Dramatic Friday Review: Rooftop Prince Final Episode (20)

Wow!  I can't believe we're here already.  The end of a series.  How bittersweet it is.  I love the resolution.  I don't love saying goodbye to characters that I've gotten to know over the past 10 weeks though.  Good thing I know that more good dramas will come...they always do.

I don't want to take up to much time rambling, so how about we just jump right in to this final review of RTP?  Sound good?  Sounds good to me.  Here we go!

Lee Gak ends up back in the Joseon era, dressed in his wedding best and in a chicken coop.

He is chased by guards.
He bumps into Chi San.
They run away together.

Finally they spot the other two Power Rangers, Yong Seul and Man Bo, living it up with the supplies they had the foresight to lug around back in the future.

 They've got food and beer and are wearing the right clothes so that guards don't chase them.

 Oh, what a happy reunion!

 Lee Gak is presented with his royal garb so that he may once again return to the palace.

We come to find out that, though months were spent in the future, back here in Joseon, only one day has passed.  The murder of the Crown Princess occurred only yesterday.  One of the Power Rangers describes his funny and awkward reunion with his sister.  He had run up to her and excitedly given her a hug since to him it had been months since he had seen her.  She of course pushed him away because she had just seen him the day before and couldn't figure out why her brother would be hugging her.

Word had gotten out that the Prince has returned to the palace.  Bu Yong/Crown Princess's dad, Lord Hong Man Pil, is shocked and unhappy with this news.

Enter this guy.

I knew it!  I knew that Tae Mu had to have a Joseon Era counterpart!  And of course, we find out that there is indeed a plot, but not a plot against the Crown Princess.  Oh no, they're after the Prince himself.  Lord Hong asks of TaeMu-esque character, "Didn't you clearly say that last night, you set up an ambush in the mountains and got rid of the prince?".  Funny how his reply wasn't something like, "Well, yeah, but then he magically leaped forward 300 years...."

So, Prince Lee Gak calls the Hong family in for a little chat.
He's trying to figure out what happened to the Crown Princess.
Bu Yong isn't there though, and when he inquires after her whereabouts, her mother says that she has fallen very ill.

Lee Gak then proceeds to tell them the story of what happened.  At least I think that's what he's doing.  I was actually kind of lost.  Did he really have it all figured out?  Was he just brainstorming?  How does he know this?  I wish I knew.  But let's just go with it either way.

Flashback to before the Crown Princess's death.

Bu Yong has been asked to deliver a container of "makeup" from her brother to her sister.  While on her way there, she is startled by the appearance of the prince (who she obviously has a thing for) and stumbles and falls, dropping the container and its contents to the ground.

There is an exchange between the two.  He asks her about the riddle, stating that she has until the next day to answer it, otherwise he will win.  He inquires after the container of powder and she tells him who it's from and for.  They then part ways.

Bu Yong delivers the powder and a letter to her sister.
The letter is read.
The Crown Princess becomes agitated.
Bu Yong presents her with the handkerchief that she made for the prince.

Bu Yong returns home and asks her mother who the guy is that has been staying at their house for the last few days.  He is General Mu and the Crown Prince's half-brother.  His mother had been cast out of the palace when he was young.

Bu Yong is suspicious.  Suspicious enough to read the letter that had so visibly upset her sister.  In it she finds instructions to the Crown Princess on using the powder (poison) to kill the prince.  She is to sprinkle it on the dried persimmons.  Bu Yong rushes to save Lee Gak.

Back at the palace, the food is delivered.

 She presents the prince with the handkerchief in order to distract him.

 A little sprinkle...

 And he's about to eat...

When Bu Yong rushes in and interrupts them.
She says that she has solved the riddle.

What lives when it is dead and is dead when it is alive?  (Finally!  An answer!  I've been waiting 20 episodes to know the answer to this dang riddle!)

And the answer?

Bu Yong, or lotus.
She goes into a lengthy explanation of why this is the answer.  Just trust me/her...it's the answer.  In all its foreshadowing glory.

She's correct.  The prince is impressed with her answer.
She requests a prize in return.

Dried persimmons.

 "To me, these dried persimmons mean more to me than anything in this world", she says.  Obviously by "dried persimmons" she means the prince.  She is willingly going to sacrifice herself in order to save him.

She eats.  One after another.  Shaking and trembling and clenching her fists the whole time.

While her older sister looks on, distressed but not enough to prevent her sister from dying.

Nice.  Real nice there lady.  You are one class act.

After the poisoned fruit is eaten, Bu Yong stumbles out to the pond.  She reflects on all the happy memories between her and the prince while she is slowly and painfully dying.

Her sister finally comes out to meet her.  And guess what she does?  Yells at her and blames her for ruining everything.  Again, quite the class act this Crown Princess.

Bu Yong's response?  "Protect the prince".

Bu Yong knows that when the poisoning is discovered, her family will be in danger.  And her sister will be put to death.  As her last desperate attempt to save and protect her awful family, Bu Yong convinces her sister to trade clothes with her so that when she drowns in the pond, it will seem as if the Crown Princess has died.  Ah ha!  So the Crown Princess wasn't killed after all!  It was Bu Yong.  Sweet, self-sacrificing Bu Yong caught up in the plot by her own family against the prince that she loves from a distance.  Crown Princess finally agrees to this plan, and runs off dressed as Bu Yong.

 The end is near.  She's dying.

 She writes a letter to the prince and hides it in a screen that looks oddly familiar.  (Oh yes, the handkerchief. Did you see the similar design?)

 Then at last, she falls into the pond and dies.

 There is a search for the Crown Princess and she's found hidden.

 There is a fight.

 General Mu shoots Prince Lee Gak in the heart with an arrow.

 But he miraculously pulls it out, unharmed.  Huh?

 The face mask is removed and it is discovered that indeed, it is the Crown Princess meaning that the lady in the water is none other than Bu Yong.  She grovels at the Prince's feet, but his response to her is a cold, "how could a traitor like you have been the princess?!"

The prince then pulls out the thing that saved him from the arrow...the necklace given to him by Bak Ha.  It has been pierced through and has saved his life.

We then have a trial/tribunal where the truth is laid out.

We learn that Hong Man Pil disposed of the princes mother and sentenced her to death by poison.

The conspirators Hong Man Pil, his son and General Mu are all sentenced to death by beheading.

The (former) Crown Princess and her mother are exiled instead of killed out of respect to Bu Yong, who risked everything in order to save them.  Justice is served!

The prince, thanks to our friendly magically glowing butterfly, discovers the note left by Bu Yong before she died.  She tells him that she has always loved him her entire life.

He then writes a response to her, seals it up in a tube and buries it in the hiding spot where the jade came from.

 Bak Ha finds this note.

 And reads it.  It's a tender moment, yet so sad because it's a 300 year old letter from the man she loves.

Back at work, she's so distracted by thoughts of her guy and the 300 year old love letter, that she neglects to see when he walks in to her juice store.  Well, okay, not him exactly, but his reincarnated self, Tae Yong.  He's back from his coma!  Yay!

Back in Joseon we get to see what the J3 are up to these days.  They've opened their own food stall where they sell, what else, but omurice!  They are cooking up a storm and raking in the nyangs, all while listening to their iPods.  Now, I had to wonder to myself - just how are they going to charge those things?  Whatever, it's cute.

They deliver some omurice to the prince and we see the Power Ranger suits resurrected one last time!  Hurrah!  It's a cute and funny scene.

 Now, jump back to the future.  Bak Ha finds a postcard on her juice shop door.  On it is a note telling her to meet someone at the location on the postcard at 5pm.  Ooooh!  Wonder who that could be from?!

 Sure enough, she turns it over and finds a picture of herself drawn by none other than Mr E.O.  Oh yeah!

 They meet.

 He says, "I waited for you for so long. Where were you?"

 Her reply?  "I was always here".  Aww!  So sweet!

It's a happy reunion.  I think that the costume changes here to show that Tae Yong has memories of her.  That he's the same guy, just reincarnated.  At least I'm assuming that that's what the costume change is supposed to imply...that they're not just meeting for the first time.  That they know each other and love each other and have through all these centuries.  I think given the parameters of the story (you know, a girl from the present falling in love with a guy from 300 years ago that has to return to his time period) they did a great job wrapping it up.

And there we have it.  The end of Rooftop Prince.  Love found a way to prevail.  The evil ones were punished both in the past and present.  I don't really know what else to say about it.  I feel at this point, after so long, that I've kind of said everything I have to say about this series.  I've had my ups and downs with it, true, but it's very satisfying to finally get some resolution.  I am happy with the ending which is always a plus when so much time has been given to a show.  It has been a journey, that's for sure.

Now, you've heard enough from us on it.  What did you think?  What did you think of the show in general and what about this last episode?  Are you sad to see it end?  Happy?  Relieved?  Indifferent?  We'd love to get your take!

In the meantime, while we wait for all your opinions to come flooding in, let's lend Unnie some space here to share with us her two cents.

Unnie's Two Cents:

I cannot believe it's over.  It seems like it was just yesterday we started this show.  And yet it feels like it has become such a part of my week that I am truly sad to see it go.  Dare I sense a case of K-DD?!!?  Oh noes!!  You know what means addiKts?  It means it's time for a little K-DD Cure.  Oh yeah!  Bring on the "Dimple!!!"  You know how I heart the "Dimple" addiKts.  So much!

I had to say I had my suspicions that it wasn't the Crown Princess who died to begin with.  Mostly because they never actually showed her dead body, just the top of it or the bottom through murky water, as though trying to conceal her true identity, to us at the beginning of the 1st episode.  I teared up when Bu Yong was having her chat w/ Lee Gak & slowly ate the poisoned persimmons.

The Power Rangers went out with a bang & I appreciated their sweet, funny, cute scenes.  Especially when they are all just back in their Joseon clothes & they are speaking informally to their Crown Prince & his rebuking them & smiling about it when they weren't looking.  So sweet.  I also liked how they had their own little restaurant working together.  Making what else, Omurice.  Daebak!

I was so moved that he wrote her a letter & stuck it under the bldg.  It was charming & romantic & lovely.  And moved my ahjumma heart to no end.  That Lee Gak (Yoochun) is truly a romantic, or at least he plays the romantic lead very well.  It was sad but it was so romantic & sweet & so in line with the theme they had already gone with through the predominant part of this drama.  A perfect way for him to let her know he was ok & to say his final farewell.  And that he loved her & was sorry he hadn't told her more & how much he wished he could touch her.

{wistful sigh here}

As for the way they ended Rooftop Prince?  I am a happy unnie.  I like the ambiguous way they ended with the beginning relationship between Bak Ha & Tae Yong.  They leave it up to the viewers.  Now that Lee Gak is back in Joseon era, did Tae Yong wake up from his coma & have Lee Gak's memories?  Does he seek her out simply because he went to a fruit drink store by coincidence & saw a pretty woman who looked sad & distracted?  Or does he remember her from before the accident in NY all those years ago?  I have my own viewpoint which I will not share because, well simply put, because it's not open for debate.  ^^

I will sorely miss this romantic drama, even with its faults & holes it was a sweet way to spend an hour or two each week, with characters that were well done by the actors themselves.  Maybe the writing wasn't spectacular but the actors/actresses were delightful.  Even the bad guys.  But Lee Tae Sung it's time to go back to being the good guy, ok?  I miss you as the good guy.  More Bong Joon Gu & less Tae Mu next time, please?  And Micky Park Yoochun?  I now want to watch Sungkyunkwan Scandal even more than I already did.  You are spectacular on the screen.  Hoping you do another drama soon.  Until then I will just have to get my Yoochun fix via your JYJ music videos...oh the humanity, guess I'll just have to suffer.  >:}

Until the next drama my fellow addiKts.

Sarang,