"My Sassy Girl - Drama" Episodes 15-16 recap

While Woo and Princess Hyeomhyeong have made great progress in terms of finally discovering that Gi-joon is behind the conspiracy, there remains one glaring problem. They can't do anything about it. All concrete evidence of Gi-joon's activities has been successfully destroyed. While Princess Hyeomhyeong is right that she has to do something, Woo is also right in pointing out that their position is far too weak to actually challenge Gi-joon on anything right now.
All the same, they can continue to investigate- and remember. Queen Jungjeon is the weak point in Gi-joon's network. Her cooperation is and always has been essential to Gi-joon, as she is the eyes and ears in King Huizong's private chambers. However, Queen Jungjeon is not a very good wife or stepmother. Note how she lacks any children of her own with King Huizong, and has a limited rapport with Princess Hyeomhyeong.
That's why Princess Hyeomhyeong is such an unexpected snag in the overall conspiracy. Initially she was dismissed as a mere child. But now Princess Hyeomhyeong is a young woman with fond memories of her mother, and a living reminder to King Huizong that the former Queen's betrayal was a huge, inexplicable shock which was dealt with quickly for reasons of respectability. This is the masterful way which Gi-joon operates as a villain- using customs of decorum as a shield to keep anyone from inquiring too deeply about actual evidence.
Princess Hyeomhyeong's flagrant disregard of such customs is what makes her so dangerous, but she really needs Woo in order to balance out her more rebellious tendencies. Note how even though Woo and Princess Hyeomhyeong have some fairly fundamental disagreements about what to do next, they are clearly listening to each other and considering all the available options. The two leads in "My Sassy Girl - Drama" have excellent mutual respect, and this is what makes their romance so believable.
It also helps that the romantic comedy elements have taken a backseat to the royal intrigue, and are now used mainly as comic relief. In context this is actually quite believable. Remember that by design, very few people have any idea of what Gi-joon is doing. That Woo's entanglement with Princess Hyeomhyeong has evolved beyond mere sexual tension is not something that the side characters know about and really, they're better off not knowing about that stuff. They might put themselves in danger or accidentally foil whatever Woo and Princess Hyeomhyeong are planning.
Review by William Schwartz
"My Sassy Girl - Drama" is directed by Oh Jin-seok, written by Yoon Hyo-je and features Joo Won, Oh Yeon-seo, Lee Jung-shin, Kim Yoon-hye, Son Chang-min, and Yoon Se-ah.

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