Gu Family Book: Episode 24 (Final)

716 June 25, 2013January 24, 2016

by girlfriday

Uh… so THAT happened. There are words. They’re forming slowly because I have a melty puddle where my brain used to be. It’s finale time for Gu Family Book, and I’ll tell you one thing: It ain’t boring! Ha. Hahahaha. Heh. Heh. Heh… *cries*

The finale brought in 19.5%, which left it just shy of ever breaking that elusive 20% barrier. I feel that it’s fair, because the show left ME just shy of sane, so quid pro quo. Tit for tat, and all that jazz.

FINAL EPISODE RECAP

We backtrack a little to Kang-chi’s visit to Lee Soon-shin, where he says it’s time they take out Jo Gwan-woong. Or eons ago, but who’s counting? Lee Soon-shin says he’ll trust Kang-chi but in exchange he has to make a promise not to take any lives by his hand, in the name of revenge. Kang-chi promises.

After rescuing Yeo-wool from the Piñata of Doom, Kang-chi tells her to rest, but she says she wants to be there for the epic moment when Jo Gwan-woong finally gets his due. Well you can’t blame a girl for wanting front-row seats to that showdown. *grabs popcorn*

Now back to the confrontation with Jo Gwan-woong, where our good guys line up like sitting ducks for Jo Gwan-woong’s gun-toting minion to take his best shot. He lights the fuse, and Yeo-wool is the first to turn around and see him. Crap.

She sees that he’s aiming for Kang-chi (which confuses me since I thought we were going after Lee Soon-shin to pin the murder on Kang-chi, but whatever it hardly matters at this point) and jumps in the way.

She takes the shot in the shoulder. Everyone freezes, and Jo Gwan-woong scowls at the shot wasted on the wrong target.

She falls into Kang-chi’s arms and gasps, “Don’t go anywhere! Don’t disappear!” A tear falls, and then she closes her eyes.

Kang-chi’s eyes light up green with rage, and he storms over to Minion like the Terminator, not caring that the guy is fumbling to reload his gun. He’s not fast enough anyway, and Kang-chi yanks the gun out of his hands and starts punching him in the face over and over and over again.

Kang-chi strangles him as he bleeds, growling that a useless human like him needs to die. Whoa. So quick to forget our promises, Gumiho Baby.

Lee Soon-shin calls out to him to remind him that it’s an irreversible path once you spill blood, but he argues back that this one can die and it would be better for everyone.

He’s about to go over the edge when suddenly Yeo-wool calls out to him, and it works like an instant de-hulking pill. He runs over to tend to her like he wasn’t just about to kill someone two seconds ago.

The boys get ready to move her, when Jo Gwan-woong suddenly declares that no one can leave. Oh, you’re still planning to attack? Then why were you just standing around watching the show with the rest of us instead of attacking when you had a diversion?

So then we’re back to square one, with swords raised on both sides. Jo Gwan-woong orders them all killed, which is when Lee Soon-shin finally steps up to say that he can’t abide any more of his villainy, and calls in the troops.

Suddenly the place floods with his soldiers, and Lee Soon-shin arrests Jo Gwan-woong for framing innocent people as traitors, selling state secrets, and attempting to murder him. Uh, if he could just be arrested for these crimes, then why have we let him run around for twenty-four episodes?

The Japanese emissaries skedaddle post-haste, and Jo Gwan-woong is left to defend himself. Even though his guards have the slowest reflexes known to man, they use gas bombs to slip away. We don’t even get to see the chase, so I’m assuming that means he got away.

Next thing we know, Soo-ryun and Chung-jo are getting word that Yeo-wool is on her deathbed, and we see Master Dam sitting by her side as Teacher Gong says there isn’t much time left.

A flashback to Little Yeo-wool brings us to that day when she first asked Dad to teach her sword-fighting. He asks why, and she says that someone got hurt because of her, and all she could do was stand by and cry.

Little Yeo-wool: “If I don’t want anyone to be hurt because of me anymore, then I have to become stronger.” Aw. She learned to fight because of Kang-chi. Dad heaves another long sigh and stalks out.

Kang-chi is at So-jung’s house, asking for some way to save Yeo-wool. So-jung sighs that it happened after all, and that there’s nothing Kang-chi can do when a human meets her fate.

He doesn’t much like that answer, and insists, “There must be something I can do! Yeo-wool will die!” But So-jung says that’s how Fate works, and all he can do is accept it. He says that the best he can do is to go be by Yeo-wool’s side till the end.

When Kang-chi returns to the school, he finds out that Master Dam and Gon have gone after Jo Gwan-woong.

The hunting party scatters through the woods, and Jo Gwan-woong starts to show signs of a cracked noggin—when a guard asks for their next move, he mutters at him to ask Minion because he’ll know what to do. The same sidekick who got hauled off by Lee Soon-shin’s men?

It doesn’t take long for Master Dam to close in on Jo Gwan-woong’s location, and a fight breaks out. Even when he’s down to a few last guards, he manages to slip away… only to run right into Kang-chi.

Jo Gwan-woong orders his men to kill him, and Kang-chi just lets his green eyes glow and tells them they can live if they drop their swords and walk away. They choose life. It’s pretty funny to watch Jo Gwan-woong get ditched so quickly.

Even after all that, he’s still posturing and screaming that Kang-chi will die, and Kang-chi just super-speeds over to him and claws at his arm. They don’t show much, but he reacts like Kang-chi just cut his hand off. Or is that just wishful thinking?

Kang-chi looms over him: “Does it hurt? This is nothing compared to the pain you’ve caused us.”

We hear through gisaeng exposition that Jo Gwan-woong got hauled off to Lee Soon-shin, hog-tied and short of one hand. But… I wanted to SEE that. In all its bloody and ridiculous glory. What the hell?

Now that Jo Gwan-woong is powerless, Chung-jo can no longer be pushed around by the other girls, and they back out of her way.

Yeo-wool opens her eyes and finds Kang-chi holding her hand. She sits up and asks after Dad, worried and sorry for what she’s putting him through. Kang-chi holds her and says she should just hurry up and get better then. She looks up at him and says she has three wishes. Aw man, is she really gonna die?

That night the family gathers for dinner by candlelight, as we hear Kang-chi tell Master Dam that Yeo-wool’s first wish is to eat with everyone. I like that wish. They laugh and joke good-naturedly, though Master Dam is just sitting stoically, trying not to look at Yeo-wool.

They laugh about how Yeo-wool was taller than Gon until they were eleven, and how he still doesn’t eat carrots like a little kid. Kang-chi outs Tae-seo for picking carrots out of his food too. I’m taking that as a sign that they’re meant to be.

Yeo-wool starts to struggle against the pain, and both Kang-chi and Dad notice blood dropping on the floor. Kang-chi gently suggests they go back to her room now, but she wants to stay just a little longer. Oof, that one thing gets to me—her wanting to stay at the dinner table just another minute.

Dad finally turns to her and says she should go rest now. She starts to cry as she tells him: “I’m sorry, Father. I’m sorry, Father.” He just wraps her tiny hand in his, and says with tears streaming down his face: “You are my greatest happiness, Yeo-wool-ah.”

Once Dad cries, the floodgates open, and everyone starts to cry. He asks Kang-chi to take care of her, which is a bittersweet way to finally get that approval from Dad.

He carries her down the hall, and she asks for her second wish—to go on a walk with him. He takes her to the river where they sit for a while, and she asks something she’s always been curious about: “Why are you afraid of spiders?” Kang-chi: “Because they have too many legs.” It’s true! They have too many. What do they need all those legs for anyway?

He asks if she remembers what he said to her back then—to be his wife. “If I ask you the same thing now, what will you say?” She wonders when he remembered, and why he didn’t say anything about it till now.

He says the second he knew her name, he remembered, “But you had already begun to mean something to me.” He asks again:

Kang-chi: Will you marry me?
Yeo-wool: Even though I can’t cook?
Kang-chi: Will you marry me?
Yeo-wool: And my sewing is terrible?
Kang-chi: Will you marry me?

He starts to cry, and she wipes away his tears. “Don’t cry, Kang-chi-ya. I don’t want to be a sad memory for you. I want to be a happy one. I want to be laughter to you, not tears. When you remember me, I want you to be happy. That is my third wish.”

He takes her hand and makes her promise: “Let’s meet again. Let’s meet again. I’ll wait for you.” She nods.

Kang-chi: “I love you.” Yeo-wool: “I love you.”

As they kiss one last time, blue lights come floating in around them. Kang-chi thinks in voiceover: “When we meet again, I’ll recognize you first. When we meet again, I’ll love you first.”

And then her hand drops away from his, and she falls onto his shoulder. He calls her name, but there’s no answer.

He holds her close as he breaks down in tears, and then he narrates: “And like that, the sound of her breath stopped. And in that moment, my time stopped.”

Time stops for everyone as they mourn Yeo-wool’s passing, and then when we find Kang-chi sitting in her room, staring at the flower he gave her, now wilted.

Tae-seo finds him there, still numb and not knowing what to do. He asks if Tae-seo thinks Yeo-wool might still be alive and happy if it weren’t for him, and Tae-seo says that if he had to choose between living a hundred years or only living a hundred days but with the person he loves, he’d choose the hundred days.

Tae-seo: “Yeo-wool was happier than anyone because of you.”

Tae-seo leads him out, and that’s when we see that Kang-chi has a bag packed. Everyone is outside waiting to say goodbye, and he bows to Master Dam to thank him for everything.

Master Dam asks if he’s going to find the Gu Family Book, but Kang-chi says no—he’s going to spend some more time living as he is, waiting until he re-meets the person he wants to grow old with.

Teacher Gong gives him medicine and takes a ring off his finger and places it on Kang-chi’s hand, saying that it’s a sign that he is his disciple. Aw. Dad hugs him goodbye, and then Master Dam presents him with Yeo-wool’s sword, telling him it’s his to keep safe now.

He bows one last time, and takes his leave.

Gon, who’s been conspicuously absent from the proceedings, steps out to watch him go. He says to himself in a quiet voice, “Go well, Choi Kang-chi.”

Kang-chi doesn’t turn around, but he knows Gon is there. He just raises Yeo-wool’s sword above his head as he thinks: “Be well, friend.” Okay, that was kind of badass.

Chung-jo gets a package—it’s the shirt she made for Kang-chi, returned to her. She wistfully recites a proverb that means that first love makes a person grow, while last love completes them, and then sets out towards the prison with a purposeful look in her eye.

She bribes a guard to get inside, and walks right into Jo Gwan-woong’s cell. He does in fact have a stump for a hand. And the reason we were deprived of that violence is…?

She says she came here to pour him a drink, and tells him it’s time for him to die now. He takes the gesture as a sign of mercy, given the punishment he’s about to face, but she just steels her gaze and says that she just wanted to cut off his breath by her own hand, that’s all.

He takes a drink, and asks for another, as he calls his life un-fun and muses that he wasn’t greedy—he just wanted to feel alive. Her expression doesn’t change as he starts to cough up blood, and then she leaves him there to die alone. Farewell, Stumpy. It wasn’t nearly painful enough a death for you, but we’ll take what we can get.

Kang-chi runs into Lee Soon-shin on his way out, and says he doesn’t really know where he’s headed. Lee Soon-shin tells him there’s no real answer to being human, save for trying, every day. He tells Kang-chi, “Of all the people I have met in my life, you are the warmest, kindest person.”

Kang-chi promises to come running if he ever signals for help, and asks if he really thinks that the Gu Family Book exists. Lee Soon-shin says that if he believes in becoming human, then it must exist.

Kang-chi smiles and continues on his path.

And then in Yeo-wool’s room, the blue lights return and bring her flower back to life.

Fade out, and then when we fade back in, it’s 422 years later in present-day Seoul. Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. WHAT. Suddenly he’s Hong-Giljimae?

In a fancy modern apartment are very familiar old relics: Gon’s sword, Teacher Gong-dal’s medicine jar, Yeo-wool’s sword, her purple flower. We only see a man from behind as he showers and gets dressed, and then a close-up of the ring on his finger, and a familiar red shirt hanging in the closet.

As he flips through a magazine we see that Teacher Gong-dal has been reincarnated as a doctor of eastern medicine, and then he gets a call from Yoo Yeon-seok, which is Tae-seo’s actor’s real name. This is getting too meta for my liking. So this is Tae-seo’s soul reincarnated, and he shouts at his friend to hurry up and get to the party.

Kang-chi looks out his window and narrates: “The 5221st crescent moon I’m meeting alone.” And down below in the street, a familiar voice cries out, “Excuse me!” as she runs through the streets.

Kang-chi finally turns his face to the camera as his butler calls to him, and it’s Servant Choi. What, you made your dad a butler? WTF, Kang-chi-ya? And even Ok-man is a valet downstairs.

As he drives through the city, we get glimpses of modern life (and a little moment where he smiles up at the statue of Lee Soon-shin, ha). Kang-chi narrates: “The world changed so quickly, and the way that people live has changed so drastically.”

At an intersection, a woman runs past his car in a blur, and it makes him do a double take. But the light changes and he keeps driving ahead. As he arrives to meet his friends, suddenly he hears a woman crying for someone to save her.

He sighs and pretends not to hear it, but she screams again, and he can’t ignore it. The woman screaming turns out to be Yeo-wool’s teacher, reincarnated, and she’s currently about to get her purse taken from Ma Bong-chul, who’s still a loan shark gangster even in this life.

Kang-chi shows up to save the day, only to beam when he sees Bong-chul and Teacher. “Are you taking money from people even here?” Ha. He counts to three just like the old days, and flashes his pretty green eyes at him before he beats them to a pulp.

He’s just about to have his hero moment, when a familiar voice calls out behind him to freeze. Everyone else takes off running, and Kang-chi puts his hands up with a sigh, saying it’s all a misunderstanding.

But when he whirls around, he stops cold. It’s Yeo-wool, inching closer to him with her gun raised. Is she a cop? Seems fitting.

She comes closer and tells him to freeze, which he’s already doing because his mind is blown, and he finally manages to say, “Yeo-wool-ah…”

She looks back at him quizzically: “How do you know my name?” Huh, so she’s the only one who has the same name?

She asks if he knows her, and we hear Kang-chi’s voiceover again that when they meet again, he’ll recognize her first and love her first.

He finally answers cryptically with tears brimming in his eyes, “I might know you, and I might not.” And then he looks past her to find a peach blossom tree and a crescent moon hanging up above. He finishes in voiceover: “And my time that had stopped… began to flow once again.”

End credits… and then an epilogue.

Kang-chi’s doorbell rings and he’s shocked to find Gon at his door, bearing a national security ID tag. The man behind him takes off his sunglasses… and it’s Lee Soon-shin.

COMMENTS

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Is this writer on crack? The thing is, I totally see what she was trying to do, and it’s even theoretically the kind of ending I would love for a hero’s journey. Really really, promise promise. But dude, you can’t just slap that ending on without doing the legwork to make it organic, lived-in, and earned… hell, even remotely sensical. There’s a finesse to the execution! You can’t just decide your hero’s gonna be Iljimae and then shove us into the future. That’s messed up. I feel manipulated out of tears, and worse, cheated out of the hero’s journey that would have brought us here in a satisfying manner.

You know, I actually watched this series much like Jeon Woo-chi–with low expectations for a cute, fun hero story, delivered with cheeky laughs. It was never going to be epically amazing, but I wasn’t going to hold it to that when it was trying to be lighter fare. But this—trying to turn Kang-chi into one of those iconic in-every-generation heroes in the eleventh hour—was done so poorly. I may even have cringed less if they didn’t decide that he had to be Bruce Wayne, or that everyone from 422 years ago just happened to be reincarnated in the same lifetime. (Or was this the seventeenth Tae-seo he’s been buddies with? Who knows?) Just because you have a supernatural world doesn’t mean you get to do ALL supernatural things all willy-nilly. There are rules. What you sacrifice for that fancy surprise twist ending is that you went there on your own and left us all behind.

Kang-chi could’ve been that kind of hero… if that was what you were building towards for the past twenty-three episodes. But it wasn’t. And I know because I was there for all of it. We started in a good place, with an epic backstory and a great beginning for a hero. We set up a fantastic character who stood up for the weak and used his strength for the greater good. But then we let that sit there for the love story to take center stage. Living, loving, and dying was what he desperately wanted, and he fought for his human side to win out. So we wanted that for him. Because he told us so. We spent the rest of the episodes wondering if Kang-chi would ever get to the goddamn book and become human, and then gave up hope that this show would complete anything other than the romance. Because we spent SO MUCH time on the romance. And it was sweet, and cute, and all it needed was a pretty pink bow happy ending to satisfy us. That’s it.

Instead we got a death to wring tears out of us, and then a left-turn fast-forward so sharp that my whiplash is having whiplash babies. And the crux of it, really, is that it gained nothing in doing so. All we did was come back around to the romance. I suppose if you’re in it for a sequel, that’s another story, but then I hate people who shunt an ending in service of a sequel even more. Basically, if your endgame was this all along, then you should’ve done a better job shaping Kang-chi into a hero of the people. A champion. Someone who, I dunno, sacrifices becoming human to save the world? For instance?

And this is all before even getting to the fact that they pulled the reincarnated soulmance ending, which drives me crazy. The straight version: Kang-chi is still Kang-chi, but Yeo-wool is reincarnated, and he’s going to love her all over again. The fanwank version: Yeo-wool is also still Yeo-wool, because she still has the same name while no one else does, and her purple flower power gives her the right to do this. I dunno, I’m making it up. The point is, this kind of soul-in-new-body ending always leaves me with that niggling feeling that something’s not right. Because it’s not the same. Because she died, and he didn’t, and there wasn’t even any time travel for anyone who wasn’t us, and because then the healthier thing to do would be to move on with your life and date Catwoman or something. I get that pining for 5221 moons is, well, moony, but I thought the entire setup of the parents’ doomed tragedy of a romance was that the kids were going to get it right. And they did everything right every step of the way, only to get rewarded with a 422-year engagement.

I was all ready to put this show to bed with satisfactory B-marks, because it was fun and chipper, and a cool twist on gumiho lore. Though it didn’t explore the full extent of the beast/man divide, I thought that it had interesting ideas at the center and that we were just going to wrap up our narrative neatly. Even the sadder version that ends at the fadeout with Kang-chi walking down the dirt road—that would’ve been better. Less than stellar, but it would’ve been an organic ending. I might’ve even liked it. I’d still be upset at Yeo-wool having to die (because that’s just plain mean, is what) but I could be okay with Kang-chi setting out to live his life as half-human half-beast without her, and learning to accept himself as he is.

But so much of the emotional payoff I wanted was never delivered. And a finale that did that would’ve been enough for me to overlook the obvious flaws, like stretching story for 16 episodes into 24, or the unfortunate inverse stakes for Wol-ryung (epic, tragic, life-and-death) and Kang-chi (heartfelt, but juvenile, and not nearly as earth-shattering by a long shot). We were even shafted on the villain’s big comeuppance, which I know was not cut for censorship, (Remember when Wol-ryung yanked the still-beating heart out of a man and liked it?) not to mention that the drama’s over-reliance on Lee Soon-shin to come and save the day steals our hero’s thunder. I had fun with this show, even if it was never on a deep emotional level, but these last two episodes really took the wind out of my sails. It was such an interesting universe, rich with potential. To sacrifice closure in that world, for this… what a damn shame.

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301 MysteryGirl2013

November 15, 2013 at 7:17 AM

I dont know how I felt about the 2nd ending I only felt that I feel like crying I dont know if it's tears of joy or tears of sorrow

But if everyone is sad about the ending I will continue it:

After YW and KC met he started to woo YW by repeating everything that happened in the past and while KC is doing it YW will start remembering KC and when KC shows YW the river YW will remember everything about her past life and YW will say to KC, YW: hey even though I am reincarnated I will NEVER FORGET ABOUT YOU!!!
*KC hugs YW and both hugs each other starts crying joyfully*
The next day KC proposes to YW and YW says yes and tomorrow they got married and went to SJ(so jung) and surprisingly still knows them both and says this time YW and KC became immortal.

(Sorry if thats bad im just young)

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Kinanoosh

November 21, 2013 at 6:16 AM

Will KC leave YW again?(in your coutinuation)

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MysteryGirl2013

November 21, 2013 at 6:20 AM

Actually about that part ( and the parts that is near YW's death)YW will remember it when KC showed YW the river

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302 Yananei

November 15, 2013 at 11:37 PM

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303 Yananei

November 15, 2013 at 11:38 PM

Its fine actually I want it to happen in Gu Family Book part 2

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MysteryGirl2013

November 15, 2013 at 11:43 PM

Thanks Yananei I thought it was you know too impossible, but in the world where gumihos exist nothings impossible right?

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Yananei

November 15, 2013 at 11:47 PM

Its according to the director if he wants yeo wool to remember her past life so I say the limitations is up to the director of Gu Family Book

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304 smol_but_still_cute

November 19, 2013 at 10:27 AM

notice that Yeo Wool is now a cop with the gun.
she died because of a gun.
don't tell me if they are making a gu family book 2, history are going to repeat itself. i barely handle the death of Yeo wool, i can't deal it once again.

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MysteryGirl2013

November 21, 2013 at 2:19 AM

No actually we are neighbors with Yananei so we just hoped to have a Gu Family Book part 2 to make things right that is why Yananei said she wants it to happen to Gu Family Book 2

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MysteryGirl2013

November 21, 2013 at 2:23 AM

*facepalm*(for my stupidity(
I think I just misunderstood your comment I thought you dont want a Gu Family Book p2 I read it again so sorry for the comment earlier

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305 Micaela

January 20, 2014 at 10:04 AM

I just finished watching Gu Family Book, like a few minutes ago. And I have to say, the ending made all the difference for me. I really hate the fact that Suzy died. So in the end, everyone Kang Chi loved left him and sweet, innocent Yeo Wool died. This is so stupid!

Let's be honest guys. The Korean writers/producers aren't gonna produce a sequel. What are the chances of that? The ending pretty much says that they ended up together again.......although the future Yeo Wool will never be the same as the past Yeo Wool. I'm so glad I'm not the only one that feels cheated. My first ever 24-episode Korean drama and this is what happens. This is why I told myself never to watch K-dramas that are longer than 20 eps and don't ever watch melodramas.

The only way a sequel would be produced is if the Korean viewers push for it. Face it, we English-speaking viewers have got no say in this unless at least a good number of us can speak Korean. This drama just killed me.

Perhaps I was really upset that YW died because I'm a huge huge huge HUGE massive fan of Bae Suzy (OMG! I just realised that her shows don't end happily! - Dream High) since Dream High. So her death might be personal to me.......I STILL CAN'T TAKE THIS!!! *rolls around*

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306 ABC

January 25, 2014 at 10:19 PM

Will Gan Chi die in next season.Cause he saw a crescent moon and peach blossom tree. In 422 ago Yeol Wool saw that and she died because of it.

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307 Gerald

February 7, 2014 at 1:50 AM

Tbh I was expecting more than what I saw in this KC ~Gu Family Book,the drama did not end as expecting¤

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308 Celly

February 19, 2014 at 9:14 PM

I actually enjoyed the first 2 episodes the most.

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309 enix05

April 30, 2014 at 11:03 PM

Actually, the title is not just Gu Family Book but also the love story of kang Chi which mind you is more closely related to the story than the previous title. Even so, I love how the story goes. I think I can see the point of the writer.

Thank you very much for all the recaps. I truly appreciate it. :)

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310 Damonice

May 15, 2014 at 6:55 AM

I realy like d ending bt it is interesting

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311 mary

June 3, 2014 at 5:24 PM

I had a late reaction to Gu Family Book, hence a comment this late. I barely watched it when it first aired, I was intrigued by the parent's tragic love but when Kang Chi came out, I think I just lost interest altogether. I think the whole adopted family issues dragged out too long.

However, I started reading recaps lately (which I love to do when I get bored) and I fell in love with the story. Admittedly I sob so much while reading the recap, but when I watched the actual drama I think Suzy (I love her though) was so stiff playing Dam Yeo Wool. Her character was supposed to be madly in love with Kang Chi but I just couldn't feel any spark from them on-screen, it was such a disappointment.

I did however stumble upon a logical analyze of the drama from one of the comment here which I think made the ending understandable and watchable. Gu Family Book may not have been a physical book but a mentality or a state of condition in which a gumiho who wants to be human must experience a love that can change him. When we see Kang Chi's father in his struggle to become human, he was supposed to suppress his beast side, eat vegetarian food, not spilling blood and not get betrayed by his one true love. Logically speaking if he was to successfully achieve all these, the book would appear, but I think what really would have happened was he could have turned human! The turning point of his story was the betrayal of his love which turned him into a demon instead. After Seo Hwa killed herself with the wooden dagger, Wol Ryung turned back into his original condition, my point is love affects the result.

In Kang Chi-Yeo Wool story, Kang Chi would have made it as a human because Yeo Wool was his true love and she was different from Seo Hwa because she embraced Kang Chi's beast side early on, except she had an ill fated love with Kang Chi that would result in her death instead. I think it's like a universe rule where a gumiho can't simply turn into human just because he found love, hence there has to be a condition he has to overcome, for Wol Ryung it's betrayal and Kang Chi it's death. When he said his time stopped, I think he meant he stopped aging, literally because he's a gumiho and because he lost his one true love which is the catalyst to become a human (age and die), but by meeting a reincarnated her and the evidence that she was the fated one make his time starts all over again, this time though I think if he can overcome the death part of her, he could have turned human, otherwise he just repeats this cycle of finding love and lost her and get stuck as a gumiho for as long as he allows it.

I don't regret watching this drama though, I think it was an ok drama. Except for the early part, I definitely will watch it again from time to time. Or maybe just read the recap instead for emotional punch. Haha.

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312 disappointed future watcher

June 11, 2014 at 10:54 PM

I guess each drama Suzy acted in have unsatisfying ending. Dream High was way too open ended. This one, sigh, who in this world would kill the main character at the very last moment.

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313 just saying

June 12, 2014 at 1:48 PM

i know it's been a year this drama was aired. But wth, my 24 hours were gone for a crappy ending.
Here's my suggestion writer-nim.
Next time if u run out of idea on how to save Yeo Wool, try this. The only way Kang Chi can save Yeo Wool is by becoming a human, therefore, their previous-one-of-us-might-damn-dead-fate can be change. Becayse that stupid fate was for Kang Chi who was a Gumiho. Now that he's a human, his fate change.

One more thing, change the drama title to Freaking Fate instead of Gu family book if u still wanna stick to the original storyline.

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314 MysteryGirl2014

June 13, 2014 at 10:18 PM

FOR SOME REASON I KEEP WATCHING THIS DRAMA AGAIN AND AGAIN.....I realized is this couple isn't so sweet I could've accepted the ending...BUT NO!!!! Gahhhhh I need to cry. I love this couple so much I cant stop watching and watching again(if u notice I'm mysterygirl2013 before)

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315 park sarang

July 15, 2014 at 9:32 PM

Omg i didn't understand the last scene where lee soon shin and go came looking for him by knoking his door ..i just want to know why did lee soon shin looked like he knew him like befor .....plese someone could make me understand

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316 Unice

July 29, 2014 at 4:53 AM

To me ending at that point. I am not okay and satisfied wit it.cos the faith they have to avoid in the past due to where they found each other, are they going to avoid it again after 400+ years , wat about the whereabout of the monk, if both kang chi and yeo wool did not need to avoid it in this current time again, why couldn't that have happen before in the past in which yeo wool have to dien just b.cos of a damn gun .and if the new yeo wool find that kang chi is half human did he has to start the explanation from the begining? Or she will just reject him like his mother did to his father? or she will just accept her faith? and how did kang chi know that, when she reincarnate. It will be exactly the country where kang chi is and why not another country probably like usa.or africa how sure that kang chi have any relationship with yeo wool even when she was pointing a gun at his dude pls i jst dont understand why so if u know why just help me out

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317 AZEEZ

August 14, 2014 at 4:24 AM

Please we are expecting episode 25, whereby choi kang chi would marry yeo wool

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318 henry cinth

September 9, 2014 at 10:01 AM

It started all well but ended badly cause they lost the whole story. the girl shouldn't have died, she ought to have being save by kan chi with the help of the gu family book, in that way, a good story will be established. I think they need a season 4 to start and end the love story properly.

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319 sumitha

October 2, 2014 at 2:09 AM

what the hell happened ??? I mean she became a cop and the others too lived that long without dying i agree in the case of kang-chi because he is a gu-mi-ho.why the fuck are the others alive ? :O then the director should have taken out the series upto the end where she to remnds him and a happily everafter why did the writer leave us in the middle of road with emotions on their verge i mean he to have gone mad thini=king of what ti doo i am going to watch it alla over againa except the last episode :/
PS : They forgot to show the monk "so-jung" (I mean he is the one who caused all this epic by telling wol-ryung about the gu family book ,didn't he? =D =D :) )

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320 abimbola

April 11, 2015 at 4:13 PM

The ending of the drama is so annoying.pls am waiting for the season four pls

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lu chazmer

May 26, 2015 at 1:55 AM

me too abimbola.... but i would not exactly call it annoying.. since i love sad stories this was a beautiful one

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321 lu chazmer

May 26, 2015 at 1:53 AM

i loved this movie. thank yu for sharing what yu thought of it with us.
i felt i would feel fair if i wrote my thoughts too

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322 jh

August 22, 2015 at 10:55 PM

in my honest opinion , using kc dad as a deus ex machina plot point to come in and save the day by healing her would have been more cohesive with the rest of the story. He can even quipped in some touching words about hearing his son sadness revebrate throughout the forest or something like that .

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323 mark

September 10, 2015 at 12:43 AM

Gu family book was the first Korean movie i watched and it was interesting, i ask this question why will the producer of gu family book end that interesting movie like that, i didn't enjoy that end it made me angry allowing dam yeol wool die like that and also taking to the future where they were reincarnated, dam yeol wool not knowing her love in the future it does not make any sense so I think the producer of gu family book should end that movie well by bringing another season of the movie and also end well whereby kang chi and dam yeol wool get married or love each other to end in the future. If the producer really wants people of Nigeria to love Korean movies that is what he should, Lee seungi-gi and bae suzy are my best actors in Korea.

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324 mark

September 10, 2015 at 12:47 AM

Gu family book was the first Korean movie i watched and it was interesting, i ask this question why will the producer of gu family book end that interesting movie like that, i didn't enjoy that end it made me angry allowing dam yeol wool die like that and also looking at the future where they were reincarnated, dam yeol wool not knowing her love in the future it does not make any sense so I think the producer of gu family book should end that movie well by bringing another season of the movie and also end well whereby kang chi and dam yeol wool get married or love each other to end in the future. If the producer really wants people of Nigeria to love Korean movies that is what he should, Lee seungi-gi and bae suzy are my best actors in Korea.

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325 prettyked

September 21, 2015 at 2:23 AM

WTF!!!! THAT IS THE MOST DEPRESSING ENDING EVER.
WHY SHOULD THE GIRL DIE IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEN SHE WAS REINCARNATED AND HAD THE SAME NAME. NAWA OOO

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326 dramabird

October 16, 2015 at 3:57 PM

I'm going voting crazy!

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327 Bongsookie?

October 21, 2015 at 4:31 AM

This drama would have been great with a second season....it has flaws I admit that, but it was still enjoyable!

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328 elvis chamani

December 1, 2015 at 12:47 AM

this is a good series for me and i like choe kang chi and dam yeo wool so itc good

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329 Bob lee

December 19, 2015 at 7:47 PM

I want to know 2 things about the writers. 1. WHAT KIND OF DRUGS THE WRITERS WERE USEING WAS IT OPIUM , MARAJUANA OR CRYSTAL METH 2. HOW MUCH DRUGS DID THE WRITERS USE WHILE WRITEING THE ENDING WERE THEY TAKEING THE BORDERLINE OF OVERDOSEING OR SOMETHING THE END IN 2013 DID NOT MAKE A LICK OF SENSE AND LEFT GAPS SO BIG I CAN FLY A JUMBO AIR FORCE PLANE THROUGH IT. I WATCHED THE SHOW 4 TIMES IN A ROW I ENJOIED THE STORY BUT WHEN THIS EPISODE STARTED AFTER I SEEN IT 2 TIMES I WOULD SKIP IT BEACOUSE ITS NONSENSE THE HERO IS CALLED PRESIDENT ( I WATCHED IT ON NETFLIX AND USED SUBTITLES TO UNDERSTAND THE DIALOGE ) BUT PRESIDENT OF WHAT ? THE WRITERS SHULD SPEND SOME TIME WATCHING THE HIGHLANDER THE SERIES ATLEAST TO GET SOME IDEAS BECOUSE I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE SOME MOMENTOS OF THINGS KANG CHI DID SEEING THE MOMENTO BOXES WITH ITEMS WAS NICE BUT HE LIVED WHEN PHOTOGRAPHS WERE AVABLE COULDENT SOME PHOTOS BEEN PUT IN HIS APARTMENT MAYBE NOT OF HIM BUT OF THINGS HE WAS INVOLVED IN AS IF HE HELPED DURING WORLD WAR 2 OR THE KOREAN WAR THE WRITERS DID A OK JOB UNTILL THIS EPISODE IF THEY PLANED TO MAKE A SECOND SEASON SET IT UP IN THE PAST HE DECIDES TO DO SOMETHING BUT ONCE 2013 SHOWED IT DID NOT MAKE SENSE I THINK THATS WHEN THE WRITERS OF THE SHOW STARTED USEING DRUGS I FOR ONE AM NOT SURE I WANT TO BOTHER WASTEING 4 NIGHTS OF MY LIFE TO WATCH SEASON 2 IF THEY DONT DO ALOT OF EXPLAINING TO THE 2013 TIME PEROID

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330 Kavid

January 21, 2016 at 10:09 AM

Okay. I thought I was the only one who shared these thoughts. My sister and a few friends told me about Gu Family Book when it first aired, but I never watched it until this past weekend. I was not satisfied with the ending. I honestly thought I was the one since everyone around me was like, "Oh, it's so good." Sure, I cried a whole lot. I mopped my kitchen floor with tears, but after finally finishing the entire drama in like 2.5 days, I was so depressed afterward. Maybe that was just me. But yea, I honestly felt really depressed. I couldn't rest well with that kind of an ending. To me, everything that led up to the finale was great.... the finale episode just really blew it though. (Just my two cents)

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331 Yoram

October 25, 2016 at 1:13 PM

I don't believe any of the people who watched this drama liked the ending, actually, I believe that all of them hated it. You can't have a heart and like it.
With great acting you capture us, make us participate in the story, sympathize with the wronged; cry when they suffer, smile with them when they are happy.
In a plot where anything is possible, what would have been wrong in letting the first generation's tragedy be compensated for with a happy ending for the second. why give so much hope and take it away. why suffer so much and die. If there is ever a sequel to this drama, and the its ending in our century is a possible hint for that, I will not watch it until all the episodes are out and I can read the comments on the last one; meeting again under the crescent moon and peach blossom tree our century is warning about more tragedy, more suffering, and no redemption.

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332 Cshen.Julienne

June 30, 2017 at 5:03 AM

Okay so I watched it and boy did I feel the need to read this in hopes to read something I might have missed. In the end, I learned I didn't miss much and my understanding of the ending is correct. Your comment wondering if the writer's on crack made me laugh so hard LOL. Anyway, thanks for writing this. In my personal opinion, he chose to live at least until he finds the person that he'd want to grow old with. That's Yeo wool. And in the writer's mind, he/she made Kang Chi witness reincarnation for himself. In the end, he did get a happy ending :) Though yes, admittedly it gave us all a big shock as we didn't really prepare our hearts for a sudden jump. But hey we did witness Kang Chi's dad live and die and live again for so long, so in a way, there was a foundation albeit a weak one for the sudden time jump.

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333 Jihye

July 29, 2017 at 5:15 AM

The ending is not what i expected. I wanted more and wish for a part 2... but what makes me laugh is your comment after your recaps... I enjoyed reading this finale from reading your comments... awesome recaps and comments from you...

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