Beans of Wisdom: Choose your ending

by DB Staff

This week in Beans of Wisdom…

In “2016 Year in Review, Part 3: A drama for every day of the year,” Stardust discusses why we have higher expectations for fantasy dramas. In comment #39, she writes:

I want to say I agree that fantasy dramas have a higher set bar for expectations, esp when it comes to closing the drama.
So I feel the same abt [Legend of the Blue Sea].
I’m liking the show now, and it’s LMH joon Jae and DR who is doing it for me now compared to the mermaid who started off with a splash (pun intended) but I’m also of the view that it might turn out disappointing me.

Simply for the reason, fantasy dramas have a richer world, the rules can be bended and possibilities are endless – all these meant that if you can’t think ahead of your viewers, you disappoint them.

If your viewers can fan fic endings, theories or write 1000 essays on forums on the various possibilities and theories of the plot (think : W) and you end up with a lame or senseless ending (think : W, Big) you disappoint BIG Time because there is no excuse. You build the world, you should have explored the best story to tell because you could create those rules from the onset.

I see that risk of LOTBS because the same writer wrote MLFTS – I love the show but the story did lose steam in the last portion and I completely felt the ending was just fan service. I mean I had to Google what’s a black hole in theory and then still feel it doesn’t make senses. Right now for her she has quite a bit of options but my expectations are high and it probably will miss the bar.

Sylvia helpfully lists the possible endings for Goblin in “The Lonely Shining Goblin: Episode 5” comment #7.1.4:

1. Bittersweet ending: he dies, but leaves her enough emotional and material substance to live out a good life. She does well and eventually finds peace. His spirit is there to greet her in the tearoom when she dies at a ripe old age.

2. Happily Ever After: they find a way around the curse; writer pulls a deus ex machine and have Divinity (Lee El?) decide to change the rules … because, duh, Divinity makes up the rules in the first place. We want OTP to be happy, OTP wants to be happy, and the true Divinity (writer KES) wants OTP happy. So happy ending we get.

3. Early hallyu melo ending: almost everyone dies. Reaper finds out he was the silly king; out of guilt he jumps off cliff. Goblin dies when the sword is removed. Eun Tak gets the dreaded cancer because her fate was terminal in the first place. Sunny moves to Australia and opens a new chicken shop.

4. The narrative loophole ending: OTP is technically separated, but through some kind of narrative loophole or just plain re-framing, they are shown together in a different lifetime or dimension, proving they are Fated To Be No Matter the Time and Place.

5. The open ending: closes on an artistic MV-like sequence showing some ambiguous scenes or scenarios, so viewers can decide themselves what happened, and narrative is open for sequal season 2.

Of these I guess I prefer option 2? but 1 is ok too. Options 4 & 5 would make me flip tables, while 3 would just be amusing.
But truly, deep inside I want KES to do better this time and surprise us with none of the above.

While Miranda shows some love for the Reaper in comment #9.2.1:

It’s exactly the Reaper’s style of off-kilter deadpan that’s got me completely hooked! When he’s talking, his face is usually completely flat and emotionless, but when he’s NOT talking his face goes wild transmitting all of his thoughts – I especially loved him watching the morning drama.

It feels like he’s been out of the human loop for so long that he’s gone glitchy. He interacts with people at the absolute worst, most disorienting time of their lives and has to calmly and swiftly move them along, almost as a non-presence. But at the same time he’s stuck doing literal paperwork, documenting his expenses and having to scrape together money for rent… But not having any real friends or interactions outside of work, where he’s apparently pretty senior.

I love that he’s out of sync within himself and has been reading the same script for so long that he’s basically forgotten other words. Eun Taek is helping with that a bit, in that with more than one input source he’s starting to have to tailor his reactions, but the Reaper overall is one of my favorite pieces of this drama.

Sylvia adds:

Agree with your description. Basically Goblin and Reaper are gay dads raising a kid called Eun Tak and her up-to-no-good cousin Deuk Hwa. Goblin tries to be Cool Dad, while Reaper is the ajumma-with-a-perm mother.

Yumi points out a nice thought in “The Lonely Shining Goblin: Episode 6” comment #5.1.3:

It’s kind of interesting than that the man’s blindness remained after he crossed over. I’m use to the idea of infirmities disappearing in the afterlife.

pickledplumtree:

Yes, I thought that was interesting too. I was surprised by it, but I liked it for some reason. Happy was the happiness he needed, more than sight! <3 <3 <3

Dee writes in “Beans of Wisdom: When dramas reflect life” comment #3.2:

About power imbalance… my take on it is that the basis of many romantic relationships is often (but not always, and not necessary either) is friendship. Sometimes even a sort of familial bond and love amongst romantic partners.

So while it is not as usual to find friendship with “power imbalance” as defined in here (age, wealth, etc.), it is not impossible, and in my experience, not even that rare. Such friendships where there is some kind of background gap between the friends exist. (Cases I’m more familiar with include a more successful friend, much richer friend, more popular friend, and even older friend by about 20 years).

Such gap is hard to overcome for some people, which is why some people don’t like to be friends with people who are not “similar” in status, and find such relationship stressful or unhealthy. But some people can be not only friends, but extremely good and loyal friends despite the “power imbalance” as they bring to each other something in their lives outsiders often overlook. Some people I personally know, connect better with people who are older and younger than them.

So if friendship is possible even with “power imbalance” as defined by people on dramabeans, you only need to add attraction to shift that friendship to romance. If two people can connect on a friendship level, and find each other attractive, I don’t see why their love wouldn’t work.

The word “power imbalance” implies an unhealthy relationship, but if you think about it, all relationships do have some inequality inherent in them. A man and woman are physically not equal in general, for example. Because abuse of women is prevalent in the world does not mean women should avoid being attracted to stronger men. So what is the limit to “too much?” The answer to that question should be answered by the two individuals involved in the relationship. It is a limit unique to them, their personality, and compatibility.

pinkfluff99 writes in comment #20 of “Solomon’s Perjury: Episode 1”:

I think that Solomon’s Perjury does a great job of showing the depth of pain of students these days. As a high school student myself, I’ve endured some of the worries and fears these students go through.

Often in our lives, we fail to see what is truly important and focus purely on our self benefit. We are taught to do so by our parents and adults around us. And then we don’t notice other people’s pain and how our actions hurt them.

Solomon’s Perjury, I believe, opens our eyes to the status quo. There’s a difference between looking and seeing, and hearing and listening.

While in “Hwarang: Episode 1,” Lord Cobol notes in #9:

Sung Dong-Il must be a good guy this time. It’s a saeguk and his teeth aren’t horrid ?

nchoe:

Are those horrid teeth his idea? He has already used that look for 2 dramas now.

I just can’t stand looking at his face whenever he’s on screen with those horrid teeth. I always try to focus my gaze on something else, like tv channel logo at the top-right corner of the video.

bbstl:

I think about those teeth. I look closely to see if they’re the same ones in different shows (and believe they are). I’ve come to wonder if they were so expensive to make that their cost has to be amortized over multiple productions? Seriously.
Is this finally the sign that I’m too into kdramas? ?

Miranda writes in “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju: Episode 11” comment #5.2:

One fascinating thing about this show is how persistently they shake up the “stereotypical” relationship roles. All of the women have almost excluded themselves from the dating pool based on their non-feminine careers, bar the occasional slick of lipstick (or insane doctor-crush). Coach Choi is being pursued by a part-time actor who finds her strength attractive, Seon Ok looks like she’s being lined up with a featherbrained party boy, and Bok Joo has a handsome, surprisingly emotional, universally popular classmate confessing to her on every available level. This seems to blindside every one of the girls, and the guys are being framed as the more romance-aware, social parts of each pairing.

It’s incredibly refreshing – and it’s creating a kind of balanced dynamic that I think is played off as some sort of “beta male” joke in other shows, but here is dead serious and shown as a GOOD kind of relationship. Sure, the girls could probably launch the guys through the window, but the guys are doing a lot of the heavy emotional lifting.

Quinze adds:

The best part is that none of the men see it as an attack to their masculinity to see women being strong. It’s all admiration with none of the “be more feminine, please” aspects. Bok joo never tries to change her stance, her walk, or her mannerisms to be more feminine around Joon Young but he doesn’t see that as a miss. We’re reinforced on that idea from the beginning. That Joon Young has always seen that beauty in people whether they’re gymnast thin or weightlifter bulky.
Same with the Uncle, he’s literally in awe of Coach, it’s cute! And Tae kwon…lol I love this little cupcake. (It’s like he’s a chocolate cupcake and Nan Hee’s the one with sprinkles! ? )But yeah, from his first meeting with Bok joo and friends, he’s always been in awe of her (and also very afraid haha) but never do we hear them say that she’s not pretty or cute.

This drama is so healthy lol. Like I’m reminded that I need to work out because I’ve been too lax lately. But then I’m also reminded of how real it is to go through emotions like love, heartbreak, embarrassment, depression, anxiety, etc. It’s just lovely to see how people deal with it in healthy ways.

And peanut warrior also showers the show with love in #13:

One thing I love about this drama is how consistent it is, especially in character development.

1. In one of the earlier recaps, someone commented about Joon Hyung’s background of experiencing trauma, therefore making him afraid that others will leave him (credits to him/her!) I just thought it was tied in again in this episode. In the warehouse when bok joo told him to leave, you could see the hurt in his eyes. Then, immediately after confessing. And again when they had the debrief session where he leaned against the tree trunk. It’s almost as if he expected bok joo to reject him straight away, or to never talk to him again because of that confession.

2. Bok Joo grows, but the essence of her personality doesn’t change, and that’s beautiful. Too often, the female protagonist almost always becomes a completely different person once they’re attached to the male protagonist. I like that Bok Joo is still herself, strong and innocent, but is growing to consider other perspectives. I think that’s natural, and a clearer documentation of growth.

3. There’s a wonderful balance in showing the characters’ maturity, yet never letting go of the fact that they’re youth after all. I’m glad that our characters, be it the girls’ friendships or between Joon Hyung and Bok Joo, were able to rationalism instead of the typical angst/avoiding the problem totally. Yet we see that they’re ultimately teenagers, Joon Hyung being shy when asked about Bok Joo, Bok Joo getting a part-time job etc.

This drama really lives up to its name. It lifts the weight off many of its viewers because it’s so uplifting and poignant, making the Everyday moments that little bit more special. It gives people hope, and probably highlights certain issues currently present in the society. Kudos to the writer. This drama is beautiful.

lindl shares her philosophy on dealing with opposing views in “Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching” comment #7.2.2:

The age gap hasn’t been an issue for me, but people have a right to their opinion. They shouldn’t be silenced just because they’re the minority (if they are) or because other people think differently. I can like the show even if others don’t. Their annoyance doesn’t take away from my own enjoyment, and my enjoyment is not worth suppressing their right to express their views.

Thanks for the reminder, lindl! And thank you to the beanies who keep the weekly discussions healthy!

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