If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

10 October 1, 2022October 1, 2022

If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

by quirkycase

It’s time to say goodbye to our hospice family, and it’s bittersweet. But we get a solid finale that returns to what this drama does best: heartwarming moments and healing. Our little supervisor has come a long way since he first arrived at the hospice, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect his newfound family. Thankfully, that devotion goes both ways.

EPISODES 15-16 WEECAP

If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

Our final episodes really emphasize the meaning of family and who gets to claim that title. I love a good found family, so that’s been one of my favorite aspects of the drama, and I’m glad the finale brings us home, so to speak. But before we get back to the heartwarming stuff, it’s time to wrap up the gangster shenanigans and evil father drama.

We ended last week with Ki-joon’s underling aiming his bat at Gyeo-re’s head. As expected, Ki-joon calls him off, angry that he’s attacking his son that no one was aware he had. Gyeo-re, being who he is, gets his father to leave by going with him, breaking Tae-shik and Yeon-joo’s hearts. No one buys Gyeo-re’s tough act that he’s doing it for selfish reasons since it’s obvious to anyone who’s met him that he’s sacrificing himself to protect the hospice.

Gyeo-re tells Yeon-joo over the phone that he has no regrets since his wish of being happy at least once came true at the hospice. If it sounds ominously final, that’s because it is – Gyeo-re already set a plan in motion, and leads his father to where Seok-joon is waiting.

Seok-joon watches as the gangster boss beats Gyeo-re on Ki-joon’s orders. When Gyeo-re stands and grabs his father, begging for mercy, Ki-joon says he’s only trying to teach Gyeo-re just like when he was a kid. Ugh. Gyeo-re holds Ki-joon tight and signals to Seok-joon across the way who then drives his car straight at them.

Right at the moment Gyeo-re is prepared to die, Tae-shik drives his ambulance between him and the oncoming car. Tae-shik and Seok-joon both end up unconscious. During the commotion, the gangster boss takes this opportunity to stab the unsuspecting Ki-joon. He’s angry that Ki-joon claimed he was his son but then dropped him the second his real son showed up.
If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

Reaping what he sowed, Ki-joon calls out for Gyeo-re in his final conscious moments, but his son is busy attending to Tae-shik, the man who truly loves him like a father. Ki-joon later dies in the hospital, alone. Gyeo-re does stand as chief mourner at his funeral, though, which is more than he probably deserved. Team Genie and Joon-kyung are the only ones who come to pay their respects, but they’re just there for Gyeo-re.

It’s a fitting end for Ki-joon who drove everyone away with his abuse and stayed unrepentant throughout his life, never acknowledging how he hurt those around him. I’m glad they didn’t give him a redemption arc – some people choose to be awful until the end rather than becoming the person you hoped they’d be.

Tae-shik stayed with him much longer than Ki-joon deserved. He only turned him in four years ago after seeing the abuse the girls endured in their “business.” I’m not sure how it took him that long to realize what was going on, but maybe he just didn’t want to see it. Either way, that was the end of his 20-year friendship with Ki-joon.

If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

Ki-joon might never have learned from his mistakes, but the younger generation does. Seok-joon survives the accident and goes to prison, but he seems ready to turn over a new leaf. And then there’s Joon-kyung who acts like a different person. She suddenly wants to live, cares about people, and respects Gyeo-re’s opinion, willing to leave him alone if he never wants to see her again. She even helps the other exploited women turn evidence against the gangster boss to get him put away.

I found her turnaround frustrating and unrealistic. Mental illness built upon decades of trauma isn’t resolved by just learning that your parents didn’t abandon you. Her character was really mishandled, which is a shame since I think she could’ve been an interesting character.

If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

It feels fitting that our final wisher is Tae-shik. He worked so hard to grant others’ wishes, and now it’s his turn. He’s illness is progressing fast, but Gyeo-re can’t acknowledge the inevitable. He gets a text saying that Tae-shik’s final wish is to have his funeral prior to his death with everyone, so the whole gang heads to the beach.

When they get there, Gyeo-re is stunned to find out that they’re actually there to celebrate his birthday. Tae-shik’s final wish was to give Gyeo-re his first-ever birthday party. It’s really touching, although it’s dampened a bit by the fact that they kind of traumatized Gyeo-re by saying it was Tae-shik’s funeral. There had to be another way to get him there that wasn’t so mean.

Tae-shik passes on his watch to Gyeo-re as his birthday present. Then, he makes Gyeo-re cry when he tells him, “Happy Birthday, son.” Gah, these two are so sweet.

If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

A few odds and ends are wrapped up as well: the social worker who was stabbed by Ki-joon is doing fine and dating a nurse, Dr. Yang is happily dating someone new, and Gyeo-re and Yeon-joo are going strong. Oh, and Gyeo-re adorably got Son tattooed over his burn scar. We even get to see some of the former wishers’ family living well.

We then jump ahead a year to after Tae-shik has passed away. Team Genie is still going strong with Gyeo-re having taken over Tae-shik’s supervisor role. Tae-shik left all his money to Team Genie for wish granting, so they were able to create their own dementia village for Deok-ja and other patients. We end full circle with Gyeo-re welcoming a rough-around-the-edges community service volunteer (cameo by Lee Yumi). She arrives on a motorcycle looking over everything, bringing her pet turtle with her.

What a fitting ending. I loved seeing Gyeo-re take over his adoptive father’s role, readying to pass on the healing to another troubled young person. I’m glad we got to return to the warmth and lighter tone of the earlier episodes at the end. The drama was at its best when focusing on healing and family.

The characters were really the core of this drama. I loved Gyeo-re and the hospice family, and it was lovely to watch him slowly gain confidence and find his place among them. I still think we could’ve done without the gangster stuff, but I really enjoyed the drama nonetheless and will miss our wish-granting family.

If You Wish Upon Me: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

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1 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️

October 1, 2022 at 11:30 AM

Thanks @quirkycase for this final weecap. They did turn it round but what a shame they wasted part of episode 15 on the wrap up of the gangster storyline.
The dating relationship was disappointing as it was non existent due ‘to busyness’ and I was annoyed she made him carry her to her mum’s grave I didn’t find it funny or sweet.
I liked the birthday treat but framing it as a last trip to the seaside would have been better than the living funeral theme. I am impressed the dementia village was built and operational so quickly and glad they did it in time for Deokja to benefit from it.

Changing the association of room 403 was a nice touch too so it would be back to Taesik’s room. It was great to see the Ahjussis cleaned up. I don't think Gyeorye needed to sleep in the ambulance to do the job, it would have been nice to see him living in a property, even if it was onsite, with his life time partner.

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FormAnOrderlyQueue

October 1, 2022 at 7:17 PM

Yes, in agreement with you for almost everything here. The gangster issues really detracted from the storyline for me. Gyeorye could have had his abusive childhood without dad reappearing; if they *had* to make him reappear, he didn't need to be a gangster. A real false step for me.

Gyerye and Yeonjoo dating started and then completely stopped - what was that all about? It made zero sense to have Gyeorye sleeping in the ambulance when the person he had admitted he wanted to grow old with has a perfectly well-functioning flat. You don't honour Taesik by sleeping in his van - you simply use it to continue the work he started. Why did that not make sense to the writer?

Gyeorye carrying Yeonjoo to her mother's grave had me cringing - why would Yeonjoo (or any of us) find that funny or cute? Give him his dignity - start treating him like the person he's grown to be.

And I could not get behind the birthday party - it was a moment so infused with sadness, in part because Gyeorye understood it as a funeral and the last chance to be with Taesik, that it just felt bizarre to suddenly have everyone singing and giving him the spotlight.

I liked it very much at the start, but as with so many dramas this year, I liked it a lot less at the end. Sigh.

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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️

October 2, 2022 at 12:24 AM

‘Give him his dignity - start treating him like the person he's grown to be.’ 👈 Thanks for summing up what I had been struggling to put into words. I think this is what has annoyed me about their relationship she treats him as a boy not a man. I felt that she disrespected him throughout most of their first date. He does not easily open up so to then have her behave in that way was like she did not value what he was offering her. At first I thought it was because she was inexperienced in dating too but it seems to be a consistent feature of the teasing element of their relationship.

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2 Kafiyah Bello

October 1, 2022 at 1:33 PM

All is well that ends well. I liked when it was just the little family. Everything else should have been left behind.

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3 latebloomer

October 1, 2022 at 4:03 PM

The best thing about this drama was seeing Ji Chang-wook play Gyeo-re. I hope he will get better roles in better dramas after proving himself in this.

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4 emsel

October 1, 2022 at 8:37 PM

Comment was deleted

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5 emsel

October 1, 2022 at 8:48 PM

I really did not understand why they wasted time on the flashback between Tae Shik and the gangster dad. Was it to show that Tae Shik really thought of him as friend or that the gangster dad was lonely? It made zero sense to insert those scenes because Gyeo Rye did not like him, Tae Shik did not like him, the audience did not like him, in fact no one liked him that it dragged the entire drama which could have otherwise been sweet.

Even though the writer/director ruined the show with the unnecessary gangster dad plot, it did a good job of highlighting the compassion connecting strangers, so I will rate this show 6.5/10.

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6 Toodlepip

October 2, 2022 at 12:18 AM

I agree with the comments from the other beanies. Half of episode 15 and episode 16 brought us back closer to what the show should have been, (to my mind) growth through GRs found family and sense of purpose. The gangster detour was unnecessary and detracted from the show as a whole.
JKs bounce back from severe trauma was also difficult to swallow.
I also thought a less traumatic excuse for a trip to the beach could have been found.
JCW as GR, for me, was who kept me coming back to this drama, great performance in the role.

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7 Nefret

October 2, 2022 at 2:18 AM

I actually only watched the last episodes because I was so close to the finish line and it wasn't torture to sit through to the end. But the drama about the father didn't really interest me.

I don't regret investing time in this series, I liked the first half too much for that. But it would have been good if the writers had not let their focus digress.

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8 geminirat

October 2, 2022 at 11:39 PM

I agree, these last two episodes were wrap-ups but I've still got a lot of questions! One, what happened to Gyeo-re's money that Ki-joon stole from the car trunk? Since it didn't seem like he left the hospice for too long, where could he have hidden it? I thought the nuns would give it back to Gyeo-re since he was called to the admin room but nothing happened. Two, the gang leader's reason for stabbing Ki-jun doesn't match his previous subservience to the boss. Why stab him when outside when he could really have defied him during the fight inside the hospice? Anyway, it was a fun ride most of the time.