SBS | Fridays & Saturdays 9:50pm KST | Netflix | Episode 2 of 14
I CALLED IT. The cousin is the King. I should be a detective honestly. Also — she head-butted a man, went viral for shouting “You dare run you vile mouth,” spent all her money on sweets because she’d never tasted them before, and ended the episode running into Se Gye’s arms screaming “be my shield” because the reincarnated king just walked around the corner. This drama is UNHINGED and I love every second.
The Mannequin — She Can’t Catch a Break
When she wakes up, it turns out the body that fell on Se Gye’s car was a MANNEQUIN. Not a real person. Se Gye now thinks SHE was behind the whole stunt. She tries to explain — “when you’ve been in the palace and escaped multiple assassination attempts, you become savvy enough to sense when something’s about to happen.” He thinks she’s insane and throws her out of the building.
This woman literally saved his life and he thinks she’s the one trying to kill him. She cannot catch a BREAK.
20mph — That’s Too Fast
Se Gye’s assistant drives her home and she’s TERRIFIED. They’re going 20mph — you could almost walk faster than that — and she’s screaming “SLOW DOWN.” But when you’ve spent your entire life with horses and sedan chairs, 20mph in a metal box with wheels IS terrifying. Everything about this woman adjusting to modernity is gold.
Choi Mun Do — The Cousin Who Donated an Organ
We learn why Choi Mun Do is so close to the chairman. Ten years ago, the chairman was sick and his ACTUAL children refused to donate part of their liver. Mun Do — the nephew — stepped up and donated his. That’s why he became the chairman’s favourite. He saved the old man’s life when his own children wouldn’t.
But is his loyalty genuine or is he just positioning himself for the inheritance? I think it’s the latter. He’s sucking up to the grandfather for the money.
The Grandmother — “Are You Proud of Your Granddaughter?”
When Dan Shim gets home, the grandmother is waiting with food. The grandmother is so affectionate but Dan Shim doesn’t know this woman — she’s a stranger wearing a familiar face’s life. How do you behave with someone who thinks you’re their granddaughter when you’re NOT?
The grandmother’s cooking isn’t great. At first I was like — hold on, you’re telling me food from 300 years ago tasted better? But then I realised… the grandma’s food just isn’t that good.
When the grandmother leaves, she tells Dan Shim how PROUD she is. Dan Shim asks quietly: “Are you proud of your granddaughter?” The grandmother says yes.
Even though she knows she’s not the real granddaughter, it still touches her heart. I don’t think anyone has EVER spoken to Dan Shim that gently. Maybe the King did — but then he killed her. This one moment of tenderness from a stranger might be the most genuine love she’s ever received.
Se Gye’s Suspicions — And He’s Not Wrong
Se Gye is really doubting her. She ran in front of his car. She attacked him. She showed up at his company. She predicted something would happen to him. Twice can’t be a coincidence.
I fully understand his thinking. She obviously knows NOTHING about any conspiracy. But from his perspective? It looks suspicious as hell. He’s got his secretary investigating her but on paper there’s nothing special. The secretary even says “I genuinely think she’s just concerned about you.” But Se Gye can’t trust it.
The Tiny Room and the Noisy Neighbour
Dan Shim walks into Seo Ri’s room and realises it’s literally ONE ROOM. Tiny. She goes to complain to the building owner. He says when a room with no window comes available, he’ll move her. She thought they were going to UPGRADE her. No. That IS the standard room.
Then the neighbour starts knocking on the wall about noise. The OLD Seo Ri was timid and wouldn’t say a word. The NEW Seo Ri? She bangs RIGHT back. When he comes to her door to complain, she cusses him OUT. Everyone on the floor cheers because he’s been a nuisance to ALL of them. He’s like “what’s got into her? She couldn’t even look me in the eyes before.”
I’m so glad she’s in this body now. People have been walking all over Seo Ri and now Dan Shim is going to take back every bit of humiliation. She’s calling people out and I’m going to LOVE it.
The Joseon Flashback — Locked in a Chest
We see what actually happened to Dan Shim when she first arrived at the palace. The other women bullied her because she was lowborn. They locked her inside a CHEST. Like a cupboard. Just locked her in and left her.
You KNOW that when she rose to become the highest-ranking concubine, she went after her bullies. And I think that’s what stirred a lot of the problems. She wasn’t an evil person — but she’d been bullied. The natural thing to do when you rise up is to bully your bullies back. It doesn’t make it right. But it makes it UNDERSTANDABLE.
Se Gye’s Dream — The Man With the Scar
Se Gye wakes up from a dream where he’s lying in Joseon, not far from where Dan Shim was locked in the chest. He’s got one blue eye and one black eye, a scar along the blue eye, He’s CRYING.
So Se Gye has a past-life connection to Dan Shim. He wasn’t the King — I’m now convinced the cousin Choi Mun Do is the King’s reincarnation. Se Gye was someone connected to the court, someone in love with Dan Shim, someone who was near her when she was suffering. And HE was the one who released her from the chest. He SAVED her. But she never saw his face because of the mask.
She doesn’t recognise him in 2026 because she never knew what he looked like.
Seo Ri’s Diary — Making the Grandmother Proud
Dan Shim finds the original Seo Ri’s diary. The girl was a child star who faded as an adult. She struggles day-to-day, lives in poverty, and works as an extra. But the one thing that runs through every entry is that she wants to make her grandmother PROUD.
Dan Shim decides she’s going to honour that wish. She goes to the rooftop — and the way they film it, you think she might jump. But instead she stands up and says she will honour the body she lives in. She will give this body the life it DESERVES.
If she could go from lowborn to highest-ranking concubine in Joseon, there’s no stopping her now.
The Job Interviews — “I Managed 500 People”
She blows through all her money on sweets because she’s never had them before. Gets a bit happy and buys everything in sight. Now she needs a job.
The interviews are DISASTROUS. A man asks how old she is. She says: “I’m old enough to have a child in school.” WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? Another asks if she’s ever worked in a managing position. She says: “Yes, I managed 500 people.”
She’s not helping herself. She’s making people think she’s crazy. I THINK she’s crazy. But she’s OUR crazy.
The Viral Video and Going Viral Herself
One of the editors from the production she was on uploads the footage of her shouting “how dare you run your vile mouth!” It goes VIRAL. The editing is brilliant and she becomes an overnight internet sensation.
Se Gye’s company wants to use her as their new brand face because of the viral moment. Se Gye is AGAINST it because he still thinks she’s a spy. But everyone else can see what he can’t — she’s a gold mine.
The Chicken Channel and the Poison PTSD
She runs into her food-stealing neighbour and follows him to a job. She ends up on a live eating channel for chicken. She’s getting PAID TO EAT. She thinks she’s living her best life. Everything she touches sells out. The channel is buzzing.
They ask her to stay for more segments. She refuses. They offer double pay. She says SEVEN TIMES. They agree.
But then they serve her nutrients in a BOWL — the same way they served her the poison in Joseon. She goes into full PTSD. Flashbacks. Panic. She throws up on live television.
The guy who hired her comes after her. He goes to HIT her. She HEAD-BUTTS him. He goes to punch her. And Se Gye grabs his fist and stops it.
He saves her. Again.
I Was RIGHT — The Cousin Is the King
I CALLED IT. Choi Mun Do is the reincarnation of the King who had her killed.
Se Gye is trying to tell Dan Shim he wants to sign a contract with her. His cousin Mun Do walks around the corner. She sees him. She says: “Your Majesty.” And she RUNS.
Se Gye follows her. He says he wants the deal. Mun Do appears AGAIN. She turns to Se Gye and says:
“I need you to be my shield.”
And she runs into his arms.
She’s terrified. She thinks the King has come back to finish the job. She doesn’t realise Mun Do isn’t the actual King — he’s the reincarnation. But her fear is REAL. The man who ordered her death is standing right there.
This is PERFECT because they’re going to become each other’s shields. She protects him from the family trying to destroy his business. He protects her from the reincarnated king who had her killed. Joint enemy. Joint alliance.
The Twist — Se Gye Released Her From the Chest
The final reveal — Se Gye wasn’t the King. He was the man near the chest. He was the one who RELEASED her when she was locked inside by the other women. He saved her 300 years ago. And now he’s saving her again.
But she doesn’t recognise him because his face was covered. She never knew who freed her. And he doesn’t know why he’s dreaming about a woman in Joseon.
Their connection spans 300 years. He saved her then. He’s saving her now. And neither of them knows it yet.
My Thoughts on Episode 2
This drama is hitting on EVERY level. The comedy is brilliant — the job interviews, the 20mph car ride, the one-room complaints, the food-stealing neighbour getting cussed out. The emotion is real — the grandmother scene, the diary, the rooftop promise. And the mystery is building — the Joseon connection between Se Gye and Dan Shim, the reincarnated King as the modern-day cousin, the chest rescue that neither of them remembers properly.
Im Ji Yeon is carrying this drama on her BACK. The way she switches between comedy, vulnerability, and fierce survival instinct — sometimes in the same SCENE — is incredible. She’s playing a 300-year-old concubine who head-butted a man and then cried into a chaebol’s arms because she saw the face of the king who killed her. That’s RANGE.
I said this would be Mr. Queen energy and it IS. But it’s also building something deeper with the past-life connections. The cousin being the King means Se Gye and Dan Shim share an enemy. And enemies-to-allies-to-lovers is my favourite trajectory in K-drama.
12 episodes to go. She’s already gone viral, been fired from two jobs, head-butted a man, and found her shield. This woman doesn’t waste TIME.
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 — went viral, got PTSD from a bowl, head-butted a man, found her shield
Heo Nam Jun
Cha Se Gye — saved her twice now, doesn’t know why he dreams of Joseon
Jang Seung Jo
Choi Mun Do — THE KING REINCARNATED, joint enemy confirmed
He freed her from a chest 300 years ago. She doesn’t recognise his face. He doesn’t know why he dreams of her.
She said “be my shield.” He caught the fist aimed at her head. And somewhere across three centuries, the same story is playing out again.
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