Thank you for recapping @solstices! HeartBeat broke my heart (but I'm recovering). If I had been prepared for a semi-tragic ending, it wouldn't have felt so bad. Why the heck did a fantasy have to have such a dang realistic ending?? No deus ex machina; no last-minute rule change. The worst part is that this ending wasn't foreshadowed by tone, writing, or characterizations until episode 15-16. (A) That's not fair, and (B) that's poor thematic writing. I didn't hate it, but I neither expected nor wanted a tragedy (I mean, to state the blindingly obvious). All of this being said, Woo-hyeol is still one of my all-time favorite ML characters, In-hae is one of my all-time favorite FL characters, and this drama had one of my favorite depictions of unconditional, selfless love.

I had ventured into the world of live-watching this spring (Lol after being burnt by Do Do Sol Sol when it aired, I switched to watching already-aired dramas), knowing that I ran the risk of tragic endings (or, endings that don't classify for me as happy*). I thought it would have backfired with the three sageuks I watched in spring, but nope, it was the "light fantasy rom-com." I guess I'll have to reevaluate my watching policy. Haha this was also the first drama I convinced my mom to live watch, because she prefers the bingewatching model. Oops. Even though this show tore my heart into a million pieces, I still had fun with the HeartBeat Hotties in this community! Stay hot, and stay hopeful! 😎🔥

*The HopefulRomantic Happy Ending Criteria: Both members of the OTP must be unquestionably alive and together at the end of the drama.

Current mood:

Whaaaaaaaat!?!?!?! Y’all I am shook. I did not expect that coming from any direction. They were so cavalier with the rules, I thought for sure there would be some loophole somewhere, and now I’m sitting here shocked at how loopholeless I am.

Ok, now let me put down some actual thoughts about this. I didn’t hate it, and there are times when I think a drama should absolutely keep one of its leads dead at the end, but nothing had prepared me to think that this would be a drama that did that (it’s so rare to begin with). Narratively it is an ending that makes a lot of sense, and in some ways I’m glad they didn’t waste my emotions when everyone was making plans for the future without U-hyeol and trying to say goodbye. On the other hand, it was such a goofy, fun drama that a bittersweet ending doesn’t really feel in keeping with the rest of the tone.

Moving on to some other thoughts (because I actually did have some other thoughts before that ending sucked all the air out of my lungs in surprise), I appreciated that Do-shik turned it around in the end, but I wish his redemption arc had been longer. He wins points for consistently saying what the audience (or at least what I) was thinking to Hae-won, who literally has no idea what love is. More points for all his cool-headedness coming in handy in the confrontation with Man-hwi. But I wish he had had more moments when he questioned what he was doing. There was that conversation in the car with Man-hwi where our resident evil vampire tells him that they aren’t that different because they both need to drink someone else’s blood to survive, and I would have loved it if that spurred him to more reflection. (BTW, does Do-shik get to live in the end? I wouldn’t have wanted to be the one prying U-hyeol out of In-hae’s distraught arms to get a little trickle of that magic-scarred-half-vampire blood. But maybe he had it handled? I can’t decide if his donation at the end was in gratitude for being able to live or in preparation for his death…)

In a perfect example of U-hyeol being more humane than most humans, he was much more gracious to Hae-won in the end than I would have been. I don’t mind that we eventually found out that it was In-hae all along who was the reincarnation of Hae-sun, and I like that U-hyeol had made a choice about who to love before he realized the truth. And finally, I loved In-hae standing in the same spot U-hyeol always did, watching over a party at the Shaded Oasis. I’ll need more time before I know how I felt about it overall, but thanks for a great commenting time, Beanies.

Here’s what I wanted my post to be about: Baderich Real Estate Development? Hae-won’s company is called “Baddie-Rich Real Estate?” That’s a little on the nose, I would have said. But, no. That’s not where we are.

The central conceit of the plot was that Woo-hyeol wanted to become human to feel what it's like to love with a real beating heart, right? Well, I guess he got his exact wish, only no one told him (or us) at what cost.

You see, the problem is that this was a cautionary tale dressed up as a cute, funny rom-com (yes @hacja yes) as in, "You better watch out for what you wish for..." He was clearly human when he stabbed himself in his own heart, bled out and died. He didn't disappear in a poof of magic dust like Man-hwi did. No, he really died—may I repeat, when he stabbed his own self in his own body with someone else’s dagger—like an actual human would die if you did that.

So, the price of getting what he wanted was that he died, abandoning everyone who loved him, “allowing them” to learn “valuable” life lessons. Or run a PPL restaurant. WTF show? Sure, sure, they're a fated love and he'll totally come back to her (When though? She’s not The Lonely, Shining Goblin or anything…). And yes, of course, it is the love we give that is important. Anyway. Fine. SHOW, coping with hard life lessons wasn't the deal we struck.

PS: Do-sik didn't get his "half-vampire blood treatment" either so he's going to die soon too, I guess. Whatever. He’s a good man. I guess all of those die willingly.

A lame ending for a drama with a promising start (and middle). The only character worth watching in the last 4 episodes was Do-sik and I hope he was able to get a few drops of Woo-hyul's blood.

I already guessed that catman had the gold, but I was surprised how little there was in the suitcase. The FF button was really helpful for the trip to the seaside scenes and similar tropes.

Not the first disappointing drama ending and, I fear, also not the last.

😐 is the entirety of my response for that ending. No. Just no.

One of the reasons I was so invested in this drama and hoping it would be one I could recommend was something it didn’t have – and that was overt or sneaky misogynistic elements. No harassment disguised as romance. No incompetent male succeeding while vastly more competent females around him are knocked down. Bad behaviour had consequences. The absent father was not given a free pass.

We had a range and balance of female characters written with the same depth as the male characters. A relatable female lead character played with nuance and sincerity. The romance was centered on people growing together, not on appearance.

Disparaging comments about “women’s work” were negated by having one the most masculine of idol-actors – Capt Korea - perform these jobs with enjoyment and dignity.

And it was all just a natural part of the story-telling.

The only thing that struck me as off was the marketing that describes the female lead as cold-hearted…because she has certainly never been that. Socially isolated, yes. But always full of empathy along with her grounding common sense. The drama showed the warming of her blood as much about accepting friendship and community as falling in love.

I can’t say I’m overly concerned about plot logic. But I do like my espacist dramas to also help me escape a little from the every-day life of gender discrimination, not re-enforce it.

Watching a drama through a red haze of righteous indignation, trying to focus on the good while trying to ignore the grossly inappropriate is exhausting. But that never happened here. And it made it easy to relax into the drama, enjoy the visuals and get really attached to the characters and their relationships.

@solstices Thank for going above and beyond your job of recapping by including links to the real life songs of the ML and SML. Incredible work!

I was expecting to be utterly disappointed by the finale given the reaction of fans, not just in DB but across all forums, but I was actually fine with the ending maybe, because I did not expect much from the drama, although I was surprised by the good writing in the first 10 episodes. In fact, I even enjoyed the 10 minute confrontation between Do Shik and Hae Won which led Man Hwi getting killed.

Regarding the OTP and love, I don't know if writer always had this conclusion from the beginning, but it sort of fits with the story of "Love is not about making your heart beat, but it is in caring for others".

I think all the actors (except for the neighbourhood people and Cat Man who continued to be annoying till the end), everyone did a fantastic job and justice to their roles. Looking forward to their next dramas and success.

First, in addition to @solstices for the recaps, which I've agreed with entirely, I want to thank @attiton for making the comment section for this drama so much fun to read. Also I’m in complete agreement with Seon-ha about Won Ji-An, the star of this drama. I thought she was great throughout.

In the end, I thought this was a moderately clever remake of beauty and the beast that was weakened by an overly sentimental sad ending.

Before I continue with my critique, there is a side question I want to ask: is it the case that small business owners in Korea benefit from neighborhood redevelopment? I find that hard to believe, especially since the principle of gentrification in U.S. urbanization is to kick out all the local business owners and replace them with high rent apartments and national luxury chains that can pay more in rent themselves. I didn’t get why the tailor and butcher were such a fan of being evicted and losing their business for a one time payment, because if it was the U.S., it would be far less than their business was worth.

Anyway regarding the ending—I predicted it 2 weeks ago because of the increasingly grim last 5 episodes, stemming from the late fantasy rule change that in order to live he had to kill her. There was nothing to prevent a totally plausible additional fantasy rule change to make a happy ending. In fact, I think written differently there could have been a nice reversal—make the story even more about the increasing agency of In-Hae, and have In-hae save Woo-Hyeol not through a kiss, or sacrificing herself as did her historical predecessor, but rather through vigorous action. Then the historical lesson would not be that the vampire simply learned self-sacrifice from a woman, but rather that human society had changed, with women finally getting an agency that they deserved. The viewers would have lost the lachrymose tributes to Woo-Hyeol as being the most noble human of all, but they would have gained a more satisfying narrative arc with In-hae, where she was not standing alone overlooking the party, which was kind of sad given her history of aloneness, but rather with Woo-Hyeol as an equal partner.

The writer, who obviously is talented, didn’t trust that the themes of what made us human could come through with a happy ending. However, in my opinion, her choices made the show at best, very sappy, and a lot less satisfying than Cocteau’s 1946 movie, Beauty and the Beast.

I felt exactly the same about 19th life, which actually was not as well written, but also had a failed attempt to be emotionally meaningful. Will the same be true of My Lovely Liar? I think it likely!

I’m as sentimental as an old man can be, but tearjerking and tragic does not automatically equal emotional profundity, yet that seems to be the way most fantasy romance kdrama writers think.

Ah, I can see efforts to balance the disappointment of THAT ENDING with the overall goodness of the show, especially its early antics and some wonderful characters. That’s true. It’s all true.

And perhaps some of that disappointment has been burned in the 300+ comments on the fan rant wall (thanks for the safe space @attiton ). But not mine. I am so utterly disappointed by this unwarranted tragic ending that I can’t see past it. The show broke its explicit and implicit promise to viewers in such a spectacular fashion, I can’t look past it just yet.

I will be sulking in my corner a while longer. Luckily, it’s late in my part of the world and I won’t be here when @hacja arrives to collect his bar of gold.

Hi, I have been an active reader on here for years but this is the first time I have been tempted to participate in a discussion.
I know it is awful that a story labeled and advertised as a rom-com ended up killing off its male lead in the last episode but I have to say, I loved that ending.

I actually was in complete disbelief about WH's death and kept expecting a twist until that moment when he appeared on that balcony in front of IH, smiling and looking beautiful. That was when I burst out sobbing.
But even amidst all the sadness, I must say it makes perfect sense.

Woohyeol had already accepted his fate ever since he started looking for Inhae's dad instead of denying reality and finding ways to still be with her. He knew after him Inhae would be heartbroken and sad but he knew that now she would not be as miserable and alone as she was after her mother's death.
He also knew that the gold he was leaving behind would be a means to support his friends like he used to do in times of hardship.
He also learned that he could save someone else by giving away his own life, I believe this was the final push he needed to go ahead and actively start planning for The Day. Dosik might not have been his favorite guy in the last few episodes but he was once a person WH trusted and thought decent enough to hope Inhae would fall in love with him.
And of course, the biggest factor in his decision was the fact that there was no other choice.
I think after all these reasons if WH had still not chosen to do what he did then he wouldn't have been the kind, sweet and empathetic Woohyeol we have all come to love and adore these past 16 episodes. In my opinion, the ending was a direct parallel to the kind of person we have seen Woohyeol be in this show, beautiful, heart-wrenchingly sad, and noble.
As someone who spent the entire last episode being anxious that a poorly explained and hastily inserted loophole might dampen the extreme love I have for this show, I am happy that the ending was consistent with the rich and beautifully written characters we have come to love.

That being said, I will now go and cry under a blanket for weeks or maybe even months to come. Bye!!!!

Silly me. I thought the gold would be at Mar-a-Lago, hidden under piles of classified documents.

Cat-man reveals his priorities by moving the gold to save it from redevelopment but leaving Woo-hyeol to his fate -- and for all he knew, eventually some very startled demolition workers.

I'm probably one of the small minority who lost interest in this drama after the first half. I only followed episode 15 in passing and didn't even watch episode 16.

I liked the drama best when Woo-hyul still had to find his way in the world that was new to him, or every time the vampire gang made their appearance.
The romance itself didn't touch me much, I can't even say why.

Originally, I thought it was a shame that I couldn't perceive the magic that others saw in this drama. But after witnessing how much the ending devastated some, I'm glad I wasn't particularly emotionally invested.

Alternate Endings Game: some complicated blood transfer would have resulted in Woo-hyeol becoming human but In-hae becoming a vampire, and the show ends with a big fat "Now what?" while Do-sik wonders whose blood he needs now.

Thanks for all the recaps @solstices! I had a lot of snark set to go for the recap, but now I guess I'm thinking more about what I did love about the drama. But I will say, I still can't believe Man-Hwi literally died like a PowerPoint presentation and then the show suddenly decides it wants to turn into a serious dime-a-dozen melo. I don't get what the writers were thinking.

I'll pop in with some more thoughts but i did absolutely love so much about the drama and how much fun it was sharing in the fun with the Heartbeat Hottest ❤️

Oh man, let the group therapy commence. I kid, or do I?

I agree that the biggest issue is that the show marketed itself as a funny, lighthearted romcom and this ending was not foreshadowed or hinted at. I also feel like they kind of ran out of things for Do-sik to do, he was a very good character but then by the end it felt like he was just chastising everyone (here's a scene with him chastising Hae-won. Now here's a scene with him chastising Woo-hyeol. Again. Etc). Mr. Ko was beyond pointless. Man-hwi and the gold were the world's biggest anticlimaxes. At first I refused to believe that Man-whi was dying because they couldn't have come up with such a lackluster ending for him, right? Nope, that was it.

I'm gonna say what I said elsewhere: they could have found any way to give us a happy ending, even if it made zero sense we would have accepted it. I would have preferred an ending where Do-sik gets "cured" and In-hae ends up with him. Their relationship may not be true love but it would at least be warm and affectionate, and he does really care for her.

I can't in good conscience recommend this to anyone. In fact, I've been recommending it in non-kdrama spaces and now I feel badly that I may have led someone astray. I really did not see this ending coming at all. This wasn't even marketed as a melo. At least See You in My 19th Life, which was also sold as a romcom, had the melo vibe all along and even THAT had a happier ending.

I'm not thrilled that In-hae was Hae-sun, although I did expect it and I was happy that the drama had Woo-hyeol genuinely fall for In-hae before learning that. ALTHOUGH, why did he not have those flashbacks when he tasted her blood the first time? Did he need more of it? Questions abound.

The hallucination thing was weird, too. Like, just have her look at a picture of him and smile or something.

Oh, one more thing: at this rate, I'm gonna have to say that King the Land was the best romcom this year. It had huge flaws, but at least it understood the darn assignment.

Episode 1 started off campy and then it became poignant and sweet and rapidly began going downhill from episode 12. I am all for tragic endings but this was gaslighting at its finest. What was the Catmans role in all this? The walking talking Wikipedia of supernatural know how’s just couldn’t figure out a way for our WH? When In Hae said ‘let’s figure this out together’ what did they even do? Just sit around and make empty promises to each other?

And I don’t think Do Shik took a sip of his blood when WH stabbed himself so what was the point of all that? Why? We would have dropped dead anyway right?

I worry how In Hae is ever expected to move on. Thankfully she is human and her life will be short but is she expected to lead a normal life living in WH’s mansion with his memories all around her? Will she die alone with WH’s ever young vampire friends around her?

I cannot believe I have to shelve this drama as a ‘could have been’! The disappointment is real.

I wasn't so disapointed by the end because this drama already lost me when Woo-hyul was dying and couldn't be saved without killing In-hae and all of that in a very short period. Taecyeon was very good in the slapstick comedic scenes but kinda boring in the serious ones.

I have no idea what the writer was trying to say with this story. But I can't see In-Hae falling in love again after that, so it looks like her future will be lonely. It doesn't seem fair.

thanks for the recap and guess finally i am allowed to write n share without being cornered *still hiding behind my pillow to be safe*
.
i liked the way you concluded about giving love makes someone human and not just having a heart... but just as you said the tone was so different for first 6 episodes and then suddenly it turned to altogether a different drama.. the tempo drastically changed 7 epi onwards which eventually turned even worst in last 2 episodes.
if only that tone was kept for the start by writernim obviously not by giving us spoilers but rather discretely. the human comparison lines last epispde had could hav been sprinkled here n there form first half to make us kind of suspicious as to something can happen. And then such ending could have been handled with some safety net that okay i saw this was coming... but nosedive like this fees like a criminal offence to me.. to kill us with one dagger at a time at Woo Hyeols heart.
.
Then next issue i felt was drama opened so many plot points, spread them around but it al felt so rushed by the end... some more could have been shown abt In Hae wants to share her blood to save him but no efforts from her, her tiny droplets giving angered me so much..
.
Lastly this show is good and watchable for first 6 eoisode cause it was so light, fun n fluff and Taec did the best acting of his career.. but laster half was a traumatic experience that i'd never wanna talk or even want to remember ever again in my life.
.
and this writer is blacklisted my drama watch list in future.
.
oh and thanks for the recap.. i dont read n post on recaps but i did cause i have to share my thoughts at least here.

I do not hare noble idiocy, until I hate it with a vengeance.

@solstices Your recaps were as fun as the drama was, and it must have gotten harder and harder as this absolutely beautiful train journey morphed into a complete train wreck.

Drama Gods, start campy, stay campy. This risotto of mismatched ingredients satisfies no one.

Sigh, that ending. I guess I've been spoiled by the fantasy dramas I've watched in the past because I really did think there was going to be an 11th hour save for Woo Hyeol. (Granted, I don't remember all the fantasies I've watched haha. The only one coming to mind is My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. I also was reminded of Gu Family Book while watching this). Anywho, because I was expecting a last minute mystical save, I felt blindsided and hurt by the actual death of the main character. It hurt and it ruined my whole mood cause it just stayed with me. And because death saddens me, I did get teary and was genuinely bummed.

I get it and it makes sense. If stakes were given, it would've been cheap and undercut his whole journey to not follow through but ugh, it still felt so painful! 😫

And Man Hwi's ending was anticlimatic to me haha. After thinking about it, maybe it was the most fitting and satisfying for him; the centuries old vampire who looked down on everyone else was brought down by not only an "inferior human" but with the means he told the human about in the first place.

There is did seem to be some "full circle" moments with Man Hwi. Man Hwi first came into contact with Woo Hyeol due to attacking Hae Seon and his end came due to attacking Hae Won.

I had the same thoughts about where Woo Hyeol was stabbed. So, it *didn't* matter if he was stabbed in the scar, he just had to be stabbed while the scar was visible? (I don't even remember if the scar was visible at the time). It probably wouldn't have looked very romantic if Woo Hyeol stabbed himself in the neck.

While I don't mind reincarnation, the idea didn't seem very conforting to me with this story. Neither Woo Hyeol or In Hae would be the same people or characters and it would possibly be centuries from now. And maybe, possibly the other vampires would recognize something about him?

Bittersweet. That's what this finale was.

sometimes a sad ending is the right ending and stays with you longer than any happy ending would.
In the end in made sense for ‘a vampire more humane than any human’ would not drink his lovers blood to live, and while knowing he is dying he would give up his blood to save someone. It was something Woo-Hyeol would do. It was sad but in character. But the lead up to this was abrupt. I wish the stakes and rules were clear from the get go. It almost felt like the show decided to change the tone mid way.

This show was truly something. It had heart. By writing a vampire to be one of the best ML’s in drama land this show became an easy favorite.
The show got many things right - relatable main leads, a 2ML with depth and even a villain with a personality (ManHwi might be annoying but he truly was w vampire at heart and his frustrations felt real at times).
The show also did great with costumes, set design and OST.
Overall a very enjoyable show.

Do vampires reincarnate??

Thank you, Solstices, for your recaps, especially with the kpop/musical references!

"It had the potential to craft innovative solutions for its mystical problems, but instead we got glossed-over plot threads and cliché scripts. " - wonderfully put. My initial reaction was "HOLY %$&^ WAS THAT ENDING?!", but you well-articulated my overall disappointment.

At least give us a preview of their next incarnation to reassure us that Woo-hyeol will get to be human (and not part human) and that the couple isn't going to play tag in the next life as well and that climate change wouldn't have already killed us all before the next life happens. It was hundreds of years between Joseon and modern incarnations.

I actually have been growing disappointed with the last 6 episodes stepping too much into cliche kdrama rom-com tropes from 10-15 years ago - FL quietly taking a backseat to everyone else, 2FL going batsh*t crazy over a guy, 2ML getting patronizingly protective, the separations (Woo-hyeol - you know In-hae has abandonment trauma, but you keep leaving her!), and the energy and humor level going waaay down.

Ending is down there with the one from Do do sol sol la la so. Both this and DDSSLLS are rom-coms with lots of great elements, like charming leads, likable supporting roles, great found family themes, and good messages....and unfortunately... terribly annoying ending trajectories with the MLs that really sink the dramas.

When Woo-hyeol died and had that funeral, I thought it was a good way to bookend the series. He'll come back and all would be good. I liked how Do-shik took care of the annoying Man-hwi early in the finale so that we could focus on how Woo-hyeol was going to live! but alas!

And did Do-shik's curse even get lifted since Woo-hyeol technically stabbed himself. I resent how the writer has Woo-hyeol pretty much abandon and traumatize In-hae for angst when the couple has been communicative and understanding.

At least, we found out where the gold was. And at least Sang Hae and Dong-Seob are financially sound now (take that! Vampire Tteokbokki!!) and In-hae actually has guests now in her guesthouse.

I wonder if there are behind-the-sciences kerfuffles related to this ending. Like maybe someone wanted to tank the drama.