1 Season
24 Episode
Tree with Deep Roots
Deep Rooted Tree is a 2011 South Korean television series starring Jang Hyuk, Shin Se-kyung and Han Suk-kyu. Based on the novel of the same title by Lee Jeong-myeong, it aired on SBS from October 5 to December 22, 2011 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 24 episodes. Taking its name from the poem Yongbieocheonga that says that trees with deep roots do not sway, the series tells the story of a royal guard investigating a case involving the serial murders of Jiphyeonjeon scholars in Gyeongbok Palace while King Sejong comes to create the Korean written language.
- Year: 2011
- Country: South Korea
- Genre: Drama
- Studio: SBS
- Keyword: joseon dynasty (1392–1910), king sejong, hangul
- Director: Kim Young-hyun, Sang-yeon Park, Jang Tae-yoo
- Cast: Han Suk-kyu, Jang Hyuk, Shin Se-kyung, Cho Jin-woong, Yoon Je-moon, Baek Yoon-sik
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Unfortunately, Jang Hyuk playing the same character he played in The Slave Hunters (2010) and that alone was problematic in that one. Unlike The Slave Hunters (2010), this one had a lot of interesting ideas and plot threads but they never reached their full potentials because it came at the cost of shoving flashy fantasy elements instead of keeping it grounded to reality, a case in point super-swordsmen flying and dashing. On the other hand, the "deep roots" plot was a massive clusterfuck of bullshit and was its weakest part. Not only that, the final battle/fight that we were anticipating for so long turned out to be quick, short and utterly disappointing. The ending isn't even surprising, it was obvious from the first episode that the ending will certainly flop. Add to the fact this type of ending was the dominant trend in 2000s/2010s, especially with project that managed to have a good viewership.