The Crowned Clown Season 1 Episode 13 Recap & Review

 

Ha Sun’s Revenge

With less than a handful of episodes to go, The Crowned Clown delivers a dramatic and tense episode that explodes in a flurry of anger and shocking revelations. From start to finish the episode is chock full of drama, all of which culminates in a shocking cliffhanger ready for the next set of episodes.

We begin this week right where we left off from before, with Ha Sun revealing his identity to the Left State Minister and the balance of power appearing to have shifted. Blackmailing the King into confessing everything and giving up the Royal Secretary as a traitor, Ha Sun finds his loyalties torn between his family and his newfound position as King. Begrudgingly, he agrees to go ahead with the plan only to double cross the Left State Minister at the last second.

It’s at this point where Sin Chi Soo is tried as a criminal for his actions against the crown in a surprising twist of fate. Ha Sun is almost indistinguishable from Lee Hun’s maniacal reign here and the King puts on quite the performance. Using skills learnt in the Clown trade (which Dal Rae recognizes as she watches on), the King calls forth Court Lady Kim who confesses everything. After a lengthy interrogation, a blood-soaked Left State Minister refuses to confess to the crimes and as such, is sentenced to be beheaded. Of course, things aren’t as simple as they appear and the Minister has one last trick up his sleeve for the monarchy.

This isn’t the only bit of court business to attend to though and no sooner have we caught our breath here, we witness Ha Sun having to confront the crime of Kab-Soo. After trying to kill Shin Yi-Kyeom for his despicable act of rape against Dal Rae, Kab-Soo is forced to go to the Navy. As for the Left State Minister’s son, suffice to say his punishment is shocking and something he’s unlikely to forget, to say the least.

Up until this point, we haven’t seen an awful lot of So Woon and we catch up with her here as she learns some troubling news regarding her ability to bear children. After a lengthy back and forth between herself, the King and the Royal Physician, it turns out Queen Dowager is the one behind this. As Ha Sun explodes in a fit of rage, he plays right into her hands and gives her some news she was expecting, which will inevitably be used as ammunition against him going forward. We end the episode with a shocking cliffhanger and massive questions over how this one is going to end.

Well acted, beautifully written and perfectly paced. The Crowned Clown is quite simply a gorgeous show and I’ve really enjoyed watching this one across the past weeks. While it’s unlikely to gain much traction amongst mainstream audiences, it remains a very good Korean drama nonetheless and an example of what good writing can achieve. While the series has felt a tad overlong at times and the 10 minute repeated segments at the start of every episode may detract from the enjoyment if you’re looking to binge this, on the whole though this has been a thoroughly enjoyable show to watch and I’m looking forward to seeing how this one is going to end! 

 

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Click Here To Read Our Full Season Write Up And Final Score

  • Episode Rating
    (4.5)
  • Provisional Season Rating
    (4)
4.3

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