Monthly Magazine Home: Episode 16 (Final)
by Branwen
There are plenty of surprises left in store for our final episode, some more welcome than others. Our leads get the chance to re-experience their youth on a romantic getaway, but an unexpected family reunion leads to the discovery of a dark secret which has the potential to drive a wedge between them. Meanwhile, our second couple reach a crossroads in their relationship.
EPISODE 16: “A man who buys a house, a woman who has a home”
Ja-sung gets a message from Secretary Hwang to say that a buyer has been found for the apartment he’s currently living in and Young-won assumes that means he’ll be moving out soon, but Ja-sung tells her that he’s finally decided to stay put and settle down. He invites her to go with him to officially register his new permanent address, which he hasn’t done in over a decade since he’s never stayed in one place for more than a week at a time.
Ja-sung explains that the apartment isn’t just a place to spend the night to him anymore but a home, decorated by Young-won and filled with memories and warmth.
During an editorial meeting, Sang-soon proposes that their next travel article be about places often visited on school trips and the team reminisce about their own school vacations to Gyeongju. The mood turns awkward though when Ja-sung admits that he’s never been on a school trip because he always had to work part-time instead. Although he’s been all over the country on real estate surveys now he’s an adult, he’s still never just been on vacation.
Later, Young-won suggests that she and Ja-sung go on a trip to Gyeongju together so he can experience a school trip for himself. Young-won hasn’t been on vacation either since she was in school and her family’s financial situation changed drastically for the worse.
Young-won’s parents had been the victims of a real estate scam and lost all their savings after purchasing an apartment from a “friend” of her father’s which turned out to be already owned by someone else. She’d gotten home from school one day to find the place ransacked by thugs sent by loan sharks and her mom crying over a note from her dad telling them that he’d be back when he’d made some money. Young-won never saw her dad again.
Gyeom is amazed to hear that Ja-sung is willingly going to take a vacation after years of insisting it was a waste of his valuable time which he could be using to make money. He tells Young-won that Ja-sung has changed for the better since he met her, and seems much happier now.
Watching Ja-sung chat and laugh with Editor Choi and Sang-soon, Gyeom explains that he closed himself off emotionally after he was betrayed by someone he trusted, but Young-won’s influence has enabled him to open up and let others in again. Smiling fondly at Ja-sung, Gyeom tells Young-won that he hopes they enjoy their trip together and make good memories.
Sang-soon has been spending most of his nights at Eui-joo’s apartment lately — although he’s been lying to his parents that he’s working overtime — and he broaches the topic of marriage while they do couples yoga together, to her disgust.
He tries to convince her to at least think about it but Eui-joo shuts him down immediately, warning him furiously that if he wants to get married then he should date someone else. Sang-soon backs down quickly and agrees that they should just date for the rest of their lives instead, and the two of them head to the bedroom for another type of work-out.
Sang-soon and Young-won are working on the next article together, so Sang-soon sends her his photos of the man of nature’s hut in the woods. Young-won is stunned to realize that the man in the photos is her missing father, and immediately calls Sang-soon to demand the location of the hut.
Young-won lets her mom know what she’s discovered, and the next day the two of them hike into the woods to find her father. Young-won is overcome when she sees him for the first time in over a decade and runs towards him, but she’s overtaken by her mom.
Seeing his estranged wife running to him, Young-won’s dad waits with open arms to embrace her but ends up getting his hair pulled viciously instead. Overcome with rage at finding the man who abandoned her alive and well, Young-won’s mom attacks him furiously as Young-won tries desperately to pull her off.
Meanwhile, Ja-sung has suddenly realized that he has no idea what people do on vacation and since Young-won has the day off work for personal reasons, he turns to Sang-soon for advice instead. Pretending to take a professional interest in the travel article Sang-soon’s writing, Ja-sung asks for recommendations for where to go in Gyeongju.
Sang-soon suggests a few local attractions, while Editor Choi provides commentary about how he and his wife visited each place and ended up getting into a fight there. Eventually Ja-sung gets so irritated by these interjections that he drags Sang-soon away for a private consultation, leaving a crestfallen Editor Choi all alone.
In the woods, Young-won’s dad explains to his wife and daughter that after he left home he went to work on a deep-sea fishing vessel to earn money but got injured and had to give it up soon after. Too ashamed to return empty-handed, he turned his hand to any kind of work he could get to try and earn enough to pay his debts.
Young-won’s mom doesn’t buy her husband’s excuses and accuses him of abandoning them to his creditors to hide alone in the woods. She informs him that Young-won was forced to work all through college and has been paying their debt back steadily with every paycheck over the last decade, as he should have been doing.
Young-won is more sympathetic to what her dad’s gone through, and pleads with her mom to let him come back with them. Irritated, she acquiesces, but insists it’s just because she couldn’t bear the shame of having to introduce Young-won’s future husband to his new mountain man father-in-law one day.
Back at the office, Sang-soon’s parents have decided to pay their son a visit as they haven’t seen him for days because he’s supposedly been working overtime at the office. Over a homemade lunch, Sang-soon’s dad asks Editor Choi if he could at least let Sang-soon go home to sleep so that his mom won’t worry about him and Editor Choi agrees apologetically, shooting a knowing look at a guilty Sang-soon.
The conversation soon turns to marriage, and Sang-soon’s dad asks Eui-joo if she knows anyone she can set Sang-soon up with because they want him to get married and produce grandkids as soon as possible. They’re scandalized when Sang-soon, shooting glances at Eui-joo, tells them that he’s decided against ever getting married, and Eui-joo looks on awkwardly as they berate him.
Editor Choi comes to find Eui-joo afterwards and asks if she’s reconsidering things after seeing how set Sang-soon’s parents are on him getting married. She agrees that she is reconsidering — her relationship with Sang-soon.
Young-won’s dad looks like a different man after a shower and a shave, and her mom ruthlessly goes through his bags throwing out his old, scruffy clothes. He tells Young-won that looking at their family photo got him through a lot of tough times and apologizes for not being there for her as she was growing up, but she assures him that he can be there for her from now on, and watch her get married and have kids of her own.
Young-won’s dad asks if she has a boyfriend and she bashfully admits that she’s dating her boss, which delights her mom. She pulls up a photo of the two of them to show her dad, but it turns out he already knows Ja-sung — and he doesn’t look very happy about it.
Ja-sung is busy getting lessons in using a selfie stick from Gyeom in preparation for taking the perfect vacation photos of himself and Young-won. Gyeom smiles fondly as he watches Ja-sung diligently taking notes, and comments on how happy he seems these days.
Ja-sung tells Gyeom that it’s all thanks to him, because he wouldn’t be here today if Gyeom hadn’t supported him through the darkest days of his life. Ja-sung had worked at a construction site when he was younger and found out a coworker was struggling to get together the funds to purchase a house. The coworker — who just so happened to be Young-won’s dad — had always been good to Ja-sung so he offered to lend him the money he needed.
However, when Ja-sung came into work the next day he found out that Young-won’s dad had vanished after borrowing money from several different people. Ja-sung had rushed to his house but found the place completely cleared out and assumed, devastated, that he’d been a victim of a scam and his money had been stolen.
Ja-sung admits that he doesn’t know what he would have done back then without Gyeom, and Gyeom tells him that if he wants to thank him, Ja-sung should live thinking about his bright future rather than his unhappy past from now on.
Sang-soon finds Eui-joo sitting by herself in the archive, looking pensive, and tries to reassure her that he really doesn’t care about marriage, despite his parents. She smiles sadly and tells him to go home and see his parents after work instead of spending the night at her place again. After she’s left the room Sang-soon curses, worried that Eui-joo was hurt by what his parents said.
Ja-sung spends his evening studying up before his and Young-won’s trip to Gyeongju, determined to make it the best trip ever. He texts Young-won to tell her that he’s so excited for the next day that he doesn’t think he’ll be able to sleep.
Young-won stares despondently at Ja-sung’s message, remembering everything he’d said to her about how he felt so awful that he wanted to die after someone he trusted ran off with all his savings, and he was scarred so badly by the experience that he closed himself off from the world. Tears in her eyes, she texts back that they should make it a day they’ll never forget.
Ja-sung has drawn up a full itinerary for their trip to Gyeongju and gives Young-won an enthusiastic guided tour of the historical sites, having researched them thoroughly. He puts his new selfie stick skills to good use taking a photo of the two of them, seeming not to notice that Young-won’s smile is a little strained.
Young-won wants to wander around for a little longer but unfortunately there’s no time for that in Ja-sung’s dauntingly tightly-packed schedule. Ja-sung is determined to get the absolute most out of their time in Gyeongju and leads Young-won through the attractions at a breakneck pace.
Editor Choi is surprised to find Sang-soon working overtime on a Saturday and warns him to start spending some time at home before his parents show up again to complain that they’re overworking him. Sang-soon rejects his offer to get a drink and Editor Choi, offended, insists that he has plenty of other options and calls Ja-sung instead — but Ja-sung hangs up on him before he can even finish asking the question.
Sang-soon calls Eui-joo to see if she wants to go on a date when he’s done, but she says she’s tired and wants to be alone. Frustrated, Sang-soon accuses her of avoiding him since she met his parents the day before, and insists on a face-to-face conversation.
Ja-sung has found a shop that rents costumes to tourists, and he and Young-won borrow school uniforms so they can really get the full school trip experience. As they stroll around eating fries and taking photos together, Ja-sung tells Young-won that since he met her he feels as though all the emptiness that used to be inside him has been filled — not noticing her distressed expression.
Ja-sung’s phone beeps to let him know that it’s time to move on to the next item in the schedule but Young-won asks if they can head back to their lodgings instead, because there are other things that she’d like to do.
Eui-joo tells Sang-soon that she has something she needs to say to him but he cuts her off and pleads with her not to finish that sentence, afraid she’s going to break up with him. He tells her that he’d happily stay unmarried for the rest of his life, as long as he got to spend it with her. Eui-joo tells Sang-soon that she wants to stop dating — and get married instead.
Eui-joo explains that after what her father did to her mom, she never really trusted men and assumed it would only be a matter of time until they betrayed her. But when she met Sang-soon’s parents she was touched by the obvious love and affection his dad still had for his mom after all their years together, holding her hand and kneeling down to tie her shoe for her.
Eui-joo wants a relationship like that, and she’s chosen to believe that Sang-soon will be the same kind of loving husband as his dad. She asks him to marry her and he tearfully agrees, vowing to be good to her for the rest of their lives.
Editor Choi is forced to go for lunch alone, but runs into Secretary Hwang at the restaurant and joins him at his table. As they eat, Editor Choi makes a lot of pitying comments about how awful it must be to work for someone as fickle and unforgiving as Ja-sung, dismissing Secretary Hwang’s objections and insisting that he understands because feels the same way himself.
Secretary Hwang, looking uncomfortable, excuses himself and tries to pay the bill, but Editor Choi insists he’ll get it, assuming Ja-sung pays his assistant a pittance. The restaurant owner is disappointed to see Secretary Hwang go, and informs Editor Choi that he actually owns the building and all his tenants love him.
Shocked, Editor Choi asks if he’s from a wealthy family but Secretary Hwang modestly replies that he picked up a few real estate tips while working for Ja-sung. Throwing some subtle shade, he tells Editor Choi that the secret to his success was listening and learning rather than complaining. Editor Choi watches him walk away in stunned silence, but suddenly curses when he realizes he just bought lunch for someone rich.
Young-won and Ja-sung sit quietly on a bench looking out over the river, and she tells him that she wanted to spend some time alone with him. He apologizes for how hectic their schedule has been, admitting that he read in a book that people take trips to learn and took that very seriously.
Resting her head on his shoulder, Young-won tells him that people also take trips to make memories, and Ja-sung promises that they’ll go on a lot of trips and make a lot of good memories from now on. A sad expression on her face, Young-won doesn’t reply.
When they arrive back in Seoul, Ja-sung is overjoyed for Young-won when she tells him that she found her father, although she doesn’t look happy. He asks why she didn’t tell him earlier and she confesses that she wanted their trip to be a happy memory, confusing him.
Young-won tells Ja-sung that her dad has something to say to him and he starts to worry about making good impression, but is stunned when he turns and sees the man in question. Young-won’s dad kneels down on the sidewalk and bows his head as he apologizes to Ja-sung, and Young-won has to look away.
Mi-ra sits next to Chan outside his rooftop studio, having brought him a homemade lunch as a thank you for taking care of her while she was drunk. After double- and triple-checking that the lunch was made specially for him and him alone, Chan asks Mi-ra to join him with a grin on his face.
Ja-sung and Young-won go out to a cafe and she gives him an envelope containing all the money her dad’s managed to save so far, promising that they’ll return the rest when they’ve sold her mom’s store.
Ja-sung tries to refuse it, insisting that it’s all in the past and he’s not angry with Young-won’s dad anymore because he’d never have made it to where he is today without that experience. Ja-sung forgives him because it was a mistake and he never intended to steal his money, but Young-won points out that her dad still wronged him by running away rather than explain what happened and face the consequences.
Young-won tells Ja-sung that she wants to break up. She can’t look at him anymore without thinking of everything he suffered because of her dad and feeling guilty for it, and she insists that whatever he says now, Ja-sung won’t be able to look at her from now on without being reminded of that awful pain that made him want to die and will eventually come to resent her for it. They simply can’t stay together with this awful thing between them.
Distraught, Ja-sung begs her not to do this but Young-won just prises his hand off her arm and walks away stoically. She only makes it as far as the bench outside however before she collapses in floods of tears.
3 months later, Gyeom is taking Sang-soon and Eui-joo’s wedding photos as his wedding present to them. Editor Choi asks what gift they’d like from him and agrees when Eui-joo unexpectedly asks him to take her father’s place in the ceremony, but Sang-soon seems unsure about it.
Sang-soon arranges a surprise meeting between Eui-joo and her dad soon afterwards, telling her that he knows she really wants him to be at her wedding. Sang-soon reassures Eui-joo that her mom would want that too, and both Eui-joo and her father cry as she hands him a wedding invitation.
Gyeom is finally quitting his job at the magazine to pursue his studies in fine art, leaving Chan to take his position as lead photographer. He’s no longer planning to study abroad though, as he’s worried about leaving Ja-sung alone since Young-won disappeared without a trace 3 months ago.
Ja-sung lets himself into Young-won’s former apartment, which is now completely empty with no trace of her left behind. Back at his own place he sees Young-won everywhere he looks — welcoming him home, watering the plant she bought him, drinking tea and smiling at him — but the images of her slowly fade away, leaving him standing alone.
3 years later, Joo-hee (now an editor along with Mi-ra) is giving a presentation to the Monthly Magazine Home editorial team about a collaboration she hopes to do with an anonymous Youtuber. The Youtuber produces popular videos about beautiful and interesting houses, but so far she’s refused all Joo-hee’s requests for an interview.
Joo-hee plays one of the Youtuber’s most popular videos for the team, and Ja-sung is shocked to recognize the lodging house he and Young-won stayed at during their trip to Gyeongju. As the video pauses for a moment on the bench in front where he and Young-won had sat, subtitles on screen echo the words Young-won had said about how the purpose of a trip was to create good memories.
Galvanised by the possibility that he might finally have found Young-won again, Ja-sung heads over to the Youtuber’s office to request an interview in person. His face is full of desperate hope as the door swings open, but unfortunately he’s met with disappointment — the Youtuber is not Young-won after all.
Ja-sung invites the woman to collaborate with Monthly Magazine Home but she refuses again. She’s had a lot of offers from magazines recently and has turned them all down, as she’s decided to focus on producing her own content instead. Ja-sung accepts her refusal, but as she shows him out we see her phone light up with a call from “Editor Na Young-won from Home & People Magazine”.
As Ja-sung waits in front of the elevators, the doors open to reveal Young-won — but unfortunately Ja-sung’s standing at the next elevator over, and he and Young-won miss each other. Young-won is also there to request an interview from the Youtuber, and is astonished to find the keyring she made Ja-sung, engraved with his initials, on her couch. The Youtuber explains that the CEO of Monthly Magazine Home was visiting her earlier and must have dropped it.
Ja-sung notices his keyring missing when he goes to unlock his car and heads back upstairs to retrieve it. Young-won is gone by the time he gets there, and the Youtuber hands the keyring back to him.
Young-won goes back to Gyeongju and retraces the steps she and Ja-sung took on their last trip together. She pauses at each place to look wistfully at the photos they took, and in the traditional village she lowers her phone to find Ja-sung staring back at her, and after a moment the two of them smile softly at each other.
Young-won takes Ja-sung to see her new home, which she built herself. He compliments her on her characteristically cozy home, and she surprises him by saying that it’s not just a home but a real estate investment. She used the property knowledge she picked up from Ja-sung when she chose the plot, and its value will increase massively soon because of plans to redevelop the neighborhood and add a subway line.
Young-won’s voiceover ruminates on what makes a good home as the we see snippets of the Monthly Magazine Team — Eui-joo and Sang-soon in their family home; Chan, Mi-ra and Joo-hee attending Gyeom’s housewarming party; Editor Choi looking proudly at his son’s graduation photo on the wall, redevelopment bids on the table behind him; and Ja-sung watering the plant Young-won bought him, which is still growing healthily.
As we watch her and Ja-sung laugh together outside her house, Young-won tells us that there are as many different homes as there are different people in the world, but in her opinion a good home is a place where a good person lives. She concludes by asking the viewer: “Is the place you’re living in a good home?”
COMMENTS
Well, that was one of the messiest and most infuriating final episodes I’ve seen in a while! I’m particularly annoyed by how completely unnecessary most of it was. The writers had a perfect, fitting ending in the very first scene, in which Ja-sung told Young-won that he wouldn’t be moving again because his apartment had become a home to him thanks to her, but it was all downhill from there.
I’m not sure why the writers chose to cram so much into the final episode rather than spacing it out more, because it didn’t really give them the time to properly deal with any of the consequences and everything felt rushed. There should have been far more emotional fall-out on Young-won’s part after finding her dad who abandoned her while she was a teenager. I could understand her initial joy and relief at seeing him again, but where was the anger? Doesn’t she blame him at all for just leaving like that? What about all the time and money she’s spent trying to pay back his debts? Or all those nights she watched her mom cry herself to sleep, all alone? And then it turns out he was just hiding in the woods the whole time when he could have been helping and supporting his family, just because he was too proud to face them (supposedly)? Would he ever have come back if they hadn’t found him? And yet Young-won just forgave him instantly, and so did her mom after a token protest. That muted reaction really trivialized what he did and the lasting impact that his selfish actions had on their lives.
Ja-sung and Young-won’s break-up was incredibly frustrating! Ja-sung hadn’t really had the time to process things properly, but when they spoke in the cafe he genuinely didn’t seem to blame Young-won for her dad’s actions at all. Why would Young-won just assume that Ja-sung would grow to resent her? Why not at least give it some time to see whether or not the guilt and blame would push them apart rather than rushing into a hasty break-up based on wild assumptions? Did Young-won consider what Ja-sung wanted at all? What happened to wanting someone who’d never let go of her hand for any reason — does that not work both ways? It all felt rushed and unnecessary. Mostly though I don’t understand why this entire subplot didn’t happen earlier, because it would have made far more sense than the Gyeom-induced breakup and I think could have been interesting if explored properly.
Post-timeskip also made very little sense (although I did like Joo-hee’s editor glow-up). How did Young-won manage to disappear for 3 years if she was just working at another Korean home & design magazine? Unless she was using a pen name (and there’s no evidence that she was), wouldn’t her name have appeared as a byline on all her articles? Are the Monthly Magazine Home staff really so oblivious and self-absorbed that they wouldn’t have noticed that? The writers also glossed over how Young-won managed to get the capital to build her own house, which usually isn’t any cheaper than buying one, and I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see what her perfect home looked like inside. The biggest disappointment however was the lack of resolution between Ja-sung and Young-won — did they ever get back together or are they just friends?! It was such an unsatisfying end to their story on every level.
RELATED POSTS
- Premiere Watch: At a Distance Spring Is Green, Monthly Magazine Home, Hospital Playlist 2, Nevertheless, Voice 4
- Boiled pork and falling books bring Kim Ji-suk and Jung So-min together in Monthly Magazine Home
- Jung So-min, Kim Ji-suk showcase their homes in Monthly Magazine Home
- Jung So-min and Kim Ji-suk confirmed for new JTBC housing drama
Tags: Ahn Chang-hwan, Chae Jung-ahn, Jung Geon-joo, Jung So-min, Kim Ji-suk, Lee Ji-won, Monthly Magazine Home, Yoon Ji-on
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
1 Bob
August 8, 2021 at 4:07 PM
I'm actually PLEASED that they pulled a 'Pretty Noona/Something In The Rain' on us. Because I did NOT want this pairing to happen. Ja-sung is a soulless, manipulative, venture capitalist monster. The person who threw the heroine onto the street in episode 1 in order to flip her house. The person who discarded her in the expectation that his friend would then take her. Plus there was zero sexual chemistry between the pair. At best you could consider them fond colleagues. That inability to generate 'chemistry' left the finale up in the air. There's no indication that they would get back together, if you judge by their stand-offish body language.
Required fields are marked *
Kurama
August 8, 2021 at 8:44 PM
Did you watch the end of Pretty Noona?
Required fields are marked *
emsel
August 8, 2021 at 10:29 PM
I think it is not chemistry that makes this pairing unlikeable, but the lack of information on why Young-won likes Ja-sung. Sure, behind his cold attitude, he really had a warm heart, like when he helped the single mom by asking her to study. He is so involved in making money that he is not social, but slowly his interactions with Young-won made him realise his actions. She made a positive influence on him and he showed the biggest character growth. So it's understandable why he would date her, but Young-won dating him after all that he did is questionable.
Required fields are marked *
2 Mike
August 8, 2021 at 4:28 PM
They remind me of couples who break up and get back together over such minor matters than when the final break-up arrives they can hardly summon any enthusiasm over it. 'Oh, we're breaking up for real this time? Okay."
Required fields are marked *
Night
August 9, 2021 at 1:13 AM
LOL
Required fields are marked *
brasil
September 15, 2022 at 7:14 AM
exactly.
Required fields are marked *
3 tsutsuloo
August 8, 2021 at 4:58 PM
@branwen—Thank you again for a lovely recap. Your joining the Dramabeans staff has been a blessing and I so love your writing. You've captured all the nonsensical idiocy of this last episode and I share your frustration.
I shake my head at the lost opportunity to explore how Young-won's dad reconnected and reconciled with his family and Ja-sung. That would've so meaty and relevant to our times. The acts of apologizing and forgiveness are a complex negotiation. In the hands of a better writing/directing team, that story line could've been revelatory—elevating this rom-com above it's well-worn tropes.
I've seen this "let's-have-some-nice-memories-before-I-give-you-pain" maneuver in dramas before but in real life, it's a kick in the teeth. A woman I very much admire had a similar experience. She and her lover had gone through some challenges but they'd recently had more peace. He was kinder and more open to her. On what would turned out to be their last night together, he was especially attentive during their love making. She thought, "This is it. We've made it through to the next level." The next day or so, he said he was done. When she asked why he spent the night with her if his intention was to break up, he answered, "I wanted to give you a nice memory."
Blargh. Just because something is nice while it happens, doesn't mean the memory always stays nice if it's tainted by the aftermath.
On the lighter side, I wonder if the rented school uniforms were inspired by Kim Ji-suk's experience filming the reality TV series The Romance with his longtime platonic friend, Yoo In-young. Filmed just a few months before he started shooting My Unfamiliar Family, the two friends co-wrote a friends-to-lovers web drama called Timing. Ep. 5 of The Romance has Ji-suk and In-young wearing adorable school uniforms and spending the day at a real high school as they storyboarded their drama. They were so cute, just as Young-won and Ja-sung were on their "school trip."
I hope to see all y'alls in the comment threads of a better drama.
Required fields are marked *
4 OldLawyer
August 8, 2021 at 5:57 PM
Branwen, thank you for the re-caps. You are not alone in your frustration with this episode. As you should be. It was beyond messy- it was totally irrational and you have pointed out so many ways in which this episode actually contradicted what had gone on before.
What was the writer thinking? I am sure that Jung So-min was asking herself the same question as she desperately tried to be a professional and follow the script- but her heart was so obviously not in it precisely because she had to have realized that her character was actually acting out of character and simply being stupid and thoughtless.
This episode actually gave me flashbacks to the way that Do Do So So La La So ended.
The actors all did their best in this show, they all deserved better than this.
This last episode proves once again something that I have said before: K-dramaland needs some good editors. A good editor would have stopped this episode from being filmed and had a very serious conversation with the writer- conducted at very high volume and using the most colorful language possible. And then the editor would have made the writer create a new script for this episode- one that was actually consistent with the characters in this show and the events leading up to the last episode.
The lack of good editing in Korea is the reason why I am always encouraged when I hear that an upcoming drama is based upon a novel, manga (or manwha), or webtoon. That tends to prevent travesties like this. As it stands I am going to be very skeptical towards anything that comes from this writer in the future.
Required fields are marked *
Alluvial_Fan
August 8, 2021 at 6:18 PM
Editors. Dickens needed them.
Required fields are marked *
tsutsuloo
August 9, 2021 at 6:38 AM
Speaking of better editing, YouTuber Warming Paws made their own alternative ending to Monthly Magazine Home. They cleverly added new subtitles to a super short re-edit composed of scenes from the show and BTS footage.
Part 1 (3:34)
Part 2 (2:59)
Required fields are marked *
mvl
August 9, 2021 at 12:48 PM
wow, thanks for sharing the alternative endings which made better sense than what we got stuck with in this episode.
thanks for the recap, good job & look forward to your future recaps.
Required fields are marked *
Kathykat
November 6, 2021 at 3:16 PM
Thanks for sharing those alternate endings. I liked that much better.
Required fields are marked *
Screentime
August 10, 2021 at 9:03 PM
@oldawyer
Welcome to another "Invasion of the body snatchers". ...Just one of the many SK Drama embedded script double takes.
Last episode revisionism is oh so common, particularly when a character has been outside SK norms. Nothing like wiping their entire outsiderness to magically make them now conform with (or warmly embraced into) the social norms.
It's like the separation trope. In an land of compulsory service, it doesn't actually matter how badly it is written, the subtext is all that matters.
Of course, there is the absolute whiplash that was "Black". A show that just went full "jump the shark" and the last ep was like waking in a parallel universe.
Required fields are marked *
5 Bob
August 8, 2021 at 6:54 PM
That other Jung so-min drama, 'Because this Life Is Our First', I'm trying to recall, Wasn't there a storyline where a 'veteran' drama writer was brought in on her project and started reworking the story with cringeworthy drama tropes like birth secrets and childhood connections? I recall a whiteboard full of interconnecting drama tropes. That seems to be exactly what happened in this drama.
Required fields are marked *
Night
August 9, 2021 at 1:13 AM
Error 404
Required fields are marked *
OldLawyer
August 9, 2021 at 7:48 AM
And in that show Jung So-min walked away from that project.
Required fields are marked *
6 emsel
August 8, 2021 at 8:37 PM
Thank you Branwan for recap.
Considering this drama is written by the same writer of "Drinking Solo" and "You who forgot poetry", I dint expect the ending to be any better.
The main problem with this drama has all got to do with the writer following the same formula across all his/her works. A jerk ML and a pushover FL fall in love, but second male lead has one-sided love on FL, so the ML opts for noble idiocy, but the SML decides to give up on seeing the broken state of FL. By this time, the drama has reached its climax and is focusing on turning two of the side characters into a secondary couple, that the main OTP no longer seems interesting or the writer just doesn't know what couples do after confirming their relationship, so the main OTP is given an open ending with hopes of a season 2.
Only "You who forgot poetry" had different pattern because the ML was a gentleman, SML was an obnoxious person. In that too, the writer/director did not expect such severe fanwar that they changed the ending to make the FL end with ML instead of the original SML. Maybe they were expecting a similar scenario in this drama, but it din't go their way or the drama was trying to invert the cliche happy ending of the main OTP or the writer is against happy endings or the producers/directors really want the drama to be buzzing online and be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Whatever!
At least, the writer's stories stay true to the central theme, be it drinking alone to heal oneself or poems interspersed throughout the drama that captures the moments hard to explain through spoken words or how home is integral part of life. I applaud the writer for not diverging from the main theme. The heart and soul of such slice-of-life dramas reside with the characters and how much they can connect with the audience. The drama has no flaw in this aspect as we get to see the different contexts of home and the impact of housing problems in people's life.
I also like how they din't give a visible character growth to all the people in the drama because sometimes change is not a necessity in life but a choice to better one's life. For instance, Editor Choi wasn't shown to stop complaining about his boss/work/redeem his pestering personality, but through Ja-Sung's secretary they explained that observing people's decision and learning from those experiences is much more rewarding than to niggle. Also, by the end of the final episode, Editor Choi's apartment wasn't miraculously reconstructed and they chose to end his character arc by showing a graduation picture of his kid and him not needing to tiptoe around the house. Changing or discarding a house is no small feat and the drama did a good job of utilizing such scenes to depict reality.
Required fields are marked *
OldLawyer
August 9, 2021 at 4:34 PM
If that is this writer's formula then the writer needs a better formula. This time it imploded spectacularly. As our re-capper has pointed out- there was real dramatic potential that was missed by blind adherence to that formula and the stunt pulled by the FL at the end was inconsistent with her character.
Required fields are marked *
miss h
August 9, 2021 at 5:59 PM
I dropped it at Episode 4 but what I watched really reminded me of Drinking Solo and the ending sounds even moreso like it.
Required fields are marked *
7 Kurama
August 8, 2021 at 8:55 PM
I have a bean \o/
Otherwise, not enough homes. It was the best part, visiting different homes and places in Korea.
The last episode was like the others, they never really talked or explained or apologized the bad things that happened in the past like when Ja-Sung offered a meal to empty her house, Gyeom lying about his money, etc. It just happened and it didn't have any consequences.
For the characters, I think Ja-Sung is the one who showed the best evolution. Young-Won with the last episode became so not her by breaking up and then speaking about her home at the end...
For the rest of the characters, their bad behavior was too much for me to forget it when they were nice...
Required fields are marked *
8 astropheems
August 8, 2021 at 9:14 PM
What did I just watch?!
Required fields are marked *
Night
August 9, 2021 at 1:12 AM
LOL
Required fields are marked *
rider
August 9, 2021 at 1:15 AM
+1000
Required fields are marked *
Mike
August 9, 2021 at 7:22 AM
A 16 hour long real estate infomercial.
Required fields are marked *
9 blnmom
August 8, 2021 at 10:27 PM
I was pretty mad at this episode. Why did they break up? Why did they get back together after 3 years of nothing? Whatever.
This was a pretty uneven drama for me. I didn't like the beginning, then I was OK up to this episode with how everything was going, especially the side characters' stories. Thanks a lot for the recaps! Those were enjoyable, at least.
Looking forward to these actors in better dramas ahead!
Required fields are marked *
nomad
August 9, 2021 at 1:16 AM
Whatever exactly.
Required fields are marked *
10 FormAnOrderlyQueue
August 8, 2021 at 11:15 PM
Thank you @branwen for voicing all my complaints with the last episode. I could not understand Young-won's perspective from what I'd learned from her to that point: why would you throw away all that you had just because you *might* come to resent someone or you think they *might* come to resent you? She hadn't reacted like that before. Plus, she had Ja-sung telling her openly that it was "water under the bridge" and, although that might take some working through, he's communicating 100% willingness to try. Therefore, her choice made 0 sense to me and was utterly dissatisfying. As @oldawyer noted, this was quickly moving into DDSSLLS-levels-of-madness territory - and the only reaction is to run for the hills!
Required fields are marked *
11 jerrykuvira
August 9, 2021 at 12:09 AM
MMH, I'm pissed at this lacklustre ending. Whatever happened to character consistency, whatever happened to the so many ways this good drama cause i can no longer call it heartwarming, could have panned out. I am pissed. Even EuiJoo who had valid reasons to not want to pursue was reasonable and accommodating, willing to not let the past deny her a future with SangSoon, even the angst with her dad was resolved. It then happens to be the loving YW that pulls the classic JaSung move, even now becoming JS 2.0. Whatever happened to wanting a home for 15 episodes that we are given an annoying 16th episode. And the story with her dad, that was a plain laziness in what was meant thoughtful writing. Well all our characters were cool at the end , even JooHee( she rocks as editor), and JS's growth through this drama is one of the memorable things that will stick with me.
Required fields are marked *
12 Night
August 9, 2021 at 1:14 AM
The drama where nothing happened!
Required fields are marked *
13 yongsital 🐧 ❄️
August 9, 2021 at 8:34 AM
Agree with everyone. It's so ridiculous it makes me feel like viewers are a joke to writers. What an insult to your own characters.
Also, whatever happened to the plotline re: negative comments on Jasung's videos? Or how he was trying to find the lady that faked her suicide? Like were those really just thrown in randomly or were they intended to be plots that got thrown away? *eye roll* What a waste of my valuable kdrama watching time.
Required fields are marked *
astropheems
August 13, 2021 at 10:34 PM
Seriously! The whole time I kept thinking, hmm, maybe they will go back to that plot line later, tricking myself into thinking there were hints at these former plot lines, only to realize that my own imagination was far greater than the writers.
I mean, WHY waste our valuable time? And the actors' talents!? Was this all a big joke to them? I could have started so many other dramas!
Required fields are marked *
yongsital 🐧 ❄️
August 14, 2021 at 5:37 AM
Apparently, to some writers, we are a joke to them. I'll definitely skip on this writer's future work. Saying I'm disappointed is an understatement.
Required fields are marked *
14 KDFL
August 9, 2021 at 11:52 AM
An outdated story with messy writing and a disastrous ending. I love the lead actors and the OST is good, but this drama was a disappointment.
Required fields are marked *
15 Mike
August 9, 2021 at 12:59 PM
"That was a nice date. Oh, my father ran over your family 25 years ago so we're breaking up and I'm quitting my job with no replacement job lined up. G'bye!"
Required fields are marked *
16 neener ~ Inside the Magic Shop ~
August 9, 2021 at 7:32 PM
No bean for me since I skipped everything after that first noble idiocy to reading this finale recap. Thanks for this that I get to know the end without watching it.
This is such a sad ending. Sigh.
Required fields are marked *
17 azkiya
August 10, 2021 at 6:27 AM
thanks for recapping this final ep, @branwen,,I'm glad this recap still come up despite so many negative comments about this drama, haha..
I for one, not among viewers who thought that it's overall a terrible show. My verdict is that despite of the noble idiocy by jasung and that too late of revealing the 'my dad is the one of betrayed you so I couldn't keep dating you', this show for me is entertaining and funny, with relatable current social issues and adorable leads.
Personally, I think it's the way I manage my expectation that I'm able enjoy this drama to the fullest with its trope galore, the noble idiocy, the possibility (and truly happened) less desirable ending. By expectation I mean that I've prepared for the worst, but I received a better one.
I'm so missing a romcom kdrama that I can enjoy, and then MMH appeared and had so many things I like (and miss) from a fun romcom that I guess I was okay with its flaws because I was entertained by its cast (and the beautifull houses featured in the drama), and felt related and moved by the house vs home -related story.
So, all in all, in term of the joy I felt of watching, this is a drama that for me better than some of the drama I tried to watch this year (not gonna mention any name), and I will just remember all the good things about this show rather than disappointing parts, I guess just like how I approach life in general ;))
see you all in the next drama thread, beanies!
Required fields are marked *
Emmy
August 12, 2021 at 12:50 PM
I'm with you here! Something about this drama just made me feel great watching it. I miss old-school K-drama rom-com and this show made me laugh more than any K-drama I've seen in a long long time.
Objectively, the storyline had major flaws, but this drama made me feel warm, fuzzy and comforted, particularly because I started watching it at a time when my own housing situation was stressful!
Required fields are marked *
18 Islander north
August 10, 2021 at 7:47 AM
Really, weird lousy ending. Good God, you'd think a 5th grader wrote it. WTH? Writer should have been banished to outhouse to rewrite it!
Required fields are marked *
19 Sammy
August 10, 2021 at 8:50 AM
Please, a drama without unnecessary drama.
Required fields are marked *
20 lexyk
August 10, 2021 at 9:16 AM
I would like to thank @branwen for her recaps. I was super hapoy and excites after binge-watching the first 4 episodes. It was hilarious, fun and at the same time kond of deep. I got a bit anxious when they got together because we started losing a bit of "meat" to focus on their relationship, but continued watching it, though not with the same enthusiasm. After the noble idiocy trope, I was so disappointed, it was just hard picking it back up again. After several attempts at watching the following episode, I decided to rely on the recaps. So thank you. With the recaps I still feel like I have not wasted too much of my time. I mean this drama had all the elements to be good. I loved the underlying theme of the meaning of home for each of the character. But all that got lost somewhere in the middle. Also, I really do not understand why add such a trope with childhood connections, lost father in the last episode?? The writing of the FL was the most frustrating to me. A true waste of potential, alas!
Required fields are marked *
lexyk
August 10, 2021 at 9:34 AM
Pfff sorry for the typos 🙈🙈 *happy * excited * kind of
Required fields are marked *
21 Emmy
August 12, 2021 at 12:46 PM
What a mess of a finale! I'm erasing the final episode from my mind. I'll just remember, scene one, and Yi-joo and Sang-soon getting married. Everything else was horrid.
I still enjoyed the ride though. I loved how this drama made me feel, especially in the first 8 episodes. It kind of lost a bit of its soul after that, but I am thankful for the laughs and the insightful and highly relevant debate about house/home!
Required fields are marked *
astropheems
August 13, 2021 at 10:37 PM
Same! The first few episodes had potential, and then I don't know what happened after. Still thankful for the laughs, and I thought Yi-joo and Sang soon were hilarious!
Required fields are marked *
22 antonio83
August 19, 2021 at 2:44 AM
I loved this show until episode 11. Then I quit.
Required fields are marked *
23 Linda
August 19, 2021 at 10:39 AM
I totally agree. I can't believe I wasted all my time to see such a poorly unresoves ending. I agree with dramabeans. One of worst endings ever.
Required fields are marked *
24 11bravo
August 21, 2021 at 12:22 PM
I did enjoy the run. A number of episodes had me, several times, literally LOL during each one. And I did enjoy the twist where Yeo Ui-Joo's "sugar daddy" really was her daddy...
To the ending, as stated in Branwen's EXCELLENT recap and comments, I agree that the ending left a LOT to be desired. Normally I like the "gap" endings - time (unseen) to work things out, not instantaneously as in US shows. However, this one was certainly empty and unfulfilling... IMHO, definitely out of character for Young-Won, unless running away is in her genes... Sure, she might have been scared things might have soured, but with her grit, she would have gutted it out to see what would happen. If she could forgive her OWN father for running away, why wouldn't she think other people (Ja-Sung) could too, especially for her. Think the writer wanted to avoid a predictable "together" ending that at least I expected, so tried to be too clever and leave an "up to you" ending. Should have stuck with the characters' traits rather than this shambles.
Thanks to tsutsuloo for the alt-ending links. Much more true to character.
Even without the alt-endings, my own take would be: Ja-Sung still loved Young-Won as he kept the keyring, something you wouldn't do with a friend, and raced to find her. Young-Won did take the back exit after realizing Ja-Sung was outside the apartment, still scared of her feelings for him and embarrassed by her actions (no big deal if it was "friend zone"). But with the prod of seeing the keyring, she went back to Gyeongju to revisit with her photos, understanding Ja-Sung still cared. Seeing Ja-Sung in the flesh, when he smiled and with his "hands on his hips" (the have you come to your senses yet?) gesture, she realized things could continue together (her smile, exhale, and shoulders relaxed in relief), and IMHO her facial expressions of "yes, I screwed up but realize I can come back to those I abandoned and they will accept me" (again, maybe it runs in the family). At the end, the relaxed postures and smiles as Young-Won showed Ja-Sung what she'd built with the knowledge she gained from him, she had become, in her own mind, "successful" with house ownership and had exorcised her own insecurities. Now that she had a house, she could develop a home WITH Ja-Sung.
Required fields are marked *
25 Majong Sofine
August 25, 2021 at 3:27 PM
Another of the good start poor scriptwriting finish kdramas. This one was just a bit sad and confusing instead of wildly insulting to the audience like Startup.
I liked the actors and I liked the second couples story. Kdrama really REALLY rises or falls on scriptwriting and their writers have been doing a lot of falling but it seems they only do it in their endings.
Just think about it.
How can so many start very good and end so pathetically?
Its like thats the trend in Korea and the sheep follow the trends...
Required fields are marked *
26 Kathykat
November 6, 2021 at 3:15 PM
I was so frustrated by the ending! Thank you for expressing all that went wrong. Before this, I liked that the couples did talk out issues periodically.
Required fields are marked *
27 E. Brasil
September 15, 2022 at 7:16 AM
I agree with everything you said. The ending was extremely poorly written.
Required fields are marked *
28 Sharples
November 14, 2022 at 2:49 PM
Great summary, ty. Haven't come to the end but that isn't how usual kdramas end-part of the reason to like them! And, that's why it was disappointing, for sure. Maybe, as they did in the CDrama, "Well Intended Love", they'll do series 1 all over again but with a different script...or, start series 2 with a different ending...maybe not. Editor Na comes back a woman, her hair is longer, she's bought a home, doing well at business & finding independence (not married) ok., as in she is self confident. He really hurt her #Devestated. And, I get why he did it bc emotionally he felt out of control ...that was the part I didn't get. First, he left her in the apt. By herself when he went to the hospital & 2. He made an abrupt decision to break up with her. He wasn't that kind of man. We think they should have a happy ending (being together) but maybe the success was him living & staying in a place she made warm & she became successfully independent finally. About, the Dad reappearing, I dunno Korean culture enough to say whether her assumptions were correct. Someone should of run into her especially her good friend who had endless kindness. Great acting I thought on many levels with 10 for portraying real human reactions with the plot.
Required fields are marked *
29 hiroo
December 10, 2023 at 2:31 AM
I agree with the author of the recap and most of the others who think this was a messy and bad ending.
But I think what the writers were struggling with (and I don't think this ending was a good solution to this) was that Young-Won's character arc started with her wanting to achieve home ownership and her setting goals for saving money, etc. to strive towards that. But then halfway through, the romance with Ja-sung starts and the whole thread about home ownership kind of gets lost. They do mix in her ideas about what a home is into the relationship, but the primary problem they had to deal with is that, if they did a "happy ending" with them together like most of us would want, what happens to her dream? So she marries a rich guy and that solves all her money problems. Sure, that sounds cool, but in terms of narrative and character development, that seems like a cop-out for her and she just gives up her agency and loses her optimist can-do spirit which made the characters in the story (and all of us watching) fall in love with her. So the writers had to find a way for her to be able to achieve her dream, in her own way and through her own effort and this is what they ended up with.
I think it would have been better for the love-triangle with Gyeom could have been the conflict for the first half before Young-won and Ja-sung got together, then the first breakup to have been due to the father's stealing revelation and then they could have spent the second half exploring the fallout from that and somewhere in that path is where she could have found the way to achieve her dream on her own before the healing from that could take place by the end.
Required fields are marked *