The Red Sleeve: The Good, the Bad, and the In-Betweens

Last updated on July 2nd, 2024 at 10:32 am

The Red Sleeve isn’t the drama you watch if you want a good romance set in a historical period. It isn’t even that drama you pick if you need suspenseful palace politicking or edge-of-your-seat action or fighting scenes. In this drama, the first one (politics) is bland, and the second (action), is simply non-existent. The romance? Tragic.

Here’s a look at this 2021 historical drama.

The Red Sleeve finished airing on January 1, 2022. It consists of 17 hour-long or so episodes.

Summary

It is the story of King Jeongjo, one of the monarchs of Korea’s Joseon period in the 18th century, and Seong Deok-Im, a court lady, who eventually becomes one of his concubines. 

The drama recounts King Jeongjo’s journey from being the Crown Prince Yi San to eventually rising to power and becoming a mighty monarch. It tells his successes, challenges and heartaches, including his relationship with court lady Deok-Im, later known as Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong.

Why I Picked It

I was in the mood for a historical drama with a good romance, so I picked The Red Sleeve. Based on prior research, it seemed to be that since it was based on a historical pair whose romance was said to be…well, somewhat short of epic.

True enough, the early episodes were quite good. They had even pacing and the sequence of events was laid out such that you would be interested to know more. What looked to be the romantic part was built up just right and came with a sizzling tension to keep you interested. It held so much promise that by that point I was convinced I’d finally found a drama I wouldn’t be dropping midway.

Then suddenly the writing seemed to take a turn halfway in the series. The budding “romance” that you expected to culminate into something beautiful suddenly turned into a confusing push-and-pull fiasco. There wasn’t even gripping palace politics or exciting action to keep your interest.

I’ll list what I liked and disliked below. I won’t go into details to avoid spoiling the story for you, but will instead try to explain them in ways that make sense.

What I Liked

Pacing

The pacing of The Red Sleeve, for the most part, was good; the first few episodes, specifically. However, the last ones were bad; they were so rushed that your head would be spinning to take all the details in.

Acting

Everyone’s acting was on point. Not only the main leads, but the side characters fit their roles well.

Cinematography

Just like any other top-notch Korean drama, the cinematography in this was outstanding. There were plenty of beautiful shots and lovely angles, especially those of the main couple.

Beginnings

I like the early part of the leads’ interaction when they were still in the getting-to-know-each-other phase. The tension during those times was swoon-worthy, their interplay somewhat fun.

Related Reads

• Best Korean Historical Drama: Romantic and Swoony
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Court Lady Life

This is the first historical drama I’ve watched that gave a deeper look at the life of court ladies. The way I understand it, court ladies are employees of the palace who serve the royal family. Their lives are devoted to that service, such that they are not allowed to have lives outside their work. They cannot have romantic relationships nor are allowed to marry, which I think holds true even if their service is over. This drama shows us how lonely their lives can get that many go as far as taking their own lives because of it. It’s an eye-opener.

Deok-Im

In the beginning, I love Deok-Im’s character. She was smart, strong and independent. She had this sense of self-preservation that was admirable. I guess the writers wanted to portray a strong female lead or promote girl power, which I’m all for. But then, on the other hand, I felt that she just became frustrating in the latter part of the drama. I will discuss why under the Dislike section below.

King Jeongjo/Yi San

King Jeongjo or Yi San (as he was called when still a Crown Prince) was a character quite easy to like. He was honourable, strong and steady—a good king and a good man. As a husband or partner, he was amazing, too. He was loyal and dedicated to his one and only love, Deok-Im. Whatever transgressions he had committed to Deok-Im can be attributed to the customs and practices of that time and not within his power to control, so I could forgive him for them.

Friendship

I like the friendship among Deok-Im and the other three court ladies. It was heartwarming how they loved and supported each other.

What I Didn’t Like

Romance

I didn’t like how they built up the romance, making it seem like it was going to develop into a beautiful love story, but only to end up being a relationship that can be described as short of toxic. The main leads’ pairing was sort of one-sided, incompatible and selfish. It was sad and heartbreaking to see their union.

Deok-Im

I’m quite torn about Deok-Im’s character. While I understand and admire her need for self-preservation and comprehend her actions, however, in the end, I feel like she just came off as contradictory, stubborn, prideful and selfish. In the face of King Jeongjo’s great love for her and considering that she was supposed to be this smart woman who had a good grasp of the times she was living in, I expected her to be understanding and make allowances. Instead, she was somewhat unreasonable and mean that I pitied King Jeongjo half the time.

Chemistry

King Jeongjo carried the whole romance in this drama. He gave off the most feelings and chemistry. Since Deok-Im staunchly refused to acknowledge her feelings for him until the very end, we never really got anything heartfelt from her.

Last Episodes

I didn’t like how rushed the last two episodes were. They crammed many years and many significant events in just two episodes. Had the writers taken the time to evenly pace and develop the couple’s union, I would have understood Deok-Im’s later motivations and became sympathetic to her plight.

Late Union

In connection with the above, the main leads united only in Episode 16. After teasing us for 15 or so long hours, we get the reward of seeing them together for only two episodes. And it wasn’t even much of a reward since both episodes didn’t devote much time to their relationship and what little we see is far from romantic with Deok-Im hot to King Jeongjo one moment, then cold the next.

It was anti-climactic and I felt shortchanged. Had this drama not been touted or promoted as a love story, that wouldn’t have been a problem.

Plot Holes

I didn’t like some scenarios that need you to suspend disbelief, but then again what drama doesn’t have them, right? I guess, overall, I’m just relieved that there weren’t so many of them.

Melancholic

This drama turned out sad towards the end. Sad for many reasons, foremost of which is because when everything was said and done, the kind of romance that the writers made us anticipate from the very beginning didn’t materialize at all.

Final Thoughts

Simply put, The Red Sleeve is King Jeongjo’s life story from his time as Yi San, the Crown Prince, to his rise as one of Joseon’s monarchs. It happens to include his love affair with court lady Deok-Im because it is a part of his life. This part of his life, however, isn’t romantic or wholly happy. It’s sad at best and dreadful at worst.

If you’re well aware of these things before you watch the drama, then you’ll be approaching it with realistic expectations.

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