The K2: Episode 16 (Final)
by gummimochi
It’s time for The K2 to show off its finishing move as our characters face the truth that finally comes to light in the midst of ongoing danger. Psychological warfare will be their best weapon as the timer continues to tick down to zero, and their lives won’t be the only things they stand to lose. With so much at stake, there is but only one voice we can call upon: Mirror, mirror on the wall—will Je-ha be able to save them all?
FINAL EPISODE RECAP
D-36 minutes. Je-ha races to the JSS headquarters while Yoo-jin tells Sung-won that he may as well give up now that he’s lost the memory card. But Sung-won is prepared to see things through to its potentially explosive end and even reaches for his cigarettes.
While they’re waiting, Yoo-jin asks how his name got roped into Kumargate when JB Group wasn’t among the listed parties. Sung-won explains that he initially meant to set up a trap for his father-and-law and the other mysterious consortium members.
He’d found out that Seok-han was a medical volunteer in Iraq and treating the leader of the Kumar group. Since he and Seok-han were schoolmates, he’d asked for an introduction. He then dropped out of the consortium before things imploded, but then Seok-han added his name to the Kumargate register.
Yoo-jin notes how Sung-won was so close to getting off scot-free, but now it’s clear that he orchestrated it all. “More or less,” Sung-won replies. He wonders how Yoo-jin figured it out without seeing the memory card’s contents, and she says it was all thanks to her computer…
…And finishes the thought in her head: “And Je-ha.” That leaves Sung-won even more impressed by Mirror’s capabilities.
D-33 minutes. Yoo-jin believes negotiations are over now and tells Sung-won to leave with his little bomb. She’d also like his shares before he leaves, though, and Sung-won gives a lazy no. He argues that he’d be penniless, so he may as well die here.
“Do you think dying is that easy?” Yoo-jin returns. Just then, Representative Park’s guards re-appear, demanding that Yoo-jin let them out. She smiles, having expected them to become desperate, and adds, “Should I teach you what’s even more difficult than dying?”
She brightens when Secretary Kim calls to report that the JSS agents have reclaimed the lobby. She isn’t remotely worried that taking back the rest of the building will take time, but that’s when Master Song runs up to report that Anna is somewhere in the building.
Secretary Kim orders a hunt for Anna, and as shocked as Yoo-jin is, she’s relieved that Anna hasn’t been caught by Representative Park’s men.
Speaking of whom, Anna is hiding behind a pillar in the basement level. She overhears her pursuer reporting to Representative Park that they’ve lost her, and Representative Park responds with destructive rage.
Amused by this turn of events, Sung-won walks right up to the glass and remarks how Se-joon likely won’t give up the memory card if Anna is held hostage. He makes a show about how he nearly deactivated the bomb earlier, but now he’ll just wait for reinforcements to arrive and defuse the bomb then.
Yoo-jin scoffs at that, saying that she’ll just replace Representative Park’s men who are itching to leave with her own. She dismisses them and orders them to put down their guns before they climb into the elevator.
They’re greeted by armed JSS agents once they arrive in the lobby and are escorted outside. Se-joon is filled in when he and Chief Joo arrive and is told to come down to the Cloud Nine sublevel immediately so he can trade the memory card for Anna’s life.
Je-ha finally arrives and staggers through the JSS doors to ask where Anna is. He runs over to the security room when he’s told that they can’t confirm her whereabouts, but the main feed won’t work.
On one screen, we see that Representative Park’s men are still looking for Anna in the boiler room. She waits with bated breath, but one agent grabs hold of her and Anna uses the self-defense techniques she learned from Master Song to fight him off and escape.
She crashes into Je-ha and soon they’re surrounded by Representative Park’s men. As they pull out their knives, Je-ha backs up and offers Anna his hand. She takes it, and then Je-ha turns back to the men.
He whirls around to evade the first jab, then lays low to knock the others down and swipe their knives to stab them instead.
Anna averts her eyes from the bloodbath, and then one of Representative Park’s men grabs her from behind and points a gun at her. Je-ha drops the knife and raises his hands…
…And balls one hand into a fist. “Freeze?” Anna wonders. He then gestures her to sit and as she crouches down, Je-ha whips out a gun and shoots the man down.
The sound of the bullet can be heard from the lobby where Secretary Kim order the JSS agents to find Je-ha. Speaking of whom, Je-ha collapses to the ground, barely conscious, and he ekes out: “We have to get out of here.”
Se-joon arrives at the Cloud Nine sublevel and joins Yoo-jin in the glass-enclosed conference room while Chief Joo is dismissed. She turns on the soundproofing, but as expected, Se-joon pulls out the memory card and tells her he cannot hand it over because he needs it to save Anna.
She reminds him that he’ll be throwing away the presidential race and lose everything, but none of that matters to Se-joon anymore. D-21 minutes. Sung-won knocks that they don’t have much time, but Yoo-jin is utterly taken aback by how Se-joon is willing to give up the presidency for his daughter.
Se-joon says he’s not entirely certain about that, but what he does know is this: “I wanted to become president so that I could be more powerful than you… and destroy you.”
She remarks on what a pity it is that Se-joon didn’t come off this strong sooner, but Se-joon counters that his hatred for her would’ve remained. And to that, Yoo-jin tells him what she already told Je-ha—she never killed Um Hye-rin or ordered someone to kill her.
She isn’t telling him this just to get the memory card because that would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. He asks why Yoo-jin acted as if she did kill Anna’s mother then, and Yoo-jin muses, “Could I have feared the idea of you leaving me?”
But then she revises that answer, saying that she likely feared the idea of finding out that she made the wrong choice. “Because I wanted to prove to everybody—no, my late father, that I made the right decision to the very end. Because I wanted to prove that I could make it so that my decision was the right one even if that happened to be the wrong one.”
Se-joon remarks that Yoo-jin worked so hard to seem clever when she, in fact, was so foolish. Getting choked up, she nods, “Yes, I was quite dumb. Happiness was something I never had to prove to other people.”
If that were the case, neither of them would’ve had to work so hard to live the way they’ve had. But too many years have passed now, and she adds, “I’m sorry to have made you live your life like this.”
Her sudden apology catches Se-joon off-guard, and he can only let out a hearty laugh of disbelief.
Je-ha is wheeled into the infirmary while Anna is dragged away. Both Se-joon and Yoo-jin look relieved, and after she asks to be put through to Sung-won’s father-in-law, she asks Se-joon to borrow that memory drive.
Sung-won’s father-in-law puts her on speakerphone, and Yoo-jin proves that she has the memory drive by texting the consortium members the banking information of their slush funds. She gives them ten minutes to remove Representative Park’s men from the premises lest she expose these slush fund accounts to the world.
D-18 minutes. Anna is dragged into Cloud Nine, where Sung-won motions for her to join her family. But just as Anna approaches the doors, Sung-won pulls out a gun and shoots Secretary Kim’s leg.
He then grabs Anna and demands that Yoo-jin open the conference room doors. Yoo-jin lets him in, and when he asks if she didn’t anticipate him having a gun, she admits that she hadn’t because “I thought only underlings would use a weapon like that. Oooh.
That sort of mockery doesn’t faze him, and after Sung-won sits Anna down, he invites the other two to join her. He asks Se-joon for the memory card, but Yoo-jin refuses, and as she calls out to Mirror to shut down the elevators, he shoots her point-blank.
Yoo-jin looks down at the bullet wound, then falls to her knees. Se-joon bends down next to her while Secretary Kim screams in agony. She shakes her head when Sung-won once again asks for the memory card. So Sung-won points the gun back at Anna’s chest, and Se-joon tosses the memory card to his feet.
Representative Park can guess that Yoo-jin demanded that his men back off when the police commissioner calls. He calls Sung-won’s father-in-law and the other consortium members to confirm it, then reveals to the room that the bomb in Cloud Nine is scheduled to go off in ten minutes’ time whether they like it or not.
He reminds them that their enemies and the memory card is in that room, so once everyone is blown up, he’ll be the only one with evidence about Kumargate. He’ll also be the only presidential candidate left in his party, and that gets the consortium members’ attention.
He orders the committee to cut off the power and all outside communication circuits to JSS. Ten minutes should be more than enough.
Je-ha comes to in the infirmary and declares that they must evacuate immediately because of the bomb. Chief Joo calls Se-joon to inform him that the bomb cannot be defused and that they must all leave immediately.
D-16 minutes. Sung-won steps down to check and starts to panic when he cannot deactivate it. He runs back to Yoo-jin, who’s bleeding out, and says they have to bring the elevators back online.
He calls out to Mirror, at which point Yoo-jin says her computer only listens to her. Just as she calls out to Mirror, the power goes out and the emergency generators kick in. Upon learning that neither the elevators nor cell reception is an option, she congratulates Sung-won because his political ally was responsible for this.
Sung-won runs out while Se-joon removes his tie and asks Anna to apply pressure on the wound. Even though Yoo-jin says she doesn’t have to, Se-joon silently urges his daughter to help. And so, Anna takes over so that Se-joon can assess the situation outside.
Yoo-jin looks up at Anna and congratulates her because she’s about to get her wish. Anna tells her not to speak, and Yoo-jin comments that she’ll die at this rate. “That’s right,” she breathes. “Your mother was already dying… when I arrived.”
“Like you, I once had a father. But the funny things about fathers is that they’re never around when you need them, but show up when you don’t need them.” Her words are intercut with the memory of a figure walking around Anna’s dark house all those years ago.
“My father found out about your mother and took it upon himself to deal with it,” she continues in a labored voice. “I begged him not to, but in the end… he ordered one of his men to kill your mother. For my sake.”
“And was that Master Song?” Anna asks. Yoo-jin replies, “So you knew.” We now see what happened: Master Song had snuck into Anna’s mother’s bedroom and stuck a syringe in her neck. She’d struggled and latched onto him, but then knocked over the pills on her bedside table before collapsing onto the ground.
He had hidden in a corner at the sound of young Anna’s voice. She had shrieked upon seeing the bright flashlight, so he covered her mouth and she passed out just as Yoo-jin had walked in.
Yoo-jin explains that she’d gone to the house because she’d found out about her father’s plan, but it was already too late when she’d arrived. She’d known that young Anna and Master Song were hiding in the corner, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at them.
“Because… I was afraid I’d see your face,” Yoo-jin admits haltingly. Just as she’d turned to leave, Anna’s mother reached out to her, and for the briefest moment, she contemplated calling an ambulance.
But then she decided against it, told Anna’s mother that love was never meant to be shared and turned her back on the dying woman. She knows she could’ve saved Anna’s mother, so the fact that she didn’t makes her responsible for Anna’s mother’s death.
“Afterward, I lived my life like my father did,” Yoo-jin confesses tearfully. “No, even harsher than that. On the night your mother died, I obeyed the commands of the devil within me.”
A tear rolls down Anna’s cheek, and Yoo-jin says she can let go now. “I’m the enemy that killed your mother.”
D-12 minutes. Je-ha follows Master Song down to the basement while Chief Joo is told to call for reinforcements. Je-ha forces the elevator doors open and puts on the harness. Securing himself to the wall, he tells the others to pull the rope up at his signal.
He rappels himself down while Se-joon rejoins Yoo-jin, who is barely lucid. Sung-won comes running back when he sees Je-ha and holds Anna at gunpoint. Je-ha runs into the room and examines the spilled blood and the injured parties. Yeah, a lot happened while you were gone.
Sung-won declares that he’ll be leaving with Anna first, and unbeknownst to him, the memory card falls to the floor when she struggles. To his surprise, Je-ha marches forward, but then Anna kicks the memory card away.
Se-joon tells Je-ha to follow Sung-won’s commands, so Je-ha leads them to the elevator. Sung-won puts on the harness and figures he should go up first. When Je-ha says Anna should go up first, Sung-won responds by shooting him in the leg. He throws Anna toward Je-ha, and calls on the group upstairs to pull him up. Anna tries to staunch the bleeding while Sung-won throws away the rope and announces that they all have to evacuate.
Je-ha gets in touch with the others via radio, instructing them to cut the elevator cable at his command. He and Anna double back to the conference room, and Yoo-jin smiles at his return.
He bellows that they have to leave, but Yoo-jin says it’s too late for her. “Is there a place for me to go anymore?” she muses. “I’d like to rest now.” Telling them to take Secretary Kim, she says, “I was wrong. Hurry and save Anna.”
Je-ha rushes to the bomb and urges Se-joon to leave with Secretary Kim. They have no time to argue, and Yoo-jin tells him to leave.
As Je-ha limps down the corridor, he explains to Se-joon, Secretary Kim, and Anna that the elevator has a safety feature in the case of freefall. He guesses that they can go further underground and escape the explosion, but that’s just a theory. Se-joon: “That’s… too bad.”
D-5 minutes. He and Se-joon force the doors shut and he orders the JSS agents to shoot. They all shoot at the cables, and upon seeing Je-ha and Anna hold one another, Se-joon opens the doors again.
They reach out to him, but Se-joon says he has no chance of saving Anna now: “I have to soften the blow.” He knows Anna will do just fine without him because she grew up just fine without him anyway.
She starts to cry, but Se-joon says she’s better off without a father like him. He entrusts his daughter in Je-ha’s care, then closes the doors from the outside.
He runs back to the conference room, to Yoo-jin’s surprise, and then lugs the bomb up the stairs and inside the room with them to help mitigate the explosion. Once he’s brought it in, she tells him to leave so she can close the doors. But Se-joon isn’t going anywhere: “Close the doors.”
So Yoo-jin issues her final command: “Mirror… close the doors. Tight.” A tear falls from her eye and Se-joon walks over to her side. Pulling her into an embrace, he asks her to accompany him in greeting the angel of death.
“We almost seem… like a happily married couple,” Yoo-jin says, smiling. “I’ll say,” Se-joon replies, holding her.
D-25 seconds. The JSS agents continue to shoot at the elevator cables until they finally snap. D-5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
Boom. Je-ha holds onto Anna as the building shakes from the explosion. Team Leader Seo calls out to Je-ha repeatedly, but there’s no response. Team Leader Seo screams out to empty space as the others begin wailing in grief…
…And then Anna’s voice responds, “This is K2.” Mi-ran asks after Je-ha, who haltingly responds, “Hurry up and get us out of here.” Utterly relieved, the JSS agents cry tears of joy. Listen, I know you’re happy, but the guy’s still in a lot of pain.
Some time later, Je-ha testifies against Blackstone while Mi-ran and Sung-gyu wonder what will happen to them now. The housekeeper says Anna inherited everything and lives in the estate now, but doubts that Anna has forgotten them.
While Anna is welcomed into the estate, the mysterious consortium members reiterate how Anna has inherited everything including Yoo-jin’s scholarship foundation. Although Sung-won believes she isn’t much of a threat without Cloud Nine, his father-in-law reminds him that she still has the memory card.
One member worries that Anna might act rashly following her parents’ deaths, but another believes Anna isn’t the exception—once someone has had a taste of power, they won’t easily give that up. It was the same way with Yoo-jin, and it’s only natural that those innocent girls grow up to become witches.
Anna enters Yoo-jin’s old office and sits in the chair her stepmother once sat in. Elsewhere, Representative Park chuckles that he isn’t at all afraid of one girl who will eventually come knocking for his help.
Someone climbs into the driver’s seat—it’s Je-ha. Cut to: Representative Park bound and gagged in the trunk. He passes out but comes to when the trunk door opens and he sees his secretary.
Sung-won walks up to his car looking chirpy until he sees who’s waiting for him in the backseat: Secretary Kim, and she’s got a gun. The men stuff him in, and Secretary Kim emerges from the other side leaving Sung-won’s body behind in her wake.
Representative Park’s secretary leads his former boss to a humble gallows. He bows deeply as Representative Park remarks he had no idea he would end up taking his own life.
Je-ha meets up with Anna at a Subway (c’mon, I was so close), and confirms that everything went well—he’s free to go wherever he likes now. He asks about her day, and Anna says it wasn’t much fun trying to walk in Yoo-jin’s footsteps for a day.
After Je-ha overtly expresses his love for sandwiches, they head back to the attic at the former safe house. Inserting a memory card in, he asks if she won’t regret this because this means giving up all the authority she received from Yoo-jin.
He tells her that all she has to do is press Enter to reveal the corruption among the rich and powerful, only to jump back when she presses it without hesitation. He whines that they should’ve sent the email together, but Anna says she doesn’t want to make a moment like this one meaningful.
She pouts when he complains that she’s doing whatever she likes as usual, but then turns that frown upside down to give him a peck on the lips.
He complains that she’s always acting like this, and when she shuts him up with another kiss, he kisses her back.
We catch up with the lovebirds who are now in Barcelona, and whose conversation we hear in voiceover. He asks if she regrets not being able to restore her mother’s reputation, to which she answers that she doesn’t because she got a father in exchange.
Anna: “Je-ha, I love you.” He says he knows, and as they exchange more kisses under the setting sun, she asks, “But hey, what’s your real name anyway?”
He takes a beat before answering, “Me? My name is…”
COMMENTS
Is that you, Yong-pal? I know at the end of the day, it might not matter what our hero’s real name is since he was simply known as “The Man” even before he got his code name and alias as Kim Je-ha, but frankly it still feels unfair to be robbed of what little information we could’ve scraped from him in this finale.
From the outset, much of his character was shrouded in mystery, which is all fine if the understanding is that we as viewers will come to understand him and his motivations behind his actions. But here we are at the end, knowing just a tad more than we did in the first episode—a former mercenary who is (sometimes) driven by revenge, but falls in love and at times turns into the most adorkable guy ever. So thank goodness that actor Ji Chang-wook injected color into a hero that could so easily have fallen to the wayside.
But turning back to the finale, I am glad that Je-ha and Anna got the happy ending they dreamed about. So much of the third act had them surrounded by absurd drama and conflict driven by even more ineffectual villains that I really did wish they would have a normal life one day. How they dealt with their final obstacles were swift and mostly hands-off, with Representative Park hanging himself and Secretary Kim directly avenging her longtime employer’s death. In the end, the writing didn’t choose for Je-ha to shoot to kill and instead handed over the deed to Representative Park’s own hands.
Then there was Anna’s character motivations, which became increasingly hazier by the story’s ending. When Yoo-jin was alive, she was determined to find her mother’s murderer, then later, she was determined to restore her mother’s reputation. But soon after she lost her father, that initial drive seem to fade into the background. Was it because she cherished her father now? Or that it was enough for her to remember her mother in her heart? Perhaps we’ll never know the answer.
All of this circles back to the writing, with each episode building up to an all-important cliffhanger, only to diffuse the dramatic oomph within the first few minutes of the following episode. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t continue to see Yong-pal brushstrokes during The K2rs&quo;s run, with its game metaphors and storybook references. By the end, the show’s main political conflict—the presidential race—became another sub-plot that died with the characters involved in it. This and the mysterious consortium members were two ongoing plotlines I held secondary importance to, though it was of primary importance to Se-joon, Representative Park, Yoo-jin, and others.
Even though there was plenty of slick action scenes and some even cooler fighting choreography (courtesy of PD Kwak Jung-hwan), I can safely say that I won’t be missing the constant shaky cam. I won’t miss the farce comedic moments with the JSS either since I never did think their intentional insertion never quite belonged in a show with such a dramatic premise. But still, I do admit that Master Song’s arc was a surprise, and I’m sure we’ll see the actor again in one of writer Jang Hyuk-rin’s future projects.
So after a mind-boggling game of seven unimportant consortium members, a not-so-special supercomputer, and the longest ticking time bomb ever, I’m ready to call it—…
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Tags: featured, Ji Chang-wook, Song Yoon-ah, The K2, Yoon-ah
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51 zer
November 14, 2016 at 7:49 AM
What happens when a woman shot by bad guys starts bleeding
https://youtu.be/q3cAJ6Q9QII
Evil is a fun concept. Is a fictional character actually evil? Is a real flesh and blood writer, a real flesh and blood director, evil for betraying real life with pornographic violence?
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AsianDrama16
November 14, 2016 at 11:45 PM
@zer
"Evil is a fun concept. Is a fictional character actually evil? Is a real flesh and blood writer, a real flesh and blood director, evil for betraying real life with pornographic violence?"
Wow, good questions. I guess the best answer is it's relative and depends on the individual.
Fiction, whether in text or video, is a writer's construct comprising characters, settings, and actions that aren't real. As readers or viewers, we all know this. But those of us who enjoy fiction willingly suspend disbelief to reconstruct the fiction in our own minds.
In this way, we're able to experience, vicariously, a wide range of emotions and sensations in far flung parts of the world over vastly different time periods with strangers from all walks of life. We literally step into another world in a way that resembles dreaming -- only we're doing so consciously and not subconsciously.
Is this parallel world of fiction real? If we allow ourselves to get into it, it becomes real in the sense that our emotional responses and reactions are real. It's as though we're in the scene, experiencing what the characters are experiencing. And this experience actually becomes a part of our memory, a part of who we are.
Thus, fiction allows us to live a richer and fuller life, to transcend the boundaries of our actual existence, to have adventures, experiences, and emotions that we wouldn't otherwise have.
Coming back to your questions: Yes, a fictional character can be just as evil as a real life character. In fact, we, the audience, gain a deeper understanding of the different forms that evil can take in life. But we also learn about all the different ways that we, as human beings, can be truly heroic. And we can do all this from the comfort of wherever we're watching the drama.
Are the writer, director, and even actors evil for creating evil characters and their evil deeds? The answer is no. As human beings, we have the power to imagine everything under the sun and beyond. We can imagine extreme good as well as extreme bad. There are no limits to this creative power that we're all born with. If we could be arrested for entertaining evil thoughts, then all of us would be in jail. Lol!
Evil characters are part of every writer's arsenal. They are foils or means to celebrate good characters. In other words, it's like yin and yang. Without one, the other can't exist. Without evil, good can't exist. That's because good and bad aren't only polar opposites. They're also part of a continuum, and in reality all human beings are strung out on that continuum. Individually, we're all both good and bad, but the ratios differ from person to person and even within ourselves from day to day.
I'm not sure if any of this makes sense, but thanks for the provocative questions.
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Zer
November 15, 2016 at 8:22 PM
The question got lost.
When a writer and director lie about life--troll in the day's cliche--using violence as pornography to force the audience into their life, are they evil?
Of course they are.
The K 2 writer and director have done so. They know it too,
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AsianDrama16
November 15, 2016 at 9:43 PM
@Zer
"The question got lost."
No, it was already answered before it was asked.
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52 Aria
November 14, 2016 at 7:54 AM
IMHO
Best lines from this drama:
"Straighten your back. And raise your head. Your enemies are watching."
"Love is not meant to be a group activity."
"Love is a luxury both of us cannot afford."
“Choi Yoo Jin was once an innocent young girl too, wasn’t she? And it’s only after girls grow up that they become witches.”
"Would you want to be my companion to the underworld?"
"We almost seem..like a happily married couple."
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53 may2day
November 14, 2016 at 8:04 AM
So... I was on twitter and found a few articles that fans translated into Eng... the articles were 10 Asia and Osen... and they were interviews with Ji Changwook regarding the K2.
In one article, Ji Changwook admitted that in an early script he received, Jeha was supposed to die at the end.
Not only that, but he fully believed Jeha was going to die up until episode 15. Sounds like the PD also believed that since they had set up a series of action scenes where Jeha was supposed to be completely covered in blood. But despite that, Ji Changwook learned that Jeha was still alive in the script for Ep 16. So they made changes in the action scene.
Reading this was SO interesting because it upheld my previous understanding of Yoojin's character... Yoojin didn't seem like type of character who would die voluntarily. If she was going to die, I thought she'd go kicking and screaming, not meekly saying "I want to get some rest." Maybe Jeha was supposed to be the one who said that line, but it got changed later on to Yoojin as the character who dies.
My thoughts on why the writer changed the ending? I seriously think it has something to do with the current scandal going on with the Korean president. Thousands of Korean citizens have joined the protest to demand Park Geunhye to step down, and with K2 being a political drama with similar themes of corruption and misuse of power in government... I think the writer wanted to distance the drama away from that.
The writer probably intended for a sad ending, but could you imagine the response Korean audience response if in the drama, immoral and power-hungry characters like Sejoon and Yoojin did become president and first lady? Or even if they didn't, and it was simply that Jeha died... that would almost be saying that evil triumphs over good. Not exactly the message you'd like to portray when most of the country believes their government leader is corrupt and with many wanting change.
Still, that's just what I think. Don't know for sure why the writer switched the ending, but either way, I'm glad we got the ending that we did. I much prefer a happy finale, with Jeha and Anna kissing in the sunset. Hehe.
And on that note... I guess I have to say goodbye to the K2. I am sorry to see it go, because I enjoyed it so much (even with plot holes and silly product placements). Thanks to all the recappers for this drama! :)
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AsianDrama16
November 15, 2016 at 2:19 PM
@may2day
Thanks for this incredible bit of information from JCW about script changes. Lol.
I can see the logic of killing Jeha at the end because he has physically hurt a lot of people. However, he didn't murder anyone and Anna's happiness depends on his survival. Leaving Anna heartbroken at the end doesn't make sense when she's already suffered through so much through no fault of her own. Jeha deserves redemption in this life for defending others, including Anna.
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54 Alessar
November 14, 2016 at 8:26 AM
I think this show was reasonably good, but I think a lot of people feel it could have been better. I agree. I enjoyed that fantastic action scenes (the spa fight, LOL!) and we got to have them all through the show; a lot of times due to the production system used all the intense fights stop at episode 6 and everyone just stands around and talks and it's obviously a production shortcoming (see; Healer; also: Yong-pal).
We still had action in the final episodes but the writer frankly lost me because the story just wasn't that good. It was boring at the end, too much talking heads stuff, and I think they really just didn't know what they were doing. And I didn't really like or sympathize with Anna. I was rooting for Yoo-Jin. That ending ... sucked. At least Manager Kim got some revenge.
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55 kk
November 14, 2016 at 9:35 AM
@Kanz:
"And yes Song Yoon Ah definitely has gained legion of fans thanks to her stellar performance in The K2."
that i can confirmed, on fb many people claimed that they first watch k2 for JCW, but end up staying with the drama for SYA because of her wonderful acting skill (not that JCW was bad either it just the script totally messed up his character), and the funny thing is many of them are quiet young.
@Sera and Sam: funny how you guys mention SLA, me and other huge SYA's fans on fb were talking about that, wouldn't it be nice to have both SYA and JCW reunite in that genre of drama, it would give JCW a chance to show off his excellent acting skill ( i still can't forgive writer-nim for ruined the character of jeha in k2 lol).
kanz, sera, sam: you guys are welcome to join me and other SYA's fans on fb. just let me know :)
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MIRROR
November 14, 2016 at 5:35 PM
Im a fan of SYA! Let me join on your Group pls?
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kanz
November 14, 2016 at 7:51 PM
Can you add me to SYA's fans group? Or can you give me the link?
Thanks in advance!
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samantha1
November 14, 2016 at 8:40 PM
same here chingu!
Its Sam by the way, I just made a little change in my name here to avoid confusion.
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kk
November 16, 2016 at 6:09 PM
@MIRROR, kanz, Sam_1:
Hi guys, so sorry for late reply, got quiet busy lately.
i forgot to mention that it's a closed group so i'm not sure if you guys will be able to search for it even if i give you the link.
not sure if it's a good idea to revealed our facebook names here either since it's such an open forum lol.
the only way i can think of is if you guys can send message to the link i will provide below, it's SYA open fb page, just message the admin and tell them that you guys are from dramabeans and tell them your username here, they will direct you guys to my fb page and i will add you to the closed group, sounds good? (if it not too much trouble lol, sorry about that though)
the link:
https://www.facebook.com/songyoonavietnamfanpage/
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56 poopylord
November 14, 2016 at 10:46 AM
(@ the very last sentence) well played, well played
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mary
November 15, 2016 at 12:17 AM
Came here looking for this comment :DDDD
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57 alexvincent
November 14, 2016 at 4:36 PM
I'm confused, of all the things to take out Representative Park, why suicide by rope and why is his secretary willing to kill him. I understand that his secretary was threatened by Je-ha, but what would make the secretary go as far to do that and what would actually motivate Representative Park to kill himself? Couldn't he just say no and continue on?
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58 Didi
November 14, 2016 at 5:04 PM
There were lots of things that didn't make sense about this drama, but the actors and the action scenes were captivating and CYJ kept the story interesting so that I would wait for each episode with anticipation...so that counts as good drama for me! It's not one I will rewatch and it definitely does poorly in comparison to Healer, but I was glad to see JCW on my screen again.
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59 iamdeb
November 14, 2016 at 5:48 PM
I need JCW to do a romance drama someday. Those last 3 shots of them cuddling, kissing etc are.. a gift. He looks so alluring...
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LeeT
September 10, 2017 at 6:21 PM
Have you seen Healer. Not a romance drama (and not very good) but the romance in that is done very well. It was the best thing about it, whereas it was the worst thing about K2.
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60 UPIL OPPA
November 14, 2016 at 10:35 PM
YoonA Loooveee Youuuuu!!
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61 neng
November 15, 2016 at 1:53 AM
What has gone is gone. Ready for next project of JCW ....
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62 I love Yoona
November 15, 2016 at 7:04 AM
Song Yoona is the only worth watching for.
PLOT: STUPID 100,00 TIMES!! BIG TIME!..
OST: OK. The only drama JCW never sang.
Chemistry: Perfect between YooJin & Jeha's Interaction...
Anna & Jeha: ZERO, NEGATIVE ZERO AT ALL!!... Obviously Forced!!..
Never trust the rating, popular only due to Yoona's fans. Purely Blinded fans..
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63 Dokkaebi-Shinbu
November 15, 2016 at 8:20 AM
Wait! Hang on a minute... Master Song is the murderer but Anna never ever confronts him about it? Would have loved it if the writer puts a scene of his apologizing to Anna!
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64 Athenna
November 16, 2016 at 7:15 AM
I love Choi yoo jin so much in this drama..she's the spice of the story that kept me to watch every episodes till the end.She delivers every words with elegance and credibilty even to the point that its difficult to endure the pain she's experiencing she could turn the table easily with her sweet evil smile...she is the monster that you will love from the beginning till end.I love their very last scence with Assembly Jang my heart exploded with pain watching them in each others arms somehow admitting that they still care and love without saying it loud.... ouch it breaks my heart....I'm was crossing my fingers that they survive miraculously hahaha at the end just like Jeha and Anna romantic ending.Hope she will win an awards for her excellent portrayal.
The only thing that is not clear is what happen to Master Song...it would have been better if Anna confront and forgive him so there would be a good closure at the end.
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Rigby
November 17, 2016 at 5:07 AM
My thoughts too what happened to Master Song?
And I agree again the last scene of Yoojin and Assembyman is tearjerker I cried tons of tears! It broke my heart, so redeeming for both of them!
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65 Athenna
November 16, 2016 at 7:32 AM
I forgot to mention why there is no such heartfelt goodbye for Jeha and Choi yoo jin, that moment should capture when they leave cloud nine few minutes before the explosion...they got perfect chemistry since episode 1 till the last episodes.How on earth they miss it.
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Rigby
November 17, 2016 at 5:04 AM
I am also asking that myself???and I have been waiting for at least a minute of them saying those goodbyes that could have been another palpable moments for the two and yeah how on earth did the writer miss that?
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LeeT
September 10, 2017 at 6:24 PM
To me that was the most important and interesting relationship in the whole show and it got thrown out of the window for the most boring romance in history. Anna was the absolute worst. A perpetual victim, childish and not very bright. I understand why she worshipped K2 but his damsel fixation would have worn off very quickly.
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66 Yoona's Love
November 18, 2016 at 8:43 AM
So nowadays, the higher the rating, the disastrous PLot…
Yes, This is a flop.. Im so sorry for JCW’s performance he was so good in Healer, lots of people love loved it (thou he’s good in here too).. But on this, seems like it has lots of jinx/misfortunes and I can tell he was forced and pressured to do this, so this drama is a nightmare for him hahaha.. Anyway, this is just a showcase of Song YooNa’s performance it’s like just focus on her story, that in the end, she will disappear anyway, just like a troll, you didn’t get anything after spending time watching it… hahhaha…
And romantic chemistry you said??.. Where??… Isn’t it JeHa is the uncle of Anna?…. lol..
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67 Strawberry
November 21, 2016 at 9:34 PM
Made it until ep. 12, but I just could not go on with this drama, despite SYN's stellar performance and the JCW factor, and came straight to this final episode's recap. The story line is just plain ridiculous and trite, this is a true exhibition of messy writing. I will be very wary watching anything penned by this writer(s?) again in the future.
The only positive thing is, this drama made me want to watch Healer all over again lol.
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68 luzzieh
November 23, 2016 at 3:17 PM
Why do i like Healer more than K2!!!!!!!
JCW is good as usual. SYA is good… their scenes together are always so intense…
IYA, still weak acting, she can’t deliver specially those emotional scenes part… as such it is so hard to feel this drama. But she did good in the church scene, which is the only part that i like her in. Otherwise, she is lacking.
The scenes between IYA vs SYA are so bland, if only a better lead actress…. IYA fans will say, it's bcoz it is her character, but I say, if a better actress has done it, then her character will have more life to it....
The female trusted assistant by the female villain is much better in delivering her part….
Lead couple has not chemistry... can't feel the love scene
I am not a YooNa hater... i comment as i see it.
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69 Junieve
January 1, 2017 at 7:35 PM
I have noticed that most of those make the reviews wanted a more detailed story line.
I love how the story ends and I love The K2 series.
You will know a very good story if after it ends you will not stop thinking about it, wondering and most of all it'll have ur imagination work... In other words, the story made a mark in ur heart and mind.
I love how the writer teased the viewers by not revealing The K2's real name (big LOL). How yoo jin died and most of all how jae ha decided to be with her until the end on the last minute (so, no one is entirely bad cliché is on point).
Death of assemlyman park and chairman choi serves them right.
I can only conclude that the whole consortium has been destroyed after Anna send the file (either to the press or reliable gov't agency) that could persecute all of 'em.
Ending of the story will be conluded by us viewers and sky is the limit.
The only off I see on the story is how je ha can still fight tons of strong men even with his wounds (he must be hulk and superman rolled into one.. Lol) and why did the elevator fell too high from cloud nine?was there cloud twenty?and they survived from d elevator's crash? C'mon, can anybody make me understand?
Well, if I have to rate this I would give 4 stars :)
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70 Suchismita Mishra
January 23, 2017 at 11:25 PM
Thank you for the recaps!
I believe the episode-15 was worth all the time. It kept me hooked to my seat. I started this series for Ji Chang Wook and ended up being a fan of the gorgeous Song Yoon Ah. Ji Chang Wook's action scenes were super-exciting though. :)
The pair was a treat to my eyes. However, the antagonist left her deep mark. Few things were slightly left incomplete. I think the story of Anna's mother should have been brought a bit more to the limelight. Also, Park Kwan-soo and Choi Sung-won, met quite an easy end. Episode 16 was an episode wrapped up in a jiffy. The most soothing and heart-warming scenes were when Jang Se-joon and Choi Yoo-jin embraced each other knowing they'd die soon and when Je Ha confirmed that he is safe and alive post the bomb-blast. All in all, this was a judicious investment of my time. A bunch of great and talented actors teamed up to add another good drama to the K-dramas list.
Kudos to the whole of the K2 cast and crew! :)
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71 kei01
April 9, 2017 at 4:52 PM
I really didn't want to post because I am so behind watching this show however i felt like I had because of SYA. She like what everyone mentioned brought the entire show. I am so sick of the damsel in distress leading female character. Why does this always have to be the archetype for most female leads in dramas? I was hooked when I read the plot thinking SYA would be the female lead but I suppose all JCW's fans would never allow an "ajhumma" to be his partner. Honestly there didn't even need to be a romantic/romance thing in the story. Why couldn't SYA just be the female lead without the whole side romance with Yoona and JCW that was soo unnecessary! Yoona's character just ruined JCW in the plot. I feel like this wasn't a repeat of Healer unlike what many think but it's more of a repeat of Yong pal! Does anyone notice the similarity? It starts off sooo good and you have a very good character and potential story line but then it goes down the hill because they feel the need to put some sort of romance crap to tie everything together. Yoona's acting was only one part that made me not like the overall plot but honestly whoever played her character I'd end up not liking because her role shouldn't even be a significant one to the story. I don't see why they had decided it to be so and that's what basically made the downfall of the plot. Had they just focused on Yoojin's and K2's character development and story line it would have been a lot better EVEN if there is no ROMANCE.
End rant :P Now can anyone recommend any strong female leads like her? I am so sick of the damsel in distress heroines.
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72 kdw
May 13, 2017 at 12:42 PM
This is so late but I wanted to write about it anyway:
I agree with everyone who pointed out that Jae Ha and Yoo Jin's chemistry was significantly better than that between him and Anna. Choi Yoo Jin is the only character that truly challenges Jae Ha and loves him entirely, knowing everything. Song Yoon Ah delivered a stunning performance... she was the protagonist, no doubt.
Jae Ha even admitted to Yoo Jin that he didn't know whether he really "loved" Raniya, or if it was a byproduct of his isolation on the base and his sympathy towards her. His conversations with Yoo Jin are honest, between equals. With Anna, its like he's talking to a child (Anna even accuses him of try to be her dad).
If we're to see Raniya/Anna as parallel victims (that Jae Ha is trying to succeed with Anna where he failed with Raniya) then it is fair to suggest that his love for Anna may also be the result of his isolation (trapped by her side as protector at her literal "hidden house") and his sympathy toward her (as a hostage).
I also agree that Anna as a character was a disastrous, contradictory mess. She's able to escape, elude a security brigade, and cycle through multiple disguises, but the next few episodes she displays none of these previous critical thinking skills or common sense. She's supposed to have a panic disorder and sociophobia, but this is only used when narratively convenient for her to faint in Jae Ha's arms. She had no consistent personality or drives, and although I though Yoona did a good job with what she had, I couldn't wait for Anna's scenes to be over. She deserved way better than the infantilizing role she was dealt.
While the drama begins with Jae Ha fatefully meeting the escaped Anna in Barcelona, all of his plot lines for the next episodes center around Choi Yoo Jin. Both the car rescue and umbrella scene are not only beautifully done action sequences, but rich, complex emotional turning points between the two of them. The actors absolutely tore up the scenery whenever they were in the same room (sometimes literally). The elements of the aforementioned scenes (fire and water respectively) also highlight the duality of them as characters, and the violent drama of their “friendship.”
The ultimate relationship of the show is truly between Jae Ha and Yoo Jin, and how they both repeat the same cycles. He mistakes pity and the desire to protect as love, and she is unable to break her impulse to control. He's addicted to helping the powerless, and she's addicted to being powerful. There's basically a sexual aspect to this dynamic in that Choi Yoo Jin is always getting Jae Ha off on his desires (protect) while enacting hers (attack). It's perverse and AMAZING. However, as Yoo Jin begins to change through her love and respect of Jae Ha, he does not. He instead reenacts with Anna what he had with Raniya.
As much as I felt the conclusion to Jae Ha and Yoo Jin's relationship satisfying in context, I would have...
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73 busy girl
June 14, 2017 at 3:28 AM
seriously am i the only one who felt bad for yoo jin , i cried so hard when she closed the door , and yoona's character was lame till the end , i mean she could have used the power to take revenge or something , it feels like yoo jin was the lead actress of this drama . PS: correct me if i'm wrong but was yoo jin in love with kim je ha ????? that's the only thing i can't understand ???
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74 KDramaLuva
July 1, 2017 at 12:10 AM
I decided to watch this during my Ji Chang Wook drama marathon. First few episodes were impressive with all the action scenes and oh well JCW's abs. It got pretty boring in the middle with the focus on Anna, whose character I honestly think is the weakest though there was obviously much effort to make her relevant.
This drama got me drawn to the amazing Song Yoon Ah. That woman delivered a stellar performance as Madam Choi. I love all her scenes especially her monologues. I mean, she stole the show!
I don't know about others but I really felt the sexual tension between K2 and Madam Choi than with him and Anna.
Overall, I give K2 a 7/10 rating for the great production value and amazing acting by the cast. Song Yoon Ah, I am now a fan. ❤️
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75 Jihye
July 17, 2017 at 6:16 AM
I really like Song Yoon-ah here... She portrayed Choi Yoo Jin so well that I would like to become her as well. I even wished that it's Jae ha and Yoo Jin at the end. I'm looking forward to watching her movies and dramas soon... I'm her fan now...
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76 LeeT
September 10, 2017 at 6:19 PM
Between a romance that seemed to happen while filming Subway sandwich ads and K2 being dumb as a box of hammers I didn't think I'd make it through this, but I did!
16 episodes and Park Kwan Soo never heard the name Raniya once. So what was the point of that plotline? Anna found out Master Song murdered her mother and didn't seem to care. They made it clear that K2 had a hero complex and a need to save damsels in distress and that he often mistook that for love. But instead of taking that to its obvious conclusion, they gave him a random happy ending with the most boring woman in history.
I would have given up on this if it wasn't for Choi Yoo Jin. The character was amazing. The Snow White parallel was particularly fascinating in that she was both Snow White and the Evil Queen and that dichotomy was portrayed so well. I'll just write a version in my head where she ends up with K2 and Anna drowns herself by moonlight in a white nightgown like the gothic cliche she is.
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