Angel’s Last Mission: Love: Episodes 19-20

by SailorJumun

What a week it’s been for our couple. They’ve been through hell and back (er, figuratively), and now they’re in a place where they can finally let themselves be happy. It’d be a whole lot easier, however, if everyone around them wasn’t dead set on tearing them apart.

 
EPISODES 19-20 RECAP

After a long night of waiting, Yeon-seo tells Dan to promise never to leave her again. He takes it one step further by saying that he loves her and pulling her in for a kiss. And another, and another.

The next day, Yeon-seo eagerly presses her call button, growing anxious as the seconds tick by and Dan doesn’t show. She throws the door open to see him about to knock, and she chides him for being over a minute late.

She then teases him by saying, “Do you remember what happened last night?” She leans in, making him gulp and shut his eyes, only to boop his nose and run away. He chases her down the stairs to get his kiss and…

“Dan?” At the sound of Chief Jung’s voice, the couple jump away from each other. They try to play it cool, but Jung can see right through them. Still, she plays along and says that Yeon-seo’s “friend” better be careful with her man, ha.

As Dan drops Yeon-seo off at Fantasia, she asks him what he did while he was away — he wouldn’t happen to have another woman, would he? He assures her that that’s not the case and sends her on her way.

On the way out, he crosses paths with Kang-woo and remembers the end of their conversation from last night. He’d asked how Kang-woo knew of the angels’ punishments, and Kang-woo had answered that there had been an angel who’d thought he was a special case, just like Dan.

He warned Dan that a happy ending was impossible and that it was better for him to disappear. However, Dan boldly stated that he wasn’t going to be a coward. “I want Yeon-seo to know who I am,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m human or not, if I’m dead or alive. I want her to know my present and my past and still love me.”

Kang-woo urged him to go ahead and reveal it all, positive that she would never accept him. His only condition was for Dan to wait until after the final “Giselle” auditions. Dan had a nagging feeling just then that Kang-woo could be that angel, but he shook it off and left.

Meanwhile, in the present, Hoo has that same feeling. He goes to the Buddhist temple to check out Kang-woo’s locker, and he’s shocked to find the angels’ signature handkerchief inside.

Luna’s sneaky minion Black Cap gets ahold of Mr. Park’s phone while he’s not looking and sets up a wiretap. This allows him to hear Park’s conversation with Chief Jung, who wants to meet up tomorrow.

At the church, Kang-woo approaches Hoo to give a half-hearted warning that his junior angel is giving up his mission. He turns to leave, but Hoo makes him stop short by bringing up the infamous angel who became human.

The two share a drink outside, quoting verses (which, to Kang-woo’s annoyance, never left his memory). “You’ve been through a lot,” Hoo says, genuinely sympathetic. “Getting abandoned in this world, unable to really live or die.”

Still, Hoo doesn’t understand why Kang-woo is so angry when he’s already completed his personal mission of getting Yeon-seo on stage. Kang-woo stares at his now ringless finger, remembering the way Yeon-seo had looked at him during her “Giselle” routine.

Hoo sighs, seeing that Kang-woo must have a newfound desire to live, even though he’s always considered living to be hell. “I want to break free from that hell now,” Kang-woo says darkly, downing one last drink before walking away.

Back at the estate, Dan tries to practice how he’s going to tell Yeon-seo that he was Sung-woo and that he’s now an angel. And he’s failing miserably. He’s then interrupted by a phone call from Yeon-seo — her number now labeled “Madam Yeon-seo,” lol.

Dan meets Yeon-seo out in the garden, curious as to what’s keeping her up this late. Her face serious, she asks, “Which of the two is it? You’re married or you have a terminal illness?” He blinks, confused, and she explains that his odd behavior on the island only points to those two reasons. He laughs at that and reiterates that she’s the only one for him — his first and his last. She asks what he was doing while he was gone, then, and he hesitates.

He doesn’t want to bother her with something so trivial until her big audition is over. She frowns and scooches over, taking his hands. She wants him to understand that he’s most important to her, so nothing about him is trivial. Still nervous, he starts small by revealing he went to see his father. He wanted to know why Dad treated him so badly, why he couldn’t just love him. He stops there, before he gets emotional, and jokes that it’s a boring story.

The saddened Yeon-seo brings him into a hug, ignoring his protests that he’s okay. “You and me,” she says, “we’re all alone in this world. You’ve been through a lot, my Dan.” And as Dan’s protesting turns to crying, Yeon-seo sweetly pats his back.

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Your story is important

The next day at practice, Kang-woo overhears the dancers talking about private meetings with Luna. He immediately confronts Luna about this, knowing she’s bribing them for votes. However, she isn’t the least bit scared since there’s no way he can prove it.

Mr. Park meets Chief Jung in an abandoned building, where she presents his former colleague Moon Ji-woong. She says that Mr. Moon is going to testify for the broken stagelight three years ago, for it was him who loosened the light. He didn’t want to harm Yeon-seo, but he was desperate for the money at the time.

Though they’re unsure of who the actual mastermind is, Jung plans to go to the police with Yeon-seo soon. Unfortunately, their entire conversation is being recorded by Black Cap and sent over to Luna, who’s got that evil glint in her eye again.

With final auditions being tomorrow, it’s a long night of practicing for Yeon-seo. However, Dan gets so lost in her interpretation of Giselle’s death that he impulsively grabs her hands. D’aww, stop.

Yeon-seo insists on practicing even later into the night, not quite able to perfect Giselle’s betrayal after being deceived. She gives in to a break, though, when a persistent Dan offers to take her anywhere she wants. What she wants, she beams, is to see the stars with him.

As the two go on a midnight stroll, Dan notices Yeon-seo trying to hold his hand. He does it for her, interlocking their fingers, and they both smile to themselves. “He must’ve had a reason,” Dan muses, referring to Giselle’s lover Albrecht and how he lied about his previous engagement.

He speculates that Albrecht couldn’t help falling in love with Giselle and that, once he was in too deep, he was afraid to tell the truth. Yeon-seo argues that if Albrecht was afraid, there wasn’t enough trust on his part — he should’ve trusted Giselle’s love for him. Suddenly inspired, she drags him back home to practice.

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The mistake of Albrecht

While waiting outside, Dan is ambushed by Hoo. Dan isn’t in the mood for his sunbae’s lectures, but Hoo insists that it’s important: Kang-woo sincerely cares for Yeon-seo, and not just as Seol-hee’s look-alike.

Hoo urges Dan to use this chance to finish his mission. After all, does Dan really want Yeon-seo to see him disappear? Dan’s face falls as Hoo grasps his hands and continues that their only way for a happy ending is for Kang-woo to stay with Yeon-seo and for Dan to return to heaven.

“There has to be a way,” Dan says. “If a human can become an angel, then there has to be a way for an angel to become a human.” This only frustrates Hoo further, but Dan snaps that he’ll deal with the consequences. With that, he storms off.

The following day — the day of the auditions — Yeon-seo asks to borrow Dan’s handkerchief for good luck one last time. Dan stares at the handkerchief, remembering when Hoo first gave it to him and warned him never to lose it. He then tells Yeon-seo to keep it — he won’t need it since he’ll always be with her.

While Dan joins the audience in the theater, Yeon-seo and the other dancers prepare in the dressing room. Kang-woo comes in to give them a pep talk, and he notices Nina’s empty chair, as well the handkerchief tied around Yeon-seo’s wrist. He makes sure to tell Yeon-seo to focus on her interpretation today.

Kang-woo leaves, and Yeon-seo catches dancer Jung-eun sneaking pain pills. To Jung-eun’s annoyance, Yeon-seo correctly guesses that she overworked herself after giving birth. Yeon-seo advises her to take care of her health first and bow out of the audition, but Jung-eun firmly states that she can’t give up.

The auditions commence, the audience consisting of fellow dancers and board members, with Dan and Nina’s instructor Elena hanging in the back. All the performing dancers do well, Jung-eun included, but no one really wows the crowd. Then it’s Nina’s turn, and boy, does she turn heads when she arrives late, stony-faced.

Nina’s portrayal of Giselle is much more theatrical than her last try, and we see that she achieved this by practicing with Elena in a graveyard. (Oy, that’s… dark.) She acts out going mad and dying, much passion in her movements, and it earns a standing ovation. Even Kang-woo stands to clap, pleasantly surprised.

Nina passes Yeon-seo backstage, where Yeon-seo sincerely says that she did a great job. Nina coldly replies, “I didn’t do it to gain your approval. Do well yourself.” Disheartened, Yeon-seo nervously steps onstage for her turn.

She then sees Dan standing in the back, smiling, and caresses her handkerchief, putting her at ease. She falls into her routine, sticking with the sad death rather than the resentful one. And while the audience is captivated by her emotional performance, she and Dan are thinking about their parallels to “Giselle.”

Dan: She feels resentment. Not towards him, but towards herself.
Yeon-seo: Was my love not enough?
Dan: It’s not like that.
Yeon-seo: He probably couldn’t tell me because he didn’t trust me.
Dan: No, I want to tell you. You, more than anyone. I want to tell you who and what I am. But… can I do that?

Yeon-seo as Giselle collapses to the floor, dying of heartbreak, and she too receives a standing ovation. And despite her going against his critique, Kang-woo looks incredibly moved. Afterwards, as everyone anonymously votes, Dan secretly gives Yeon-seo’s hand a tight squeeze before returning to his seat. The results come out to a tie between Yeon-seo and Nina, but Director Choi notices that one person failed to vote.

That one person is Jung-eun, who left early for not feeling well. Choi smirks and suggests they call to get her vote (knowing very well that Jung-eun was a dancer they bribed). Kang-woo gets Jung-eun on the phone, and to everyone’s surprise, she declares that she liked Yeon-seo the best. And that’s that — Yeon-seo is officially Giselle.

Choi throws a fit in her office, cursing the dancers. Uncle Kim catches on that his wife bribed them, and horrified, he asks how far she’ll go to make Nina the star. Choi seethes that she’s been too nice all this time (HA, right) and that she’ll have to step up her game.

Meanwhile, Luna finds Nina crying in the bathroom muttering how she wished Yeon-seo was dead. It reminds Luna of three years ago, when Nina had been jealous of Yeon-seo getting the “Swan Lake” lead and had wished she was gone then too.

Kang-woo stops Yeon-seo to congratulate her, as well as to ask her out to dinner; he’d like to explain his story and his feelings for her. She tries to decline, but he disregards this and says that he’ll be waiting at the nearby restaurant tonight.

Yeon-seo then goes out to find Dan, who’s so happy that he attack-hugs her, hee. Though she has to meet Chief Jung tonight, he urges her to go somewhere with him first. He wants to go to the park where they met to finally reveal his secrets.

On the way to the park, Yeon-seo admits that Kang-woo asked her to dinner and that she worries he could still be waiting. Dan spazzes out, huffing that she shouldn’t give him the time of day, and she gets the biggest grin on her face.

“Are you jealous?” she asks. “You like me that much?” He nods yes, and she can barely contain her happiness. Suddenly, there’s a boom of thunder, making Dan freeze. Yeon-seo notices this and asks if he has some kind of trauma associated with storms, since he’s run away every time it rained.

Or, she jokes, is it because he’ll turn into a merman or something? He hesitantly asks what she would do if the latter were true, and she answers that she’d pray for him to return to himself. He smiles, but the intensifying thunder only worsens his nerves.

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What if I turn into something else?

He turns to leave, wanting to buy them an umbrella, but she panics and grabs his hand, insisting on going together. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he assures her that he’s not running away anymore. He leaves her there, promising to be right back.

As Yeon-seo waits, she gets this overwhelming feeling that she’ll always be looking for Dan, even in the future, as if she’s destined to miss him terribly forever. She then sees him across the street, waving at her, and she waves back, relieved. Dan then runs into some kids playing and helps them up, just as a truck blocks his view of Yeon-seo. And when the truck passes, Yeon-seo is gone. Oh no…

We see a worried Chief Jung waiting for Yeon-seo at the police station, and then we see an ambulance crew pulling a body out of the river — Moon Ji-woong. (OH NO.) And following Luna’s orders, Black Cap uses Yeon-seo’s phone to send a text to Kang-woo that makes her sound suicidal, thus luring him out. Luna tells Black Cap to go ahead and finish the job, looking forward to Kang-woo witnessing his precious ballerina’s end.

Black Cap currently has Yeon-seo on the roof of the theater, blindfolded and tied to a pole right by the ledge. After getting the text, Kang-woo runs over and frantically looks around until he spots her up above. He calls 911 and hurries into the building.

Back on the ledge, Yeon-seo urges Black Cap to do the smart thing by letting her go and walking away. She breathes a sigh of relief when he removes her blindfold and starts to untie her, telling him he’s making the right choice. “I’m not saving you,” Black Cap says. “No one commits suicide with their hands tied and eyes covered.”

Before Yeon-seo has time to react, Black Cap pushes her off the roof. She goes hurtling down, when with a strike of lightning, Dan appears in the sky in all his winged glory. She reaches out to him, and he easily catches her and sets her on the ground. It’s only then that she fully registers what’s she’s staring at.

   
COMMENTS

Wow… The lengths these people go to to keep Yeon-seo off the stage. It’s ridiculous, actually, the more I think about it. I know that Nina wouldn’t actually do anything to harm Yeon-seo, but after this episode, she is sort of at fault for all the bad things that have happened. Or, at least, she’s at the center of it. Her whole family is doing shady business for her, from her mom to her sister, and even to her softie of a dad. It’s that sisterly bond between Nina and Luna, however, that seems to be stirring the most trouble. From what we know, Luna never had a life of her own, as she was always taking care of her sister. With that being her only dedication, and with her home and work life demanding so much, that had to mess with her mind a bit. And that weird, whispery background music that always follows her highlights that. Then again, is it background music? I did read several comments theorizing that she was possessed or influenced by some kind of negative force, but I’m not sure if this drama would really go there and this late in the game. It would be an interesting twist, though. All I know is, the woman is crazy.

Nina may be unaware of her family’s actions, but that doesn’t get her a Get Out of Jail Free card. She’s let her admiration for Kang-woo and her hatred for Yeon-seo grow to the point that it’s just unhealthy. And mixing all of that with the pressures of being a ballerina? It ain’t good, y’all. It actually pains me to see someone on the brink of destroying herself. It pains me to see her put up a wall when her cousin is finally, finally trying to be sincere. I had similar feelings of frustration with Kang-woo — as I always do. I’m glad that Hoo now knows who Kang-woo is and that the two had a pretty nice heart-to-heart chat, but Hoo is delusional if he thinks that Kang-woo would be good for Yeon-seo. Kang-woo may have this formal and polite quality to him, but he has never respected Yeon-seo or any of her clear rejections. And it’s only getting worse. At this point, I don’t even want Kang-woo with Nina (because, I’ll admit it, I kind of shipped them in the beginning). I don’t know what I want for Kang-woo, other than some serious help.

Phew… Now that I’ve let all my frustrations out, I can get to the good stuff. This was a great week for Angel’s Last Mission, in that it reminded me of just how much I love it, glaring flaws and all. With Dan and Yeon-seo being official, we got so much of The Cute back, which also brought back all of the liveliness that was present in the earlier episodes. Plus, our heroes had that major win with Yeon-seo’s audition! So satisfying! I totally related to Dan when he mentioned that he was super nervous even though he wasn’t the one dancing; my heart was legitimately pounding in my ears when Yeon-seo stepped on stage. But, of course, our girl did not disappoint. It just sucks that her success is what pushes her family further away.

Going back to our couple, I’ve really enjoyed the parallels with “Giselle,” as well as Dan and Yeon-seo’s differing opinions on the story. It’s strongly hinted that Yeon-seo won’t fear Dan as an angel, but that she will be disappointed that he didn’t trust her enough to tell her. Of course, Dan’s secret is so much bigger than having a fiance (like Albrecht). I’d say his fears in telling her are justified since he’d be delivering two major blows — being an angel and being her long lost childhood friend. One thing I didn’t address in the last recap that’s just dawning on me is Dan’s transition from a boy to an angel. I don’t know if it’ll ever be addressed, but what, was he floating around in some kind of purgatory until his 20s? Or was he raised as an angel from the moment he died?

With couples like this, who are so freaking adorable and who like each other so much, I want to shield them from all the angst and the evil and the crazy aunts and cousins. Dan and Yeon-seo may be adults, but in my eyes, they’re just innocent kids wanting to stay together. They’ve been through enough, Show, now let them be! But alas, dramaland does not work that way. At least, not in this region of dramaland. Fantasy dramas can be a lot less predictable, yet at the same time, they do abide by a certain formula. So yeah, I know we’re nowhere near done with the heartbreak, and it saddens me, but not gonna lie — I am looking forward to some of that delicious angst that’s been set up. I guess I better enjoy The Cute while it lasts.

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