Open Thread: Queen In-hyun’s Man Episodes 15 & 16 [Final]

Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Gosh, time flies, doesn’t it? We’ve come to the end of this delightful show. 🥲 Thanks for watching this one with me! 😘

SOME IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, before we begin:

1. There’s no Spoiler Zone this week, since this is the final two episodes of the show.

2. Our next Saturday group watch will be of Autumn’s Concerto [Taiwan], which will start on 25 June 2022.

I will make an announcement with all the relevant details, next Saturday, 18 June 2022.

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

My thoughts

Episode 15

Oof. What a rollercoaster of an episode this turned out to be.

For those of us who wondered what else Show might have up its sleeves, after such a great pair of episodes last week, welp, I guess we have our answer. 😅

To Show’s credit, it’s something that actually makes decent narrative sense, and doesn’t feel like something that writer-nim just made up on the fly, in order to fill screen time.

Before we get into that, though, I am appreciative of the fact that Show gives us an intensive dose of Cute upfront, in order to anchor us through the angst that we get, for a good chunk of the episode.

I loved – so much! – the OTP cuteness that we get, with Hee Jin being so thrilled that Boong Do’s with her in 2012, that she can’t sleep, and then jumps at the first chance she gets, to go over to Boong Do’s apartment.

How cute, that the thing that gets her so excited to go over there, is the chance to show Boong Do how useful neckties are, for kissing.

Tee hee hee! How funny, that Boong Do expresses suspicion around the fact that so many of Hee Jin’s explanations have something to do with kissing. So funny, but so true! 😁

And how sweetly poignant, is Hee Jin’s joy over the fact that Boong Do’s now only 5 minutes away from her, rather than 300 years away. Aw.

It really has been hard to date long distance – or in their case, across different timelines – and it does feel like sweet, sweet relief, that they’re both now in the same timeline, finally.

I find it extremely endearing, that Boong Do’s applying himself so earnestly, to learning everything that he needs to know, in order to fit seamlessly into his new chosen timeline.

His questions about clocks and clothing and why we read things from left to right, are cutely thought-provoking, and he does make me look at my world a little differently, by asking them.

Their date is so lighthearted and cute, with Hee Jin being blithely adorable and romantic, even though she’s under strict instructions from Soo Kyung, to watch her image, heh.

The way she teaches Boong Do to do the “Lady and the Tramp” kiss with pasta, is cutely hilarious, and I think it’s awesome that Boong Do remarks, half seriously, that he’s only going to eat pasta from now on.

EGAD. Just, how cute are they??? 😍😍

..Which just makes Boong Do’s sudden disappearance, back to the Joseon timeline, feel all the more like snatching candy from a child. 😭

At first, I’d thought that this might have something to do with the fact that the charm was made in Joseon, and therefore, Boong Do’s meant to spend most of his time in Joseon, but I think the explanation that Show eventually gives us, is better.

Since Yoon Wol had been the one to request the talisman for Boong Do, and since she’d been the one to pour her faith into it, via her prayers, it makes some kind of sense, that when Yoon Wol’s life is snuffed out, that the talisman would turn black like that, and cease to work the way it had been.

On that note, POOR YOON WOL. 🥺

I’d hoped that she would’ve been able to start a new life, after accepting the fact that Boong Do’s left for the new world, but alas, it wasn’t to be.

It’s horrible that Lord Min Am’s lackey would take everything out on Yoon Wol and kill her for having been the cause of everything that had happened, but I can see why he would direct his anger at her.

After all, if Boong Do hadn’t had that talisman, he would have been successful in killing him, and Lord Min Am wouldn’t have died like that.

Still, it’s a terrible fate that Yoon Wol suffers, and I’m only mildly mollified that Boong Do wastes no time in avenging her death, and making sure that the monk at the temple would collect her body, so that she’d be able to spend her last moments in the place where she felt peace.

I was suuper nervous about Boong Do trying to use the blackened talisman to get back to Hee Jin, because, what if it doesn’t work, right? That means that he’d die, just making the attempt.

And yet, he still chooses to take the chance, because that’s how much Hee Jin means to him, and my heart can’t help but wobble in appreciation. 🥹

Still, that moment, when he’s almost reaching Hee Jin, and trying to explain that there was something wrong with the talisman, and then disappears, mid-stride, is utterly heartbreaking.

Talk about being so near, yet so far. 😭

And, as if this isn’t bad enough, Boong Do finds, after traveling intensely for a month, to get to the head monk who’d written the talisman, that the head monk had already passed away, a month before.

GAH. With no one left in the world who knows anything about how the talisman works, let alone how to possibly make a new one, I can see why Boong Do would decide that the kinder thing to do, would be to burn the talisman, in the hope of releasing Hee Jin from the pain of remembering him, and waiting for him.

Gulp. That’s such a painful thought.

And yet, I can see why Boong Do would make this choice.

I wouldn’t call this noble idiocy, even though Boong Do’s doing this for Hee Jin’s sake. He literally can’t see any way out of this situation, and is trying to free Hee Jin from a potential lifetime spent waiting for him in vain.

That letter that Boong Do writes at the end, for both his and Hee Jin’s sakes, is so heartbreaking.

It’s heartbreaking that Boong Do’s conclusion is that in order to preserve his life, he has to give up everything, including his memories of Hee Jin, in order to pay the equivalent price.

And it’s even more heartbreaking, that Boong Do’s final wish, is that if Hee Jin were to ever read the letter, that she wouldn’t even realize that it had been meant for her.

Gurgle. That’s so, sooo sad. 😭😭

With the talisman now burned, what’s going to happen to our adorable OTP? Because, surely there must be a way for them to be reunited..? 🥺

Episode 16

The path to true love and happiness is a rather rocky one, this episode, but – HUZZAH!! – we do get our happy ending, after all!!

But first, let’s back up a bit.

I was slightly dismayed to see that a whole year had passed since the end of our previous episode, because this means that Hee Jin and Boong Do have been apart for a whole year by this time – and we still don’t have a clue as to if or how they are going to get back together again.

I thought Show did a nice job of revealing to us, bit by bit, whether or not Hee Jin and Boong Do had retained their memories of each other, after Boong Do had burned the talisman.

For a hot second, I’d thought that maybe – just maybe? – Hee Jin did remember him, but had just moved on with life, as people tend to do.

But then, when she’s given the script for the documentary that she’s been asked to narrate – aptly titled “Queen In-hyun’s Man,” heh – she remarks that she’s never heard the name “Kim Boong Do.”

Ahh. So this means that Boong Do had successfully wiped her memories, when he’d burned the talisman.

The other question the remains, of course, is whether Boong Do himself remembers Hee Jin, and we do get an indication of that too, when Hee Jin, in her narration, mentions that Boong Do had mentioned the mystery lady in his other memos (which I assume to be letters).

I also rather like the way we’re informed of what had happened to Boong Do, via the information provided for the documentary.

It makes sense to me that Boong Do would have spent his time wandering the peninsula, while still carrying his most important possessions with him – which include the letter that he’d written to Hee Jin.

And, it’s entirely possible that he’d have left the letter behind among his books, when he’s recognized and in danger of being captured.

It’s really quite poetic, the way Boong Do’s letter, written for Hee Jin, really does come to her attention, 300 years later. And, it’s so poignant too, that his wish in the letter, that she wouldn’t even know that it had been written to her, comes true as well.

At the same time, it’s completely in line with Hee Jin’s character, that the idea of Boong Do being in love with the queen, would capture her imagination, so much so that he comes alive to her.

And so, in the scene where she does the outdoor narration in the palace, and literally crosses paths with Boong Do (such a beautifully conceptualized scene, I think!), it could be rationalized that this is just her, getting overly emotionally invested in this historical figure, whose story she’s narrating.

However, to my eyes, this really feels like the thing that first might have triggered Hee Jin’s memories of Boong Do to start to come back.

Yes, this doesn’t make logical sense, since Boong Do had burned the talisman, BUT, Show’s established before, that the connection between Boong Do and Hee Jin is strong enough, that it tends to transcend the confines of the time travel mechanism.

In the past, when the talisman had been sliced in half, and that had caused Boong Do to lose his memories of Hee Jin for a while, he’d still remembered phrases that he’d picked up from her, in 2012.

Because Show’s done that before, it doesn’t feel like that much of a stretch, that in this moment, Hee Jin’s para-timeline encounter with Boong Do, might trigger the return of her memories of him.

At the same time, in Joseon, it’s really quite heartbreaking to see Boong Do conclude that his only step forward, is to kill himself, because his identity is about to be discovered.

And how ironic, that he chooses to hang himself by the very necktie that Hee Jin had bought for him.

And he almost succeeds, too. Ack.

Thank goodness for Hee Jin regaining her memories, and attempting to call him – based on her regained memories of his phone number, no less! – which is the thing that gets him to escape the stranglehold of the necktie, in order to answer her call.

As it turns out, it’s the answering of Hee Jin’s call, that then transports Boong Do to the now-2013 timeline.

I remember when I first watched this show, that I was so happy to get my happy ending for Hee Jin and Boong Do, that I didn’t even care too much, that there was a sector of viewers who felt that the phone ringing thing, was a bit of a cop-out.

On this viewing, I have to say that it makes more narrative sense to me, than most people gave it credit for, when Show first aired.

The thing is, Show has demonstrated that Yoon Wol had “called” for Boong Do, when she’d died, which had enabled Boong Do to travel back to the Joseon timeline, even though the talisman wasn’t on his person.

And, Boong Do himself had referred to the event, as Yoon Wol calling him back to Joseon.

This time, we can think of it as Hee Jin “calling” for Boong Do too, the moment she remembers him, except that this time, it’s via a phone call, and not a talisman.

Again, yes it defies the laws of physics and everything, but, as Show has demonstrated more than once already, their love has proven to be greater than things like rules and mechanics.

That’s the romance of this notion; that things like the laws of physics, or the mechanics of time travel, aren’t enough to keep Boong Do and Hee Jin apart, because their love is greater than all of that.

I feel like I actually have more questions about how Boong Do finds Hee Jin in that theater where she’s watching the documentary footage, than in how he travels back to 2013, heh.

STILL. It’s so great to see them reunited again, that I feel quite happy to just roll with the fact that he managed to find her, despite her not answering the phone, when he called her back.

It’s perfectly understandable that Hee Jin’s in shock, and not quite believing of the fact that Boong Do’s standing right there, in front of her.

That touch, of that single tear springing forth from Hee Jin’s eye, as she realizes that Boong Do is real, is very nicely done, I thought.

Amid the tears, as Hee Jin touches his cheek and confirms that he’s alive, I find it so endearing, that the first time Hee Jin asks, is how Boong Do has been, this past year. Aw.

It’s both sweet and cute, that Boong Do gently tells Hee Jin, that he came back because she’d called him, and therefore she should take responsibility for it.

And then it’s so perfectly cheeky of Boong Do, to tell Hee Jin that he’s missed the purpose of the necktie, which she’d taught him. Ahaha!!

YES PLEASE, bring on them kisses!!!

I confess, I can’t help grinning like a goofy loon, as Boong Do and Hee Jin drown in an endless series of heartfelt, hungry kisses.

Swoooon~. ❤️

What a pitch perfect little epilogue in the corner of our screens, as Boong Do gets interrogated by Soo Kyung one last time, about where he goes to school, and where he lives, etc. Her questions, as always, are hilariously consistent.

But I take comfort in the thought that this will be the final time that Boong Do will have to answer these questions, because finally, he’s here to stay, for good. ❤️

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Ele Nash
1 year ago
Reply to  kfangurl

Looking forward to it! xx

Eyre Reeze
Eyre Reeze
1 year ago

Late, but I still wanted to chime in about the ending. Not only did it “make sense” to me, I thought it was quite profound. 2012 was a time of very formulaic dramas, so I was actually predicting that the phone or the tie would replace the talisman, and it turned out to be both and one more which I thought was genius.

The talisman was given to them by a third party – someone else’s “love” – so especially when the talisman started glitching, I was convinced it had to be replaced. I was ever on the lookout for what it could be. The “ingredients” that made the talisman work was (1) love (yoon wol’s) and (2) owner being on the brink of death. So when Boong Do gave Hee Jin a car (love), I started imagining that maybe Hee Jin could one day be driving recklessly (brink of death) and be transported to the past, for a Back to the Future x Kate & Leopold twist.

That was a little too out of place for the way the story was going though, so when Boong Do asked for a phone I was convinced that would be it. It made sense as a modern version of a talisman – a handy protection for a beloved when he’s away from you, a way to get help when you’re in need.

Though I thought the tie would be a cheesy choice, I kept note of it as well, just because it was (1) a piece of cloth and (2) pulls Boong Do to Hee Jin. How the “brink of death” ingredient would come in was morbid to think about, and I didn’t expect they would actually do it.

I have not seen many people consider Boong Do’s letter as the third gear in the replacement time machine, but I am convinced it was the writer’s intention. Boong Do wrote to Hee Jin in the future, and it was when his letter reached her that she called to Boong Do in the past. They were previously brought together by chance as the effect of someone else’s token of love. This time they were brought to each other by their own love reaching each other. As Hee Jin narrates in the end, “Our reunion now is not because of that talisman, but because of the link in our memories.” I just have to be tickled that Hee Jin makes the call, of all places, from a car.

Trent
1 year ago

So my only real substantive comment is to lament all over again that Yoon Wol got done dirty; except last time I made that observation, I didn’t imagine that

spoiler for ending
show would actually kill her off. No fair!

Throughout this show, it was continually reinforced just how sparkly adorable Yoo In-na is in a role like this. Very high wattage.

I also realized about halfway through this that our ML Ji Hyun-woo is also the ML in last years big family drama hit Young Lady and Gentleman (which I actually did not watch). I had to compare pics a couple times before my brain accepted it was the same actor…

I feel like just a bit of a wet blanket in that I never really got into the OTP in this one, for whatever reason. But I will just say that part very quietly so as not to interrupt all the squeeage in various other quarters. Carry on!

J3ffc
J3ffc
1 year ago

This was a fun, easy watch that I looked forward to every week. I liked our OTP and the eternal bemusement of Boong Do was well-played and enjoyable (slightly surprised he doesn’t seem to have done too much drama since this; is he considered a little too unique-looking perhaps?). Also, this was my first show with Yoo In-na as a lead, charming and funny. 

I too went into E15 wondering where they were going to go from there, since E14 seemed as though it could have been a perfectly good finale. I thought the karmic price plot line was very well done and made a lot of sense. I interpreted the tragic death of Yoon Wol as a natural consequence of not having Boong Do around to help protect her, and her demise calling him back to Joseon. The show was very explicit in pointing out that no one controlled the talisman. On the other hand, I did roll my eyes a bit at the cell phone time travel thing, but agree with the viewpoint that it’s hard to pick too many nits when one has already accepted that words written on paper allow one to travel between time areas…and very specific ones at that! (It was a round-trip ticket from Joseon to 2012 and back, no side trips allowed.) I pointed out before that I Iike it when time-travel shows reflect the same time passage for characters whichever time line they are in; in other words a year passed for both Boong Do and Hee Jin since the disappearance, regardless of which era that we were in. And agree with KFG that the intersection of their spirits during the walk-and-talk for the documentary was a lovely scene. 

One other thing that I really liked about the final episode was the letter that Boong Do wrote, specifically that it sounded like something that an 18-century scholar might actually write, subtle in terms of the emotional impact. If there was anything in the show that I found a little bit hard to believe, it was the ease with which BD acclimated to the 21st century – a little more fish-outta-water would have gone a long way for me.

But, pshaw. We have a happy ending with our main duo, and I buy that they will make it work. One plot line that I was somehow expecting and would have liked to see was Boong Do getting involved somehow in the drama that they were making…after all, he did have special knowledge of the Queen In-Hyun and the court. That could have been hilarious.

So, once again, a fun and breezy show made better by sharing with the community. Overall grade: B. Looking forward to seeing people at the Autumn Concerto.

uyen
1 year ago

I’m still sad about Yoon Wol and how much more she deserved. But so glad that our super cute couple made it in the end. I did love that this show didn’t shy away from the consequences with time travel and I thought it was clever how they switched up who had which memories during their different bouts of amnesia. I didn’t make the connection with the parallel between Yoon Wol calling for Boong Do and Hee Jin calling for him, but that does help that make more sense.

Loved the scene when Hee Jin unknowingly reads his letter and they are sort of together in the courtyard in parallel timelines, very nicely done.

phl1rxd
phl1rxd
1 year ago

Fangurl – that was a great re-watch. Just as good as first time. THis is such a classic! Love it!

Snow Flower
Snow Flower
1 year ago

Such a good show! Well paced and well written. The cuteness was never overwhelming because the Joseon scenes added gravity and tension to the story.

eda harris
eda harris
1 year ago

KFG, i am joining the choir, even a thousand and one thanks will not be enough for this wonderful delight and pleasure.
i almost felt like a little girl, tucked into bed and listening to a magic tale, being completely swept into it’s fascinating charming story, where illusion becomes reality, without reservations. you know, when you are a child, everything seems possible, without concerns for logic, or lack of common sense, or plot holes or what ever… so that is how it felt to me, and it was quite refreshing.

i think that it’s due to the fact that the very pillars of this show are pure organic emotions, that we can all relate to and respond to accordingly, without any “but how did it happen, why, where did it come from, what is the reason????” and so on. most of the korean dramas do present those questions, and it’s not that this drama does not have them, it’s just so unimportant, that my brain did not even go there (which usually it goes in multiple directions). and the characters are so colorful, from our adorable OTP to the not so adorable hee jin’s manager or little ego maniac dong min, to boong do’s faithful servant and the beautiful yoon wol.

in closing, KFG, you sent us all on a marvelous vacation from all stress (from life and/or other intense dramas), and on top it felt like we were all being fed most yummy deserts, chocolate and whipped cream still dripping all over me. thanks.

eda harris
eda harris
1 year ago
Reply to  eda harris

and thanks everybody for taking this trip together – it was fun.

phl1rxd
phl1rxd
1 year ago
Reply to  eda harris

@Eda – I saved the link for the cut ending, went in to get the link for you only to find the message: This video contains content from CJ ENM Co., Ltd., who has blocked it on copyright grounds. I dug around and it look like the 2 sources I had for this extended cut ending were both deleted from YT. E.G.: one of the removed YT videos was even tagged was for explicit content.

Note – this extended ending is available only with the purchase of the DVD which contained a director’s cut version. Oddly, I did find this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yw5Cw_tXSs and go to 5:04. My guess is that the bots did not recognize it it was there because the whole episode was posted? Anyway, this is chaste compared to what we see on Western TV but it guess it was too hot for KDrama.

Every once in a while someone will post just that deleted scene in full but you have to find it before the bots do and take it down.

phl1rxd
phl1rxd
1 year ago
Reply to  kfangurl

Fangurl – trying to find a stand alone in-full cut scene is like playing Whack-a Mole at the arcade. It pops up and gets taken down just as quickly.

eda harris
eda harris
1 year ago
Reply to  phl1rxd

o, phl, thank you, thank you!
the REAL THING, eh? soooooo good to complete the journey! i’m thoroughly impressed that you somehow dug it up. so here is another OTP that we can add to the rather short list of most impressive ones, like in TROP, nini and chen kun (hard to beat those two).
but i have a question, what did you think of the OTP in rebel princess, it’s of a very different character, but the ML so macho-gentle, totally intoxicating. i finally finished it, and i really liked it, especially because of the OTP.

eda harris
eda harris
1 year ago
Reply to  eda harris

one more thing i wanted to add – zhou yi wei (prince xiao qi), whom i never saw before, who’s not even close to the smashing magnificent images of princes and kings we see in other dramas – captivated my imagination and beyond. he had something alluring from chen kun’s prince ning yi (TROP) and something even more powerful and arresting than wang kai’s prince jing yan (nirvana in fire), and almost smarter or equally smart as hu ge’s mei chang su (nirvana), combine that with the most romantic prince i’ve yet to see in chinese historic dramas (they can be obsessed and infatuated to a craze, but not romantic. which prince did you see taking his princes ON A DATE?
(the iconic scene of both of them on the horses in the grasslands, the dancing with the local people around the fire… – who can forget those ?).
by the way, do you know any good drama with zhou yi wei?

phl1rxd
phl1rxd
1 year ago
Reply to  eda harris

@Eda – The only other drama I have watched him in was The Longest Day in Chang’an and he plays a completely different kind of character. That drama was an eyegasm – the cinematic quality was outstanding. Not romance geared – more like watching the Tang Dynasty version of “24”. Lots of intrigue. It is in my top three Cdramas of all time.

phl1rxd
phl1rxd
1 year ago
Reply to  eda harris

@Eda – I had to go back and check MDL for how far I got with this drama. It shows I dropped it at E21 and my comment is “I do not feel the chemistry between the leads”.

I did enjoy the ML who was great in The Longest Day in Chang’an and played a totally different character. He has some acting chops for sure. I do love the FL for all of her top-of-the-line wuxia work. She is a legend. I just never got the feels of the OTP with this drama. I think it was right after I watched TROP and was totally spoiled with its OTP chemistry…

I am so very glad that you enjoyed it!! I may try it again. I have done that with certain dramas and, in the process, found a new take.

eda harris
eda harris
1 year ago
Reply to  phl1rxd

phl, i can not figure out what is MDL?
and when you say
 I just never got the feels of the OTP with this drama. 
are you talking about the princess a’wu and prince xiao qi? are you serious? give it another try, i promise you the OTP is special.
but if you watched it after TROP, i can understand. i watched the amazing nirvana right after TROP, and could not really enjoy it. yah, that’s the “side effect” of TROP, so i know it well. only on the second watch, after months, i really got to appreciate this gem nirvana.

and the longest day just went on my list. thank you.

i just started watching the joy of life. did you see it?

phl1rxd
phl1rxd
1 year ago
Reply to  eda harris

@Eda – so sorry – that is My Drama List which I use solely to keep track each drama I watch. I can rate them and leave an internal comment if I ever need it in the future. Beware the comment sections over there – it gets rough.

Not only does Fangurl create some of the finest drama reviews, but right here is the safest place in the internet for drama discussion. Great folks, great conversations!

It really could be that I had TROP withdrawal. I will try again.

You will see the quality of excellence in Longest Day in the first few minutes of E1 when you see that beautiful black horse prancing around. Quality! The lighting was mag-ni-fi-cent.

I saw Joy of Life 1 and 2. I loved them so much and I think you will as well. JOL3 has an entirely new cast so I am going to steer clear for now and wait for chatter.

MC
MC
1 year ago
Reply to  phl1rxd

Wow thanks for sharing, didn’t know this scene existed! It makes sense, the way they were kissing so hungrily and intently…. but wheeeew that hurriedly locking the door action was hot ya’ll.

Kimberly Himmel
Kimberly Himmel
1 year ago

LOVED this show.
I was just wondering about the question you had about him finding Hee Jin in the theatre

“I feel like I actually have more questions about how Boong Do finds Hee Jin in that theater where she’s watching the documentary footage, than in how he travels back to 2013, heh.”

I thought maybe, like we do now, that they had a location tracker that she might have showed him how to use to find her wherever she was so he could always know where she was even when she wasn’t with him. And since the phone was in the car outside the building when he called her back, it would show him the building she was parked in front of. Now it doesn’t explain how he found her in the exact theatre, other than asking the people in the building if they knew where she was, but I can kind of gloss over that part just to have that moment where he arrives all handsome in his suit to find her there. And loved the necktie pulling for the kiss.

So glad that we watched this one. Great pick!!

seankfletcher
seankfletcher
1 year ago

I enjoyed the ending as much as I did the first time, And, I still had a tear in my eye. I’m so glad I could squeeze this rewatch in kfangurl 😊

Ele Nash
1 year ago

Squeal, swoon, flail and sigh 😍 What a perfect ending to a great romance. Ah, I was worried when it didn’t end on episode 14 but I agree with you, kfangurl, that unlike some shows, these final two episodes didn’t feel like fill or noble idiocy; I could go with the idea that the talisman kind of died when poor (oh, that girl! 😭 she deserved better) Yoon Wol was killed – and also, as Boong-do found out later, the monk dying at the same time.

However, Boong-do’s logic about burning the talisman was shaky to me as last time something happened to it, it was him who forgot everything and she who remembered everything. Why he thought burning it would wipe her memories this time around and not just his is a mystery – and even more mysterious that it worked the way he wanted! Hmm, that talisman sure has powers. 😅

So, the worrier in me is left wondering if stupid Dong-min, in now another extra timeline for Hee-jin to process, tried it on with her while filming and if she had a horrible time of it either rebuffing him or breaking up with him again. And, gah, he learned no lesson. I wasn’t surprised the show tried to brush it all off lightly between them at the end but I was not happy they did. Maybe they shouldn’t have made him quite so demeaning and predatory and angry…

Oof, The Manager still is the worst friend I’ve seen in a kdrama 😨 Even as Hee-jin comes in from the rain looking painfully fragile and sad and frail, The Manager doesn’t even give her a hug. She’s so annoying!!!! I absolutely rage about her 😡😂

And just a final thing, because I do this when I finish books and dramas, it’s like a compulsion, but I can’t help wondering what the characters might do next and it occurred to me that, yikes, Boong-do doesn’t have the sword this time to pawn so he’s penniless 😲 Hoping Hee-jin’s career flies and he can live off her…

But thank you so much for this show, kfangurl, and everyone! I LOVED the OTP so much. Perfection 🥰

eda harris
eda harris
1 year ago
Reply to  Ele Nash

ele, Why he thought burning it (the talisman) would wipe her memories this time around

i think it was not a thought, but a hope… and it worked out.

and i also have a tendency to imagine the futures of characters. in regards to boong do being poor. i do not think so for a moment, he’s very smart, resourceful and a quick learner. he can tutor, teach martial arts, history, confucianism, chinese even palace etiquettes, rules and laws – just some subjects that come to mind. i think he would be able to support himself and more.
thank you for your comments throughout this trip – i enjoyed them.

Ele Nash
1 year ago
Reply to  kfangurl

I am a sucker for a heartfelt love story 😍

Usi
Usi
1 year ago

I can still remember the discussions about the phone. People arguing that no phone will still have that much battery after one year. Me always was ‘Huh? But traveling time with a talisman is totally normal?’. I liked the message that as long she loves him he will stay in modern time.

Also liked the extra naughty scene when my DVD Box arrived. This was such a fan service especially since people were a bit put out that a passionate character like HJ wouldn’t want a bit more.

Leslie
Leslie
1 year ago

A charming show has come to a charming end. I’m not convinced it needed the last two episodes, but they were so well-executed, I’ll take them as a sweet lagniappe. 😊 So fun, so cute, overall. Thank you, KFG, for a great group experience.

MC
MC
1 year ago

This show has been the death of me! From squealing so hard and smiling till my cheeks hurt, to taking me to the depths of pain and anguish, this show did it all. And every time I thought “oh the plots done what else can they do?” (when the real QIH was rightfully returned to the throne or when BD conquered it all, supposedly, at the end of ep 14) – this show manages to push the plot in logical ways. AND it even made that amnesia trope WORK. Kudos, well played show. You made me laugh and cry and gasp and I won’t forget you in a hurry.

Personally I had no issues with the phone thing. It made sense that BD had to sacrifice his life to pay the talisman back – his suicide attempt the key to unlocking Hee Jin’s memories and then the strength of their love making the phone a new talisman. I won’t quibble on the logic as it generally makes sense to me (and frankly my heart needed some way for our couple to be back together again!!)

All in all it was a fantastic show and one I would never have watched if not for our group watch. Thank you KFG for picking this and thank you all for accompanying me as we watched this!

Last edited 1 year ago by MC
Ally
1 year ago

Yay! I loved this ending. I don’t think that I’ve seen a kdrama like this one. I didn’t participate actively in this group watch, but I do love this show. And seriously, that’s the longest lasting cell phone battery of all time! And I wanted to do a little fangirling for Ji Hyun-woo (aka Hyung-Tae) who now is in a band called SGO and I was a little obsessed with, making someone I know translate their songs into lyric videos. 😂 But here’s a cute video of them singing one of their better known songs. He’s still adorable after all these years. My heartu! ❤️❤️❤️ https://youtu.be/64Ca2L9b6hA

Leslie
Leslie
1 year ago
Reply to  Ally

@Ally – Thanks so much for the link! I had read that Ji Hyun Woo is in a band, and looked for a performance, and found none nearly as enjoyable as this. He’s really quite charming, isn’t he?

eda harris
eda harris
1 year ago
Reply to  Ally

ally, thank you for this.
but, it was funny to watch them take family pictures with masks on, absolutely all of them, except bride and groom. what kind of memories will the couple have without the faces.

phl1rxd
phl1rxd
1 year ago
Reply to  Ally

Ally – big thanks for this link! I fell down the rabbit hole of their YT channel. Great stuff!

Timescout
1 year ago
Reply to  Ally

Oh. I didn’t know he has another band going. I was a big fan of his 1st band The Nuts 더 넛츠. Gosh, I used to have their albums on repeat and can still sing along with several of the songs, ha. They were pretty popular back in the day. Here’s a very early live perf of The Nuts doing one of their better known songs 사랑의 바보 – enjoy the “hip fashions”. 😂 https://youtu.be/gqRRZzmbmxI The girl is not part of the band though.

Timescout
1 year ago
Reply to  kfangurl

“My eyes!” Was my reaction I first saw that clip and the clothes. 😄