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Post by BungalowDweller on Feb 26, 2005 22:09:28 GMT -5
Oh, My G-d! What a finish!!! For those who love classical literature the end mirrors the ending of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre",where Jane is reunited with the blind Mr. Rochester. My little girl was so upset she said that she wanted to lodge a formal complaint with the S. Korean embassy! "Life is bad enough as it is. I'm Seeeerious, Mom!" If any series could easily have a sequel,this is it!!! Maaaaaaaavelous!
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Post by galacticchick on Feb 26, 2005 22:54:27 GMT -5
Oh my God! The ending, the ending! I don't know how I feel about it. I would have liked everything to have ended up in a nice little package, so this was definitely not what I expected. He's blind! How could he go blind? I was fine, I didn't cry, but when I saw that he was blind it really broke my heart and if my brother hadn't been in the room, I would have cried. I think I'll go do that now.
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smji
New Addict
Posts: 23
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Post by smji on Feb 26, 2005 23:41:50 GMT -5
The very last scene was the most romantic and beautiful: the sunset, the way he caresses Yujin's face. You know now they will be together. When he was feeling his way around that house, he had such peaceful look on his face, not depressed that he was blind. He may not be able to see Yujin, but the important thing is they are together. A wonderful ending!
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Ken
Junior Addict
Posts: 197
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Post by Ken on Feb 26, 2005 23:55:41 GMT -5
The last scene was nice. However... After watching this show lumber through one preposterous situation to another, I'm puzzled as to why this show was so popular, although it was unintentionally funny much of the time - for example, Yujin's inability to ever answer a direct question and the numerous gaping plot holes, such as the mother "replacing" Joonsang's memories and the illogical behavior of the characters most of the time. Why did Yujin choose to go to France when she found out that Joonsang was not her brother - and might be dying?! That simply doesn't make sense if Yujin truly loved Joonsang! Still, there was a lot to like about the series. It was beautifully shot, the acting was quite good, especially Oh Cherin, Sanghyuk and his father, and the script, especially in the beginning, was often pretty good. It seemed to us that many of the plot contrivances weren't necessary and that the series could have been MUCH shorter. That the series was "stretched" because of initial high ratings was painfully obvious. Because of that, there was no excuse at all for the writers leaving as many loose threads at the end as a cheap turtleneck sweater has! Overall, Joanie and I found WLS frustrating to watch because of the plot and the very slow pacing, but it was redeemed somewhat by the soundtrack and the likeability of most of the characters. Maybe part of our reaction to WLS is that we've been watching a terrific series called All About Eve that demonstrates that it IS possible for a 20 episode series to have continuity, romance, drama, believable characters and tell an interesting story. WLS suffers greatly by comparison, since it could and should have been much better, considering the talent involved in the series.
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Post by BungalowDweller on Feb 27, 2005 0:38:09 GMT -5
I've been thinking alot about how this series ended and I've come to the conclusion that I don't like the ending at all. It is reminiscent of the "socialist realism" flicks out of Eastern Europe in the 60s and 70s.
What is the Real message here? The real message is that no matter how one strives in sincerity and truth, you CAN'T have it all. And if you try to have it all, something b-a-d will happen to you. This is old-world,socialist fatalism. And this is what I disagree with and dislike...
J-S had it all--looks,intellect,desirability--he didn't know his father,so he decided to find out and in finding out something bad happened to him. He did that which,culturally,he shouldn't have done. He should have obeyed his mother. He should have let sleeping dogs lie,etc. etc.
My hubby was watching WLS conclusion and he said that it reminded him of a very popular series which was playing in communist Czechoslovakia in the late 60s "Dr. Schlutter". The purpose of the East German series was to uphold the premise that the Communist way was morally superior to the inhumane Western ideals of personal freedom etc. He felt the same way after watching WLS.
In other words,going for the brass ring--the truth, the dream of your life (in j-s case, Yujin) will result in tragedy;i.e. going to America will destroy you (it blinded j-s). Better not to know...better not to try... To my hubby, it's like propaganda. There is enough tragedy in real life,I've had more than my own share--I don't enjoy watching it for entertainment.
I apologize if this is a downer to others but I must admit I'm profoundly disappointed in the ending. I prefer Hollywood, American endings---JoonSang gets the girl, loves the girl, marries the girl, and they live happily ever after in that gorgeous house!
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Post by samionniL on Feb 27, 2005 1:22:50 GMT -5
I liked the ending ... since finally in the end Joonsang and Yujin end up together and there's NO CHANCE anymore that they will get split up and go separate ways yet again! Can't happen! Show's over! I loved this show.
Joonsang feeling so at peace living in the house he built from Yujin's plans...and that puzzle on the wall...that was just so right.
The last couple of episodes there, Yujin was starting to resemble Jang-geum.....hmmm, maybe it's just me.
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chi8
New Addict
Posts: 73
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Post by chi8 on Feb 27, 2005 7:41:48 GMT -5
I'm about 95% happy with the way the series ended. Yes, I would have preferred that JS and Yujin find each other and live happily ever after as whole people, but I think they will anyway and I'm not going to go out and try to find the DVD with the alternative ending. JS's blindness will make him a little dependent on Yujin, which he wasn't really before, and that can be good for a relationship.
Some randon thoughts:
JS wasn't just happy with finding his away around the house, he was positively elated--his face just glowed. Did anybody notice that there was flooring with a different texture that could guide him from place to place. The walls were stucco, maybe important to someone who can't see.
I'm wondering where the house was located. Looked like a sub-tropical location, and my map shows Korea too far north for that unless part of it is brushed by a warm water current.
Was his attendant who came to fetch him in the golf cart the same attendant/guardian he had when he was a teenager and living alone?
I think Yujin chose to go to France instead of following JS to New York because she wanted to honor JS's request that they never see each other again. And she went to the house at the end because she didn't know whose it was. As we've seen before in this series, fate sometimes intervenes in most peculiar ways. Doesn't Sanghyuk get any redemption points for handing the New York ticket to Yujin and urging her to go to JS?
The makers really threw us a curve ball with the scene in which Yujin and Sanghyuck show up holding a baby. We all assume it's theirs, only to find out that they are just visiting the baby's parents. And Sanghyuck looked like such a dork with those old-man's glasses. And at the very beginning of that scene, when the camera is taking something of a long shot, in the foreground, too close to recognize, is someone with reddish brown hair--sure looked like JS, but apparently it wasn't.
JS looked better with new glasses. But why does he need them now? I know, nitpicks.
As for the overall series, yes it had lots of holes and absurd plot twists--the whole idea of having an accident and then coming back as someone else--but I gladly accept those as necessary to keep the story going. It's only a story, after all, a television story at that, so I don't expect too much. Although in real life I tend to be somewhat analytical (I'm a lawyer, and we tend to look at life differently), when watching TV or reading a book I can suspend my disbelief and just immerse myself in the story. I may try to analyze the story so I can try to guess where the author is going or how a development relates to something I've already seen, but not for purposes of pointing how absurd the whole thing is. If I really think a story is absurd, I stop watching it!
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Post by Valerie on Feb 27, 2005 9:43:03 GMT -5
They nearly scared me to death with that flashforward scene with Yujin and Sanghyuk swinging the little girl. I though she married that selfish creep...but then, a sigh of relief, it was her sisters child. I really loved how it ended, it took them 3 years, but finally they were where they should be.
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Post by Lovely on Feb 27, 2005 12:10:48 GMT -5
Wonderful show and amazing ending. Yes, that scene with YJ, SH, and the baby made my heart twitch. I also thought that they ended up together . I'm so happy that JS and YJ saw each other again. They are definitely meant to be together and the ending was just perfect. Even though JS's blind now, I'm happy that he and YJ were reunited in the end.
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Post by kathleen34 on Feb 27, 2005 12:45:58 GMT -5
that sums it up nicely, Lovelyh....'wonderful story, amazing ending. Someone had commented from a political point the suggestion that Joonsang came to America and he became blind. Don't think so.... His Korean doctors sent him to America to save his life.... which was pretty iffy in itself ... it isn't as if they were skeptical... they didn't say 'if you go to America something bad will happen' They knew they couldn't operate on him with ANY measure of success and felt that an American surgical tem could at least give him a slim chance. He came out of it pretty intact... no brain damage, no physical disapbility.. blind. His and Yujin's love can bear that one thing very beautifully. In his mind's eye he will always see Yujin as he saw her at the seashore. ..Wonderful story, amazing ending' Nicely said.
I just got home from church and was part of the worship ministry this morning. We baptized a beautiful little Korean boy who was wiggly and darling. When one of the ministers was annointing his little forehead with oil he kept grabbing the minister's fingers pushing her away. He was just darling. And of course my mind drifted to WLS... and I thought. "awwww, a tiny Joonsang" ... i know, i know... not very referent but I came to feel so close to the WLS characters.
... AND I thought of all of you, my cyberfriends last evening and I'll bet we all gasped when we saw S&Y together with that sweet little girl YIKES ... HOW COULD SHE MARRY HIM??? While there were lots of loose ends, the main point was that Joonsang and Yujin would be together for the rest of their early life. And that's a goiod thing.
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Post by MisterBill50 on Feb 27, 2005 13:29:04 GMT -5
I was disappointed with many events, and especially with the fact that Yujin went on to France to study, instead of following Joonsang to the U.S. to be with him during such a life-threatening time. Her love and concern for him should have motivated her much more than his insistance that they not see eachother anymore. While I'm glad that it appears they were winding up together permanently at the end, it's sad that he had to lose his eyesight after enduring so much tragedy throughout the years. It was a bittersweet ending, and again, they lost several good years together.
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Elaine
Senior Addict
Posts: 256
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Post by Elaine on Feb 27, 2005 16:39:07 GMT -5
As someone else noticed, I too noticed that in the last scene JoonSang had a new pair of glasses. Why would he need glasses if he was blind. I would really like an explanation for this???
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chi8
New Addict
Posts: 73
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Post by chi8 on Feb 27, 2005 20:47:35 GMT -5
I feel that some dear friends have just left after a long visit. I was happy to see them go but know I will miss them.
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Post by hachiue on Feb 27, 2005 21:13:10 GMT -5
I almost feel bad for saying this because I loved the show so much while it was playing, but I found the ending to be anti-climactic, at best.
It did make me feel happy that they got back together after all that had happened, and I guess it was all right about how they got to that point, but it felt like a letdown to me. I guess that, after all the emotion that the show went through to get there, I thought that the ending would've been more emotional than that.
Perhaps it's partially because of my theory on why Joonsang built the house - he didn't only want to have something by which he could remember Yujin, but I thought it was like he was calling out to her, as in, if she wanted to come back, this is where she could find him, and that he loved her so much that he built this for her and in her memory. After that, to see Yujin going there and only meet him by chance because he forgot something - he only visited for a day and wasn't waiting there for her or anything - seems not contrived but not satisfying either.
I'm glad that they met up at the end - I was so frightened that the child was going to be Sanghyuk's and hers and Joonsang would stand by watching them build a happy family without ever saying anything. However, I didn't think that either one of them lived up to the level of love that they supposedly shared. Joonsang once again kept her in the dark about his illness and Yujin didn't go after him. In the last episodes, I think that Sanghyuk's actions actually made him the most redeemable character, because he was willing to put all of his wants and needs behind him in order to make Yujin happy.
I guess it bothers me because they were so willing to be apart and yet no reason for that was really given. It's like they loved each other when there were obstacles to their love, but as soon as they were removed they both thought that there had been too many obstacles to be together. It also seems that - because they kept repeating that they should only remember the happy times and not the bad ones - they weren't up to actually making a relationship work, with all of its foibles, and just wanted to have this relationship live on in fantasy land where they could look back on it fondly as they lived the rest of their lives in more normal and unhappy circumstances.
Short review: I liked the series but feel as genuinely ambivilant about the ending as one can be.
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smji
New Addict
Posts: 23
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Post by smji on Feb 27, 2005 22:16:20 GMT -5
I had read that originally Yoonsang was going to die. But because as the series was getting popular the fans put pressure on the writers to change it. Just like Dae Jeung Jung, they had to convince the star to film a few more episodes because the series was becoming so popular. I understand that the writers are still writing the story as they are filming. The actors and actresses are filming day and night and are exhausted. On the WLS dvd, a couple of the outakes show Yujin dozing on the school desk and Yonsama snoring during a scene. Maybe this can explain a little of some of the inconsistencies. By the way those outakes are a riot, even though there are no subtitles you can understand the boo boos. They "humanize" Cherin and Sanghyuk.
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