Pretty Man Finale Part 1&2 - True Love conquers all and a lot of other stuff.

So since these last two episodes seemed to flow together so well I decided that I would just combine them together for one last super blog post to celebrate the ending of my first drama.  Also there were a lot of flashback fillers in both episodes so this way I for sure have enough to comment on.

One last thing before we start, just warning you all that I am totally on a Princess Bride kick tonight.  Don't know why, it cant be explained, but like the Monty Python post in the past it must be worked through so if you see a slight Princess Bride/Pretty Man fusion thing going on well you might have to live with it.  Also if you have no clue what any of these pictures mean you should run to your closest video store and buy Princess Bride right now.  Not Korean, but still one awesome cult classic.

True Love

Finally Mattai accepts his feelings for Bo Tong.  It took us a whole 15 episodes to get to this point and all I can say is THANK GOODNESS THEY ARE FINALLY TOGETHER.  It has felt like forever, and the lack of accidental skinship did not help the situation.  But now we seem to all be on the same page.  Mattai loves Bo Tong, Bo Tong loves Mattai, her family looks like they would totally be on board for a wedding.  So what is the huge problem making their epic love crash and burn???  Why Mattai's evil mother that was spawned in the depths of hell of course.  Unable to bare the fact that he is successful in any way she plots and schemes and comes up with the solution that terrorizing Bo Tong will destroy Mattai and send him running.........or if nothing else make him as alone and miserable as she is.

Hiring of Minions

So mother from hell (aka Evil Witch) has her minions lure Bo Tong to a scary deserted amusement park (because nothing says evil intent like abandoned twirly rides) and locks her in a abandoned warehouse minus her phone.  I don't know if she planned on killing her or not but she was saved by David who got info on her whereabouts.

Unfortunately Mattai was waiting, and once again being stood up (at his favorite restaurant) with ring in pocket and an intent to propose.  Rushing to the ER when he hears what happens he calls bio mom to confirm her involvement at which point she tells him that she detests his very existence and next time it wont be just a warning and that he needs to suffer as she has.  As he finds out the length that bio mom is willing to go he is devastated and is forced to realize that he cant protect her. He struggles inside and stares at Bo Tong in the hospital bed, he reaches to put the engagement ring on her finger but ends up in tears instead as he pulls back.

 I actually really loved this scene and thought it was one of the strongest acted scenes of the drama. Jang Keun Suk really nailed it.

Its For Your Own Good

Of course the only thing left to do when you are concerned for the life of the women you love is.........act like a total complete jerk and drive her away.  For her own good of course.  Mattai does it in suburb form as he tells her that he cant have here dragging him down since it is only a matter of time til his mother accepts him.  And when she does there are going to caliber women after him.  And since he does not want to "hurt her" he wants to break up now rather then making it harder later on.  Mattai of course breaks down devastated after she leaves, and Bo Tong pretty much stops all signs of living as she starts living in her bed.

Letting Go is Hard To Do

You might be wondering where David is during all of this emotional hoopla.  He is of course lurking in the wings just hoping that Mattai will be attacked by pirates and he can have Bo Tong all to himself.  I am seriously amazed at how long they took for David to finally recognize that his relationship with Bo Tong did not have a chance of working and he tells her some truths.  That he liked her and named his car after her,  but does she realize that Mattai went one up and named his company that he adores after her?  And not only that but he is protecting her from his mother and that everything that is happening to him (Evil mom had a lot more plots going on during 15 and the beginning of 16 but you will have to just watch to see all that) and that he really loves her very much.
His speech is just what she needs and she runs back to Mattai and both break into tears as they are reunited.  And poor David watches from afar and fakes happy even though his poor little heart is broken.

R.I.P Plastic Wicked Witch: You will not be missed.

Now I know a lot of you are wishing that she had been torn apart by a rodent of unusual size but no, she went to where all kdrama characters that are pointless and need to repent on their bad deeds go, America.  (Does anyone else wonder where all these rich hot Korean's are located here in the states.  They seem to arrive by the boatloads according to dramas but are never actually seen.)  And of course this being based on a Japanese story WHERE EVERYONE  GETS REDEEMED NO MATTER HOW VAPID, PLASTIC, OR EVIL YOU ARE, finds peace and starts a coffee chain in Seattle.

The Evil Queen's Heart melts and She Finally Loves Her Husband

As guessed all of Evil Queens plots are thwarted and she is left furious and angsty.  Which means it is time to see reality and become a nicer person.  I was expecting this whole evil mom redemption thing so it was no real surprise that Mattai eventually comes to an understanding with his bio mom.  Not really a reconnection but more of an acceptance of each others pain and that they both are sorry for what happened to the other but are better off not connected.  I like that rather then let hate lead his actions he wondered what his adopted mom would do in the situation and acted accordingly.  It was surprisingly a very poignant scene which I really enjoyed.

And then the evil queen just kind of deflates.  Has she lost her purpose in life now that she cant be a 100% cold hearted witch.........  I guess so since we find her retired as she finds a new love for her husband and steps down from the company to take care of him in his last years.  And everyone rejoices that she is gone.  Expected, but kind of a sad ending for such a good bad guy.  I wish she could have been evil until the end and had to repent of her sins against humanity in jail.

Glamping Couple

So of course there can not be one sad loose end in this drama because that would just be INCONCEIVABLE......hehehe........ nerd humor.  So we need to get David a soul mate post haste, and what better soul mate then a girl who dresses like Bo Tong 1.0 but loves to Glamp.  Seriously she mentions glamping and it is as if a choir of angels begin to sing Gregorian Chant over David's head.   So for you David lovers out there, you can rest comfortably with the knowledge that he found his own weird lid to his oddly shaped pot.

A Leopard Does Not Change His Spots..........Or Does He?

Mattai splits his companies shares between Bo Tong and David and does not come into the office much.  Instead Bo Tong situates his giant photograph where his chair should be so it is constantly staring out of the office.  HAHAHA  Instead Mattai is at a restaurant which is plastered with advertisements featuring ribs and photos of him.  Bo Tong enters and sees him vogueing in the kitchen's doorway.  I am glad that he did not completely grow up.  It seems that he is determined to work his way up from the bottom, this time without the help of a lot of women..........AWWWWWWWWW  that is all kinds of cuteness..............

He fixes a lettuce wrap for Bo Tong tells her to chew it thoroughly and then she swallows it which makes him stare at her in shock.  Seems he was being all cute and creative by hiding her ring in the lettuce wrap.  She grabs him and drags him to the door saying they have to get to the hospital and get her stomach pumped.  Then just as he starts to get frantic she starts laughing and pulls out the ring which she had slipped out of the lettuce wrap.  He looks at her smiles and then FINALLY we get a kiss.

And as kisses go it actually was better then I expected.  But lets just say it was no top kiss in the history of the world kiss.  It was nothing like some of Jang Keun Suk's past kisses, but since I was expecting a very chaste kiss I was not overly disappointed.  There was something very sweet about how they were smiling as they kissed and I felt it really fit the mood of the couple.

My Thoughts:

As a whole I actually enjoyed this drama. It was slow in spots and there were few surprises but it was all around pretty solid and I would suggest it to other kdrama fans.  It is especially one of those that is great for newbies who have not watched a lot of dramas.  All of the characters for the most part make an impact whether you hate them or love them and the plot is not to difficult to follow.  That being said, i really wish they had left out some of the weekly bimbo's and developed the main OTP a bit better.  I definitely could have used some more random connection/skinship moments that made me feel their chemistry.  Although I feel they were very sweet and good for each other I never had that "they should be together forever and there is no one else for them feeling".  And I hate to admit this, but I was wrong about the whole pass code plot line. I actually really liked that aspect of the story........eventually (although I still don't really get what he received other then realizing he loved Bo Tong).  So my final score for this drama is a 6.5/7.  I would suggest that a person watch it, however I might just skim my favorite moments in the future and never bother to rewatch the whole thing.  I hope you all had fun with me reviewing this drama.  I am not sure when I will have another weekly recap (maybe next week if one of the new dramas really hits my creativity bone) but I will start doing a weekly top 5 moments in kdramas.  This will be my favorite scenes from the currently airing dramas that I am watching so you can get a feel for a wide range of dramas without me having to review all of them.  Hope you tune in and my first weekly top 5 should be up tomorrow night.

Until then, sleep well and continue watching

Sincerely,

Kmuse

PS. This is just because it is funny and I didn't really have anywhere else to stick it in.  HEHE  Love this quote from Princess Bride!