Mr. Sunshine

July 7, 2018

A young Korean servant boy escapes to America in 1871 during the US expedition to Korea. The drama's epic scale and production values are established immediately. The Gunsan colonial streets create the drama's 1900s Joseon world.

July 7, 2018

Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-hun), now a US Marine officer, returns to Joseon 30 years later. His Korean face in an American uniform is the drama's central paradox.

July 14, 2018

The noblewoman Go Ae-shin (Kim Tae-ri) — secretly a sharpshooter for the independence movement — is introduced. Her composure and her hidden life are established.

July 14, 2018

The Hotel Gloria — the drama's central gathering point for foreigners and Korean aristocrats — is established as a microcosm of Joseon under foreign pressure.

July 21, 2018

The Righteous Army — the independence fighters that Ae-shin supports — and their struggle against Japanese encroachment.

July 21, 2018

Their first real conversation. Two people who should be on opposite sides finding unexpected common ground.

July 28, 2018

Sequences at Gyeongbokgung Palace — the seat of a Joseon sovereignty being systematically dismantled.

July 28, 2018

The three men who love Ae-shin — Eugene, Hee-sung, and Dong-mae — and their different relationships to Joseon's fate.

August 4, 2018

The Glory Hotel sequences — foreigners negotiating Joseon's future over drinks while Koreans fight and die for it.

August 4, 2018

Eugene's full backstory — the specific cruelty of his family's servitude and his escape — is shown.

August 11, 2018

Ae-shin's specific role in the independence movement and the danger she accepts.

August 11, 2018

The political machinations that are selling Joseon's sovereignty piece by piece.

August 18, 2018

The drama at its midpoint — the romance at its warmest, the history at its most ominous.

August 18, 2018

Extended period street sequences in Gunsan — the drama's most visually authentic location at its fullest.

August 25, 2018

The full scope of Japanese encroachment on Joseon sovereignty — the drama's political anger at its most direct.

August 25, 2018

Ae-shin's decision about how she will spend the time that Joseon has left.

September 1, 2018

Eugene's decision about which side he is actually on — and what that costs him professionally.

September 1, 2018

The Righteous Army's most dangerous mission. The drama's action sequences at their most spectacular.

September 8, 2018

The Joseon that Eugene and Ae-shin both love becoming the Korea neither will live to see.

September 8, 2018

The drama's climactic military sequence. The Gunsan streets in the chaos of colonial transformation.

September 15, 2018

What both Eugene and Ae-shin are willing to sacrifice. The drama's emotional peak.

September 15, 2018

Korea loses its diplomatic sovereignty. The drama's historical tragedy arrives on schedule.

September 22, 2018

The Righteous Army's last stand. Eugene's last act as a man who chose Korea.

September 22, 2018

The finale. Lee Byung-hun's performance — the complexity of a man who returned to hate his homeland and stayed to love it — won Drama of the Year at the 6th APAN Star Awards.