Unclouded

Exactly. When his sister-in-law gets him to admit how hard it was that he couldn't talk about his friend, everyone looks so shocked and worried, since he never talks about his emotions. The intention is different (she wants him to feel better) but she says the exact same thing as YH (that DH is a 'lonely person'). And as you say, he needed someone like JA that he could actually relate to and talk to as equals, now that the monk is gone. Yeah, it's absolutely crazy that she goes that far. Totally insane and selfish. Fully agree! Even if we take My Liberation Notes as having a more romantic ending (the two leads together), I think the future there is actually a lot darker than than My Mister, since the alcoholism never gets resolved. While here as you say every obstacle is cleared, and the intent to move forward is finally there for both DH and JA. So even though it's not as explicit, the ending feels more satisfying and enjoyable because there aren't any clouds on the horizon. Maybe this is kinda obvious, but it's interesting to compare JA's gamer friend to DH, because they go through some similar situations. They both get beat up by the loan sharks for her and they both help her with her grandma. So it's not like JA has never received any affection or friendship at all from a guy. Even with KI she can clearly identify how toxic he is, so unlike when I first watched this show, I'm not convinced that she's just misunderstanding DH's affection or her own feelings towards him. Like clearly she knows the difference. The scene where she flips the script on DJY and points out that he doesn't understand what it means to like someone underscores this.

Had a related thought that just came to mind. When I first watched this, I felt much more uncomfortable watching DH and YH being so cold to each other at home than I did seeing YH have an affair. Obviously adultery is bad, but seeing DH barely talk to his wife gave me much more of a chilling feeling. I think the emotional distance from DH is the first betrayal that happened here. It's just stark the way DH is so open to JA by comparison. The drama shows us how precious that relationship is, but if we invert that, it's crazy to think how cheap DH and YH's relationship seems. Does DH's consideration for YH's material needs matter without love? Doing chores and buying food, that's not why (at least I hope) anyone finds a spouse. To say that you're married to someone and then close your heart off to them - I feel like that's as bad (if not worse) than having an affair. Maybe I shouldn't be harsh since DH's closed actions is definitely because he's depressed. The moment where I think DH first feels comfortable opening himself up to JA (ep 6?) is after she slaps the coworker for him. So he admits to being vulnerable but he knows that JA has taken his side. Compare that to him talking about his wife, when she asks why he's drinking first thing at home after being hungover from the night before, why he looks so sad going to work, he completely shuts down and deflects ('everyone else is like that too'). Maybe he was the kind of person who needed a kindred soul to open to, and YH just wasn't it. But I think it's meaningful that this conversation is the first thing he thought of after he finds out about YH's adultery (before their arguments about ideas about family/where to live). That comes first before everything. It's actually crazy that he can't/doesn't talk about feeling depressed with his wife.

I feel like there's a level of helpfulness in between the people who only helped four times and DH, and that's the janitor. I think he's as kind of a person as DH is, but just wasn't as knowledgeable to help with her grandma, or bold enough to confront the loan shark. But he's still the place JA goes when she's sick and needs help. Realistically people won't have be able to live up to what DH can do, but being as kind as the janitor is more than enough. I was able to rewatch the last few episodes recently. Strangely I didn't really feel jarred by it - maybe it because I don't really see My Mister as contributing to what happened to LSK. It was a lot different when I watched The Dark Knight for the first time as a kid and was convinced that playing the Joker contributed to Heath Ledger's unstable mental health. But I think it would be really tough to watch much of the first half of this show again, because DH is in such a rough shape there.

It also doesn't take that long for JA to understands him, once she can hear him. When she's thinking of the moments she liked listening to (ep 15), they're all relatively early on (eps 4-6). It's like DH and JA got to know each other over the first six episodes, and everything after is them doing what they have to do for each other, to protect each other, now that they know how precious the other is. Even though I've seen so many actual romance dramas before and after, it's hard to surpass the intensity of the feelings here. It's impressive that JA can see the humanity in DH, because he's in a position where he's so restrained and subdued. He doesn't truly express himself when he's at home or at the bar with his friends. At work he just looks pitiful, he gets bullied by his superior for not wanting to cut corners. Like it must be so boring to see everything about a human being in each moment, and yet that's all she needs to fall for him.

Maybe this is a sacrilegious thing to say considering how well people reacted to Parasite, but I thought My Mister used LSK's talent in a way that no drama or movie I've seen with him came even remotely close to doing. That sense of humanity - when LJA says that by listening to him, she felt what it must be to really be human - I can't think of anyone else who could've pulled that off. I feel like there are other actors in the K-drama world that often play these hyper-confident, very charismatic characters all the time. I wish there'd be more writers like Park Hae Young to use their talent to create more meaningful characters, to portray men who are a bit more relatable and interesting, and move us all the more because of that. Her characters are the only ones where I truly feel (regardless of gender), that part of me is on the screen.

Yeah, I liked it a lot! I especially enjoyed all the scenes at the police station, it felt realistic (or at least as realistic as a timeloop could be). I found an aerial video of the ending scene being shot on Twitter, looks pretty similar to the original. One thing I realized recently is that when JA hears DH's voice in the restaurant and just starts gravitating towards him, it's a bit similar to when he sees her across the street when he's driving with his younger brother and just keeps gazing at her. Like there's the same sense of nobody else being there other than each other - her face, and his voice. And in those moments, they just want to follow each other.

I wish they waited a bit closer to the show started, now I feel a sense of anticipation. Seeing her look different makes me wonder if it'll be an ending with more of a sense of longing. I saw a movie (Go Brother) with the actress that was pretty good, so I'm optimistic about this acting-wise.