Goong/Palace/Princess Hours Review

Shin Chae Kyung(Yoo Eun Hye) is a common, average girl. Lee Shin (Joo Ji Hoon) is the Crown Prince. Due to a promise made by their grandfathers, the two end up marring each other after the health of Shin's father, the king, starts failing. Unfortunately, Shin is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, Hyo Rin(Song Ji Hyo), to whom he recently proposed and was rejected. After Shin marries Chae Kyung, Hyo Rin decides that she really loves Shin and tries to win him back. Just before the wedding of Shin and Chae Kyung, Shin's cousin, Prince Yool, returns to Korea and instantly falls in love with Chae Kyung. The love square causes scandals and problems in the palace and a question arrises: Who should be the next king, Shin or Yool?

Review:
This drama was just alright. I never fell in love with any of the characters, though I did fall in love with a couple quirks that they had. There was at least one point in the drama where I wanted to slap every character, save two or three, repeatedly; some more than others. I felt that the drama could have been cut by about 6-9 episodes because there were a few where nothing happened/the same thing happened again/episodes were too similar. There was also absolutely zero romantic chemistry. Chae Kyung and Shin were just Blah together. He was in love with Hyo Rin the whole time and he paid her little to no attention and their relationship just didn't seem real. I also wanted to tell Chae Kyung to grow a backbone but I knew it wouldn't help. She was so passive, I wanted to scream, and he was so rude. Now I'm not saying that I wanted her to end up with Yool cause I didn't, but I also didn't want her to end up with Shin. Congratulations Goong, this is a first for me; I didn't want the lead female to end up with either of the lead males. I did start out liking Yool. He was sweet, kind, understanding, but after a while I got annoyed by him and wanted to shout, "Stop tormenting yourself!!! She's rejected you three times! Stop chasing after a love you never had!!!" I will give him props for being persistent even though she gave him no signs of encouragement.

Hyo Rin drove me up the wall and eventually I just rolled my eyes when she came into the scenes. Really? Attempted suicide after your ex-boyfriend tells you that he doesn't love you anymore? You're gonna join that stereotype? I'm also wondering if Shin's three friends were just really stupid or super mean. Still not sure about that one though later in the drama they tone down their stupidness/meanness.
The few characters I didn't want to slap were Chae Kyung's friend Kang Hyun, Shin's older sister, and Shin's and Yool's grandmother.
Kang Hyun was cute, nerdy, a little blunt, but understanding. A cute one-sided ish relationship forms between one of Shin's friends and Kang Hyun, she totally loved the attention he gave her but she never would have admitted it.
Shin's older sister was wise, understanding, and is usually the voice of reason between the teenagers and the adults.
Grandmother, the Great Queen Mother, was super funny. She laughed at all the awkward, inappropriate moments, and didn't understand modern speech so when she used it, it sounded hilarious.
I did, however, like when Yool was explaining why Shin wouldn't do something rash because he "just doesn't care" and lacked the emotion to do so. You have described that character to a tee.
I also have a problem with the lead actress, Yoo Eun Hye. I don't like to put it this way, but I feel that she's only good for crying. The actress can cry really well, but I feel that every role she plays, all she does is cry and this drama was worse than most. She cried at least once every two episodes. I wanted to  grab her by the shirtfront and tell her to get ahold of herself.
P.s. I want Yool's necklace. I just do.

P.s.ss I want to retitle this drama so it says "those awkward moments when you inadvertently tell your family that you're in love with your cousin-in-law and they get it, but they don't" I swear Yool all but told them he loved Chae Kyung at least five times before he flat out stated it. It looked like they knew each time he "told" them that he was in love with her, but when he finally announced that he deeply loved her, they all looked shocked and I was left wondering what the other surprised and pained expressions meant.
Or maybe I'll retitle it "Two hypocrites, their messed up sons, and three unfortunate ladies" Yeah, I like that one better. Stupid King and Queen Mother.

Rating: 3/10, not worth your time, do not watch it. In F4fighting!'s rating system: Fail/10

Memorable Moment:

When it ended... I remember when it ended... Not good enough? Okay, there was one scene that I liked.

Episode 23:

Shin and Chae Kyung have reconciled and Shin asks Chae Kyung to stay by his side. Not the most romantic confession but whatever it took him 23 episodes to do it, I guess we should be happy it actually happened.

After she agrees to stay with him, the two are lying on his couch talking about the arson charge he has going for him. Shin comments that she would have to bring home the money when he's kicked out of the palace and she tells him that he can do the housework. He claims that men aren't supposed to do housework and she suggests that he might like it. We then get an imagination sequence of what that lifestyle could be like, complete with Shin in a cute yellow apron.

Oh how I wish this would have actually happened!!!
Shin then gets a wise idea and suggests that they have a peacemaking ceremony cause they haven't made peace in a while. His subtlety is only short of a '*nudge* if you know what I mean... *wink wink*' Chae Kyung probably knows what he's asking for as she starts to play along, but she quickly jumps up and starts singing the South Korean Goal Ceremony. Shin all but *facepalms* himself as he sits there while she runs off, still chanting. After she's pretty much gone he asks if she thinks he's a fool? Of course he knows what the Goal Ceremony is, then proceeds to chat for a second before going back to mope about his rotten luck.