Up 'til now, I haven't watched the subbed version of the finale. I don't know, I had already anticipated the ending, I anticipated the heartbreak, but I guess I wasn't prepared enough to see *Chilbongie crying all alone in an empty baseball stadium*. Right now I feel content reading dramabeans' recap of the final episode and that saves me from enduring 90 minutes of 'The Start of the End.'
Kasjady wrote: Absolutely I would agree, and having watched Vietnamese - French film "The Scent of Green Papaya" (which was a hint in the earlier eps) - where Mai makes her dream a reality (Marrying her brother's best friend).
I was actually disappointed that the series banked on that theme, because the course it took was unimaginative, and...somewhat stagnant. So NJ's narrative of them being a special couple--I couldn't connect to it.
_Rosie wrote: They dealt with the gay issue much better in Reply 1997 in this they threw the premise out there then abandoned it in later episodes. I initially thought the Writer's would be brave enough to make Trash & Bingerae a couple but no all we got was a tepid love triangle stretched out over nearly 30 hours.
Another gripe I have with the Writer's is that they threw in so many red herrings then didn't know what to do with them by the end. I sort of feel a little like I did when I finished Lost lol
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What I really object to is the Writer's making a big song & dance about hiding the identity of the groom. It became farcical by the end. In Reply 1997 she didn't really properly date either of them so keeping the identity of who she ended up with worked better. In Reply 1994 they made a mockery of the whole thing. Also it didn't help that 1994 was a lot longer if you take account of the extra long episodes it was more like a 30 episode drama...and trying to carry on the mystery of who she chose became ridiculous & redundant over that length of time.
I am unsure of what mark to give this drama, I loved all the side characters and the comedy & touching moments I just disliked the whole "love triangle" storyline they made a total mess of it.
Unnie, you've perfectly said what I wanted to say. And here I thought I was being overly subjective but seeing the comments here at MDL, on db and even on R94's drama thread on soompi (which is sadly on its second suspension, my goodness the drama is over already), I feel much more at ease knowing I'm not delusional and that I share similar points of view with other people.
I'd like to add that in Reply 1997 they were meticulous with details and each 'herring' from the present was explained. However in R94, the herrings were not only all over the place but also some of them were not even referenced to in the end. Like you I think the mystery game and love triangle were stretched out too far and these consumed the drama that everything else was either pushed aside to fill gaps or kill time. They could have edited the whole thing into tight 16 60-minute episodes, but no, they had to prolong it because it was making a killing. And yet with 21 long episodes, they've only managed to show up to June 22, 2002, and didn't even get to show what happens from that point to 2013 even if in passing. (I might be getting too greedy but it would have still been possible if there was time to shoot and edit.)
My biggest disappointment was probably how the characters were developed or in this case--not fully developed. Chilbong had to be *that stubborn man with a one-sided love until the end*, on the other hand, NJ *never explicitly turned him down so he could have saved himself the heartache and then he could have found himself a match earlier on* and I was wondering when was Trash *ever going to go out of his way to be with her. He makes her go to him every single time! Why!* Binggrae and Haitai's stories were pushed back at the latter episodes their stories were still connected with the husband mystery. We didn't even get to see YJ and SCP's wedding because if I remember it correctly, they were already a couple before NJ's wedding.
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Want a hug? Kingkong Entertainment made an announcement that YYS was going to give free hugs yesterday and this is what it looked like:
I stupidly decided to try and watch episode 21 and ended up in tears. My boyfriend (who I have been boring for weeks with CB developments) had to take my laptop away :P
Gosh that was heartbreaking. How on earth could CB stand to be at the wedding only a year and half later? How do you become a famous doctor? These are things which do not make sense..
I think the main reason I am so upset is because I was so sure CB had to be the husband. From his introduction it seemed like it was set up for him to be our guy. We never saw NJ fall in love with her oppa, and we never saw him fall in love with her, that was already over with by the time we meet them. But we do see CB fall in love with NJ, and that makes him our character, the one the audience goes on a journey with and connects to. When NJ and Trash got together I thought for sure that meant CB would be the husband, because it happened so early on I thought the plot would be that the relationship wouldn't work out and NJ would move on. Surely they wouldn't give us hours and hours of NJ and Trash just loving each other? (haha...) And then episodes 19 and 20 focused so much on CB I totally thought he was the one! But nope. Apparently if you aren't in it from the first episode, you have zero chance of getting the girl, you are a plot device.
I'm now satisfied I finished the last episode of the series and seeing it subbed at least gave closure to the other things I missed when I watched it raw.
Of the things that got amplified were the scenes with Appa and Omma and they got me real good. Sung Dong Il appa's heavy words for Trash left me a bit crushed (this part was so real for me even though I don't fully understand why Appa would be so hard on him, it felt like my Pop was scolding me with his booming voice). I guess I appreciate the relationship Trash has with Dad more than his relationship with NJ because with Appa it was more...dynamic. I also love that omma had more touching moments with T as well, even without NJ and T's relationship I think the impact of T's choosing neurosurgery as his specialty and mom's reaction to that would have been just as emotional. (I don't know, seeing her cry made me feel like I did something to disappoint her and wanted to hug her so much. )TT___TT
Now if only the writer built more little stories like that for her supporting cast and developed them bit by bit on each episode, then those episodes wouldn't have seemed so long and I wouldn't have felt so miffed each time. I can't say I didn't enjoy watching this series because I did anticipate it every week while it aired. But then the writer played naughty Fate and I felt like a friend led me on and on, duped me and that let me down. Not really a good feeling.
Still, it managed an 8 --for the characters that I liked as a whole, omma and appa, Trash--who I think is a unique character (I neither like nor dislike him though romantically wise, he's not someone I'd be inclined to pick), the gang--I really liked Haitai among them, Kim Sung Gyun (the actor)'s comedic skills was a gem here and CB, who was a character that could have been *so much more than a pitiful second male lead*.
After completing another hit drama, Yoo Yeon Seok, Jung Woo, and Kim Sung Kyun will talk it out on tvN’s Taxi.
Reply 1994’s Yoo Yeon Seok, Jung Woo, and Kim Sung Kyun to Hop on ‘Taxi’
On December 30, Newsen spoke with the staff of Taxi, who stated, “It’s true that Yoo Yeon Sok will be appearing on Taxi.
“Along with Yoo Yeon Seok, Jung Woo and Kim Sung Kyun from Reply 1994 will also be appearing,” said the staff. “It’s not exactly certain when they’ll be making their appearance. Taxi also have plans to make a small change to its broadcast time.”
Meanwhile, Yoo Yeon Seok, Jung Woo, and Kim Sung Kyun completed Reply 1994 on December 28 with 21 episodes.
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REPLY 1994 is coming up with a Special this week! Here's a preview!
I liked the drama even better than Reply 1997 and yes, the ending was perfect. It was really clear who she was going to end up with and I am glad that I chose the right team.
Anyway, I am looking forward to this week's special :)
