The First Night With The Duke – K-drama Episode 1 Recap & Review
Episode 1 of The First Night With The Duke begins with a woman narrating the story of a young orphan in the Joseon era. The orphan goes through many tribulations until one fateful day when she is adopted by the richest merchant in the land. Soon, she meets with a prince, and they fall madly in love.
As with all fairy tales, there is a villain who hates the woman for her beauty and luck. Obviously, there is also a second male lead who falls for the woman. The prince and the fair lady are about to get married when the story is cut short before we get to the juicy parts.
Presently, we are introduced to a woman reading the book. She loses it when she learns the author is discontinuing the story. She takes to social media to curse the author and declares she could write a better book. As she gets up from her bed, she slips and wakes up as a character in her favourite book, The Obsessive Tyrant.
She finds herself in the Joseon era, playing the role of Cha Sun-chaek. In the book, she is a supportive character and the only daughter of the Chief State Minister. She lives a spoilt life as her parents and three brothers pamper her. By her side is her trusted maid, Wool-yi, who struggles to understand Sun-chaek's new mannerism.
The family enjoys a luxurious breakfast. They all notice that Sun-chaek is acting weird, but choose to overlook it. They assume that she has finally grown up and is ready for marriage. Meanwhile, Sun-chaek tries to remember the details in the books to figure out how to survive in this new world.
Her brother mentions an upcoming event for the unmarried noble women and asks Sun-chaek to attend. Her father gives her a lot of money to go shopping ahead of the event.
As the day progresses, Sun-chaek decides to enjoy being a supportive character in her favourite book and watching everything in person. She realises she is just at the beginning of the book and excitedly gets ready to see her favourite characters get together. While shopping, she has the unfortunate opportunity to run into the main villain of the story, Do Hwa-seon. Hwa-seon insists on getting the clothes Sun-chaek had already ordered from China.
To avoid getting the villain's attention, Sun-chaek agrees to give up her beautiful new dresses. Hwa-seon invites her to tea, but changes her mind when Cho Eun-ae shows up. It turns out Cho Eun-ae is the main lead and the adopted daughter of the richest merchant.
As expected, Hwa-seon hates Eun-ae and feels she has no noble blood. It peeves her that everyone loves and praises Eun-ae for her beauty and kindness. In fact, Hwa-seon plans to teach Eun-ae a lesson during the event later that night. Hwa-seon's mood shifts after seeing Eun-ae, and she postpones her tea date with Sun-chaek.
As the day drags on, Sun-chaek uses her binoculars to watch the capital. She sees the handsome main lead, Prince Yi-beon, arrive on a horse. As expected, Prince Yi-beon oozes charisma and has a mysterious aura around him. He is rumoured to be heartless and the king's beloved assassin. No one dares to look him in the eye.
There is also a rumour that the women who sleep with him are forced to be nuns. As the villagers go on and on about Prince Yi-beon, the second lead, Jung Su-gyeom comes to his defence.
He joins Prince Yi-beon as he rides his horse around the capital. On the way, Hwa-seon has an accident and is nearly run over by the prince's horse. However, Prince Yi-beon didn't even notice her. On the other hand, Su-gyeom is drawn to the beautiful Eun-ae.
Soon, nightfall arrives, and the unmarried noble women meet to socialise. As planned, Hwa-seon leads the other girls to mock Eun-ae. They even go as far as to allude that she is her adopted father's mistress. Hwa-seon intentionally drops her glass and asks Eun-ae to clean up after her.
In the process, Eun-ae gets a cut on her fingers. Sun-chaek cleverly comes to her aid without Hwa-seon noticing. To help Eun-ae and prevent the night from getting worse, Sun-chaek suggests that the ladies enjoy some alcohol.
The other ladies agree, and Eun-ae has her servants bring the alcohol. Sun-chaek becomes the star of the night as she introduces cocktails to the group, and they drink without a care in the world. As the ladies get rowdy, Prince Yi-beon chases after a man suspected of planning treason.
The man offers to give Prince Yi-beon his freedom from the king and the crown if he joins them. However, the prince has no desire to steal the crown and kills the man. He walks to the river to clean himself up and agonise over killing someone.
Back at the town centre, the loud, drunk ladies draw a crowd. Everyone comes to see what the fuss is all about. Su-geyom is intrigued as he watches Sun-chaek mix the cocktails. As the night deepens, Sun-chaek gets drunker. She excuses herself to get some fresh air and runs into Prince Yi-beon. The next thing she knows is waking up in Prince Yi-beon's bed.
He is surprised by her shocked look and tells her about the passionate night they had. Of course, Sun-chaek doesn't remember how she ended up in his bed and his arms.
The Episode Review
OMG! This episode was a lot of fun. It is nice to see Ok Taecyeon and Seohyun back on our screens. The plot is nothing new, but it is still refreshing to watch. Sun Chaek was only supposed to be a spectator, but now she has ended up in the main lead's bed. She must have been extremely drunk to forget such a night, but more importantly, what happens now?
This might only be the first episode, but things are looking promising. Ok Taecyeon flawlessly portrays Prince Yi-beon so well. Seohyun also holds her own as the cheerful female lead who finds herself living inside her favourite book. The supporting cast adds more depth to the story. The cinematography is effortlessly beautiful, and we look forward to seeing more of this fantasy world.
Next Episode
Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
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