Captivating the King review

Captivating the King is Jo Jung Suk's show, and he is reason enough to sit through a slow, handsome palace drama. He plays Yi In, a prince who never expected the throne and takes it anyway: clever, wounded and wickedly funny, a man who wins most arguments before the other side knows one has started. Opposite him is Kang Hee Soo, a noblewoman and baduk prodigy who disguises herself as a man and ends up far closer to him than she planned. The opening stretch is patient, built on games of baduk, court intrigue and a lot of watching, and the story only really catches fire at the end of episode 8. From there the politics carry real weight. The scheming is smart, the risks are spelled out, and Yi In has to think his way past people who are nearly as sharp as he is. It is a lovely production too, with costumes, sets and camerawork that look like money well spent, and a score to match. The costs sit on the other side of the board. Hee Soo is underwritten, and the performance is quiet enough that he carries most of their scenes; next to him she mostly reads as flat, and only now and then as subtle. The disguise asks for more belief than usual, since she barely passes for a man in any scene. The romance runs cooler than the build-up promises, with more longing than heat, and the side characters get less to do as it goes. The last episode divides people: some love how much it leaves to the imagination, others wish it had spent another hour on the loose ends. Watch it for Jo Jung Suk, the politics and the craft, and go in expecting a sageuk with a romance in it rather than the other way round. Skip it if you need a heroine as vivid as the hero or an ending with every detail spelled out.