This show proved to me that chemistry alone doesn’t work for me. I need a story, not necessarily a solid one, just more than what I got to see here.
I had to drop it halfway. I think of reading the recaps later when I forget my disappointment. Thus many thanks for your work, Saya!

Thank you for the recap. As you say we will always have the perfect, breezy and heart warming first half of the drama. As to the realism of the second half - I think it was intentional in all respects (including the harassment storyline, it was chillingly realistic even in its "resolution"). You don't get permanent happy endings with everything resolved in life. You don't change overnight and sometimes not even in 3-4 years. The life is not perfect but you live it.

Even the breezy cute moments can't make up for this crap.

I am utterly disappointed with this show😠, even more than I was with "Personal taste", which I also had to fast forward sometimes because it was silly. And believe me, I was utterly disappointed with Personal taste, but again... Lee min ho doesn't mean anything to me, and at that time I hadn't even watched very good dramas such as "I hear your voice" or FWKBJ... or masterpieces such as Mother, JBL and my Ajusshi... so you can imagine what it means to me now to be so disappointed about this show.

Does Sohn Ye jin has a karma? I heard she does great in movies but fails in dramas... well, she failed here, I am afraid, and she brought my beautiful Jung Hae in down with her. Now I don't even feel they should date for real... no no... chemistry is not enough.

I watched parts of this finale raw and I was left with no even the desire to watch it subbed, because... why???🙄

Such a disaster. Nothing solved... nothing.
It was like, ok, we got to get them together at the end because we need a happy end, but .. It made no sense.

And the music!!!

I know it is not fair to compare...I know I should not, but I have been listening to my Ajusdhi OST and all the songs, all of them are good.
Kinda mediocre dramas like "reunited worlds" had a couple of good songs I still listen to.
Pretty noona didn't have any, not even one song I want to listen again. Nothing. On the contrary, I hate Stand by your man.

Aggghhrrrrr I am upset. Why do I rant?? They don't know me.

I still like Jung Hae in, though. He has charisma as an actor, which the director of this drama didn't know exactly how to use, let alone the writer.

And Sonh Ye jin is gorgeous and I can sympathise only by watching at her, but then again... I couldn't like her character and for me she never grew up here. On the contrary, she became even worse by the end.

I am so disappointed... sooo disappointed!!

I will watch again my ajusshi, so that I can get back on a good mood.

Sorry, beanies, that I am ranting so much. I really want to remember something positive, but I can't...

This drama left a lot to wish for, and the writer sucks.

Still... thank you, @saya for putting up the good work and recapping this show for us... really, like, inn the last 6 episodes or something, I felt it became such a difficult task... But even more of a reason to thank you for that. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

Such a disappointing ending to a show that started out so good (actually, this drama started to go bad several weeks ago). Unfortunately, I felt that none of the couple’s issues were resolved and that a future breakup was imminent. Even worst by the time the ending credits rolled around, Jin Ah and Joon Hee were no longer a couple that I even cared about. I also didn't buy the mother/daughter reconciliation and I expect the mother to be the first plane to Jeju to throw another temper tantrum if she even had a hint that Jin Ah & Joon Hee had reconciled. While probably realistic, I also was disappointed that both Jin Ah and Joon Hee had moved on during their breakup, with Jin Ah entering into another serious relationship (one which was more to her mother’s liking and standards). Since I don’t see Jin Ah ever leaving Jeju Island to go to America with Joon Hee and I don’t see Joon Hee ever moving to Jeju Island, I expect that eventually both will just move on from their relationship. Overall, a very disappointing drama.

And as I've mentioned before, my other takeaway from this drama is to NEVER patronize Coffeebay as they support sexual harassment of female employees by male employees. Unfortunately, none of the sexual harassers suffered any negative consequences for their actions. Not the message I was looking for from this drama or its sponsor, Coffeebay. Quite a cop-out.

Thank you Saya for sparing my time and frustration...

(I still love the first half, especially the end of episode 3... the hands under the table... and the moments just before... 😍)

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!

What a big disappointment this drama turned out to be. I loved their chemistry and how adorable they were, BUT the plot was so bad at the end!!! the female lead made me feel so upset more than once and at the end she didn't learn anything?? I haven't finished the drama and I won't!!! I'm sorry but I can´t do it. I'll feel that I will waste my time.... this is a shame really, I had faith on this drama....

Thank you Saya and Laica for the recaps. I'm sorry that it turned out to be a stressful watch for you. I put this drama on hold a few weeks ago, fully intending to catch up later, but ended up changing my mind based on what I read was happening in the show.

As giddy and lovely as the romance was in the beginning, I think I could've been okay with Jin-ah and Joon-hee breaking up for good (depending on how it was done)-- but what I absolutely cannot bear to watch is Jin-ah ruin her friendship with Kyung-sun. That was sacred to me.

I'm also disappointed to read that the sexual harassment storyline was resolved so unsatisfactorily. Of course it's realistic to expect a lot of pushback, but I was hoping that there would be a positive outcome in the end with an empowering message. In a couple of the other Ahn Pan-seok dramas I've watched, the message has been more along the lines of "when you stand up for what's right against powerful forces, you'll pay a high price and suffer for a while, but in the end, you'll prevail and be happy". I am sorry to hear that you're swearing off of Ahn PD's dramas altogether, Saya. I'm mad at the writer, but then again I didn't watch the finale that you found to be so "directorially indulgent".

For anyone who wants to try a more empowering and consistently lovely Ahn Pan-seok drama, I recommend A Wife's Credentials. (And the soundtrack is awesome in that one!)

So disappointed. This should have been the noona-slayer to slay all noona-slayer dramas before that. Instead, we got a dysfunctional mother who took way too much screen time and an heroine who lied at every turn. The sexual harassment storyline was such a nice topic to approach in the light of the #Metoo moment but they just dropped it like that. I wasn't expecting all the men responsible to lose their jobs (let's be real, it is rarely the case unfortunately) but at least something.

A quarter of the way into episode 15 was when I realised how truly exhausted Jin-ah was by all of this. Ground down by life in a way you can only by trying to make everyone happy and inevitably failing. Being a people pleaser has worn her out to the point she doesn't have the energy to give to anyone any more, even her closest friend. After her conversation with Kyung-sun, I suddenly realised - if you excuse my language - she literally had no fucks left to give.

My initial reaction to the break up was that it was so unnecessary and could be avoided if Joon Hee hadnt assumed Jin Ah would leave with him. But after having time to process my thoughts and watching a second time, maybe the 3 years apart did them good in the sense that mom appears to have mellowed (i think and hope?) and perhaps saw how miserable she was with her pedigree bf who was a complete ass (but I hate how mom would have gloated at the breakup and the fact that Jin Ah actually submitted to her). But what troubled me was how Jun Hee was so angry at the whole situation which he brought upon himself and how he basically bailed when things got tough. What happened to not being able to live without Jin Ah and never giving up on her no matter what? I dont get how he was able to cut her out of his life completely when they couldnt bear to be apart from each other. And all the broken relationships that resulted....poor Kyung Sun had it the worst. She lost her 'family', brother and best friend. At least Jin Ah still had Bo Ra on her side. Although they ended back together, it seems like nothing was truly resolved. They went right back to square one if I misread the whole mom situation. Also, they reconciled over a conversation about umbrellas! It seems like Jin Ah's outburst had no effect on Joon Hee whatsoever. I get confused about the time line sometimes especially when Jin Ah seems to relocate so easily. If the phone recording had not played (I will omit talking about how farfetched it is that the recording is still available), they probably wouldnt have gotten back together? And how quickly the sexual harrasment case got glossed over after all the focus on it. We get that she was the victorius party, but what actually transpired?

Disappointing and Meh. That's it.

Two good things happened in these final episodes:
Jin-ah got out of her boyfriend's car and walked away.
Jin-ah said goodbye to her job and her parents, and went to start a new life.

So many other things were just bad.
It was bad that she pretended to love Joon-hee, but actually recognized that she put herself first.
It was bad that she lied to him while she was renting the apartment.
It was just bad that she turned her back on Joon-hee twice at the wedding, then ran after him.
It was bad that she suggested they could go back to not having feelings for each other.
It was bad that she stomped over to his house to tell him off for calling her evil, carrying on about how much she had suffered and how hard it was.
It was bad that after listening to her love confession from years ago, Joon-hee decided nothing mattered except to be with her.
(Pause: Did anything change? Did she stop putting herself first? Did she learn to care about someone else's happiness?)
And it was bad that Joon-hee did the apologizing, while Jin-ah did the punishing.

I feel like there's something wrong with this writer's view of women, or else she just was very cynical about Jin-ah. She could have a dream romance, but she couldn't handle real love.

Still wistful for the better drama this could have been.

I think my reactions to this show will be told in vignette-style random comments over several hours because Jin-ah spent these last two episodes saying exactly the opposite of what she meant.

I stand by my statement that Jin-ah is the most everywoman I've ever seen on TV. To the point where I don't know why the writers and the PD told the story - unless it's to completely depress us as to the current state of feminism.

The whole conversation she had with Jun-hee in episode 15 where he was saying "Let's start afresh in the States" and she was saying "No, I want to fight", I was grinding my teeth in frustration. Because it was what I wanted to hear and because I had the tantalising hope she'd learned her lesson. But I suspected that he was actually saying "Let's run away from everything" and she was saying "No, I want to endure" and both those positions are not just in utter opposition to each other - they're also both the wrong response.

Fast forward 4 years, I was hoping to see some sort of change in her but she'd actually doubled down on people pleasing, making herself utterly miserable in the process and wearing herself out so much that she wanted to thrown in the towel on every part of her life.

I had a conversation with somebody in another forum where they said everything would end up back where it was at the beginning with no change. I argued that to do so would be saying that for women there's no way out of this sexist and misogynistic culture.

This show has very much been about how women are forced to compromise and put up with abuse because of hierarchy, age and social status and that they are then judged harshly for exactly that. That is, that women are forced to be complicit in their own mistreatment. One of the main messages of the drama is that continuing to compromise is not the solution. if Jin-ah doesn't come through this ascendant then the drama will be saying that woman have no way out of this sexist and misogynistic culture. I find it hard to believe this PD would head a show with that message. Like with Secret Love Affair, his female characters only win by fighting back - even if that means they have to lose first.

Well I'm eating my words because that's exactly where we are.

And on that note, her awesome female Boss telling her to remember that she's "prettier when she's cheerful" was the most f'ing depressing thing I've seen on television this year. Women being told they have to smile and be happy no matter what's happening in their life is the gold-standard for our global martyrdom and she just got put in that box by the one woman who was supposed to be the standard bearer in this whole damn show.

And one second after she ran from her job from pure exhaustion - after being told to smile by her one supporter - she got told she was "the winner" by her Boss even after he told her that nothing had changed. He literally says "Nothing...

Later that night, he turns up drunk at Jin-ah’s door and asks if she meant it, because there’s no way he can go back to the way things were before. Sober or drunk, his answer’s the same, and he calls her evil—viciously evil—before going off.

Actually, he called her 'mean', 'really mean'. And this is my comment about how awful it was having Netflix subs for this. I'd say this was the worst thing about trying to watch this show but that was the soundtrack.

Netflix makes me want to learn Korean.

Thank you for the recaps, Saya and Laica! I did stop watching it earlier because I just couldn't take the episode lengths, but I loved reading your recaps and comments. Too bad the story took a dive after such a promising start. Fingers crossed that the next one you guys recap will be one you love to the end!

This story started out with so much promise but once the mother drama started and it became apparent that the boss was as much a jackass as every sexually harassing male in that office (the only one exempt from that was the puppy subordinate), I was exhausted, I put off watching the last few episodes for a week and I just saw it yesterday. I wasn't going to watch it but my lil' sis wanted to talk about it so I had to.

Their romance was so disappointing, not just because they spent so much time apart, but because they'd really already lost their spark before they even separated. It started when they stopped communicating. When Jae Hee tolerated the mom's antics and didn't discuss it with Jin Ah, It continued with every lie Jin Ah carried out to please her mom and hid from Jae Hee.

Her mom achieved her goals of separating them not because she was stronger or right but because they were no longer a solid front, they were no longer bullet proof glass, they were a pretty stained window so fragile that it couldn't withstand a direct hit, even as the pretty colors tried to hide the damage.

If they had communicated effectively, They could have had a long distance relationship so that even if he had left for the US it could have been to prepare a future for them and she could have stayed in Korea a bit longer to deal with her mom and show her true independence (she might have left the house but she was still dependant on her mother's opinion).

Another thing that I disliked was that somehow Jin Ah was always saying sorry and asking forgiveness and Jae Hee was always swallowing his anger and always gave in to her, but they never ever really talked about the whys.

On the work front: She could have actually been a lot smarter about the sexual harassment case and fought it tooth and nail instead of enduring it and following her female boss's advice when that boss wasn't someone who had the experience to back the advice. When she was told to smile by that same superior, I was depressed, must women always "grin and bear it" why? why? why?

When the jackass boss said that she won even if no one knew it? yeah right that wasn't what it felt like to her or to the viewers, she didn't win, she was "promoted" and sent off to a branch office so as not to encounter the guilty party, she endured there for a time until she was no longer able to and in the end she had to quit. how was that winning? being told condescendingly to talk and eat with the jackass one more time because she "won?" I was so over this story.

It did not fill me with hope for the women in the world, the ending where they meet again and argue about some umbrella wasn't cute and it was too little too late.

I no longer cared for anybody by the end, which is too bad because I love Son Ye Jin and Jung Hae In possibly had one of the best characters last year as Batman Cop so I was really excited for this drama where it seemed he would finally get the...

So I havent watched these last two episodes but after reading the recap, I'm really not sure I want to. What a crap ending!! This has got to be the most disappointing drama of 2018 and more so because I loved it so much and was raving about it the first 8 episodes. The second half was just plain disappointing. Like Saya said, it can be realistic and portray real issues but the issues should be dealt with properly at least!

Saya, thank you for the recap. A frustrating last two episodes. They both ignore one another on the strairs. WTH !? Mom says Joon-hee is never to set foot in their house! Moving to Jeju was one of the highlights. Bo-ra was another. The show didn’t convince me at the that all was well between Jin-ah and Joon-hee. The writer bungled what should have been a piece of cake. The acting was fine, the plot however, limped across the finnish line.

Never thought I'd be happy that real life got in the way of my kdrama. I saw the first few episodes of this and liked it. I put it on hold to focus on real life and decided to just binge-watch. It was divine intervention for I have been saved from wasting hours filled with no resolution and just frustrations. Whew! I guess see you next time Yejin unni!

the ending was just so wimpy, i couldn't believe it...

i felt like there was no way out, no way to remedy the direction this story went, especially after ep 15... but i had to torture myself and finish the series.

in this case, it wasn't like the last 10 minutes of Fashion King and the major WTF moment we all had... this was an hour of WHERE ARE WE GOING WITH THIS????

and it ultimately went to jeju and nowhere, actually. so sad... i really liked this drama most of the time. i'll just concoct some fan fiction ending -- wait, i can't even do that because the story got so convoluted around halfway or 2/3 the way in....

i'll try to remember the cute moments, and there were some really CUTE MOMENTS in this drama...

I thought I would just pause this show while the plot focused on the crazy mother, but Jin-ah ended up being the villain of this show for me. As a writer, you advocate for (or at least condone) the behavior you reward, and while Jin-ah wasn’t exactly rewarded for her horrible decision-making, she didn’t end up losing Joon-hee either. (Don’t even get me started on the crazy mother.) I reject “but it’s realistic” as a reason for showing, and especially rewarding, bad behavior. It’s fiction, and you choose what to show in the story. If you decide to show people carrying out deplorable actions and you don’t set them up for substantial consequences, you’re basically arguing in favor of those actions. I loved the first few episodes of this show, but now I think it’s even worse than “Cheese in the Trap.”

Summary:
Joonhee and his sis are sweethearts who deserved so much better.

Jin ah's pathological lying makes her frustrating to be with.

Jin ah's Mom is human filth. Sometimes I wished she was real just so I could slap her senseless.

This show had everything going for it until episode 8. After that it just became excruciating to watch Jin Ah AND her mother. Joon Hee’s devotion to Jin Ah was so palpable BUT communication between them was just so bad. Jin Ah kept lying and skirting around basic issues that should have been settled while Joon Hee kept “barrelling” along, persistent in showing his devotion but also deciding on his own on important matters affecting them as a couple.
If not for the earnest acting of our OTP and their chemistry, I wouldn’t have patiently watched till the end, which was so contrived and such a letdown.
SURE, we got the happy ending but at such terrible cost. Maybe a season 2 written better would work.

Thanks @Saya for a masterful recap and review. You've captured what bothered me about this show from almost the beginning. The important things were not spoken about but forgotten or glossed over. There was no real growth in the OTP relationship. One moment they were brother's friend and noona, and next they were a couple, and that's all they remain, as far as we can see.

I had higher hopes for the workplace harrssment thread, but I see that it came to naught.

I'm glad I did not continue watching this. I only caught the last episode and read your recap, and that's good enough to know that I missed nothing great. Thanks so much for continuing to recap this even when you were highly annoyed and tired out emotionally by it. I'd have stopped and walked away, but you're made of sterner and more responsible stuff. 😋 I've never taken note of producers or directors before, especially in order to avoid their work. I wonder if I should take a leaf from your book over this. 😆 Cheers!

Thank you so much @saya and @laica for taking time to weecap "Noona"<3.
It's good to have a place to vent, rant, fangirl etc over "Pretty Noona."

I have such mixed feelings by the end of the show. I really enjoy some parts of it and some fell short.
I think mixing all the realistic fluffy love story and the other realistic social/cultural issues didn't work quite well. It was either one or the other but PD Ahn was being PD Ahn. Gotta have something controversial to work with which I usually love but not with this writer.
Her strength was the romance.

I'm glad it was successful for the cast and crew who worked hard and happily behind the scenes.

Watching this was like getting tricked into a networking scam. They make sweet promises to get you to invest your hard earned money, make you taste some sweet little profit in the beginning then when you thought you have hit the jackpot, they rip you off of everything you have and just disappear without a trace!

Love both the actors but this could’ve been better.

I think this drama is very realistic in the way that in the most of the time, people don't really change. After 35 years to live in a certain way, it's very hard to change even if there is a great boyfriend. It's often easier to live like we are used to be even if it's far from perfect than to enter in unfamiliar world. She tried a lot and failed a lot too.

It's different from the drama because the heroine is not saved by her love story like other drama where the rich jerk becomes a cute teddy bear. It shows that in real life it's not enough, life is more complicated.

But yeah... I prefer to remember all the lovely couple scenes and forget the frustrating part :p

Thanks for the recaps. The show had its high and low points with many viewers frustrated with the ending episodes. A few may think the show will be remembered for style over substance. I went back to see how the original story was promoted, how it was presented, and where it may have gotten lost or changed by viewer expectations.

Long post alert: I will break my thoughts into sections for discussion purposes.

THE CASTING & ORIGINAL STORY SET -UP

In a recent interview, PD Ahn said he wanted to work with SYJ. He felt that she was the best actress to play a mid-30s woman at the centerpiece of this realistic drama. “That’s why, from the very beginning, I thought that there was no one else for the leading role of ‘Pretty Noona’ but Son Ye Jin. I only contacted one person [for the role], and it worked out. She decided to take the role even after seeing all the negative sides to it.” He added with a laugh, “I was really surprised.”

SYJ said she also wanted to work with the director. Her fellow actresses gave him high marks. And when she was recruited for the series, PD Ahn promised he would do things so she could meet her goals. As a result, the series was shot more like an independent art film. There were little wasted scenes. And the mood on the set was fun but professional.

SYJ is a professional. Her reputation is to immerse herself in her characters. She was aware of the negatives of JA (her life, her decisions, her mistakes, etc.) He claims the scripts were all read in full in October, 2017 (but does not say if the scripts were changed in the end).

In initial filming before the premiere, JA’s character was described as a hard working person with a lonely personal life where she stares at empty bottles of liquor. She is a typical South Korean woman in her 30s who feels emptiness in her heart because she doesn't feel accomplished in either career or love which every woman around her age can empathize with.
"Son Ye Jin is showing so much motivation and effort as she is always holding onto her script and having numerous discussions with the director on expressing her character more fully. She is doing a great job in portraying Jin-ah's change of emotion with her detailed acting and really becoming the character. Everyone should be expecting great things to come out of this drama,” a staff member said.
At the beginning, JA’s situation can be summed up as follows:
1. She is 35 still living at home with her parents.
2. She is going out with a terrible BF who has cheated on her after she slept with him (meaning she was serious about the relationship but he was not).
3. Her mother is pushing her to marry the terrible BF because of his status and JA’s age.
4. She is stuck in a dead end job subject to work place harassment and takes blame for others’ mistakes.

JA character is a meek, introverted, weak, hard working but repressed follower of society norms. She really does not talk about goals or a future. It appears she...

THE INITIAL CHEMISTRY

If you look objectively at the beginning of JA and JH’s romantic relationship, it was a quick and burning passion. The reason for JA was simple: she was coming off a dead cat bounce relationship with her cheating ex-BF. Since her mid 20s, JA had been groomed by her mother to go out with a certain kind of man (one of status, means and upward mobility). JA’s only hope with these blind dates was that the man would “like” her. JA went out on those dates not out of a search for love but obligation to her mother. JA must have seemed that this current ex-BF was her best shot since she was serious enough to slept with him but his betrayal left her bitter, angry and alone.

JH returns to Korea after 3 years in USA. He is friends with JA’s brother, SH. He knows SH dates many women (because of his looks and charm). He knows he has a stubborn temper. JH is young and carefree in YOLO life style. JH grew up without parents so it appears that he is still harboring abandonment issues. He had dated many women in the past, but apparently could not get beyond 3 months (which is interesting since the 100 day mark in Korea is a milestone of a “serious” relationship.) He is charming, attentive, but also selfish, temperamental and paternalistic.

In a chance timing of motive and opportunity, JH returned to Korea after three years, and the first cute woman he saw he went after (surprising himself that it was his noona.) The surprise flirtation and familiarity was the spark to set them on a quick path to become lovers.

JA and JH get caught up in the mystery, excitement and secrecy of their romance. So did the audience. It was clear that JA and JH loved being together. It was an infatuation.

Attraction? Yes, they both complimented each other about their appearance.
Escapism? Yes, they both were coming back from negative experiences to find comfort in each others’ arms, away from their daily grind and problems.
Infatuation? Yes, the hot and secret aspect of their intense and short lived passion for each other.
True love? No. Even though viewers were caught up with the initial passion, the couple’s relationship was foreshadowed to be doomed. As reality encroached on their secret life, real serious issues arose between their family members and friends which the couple did not or could not discuss and work out together.

How each character viewed their relationship was telling:

JA did like the fact that a younger man found her attractive and desirable. It may have been a long time since a man approached her (instead of through blind dates). She wanted to keep it a secret because she knew it was all merely fun: companionship with benefits, not a serious relationship. Also, JA wanted to keep it secret because she knew the negative ramifications to her family and friendship with KS.

However, JH did not want to keep it secret. This showed his naivety. His character always lived in the moment, not thinking long term...

THE MIDDLE CONFLICTS

The greatest problem with the story was JA’s interaction with the people around her. It was an intentional portrayal. She was an apologetic follower. She rarely stood up for herself. Her decision making was mired in self-conflict, self-doubt. She thought the world viewed her as a commodity and not as a person or a woman.

And this was embedded in how she dealt with her personal life, including her affair with JH. The series lacked deep discussions between the characters that is the foundation for serious relationships.

JA was conditioned to be subservient and accept what others told her.

What were the major issues in JA’s life?

1. Her mother’s desire that she marry the “right” man. But after a serious of loser boyfriends, JA had basically given up on a chance to meet Mr. Right, someone she could passionately love while be acceptable to her family.

2. Her job was becoming more unbearable. The demands and blame she took for other workers mistakes were mounting. The harassment of her by superiors was intolerable. She was in a dead end job with no real chance of promotion.

3. She had few friends. KS was her best friend who she could confide in. It seemed that JA had a hard time making new friends. When she does make a close friend, she tries hard not to break that bond, even it means hurting herself in the process.

4. She has a maniac ex-BF who wants to get back together or ruin her life.

How did the couple “work” to resolve these issues? They did not. JA and JH were merely apologetic to JA’s mother about their relationship, but did nothing to convince their families that they had a future together. JH did nothing to help JA resolve her work place issues, or support her if she wanted to change career path. JH brought JA to meet some of his friends (on the overnight trip) but JA did not do the same. (this shows JH was more into the relationship than JA). JH got jealous and violent about JA’s ex-BF which contributed to conflict between them because he did not discuss beforehand with JA his actions.

The breaking point was JH demanding that JA come to him to the US. Of course, JA said no. She felt insulted that JH’s solution was to run away from problems. (Not to mention that it would be impossible for JA to suddenly move to the US with no job, no spouse, and no money with the country’s current immigration policies). JH solution was that JA would be there for him. He was angry that she rejected his solution. He never understood her position, her feelings or her long term goals.

The couple’s initial passion glossed over several important aspects missing from consideration on whether this was heading toward a serious relationship or “true love.”

1. Communication. Their communication was superficial. They did not discuss important issues or ideas which represents mutual immaturity. They never opened up to each other on what their personal goals were (job, career, changes, etc.) or how they...

THE ENDING

The ending is controversial because it seems forced to meet viewer or network expectations.

What is telling is that after their break up, they spent more than 3 years a part. They did not speak to each other. It seems they ghosted each other. They never tried to reconcile or get back together. JA friendship with KS ended. SH and JH drifted a part, but probably kept in indirect touch through mutual friends (who told JH that SH was getting married; SH did not invite him to his wedding -- he crashed it.) Each began dating other people, signaling the official end of their relationship. JA was a dating an A-type businessman, but she only thinks “he likes me.” She is nearly 40 with no other prospect to have a traditional life. She is a wilted wall flower with no self-esteem.

JH returns to Korea on vacation. He is still working in the US. He shows up at SH’s wedding which surprises JA and her family. We can tell that at the moment, JH is filled with regrets (feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over what had happened with his missed opportunity with JA). JH sees JA with another loser boyfriend so he thinks he has to save her. JA’s response is awkward shock at his presence which is a normal reaction for a person who has experienced a bad break up without any resolution of the underlying issues. BR reminds JA that she gave up on JH and she got over him. BR tells JA that it would be a big mess if she rekindled any feelings for JH.

JA goes to see KS after a long time. She wants to try to get back their friendship before going out with JH, but appears irreversibly broken (since the break up led to JH leaving KS alone). This is a hollow offer to renew their friendship since JA is looking for closure of the pain she was part of with KS. Then JH shows up, and there is an awkward conversation that shows that JH is still upset with JA. She offers to go back to being the way they were before dating (family friends), but that is also a hollow illusion that both KS and JH do not accept. JA met KS to cut ties cleanly so she could move on. The same is true with JH. After JA leaves, JH confesses to KS that if he wanted JA back, he could have done so before now.

JA decides that she has to completely cut ties with the past. She breaks up with the new BF. She quits her job. She tells her mother she does not want to get married. She decides to leave her mother’s sphere of influence to move to Jeju to work in her new best friend’s coffee shop. She wants to end the cycle of people controlling her. Her independence is now the most important aspect of her life. .JA tells BR that she has no regrets in breaking up with JH because their relationship could only go so far by “fate.” In other words, JA believes finding her true love is beyond her control.

When JH shows up in Jeju, JA’s initial reaction is anger at him. JH wants her back, but she pushes him away. He hugs her which upsets JA. JH tells her that it was all his fault, that he is...

OBSERVATIONS

The theme song, “Stand by Your Man,” was a critical component in the series.

If you listen to the song lyrics, to be a proper woman, you need to love just one man; do things you don’t understand; have to forgive him if you don’t understand; be proud of him; always be there with physical hugs and keep giving him all the love you can.
It was a controversial song. Feminists hated it. American Singer Tammy Wynette in later years defended the song as not a call for women to place themselves second to men, but rather a suggestion that women attempt to overlook their husbands' shortcomings and faults if they truly love them (and in fact, the last line in the final verse says "after all, he's just a man")
Permissive subservient tone of main theme song runs contrary to potential growth in JA’s character. Perhaps this is why JA finally had to rebel against the norms placed upon her by her family and work.
Two things were obvious in the final episode: First, JH is still in denial over break up. Asking for forgiveness without an acknowledgement what you did wrong is not an apology. Second, JA has come to the realization that her happiness comes from her own independence and not the society’s requirement of marriage.
The Conclusion:

The story was about JA. How she was conditioned by parents and society how to act and what was expected of her. The theme song promotes the stereotypical female role in a conservative society. She is an anti-heroine which is different kind of k-drama lead.

The on-screen chemistry masked the underlying story of JA. During the BTS videos, we see SYJ having a deep understanding of her character as she overrules the director and JHI when they suggest more passionate scenes. For JA, she has had a series of mom-approved BFs but she has not learned or experienced what true love is . . . she is a novice based upon her meek and deferral personality. Normal people may have dated often, but may be really bad at it since they may not understand how to love another person. Or, if you are unable to love yourself, you cannot love another person.

The vast amount (80%) of viewers were women. They were taken in by JHI: his looks, mannerisms, smile, charms and acts of playfulness with JA.The female audience was captivated by JH as being an “ideal” boyfriend. So the focus of the viewers turned to the couple instead of JA. JH character was not fully developed; we only knew that he was abandoned as a child (mother died and father left to start new family), his charm brings him many dates, he is impulsive and temperamental; he has an overbearing sense of paternalistic protection. He has had plenty of opportunities to find true love, but he can never commit.

The side stories were to highlight JA’s daily obstacles and how her coping mechanism had been to ride the riptide of unhappiness so she would not get hurt too badly. She took the abuse because that was expected of her. The irony of the promotion for not...

Glad I dropped this one. No need to watch something that will make me destroy another tablet or go on a fan-fic writing binge to correct what could have been a fantastic story of a woman standing up to all kinds of stupidity and hatred. I already know too many women being marginalized, mistreated and oppressed by family, coworkers, and so-called 'boyfriends'. 'Nuff already.

If you guys are interested, we just released a podcast episode discussing the #MeToo movement in Korea and its impact on k-ent: MEN BEHAVING BADLY. Come and listen!

I have nothing to add to your final comments, which perfectly encapsulate how I feel too. We sure did have fun during the first half though, didn't we? Thanks again for taking on the finale. <3

I’m writing this while seeing these series on netflix( I’ll stop at episode 10 I think). This. Had. So.much. Potential. (Sigh!!)

Thanks so much @Saya for weecaping this.

Bailed on this one at Episode 5.
I think it was somewhere between Episode 4 and 5 that the lying began to wear thin. Saw the writing on the wall and thought to myself that I can't watch a show with a female lead who can't be honest about the man she's sleeping with. Particularly with a mother like that. If the show's consistent, all of that will come to bite them. And apparently it did.

Switched over to marathon My Mister... talk about a great K drama decision.

On a personal note, I was 24 when I had to stand up to some minor opposition to my decision to marry a man outside my ethnic-cultural group. It all eventually came good but when one doesn't do all the hard work at the beginning of taking a stand and sidestep the issues, the hard work of having to take a stand will always haunt you. I've seen that happen more than once.

This show was the embodiment of "you make your own problems." Jin Ah, from the very beginning, had me ranting at the screen. I lost count of the times I yelled "WTH are you doing?" My last straw was her getting in the car with the abusive ex. Seriously woman? Just tell him to meet you at the store at the intersection. On what planet would getting in the car seem like any sort of good idea? That, added to all the lying (so, so much lying) and I gave up on her. I agree that she was realistic in that people are irrational and, well, stupid but the fact that she never learned, never reflected at all just made me want to hulksmash everything. Such a disappointment.
And I agree with Saya completely that stories exist to tell us of the realism and help us to find a happier resolution or at least a hint of how to move forward - unless you are George R.R. Martin. Then apparently they are just meticulously crafted ways to kill everyone who has any spark of goodness and any little bit of idealism the reader may have.

So I was going to finish up with this essay on the OST and why the PD chose a song about female submission from a culture that celebrates female submission but I honestly hate Stand By Your Man so much and have had it stuck in my head for so long that I can't be bothered.

The OST sucked, y'all. That's all I got.

So I will limit my final remarks to this: I don't think I've ever watched a drama before where I can say the writing, directing, cinematography and acting were all top-notch but somehow I don't want to recommend that anyone else watch it.