The First Night With The Duke

The First Night With The Duke (Viki) was a weekly gift of fun and swoony, swoony romance. At least for its first half.

Like with Extraordinary You, the romance novel / transmigration setting gave the drama the ability to lean into the tropes we love and also subvert them.

I always appreciate a strong FL and an unwavering ML and Ok Taec Yeon and Seo Ju Hyeon delivered this dynamic with fabulous chemistry. The show truly came alive whenever the Duke appeared thanks to Ok Taec Yeon’s hugely charismatic screen presence. He certainly understood the assignment…

The second half of The First Night With The Duke, with its focus on palace intrigue and betrayal, felt far less compelling.

For me, the show would have been stronger and more interesting if it had committed to its theme of creativity and the relationship between author, audience and character instead of largely ignoring it until the very end.

Overall, however, this was a fun watch...