[Drama 2019] Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung, 신입사관 구해령

[may Robinson]

1 hour ago, kangminjae said:

I couldn't be happier about the way Rookie Historian ended! They took time to show how everyone was doing, and gave us the sweet couple scenes we've been missing. Thank goodness Jin and Rim took the places that suited them best, rather than the ones they were "born" to. And Haeryung gets to be a working woman with her man waiting for her at home! HECK YES.

yes yes yes i am so happy at the ending ,yirim didn't want to be king but if he says i want to live as an ordinary person does that make him permanently non royal or he can reverse the status when he changes his mind ,i mean his blood type and dna do not change. i'm glad he is still travelling ,learning and writing just like his father .they also did a very decent job in tying all the loose ends and giving everyone their just desserts .what happened to the old king ? i'm guessing he stepped down .

i am also so proud of yijin ,he did the right thing ,such an honorable man .to me it didn't feel rushed and thankfully there was no more blood bath involved in righting the wrongs.

i will miss this show ,ghr ,eunwoo's handsome face in his hanboks and yijins awesome charisma.keep the beautiful ost's coming.

kudos to all the cast and crew, thanks pdnim for another enjoyable kdrama.you guys really do the work of the LORD to relieve stress,boredom and warm our hearts.

 

special shout out to kangminjae ,your supportive posts for our cast helped keep the mood positive especially during the early stages.......u know what i mean.

 

who else cried and got emotional when ghr and yirim reconciled ? for some reason it made me so emotional when she tells him she will be by his side and  he says he will wait for her .i think she really realised how much she loved him during the break up ,and that somehow their destinies are intertwined.

yirim had also told grandma he wasn't ready to get married which was true because prior to the kings marriage order he was just happily dating ghr and wasn't pestering her for marriage .

honestly i have really admired ghr's character she is just not some  know it all independent and arrogant feminist ,she also has a lot of heart ,the way she rescues and cares for dowon and how she forgave her brother with so much love ,how she fights for her historian team .she and officer yang were really the MVP's of the historian team.

[kangminjae]

2 hours ago, may Robinson said:

special shout out to kangminjae ,your supportive posts for our cast helped keep the mood positive especially during the early stages.......u know what i mean.

 

who else cried and got emotional when ghr and yirim reconciled ? for some reason it made me so emotional when she tells him she will be by his side and  he says he will wait for her .i think she really realised how much she loved him during the break up ,and that somehow their destinies are intertwined.

yirim had also told grandma he wasn't ready to get married which was true because prior to the kings marriage order he was just happily dating ghr and wasn't pestering her for marriage .

honestly i have really admired ghr's character she is just not some  know it all independent and arrogant feminist ,she also has a lot of heart ,the way she rescues and cares for dowon and how she forgave her brother with so much love ,how she fights for her historian team .she and officer yang were really the MVP's of the historian team.

 

I'm just glad this little drama was able to prove naysayers wrong!

 

And yes, I was so emotional and ecstatic when they reconciled. I loved that he told her she had to live the life she wanted; he doesn't want the woman he loves to feel chained to a place the way he ever did.

 

Haeryung is absolutely one of my favorite leading ladies now. She never lost her gumption!

[rocher22]

That was a beautiful end.

Too bad Jin and SH didnt have more scenes together.

They are not together, but I think he sent those books. Nice.

 

[sirena82]

I’m so loving the end! Very satisfying! I don’t know if u guys are members in mydramalist or not, but unfortunately some of the haters tried to drag the rating down by giving very bad rating even before the first episode was aired. It’s rated at 8.3 for now. If you can spare couple of minutes to go over there an give ur rating, that will be great. The team of this drama from actors, writer and crew definitely deserves our support and appreciation:)

[shunnie]

Okay, I need to clarify some things about the ending..

I assumed that Officer Min & his sister was in mourning because Councillor Min was executed for treason right?

And regarding the letter that the court lady sent to Queen Dowager from the royal villa. Was it from the king (Jin’s father) asking for forgiveness from the Queen? So he wasn’t prosecuted even though he was part of the treason with Councillor Min?

[sirena82]

@shunnie, from what I understood, 3 years has passed and ya, the second state minister seems to have been executed. As he was executed for treason, it would make sense  that his daughter cannot be the CP (new king) wife. She and officer min were in mourning for that u r correct.

the letter that the dowager queen received was actually from prince rim or mr.rim per his new title  He decide to be dethroned and the dowager queen was not happy about it. She still wanted rim to be the king. You can see her smiling while saying she is not forgiving him aka for getting dethroned and living the life he wanted. But I think she already forgave him but does not want to admit it yet. Regarding the CP dad, I think he was dead already as the CP is already being called the king and is wearing the red clothing that only the king can wear. 

[lsylvia]

Hi.

 

Here to clarify some points as a Korean viewer with access to more info because the last episode was a little rushed and not perfectly clear (at least to me).

 

1. SH is in exile, like Officer Seong. This was actually said in a video released by her agency. I guess the fact that she spied for the SC became known. So she's teaching kids at the place where she's been exiled, and the books are probably from the new king. Since she's been found guilty, her becoming his anything (queen or concubine) is highly unlikely.

 

2. It seems the SC was executed right away, given the mourning period is three years and Officer Min and his sister's mourning is done. Most of the people involved in the coup of 20 years ago would also have been executed.

 

3. Yi Rim is no longer a prince, because his being a prince threatens the new king's throne, which is why he would have given up his position as the prince in the first place in making the CP the new king. And I don't think he can be reinstated after that. But he's still part of the royal family, so he retains his attendants and enjoys his privileges as such. 

 

4. We don't know what happened to the king, but imo I don't think the old king's dead, I mean he could be, but it's more likely that he stepped down. One can actually do that, just pass the kingship down to someone else and retire as the old king (there have been kings who did that in Korean history). He was a weak, greedy and stupid man, but I don't think he was as evil as the SC, and didn't know about the fabricated letter, judging by his reaction at the revelation. Knowing that his coup was quite unfounded, he would have stepped down.

[shunnie]

@sirena82 At first I also thought Rim sent the letter, but the letter came from royal villa. At that time Rim just returned from his trip and from what we saw, he lives in a civilians house opposite of Hae Ryung’s. The Queen then asked about news from Sambo and the court lady said he’ll return to Hanyang today, so they must be talking about Rim and the Queen is happy to hear Rim is coming home. That’s why I think they’re talking about someone else regarding the letter, and the only one I can think of is the king.. so I’m a bit confused.

 

I don’t really understand Joseon’s royal hierarchy system back then, but I guess if this happened in the real world and the king was convicted, Jin probably should not have the right for the throne and Rim would have no choice but to take over. But that wouldn’t be a happy ending for Rim, so I’ll gladly take this ending over a realistic one 

[jimjim1704]

Drama come to the end but I think this could be about 24 episodes .maybe i'm saying this because my Favorite couple did not meet each other more   I wanted to watch Romance between Lee Jin and Sahee but actually nothing was confirmed and just show that He sent Books for Sahee. so I really don't like drama ending   this ending is not that I wanted 

but I'm gonna miss this drama and actors and thanks to all actors and other staffs we spent great time with Rookie historian Goo Hae Ryung 

Thanks to all of you here for showing  Love to this Drama ...

 

and of course special thanks From me to Park ki woong and park ji hyun (my favorite couple) . I hope I watch these two in another Drama as lovers 

 

[gilaswan]

I can’t say I liked the ending, not because it didn’t tie things up the way a HEA story wraps up — it did. Whoever was to die, did. Whoever was supposed to get together (which is our OTP) did. But like @jimjim1704, I felt like the story could have taken at least another 4 episodes to tie up properly. There was so much set up as a story, and just as we reached that point of tension, it felt like everything suddenly got so easily and neatly tied up with simple and overly convenient ‘explanations’. For example, I thought after all that trouble taken by Jin to confine Rim in Nokseodang, Rim and GHR practically skipped out of the palace onto the streets. And SC’s execution was so simply presented through the Min siblings in mourning clothes. Even Rim’s renouncing of his royal title and returning to life as an author was so simplistically laid out in that scene with him talking about his one travelogue. So much potential for good story telling, whittled away into a rushed wrap up which had us filling in the gaps of explanation — thank you @lsylvia! All those explanations and expositions could have been dramatised. 

[guinearoyal]

YES! I am sooooo happy YR and HR ended up together.

But there is one thing I am not sure about. So, they still haven't gotten married? If that is so, what was that bed scene about and them sleeping together. While that is pretty normal by today's standards...But wasn't that a big NO NO back then? Wouldn't they have gotten in trouble for corrupt morals or something?

[RobinM]

Birds do it bees do it even Joseon Nobles do it  

 

All they have to do is be discrete and have a servant quietly get some ye old BC so accidents don’t happen. They will get married eventually anyway  That’s for sure:)

[cantbreathe]

Rewatching the final episode, although I still love that it gave me a happy ending for the main couple, I share the same disappointments as a few of the commenters above.

 

- I am sad about Jin and Sahui.  I mean, if they could make up happy endings that weren't logical (CP as king), they could surely have given us a happy ending for them!

- The secret plan they'd been working on for ages was just begging the King in public?  He could have quite easily called GJR a liar and then where would we have been?  And it was so short!  

- I really wish we had an ending scene which shows how the CP and Rim are still like brothers.  I feel like the whole drama caused a rift between them and I never saw a resolution to it.  I loved the way CP was such a big brother to Rim and was protective of him.  Although there was a bit of animosity, it was because Jin was torn between his loyalty to his father and Rim, but he never actually disliked Rim. 

[shunnie]

@cantbreathe

- I don't think it's possible to do a happy ending with CP and Sahui at that point of time as Sahui had a lot of scandals and she worked for Councillor Min. But I see it as more of an open ending for them because we see CP still care for her by sending the books.

 

- From what I see, begging the king is only their plan A, but it they can't resolve it in a peaceful way and things go haywire, they had a plan B by preparing a whole troops to fight (although that plan was firgured out by Councillor Min). That would end in bloodbath and a lot of casualties, so it wasn't their first option. That's why Mohwa asked Rim to run away if they didn't return by a certain time.

And I think they waited 20 years for Rim to come of age and be ready to take over the throne.

 

- I agree with you that I wish there's at least a short scene with just the 2 brothers at the end to show that they will remain as brothers. It would be nice if they had a conversation after Rim talked to Queen Dowager. We can only assume they still have a good relationship.

 

 

Regarding HR and Rim not getting married, I wonder if a married woman is allowed to work as a historian in the palace? Maybe it would be difficult for her to pursue career as a married woman and that's why they didn't want to get married yet.

[lsylvia]

Reading through the comments, I saw there was some confusion about the last episode (which is not at all surprising), so I will try to clarify the last episode as I've understood it.

 

The Queen Dowager's plan was to stage a coup. But the thing is, if she had tried to take the throne by force, it would have been treason, so they needed to first give the reason why the king had to be dethroned. Therefore, GJG stepped up and said that the coup of 20 years ago was wrong and had to be righted, in the presence of historians, to make it clear that they were not dethroning the rightful king, but its usurper. Both the QD and the SC had troops ready, to fight it out. Once GJG's request had been denied outright, both sides would most likely have mobilized their troops.

 

But then Yi Rim, who was supposed to stay hidden, showed up and made his request to the king (I can't tell if the plan was changed or if he did that on his own). And then the historians got involved, and what should have been a bloody battle between the two sides instead became a peaceful and yet powerful protest, asking the king for justice. And the king, as we know from the episode where GHR persuaded him, is a weak and indecisive man who can be swayed by a will stronger than his. And he did not know that the letter, which was the reason the old king was dethroned in the first place, was a fabricated one. And because he stood there irresolute and did not say anything, the SC could not do anything, because if he had mobilized his troops to kill everyone in the protest without the king's consent, he would be the one committing treason, and not even he would have been able to gloss over that. And when the CP and more and more officials joined the protest (either because they wanted to or felt that they needed to do so to save their own skin), the fight was lost.

 

The writer is a new writer (this is her second show, and her first original), and she did not pace it well. The last story should have begun at least two episodes earlier, and the earlier episodes (especially the one with Catholicism) should have been shorter. That's why the last two episodes were quite rushed and did not show us everything they should have. But still, I like the fact that what would have been a bloodbath instead was resolved through words, because that was the complete opposite of what happened 20 years ago. Back then, the SC took the throne by force, and if the QD had done the same and given the throne to Yi Rim, even if she were in the right, that would not have been a happy ending for everyone involved. And this drama being about historians, I also like the fact that, whereas 20 years ago, the historians were made to shut up and change their story, in the present day they were the ones who stepped up and refused to shut up and asked for justice.

[celebrianna]

I liked the way the stories of the characters were resolved.

 

It was a good compromise that Yejin inherited the dethroned king’s will. I always wanted Yejin to remain as the next king but I also felt that injustice would have won if the illegitimate king and second minister’s will prevailed. I’m glad that it was nicely resolved in Yejin in that he’s more like the dethroned king than his mean father and now he’s continuing the dethroned king’s work.

 

Glad that Queen dowager is slowly giving in to Yerim. The flashback to what really happened 20 years ago made me understand more perfectly why the queen dowager felt the way she did. Watching what really took placed made my blood boil even more. Anybody would want justice for such a brazen setup and murder of so many innocent people. I’m just sorry I didn’t see the second minister beheaded much like I had to watch him impale the dethroned king with his sword. They were some nasty people.

 

Glad to see Historian Song teaching poor kids to read, write, etc. I guess the crown prince is the one sending her the books.  Historian Min will go back to his rightful place. The historians look like they’re enjoying their job a lot more. Their future looks brighter now that a better king is on the throne. Loved the OTP scenes throughout. They need to get married though. Glad that Brother Goo and his female friend are alive and running Seoraewon.

[G.r.a.s.s]

20 hours ago, lsylvia said:

The writer is a new writer (this is her second show, and her first original), and she did not pace it well. The last story should have begun at least two episodes earlier, and the earlier episodes (especially the one with Catholicism) should have been shorter. That's why the last two episodes were quite rushed and did not show us everything they should have. But still, I like the fact that what would have been a bloodbath instead was resolved through words, because that was the complete opposite of what happened 20 years ago. Back then, the SC took the throne by force, and if the QD had done the same and given the throne to Yi Rim, even if she were in the right, that would not have been a happy ending for everyone involved. And this drama being about historians, I also like the fact that, whereas 20 years ago, the historians were made to shut up and change their story, in the present day they were the ones who stepped up and refused to shut up and asked for justice.

 

Oh so the writer is considered a rookie writer ? I want to commend her for such a unusual plot on historians - I really enjoy following our Rookie Historian GHR's journey in every single episode without skipping any scenes!

 

Well done to all our casts especially our leads!:

https://www.soompi.com/article/1355257wpp/rookie-historian-goo-hae-ryung-cast-shares-thoughts-following-end-of-drama

Shin Se Kyung shared, “It was different from other historical dramas I starred in the past. The drama allowed viewers to have a unique imagination of a woman living in the Joseon dynasty who worked at a public office. I expected it to be a lot different than other historical dramas. I worked hard to break my stereotype about how women were during that time period. I also thought, ‘Just do it comfortably,’ but it wasn’t as easy as I thought.”

The actress also stated, “I did not have high expectations for viewership ratings. I liked the intention and color that ‘Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung’ carried from the beginning, and I thought, ‘It would be great if we could go on without losing this.’ In that sense, I’m very satisfied. I was able to realize that I definitely feel happy when I star in a drama that shares my personal values.

Cha Eun Woo said, “It feels like only a few days ago when I felt excited and nervous by imagining the character Lee Rim while looking at the synopsis and script, but the time has already come for me to say my goodbye.” He continued, “I wanted to deliver the story of Lee Rim well because the character meant a lot and was special to me. I have personal regrets, but I worked hard while wishing viewers would relate to and love Lee Rim. I think the happy and warm memories I gained by meeting Lee Rim will last in my heart for a long time.”

 

So for the finale - I felt it is perfect 'fairytale' ending for me.  The loose ends are tied up without messing up the plot/characters and there is no open ending or worse sad ending. I like that the finale remained focused on our heroine - from how she 'rescued' our Prince to her defying the King and also clearing things up with her brother.  The ending also shows that she enjoys a blissful life with a supportive handsome partner while continues to pursue her dreams as a historian.

Plus I thought the ending scene using that upbeat BGM (getting some sort of 'Disney Mulan' music feel again) instead of using OSTs is so apt:

 

Mmm.. finally if I have to pick a favourite scene -- yes --  that 'sequel' to the cheeky "I'll lock the door" scene:

 

 

Btw the way the teary wet 'hot' kiss turns out to be a 'get back together' kiss:

 

So touching when our Prince said:"I wasnt locked in Nokseodang. My whole life I waited for you to come and find me." 

 

The title (goodbye kiss) by Swoon should be changed! 

 

*just for laughs -- Sharing this 'parody' by a Chinese fan @weibo:

Spoiler

 

"I beg you to grant our wish to be together! We are truly in love with each other."

 

"Your Majesty pls grant them their wishes!"

 

Last but not least, thanks to all chingus here and also to the fans who have been subbing the making videos in Youtube. There were not many videos out there probably coz this drama is exclusive to Netflix? 

 

Latest making on the 'hot' kiss:

Spoiler

 

 

 

[mundaliv]

Hi guys!! Thanks for the posts. Really good to read some posts give more clarity for me on the last episode and its ending. 

I think if we got more episodes, like 2 more episodes, the ending will not be too rushed, and we can have more scenes for our couple together.. 

So it’s a rookie writer then! Wow! I guess the writer is good in keeping the story focusing on historians, even until the “solution” is also with historians as the center stage. For the pace, it is indeed not really good. Because the serious part is really heavy in the last 4 episodes. In the earlier episodes, we got more fluffy scenes, which I like so much. Haha. 

Not many watching this drama, I think because it’s on netflix. 

[gilaswan]

The fact that we’re all still trying to fill in the gaps on our own goes to the fact that there really could’ve been more episodes added. @lsylviais right — the pacing wasn’t right for a 20 episode show, though I wonder if that’s to do with the writer or the director.

 

As regards their not getting married, I do think too it’s cos she would not be able to work in the palace once she marries, and Rim would not have wanted that for her. 

 

Oh well, a good attempt nevertheless on a fusion-type sageuk. I wish Jin had more air time too and the brothers had more of a story together... hoping the cast can come together for another production sometime. Cha Eun Woo has my attention now. For an idol with an extremely pretty face, I have to say I found myself comparing him to L when I found out he’s an idol-actor, and Eun Woo by comparison is a much better actor. I think this young man can really do well on the small screen if he continues to study well under veterans.

[may Robinson]

sometimes people complain about rushed finales because they really enjoyed the story and want more .i think they suitably closed the drama for most of the characters, in a manner consistent with their roles,personality and the dramas premise of being a romcom saeguk highlighting societal attitudes to traditions,old values ,change and enlightenment values of free press , non violent resolutions of conflicts, reason and scientific progress .

 

most issues in the subplots were resolved without violence or minimal violence, the power of the historians to bring change and hold the monarchy to some level of accountability, which mirrors the press today , ghr's use of reason to effect change from the king rather than kill her to get his hands on the records. 

in the finale we see the same factors at play,a non bloody coup, an investigation team rather than a blood bath, limited punishment for the other family members of the traitors rather than killing everyone and lastly ghr staying true to her desire to effect change rather than get married and become a housewife, yirim truly living his love for travelling and writing while being very supportive of his love .

the only issue i had was the two brothers not having a scene with a heart to heart talk after the revelations, i also didn't want yirim to completely lose his royal status given everything his grandma suffered. maybe jin can be regent until yirim is ready or pass the crown to yirims son.