Sungkyunkwan Scandal: Episode 20 (Final)

315 November 11, 2010January 24, 2016

by red pill

Dear Jal-geum Quartet,

Thank you for the memories, the tears, the laughs, the squeals, the giggles, the sighs, the cringes, the waff, the thump-thumps, the insomnia, the dreams, the fantasies, the discussions, the love, the shipping, the great times, the smiles, the late nights, the early mornings, the procrastination, the cheers, the oh-nos, the arguments, the factions, the alliances, the heartache, the heartbreak, the bliss, the grief, the tingles, the tangles, the conspiracies, the bromances, the flutters, the gasps, the nail-biting, the TGIM, the curses, the hallelujahs, the prayers and the fun times.

It was a helluva ride. You were worth every moment.

Love, red pill

SONG OF THE DAY
Richard Marx & Donna Lewis – At the Beginning (Anastasia Soundtrack) [download]

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LESSON 20 RECAP

As Yoon-hee marvels over the geumdeungjisa, King Jeong-jo receives the report from Minister Moon (Jae-shin’s father) that Sun-joon is not the Red Messenger. That leaves Minister Ha to issue a public apology for violating the SKK grounds and students with his guards – and he better hurry before the whole nation hears about what happened.

As the leader of the petition, Yoon-hee is granted an audience with the king to hear his response to the petition. Per the SKK students’ request, Sun-joon will be released and Minister Ha will issue an official apology.

Yoon-hee explains that the secret letter was solved and the geumdeungjisa found. With it the king can finally move forward with the dream that he and her father shared. He promises that her efforts will not go to waste and tells her that it’s now the Jal-geum Quartet’s turn to harbor new dreams in a new Joseon.

Sun-joon is released to a cheering crowd of SKK students, and one can’t help but note how far he’s come since episode one when he was all thorns and friendless. Now he approaches the Three Stooges first and affirms their friendship. Boy, you smile so easily now.

Jae-shin greets him in his usual passive-aggressive gruff way, “Act on your own again, and I’ll never see your face again.” (Jae-shin speak for “I was worried about you.”) Yong-ha translates this to mean that Jae-shin intends to see Sun-joon’s face for a long, long time. Tee-hee.

But the leader of the petition and the one person Sun-joon really wants to see is nowhere to be found.

Because Yoon-hee is meeting with Minister Lee. He thanks her for saving his son, though it probably wasn’t easy with a grudge against the father. But those personal feelings aside, she was just trying to save her friend.

Minister Lee: Your bold spirit is just like your father’s. I didn’t like your father from the start. He was too idealistic and too much of a Romanticist to be advisor to the king. I was willing to do anything to stop your father and to get him to surrender completely, to acknowledge that reality can never live up to one’s ideals. However, I never intended to kill your father. Even so, I understand that your resentment towards me must run deep.
Yoon-hee: I don’t resent you. I’ve decided to take caution from you.
Minister Lee: Caution?
Yoon-hee: If one takes a single step back, that person must then take two steps back to cover up that misstep. Then, in the messy zigzag of one’s footsteps, one forgets where one was originally headed.
Minister Lee: I understand now why my son values you.

Yoon-hee returns to the dorms where Sun-joon is waiting for her. Already a henpecker, he demands to know where she was and why she wasn’t first in line to greet him after his short stint in jail. The very cute bickering about the definition of their relationship is put to an end when Yoon-hee shows Sun-joon that she’s wearing his ring. We might’ve gotten another kiss if Yong-ha hadn’t swung open the room door with impeccable timing (as always).

What follows is a drinking session for our Jal-geum Quartet. This mostly consists of Yong-ha praising Yoon-hee (he comments that she’s the first girl who doesn’t bore him) and talks of dreams in the new Joseon. Particularly touching is Yong-ha’s comment that he doesn’t need a dream; he’s satisfied with the fact that he’s Gu Yong-ha, and he has friends who accept him for who he is, noble blood or not.

Jae-shin and Sun-joon actually agree on the sleeping arrangement for once and try to send Yoon-hee to Yong-ha’s room, but eventually the four end up sleeping in the same room. How cute is it that Sun-joon sleeps holding Jae-shin’s hand? I’m jumping on the Jae-joon bromance ship.

Of course the following morning, Sun-joon is disgruntled that Yoon-hee chose to sleep in a room full of boys, and this leads to more cute bickering. He finds out that she used to copy those explicit red books (they pay extra), which proves to him that he doesn’t know enough about her life before SKK. Therefore, he offers to go to her house on their next holiday and meet her family. This is serious; meeting her mother is the first step in getting married.

Meanwhile, Yoon-hee’s secret is slowly spreading and all the major players start finding out. First Minister Ha, then Minister Lee. It’s a major trump card that could blow over the geumdeungjisa threat. Which is exactly what Minister Lee tells King Jeong-jo: he should hide the geumdeungjisa forever if he doesn’t want to hurt the daughter of his dear friend, the friend he sacrificed for the sake of his dream.

The problem with Yoon-hee being a girl is that whether the king intended it or not, he has broken down longstanding traditions and principles (as learned in the Three Bonds and Five Relationships of Confucianism) by using a girl in his quest for the geumdeungjisa. Additionally, this damages the credibility of the geumdeungjisa as well.

Completely oblivious, Yoon-hee pretties herself in preparation for Sun-joon’s visit. For the first time, she can actually be a girl (on the outside) and face Sun-joon honestly. Only, while she’s waiting outside for him with a lantern, a dark shadow confronts her. She drops the lantern and her mirror in surprise.

Finally having found some inner peace, Jae-shin shares a drink with his brother in a lovely spot overlooking banchon. He acknowledges that he once pitied his brother because he thought his brother died for a world he hated, but he realized only now that his brother had actually loved the world too much. That’s why he was able to give up his life for the cause.

The moment is interrupted by Yong-ha, who just found out from Hyo-eun that In-soo knows that Yoon-hee is a girl. They go to Yoon-hee’s house, where they run into Sun-joon (who hilariously tries to walk away before they see him). They find the broken mirror and realize that someone nabbed Yoon-hee.

There’s no more doubt that Yoon-hee is a girl; she stands before the king in full female garb. The king is rightfully furious, and when alone with Professor Jung he demands to know why he wasn’t told this incredible secret. But all Professor Jung can do is kneel and take full responsibility for Yoon-hee.

The king suspects he’s so accepting of Yoon-hee because of his background in Western Learning (=liberal thinking). Professor Jung acknowledges that Western Learning teaches that all people, no matter what gender, are noble and valuable. However, he still believed that females had no place in politics and didn’t need an education. That is, until he met Yoon-hee. It was Yoon-hee who taught him that life and learning one’s studies are one and the same.

The king remains unrelenting, particularly since he’s so close to achieving his dream.

Minister Ha once again seeks out Cho-sun. She’s ready to refuse because she’s more than fulfilled her duties to him and it’s about time he kept his side of the bargain. But this last job should interest her; he wants her to kidnap Yoon-hee and bring her to him. And it’s through Minister Ha that Cho-sun finds out she’s been in love with a girl all along.

The three boys come to Professor Jung for confirmation that Yoon-hee is with the king. They want to believe that the king will protect her, but Professor Jung evades their questions and confirms the opposite.

In an upcoming meeting, the king will announce his plans to move the capital to Hwaseong. And in order to crush the Noron opposition, he’ll unveil the geumdeungjisa. But what will happen if the Norons use the fact that Yoon-hee, the person who found the geumdeungjisa, is a girl?

Will the king protect Yoon-hee, Jae-shin asks desperately. Isn’t that the so-called hope that he’s always talking about?

All three boys are in tears as they realize that Yoon-hee will be sacrificed by the king because she’s the one who found the geumdeungjisa. Professor Jung, too, weeps, but all four men are at a loss of what to do.

Sun-joon takes to wallowing in the dark, which is how his father finds him. It’s hard for Minister Lee to believe that this boy who is staking his life on something as inconsequential as a girl is his son. In desperation, Sun-joon gets on his knees and asks his father for help.

“It was through that girl that my eyes opened up to a new world. Not the world that a man must build through what he learned in books, but the world where I want to live. But that world is falling apart. I’m so pathetic and helpless that there is nothing I can do, nothing at all. Please help me, Father.”

But Minister Lee gives him no definite answer.

Their faith in the king dashed to pieces, Yong-ha and Jae-shin stew at a local tavern, worrying about how scared Yoon-hee must be. The tavern is soon crowded by Confucian scholars who’ve been called in by Minister Ha. They don’t know why exactly they were asked to come, but their guess is that the king is up to something and Minister Ha needs reinforcements.

Sun-joon’s tears must’ve moved his father’s heart because Minister Lee puts his political career on the line to suggest to the other Norons that they support the king’s plans to move the capital. If they do this, the king will bury the geumdeungjisa affair and not question their involvement in the late Crown Prince Sado’s death. His efforts are rebuffed by the others; they’ve already agreed to follow Minister Ha’s lead. Power, how short and bitter is thy run.

Yong-ha and Jae-shin are on campus, discussing plans to find out where the meeting with Minister Ha and the Confucian scholars will be held. As long as they find out by 5:30PM, they might be able to find a way to stop Minister Ha and save Yoon-hee. A letter from Cho-sun arrives, informing them about Minister Ha’s plans to bring Yoon-hee before the Confucian scholars.

Minister Ha reassures In-soo that the reliable “man” he has under his command has never once disobeyed him. Only he didn’t give Cho-sun’s memories of Yoon-hee enough credit; they were sweet and touching enough to inspire her defiance. She shows up in all black, ready to stop the meeting with the scholars from happening. As she tangles with the guards, it takes In-soo a moment to fully digest what’s going on and what his father has been doing to Cho-sun. Once that’s processed, he steps in to protect Cho-sun, creating a rift between evil father and (ex-)evil son. For the first time, Cho-sun looks at In-soo in a new light.

What a double whammy of redemption! That’s right, In-soo, use those laser-beam glares on your father!

Jae-shin jumps into the rumble (literally) with a slightly barbed yet begrudging compliment for In-soo: “This is the first time you’ve behaved like a decent human being.”

Yong-ha is doing his best blocking the door and keeping the Confucian scholars locked up in their room. It’s crude and not very effective because Yong-ha isn’t the, um, physical type, but he just has to hold on until Professor Jung arrives to help.

When the men manage to burst out of the room, Yong-ha impersonates a SKK professor and turns on the charm and his silver tongue. Using glib words and the fact that one of the scholars is actually a distant uncle, he manages to befuddle then win over the men by spouting Confucian teachings.

THE Gu Yong-ha has finally gone from spectator on the sidelines to active participant. He not only gets passing marks from Professor Jung, but from us as well.

In his boldest move yet, Sun-joon comes before the king.

King Jeong-jo: Have you come to beg for the girl’s life?
Sun-joon: I came to ask you to throw away Kim Yoon-shik, no, Kim Yoon-hee. And for you to throw me away as well. Because there is no hope for the new Joseon you dream of. You’re not trying to cut her loose because she went against the law and Confucian traditions by dressing up as a man and entering SKK where no women are allowed. Isn’t it because she stands in the way of your reforms? Yet, you’re the one who promotes views that go against tradition and customs. For your reforms –
King Jeong-jo: Seems I’ve shown you too much favor. (For you to step out of line.)
Sun-joon: Have you been fighting all this time to beat the Norons? Not to save your people? Is the great country you dream of filled with only your beliefs and not with your people?
King Jeong-jo: Stop. Enough.
(Sun-joon lays down the compass that the king gave him.)
Sun-joon: A compass needle that doesn’t stay vigilant against itself and doesn’t waver cannot point out the right direction. I return the warning you once gave me.

Boy is BALLSY. And I love him for it.

Our boys managed to stop Minister Ha’s meeting with the Confucian scholars, but they couldn’t stop him from going to the king. With the head Norons in attendance, King Jeong-jo acknowledges that when it comes to moving the capital, there can be no compromise. That’s why he found the very thing that could silence the Norons forever: the geumdeungjisa.

Minister Ha comes bursting in, wanting to use his Yoon-hee trump card, but the king silences him. The king has found the container holding the geumdeungjisa – only, he claims the geumdeungjisa was not found inside. He will not give up his dream to move the capital, however. Not when he began this fight for the people, not to triumph over the Norons.

And so, the king chooses Yoon-hee over his dream.

After the meeting, Minister Moon arrests Minister Ha for the events of that night ten years ago when one Kim Seung-hun and one Moon Young-shin were brutally murdered. Sort of out of the blue, but I get it, we’re wrapping up loose ends here since we have less than 15 minutes to go in the episode.

As further proof of his determination to protect Yoon-hee, the king burns the geumdeungjisa before her eyes. But this isn’t the end, not while hope still lives.

King Jeong-jo: Promise me one thing. That you’ll remember for a long time my dream, the future of this nation, and not my pathetic death nor my short life. That way I can stay alive in your memories.

Standing ovation for King Jeong-jo, please.

Minister Lee realizes what a great sacrifice the king made in order to save Yoon-hee’s life. He comments on her daring nature and brings up what she said to him earlier, about using him as caution to make sure she doesn’t walk in zigzags and lose her way. He says it won’t be easy since men easily miss even the very things before their eyes. It certainly won’t be easy to do alone – so he asks her to stay by Sun-joon and walk the straight path together.

Huzzah! Three cheers for Papa Lee! (Man, are things wrapping up in a neat little bow or what?)

And we have the final hand-off as Jae-shin officially resigns from his position as Yoon-hee’s guardian angel and passes on all duties to Sun-joon. He tells Sun-joon to protect her well so that he won’t have to get involved. In return Sun-joon thanks Jae-shin for everything he’s done for her.

Enter twirling Yong-ha who tries to tag along for the reunion with Yoon-hee – only to be stopped by a more tactful Jae-shin who sends Sun-joon alone.

Aw, I was kind of hoping for a Quartet reunion.

The library. Ah, the memories of first kisses, love notes exchanged, footsies, and futile attempts at studying. Seriously, I’ve never seen a couple meet so much in the library, but what do you expect from two brainy scholars?

“Have you seen the talented bear?”

“Wang?”

With beautiful smiles from our leading man and lady, we’re brought full circle back to their fateful meeting in episode one, when they had no idea what the future had in store for them.

This is what I consider the real end of the series, but since the production team tacked on the last five minutes for the sake of fan service… We continue the story at an undetermined time in the future…

Yongha is still his cheeky self, toying with women like only he can. He’s putting his skills to good use by selling and making clothes, having taken over the family business. Yes, he’s a fashion designer, and a fantabulous one at that. Step aside, Tim Gunn.

Meanwhile, a Blue Messenger is running across the rooftops, dropping blue leaflets everywhere. Blue is caught by a police officer, who turns out to be none other than our Jae-shin – and he lets out a little hiccup (he wasn’t cured!) when he realizes that Blue is a girl.

He pulls out her leaflet, marked up with a red pen, and tells her that writing bad grammar will become a habit. We leave him grumbling on the rooftops, agitated that SKK isn’t living up to its usually high standards of education.

Speaking of SKK, a crowd of students chase after a noticeably short professor (tee-hee), and it’s none other than our beloved Yoon-hee. The boys are more in love with her than anything else, using their exam marks as an excuse to talk to her.

Of course this doesn’t sit well with Professor Stache, aka. Lee Sun-joon, who throws a jealous hissy fit guised well in didactic words. The two bicker back and forth until interrupted by the headmaster, who has clearly had to deal frequently with their bickering at every turn.

The two glare at each other before stalking off in opposite directions.

Back home in the bedroom, Yoon-hee nitpicks about the dusty room (it’s HIS turn to do the cleaning – lady, I like how you run your household), but he glosses that over with a peck on the lips. She blows out the candle, and they, uh, get down to business (while he hilariously grabs the red book for “help”).

And they live happily ever after. THE END.

COMMENTS

Sungkyunkwan Scandal had charm. From its beautiful cinematography to its unexpectedly intense narrative to its absolutely lovable characters (from the four leads right down to the extras), it was just plain charming. At the core, the very foundation of its success was that it had substance and it wasn’t just a love story (which I’m fine with, but it’s hard to win over an older crowd with just a love story between teens/twenty-somethings). There was political intrigue, historical intricacies and social commentary as well. That explains why my mother and I were both hooked (and now both showing serious withdrawal symptoms). It took first love and history and did an admirable mash-up to produce a true gem.

Not to say it didn’t have its flaws. The sometimes questionable editing, the inconsistencies (particularly in the strange cross between day and night scenes), the underdeveloped characters (Kang-moo, who are you? Cho-sun, why did you become a baddie in the first place? Etc.), the overuse of smoke, and the too-neatly-wrapped-up ending (more on that later). So is SKKS perfect? No. Is it one of the best dramas of 2010? Darn right.

As we neared the last twenty minutes of the final episode, I thought it unfortunate that the series wasn’t originally slated for 24 episodes. I feel the final wrap-up could’ve been smoother; instead, we had too many bows tied up hurriedly for the sake of closure, which sort of took away from the poignant moments, like King Jeong-jo’s sacrifice for Yoon-hee. I personally wouldn’t have minded a slightly open, more subdued ending, but the ending stayed true to the spirit of the series.

As for the saccharine-sweet final sequence… I particularly love that Jae-shin chases the Blue Messenger in order to hand her the marked up leaflet. And I love that Yoon-hee is a professor at SKK – only, it doesn’t make much sense, does it? Is Yoon-hee still pretending to be a man? But didn’t Jae-shin imply that girls are allowed at SKK now? Wait, isn’t that historically incorrect? Yes, and I understand fully if history buffs are miffed. But as a (fiction) writer, I think the final future sequence is more of a what-could-be rather than what-is. It’s the new Joseon that King Jeong-jo dreamed of, alive in this drama and in its characters. I believe the writer is taking liberties with our imagination, and I (personally) am okay with that. I do kind of wish the whole sequence had been set aside as a special segment rather than the closing sequence, but I think it did its job as fan service, and it closed the drama on a happy note, leaving smiles on our faces.

Finally, let me close with a screencap that I believe epitomizes SKKS and why we loved it so much.

315

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151 koreandramalover/kay

November 14, 2010 at 6:34 AM

Hehe...I'm guilty of the exact same thing!!!

I cant count how many times I watched the video...and the countless times I paused and re-watched the parts where YAI was sleeping and replied "yes" when "Jae Shin" was called...hehe...hilarious!!!

I also re-watched countless times the part where he kicked Park Min Young and how adorably he laughed after PMY complained that his kick was painful...haha...
:)

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152 Mary Mary Mary

November 14, 2010 at 3:09 PM

THankyou Red Pill! I'm missing this drama already!! I love reading your recap!

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153 MLIA Ninja

November 14, 2010 at 4:11 PM

dude!! i just realized why Yongha and hyorim(?)( not sure of thier names) looked so familiar! they are hosts for the music bank!!!! both of them!! omg this is the single greatest discovery of my life!!
:D
will miss ya Jalguem Quartet!!

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154 fa fa

November 15, 2010 at 12:24 AM

Hey redpill...
Nice one! and thanks a wholelots!!
p/s: i credited you in my fb for your notes, hope it's ok

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155 eka wachyu

November 15, 2010 at 6:24 PM

love it... full smile in my face

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156 Megah

November 16, 2010 at 12:26 AM

I watch this drama n now i'm in ep.19.
This drama is great.. all those felling i feel in this. Hope this drama can get award.. for me, yeorim is the friend that everybody must have.. love his smile n his act when he talk to geol oh. so sad this drama is over..

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157 minsun

November 16, 2010 at 2:11 AM

Yes SKKS is my fave drama of 2010!!

I totally loved the four characters--all of them are so, so adorable!

LOVED that SJ held JS's hand --the bromance and friendship between the 4 is what makes this show so special:)

OMG I didn't realise till reading the comments that Papa Lee is Daesung!!! I LOVED the sweet and saintly 'appa' in CS. He is really gd...I suspected that he was not all bad because he taught SJ so well and trembled when SJ declared his faith in his daddy's righteousness (when he was cleaning the plant), but his acknowledgment of Yoon Hee ("I now understand why my son values you") and her righteousness is way cool.

Hear JS say "majimakgia" in that scene to SJ made me sniff...he is SUCH a sweetie to the end... and am I the only one who loves his voice? My heart skips a beat whenever I hear him speak, be it his "angocho!!!! (go away!)" or his sweet semi-pretend-to-be-gruff words of concern for YH and SJ. *fangirls over JS*

I realise a lot of people are asking why Choson acted as the fake Hong Beok Seo in the first place--it's because she was trying to buy her way out of the gisaeng register...the other girls mentioned that she was trying to get herself cleaned up and out of the gisaeng register so she can be worthy of Yoon Hee (that was before YH rejected her officially saying she is not worthy enough for her). Cho son did all these as a deal with Minister Ha to get herself out. The last shot of her looking into the mirror, she is no longer in the gisaeng hairdo and outfit. The last time she injured herself was supposed to be the last job, and that is why she questioned Minister Ha and said "I thought you are a man of your word (and not make me do these jobs again--I thought we're square now?)"

Just a thought...

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158 minsun

November 16, 2010 at 2:15 AM

Oh can I also say that red pill, your first screencap is my fave shot of this ep. love how the boys all look so devastated and concerned.

And the last screencap--FABULOUS! J4 forever!

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159 shawol

November 17, 2010 at 12:27 AM

thank u so damn much..
n i enjoyed reading this..
seriously..
btw..i love the guhro+ yeorim couple the best

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160 x0mi07

November 17, 2010 at 5:48 PM

totally loving the jalgeum quartet moments at the beginning!!!! i have a rant about this later so wait a bit.

insoo was soooo dashing!^^ trufax when jaeshin pointed out his humanity! like angelus just got a soul!=P

i was hoping the king and yoonhee would have a hugging moment (father and daughter moment) or at least yoonhee and professor jung!=P but dads period dramas don't seem to be very keen on skinship... hahahahaha!XD

after jaeshin gave his neat "take care of her" speech to seonjoon, totally hated that yongha and jaeshin were all about giving the two space....>,,<

thanks for the recap!XD

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161 jubilantia

November 19, 2010 at 1:05 PM

I am super late to this, probably because I was afraid to finish this drama because I knew my emotions would be alternately stomped and revived and finally sent into spiralling circles of withdrawal.

Now I see why they wanted an extension- they knew they weren't going to be able to finish the story and had to rush to get through it- and even then they didn't wrap up a lot of the threads they'd started. Oh well, I still whooped and cried and laughed and cheered- such is the power of SKKS. I am just super bummed that Jae-shin didn't get to honestly confess. I am still with Sun-joon, and maybe this makes Geoh-oh the most selfless second-lead EVER since he declined to bring his beloved pain by confessing a love she could never return. And I find it funny that I'm always moaning about the love triangle tropes, but when they don't play out like I think they should, I still whine.

BUT. I submit that she still should have known everything he did for her. I mean, Nakatsu in Hana Kimi, even frikkin' Jacob in frikkin' Twilight had the opportunity to air his feelings and at least be honestly rejected rather than not even acknowledged. These feelings might also probably come from the disparity of Yoo Ah-in vs. Micky's acting. I can imagine the director taking Yoo Ah-in aside:

DIRECTOR: "Ahem... do you think you could try to tone do... I mean, with the... and maybe... *sigh* could you just try being less awesome, please?"

YOO AH-IN: "Dude, this is my craft. If the other guy can't bring it, that's his problem, kapish?"

Anyway, I still loved this drama, even with the hasty wrap-up. But it could have been eleventy-million times better.

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162 Hmmm

November 19, 2010 at 8:00 PM

I can understand the ending honestly.

We couldn't really ever get the "girl power" ending many of us wanted to see because

I think the reason why the four them did not end up in politics is because they were disillusioned by the current government and society or had different ideas about their future.

Yongha: I never saw him as a government official. Not once. I always saw him who studied because that was what a "nobleman" did. He's always been one for fashion and he's continuing his family's work (in a way accepting it?) and basically working his way into nobility? (Since I'm assuming that all nobility had to have started from the back of their ancestors)

Jae-shin: I think that of everyone it would have been nice to see him as something more than a guard. I always felt like he had the motivation to want to rise up in the ranks.

Yoon Hee: She's never really considered work in politics. She's expressed this time and time again. In a way she loves knowledge and pursuing knowledge. So her being a professor makes so much sense.

Regarding her behavior I'd argue that her being anachronistic is what made her a very real character. I know that it may seem frustrating that she would cry etc but the way I figured was that the simple fact that she enjoyed to study is what made her daring or spunky and not her personality at all. I thought she had a very feminine personality but with a brain, and a love to study.

Maybe it's me but I rarely like female characters who are independent to a fault, or who are bold and daring at every turn.. I don't find it believable. I find Yoon-Hee believable because she's spunky and confident in what she knows best or feels confident in and in the other areas where she is tested (like the archery competition) she's pushed to her limit, thrown out of her comfort zone so we see logical reactions that most (of us I'm sure) would have reacted but what makes her great is that she doesn't lie down and call it quits.. she fought through it.

Granted that I'm not into overly emotional people, and I myself am not like that at all. (I've been accused of being insensitive or being more masculine because of that while my boyfriend is far more sensitive and more feminine than I am in that regard). But in this case it works because yes she cries, yes it was pitiful at times but in spite of that she continued.

Though I agree I find it questionable that she's a professor by day and wife by night. The only thing I wonder is if the campus is more "liberal" in thought then the countryside or the land outside and it's possible that she's gotten permission to be a professor. Now whether or not the campus students know or she has to keep that a secret..

I kind of wish that we could have seen a sort of change on the campus where she's able to teach under her brothers name but that students and staff know she's female. Sort of like inside the walls it's allowed and outside the prejudice exists..

Personally I think that would have been far more realistic because let's be real but progressive thoughts generally start at the university and then moves outward. For instance, a lot of the current ideologies that are considered more liberal I do believe started in campuses...

But I agree that it would have been nice to see her as an advisor to the King simply off the record.

Lee Sun-joon: Even though he is the son of the Left Minister I never could see him as a politician. So being a professor does work since not only did love the study of knowledge he always seemed to be one who loved to teach others as well.

I mean yes it all tied up nicely but I honestly would prefer that than a lot loose ends.

I love Lee Sun-joon and Yoon Hee together. I love that they are compatible at a level that we do not normally see. We see that he loves her because she thinks, she questions, she's intelligent and she's beautiful. I've seen a lot of dramas or shows (all over) emphasize that a woman who thinks would be her downfall. It's nice to see a change of pace.

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Hmmm

November 19, 2010 at 8:10 PM

Yikes I forgot to add some parts and I am sorry for the confusion:

"We couldn’t really ever get the “girl power” ending many of us wanted to see because

I think the reason why the four them did not end up in politics is because they were disillusioned by the current government and society or had different ideas about their future."

What I mean to say:

We couldn’t really ever get the “girl power” ending many of us wanted to see because it wouldn't have fit the time. Though there are ways they could have emphasized a more "girl power"/fighting ending and still be moderately accurate.

I think the reason why the four them did not end up in politics is because they were disillusioned by the current government and society or had different ideas about their future. To clarify I don't really find Jae-shin as a "government official" the way I'm sure others have it defined. Yes he seems to have a post but he isn't a politician the way I would have liked to see him as.

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163 fortune_liz

November 21, 2010 at 5:54 AM

i will miss the quartet jalgeum and the funny romance between Soo Jun & Yoon hee..love this series...^_^

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164 Dara

November 22, 2010 at 7:26 AM

Thanks for your recap, I'm kind of late here but what I want to say is that this is a great drama, it had made me smile for days with its ending never before in my years of Kdrama Land.

The ending made us feel the J-4 live on and completed its genre with happy memories to all of us. Sometimes things are too good and you are just happy to overlook all of its flaws and this drama is that for me.

Best drama of the year!

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165 Dulce

November 22, 2010 at 5:49 PM

thanks for the recap.. loved the drama. agreed, that the ending was kindna rush.

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166 Fern

November 23, 2010 at 8:28 PM

Hey, thanks for the recap! i will miss them too!

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167 TM

November 26, 2010 at 4:09 PM

Yeah , I agree that the ending was a bit rush ...I would love to see more at the ending ...such as how Yoo Hee 's family lives ( like having Lee Sun Joon as a son in laws ...like their financial issue is getting better since Yoo Hee has a j teaching job or married a rich guy ) Like the rest of the students ( including Jae Shin ) can see Yoo Hee finally dress in female clothes for once , because all of them used to tease her how small she was ...sissy boy . Or like what happen to Cho Sun and Ha In So ?
Most of the dramas , they take time slow to show the problem at the beginning , but at the end , they wrapped up so quick that it leaves the audience a touch of ...lost ...unanswered questions .
Yes, I do love this drama . Because of this drama , I started to learn Korean ( I live in US ) THis drama reminded me when I was in college ( dating my first love in the school 's library of West Valley college in Ca ) Specially , The love letters in the books ... Yeah , I did that too . However, I didn't have a courage to kiss my boy friend as Yoo Hee , since I was so shy , although I am Asian as Yoo Hee ...it took me more than 3 months to let him touch my hand ...lol...
This drama brought me back nice memory . Best drama . Thanks you . TM.

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168 Luna

November 27, 2010 at 11:40 AM

Sungkyunkwan Scandal is so awesome!! I feel lonely that the drama has ended. I will miss you all, Jalgeum Quartet!!

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169 kacamata

December 9, 2010 at 8:39 AM

Does anybody notice the last word Soon Jun exclaimed??? I heard "azza!!!" Did I hear it correctly??? Hilarious :D

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170 Ruby

December 14, 2010 at 8:24 AM

I MISS THIS SHOW :( ALREADY.

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171 DS101

December 16, 2010 at 3:34 AM

Thanks for the Recap ;)

And that... is one epic summarising screencap. :P (Y)

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172 latte

December 18, 2010 at 9:48 PM

Just watched the final episode again. It's definitely not bromance he felt when Sun-joon held on to Jae-sin's hand while they were all sleeping that night after the drinking session. He complained the next morning that he couldn't sleep at all because his lover preferred to sleep in a room full of men! Garang was protecting his woman! ;-)) I love this drama, LSJ -- and the actor playing the role -- despite the surprising critiques coming at the end of it. SKKS's the best drama for 2010!

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173 elisa

December 19, 2010 at 4:13 PM

i still think that cho-sun became bad in the first place b/c she thought that minister ha would free her if she did the whole red messenger thing for him... cause she wanted to be free so that she could be kim yoon shik's woman... right? but that didn't go so well... so..... hahaha

anyways, this was a fun drama. even if the ending wasn't spectacular. but omg i wish...jae shin just got ONE moment with yoon hee... ughladkjfa;ldfj and that they would've all like said something about her being a girl. everyone knows but... like... NO CONFIRMATION. IRKSOME.

at least hyo eun wasnt super annoying in this drama. :)

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174 Cielo18

December 25, 2010 at 11:43 PM

It's over all ready T_T
I wanted more Jae Shin/Yong Ah moments.
What will I ever do without them.

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175 XiPhai

January 9, 2011 at 11:53 PM

..nah!!! ..SKKS is SOOOOO AWESSSOOMMMEEEE!!!!...
..and it's really so cute!!...how i wish there was a scene where Yong-ha, Jae-shin and Sun-joon was able to see Yoon-hee wearing her dress (hanbok)....i'm so curious about what would be their cute expression when they would see how beautiful she is is...hahah!!!
...>_<....

....hope there will be another season of scandal...:D..haha!!!

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176 Miki

January 11, 2011 at 7:47 PM

Yeorim: A confession of your love? And in my presence? (jealousy, jealousy, tee-hee)

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177 missironic

January 14, 2011 at 9:11 AM

Just out of curiosity, is the blue messenger, Sandara Park? Looks like her... hehehe.. anyway, awesome drama! Enjoyed it! :D

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178 Iris

January 27, 2011 at 8:28 PM

I know this comes late..but...she is still pretending to be a man...bcuz they call her by her brother's name..and girls are still not allowed to go in skk because the blue messenger is also faking to be a guy...Moon Jae-Shin gets hiccups and notices the blue messenger is a girl....I personally think this will be his future love interest.

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179 Victoria

February 10, 2011 at 8:31 PM

WHO HERE WANTS A SUNGKYUNKWAN SCANDAL 2?!? ><

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180 ria515

February 12, 2011 at 2:58 AM

omg. i luved this drama. im so sad that its ended!
i need a new fix! fast! sighhhh. is it wierd that my favorite parts were the stills at the end of each episode? DROOLING OVER JAESHIN...why is he so hot? and perfect? hands down my favorite character. he is everything that was good about sunjoon PLUS a whole load of other awesome skills. ( like ninja warrior+ bad-ass personality+ big ol' softie+adorable cuteness when faced with females) HOW CAN ONE NOT LOVE HIM. n its obvious that HE was the smartest guy of the four, not sunjoon. LOL, he looks like a daddy with the facial hair,LOOOL

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181 amktsy

February 26, 2011 at 10:57 PM

I wish we see the quarlet again and i wish jaeshin confess(that he likes her)/accidentaly kiss YoonHee .
I'm disappointed that we don't get to see the 4some together after the xxyears ago.

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182 Rachel

April 18, 2011 at 10:52 AM

I am going to miss Geol-oh so much! Just did not receive the love he deserved.

Yeon-hee and Sun-joon are definitely a cute couple. And I just can't get enough of Yeorim's winks! Will miss those immensely.

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183 Tin3094

April 26, 2011 at 3:13 AM

I absolutely loved the Sun Joon-Yoon Hee-Jae Shin. It seemed so "REAL" to me!!!LOL

Just wanted to emphasize some "real-life" cuteness between both loveteams:

Park Yoo Chun/Park Min Young:

I think Yoo Chun was asked several times about his scandal to PMY and he said that he became closer and more comfortable with PMY after their dating scandal TWICE!!! Also not to mention their cuteness during the KBS 2010 drama awards..MulRang couple! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pspJe7PnuqY

Also a cute moment wherein SJK asked PMY to choose among the 3 of them as her ideal man...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErDsvWdYyek..LOL at Ah In's frustrated reaction! and SJK-YAI couple is hilarious! XD

Yoo Ah In/Park Min Young moments:

During an interview with Yoo Ah In in a Japanese station not long ago, he was asked about an actress he wanted to work with...

YAI: "I was not together with PMY at the end, so next time, I wanted to act again with her and have roles that will love each other."

*i just found it so cute...XD

here's the link...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8AdaftfOQ. credits to the translator

I totally loved SKKS scandal, hoping for a season 2. (Not to mention that Park Yoo Chun is also up for season 2).

^_^

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184 blue deer

November 7, 2011 at 10:30 PM

hi there! thanks for the recap,i understand the ending
cleary.

this drama is one of the bests,it is worthy to watch for!
plus the characters are awesome! I just thought from the start that the story is not interesting because of its setting i mean the old era.But then the essence of story can inspire anyone.
Congratulations to all the casts and all the people behind of it. Ah and one more thing eventhough park min young wears a guy's garment-I really find her still a cute kid!

Cheers everyone!
=))

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185 moli

November 11, 2011 at 10:16 PM

omg thank you sooo much for recaping this series...im forever indebted :D u guys did a great job...thank you so much!

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186 kelly

May 11, 2012 at 8:35 AM

I really enjoyed this drama. Have not really liked a series so much in a long time. Brings out the teenager in me even though I am a married housewife. =)

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187 tyne

May 16, 2012 at 6:31 AM

yoo ah in ur soooooooooo cool !! like your hair and you did best on your character...Micky Yoo chun cant get over you..aishhhhhhhhhh

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188 Ren

June 15, 2012 at 8:18 PM

Thank you so much for your recpas! :D Great series! Yay for gender benders!

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189 Afrofan

July 5, 2012 at 8:49 AM

Ok, I know i'm really late to this party, but since I live in Africa, I guess that's allowed. I have watched a lot of k dramas, but have never commented, until now. Just because, I must say that this is the most satisfying ending i have ever seen. I think I had braced myself for what seems to be a typical sageuk (sp?) ending where I'm weeping my heart out at the end, so when i saw this last sequence of scenes, that left me laughing out loud, I had to admit that I am now officially sold on this drama! The fact that he needed that red book ROFL! (maybe you need to be married to appreciate that, but anyway, ;o) Thanks for the recaps, you guys are the greatest!

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190 cielo

August 2, 2012 at 3:35 AM

you know what? i find this drama cute, but reading it the way you wrote it, I find it hilarious, reading this make people want to see the real thing. Continue writing this stuffs, you're helping under rated dramas get good reviews. you surely does a good job advertising it ^_^

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191 otaku lady

November 27, 2012 at 2:59 AM

I REALLY LOVE THIS SERIES!!! SO MANY EXCITING EVENTS THAT WILL MAKE YOU DO ALL CRAZY STUFFS.... IT'S BEING AIRED IN ABS-CBN PHILIPPINES AND I'M GLAD I WATCH IT... HOPE THAT EQUALITY WILL BE ALWAYS REMEMBERED FROM THIS SERIES...

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192 Steph

February 10, 2013 at 9:46 PM

I loved the ending particularly the last scene with Sun-joon and Yoon-hee being so cute. My question though is; when she's a professor at SKK, is she pretending to be a man? Because at first I thought not seeing how all her students were smitten and chasing her around. But then when the chancellor interrupted Sun-joon and Yoon-hee's bickering, he called her Yoon-shik.
Anybody know what was up with that? Or shall I just keep wondering?

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Tom

May 8, 2015 at 10:11 PM

At the end, I think it is more likely than not that the general public is aware of her true gender, for the following reasons:

(1) If you look carefully, you will notice that her professional outfit is not entirely identical to that of other SKK staff members (her hanbok lacks the black stripe around the cuff). I believe this was done deliberately to emphasize the fact that she is (physically) different from other SKK staff members.

(2) The fact that the "Blue Messenger" turned out to be female suggests that either (a) SKK was open to people of both genders at the end, which would be consistent with the dream of a more equal society; or (b) this woman heard of Yoon-hee's actions and decided to emulate them.

(3) If the SKK students who flocked to her side did not know of her true gender, some of them probably would have questioned their sexuality and possibly gone insane like Sun-joon did during the middle of the series.

(4) If the people at SKK were not aware of her true gender, what alternative explanation would TPTB come up with when she decides to take leave to have children?

I think that the reason why she is still referred to by her alias is because virtually all of her accomplishments associated with SKK have been under her alias, so it would have taken too much effort to change all of the records to reflect her real name. Also, the reason for her professional outfit being masculine could simply be that this was one of the fields where there was not a significant distinction between male and female outfits (there are also some professions today where such is the case).

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193 azini

March 22, 2013 at 2:35 AM

what did happen the last part of sungkyun.....????????????????

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194 Cheryl

May 28, 2013 at 5:56 PM

I totally agree with your choice of closing screencap. That's exactly what I loved about the series.

Everyone needs a Yong-ha to make sure they take regular walks on the wild(er) side and have some fun. What a fabulous character! Maybe a little bit too 2D, but as Kdrama secondary characters go, he's nothing to complain about. If Jae-shin is ever feeling a little lonely, he can give me a call. What is it about second leads that makes you say, "He's perfect! I want that man!"? I found it a bit frustrating that he didn't try at all to woo Yoon-hee, but I think it says a lot about him that he chose to stay in the oppa role and not interfere between Yoon-hee and Sun-joon.

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Cheryl

May 28, 2013 at 6:01 PM

"He pulls out her leaflet, marked up with a red pen, and tells her that writing bad grammar will become a habit. We leave him grumbling on the rooftops, agitated that SKK isn’t living up to its usually high standards of education."

This was one of my favorite scenes. When he whipped out the marked-up leaflet and started grumbling, I laughed because it reminded me so much of how I can be. I'm such a Grammar Nazi sometimes. ;D

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195 Daemul

October 11, 2013 at 6:22 AM

I am very happy that Cho Sun and In Soo were not shown to be together, after all the abuse he has given her, not to mention his extreme obsessiveness he has for her it would have enraged me if one out of character act made her fall in love with him. As a guy I have seen my friends do this on numerous occasions, where they would purposefully give a girl some abuse for a while with a few good deeds sprinkled in here and there and suddenly the girl is falls over heels in love with them, it's absolutely crazy and utterly maddening for me to witness as I am much to proud to allow myself to stoop to that level to get a girl by psychologically manipulating her, I have no need to, and to see other guys do it when they too have no need to do so annoys the hell out of me.

Cho Sun surely has far to clever to fall for this nonsense? I just cannot comprehend how so many women just lets themselves just used like this, don't they have some respect or dignity for themselves? Dafuq?

Anyway, I am probably way off topic so I'll just move on to talk about my main man Jae Shin. This dude is awesome, the ultimate badass who comes from what seems like the ultimate badass family. He and Gu were the main reason I kept watching the drama tbh, the two mains didn't hit it off with me, but Gu and Shin are just too cool, if they hadn't been in the drama I would have stopped watching it after a few episodes.

One thing that did annoy me about Shin though is how he basically didn't even try to get Yoon Hee, even when there was a large window of opportunity open to him where he would have been able to steal in and win Yoon Hee's heart before LSJ worked out his feelings, instead he stayed back and, to use a British term, bottled it. I myself have been in a similar situation, with no crossing dressing or pseudo-homosexuality subplots involved of course :P, where I was in exactly the same position as Shin was, the second lead, and due to the first guy not knowing what the hell he was doing, like LSJ, I seized my opportunity and got the girl. The problem may stem from the fact that Shin also seems to be also be a guy who has no idea what to do in such a situation, so now you have two guys, Shin and LSJ, who are novices at this sort of thing and it makes for some comedy gold, though at the ages they are depicted at, also unrealistic, especially Shin, I mean seriously, hiccuping whenever you see a girl? That's the sort of thing you do when you're 13.

Anyway, I enjoyed watching this drama, though all of my male Asian friends detest Korean Drama's and blame them for all the girl troubles guys in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea are having, I still ended up enjoying it. I'll look up some more drama's on this website to see if any take my fancy, if I find none I'll just look up the stuff Yoo Ah In has acted in.

Vamos.

Daemul.

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196 oshi

April 3, 2014 at 10:25 AM

I love lee sung jun eyes

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197 shehani dananji

April 30, 2014 at 8:48 PM

niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...ilove it sooooooooooooo much

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198 hiru

May 13, 2014 at 2:20 AM

This is one of the best TV series I have ever watched. I love this very much. I love Moon Jae Shin a lot and so as Gu Yong Ha. Both of them are very lovely