[Drama 2018] Return 리턴

[zenya22]

18 hours ago, maddymappo said:

Tomorrow should be the end.  At last. Watching these people chew each other up is agony.

 

The only one of the four who I would like to see live is Joon Hee. He has a conscience about what he did. He is tormented by it. He was also almost killed and suffered in the hospital.  I think as a doctor he ha something good  to offer humanity with his life. And he is setting up the others to get a full confession. I think he will pay a big price for that though - since his "friends" are psychopaths.

"

But I am not feeling hopeful anyone gets out of the drama alive.

 

This show is so meticulous in how each case was built, and how the investigation was thwarted  and court room procedures worked to deny justice and was manipulated by the powerful and those like CJH who know the system well .  It is in stark contrast to Misty, which has an gawd awful investigation and even the trial is a joke.

Avenging team got away with murder and after the trial, Dokgo looks at the team avenger' supporters in the audience like he looked many years ago when the 4 entitled were celebrating after getting away with rape. Someone got away with murder. CJH was meticulous for 19 years and erased her identity so that she can't even be connected to JIA. The judge who ruled the boys not guilty 19 years ago apologized but said he would not have changed his ruling if it happened presently knew CJH identity but could not publicly witness or ID her and reveal his ruling.  

 

Bum has the gun belonging to TS and I think JH will be the first shooting victim. Dokgo is going to the cottage and who knows what he will find there!! CJH will air a new segment to Return, but will anyone really be cheering? Like the prosecutor said, revenge killing results in lawlessness. 5 years for the cold-blooded murder of Dr. Ko right before the police officers eyes.  Circumstantial evidence for the rest of the murders. What happened to Dr. Ko's daughter? 

 

 

[monalisa]

Maybe the last bottle of rucoronium is for CJH.  Also maybe, she plans to kill herself while framing the 4 men.

[hugo10]

The End of the Sin 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Choi Ja Hye's fate 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[zenya22]

ep 31 The conversation of the three entitled, HB, TS and IH, I find very interesting.  After the latest jail term of IH, the three met for an “getting out of jail” celebration at the penthouse they shared. Present were dancing girls who were told to keep dancing without music and the best dancer will get a prize. HB then accused TS of betrayal and TS accuses HB of the same as IH listens intently to their conversation. Then the conversation turns to IH that they celebrate his 2 ^nd parole from jail and that they should stand together as friends. The interesting part of the conversation occurred when HB asks how the girls can dance without music and answers his own questions with “their brains know the music” then says like what happened 19 years ago is planted in our brains. TS immediate response was “shut up” and when HB tries to pursue the subject, TS again tells HB to shut up while IH stares at HB. So, it was not just IH who tried to bury or erase that incident from long ago, it was all of them. The other conversation I found interesting, was when TS remembered what HB said about his wife, to take care of her. TS asked JJ what she liked about HB and JJ told him and then TS asked what JJ thought about him her husband, she said, I am afraid of you. He then said “bingo”. Wondering what that bingo meant. Next up, everyone goes to the cottage.

[marypots08]

The ending is sad and painful. I hope the writer could've made CJH move on from her past and live a hopeful future life. Her life has been in darkness and sadness until the very end.

 

I feel sorry for CJH.

[ecs707a]

Have not been here in a while.  Hi again, everyone!  What a lovely and uplifting final couple of episodes, huh?  /s

 

I knew one of the four would die.  First I thought In Ho (nearly irredeemable, except maybe in death?), then probably Joon Hee (tragic martyr).  Tae Suk ended up about where I thought he'd be - never thought he'd be the one dying, lol.  (Either he was going down, finally, or I thought maaaaybe he'd get off one last time, just to drive home that point about the judicial system being for the rich.  I guess we don't see what finally happens to him, but my impression was that they're making an example of him, and he's going to be wearing that jumpsuit for a very long time.)

 

But Joon Hee snapping like that I did not see coming!  It seems fitting, though.  Not in the eye for an eye way (Joon Hee killing Hak Bum the way Hak Bum nearly killed Joon Hee).  But in the sense that these four are so locked in this pattern that it took another death to break it.  If that makes sense.  They're so intertwined and co-dependent.  So Joon Hee can stop it only by killing again, and then taking full responsibility.  Or something

 

I did think the final bottle was going to be saved for Ja Hye herself, but somehow I never allowed my mind to wander to the logical conclusion - that she would want go the way her daughter did.  That was an awful death.  Swirly imaginary reunion in the water does nothing to blunt that.

 

So it's over!  What did I just watch.  Hmmmmm...lol.  That for sure was the most twisted "big 3" network kdrama that I have ever laid eyes on.

[maddymappo]

It is interesting that CJH did not directly kill the nauseam  foursome.  They were just decayed fruit, because they never properly suffered for their sin as young teens.  Seems like Joon Hee was suffering a lot He was even drowning himself in a tub like CJH, and wanted to confess about MJ's body snatching, and was almost killed.  His brutality to Bum (who brutalized him in one of his rages) - was still not what I expected, and don't find myself satisfied by that ending for him.  IH loses his family. Ok, I can see that as happening. I think they mentioned sending him to the Philippines. Well not so bad, he can meet and marry someone else and still have some happiness. Do not get that - as he tried to murder someone  Thinking he should have ended more like Joon Hee, and visa versa. Joon Hee becoming a doctor without borders,, saving children would have been better I think.  As I said before DG should have taken JH to see the father of the kid he killed, not CJH. 

 

As the drama ends we relive CJH's last day with her daughter.  We can feel up close and personal the agony she went through and was reliving every day of her life for 19 years. Still, CJH dies in a dream she is embracing her beloved child. Is that really a proper death after killing 3 people who were accessories after the fact of her daughter's death?   I wish she could have tricked them into turning on each other without murdering people

 

No,  I am not satisfied with the ending. But I do believe that the writer has made a very strong point about how the rich get away with murder.Literally.   In the US too. The rich can hire high powered brilliant attorneys skilled at manipulating the system to their clients' advantage. While poor people and ordinary people just get swept up in the system filled with tricks and too often locked up even when innocent, they cannot get a fair share of the protections the rich can afford.  Justice is only a way to protect  the powers that be.   

 

So glad it's over. I was a like a deer in the headlights. Couldn't take my eyes off of it, but it has been disturbingly brutal and too true for comfort.

 

 

[maddymappo]

15 hours ago, Prettysup said:

Wrap up party of Return held today

Do they all jump into a jacuzzi together?

[dekaron]

The writing went in two different directions and eventually went for a compromise, one was a violent revenge and other was manipulating those involved into fighting each other and bringing the truth out

[40somethingahjumma]

Considering the nature of the show we were watching and the type of characters that populated it, I don't think we could have got any other ending than the one we did. Was anyone surprised that CJH made her exit in such a dramatic fashion? I doubt it. Certainly we could have seen more of a blood bath but it seems like the show decided to finally end the cycle of violence when it did. Of all the people that died in that cottage in Taein, yeah... I'm kind of glad that it was Hak Bum. It was a toss up between HB and Tae Suk for me but I think it was better for TS (considering the kind of man he was and how he used his smarts and connections to get out of trouble) to be facing the prosecutor and hopefully be indicted for his criminal activities. It's fitting in a way that HB should be the one to be head bashed to death by JH as if the latter were returning the favour. He was a man of violence barely hiding under the veneer of respectability as a lecturer in theology.  He won't be missed, judging from the smirk on his secretary's face. He was one that inspired fear but never respect.

 

I still think that KSJ got off rather lightly for knocking off Dr Ko and YMJ but I'm not unsympathetic to how his sister turned out. 

 

I'm glad that what happened in the cottage was enough of a wake up call for In Ho. It's fine when lifelong friendships are healthy and lead to genuine flourishing but this was one seriously dysfunctional relationship whose bonds were built on murder and irresponsibility. IH did get off lightly for stabbing DB but at least there's a glimmer of hope finally for him to turn his life around as he removes himself from his young family. It is his "penance", the one good thing in his life he probably did care about. And now at least he acknowledges that he doesn't deserve to be a part of one until such time when he feels worthy.

 

JH without drugs is a force to be reckoned with. Not only does he have the clarity which he'd been lacking but the contrite spirit. I'm sorry that he had to be the one to put an end to HB... would have preferred TS and HB doing the deed to each other... but maybe it's true that although those two toyed with each other and used each other to stay out of harm's way, their dysfunctional friendship would continue to tether them to each other.

 

Aside from justice, I think the message of these last four episodes is really about choices. I think it was JH who said to IH that everytime he was at a crossroad, he made the wrong turn. And then there's CJH's final diatribe on Return about giving minors an opportunity to repent and start over. I once said in this thread the same thing. If only someone had made these boys face up to their crimes and sins sooner, the chances of them repeating history would have lessened. 

Still it's not the criminal justice system's role to fix people. The system should be there to protect the innocent and convict the guilty. Ideally. Reforming people... I don't think so.  

 

There's probably nothing in terms of sheer brutality that was conceived in this drama that hasn't already been done in the history of human evil. But the cavalier attitude of the entitled to the loss of human life might be the most shocking part. Even while their wealth cocoons them from the full consequences of taking a life, it also desensitizes them to the gravity of their own crimes to the point where they see themselves as being above the laws of the land.

While the show repudiates the lawlessness that revenge entails, it puts the blame ultimately on the shoulders on those who wantonly flout the laws and those who give their approval to do so. Does it suggest that fire has to be fought with fire? To its credit, the show doesn't whitewash the ugly side of vengeance nor does it allow the conspirators the luxury of being above the law or the status of martyrs in search of a cause. They were angry... and helpless.

 

A question or two lingers in the aftermath... Do we really care about justice? Or do we only really care about the lack of it when bad things happen to us or the people we love?

[monalisa]

Yeah, I would have preferred that JH let HB shoot dead TS before eliminating HB. TS, in my opinion, is the vilest and most evil of the 4.

[zenya22]

The writer showed 2 points of view of the law: the ending summation of the prosecutor which I quote verbatim as translated in VIKI. "the law of the country bans the taking of personal revenge against criminals in place of victims. Crimes that are committed should be evaluated and punished according to the laws established by the country. That is how the law serves its purpose. If people take matters into their own hands and the court condones those acts, then the country becomes a lawless state.” He points out cases of the 3 murders committed by the avenging families led by CJH.

 

CJH in her final Return Show also presented her legal point of view. That the law must be applied equally and fairly, that unjust, biased and unfair execution of the law is a violation of the law, if the court systems fail to enforce and uphold the law of equal and fair application then the law does not serve its purpose. She cited the cases of the killing of a young girl, the burning of the mother and her house and the rape of a minor and in these cases, the unfair not guilty verdict and non-punishment of the moneyed and influential offenders of the law, the entitled 4.

 

The drama tried to show that violence begets violence. Revenge crimes, taking the law into their own hands or the unjust and unfair application of the law to favor certain groups or class in the society are both acts of lawlessness since both are violations of the law.

 

CJH wanted to change the laws to equal and fair application of the laws including the law involving minors, but in the process incited murder for the sake of revenge. She was able to bring attention to the unfairness of the laws but because she used violence to get attention would she have been successful in changing the law? What about the obligation of the parents?

 

Finally, the law caught up with TS. It looked like he was going to get away with murder again, his interrogation was just for show, until the Return Final episode aired, and the Prosecutor General called for a proper investigation. TS laugh then was more of a cry. Bum, died from JH bashing his head. IH was sent to the Phillipines, who seemed to have set up his own business there. He refused to shake Nara’s hand when Nara told him it was for the last time and IH tells her that even a jerk like him can have hope. He must be hoping to rebuild his business and reputation, then head back home to his wife and children? Nara did not totally reject him. As for JH, I thought that he was the one of the 4 who will take a chance to rebuild his life. There were many things he could have chosen to do the first time he woke from coma, to call the police.

 

[flowerdrama]

Wow so I just finished watching the finale… uhm I was a little disappointed with how it ended. I was looking to see JH elaborate more about how she would want the judiciary system to change such that all would be equally judged and punished. 

I find that the ending was too hasty and JH’s lesson/moral of the story came too late for the seeming evil that she did. I still don’t think it is justified for her to kill yum mi Jung, Ahn Hak soo as tools so that the elite 4 would confess their crimes. 

I didn’t like how Joon Hee’s character ended up. He was trying so hard to redeem himself yet an impulse decision- I don’t think it was a choice but rather mostly an impulse decision due to the flashbacks and circumstance whereby HB was trying to kill TS, ruined his chance for redemption.

 

IH- I believe he saw how meaningless it was to continue in the struggle, to be engulfed in the other 3 elites’ schemes. I believe that the decision to leave Nara was a self imposed exile, knowing fully that he has to pay for his crimes yet the law cannot persecute him. There seem to be a possibility that he would change for the better and come back to Nara. 

 

HB- urghhh HB’s death, it happened so quicklyyy and hastily. I find that the writer’s treatment of his death was so merciless. He was one of the main characters and yet his death was wrapped up quickly. Probably some scenes were cut so that they could wrap up the drama on time. Perhaps the writer tried to show how insignificant he was as a human being. That there was no pity for his death, nobody mourned for him, he died trying to kill someone else (forever stuck in the cycle of sin and scheme), still trying so hard at the last moment to get back at TS..ah how pathetic. Its useless. Even in those last few moments of breath, sin reigned over goodness .

 

As if death was not enough to redeem his sins, it felt like HB’s death only existed as a passing matter. His death had absolutely no impact on any other character- TS continued to scheme, His assistant scoffed over his death, there was nothing from Joon Hee even though he killed HB- (to be honest the flashbacks showed that he had anger towards both TS and HB and he chose to strike HB only to stop the struggle that he was so sick of, not because he specifically targeted HB. ) Though I was hoping he would say something to HB at his tombstone to answer to his death. 

 

I was trying to decide whether HB’s death was fair or unfair. Fair- he dead dishonourably and dirtily. Unfair- he had a quick death and didn’t have to suffer the consequences of his actions through the Law. 
Perhaps the writer allowed Joon Hee to kill him rather than the law because HB mainly sinned against Joon Hee unlike TS who killed Kim Byung Gi. 

 

I have to say that I slowly lost interest in this drama because of another drama- Misty but still, i had came a long way to watch all 32 eps of Return. Started this drama for Ko Hyung Jung but I guessed the lesson came too late for her to see that Choi Ja Hye as a character ultimately did not deviate from fundamental goodness that was presented in the first few episodes. Writer, that was a good save. 

 

Overall, I think it was top-notch acting from all the characters. I loved Nara and thought that her acting was very realistic :-) (She's so pretty too). Conversely, I find that Dokgo Young’s character fell short of what he was capable of. His affection/attention towards JH? Stopped at the surface level and did nothing to influence her to walk the right path. You didn’t need to put Lee Jin Wook there, he seemed under-utilised :-( 

 

So much gruesome in the show ultimately points to our innate evil. How we choose to sin time and time again. We never learn. In <Return>, JH ultimately returned to the good side (kinda) and even so, she sinned a lot too. But are we confident enough to return to goodness like she did? It takes so much effort to go back onto the right path. So tread with caution, fellow humans. Live our lives righteously and stay away from sin for we know how corrupt sin is and how it destroys us.
So long, Return

 

Ps, my first ever post on Soompi!! (Have been stalking on forums for a long time and finally had the courage to post)

[zenya22]

54 minutes ago, flowerdrama said:

Wow so I just finished watching the finale… uhm I was a little disappointed with how it ended. I was looking to see JH elaborate more about how she would want the judiciary system to change such that all would be equally judged and punished. 

I find that the ending was too hasty and JH’s lesson/moral of the story came too late for the seeming evil that she did. I still don’t think it is justified for her to kill yum mi Jung, Ahn Hak soo as tools so that the elite 4 would confess their crimes. 

I didn’t like how Joon Hee’s character ended up. He was trying so hard to redeem himself yet an impulse decision- I don’t think it was a choice but rather mostly an impulse decision due to the flashbacks and circumstance whereby HB was trying to kill TS, ruined his chance for redemption.

 

IH- I believe he saw how meaningless it was to continue in the struggle, to be engulfed in the other 3 elites’ schemes. I believe that the decision to leave Nara was a self imposed exile, knowing fully that he has to pay for his crimes yet the law cannot persecute him. There seem to be a possibility that he would change for the better and come back to Nara. 

 

HB- urghhh HB’s death, it happened so quicklyyy and hastily. I find that the writer’s treatment of his death was so merciless. He was one of the main characters and yet his death was wrapped up quickly. Probably some scenes were cut so that they could wrap up the drama on time. Perhaps the writer tried to show how insignificant he was as a human being. That there was no pity for his death, nobody mourned for him, he died trying to kill someone else (forever stuck in the cycle of sin and scheme), still trying so hard at the last moment to get back at TS..ah how pathetic. Its useless. Even in those last few moments of breath, sin reigned over goodness .

 

As if death was not enough to redeem his sins, it felt like HB’s death only existed as a passing matter. His death had absolutely no impact on any other character- TS continued to scheme, His assistant scoffed over his death, there was nothing from Joon Hee even though he killed HB- (to be honest the flashbacks showed that he had anger towards both TS and HB and he chose to strike HB only to stop the struggle that he was so sick of, not because he specifically targeted HB. ) Though I was hoping he would say something to HB at his tombstone to answer to his death. 

 

I was trying to decide whether HB’s death was fair or unfair. Fair- he dead dishonourably and dirtily. Unfair- he had a quick death and didn’t have to suffer the consequences of his actions through the Law. 
Perhaps the writer allowed Joon Hee to kill him rather than the law because HB mainly sinned against Joon Hee unlike TS who killed Kim Byung Gi. 

 

I have to say that I slowly lost interest in this drama because of another drama- Misty but still, i had came a long way to watch all 32 eps of Return. Started this drama for Ko Hyung Jung but I guessed the lesson came too late for her to see that Choi Ja Hye as a character ultimately did not deviate from fundamental goodness that was presented in the first few episodes. Writer, that was a good save. 

 

Overall, I think it was top-notch acting from all the characters. I loved Nara and thought that her acting was very realistic :-) (She's so pretty too). Conversely, I find that Dokgo Young’s character fell short of what he was capable of. His affection/attention towards JH? Stopped at the surface level and did nothing to influence her to walk the right path. You didn’t need to put Lee Jin Wook there, he seemed under-utilised :-( 

 

So much gruesome in the show ultimately points to our innate evil. How we choose to sin time and time again. We never learn. In <Return>, JH ultimately returned to the good side (kinda) and even so, she sinned a lot too. But are we confident enough to return to goodness like she did? It takes so much effort to go back onto the right path. So tread with caution, fellow humans. Live our lives righteously and stay away from sin for we know how corrupt sin is and how it destroys us.
So long, Return

 

Ps, my first ever post on Soompi!! (Have been stalking on forums for a long time and finally had the courage to post)

@flowerdramaWelcome to the club. I quoted your whole post. I love it. Could not have said it any better. The whole summary is so fitting and astutely written. Will look forward to more posts from you maybe in the finale of Misty? Thank you. 

[fujisaku]

I like the characters' fate at the end, it's very appropriate. I just don't like how they were achieved. It was forced. I simply cannot follow the show logic anymore after IH tried to kill DB.

 

CJH: I have expected that she would end up like that. It's just that I don't get the trial logic. Either I don't understand Korean law or the writer doesn't understand the law. Both the law logic and CJH's logic don't seem to be logical. The show failed to convince me that there's simply not enough evidence to incriminate CJH. I also can't really accept CJH's logic to prosecute minors. And why she had to kill everyone, but the boys? Until now, I still don't get why she decided to kill YMJ, because I assume she was a minor. Meanwhile, the judge was being left alone... And why did she have to wait for 19 years was never explained.

 

JH: Maaan... What a mess! Yes, I know JH wanted to go to jail to pay for his sin. It's just that I wish it wasn't like that!. I would rather TS and HB killed each other or TS killed HB and JH got a short term jail for what he done to YMJ's corpse. When DGY said they made the wrong decision everytime, I could only cringe, because I don't think it's really wrong. It can be considered as self defense.

It's just kind of sad that he was prosecuted for crime worse than IH's. However, anyone notice the news? They made it as if HB suddenly got hurt! I can imagine his dad, who cared so much about reputation, might actually get him out of jail and he would continue to be depressed.

 

IH: It was very appropriate. Losing his daughter is a poetic justice. While the law failed to prosecute him, he probably paid the heaviest price (which is appropriate since he was the main perpetrator of the crime 19 years ago). The prospect of not being able to see your love ones again for the rest of your life is quite scary in my opinion. Fortunately for him, we have a technology nowadays, and he could have a video conference with his daughter since NR seemed to forgive him. Still, I can imagine the fear of being forgotten. What if NR found another man? The second child would be raised as another man's child and not acknowledge him as the father. It might or might not be harsher than jail time. Did anyone notice how cheerful he was in jail? And he looked very depressed and succumbed to alcohol once he got out.

 

HB: He got what he deserved.

 

TS: I don't understand why his lawyer suddenly changed his mind. It doesn't really make sense.

 

 

[UnniSarah]

On 3/22/2018 at 10:45 PM, maddymappo said:

I wish she could have tricked them into turning on each other without murdering people

@maddymappo Their bond was tight because of the crimes they committed together. I think once you commit a murder with someone 

I will be honest, I just watched the last episode and knew this was the outcome. The moment they mentioned about one last vile of the drug , I always knew she was the last victim.  CHJ has been trying to kill her self since she got burned. If it wasn’t for th me woman who adopted her , she would have been dead. CHJ was very much depressed and was still very angry at what happened to her daughter. In that rage there was lots of guilt because she was always to busy to spend time with her daughter. She not only blamed the guys who murdered her child she blamed herself.  As the years went by she also forgot what her daughter looked like until she committed suicide herself and the. She was able to remember the way her daughter looked like. Smh smh smh 

[maddymappo]

22 hours ago, flowerdrama said:

Wow so I just finished watching the finale… uhm I was a little disappointed with how it ended. I was looking to see JH elaborate more about how she would want the judiciary system to change such that all would be equally judged and punished. 

I find that the ending was too hasty and JH’s lesson/moral of the story came too late for the seeming evil that she did. I still don’t think it is justified for her to kill yum mi Jung, Ahn Hak soo as tools so that the elite 4 would confess their crimes. 

I didn’t like how Joon Hee’s character ended up. He was trying so hard to redeem himself yet an impulse decision- I don’t think it was a choice but rather mostly an impulse decision due to the flashbacks and circumstance whereby HB was trying to kill TS, ruined his chance for redemption.

 

IH- I believe he saw how meaningless it was to continue in the struggle, to be engulfed in the other 3 elites’ schemes. I believe that the decision to leave Nara was a self imposed exile, knowing fully that he has to pay for his crimes yet the law cannot persecute him. There seem to be a possibility that he would change for the better and come back to Nara. 

 

HB- urghhh HB’s death, it happened so quicklyyy and hastily. I find that the writer’s treatment of his death was so merciless. He was one of the main characters and yet his death was wrapped up quickly. Probably some scenes were cut so that they could wrap up the drama on time. Perhaps the writer tried to show how insignificant he was as a human being. That there was no pity for his death, nobody mourned for him, he died trying to kill someone else (forever stuck in the cycle of sin and scheme), still trying so hard at the last moment to get back at TS..ah how pathetic. Its useless. Even in those last few moments of breath, sin reigned over goodness .

 

As if death was not enough to redeem his sins, it felt like HB’s death only existed as a passing matter. His death had absolutely no impact on any other character- TS continued to scheme, His assistant scoffed over his death, there was nothing from Joon Hee even though he killed HB- (to be honest the flashbacks showed that he had anger towards both TS and HB and he chose to strike HB only to stop the struggle that he was so sick of, not because he specifically targeted HB. ) Though I was hoping he would say something to HB at his tombstone to answer to his death. 

 

I was trying to decide whether HB’s death was fair or unfair. Fair- he dead dishonourably and dirtily. Unfair- he had a quick death and didn’t have to suffer the consequences of his actions through the Law. 
Perhaps the writer allowed Joon Hee to kill him rather than the law because HB mainly sinned against Joon Hee unlike TS who killed Kim Byung Gi. 

 

I have to say that I slowly lost interest in this drama because of another drama- Misty but still, i had came a long way to watch all 32 eps of Return. Started this drama for Ko Hyung Jung but I guessed the lesson came too late for her to see that Choi Ja Hye as a character ultimately did not deviate from fundamental goodness that was presented in the first few episodes. Writer, that was a good save. 

 

Overall, I think it was top-notch acting from all the characters. I loved Nara and thought that her acting was very realistic :-) (She's so pretty too). Conversely, I find that Dokgo Young’s character fell short of what he was capable of. His affection/attention towards JH? Stopped at the surface level and did nothing to influence her to walk the right path. You didn’t need to put Lee Jin Wook there, he seemed under-utilised :-( 

 

So much gruesome in the show ultimately points to our innate evil. How we choose to sin time and time again. We never learn. In <Return>, JH ultimately returned to the good side (kinda) and even so, she sinned a lot too. But are we confident enough to return to goodness like she did? It takes so much effort to go back onto the right path. So tread with caution, fellow humans. Live our lives righteously and stay away from sin for we know how corrupt sin is and how it destroys us.
So long, Return

 

Ps, my first ever post on Soompi!! (Have been stalking on forums for a long time and finally had the courage to post)

Great analysis. Can't wait to read your analysis of Misty.

 

[40somethingahjumma]

On 3/24/2018 at 2:29 AM, flowerdrama said:

Wow so I just finished watching the finale… uhm I was a little disappointed with how it ended. I was looking to see JH elaborate more about how she would want the judiciary system to change such that all would be equally judged and punished. 

I find that the ending was too hasty and JH’s lesson/moral of the story came too late for the seeming evil that she did. I still don’t think it is justified for her to kill yum mi Jung, Ahn Hak soo as tools so that the elite 4 would confess their crimes. 

 

As if death was not enough to redeem his sins, it felt like HB’s death only existed as a passing matter. His death had absolutely no impact on any other character- TS continued to scheme, His assistant scoffed over his death, there was nothing from Joon Hee even though he killed HB- (to be honest the flashbacks showed that he had anger towards both TS and HB and he chose to strike HB only to stop the struggle that he was so sick of, not because he specifically targeted HB. ) Though I was hoping he would say something to HB at his tombstone to answer to his death. 

 

I was trying to decide whether HB’s death was fair or unfair. Fair- he dead dishonourably and dirtily. Unfair- he had a quick death and didn’t have to suffer the consequences of his actions through the Law. 
Perhaps the writer allowed Joon Hee to kill him rather than the law because HB mainly sinned against Joon Hee unlike TS who killed Kim Byung Gi. 

 

I have to say that I slowly lost interest in this drama because of another drama- Misty but still, i had came a long way to watch all 32 eps of Return. Started this drama for Ko Hyung Jung but I guessed the lesson came too late for her to see that Choi Ja Hye as a character ultimately did not deviate from fundamental goodness that was presented in the first few episodes. Writer, that was a good save. 

 

Overall, I think it was top-notch acting from all the characters. I loved Nara and thought that her acting was very realistic :-) (She's so pretty too). Conversely, I find that Dokgo Young’s character fell short of what he was capable of. His affection/attention towards JH? Stopped at the surface level and did nothing to influence her to walk the right path. You didn’t need to put Lee Jin Wook there, he seemed under-utilised :-( 

 

 

With everything that happened I don't think it was CJH's intention to offer any kind of recommendations as to how the laws can be reformed because as we've seen, whatever ends up happening, a cunning lawyer can always come along and find some kind of loophole or legal technicality to exploit. The solution needs to be put in place even before anyone gets close to the courtroom or the police station. She also observed that another child who killed (referring to Dokgo Young I imagine) and escaped the full force of the law which would normally apply in the case of an adult, repented and matured into a responsible human being. So it isn't the legal system ultimately that's the problem but the adult influences in the children's lives that are at the root of the problem. The children who grew up to be adults did not learn to take responsibility for their crime not because the law was lenient but because what their guardians did in effect was bury the issue with their wealth. The pattern of behaviour they soon learnt from their adult influences was that there was no need to take responsibility as long as matters can be buried and forgotten. 

She may have believed at first that the law regarding minors was in need of serious overhauling but when she heard about DKY's redemption journey, she came to conclude that "children should be protected"... that it is possible for children to change, given the right attitude, environment etc and that the law is not wrong to offer a young person who is still in the process of developing their value system a second chance. But it's what the children do with their second chance that's the crux of the matter.

 

In her final show, CJH's intention was to explain why she did what she did and to expose the dirty deeds of the entitled four. She reinforces her belief in universal justice by pronouncing the final judgment and administering her own execution knowing that the law cannot touch her a second time. 

The moral of the story as she herself came to realise is that laws cannot stop people from committing crime. It certainly didn't stop those four people from conspiring revenge against YMJ, the detective and Dr Ko. CJH, KSJ etc all knew what they did was wrong and deserved punishment for killing another human being but their anger could not otherwise be assuage. What the laws can do is make people answerable for their crimes and give authorities the right to investigate, find answers and give families of victims the closure that they need. But the wealthy and powerful can circumvent legal processes by first putting themselves above the law and then by trying to conceal crucial information.

At the end of the day what keeps people from committing serious crimes against other human beings fundamentally are strong values and beliefs about the importance of human life.

 

Compared to Misty I would venture to say that the moral universe of Return is actually quite sound and far more consistently written across the board. The skill of the writer for Return in handling the investigation and the subsequent exposure of the criminals as well as the unfolding of the motivation for the crimes were just much more superior. The only criticism I have of the show is that too much time arguably was spent on the entitled four to the point in which I felt that we were going over old ground (especially in those last four episodes) but may be that was deliberate. 

[pixiebelle]

It was not easy for me to stay with this drama till the end. Enough said.

I agree too much time was spent on the four and the repeated crimes they committed, to others and among themselves. I didn't get a good sense of satisfaction of them punished enough. The climax of the drama was built up high but the resolution a let down.


 

[maddymappo]

Well here is another example of how the chaebols are not subject to the same justice as ordinary people. And ordinary people suffer as a result of it.

 

Story from BBC news.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43592977

Korean Air 'nut rage' heiress makes management comeback

• 1 hour ago

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Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

The former Korean Air executive who was sacked and jailed for a 'nut rage' tantrum on board a plane has made a corporate comeback.

Heather Cho, heiress to the South Korean conglomerate which owns the airline, has returned to work for another of its businesses.

Ms Cho will take control of four hotels operated by the KAL Hotel Network.

She hit the headlines in 2014, after forcing the plane to return to its gate during a row over how nuts were served.

Ms Cho was fired and later charged after the incident on the runway of New York's JFK Airport.

It emerged she had demanded a junior crew member be removed from the flight after they offered Ms Cho macadamia nuts in a bag, instead of presenting them on a plate.

Power abuse

Ms Cho, 44, is the heiress of the Hanjin Group - one of South Korea's massive family-run business empires.

At the time of the incident she was executive vice-president of Korean Air, and became another symbol of the excess and entitled culture in the country's so-called chaebols.

Ms Cho was convicted of violating aviation safety, coercion and abuse of power in 2015.

But after serving less than half of her year-long jail term, she was later cleared of violating the aviation security law and her sentence was suspended on appeal.

The court maintained the minor convictions, including interfering with business practices, but reduced her penalty to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years.

The Supreme Court upheld that ruling last December.

The flight attendant she scolded, Park Chang-jin, has reportedly launched legal action against Korean Air, claiming he was demoted and has faced discrimination in the company since the incident.