[REVIEW] SBS Drama "Rooftop Prince" - 1st Episode

"Rooftop Prince" First episode- SBS Wednesday and Thursday 9: 55 p.m.
It was as if you scooped up a handful of sand but it slid through your fingers. The drama constantly goes back and forth between the Joseon Dynasty and the 21st century; and between Korea and the United States. The first episode of “Rooftop Prince” ended with stories tangled with another. Also, everything was just too much. After the drama showed the ending credits, there were no specific characters or events that gave a strong impression to the viewers. Just like Park Ha (Han Ji-min), who repeated saying “What the…?” to Prince Lee Gak (Park Yuchun) and his three courtiers who suddenly popped up at Park’s living room, the audience were dumbfounded after watching the first episode.

While Park Yuchun is playing a Prince from the Joseon Dynasty, Lee Gak, he is also playing the successor of a big corporate in the 21st century, Tae-yong. Kim So-hyun, who plays the Crown Princess Hwa Yong in the Joseon Dynasty, takes the role of an ill character named Sena, living in 2012. Lee Gak and Tae-yong, and Hwa Yong and Sena lived similar lives, despite living 300 years apart. Events that happen in the Joseon Dynasty and the present time were similar as well. To apply a comic image to Lee Gak, who just arrived from the Joseon Dynasty to the 21st century in a time machine, the producers have planted similar plots in two different time settings. Neglecting the basic role of the first episode, “Rooftop Prince” clung to showing the casts’ double roles and their similarity in different backgrounds. The first episode was a little bit of 20-minute drama and a little bit of a comedy talk show, which ridiculously tries to find a commonality between two very different TV personalities. In order to appeal to the viewers with the story of Lee Gak meeting Sena 300 years after her death in the Joseon Dynasty, the production crew would have to focus on developing the characters and less on creating more stories.

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