freyeli

I know but I didn't find it convincing. Especially not the cigarettes. It just seemed a little forced to me. In the scene where we first see him smoking it's just kind of there to make a point about how unhappy he is rather than being a natural fit with his character arc. People don't smoke just because they're unhappy. We didn't see him pick up the habit which would probably take a bit of time and would require some kind of initiative. I couldn't help but be underwhelmed. It just didn't seem that natural a thing for him to do. At least not in the way it was portrayed.

"I get why they chose to go with that ending, but for me they should’ve just given us a happy ending.. Their love was so pure and they made us fall in love with the idea of love again that it would’ve been beautiful to see them end up together…"

This. I do see the beauty in the ending we got, but it didn't match with the first three quarters of the drama. As you said, there's also a beauty in the alternative we hoped for and I think it would've made more sense all things considered. I can't help but feel the drama seriously missed the mark. I went into it knowing the ending and it definitely had a negative effect on my enjoyment of it. It lent it a sense of impending doom that felt wrong rather than poetic. I'll still probably re-watch, but I think I feel frustrated because it came so close to being as perfect as I've seen a K-drama get (especially one with romance).

I literally came back to this comment section because I was just thinking that BYJ suffered from a sudden character regression. Maybe that's just me trying to rationalise my dislike for the ending but I think his alcohol abuse and distant behaviour was almost a regression to his earlier character only magnified and minus all his virtues and character growth up until that point. The alcohol abuse might've been more believable had it taken place over a longer time period. They did build up to it a little but I don't think it got explored enough. It felt a bit slapdash in my opinion.

Before I do my best to vacate this comment section here's one last thing in defence of those of us who wanted a different ending. I keep seeing comments misunderstanding why some of us aren't happy. I can't speak for everyone but at least for me the issue over the ending is more about what I believe would have been the most satisfying payoff for the drama and not about getting a 'happy ending' for the sake of it. I can handle an unhappy or bittersweet ending and sometimes I even prefer it. Just not this time. That being said I'll definitely return to this drama. Despite everything it's by far one of the best I've seen.

Yes but I just want to put this drama behind me now. And by this drama I mean the controversy surrounding the ending :)

I think I see your point but I can't help questioning if MJ and present HD (who we know less than past HD) are really relevant enough characters to make it stick. I guess I just only cared about the past plot and the present plot just wasn't that important to me. That's one of the reasons I think it's a problem to focus on the past and then sacrifice an element of it for a far less significant present (less significant to the main plot because there's much less focus on it). What you say makes sense and it's true that the ending doesn't totally fail but I think it has things backwards. For me the the present just acted as a fun and interesting catalyst for the past, so the present should've served the past rather than the other way around.

By writing a reply to someone it has just occurred to me the problem and irony of writing about letting go of the past by focusing almost entirely on the past.

I don't see what value this drama shows us in terms of enjoying and embracing change. What happened to the basic rule of show don't tell? We saw in the present that her relationship with her mother was greatly improved so yes that ticks the box. But we obviously don't care about her relationship with her husband because why would we? So how did HD and YJ breaking up contribute to showing us the value of letting go of the past and moving on to the present/looking forward to the future? I suppose you could say that she wouldn't have her daughter but her daughter could've easily been YJ's.

I want to stress that there are many things that I think this drama did right and I still love it, but since there's a lot of comments questioning why some people don't like the ending and accusing us of missing the point I keep thinking a lot about it and this is a good way of getting it out of my system.

What do you think is the whole point? For me it has several themes. On the one hand it's about fixing what's broken, enduring even when you keep failing and holding on to what you love. On the other hand it's also supposed to be about letting go of the past and looking forward to the future. I didn't think the drama did a good job at the theme of letting go. It told us more than it showed us the value in it. I'm not saying it failed entirely, but most of the drama was set in the past and mostly explored the first themes I mentioned. It did a good job of it but where the romance was concerned there was a conflict between the past and the future- BYJ and HD's husband/father of her child. This meant that there was also a conflict between the themes. In order to make the point the writer had to make the romance of the drama a failed relationship. The problem is that the plot of the past isn't really about letting go, only the present is. The past is more about the first themes I mentioned and the drama is mostly set in the past. If it had been about the past and the present in equal measure it might have worked better.

Edit: In fact I really think if you want to explore the themes of letting go of the past then the emphasis should be on the present.

Okay, I just finished binge watching after finding out the ending in advance and I'm here to add to the to case against it. I know some of you think us shippers are biased and can't see the whole story clearly but I would argue that although it's partly true there's also a case for saying that we're actually better judges for how the romance should have ended than the people who were more invested in other aspects of the drama. Of course it will be easy not to mind so much if you're not that invested in that aspect of the story just as it is easy for those of us who are to throw the baby out with the bathwater because we're up in arms about our ship sinking. Now I know that some people here did ship them AND don't mind the ending but don't worry I'm coming for you too :)

Let's say your favourite part of the drama is Hee Do's fencing journey. I know I'm oversimplifying things here but bare with me. Now imagine that at the end (I'm speaking of the end of the past rather than the actual end- to be honest I don't know what adult Hee Do's situation is in the end as I couldn't bring myself to properly watch the last ep) Hee Do suddenly starts struggling with fencing and makes the decision to give up on it. I could happen, it's not unrealstic. In fact that did happen to one of the characters. But that clearly wouldn't be right. It would be anti climactic and the viewers would feel robbed, cheated and set up. There's an aspect of escapism to her fencing journey. It's not that it's unrealistic per say but it's clearly meant to be motivational, uplifting, hopeful and all work out in the end. We're supposed to root for her to ultimately succeed, to complete her journey of becoming YR's rival and to come full circle but transformed. That's how good stories work. There's something about that last thing in particular that people love in a story. Like that's what we're all here to do and we love to see someone achieve it. I think you see what I'm getting at. While realistic in a way, there's also something about the end of the romance that renders the whole thing irrelevant. The drama is not comparable to something like Revolutionary Road or Blue Valentine (okay I don't actually know how the latter ends so this may be a bad example but I assume they broke up). It was not set up as a sad/bittersweet story of failure. It was set up as an uplifting story of failure and redemption. Falling and recovering. Fixing things that are broken. So why did every other aspect of the story get this treatment but the romance? I'm left with the expectation I had going in that the writer fell into the trap of taking it too seriously. It doesn't ruin the drama for me. I just think it could've been better. The drama of the decade. Yes I know that's soon to say but dramas like this don't come around often so I'd have been willing to bet on it. I do love it but that's precisely why I feel disappointed.

Since I promised- as for shippers who are fine or even happy with the ending I can definitely see the appeal. Take one of the soundtracks for instance. Jaurim- twenty five twenty one. If you take this song on it's own and listen to it while reading the translation it has such a satisfying bitter sweetness to it. But that's what it is from beginning to end. It never derails or pulls the rug out from under you in terms of how it feels and what it's trying to do. Perhaps this is similar to what some people got from the ending of this drama but for me there's a kind of dishonesty going on. The romance is far more escapism based (not sure that's a good way of putting it but for lack of a better way) in this drama than it has any right to be given the ending that the writer clearly had planned. We're invited to fall in love along with HD, and to root for them in their ups and downs with the promise of a payoff at the end. Of course I realise we were promised no such thing and the writer told us to begin with that it didn't work out but my point is that I find it very understandable why people were hoping for a surprise twist.

Thank you this is the perfect comment for those of us trying to get a sense of how the end is developing without seeing details.

I've glanced at the latest comments and it looks like good news so far. I'm going to try and hold out until episode 16 before I start the series but I think I'm going to lose that battle.

You've confirmed my suspicions that the drama is better enjoyed knowing the ending. It definitely sounds like the writer intended to keep the viewers guessing but it sounds a little like it has detracted from the main point of the drama.

Okay. I guess all the latest comments made me think it was centred on the ship but either way I'm really looking forward to it.

Btw your description of it has made me more impatient to see it and I completely see your final point about realistic vs not realistic being relative to the story in question.

Sorry! I chickened out from leaving my opinion. No need to delete yours. I'll have to reserve judgement on this particular drama but for me it's not so much about happy, sad or bittersweet as it is about the ending suiting the drama. I can think of bittersweet endings that I thought weren't well earned and should have been more cliche happy and also happy endings that felt forced and not the right way to go. Also a drama might have multiple layers to it but if the main draw is the romance then I think as a general rule it really needs to end with the main couple together otherwise it's at risk of taking itself too seriously. I'm expecting this drama to be rich and layered but my impression is that the ship is at the centre of it. I'll have to wait and see. I'm really looking forward to it. In fact I'm not sure I've got the patience to wait until I know the end.

Okay so I originally left kind of a long comment about endings but then I felt embarrassed about it so I deleted it. Basically I haven't even started this drama yet but reading the comments I already feel invested in it and I'm hoping it has a happy ending. I'll probably watch either way but I'm not going to start it until I know. At least if it doesn't end with the main couple together I'll have the heads up. I feel really drawn to this one. I'll check back in for spoilers.