I woke up at the crack of dawn today just to squish in some time to watch the final 2 episodes of God's Gift. Needless to say, I was staring at my laptop screen at half past 6 in the morning, thinking to myself, "what in the name of sanity did I just watch?!"
Before anything else, let me just say that I sublimely enjoyed the gripping ride this show took me on. I seriously and genuinely loved it for what it was and what it aimed to be. Although at times choppy and confusing, I had always thought the directing was good, the writing was amazing, and the acting almost flawless. This drama introduced me to the magic of Jo Seung-woo and cemented my love for Lee Bo-young - and for that, I am eternally grateful.
Having said that, the finale episode took me for a great ride right until we hit the 40-minute mark and then I started questioning where the show was headed and how in the name of all that is good were they going to resolve every single question I had about the show's past, present, and future timelines. And by the time I hit the 50-minute mark and realized the show had less than 10 minutes to wrap things up, that's when I realized that I was going to be left hanging. So, obviously, in the scene with Dong-chan carrying Saet-byul off to the reservoir, and with only 4 minutes remaining, I was internally screaming for something to happen. Anything. A miracle.
And then it ended.
It was at this point that the aforementioned "what in the name of sanity did I just watch?!" comes in. Because, seriously, Show! I can open-mindedly accept major character deaths. I can. But when the plot starts to veer off track with so much wtf*ckery and with so much forced narratives, I am so not with you anymore.
Up until the point where we realize the gravity of the situation, and who the puppet master was, I was with the show. I understood what was happening. All the way to when Soo-hyun goes and visits the President, I understood the story and even wondered why they had not gone to the President in the first place with all the stuff they knew about the case. I was even willing to forgive all the little missteps it took to get to this point. But the moment Dong-chan found Saet-byul "dead" in the Mujin field, you completely lost me. And that ending? I died.
First of all, let us note that when Dong-chan gave the suicide note of Grandpa Chu's son to the Chief of Staff, we knew that he was doing this not only to save his family but he was also choosing to save Saet-byul. Later on, after the fake call from his mother, he rushes to Mujin to do just that. The only reason why he brought her to the reservoir was to hide a crime he thought his mother committed. So imagine how he must have felt when he found out that Saet-byul was alive. Having realized that no crime had been committed, what he should have done was to back off from the water and live happily ever after.
Dong-chan's strange conclusion that he had to die in order for Saet-byul to live, and to fulfill that godawful prophecy, came out of left field. Saet-byul was alive. Dong-ho was alive. The President was taking care of things. The Chief of Staff couldn't touch him or his family anymore. No one had to die. To hell with that prophecy. If only he had turned to Soo-hyun when she was calling out to him, I'm sure she could've explained things to him. If he did, indeed, kill himself in the reservoir (and there's still a part of me holding on to the hope that he is still alive- after all, the show was cunning enough to leave things a bit vague), to what end did that serve? Who did he save with that final act of bravery? *shrugs*
Also, I'm fine with open-ended stories if they leave me with a sense of closure and hope for the characters' futures. But this finale left me with a lot of questions. Did Woo-jin survive? Did Soo-hyun leave her husband? Or, now that I think back to the episode, did her husband survive? Remind me, what exactly was the connection again between Grandpa Chu and Snake's Tae-oh? Was the President's son really his son? For the mere fact that the Chief of Staff went through all kinds of methods to save him - not to mention the weird relationship he has with the First Lady - I'm thinking that murderer was a bastard (both literally and figuratively). Plus, our murdering asshole looks a hell lot more like the Chief of Staff than he did the President.
But that's that, I suppose. As with every drama, we move on. Thank you, Show, for the gripping ride. I loved you wholeheartedly (up until the last few minutes of the final episode, at least). All I have to do now is hope for another Jo Seung-woo and Lee Bo-young pairing where I can hopefully ship them to my heart's content.
Before anything else, let me just say that I sublimely enjoyed the gripping ride this show took me on. I seriously and genuinely loved it for what it was and what it aimed to be. Although at times choppy and confusing, I had always thought the directing was good, the writing was amazing, and the acting almost flawless. This drama introduced me to the magic of Jo Seung-woo and cemented my love for Lee Bo-young - and for that, I am eternally grateful.
Having said that, the finale episode took me for a great ride right until we hit the 40-minute mark and then I started questioning where the show was headed and how in the name of all that is good were they going to resolve every single question I had about the show's past, present, and future timelines. And by the time I hit the 50-minute mark and realized the show had less than 10 minutes to wrap things up, that's when I realized that I was going to be left hanging. So, obviously, in the scene with Dong-chan carrying Saet-byul off to the reservoir, and with only 4 minutes remaining, I was internally screaming for something to happen. Anything. A miracle.
And then it ended.
It was at this point that the aforementioned "what in the name of sanity did I just watch?!" comes in. Because, seriously, Show! I can open-mindedly accept major character deaths. I can. But when the plot starts to veer off track with so much wtf*ckery and with so much forced narratives, I am so not with you anymore.
Up until the point where we realize the gravity of the situation, and who the puppet master was, I was with the show. I understood what was happening. All the way to when Soo-hyun goes and visits the President, I understood the story and even wondered why they had not gone to the President in the first place with all the stuff they knew about the case. I was even willing to forgive all the little missteps it took to get to this point. But the moment Dong-chan found Saet-byul "dead" in the Mujin field, you completely lost me. And that ending? I died.
First of all, let us note that when Dong-chan gave the suicide note of Grandpa Chu's son to the Chief of Staff, we knew that he was doing this not only to save his family but he was also choosing to save Saet-byul. Later on, after the fake call from his mother, he rushes to Mujin to do just that. The only reason why he brought her to the reservoir was to hide a crime he thought his mother committed. So imagine how he must have felt when he found out that Saet-byul was alive. Having realized that no crime had been committed, what he should have done was to back off from the water and live happily ever after.
Dong-chan's strange conclusion that he had to die in order for Saet-byul to live, and to fulfill that godawful prophecy, came out of left field. Saet-byul was alive. Dong-ho was alive. The President was taking care of things. The Chief of Staff couldn't touch him or his family anymore. No one had to die. To hell with that prophecy. If only he had turned to Soo-hyun when she was calling out to him, I'm sure she could've explained things to him. If he did, indeed, kill himself in the reservoir (and there's still a part of me holding on to the hope that he is still alive- after all, the show was cunning enough to leave things a bit vague), to what end did that serve? Who did he save with that final act of bravery? *shrugs*
Also, I'm fine with open-ended stories if they leave me with a sense of closure and hope for the characters' futures. But this finale left me with a lot of questions. Did Woo-jin survive? Did Soo-hyun leave her husband? Or, now that I think back to the episode, did her husband survive? Remind me, what exactly was the connection again between Grandpa Chu and Snake's Tae-oh? Was the President's son really his son? For the mere fact that the Chief of Staff went through all kinds of methods to save him - not to mention the weird relationship he has with the First Lady - I'm thinking that murderer was a bastard (both literally and figuratively). Plus, our murdering asshole looks a hell lot more like the Chief of Staff than he did the President.
But that's that, I suppose. As with every drama, we move on. Thank you, Show, for the gripping ride. I loved you wholeheartedly (up until the last few minutes of the final episode, at least). All I have to do now is hope for another Jo Seung-woo and Lee Bo-young pairing where I can hopefully ship them to my heart's content.
