In this fictionalized version of Joseon-era Korea, the royal court is thrown into chaos when the crown prince is found dead in a pond by the East Palace. The event is eerily similar to the killing of all princes but one, 30 years ago. The spirit swore she would return… and this time she would wipe out the entire royal bloodline.
The series stars Nam Joo-hyuk as Gu-cheon, an irreverent, sarcastic spirit slayer who can cross into the Realm of Gwi (ghosts). He gained his powers as a boy, as the sole survivor of an accident that drowned his mother. He’s been living in the countryside, where he encounters spirits, gwi-maes, and ak-gwis. But Gu-cheon finds them more aggravating than frightening. When the king (Cho Seung-woo) summons Gu-cheon, he gives him two choices: Destroy the spirit haunting the East Palace and lift the curse on the royal bloodline, or die.
From the throne, the king watches everything and gives away nothing. Publicly, he regards the rumors around the deaths in the East Palace as mere superstition, refusing to let a spirit story destabilize his reign. Privately, he’s desperate enough to summon a spirit-slayer he can’t fully control and a court lady he can’t fully trust. His motives are a slippery mystery: Does he want to save his bloodline or his own throne?
With his life on the line, Gu-cheon is accompanied by Saeng-gang (Roh Yoon-seo) — the daughter of the King. She was born with the ability to hear the voices of the dead — a gift she regards as a curse, just as her father did. Quiet, watchful, and carrying a royal secret of her own, she becomes the king’s chosen leash on Gu-cheon. She’s Gu-cheon’s guide on the mission to find and kill the pond spirit as well as a spy watching his every move. But as the pair dig deeper into the identity and motivations of the pond spirit, Saeng-gang finds it harder to determine where her allegiance truly lies.
As the mystery begins to unravel, Saeng-gang’s investigation reveals that the supernatural curse was fabricated to disguise a deadly struggle for power. Consort Sukbin (Hwang Young-hee), the King’s mother, used the legend of the spirit to poison successive heirs to secure her son’s ascension to the throne. The royal family is merely paying for the crimes they committed.
It’s considerably darker than many of the K-dramas I’ve watched (My Love from Another Star and The King: Eternal Monarch) but it’s just as addictive. The score (composed by Jung Se-rin and Kim Joon-seok) is intense adding to the darkness and mystery of the story. Rich with supernatural mystery, political intrigue, and memorable performances, The East Palace is worth a binge. All eight episodes are streaming now on Netflix with both English dubbed and subtitled options available.
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