Question in the comments for those who have seen Signal and Memories of the Alhambra or for those who are wondering how dare those two kdramas be in the same sentence and don’t mind spoilers.
Why did people like the ending to Signal and not to MoA? It is literally the same type of ending. The important male character is thought to be dead and in the final minute, he is revealed to be alive and in mortal danger; both FLs are racing towards him in the final seconds of the show; and both shows end before anyone knows if the ML will be alright. My general guess is that people liked Signal more overall so could stomach the ending more. But, thoughts?
I haven’t seen MoA so I can’t speak for it, but with Signal there is the fact that the story itself kind of built to the ending – all we knew was that he had disappeared, no confirmation of death. Also, it was a show where the questions of whether changing the past could affect the future, so an ending where a presumed dead character is alive is less out of nowhere. It sticks with the questions that the show has been exploring for 16 episodes even if it is a surprise.
I think part of it was that in Signal the ending felt earned by the strength of the show overall. It worked because even if you didn’t see it coming it was built into the DNA of the story itself. I have no desire to watch MoA (I made it through half an episode) but from what I gather, the writing in that show didn’t build up to its twists and therefore it didn’t “earn” its ending. The thing about good writing is that even where you don’t know what’s going to happen next, when something shocking happens it is “earned” when in retrospect it remains in keeping with the way the story and characters built to it. Think about The Sixth Sense – the first time we all saw the movie it was shocking, but when you rewatch it it makes so much sense because of subtle hints in the writing and direction.
I think that’s what most people’s argument would be. I saw the clues MoA gave to lead to that ending and so I found it earned, but I think many people were distracted by what they didn’t like to see them.
IMHO the only people who thought MoA didn’t build up well to its ending were people who were waiting for everything to end like a superhero movie and everything go back to normal at the finale. I expected extreme disaster.
Yeah there have been times where that term has been overused. My taste in female leads has definitely changed over the years to want a stronger woman as lead, but I think strength isn’t necessarily doing everything herself or never crying. It also isn’t being a brat and getting away with anything because she’s a “strong, independent” woman. It is hard to find the balance.
It was weird cause I didn’t see her as much of a potted plant as other people did. I mean she did cry a lot but she did what she could in the situation she was in. I mean she really didn’t have any means to go find her brother, she didn’t have the time to “waste” on a game, and she did her job in physically and emotionally supporting the family she had left. She joined in when she could but I’m not really sure what more she could have done. She was really there to create an emotional backbone to the whole thing.
I agree. I think Snarklyjellyfish has a good point about the ending of Signal above, but I also think the ending of MoA was not forgiven as easily just because they didn’t buy into the world in the same way. The writer could still be blamed for that, but I don’t think there was that much of a disparity as people think between the two shows.
I think people were expecting a completely different show, that is why they couldn’t buy into it. We can blame the writer, the teasers and promo people, or the viewers’ preconceprions, but it won’t change anything unfortunately.
Yeah the ones who were expecting an action-packed show didn’t get their tough FL and the ones who were expecting a romance didn’t get their fairy-tale ending.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 10:09 AM
Question in the comments for those who have seen Signal and Memories of the Alhambra or for those who are wondering how dare those two kdramas be in the same sentence and don’t mind spoilers.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 10:09 AM
Why did people like the ending to Signal and not to MoA? It is literally the same type of ending. The important male character is thought to be dead and in the final minute, he is revealed to be alive and in mortal danger; both FLs are racing towards him in the final seconds of the show; and both shows end before anyone knows if the ML will be alright. My general guess is that people liked Signal more overall so could stomach the ending more. But, thoughts?
SnarkyJellyfish
December 9, 2019 at 10:17 AM
I haven’t seen MoA so I can’t speak for it, but with Signal there is the fact that the story itself kind of built to the ending – all we knew was that he had disappeared, no confirmation of death. Also, it was a show where the questions of whether changing the past could affect the future, so an ending where a presumed dead character is alive is less out of nowhere. It sticks with the questions that the show has been exploring for 16 episodes even if it is a surprise.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 10:23 AM
True. And, the fact that he is alive at all is closure to at least one of the important questions – his disappearance.
I think MoA did too but since you haven’t seen it, I’ll save my PowerPoint presentation lol.
SnarkyJellyfish
December 9, 2019 at 10:31 AM
I think part of it was that in Signal the ending felt earned by the strength of the show overall. It worked because even if you didn’t see it coming it was built into the DNA of the story itself. I have no desire to watch MoA (I made it through half an episode) but from what I gather, the writing in that show didn’t build up to its twists and therefore it didn’t “earn” its ending. The thing about good writing is that even where you don’t know what’s going to happen next, when something shocking happens it is “earned” when in retrospect it remains in keeping with the way the story and characters built to it. Think about The Sixth Sense – the first time we all saw the movie it was shocking, but when you rewatch it it makes so much sense because of subtle hints in the writing and direction.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 10:46 AM
I think that’s what most people’s argument would be. I saw the clues MoA gave to lead to that ending and so I found it earned, but I think many people were distracted by what they didn’t like to see them.
Midnight
December 9, 2019 at 10:49 AM
IMHO the only people who thought MoA didn’t build up well to its ending were people who were waiting for everything to end like a superhero movie and everything go back to normal at the finale. I expected extreme disaster.
Midnight
December 9, 2019 at 10:26 AM
Double standards. Besically people will forgive shows they love nearly everything.
For myself I thought Signal got away with lots and lots of plotholes, and MoA basically tried to show extreme gaming can ruin your life. End of story.
Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)
December 9, 2019 at 10:32 AM
And once people decide they hate the potted plant, they start looking for reasons to hate everything else in the show.
The FL in Signal was not a potted plant 🙂
Midnight
December 9, 2019 at 10:40 AM
I have never gotten as angry at potted plants as some of the beanies.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 12:12 PM
Yeah there have been times where that term has been overused. My taste in female leads has definitely changed over the years to want a stronger woman as lead, but I think strength isn’t necessarily doing everything herself or never crying. It also isn’t being a brat and getting away with anything because she’s a “strong, independent” woman. It is hard to find the balance.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 10:57 AM
It was weird cause I didn’t see her as much of a potted plant as other people did. I mean she did cry a lot but she did what she could in the situation she was in. I mean she really didn’t have any means to go find her brother, she didn’t have the time to “waste” on a game, and she did her job in physically and emotionally supporting the family she had left. She joined in when she could but I’m not really sure what more she could have done. She was really there to create an emotional backbone to the whole thing.
Midnight
December 9, 2019 at 11:03 AM
Thank you!
Midnight
December 9, 2019 at 12:17 PM
Replying to your latest comment here. Again, thank you! I agree.
Actually we shouldn’t be looking for balance, I guess. Different characters in dramas resonate with different people. And that should be ok.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 10:54 AM
I agree. I think Snarklyjellyfish has a good point about the ending of Signal above, but I also think the ending of MoA was not forgiven as easily just because they didn’t buy into the world in the same way. The writer could still be blamed for that, but I don’t think there was that much of a disparity as people think between the two shows.
Midnight
December 9, 2019 at 11:02 AM
I think people were expecting a completely different show, that is why they couldn’t buy into it. We can blame the writer, the teasers and promo people, or the viewers’ preconceprions, but it won’t change anything unfortunately.
Jig
December 9, 2019 at 12:14 PM
Yeah the ones who were expecting an action-packed show didn’t get their tough FL and the ones who were expecting a romance didn’t get their fairy-tale ending.
Possum
December 9, 2019 at 10:41 PM
I think MoA disappointed a lot of people because the game turned out to be more important to him.
She was more a support to him than an actual partner in a relationship. I never really expected them to end up together.