Me when someone walks in on my drama-binge time.

Going into the review for episodes 7 & 8 of SBS's 'My Sassy Girl', I'd like to say right off the bat that I'm going to excuse the cliche damsel-in-distress scene we ended with in episode 6, which we saw come to a resolve rather quickly in episode 7. Yes, it's true that I had my inhibitions about this drama going in the oh-so-cliche direction as to have a princess kidnapped, with her arch enemy coming to her rescue. But rather than lingering on a scene that doesn't seem to hold much importance, we'll excuse the drabness of it for now and move on to the drama's more central plot. In the very least, we had a number of interesting developments to give the pacing in this drama a boost. 

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Since the screen capture of the mysterious man behind the jade ring is here, let's jump on that first! And what connection does this man bring to our review today? An 'OM' connection! Yes, it turns out, the man goes by the name of Min Yoo Hwan and is an old lover to Princess Hyemyung (played by Oh Yeon Seo)! Just like in the 'OM'! 

In the 'OM', Gyeonwoo's biggest objective was to help heal Geunyeo's depression after losing her lover. Will the Gyeonwoo of our historical drama (played by Joo Won) embark on the same journey? Whether the answer is yes or no, the similarity is enough to get viewers' interests piqued, don't you agree?

Once you start getting hooked on this drama, Oh Yeon Seo will be like... "You're never getting out!"

How did you all feel about Gyeonwoo's oppressive attitude toward Princess Hyemyung in these two episodes? How about others around her, like royal guard captain Kang Joon Young (played by CNBLUE's Jungshin), the King, Gyeonwoo's friends... It's true that for much of episode 7 and quite as much in the first half of episode 8, some of the behaviors people showed toward Princess Hyemyung had me fuming. For example, when Gyeonwoo ordered her to stop climbing the palace's walls and demanded that she use formal speech to refer to him. Can't forget the scene where Gyeonwoo went looking for books on "How To Tame Women". Yes, as a female viewer of this drama, such scenes spoke outrage like pouring gas on a fire... but observe closer, observe more in depth into the characters' demeanors, the dialogue, and the story's advancement, and we'll discover that in reality, everyone around Princess Hyemyung, including Gyeonwoo, is currently learning to accept her for who she is. Care for me to explain? 


Your ideal type is a woman who is ahead of her time? Well then, sir, you've just earned yourself a mob of fangirls!

What managed to quell my anger after seeing Gyeonwoo's preposterous reading selections was when he began going on those blind dates. He can't stop himself from seeing images of Princess Hyemyung during all of his dates, and she gives commentary on all of the ladies - from how much more appropriate these ladies are for Gyeonwoo, whose ideal type is a fair, reserved, and elegant woman, and how that much more wrong for Gyeonwoo the princess is in comparison. Despite Gyeonwoo's claims that the Princess is a completely foolish woman, not to mention his arch enemy, he can't seem to get her out of his mind. Obviously, a screaming sign that no matter how garish he thinks her, he's going to become more and more interested in her, wanting to heal her of the pains in her heart from her previous lover... 

But even outside of Gyeonwoo, all of the characters around her are reaching out to her so that they can accept her for who she is. The King, who is a loving father, isn't angry because his daughter keeps escaping the palace. His anger is very much directed toward the tabloids spreading false rumors about her! Royal guard captain Kang Joon Young cares for the princess, anyone can see that. He doesn't want her to leave the palace because he doesn't want her to come to harm's way, not because he wants her to behave like a model princess. The princess's grandmother also asks the queen to forget about the princess's escapade, while the princess's servants both are willing to be punished for the princess's rash behaviors, without blaming her. Many of the characters in the drama may seem like they inhibit the princess from being her true self from a faraway, overarching viewpoint, it's not true. What really poses as barriers for the princess is not people, necessarily, but circumstances. The advisory board's Jung Ki Joon and the Queen are both representatives of such circumstances...

If you get my point, then we're starting to truly see how this drama aims to stand as a remake of the 'OM' in a unique and thematic sense, while also carrying its own charms and colors. Already, the focus of the drama has come to be to cheer on Princess Hyemyung so that she can remain the tough, outspoken, fun princess that she is, while also rooting for Gyeonwoo to come to realize what a great woman she is. Things aren't looking as bad as they were in the last two episodes, wouldn't you say?

Let's hope it gets even better next week!

Score

Plot ............................6

Performance ..............7

Pacing ..........................7

OVERALL ........................6.7