1
bumblethunderbeast
USA
This review may contain spoilers
warning: bashing of sadistic writers and spoilers ahead
After watching so many mediocre dramas recently, I decided to watch an older, high rated one. Scarlet Heart had me laughing, crying, and occasionally grinning like a fool. So when I finished, I immediately began season 2. The shift to the modern world wasn't an issue for me; I was curious to see the princes in more contemporary garb and watch the story play out.
I should have been suspicious when the secret twin and the selective amnesia emerged early on, but I was still curious about the leads' story. So I kept watching, albeit less enthusiastically. Despite cliched trope after trope, I continued. I was determined to see what happened. Then in the final episode, the writers were sadistically cruel. They played out 2 or 3 tragic endings; each seemed extreme but plausible. Just as I was accepting one finale sequence, it would be cruelly replaced by another possible ending. It was like flipping through a rolodex of crappy endings.
After 40+ minutes of being jerked around, the last 3 minutes showed the "real" finale. But I had trouble making sense of it: ML asks FL being released from hospital to meet where they first met. Then after reuniting, their friends and family come out to watch and applaud as they kiss. If it had been a proposal scene, all the other actors' appearances would have made sense to me. As a general, long-awaited reunion with your beloved, why invite everyone else to watch???? I don't want my mom and siblings watching me kiss my husband after he's been hospitalized or out of town for a while.
How in the world did the same writer pen both Scarlet Heart and Scarlet Heart 2???? There was a second writer for season 2, but I would have expected these to be more equitable.
Finally, a brief note about the music: In general, I don't really pay attention to music and background tunes. But this drama had different versions and variations of Amazing Grace playing instrumentally at random times to emphasize emotions. It created some very strange mental dissonance for me. I sort of liked the wistful track that played at the close of each episode.
I should have been suspicious when the secret twin and the selective amnesia emerged early on, but I was still curious about the leads' story. So I kept watching, albeit less enthusiastically. Despite cliched trope after trope, I continued. I was determined to see what happened. Then in the final episode, the writers were sadistically cruel. They played out 2 or 3 tragic endings; each seemed extreme but plausible. Just as I was accepting one finale sequence, it would be cruelly replaced by another possible ending. It was like flipping through a rolodex of crappy endings.
After 40+ minutes of being jerked around, the last 3 minutes showed the "real" finale. But I had trouble making sense of it: ML asks FL being released from hospital to meet where they first met. Then after reuniting, their friends and family come out to watch and applaud as they kiss. If it had been a proposal scene, all the other actors' appearances would have made sense to me. As a general, long-awaited reunion with your beloved, why invite everyone else to watch???? I don't want my mom and siblings watching me kiss my husband after he's been hospitalized or out of town for a while.
How in the world did the same writer pen both Scarlet Heart and Scarlet Heart 2???? There was a second writer for season 2, but I would have expected these to be more equitable.
Finally, a brief note about the music: In general, I don't really pay attention to music and background tunes. But this drama had different versions and variations of Amazing Grace playing instrumentally at random times to emphasize emotions. It created some very strange mental dissonance for me. I sort of liked the wistful track that played at the close of each episode.
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