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Misty: Episodes 15-16 (Final Open Thread)

by mary

mary: Misty didn’t manage to beat Woman of Dignity in ratings, but what it lacked in finale numbers it made up for in… staying power? No one’s going to forget this show soon.

odilettante: 8.4% isn’t too shabby, especially for cable, and it’s now the third highest-rated JTBC drama (just after Strong Woman Do Bong-soon).

mary: I’m sure all the Misty beanies are itching to share their thoughts in detail, so here’s what happened this week, to help us make sense of the last few minutes.

WEECAP EPISODES 15-16

Tae-wook finds Hye-ran hastily leaving his office. She pretends not to have seen the traffic violation letter while Tae-wook pretends not to notice that she’s already seen it.

Meanwhile, Myung-woo meets Eun-joo to talk her out of her misguided hate. But when she refuses to let things go, he breaks her protest sign and practically admits that he killed Dong-hyun. And he could kill her too if it comes to that.

Hye-ran tries to ignore her doubts about Tae-wook, but while claiming her brooch from the evidence room, Detective Kang shares that it was the brooch that started it all. He concedes that it’s his fault for chasing her so obsessively, he lost the real culprit: someone close enough to Hye-ran to take the brooch from her home after her rendezvous with Kevin Lee.

That night, Tae-wook comes home to an empty house while Hye-ran treats the News Nine team to drinks. A suspiciously couple-y moment between Ji-won and Reporter Kwak prompts the team to compare him and Tae-wook as perfect guys, and only Reporter Yoon notices that Hye-ran is just faking the happy facade.

The following morning, Eun-joo ignores Myung-woo’s warning and continues her one-woman protest outside the JBC building. Reporter Yoon, on Director Jang’s request, approaches Eun-joo for an interview. They don’t notice Myung-woo watching them talk.

During the interview, Eun-joo insists that the contents of Hye-ran’s black box chip is evidence of Kevin Lee’s murder, but Tae-wook deleted them. Yoon, upon learning that it contains footage of Hye-ran and Kevin’s affair, points out that the footage proves the opposite. Hye-ran was in her car, why was the brooch in Kevin’s? And Hye-ran’s obvious efforts to appease Kevin means she wants to handle the affair quietly. Yoon also points out that Tae-wook, as Hye-ran’s lawyer, should’ve known this. It was counterintuitive for him to delete it.

Yoon makes plans and fails to meet with Hye-ran because a man with a crowbar attacks her. Hye-ran rushes to her friend in the ICU but Jang is already there. He tells her that Yoon might’ve been attacked after coming to the same conclusion as Detective Kang. Hye-ran rejects this theory and storms out. She confronts Eun-joo for being the last person to talk to Yoon, but Eun-joo turns it around on Hye-ran by revealing that Yoon met with Tae-wook before being “mugged”. Eun-joo sees how tortured Hye-ran is at the increasing evidence of Tae-wook’s guilt, and she ends her protest, having achieved her goal of making Hye-ran miserable.

Hye-ran hurries home and finds proof that Tae-wook purchased duplicates of the coat and shoes he was wearing the night Kevin Lee died. She asks him if point-blank if he killed Kevin Lee, but he just invites her to the vacation they promised to go to. She backs away and begs him to answer the question, and Tae-wook finally answers yes.

We finally see that night from Tae-wook’s point of view: finding Hye-ran asleep on the couch and consumed by anger at seeing her wearing the brooch, he chases down Kevin Lee’s car and argues with him in a deserted area. Tae-wook warns Kevin to stay away from his wife, but Kevin rubs in the fact that Hye-ran loved him, her old boyfriend, yet her husband never even heard those words from her. Tae-wook shoves him into a wall in anger and walks away, but Kevin’s head hits the wall hard enough to kill him, and he slumps to the ground.

Tae-wook loads Kevin’s body into the latter’s car and drives around, looking for a place to die together. He crashes the car into a pole but ends up surviving, and decides to make it look like Kevin died in an accident. He scrupulously cleans off any evidence that he was in Kevin’s car — but fails to notice Hye-ran’s brooch was left behind.

Hye-ran is devastated to now know the truth, and wishes Tae-wook had just killed her when he learned about the affair. Tae-wook is silent as Hye-ran leaves, but he thinks to himself that anything he says will just sound like an excuse, when the truth is he’s in pain but he still loves her.

Hye-ran watches over Yoon in the hospital, where Eun-joo finds her to say goodbye. But not before repeating that Hye-ran is at fault for ruining everyone’s lives. Tae-wook’s now included.

In the early hours of the morning, Director Jang finds Hye-ran drunk and crying nside the studio. She questions everything she’s worked so hard for, wondering if Jang has regrets, too. He tells her that people can’t really pinpoint the exact thing that’s wrong in their lives — they’re all just trying to survive each day. As for regrets, “news” is always first in his mind. Nothing else is fun or meaningful.

A slightly sobered up Hye-ran walks out of the building, recalling Eun-joo’s bitter words about her ruining everyone’s life. This time, Hye-ran questions Eun-joo’s accusations. She never asked Myung-woo or Tae-wook to kill for her, they just did so without anyone understanding how unhappy she was.

Speak of the devil, Myung-woo shows up like the ninja he is and tells Hye-ran to buck up. He never blamed her and no one should blame another person for their choices in life. He’s here to say goodbye, and as he walks away, he thinks that he’s happy that a nobody like him is able to give her a future.

Tae-wook drops by his parents’ house in the morning after waiting up all night for Hye-ran. He’s here to say goodbye to them too, since he won’t be able to visit them where he’s going. When his father asks why, he admits it’s because he killed someone.

Reporter Yoon finally wakes up and asks about Tae-wook. She reveals that when she questioned Tae-wook with the growing pile of evidence, he admitted to killing Kevin Lee. He was planning to turn himself in after the vacation with Hye-ran. Hye-ran remembers Tae-wook insisting on a vacation when she was trying to get the truth out of him, and she runs home looking for her husband.

Meanwhile, Detective Kang drops by Tae-wook’s office where he gets scolded by Office Manager Lee for torturing the couple. Kang insists he’s just doing his job, and Lee shouts at him to do it properly instead of this blind search that messes everyone up. Lee cries in his car as he remembers Tae-wook giving him tickets and reservation for a vacation as if he’s sending him away. But Lee senses something wrong and insists on postponing the vacation. We see that he found Tae-wook’s discarded shirt and bandages the morning after his fight with Kevin, and Manager Lee threw the evidence away.

Tae-wook meets with Hye-ran and confirms what Yoon said. He also apologizes. He was confident of his love at first but as they grew further apart, he felt more pathetic. He leaves to surrender to the police but Hye-ran runs after him and begs for some time so they can figure out what to do together. Tae-wook is touched that Hye-ran is considering delaying or covering up the truth for him, but it’s just a pipe dream for them.

Hye-ran walks into Director Jang’s office and writes tonight’s headline on a piece of paper: “Kevin Lee’s murderer surrenders himself to the police. He is Kang Tae-wook, husband of news anchor Go Hye-ran.” She goes back to her desk and waits for the news to blow up as we see Tae-wook walking to the police station. And in the desk beside hers, Dae-woong gets a tip from his source that Kevin’s murderer surrendered. His name? Ha Myung-woo.

Myung-woo confesses to killing Kevin Lee and Dong-hyun, much to Detective Kang’s frustration. His detectives report finding Myung-woo’s hideout full of Hye-ran posters like an obsessed fan and a bottle of drugs that matches the type found in Dong-hyun’s body. Detective Kang grabs Myung-woo in anger, demanding to know why he’s choosing to throw away the rest of his life. Myung-woo, true to character, repeats he’s never considered the things he’s done as “throwing his life away.”

Director Jang mobilizes the News Nine team to cover this breaking news. When Hye-ran protests, he insists they’re reporting a fact: Myung-woo confessed to killing Kevin Lee. He wants Hye-ran to move on from this and use her newfound popularity to start a show where she can interview everyone — even those in power. Jang labels an envelope with Kevin Lee’s murder, to be filed together with news he’s been saving for the right moment, but at the last minute he doesn’t put Hye-ran’s note in it and puts an empty envelope in the box.

Manager Lee hands Tae-wook a letter from Myung-woo. In it, Myung-woo tells him to protect Hye-ran until the end as the punishment for his crimes. Tae-wook shows Hye-ran the letter and she wordlessly locks herself up in her room, crying at how messed up everything is.

A short time later, we see Tae-wook preparing to be a guest in the second episode of Hye-ran’s successful new show. Detective Kang confronts him outside with the news that Myung-woo will be sentenced tomorrow, wanting to see Tae-wook’s reaction and hating that a murderer such as him is still living a good life.

As Hye-ran prepares for the interview, she thinks about her dream of happiness and believing it was something she could achieve. Tae-wook wonders about his dream, too, as he drives to the station. He’s not sure if his dream is Hye-ran, or merely to appear perfect to her. He re-imagines the scene when he interrupted Hye-ran’s interrogation at the start of the series. But this time, he introduces himself as her husband and immediately confesses to being the last person Kevin Lee met with the night he died.

In the present, Tae-wook closes his eyes as a tear falls. He steps on the accelerator and we hear a crashing sound while the scene fades to black. In the studio, Hye-ran opens the show and takes questions from the audience. Someone asks if she’s happy, and Hye-ran hesitates, unable to respond. Backstage, her stylist looks shocked after answering Hye-ran’s phone.

Meanwhile, Hye-ran hasn’t budged from her seat at all, freaking out Jang and the rest of the team. Hye-ran thinks to herself that people who live a crazy life are chasing things that can’t be caught. She turns to the camera, and her eyes fill with tears as we hear Tae-wook asking, “Hye-ran, are you happy?”

COMMENTS

mary: You have to give it to them. No one did expect that kind of ending.

odilettante: I feel a little self-congratulatory because I knew over a week ago there’s no way Tae-wook would be able to live with the guilt of killing Kevin and letting Hye-ran go through the farce of being blamed for it. I believe my exact words to you were “falls on his sword.” Okay, so he “went into a tunnel” instead, but same concept.

mary: I wanna replace it with the concept from Smart Prison Living where *spoiler alert* going into a tunnel just means going in and out of prison. But more than Tae-wook’s death, I’m more disappointed by the fact that we cut so abruptly away from Hye-ran. I spent 16 episodes agonizing with her! I want to know what she’ll do after finding out Tae-wook is dead, not get a vague reflection on how difficult it is for her to be happy — and then nothing.

odilettante: Apparently I’m the only one who didn’t mind the ending, but that’s because I never really expected a true “happy” ending. This drama has always felt kind of like a modern-day sageuk to me, so the fact that anyone was still alive in the end was the unexpected part. My only real disappointment was wanting to see Kang Yool and Hwanil totally destroyed, but I suppose I just have to trust that Prosecutor Byun and Ji-won will continue their respective investigations.

mary: Gah! Don’t remind me of the dropped threads and unanswered questions, because my brain starts making a list. Like what happened to her dream of bringing down the greedy people at the top? Why was the black box chip in Kevin Lee’s coat? We can probably pick any satisfactory theory from the past Open Thread comments, but the show made such a big to-do about it, you’d think they’d give us a little hint in the finale. I’m not asking to be spoon-fed, but I want to know what I just ate.

odilettante: Not to mention what, exactly, was on that black box video. Does that mean Tae-wook’s reaction to it is more out of his sense of guilt and grief knowing what he’d done to Kevin than seeing seeing Hye-ran’s actions? And who was Kevin planning to meet that night? Was it Ji-won? His manager? How did the fake witness describe the fight between Tae-wook and Kevin so perfectly, even though it was proven he couldn’t see anything? Or was that just a masterful Tae-wook bluff? There are enough questions left in this drama to fill another season. In fact, I may have already plotted one out in my head and will be happy to share my ideas with JTBC provided they give me full access to Hye-ran’s closet.

mary: I definitely agree that more episodes would’ve helped. For answering questions, showing us more of the characters we’ve become invested in, and fashion. You know, I watched that timer run out in episode 16 thinking, “She’s wearing the same coat for how many days now? odilettante will be sad at the lack of pretty clothes.”

odilettante: I feel like Hye-ran’s clothes are a character unto themselves. When she’s wearing the same outfit more than once, you know something serious and emotional is going on. Plus, did you notice it wasn’t until after the trial that she started wearing softer floral ensembles instead of her usual tailored pantsuits and dresses?

mary: Yes, someone even described it as Hye-ran being like the embodiment of Spring. If Spring ever worked so hard to find its own version of happiness, stumbled on it unexpectedly, then got pummeled by Life and Consequences the moment it got a little bit soft. Can you tell I’m slightly bitter? Quick! Let’s talk about the happy stuff!

odilettante: Um… well, I loved how smug Myung-woo was in his confession about killing Kevin, just because of how much it annoyed Detective Kang. Not to mention Tae-wook’s adorable assistant gets three cheers from me because of the way he yelled at the detective to stop harassing Tae-wook and Hye-ran.

mary: I think a more competent cop would’ve been able to poke holes in Myung-woo’s story. But I’m glad they spared us extra doses of Kang’s shoddy sleuthing to give us more satisfying scenes. Like the News Nine party and that look Kwak gives Ji-won when she saves him from drinking. I imagine Ji-won’s glass is now stored in his office drawer too. Also in the list of satisfying things? All the times Myung-woo refused to join Eun-joo’s blame-Hye-ran-for-everything party.

odilettante: Even though I’ve never been a fan of Eun-joo, I couldn’t help but feel that she got the short end of the stick. She tried to live a dream life but her husband never loved her, she lost her unborn baby, her best friend turned out to not be a friend, and now Myung-woo says all of this started because when Eun-joo was a teenager, she told Myung-woo that Hye-ran was going to see the creepy jewelry store owner to get money for her tuition. It made it seem like Kevin could still be alive now if that night hadn’t happened, as though it was the butterfly moment that led to this hurricane.

mary: It didn’t feel to me like he was blaming her. It seemed like Myung-woo was giving her some tough love: “Okay Eun-joo, you wanna play the blame game? Then everything started with you and your petty gossip. See how shitty that sounds? Hye-ran didn’t make me kill anyone. You didn’t make me kill anyone. We all made our own choices. Stop hating and just live your life.”

odilettante: Which seems to be a point of this drama. Choices have consequences, good or bad, and blaming someone else for your actions will get you nowhere. We’re all just driving into the mist — hopefully with our eyes open, though.

mary: Noooo… I forgot about that for thirty seconds. But I know you’ve made your peace with the ending, can you share why you think Tae-wook’s final choice makes sense?

odilettante: Tae-wook’s greatest strength is his greatest weakness: he is a man of integrity who keeps his promises. He vowed that he would make Hye-ran fall in love with him, and she did — unfortunately a little too late. But mostly he vowed to support Hye-ran, which is why he accepted his punishment (as described by Myung-woo): to protect Hye-ran until the bitter end. Having failed to do that when she was first accused of Kevin’s murder, he resolved to uphold his promise, removing the last weak link that could possibly ruin everything she’s fought so hard for all these years — her career, her reputation, her unrelenting effort to bring truth and justice to the world. Maybe he can’t fix the past, but he can do his best to remove the final barrier to Hye-ran’s happiness.

mary: The final barrier being himself? So you’re saying his death will cover everything up, close another dark chapter in Hye-ran’s life and let her live a perfect-looking life at the top. All the corrupt people she can expose and the female anchors she can inspire and the gorgeous fashion they can wear, but at the price of one Tae-wook?

odilettante: Essentially, yes, although Hye-ran will undoubtedly have PTSD knowing that the men she’s loved have either killed or died because of her.

mary: I feel so bad for her. Once again the man she loved chose to go hero and leave her all alone. But I guess it’s all about accepting people’s choices. Tae-wook chose to end things this way. The writer chose to end things this way. I mustn’t disappoint Myung-woo by putting the blame elsewhere. We fell in love with Misty. No one forced us to watch it.

odilettante: But we might have forced a few beanies to watch it, just based on these open threads, so hopefully they don’t hold it against us!

mary: To the Misty beanies, thank you for trying this new format with us. Thank you for the brilliant theories and jokes. And thank you for not camping outside our doors with a sign saying “It’s your fault for making me watch this.”

odilettante: It’s been fun sharing in the discussions each week, and while Hye-ran’s happiness may be in question, we’re happy that everyone stuck with us until the bitter and foggy end.

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Tags: Ahn Nae-sang, Ji Jin-hee, Kim Nam-joo, Misty

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I will pretend that the final never happen and Misty is the best drama of the year.

By the way, is there any blog that capture Hye Ran style? I need her clothes and bags.

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there are a lot on instagram. One example is kdrama_fashion

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I was beyond angry, that there was finally the intelligent, driven, amazing but still flawed female character I had been waiting for, and in 15 minutes time, the writer turned her into someone who would turn away from all of her principles, let an innocent man pay for a crime that he didn't commit, just to be with the man she now lurrvvved.

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Yes that's exactly how I felt !! I mean that's such a waste of a strong willed character after all that talk about truth and facts 😐😑 also after what happened with myung-woo in the past and everything they went through ,they just repeat it? now that I think about it I don't know what the drama wanted to convey to its viewers .i feel the writers just wanted to bring a twist to the narrative and do something surprising .
honestly myung-woo bothers me the most and I am annoyed at myself for liking him at the beginning his behaviour is obsessive (he attacked reporter Yoon too right?really why did they just drop that ?Yoon was used as a device in those last episodes )

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He is used as a Deus Ex Machina,so unreal...

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Also, powerful women destroy men. Didn't you know?
Even though that completely contradicts the point of the drama or at least what I thought was the point of the drama.
I found these two episodes difficult to watch.

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I thought she was going to reveal the truth on her show, so the whole him dying made no sense for me. Unless the writer wants a season 2 the last few min of this show aren't my favorite.

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That's true.She was gonna reveal him on the show at that time that's why he was supposed to be a guest. I guess the writer needs to clarify some things here. Were there scenes filmed that were cut? There were so many things happening at the end that I'm so confused what message the writer was trying to impart to us. Maybe well never know what they truly are.

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I don't know if the writer wants, but I am very certain that I do want a second season. Maybe with a new and smarter detective. Courthouse scenes are not necessarily necessary.

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I thought they were gonna reveal it during the interview too, that's why Hye-ran seemed a bit melancholic backstage. But now I'm not sure if that's just my wishful thinking. :/

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That's exactly what was insinuated.

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No, the show was not a murder mystery, it was a *Greek tragedy* where the Gods play tricks on us mere mortals for their sport and we suffer. To me the ending was perfect.

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Having watched this in 2023, I can mention other recent Kdrama female antiheroes who, like Hye Ran, I find compelling: Seo Ye-Ji as Eve [2022] and Song Hye Ko in Glory [2022]. I prefer the treatment of dramatic elements in Misty to those in Eve and Glory. These FLs all exhibit shades of gray. Eve and Glory characters were driven by revenge to extract extreme punishment on their enemies. In contrast, Hye Ran brought low 4 men, not by design but rather as collateral damage from her single-minded ambition.

I’d like to think that Misty writer-nim was purposely adhering to classic traditions from literature and film, rather than cheaply providing melodramatic twists. We know that Tae Wook's death is dramatically tragic because he violated the principles that had defined him.

I’m reminded of a related device of classic Hollywood Western genre: the loner who rides into town to dramatically save the day, but we know he is forever doomed to remain alone to atone for his dark gunslinger past. And we know that Hye Ran’s tragedy is that she is forever doomed to be alone to atone for her life choice to take from but never give to her long-suffering husband. (My reply to cheremaman below speculates that Hye Ran’s future is foreshadowed by that of Director Jang, whose life consists of nothing but the news.)

You might ask why I use “tradition” instead of “trope” above. Tropes: Western gunslinger saves the community but his dark past prohibits his becoming a part of that community; Strong ambitious woman realizes her love for her husband but only too late. Traditions: These tropes well-crafted into distinctive stories.

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The light bulb 💡 moment I got after finishing this drama: aah so that's why it's called Misty! They wanted to use Foggy, but who would've want to watch a drama called Foggy? 🙄

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Cute! @pastmidnite Real cute!!! LOL.

I confess to being in a drama slump and not watching much of anything except Drama Specials and not everyday. Thanks to you and the commenters here, I feel I am better off without watching the Mist/Fog/(over here it's Haze!!!) 😉 Enjoyed reading you!

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Hi @growingbeautifully! Haha you should just watch the end scene, when the titular character finally shows up: mist! Or... fog. 😝😂

Drama slump? Tell me about it. This is the only drama I've managed to finish lately. But I'm having fun with variety shows! And I'm looking forward to Pretty Dongsaeng Who Wants Me to Buy Him Food hehe 😋😍

Very happy reading you too!

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@pastmidnite & @growingbeautifully *waves at you both...., just because* ^___^

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Always so happy to see you @giegie0384

Waving right back! 😍

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🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

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Haha. I came to that conclusion around Episode 8 and have been calling it' 'foggy' in my head. Nice job on the writers using actual mist in the end to make the title work.

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hello @pastmidnite @growingbeautifully @giegie good to see you all again.
Misty is one of my fave drama now and yeah even it has the foggiest ending, I am still glad I have watched it.

Waving back to you ladies!

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Hi there @Rigby @rigby2800! 🌺 🌼 🌿 🌷 🌹 for you!

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@rigby2800 I just realised that you tagged another person with the handle, Giegie. @giegie0384 is the right one, I think. 😃

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opps sorry about that @giegie.

Thanks for pointing out @growingbeautifully and thank you for those beautiful flowers just like you.

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Wrong again ate Rigby. :D
It’s nice to see you again!^^

I didn’t really like the ending of Misty but I love it nonetheless.

Thanks @gb! See you around, ladies. <3

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My interpretation was that the title of the drama was misty, because you can see Hye Ran, getting super misty eyes at the end of the show.

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I was waiting for this thread, not even to be spoiled, since I avoid reading it and go directly to the comments' section. The point is: I don't know why but most good shows are ruined by an end that disappoints you. Apparently this is one of them😒😒.
I have been waiting to know if the whole show was so amazing as it had been said, right until the end, so that I can binge it later, but now I think I won't do it. 😕
Well... then I will have more time to quee over the pretty noona during the first 14 episode, with the immortal hope (no matter how many times the drama Godas have failed me before) to have also a good finale. There could be miracles you know, there you have JBL, and Mother... they were awesome until the end 😁

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There's this thing in kdramas where i get to the end of episode 14 and I think "this is the best drama ever" and then the final two episodes are exactly like this - meandering, unfocussed and frustrating.

I suddenly realised that what I think is the main point of the drama is often not what there writers think so suddenly I feel like I'm in the last two episodes of a different show.

I still haven't seen JBL and Mother but should get to it so I can see what everybody is raving about.

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Both dramas are beautifully made, and even until the last episodes people don't turn to be suddenly whatever else. But they are consistent. The music is amazing. The feelings! I better not tell you. But it depends, of course on each viewer, who brings along a different experience.
In my literature classes, our teachers always insisted on the fact that nobody reads the same book, or even, if you read it twice, you never read the same story, because as an individual, you are always changing, and that makes your experience unique, every time it happens. I think it is safe to say, the same applies to dramas or movies. They are not the same.
I loved Mother and JBL, but I am me.
I hope you enjoy them, at least so much as me. Or better, I hope you enjoy them more!!!😁

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Exactly how I feel right now! I've been waiting for the show to end just to hear other beanies' take on the show to decide if it would be worth watching but looking at the comments now.... I'm a bit disappointed. :(

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Well, the ending was kinda unexpected but not exactly shocking. Any form of happy ending went out the door the moment Tae Wook confessed to the murder. I just thought he would get minimum jail time since it wasnt exactly premeditated and he confessed to it willingly. I feel bad for Hye Ran though. I wish they would have shown how she moves on after this. It seems like nothing really much happened plot-wise in Ep 15 and 16.

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Was anyone else bothered by Tae Wook's decision to commit suicide by driving into a tunnel with his eyes closed? Are we to hope that he didn't end up killing innocent people in the process of his stupidity? Also, why couldn't they explain who tried to kill Yoon or was it a red herring and purely coincidental? I actually wonder if he decides to commit suicide rather than appear on her show knowing she would expose the truth thereby ruining her career so it was his last attempt to protect her? Oh show I really did love you until the last episode and then you failed like so many others before you. Guess I will just have to go rewatch Mother which was phenomenal and had one of the best endings ever even if I did go through a box of kleenex in the process.

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yep, and that Myeong Woo would have moved on to do something more meaningful for himself rather than noble prisonhood.

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Good drama, but the ending was terrible. I don't have a problem with who the murderer is, but I do have a problem with Hye-ran abandoning all her principles. The one thing I would have expected was for her to reveal the truth, come what may , but instead the writer just took a dump on her character.

Really not sure what's happening lately. Too many dramas have terrible endings. This isn't quite as bad as the ending of Black which negated the entire drama, but it's still really bad.

Seems only Money Flower had a satisfying ending recently from the shows I've seen.

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i enjoyed this drama... with all of its turns and surprises... it should've been called Twisty...

the cast was stellar, acting was stellar, pantsuits stellar... but the fluffy floral dress wasn't in character, especially when she was at home. c'mon, Hye Ran wouldn't dress that fluffly at home...

loved the pantsuits and the shoes. geeze, i sound like Hannibal Lector saying "love your shoes" minus the slurping sounds about the fava beans......

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So many bad things had happen and NONE of them deserved it.

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I’ve been a dramabeans lurker for 5 years now. Always reading the comments but never typing any. ^-^ Misty’s ending however, was so ??? that I had to sit down and type out a ranty comment on word. After reading the post however, I realised I pretty much had similar thoughts/ questions.

This is a summary of my thoughts: *URGHHHHHHHH*
I have so many questions. When the writers said the ending was going to be “unexpected”. I thought that they were suddenly going to pull back from all the hints pointing to TW and instead do a 360 and surprise us with an EPIC take-down. Instead the ambiguous ending with the “are you happy?” was so 😑. It did not feel significant or punchy at all. Lacklustre is one word. If it wasn’t for the ending I would have recommended Misty (plot holes and all) to everyone.

*Myung Woo was such an underdeveloped character*. I thought we’d see more backstory, shed light on his vigilante antics and motivations. Why did he decide to take the fall for TW? There was no magnetic pull to his actions/ motivations. He was obsessed with protecting GHR. Why did he kill the manager Dong Hyun apart from his threatening GHR? Who injured the reporter (maybe I missed this) and why exactly? All she did was connect the dots. Link the dots faster than the inept detective who did nothing but shuffle pointlessly throughout the show with his “gut feelings” until the ending. Why was GHR so shaken up with the gloves when she came back after making the call? I feel like that scene was just put there to make us suspect her even though it goes against her steels of nerve. I mean logically, she didn’t do anything severe to react so violently with fear. *How did the chip end up in KL’s pocket??*

What the ending does provides us is that TW is *selfish* unlike his upright, uptight portrayal initially. He’s twisted in the sense that he had a love/hate relationship with GHR and her manipulation/ambitions (divorce papers in the draw) but in the process of defending her they both in fell in love and now he was trapped in his deceit. It’s obvious that he didn’t want to share GHR with KL (which is justified), but it also ends with his possible suicide (the whole closing eyes, misty tunnel, fast driving) because he hated how GHR now perceived him as being “imperfect”. In his drive to change GHR’s hungry ambitions and make her love him, he didn’t understand that she wouldn’t have changed her mind now because she needed him now. The only constant in her life. He was also selfish in that GHR was denied the chance to present the news about TW being the murder- her want to create a “just society”. *The ending was a destructive spiral a tragedy in the sense that all 3 men’s lives were ruined including GHR’s and EJ’s and the dead manager*.

Instead, the ending should have tied to the overall corruption arc (which was left out to dry) and been an EPIC takedown where GHR, Ji Won, TW and camera guy along with Director Jang team up (like how they did for the...

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CONTINUED:
for the politician) and bring down Hwanil Steel or Kang Yool/ Golden Club who in the new scenario, had possible links to KL’s murder. Maybe they didn’t like that KL’s image was ruined, and that company profits fell? I mean, KL died so pathetically. He banged his head on the wall and died despite being an athlete?

Why was the story similar to the fake witnesses’? How did Kang Yool know, or did they randomly guess it? TW should have got into a mere fight with KL in his car, which is why the brooch was found there- it fell by accident. Eun Joo and the manager should have played a role in KL’s death. She seemed very manipulative with KL’s manager- making him pity her and then driving him to go after GHR’s life. Plus, it was eerie how she kept rewinding the part where she spoke to the reporters after the first trial. They kept hinting at her manipulative tendencies especially after her use of “Knocking on Heaven’s door to emotionally shake up GHR. So it's not entirely implausible. She’s proven to be hurtful and deceptive the writers should have used these traits. All the lead up caused the suspense of KL’s death to fizzle and then ep 16 was very limp. All the bang from the earlier eps simmered with everyone breaking. GHR’s expert reporting skills should have been used for a greater purpose. I mean they showed how her attitude due to being close to TW was changing. She was no longer hungry for success, she even passed on News Nine to Ji Won. Instead they show her loosing everything and possibly being so broken that even tho she now has a talkshow she won’t be able to continue after TW’s death.

4.5 Stars overall because the rest was impeccable. Things I did like were: Eun Joo’s and GHR’s portrayal. Queens of facial expressions. TW’s micro-acting with his eyes. The pain is intense. The Director (YASSS when he stood up for the newsroom family) and TW’s assistant manager when he stood up to the useless detective- he said everything I wanted to say! The violin BGM was stunning, it kept up the pace and suspense and all the OST’s along with the gorgeous directing/ cinematography and sleek outfits added layers to the drama.🙌

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Everything you've said!!!!! The ending answered nothing. I am super disappointed.

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The ending answered EVERYTHING, in my opinion. What didn't get answered? It would have been awful to discover 'the butler did it' after all of the explicit clues pointing to the husband.

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Idk if the question was for me, but I'll try to answer. The ending didn't answer the Why. It didnt answer why all these men were obsessed with her? Why they confused it with love? Why jail oppa felt he had to do all those things for her? Why Taewook didn't talk to her? Why they didn't talk to each other? Why Kevin felt he needed to be with her? Etc etc, just Why?

There were all these actions and consequences. People were just doing things. For example TaewooK let Kevin get under skin and then he killed him. Then did all this work to either punish his wife or get her to love him, but Why? It didn't do anything. He ends up killing himself? Why? To be fair that may be the misty part of the drama, but Why? Lol

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@kafiyah-bello You've summarised it perfectly! ^-^ I had the same frustrations.

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I agree, and I am so glad someone else was as taken with the violin BGM as I was. It was gorgeous and fit the mood of the show so well. I think it was my favorite character at the end. :)

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Thank you for this thread, Beanies. It was so fun to read your comments and dialogues. I needed to sort out my thoughts after that *sobs* ending.

Anyway, if anything, I wont be camping outside your door with that "you made us watch this show"
Instead, I would camp on that tunnel where our gorgeous Tae Wook died with candles and flowers saying "bye bye love"

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I don't know what to think about the finale. It's not exactly disappointing...kinda expected that when TW confessed. .but nothing really happened in the last two episodes.There were too many monologues and everything slowed down. ..plus so many questions unanswered. I can't help but think that the police guy, if a little more competent wouldn't have dragged everyone in this mess or if he was so incompetent they should have just closed the case as an accident. .its not like Kevin was very likable and ppl would miss him except his wife maybe. But that's just me. I feel...nothing. ..neither happy nor sad. .just nothing.
Only thing I hope that since TW died, at least HR should tell the truth regarding his involvement in the case so that at least MW is spared the death sentence or life imprisonment, yes he did kill kevin's manager. .but this will at least reduce his sentence right? But then that guy would sacrifice himself again...so I don't know what to think.

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Exactly. I'm muddled up about the ending too. I feel like in the premise of keeping everything "unexpected" and "poignant" the show just abandoned all its lead up. Eun Joo was waved off, Myung Woo never properly explained and GHR possible even more broken after TW's choice? I also thought her mother would play a bigger role.

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Tae-wook is not dead: he went back to his cone-headed, perfect husband material planet.

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Lolol! Cone heads are everywhere this week. Which drama next?

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Misty why????????
I mean as much as how the ending makes perfect sense we all watch drama to be entertained, no?
I was eager to know how the writer gonna find the way to wrap this drama with that much mess on taewook's end and knowing how upright taewook is he would never let himself live after getting away with murder. I was expecting they go all the way to taewook going to jail then time jump to several years later and he will be reunited with retired and successful hyeran and spend the rest of their old days togethet a la seven day queen, ya know?!! Doesn't that highlight the hyeran-finally-loves-taewook-for-who-he-is not his connection not his title, just himself, out of jail, old.
Like you are happy, we are happy, everybody is happy.

With this ending tho, i found it quite out of character of taewook to end it that way. I thought that was sorta.... Kinda..... Coward way....?
Anyway, the upside is I discover another actress I would not miss when she shoot another drama! Kim Namjoo is 💯💯💯

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I also don't buy that Tae-wook died for love. I understand why he thinks he does, but if I'd been there in the car I'd be screaming YOU'RE WROOOOOOOOONG at him. (Also, I would've been dead.)

I'm so pissed that he didn't learn from Myung-woo's mistake and stole Hye-ran's chance to make a choice, when the last scene we saw of them together is Hye-ran begging Tae-wook to give her time so they can think about the next step. Together.

Is it karmic justice for her aborting the baby without asking him? Maybe. But storywise, it sucks to have all that suffering just to end up with no growth.

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How does her aborting the baby even justify any "karmic justice"? I mean, she could've talked about with him, he would've said no, she would've done it anyway (I hope) and the result would've been the same. This actually pissed me off the most about his character in the beginning (although he did seem to get it later on) - he acted like he was all in love with her and would accept anything while having zero respect for her dreams or ambitions and turning cold on her the moment she chose her own life above whatever family illusion he was trying to push on her that she didn't even want at the moment.

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I meant having the abortion without informing him. Even if it's her body and it's her right, they were married with a bit of affection on both sides. The decent thing to do was to at least let him know about the abortion plan first.

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Actually if ANY of us was in the car we could just pull the handbrake or smth and slap him out of his foolish unlogical thought.

EXACTLY, in the end I totally don't find any of these men in Hyeran's life swoony for "protecting" her. I mean they are choosing not to listen to the one thing Hyeran has been screaming the entire time, that it IS her choice for HER life. Even Hyeran got her character developed by considering Taewook in her decisions. But these men, ugh.

Interesting, if they didn't make Hyeran so awesome, we would've easily said "yep, that's for your sin" but she's too awesome I forgot about that................

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I believe it was William Dean Howells who pointed out almost 100 years ago "What the American public wants is a tragedy with a happy ending."

Tragedies end tragically. That's the definition of a tragedy. Tae-wook was a formerly honorable man on his way to a TV station to push the 'big lie' about his faux happy life. Might as well just end it all rather than do that.

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I was disappointed with the last two episodes that eventually went against all that was so good about the show. I love this drama because it was about an unabashed, ambitious woman, that went for what she wants regardless of her circumstances in life, and because of the man who stood right next to her despite everything--he defended her despite of his suspicions of his infidelity and promised to support her as she goes as far as she wants. Seriously, if she were a man, she wouldn’t have gotten a lot of the criticisms she went through. She was fierce as hell for her pursuit of the news, the media that was about exposing the ills of society and the powers might be. And men admired her strong personality, she was deemed worthy. In the end, she was blamed for the choices of the men that loved her and for their obsession of her. To ask her the question if she was happy, mocks who she is and what she stands for. In the end, she just became "Oprah" that should cater to what people want to see, and that she can make "magic" in her interviews. Gone is the media that was about uncovering social inequities and corruption. The media, and drama itself, now lets a man get away with murder while we now relegate our heroine to pander to people’s fantasy of perfect marriages. Ugh. Bring back the old Hye Ran! She would never back down on exposing her own husband. Is it so hard to portray a powerful woman?

I cannot stand the plot holes in the last two episodes. It was just implausible that Myung-woo committed the murder. The show did not even explain how possible it is for someone inside prison to order someone murder. And if that's the case, what happens to the person he asked who actually did the deed? Tae Wook being perfect came out of nowhere, she did not marry him because he was perfect. It seems as if the writer didn't know what to do or which direction to take in the last two episodes.

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I can't wait to see the kdrama about how a man can't have both career and love. How can a show railing against sexism be in the end so sexist?

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LOL there that's the paradox of K drama

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Disagree, it's a pretty common trope (the husband too focused on career with a mess in his relationship, leading to cheating or other issues, like in Suspicious Partners, or in the first season of Stranger, where the "villain" is consumed by his job and overall "mission"/"ambition" and it leads to a misunderstanding with his wife and his suicide, despite him loving her.

If the point is "you shouldn't equate ambition with a miserable life" and "it's not a binary choice, you can have both" then I must say I would also have liked another well adjusted female character that was both successful and could have good communication with her spouse and not neglect their mother/relatives in the crucial hour (I must say that to throw back a phrase she said, her audition for anchorwoman might come only once -not sure if true-, but it is certain that her own mother would die only once as well, and it's not about it happening anyway, it's about her feelings as she goes... not too confident on it as I don't recall whether they hated each other).

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It's really not, though. Suspicious Partners, Stranger (fist season, the antagonist). It's a pretty common trope (guy focuses on career while his home life falls apart -cheating or fighting or divorce-).

If the point is "this is not binay, you can have both" and wishing there was *also* (the FL had this as her dramatic flaw) a well adjusted female character with both a great career and happy interpersonal relationships in this drama, I would be onboard.

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I would really check out "A Single Rider", a Korean movie with this exact plot, as well as tons of other movies/films with the plotline "ambition/green destroys everything around you".

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I dislike the opposite message in movies like the Christmas favorite "A beautiful life" (partially also Hometown cha-cha-cha which I loved, where the ML's reason for self-exile were ridiculous: the guy did not even do anything wrong and "greed"/"ambition" were blamed, when, as sorry as I found his story, the guy in the hospital is the one at fault for messing up despite warning and then not listening to follow up advice). I feel that the general message of "ambition is wrong" is a feature in movies regardless of gender (though with gender in the mix we have additional foolishness like "she should stay at home", which in this drama is clearly an assertion made only by "villains/losers" characters).

For an example of the opposite, I would cite Start Up or Itaewon class, with powerful females having both love and career. My point is, it does not need to be toxic, in the female lead's case in this drama it turned out to be, but this was because lack of communication/trying to push on her husband lies and denial of objective reality as opposed to the truth (which is not merely the one in the cam footage, but the fact that in the cam footage she was lying to KL and was coerced and then threatened, that she does not love KL and is not merely using her husband as he suspects and she for too long does not deny -the guy does not even know she was waiting for him as well during their first date, they don't talk after he gives her the jewel he got from KL, and she lies feigning outrage, asking him to trust her lie, rather than telling him the truth in its entirety, including her feelings of revulsion for KL, as evidenced by her face and the way she cleaned her lips, and him... they don't even have this conversation *after* they both know about the affair/cam footage-).

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Now, while I don't agree with the complaint "she was blamed unfairly" (the only ones that blamed her were KL, who frankly kind of had a point about being abandoned because of poverty, though certainly not about everything he did after coming in contact with her at the airport, which was scummy and horrendous, as well as his widow, which had a marginal point and after all was not emotionally stable after having watched the cam footage and losing the kid -she could have trusted her friend when she told her she was disgusted by her husband and was coerced, on the other hand it's not clear whether she betrayed her to save her marriage by suppressing the information, or because she wanted that Blue House job, though it's clear that the claim that it was only am marriage of convenience, as her husband believes, is untrue: she knows her husband is the only one that accepted her fully for what she is, and said so in the car-, but should really have been more pissed with her husband or Ji-won, since her friend had really been coerced -sexual assault, as she told her- and blackmailed, and even with Ji-won she only capitalized on the affair, and did not force it to happen -she even was the one that told her friend, who would have otherwise been completely ignorant of the situation-), I agree with this point.

One thing I liked about the character is that she was not unselfaware. She did not try to pathetically pin it all on her husband, she understood they had different expectations. She understood that in giving and taking, she was doing all the taking and he all the giving (she asked herself what did she ever give him). I also liked she questions her life choices, because after all when you end up destroying your life and missing your own mother's last words not double checking whether you are still on course would be crazy (on the mother's side, I don't get whether she had a grudge towards her for the childhood issue).

Also, FL did some questionable things but always for a rational reason, it was not a matter of casually hurting people on a whim like for Ji-won. She is not a sociopath without empathy.

And yes, it's really crazy that we are presented the binary alternative "stay-at-home-mom" or "suffer", which is a false choice. I really would have liked to see a well adjusted female character that could have a great career while also communicating with her spouse about big life decisions, rather than deceive them in an attempt to deny reality (which they both did, for their respective secrets -and it would have been good for this parallel to have been made explicit to them as well-).

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I actually think that this is a pretty common trope (the husband being too focused on career but abysmal love life with the wife cheating... maybe Suspicious Partner?).

Frankly, I would have liked the opposite from this drama, not from the female lead, who after all had her own dramatic flaws and was meant to be depicted as such (and was by no mean the only one -see the prosecutor who was used for power, etc.-).

But I didn't like how the only options that were presented were "stay at home housewife" or "suffering". It is not binary. I would have liked to see another well adjusted character with a stable relationship that manages to have her career and also be there for her family in their critical hour and have good communication with her spouse.

I don't want to see the message "it's wrong to aim for your dreams because it will turn you into a toxic person that will destroy everyone around you" pass. Dysfunction is not a given. I also don't think that it's what the show's creators intended.

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I don't think that "you can't have a career and a happy family life" was the goal of the show, though I agree that this is kinda of the vibe, and I would have liked another well adjusted female character with a great career and nice family life (even without asking for someone with a kid or who was there for her mother's funeral, I would settle for good communication with their partner about major life decisions/issues).

I must say that the opposite (busy man with miserable home life) is pretty much a trope in and of itself, so finding a work with these features is pretty much like fishing in a bucket -if we tone down the toxic mix of self pithy and self righteouness it would be pretty evident-.

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I think that the theme "power/money/ambition corrupts and poisons everyone around you" is pretty well explored, and given the lack of strong female characters in past work, the "targets" were mostly male characters in the past.

I would suggest the movie "A Single Rider" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Single_Rider) as just one of the examples of this exact situation being depicted. This is frankly not a matter of opinion, it's just factual. Not that I buy this anti-capitalist "ambition is bad", "don't be greedy" spiel, but movies in general (I remember a Tom Hanks flic with him being a high powered lawyer that relieves life and chooses the "correct" option of poverty and love) and Korean ones in particular have pushed this narrative for a long time.

Of course, with female character you have additional bs to deal with, like the "go back to the kitches to be a housewife" thing that, however, in this drama is done only by two characters, both shown as pathetic and "villains", not by "good guys" that clearly admire her for being a model of female empowerment (this is despite her fighting prejudice like being thrown aside for someone more appealing, but then she pushes back and goes for the director position), someone that sets the trend. The drama's message is clearly that she has the right to "go for it" and should be praised for it.

The matter of her other personal choices is different. Some were clearly questionable regardless of gender (I doubt, for example, putting work over attending your mother's last moments on this heart would be treated "neutrally" regardless of gender). Maybe she didn't like her mother due to her past (the creep MW killed), and she hated her mother? That would be one justification.

Point is, when you are making such extreme decisions and your life is not really going great, it's perfectly sensible to stop and reflect on whether what you are doing is rational and you are still on course.

I didn't like that the answer seemed to be "not" by the end. Particularly because with reference to her husband's behavior, it was really just an accident that could have just as well have resulted had she told him the truth about the coercion/blackmail and had he confronted KL to get him to back off with his threats. This is different from MW killing someone, it's a perfectly reasonable confrontation that ended tragically due to a freak accident.

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I don't think that in her specific case questioning her behavior was unreasonable for her character. When you are doing stuff like not being by your mother's deathbed to get an interview, stopping and thinking about whether you are on the right path and what you are doing is rational seems perfectly sane (maybe she hated her and it's ok, for example).

What I didn't like was the conflation of issues (MW's case is different from TW, the latter was a freak accident during a perfectly rational confrontation, he was not trying to kill him, and could have confronted the guy over a million different things -such as the literal coercion and blackmail of his wife, or the mistreatment of her friend-) as well as the reduction of everything to "is it wrong to chase my dreams".

No, it is not wrong to "want it all", and I would have liked to have a well adjusted female character with a nice career and a nice family showing that it's not a binary choice. This character clearly was not the female lead, and that's okay as far as her characterization is concerned).

All in all, I understand her doubts and point of view, and would have found it unbelievable/disappointed had she *not* been insecure/questioned her choices, given the direction her life had taken. But that's not a general statement about one's decision to focus on their career.

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I would say "a fortunate man" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fortunate_Man) as a western movie and "a single rider" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Single_Rider) as a korean one would be the best examples of the theme (latter is not a kdrama, a kmovie maybe). The "icarus" ("the nail that sticks out gets hammered down") theme of being too ambitious is an old one.

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I don't agree with the point because we have plenty of examples of this "ambition is bad" both in western ("A Fortunate Man": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fortunate_Man) and korean ("A Single Rider": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Single_Rider) movies.

However, I saw even on other forums people seeing it as "punishment" for ambition, a-la "I guess you can't have it all". No, ambition is not the problem, you can have it all. In fact in the end he managed to actually get her to love him (maybe she always did, and was in denial because of her mother's history), and everything was ok (could have been okay much earlier had they chosen to communicate and tell the truth), or would have been had it not been for a freak accident (the guy did not try to kill or even beat up KL, he gave him a push as thousands of people do every day playing sports, etc., and the golfer died for a freak accident. Not the moral equivalent of MW or even the widow's assault with a fork, could have happened literally to anyone playing in a park. But it made me with we also had a well adjusted career woman with a happy family life, because it is possible, ti happens in reality (even in the kdrama her husband was supportive of her career, what they needed was communication and truth), and it would have shown that this is not a binary choice between family and success: you can aim high and be happy.

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"In the end, she was blamed for the choices of the men that loved her and for their obsession of her"

This is not true vis a vis the drama, so there is no reason for this self-pithy and self-righteousness that thankfully the FL did not reach out for -it would have been a pathetic display, more embarassing than reading about it in the comments-.

None of the men blamed her for their choices (with the exception of Kevin Lee). KL's widow blamed her, and while I don't buy that, I also don't buy the "it's not anyone's fault". People are responsible for their actions, but actions also have consequences. There was clearly a lack of communication. She acted offended that her husband would believe she slept with Kevin and denied it, and the argument is he should have trusted her? The issue with that is that it was factually *not* true as per cam footage. The real truth, however, is that the cam footage was not the whole story: she was coerced and blackmailed. The same point about lack of communication goes for the abortion issue. Not about the decision itself (her body, her choice), but about the fact that they did not talk about such a major decision at all (the guy was running around completely unaware, buying jewelry, so it's clearly not something that came up).

I would also not put MW and TW's actions on the same level. The former committed murder, while the latter had a confrontation that, with the right adjustments, could have very well happened even had she told him the truth about the coercion/blackmail. He did not choose to murder him, he pushed the guy and walked away scolding him, it was essentially an unpredictable freak accident.

I would also object to the "obsession" label. Maybe MW, but certainly not in TW's case. The guy married her and had basic, reasonable expectations of respecting certain boundaries, such as not being cheated on, or lied to. On the child issue, it's not about being wrong or right, but, as his wife said, about having different expectations. That said, it's definitely something where communication would have been key, while he was completely blindsided.

I will just point out the wildly different reaction to the cheating wife in My Mister, where year long deception and siding with evil-boss-who-would-have-fired-her-husband until he lied about camping were justified on the grounds that she was insecure/needy/possessive and he did not comply when she asked him to distance himself from his family and community -an essential part of his life-. We see how crazy this is in reverse in Crazy Rich Asian. Here TW's case is different, and I would draw a parallel rather to Kevin Lee's wife. The expectations were reasonable (he did not object to her career, on the merit of the abortion he might have been right or wrong, but it was not his decision as ultimately it's her body and her choice, but it's something they should have talked about, while regarding the cheating she knew he was given the...

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given the brooch, and again they did not discuss the topic -she denied the affair, lying to him, rather than telling him the truth, namely that she was coerced and blackmailed, and that she lied to Kevin Lee about her loving him and only "needing" her husband-.

Basically, what I am saying is that communication is key (and frankly, some choices like not going to hear her mother's last words make it clear that yes, everyone is responsible for their own actions, but they have consequences... ambiguous towards it because I actually can't understand whether she was resentful of her mother or whether she had reason to, with the whole thing with the creepy attacker in her childhood).

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"Seriously, if she were a man, she wouldn’t have gotten a lot of the criticisms she went through."

I recall a well known Hollywood movie with this exact plot (high powered male lawyer without love relieves life and becomes ordinary worker with a wife and kids). Can't remember the name at the moment, but I really think, on the contrary, this choice between work and family life is a well explored trope (my opinion is that this is all bs and you should be able to, and can, have both).

I disagree: skipping her mother's funeral was objectionable no matter her gender. So was blackmailing a colleague and capitalizing on her friend being betrayed (though Ji-won should have gotten the brunt of this). A man pursuing career and wrecking their home life is pretty much a trope (Suspicious Partners, Stranger 1st season, I would say My Mister for the "possessive/needy/insecure I-want-you-to-distance-yourself-from-family-and-community-and-focus-only-on-me vibe").

That said, she had unique challenges: being switched around for someone younger and more beautiful is not something that would have happened to a man, and her becoming a house-wife is certainly not an expectation people would have towards a man, but centrally, it is also not something that people ask of him -besides the scum lawyer-, it's not something her husband wants and she is *generally* admired for breaking the mold and opening the way (the exception being the corrupt prosecutor's wife, who is also clearly depicted on the "villain's side"... one of the reasons I would have liked for them to also introduce a well adjusted female character with a career and a healthy home life -good communication about big life decisions, being there for their parents when they are on their death bed, I wouldn't ask for a kid, but wouldn't object if they had one-, to point out that this is not a dichotomy, a binary choice).

There are some things where her gender comes into play inevitably. She is the one carrying the child, it's her body and her choice, it's not really a situation that you could have in reverse. Here I feel that the issue shouldn't have been on the merits of the decision, but on the fact that they did not talk about it at all (he was running around like a clueless idiot, buying her a jewel, completely unaware of what she was planning to do, it was clear they did not talk about such a major life decision-he was not only disappointed, but completely blindsided-).

In general, I agree with her particular challenges, but don't like the self-righteous/self-pitying tone, which I find both pathetic and frankly paternalistic/patronizing. She has agency. Her actions have an effect on other people. Part of the actions of these women affect other women (I feel that the sociopathic disregard is more on Ji-won's side, but I don't see much inter-sex solidarity for the widow with the scummy husband, depicting "famous women" going after the philanderer with a pregnant wife and a...

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...pregnant wife and a violent/abusive/non consensual/obsessive streak does not say much about the self respect).

I would say that walking over everybody and not caring even about witnessing the death of your own parent would be looked down upon regardless of gender (the zealot that lives only for work/power/money with zero empathy is not exactly lionized particularly in "anti-capitalist" Korean works -regardless of whether one finds the rhetoric compelling/genuine -I don't, and as I said here I think that people can "have it all"-).

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"Seriously, if she were a man, she wouldn’t have gotten a lot of the criticisms she went through.".

I don't think this is the case, nor do I think that it should be (horrendous behavior being wrongly justified because of a person's gender should be corrected by questioning it regardless of gender, not by using this disparity as an excuse). Tons of movies with the roles reversed, "A single rider" being the best one (the point being about money/success being bad and corrupting the lives of everyone around you -anti-capitalist bs in my eyes, as I think people can and should strive to have it all-).

Regrading the conflict between career and love, there are tons of works dealing with this (I think a Tom Hanks movie where we was a famous lawyer that relieved his life and chose poverty and love over money, plus tons of others like Stranger season 1/Suspicious Partners/Forecasting Love and Weather/etc., for that matter I would say Lee Byung-hun's "A single rider" is in this vein, the general theme being that greed corrupts the person and destroys everyone around them).

I would say that in the Misty drama in particular, some self reflection is in order, considering the extremes she went to (choosing to go to an interview over witnessing her own mother's last moments is not exactly what one would call "normal" behavior, and I feel it's an example of something that would have been criticized regardless of gender -though other things like being a housewife are gender specific, but also observations made by two characters that are clearly identified as losers/villains in the drama, so not a message/claim made by the drama itself-).

I am of course against the "you can't have money/influence/be ambitious and have happy relationships", "money/power/ambition poison/corrupt everything and you will ruin everyone around your" stereotype, regardless of gender (and frankly, just due to the fact that only relatively recently we had works with powerful, uncompromising women, in the past most of this drivel had male characters as the "target"). I am also more against it if we add sexism to the mix and say that for women specifically choosing a career equals to making everyone around them miserable, themselves included. I would have really liked to see a well adjusted, successful and happy female character in this movie.

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Despite knowing Tae-wook was the murderer, I was worried that the reveal it would be sloppy and it wasn’t so for that, I applaud them. To be honest, by the time we got to the trial scene, Misty had kinda lost that pull it had onto me so I wasn’t super expectant about the ending. But episode 15 changed for me. Personally, I loved it because, for a moment, I loved Misty almost as much as I did when it first started.
The whole episode building up to the not-so-big reveal was properly executed. I just loved how despite figuring out Taewook was the culprit didn’t make me feel any less shocked because you could see how his anger with Hye-ran led to him taking the brooch and planting it there. That was so unexpected for me.
But the last episode... sigh! Rather than his implied suicide, it was Hye-ran that made me sort of upset. As other people have mentioned, I hated how she abandoned the principles she tried so hard to keep by letting Myungwoo take the blame. And Myungwoo? What’s up with him? I didn’t understand exactly why he did the things he did. I mean, I know but I didn’t really, really understand. Him taking the fall for it didn’t make sense to me because he was still in prison then and unless he hires someone else to take fall as the assassin, I’m finding it hard to believe how he’d prosecuted but then again, Detective Kang was such an absolute idiot smi wouldn’t be surprised. On the bright side, I at least got the satisfaction of him not getting his way.

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I am one of few who felt that Misty ended in the only way possible, that of Tae Wook's death protecting Hye Ran to the end. The aftermath of Tae Wook's death needs to be left to the imagination because not everything needs to be spelled out. Myung Woo's self-sacrifice continued his love and protector role for Hye Ran. He had spent 19 years in prison, over half of his life so what difference does it make if prison continued being his life. His assaults on others and eventual killing of Dong Hyun justified his imprisonment.
Hye Ran is an ambitious woman. She dumped Kevin Lee in pursuit of her ambitions and so why wouldn't she continue the facade of the grieving widow upon Tae Wook's death rather than revealing that Tae Wook was the murderer? Tae Wook made the ultimate sacrifice and as principled as Hye Ran purports herself to be, perhaps she practices this posture in her journalistic endeavors but not in her personal life.
Happy endings are not for every single drama. If art is imitating life, then the ending for this drama is appropriate. Not all dangling situations need nor can be answered. The drama ended perfectly and diluting it with the details of unaswered situations/people would reduce the impact of the ending.

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Well said: “diluting it with the details of unanswered situations/people would reduce the impact of the ending.” I think Hye Ran’s future is foreshadowed by that of Director Jang who often is first to arrive and last to leave the office - his life is the news and only the news. As I added to Mikey D remarks about tragedy above, Hye Ran’s tragedy is that her choices doom her to a life without love.

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@mary: It didn’t feel to me like he was blaming her. It seemed like Myung-woo was giving her some tough love: “Okay Eun-joo, you wanna play the blame game? Then everything started with you and your petty gossip. See how shitty that sounds? Hye-ran didn’t make me kill anyone. You didn’t make me kill anyone. We all made our own choices. Stop hating and just live your life.”

That is the only satisfying thing from the last four episodes. Yes, you read me right - last four episodes. The court scenes were just too painful to watch and a total drag. And the last two with that inept so-called veteran detective? Urgh.... I think a rookie reporter would have done a better job.

Unlike odilettante, I don't feel that Eun-joo is getting the short end of the stick and no, I do not think for a moment that she was Hye-ran's best friend as she claimed to be. She made her bed through the choices she made, with eyes wide open. All for spiteful hate. You cannot go out hating others spitefully without any repercussions to yourself. She got all that coming for her. Myung-woo is right. If she had not gossiped on Hye-ran that fateful night, Myung-woo would not have ran that wildly to her and killed the man. Hye-ran would have resolved the matter herself and everybody went on with their lives.

But then of course, if that happened, we would have Misty for the last three months with us. So, for all its flaws and loopholes, it does give us a armchair-gripping moments worthy of mystery thriller.

Thanks to Mary and Odilettante for starting this thread. Have been enjoying exchanging views of what-might and what-might-nots.

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I don't think what Eun Joo told HMW on that day in the past is gossip. That was the truth.

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You can't deny that her motivations were questionable though. If she was really concerned about Hye-ran as a friend and not just trying to get Myung-woo turned off by Hye-ran's behavior, she would've immediately called an adult to intervene in Hye-ran's situation. But she kept quiet about it the whole day until she saw Myung-woo. Then she started talking about what a pervert the loan shark was.

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I do not understand this talk about Hye-ran's principles. Have we been watching the same drama? Throughout the journey Hye-ran has consistently showed tendency to lie whenever it benefits her and has been perfectly ready to do shady things to advance her career or to cover up what happened in past. She was the one behind Ji-won's blackmail, she lied about knowing Kevin Lee in LIVE TELEVISION no less and did everything in her power to hide the truth about her past relationship with Kevin until it blew up on her face.

So what principles are we talking about here, exactly? Sure, Hye-ran talks about the truth and facts, but reality of her actions is very different and that is how I judge her character.

Do not misunderstand me, I love Hye-ran as a character. She is strong, ambitious and vulnerable, but at the same time she is cold, manipulative and immensely hypocritical. This woman went around complaining how no one believes her when she says she didn't Kevin while NEVER actually telling the truth about her relationship with him. Of course people wouldn't believe her! She was lying her *ss off. Granted, not about killing him, but if she lies about one thing, it makes everything she says suspicious.

Hye-ran is absolutely awesome, but she is no saint. Letting Myung-woo take the fall is perfectly in character for her. She did it once already, after all. Like Myung-woo himself said, second time is easier. Yes, Hye-ran wasn't a scared teenager anymore, but now she had way, WAY more to lose.

I did hate the ending but it's bittersweet hate. I wanted a happy ending for Tae-wook and Hye-ran. However, in my opinion, this ending fits the drama so it is a good ending. I cannot complain.

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I share the same thoughts and I couldn't have said it better myself. Yes, Hyeran had "principles" and preached about facts and truth, but she was also, like most humans at the end of the day, ambitious and selfish. Yes, there are saints out there, but many of us (if not most), when held at gun point, are naturally self-serving. She was a very flawed character but I loved her regardless of that.

Of course I was sad that we got a bittersweet ending. Who wouldn't want a happy ending for Hyeran where she gets her happy family with kids, her loving and loyal husband, thriving career, all of that while saving the day by taking down the bad guys? Part of me was still waiting for the moment when we'd get the twist at the end that Tae Wook wasn't the killer. But once we knew for sure that he did it I knew that a happy ending wasn't really possible anymore. I was disappointed that it was sad but at the same time I'm not too gutted about it because I didn't find it too far off for the show.

But I do feel like we could have benefited off a few more minutes (or episodes) to tie up some loose strings. We have so many unanswered questions and characters and backstories we could have delved deeper into. What happens to Hwan Il and the other baddies? What's Hyeran going to do now? Was she about to reveal the truth, is that why Tae Wook was joining her on the show? Would have wanted more flashbacks of Eun Joo with Hyeran and Myung Woo. Had she always been jealous of Hyeran? And all the others people have brought up.

The ending is controversial and plothole-ridd but

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The ending is controversial and plot-hole ridden but overall I still really enjoyed Misty. If the edges had been smoothed out more, I would have recommended this drama to everyone and their mothers in a heartbeat. So I understand the disappointment we're all feeling. Still, congratulations to the team and especially the actors who did a stellar job. Hoping Kim Nam Joo picks up another awesome character again soon!

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I belong to those people who wasn't this disappointed because of the ending. I thought it was realistic. In real life the society is the most critical towards successful women. If they work hard for their career it's hard for them to have a happy family and if they want to have a happy family they can't focus on their career. They still have to defend themselves if they don't want any children. And the funny thing is they are mostly criticized by other women, whatever she does. Women can be so cruel towards each other.
In this drama it was the same. I often read comments on different sites that Hye Ran is also responsible that the men in her life turned out this way. Like a femme fatale who destroys the men because they loved her to much. I was so upset when I read things like that. She was betrayed by those men she loved and trusted the most. They both killed someone who was interacting last with Hye Ran and left her alone at the end. How often will she be linked to this murders now, without someone on her side who helps her through this mess? Tae Wook's last question: 'Are you happy now?', seemed so sarcastic and it indicated that all of this mess was indeed Hye Ran's fault.
I will be the last person who says that Hye Ran was perfect and without any faults. But I will forever love her for her ambition and how she handled every situation true to her character. I hope we will get more of such badass female leads without all the tragedy involved!!

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"I hope we will get more of such badass female leads without all the tragedy involved!!"
Yaas! That is what I too am saying. I wrote more or less of the same thing you said,before reading yours.
I agree.Despite our hopes,if such a thing would happen it'd be unrealistic. Sad.

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Oh, I want to add something. Yeah, the ending did have big problems, like that fact that Myung-woo was in prison when Kevin was murdered so how come anyone would take his confession seriously? Not to mention the utter ineptitude of police officers here, which was clearly just a plot device.

When I say I like the ending, I mean I like it thematically. It was fitting that Tae-wook was the killer (NOT murderer - that was obviously a manslaughter, not murder) and that Myung-woo took the fall. Hye-ran would, of course, stay silent because truth comes second to her in regards to her own interests as has been shown countless of times. And Tae-wook's suicide was inevitable, too, because as people have pointed out, no way he could've lived with himself. (I would not have minded an ending where he goes to jail and they patch up their marriage, though. That would've worked, too.)

May problem with the ending is the execution. Many plot holes and stupid choices by the characters had to be introduced to come to this ending. They were unnecessary, too, because for example Myung-woo could've simply been released from jail on the day Kevin died and thus this plot hole would have been removed.

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If HMW were released on the day Kevin died,how would he be able to find and kill Kevin in such a short time and how he possibly could have known about Kevin's presence and his being a threat for Hye Ran while being jailed for 19 years? They didn't see each other even once since he shunned her visits.
HMW was a totally unnecessary character to be used as a joker,the way he was portrayed; the worst plothole.

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I keep reading about the 'plot holes 'but can't think of any. Myung-Woo was released after the murder so everyone would be certain that he DIDN'T commit the murder. That was important. The audience knows he didn't, the other characters know he didn't, the police officer knows he didn't. It wouldn't have been a 'tragedy' if there was any possibility that he might've actually done it. Characters in this show have been making stupid choices for the past 20+ years. That's the show's thesis statement. Petty mistakes accumulating and snowballing out of control.

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I will join the club of those who pretend ep. 16 never happened. Dang... what a disappointing end of an otherwise very good drama with strong characters and stellar casts. I'm okay with a tragic end, I've been through quite a lot of tragic endings and stories during my movies- & dramas viewing years, but at least give me a glorious one, give me an epically tragic one. The ending of this one is just... blah(?) Tae-Wook ssi, a (half) innocent man took the blame and legal punishment for your crime, and he said, in exchange for that your punishment was to take care and protect Hye Ran for the rest of your life, and you still bailed??

The only satifying part was Manager Lee giving the Dummy Detective the much-deserved yelling for his shoddy investigation. How this man could work 30 years as a detective is really beyond me. I guess prisons were full with all the innocent men/women he sent there over the years 😑

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I reeeally enjoyed Manaer Lee yelling at Incompetent Detective Kang !

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I really thought that I was prepared when I saw the ending coming but hell no.haha.
I guess it was better if Eun-Joo or anyone besides Tae Wook was revelead to be the real killer. Some knetz even said that Tae Wook was in a self-driving car -- he never would've died. Wow

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I wish Manager Lee kicked detective out of their office to boot but Manager Lee yelling at the detective was soooo satisfying at the moment. Then the annoyance came back when detective stopped by to give Tae Wook one last nudge just before TW's drive to the interview. This guy sure knows how to kick a person when they're down. It's as if the detective did not hear a single word Manager Lee said to him.

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"mary: The final barrier being himself? So you’re saying his death will cover everything up, close another dark chapter in Hye-ran’s life and let her live a perfect-looking life at the top. All the corrupt people she can expose and the female anchors she can inspire and the gorgeous fashion they can wear, but at the price of one Tae-wook?
odilettante: Essentially, yes, although Hye-ran will undoubtedly have PTSD knowing that the men she’s loved have either killed or died because of her.

mary: I feel so bad for her. Once again the man she loved chose to go hero and leave her all alone. But I guess it’s all about accepting people’s choices. Tae-wook chose to end things this way. The writer chose to end things this way. I mustn’t disappoint Myung-woo by putting the blame elsewhere. We fell in love with Misty. No one forced us to watch it."

@odilettante,you said this show reminds you of a modern day sageuk? Well you're not alone,cause the above conversation I copy pasted almost totally reminds me of EMPRESS KI!!!
I wonder why the badass heroines who fight against the corrupt and go-against-the-trend always end up alone,and partially bitter,as if the price they had to pay for being awe inspiring public figures was getting a hole in the heart that can never be filled.
And here I am,mostly accepting and sorta ok with that instead being upset, cause that whole thing seems realistic. Or those dramas laid those things realistic and made our minds prepared and sorta expecting such an ending/outcome.
But really,are there NONE of such heroines who managed to lead a blissful,complete,no-regrets life after they achieved their goal???
Sad for Nyang's fate after watching Empress Ki, I waxed poetic for 4 pages in my notebook to serve her ✴some✴ sort of justice(not kidding), so I wonder will I have to go down the same route if I watch this one too even after now knowing almost everything after following the recaps and comments.
Huh. I guess I have weird concerns.😐

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What was that ending?

This drama came at a time when I was facing issues at work and Hye Ran was an inspiration (along with that epic theme music). She really was a role madel. Yes, she made questionable decisions but she had a sense of what was right and wrong and was on this blazing trail towards justice, no matter what it took. But through the course of the show, she also learnt how to lean on Tae Wook.

BUT WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?

It all boils down to Tae Wook. His decision stripped her of agenc I envisioned her asking him the question of who killed Kevin lee and I imagined his answer shocking the crowd but both Hye Ran and Tae Wook would share a look and remain confident in their resolve to not only bring the truth to light and spare Myung Woo from death but also to stand by eachother, no matter what.

BUT WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?

It all started to go wrong after Myung Woo confessed because suddenly the distance between Hye Ran and Tae Wook became unassailable. After that epic hug outside the museum too! Why did Tae Wook decide that suicide was the best were of protecting her when she didn't want him to go to jail?

Unless his internal monologue was supposed to imply that he really wasn't perfect and his earlier confession that he mistakenly believed his actions were borne out of Iove were supposed to highlight his own selfishness and that, despite initial appearances, she was more principled than he was. Leaving her to deal with the guilt of Tae Wook 's suicide and Myung Woo's capital punishment isn't something a man who truly loved her would have done.

The ending was a disappointment because she deserved better.

The ending was a disappointment because it made everything she had previously fought for seem useless because clearly, after finding out about her husband, she wasn't going to be happy. She deserved to be understood, not abandoned.

He could have chosen her by staying alive but he choose himself again and she has to live with it. THAT made the ending absolutely heartbreaking.

Reallly, what WAS that ending?

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You summed it up for me. What was that ending? I was actually confused after I first saw the episode whether he died or not. I will choose to still like the drama, but because of the ending it is out of my top dramas to watch. So disappointing😟😞🙁😦😧

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I know right! I still love the show but I'm so disappointed in Tae Wook.

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I genuinely loved the ending.

If there had been an episode 15 reveal that the news director did it, or the detective did it I would have been very angry.

If it have ended with the couple holding hands on a vacation beach I would have been very angry.

Its apparent Tae-wook had been suffering from depression for years. His family contacts did nothing but lead him into a world of corruption. His rebelling and starting a public defender practice resulted in nothing but court loss after court loss. He married an ambitious woman for love and it was a disaster. All he had left was his pride and integrity and both got systematically stripped away during the series. He had nothing left.

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Hmm i dont think i wanted them to be holding hands on a beach. I thought he wld go to jail but she would wait for him. I wanted it to be such that their love could withstand anything.

But you're right. After a while, i did realise that the whole point of the ending was how much we DIDNT know Tae-Wook and his motivations. And how his pursuit of love actually changed into something else. In a way, just like how everyone in the show had their eyes on Hye-Ran, I didnt take much notice of him as well and took all his actions at face-value. Initially, i did feel like that they should have shown us more. But everything you mentioned was actually apparent and i think i fell into that trap of not realising - which this show a great commentary on mental health and the importance of social support.

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If Detective Kang doesn't meet Tae-wook in that morning to say those lines, would Tae-wook's ending be different?

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he probably still would have committed suicide, but Detective Kang's dogged persistence at pretending to be competent when it's too late suuuuure pushed him a little closer to the edge.

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I don't know, probably yes, but not that soon, or even he wouldn't. I think Hye-ran hold the live interview for him to confess his crime and save Myun-woo.
I'm not happy with the ending, no I meant the ending made me feel sad and gloomy. Those are two different things right? Hye-ran deserves happiness. At the end, it is still satisfying ending for good ending gives viewer something to ponder upon.

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If Detective Kang did his job (properly) in the first place, he wouldn't have to question almost every little 'feeling' he had. Tae Wook would've been imprisoned and maybe, just maybe he would've had a better ending with Go Hye Ran waiting for him and visiting him regularly as he pays for his crime in prison while she exposes corrupt officials and finds happiness on her own.

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The only scene of this that really resonated with me was when Office Manager Lee let loose on the worst cop in Seoul.
"I'm just doing my job."
"Then do it properly!"
If he'd actually investigated this well from the beginning, none of this would have happened.

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Lets recall office manager Lee gave that speech *AFTER* he had discovered evidence that Tae-wook was the murderer. So it was disingenuous on his part. He didn't want his boss found out.

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I don't know. If he had gone on the TV show and confessed, it would have ended Hye-ran, too. No way could she have survived the public backlash. They would have wanted to know how long she knew and how much she covered up. Or accused her of hiding it until she could use it to boost her show's ratings and get more attention for herself. Think about how merciless the Korean netizens are to their celebrities. No way would she have come out of it a hero. So, I'm not sure he could have gone on to do that interview regardless of interacting with Detective Kang. I don't think that Hye-ran could have done a light and fluffy "our marriage is great, and we beat injustice" type interview because it would have been a big, fat lie.

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I think the 'big fat lie' interview with her husband was exactly what she was planning and that was why she basically had a nervous breakdown on camera.

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I'm not disapointed by the end because it was clear from pretty soon that it will be not a happy ending.

In this drama, I'm disapointed by the couple Hye Ran and Tae Wook. I never felt their sincere love even if they had some passionate moments. But during all the drama, they lied to each other. I don't understand when Hye Ran said he was the only person who understands her. Of course he was sure of her innocence, he did it... But he didn't understand her ambition and didn't accept it very well or too late. When Myung Woo understood her ambition and accepted her like she was (he knew her childhood and understood why) even if it meant that he would only be a "tool" for her. And she never did something for her husband too, she let him in the dark with all the Kevin Lee issue or with her issues at work when her job was threatened...

My favourite character is Reporter Yoon ! She's the one who gave the important informations for the news, she was a great friend, she never doubted about the innocence of Hye Ran and I liked when she said that if Hye Ran had had wanted to kill him, it would not have been so messy :p And she was a good journalist, she followed the facts :)

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I loved Reporter Yoon! She was awesome!

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Regarding the "he's the only one who understands me," it's possible she was thinking that Tae-wook was miraculously trusting and devoted to her despite all the piling evidence that she committed adultery and/or had motive to kill Kevin Lee. But we all know his confidence comes from a "personal" knowledge of the actual killer so :(

Also, Reporter Yoon is ♥. Someone take Detective Kang's badge and give it to her instead. Another tragedy in this ending is she didn't even get back her status as a top reporter after they exposed Kang Yool+Hwanil's corruption.

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I think like most people on this thread is a little stunned by the ending and wish that it could have been done better. I knew half way that Tae Wook was going to be the murderer and half hoped that they were going to turn that around (hence the big surprise). Suicide however is not what I expected Tae Wook to do - a man of such calibre. I expected him to tell the truth and take responsibility for it. That would have been more like him in my opinion.

I also felt that the ending was too rushed. When it ended, I was like 'is that finished? really?'

Plus the many unanswered questions which Mary and Odilettante mentioned above. In my opinion, if the show was just two episodes longer, they definitely could have incorporated/explained/explored further those un-answered questions.

Anyway, that being said, I did really like the drama. The story, the cast, everything about it was amazing. It just wasn't perfect. If you haven't seen it, and want to watch it, I'd say watch it but just have reservation about the ending and you will be fine. It's definitely worth the watch just to see the amazing cast - particularly the two main leads.

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Too rushed, with all of the plot points in the mist Kang Wook was driving into. And yet episode 16 was 2 hours! That's the slowest rushed ending in history.

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Totally agree about recommending this show. It feels like God's Gift to me. The ending is disappointing but I didn't regret meeting such characters (brought to life by the cast) and would recommend it to friends who are into such themes or genre.

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I'll admit... I haven't watched ep 16 (yet?).
It's not that I think the ending doesn't make sense or anything, I just really wanted for Hye Ran to be happy and achieve her dreams and maybe she'll still be able to but AT WHAT COST.
Tae Wook HOW COULD YOU`? I'm not even mad at the murder per se but that he pulled Hye Ran into it and that she finally LOVED him only for everything come crushing down. :( Him re-imagining the scene from the beginning hurts so much. YES YOU SHOULDVE.

But one thing is clear, Go Hye Ran was a wonderful, amazing, inspiring, beautiful, powersuit-working protagonist and I'll remember her for a long long time. And Misty as a show will also stay with me for a while and while I have conflicting feelings about the last few episodes I definitely have FEELINGS so nobody can say that this show was boring.

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also thank you @mary and @odilettante for giving us a place to come together and yell about our feelings!

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Great recap, guys! I particularly liked your idea of life being about everyone driving into the mist. It is like that after all.

However... like a lot of people, I was quite dissatisfied with the ending and found the two hour finale overly-long and self-indulgent. As can sometimes happen, what I thought was the main point of the drama and what the writers thought was the main point of the drama diverged wildly around the end of episode 14. As such, I found the last episodes frustrating, watching time tick down to a finale that I knew wasn't going to contain resolution to the plotlines I cared about. The ending in particular I found depressing in a way the rest of the drama - however moody and dark - wasn't.

I'm going to jump on my feminist bandwagon here too. I didn't like that this show about a powerful woman refusing to disappear just because she aged became in the end about how a woman can have success but only if she destroys every man she meets.

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Horrible ending to an otherwise awesome drama. I guess it was expected that there would be a dark, sad ending. I can't get over Tae Wook commiting suicide, but alas, he already showed obsessive, dangerous traits from episode 1, so I guess we cannot complain about him doing extreme things, we were warned.
About Hye Ran, not sure what to think. I loved some parts of the character, hated others and didn't understand part of her motivations. Was she looking for social justice or simply her own social ladder? Since none of this was clear for me, it is difficult to assess the final situation and empathise with her feelings.
Whatever. On a more superficial note, I enjoyed the side characters till the end, and loved how the relationship between Ji Won and Reporter Kwak turned into subtle flirting. I'd have loved to see them dating! :D
Well, it was a nice watch and I will follow the leads closely in their next projects. Kim Nam Joo and Ji Jin Hee were fantastic in their roles.

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I just want to say all the beanies summed up my feelings of disappointed in the ending of the drama. That being said it has been both an honor and a privilege to watch this show with you and I'm glad I could read your thoughts. Here is hoping for another fabulous badass female protagonist with amazing style and a flawed character!!!😍😍

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Thank you @mary and @odilettante for the recap. Misty was a fun ride until the end, where it ran out of gas* and the writers just threw together a mess. *It ran out of gas, got a flat tire, in the rain, stuck in the mud and you’ve lost a shoe, in a area with zero cellphone reception. Shakes fist at lazy writers.

Why writers? I’d rather have seen Hye Ran deliver the bombshell that Tae wook was Kevin’s killer. It would have given Eun joo and the not too bright cop a little closure. It would have been better that way writers. We could have seen Hye ran stuggle with that decision. As all the dirty dealings surrounding Kevin’s murder would have been exposed. Hye ran would have been ruined, but the true story would have gotten out. Meanwhile , Ji won and reporter Kwak could have pressed on with their fight against the evil powers. Much better ending imho.

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Or it turned out that Kevin Lee died in a car accident. And this entire show was about a corrupt boy's club trying to get rid of an annoying woman - and failing.

The last two episodes were devoted to Hye Ran using the evidence she'd collected to rain hell down upon them. Hye Ran learns her lesson about honesty and tells Tae Wook everything.

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I wish we could've seen something like what you and @johnb said. I wouldn't mind a bit more suffering in exchange for a bit more closure. T___T

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3 weeks ago, when I read that Misty would have a “Unexpected” ending, I wrote this -
“Very rarely, a drama will pull the "Unexpected" with finesse and pomp that leaves everyone's mouths agape and yet applaud the wicked brilliance. I sure hope Misty is that one rare drama.”

Well, the verdict is out – Misty isn’t that rare drama. There are many dramas which don’t end as well as they start. Some suffer a poorly written ending to an otherwise good drama. It is unfortunate that Misty is one of those dramas which ending negated everything.

I don’t know why writers are so preoccupied with having a killer twist or unexpected ending. If executed well, it would be awesome but don’t sacrifice logic and the integrity of your story and characters just to achieve it.

Tae Wook – I shouldn’t have trusted you the moment you microwaved that steak.
Years of neglect, burning with jealousy must have fried his brains and short-circuited his tongue. Why didn’t’ he ever ask Hye Ran the one thousand questions or ONE question that mattered most? I guess it’s because the show thought Ji Jin Hee looked the best as the strong, silent and angsty type.

His masculinity was defined by crushing a glass into pieces with his bare hand and killing Kevin with one push. Everything else pointed to a man who was a coward and self-absorbed.

The show was at its finest when Hye Ran made mincemeat out of her rivals, fought the bigwigs and kept her eyes on her goal. That was the story I signed up for, not a poorly written whodunnit and don’t’ even get me started on the plotholes, horrendous investigation and legal drama.

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In the end, this was a show tried too hard. I had been increasingly bothered by the overly dramatic focus on the actor’s face staring silently, TW putting on his shirt, Hye Ran striding majestically in her pantsuits and always accompanied by more dramatic music. They were gorgeous of course but also hint at style over substance and most of all, an inflated sense of importance.

The show had the last chance to redeem itself even if they had to make Tae Wook die. And what did they do? They had Tae Wook asking Hye Ran in the voiceover – “So, are you happy?”
*facepalms*

Wut? Is this sarcasm like – “Are you happy you make me kill Kevin and make me kill myself?” Or is this the drama selling misplaced emotion as ultimate love – “Are you happy I sacrificed myself so that you can remain spotless?”

Perhaps it was the message from the drama to viewers – Woman, you can’t be happy if you choose career over love. Look at the trail of destruction you have left behind in your pursuit.

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"Tae Wook – I shouldn’t have trusted you the moment you microwaved that steak."

I just spit my water out reading this, lmaooo. 😂

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"That was the story I signed up for, not a poorly written whodunnit and don’t’ even get me started on the plotholes, horrendous investigation and legal drama."

This. I know the show's called Misty but we still don't actually know what happened that night or why Hye Ran was lying to Kevin Lee about wanting to be with him or where she went with his wife or why he had the black box video in his jacket.

But the thing that I found annoying was the show acting as though she had an affair with Kevin Lee. She HATED Kevin Lee. Obviously, she couldn't advertise that because it gave her more motive to kill him. But what happened to her telling Eun Joo "when all of this is done, you'll know I didn't do anything wrong"? Ji Won was the one actually sleeping with him but nobody seemed to care about that.

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Tae Wook – I shouldn’t have trusted you the moment you microwaved that steak.

LMAO

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Apparently I dropped Misty before this horrific incident. WHAT? Who cooks steak in the microwave? I don't even really like steak, but **shudder** that is criminal. Tae Wook may have been sexy AF, but wow, dude, no.

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It's in the scene where she tells him that she loves him (finally) but she wants to break up with him because she doesn't like the pain that comes with love.

But maybe that's just a cover for the real reason: she realized Tae-wook isn't the perfect husband because of the microwaved steak.

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Tae Wook looked criminally handsome in that scene and oh, so so devastated! All the poor dude wanted to hear from his wife was "Well done!"

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@outofthisworld I see what you did there XD

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thank you for the great recap, @mary and @odilettante !

Like you, @odilettante , I am one of the few that really liked the ending. There was no way that anyone was gonna get out of this "happy". It was all in line with the unraveling chain of events.

check out my post about the ending:
http://www.dramabeans.com/members/kethysk/activity/425045/#acomment-425046

one last thing I'd like to add: Officer Kang is truly THE worst. what a self-righteous pr*ck !

happy Thursday, Beanies!
It was great sharing this A+ thrilling drama with you !

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It took me a while saying goodbye to this beautiful, beautiful drama. I am not that annoyed at the ending, except for the hard fact that Tae Wook was indeed the killer, even though I vehemently wanted to deny that. Sure, they left quite a few unanswered plot holes here and there but I'll forgive them for that. And I was sad that Myung Woo will once again, be sent to prison. He deserved a better life more than anyone else. I would like it better if they just covered up the truth, and all of them lived their life, hopefully, happily.

Misty was a beautifully done drama for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the 16 episodes train ride, despite the train chose to head into a misty filled tunnel at the end. Go Hye Ran's eye makeup and wardrobe FTW~

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And can we please send some love to Go Joon? Kevin Lee was a jerk, but he was one of the man who loved GHR passionately and if the character was played by someone else, I don't think it will have the same effect. I hoped this will start a new flower-filled path for the actors.
Btw, I am still in the middle of The Good Wife (I know, so late), but I was loving all the familiar faces. Go Joon was there, and also Ji Won~

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I'm watching The Good Wife too! After Misty I was suddenly craving another drama with a headstrong, independent but morally grey character. Wasn't expecting Kevin Lee to suddenly pop up.😂

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Yay for Jin Ki Joo as Ji Won. Hope to see more of her soon.

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So I am kind of even more upset at the ending after reading this recap because I didn't hear the Tae Wook car crash at the end?! I mean, I know they were hinting at it (I was yelling at my TV "don't you kill Tae Wook!) but I totally missed the car crash sound and woowwwwwwww, I should've had my coffee before reading this recap.

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I was trying very hard to understand why TW chose suicide, because that end to his character left so much more to be desired. Even if MW is the writer's mouthpiece, this ending still left me feeling shortchanged.

I thought that 2 points in the show embodied the title quite nicely:
when TW's assistant found but chose to ignore the clothes TW threw out, and when JBC's director chose to broadcast MW as the culprit despite HR's confession (his reasoning being it's 'the facts', but I think if TW arrived at the station before MW, that 'fact' could have easily been another one, or the truth in this case).

I'm curious to know if MW took the fall for TW knowing that the latter will eventually choose to remove himself from HR's life (taking odilettante's explanation of TW's suicide)... or once news of TW's death reaches MW, I'd imagine he'd be trying to break out of prison to 'protect HR'.

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With that Manager Lee reveal, Hye-ran's stylist is probably the only character in the show that didn't get her moment of "mistiness".

Knowing Myung-woo's obsession with avenging Hye-ran, I imagine he'd kill himself and chase Tae-wook around Hell just to torture him for leaving Hye-ran alone.

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I blame the incompetent detective for TW’s death. If only he was competent enough and was able to prove TW as the real killer then he wouldn’t have taken his own life because he would be in prison then. And I hated that he was a butthurt until the end.
I felt bad for MW & HR, she’s left with almost nothing but yay for Jiwon & Reporter Kwak.

Thank you for this space @mary & @odilettante! <3

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Someone here asked what the Title Misty stood for ? I found this article explanation quite fitting for the drama.

"As the title 'Misty' suggests, the drama looks into the truth of life shrouded in uncertainty. The cast members are really doing their best to tell the real story and feelings as sincerely as possible," the producer said.

"Beyond passionate romance, I would like to depict unpretentious love, be it a married couple's love or that of an extramarital affair," he said, adding "This is more than just a gripping story." "

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Source : Yonhap News Agency "Romance thriller 'Misty,' enthralling story of success, unpretentious love"

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Thank you for the article. I've concluded the mist is indeed in the producer's head.

I find it most incredible that he wanted to depict unpretentious love. If anything, this drama has depicted love in the worst form.

Myung Woo is a psycho. I have no empathy for this guy. I cut him slack when he killed the loanshark because he was a youth then. However, he learn nothing in those long years in prison. He's obsessed with Hye Ran and let's not mistake it for love in any way. Worst, he kills and has no remorse. *shudders*

Hye Ran admitted she married Tae Wook because she needed his position, his background and power to boost her ambitions. It was only very recent that she realized she has real feelings for Tae Wook. Their whole marriage can be best described as a charade. He was her trophy husband and she his trail blazing wife. She thought they had a deal but he couldn't keep his end of the bargain.

Tae Wook's love for Hye Ran looks noble but is far from desirable. It's the kind of love which destroys because it wants to be perfect and unconditional when it is not.

As for the extramarital affair, how is it unpretentious or even love? It was lust, struggle for dominance and deceit masqueraded as passion.

And did they mention "enthralling story of success"? I must be watching a different drama.

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Well put, bravo!!! There was no love, you can't love without communication because they never communicated. There was obsession and lust, but no love.

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The lack of communication between Hye Ran and Tae Wook is unreal. You don't even need to be lovers or married to communicate. It's a basic function of humans.

Tae Wook bottled everything inside that nicely toned body of his, only to loose it on Kevin's fragile skull(that coroner ought to be fired btw)

In her private life, Hye Ran was the opposite of what she vowed to uphold in her job. She was so selective in what she told Tae Wook that I thought she had some kind of PTSD induced amnesia.

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Heehee I'm binge-reading the comments and all your snipes at Tae-wook's non-perfection and Kevin's weak skull are making me laugh >___<

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hmm perhaps the drama should have been renamed "obsession" lol

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This show left me BROKENHEARTED. :(. It the episode when I cried the most. A good friend of mine just don't watch this episode.

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Rambling thoughts (my apologies): They voluntarily fall like flies - the men who surround a femme fatale.* When their souls leave their bodies, at that point, there is no return (dominoes clacking}}}}}. I wanted Tae Wook to be stronger, and Myung Woo was strong in the wrong, delusional way. I was confused by Ki Seok's motive for filming that footage of Hye Ran and Jae Young, but then he was always on her side...? The person I ended up liking the most is the Director. The person I ended up disliking - to my surprise - is Eun Soo (after all, she was the victim), and Ki Joon was that character who rubbed me the wrong way even if he was onto something that turned out to be the truth.
*Hye Ran's status as femme fatale is almost totally a product of how the men in her life put her on that pedestal. Still, the result is the same. Most of all, I want the ultimate power look: a khaki trench coat and red stilettos.

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Really Eun Soo is the victim?? I highly disagree since she was more than aware of her husband's MULTIPLE affairs yet she blinded herself to that truth and had tunnel vision for taking down Hye Ran. She did not want the truth she wanted blood and she purposely withheld information about the night her husband died including the fact that he was sleeping with another woman. I saw no sign of love in her marriage and instead it appeared Kevin used her to support his career and she stayed with him for the money and prestige even though she knew he was an adulterous POS. She was a victim of her poor choices but that is all since it was her hatred and thirst for revenge that led to the death of her child.

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I'm late but here to protect Reporter Kwak. He was a snoop at most, maybe it's his desire to know all facts like his (in his mind) perfect sunbae Hye-ran. But he never intended that footage for blackmail, otherwise he would've handed it over to Jiwon or even mentioned a whiff of the Hye-ran/Kevin connection.

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Yes, I agree. I think the show made it seem like it could be a potential problem that he observed and filmed them, but ultimately he rather idolized her professionally.

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Nobody forced me to watch this drama.
I remember stumbling upon it during the airing of its first four episodes and yeah, I knew from that moment that I finished those first four that I'll be head over heels in love with this drama.
I became so emotionally invested and I never regret it.
I learned so many life lessons and I'll be remembering many quotes from this drama for a very long time.
I'm now quite glad it ended that way.
It stayed in me and I think the writer is saying, "My characters ended up in those ways because of their own decisions. Don't ever do the same."
In the end, we learn more from negative things that happened instead of just having flowery path all along the way..

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Points to ponder (re-post from my wall):

Even the kindest person can turn into a cold-hearted person.
Even if you’re madly in love, you should never think with your heart but with your brain.
If your happiness is in someone else’s hands you’re rooting for conditional happiness. If they leave you, you will end up all alone, sad, depressed, hopeless and even suicidal. No one on this planet should control your happiness other than yourself.

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Just gonna repeat here what I said about the ending:
" Love it? No
Hate it? No
I’m so confused with what I was feeling after watching it. It’s like everything was ok until the time when Tae Wook went to the station but then Myung Woo enter’s the scene and boy he did made it all go down to a mist.
I don’t really know what they were trying to impart with us at the end. But then, I’ve never regretted watching this drama and discovering Kim Nam Joo here. It’s her first serious drama and the project that made her physically and mentally drained the most (she said it during her interview) but is also the one dearest to her heart. I’m hoping to see her in any project in the future and I just want to applaud the whole team (minus the writer) for their hard work.
There are endings that are happy. There are those that are sad. Some are bittersweet and some are just like Misty where you are left baffled with what you saw in the end. "
Rating : Still A+

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Go Hye Ran started the drama carrying a buried secret and ended it with (supposedly using the new show for revealing the truth) burying another.
Nevertheless, Misty still holds a special place in my heart.

Thanks again to @mary and @odilettante for all the amazing discussions here you've both started. We've all enjoyed all those weeks of analysis and fun. All your efforts are appreciated 😍😍😍

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I hardly comment but i was fine with everything until d show decided to mk MW take d fall 4 TW. I mean why couldn't he hv just taken responsibility 4 his actio s instead allowing MW to do dat? I was ultimately dissapointed wit d 2 of dem, she HR didn't stand 4 d truth n he was a coward in d end. Also wat is wit TW and d question @ d end? Like y'all said, it sounded sarcastic. Ultimately , was d writer telling us u can't hv a strong woman wit ambitions hv love and support from her spouse n family but will hv to destroy 1 or d oda. She negated everything i thot she was trying to portray/ say in d end. Anyway, kudos to all d actors especially d 2 leads n her director on d newsroom cos in d end he was d 1 who appreciated her d most.

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Thanks @ mary and @ odilettante. PS: Sorry about d typos.

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"I’m not asking to be spoon-fed, but I want to know what I just ate." You sop right Mary!!!!!! this actually had me cracking up....

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Misty, no black or white. Even the most righteous characters have their dark shady sides. Tae Wok was honest, fair and firm in his life and love but.... ooppss he had a dark side..
Hye ran was principled, yes, she would seek to uncover the truth until the end.. yes, but she was also too ambitious, capable of dubious things to achieve her goals.. yes..

It was misty indeed, and choices are what define us in the end, we all have our positive traits, but we indeed have negative instincts inside. Its with our choices in life how we decide whats gonna be.....”the righteous, protecting, honest principled husband? ... or maybe...”a murderer?”
Hye ran..... what can I say? As much as Im in love with her character, we also have to be honest here, she did let a person go to jail without even confessing she was involved and maybe lessen his sentence with the circumstances.
So now why would I be surprised by the fact she remains silence about TW? She has done it before plus now she is in love with her husband which gives her more motive.

Misty indeed, our pursue of happiness, the obssessive fight for something we dont even know how to get or how to name. And in the end, you open your hand, and there is nothing.

As I see it, the ending conveys this pessimism to the guts. I dont need anymore scenes of Hye Ran, I already know she will never be happy..just as she knows too.
Misty, misty

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Thanks @mary and @odilettante for the open thread recaps of Misty. Your efforts and time are very much appreciated. Was it the ending what I wanted - no. Still, I have no regrets about watching Misty every Friday & Saturday. Should the writer have written a better script and ending for episodes 15 & 16 - yes. However, I give props to the writer for actually hinting at and following through with the male lead as the culprit. Who can forget the awesome and passionate chemistry of Kim Nam-Joo as Go Hye-Ran and Ji Jin-Hee as Kang Tae-Wook as a middle aged couple.

I enjoyed watching a drama that was adult-oriented, suspenseful, intriguing, fascinating and entertaining. Aside from trying to figure out who murdered Kevin Lee, the fashion of sense of Go Hye-Ran was not to be missed. What would a rare female lead character like Go Hye-Ran wear next?

Misty - Obscured or clouded by or as if by mist. Full of tears so as to blur the vision (of a person's eyes). Vague; hazy. Full of tender emotion; sentimental.

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