Faith: Episode 24 (Final)
by girlfriday
We finally reach the end of our journey, but it’s only the beginning for Eun-soo, who at last deals with that pesky issue of time travel and faces the consequences of messing with the space-time continuum. If there’s anything I’ve learned this year in dramaland, it’s that there’s always a price to pay for tampering with time…
FINAL EPISODE RECAP
Ki Chul attacks the king’s men powered up on magic go juice, and Young finally arrives to find the hall littered with bodies. Loyal Dol-bae sees Young’s trembling, swordless hand, and lunges at Ki Chul with his spear.
Young screams, “Nooooooo!” But it’s too late, and Ki Chul icy-hands him till he falls to the ground. Young runs over to Dol-bae, who’s spitting up blood but still smiling at his leader like a faithful puppy…
And he dies in Young’s arms.
Young gets up and asks for someone’s sword. Deok-man hands his over, and Young orders everyone out. But it’s Gongmin who refuses, saying that he knows what’s happened to his hand, and that it’s okay to step down just this once.
But Young insists there’s nothing wrong with his hand, “just that the sword has become heavy.” Ki Chul scoffs and calls him a liar, declaring that he will kill every living soul in this place until Eun-soo is brought to him.
Young puts his foot down, dragging the sword along the floor like it weighs about two tons. He tells the men to leave again. Gongmin: “No. I will stand behind you!” Aw. Not so practical, but very sweet.
Young starts to fight Ki Chul, and he swings wildly with both hands on the sword. Ki Chul easily knocks it out of his hand, but he just picks it back up again. They clash, and this time, Young gains the upper hand, and Ki Chul looks up in shock.
He shoves Ki Chul back, and gathers all his strength for one swing, and chops Ki Chul’s sword in half. Nice.
Ki Chul asks wide-eyed, “What sword is that?” Young: “I told you already. It’s a heavy sword.” Ha.
Eun-soo wakes up, and Aunt rushes to her bedside. She asks for Young, and Aunt says he was with her all night and just stepped out. Eun-soo sighs in relief as she looks around her, “I was so scared… that it was all a dream.”
She worries about how hard it must’ve been for Young, but Aunt asks if the poison-to-fight-the-poison worked. She checks… her fever’s down and her vitals are back to normal, and Eun-soo gasps that she might live.
Dae-man sees Flute Boy and Firestarter approach, and sounds the alarm for everyone to protect Eun-soo.
Meanwhile, the stateroom is at a standstill. Young asks the king if he intends to keep Ki Chul alive, and Gongmin says that despite Ki Chul trying to kill him, he doesn’t want to do the same to him. WHY NOT?
Ki Chul sees an opportunity to be the devil on Young’s shoulder, and says that despite Gongmin going on and on about his people, none of the people even knows his name. But Choi Young, on the other hand… now everyone knows that name.
He offers it right then and there on the spot: Doesn’t Young want to be king instead of serving one? All those people he collected for the king in fact follow him, don’t they?
It’s an eerily familiar quandary to Young, and he flashes back to the king who killed his Jeokwoldae leader, and the same question posed to him – what he was going to do about the fact that the people trust him more than their king.
Gongmin gulps, and asks Young to answer the question.
Young: “Someone I know was asked a similar question once. And because that question was so heavy, the only thing he could do was to answer with his life. I know now… that he was wrong.”
It sends Gongmin’s heart to his knees. But of course Young isn’t finished: “He was wrong, because he ran away.” Ki Chul sighs at his lack of ambition – doesn’t he want to be king?
Young: “I already have the king. What else could I want?” D’aw. Can we break the tension for a round of hugs? A high-five? A badass nod?
Young asks again if they aren’t going to kill Ki Chul already, but he doesn’t give them a chance to decide. He smiles that this should’ve bought enough time, and walks out. Oh crap.
More Woodalchi stand in his way, but Young shouts at them to move, instructing no one else to go near him.
Hwasuin storms into Eun-soo’s room, where Dae-man and Aunt fend her off. She starts to burn Dae-man by the throat, but he uses a washcloth and a basin of water nearby, countering her fire hand with water so that she’ll just steam herself. That’s pretty smart.
He struggles to hold her off, but it buys enough time for Aunt to come up from behind and shove a dagger right through her heart. Finally.
While that’s going on, another Woodalchi takes Eun-soo to safety… or so she thinks until she gets tossed into a carriage with Ki Chul’s minion. He knocks her unconscious and they ride away.
Dae-man runs to Young to tell him what happened, and Young picks up his chin to look at the burn marks on his neck, and pets him on the head before running off.
Gongmin finds his room tossed and the eunuchs find a few things the baddies left behind: Hwata’s instruments, and the pages from Eun-soo’s diary that we’ve seen.
Noguk wonders if maybe heaven is retaliating because they brought the heavenly doctor here, where she doesn’t belong. Gongmin admits that it was his doing, and so he’s the one who ought to be punished, if that’s the case.
Noguk says she learned some heavenspeak from the doctor, and says she’ll say it to him when something good happens. He names things that sound like far-off pipedreams to him, like reclaiming Northern provinces (which in fact he does do later in his reign).
She says yes, as if it’s just a given, and he beams. She holds his hand, and asks him to think of Young and Eun-soo first, and he agrees.
Young finds Aunt sitting in his room, and she says numbly that Firestarter’s body was removed, so Flute Boy probably took her, which means someone else took Eun-soo. He asks about her condition, and at least gets one millisecond of relief to hear that the poison was neutralized.
He turns to go, but Aunt reminds him that the king said to wait. He shouts back that he knows, “But I feel like I’m dying right now.” He grabs his sword off the wall (yay) and storms out.
He goes to see the king, who asks if he’ll follow Eun-soo to heaven once he finds her. Young impatiently asks if this is the reason he’s holding him back – to get an answer to his question.
Gongmin: “I know how weary you’ve grown in this land. So are you going to follow her?” Young: “I already gave you my answer. The answer my teacher gave, the path he chose – I won’t follow it. So I have already returned to you. Help me bring my woman back too.”
He finally makes Gongmin understand, and without another word, they nod at each other and Young walks out.
Eun-soo wakes up with a sword to her throat, and a fuming Flute Boy who demands to know who killed Hwasuin. Ki Chul puts a stop to that right away, and tells Eun-soo that they’re going to heaven together. He finally puts Hwata’s third thing on the table.
She opens it with trembling hands… and takes out a… what IS that? A tape recorder?
Meanwhile, Suribang gets the bright idea to track the medicine that Ki Chul always takes, in the hopes that it’ll lead them to their hideout. It works, but they’re a step behind. Young gets on his horse and goes after them alone.
In the carriage, Eun-soo warns that she doesn’t know where the portal will actually take him, but Ki Chul doesn’t care. He gets that crazy gleam in his eye and says he’s going, no matter what. “All doors in the world are there to be opened and entered.”
She says fine, she’ll take him to the door, but she has to remain here. Ki Chul is adamant about the fact that they have to go together. Can we just shove you in and hope you come out in the Cretaceous period?
Young follows their trail, but always a half-step behind. He stops at an inn the morning after Eun-soo has come and gone, but finds a note from her scribbled on the wall. It’s the one heaven-phrase he would recognize: “It’s okay.” I love that she’s a quick thinker.
She even offers to check Ki Chul’s vitals at their next stop, but he stubbornly refuses to let her check on his health. I don’t think she’s particularly broken up about it. Moments later, there’s a loud knock on the door of the inn. Whoo, is it hero time?
Young bursts in through the doors and Eum-ja fights him off. But this time Young isn’t faltering or losing his grip, and stabs the first minion, and then pins Eum-ja against the wall with a table.
He leans in close… and then stabs Flute Boy clear through the table. Nice. Not as satisfying as doing something to make his eardrums pop for good, but in any case, he goes down bloody.
In the commotion, Eun-soo manages to use her dagger to slice Ki Chul in the hand, and he runs away. Young and Eun-soo have a tearful reunion, as he makes sure twice over that she’s really poison-free and okay now.
Young: “Then will you be staying by my side?” Eun-soo: “Yes.” He grabs her in an embrace, and she cries in his arms.
They lie in bed together and he watches over her, asking if she wants to go to heaven’s door tomorrow to at least say her goodbyes to the other side. She warns that Ki Chul will probably be there, but Young says he can beat him in a fight.
OR how about you guys just head for the hills and say your heavenly goodbyes to yourself? How about that?
She asks why he’s looking at her, and he says it’s to remember her, “Now that I don’t have to forget you.” You guys are making me nervous. This is way too much happiness and counting chickens and whatnot. Stop tempting fate!
She traces his nose and his lips and he kisses her on the hand and tells her to sleep.
With zero transition to get us there, suddenly Ki Chul is standing before heaven’s door, with the portal swirling open. He goes through… but the portal rejects him and spits him back out. Huh. Is there a morality quotient involved in time travel?
He finds Eun-soo and Young on their way there, and asks how you go through the door. She says you just go through, but he calls her a liar, thinking there’s some trick she’s not sharing with him.
He launches at her in a fury, and Young throws his sword and skewers him in the chest. But it’s not enough to take him down, and he grabs Young in a death grip, and freezes him until he falls to the ground, paralyzed and frozen and barely breathing.
Eun-soo tries to revive him, but Ki Chul yanks the sword out, sticks it in the ground at Young’s side, and drags Eun-soo away to the door.
Young watches her go unable to move, and thinks to himself: “Why did it happen to be her? – I wasted a lot of time wondering that. Father, I have now found it. Am I too late?”
Ki Chul drags her kicking and screaming to the portal, and shoves her in. No! He tries to follow her through, but gets rejected again, and falls to his knees before the door. That my friends, is the world’s saddest popsicle.
Eun-soo goes through the portal and finds herself back home in 2012. Young’s voiceover continues: “But she’ll answer this way: It’s okay, it’ll all work out. It’s only the beginning.”
She dashes to the hospital, and grabs a reporter’s backpack and cleans out the medical supply closet and adds a few things from her office, like that tape recorder-y thingamabob we saw among Hwata’s things earlier. Uh-oh. I don’t like where this is going…
She runs back to the portal, as an announcement of an explosion in space flashes behind her.
Eun-soo (voiceover): That time in Seoul, when I was running only thinking of saving that person. That day, what moment, what thing… went wrong? To return to the person I had left once, what was it that I needed? Was I lacking in yearning? Or in faith?
She goes through and runs back to the field where she left Young… and no one is there. Crap. It’s the loop, isn’t it?
Her voiceover continues: “I am once again far from that person. I’ve been left alone a hundred years before that world where I left him, as he lay dying.” She runs back to the portal, and it’s now closed.
We see her live out her days as Future-Eun-soo-in-the-past. (Or is she Past Eun-soo now? Urg time loop sucks.) She writes in the diary, and heals people, and says in voiceover that she believes in her heart that he’s alive and well in that other world.
She turns on the thingamabob, which turns out to be a pocket projector that stores videos. It has her lecture from earlier that day she was kidnapped, and a video from her parents. She watches it over and over until the battery dies.
Sometime later, she journeys back to the portal. Eun-soo: “Someone said that earnest desire makes fate, and memory is what makes that moment happen.”
Suddenly, the portal reopens. She goes through it like a seasoned pro. Lord knows how many times she’s done this now. She ends up back in 2012, which doesn’t surprise her in the least. She simply steps back in.
She goes to an inn and sees some familiar uniforms. Woodalchi. She stops one to ask what he’s doing here on Yuan land, and he wonders if she’s been living under a rock. He tells her that this is the fifth year of Gongmin’s reign. Yaaaaay! We’re back!
And then familiar voices rise from the din. It’s Deok-man, and Dae-man, who now order around the other boys, using Young’s trademark, “Just do it! Well!” Aw.
And Choong-seok comes in behind them to ask where the general is. “You know, there. Where that tree is.” Dae-man wonders if they should bring him food, ’cause he usually spends three or four days there every time he goes.
At that, Eun-soo goes tearing back to the field…
And there, sitting by the giant tree, is an older, more grizzled Choi Young, waiting faithfully for her to return.
He turns to her and smiles, not surprised at all that she’s just appeared out of nowhere after all this time.
A tear falls as she walks toward him, finally in the right place at the right time.
COMMENTS
Thank goodness for a happy ending. I was worried for a minute there that she’d just be stuck a hundred years in the past in that endless loop, which would’ve driven me crazy. For a show that really didn’t deliver in so many basic ways, a bad ending would’ve just sent me over the edge. It makes sense that she’d have to go back to the past and in effect become Future Eun-soo, and only after that could she find her way back to the right time. It’s just… if that’s where we were going, I would’ve rather spent more time with her on that journey back to him, rather than all that poison-re-poison hullabaloo.
The implication is that she travels back and forth over and over until she gets it right, and that it’s a long journey back to each other, earned through their faith and longing. It makes their reunion feel whole and deserved, which is a nice complement to the supernatural, because the last thing you want is a magical poof, happy ending! without it being earned. This way I feel satisfied that they didn’t just get an easy out, and their commitment to finding each other is what won out in the end. It’s probably the only thing about the finale that feels greatly satisfying, as the execution of the rest (as usual) leaves a lot to be desired. But, of all the things to get right in the finale, this is it – it’s the one thing that will carry you a long way.
This drama is such an interesting case of having solid parts… but put together all wrong. Kind of like sticking a new sports car’s guts inside your grandma’s ’84 Buick. Just… why? It’s painful to know what a scene is intending to do, and then have to watch it flounder time and again. The end result is that no matter how impactful a line of dialogue or a written heroic action, we don’t feel the full effect onscreen. There’s nothing worse than seeing the emotion that you know is supposed to be there, but not getting to feel it with the characters. And for me, there’s no coming back from that, as a drama. I enjoyed the characters and I liked the setup and the world. But the directing and the editing left me cold, which means I watched it all at arm’s length, excavating what was intended from what was given. There were certainly moments that got through to me, but they were far too few in 24 hours of screen time to get me on the hook.
I don’t even think that it’s a case where they took stellar writing and just shoved it through the wrong delivery device either, because there was maybe enough story for a 16-episode series. I feel like precious time was wasted recycling a handful of conflicts over and over, and meanwhile all sorts of things just fell by the wayside. And if getting the lovers back together was going to be the only central conflict we really deal with in a satisfying finale-worthy concluding arc, then why did we spend so much plot time in the political arena? I expected a much grander closing for Gongmin, who carried so much of my interest through the show. But alas, he just got a cursory Future-You-does-some-good-stuff nod to the audience, which left me wishing for more.
All told, it was still a fun show. I can’t in good conscience call it a good show, but it was enjoyable, mostly because of the hilarious band of baddies (We’ll miss you, Ki Chul!), and the thread of wit that carried through. That was something evident in the writing that the directing couldn’t mess up; in fact, the wit was probably this show’s saving grace. I came to this party for Epic; alas, he was a no-show, and instead I walked away with a sweet love story. It didn’t fulfill what I wanted this show to be (or heck, what Show wanted itself to be), but it was a nice consolation prize, and at least it closed its own story in a logical way, which is more than some.
RELATED POSTS
- Faith: Episode 23
- Faith: Episode 22
- Faith: Episode 21
- Faith: Episode 20
- Faith: Episode 19
- Faith: Episode 18
- Faith: Episode 17
- Faith: Episode 16
- Faith: Episode 15
- Faith: Episode 14
- Faith: Episode 13
- Faith: Episode 12
- Faith: Episode 11
- Faith: Episode 10
- Faith: Episode 9
- Faith: Episode 8
- Faith: Episode 7
- Faith: Episode 6
- Faith: Episode 5
- Faith: Episode 4
- Faith: Episode 3
- Faith: Episode 2
- Faith: Episode 1
Tags: Faith, featured, Kim Hee-sun, Lee Min-ho
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51 redfox
October 30, 2012 at 11:32 PM
can Ki Chul get a consolation prize? Like a streetcar or a helicopter sent to him from the portal as a toy ina Kids´ Meal? Cause I just feel bad for that frozen looser.
Lee Min Ho is a really good actor. in City Hunter he was more of a "boy", vengeful, determined. Here- more like reluctant, but steady and unwavering. a totally different feel I wasnt quite happy with the execution of the final, always going back and forth, back and forth. take Eun Soo, reunite, take her again, separate reunite. gah.
but the royal couple was my fave. and they are both so cute and adorable, They should totally be idols with everyone having a poster-drawing on their wall in the Goryo time. I bet Eun Soo will teach folks what an "idol" means and then pimp the roayl couple up for every public event they get. Instead of airport fashion there´ll be... mmm.... the flower-picking fashion? seriously, I myself really want a big shiny poster with Gongmin and Noguk.
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52 Mamae
October 30, 2012 at 11:38 PM
after following Faith for 3 months, now i 'll be waiting for LMH's next project, god i hope it will be soon!!!!
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53 sudi
October 30, 2012 at 11:47 PM
Thanks a lot..Happy Endings.. Yayyyy
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54 WybornT
October 30, 2012 at 11:51 PM
Thank you for the recap ... its been a very enjoyable journey watching Faith the drama and reading your recap.... 'saddest popsicle in the world' LOL
...and reading most of the comments left here as well since I am going through a post-drama sadness and refuse to let it go yet... what's next?
Already thinking if we could have part II of the general's life story. living with ES as a married couple and dealing with the political turmoil.... and ending with living upto 80 years and end scene with his grave (that I found while searching for more of the general's info on the net). Eh! already started to have story and scenery on my head.... I am doomed with bitten by a CY+ES bug.
Sooo want to see CY and ES living as a married couple!!!
Thank you for such a nice love-story and bringing all the character to be so lovable!
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55 jenny
October 30, 2012 at 11:59 PM
Dear JV and GF,
I just want to thank you so much for your wonderful recaps they always enhanced my drama watching experience, especially your insights and opinions which you share so generously.
I agree with you that the show was not good in the technical sense; I too could feel the flaws in the editing, directing, and there were many times where I found myself in a awkwardly tuned scene where either the music was off, or there was inappropriate slow motion; all of which did make me cringe for what the show could have been if it had been the calibre of say City Hunter or Chuno in terms of intensity and suspense.
However, somehow the characters of EunSoo and Choi Young and also most of the others, even the antagonists (KiChul i wub u u craycray!) really touched me and made me care and had me investing in their story.
Take for example, KiChul - yes he was demented, yes he was ridiculous but his greed was so real. It was partly caricatured but it was something that was still rooted in the real human condition.
Perhaps that was it? That it was nuggets of earth bound emotions and real feelings clothed in robes of fantasy and time travelling - so that I could still feel for it?
In any sense I am so glad it was a happy ending; I nearly had a heart attack when she went into the time loop but thank god they found each other in the end.
On another note, I am a LMH fan but I feel that his performance was somehow lacking. I don't mean that it wasn't good, but I keep getting the feeling he could have been better. Regardless this only added fuel to the fire and I still love him but I do feel I was more blown away by his performance in City Hunter than here.
Kim Hee Sun on the otherhand was truly a surprise, I remember the despair I felt when LMH and KHS was the confirmed pairing, but in Faith, they had absolutely beautiful chemistry - and I did not feel the age gap at all. I could feel her overacting sometimes, like when she tires to be overly cute, but that is insignificant compared to the rest of her performance. I know it had to do with the character of EunSoo, who is just do darn adorable and awesome - I don't know how anyone can not at least respect her courage.
The supporting characters were also played with aplomp, with too many outstanding people to name with both hands.
I am so glad I watched this drama and that I could also read your recaps at the same time. Regardless of the flaws, it touched my heart, made me care and thus is a A+ in my book.
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56 miisy
October 31, 2012 at 12:01 AM
how to say the ending, im happy that they ended up together, but when i think of it another way, eun-soos actions sorta didnt make sense, and she ditched her parents twice!
when she went back to the portal the first time, i get that she needed to rush back to save young, but what about the second time? she goes into the portal and ends up in 2012, so she just decided to nonchalantly walk back in?? i mean come on that doesnt make sense!
she went back to the past (but rememebr she had thought it was still the past past, 100 years before she had first went), where she had said before that she was all alone there! why would she go back in there then?! i mean if it was to wait for the portal to open so she could go back to the time period where young exist, cant she do that in year 2012??
eun-soo didnt even bothered looking for her parents in 2012, when she full replayed videos of them in the past??
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Lupita311
October 31, 2012 at 12:24 AM
Well, the first time when she went 100 years back she didn't know she was going ahead of the time so she kept on going back and forth, for once we don't know if she said by to her parents and she just didn't have a gps of what year she was going to end up. She would go back to 2012 I think because of the solar flares so that was the year the door opened but she would end up at a different time if you listen to the story about HwaTa we get the idea that at least three times it was recorded that she was there and all those times she was tried to get captured for talking about the future or because she healed someone and history changed. When she was poisoned she saw herself crying over CY who died on a room that means in one of her trips she did find him and something went wrong. Her parents were really a main character so we don't know if she said bye or not.
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Lupita311
October 31, 2012 at 12:26 AM
***Edit****
Sorry when ramble I make mistakes I mean they tried to capture her or to kill her...
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57 Mar
October 31, 2012 at 12:14 AM
Thanks to JB and GF for sticking with the recaps as we all know you guys were less than happy with the show.
This really does describe this show-"This drama is such an interesting case of having solid parts… but put together all wrong. "
I invested in the characters and loved them. I don't know if it was budget or bad directing or uneven writing that failed to support the stellar cast, but the fail is there, and what a shame and it leaves us all a little bereft.
This show did what a lot of shows that have a great cast and great premise and some decent writing and layers do, somehow lacks something and get looping on stuff and repeating stupid stuff instead of resolving the plot bunnies, as GF did bring up. I mean at some point I thought, okay, whatever should be done with a character is never going to happen in this show because it just did weird illogical shit instead of utilizing the great cast. My god, you had wonderful secondary characters in place and a chew the scenery big bad, yet they bring in poison guy and black hat guy and the Yuan emissary, and why, WHY? Director you got some splaining to do lol.
These last two episodes made me wonder if Phillip Lee bounced before his paycheck did. Did they run out of money and could barely squeak out the last two episodes of filler instead of doing something like wrapping up stuff, do something interesting like show the conflict and angst of trying to find each other? And totally having the Queen get to chop Poison Guy into little bits. I mean hello, they didn't even bother to kill off Big Bad #2 (after inserting him needlessly).
The special effects were cheesy, but really, completely neutering CY's hand of power was lame. And I never did understand how Eum-ja just totally became a non threat with the flute of death. Actually, somewhere in the middle all the kickassery threats of everyone kinda of went into sleep mode.
I was really hoping Hair Clip Guy would go to the future and spend the rest of his life eating jello in a straight jacket and having to watch a biography of Choi Young, a show about the demise of the Yuan Dynasty. Over and over and over.
But what the show did right, it did right. The smart parts, the funny, the foreshadowing, the metaphors, the themes, you know, the good shit lol. I had this unfulfilled vision of Eun soo and Fire Hand Bitch having this ridiculously funny conversation about men and bonding and sympathizing with each other over jerks and patting each others backs over conquests while trying to kill each other ala a Buffy episode. Because you know the two actresses could have brought it. The royals and Lady Choi were superb. LMH was fabulously subtle, I think this was a great experience for him. I loved when Choi was so friggin literal. Eun-soo, she had her ways, and her ways included manipulation of Choi, which was was so funny he hardly knew what hit him. I loved the conversations, they were way too few. I loved the actress portrayal of this calm collected talented jaded surgeon that was totally vulnerable, and socially inept, and goofy and clutzy, As much as I enjoyed the mature acceptance of the feelings they had for each other, I really could have done with some more heat. The lip touching thing in the last episode, we could have done with a little more of that, and gees, Choi, five years, your woman shows up, no touching, come on writer and director, throw the viewers a bone. The subtle, okay, but staring with a weird smile and a pan out, despite the loveliness of LMH's eyes, we the viewers deserve a frigging hug and big fatty tears at least. I wanted one more Hey Psycho, and he would answer to it, because that was friggin awesome.
And damn, five years, and you did not grow the hair out? Sigh, I still mourn the mane of glory.
History was not changed as far as we know haha.
The baddies got wacked for the most part.
The leads didn't die or get cancer and ended up together.
Happy ending, for a time travel thing, go figure.
She's back, sex it up, Choi Young, and then go fishing and take a nap, you deserve it.
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58 Lupita311
October 31, 2012 at 12:16 AM
I love your recaps and as usually some things we agree some we don't. I really enjoyed this drama and ever since City Hall and Greatest Love I haven't been pleased with any other drama to the point to make it my number one. This drama moves up (sorry CSW and KSA, I loved City Hall more than anything in the world but you go to number 2 now) For many reasons, the chemistry between the characters, and the whole setting and the writing wasn't that bad, I must agree the editing was bad but I enjoy most of it, the acting and the chemistry between this two leads made up for me for what it was lacking, and I don't get why people get so bend out of shape for secondary characters, they are not really important it is nice that they are there but I have seen dramas since I was 7 years old and I can say I remember the main characters in a drama but I don't remember the secondary ones or I miss them, it is a fascination that people has that I don't get, we got a summary of what happened to them and that was enough for me. The ending was simple I guess for a lot of people who don't understand complicated endings. I liked that they didn't bring them to the future and they met there a la rooftop prince which was such a mess, the going back and ending up 100 years made a nice surprise and the clues left by the supposed Hwa ta were even better, it turned us into detectives looking for those clues and not knowing where to go or what to think, I can predict the ending of many dramas this one was a bit of a challenge. As for why GC was rejected to go to the future I get and it is my opinion that this all had to do with faith and he didn't believe in it enough, it is as if you go to church with someone who believes your feeling of the whole thing would not be the same since it has to be accompany by some type of faith. At least that is how I explained it to myself. The door didn't reject him but it was actually him that couldn't go through the door being bound by what he believed was his perfect life, he said he had everything he wanted so he was bound by his posesions. The double poisoning well, that was a bit loopy too but the fact is that this killer was used to poison people so it is logic that he wanted to get rid of her with his weapon of choice. Over all, I really enjoy it and I have rewatched it over six times already, I am such a loser that I watched the same episodes over and over till new episodes appear. This year since King 2 Hearts I have been so dissappointed about the dramas including Oh lala couple which people say "I am laughing so hard" and I watch and it is not even funny to me, sometimes I wonder if I am watching the same thing, thank God I saw some gifs of it at tumblr and got curious if not I would've skipped the whole thing.
I am for one a Lee Min Ho fan, not only because he is hot and sexy and just adorable, but because his roles convinced me the only time when I couldn't stand his character was BBF, not that it was his fault I guess, but so far I am looking forward to his next project. I am off to rewatch episode 24 again.
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ness36
October 31, 2012 at 6:56 AM
wahooo Lupita311, i just believed that i was the only one who didn't enjoy ooh la la couple!!i tried to watch it because i heard that it was funny so i wanted a frensh drama to enjoy but after the first episode i found it even revolting , the man enjoying an affair !!!! i gave it a second try but after the second episode i couldn't carry on !i know that faith has its flaws , but as it was said before i was quite addicting , i woke up early in the mornig ( 6 am) to watch the final episode with a lot of emotion , i will miss this drama . and yes LMH is hot and sexy ....ect but he has this ability to convince you !!!! this is why i like his projects
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skelly
October 31, 2012 at 9:04 AM
Dedicated Ohlala Hater here, as well. Someone told me to try it again, that the "hero" was better and it was funny, but at midpoint he's still a jerk and they added a miscarriage to the plot. So I still don't see how on earth this whole thing is funny.
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emcee
October 31, 2012 at 1:37 PM
LMH has unexplainable charm. But didn't like him in BOF. I tried watching the first 2 epis. and that was about it. Can't endure the female lead character there either she just wanted to pout all the time very annoying. :(
Anyhow, I guess LMH did very well in CH and Faith. Good job taking the role. Hope he will do comedy next time or something goofy... :)
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Lupita311
October 31, 2012 at 11:16 PM
I liked him in Personal taste, it was a bad drama but he was really likable in it, I want another romantic comedy for him with better writing than PT to judge it more but all in all I enjoyed 3 of his 4 dramas, the thing with BBF wasn't her that I dislike it was how selfish the GYP character was and how oblivious he was about everything his own mom was doing to his girlfriend, that killed me, he had no redemptiom point that and Ji Hoo was my favorite character and I wanted more for him that just a second lead. Anyhow that was the past I am in love with this drama Faith is one of the best I've watched all year and I have watched all of the new ones that came out since January.
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mia
November 1, 2012 at 12:10 PM
It was BOF that gave Lee Min Ho the huge breaks.....and he fully deserves that too. BOF is a hot mess but somehow watchable. Agreed that the female lead there is cringe-worthy, especially with her corny I-have-so-many-things-in-life-to-teach-you. But LMH really acted very very well in that drama.....it was him that made it watchable. I was amazed at the scene at the bar with the female lead in episode 3 ( i think) where she vomited all over him. His acting in that one scene alone is enough to earn him a baeksang award, which incidently he did receive later on !
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59 Tuqaz
October 31, 2012 at 12:19 AM
LMH with facial hair....!! *swoon*
Thank you for the recaps!!
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60 Yati Wahab
October 31, 2012 at 12:37 AM
I love "Faith"..I dont care about the flaws in directing,editing,whatsoever..just love the drama<3
Oooohh...now thinking what to watch next,since both "Faith" and "Arang" are over:(
Thanks so much for the recaps..enjoyed reading them and will continue reading:D
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61 dany
October 31, 2012 at 2:50 AM
I really liked the ending and that last scene, by that huge tree. Loved it.
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62 Joweng
October 31, 2012 at 2:55 AM
Thanks again JB and GF.
Kim was in my thoughts too while watching LMH on the final EP hehehe...
Missed him all of a sudden hehehe....
Im thankful for the happy ending...tho the story has many holes in it.
Until the next drama experience...So LOng.
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63 arina
October 31, 2012 at 3:47 AM
ur comment abt ki chul being the saddest popsicle is hilarious..hahaha...the ending is nice but I was hoping for a hug atleast..LMH acting improved a lot..
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64 boholAnna
October 31, 2012 at 3:59 AM
Honestly, I don't understand why Ki Chul wasn't able to go through the portal.
Why???
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CaroleMcDonnell
October 31, 2012 at 8:59 AM
I think there must be
A) something about folks who are evil. Maybe one needs a pure heart to go through a time portal. Ki Chul had just attempted to murder a coupla folks. The universe set it up that way or else evil overlords would be trying to conquer worlds all over the place and throughout all time. The universe doesn't mind a Dr Jin or a Eun Soo who are good folks who might cause an accidental trouble but Ki Chul wanted more worlds to conquer.
B) Maybe cause he was dying. Maybe the portal isn't to be used as a way to escape certain death. Which is why Eun Soo was cured to pass through it. We don't want diseases affecting other times and places.
C) Maybe folks from the past can't go through the portal if they have no intention of returning. OR else Choi Young would've used the portal also to return to look for Eun Soo. (Of course, he was expecting her to return, so that doesn't quite work.)
Just a few thoughts.
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skelly
October 31, 2012 at 9:13 AM
The problem with applying moral rules to the portal is that it is presented as a scientific phenomenon, not a mystical one. A tornado is a tornado, it doesn't not choose victims based on their pure hearts or lack thereof. So I am still waiting for a good (scientific) reason why Ki Chul was rejected. I think he should have gone through, stood in the middle of the Gangnam street admiring the magic chariots, and been promptly run over by a bus, three taxis, and a Mercedes. MUCH more realistic.
But then, the entire series struggled with the presentation of science vs. magic. We started the series with many magic elements - remember how the queen's injury was handled? - but by the end of the series dealing with injuries becomes a scientific slog like any other modern medical drama. Flute boy and Hot girl were presented - then basically wasted, and offed in a very normal fashion. So it seems the writer had these great ideas for magical abilities, but just didn't know how to carry them into plot points or to logical conclusions - sort of an anti-J.K. Rowling.
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CaroleMcDonnell
October 31, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Am not sure if the portal was presented as scientific. IT might have been..but how scientific can a portal be in a world where music played on a flute can kill and where there are villains with fire and ice hands? But I can see what you're getting at. Thing is...what with the flares and specific timing and all. But there was always a balance of spirituality also..the idea of memories and connectedness bringing people together. As well as earnest desire. Which may or may not have brought Choi through the portal. So am not really sure how the worldview of the writer worked.
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Joweng
November 1, 2012 at 3:54 PM
hi there...thats a big question for me too...i hope anyone can give an answer hehehe...how come Ki Chul cannot pass thru the portal?????????????? hmmmn.
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65 houstontwin
October 31, 2012 at 4:26 AM
Girlfriday, Thanks so much for the recaps. Although I really loved some of the actors (some because they can act and some because they are lovely to look at), I got very tired of watching this drama. It is very thoughtful of you to follow through when a drama is dragging.
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66 l_Misty_l
October 31, 2012 at 4:57 AM
I tried my best not to... but I just can't hold it anymore. I need to write down everything that is passing through my mind or I'll never be able to let go!
So beware, this will be long. It's not something that can be summarized in just a few words. And my thoughts will probably mirror the ones of many people here... I just have to add my voice to the choir.
Let's start by saying this is the first and last time I'm watching a show live. My heart cannot bear the pain of waiting. And I started watching live just from episode 17!!! I'm scared to think what would have happened if I started with the very first one. Never again, I swear!
I'm watching Kdramas here and there since a couple of years, but I have to say it's the first time I find a Drama Title so fitting. The drama is not merely talking about Faith. The drama is based on Faith. Without Faith, nothing of what happened would have been possible.
The first one to have Faith, was King Gongnim. He decided to have faith in Young, entrusting his life to him. And then he extended that Faith in everything he did. How can I forget when he stood there, just waiting to be killed in the ambush at the palace in ep.22 because he trusted that his people would chose him? He bet his life, his men's life, his whole country life. That is Faith. Faith that he was right, Faith that he chose the right people, Faith that they would prove themselves to him.
Then there was Queen Noguk and her undying Faith in her husband. It's often said that behind a great man there is a great woman. In their case, it's true. She's the anchor that keeps him steady, she's his pillar. He has Faith in others because she has Faith in him.
In Choi Young Faith grew little by little. His first act of Faith was crossing that portal, not knowing what would have happened. Then offering himself to his King. "Start by having me." Coming from a man who never chose anything in the last seven years, that was a giant leap of Faith. After that, it just kept growing and growing. He robbed his king, he admitted taking bribes, he fled with his most precious possession, the Doctor. But never once he doubted Gongnim would see beyond the appearance, he never doubted his King would understand the true meaning behind his actions. He had Faith in him.
Eun Soo path towards Faith was longer. She started by just having Faith in herself. She was this lonely, noisy, whiner modern woman at the start and she couldn't let go of that attitude for a long time. She couldn't have Faith in anybody, because she knew she was just a mean to an end for the Goryeo people: she was the Heavenly Doctor who would prove the current King was supported by the Heavens. She kept being dragged around, not knowing what her fate would be. How could she have Faith in anybody?
And yet, in the end she did. She did because she learnt along the way, she grew up. She used to always ask questions "Why? Where? How?" but in the end she didn't need to. She just knew. Her decision to stay with Young and die instead of going back to the future and live, was based on Faith. She was going to make it, no matter what. She was going to be with Young, until the end, no matter what kind of hell she had to pass through.
Their Faith in each other, his Faith that she would never give up on him, and her Faith that he would always remember her, I believe it was this Faith that brought them together in the end.
In my mind, the whole time travel issue was always a Faith thing. You cross the Gate, but you don't know where you'll end up. And I never believed that the Gate opening was a simple fact of Solar explosions and what not.
I actually think Eun Soo wandered in time a lot, ending up every time in different places because she couldn't grasp this fact until the end. She tried to calculate the opening times of the Gate based on science but she never succeeded to go back to Young until the end, when she thought "A longing heart creates a connection. Only memories will make that moment come true."
The Gate wasn't there when she arrived that last time. But when she surrendered to Faith, when she let go of everything else and just admitted her heart was the only thing that really mattered, the Gate opened. And it lead her where her heart longed to go, a place where another heart was longing for her, creating that connection, the bridge that allowed her to go back to him. I believe the Gate needed that kind of bridge: it needed Eun Soo to surrender to her heart as well as Young to believe she would find her way to him in the end. If one or the other faltered along the way, then the Gate wouldn't have worked.
So... why the Gate didn't allow Gi Cheol to enter? Because he wasn't driven by Faith. He was driven by Greed. And Greed couldn't lead him anywhere, Greed doesn't allow you to actually believe in something. So he was rejected and died wondering why.
About the plot... what can I say? I loved it, down to the last, boring, political discussion, to the never ending poisoning and to the mysterious Yuan envoy. And of course Young hand shacking.
I loved the politic part because it was the one that allowed Gongnim to become a real King, growing up and standing strong.
I loved the never-ending poison plot because it was coherent with Deok Heung character. The guy was a snake. He had no power, he just had his wits. He first poisoned Eun Soo because he knew she would have fled the moment she understood what was written in her diary, and he needed to have power over her, to keep himself alive. And he poisoned her the second time because that as well was a chance for him to stay alive. As long as he was needed for the antidote, he would live. I actually believe he HAD an antidote. As angry as he was with Eun Soo, he would never stake his life in revenge. Young understood it well when he said "I know what kind of bastard you are."
And the Yuan envoy? I do believe he was a time traveler as well. It makes sense. Why would the Gate never be discovered? Why can't there be any other time travelers? He's another one who went back and forth, trying to do what was best for his land. But in the end, Sohn Yu lost hope. He came to think the men in power only care about themselves. I do believe if he was to try to cross the Gate again, he would be rejected, like Gi Cheol was.
The hand shacking... it was awesome. Mind vs Heart, Fatigue vs Duty. He just wanted to save Eun Soo's life, but he kept being dragged back, doing everything BUT the thing he wanted to do. And when ultimately that lead to Deol Bae death... he finally understood. This wasn't a battle of priorities. He didn't have to choose between his Imja and his King. He recognized he could never do that. And his hand stopped shacking because his heart was finally at ease. He just needed to keep on, to have Faith. He just needed to do his best, always. And everything would be fine.
The ending... I was disappointed at first, when I watched it live. I wanted so much more for them. Then, watching it again and again and again, I changed my mind.
I believe the sheer ending sequence can't be understood if you don't listen and watch to both episode 23 and 24, together.
We see the path they are going to walk. Eun Soo saying that even if she goes back, she'll never stop looking for him. Young understanding she'll cross the Gate again and again, never stopping.
"You never give up, do you?" he asks her, watching her stubbornly making her antidote. But you see there is a hidden question there. "You'll never give up on me, do you? You'll waste all your life looking for me."
And then... poison to cure poison. The previous Choi Young would have dragged her to the Gate and threw her in. Now he can't, because he knows it would be of no use. She would come back, again and again, lost in the loop of time. She would never be happy, she would never give up. And so, he lets her try, dying by her side minute after minute, with nothing left other than his Faith that she would be alright.
And what does Eun Soo do when she wakes up at last? She's relieved because that wasn't just a dream. You walked a long way since the start darling. Back then all you wanted was for it to BE a dream. You just wanted to wake up. Now you want to stay in the dream forever.
Then... emotional rollercoaster until when Young finds Eun Soo at the inn. There is a promise there. "Will you stay with me?". And then Young smiles because he "doesn't have to forget anymore." That's another promise. He'll never forget her.
Now they are on the same page: whatever happens, she'll never stop trying to find him and he'll never forget her.
And that's exactly what happens.
Their love was never physical. It was emotional, it was soul meeting soul. It was long, loving glances, smiles, tears. It all started from there, then evolving in hands holding, hugs and just one, stolen, kiss. Because that's not what they are, that's not how they say "I love you" to each other.
It started with glances and it ended with glances. Smile for smile, tears for tears. It ended just like it started because that's not the end. That's a new beginning for both of them. And now that I understood it, I can just look at them, share their Faith in each other, their never ending trust that they WOULD be together no matter what and silently count in my mind along Eun Soo, waiting for that first step that will finally lead them in each other arms.
"One... two... three."
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JJ
October 31, 2012 at 9:41 AM
Very beautiful , Love your comment
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koreandramalover/kay
October 31, 2012 at 10:02 AM
Utterly lovely, absorbing read, Misty! Thank you so much for articulating your thoughts because you have put into words what I am sure have on the minds of so many Faith-viewers but for many reasons may not have the opportunity to pen them down for all to read and enjoy.
I enjoyed reading your every word and can't agree with you more. How eloquent and clear your writing is! Amazing! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us, Misty! ;)
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Grey-Gabo
October 31, 2012 at 7:36 PM
so beautiful, teared up at your comment just like i teared up during the final episode, i never considered most of the stuff you just said. But now i realised it's probably my favourite explanations so far, and i too think that the yuan envoy was a time traveller that would totally explain the watch, it was probably the director/writer's sneaky way of hinting to us. I bet he did know what he wrote to eun soo and was just bluffing so he wouldn't have to explain to her all this shit. I love it! I still feel uite sorry for gi cheol though, with his mental illness and all he was way too pathetic near the end.
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anna rhea
November 1, 2012 at 7:15 AM
thank you for your very long and very detail explanation of what has really happen in the last episode of faith and how they title is faith because i really don't understand it at all
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Ja
November 1, 2012 at 11:59 AM
Voted best comment!
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obsession
November 2, 2012 at 2:42 AM
you explained everything that couldn't be explained in 24 episodes of Faith. Some of your points there are the same with me ;)
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Heather
November 3, 2012 at 8:20 AM
Great! Thank you for your sharing and seeing the faith in Faith. I appreciate your perspective and insight. You really have brought out the bright side of this drama.
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Audrey
July 5, 2015 at 3:33 PM
This is long after the fact since it's 2015 when I'm writing this, but I have to thank you for expressing what I was feeling as I watched Faith. This was my first k-drama, but because it was so good in so many ways, it hasn't been my last. I know that many people tend to express affection for their first drama; to me, this story goes beyond that though, because it was special and I thank you for expressing so well what it meant to you and I feel, many others. Not all dramas have heart and soul; this one has plenty of both and because of that I have already re-watched it four times when I could have been watching a new drama. Thank you for expressing your feelings about the heart and soul of this drama. I appreciated every word.
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67 john
October 31, 2012 at 5:02 AM
GF~
Thank you for your recaps. All's well that ends well. Faith was uneven but that gave it a certain quirkiness.
I liked the characters. The plucky queen and her dwarf king. The Woldachi , the bad guys, the Suribang crew, Auntie Choi, Doc Jang, etc.
I'm glad that in the end the boy gets the girl. After numerous kidnappings, poisonings, time travels, etc; I wouldn't have forgiven them if they left them apart.
While the characters had a lot to offer, the plot was shaky. I'm not sorry that I watched it but it could have been better.
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68 Waca
October 31, 2012 at 5:04 AM
Thanks for the recap!
I just have one thing to say...
OMG I WAS RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING!!!
It was linear time theory! Eun-Soo was already part of history!
Sorry I'm too happy to stop myself from boasting around!!!
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MargaretB
October 31, 2012 at 6:38 AM
Yeah Waca,
Well done!
I read your comment about time travelling mystery before, and after watching the finale, you were some of people I though about!
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Waca
October 31, 2012 at 7:34 AM
Wow, you actually remember all that??? You have an amazing memory, I wish I had the same than yours...my memory is so failing me I forget even my college classmates' names!
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Waca
October 31, 2012 at 7:35 AM
Thank you!!! ^^
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69 WTF PDnim???!!!
October 31, 2012 at 5:15 AM
What,really? really? Just like that? 5 years of separation and they just staring like that? That was my first impression when the drama end. Then I read somewhere that actually there are hug scene at the end in the script but the PD cut it. arghhh!! wtf,wtf, haish!!! I dont mind the lame fight scene, the shitty directing and editing, the flashback scene like every 5 minutes (did he think the viewers having amnesia?) but why the hell did he cut the hug scene at the end? Some may said that a hug scene in the end will be cheesy but I dont think so. Why did a HUG scene is cheesy? I dont understand. It just a HUG scene for crying out loud! And they separate about 5 years not 5 months! I really hate it when the main leads in a drama separate about 5,6,7,8,9 and so on years and reunite/meet again about 3,4,5 minutes before ending but just staring/smiling at each other like a fool and then, THE END!!! Its so annoying!!! I dont demand for a wedding scene but why most of korean dramas ending made me feel, "WTH, WHAT KIND IS OF ENDING IS THIS?" Or maybe I pick bad dramas LOL. But seriously, is hugging someone that you love after years of separation is overrated? Arghhh!!! I am very angry with the PD!!! He's really a pain in the ass!!! He also cut a date scene that should be in ep 23 but I am more mad with the hug scene LOL. I love this drama because most of the characters including Ki Chul (I adore him!) and the romance is very refreshing but the ending leave me feeling HAISHH,NOT AGAIN!!! But I still like the drama>< Oh well, maybe I should think the ending is like when they at the bed in the inn LOL. But I really love this kind of drama because there is no love triangle, both lead are alive and meet strong female characters and most of the secondary characters is OTPS shipper LOL. I had read the drama script and I really like the writer style of romance. Very heartfelt, mature and realistic to me. And the writer say she doesnt know how to write a love story LOL. I hope she will write more romance drama because most of the drama that she wrote I must say FAITH is my favourite (yes I am a hopelessly romantic person HAHA). But not with this PD please, oh gosh, I had enough headache and heartache because of him. Overall, I love the writer-nim, actors, actresses, OTP, STP, storyline, romance, bromance, womance for this drama except PDnim and the staring-and-smiling-with-a-distance-until-the-end-of-episode-after-years-of-separation-because-of-the-stingy-PDnim scene in ep 24.
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WTF PDnim???!!!
October 31, 2012 at 5:18 AM
sorry if my grammar is bad and my post is weird. i just need to reduce my depression HAHA
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Waca
October 31, 2012 at 5:52 AM
Haha it's ok, I love your comment because I totally agree!
The flashbacks annoyed the Hell out of me, and I really wanted them to hug as well!
"He also cut a date scene that should be in ep 23 but I am more mad with the hug scene LOL." Do you mean they had actually filmed that date scene? OMG, now I am angry! They should have cut all the flashbacks, not the date scene and the hug scene!!! :(
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70 rainaraina
October 31, 2012 at 5:16 AM
thanks for the recap :)
totell u the truth I didn't understand the end , really , and why did she forget that she came before when CY came to take her the first time but not the times when she was searching for him at the end :S
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Waca
October 31, 2012 at 6:09 AM
I think you don't understand because you are thinking too much. ;) The time travel is much simpler in fact. I'll try to explain it clearly.
Here:
1- CY comes and gets her in Seoul. It is not that she forgot that she came before, it is that it did not happen yet to her. Now CY brings her to Goryeo time.
2- KC gives ES a diary where there are dates of when the portal opens.
3- Stuff happens until ep24 where KC throws ES back into her own time, 2012.
4- ES takes all the stuff she needs (which is the stuff KC in Goryeo time gave her as "Hwata's") and jumps back into the portal. But the portal brings her to 100 hundred years before Goryeo time.
5- In 100 before Goryeo time, ES settles down and becomes the heavenly doctor we saw during the show and that used to call Future ES: the one that left the tools, write the letter and the diary, and left the message under the rock. She's also the one who saved people who later on killed an entire village (from the story of Mr Envoy's grandfather).
6- During this time, as she lives next to the portal, she goes to visit it probably very often and jumps into the portal each time it opens. However, each time, she ends up in Seoul, and so jumps back into the portal and end up in different times that she writes down into her diary (that's why the date of the portal opening up 60 years after is written down in the diary for instance). Somehow, she always gets back to 100 years before Goryeo time, until the last time she gets into the portal, which is the one we get to see on the screen.
7- This last time, she walks into the portal, arrives to Seoul for the n-ieth time (that's why she looks at it with an accustomed look) and goes immediately goes back into the portal, which this time, gets her to the right time. This time, as the diary is still in her home in 100 years before Goryeo, she doesn't write down the date.
Does that make sense to you? :)
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namcha
October 31, 2012 at 10:20 AM
Ahh ok, so she only spent 5 yrs travelling back and forth to Seoul?
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fun
October 31, 2012 at 10:03 PM
I'm sorry but I still don't understand after reading it like 10 times!! I think which is why I don't understand how he still remembers her after she traveled like the nth time. The story line itself is not logical as far as time travelling story and logic goes.
I think I need to head off and draw a flow chart, this is frustrating.
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Che-Cheh
November 1, 2012 at 9:50 AM
Hi Waca, I thought I understand the time-travel theory but realized I'm still confused.
"6- During this time, as she lives next to the portal, she goes to visit it probably very often and jumps into the portal each time it opens. However, each time, she ends up in Seoul, and so jumps back into the portal and end up in different times that she writes down into her diary (that’s why the date of the portal opening up 60 years after is written down in the diary for instance)."
Regarding 1. the trap that will kill CY and 2. the message in the film canister she left in the boulder telling her to save Nogook. I understand this 2 are the 2 of her many jumps into the wrong time ya?
I don't see how these 2 scenarios fit into the linear-time theory. E.g. the trap. Somehow she must have missed the trap and so she knows Choi Young died right? But she already knew it's a trap. You get me?
Then the 2nd scenario. Somehow she and CY must be heading to the portal and then CY failed to save Nogook and the king which then bring sadness to CY. But then again she already knew they need to turn back to the palace and save Nogook because she has live through that. You get me?
So which ES was it that didn't save CY from the trap and didn't save Nogook. Coz the present Eun Soo that travel to the past already knew it.
I hope you understand my confusion here. Really pulling my hair now. I must have missed something to make me so confuse right now. Please help anyone?
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71 redfox
October 31, 2012 at 5:42 AM
What now then. What would I like to see Lee Min Ho in next? it would be great if he guest starred in 1N2D or something. Or be a total playboy and a wasted man, no honor, no feelings, a jackass. It doesnt compute at all, I know, very hard to imagine. But I feel like he does everything with dedication. he doesnt care what mistakes his character has, or when the plot doesnt make sense, he is so over it. I am trying to do my own job like that- not fret when there is chaos around, just do what you can, perfectly. so I think....he could be anything. or maybe some oddball, like an artist or a composer..... just thinkin´.....
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72 jonaliz
October 31, 2012 at 5:45 AM
thanks for the recap!
I love how the story ended.
Cheers!
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73 Sampong
October 31, 2012 at 5:54 AM
Stubble on Lee Min-ho? Yes please! He looked absolutely the grown man... Not sure how I feel about the ending though...
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Addylovesbwood
October 31, 2012 at 6:29 AM
Yess. He's sexy no what!! I think Lmh has matured since 09 and his role in Faith helped us all realize that.
I don't know how i feel about the drama as a whole but I know the ending was solid and made logic sense unlike Queen In Hyun's Man.
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skelly
October 31, 2012 at 9:24 AM
Queen In Hyun's Man makes sense if you are willing to accept the fact that a cellphone is a modern-day talisman. It is magic, which bothered people, but it is logical magic. The series spent hours banging us over the head with the idea that cellphones are our life-savers, our life-lines, our means of connection with the world, our preferred communication devices (half the love affair occurs on the cellphone!), but I think people are now so used to cellphones as an extension of themselves that they didn't even realize this theme. I guess because I am a cranky old lady who spends as little time on her cell as possible, I immediately got the fact that these people had their little talismans plastered to their faces practically all the time.
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RockPaperScissors
October 31, 2012 at 3:42 PM
Thank you, Skelly! You said it beautifully. I too liked the ending of QIHM, and what actually spoiled the ending for me was other people's bashing of it. I know we are all allowed to interpret as we like, and there is no right or wrong opinion, but a hundred years from now there will be no difference between a paper talisman and a cellphone - they both will be antiquated means of communication.
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74 fun
October 31, 2012 at 6:18 AM
Could someone please explain to me what the endless loop of Eun soo going from the past to present then past again. I cannot fully understand the phrase "future Eun Soo in the past/present (gosh my head hurts just thinking about it over so many times) although I have read all of the caps for each episode (but have not watch as I enjoy reading more). Please someone explain to me, as we have reached the end and I still don't understand.
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mpari
October 31, 2012 at 6:53 AM
@fun: dear, somebody already explained it in the comments above :) skim read, u'll understand :)
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75 Addylovesbwood
October 31, 2012 at 6:27 AM
I'm sad and happy at the same. I struggled with Faith week after week only for it to end abruptly right when I was just getting into it
Thanks Drama Beans for Recapping!!
LMH and Kim Hee-Seon were a great OTP. Like mentioned before, I think she may be the best female lead paired with LMH so far.
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l_Misty_l
October 31, 2012 at 7:14 AM
Definitely.
I didn't like his BoF partner at all.
And to be honest I didn't particularly liked the actress in City Hunter as well.
I never watched Personal Taste so I can't say anything on that.
But out of 3 LMH dramas I saw, I can say this is by far the best one, concerning his female lead. He had a chemistry with her I never noticed in his previous works.
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Lilian
October 31, 2012 at 12:05 PM
Yeah. I think he had good chemistry with Kim Hee Sun. One good point for this show! =)
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emcee
October 31, 2012 at 1:59 PM
@Misty- Same here the worst partner was in BOF...very annoying female lead I would say. She just wanted to be cute all the time. Can't endure BOF bec. of her stopped watching it after episode 2.
I did like his female lead in Personal Taste though, spunky and funny.
In CH well so, so... PMY has potential.
In Faith I really like her. Though, I read somewhere they say she can't act... :)... For me she is the right choice for the drama... Perky but sensitive... She didn't over react. :)
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Angelina
October 31, 2012 at 5:43 PM
hi Misty, you really should watch Personal taste darl,
which is where i discovered his real-sculpture like features. He just looked so damn amazing in that drama.
umm plot-wise, it is a good drama. well I'm totally biased towards his drama now.
He's grown up into this kind of amazing actor, esp his eye expression are just amazing! From (ET) - BOF - Personal taste - Faith ..he absolutely improved his acting skills and perfectly portrayed his characters reallllllly well!
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akeela
November 13, 2012 at 4:36 AM
honestly i hav tried to watch all of his dramas but this is the first that i hav finished n dat was primarily because of his chemistry with the female lead n with faith this is the only reason i watched it out
IN personal taste the female lead was bleh, BOF more Bleh n city hunter hmmm i didnt like her acting nor the character for a bodyguard he sure was stupid
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76 mpari
October 31, 2012 at 6:50 AM
Thanks for your fantastic recaps! I really enjoy reading through them & the comments of other fans too:)
I wish the ending was not rushed *sigh* time loop closed satisfactorily. Would've loved to see more of CY/ES & Gongnim/Noguk's happy faces towards the end. Kisses n hugs dont matter, but we waited for 24 episodes to finally see them together, happy & peaceful!
Couldnt stop laughing when the portal rejected KC hahah. Loved your 'saddest popsicle' comment. It was so satisfying whwn fire hand n flute boy were killed. My poor dae man. If i had healing powers i woukd've done something for his burn marks. It was nice to see him in ponytail awww
overall, i enjoyed watching this show. But it had potential to be even better but sadly bad editing n direction ruined many awesome scenes...
Kudos to the entire cast & crew of faith for their hardwork & creativity. Will miss my fav characters. Really wanted to see another awesome head slamming moment but DH escaped *bangs fist onthe desk*
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77 glencorajane
October 31, 2012 at 7:10 AM
Some of my thots:
1) I gave up on the time loop thing, its not logical and doesnt make sense but if it convenience the drama, so be it.
2) All the actors were really good, Gongmin, Noguk, Kichul, Deok
3) the political storyline was good but yes I agree something abt the directing that didnt come thru to piece together the political and romance lines.
Its like I am not sure whether the romance was the main story or the politics. In Queen Seon duk it was very clear from the beginning that it is about politics, but the romance line serve as a good parallel run. In faith, it just didnt come thru, partly because it wasnt about Gongmin's romance.
So I think that's why it end up being fragmented.
But still its a good quality show, I watched it for the visuals and some storyline. Some where before ep 10 I already lost the political plot.
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Waca
October 31, 2012 at 7:31 AM
Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it is not logical...
You are thinking too much! The time theory is much simpler. There are various time theories and the one the writer chose is this one: everything already happened. ES did not change anything during her time travels because she's already part of history.
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78 namcha
October 31, 2012 at 8:11 AM
Well that was fun! The leads had amazing chemistry and it just proves that age is just a number. I was lost in the time travel loop and the ending did not clear it up for me. I enjoyed the ending and am just glad that it was a happy one.
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79 avocado
October 31, 2012 at 8:19 AM
Very very satisfied with the ending.full with heart, nice tree picture, logical explanation of time traveling...
Wow i become one of lmh fans already..same with you misty..never liked grum jandi in bof...try to love Psy but i can not so i never finished city hunter. The cy character make me swoon and khs is my favorit actress so this drama already become my special k drama
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80 New girl
October 31, 2012 at 8:21 AM
ES tried a couple of times(time traveling) in order to be at the same period with CY. But if you look back from episode 1 when CY kidnapped ES, he went through the portal but still returned to the SAME period (with ES) without even getting lost in time. No sweat at all! :/ Maybe he's just ...lucky?
Anyway, the story would be different if CY failed to return to Goryeo with ES on the same period. I'd rather think I just missed something on the way.
* P.s. It's my first time posting here and it's all because of Faith. Honestly, I've been religiously watching LMH's dramas.
And because of him, Faith is my first sageuk drama even though Im not really interested in this kind of genre :D
But Im glad I watched and followed faith despite everything because it also led me to watch Arang. Definitely, Im going to watch more sageuk dramas now.
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Joweng
November 1, 2012 at 4:21 PM
hello New gurl...same thing happened to us...while waiting religiously for Faith uploads trying to fill in boredom i went to watch arang and the magistrate which i liked also hehehe...so long.
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81 CaroleMcDonnell
October 31, 2012 at 8:49 AM
Major happiness in these parts. Sadness for Eumja. Wow, all that passionate hair blowing in his grief (in a closed room, right?) Glad Hwa Su in died. I really don't know what Eumja saw in her. But if they were a foil for a particular kind of love and loyalty and passion when the loved object is dead...I'll accept it.)
Ah, Ki Chul! I love an existentialist villain. Yes, I felt sorry for him. So when we saw the backfire before when he attempted to ice Young, it was a precurser of his own icing here. Poor frozen thing. I've forgotten about Gongmin's uncle. Ah, how quickly the evil die!
Loved the ending, the final "rest." The invisible but palpable sigh of relief that the journey was over. Oh, Faith, I will miss you along with Ki Chul's hair net and the firehands and the useless killing flute and the...yes...police shield.
A part of me wishes they had aged Young more, a bit of gray here and there... to show the length of the journey but perhaps I'm just indulging my need for character torture. Five years away is good enough to be epic, i guess.
And wasn't it so so so great that it was Lady Choi who did in Firehands? Yep, i feel satisfied. Faith wasn't perfect but it was quietly epic in its little way.
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82 MsB
October 31, 2012 at 10:15 AM
If there ever was a show that you question why you were watching for awhile and then like gangbusters, the direction, action, and acting improved ten-fold, this is it!
While watching it in the beginning, I really was not recommending it to anyone to watch; however, that changed past the mid point and everything improved (except for ep 19/20 which I wondered about)! Overall, I have to say that this female pairing with KHS was the best of all of LMH's female leads; hands down. Even though I liked City Hunter immensely, I wasn't too thrilled about PMY but even though Eun Soo and Choi Young hardly kissed, the romance was tremendous! In just a touch, a look, a caress, damn! Don't get me started! I'm now recommending it to be watched because its well worth it! Gongmin and Noguk, not withstanding were my favorite couple in the beginning but the story transformation for CY and ES improved so much that I was waiting with bated breath for their scenes. Now, if we could have seen Prince Deuk get his comeuppance, I would have had more satisfaction and forgiven them for killing off my Dol Bae *tears*! Its so rare, especially is sagueks (fusion or otherwise) that you develop such a vested interest in so many characters!
Vast improvement in LMH's acting and I truly enjoyed it! This truly has been a wonderful year for drama!
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83 August
October 31, 2012 at 10:51 AM
I am glad that I was able to look past this directors' limitations and still enjoy this Korean drama. I thought the actors/casting and storytelling really compensated and helped me overlook the director(s) shortcomings.
The drama's plot and main characters tackled what FAITH requires:
1) Trust
2) Courage
3) Preparation
4) Confidence
5) Victory
I really loved enjoyed Lee Min-Ho and Kim Hee-Sun portrayal of their characters from the silent/subtle moments, facial expressions, journey of their interactions with each other (from the initial to their final moments together).
This was worth my time and I enjoyed each episode.
Thank you for a great experience!
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84 Lilian
October 31, 2012 at 12:02 PM
The ending would have been perfect if the path to it had been planned and executed better. This was a jumpy episode....suddenly they are here, suddenly they are there. It was good that they showed Eun Soo missing her parents because this is a big conflict which could have been explored even more in earlier episodes. But the big mystery is this, why can't Ki Chul go through? anyone knows the answer???
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85 ninji
October 31, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Loved how layered Ki Chul was as a villain. So sad he couldn't wreak havoc in the present, now that would've been a fun watch.
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86 divyrus
October 31, 2012 at 12:04 PM
PERFECT ENDING!!
No matter how many flaws this drama has had, it will always be in heart and memories as one amazing drama experience.
The feeling I felt till last moment, till the last scene ever, looking through the credits without really seeing it with just remembering their entire story and the way my heart filled with warmth and relief.
Maybe the drama is not as epic as it was promised, but the love story was nothing but epic!
Eun Soo, she was awesome. The character that impressed me. She will stay in my heart!!!!!!!
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87 avocado
October 31, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Hoah...happy with ending but rather sad because post-end drama...need something to overcome it...and i did open my collection from lee min ho past work...mackerel run, secret campus..but now i am hooked with......Bof...omo..drama that i`ve never finished...but right now i laugh hard because of the curly hair and i imagine uri daejang...omo.....sigh withdrawal symptom...always hard...more over when i do not have another drama that i want so much...this year after temts..there is rtp..then big...after that faith..but now..ottoke....just wanna try innocent man but i think it`s to sad and heavy while ne maem still not ready....sigh..keep rewatch faith from the beginning..sigh
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88 avocado
October 31, 2012 at 12:42 PM
Still swoon with the beard....hohoho..hope lmh next project will allow him with facial hair..not only as kot kinam...
All right need some sleep right now....relief that i can imagine these two people happy together somewhere....ups this only drama...
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89 Mama J
October 31, 2012 at 1:51 PM
So, I've been without power for a couple of days due to the Hurricane. I came in to work today not even sure if they would have power, but they did - and then I spent all day going crazy trying to fix problems and stave off additional problems and all the assorted stuff you do when you've been away from a busy job unexpectedly for a couple of days while the world (well, your part of it anyway) turned upside down.
And finally, now, I had enough time to check on my babies. I will watch the episodes tonight but I needed to KNOW. BEST DELIBERATE SELF-SPOIL EVER. Cannot wait to watch and cry in earnest.
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Awe
October 31, 2012 at 3:52 PM
my <3 goes out to you, JoAnne.
pls take good care of yourself and others. the rest of us are praying for you and a speedy clean-up. sometimes these weather disasters bring surprises. i hope you and your family are safe.
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90 dani305
October 31, 2012 at 2:50 PM
It's finally over... sigh. I loved the ending. Much happier than Rooftop Prince. Liked the drama in general, but honestly don't know why in particular. I can't wait for LMH's next drama.
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91 LT
October 31, 2012 at 3:48 PM
With due respect to what the recappers and the forum think, I raise the question: Could it be intentional that Sin-UI has haphazard bits and pieces (strong parts according to GF) that titillate without offering satisfactory resolution and integration? Does it matter in terms of making this drama memorable? It is set out to be a romantic fantasy drama. Do fantasies need to be scientific and rational in every detail? Are we meant to suspend disbelief and let the drama unfold itself and walk away fantasizing afterwards and pondering to understand the meaning of the fundamental elements of any relationship (love, faith, trust and loyalty etc)? Are we so blessed that we could bypass these attributes in life? Look at the villains who didn’t appreciate these! Do we walk away feeling as if we have met some very interesting, lovable and memorable characters? At the end of the day, does this drama spice up, with its heart warming love story, the lives of people? Why does a woman on one forum demand to be called, ”Imja”, by her partner/ hubby? I guess we’ll all have different answers to these questions. What really matters is what you think yourself, right? Misty thinks this drama has delivered strongly on the theme of faith. I second that.
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Awe
October 31, 2012 at 3:54 PM
i concur. a lot of Qs were raised about the direction, writing and historical-ness of it all. but for me, it was all about the bonds between the characters. by far the best character bonding i've ever seen.
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SH
March 14, 2013 at 1:07 PM
It's been almost five months since Faith ended, and I still occasionally come back to read this comment. I really like what you've written here - I miss this show for its attempt to uncover some basic idealism, abstract principles like honor, faith and loyalty. Somehow these things are embedded and developed organically in these characters; they feel sincere to me. And I love that. I miss this show...a lot.
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92 Awe
October 31, 2012 at 3:49 PM
bottomline:
sure this drama had some wash-rinse-repeat cycles that would have been better to omit. And the song-overs could have been trimmed back (that would have saved at least one whole episode right there). whether it was the directing, budget or writing that dragged this out for 24 episodes, i'm ok with it because the bonding between everyone was incredibly deep. CY and ES. king and queen. woodalchis and general. the general and the kind. the aunt and the nephew. the pledgelings. the bonds between each and every relationship was so well developed and acted.
bonds were best ever, bar none. for that alone, i didn't mind the obvious blurps and omissions and non-sensicals.
the bonds formed by all in this drama were just...wow.
thanks for recaps and super derp screenshots. no other blog can come close to dramabeans in that respect! hats off to db team! you sistahs r da' besties. <3
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93 Petra_Lorre
October 31, 2012 at 5:23 PM
When I saw all those yellow flowers at the base of the tree at the end I just felt sorry for the poor production assistants who probably spent hours planting them.
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94 Crazyjnx
October 31, 2012 at 5:32 PM
Wowzers, some people shouldn't be watching this drama if they are going to miss so much. Or at least stop thinking about those things that hurt your brain. No one said the time portal opens only every 60+ years. My understanding was it opens at varying times, just that eun soo calculated the next opening for her was in a few weeks, then followed by another one in 67yrs or so. The diary and the messages: remember that ES already read them all before writing them, so she would know what to write again on which pages. Therefore she would write the exact words she remembers reading, to trigger events the way hey happened. The projector was excess shit that the writer probably thought she had a role for only to forget about it and short cut it.
What I find interesting that was not explained was where her tools and diary was left so that it would make it to the hands of Ki Chul. I know she probably purposefully left them behind on the 2nd trip into the past(100yrs before gongnim), but she must have thought and planned her own infamousy to make sure her tools and legend reaches the ear of the future Ki Chul so he can have them for her.
Anyways, the ending shots were beautiful, lighting, tree, fields....but it needed some skinship! A hand holding squeeze or a slow comfy hug!
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95 Angelina
October 31, 2012 at 5:36 PM
You always put a smile on me my dear writer... I just love how you chip in the BEST JOKES in times we need...world saddest Popsicle?? where did u even get that idea?? u r just ONE AMAZING WRITER....i just love your recaps so much...always putting a smile on me...to be honest, sometimes i read the recap first before evening watching the actual vid...Ur writing is just so ALIVE...
Even if i read after watching the vid, it just flashes bk all in my mind and even bringing more tension and joy with your brilliant writing and choice of words!
once again, Thank you very much!!
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96 Grey-Gabo
October 31, 2012 at 6:25 PM
but guyssss, who is HWATA? is anyone else racking their brains out about that? because i don't believe that hwata is Eun Soo. He obviously visited goreyo wayyy before 100-year-into-the-past-Eun Soo because in the 1st ep it said 1000 years ago right??? And if he did how did he do it? and were there others who also time travelled? why?
i know my questions probably seemed really irrevelant...and also what's with the pocket watch? maybe it belonged to another time traveller? is it just doctors that get to time travel. And that whole coronal mass ejection thing how often does that happen, maybe that's why past ES (100 years past) went in and out of that portal in search of Choi Young...GAHHHH SOO CONFUSED.
Thanks for the recap overall i realled loved the drama but i hoping for like a family reunion with the king queen lady choi etc not just and abrupt end. But still.
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Grey-Gabo
October 31, 2012 at 6:33 PM
But what I'm happiest about is that future eun soo (the one who wrote the diaries for current ES) that she also eventually found CY, even though they are technically the same person, but when ES was reading the diary entries and how heartbroken her future self was over not seeing him again, it just made me sad. And even though i'm bullshitting and confusing myself even more i've glad her future self was unexpecting and reunited with CY after her heart ache, that's smething we never would've guessed....
Damn this space time continuin shit
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redfox
November 1, 2012 at 12:29 PM
she might have gone 1000 years back at one point in her searches as well?
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97 midwest mz
October 31, 2012 at 6:33 PM
So many thank yous to JB and GF for the unflagging time, effort and attention to detail in giving us these recaps. Also I extend these to the ’group’ of us that have added our thoughts to this blog on “Faith”.
Now with that said, and with all the comments should we all band together and write our own top to bottom version of a like production? They say too many cooks spoil the broth, or there are too many cooks in the kitchen, but on episode 24’s postings I do not think so. So many good observations and thoughts on the show/production in general. So many questions that could/should have been answered. I also strongly agree that some of the ’happenings’ could have been left on the top of the desk when putting the final draft together for this production. Maybe less episodes would have worked, but not anything I wanted. Less of CY or ES, nah!, no sir reedie doodie bob. I still think they could have had more episodes, if the writing and so forth had been tighter, with less time spent on the frivol they seemed to languish in so often.
I agree with some that voiced that this last episode should have had less of the baddies doing their thing with ES. There could have been more given to her on her quest to get back to CY, and perhaps touching on a tad of what he was doing during this time to keep it together. The ending scene was just perfect though. He waiting as seeming as patient as he could, her finding and running to him, and them both realizing that nothing now ever would shake their faith in being together always.
This kdrama has in some ways reminded me of a series of books in this vain. Please forgive me if in my posting here I am not to share this type of information, but here I go. From the writer Diana Gabalbon (U.S.), is her series of time travel books starting with “Outlander”. This is the story of a Scottish highlander, an English doctor and their life. Jamie the highlander is living in the early 1700s, Claire is just married at the end of World War II. The series covers 7 books so far. When I grow up I want my own James, and maybe even now my own Choi Young. I just have to figure out where to put in my order, when I find out, I will be sure not to tell any one else. Stingy little thing aren’t I!!!!!!
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98 CallieP
October 31, 2012 at 7:04 PM
I have a theory about Hwata. There was a famous Chinese physician name Hwata who was actually killed by the king Jojo. However a myth grew out of that story. If you remember Il Shin, he said Hwata went into the wormhole. Then every three hundred years, a disiciple of Hwata would surface. I believe the original Hwata was a myth and Eun Soo was the disciple who visited 300 years later. Hwata was a male but they never mentioned the sex of the disciple so it could have been a woman.Eun Soo was not the original Hwata but the disciple.
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99 siopao
October 31, 2012 at 7:07 PM
The love story ending is good and solid... but the sci- fi part is flawed.
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100 Red22
October 31, 2012 at 7:18 PM
Could someone explain the Hwata thing?
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shelly
October 31, 2012 at 7:49 PM
when she went back too many years in the past she already knew she was going to be hwata. basically she created the legend she'll learn about in gongmin's time - the name, the skills, the actions. and she constantly corrected it, cause she didn't make just one trip. to get so much info on solar flaring, she'd have to have lots more experience with it.
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