Crash Landing On You
Yes, yes, ‘Crash Landing On You’ is absolutely perfect, because after all the political conflicts
and family dramas, we finally have our charming, brilliant, and amazingly rich couple Yoon Seri
and Ri Jeong Hyeok reuniting at the end. They share this heart-fluttering hug
where Seri literally ran into Jeong Hyeok’s arms, and of course, a long-awaited kiss in
this beautiful greenfield in Switzerland. Such a perfect ending to a perfect drama, am I right?
Well, you thought wrong. Because this finale is like slapping a meager bandaid over a
bullet wound. Like, for starters, they can’t get married, because male lead Ri Jeong Hyeok is still
this super important North Korean military man and Yoon Seri is still, well, South Korean. Sure, she
can change her nationality if she so wishes, but Jeong Hyeok will still be stuck in dictator land.
And who knows how long he can stay in Switzerland for their reunion
and when he will have to return?As a pretty critical figure in his home country, our male
lead can, at most, ditch his businesses to visit his star-crossed lover a couple times a year.
And while meeting your lovers once every few months sounds romantic,
it just wasn’t too practical. That’s not to say, Seri is also separated from
her other North Korean friends forever, so considering that they are her only friends,
the ending of ‘Crash Landing On You’ is not exactly what we can call a happily ever after.
Extraordinary You
They say that love transcends space and time, and seeing that Haru and Dan Oh manages to find
each other many times in many stories, they have proven this statement right. Especially
when they are comic book characters whose every action is controlled by some mysterious author.
So, when Dan Oh reunites with Haru at the end of ‘Extraordinary You’, this time as side characters
whose actions are way less limited, we get this false illusion that this is a happy ending.
Unfortunately, it’s not. First of all, this is not exactly the Haru and Dan
Oh that we get to see throughout the series, just another version of them, in yet another world.
Secondly, they are still characters that can be controlled anytime the author wishes, so every
day the author can wake up and decide to delete one of them out of existence for convenience.
And taking in Dan Oh’s cameo in ‘True Beauty’ where she still has to go on a
date with the person she doesn’t like, it’s safe to assume that our cute Haru-Dan Oh
couple is still gonna be stuck in this loop where they gain self-awareness,
find each other, and then ripped apart. Over, and over, and over again. Yikes.
Mr. Queen Time-travelling into
the body of the opposite gender sounds wild, but it is this sequence of events that creates
the charm of Mr. Queen. Historical and comedy rarely go together, but Mr. Queen makes it work,
and while there’s still a fair share of palace drama, it still keeps us laughing for a good
while, and delivers a happy ending? Or did it? At the end of the series, we see our main couple
successfully overthrowing the evil queen mother, the main character getting back to his timeline
with all accusations cleared, and the king lives happily ever after with his queen,
who is, you know, the actual queen, not a modern man acting as her.
But. This is not a happy ending. At all. For starters, the evil people are still alive,
just locked up and not even in jail. While our second male lead, who doesn’t actually
do anything wrong, ended up dead under a cliff after saving the female lead :D
Then, because the main character has returned to his original body, he doesn’t get to enjoy
all of this efforts: the king he’s in love with is in love with someone completely different
(because apparently all character building can’t amount to some childhood history)
and he’s stuck alone in the modern times. Don’t know about you, but bearing a child
for a guy when you are a totally manly soul only to get no merits
doesn’t exactly sound like a happy ending.
Vincenzo Now, don’t get us wrong,
the series Vincenzo is as perfect as it is, and the final episode has got an emotional kiss,
a found family, and all evil beings rightfully punished,
but it is not exactly a happy ending in the traditional sense.
From an objective view, Vincenzo is a wanted criminal in South Korea,
and has to reside all alone in this personal island that he had purchased with his pile of
gold. Sure, he gets to see his lover maybe a couple times a year, and can act as tour
guide for the Geumga Plaza family while at it. However, his wanted status means that
they still have to do everything super sneakily because a wrong move can lead to lifetime arrest.
And Hong Cha Young and Vincenzo can hardly get married, because she’s a strong independent
woman still fighting for the oppressed, while Vincenzo is well, Vincenzo, retired billionaire
mafia counselor residing in an isolated island. Truth be told, the ending could be way more
fulfilling if Vincenzo just off the evil trio when he had the chance, but he has to take his
sweet time toying around like your full tabby cat. Still, we have to say this finale is as good as it
gets. After all, actor Song Joong Ki himself believes that Vincenzo is not a good guy,
and the ending is just a partial retribution for his past deeds.
Rooftop Prince Ah, yes, ending this list is an
all-time classic that will surely make you burst out in laughter. ‘Rooftop Prince’ brings to you
all the elements you would want in a K-drama: from mystery, romance, comedy to palace drama,
and uhm, time-travelling. At the end of the series,
all the questions throughout it all is brought to light, we learnt who was behind the crown
princess’s death, who tried to assassinate the crown prince, and even more surprising details.
And while our main couple was separated by time, they still remember their emotions clearly, and
the female lead even meets a reincarnated version of her lover as the series closes. Not bad.
But is this actually a happy end? Even if the female lead gets together with this reincarnated
doppelganger, she is still looking at her prince through him. And even if they look
exactly the same, trying to find a replacement for your Josean era lover is a no no move.
Furthermore, in the past, the prince still had to send the ancient Sena and her mother into exile,
completely going against the wishes of the female lead when she chose to sacrifice herself.
Finally, evil sister Sena never got punished for all the evil things she does. From burning her
younger sis’s face to making her an orphan. So, gotta say justice was not enacted in this series.
. Before you go, there’s some
honorable mention that almost make the list: W: Two worlds: Comic book Kang Chul got
sent to reality, but how will he survive without any identification?
Gu Family Book: Getting together with the 400 years younger version
of your deceased lover is just not the same
The Heirs: Tyrant father is probably just leaving Kim Tan
and Eun Sang alone because he’s hospitalized Start Up: You don’t leave your blind grandmother
alone with an under-developed mobile app! .
And that’s the list! Do you agree with our list? Do you know of any other happy endings
that ain’t quite that happy? Feel free to let us know in the comment section!