"Goddess of Fire Jeonji" did not end on a happy note, either for the characters or the ratings. In a way Yoo Jung, the character played by Moon Geun Young was a victim of her own success.
Yoo Jung was modeled on the real-life figure of Korea's first female ceramic artist Baek Pa Sun. She spent her entire life working to be recognized as a ceramic artist, to do what no woman had officially done before her. In the end she was so successful at achieving her dream that she became a prize to be conquered and she lost her chance at love. When the Japanese invaded Korea, they captured her and took her back to Japan, hijacking the best and latest developments in the art of ceramics and claiming it as their own.
That meant that Moon Geun Young and Lee Sang Yoon, who played Prince Gwanghee, had to part. In the final chapter, Yoo Jung shares her feelings for the prince, then leaves for Japan and leaves him behind. When the drama ends, Gwanghee still rules his country but he never sees the love of his life again. Her loyal protector, played by Kim Bum had already been killed in a previous episode.
So in the end, Yoo Jung achieved her dream but at a very high cost. And it didn't even deliver high ratings. Never earning high enough ratings to achieve first place, the drama's last episode only managed to reach 9.6 percent. That's a mere 0.3 percent higher than last week's ratings.
A happier ending would have been nice if not true to the original story. But it would not necessarily have saved the drama's ratings.
Still in first place was the SBS drama "Suspicious Housekeeper," which rated 10.5 percent. The drama about a mysterious housekeeper finally offers some insight into why that character, played by Choi Ji Hoo, never shared her emotions or any details about her past. As she has helped the dysfunctional family she works for cope with the loss of their mother, they may soon be able to help heal her scars. The drama also stars Lee Sung Jae as the widower, whose cheating led to the death of his wife.
"Future's Choice" achieved 7.3 percent in the ratings. Yoon Eun Hye, playing an aspiring broadcast writer, is getting love advice from her future self but it's hard to tell what motivates her future self to dispense that advice. Her future self wants her not to marry anchorman Lee Dong Gun but some chemistry seems to be developing between them. At the same time Jung Yong Hwa, playing the heir spying on his broadcast co-workers, offers a lovely romantic alternative. And someone else from the future is working to complicate things.
