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!

Pretty Man Episode 14: All the plot threads are coming together.

This has actually been my favorite episode of the whole series so far.  It had a concise explanation (FINALLY) to all of the plot lines including the importance of the Pass code in reference to (not really bio) dad.  It also threw in a few surprises that I was not expecting and brought together all the characters and even had a credible (not the vague made up work plan that you usually see in kdramas) plan for the expansion of team sock and his work as CEO of SS Home Shopping.   Unfortunately there was still a bimbo of the week, but compared to everything else in this episode she only took up maybe 1% of the time.

Yes!  She is a total witch

So I have to admit that I am happy they did not redeem her (at least not yet).  Probably the biggest surprise of the show for me was how selfish and evil the mom (aka evil queen) was and still is.  I was totally preparing myself for the big tearful reveal followed by a whole bunch of "I'm Sorry I really loved you and was so sad to give you up for adoption.   But no, what we got instead was a bunch of I am your mother, I am telling you because I refuse to have it used against me, so please will you just disappear because you are trash and if you stay around I will make your life a living hell.......................  Mother of the year she is not.  Turns out that the dad knew about her baby out of wedlock (turns out that Mattai's bio dad ditched the mom leaving her to have the baby alone, shunned by her family) and arranged for the baby to be adopted by a friend (Mattai's mother who loved him enough to take a baby for him) and wait until the evil witch looked like she wanted to reconnect with her child.  Only that failed to happen since she is a heartless evil shrew of a women and Mattai arrived all grown up.  So here Mattai is abandoned not only by his bio mom but also learning that his "real" mom was not really his mom.  Poor guy is having one crappy day.

Is there such a thing as Guilt Love?

Oh David, David, David, David....... Did no one tell you it is just creepy to try and force someone into loving you.  Where Bo Tong loves Mattai as a friend and from the side, never trying to force Mattai to return her feelings, David goes the other direction where he puts his happiness all on her and the possibility that she will give up on her true love and settle for him.  Its not that I dont like David, but his constant putting Bo Tong on the spot about liking him and giving up on Mattai is starting (really it has been annoying me for 4 episodes now) to get on my nerves.  And putting a giant photo of her in his room really just kind of creeped me out.  How many times does a girl have to say no before you work on fixing yourself rather then relying on her to make you feel better. 

My Favorite Moment

I totally fell in love with this scene where Bo Tong attempts to cheer Mattai up (after his worst day ever mommy drama) by making him a little video that shows him all his accomplishments despite his parents.  It is something that just has to be watched (SO GO WATCH IT ALREADY IF YOU HAVE NOT) and I will just have a photo tribute in this blog....Also it always cracked me up when they mention his vegetarian rib eating habits, so I love that they added that in.

Epiphany

Can I just say FINALLY Mattai has discovered what "love" is.  Luckily for us the viewers it is all about Bo Tong and how she has always been his constant, the women that makes him smile.  And we get this realization during a super cute ice skating date that includes a lot of cute jesting as well as some hand holding.  It finalizes with her attempting to skate to him (she is not that great of a skater) and he tells her to stay there since from now on he is going to be coming to her, followed with a super cute hug.  I am so glad that we might see at least two episodes of them as a couple.  I really like them together and have always liked how easy their chemistry is.

I know I have complained about the snails pacing of the OTP's romance in the past.  However I have to admit that the payoff is very nice and a lot more realistic then if he had fallen for her right away.  Now looking at the show as a whole I think that it needed that slow realization simply because he had so far to go to grow up and be worthy of her love.  The same can be said of his business achievements as well as his relationships with everyone he meets.  He no longer expects things to be handed to him because he is pretty, but actually has discovered that things that you achieve easy are not worth having in the first place. 
I know that I skipped a lot of important scenes that happened in this episode but I wanted to stick with focusing on what I considered the main points.  If you by chance are not watching this drama and just reading my recaps, then I urge you to at least watch this episode since it was very well done and had an amazing sincerity to it.  Only two more episodes to go and we are done.  Cant believe that my first (completed recap) drama is almost over.  I am thinking of what I want to do in the future so stay tuned for further blog posts.

Sincerely, 
Kmuse

Pretty Man 13: Finally everyone knows everything.... more or less.

We are nearing the end which means that all of the secrets that everyone was keeping through the whole drama are being taken out and kicked onto the table.  It is usually where we also start seeing the romance really come into play but yet again all romantic movement is very subtle and more or less at a snail pace.  You really have to read between the lines and jump a few ditches to see him falling in love with her.  For a show that has always been unafraid to slam concepts in your face, they sure are being timid when it comes to the Matai/Bo Tong love angle.  I have come to this conclusion in regards to Japanese concepts turned into Korean dramas.  The Japanese are very stingy with their romance in their dramas (there are a few out there that are more abrupt and in your face but they are the rarity in Japan).  This drama is made from a Japanese Manhwa therefore we are getting no romance because it is a Japanese story and they don't want to change it.  (For other examples think To The Beautiful You and Playful Kiss).  This is a fact that I find so sad since the show was not worried about showing Mattai's chemistry with every other female on the show.  Sigh....  That fact is sadly going to bump it a notch down on my final rating.

Two Really Sweet Moments with the Ex Bimbos
Who knew that I would actually really like the storylines behind both of his latest women.  I liked it so much that I will actually even call them by their real names (Shocking I know).  Bratling is Kwi Ji  and Prosecutor Ahjumma is Lee Kim.

Kwi Ji (previously known as bratling) has taken Mattai's teachings to heart.  And when she finds out that her father will for sure be taken to jail for his underhanded dealings she decides to do the right thing.  She calls a press conference and says that she has realized that so far in her life she has done nothing but be lazy and entitled.  She has instead decided to reject the (illegal) inheritance rights and go back to school.  Mattai is so proud of her that he invites her to dinner and treats her like he would a true lady because he is so proud of her.  He also tells her that after she makes it big as a designer she needs to make him an outfit "since she knows how picky about his clothes he is".

In episode 13 we see Lee Kim (previously PA) get promoted to the head of the prosecutors office.  Mattai congratulates her and all seems good.  However she receives a huge bouquet of flowers with a note.  In it is a picture of a box cutter and upon seeing this photo she promptly resigns from the prosecution offices.  Mattai goes to her house to check up on her and asks why she resigned.  She tells him about how when she was first hired she threw away evidence (a box cutter) that implicated a young kid who had stolen something for his orphaned siblings.  She felt that he did not deserve to go to prison for his crime.  If this came out all of her cases from then on would be suspect because of that one incident.  She tells him that she would have done the same thing but how can she say she is a just person when she started out by doing something so wrong.  Mattai thanks her (and calls her noona with the cutest smile) and says that she just helped him come to a decision since he had been asked to do something that would have gotten him the right results but in the wrong way.

He Loves Her!
Because of his honest dealings with Daddy Bratling he receives SS Home Shopping  as agreed.  Since he has been called to his first CEO meeting with the shareholders Bo Tong buys him a tie.  She tells him that she researched what would look the most powerful and since he tends to go flashy she went and bought one for him.  He does his usually mocking thing and asks what brand it is and when she admits she bought it at the flea market he rolls his eyes.  But in the end he wears the tie.  FINALLY, proof that he loves her!  He wears her non brand name tie to his important meeting and for Mattai this is a loud proclamation that he considers them a future couple.  Because really if nothing else he truly loves his fashion.  Unfortunately that does not mean that everything is smooth sailing in his new job as head of SS Home Shopping.  He is pretty much called to the carpet by the shareholders and he decides it is now time to actually learn how to be a CEO.  And not just one in name only.

Torn Between Two Women
Poor Mattai.  He just has the worst luck with so many people in his life.  Most of it a result of him being a pawn between the evil queen and the plastic wicked witch.  Just when he thinks he understands what is going on The Wicked Witch ditches him and stops taking his calls, then the evil queen offers him a way in if he aligns with her against his supposed "older brothers".  Mattai finds out that David is his older brother and that his alliance with WW might be at stake because of it and when he confronts her she just plays dumb.   Luckily he has that wonderful talk with Lee Kim noona and he refuses the offer from the evil queen.  He tells her that for him it is not about the power and money, but rather having a relationship with his family.  If he has to achieve it through these kind of means then it is pointless.  Again this is why I really like his character.  He takes the hard way even though he could skip steps and get things easier.

Finally a hint of Bromance
I am so glad that finally we see some connection between the two boys.  It was really bugging me how David has treated Mattai after he found out that they are "related"(They of course are back to being step brothers but they don't know that yet so the brotherly bond should be shown in my opinion.)  Realizing (and being told by Bo Tong) that now he was a real CEO and not just a figurehead he started cramming on how to run a company.

Having pulled an all nighter he crashed on his pile of books and David gives him a grudging look of respect.  This respect continues in their meeting where they are discussing the direction to take Bo Tong company in the future.  Mattai gives good suggestions and David actually listens to him without his usual sneer.  Mattai even starts to bring up the whole brother secret, but pulls back still not sure what to say about it.  I really hope they both come to a better understanding and relationship in the future.  Even if they are stepbrothers, they still should have a sweet bromance after all the Bo Tong stuff is concluded.

 Does this Mean I Have to Feel Bad for the Evil Queen?

Since she does not own a soul (because she has official turned into a plastic mannequin, lol) the wicked witch cant resist stabbing the knife into the evil queens heart.  She calls her out and informs her that she should have been a better person since the person she has been destroying is not her husbands son but her own lost child.  Devastated, she rushes to her husband who confirms that Mattai is indeed her son (seriously people what the heck kind of lives have you led).  She breaks down in agonized tears remember when she gave Mattai up and left him with only the other watch in his little chubby baby hands.  

 I know that we are supposed to be feeling something here.  She is devastated that she has been hurting her own darling child.  But really if he meant that much (say more then the money you chose instead of him) then you should have never been separated in the first place.  Out of all of this huge messed up pile of bad family karma, Mattai is the only innocent one in the show.  And I already feel horrible for the heartache he is going to go through finding out that his beloved mother was not really his mother.

See you soon when I review episode 14.  I am not even going to cross my fingers that there will be any romance, but maybe we could see some of the funny that has been missing in these last several melo filled episodes.

Sincerely, 
Kmuse