My Royal Nemesis has made such a fuss about being a romantic comedy – largely a comedy above and beyond any other consideration – that a lot of Season 1’s potential conflict and drama have been left on the table. Until Episode 8, anyway, which is where, with a couple of weeks left of the run, these things are starting to come to the fore a little bit in a compelling way. The patient approach to the storytelling parallels between the Joseon-era story and the present day is raising some interesting questions that are helping to define the relationship between Dan-sim and Se-gye.
It’s still funny, and still a bit silly if we’re being truthful, but the transmigration gimmick largely works because Dan-sim’s court-appropriate mode of speech feels idiosyncratic against her fairly open approach to things like premarital sex. A good joke here is that Se-gye has a much more conservative attitude to such things and is often blindsided by Dan-sim’s openness. It’s also funny how she’s able to figure out how very contemporary trends and technologies work basically immediately, not as a contrivance, but as a way to make a point of how history is cyclical and attitudes recur in different contexts.
With the increasing presence of Tae-hee along with Mun-do, there’s plenty of brewing conflict, and there’s clearly a direct relationship between the development of Dan-sim’s own fearsome reputation, her execution, and her relationship with Prince Cheongheon that is going to inform her relationship with Se-gye in the present day, even though I’m starting to wonder a little bit if there is enough space in the remaining episodes to chew through all of this.
Following the ending of the previous episode, Dan-sim and Se-gye are in a more official state, romantically speaking, but their situation isn’t public because Dan-sim is resistant to the idea of being portrayed as a kept woman. This opens a door for Tae-hee to publicly announce their engagement. She’s trying to appease Dal-su by clearing up the DUI scandal that Dan-sim has already smoothed over, thanks to an intuitive understanding of grovelling appeasement culture, but it has the knock-on effect of annoying Mun-do, who falls down the rankings of potential Chail Group heirs since the public engagement does wonders for Biojei’s stock price.
Se-gye isn’t happy about the engagement, and privately, neither is Dan-sim. For her, the whole thing is a scandal waiting to happen, which is naturally the angle that Tae-hee takes, leaking rumours that Dan-sim has been trying to seduce an engaged man. It shows how much Se-gye has changed – or at least how into Dan-sim he is – that marriage was once a surefire way to solidify his public reputation, but now he’s radically opposed to the idea.
The proposal thing also creates more conflict in My Royal Nemesis Episode 8, especially around Dan-sim and Se-gye. Tae-hee tries to force the latter into abandoning the former, while Mun-do tries to strong-arm the former into publicly breaking up Se-gye and Tae-hee. Dan-sim’s public reputation is being wielded as currency by two competing parties, although she’s comically good at repairing it when she comes under fire, which she does here by tipping off the cops that Choi, the cult leader, is a scammer.
Naturally, this is all reminiscent of the Joseon stuff, which takes on a bit more shape here in “Screw This World”. Back then, Dan-sim was instructed to lie and claim she was having an affair with Prince Cheongheon to ruin his reputation, but she refused. The King made it clear that if she didn’t play ball, he’d have his own brother killed. When Cheongheon was later arrested on suspicion of sleeping with and killing a court lady, Dan-sim testified against him. It was to protect his life, obviously, but problematically, through his present-day dreams, Se-gye is beginning to recall a lot of this.
My Royal Nemesis leaves us with the pretty big development of Se-gye remembering enough to call Dan-sim by her actual name, which means she’s likely going to have some explaining to do. But that’s good for us, since it’ll allow us to get more clarity on the Joseon timeline. Mun-do and Tae-hee’s downfalls are enticing propositions, and rooting for Se-gye and Dan-sim to end up together is keeping most of the audience going. As it enters its final few episodes, the show is finally coming into its own.
