The Last Empress
The Last Empress is a South Korean television series.
It aired on SBS Wednesdays and Thursdays at the 22:00 KST time slot from November 21, 2018 to February 21, 2019 for 52 episodes.
Main Role
Jang Na-ra as Oh Sunny – an aspiring musical actress with a bright and cheerful personality. She became an overnight Cinderella after marrying the Emperor. In the palace, she fights to uncover the truth behind the death of the Grand Dowager Empress and topple the corrupt imperial family.
Choi Jin-hyuk as Na Wang-sik / Chun Woo-bin– seeks vengeance on the imperial family after his mother's death. To infiltrate the imperial household, he changed his identity to Chun Woo-bin, becoming the Emperor's most trusted imperial bodyguard with unrivaled fighting skills.
Shin Sung-rok as Emperor Lee Hyuk Emperor of the Korean Empire. A powerful ruler who is well-respected by the people. He is talented and eloquent, but beneath his pleasant appearance lies an ugly personality.
Lee Elijah as Min Yoo-ra – Imperial head secretary. She is quick-witted, decisive and greedy. She is trusted by the Emperor and becomes his secret lover and mistress.
Shin Eun-kyung as Empress Dowager Kang Lee Hyuk's mother. A fearless and powerful woman who holds absolute authority in the palace and is fiercely protective of her status.
The Last Empress is set in a hypothetical constitutional monarchy in 2018 and follows the life of a musical actress who marries the Emperor of the Korean Empire. She searches for true love and happiness as she contends with palace life, eventually getting entangled in the murder of the emperor's grandmother, leading to the demise of the imperial family.
In Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei the drama aired on Sony ONE within 24 hours after its original South Korean broadcast with subtitles.
In Singapore, the drama is available to stream on-demand on Viu with subtitles. During its original run, episodes of the drama were available to stream on Viu 12 hours after its original South Korean broadcast.The drama will also be aired on public broadcast channel, Channel U, starting from 3 February 2020 every Monday to Friday at 10pm.
In Indonesia, the drama aired on Trans TV starting February 18, 2019.
In Myanmar, the drama aired on Sky Net International Drama starting April 12, 2019
In Vietnam, the drama aired on HTV2 starting December 2019
In Philippines, it will be aired in GMA Network at March 9 to June 25, 2020.
In India, it will be Planned to aired in Colors TV Dubbed in Hindi as Antim Maharani, Colors Bangla Dubbed in Bengali as Sesa Samrajani, Star Vijay Dubbed in Tamil as Kataici Peraraci, Star Asianet Dubbed in Malayalam as Avasana Cakravatti and Star Maa Dubbed in Telugu as Civari Samrajani.
In Sri Lanka this is being broadcast (as on 19th September 2020) in Sirasa TV as Agra The series is dubbed in the Sinhala Language.
Awards
Year | Award | Category | Nomine |
2018 | SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Drama Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Wednesday-Thursday Drama | Choi Jin-hyuk Shin Sung-rok Jang Na-ra
|
2019 | Seoul International Drama Awards | Outstanding Korean Actress | Jang Na-ra |
As with any good drama, the finale of “The Last Empress” was gratifying in how it highlighted just how far our characters have come. This was especially Lee Hyuk’s (Shin Sung Rok) moment of truth, and the Emperor nailed it. Hyuk’s character arc was never very clear-cut, as he always struggled between the sociopathic terror that his family had raised him into and the good person that Sunny (Jang Nara) inspired him to want to become. Evil as he may have been at times, Hyuk loved and admired Sunny because he recognized what a purely good person she was, and there is some redemption for the Emperor in that.
But Hyuk knew that he could never fully atone for all his sins, and ultimately decided that he should not continue to live. And this internal struggle between good and bad is what made his death so tragic: it was incredibly sad because we have seen glimpses of the upstanding emperor and sweet husband that Hyuk could have become, but because his upbringing was too ingrained in his character, he would never be able to completely transform into that person, and ending his life was the only way he could find peace.
And how fitting that Hyuk ensured that he was killed by his own mother’s hand: he completed Na Wang Sik’s (Choi Jin Hyuk) revenge by allowing himself to be killed but also got his own revenge on the mother who turned him into such a monster.
Thankfully, before we had to say goodbye to Hyuk, we were blessed with a few final gems of royal comedy, to remind us that the Emperor’s quirky antics were hands-down one of the best parts of “The Last Empress.” It’s almost unbelievable that we found ourselves thinking of Hyuk — who we watched commit numerous vile crimes — as cute, but Shin Sung Rok masterfully brought an impressive number of dimensions to this character, managing to make us find Hyuk despicable, pitiful, adorable, and even lovable at the same time.
Unfortunately, our other male lead met a far less fitting end. The drama’s treatment of Na Wang Sik in the finale is without a doubt its biggest flaw, and was also entirely avoidable, as it was because “The Last Empress” added more episodes than originally planned that Choi Jin Hyuk could not appear in the drama’s finale due to scheduling conflicts. And if “The Last Empress” could not have the main male lead in its finale, it could have at least given him a proper farewell. But instead, oddly enough, the drama pretended as if Na Wang Sik had never been a central character in the first place, barely even mentioning him in the final week. All we got was a brief scene, with almost no buildup, of Hyuk in a hospital being told that Wang Sik sacrificed himself to save everyone else.
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