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Best Love: Episode 15

The bad news: there’s a time jump, sapping all the dramatic tension out of the surgery. Boo. The good news: still cute as ever, of course. Because I suppose in the end, it was never about whether he lives or dies, but how their love will survive in the real world. It just feels a little ass-backwards, in the whole gain-momentum-towards-the-finish-line school of thought, because last week was the height of drama, and now we’re back down to Earth. I feel like someone reshuffled the order of the episodes on me, when I wasn’t looking. Are you Episode 12, masquerading as 15? You know I’m terrible at math.

 
EPISODE 15 RECAP

So the news everyone is waiting for… Dokko Jin’s surgery is a success!

The only thing is, we skip all the good parts—all the dramatic tension that was built up from the previous episode gets totally deflated as we skip past the surgery and straight into the aftermath. WHY, Drama, why? Why you gotta build up a big climax and leave a recapper hangin’? LAME.

President Moon makes the big announcement that he’s recovering privately abroad, and speculation abounds because he has yet to appear in public. What? Who goes abroad after open-heart surgery?

Netizens turn Ae-jung’s escape from her SectionTV segment that day into a joke, re-editing the clip to make it look like she really, really had to go to the bathroom. Jenny sighs that public opinion can really turn a life-altering moment into a big joke.

Jenny asks what happens now between Ae-jung and Dokko Jin. When he returns to Korea, are they going to start over, or will he change his mind? Ae-jung sighs that one thing she realized during all this was just how much everyone loves Jin, and the fact that someone like him liked her… is hard to believe, even for her.

She says she promised that if he passed her by without a glance that she’d let him go, and she doesn’t want to be that person who has to ask, “So what are you going to do with me now? Now that you’re alive, are you going to jump into my dog shit pile?”

Jin returns two months later in secret, only alerting Jae-seok who picks him up at the airport. He’s fully recovered, and Jae-seok asks if Ae-jung is the reason he didn’t want to tell President Moon about his return.

Jae-seok asks if he’s planned anything romantic for the big comeback, and suggests he tie a ribbon around his neck and announce: “Dokko is Ae-jung’s preeeeeesent!” Pwahaha. Is he also nekkid in that scenario? Because otherwise that’s totally LAME. Jin looks at him like a little bug, “See that blue bag? Throw it away.” He asks what it is. Jin repeats his gesture, chirping back, “That’s Seok-ie’s preeeeeeesent!” Hahaha.

He announces that he’s the new and improved upgraded extra special Dokko Jin now. Is that like being a VVVVVVVIP? He declares that he is not some random present to throw at Ae-jung.

Ding Dong asks with a long face why Dokko Jin Ajusshi isn’t back yet, and takes out Ae-jung’s ring with a sigh. Grandpa interrupts and sticks the ring box up on a shelf to keep Hyung-kyu from messing with Ae-jung’s things, so he hides the ring inside the purple sneakers for now.

Jin returns home with a big smile on his face, and then is shocked to see the potato, now replanted in soil, sitting on his coffee table. Jin: “Potato, is that you? I thought you died!” Omg, so cute.

Jae-seok tells him that Ae-jung came with him a few days after the surgery, and they found it on the ground. He had been upset to find it like that, telling Ae-jung that this was something that Jin really cared for.

She had picked it up and replanted it, tending to it carefully so that it would recover. Ae-jung: “You’re a special potato. You can’t wilt and break like this.” Aw. And Potato lovers ’round the world cheer.

He claps in glee, “Good job, Potato! Because of Gu Ae-jung, you and I are both alive.” He asks Jae-seok why she came to take care of Potato instead of coming to see him in the hospital, and though at first it was because of all the reporters, he really doesn’t have an answer. Seriously, I’d like to know too.

It’s because of her promise not to stand in Jin’s way, which President Moon makes damn sure to remind her of at every possible moment. Now that he’s recovered, he’s got CFs and movie offers lined up for miles, and she reminds Ae-jung that it’s time for her to let him go with her blessings.

Jin looks at Potato and decides that his original plan to wait until Ae-jung came running to him isn’t going to work because he misses her so much. He asks Jae-seok to debrief him on his dumb bow-present idea, caving to the cheese and practicing his delivery. HA.

Time to catch up with Pil-joo! Is it just me, or is he looking hotter? He’s happily buying herbs himself at the marketplace, changing up his routine and getting ready to study abroad. He catches wind of one of his vendors being interviewed by Ae-jung, and sticks around to watch the recording.

He watches from behind the crowd, and the way he looks at her still kills me. When requested to make a flashier entrance, she decides to do a cartwheel in her hanbok, ever the plucky Gu Ae-jung.

Pil-joo watches as she does a test run, hurting her hands on the debris on the ground, and so he asks a nearby ajumma shopkeeper for a favor, to sweep up the sidewalk for her so she won’t get hurt. Wah, I still want her to marry him! Gah.

He comes up to Ae-jung after the recording and they greet each other with smiles. He tends to her twisted ankle, wrapping it up and offering a pair of flat shoes for her to wear instead of her heels. I half expect him to make another uneven-butt warning, but he refrains. He smiles at her so sweetly that I almost want Jin to go back to wherever he was hiding out. Almost.

Jin actually shows up at Ae-jung’s house wearing a giant red bow (HA), and Ding Dong finds him first, poking him to make sure he isn’t a ghost. They hug and after a whiff of Ae-jung’s face cream, they get to the task at hand: the ring.

Only, it’s not where Ding Dong left it last. Or rather, the shoes are missing, whole hog. Hyung-kyu now confesses that Ae-jung’s thrown them away before, and he’s the one who rescued them. He guesses she must’ve thrown them out again.

Jin muses that throwing away the expensive ring by mistake is one thing, but throwing out the shoes? The Shoes?

Ding Dong suggests that they dig in the secondhand clothing trash bin and Jin starts out, “I’m the upgraded special Dokko Jin! I… should do that. Okay, let’s go!” Haha. Hyung-kyu stands lookout while he digs through the clothing bin, only to be caught red-handed by some nosy neighborhood ajummas.

They catch the full wrath of the Korean ajumma’s number one pet peeve: bad trash behavior. Seriously. Try throwing away plastic in a trash can labeled “food.” You might lose an eye. It’s my main source of stress when in Korea—how to throw away what, where.

Anyway, they determine that the shoes aren’t in there, so they decide to retreat for now.

Pil-joo drives Ae-jung home, good-naturedly reminiscing about the P-line: “Don’t you regret letting it go?” Ae-jung: “The safe, comfortable, strong P-line? Yes, Yoon Pil-joo is the perfect man. But from a woman’s point of view, you’re not totally perfect…”

Genuinely surprised (ha), he asks why. Ae-jung: “Your mom is scary.” Hahahaha. True dat. But she adds that it doesn’t compare to the fear of having the entire population of Korea become her mothers-in-law, if she were to be with Dokko Jin. Even truer.

Ever the gentleman, he helps her upstairs, offering up his arm instead of a piggyback ride, knowing that it’d be crossing a line. Jin gets ready upstairs for her arrival, wearing his big red bow and practicing his delivery. He tells himself that he has to get the start right, and tells himself, “Close your butthole.” LOL. I swear, that’s the best alter-ego pun ever.

He gets ready, and turns around with his face cupped in his hands, “I’m Gu Ae-jung’s preeeeeeesent!” Only what he sees his Pil-joo. His hands clench into fists and he scowls, running for cover before being embarrassed publicly.

Pil-joo sees him though, and can’t resist purposely making a dig. Loudly he says that he should’ve piggybacked her anyway, and then tells her to take care with a hand on her arm.

Jin watches the exchange with a fist in the air, and mouths silently, “Don’t touch her!” Why is it so much funnier when things don’t go his way? I’m dying.

Once she’s alone, he jumps out at her like a scary ghost, screaming on and on in a meta quandary about how their reunion was supposed to be melodrama, or light rom-com, or even erotica, but, “What’s with the scream-track horror?” Heeeeeeee.

She gets her bearings and laughs that he really must be Dokko Jin, from the rant. Jin: “This time I really wanted to close my butthole, but I can’t contain it, and the things I’ve been keeping in are spilling out.” Eeeeeeeew! Metaphor gone too far! Too far!

She shuts him up with a finger to the lips and then takes a listen to his heartbeat for herself. She determines that he really must be better, since the heartbeat sounds altogether different. Jin: “If you really want to know, change the genre to something stronger and you’ll find out.” Rawr.

Ae-jung decides to switch to family drama for now, asking if he’s eaten. Ha. But once inside, she discovers that he tore her room apart like a loon, trying to find her sneakers. She takes them out of the shoe closet, and he quickly snatches them out of her hands.

He sneaks the ring out before she can see what it is, and refuses to show her, deciding that today is not the day, because the mood is shot. He tells her to edit all this out (heh) and that he’ll come back tomorrow, at which point she is to greet him with one of the genres he’s mentioned: “Melo, ero, or rom-com!” Hahaha. I don’t know what’s funnier—that he thinks life is a drama, or that it IS a drama. It’s a meta mirror funhouse up in here.

He leaves, all upset that she stuck The Sneakers in just any ol’ shoe closet, while she murmurs to herself that she took them out so that she could wear them to go see him for the first time. Aw.

He goes home and gives himself a pep talk, and then sticks the ring on Potato for now. Oh, the potato flowers via flower ring! Hehe.

While Jin contemplates his love token, so does Pil-joo, who takes out his two pens and wonders if wishing for a misunderstanding to make Dokko Jin fall away is childish, but an honest desire to hold on.

President Moon presents Ae-jung with a new show that’ll take her around the world as she introduces local food, for two months. She doesn’t hedge about her reasons—this is to put distance between her and Jin, before he takes any action.

It’s undeniably a good opportunity for her, and Ae-jung guesses that if she were to go and return, Jin would be long gone working on a new movie overseas. President Moon brings Jin all his upcoming CF contracts and a new script to that end—the new Kim Ki-wook (As in an unholy marriage between Kim Ki-duk and Park Chan-wook? Ha.) film, set to premiere at Cannes.

She baits him with the picture of him sweeping up awards at Cannes. He was quickly willing to dismiss all those CFs for Gu Ae-jung, but this might be a different story. He reads the script with bated breath, looking over at Potato and then back at the script.

He realizes that doing the movie would mean putting Ae-jung on hold. So he tosses the script aside, “Potato, you see what I did there? I’m canning Cannes!” Hee hee. (Mostly I’m excited that the pun works in English, like a big nerd.)

But then the script sparkles at him, calling out to be read. He throws it back, exasperated that his charger isn’t here when he needs it most, but then the doorbell rings, as if on cue.

Ae-jung comes in, and Jin can still feel the awkwardness between them and asks what it’s about. She tells him that things are different than when they thought he was dying and felt that every second was precious; now reality has set in.

She asks what he plans to do now, and he just wants to be together. She asks if he’s okay losing all his CFs and movies because of her. Jin: “Gu Ae-jung, all I need is you… is what I’d like to be able to say, all romantically. But reality makes it hard to say things like that.” HA. He answers that he’ll recover.

She asks if he rents this house, and he tells her to stop worrying about such mundane things. Ae-jung: “But this isn’t some romantic comedy where Love prevails over all!” Haha. It’s not?

She asks if he’ll really be able to handle not being beloved by everyone. And that’s really the rub for him, isn’t it? Not the money or the sports drinks with his face on them, but the adoration, and the wall of protection that provides. It’s his whole identity.

He tells her that he’ll need her more than ever because that’ll be hard for him, which is adorable. She frets that she’s basically inviting him into her dog shit pile, and wishes that she could somehow clean up a little and make it slightly less dirty.

She moves over to his couch, making him all excited, but then gives him a two-second slap-charge, and then leaves, adding: “I’ll give you one more chance. To pass me by and go.”

He wonders who’s been filling her head with such fear, and goes straight to Jenny, asking if she’s the culprit. Jenny doesn’t deny it, giving him a harsh dose of reality. No matter how much he tries to shield her, Ae-jung will be the one to bear the brunt of the fallout. That’s just how that damn cookies crumbles.

He asks Se-ri about when they first started dating, and if she experienced any of that. She can’t believe he’s only asking her that now, and tells him about all the rampant speculation that she had tossed her body at him to move up in the biz, and all the fan-terrorizing she endured. It finally starts to dawn on him the level of terror that Ae-jung will face.

He frets over the ring while Hyung-kyu does his homework, and when asked why he hasn’t given her the ring yet, he tells him that there are problems a 7-year old can’t understand.

But Hyung-kyu has problems of his own—he likes a girl in his class and even made a paper necklace for her, but couldn’t give it to her because he got teased by his friends. Jin sees that Ding Dong’s got a love scandal of his own, and tells him that he’s got to stand his ground and make it known that the necklace is hers.

Jin: “If it’s true, then you have to withstand the teasing. The answer to the 37-year old’s problem is the same as the one to the 7-year old’s. Tell your friends whom this necklace belongs to. I’ll tell whom this belongs to.” He clenches the ring with determination.

The next day he records a tv interview and Jenny hopes that this means he’ll move on and do big projects, and that Ae-jung will go abroad to do her new show. She adds that she’ll go to China first, hoping that she can meet up with Pil-joo.

Ae-hwan finally tells Jae-seok to give up on Jenny: “You drank wine with her? I drank wine with her.” Jae-seok realizes that she “drank wine” with both of them, and they vow to stop being twin idiots. Ha. Good luck with that.

Jin tells Ae-jung about the interview and asks her to watch it, even though she’s got a recording scheduled that night. He tells her that he did what she asked and contemplated his last chance to leave her behind, and that he explains all his future plans in the interview. She promises to watch. He asks why she’s never once clung to him.

Ae-jung: I see clearly what’s in front of me, so how can I ask you to ignore it? I’ve plunged before. From that highest top, down to the ground, I fell. I’m so scared that you’ll experience what I had to, and I know how much you’ll resent me after. Because that’s what I did. Do you think I’m so endlessly nice that I never once resented Mina or Se-ri? I’m not. Truthfully, I resented and hated them a thousand, ten thousand times. My biggest fear is that you’ll feel that way about me.

She tells him that if he’s decided to pass her by and leave, to do it without remorse. She promises not to hate him, “…because you sincerely loved me.” Aw, the fact that she uses past tense is heartbreaking.

Se-ri continues to have a one-sided crush on Pil-joo, requesting her assistant to photoshop her and Pil-joo onto a composite of Paul and the Mushroom from his Strange Land story. Her assistant doesn’t think it’s a good idea to show him though, and Se-ri agrees, “Yeah, I’ll seem like a stalker pervert.” HA.

Perfect Man Pil-joo eats at Jenny’s, and it looks like perfect men are still the hot commodity ’round here, because Jenny’s still trying to revive the P-line, while Se-ri shows up to flirt.

He doesn’t like her back, but she adorably doesn’t care, just wanting to be left alone to like him however she wants. He’s clearly not over Ae-jung yet, but his friendship with Se-ri is cute.

It’s the night of his broadcast, and Jin holds the ring in his hand. He asks Potato: “Why is it so hard to get you to flower?”

Ae-jung gets ready for her show, back in her Dae Jang-geum costume, and the owner of the restaurant sits down and tells her that they grow their own potatoes. Ae-jung thinks it must be hard, since potatoes are so hard to grow.

But the woman tells her that potatoes are easy and grow so well, and they even flower beautifully. Ae-jung: “Do potatoes really flower? I’ve never seen…”

Lady: “It’s right in front of your eyes. Don’t you see it?” Huh? Is this the Samshin Grandma or something? But no, she means literally—there’s a picture of her potato field, full of flowers that have bloomed. Oh, cute. I love when two characters are having one conversation but talking about two very different things.

Ae-jung looks at the picture of the potato field, “If our Potato grows flowers, they’re this beautiful. I thought it was something that wouldn’t flower. It flowers beautifully.”

They start recording the show, but the patrons in the restaurant insist on watching Dokko Jin’s interview on tv, so they break to watch it. Towards the end of the segment it’s time for the Dokko Jin World Cup, a common game on variety shows to have celebrities pick their ideal woman/man from a group, by process of elimination. This group happens to be a collection of the Hong Sisters stable of actresses, from their previous dramas, natch.

And one by one, he picks Gu Ae-jung over each starlet, to the rising oohs and aahs in the studio, and at the restaurant where Ae-jung is watching. Her eyes grow wide, as he calls out her name over and over, and over…

She starts to walk slowly towards the tv, and it comes to the final round: “Gu Ae-jung!” Everyone reels. But then he adds:

Dokko Jin: My ideal woman is Gu Ae-jung. But she’s not only my ideal woman. Gu Ae-jung is the woman I love right now. Yes, we’re dating. We love each other.

Squeeeeeeeeee.

 
COMMENTS

I’ll be honest—I was more than a little let down by the time jump, just because I really wanted Ae-jung to have her heroic moment to run to his side and be there for him. I wanted the song to be literal and in person, not just a far-off wish from her. I know that the big love reveal is his to do, because he’s the one who loses in that equation, so it’s his big gesture and not hers. I just wanted her to get her moment too, because now all that surgery angst feels useless, like we got spun in circles needlessly when she didn’t even get to be there for him.

Case in point: this current conflict didn’t need the surgery storyline at all. It’s entirely separate. I don’t mean to say that I dislike the life-and-death conflict that carried most of the show, because actually that’s what I liked about it all the way through. I just wish the climax of that gripping storyline wasn’t so strangely tossed aside, like an afterthought.

Had it simply been wrapped up dramatically with a satisfying grand gesture from Ae-jung, it would’ve been perfect. That conflict being dealt with dramatically doesn’t negate their larger real-life problem of how to be together in the celebrity world, so it confuses me why it was tied up with so little oomph. It feels like they let the air out of their own tires for no gain, which I don’t understand.

That of course doesn’t make me love the characters any less, or make me feel less invested in the outcome. The main conflict between these two was always the image-vs-love conundrum, which is always endlessly fascinating to me. The way that the industry is portrayed through their relationship is neither rose-colored nor overly harsh, but just a shark-infested business that they have to navigate.

His big confession at the end is perfect, mostly because Gong Hyo-jin plays the reaction so well. She goes from surprise, to growing anticipation, then letting herself hope, and finally moved to tears at his public confession of love. She makes it feel like it’s the best anyone could do, ever. And it’s her grounded reactions to Dokko Jin’s crazy antics that make this couple so beautifully matched and mis-matched.

 
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First again! WOOHOO!

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บ้าไปแล้วครับท่าน

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LOL!!

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watch The Greatest Love Episode 15 English Subbed here: http://www.kimchidramas.net/2011/06/greatest-love-episode-15.html

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yay its here! been waiting for this!

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I know Im already mad, but last night I just went crazy. After live recapping over at thundie’s I went googling like crazy for raw videos coz I wanted to see episode 16 preview and couldn’t find anything except for a Chinese facebook fanpage where they posted episode 15 in 10 parts live. I don’t speak Chinese, thank god for google chrome’s auto page translate, if only there was also an automatic google translate for audio so I could understand Korean as well. Lol!

[Spoiler Deleted. -mod]

I swear this drama is going to be the end of me!!! I am going crazy in a field of potatoes like GAJ in this photo:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=179826532072777&set=a.178090838913013.53931.166847226704041&type=1&theater&pid=401410&id=166847226704041
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=179826518739445&set=a.178090838913013.53931.166847226704041&type=1&theater&pid=401409&id=166847226704041

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oops, sorry for being a spoiler but ep 16 preview is already out. with so many things to wrap up, i just didnt want the finale to also have to deal with a major curveball....

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Holy Smokes!

Isn't this comment a large SPOILER for the finale?!

Maybe I read it wrong? :)

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Not really. I already read that some where else. No surprise to me. :-)

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Hey, I was watching live online via chinese website too ~ in which I could only understand like 20% of the korean words...but still I ENJOYED IT VERY MUCH!

I prefer live screening cause it makes me anxious and I think my heart was beating up to 130 whenever I saw DJ. Hahhaa...

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first on mount bestlove!

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I have to agree with the statement about garbage in Korea, I worked there for 2.5 months and couldn't figure out how to throw things away. So all my trash went into a corner of my apartment until packing for my flight home. Except for a bag of food that went bad, that was discretely thrown out on campus after dark.

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Didn't realize I replied to a subtopic, but oh well

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I have the same problem here in Japan.. omygod.. do I have to wait until for my flight home before I could throw my trash? oh noooo

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You could always take the gamble that you guessed right what to do with the trash. Around me it seemed everyone put their trash next to the street, but I lived on a hill and couldn't figure out if the container nearby was a trash can or mailbox.

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Woot thank you JB :).

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I mean GF :).

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it's finally here! been waiting for since 8 am (it's now 11am here in Singapore)...

I think it's official - I'm a Dramabeans/Best Love addict!!!! Proud to be one too..

Can't wait for tomorrow!

thanks for a wonder recap (as usual ;) )

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LOVE!!<33

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Just wanted to let all the Best Lovers know that a couple of us Dokkogirls got together to create the Best Love Dictionary blog made of the best moments, things, words and characters that made you go Dugeun-Dugeun throughout the series. It's a labor of love and still a work in progress but we hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed this drama.

bestlovedictionary.wordpress.com

Thanks so much!!! And I apologize if I'm not supposed to post this here.

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Your dictionary is awesome!!!

I'm gonna use my influence to make it famous :)

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Yeah, I totally agree on shuffling of episodes. If I had my way, it would go something like this:

-they meet
-DKJ becomes aware of his feelings
-they angst
-DKJ makes confession on TV
-they deal with fallout
-DKJ finds out about his heart
-AJ makes her confession/sings for DKJ on TV and turns around her image
-surgery success
-marriage/baby/power couple

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a small part of me wished she sang for DKJ with the other girls :(

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i can't believe there's only one more episode left!!! :'(

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yeah, i nearly died with Dok Go Jin at last episode's cliffhanger... and have been playing 'dugeun, dugeun' all the time, willing Jin to live... and HWHAT, a time jump?! it became anti-climactic for me.

thanks!

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Hehe...cute last scene...I know DJ's crazy and all but I'm so glad when he declared his love for GAJ that he didn't jump insanely like some other actor I know of. ;)

Thanks for the recap! One more episode...

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hahahaha.... IKR, but I think you have to be interviewed by Oprah to do that. LOL!

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Dokko is just super adorable in this episode.

And yes, I'm disappointed about the surgery being not that important. But looking at the preview for the tomorrow's episode, I'm hoping that there will be something.

Oh, I'm so sad this is over! T_T

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Hooray! Love Hong Sister and GF!

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FINAAAAAALLY!! .)

Been waiting for this since 5am in the morning. :D

To all those who are wailing on how they'd continue with their lives when BL wraps up: I HEAR YA! I, too, get depressed whenever I think about the upcoming end of the series (which will be tonight. Cry, cry.) Good thing I'm a very big fan of Park Shin Hye so Heartstrings as a replacement isn't so bad at all. Well, we'll see.

It's funny how skeptical I was about this drama telling myself that it's just one of THOSE dramas that gets aired and ends without leaving anything to the viewers. But then I saw in one post here in DB (it was about Heartstrings, I think) that people kept wailing that this drama's reaching its end in the comments which made me say, "Really, BL. You're that great?" So I decided that I might as well give it a try and read all the recaps. And after doing so, man, I just want to swallow my tongue. It wasn't great. It was DAMN FRICKIN' great. I'm happy to have spent my healing time (since I had chickenpox that gave me all the time needed to read and watch) keeping up with BL.

And also, is it bad for a 16-year old like me to go gaga over Cha Seung Won who's now, well, 41 years old? I thought the oldest crush I was going to have was Jo Hyun Jae. Until CSW came around, that is. He is just the perfect Dokko Jin. The first ddong-ko I met that spurts sweetness and romance in his own, err, harsh, boyish ways. Haha. So to end all my blabbering, I'm gonna miss you, Dokko Jin. BADLY. :'(

Sorry for pouring my heart out in just one comment. I just couldn't hold it in any longer. HeeeeHeeee. ;)

Oh. One more thing. I wonder why girlfriday made this recap. It's just that I thought javabeans was the one incharge of the odd-number episodes. But nevertheless, THANK YOU for the wonderful (as always) recap! :D

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Chickenpox?! Aww - poor baby. Calamine Lotion + Kdrama watching = Happy Recovery!
(and remember not to scratch...)
:)

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Hey Marie, don't worry for having an ajusshi crush with CSW....WE ALL DO!!! I am glad that BL healed you....hahhaa....I didn't expect BL to be THIS GOOD when I first watching it and guess what...it become super-duper-fricking-BEST!
I think all the BL-Lovers need some time to overcome the loneliness after BL ends tonight....

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oh agreed. Lol, truth be told I have been waiting for City Hunter since, what, october last year? (Even though even Lee Min Ho is probably out of my age range ;D) And they're up to like 10 episodes. How many have I seen? Oh that'd be- NONE. Zilch. Zip. Nada. I, who have been wanting to marry the lead actor for the last 2 years, do not even care. Why? Because I spend every day of every week waiting for Best Love to come out, and can't concentrate on any other drama. And to think, I was just gonna watch this to bide my time coz Dramabeans said it was funny. I was even more interested in Lie to Me, and you can all see how that turned out. So yes, I think it is enough to say that I would never, ever have suspected that Best Love would be this perfect.

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Oh sweetie don't worry, some men are like fine wine, the more the age, the better! I'm 29 and my friend is mocking me because I'm crushing over Lee Min Ho, but when a man is hot and handsome, he can be 16 or 60, it doesn't matter....!!!!

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no.. im 16 and im obsessed too with CSW now ;)

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LOL I'm 30 and I'm obsessed with him too...Really, we should make a poll on this...just to see what kind of fans CSW is attracting???

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What kind of fans?

Uh, any woman with eyes and/or ears?

I don't think I've EVER been so obsessed with an actor (and a drama), but I guess here's where I have to thank my lucky stars that I'm pretty fickle -- my attachments are intense but short-lived. I'm already disengaging from Best Love, sad as that is. I almost always experience this feeling of oh-I-don't-care-anymore toward the end of kdramas... is it me, I wonder, or something about the genre?

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"I’ll be honest—I was more than a little let down by the time jump, just because I really wanted Ae-jung to have her heroic moment to run to his side and be there for him. I wanted the song to be literal and in person, not just a far-off wish from her. I know that the big love reveal is his to do, because he’s the one who loses in that equation, so it’s his big gesture and not hers. I just wanted her to get her moment too, because now all that surgery angst feels useless, like we got spun in circles needlessly when she didn’t even get to be there for him"

GF, I'm so with you there. Was totally expecting the angst to carry on for at least, half an ep more .... Man, what a turn. Can't help feeling shortchanged. Still trying to deal with the huge disappointment despite the laughs while watching ep 15. :(

Thanks for the fast recap.

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me too, they had to build the tension for several episodes and then fast forward to nothing??? i cant believe we were discussing the million scenarios on how it would all pan out, the heart stopping, GAJ singing , etc.. and then they jumped to episode 15 totally ignoring that side of the story!

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Y'all seem to misplace how AJ's character seems to favor letting things slide in life and be tainted misunderstood, UNLESS life is at threat (i.e. Mina's miscarriage, and Jin's operation). She needs a reason to push herself towards Jin's sincere affection, or else she'll just keep a neutral stance in life. At best, take that surgery angst as being the magnetic pull betwn two opposites, 'cos if you were disappointed at that then maybe you'll have another round of it real soon.

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I guess I'm doomed to lots more disappointment in the future, because I'm feeling mighty disappointed right now. My analytical self can (almost) rationalize why the Hong Sisters chose to go the time-jump route, but my emotional self is screaming “Andwae!” Yeah, image-as-commodity may have been the central motif of this drama, but the way AJ affected DJ's heart was the emotional through-line, and for the Hong Sisters to throw away both the emotional and narrative pay-off that an AJ-to-the-rescue scene would have brought is just plain WRONG! And it was totally lame that there was such a quick and easy resolution to DJ's 90%-chance-of-death health crisis, and that there was no contact between DJ and AJ for two months after the surgery. WTF, Hong Sisters? I still love ya, but this section needs a major rewrite. I suggest you consult GF and JB before you finalize your next script.

Anyway, if anyone wants to add a scene in your head, here are a few of the ways I imagined Knight AJ rescuing her Princess at the beginning of this episode:

1) Donning her now-famous purple sneakers and storming the hospital-castle with a fallout-be-damned attitude.

2) Getting Se Ri to atone for her sins by holding a (magical!) distract-the-reporters press conference in front of the hospital, enabling AJ to sneak in through the back. (Perhaps even using the kind of Ninja Assault acrobatic moves AJ used the first time she had to stealthily get past reporters to visit DJ in the hospital, back in ep. 2, but with a less silly vibe to the scene this time.)

3) Creatively gaining entrance by wearing the frog suit, then reviving Sleeping Beauty/Beast with a song and a kiss (even if it was done over the phone or intercom). (A reverse fairy-tale in terms of both gender and species would be awesome!)

4) Making an “Ottoke?” call to Jenny, who then quickly reassembles the Treasure Girls to do a comeback (to life) concert for DJ's heart. Personally, I like this option-- it would give AJ cover in a poetic way: AJ's protected the other TGs for ten years and it now it's their turn to collectively protect her. AJ can still be the heroine who saves her true love, but without having to continue to overcome her challenges all by herself.

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having the surgery and recovery largely off-screen did rather come off as anticlimactic for me too, at least in execution. but i wondered if it might have been meant as an ironic (maybe even melong?!) response to all of the melo Will-He-Die-He-Can't-Die-If-He-Does-I'm-Quitting-KDramas-For-A-Year---and particularly given the red herring twist at the end of this episode (and the awesome overmuchness of self-referential genre-talk meta).

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This time jump is the let down I hope not to have happened in this drama. It gives me the YAB deja vu and other Hong Sisters' dramas where a climax is quite often built to nothing in the next episode.

Best Love will otherwise be a perfect drama for me. Now, what to do with the withdrawal and when will we get the next CSW and GHJ and YKS drama. What three perfect characters and actors!

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And, the ending! Who wouldn't love it?

It is a repeat of the quiz show, the three roses but except more!!

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So I've been thinking about this some more. (Because when am I not? HA HA NO SERIOUSLY I MAY HAVE A PROBLEM.)

It's kind of funny that when the Hongs took a metaphor like the potato and gradually transitioned it into something literal, the response was, "Yay! They're geniuses!"

Then they took the concept of AJ's song saving Jin's life, which in Show's drama-tainted medical opinion was quite literal, and gradually transitioned it into something completely metaphorical. And the response was, "Boo! You cheated us!"

And I'm not saying that I never once resented Mina or Se-ri didn't have my own thoughts along those lines when we jumped from the operating room to the press conference. But now when I think about the big picture and that metaphor swapping, I've decided to just go ahead and call them super-geniuses (even if they did it on accident) and not care about it anymore.

*skips off into the sunset*

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I was thinking that maybe Ae-jung did have her grand gesture moment, but it's one of those things that will be revealed later. At least that's my guess, but I don't know how the Hong Sisters will work that in, or how that'll even fit considering there is only one episode left. Oh what to do, what to do. There's so much that needs to be wrapped up, and I hope the Hong Sisters will do it justice (as usual). The recap was lovely girlfriday. I hope we get to see a double recap with you and jb for the last episode. Ganbatte ne~

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That was my initial thought too... that they might reveal something about concerning the aftermath of the surgery. Not sure though.

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Little hiccups aside, so much to love! Potato is back and better than ever. Ding Dong once again confronted his arch-nemesis, the high shelf. Ae Jung successfully completed her TV cartwheel. Everything about the Ding Dong and Dok Go Jin Show was fabulous as usual (except they really do suck at finding things). The ring was retrieved in a non-tragic manner. Even the expected round of Noble Idiocy was far from being the most idiotic I've seen. A 15th episode of a series that wasn't a full-on angstapalooza.

And very best of all, the ending. That was such a nice, symmetrical callback to the revelation of a different secret during the phone quiz segment in episodes 1 & 2. And I love that the photo they used for AJ in that part was a still frame of her from the quiz segment.

They've amused me so greatly with everything else in this series that I didn't even get panicky when I saw the preview for Episode 16. I'm just plain happy right now.

And speaking of people who amuse me and Episode 16... I made you guys a present for your finale-watching parties. Enjoy!

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th em,

that was awesome, you are such a genius! hahahahaha.... thanks for thinking of BLFFs...

rechargeeee!!!!

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Love this comment. th em, you're amazing!

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YOU ROCK!!

:) :) :)

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OH MY GOSH!!!! I NEVER say this HOWEVER I FRIGGIN' LOVE YOU! OK? I do not drink Vitamin water and I will ACTUALLY print this, slap it on the V.w bottle AND drink it!!

UGH! you're AWESOMENESS!

th em do you know where I can get a Pororo mic, really I want one, it's so cute!! :)

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You can find some in eBay, from Korea. They have the yellow microphones, but its not a lie detector, though.

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I don't normally drink Vitamin Water, either, but I bought three bottles while I was working on this project. I didn't love the first one I drank, but now I have Dok Go Jin on the other two bottles. That makes me feel like I'll have to drink those too, because he doesn't handle rejection well.

And Kukilas is right about the Pororo mic-- head to eBay and just start pressing buttons when you're too tired to be making rational decisions. That's how I got mine!

By the way... I think some of you probably remember how I fangirl the crew of this show. Well, after receiving my Pororo mic I continue to do so, because I think somebody on the show actually opened it up and rewired it to do the simple red flashing. Mine is a multi-colored strobe attack. I'm not even kidding when I say you probably shouldn't turn it on in a dark room for fear of inducing seizures.

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On the whole, I like Vitamin Water but don't LOVE it, but while watching Best Love, I crave it something fierce! Especially the dragonfruit one, since its always the one Dokko and Ae Jung are usually holding. ^^

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Awesome. Thank you. :)

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Wow wow wow! Your present is fantastic, th em. Muchas gracias! Kamsahamida! Salamat! Merci beaucoup! Arigato! Xie xie. You rock!

I love the vitamin water labels. Speaking of more BL/Jin-Aejung "collectibles", have you seen what the DokkoGirls did?

http://bestlovedictionary.wordpress.com/the-wonderful-world-of-best-love/

All of these indicate that BL may well be on the way to becoming some kind of cult drama.

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dramabliss!! Thank You for the shoutout! Much appreciate it! I cannot stop smiling~~~ Kuekbok moment from Ae Jung crash anxiety

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thank you dear!!!! we DokkoGirls just want to share our love for best love <3333333

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Must not click on your link! *I have yet to watch Ep 16*

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th em!

You are quickly becoming a poster that I always agree with 100%... This time it is no different! Agree with all your sentiments.

and the Vitamin Water labels are genius! I'm probably going to print it and use it. Look what this drama has done to me! LOL.

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You are all kinds of awesome, th em!!!! Maraming salamat! :D

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You are TH EM! Vitamin(bl)water-4-life. Thank you.

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so flippin' awesome!!!

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Love the Labels! Great work. I can't wait to buy more Vitamin Water and place the labels around them.

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lols, th em, this is wonderful...

i haven't even notice this on Darksmurfsub but i get to know here. thanks!

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this is so much win!! thank you so much~ ^^

dreading to watch EP16 tonight. ;_;

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It's too late for me to go out to get vitamin water. Is it ok for me to just rub the printed Dokko Jin label on my cheek? Or is that too weird?

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"Is it ok for me to just rub the printed Dokko Jin label on my cheek? Or is that too weird?"

I don't know, that does sound a little weird to me.

I think what you'll want to do in a case like this is print the label, cut it into puzzle pieces, reassemble the puzzle, and then stroke it lovingly. It's the only sane solution.

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LOL it's like a weird hybrid of DJ & PJ (with puzzles and all..) HEHE XD

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LOL. That's brilliant. And we owe Pil-joo a debt of gratitude for making it acceptable to obsess on a jigsaw puzzle and lovingly caress it :D

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Okay, so is it weird that my greatest appreciation for my new iPhone is that it allows me to have CSW/DJ's face (or body!) right in the palm of my hand at any time and any place, and in a very discreet manner?

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Not weird according to Se Ri and her Photoshopped cartoon pics!

See? We can justify all behavior based on the actions of the secondary leads.

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wow, that is so awesome!! Thank you so much!!!

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OMG. Thank YOU.

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OMONA! WHY SO CUTEEE OMG ILU!!! THANKS FOR THE SWEETEST PRESENTS EVERRR.

Oh gosh this is so scnfhbgvsdkvbh awesome. *FACEPALM*

*WAILS*

It's like the sweetest parting gift for BL fangirls alike. gaaah!

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I wanted to do this, too!
So awesome. Thanks!
If I walk around drinking this, OK, holding it and pretending to drink it, I wonder if anyone would ask who that guy is...

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love, love, love it... :-)

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Th em, Thanks very much for this 'Kuekbok' Present! This will definitely help us with our withdrawal system of Dokko Fever. Its also like a Red Bowed Present to finish a fantastic ride of Best Love. We the DokkoGirls simply love your ingenuity therefore we wish to ask your permission to put it up on our vitamin water section of our blog. http://bestlovedictionary.wordpress.com/ . If you agree would you email us to tell us how to credit your work. Contact us at [email protected].

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*system = symptom. typo ! LOL

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Thank you so much! I love it :)

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i've yet to watch best love[coz am busy watching lee min hot] but i've read all the recaps here... so alls good...its bittersweet that tomorrow will be the last episode...coz then i'll get to read city hunters recap here[b4 bl] on wednesday itself...gosh i hate waiting for it till saturday...hehehe

ps:is it an irony ... ive yet to watch ep: 19 and 20 of 49days...[i feels like after i watch it my connection to 49 days will end...so i'll wait some more...]

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Tomorrow's the finale, and I am not surprised how jumpy these last two shows leap.

Wow, there's like 1089 readers in the haus this moment!

Hello everyone.

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WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!

i have been refreshing the page like crazy, thank you so much! now i'm alive!

on to reading!

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"I’ll be honest—I was more than a little let down by the time jump, just because I really wanted Ae-jung to have her heroic moment to run to his side and be there for him. I wanted the song to be literal and in person, not just a far-off wish from her."

Yeah so did I... i expected Ae Jung to sing there during the operation... to show everyone what she would do for Dokko Jin... to allow us to watch this vital surgery thingy that turned out to be nothing but hoola-boola. it would have been a great moment! i had been inventing ideas on my mind how Ae Jung would be able to get in and sing to Jin during the operation. Gah. Turned out they turned to time machine for their imagination.

But nonetheless, i'm still happy that Jin, even after all the major considerations he had to make for his carreer, still managed to announced everyone that he really love Ae Jung!

Happy too that Potato is alive and growing :)

OH i may be the only one but how i'd wish that PJ and Seri would make it :)

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though I want my PILJOO to be happy..
I dont want him to end up with the likes of SeRi
He is too perfect to just go to a childish star like that...
he should fins a kind, bubbly girl to Love....!!!!
If they end up together, I can really conclude that in Kdrama world NOTHING is FAIR!!!!

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aww, i frecking love the Hong Sisters, they get us everytime. I love their dramas. After one airs, I'll be like no i like this one the best and then when the next one comes, I'm like omg, I can't decide ahaha. Kudos to the Hong Sisters :)

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I'm like i'm not going to read this until I watch the episode but i cant contain myself :(

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You AND me, BOTH! The recaps ARE AH-mazing while you wait for the fully subbed episodes. The recaps NEVER take away from the eps. to me THEY ADD to the greatness that B.L. is....[sighs] I'm so going to miss it! At least I will still have City Hunter and Miss Ripley!

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Agree with GF. The glossing over of the surgery /post-surgery events through the time jump left me disappointed. We were so gearing up for the dramatic moments. Deflating balloons all around, hah! :(

But the episode ending is just perfect. What I love is that it parallels what Pil Joo did in the Couple Making show. But because of Jin's stature, this move on his part becomes even more stunning. So Dokko Jin-esque! :D

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It is 6 am in sweden now but I couldn`t sleep before reading the recep, thanks GF for beeing so fast.

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THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
now i shall begin reading.

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Thanks for the recaps. I am not sure why they did such a big buildup to the surgery and turned it into a non event. What a let down. The same goes for the big secret why the National Treasure girls broke up. After so many good episodes,one was hoping it remain so to the finish line,but it is not to be.

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Thanks for the recap, girlfriday! Have been excitedly waiting for this to better understand the raw episode. ^^

While I am disappointed with the time jump, I find consolation in the fact that it could have been worse. I was worried they would make Dokko Jin have amnesia or something where he wouldn't even remember Ae Jung. I'm glad he is still the same adorkable Dokko Jin, even after being upgraded.

I find it so funny that his best friend is a 7 year old. Poor guy can only talk about his love problems with Ding Dong.

But my heart melted at the end of the episode when he made his public confession for Ae Jung. I totally agree that seeing her reaction while watching Dokko on TV was enough to melt me into a puddle of goo, seeing the fear, anticipation, hope and happiness develop on her face. Gong Hyo Jin just kills it as Ae Jung. Even in her Dae Jang Geum outfit.

Now, for the finale, I hope after her car accident, she recovers and that we actually do get to see a bed scene. She wants his potato, he needs to give her his potato, and they need to make mashed potatoes all over his apartment. ^^

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"Now, for the finale, I hope after her car accident, she recovers and that we actually do get to see a bed scene. She wants his potato, he needs to give her his potato, and they need to make mashed potatoes all over his apartment. ^^"

Oh goody gum drops! Hahaha! You naughty little thing, you L.O.L! I FULLY agree too....I want hot skinship NOW! Is it too late to hope for that??? I hope they do NOT disappoint us :/

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I actually feel like they had a lot of skinship in this compared to the other Hong Sisters' dramas. I wouldn't get my hopes up for a bed scene. LOL. Who knows though.

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Yeah, the Hong Sisters haven't really shown a lot of bed scenes in the past, but I can still hope for Mashed Potatoes tonight, right? :-P

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yes yes, mash each other potatoes. lol!

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"Now, for the finale, I hope after her car accident, she recovers and that we actually do get to see a bed scene. She wants his potato, he needs to give her his potato, and they need to make mashed potatoes all over his apartment. "^

@kukilas..LOL with the above paragraph..i agree with you on that..its about time for them to do it..hehehe

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I watched it raw. I just wish they keep in touch during that short time jump. And If I were Aejung I'd give The Man an Adrien Brody's Oscar kiss, he only had 10% of survival rate for God's sake..tsk. Still in love with the Show though. Best RomCom Ever. Thanks GF.

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Gong Hyo-jin for all the awards! She's so good. She makes me genuinely care about her character.

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your right...

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Best Actress!! Woohoo!

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I agree with you..GHJ's acting here is awesome and is deserving of an award..subtle acting, using eyes and facial expression..especially the end of this episode, what an expression..mixture of happiness and fear...brilliant

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Thanks for the recap, girlfriday!

i was also let down by them skipping over what could have been an amazing and dramatic moment with the surgery and Ae-jung rushing in to save him with her song and being by his side while he heals, but the rest of the episode made up for it. Ultimately, the harder and more time-consuming problem to solve is how to work this relationship in the celeb world and I'm glad that more time is left for it for them to deal with the potential aftermath of their union. And the last moments of this episode gave me happy tears. Had to bite my lip to keep myself from smiling like an idiot. So. Freaking. Romantic!!
It's right up there with the scene of Jamie proposing to Aurelia in Love, Actually.

"And it’s her grounded reactions to Dokko Jin’s crazy antics that make this couple so beautifully matched and mis-matched."-- so true!!

and I loved how Ae-jung admitted that she wasn't so nice as to never have resented Mina or Seri for what he had done in the past 10 years. I'm glad Ae-jung is human and so real.

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There are racoons loving or fighting in the tree in my backyard and the sounds they are making is the exact sound I made when I read Dokko Jin's confession! I actually like the let down turn this episode took, but I understand why it doesn't work as the next step in the narrative. It makes all the other episodes seem wrong but I still like the let down.

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The aftermath of the surgery did seem a bit abrupt. But since I never really felt that DKJs life was in danger I guess it didn't bother me too much.

I was really more concerned if the potato was going to pull through. :)

I will probably have rocks thrown at me for saying this but... I actually like PJ with Seri. (ducks and runs away) :)

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me too! I think they may be able to keep each other on their toes and i like how they can sort of mirror the normal pseudo-celeb + self-absorbed celeb relationship of Ae-jung and Jin. I like how she likes him now, but likes him enough to be contented to like him and not demand him like he's some toy. And I think she has enough guts and wiles to deal with Pil-joo's mom. PJ's mom likes Se-ri, but really, once the MIL-DIL relationship is on, who knows! After dealing with Jin's fans when she was dating him, PJ's mom must be like a walk in the park.

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I can see PJ and Se Ri together for the mere reason that throughout the series, we saw some rapport between them. They hand lunch and dinner together, and talked and shared a bit of themselves. Even if it's just a little, at least that would make it believable if they end up together...

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Someone please clone Ae-jung. Feed her with Thai food so she can do the mitosis.
It was a surprise that the surgery ended so fast and suddenly he was ok and in another country. But this only reaffirms us that the main conflict is that they cant be together in the eyes of the public because their star status. I think they want to focus more in what happend after the surgery. Of course, Ae-jung running to the hospital despite the reporters would have been awesome. But his heart issues and the surgery, if you go back, was the thing that brought them together (the song, the fact that he thought his heart raced because of it, the recharger, his surgery as a medium to save her name,etc.) and in the last episode, she actually told him that his is like that because he thinks he is going to die. We knew he wouldn't die. The heart issues were used to built their relationship, but their main problem now (or the last like 5 episodes) is that they can't tell the world.
Of course, im not the Hong sisters. My theory has flaws, but It's something that came to my mind right now, let me consult this with my pillow, maybe tomorrow I'll have a better explanation.

Thank you for the recap!

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I'm so sad to see Best Love end, the past two months have just flown by. I can't wait for the next Hong Sister's drama, they surpass my expectations with every new drama they write. Sure hope they release the US version DVD for Best Love before the end of summer, so I can rewatch every awesome moment!

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I promised my friend, with whom I am having a "Best Love finale night" next Saturday while drinking Coronas and Margaritas, that I wouldn't read any recap.....

I AM THE WORST FRIEND IN THE UNIVERSE AND ANYTHING BEYOND!!!!! Hahahaha....

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we will keep veronica's best love recap best friend betrayal a secret!

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thank you, girlfriday, for expressing my disappointment with this episode in your much more eloquent, concise words! i was anticipating that big moment to wrap up the surgery conflict, watching anxiously the opening scene of ae-jung singing/crying the "du-gun du-gun" song...and then they cut straight to post-surgery. WTFASDFJKL!! they built up the conflict to such a high point in last week's episodes, and then it falls completely flat. gahhh why?? i was hoping for smth along the lines of what girlfriday was suggesting, ae-jung having to publicly display her love for dokko in order to save the beastly princess, but nope. what a disappointment. i know the reality of the relationship is ultimately what dokko has to face, but just letting the surgery plotline go plop! is not okay!
that said, i will forgive Show if tomorrow's finale is good. im pretty sure the hong sisters will deliver a happy ending, but im curious to see how we'll get there.

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I've never loved a male lead as much as I've loved Dok Go Jin. Can't believe when this all ends, we won't be able to see Dok Go Jin anymore!! :( Hahah but Cha Seungwon's real personality is very much like Dok Go's too! HAHAHA xP

Hated the time jump but the ending of this episode made up for it. Aejung's gonna be in a car accident in the last episode... hope she doesn't lose her memory! Don't think the Hong sisters would resort to that cliche to end the drama cos MGIG's last episode was so freakin good. :D

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Thanks for the recap!

Best show ever! Dokko Jin, you rock! One more episode!

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i think i'm gonna try to grow some potato in a glass ^^

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"...so it confuses me why it was tied up with so little oomph. It feels like they let the air out of their own tires for no gain, which I don’t understand."

This looked like a classic case of "Oh crackers we can't put everything in our alloted space!"

Should've been at least 18 episodes if not 20.

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yes I totally agree, this is the only drama where I was hoping they would do season 2, 3, etc like the ones in the US. It would totally test my patience but hey i am willing to wait even a year for that. lol!

but since they wont, I'm hoping the finale episode will be able to address everything even with a sudden twist as seen on the ep 16 preview, no loose ends please .... :)

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Thanks for the recap GF!

Yup, I wasn't expecting the big surgery to be grossed over like they did in this episode but the big announcement at the end of the episode sure made up for it. And yes, GHJ's reaction was so good to watch!

My fave bit of this epiosde has to be when the Batman theme song came on! hahaha I couldn't stop myself from bursting out laughing in my apartment. Just hope my neighbours don't think there's a crazy woman living next door.

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LOL! And not just Batman, but Adam West Batman! I was laughing along with you.

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Should've known the Hong sisters would pull their usual time-jump on us. They really like skipping ahead don't they?

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Agree with girlfriday. Still love the characters, love teh funny, love Pil-joo's continuing Perfection, love Ae-jung's speech that she's afraid he'll resent her if his popularity plummets, LOVELOVELOVE Jin's ending confession. But the surgery aftermath was a big letdown. :( The life-and-death stakes lent more gravitas to the image conflict, and the former didn't have to be shunted aside to deal with the latter.

And here I thought this would actually be the first Hong Sisters drama without a time skip. Le sigh.

Just hoping for a good ending (when this had the potential for a great one). Crossing my fingers that BL isn't gonna be one of those dramas that limp to the finish line. I still have faith.

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guys,

I soo want GAJ zippered leather cuff here (and her funky quirky fashion choices).. where can i buy this???

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=220202371333186&set=a.217739821579441.54833.217738541579569&type=1&theater

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I actually saw something like this at Target of all places.
That means they are being mass produced and would be available at most department stores, right?

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u mean target has it all along??? thanks for the tip Jomo, have to find friends in the US to buy me one. :)

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Target carries a lot of "designer-inspired" stuff so it's not surprising that they have it. Rebecca Minkoff had the zipper bracelets last year and considering that the "poor" GAJ has been wearing designer duds all throughout the show (e.g. Fendi, Prada, Marni, Marc Jacobs,...) i automatically assumed that it's from a designer label :)

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ellewu,

you are one elle woods at spotting the designer labels... great eye! i didn't know the leather zipper cuff was a rebecca minkoff original

Btw, i also like the colored stripe dress (top/skirt ensemble) color-blocking thing she wore at episode 16 during their movie date (is that from marc jacobs SS 2011???) . and the animal print racerback top here... i laveettt..

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The time jump was kind of awful, wasn't it? I had to rewatch the beginning of the episode a few times to make sure it wasn't something resulting from a corrupted file. Alas, it was no glitch. I sat here dumbstruck asking the Show, "Why oh why did you do that?"

I'm guessing one of these things happened, or maybe all of them:

1) The Hong Sisters and the director messed up the pacing of the drama. They were like, "Oh crap, there are only two episodes left. We can't do all that angstsy surgery shit we came up with and still have an awesome, meaningful ending. So let's do this other thing instead."

2) Negotiations for an extension to 18 or 20 episodes fell through. Maybe the ratings didn't justify the expense of creating a couple more episodes with minimal return$. And MBC is anticipating higher rating$ for Heart $trings.

3) Things got thrown a little out of whack when the original tragic ending was nixed and the script re-written due to the rabid fans clamoring (and threatening boycott and/or death) for a happy ending. Hmm, sounds familiar.

It's pure speculation on my part. What do I know? :D

The ending scene and the awesomeness of Gong Hyo-jin more than makes up for the disappointment of the fast forward, though. My pet potato agreed.

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4) Pet dog ate the script. :( bad dog...

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My guess: Having Jin purposefully reveal this secret on TV at the end of the episode seems like such a clear play on Ae Jung accidentally revealing his secret on TV at the end of Episode 1 that I can't believe it wasn't fully intentional. This way, the 1/2 and 15/16 episode breaks match up and bookend the series. They've probably had that in the works for a while, if not from the very beginning.

Meanwhile, the surgery just had to be an end-of-week cliffhanger near the end. Because, come on, what writer wouldn't take advantage of that? Besides, the surgery was the excuse they used for why the whole country would be watching this particular Dok Go Jin interview. That meant they couldn't have it happen more than an episode or so away from the actual interview. So Episode 14 it was.

With the surgery at the end of 14 and the public confession at the end of 15, that left a problem. At the end of 14, they were less than a week out from AJ's disaster of a press conference stemming from her "break up" with Pil Joo. That would've been a really awkward time for Jin's public confession that he and Ae Jung were dating. I mean, even if people eventually figure out Jin was why Ae Jung ran out on Section TV a couple months ago, it's one thing to let them make guesses and another to basically admit to the whole story by confessing so soon after. They needed to put some time between one round of scandal and the next.

So they inserted a two-month time skip.

Could it have gone somewhere else in the episode instead of right after the surgery? Maybe, but having Jin and Ae Jung get to spend very much time together post-surgery and pre-skip would've risked derailing Ae Jung's Noble Idiot attitude. And that attitude was also part of the setup for the end of 15.

And really, if you're going to have a two-month break, it kinda does make sense to have it be when a character is recovering from open-heart surgery.

Was the way they handled the time skip the most elegant solution? I dunno about that. But I do know I'd rather see them go ahead and use the time skip post-surgery if they didn't have any brilliant ideas for post-surgery scenes. I liked what I got in this episode enough that I wouldn't want to trade it for something that they obviously didn't imagine as being interesting enough to show.

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And really, if you’re going to have a two-month break, it kinda does make sense to have it be when a character is recovering from open-heart surgery.

I agree. While they are hardly going for realism in this show, a DJ post surgery would not have been a pretty site. When would they step in to the recovery timeline? Just after surgery, most patients suffer from confusion, short-term amnesia - stroke like symptoms. Did we want to see a DJ all looped out on the massive amounts of pain-killers as the wounds heal?

Do we see him in the Swiss Alps doing rehab? (I immediately pictured DJ is some giant chateau in the mountains, don't know why...)
He would have seemed weak, OLD and un-healthy. That is not the image the viewers expect form this romantic character at this point in the story.

I was totally disappointed at not seeing AJ stay at his side, but I understand why they had to do it that way. There simple was NOT enough time.

Not looking forward to the end. Wish I had my own 2 month time jump machine should I could go BACK to the beginning of the show and start again without knowing how it all ends up.
Peace out, everyone. See you on the other side of "happily ever after."

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Yes. I agree with your assessment about episodes 1/2 and 15/16 being pre-planned bookends, though the setup for 15 was a bit clunky. I forgive the Hong Sisters for that. How can I not? The show is still awesome regardless of that lapse (pun, ha).

The Dokko Jin world cup harkens back to the suspenseful phone quiz scene at the end of episode 1, with Ae-jung (and everyone) nervously waiting for that phone call. I was at the edge of my seat and jumped up and squeeed when I heard him say "Hello". I knew I was hooked at that moment. The Show literally had me at "Yeobeoseyo". In this episode I was also a nervous wreck, but instead of jumping up with glee at the revelation, I had tears in my eyes. Nicely done, Hong Sisters.

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@th em, I also meant to say great analysis on the time jump. You filled that gap the Hongs left wide open :)

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The time jump is like giving us viewers the kdrama cliche, amnesia. Now we will spend the rest of the drama wanting to have that flashback to make things right.

Argh, Hong Sisters! Argh! :( So cruel, you two.

Yet drama so cute. Argh.

P.S.
Can I have Pil-Joo, since Ae Jung isn't having him? :) (ducks to avoid rocks thrown by PJ fans.)

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The post surgery time jump was anti-climactic but great episode nevertheless!

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I vote for potato-mashing scene as well!!

Mash that potato, MASH It!!!

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Mash that potato, and then make it french-fried from all the heat the couple will generate! Hahaha

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