Series Review: Surplus Princess

Posted by Shai October 13, 2014

Series Review: Surplus Princess

Because I was so behind with the episode reviews, I decided to sum up the whole series. Onward to the review!

As we all know, Surplus Princess originally started off as a 14 episode drama and was suddenly cut down to 10 episodes by tvN claiming it was for creative and plot purposes *rolls eyes*. Problem is that we got that announcement right before episode 8 aired. I knew right away that the ending would be rushed and boy was I right. The ratings never passed 1% and seemed to get lower with each episode so it's no surprise why tvN would cut it, but I didn't expect it to be by 4 whole episodes. This really put the writers in a spot to conclude their story faster than originally planned. In the beginning, there was a lot of speculation on who the actual main lead was since Aileen/Ha Ni (Jo Bo Ah) was in love with Kwon Shi Kyung (Song Jae Rim) and he seemed to reciprocate her feelings throughout the show so naturally viewers think he's the one she'll end up with. However, Ha Ni had more interactions with Lee Hyun Myung (Ohn Joo Wan), her roommate in the sharehouse and they bickered a lot. Per K-Drama rules, they were destined to be together and viola! They were end game. I realize some were upset by this since they were heavy on this ship, but it was quite obvious this is the original ending and signs were pointing to this since the beginning. More time was spent building up his development than Shi Kyung's plus Hyun Myung knew her secret and did everything he could to protect it even without her knowing it. While Shi Kyung didn't spend enough time with her to get to that step, but that's not to say his feelings weren't real because judging by his reaction in letting her go, he very much cared for her although I don't think it was true love.

This drama did one thing wrong and that was waiting too long to set up the romance plot which more than likely contributed to the lower ratings. In a drama whose main plot was about who the female character would end up with, they spent way too long to get her on a date with Shi Kyung and even longer to have Hyun Myung jealous. Ha Ni should have been dating or at least casually seeing Shi Kyung by episode 5 or 6 and then have Hyun Myung's jealousy come in right after, but things took too long to get there and viewers got bored. I did like how they highlighted how hard it was to get a job and showed different tactics young people did to land full time employment. Many work part time jobs just to get by or form study groups to make sure they have what it takes to get into a large company even if they're only interning because it's only a step to full time employment. Then having us see what being too ambitious can do to our personal relationships. Jin Ah (Park Ji Soo) wasn't a bad person, but having her mother and others around her tell her that she must live a certain way made her into the heartless person she was when she broke up with Hyun Myung. I would have liked it to be a more smoother transition from bitch back to the real Yoon Jin Ah, but I'll take what I can get considering they had an hour to do so. Although I liked how they had the one person she hurt become the voice of reason for her, it was nice to see how he had no ill will towards her. That scene showed his maturity and how well he knew her.

Another point in which I absolutely loved was the friendship aspect of the show. The share house roommates showed us what true friendship was like. They already had a close relationship, but became closer once Ha Ni showed up. For the contest, they banded together to come up with a great idea and their idea being stolen by the 'Elite' Study Group didn't jeopardize their friendship. Even with Ji Yong (Kim Min Kyu) having a crush on Ha Ni, he was able to be a true friend to her and that's one thing she needed. I don't really see any dramas that highlight a friendship so much and it's refreshing to see. All the share house roommates also had ample screen time and we found out where they ended up, which was awesome. Dae Bak aka Big (Nam Joo Hyuk) and Hye Young (Kim Seul Gi) got together and we saw Ji Yong got his own little office romance with Ms. So. Not every drama will give each side character their own side plot that showed where everyone ended up by the completion of the show.

Now something I must talked about which are the theories that I see everywhere regarding the ending. As said, the episodes were cut and the writers were forced to rush everything including Hyun Myung and Ha Ni getting together. It was inevitable, but the extra episodes would have made the transition smoother. We know, based on episode 1, that the potion Ha Ni drank gave her 100 days to find true love or else she'd turn into bubbles and disappear. With Hyun Myung and Ha Ni declaring their love for one another, you'd think she'd stay and not disappear the way she did. This is making fans believe Hyun Myung is not her true love however, nothing was ever mentioned about her actually staying once she found that true love. Ahn Ma Nyeo (Ahn Gil Kang) said that once she found true love, she'd turn into a human, nothing was said that she wouldn't disappear first and then come back later. We just know that she'd be a human once she found that true love, we were never sure of the process it takes in order to get there. As we saw, Hyun Myung stayed true to her even a year after she disappeared so his love is still there and the roommates all wished she was there. Ha Ni left a mark on everyone she came in contact with so it was not only her relationship with Hyun Myung, but also her friends who loved her.

Perhaps the point in the potion was that she had to find true love and would end up disappearing for some time before returning. During her absence, the gods (or whoever made it) would determine whether she found true love or not by monitoring how those around her felt about her absence. Seeing Hyun Myung still carrying around the ring he gave her, Shi Kyung having the shell/scale or whatever, and all the share house mates still bringing her up showed the gods she did indeed find true love and she was allowed to become human.

Now the question on everyone's mind is whether this will have a second season. The last words on the screen were "I'll Be Back...", what do you guys think?