Woohoo Waikiki: Episode 20 (Final)

by LollyPip

This final episode of Woohoo Waikiki has a lot of ground to cover, but nothing is forgotten as we follow the Waikiki boys and the ladies they love to the fulfillment of their dreams. They’ve learned a lot of important lessons, but the most important one is that they should never give up, because no matter what happens, they’re not finished yet.

 
EPISODE 20: “Because it hurts”

Yoon-ah gets the good news that she passed her baking licensing test, so Dong-gu runs off to buy a cake to celebrate. While he’s gone, someone calls out to Yoon-ah, and she looks up to see Sol’s father (cameo by Kim Jin-woo), standing nearby.

He’s cautiously happy to see her, and he says he came to ask her forgiveness even though he doesn’t deserve it. Yoon-ah snaps that it’s not necessary and tells him to go, just as Dong-gu returns with the cake. He can tell from the look on Yoon-ah’s face who the strange man is.

He stands vigil nearby as Sol’s father tells Yoon-ah again that he’s sorry, and that he didn’t know about the baby. She says that Sol is her child and has nothing to do with him. She asks angrily why he’s here now, when he was absent the whole time she was suffering alone.

She says, “There’s someone who held my hand during those times, and now, I love him.” She tells Sol’s father again that she decided to give birth and that Sol is her daughter, so she just wants to pretend they don’t know each other.

Back at the house, Seo-jin asks Joon-ki for some time to think about their relationship. He follows her to her room and asks if this is because he had to cancel their date today, or maybe his dating scandal with actress Cindy. Seo-jin says that it’s everything: They can’t go on dates, she never sees him, and she even has to hide that he’s her boyfriend.

Joon-ki promises to tell the reporters that he’s not dating Cindy, but Seo-jin stops him and says that she doesn’t want to get in his way now that his career is finally taking off. She says she doesn’t know what to do, but that she feels pathetic and weak. She yells at him to leave and shoves him out the door, and they both sink to the floor, devastated.

Doo-shik has been working on his web novel again, and he types furiously while Soo-ah shoots glances at him and wonders if she really does like him. She tells herself there’s no way a classy lady like herself could have feelings for a guy who wears sweatpants and writes a web novel.

He catches her staring and cheekily asks if he’s so handsome she can’t look away. Soo-ah freezes, then yells that it’s not funny to make jokes like that. She snaps at him not to talk to her anymore, calling him a pig again, and runs from the room.

Yoon-ah goes straight to her room when she and Dong-gu arrive home, leaving Dong-gu to tell Doo-shik that Sol’s father showed up unexpectedly. Doo-shik is worried since Dong-gu is leaving for Dubai in a week to work on his movie, and Dong-gu just heaves a heavy sigh.

That night, Soo-ah can’t get any work done for thinking of Doo-shik, so she pours herself some soju. She decides to do the NASA compatibility test, but she only gets twenty percent. She does it again, switching the order of their names, and she’s much happier with the sixty-four percent result. Then she realizes that the happy feeling means she likes Doo-shik and freaks out again.

In the morning, Doo-shik finds Soo-ah passed out, surrounded by mountains of balled-up paper, hee. He wakes her and asks what she was up to, but she just calls him a pig again. Doo-shik starts to clean up, and when Soo-ah realizes that he’s holding the compatibility tests, she snatches the paper from him and escapes to her room, only to realize that the compatibility test isn’t there.

Downstairs, Yoon-ah has made Dong-gu’s favorite breakfast, but he seems uneasy. Doo-shik whines that Soo-ah’s insults killed his appetite, and when she scuttles through the kitchen looking for the test and calls him a pig again, he’s all, “See??”

Suddenly, Sol’s father walks into the room, having let himself in. Yoon-ah flies at him, yelling that she’s not interested in whatever he has to say. She pulls him into her room for privacy, and he says that he’s not asking her to take him back, but that he wants to earn her forgiveness and make his absence up to Sol. Yoon-ah says that won’t be possible and reminds him that Sol is hers and hers only.

Dong-gu tells the others who Sol’s father is, and a minute later, he stops to say goodbye to them on his way out. But he spots Sol in Dong-gu’s arms, and he steps closer to get a look at her while Dong-gu stiffens protectively. Sol looks at him and says her first word: “Daddy.” Oof.

Her father smiles a sad little smile, then apologizes for causing trouble. He leaves after one last look at Sol. Soo-ah and Doo-shik are amazed that Sol called him Daddy, and Doo-shik sighs that blood really must be thicker than water.

Yoon-ah finds Dong-gu and Sol up in the media room. She apologizes to Dong-gu and promises that Sol’s father won’t return, telling him not to worry. Dong-gu blusters that he’s not worried, but Yoon-ah doesn’t appear to believe him.

Joon-ki tells his agency CEO that he wants to deny the dating rumor about him and fellow actress Cindy, because he’s in love with someone and the dating rumor isn’t fair to her. The CEO tells him that he’s in no position to be so romantic, and that hard work isn’t enough to make someone a star.

He informs Joon-ki that people fail because they lack luck and opportunity, telling Joon-ki not to throw away the opportunity he has now. He makes it clear that if Joon-ki speaks to reporters, his contract is canceled. He also makes Joon-ki to move to another place for now, and when Joon-ki tries to call Seo-jin, she declines the call.

Dong-gu spends another movie meeting preoccupied, and when the director decides he doesn’t like the ending, he calls on Dong-gu for an idea. Startled, Dong-gu reflexively shouts, “Daddy!” The director likes the idea so much that he promotes Dong-gu on the spot, making him the movie’s director and deciding to retire.

On his way home, Dong-gu passes a claw machine and stops to win Sol a toy. It costs him a mint to win it, but when he gets home, he finds the living room filled to the rafters with toys and stuffed animals. Doo-shik explains that they’re from Sol’s father, and Dong-gu hides the toy he won in his bag before Yoon-ah sees it.

Soo-ah is still looking for the missing compatibility test, and she wears a head lamp to inspect every nook and cranny of the house. She tells Doo-shik it’s none of his business when he asks, calling him a baboon this time, and he has to hold back from cursing in front of Sol.

He notices that Sol is holding some crumpled paper and starts to open it, and when Soo-ah frantically tries to grab it from him, he teases that he’s even more curious now. Soo-ah finally gets the paper away, but Doo-shik has her by the wrist, so she does the only thing a desperate woman can do… she eats the paper.

She runs upstairs cackling triumphantly, then wonders how Sol got the paper in the first place. It gives her a bad stomachache, and Doo-shik ends up taking her to the hospital. Doo-shik tells the doctor she ate a piece of sketchbook paper, fussing that he doesn’t understand Soo-ah lately.

Soo-ah has to get an endoscopy, and she tells the doctor that anesthetics don’t work well on her. She goes to sleep as expected, but as they’re about to put the camera down her throat, she grabs it and starts singing into it drunkenly, making the doctor be her backup singer.

She refuses to give the camera back unless they bring in Doo-shik, so they have him join them. Once Soo-ah sees that he’s there, she says she has something to say to him: “Doo-shik, I think I like you.” The doctor says that’s the first confession he’s seen from someone under anesthesia as Doo-shik stares at Soo-ah in wonder.

When Soo-ah wakes later, the nurse tells her that she’ll be fine. She giggles and tells Soo-ah that she confessed to Doo-shik while she was anesthetized, and Soo-ah wails that she’s too embarrassed to face him. On the other side of the curtain, Doo-shik still looks stunned.

Dong-gu gets a surprising call from Sol’s father, asking him to meet up. He sincerely thanks Dong-gu for taking care of Yoon-ah and Sol, though Dong-gu snaps that he’s in no position to be thankful. Sol’s father gives Dong-gu an envelope, which Dong-gu assumes is full of money mean to pay him to leave Yoon-ah and Sol alone.

He gets loud and angry, yelling that they don’t even do this in dramas anymore. He rips open the envelope and finds… a letter, which Sol’s father wrote to properly express his thanks. Hee.

Sol’s father drops the bomb — that he wants to take care of Yoon-ah and Sol from now on. He says he still loves Yoon-ah, but Dong-gu retorts that he shouldn’t have left in the first place. Sol’s father admits he’s been a coward, but that he still wants to pay his debt to Yoon-ah and Sol even if it’s too late.

He pleads with Dong-gu for help, but Dong-gu says he really has been watching too many dramas. He asks if he really expected Dong-gu to step back just because he’s Sol’s biological father, thinking himself inferior. He tells Sol’s father, “Listen well. I’ll protect Yoon-ah and Sol no matter what. So don’t ever contact them again.”

Sol’s father says he’ll never give up, and the two men glare at each other defiantly.

Doo-shik can’t stop thinking about Soo-ah’s confession. Dong-gu comes home and invites him to have a drink together, and they go to Joon-ki’s temporary apartment to visit him. The three buddies scream that they’re going to drink themselves silly tonight.

Joon-ki tells the guys that Seo-jin broke up with him, and that he wants to do the right thing, but he hesitated. He admits he got greedy, but Dong-gu tells him to remember that if he breaks up with Seo-jin, he’s dead meat.

The ladies are all at the guesthouse, just as miserable as the guys, and Soo-ah offers to take care of Sol while Seo-jin and Yoon-ah drink. Yoon-ah says it’s nice to spend some time together, and she asks Seo-jin if something happened between her and Joon-ki. Seo-jin slurs that she thinks she likes Joon-ki more than he likes her, but when Soo-ah argues that she thinks Joon-ki likes Seo-jin more, Seo-jin sighs that it doesn’t feel that way.

Over at Joon-ki’s, Dong-gu admits that he’s nervous about Sol’s father showing up right as he’s about to leave the country. He admits that when Sol called the guy “daddy,” his heart dropped, and that he’s anxious about leaving them for a whole month. Joon-ki suggests he propose, but Dong-gu says sadly that he’s not capable enough for that.

Seo-jin asks Yoon-ah if she’s ever regretted dating Dong-gu. Yoon-ah says confidently that she hasn’t, because even though Dong-gu is small-minded and has a temper, she knows he loves her more than anyone else in the world. She says she can see it in his eyes, and that’s enough for her. Soo-ah starts gagging and Seo-jin whines that love is complicated.

Soo-ah sighs that she wants to give it all up, and Seo-jin suddenly figures out that she likes someone. Soo-ah successfully deflects the question, and Yoon-ah asks if they want to play hide-and-seek, hee. She runs upstairs, calling down that she’s definitely not hiding in the laundry room, and Seo-jin curls up on the couch covering her face with her hands. LOL, poor sober Soo-ah.

The guys have gone all philosophical about life. Doo-shik laughs at Dong-gu for caring that some other guy is rich and competent, asking what competence has to do with love. He accuses Joon-ki of the same thing, saying that he has nothing to lose, yet he’s being so cowardly. He reminds Joon-ki that he used to refuse help, wanting to succeed on his own.

He continues that he’s sad at how they’ve changed, because he liked their life the way it was. He suddenly remembers Soo-ah’s confession and tells the guys, but they groan that there’s no possible way it’s true, ha. Doo-shik argues that Soo-ah is smart and pretty, and when Joon-ki scoffs, Doo-shik is all, “Yeah well, you’re dating Dong-gu’s baby sister!” He earned that beating.

In the morning, Joon-ki dresses for the day. He finds the good luck mustache bracelet from Seo-jin in his pocket and remembers her saying that she always supports him. He thinks about their relationship and how Seo-jin is always there for him, even going so far as to break up rather than get in the way of his success.

He makes a decision, and puts on the bracelet. He tells his manager that he’s skipping a meeting with the CEO to go see his fan, and that the CEO can cancel his contract if he wants. He says confidently that he wants to live like he did before, because even though he was immature, he refuses to be a coward. YES, go get her!

Having slept on the couch, Soo-ah farts herself awake again, ha. She lies back down when she hears Doo-shik stumbling home, and he sees her there and tries to sneak past her. His phone rings, and he fumbles it while trying to stop the ringing, dropping it right on Soo-ah’s head.

He roots around in her hair while Soo-ah helpfully pretends to move in her sleep. She moves so far that she falls right off the couch, and they stare at each other nervously until Doo-shik gets another call. Whatever it is sounds serious and he asks for Soo-ah’s help.

A little while later, Seo-jin sees Soo-ah driving nearby in Rebecca, and she offers Seo-jin a ride to her interview. As soon as Seo-jin gets in, Doo-shik knocks on the window and holds out a huge lollipop. When Seo-jin reaches out, Doo-shik grabs her hand while Soo-ah rolls up the window, trapping it just like the first time she rode in Rebecca.

While all that is going down, Yoon-ah confronts Sol’s father with a moving truck full of everything he sent. She says that she knows he’s sincerely sorry, but that she won’t change her mind.

She tells him that she loves Dong-gu, who helped her when she was suffering. She adds that she doesn’t blame him for what happened, but that she and Sol are happy since meeting the family. She asks him to go so that they can preserve their good memories, inviting him to call her when he misses Sol.

The movie team are packing up to go to Dubai. Dong-gu reaches into his pack and finds the stuffed shark he won for Sol. It reminds him of how much his life has changed since they found her abandoned in the guesthouse, and how much joy and love she and Yoon-ah have brought to his life, and he goes to talk to the director.

Joon-ki holds an emergency press conference, and Doo-shik and Soo-ah drag in Seo-jin just as it’s starting. Joon-ki enters and announces that he’s here to tell the reporters the truth about his dating scandal with Cindy.

One reporter gets breaking news that Cindy is pregnant and getting married to another actor. The reporters rush out before Joon-ki announces anything. Seo-jin starts to leave, too, but Joon-ki stops her. He says he was planning to announce that he’s dating her and not Cindy, but Seo-jin barks that she didn’t ask him to do that.

Confused, Joon-ki apologizes for having been a coward. He says that he’s realized that she’s the most important thing to him, and Seo-jin narrows her eyes at him ans asks if he’s sure. He tells her, “Seo-jin-ah, I love you. I really love you.”

After a moment, she says that you can see how much a person cares for you in their eyes, and that she’s starting to see it a little. Joon-ki assures her it’s not just a little, getting in her face so she can get a closer look, hee. She tells him to stop fooling around, and he beams at her before pulling her in for a hug.

Watching nearby, Doo-shik says that they look happy together, and Soo-ah wonders why they fight so much if they love each other. Doo-shik asks if she wants to go somewhere nice with him for lunch, and they head out together, their fingers almost touching.

The guesthouse seems empty when Yoon-ah gets home, but she gets a call from Dong-gu to meet her upstairs. When Yoon-ah joins him, he opens a box to reveal a pair of matching wedding rings. Dropping to banmal, he asks her, “Yoon-ah-yah, will you marry me? I’ll make you and Sol happy forever. Marry me, Yoon-ah-yah.”

She stares up at him, then says, “No.” Dong-gu assumes it was the banmal and asks her again in jondae, but she still says no. Oh his face, I can’t look, he’s so devastated.

He asks why, but first Yoon-ah wants to know what happened to his job on the movie. He confesses that he decided not to go to Dubai because he didn’t want to leave her and Sol. Yoon-ah asks if this is about Sol’s father, and when Dong-gu mutters that it’s not, Yoon-ah sighs that he’s so high-maintenance.

In banmal, she asks firmly why he’s so anxious (about their relationship), when she’s not anxious at all. She fusses that he doesn’t trust her, then takes his wrists and looks him in the eye.

She tells him, “Don’t worry. Just go. I’ll always be here. I’ll be next to you forever.” Dong-gu echoes hopefully, “Forever?” She nods, and this time he gets to kiss her first.

A few days later, it’s time for Dong-gu to leave for Dubai, and the whole house comes to see him off. He yells at Joon-ki and Seo-jin not to break up while he’s gone, orders Soo-ah to stop scolding Doo-shik, and forbids Doo-shik to date. HA, Doo-shik shoots a nervous glance towards Soo-ah.

Dong-gu’s to-do list for Yoon-ah goes on forever (“Don’t forget to eat and sleep, go to the bathroom regularly, don’t look at other men…”), and he says goodbye to Sol last. He turns to go, but he freezes in surprise when he hears a little voice say, “Daddy!” Dong-gu turns around and Sol says it again, and he almost loses his mind with happiness.

He offers to stay, not wanting to leave just when Sol started calling him Daddy, but Yoon-ah firmly orders him to get going. The last thing Dong-gu does is to tell his little girl, “Sol, Daddy’s going now.” I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Two months later.

Joon-ki stands on a bridge and orders someone to come out of hiding. A person in a really terrible alien suit approaches and cackles that he’s a caring president, but that they’ve already taken over his land and people. The alien and Joon-ki strike identical finger-jab poses — HAHA, this is Doo-shik’s script, isn’t it?

The director stops the scene and runs over to yell at the alien for coughing at a crucial moment. Yup, it’s Dong-gu, and Doo-shik is in the alien suit. Doo-shik complains about having to play the alien when he’s the writer, but Dong-gu reminds him that they’re on a tiny budget.

Joon-ki acts like he’s doing them a huge favor by being in their movie, until Dong-gu points out that he hasn’t done anything since his drama wrapped (Joon-ki: “I’m selecting my next script very carefully!”). They argue whether this movie will ever see the light of day until Seo-jin shrieks at them to shut up.

She’s there to write an article about the movie as a favor, and ha, Soo-ah is filling in as crew. The girls think the movie will be a huge failure, but the guys insists it’ll be a huge hit.

Yoon-ah shows up with lunch, and they decide to take a break to eat. But a security guard yells that they don’t have permission to film here, and the six friends forget their fight and take off running together.

 
COMMENTS

Awww, I’m so sad that it’s over! I really feel like I could just go on forever watching these six goofballs struggle through life, making everything harder, but so much funnier, than it has to be. Woohoo Waikiki exceeded every one of my expectations, and in such spectacular fashion, never letting up on the humor or the sweet moments that bound them all together. I’m really going to miss the weekly silliness, endearing characters, and wonderful cameos we were gifted with in every episode.

One of the things I loved most about this drama was how the character growth happened so subtly and naturally, but the characters never lost their innocent silliness as they matured. It’s wonderful how much everyone changed without losing themselves. A great example is how I expected Dong-gu to slink away after Sol’s father showed up, because he’s done that before when a rival for Yoon-ah’s affections entered the picture. But he knows what he stands to lose now, and he’s confident he can take care of Yoon-ah and Sol better than anyone. He made it crystal clear that he’s not backing down from the family he’s built, and I just wanted to hug him for finally being the loving, responsible, confident man I knew he could be.

But I also appreciated that Yoon-ah didn’t just sit back and wait for the menfolk to decide her future… she took initiative, and she gently and lovingly set Sol’s father free from any guilt or obligation. And her rejection of Dong-gu’s proposal — for now — was perfect, because she’s right that he’s not quite ready if he’s so worried that a month apart will change her feelings. She knows him better than he knows himself, and she understands that they’ll get there eventually, so there’s no reason to rush things. In fact, I love that none of the three relationships were wrapped up with a neat little bow, because life is a continuum. Each couple will keep evolving and rewriting their parameters as they figure out what works for them.

I was impressed from start to finish with how Woohoo Waikiki maintained its high quality of humor and storytelling, only suffering a tiny dip for a couple of episodes when they had to fill in time due to the extension. That dip isn’t unusual in dramas, but I’ve seen much worse even in dramas that haven’t been extended. It’s just proof of the overall excellence of this show that the “slump” was barely noticeable, and that for the most part we didn’t lose much in the way of entertaining scenarios and character and relationship progression.

Almost everything about this drama was above-average in excellence — the writing was crisp and hilarious, the directing always used the actors and situations to maximum effect, and the performers were wonderfully funny yet didn’t pull any punches when it was time to get serious and tug at our heartstrings. I think that a lot of the show’s ability to consistently hold our interest was due to the 2-part episode format, where each hour contained two mini-stories that sometimes advanced the plot, and sometimes were just there for the fun of it. And I always looked forward to the cameos in each episode (though I did miss Mutant Man in the finale, why didn’t he come back??) and what image-ruining thing the stars would be willing to do just to be a part of this awesome show. I was never disappointed.

And I was so happy that the show ended on such a positive, open-ended note, with the boys getting back to their original dream. They got so caught up in chasing their dreams of being a writer, an actor, and a director, that they forgot along the way that their original dream was to make a movie together. Even though they found individual success, it didn’t mean as much when it didn’t involve their friends, and they eventually realized that their individual success felt hollow. I’m proud of the Waikiki boys for realizing that success doesn’t mean making money or finding fame, but doing what fulfills you, and doing it with those you love. In that sense, I think they not only reached their dream, but exceeded it.

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