Firstly I love Shin Sae-Kyung. I have been a fan of hers since she starred in The Girl who Sees Scents (2014). She has a knack for playing the cute, loveable down-on-her-luck lead girl who you can't help but want to succeed. Her characters are feisty, go-getters. So, what happens to her throughout the 20 episode arc of Black Knight is truly disappointing. By the last episode she gets the love that was destined for her, but it becomes a sad love, mocked again by the cruel twist of fate of what should have been.
When we first meet Jung Hae-ra (Shin Sae-Kyung), she is a travel agent with a group of tourists at the airport. She takes her job seriously and loves helping her clients. She has plans for her life and is itching to immigrate. No request is too small and she is loved by her team mates. We find out she hasn't had an easy life and it is all to do with the twisted fate that happened to her in a past life. The two main culprits of this fate have been hanging around for the last 200 years, waiting for a chance to right their wrongs and jump back into time.
The villain of this series, Sharon (Seo Ji-hye), is pretty much the best part of the entire series. Her cold, self-assured manner is the wine that keeps flowing. Too bad she has an obsession with Moon Soo-ho (Kim Rae-Won) who used to be her husband in her previous life and is now reincarnated right before her eyes. Too bad because, in this life, Moon Soo-Ho and Jung Hae-ra, already have their sights set firmly on each other. Sadly, for me, the romance between Moon Soo-ho and Jung Hae-ra fizzles out really quickly. There are a number of way too long looks; frustratingly it is often Jung Hae-ra who asks a question and Moon Soo-ho who looks blankly at her, a lot. The more I think about it, Kim Rae Won loses sight of the character not even mustering up the energy to play the role.
So let's look at the ending because that part has really been bugging me. Moon Soo-ho, as the rich megalomaniac slowly worms his way into Jung Hae-ra's workplace so he can impress her. This works but it has a double edged sword. Because he starts influencing her decisions. He sulks when she gets a job in Italy and tells her not to go. This is major flag one. The second major flag is that he finds out about his past and tries to pretend he knows nothing about it when she asks him. Luckily she is smart enough to find out on her own. Major flag three is when he has the accident on their honeymoon and does not tell her. What a selfish move! Major Flag four is that he forces Hae-ra to stay with him when he realises she is ageing and he is not. Clearly in the last episode, the scenes show hae-ra is increasingly upset that she is not living the life she planned. She has to give up her job and her career track because he decides to become a doctor in the country. She even packs a bag to leave and tells him people think she is his older sister (many people have agreed, the make-up department did not do a good job on that scene, she still looks way younger than him).
Here's the thing, maybe it's sweet that they stayed together but, for me, I think it is selfish of him when she clearly wanted to leave. It could be a case that they had stayed so long together they wouldn't have been able to start over separately. Or, she felt bad for him knowing that he would be alone in the world once she died. Maybe I could make myself believe that but then, the final scene of Moon Soo-ho walking away jauntily through the green fields is on the title credits. So this ending has been there since episode 1. That means, this is just another bad life for Jung Hae-ra and she will have to come back again to get it right. From the story set up at the beginning, Sharon and her pal had to right their wrongs. Moon Soo-ho is protected from ageing by a lover's wish for his long life... so is his immortality a curse? Will he age once Hae-ra dies? Is he happy to be alive without the burden of seeing his love die?
I was very sad for Shin Sae-Kyung with this ending. I felt she didn't get much from her co-star in their scenes together. I felt so sad for her that I started watching the Bride of Habaek, hoping she would choose a different ending. Sadly, in this K-Drama life she was cursed once again and made the same decision once again. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
Thank goodness I have Run On to content myself with. Despite the ups and downs, she gets to age normally with the beau of her choice. He doesn't play some fake Black Knight, but true to character, she does have to introduce him to the real world and help him adjust. But, that is a story for another day.
K-Drama my Heart
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