I saw this drama pop up on my feed recently – First Night with the Duke. And I was like\u2026 what\u2019s with that title, bro? Sounds like a Wattpad fantasy fever dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, because I\u2019m a fan of Taecyeon (don\u2019t judge me), I went ahead and subscribed to Viu just to watch him in this. Taecyeon\u2019s acting is not super serious, kinda goofy, but in a naturally charming way. He\u2019s fun to watch.
But sadly\u2026 I just couldn\u2019t deal with the storyline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s the drama about?
It\u2019s about a modern-day woman who suddenly gets transported into a romantic novel set in Joseon-era Korea. Classic time-slip. She ends up as a side character in the story and needs to figure out how to survive in that world. Of course, she somehow catches the attention of the main male lead, a mysterious, good-looking Duke. And just like that, boom, we\u2019re stuck in a whirlwind of palace drama, love triangles, and every woman fighting for the same man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why I dropped it
Honestly, the premise was okay. Time travel + fantasy can be fun if done well. But the romance? Too fast, too forced. The main characters fell in love like it was nothing. Way too fairy-tale-like, and not in a charming way. Every other scene was \u201cdamsel in distress\u201d and I absolutely cannot stand that trope. Why is the female lead always fainting or needing to be rescued?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then we have the classic girl-vs-girl jealousy drama, like, again? We\u2019re still doing that in 2025?
By episode 10, I was exhausted. The story wasn\u2019t going anywhere, just looping the same drama over and over again. So I said nope and bailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re into light fantasy romances with overly dramatic love stories and don\u2019t mind clich\u00e9 plots, you might actually enjoy this. But for me? Nah. I\u2019ll just wait for Taecyeon\u2019s next drama, hopefully with a better role and a storyline that actually respects the audience\u2019s brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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