[Drama 2015] Answer Me 1988 응답하라 1988

[Miky88]

This drama will forever keep an important place in my heart,and dear because of all the heart this drama has...If i could point my very few wishes that wanted to come true in this last episode was that we'll get to see even for a bit of future Junghwan and DongRyong lives...We found out that JungBong became a chef if i'm not wrong and to see the friends react or see DS&Taek dating along with the families after some time,small things that didn't quite take much screen time..I was very very sad that this episode we didn't get to see much of JungHwan or DongRyong,wanted to see them more really badly and even more for JungHwan..I think as romance wise my favorite was Bora&Sunwoo along with their wedding,their story was very beautiful and somehow complete as we saw bits of their future and knowing they had a child as well...Still the drama does best at touching the heart and showing the values of friendship,family for all ages...also thaning the PD and the other involved for the beauyiful selection of music,thanks to Reply 1988 i feel in love with so many old songs and actually tried searching to listen more of the artists albums,i totally adore the Reply OST music...I still hope the writer will continue and prepare another installment,hoping that till then my heart will heal after bleeding for Junghwan

 

I strangly feel empty now after finishing the last episode,empty knowing that next week i won't have the Reply '88 dose...

 

11 minutes ago, otomame said:

I also want to say that I was disappointed in DF's subs for Reply 1988. If you're going to get official rights from companies to make subs, thus blocking other fansubbers, at least make them accurate and complete ಠ_ಠ I'm 100% sure that fansubbers could have done a better job at translating. I don't mind waiting a few days for good subs but DF didn't even sub the BGM and they made lots of mistakes... I hope this thread will still stay alive until the subs are out though c:

I really needed to quote u on this one,this is one of my biggest let downs...DF always has a poor translation and Reply '88 is not the exception,usually if i can choose i'll pass their subs as i know they aren't most of the time accurate...at best i consider VK as the one with the most accurate translations...i felt very frustrated with how they tarnslated this series even more getting wrong some moments and needing to corect it myself were i could or going to Dramabeans to double check it..i feel sad...

 

[melleri]

Watched the episode in full finally, and as much as I would have liked more closure and to see all the 1988 cast in 2016., it's not realistic for them to all show up.  People lose touch with old friends, some people die, things and people change.  It's just how the world works.  The drama didn't end perfectly with everyone living together again as some suggested, but that perfect end doesn't fit this drama.  Ssangmun-dong was special because of everyone who lived there during a time when life was a lot more simple.  The families can't really recreate that magic again. To me that was part of the point of the drama in some ways. You are left with your memories, but you really can't go back. Even the five friends and their families might have drifted apart once they moved. It makes me sad to think of, but it's realistic..  

DR and JH also had a decent closure in the episodes before.  DR would go on to be successful in business? I think.  JH would continue to serve his country. They were both happy and moving on with their lives.  I can't really ask for more.   I wouldn't have wanted some random girl for JH to show up.  It's an insult to his character to do that.   He really didn't need a GF to complete his character.  He was already a complete and wonderful character by growing throughout the drama. 

In the end, some viewers  just expected too many twists in this drama.  The chocolate scene was always Sun Woo.  There was nothing else there.  When Junghwan confessed and bowed out, the pink shirt had no more meaning.  DS wasn't going to suddenly go into his room 6 years after her crush, see the shirt and waver towards him in the end. The ring got left just like it was shown.  DS said for TK to grow up and marry her and he did.  This drama was actually pretty straight forward in a lot ways, the lovelines included. 

[jazza_625]

I've been a lurker here. This is my first time posting here.

I just finished watching episode 20 and I can't stop crying. I really love this drama. It didn't focus on the loveline but it really focused on the family and friendship. OT5 friendship is just so heartwarming. I'm just disappointed that they didn't said what happened to Junghwan, Dongryong, Jinjoo and their parents.

Deoksun & Taek are like soulmates. I love their relationship.

I can't believe there will be no episode next week. I'll surely miss the gang and their family and also Taek's room 

Goodbye Ssangmundong..

[Yesin Lee]

Reposting this here. I just woke up and while reading all ur comments I got emotional and I'm suddenly crying I dunno what's happening to me what this drama did to me. #TeamTaek sailed but why this mixed emotions? It's like menopause hahaha. I'm not ready to part ways. I will really miss Ssangmundong! I guess this is the reality of life (the ending is as real at it is). When there's a beginning there's also an end. "LIFE IS A CYCLE AFTER ALL, PEOPLE COME PEOPLE GO BUT THE MEMORY STAYS." I hope we can all move one and go back to our daily lives but I'm sure we will never forget all the lessons that we learned from this great drama. REPLY 1988. Annyeong! Until next time! 

[kanana]

4 hours ago, saturn. said:

I read it at DC Bogum gallery.

Today (Jan.16) there was Park Bo Gum's fan meeting. He told a lot of interesting things, but since it's a drama thread, I post something related to R1988.

Bogum didn't apply audition, he was picked up. He got a phone call from the PD Shin. The day at the behind story video, when he was asked if he drinks, smokes, curse, that was the first meeting. The script wasn't made perfectly, the director Shin let him read various characters. And the director said Taek suited him the most, but real Bogum is quiet and upright person. The scriptwriter modified Taek's character to more innocent, quiet, upright person. That's how Taek was created. On the second meeting, he was requested to study baduk.

(It's not from today, it's from other interviews: So he applied baduk class at this (2nd half of 2015) semester at his university. Since he's majoring musical acting at university, he is taking ballet class in this semester. He said this is the reason why he should eat a lot.)

He said he would go to Phuket on Monday(Jan.18) with R1988 staffs.

Today, he hugged a fan with his jacket, like Taek did in ep19.

Common things and different things between Taek and Bogum: Common thing is to focus on one thing. Different thing is, "Taek is good at skinship, but I'm not. (LOL) And Taek eats a little, but I'm not." And he said he likes cooking and sewing (LOL). The MC said, "I saw yesterday's episode, you pushed the chair very vigorously!" Bogum was very embarrassed, couldn't raise his head.

If he is in situation like Taek & Junghwan, two old friends love one girl, Bogum couldn't answer quickly. One fan from the audience shouted at him, "Live your own life!" then Bogum burst into laughter.

His manager filmed him at the drama location without his awareness, and 95% of times, he was eating something. He is a real heavy eater. He opened his bag on the stage, there were many snacks. LOL (really different from Taek)

Go Kyung Pyo came as a guest, he said, "Bogum is not good for a boyfriend, he is good for a husband."

At the video greeting from Ryu Junyeol and Lee Dong Hwi, "If Lightsaber is in Star Wars, we have Park Bo Gum(=sword) in R1988"

He doesn't drive, has no plan of buying a car. Everyday he takes school bus to the school, and takes subway on the way home. Because he has to sleep at school bus. When he was asked what is in the wall paper of his phone, it was school class timetable of this semester. (good student!) He said, to him, a dating is 'to fulfill something lack to each other' (It reminds Taek & Deoksun relationship)

ooohhhhhhhhhhh  !!!! also down to earth !!!

[blue_angel_1004]

Goodbye, Reply 1988... and thank you!

I went in to watch the final episode today, a little scared as I don't have any recent memory of the guy who I was rooting for, being left to be so broken-hearted. I didn't know what I'd think, what I'd feel, or even how I should be reacting to these emotions. But surprisingly, as the final episode finished, I left satisfied, albeit with a heavy heart.

I was so off the mark, but as I reflect back, I realize that this was indeed the story that the production meant to tell. The love story of Taek and DS was so subtle and gradual, truly like that of childhood friends who always grew up together. And like DS who did not immediately see these emotions developing within her, I, as a viewer, completely missed it and even dismissed it. But that was just the kind of love that DS and Taek shared... familiar, and at times, familial. But no less "lesser" for it. And this was the love that DS chose.

Instead, I was pulled into the story of the first love of JH. I don't want to say I was just simply blind and fooled. I do think the production intentionally pulled us into his story for his also had a significant purpose in the grand scheme of this drama.

Even more so than the previous installments, Reply 1988 had a strong and realistic sense of nostalgia for the past. I had mentioned that JH's love story was told linearly, like that of YJ in R1997 and Najeong in R1994. We walked along with them in their story of first love, and delighted as their first love came to fruition. However, I always thought in the back of my mind how truly rare this is in real life for the first time you have loved to be your only and your last one. I just shrugged it off as the production's fantasizing of the idea of first love.

This time, the production dared to show perhaps the more realistic portrayal of the flutter and heartbreak of first love through JH. Is it not true that first love so often fails because it is our first and also at our clumsiest? And so, this was something so many people related to as we watched JH's story and as many of us had failed in our first love ourselves, at least in a drama we wanted this fantasy to come true for JH. Alas, the production chose the more realistic route. As I sit in my little corner with tears falling because I feel like I too went through the pain of unfulfilled first love along side him (when I never asked to be put through this), I do see the artistic merit of it. That's just what a fine piece of work does. And if I had not been so invested in the character but just watched it objectively from afar, I could have appreciated more.

All that said, I don't think this ending was without fault. The production made us fall in love with not just the love triangle, but everyone living in Ssangmundong. Even as a fan service, would it have been too much to allow us to see them living happily in the present? I see why they didn't because like the song Hwehwadong, friends and neighbors naturally moved, grew apart, and contacts became fewer and further in between. Once again, this drama was about the nostalgia of what they used to have in the past that they will never have again. But in choosing to be realistic, the writer was cruel to us till the end.    

Then again, this is me talking because I already miss them all so much....

 

 

[XiuSoo_PinkSky]

Thank You all.. PD-nim, writer-nim, other staff for this awesome journey, i won't forget it and i always will think Reply 1988 as one of the best drama i've ever watched.. 

Thanks to reply i got to know many good people here in soompi, and many talented actors that now become my bias...

I hope no one will think this drama as bad written drama, cause there is no perfect drama, every drama had flaws so does Reply. See you guys and other drama threads.. Looking forward to read insightful post that you guys gonna write...

#REPLY1988saranghae..

The last thing, because i watch reply for SunBora, i'm really satisfied with the ending, we got to see their full journey from Sunwoo's crush that lead to their married, it's so beautiful and wonderful.. to me they're the main couple in Reply 1988... 

#SaranghaeSUNBORA...

i will miss you a lot TTTTTTTTT

 

[Nodame]

I have been lurking on this SOOMPI forum and thanks to ALL for the life saving links, recaps, comments, translations etc over the span and run of this drama. I would not be able to survive without it! 

As others have said this is my FAVE REPLY out of all the series for the depth and warmth of the relationships. Makes me envious! I remember watching the Seoul Olympics and Opening Ceremonies. I recall the walkmans and the songs from that time. Granted I grew up in USA, but those little snippets remind me of that time--- Richard Marx "Right Here Waiting (love this song for noraebang)" and other great songs. But seeing how Koreans (not the uber rich) but a regular neighborhood who have some a bit better off and those struggling. All get along and not judge each other but have pure hearts and love and understanding.

From Cheetah mom giving DS mom money with the sweet potatoes so she could go on her field trip (when DS Mom could not get the nerve to borrow the money). Everyone pitching in to help SW mom ready for her MIL & her mom's sudden visit and JB bringing stuff to make sure everything look good. Or Taek's dad upset not being asked by SW mom to help her with the house after her horrible MIL could not repay the loan she borrowed using SW mom's home as collateral. But SW Mom always caring for Taek's dad when he could not take care of himself. Cheetah mom always  having some good food to share with the neighbors ---making sure it is distributed. Same with others too! 

Borah was amazing as the annoying nuna/unni. You don't realize until later with all the pressure, she went to a great school on her own with out private school/lessons. She believes in her convictions and will go fight/demonstrate for them. Despite her gruff exterior she has a kind heart. Granted she is a stickler for no banmal from younger dongsengs and siblings/ or what she deems as rudeness. Like any siblings, she protects her stuff and doesn't want it borrowed. But to get what she wants she will lend her precious music tape to DS to listen so she can wait for SW call undisturbed. When she stepped up to take care of the siblings when their paternal grandmother died was priceless and precious. The bonding moment we wanted to see-came when DS saw the conditions where Borah lived to study for the law exam. She realized her living outside was not luxury but tiny hole in the wall. I loved her crying and seeing the ramen and her concern show. Awww. 

Youngpal/Junghwan--the actor slayed as him. The stoic son, who is loving but gruff exterior and man of not many words. But caring friend, loyal and not overly expressive in words but shows by actions. When he saw Taek love DS he withheld his love and care for DS and paved the way for him. But Taek loved JH and did the same. Choosing friendship over love that is not 100% guaranteed and confident or sure. But I loved DR saying it best, DS who do you love? Who do you like? It doesn't matter who likes you. Such a wise man who is fun loving, becomes a good business owner, still loves his dancing genes from dad and non studious comrade with DS who loves the singers/latest songs etc. I cried hearing his confession to his first love to DS at the restaurant. All the words he wanted to say but finally did it with the ring. But he is observant and knew her heart was not his. 

JH actions got me pitter pat when he stood to fend off DS from being harrassed and bothered by the other commuters. Rushing to McDonalds and paying for everything. (But his bickering never told DS he liked her back though his actions were good and then hot/cold). I Or the fact he write neatly in hangul for his mom's passport when he learned she did not know how to read her name in English aloud. Or how he asked DR to make his mom better after they she came back and the house was richard simmons and span . He made it better making sure she was needed making a mess and saying oops we need you mom. I loved the recent episode 19 (not seen 20) planning the renewing vows at his mom's 50th bday. Or handing the flower bouquet to mom. I loved how JH covered for SW when he realized the sunbae he did soccer with was a jealous bully and horrible.

SW is the ideal son. Straight loyal, athletic, and caring. I loved his purpose and schedule to study to incorporate time with Jinjoo and play with her. Making sure to peel the oranges his mom loves so much without her asking. Worrying about her wrists or eating her food (once he forgot to eat it and ate it before entering the house). Granted her food was not delicious but it was made with love and care and he was thoughtful. I liked he finally got the guts after encouragement by a misguided DS to tell Borah nuna. I am glad they had their 6 year gap. He let her study and was worried she would break up when she said she was going to study law and go for the bar. But when she broke up with him she did shatter his heart. He is deep. 

Taek---he is multi layered. The genius at badduk, sensitive to DS, but nott street smart on daily stuff---opening yogurt, parking his car, too kind lending money to others, even when interviewed (rare one) and was being taken advantage of he still kindly gave money for the staff to get a nice meal. Or sharing Pizza or food that the gang likes. I loved the manly way he carried DS princess style, said he does like someone, kissed her in his dream -we know now not one, respects DS and let her cry in peace. Or standing over watching DS when there was the flasher at the bathroom while he had smoke. Saying to SW he likes that his mom was there for his dad who he worried was eating cold rice with water when he was not around. Having the neighborhood friends he knew were real, not hanger ons due to his fame, wealth but treated him like always was something that kept him real and normal with everyone. Or when he goes to see JH to talk about the wallet-but JH knew just grab onto DS. 

Ok need to get off and get to work (I am at work on a Saturday) but this was something I had to write this. I know many have written what I wrote but I wanted to just chime in as well.

Thanks again Reply 1988 forum for being my savior and letting me spazz briefly. I love reading all the analysis etc. I was more JH fan but frankly I like both Taek and JH. More the stories of the love, loyalty and friendships got me klempt. I could write more but not enough time.

Going back to my little corner.

 

Haeri killed it as DS. I was impressed she held  her own. She brought a geniune innocense, likeability to her role being cute but not overly pretty. From whining and fighting with Borah Unni, showing her care and teasing Taek to grow up and marry her, even staying with Taek to eat the porridge and bailing on sitting next to JH for lunch as she worried about him, bringing the electric blankets-buying the nice sushi (standing in line for a long time) to getting fried eggs-swapping rooms for Taek while in China. She really learned how he was outside in the real world and their own small neighborhood. She always smiled with Taek, he always complimented her, told her to stop patting his head then proceeds to do it to her, after finding him smoking in china, she learns not to barge in anymore. Taek never barged in on DS even when once DS was like---why knock just come on in! Or her covering his feet, or telling him why are you wearing light clothing.

[carolinedl]

Gosh, I feel so empty. We just got so invested with the characters of Reply 1988, it feels sad to let them go.

I loved the last scene. I know I am starting from the end but it is also the beginning... That scene touched me because as we are going back further in time, we truly see that we change, our relations change, even the ones we thought would never change. That last scene really touched me. It was all about reminiscence, as I have already mentioned here. We remember things, we forget other things, we remember incompletely, collectivelly too. I loved how this was about memory, personal, familial and above all affective.

I laughed and cried a lot. The portrayals of fathers and mothers was touching, seeing the interractions between childhood friends who know each other so well and yet they still discover things about themselves. Some scenes will stay with me for a long time like how JH kept changing his dreams to match his sick brother's dreams and live those dreams for the two of them; how Papa Kim still missed his mother very much and was sad at his birthday because he had no where to call; how SW slowly mourned his father and accepted Papa Bear, even putting him on his wedding invitation; how DR wanted to eat his mother's food all the time, wanted to have her around; how SW and Bora both fought for their loves, how DS and Taek started to love each other, slowly but surely. There are so many to put down here...

As some of you know, what really touched and what I have come to love the best is JH's missed love. The whole portrayal of timing, fate, choise and lost love... It was just so realistic and for personnal reasons it really resonnated with me. It was so beautifully done.

I am sad and also disappointed in the last two episodes. I still have many questions left, so many things I wanted to see! I wanted to see JJ as a grown-up, I wanted to see what JB ended up doing as a chef, what DR did as well, if JH had found love, if Taek and DS had kids and how they were, I wanted to see so many things... Of course, we cannot always have what we want but it feels even sadder because we came to love all those characters. But I loved SW and Bora's wedding, the father and daughter scenes we had, the interactions between families, etc. Ahhhhhh

Thank you everyone for being around soompi and the many Reply threads. We all had different opinions and despite some wrong notes here and there, it was fun and I had some good conversations.

Edit: I will also take a lot of great music away from this drama. I love discovering new Korean music and since I have a thing for oldies... I am taking away many new songs I now adore!

 

 

[Yesin Lee]

Haha murdering the replay button because this is just soo funny! kinda helping me with my withdrawals LMAO 

[hushhh]

26 minutes ago, blue_angel_1004 said:

Goodbye, Reply 1988... and thank you!

I went in to watch the final episode today, a little scared as I don't have any recent memory of the guy who I was rooting for, being left to be so broken-hearted. I didn't know what I'd think, what I'd feel, or even how I should be reacting to these emotions. But surprisingly, as the final episode finished, I left satisfied, albeit with a heavy heart.

I was so off the mark, but as I reflect back, I realize that this was indeed the story that the production meant to tell. The love story of Taek and DS was so subtle and gradual, truly like that of childhood friends who always grew up together. And like DS who did not immediately see these emotions developing within her, I, as a viewer, completely missed it and even dismissed it. But that was just the kind of love that DS and Taek shared... familiar, and at times, familial. But no less "lesser" for it. And this was the love that DS chose.

Instead, I was pulled into the story of the first love of JH. I don't want to say I was just simply blind and fooled. I do think the production intentionally pulled us into his story for his also had a significant purpose in the grand scheme of this drama.

Even more so than the previous installments, Reply 1988 had a strong and realistic sense of nostalgia for the past. I had mentioned that JH's love story was told linearly, like that of YJ in R1997 and Najeong in R1994. We walked along with them in their story of first love, and delighted as their first love came to fruition. However, I always thought in the back of my mind how truly rare this is in real life for the first time you have loved to be your only and your last one. I just shrugged it off as the production's fantasizing of the idea of first love.

This time, the production dared to show perhaps the more realistic portrayal of the flutter and heartbreak of first love through JH. Is it not true that first love so often fails because it is our first and also at our clumsiest? And so, this was something so many people related to as we watched JH's story and as many of us had failed in our first love ourselves, at least in a drama we wanted this fantasy to come true for JH. Alas, the production chose the more realistic route. As I sit in my little corner with tears falling because I feel like I too went through the pain of unfulfilled first love along side him (when I never asked to be put through this), I do see the artistic merit of it. That's just what a fine piece of work does. And if I had not been so invested in the character but just watched it objectively from afar, I could have appreciated more.

All that said, I don't think this ending was without fault. The production made us fall in love with not just the love triangle, but everyone living in Ssangmundong. Even as a fan service, would it have been too much to allow us to see them living happily in the present? I see why they didn't because like the song Hwehwadong, friends and neighbors naturally moved, grew apart, and contacts became fewer and further in between. Once again, this drama was about the nostalgia of what they used to have in the past that they will never have again. But in choosing to be realistic, the writer was cruel to us till the end.    

Then again, this is me talking because I already miss them all so much....

 

 

LOL

 I wanted to highlight everything I agreed with and that was what I ended up with.

You offered one of the most well-reasoned and insightful post on behalf of this being Jungpal's story. So convincing that it left me in doldrums for days.  Even as I knew you did have to win for it to be your story, that GROWING is enoughfor you to be the protagonist, your analysis shook my boat. And even as I acknowledge that growing was enough, had Taek's story only been one of growth, I'm not sure I would be satisfied (Ah the hypocrisy) unless 19 nd 20 were very different than they were. Probably because Jungpal has grown, where Taek could more accurately said to have fulfilled his trajectory. 

Another reason why I would have had to make a greater adjustment were Taek not to end up with DS is because throughout the series we were shown how insync they were, do well they worked together, how deeply they understood each other. I just felt that DS while could be satisfied with someone other than Taek, but Taek would never find someone who understood him as deeply as DS did. I mean the guy despite all his specs kept getting dumpped on his blind dates because he couldn't figure out how to talk to a stranger.

The wailing, the gnashing of teeth and the rending of garments confirms how good the series is. 

Anyway thanks for your posts.

 

 

 

 

 

[andbackspace]

I wrote a quick fanfic because I couldn't wait for recaps and spoilers last night.

If you guys are craving anymore Reply 1988

Excerpt: Dongil had always been acute. That’s why he noticed it first, how Sunwoo, neighborhood golden boy, suddenly had the airs of a thief. 

But what had he stolen?

http://andbackspace.tumblr.com/post/137429747109/neighborhood-watch-extra

[unkyung]

Omg I loved the finale. The characters everyone was talking about missing, they had their finale in the previous two eps.. Literally this was like at here episode finale drama.

[Miky88]

JB became a chef as we heard from the present DS,always cooking ramyun to Mi Ok,his wife, while we also know that in the end DS family moved to the same place as Kim Family,so we can guess the parents remained together even then more or likely or very close by as it was in the same district/location...

[dina93]

in reply 1994 i was ChilBonged so badly but now i thought i'll be Taeked(??) haha and i was so sure of it , so when i knew she ends up with Taek you can't even imagine how i felt i'm so happy everything is so perfect , i wasn't a very huge fan of 1988 as much as the previous ones but the ending made me love it sooooooooooo much

i love the writer the producer the actors everyone 

can some one please please pleaseeeeee post some Taek-Duksun pictures becuz i don't have time to look for some and i have to use their picture as my phone background

please please

[sara2015]

I need an explanation of all the things ...you ( the writer) have done to us! what happened to all those clues you gave us since the very beginning? why there's so much JH if at the end it's Taek? why? is that what you want; to make us set our hopes high just to fall deep into disappointment at the end? how cruel.

you changed the script, right? WHY? tell us the reason!  I don't care if it's Taek, but at least give us reasonable reasons to why it should be him as the husband and WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THOSE CLUES ABOUT JUNGHWAN! why does the husband in the future suddenly changes, like you think we don't notice it? IT'S SO UNFAIR.
okay, put aside my #TeamJunghwan feeling, but as a big fan of this 1988, I find the plot as a mess and it's obvious that everything is just wrong and forced too much. I used to like the other Reply series because the future scenes were revealed very neatly and nicely, but this... you just couldn't do it, right, because you just force and change the ending abruptly so you cannot explain everything. I knew it.

you better don't make any Reply installment anymore if it's going to be like this. or next time, just don't do the husband hunting theme again, because many viewers would be too traumatic to watch it. perhaps the last reply series that I watched. what a total disappointment.

 

I will delete (reply 1988) from my favorite.. It's the worst series .. 1988 worst ever .. my heart is hurts...It hurts so.......in 1984 and 1987 is best and good ..
Director is reckless.. Ryoo Joon Yeol is the best he make heart flutters TT

thank you 

[Yesin Lee]

So, Writer-nim still going with this doll/color theory until the end??? (yellow+green) LMAO

[hushhh]

For those seeking an apology from the writer.   

The writer has asked me to apologize for the upset you feel, but not for her work. [This is not an actual fact. This is commentry laced with humor]

Engaging with the arts is always a gamble. [beware regionalism ahead] For some viewers this was a little like hitting all the right numbers for the powerball drawing. For others it was like it was like hitting a few numbers, and for the angry and betrayed they felt they put in their time and got bupkis.  It happens all the time. I went to see the movie Seven decades ago and I still haven't gotten over how abused I feel from the experience.  As any experienced carney would say, "I paid my money and I took my chances" and I got worse than bupkis.  But I knew there was that possibility going in.

Art is a little like life, in a good work or drama/like life the end is not always predictable but it is alway ineluctable. Often the ineluctable nature of the trajectory is only noticeable in hindsight. If you trace it back you will see that the ending was ineluctable. What determines the ending is the plot/events combined with character. The reason it was difficult to predict the ending is because DS the driving force behind the choice was a mystery. We never knew what she wanted in romance/a lover. We saw what she was told to want, (by her friends) and we saw her wanting it (SW, JH), but we never saw what she wanted. After DR asked her about her preference, we never got to see her decision. If anything her decision seems to have been herself as she moved away from the husband hunt and onto the future of DS hunt. Were DS a different character then the natural ending might have been JH.

Here is something to consider, at the core of DS personality is a need to be of service and to be validated. This is why she was asked to look out for her friend in high school, this is why she is great with JH's dad, this is why she was so great to her parents, this is why she patted BR's back, and why she is perfect for Taek. 

Taek is generous and giving also, but service is not the core of his identity. He steps up when necessary, but it does not define him. Had it been his friends would have known that although he hates asking for favors, he would be willing to do so on their behalf. But they didn't because he isn't defined by a need to serve others. He leans on people he cares about and is polite to people he doesn't know or like. He validates people for their efforts on his behalf.

At the core of JH is a need to be of service to those he loves. He steps into the gap when he see it. He give fully of himself. This is why JH set out to actualize all his brother's dreams. This is why he became his mother's second daughter. That's why he arranged his parent's renewal of vows.  But even in his giving, he goes  not validate. He does but does not say people are important to him. He "acts" how important people are to him. DS needs words. For JH to be a happy ending for her she would have need to be a different character or JH would have needed to have learned better/faster. 

I got off track with the writers message and just ran on about my feelings. 

BAck to the writer's message.

The script wasn't change. Consider this, Hamlet was almays meant to die, and despite it being his story he didn't get the girl, he didn't get the crown, he didn't get to go back to school and finish his studies. But he did get his story told.

R88 was the story of a community. JH lived. He grew from his experience that's the story I wanted you to have. While I acknowledge your displeasure I am satisfied with my work. See I could have been like Willy S. and made it even more his own story by having him meet the ultimate end. But I didn't. Who knows, in Reply XXXX he may get a cameo and you'll discover that he has a wife, four kid, five ponies, and six dogs, a gecko,  and a huge pet foot bill--and is VERY HAPPY despite of it.

I'm glad you enjoyed the first seventeen episode. Please comeback to the franchise when you launch our next reply in a couple of year.  

[melleri]

The thought of the script changing is freaking laughable.  There are clues all along for both guys.  Even before the princess carry I saw it was 50/50 since we did not know Deok-Sun's feeling.  Many other people thought the same.  It was never a sure thing for JH to win.

 

 

[Lyna]

What the...

Seriously?

Is it greedy of me for wanting to know how the characters we spent MONTHS watching and growing attached to are doing in the future? Jung-hwan.. Ms Mi-ran... Dong-ryong... Really show? We can't even get a goodbye? How am I suppose to let go of my heartache in peace... at least let me know that JH is doing ok... Is that really too much to ask for? T_T