New MBC Monday/Tuesday drama "Empress Qi" is rejuvenating period dramas and bringing it back to life.
There has only been two episodes of "Empress Qi" broadcast but following 11.1% in ratings during the first episode (Neilsen Korea), the second episode had 13.6% in ratings and was a solid #1 in the Monday/Tuesday drama category. This is a sign that it completely overcame the hurdles of "Goddess of Fire" which was the staple of MBC as "home of the period dramas."
"Goddess of Fire" had the intention to portray the success story of the first female porcelain maker but it had an obvious storyline and conflict structure with only the historical period as a variable. Thus, it gave out its place to KBS 2TV medical drama "Good Doctor" and fell to last place.
"Goddess of Fire" especially had raised expectations as it would portray the story of Yoo Jung (played by Moon Geun Young) who had gone above and beyond the class she was born in. However, it was reactive and did not meet the expectation of viewers. Later, as the core of the drama started to go to a power struggle, viewers' interests were at an all time low.
However, the situation has changed. "Empress Qi" has changed the image of historical period dramas like "Goddess of Fire" "Ma yi" and "The Old Medical Books." Rather, "Empress Qi" has both action and a mystery involved as it showed great large-scale images of the Won Dynasty in the background.
"Empress Qi" has turns after turns as it shows a Koreo dynasty woman who ends up being the leader of China's Won Dynasty. It focuses on the charimstaic character but adds various elements and provides enough to look for.
Morever, Ha Ji Won was strong enough to have the power to draw in the attention of viewers and received great reviews. Despite criticisms that "Empress Qi" was fumbling with history, Ha Ji Won has become the leader of the Seung Nyang clan and was perfect in both sad acting and action as well to draw in the crowd.
"Empress Qi" is a 50 episode drama that makes one forget about the failure of "Goddess of Fire" and viewers are interested to see whether it can remain in the number one seat of Monday/Tuesday dramas.
