[Drama Review] 'My Sassy Girl' - Episodes 29-32 (Finale)

AKP STAFF

Jungshin, Joo Won, Oh Yeon Seo, Shim Hyung Tak, Kim Yoon Hye

Joo Won in a mask... well that just gets EVERYBODY nostalgic doesn't it.

SBS's historical drama remake of 'My Sassy Girl' has come to a wraps. Thank you to any of you who've stuck around to endure through until the end. All in all, it was a heartwarming, happy ending like everyone assumed it would be since the very beginning of the episode, although some of the tragic deaths we saw in the last 4 episodes did catch my by surprise.�

To recap, Gyeonwoo (played by Joo Won) teamed up with royal guard chief Kang Joon Young (played by CNBLUE's Jungshin) to exploit the power-hungry advisor Jung Ki Joon for being the plotter behind every bad deed. Jung Ki Joon, surrounded by masked men, the royal guard, and face to face with the King himself, meets his demise (I can't even remember who it was that stabbed him... but it was an unexpectedly brutal death, let me tell you). The Queen is also exploited for having plotted to depose of the former Queen, and tries to run away, but is ultimately chased down to her death by Jung Ki Joon's men. Three unexpectedly tragic deaths happen here - the Queen, the scarfaced protector of the Queen Wol Myung, and the Queen's loyal maid servant. Even if they were all the bad guys, I personally just find it difficult to watch all the same when people die in dramas and films. Thankfully, none of the good protagonists had to die, though.�

Gyeonwoo and his family are cleared of their participation in the former Queen's deposition, and the crimes charged against the former Queen herself become undone. Princess Hyemyung (played by Oh Yeon Seo) reunites with her mother, even though the former Queen chooses not the return to the throne to protect the young prince. Gyeonwoo then proposes to Hyemyung, but Hyemyung has to refuse, because she wants to sail to the Qing dynasty to become a doctor. But unlike the modern educational system, becoming a doctor back then only meant a year away from your dear lover, and a happy ending complete with a warm embrace ensues.�

Nothing in particular was wrong about this historical drama, but viewers can definitely agree that this was not a successful remake of the original 2001 movie. I wanted to try to imagine what things would have been like if this drama didn't have the heavy tag of 'My Sassy Girl', and was just a new historical romance drama in itself, but in SBS's defense, they did what they thought would be a good method of getting viewers' interests.�

The fairy godmother of dramas, here to tell you, "It's all over folks!"

For Joo Won, this role just wasn't complex enough and well-developed enough for his acting to truly shine. For Oh Yeon Seo, the condensed amount of time during which she had to come off as a funny, lovable, quirky heroine but also a tragic princess with everyone against her, was too big of a burden for her alone. The rest of the cast was great and the minor characters flawlessly supported the main cast throughout the dramatic and the comical scenes. This just goes to show that big challenges come with big risks, and the challenge of remaking one of the most classic Korean films of all time is nothing to take lightly.�

It's time to officially bid Joo Won a goodbye for about a year and a half from dramas, while wishing Oh Yeon Seo and the rest of the cast good luck on their next project. And maybe, now that this historical drama version of 'My Sassy Girl' is over, it's high time we all sat down to remind ourselves what a masterpiece the 2001 movie, 'My Sassy Girl', really was and always will be, by watching it one more time.