SBS | Fridays & Saturdays 9:50pm KST | Netflix | Episode 1 of 14
I KNEW this was going to be funny and Episode 1 has not let me down. Im Ji Yeon is STUNNING in the Joseon scenes, she beat a chaebol heir with a TREE BRANCH in the modern scenes, and by the end of the episode she’s saved his life by pulling him away from a car that gets crushed by a body falling from a building. This woman has been in 2026 for approximately five minutes and she’s already caused more chaos than most characters manage in an entire drama.
The Execution — The Heavens Sent Omens
First of all — Im Ji Yeon is absolutely STUNNING. Whenever she’s in the Joseon scenes, her visuals are just striking. She was BORN for historical costume.
Kang Dan Shim refuses to drink the poison. So they force it on her. But as she takes it, it starts to SNOW. In the middle of SUMMER. And then — an eclipse of the sun. The heavens are literally sending omens about the injustice of what’s being done to her. She dies. But not really.
She Wakes Up on a Film Set — And Thinks It’s Real
This is TOO FUNNY. She wakes up on a modern film set where they’re shooting a historical drama. She’s in a hanbok. Everyone else is in costume. For HER, nothing looks wrong — she thinks she’s still in Joseon. But she’s actually playing a concubine sentenced to death. Basically she’s woken up in the exact scenario she just died in.
When they tell her to drink the poison she loses it — “How DARE you!” The director says grab her. She throws one guard. Then another. Now ALL of them try to grab her and she’s fighting them off. The director is screaming “KEEP ROLLING” because he thinks her improv is INCREDIBLE. She’s not acting. She’s genuinely terrified. But nobody knows that.
Meet Cha Se Gye — Ruthless Doesn’t Even Cover It
The male lead is introduced immediately as a MONSTER. He’s in a meeting with a fellow business owner and is acquiring the man’s company. The guy refuses to sign. Se Gye says: “Fine. For every 10 seconds you don’t sign, you lose 1 billion won.”
He’s SERIOUS. Each time the man hesitates, Se Gye slides a new contract across the table — 1 billion less. The man’s company is literally decreasing in value in real time while he watches. He forces him to sign. No emotion. No hesitation. Ruthless.
Then there’s a DEEPFAKE video released of him smashing up a worksite. His assistant tells him the legal team wants to sue. Se Gye says — “No. Don’t sue them. I’m going to ACQUIRE their company.” This man is absolutely insane. His solution to being attacked is to BUY his attacker. That’s villain energy but make it capitalism.
Choi Mun Do — The Uncle Who’s Being Overshadowed
We meet Choi Mun Do (Jang Seung Jo), Se Gye’s uncle and the current CEO of the family business. He’s doing an interview but every question is about his NEPHEW. He eventually tells them — “Maybe you’re interviewing the wrong person.” He’s right. It’s rude. You’ve arranged an interview with the CEO but you only want to talk about the grandson who LEFT the company? Go interview HIM then.
The power dynamic between uncle and nephew is already clear. Mun Do is in the chair but Se Gye casts the bigger shadow.
Dan Shim Discovers the Modern World
Dan Shim eventually wanders off set and steps into the REAL modern world. She sees skyscrapers. Cars on the road. A PLANE in the sky. Can you IMAGINE? You’re from 300 years ago where there were horses and sedan chairs and now you’re seeing metal boxes with wheels flying past you at speed. Your brain would literally not be able to handle it.
She even sees a blonde woman with blue eyes and is like — these people are REAL? Then the woman speaks Korean and Dan Shim is confused because they no longer speak in the formal Joseon tongue. Her brain is OVERLOADING.
It turns out it’s been 300 years since the eclipse in her timeline. The eclipse that happened when she died in Joseon has occurred again in 2026. That’s how she time-travelled.
The Tree Branch Fight
Dan Shim isn’t looking where she’s going and gets hit by Se Gye’s car — just a slight bump, but combined with the overwhelm of being in a new timeline, she collapses. Then she gets up and runs into traffic, dodging cars that are honking at her. She’s in a complete daze. Se Gye pulls her back before she gets run over.
He thinks she’s a SCAMMER. He starts having a go at her. Tries to give her money to make her go away. She feels INSULTED — how dare you throw money at ME? So she grabs a branch off a passing flower truck and starts BEATING HIM WITH IT. He grabs some flowers. They’re having a full-on fight in the middle of the street. A crowd gathers. His PA is laughing because Se Gye’s reputation is already hanging by a thread and now he’s being filmed fighting a woman with foliage.
I am CRYING. This woman has been in 2026 for less than an hour and she’s already assaulted a chaebol heir with vegetation.
The Museum — “That Painting Is MINE”
Dan Shim follows a group of schoolchildren into a national Joseon history museum. A lecturer is showing the children a painting and says it belonged to the queen. Dan Shim gets VEXED — “No it didn’t! That’s MINE!” The children look at her like she’s mad. One little boy goes: “The villain!”
The lecturer explains that Dan Shim was stripped of her title and poisoned with no official records left of her. Dan Shim is standing there looking at her own painting — a painting SHE just finished — but it’s now 300 years old and weathered. That’s when it starts hitting her. She might not be where she thinks she is.
And here’s the heartbreaking truth — she’s NOT a villain. She was a lowborn woman who became the highest-ranking concubine purely on her own merit. No powerful family. No allies. Just her. And because of that, jealous people spread rumours. Those rumours became “fact.” Those facts became a death sentence. She was treated unfairly her entire life and now even HISTORY remembers her wrong.
The Shaman Explains Everything
Dan Shim finds a shaman who listens to her story. Dan Shim says she’s from 300 years ago. The shaman starts referencing K-DRAMAS with time travel plotlines. Dan Shim has no idea what she’s talking about. But the shaman explains the concept — she’s time-travelled. She’s in a different era. This is the 21st century.
Reality hits her HARD. She’s alive. But everything she knew is gone. She has no money (and even if she did, she wouldn’t know what it is). She doesn’t know where she lives. She doesn’t know the rules of this world. She’s wandering the streets in the cold rain with absolutely nothing.
But then she makes a choice. Instead of seeing this as a curse, she’s going to see it as a REBIRTH. A second chance at life. If she could make it from lowborn to the highest concubine in Joseon, she can do it again in 2026.
That’s the spirit that got her killed the first time. And it’s the spirit that’s going to save her this time.
The Audition — “Do You Think All These People Are Done?”
Se Gye’s company is auditioning for a new brand face. Dan Shim ends up at the audition (she went to find him using his business card — he’d told her to go to the hospital and he’d cover the bill).
The second female lead Yun Ji Hyo is also auditioning. She has it OUT for Dan Shim (or rather, the body she’s in — Shin Seo Ri). But the problem is the PREVIOUS owner of this body was humble and held her tongue. The NEW host? She don’t give a fuck. She’s the former top concubine. No one belittled her THEN and no one’s belittling her NOW.
During the audition, they’re asked where they see themselves in 10 years. The other women talk about marriage and cooking. Dan Shim goes OFF — “Do you think all these people are done?” She starts talking about how there’s no difference between men and women, women should do whatever they want, she doesn’t want to get married or have children, she just wants to perfect her scholarship.
A woman from 300 years ago has a more progressive mindset than the modern women in the room. Think about THAT.
Se Gye walks in during her speech. She tries the concubine charm — batting her eyes, being alluring. He’s not impressed. Not ONE bit. She tells him she’s come to negotiate. He says — “You need to bring something to the table first. You’ve got nothing I want.” And walks away.
My woman is CHASING him through the building. She is not giving up.
The Eclipse and the Save
As the eclipse starts, Dan Shim sees it as an omen — a murder sign. She grabs Se Gye and starts screaming that someone’s trying to kill him, don’t get in the car. He thinks she’s INSANE. Security drags her away.
She pulls him away from the car. And as she does — a BODY jumps from the building and lands on top of his car.
If she hadn’t pulled him away, he’d be dead. She saved his life. Using the SAME supernatural instinct that killed her 300 years ago. The eclipse that ended her life in Joseon just saved his life in 2026.
That’s one hell of a cliffhanger.
My Thoughts on Episode 1
I was right — this IS Mr. Queen energy going into the future and I am LIVING for it. The comedy is landing perfectly. Im Ji Yeon is delivering on every level — stunning in the Joseon scenes, hilarious in the modern scenes, and heartbreaking in the quiet moments where she realises everything she knew is gone.
The museum scene where she finds out history remembers her as a villain when she was actually a victim of jealousy? That’s the emotional anchor of this entire drama. She’s not just adapting to a new time — she’s getting a chance to rewrite her own story.
Heo Nam Jun’s Se Gye is the perfect foil — cold, calculating, and completely unimpressed by the woman who just beat him with a tree branch. He doesn’t know it yet, but she just saved his life. That debt is going to be the foundation of everything.
13 episodes to go. She’s been in 2026 for one day and she’s already fought a chaebol, crashed a film set, scared schoolchildren at a museum, and stopped a man from being crushed by a falling body. This drama is going to be WILD.
Quick Stats
Network SBS (Fri & Sat 9:50pm KST)
Streaming Netflix (worldwide)
Episodes 14 × 70 min Genre Comedy, Romance, Drama, Fantasy
Cast
Im Ji Yeon
Shin Seo Ri / Kang Dan Shim — Joseon villainess reborn, tree branch warrior, eclipse survivor
Heo Nam Jun
Cha Se Gye — ruthless chaebol, deepfake victim, life saved by the woman who beat him
Jang Seung Jo
Choi Mun Do — uncle CEO, overshadowed by his nephew, succession rival
Lee Se Hee
Yun Ji Hyo — top star who picked the wrong woman to start beef with
They poisoned her 300 years ago. She woke up on a film set. She beat a billionaire with a branch. She saved his life during an eclipse.
If she could go from lowborn to the highest concubine in Joseon, she can do it again in 2026. Watch her.
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