“The King: Eternal Monarch” Episode 4 Review And Recap

Published Categorized as Kdrama Reviews
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“The King: Eternal Monarch” has been a lukewarm drama for the most part so far, but finally, in episode 4 we see a glimpse of hope for the series. But is it enough to revive interest and keep people coming back?

Today, I am here to discuss the 4th episode of “The King: Eternal Monarch” and my thoughts on it. I’ve previously reviewed episode 1, 2, and 3 and now I am back to review the 4th one.

My biggest concern with “The King: Eternal Monarch” wasn’t that I was confused by the plot but annoyed that it was moving this slow, I don’t need everything to be explained to me in order to enjoy something, in fact, I prefer to explore through characters’ actions if possible. However, “The King: Eternal Monarch” relies too much on its star power to drive a very slow plot forward and that’s a no-no from me.

“The King: Eternal Monarch” episode 4 was the most enjoyable in the series- thus far. It gives me hope, Kim Eun Sook dramas do start slow sometimes but they pick up, it looks like its about to.

Having said this doesn’t mean I LOVED it, I was enjoying my time and liked a couple of things about it. Lets talk:

I liked the conversation Gon and Tae Eul had in the first minutes of the 4th episode; it felt for the first time that they were talking like adults. I liked that.

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The details behind the prime minster actions are still to be fully explored, but it seems there is a struggle inside her head. She also acts a bit too cocky in front of the king and I have no idea what to make of this and why they consider this okay but I believe we’ll find out soon. He gave her a good scolding and I liked that too.

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However, after the first 10 minutes, we spend a solid 20 minutes on things we don’t need to be spending this much time on. The first 10 minutes were great but then it becomes stagnant again.

Tae Eul is still looking into that murder case and as I said in my 3rd episode review, the introduction to the murder is murky at best and done in a sloppy manner from a writing perspective. The scenes they spend on trying to figure out the truth behind the murder isn’t that interesting to me and I bet a lot of others. The writer didn’t make us care about this but we spend a good deal of time on this, I know it’ll probably be tied to Lee Lim somehow, but again, it could’ve been executed way better.

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In the 4th episode of “The King: Eternal Monarch,” our main leads begin to miss each other and we see that Tae Eul kinda misses him too? I don’t know why yet, but okay.

As I said in my review of episode 3, Shin Jae is becoming my favorite character easily; he’s very charismatic but not overly bearing. He’s cool but not trying too hard to make you fall for him. He’s definitely the star of episode 3 and 4 to me, he’s one that piques my interest the most thus far. I also find myself sympathizing with him a lot more than I do with Gon.

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I found his acting when he turned his mom in for police for gambling very well executed, that was one of the best scenes in the 4th episode. You can see him struggling with her and you can hear how much his heart aches to see her like this.

Throughout the 4th episode, we begin to see Tae Eul’s interest in Gon is increasing for the better or the worst. Gon’s pain in his shoulders seems to have a connection to rain and thunder, time also stops again in this episode more than once and I am thinking it has to do with when both Gon or Lee Lim cross to the other worlds.

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Our heroes reunite in the last 5 minutes of the 4th episode and he decides to show her his world by taking her in his horse. Their chemistry in these particular scenes was a definite improvement. When they cross to Gon’s world, Tae Eul is shaken to her core when she sees that they’re greeting him with ‘his majesty,’ and seeing Yeong whom she knows as Eun Sup.

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It was a definite high to end on and I am honestly thankful that he’s showing her rather than reciting the same scenario over and over again. Episode 4 should’ve been episode 3 in my opinion.

Overall, “The King: Eternal Monarch” episode 4 is a lot more fun to watch but still filled with many filler scenes we could’ve dealt without. It was fun in the first 10 minutes, then fun somewhere in the 30 minute mark and fun at the end. Aside from that, the rest could’ve been easily concentrated a bit more and I wished we went through more plot development.

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“The King: Eternal Monarch” has been okay thus far, I need at least four more episodes to give a judgment and I think I will not review the next episodes unless you guys want me to. I will still do a review half-way through and one for when its done but so far, I am not impressed with “The King: Eternal Monarch.”

“The King: Eternal Monarch” teasers really amped up the anticipation and many of us had higher expectations from such a huge production. I think it also has to do with the fact that “The King: Eternal Monarch” is being compared to JTBC’s hit drama “The World of the Married” which is in my opinion a lot more interesting.

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Their timeslots don’t overlap that much but still, “The King: Eternal Monarch” will not be able to escape being compared to this drama during its runtime. On Naver, the majority of the top trending articles are about “The World of the Married.” Today’s episode was even more shocking, I am continuously impressed by how far the writer is willing to experiment and amp things up.

“The King: Eternal Monarch” is probably a fun watch for any Lee Min Ho fan, I am a casual fan of the actor not as obsessed as many and if his projects aren’t good, I will not stick around. I wouldn’t even do it for actors I am obsessed with.

So these are my thoughts on “The King: Eternal Monarch” episode 4. what about you guys? how do you feel about this drama thus far?

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By Jass K.

Hi, I am Jass k. I discuss some of the hottest currently airing kdramas on this site in form of reviews an/or recaps, join me in the discussion~

14 comments

  1. Your thoughts are my exact thoughts even down to this should have been Episode 3. Are we the same person only living in parallel time zones? The last 4 minutes actually make me interested in seeing Episode 5. It seems LMH woke up from his blank face trance and is now showing some signs that he is worthy of Tae-Eul’s interest. Hoping this bit of momentum will continue.

  2. I have to agree with you on the first 3 episodes, didn’t like Tea Eul and Lee Gon had but one expression on his face throughout. BUT, and this is a big BUT, I truelly loved the 4th episode. It really made my heart flutter. There is so much more depth to all the characters after just this one EPISODE. I’m really warming to the SHOW.

    Thank you for your reviews. Don’t be too hard on them. I’m really starting to love this one. Can’t wait for next episode.

  3. I was personally confused by the investigation and felt that it was a filler if not for Lee Lim. The world travelling is still confusing sometimes. High hopes for Ep. 5 though. I hope you’ll still review the next episodes.

  4. I am really enjoying your reviews and I am in agreement with most of your opinions.

    I think the show has too many characters and secondary plots. I am excited about episode 5 and hope I will not be disappointed.

    1. THIS DRAMAAAAA IS PERFECT!!!!!! And I don’t think it’s slow, I like how things is going on, different from others dramas. For example (Memorist) sarted with a impressive pace but it was so fast and so confusing that lost a lot of fans. THE KING IS PERFECT!!!!! Can’t wait for the next chapter.

  5. I too had a high expectation on this drama before the 1st episode airs mainly because of the teaser they released earlier and because i expected it to be as good as any KES previous dramas.
    But after the 1st episode i find it hard to watch the drama without skipping most part of it. I also dont feel the chemistry between the actors.. and their acting.
    i hope next episode would be better.

  6. Episode was enough to entice me to watch ep 5. I am disappointed that he hasn’t spoken about it except for the minute telling to Yeon. Why isn’t he curious about who else is entering when time stops
    Overall I am enjoying it
    because the King is sooo pretty

  7. I think for many (including me), we were SO hyped by the teasers, the cast, and all these big writers and directors coming together for this huge project. Episode 1 was a great start and while it was confusing for some, it was pretty easy to follow if you were paying attention. Episode 2-3 seemed more like introductions so we understand the dynamic between the characters; I personally feel that most of the reason it may have felt dry was the utter lack of bgm in scenes, so it may have felt awkward. EPISODE 4 THOUGH. man oh man I knew this drama was gonna be great and episode 4 has proven that. hopefully viewership grows a lot next week because a lot of people were shook by the ending and CANNOT wait a week for the next episode.

  8. Well thank you for your review and I feel the same about how slow it is like wasting so much time but I still have high hope with this drama as I like fantasy story, and can’t hardly wait for the 5th ep

  9. Well I agree with the writer of this write up but the issue doesn’t lie on the hands of the writer but that of the director and the script writer. If a drama is going to be good and be the best the director as a lot of things to do because if an actor or actress is not good the director will know how to direct the actor or actresses to make the scene to look better.

  10. The 4th episode was a definite improvement, I agreed with the things you said about the previous episodes, I agree with you again. This was by far the most interesting episode, even more interesting than the 1st. It could have actually started from here if we include some introductions from the 1st one. I really hope these series go well, I see big potential. From the scale of cringiness, these series are not so cringy when compared to other “big” dramas, except for some moments in episodes 2 & 3. I said I would give it another chance with this episode and I definitely going to watch the other. I just pray they really make something out of these series and it’s not a waste of potential. Also, I see more international appeal. We have songs in English, also the directing style, the cinematography is more like a real cinema. There’s definitely an improvement in the South Korean series in general.

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