The ending was pat, but pat in a determined way. The womance was the heart of the show and I am so glad I watched this!!!

I very much liked how each story threads were woven together. I personally liked that our ML was not just there for the sake of having a ML. But his story is very much intertwined with key characters. Yeon Woo Jin is a great actor and want to see him in more projects.
And of course I love the four ladies. I loved that we get to see them grow in their own character arcs through out the show. Jeong Suk is definitely the main heart of the show. Kim So Yeon, Kim Sung Ryung and Kim Sun Young are always amazing. Lee Se Hee is a new find. I have only seen her in the weekender and I really like her here. I will definitely miss this show. I very much like that each character are left in a better place than when we started this show. 💕

For those who may have also had this experience, allow me to be completely honest: I was so disappointed in the final pair of episodes that I truly want my entire 12 hours back.

Beginning with the four YEAR time skip at the end, we were allowed to learn nothing about how Jung-sook actually built her business--knowing full-well that it must have been extremely difficult and used all of her fantastic wiles--but even more amusingly to the point (for a supposedly sex-positive story?) why is it that her potential life partner is still afraid actually buying her products?? Maybe she should practice her pitch a little harder...or something.

The Do-hyun parentage side plot took over the end of the story to the detriment of the women's individual agencies...in a way that made it seem a bit like, "Yeah, yeah empowerment, but what about this guy?" I, like @quirkycase, gather that this was supposed to be mitigated by the fact that Geum-hee was the birth mother he sought, but nah. His tale of woe mainly took tons and tons of time away from learning more about the relationships and personalities I feel so many of us truly cared about...those of the four women.

Where did our story about the four women go?? Frankly, in each case, and in the last two episodes especially, the show ended up being more about how they related to their men than to one another (even the, yes, truly touching storyline where Yeong-bok agonizingly repaired her relationship with Geum-hee...that was about something her husband ripped apart...and her heartfelt plea for forgiveness for something she didn't do was one that Geum-hee's husband convinced his wife to accept!! What?).

I found it incredibly disappointing given the build-up we were given at the beginning.

THE GOOD:
The womance was fabulous, and the empowerment was great. I loved the discussion they had about their relationship as well - 'we share our wounds without judgement' 💖and how that is the basis of their unbreakable friendship. Cheers to that! (raises soju glass) 🥃

In terms of character development, Jung-sook was like a seedling that we watched grow from a little shoot into a magnificent display 🌸and her future MIL was a houseplant that was wilting in a dark corner without the right nutrients, that came back into full bloom.🌷 The other two women, Ju-ri and Young-bok were already pretty comfortable with who they were, so they didn't need to change, but they helped the others on their journeys.

THE FRUSTRATING:
One key frustration for me, and I use that word deliberately(!) 😬is the lack of a fulfilling relationship and specifically sexual awakening arc for Jung-sook. 

If this weren't a story about a sex-positive business that allows women to embrace their sexuality without shame and validate that they are entitled to sexual pleasure, I would gloss over it as typical k-drama prurience, but in the context of this show, it bugged me. 😡

Why did the romance get so asexual in the end? Why was someone who was growing in all other areas of her life, not also given the opportunity to find true sexual contentment? We know that her sex life with her ex husband was pretty terrible, so she certainly deserved this. 😒

Honestly, I would have been happy to see her getting into using her own vibrating products, if they didn't want to centre it around the ML, 🤣but it felt like a jarring gap to me. Sigh.

I am going to second all of the comments above. Overall, this was a nice portrayal of women’s friendship and introduced me to a wonderful version of a classic Korean pop song. Otherwise, as these last two episodes showed, it was disappointing.

The sex toy business might be “virtuous” because it focused on women’s sexual satisfaction, something as worthy of attention as men’s sexual needs. But the toys’ purpose was the focus only once, when the FL tried one of her products and euphemistic fireworks went off in the sky. Of course, they couldn’t show anything more suggestive, but they could have talked about it without being explicit, saying things like “why should only the man get the fun” or something similar.

Instead, the women might as well have been in the plumbing business. In fact, it might have been good to have them selling hardware or non-bedroom sports equipment, because they still would have encountered sexist hostility, but the show could have actually shown them using their marketing skill. As it is you never got any sense of why customers would want to buy these products, except lingerie to please their husbands.

That, plus all the women in the show were heterosexual, and yet all the men in the show were the least desirable sex partners imaginable—even the male lead had a limp, flaccid personality with all the sex appeal of a wet noodle, if you get what I’m saying. That made this the unsexiest sex toy drama possible.

The main thrust of women’s sexuality became motherhood—exactly the same emphasis of the conservative villains who opposed the “immoral” business. All the FLs were just surrogate mothers to immature male partners. Even the relationship between the less inhibited hairdresser and the pharmacy assistant, had her as his sexual tutor, and then intervening with his real Mom to ensure her son got a photography education.

As for the FL and ML, they were never flirtatious, the ML found her most attractive when she was in Josean era Hancock! She gazed at him sympathetically, not lovingly, guiding him as he worked through his Mommy issues. Its not surprising that their main date was a children’s amusement park, where, like a parent, she took him on rides that he could not handle by himself. It would have been far more interesting to me if a relationship showed her sexual awakening. Instead she became a saintly Mother Superior selling sex toys.

So, even though this show was a remake of a British show, to me it was representative of what’s wrong with Kdrama attitudes toward sex and sexuality, and it was thematically interesting only for that negative reason.

The four women had great chemistry together, and were enjoyable to watch as friends, but another, earlier drama, the Social Avengers Club, had the same thing, yet dealt more seriously with its focus, class issues. I’d recommend that one, instead of this drama, which undermined its own supposed message of female independence and liberation.

This drama was good but as a few other Beanies pointed out, there are gaps:

1. I agree with @aig00iness that we should have see Jung-sook's personal sexual revolution as well given the products she is selling.

2. There did not need to be an adoption backstory and link for the ML. Writer-Nim could just as easily had him return to Geumje because he found his grandmother and decided to learn more about his roots. No need to make Geum-he his mom.

However, at the same time, the contrast between Geum-he and Ju-ri's outcomes as single unwed mothers make an interesting commentary on how single mothers and their children were treated and dealt with and the differences in their options according to generation because I take it that since Ju-ri became a mom in the 90s, she had more options than Geum-hi who had her child in the 60s.

3. The show could have done with 1 - 2 more episodes so we can see how Jung-sook and her friends built the business back up from scratch. That would've been very inspiring given what they are up against.

Otherwise, this is still a solid feminist drama for sure.

The four-year time skip picked up the ladies at a point where they had no hope of a paycheck - a devastating situation for three of them - and whisked them all the way to sleek success. Suddenly they look like flight attendants with their uniforms, scarves, and hairdos. But how did they get to that point? That would have been the more interesting story.

The time skip also glossed over any development in the FL/ML's relationship. After four years, Do-hyun comes to town and brings balloons. And that's it?

This was a really lame ending to a drama that tried to deal with serious issues in each woman's life, and to focus on the importance of their friendship to all four women. I personally didn't think their only way forward or the best way to show their growth was to open their own store. It would have been great to see them take the skills they had learned and confidence they had gained, and branch out into other meaningful careers that helped Jung-sook, Young-bok, and Ju-ri support their families, and gave Geum-hee a more satisfying life.

Thank you for the great recaps quirkycase.
Personally the last couple of episodes felt underwhelming, almost like a wet blanket compared to the awesome first half.
The show lost focus on what made it so great, our 4 leading ladies and just got caught up in all this melodrama and noise which simply wasn't needed.
The four ladies were superb and I give them a standing ovation for starring in a tv show which may have been looked upon as somewhat risque and questionable in South Korea.
Overall I'm really glad I watched it and will  look forward to their next shows.

Hmm, this drama started off stronger than how it ended. Didn't have much humor or fun in the last two episodes. It was more about family moments and wrapping up different stories. Geum Hee's teary acting was so good. Her husband's comforting talk to her was lovely. His life had been complete because he had her. T.T Their relationship was well developed.

I wish the show had came back to the cheating wife and let the husband know the truth and be free from her! I had also expected Jung Sook's ex would come back to cause a ruckus in the last hour before getting kicked to the curb again. He could have been part of the scene with the cheating wife. I'm disappointed that she hasn't been punished.

Noble idiocy, can't live without it, eh? That wasn't a great use of Ju Ri and her story.

The reveal about the Fantasy company closing down was kinda surprising and kinda not. I did have a thought early in the show that the company looked scammy. The effects of the stigma actually being too much seemed realistic.

The 4 year time skip was really unsatisfying! I wondered where Jung Sook got her products. Any locally made? Or from overseas? It would have been better if we could have seen some of the process and struggle of her establishing her own store. Would have been nice to see the past ladies who supported her too. (Guess the butcher was too busy with her second job. XP)

I still liked this drama for the 4 ladies and Jung Sook's noticeable growth. She was a wonderful character that I wanted to root for.

I agree with others that this drama started off strong and ended with a weak and rushed ending. They could have certainly used another 1-2 episodes to wraps things up better instead of just tacking on the 4 year time jump at the end.

I really liked this drama and the last 2 episodes too.

Jeong-Suk : she started the story as the perfect woman whom patriarchy wants. She knew her husband since she was a kid and never been with another man. She was an introvert focusing on her family. But thanks to her new job, she discovered her own body, her own will and her own strength. She's a determined and smart woman. And the drama showed us that, so I didn't mind to know how they opened the shop.(I'm surprised by I remember when I was young, this kind of shops had to have opaque windows.)

Do-Hyeon : I think his story was important too. First, it let Jeong-Suk to be his hero too. I like how at the end, both helped each other and not just him saving her again and again. His side of the story made us to know the women of the town too.

Geum-Hui : I did like the idea she didn't want kids to live her life as a woman. But her story felt very possible at that time too. Her husband at the end was more opened I thought at the beginning. As a son, it must have been hard to explain to his family that he won't perpetrate his name. But he respected his wife's wishes.

Young-Bok : she was way more understanding with her husband than I would have been in this situation. Yeah, he was cute but he gave her more worries when she needed him.

Ju-Ri : They kinda limited her character to being a free spirit. But she was really a nice touch in this group of women.

All of them together was really the best part of this drama.

This drama addressed a lot of serious themes without being too dark or depressed.

For the adoption, I'm always sad when they use the word "abandon" for the mother. I'm adopted and never saw the situation as an abandon but more a chance to get a better life. And it's always the mother, Do-Hyeon didn't ask about his father, didn't try to find him, etc.

Episode 11 had more tear drops than a spring monsoon. The reason given by Geum-Hui was blunt but understandable. She “recklessly” had a child at 29, got married at 39 with the demand for a childless marriage, and at 59 her regrets are expressed to her knowing husband, who in a reverse of the male themes of the show, is respectful, comforting and supportive of her. The writer has reversed the standard k-drama story that a woman needs a strong man to have a good life: Dae-Geun stands up for himself because of Ju-Ri’s strength and belief in him; Jong-Sun’s life and being kind and caring person is a direct result of Young-Bok’s strength and preserving in a tough situation. The 10-year gap from the adoption to Geum-Hui going back to rural Geumje is quite the coincidence to solve Do-Hyuon’s birth secret.

The finale started with Geum-Hui’s short-rifted backstory: an affair with a servant led to her parents kicking her out; she accidentally started the fire; she gave up the baby to her parents US friends (which begs the question whether they were baby brokers or his adoptive parents). Either way, Geum-Hui had the means to trace her child if she really wanted to . . . which she did not do despite decades of regret. Most of the last hour was trying to work thorough the awkwardness which was not very engaging. And speaking of engagements, the dating couples romances went on hold until the last minute of the 4-year time skip when we see them together but ambiguously don’t know their relationship status. Or how Jeong-suk built up her business to open a store (which I think is not it was even in Geumje). By putting the fraud/thief CEO as a feminist martyr did not sit well, as the story circled back to the same protests of their business that was present at the beginning, except this time the ladies are wearing used airline flight attendant uniforms.

I understand that each of the four ladies needed to have a personal event that humbles them, hurts them and sets them up for future success by perseverance. But the ending failed to stick the landing. There are two many open questions on every relationship especially when just before the time skip, all the characters were in deep quicksand. We dislike when a show “tells” us instead of “showing” us what happens, but in this finale, it does neither. Disappointing. The series probably needed two more episodes or less time in side arcs to see how the ladies navigated their losses, balanced their lives, and got back on their feet. The four female leads were strong in acting and their chemistry. Their collective story was a good ride that ended in a non-exciting fashion.

Boy, I could have done without the fraud story in the last episode. I would much rather have used that time for a more leisurely wrap-up of the various story strands. I wish we had seen Jeong-Suk's ex again, and found out about her neighbors and their story after the wife got pregnant. Did it work out for them?

And I still wish we could have seen the real-estate lady stand up to her husband!

I liked this drama very much--and I liked Do-hyun's adoption story, even though I initially found the idea of him as Geum-hee's son a little hard to swallow--but for me, the ending was too diluted.

This needed to be a 16-episoder. The ending felt like a waiter clearing my plate from under me before I was done eating. Or at least 14 episodes!

This was such a warm and joyful drama for me and I'm so glad I got to see it, but I felt disappointed by the ending. That 4 year time-jump where they just glossed over everything - all the fallout of having their work go unpaid (Young-bok is pregnant with baby #5! Jeong-sook's ex is incapable of child support!) and trying to figure out a way to restart the business from scratch and succeed so well at it that they could open a physical shop. I usually don't mind time-jumps and feel that sometimes we really do need them for the characters to have some breathing room and to develop some perspective, but this one was too "wave a magic wand and voila!" And why are Jeong-sook and Do-hyun still so shy with each other after a 4 year relationship?

Things I liked from the last 2 episodes:
the brochures idea
the resolution of Do-hyun's adoption and the natural awkwardness of the reunion.
Wonbong probably ending up as my fave husband.
Young-bok kicking her husband after he was released. I'm still upset that he almost ruined the family with his idiocy
Juri and Dae-gun being really cute together
All the scenes with Juri's son living in Geum-hee's house.
Jeong-sook being the steely, resilient person she is. I really can believe she could find a way to overcome the odds even though it is unbelievable that 4 ladies can open a lingerie/sexual aids storefront in a small town.

The beginning of this show was like a bubbly glass of champagne, but fizzed out in the end to a warm flat can of soda. The time skip was completely unnecessary, four years??! Wasn't there mention of a series of fires where children had disappeared? Couldn't he have followed up on that locally? Or did I misunderstand? Their reunion at the store was so bland, as someone mentioned, asexual. Lots of other questions. Did Jeong Suk's former friend find out about his wife cheating on him with her ex, and the likely father of her baby? Why did ex husband/dad completely disappear though living in the same town? Did Young Bok's husband find work? Could he have worked for the pharmacist when he expanded the store? Or would that have stigmatized the store? Baby 5 ok? Jeong Suk's mom disappeared after their heart to heart, I would have liked more of her too. Why did the four of them name their new store after one of them??

For a show about feminism and exploring women's sexuality, Jeong Suk was never shown to have a fulfilling relationship. I imagined a flirty scene circling back with Do Hyun asking her to answer a multiple choice question about what she wanted and him offering the choice she picked. Maybe trying out some of her products. One brief mild kiss was it for her.

I loved the womance and how much they supported one another, the reawakened romance between the older married couple, and the early 90's setting. I did enjoy most of this show and I'm glad I watched it, I was just disappointed in the final episodes.