King 2 Hearts Wrap Up

Oh, Show.  Why did you do this to me?  At times you were some of the best TV ever, other times you were so painful to watch I literally cringed.  


Sigh.


Spoilers behind the jump...

So now I have a Eun Shi-kyung shaped scar on my heart, Show.  Thanks a lot.  You couldn't just put him in a coma or give him amnesia.  Oh, no.  And then to have Bong-gu weasel out of jail after Shi-kyung gave his life to put him there?  We almost broke up then, Show.  

King 2 Hearts was always at its best when it was dealing with people. In fact the writers did such a good job with the family and friend relationships that it often overshadowed the romance.  For me as a view, that was actually a strength.  Lets face it, real people have a lot of different relationships and they show different aspects of themselves through those relationships.  For a lot of people their defining relationships in their lives aren't just who they are in love with.  Nor should they be. 


It was the political stuff involving foreign actors that made me put my hands in front of my face and pray for the scene to be over.  King 2 Hearts used so many foreign "actors" that I have an image in my head of the PD sending out roving press gangs of casting directors into the streets of Seoul, like something out of the Aubrey/Maturin series of books set during the Napoleonic wars.  Like, if you went to Seoul on business in the last two months you were in danger of someone forcing you into a poorly fitting uniform and  recite lines against your will.


Can we talk about Bon-Bon/Mia for a minute?  I'm so glad she died, but I had pictured something a little more painful that maybe included a wood-chipper.


Maybe I'll just pretend that episode 19 never happened.  


I know that I've been talking about my desire--nay, need-- for a royal wedding.  But I love the direction they went in.  Low key but highly symbolic fit the two characters and everything they had been through. 

And the fact that it wasn't a hunky-dory happy ending.  The epilogue the viewers know that there were still going to be hurdles.  That no matter how much happiness in their lives, they would still have to fight, but that they would be in the fight together, side by side.  

Even with the fact that the final two episodes fell a little flat, mostly thanks to heavy reliance on political machinations rather than personal conflicts, this show has sealed itself as my favorite k-drama so far.  I'd rather see a show reach for the sky and fall flat on its face than watch something that's just a cookie cutter remake of everything that's gone before.