turned the teleshopping channel on. No joke!
We even get praising lines with this products telling us how good it tastes or an explanation how to use the beauty product. This might be allowed but it's definitely not what I want to see in a drama. Sponsoring is okay and important, I get it, but please don't shove those products in our faces like that and mess up the flow and logic of the story with them. There were nice and dynamic scenes that lost their meaning when another product popped up and stole the attention. There are way more subtle ways to do this...

The whole cast did a great job and the acting was really good. If anything I would blame the scriptwriter that made the female lead cry so often and not the actress for having to follow the script. It was my first drama with Kim Go Eun and Lee Min Ho and I liked them both a lot. Woo Do Hwan was the only one I knew from the cast/who was already among my favorites before this drama and he once again showed how good he can portray different personality types. I enjoyed every scene with him the most. I would wish for more scenes with him and Kim Yong Ji who also left a good impression. ^^ I liked the acting of Jung Eun Chae and Lee Jung Jin. Sadly their characters kept staying pretty much in the dark.

The OST is good, probably not going to be a favorite of mine but it's fitting the scenes of the drama and also nice to listen to on it's own.

As for the rewatch value. Chances I'm gonna rewatch this drama are pretty slim. Maybe a few scenes, mostly from the first couple of episodes when the traveling still caused funny scenes and didn't turn into a who's who.

I recommend everyone to go and see for themselves if this drama is to their liking or not. As I said, it received a lot of hate and I think not all of it was fair and appropriate so go and decide for yourself. Maybe this is your next favorite?
For me it was decent despite flaws in the writing and how the story progressed. I don't regret watching it, just think they could've done way better.

The Greatest Science Fiction Romance in the last 40 years

"더 킹: 영원의 군주" or "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020) was the best science fiction and romance of the 2010 decade. I would say that this show has gained the number one (#1) spot in my list of "Top 10 Overall Best Sci-fi TV Show" pushing down "Fringe" (2008) which held that rank for 12 years.

I. Story
The writer, Kim Eun Sook of the "Lovers in Paris" (2004); "Descendants of the Sun" (2016); "Goblin" (2016); and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018) fame, once again showed us her amazing talent in creating stories that truly captures the imagination and heart of the audience.

In "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020), Kim Eun Sook has woven beautifully the "parallel world" trope into her memorable romance plots. She did not leave it simply as a literary device then forgotten, she placed it in the center of the series, and the drama and romance unfolded through it.

Each episode was more or less one hour and ten minutes, and no episode was boring, no episode was dragging, no episode was a repeat of previous ones. In every episode there is a fresh plot, a new story to tell which added to the development of the characters, the relationships between them, and the tension and clashes when worlds and ambitions collide.

II. Acting/Cast
What an amazing cast--Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, Kim Kyung Nam, Jung Eun CHae, Lee Jung Jin, Kim Yong Ji, Kang Hong Suk--they picked the right people for the roles. Their unique acting styles made their characters fully alive and their interaction with each other natural.

The show was not only about "Yi Gon" (Lee Min Ho) and "Jeong Tae Eul" (Kim Go Eun), everyone were key persons in creating the world of the "Kingdom of Corea". They all brought their best and created a masterpiece.

III. Production
While there were a few noticeable errors, the editing and sequence of the scenes covered it all. I especially like how they did not present the stories, in each episode, in a linear fashion; instead they kept scenes for the next episodes and did flashbacks at the right time.

The mixing of historical with the modern in the fictional "Kingdom of Corea" were seamless. There were no out-of-place moments. Where there are modern things, the room was designed to fit these modern gadgets. Where there should be a historical look and feel, the room either did not have any modern materials or the few blended with the environment. Not an easy task to achieve.

It was not only the interior designers but it was also the directors and cameramen who did great shots in creating a seamless mix of historical and the modern environments.

IV. Conclusion
I highly recommend "더 킹: 영원의 군주" or "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020) especially if one is a fan of "parallel world" type of science fiction. Think of this show as "Fringe" (2008) but with touchy romance and intense family rivalry.

Overall score of 9.5 out of 10 stars.

>TKEM is a complete package; was supposed to have the best of everything: the most successful screenwriter and director, extremely popular actors in an ensemble cast and a lot of money being into production. But it does fails to keep us enterntained every week. There are some ups and downs with series ; especially since this is first time I'm watching a korean show weekly ; midway i was dropped the series until all the episodes are available on 11-12 June.

Pros:
1. AMAZING CINEMATOGRAPHY: Everything is beautiful.
2. Lee Min Ho in all his KINGLY glory. First time i liked him in his character as this suits him better than the other roles.
3. Woo Do Whan in his double role is extremely convincing and is the best part of the show.
4. Most of the actors in this large cast have done a really good job.
5. Interesting concept of parallel worlds and [spoiler]time travel.[/spoiler]
6.Lee Jong In - I like how upright and protective he is to the KING.

Cons:
1. Very annoying FL. I do not like her. I'm disappointed with Kim Go Eun's portrayal of Tae-Eul. The character herself isn't very likable either. The way they styled her is also drab and disappointing considering the contrast with the King who is always looking regal.
2. No chemistry between the leads. I tried to convince myself that they look good together for a very long time but I'm finally giving up. Their romance is really boring, no fun moments.
3. The plot is a mess. There are too many characters and none of them is able to make a meaningful impact because its not coherently put together.
4. Kang Shin Jae is given a lot of importance in the plot, but the actor doesn't have equivalent screen presence to pull it off.
5. SO MUCH PPL, the characters not only use the products but also TALK ABOUT THEM. I never complain about PPL but honestly in this drama its very distracting and really pulls you out of the story.
6. The world building is off, Kingdom of Corea looks almost like and Republic of Korea and its hard to tell the difference unless its the palace setting.
7. The suspense is not built up properly cause often the audience already knows what's going on while detectives on the show try to catch up. [spoiler] I don't even remember what the detectives were investigating with the murders until they found a clue of otherworld [/spoiler]

Overall this show might have disappointed many people ; I love most of these actors but unfortunately their characters are so bland that they can't do any magic here.
As for the aesthetic, it is really enjoyable and pleasing to the eyes.. ; all korean shows in last 2-3 yrs partnered with Netflix have high production value and good visuals like Mr.Sunshine , Hotel Del Luna , CrashLandingOnYou;

Ending spoiler below - caution
[spoiler]
The ending is Quite similar to CLOY ; unlike there here they meet every week and show us they grow old together ; very unrealistic for king to have a queen out of limelight in a different world. Its illogical that Tae-ul survive out of the gate crash but yeah as shown the kid let her have memories ; but don't understand how the memories of KING are oriented after surviving and rewriting history ....I did though like the part where all the people who got their sad pasts ; messed by Lee Rim got corrected
[/spoiler]

All in all this a better show with hypotherical modern Korean KING and does most bits ok ; definetely disappointed many with the expectations set initially.

**_The Greatest Science Fiction Romance in the last 40 years_**

"더 킹: 영원의 군주" or "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020) was the best science fiction and romance of the 2010 decade. I would say that this show has gained the number one (#1) spot in my list of "Top 10 Overall Best Sci-fi TV Show" pushing down "Fringe" (2008) which held that rank for 12 years.

**I. Story**
The writer, Kim Eun Sook of the "Lovers in Paris" (2004); "Descendants of the Sun" (2016); "Goblin" (2016); and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018) fame, once again showed us her amazing talent in creating stories that truly captures the imagination and heart of the audience.

In "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020), Kim Eun Sook has woven beautifully the "parallel world" trope into her memorable romance plots. She did not leave it simply as a literary device then forgotten, she placed it in the center of the series, and the drama and romance unfolded through it.

Each episode was more or less one hour and ten minutes, and no episode was boring, no episode was dragging, no episode was a repeat of previous ones. In every episode there is a fresh plot, a new story to tell which added to the development of the characters, the relationships between them, and the tension and clashes when worlds and ambitions collide.

**II. Acting/Cast**
What an amazing cast--Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, Kim Kyung Nam, Jung Eun CHae, Lee Jung Jin, Kim Yong Ji, Kang Hong Suk--they picked the right people for the roles. Their unique acting styles made their characters fully alive and their interaction with each other natural.

The show was not only about "Yi Gon" (Lee Min Ho) and "Jeong Tae Eul" (Kim Go Eun), everyone were key persons in creating the world of the "Kingdom of Corea". They all brought their best and created a masterpiece.

**III. Production**
While there were a few noticeable errors, the editing and sequence of the scenes covered it all. I especially like how they did not present the stories, in each episode, in a linear fashion; instead they kept scenes for the next episodes and did flashbacks at the right time.

The mixing of historical with the modern in the fictional "Kingdom of Corea" were seamless. There were no out-of-place moments. Where there are modern things, the room was designed to fit these modern gadgets. Where there should be a historical look and feel, the room either did not have any modern materials or the few blended with the environment. Not an easy task to achieve.

It was not only the interior designers but it was also the directors and cameramen who did great shots in creating a seamless mix of historical and the modern environments.

**IV. Conclusion**
I highly recommend "더 킹: 영원의 군주" or "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020) especially if one is a fan of "parallel world" type of science fiction. Think of this show as "Fringe" (2008) but with touchy romance and intense family rivalry.

Overall score of 9.5 out of 10 stars.