I feel like the drama only just got started and suddenly ended. I can't say that it's technically the time that went by, but the pace that the story went. The ending itself was satisfying in the respect that it wasn't about tying ends, but furthered the plot development, character development, etc. This is the first time really seeing some decent conflict in the last episode to bring about a great ending. Too bad the whole drama couldn't be this way!
Episode 16 (Finale) was great in that there were consequences for Hae Young and Seol to continue their relationship and get married. If they did, it could mean scandal. If not, it would mean
Yoon Joo's own ending disappointed because with all of her evil and twisted antics, she managed to keep Jung Woo whom should have dropped her at the first sign of her eccentricities. I hope she gets a sunburn in Egypt....But in the meantime, I'm pretty happy to see how Lee Dan developed. Her resolution to not return until she became as successful or more than Seol seemed very realistic and in character. I like that even in the end, the two sisters were sisters and Lee Dan still as stubborn as ever.
Overall:
What I'm going to miss most are our three favorite characters: Lee Seol, Park Hae Young, and Nam Jung Woo. What a great performance from these actors, making us buy into their characters, falling in love when they do, laugh when they're being ridiculous, and stomping our feet whenever Yoon Joo got the upper hand. I'm sad that Professor Dreamy wasn't more in love with Seol--that he only admired her, but saw her more as an artifact to be awed of than a real person. Not that I minded that Seol ended up with Hae Young, but the competition between the two boys would have been enjoyable. Oh, so full of themselves!
But unfortunately, I think that this drama lagged quite a bit. If it wasn't for the three great characters mentioned above, this drama would have had nothing to it. I didn't see/understand any motivation for Yoon Joo to be the witch that she was. Her character was so shallow and her logic so twisted...was she doing this for her family? We don't have much history of her in the first place, so how do we buy into this? Or was she doing this for Hae Young? And if so, why are you continuining with this when Hae Young has given up, dumped you, and everyone hates you? But you are forced to continue because once you disappear, the drama has no plot anymore...or at least that's what I think the writer/director felt. But what really happens when the plot loses motivation, so does the audience.
I think some improvements could have been made. Instead of focusing on the small things like the overwhelming, over-the-top, meaning-of-life press conference, the drama could have focusedon REAL conflicts. So many of the little conflicts--satchel, fortune, etc--were very shallow and you could spot them a mile away to the point that when the conflict does arise, you aren't that surprised and I even did a double take, thinking, "Wait, didn't we solve this/know this already? Wait, she didn't know? I thought everyone knew!" In the beginning, I like the conflict of money--one or the other, Seol or Hae Young Wcouldn't have it all. And I love that they fought about it. But then, I wanted to see the vote, to see if this could happen, and what are the consequences of falling in love with the princess? Not, if she became the princess.
*sigh* This drama has so much potential and the ratings were on its side. If only it would have kept that momentum, threw out Yoon Joo (because she wasn't even a real enemy), and had a took hold of the conflict from the beginning and built on it. Luckily, all of those adorable moments really made up for it (and there were a lot) and I ate them up all the way to Episode 16.
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