Summary
My Royal Nemesis effectively leans into the comedy in “A Whole New Reality”, and it’s all the better for the tone it finds.
I’ve been a little mixed on My Royal Nemesis thus far, but Episode 3 is easily my favourite instalment yet. The first two episodes had their fair share of comedy, but the tone in “A Whole New Reality” has a just-right quality to it. The performances are less goofy, the woman-out-of-time shtick a bit less pronounced, and Se-gye really comes into his own here for me. This is the first time I’ve left an episode really liking him and finding him charming, even though he’s still pretty smug, if we’re being honest.
But the dynamic really works. Dan-sim is so utterly unflappable that she throws Se-gye for loops every time they hang out together, and his reactions are consistently great every time. It certainly helps that the performances are so good, obviously. Lim Ji-yeon has been the standout from the beginning, but Heo Nam-jun is giving her a run for her money now, and the pairing is very complimentary.
Granted, I haven’t quite moved past how quickly both of these characters have essentially been “redeemed”, with Se-gye barely resembling the borderline psycho we met in the premiere, and Dan-sim, especially in flashback sequences, being a little more compassionate than advertised. That does take some of the edge off, but on the flipside, I really like how Ji-yeon can radically flit between different modes of performance depending on the version of her character we’re seeing.
On that note, this episode begins with another Joseon-era flashback, this one with a bit of unexpected action as the past-life version of Se-gye fights off a couple of assassins. It seems clear that the show is going to gradually reveal the relationship these two formed in their past lives, and how that potentially informs their present-day romance, which is coming along rather nicely. The awkwardness of Dan-sim using Se-gye to hide from Mun-do gives way to a little excursion where she gets car sick while he’s driving her around and then steals his credit card when he goes to buy her medicine.
As I pointed out last week, Mun-do being the King’s reincarnation does a lot of heavy lifting, characterisation-wise, so it’s no surprise that Episode 3 of My Royal Nemesis leans further into establishing him as a proper villain. He has been toying with Se-gye since they were kids and continues to do so now, since his company, Kaiserman Capital, is one of Biojei’s main investors, and Mun-do has a spy among Biojei’s directors informing him of what Se-gye is up to and what his relationship with Shin Seo-ri might be.
Needless to say, despite being a woman out of time, Dan-sim realises pretty quickly how credit cards work and starts rinsing Se-gye’s for all its worth. Instead of cancelling the card, he treats this as an excuse to visit Dan-sim in person, which leads to another kind of semi-date that he ends up bankrolling. I think this is the best scene of “A Whole New Reality”. Dan-sim slamming back beef and Se-gye getting wide-eyed at the price is genuinely funny and feels like the first moment that they’ve both let their guards down around each other.
Se-gye still believes Dan-sim is a very committed method actress, but he’s falling for her all the same. He sees her everywhere. The radio keeps conveniently playing love songs. All the pieces seem to be fitting together. Se-gye even has a dream that reflects Dan-sim’s flashback to being assigned as Joseon Se-gye’s court lady, though I’m still not totally sure what the show is doing with its transmigration elements. Instead of providing any kind of logical explanation for how they work, it seems much more like their explicit function is to fill in some of the characterisation that the present-day sequences don’t have time for.
It’s the same with the fact that Dan-sim is literally inhabiting another woman’s body. Very little thought seems to have been spared for the logistics of this. Instead, it’s mostly just a way to move the plot along by fast-tracking Dan-sim’s career as an actress. As much as I enjoy her working odd jobs – there’s a very funny bit where she’s eating all the sample dumplings she’s supposed to be handing out in the mall – it’s clear that the actress thing is going to be a big deal. She quickly becomes fascinated with television and the concept of acting in general, giving her own rendition of the performances she’s seeing on TV, much to the delight of nearby shoppers. The adoration and stirring of her emotions compel her to pursue an acting career as a way to honor Seo-ri for the sacrifice of her body. Naturally, this brings Dan-sim back into the orbit of Se-gye, who’s hiring Dyneastie’s spokesperson.
Of course, Dan-sim still doesn’t know exactly how the business works, so when CEO Hong confronts her about violating her existing contract – she still thinks she’s Seo-ri, remember – Dan-sim ends up bickering with her until a full-on fight breaks out. She bites CEO Hong’s arm and gets into a slap fight with Ji-hyo, which Se-gye eventually has to break up. Naturally, Se-gye’s authority is unassailable around Biojei, so he seals a deal with Dan-sim for her to be the new entertainment agency offshoot’s first client while Hong and Ji-hyo can only look on in shock.
Things end with a final Joseon flashback that gives us another big reveal – in his previous life, Se-gye was Prince Cheongheon, the King’s brother. The scheming is persisting through the ages, as Mun-do plans to use Dan-sim against Se-gye, much like how he did as King back in the day.
