Happy Endings
After 100 episodes, the finale is here and what a ride it has been! We’ve cried, laughed and loved watching our main characters over the weeks, witnessing them go through a lot of ordeals while growing into the people they’ve now become. The show manages to end things really well, giving a satisfying conclusion to all of the characters and story lines. We pick up where we left off with Si-Wol confronting his sister and Cheong-Ah about the bullying. Cheong-ah confirms it so Si-Wol demands and pushes Hae-Rang to apologise. She doesn’t say anything though so Si-Wol tells her that a forced apology is better than none. At the same time, Jin-Woo tends to her mum who is stressed and very frustrated with the situation. He jokes with her and tells her they should both become monks. As Cheong-Ah walks away, Hae-Rang confronts her about the apology. Suddenly, Cheong-Ah gets a call from Song-Yi who cries on the phone for her help. This prompts Cheong-Ah to jump into the cab Hae-Rang just got in as well. We then see the young girl on the rooftop of her school being bullied and told to jump off. Both women arrive and see the girls taunting her. Cheong-Ah rushes to Song-Yi and calls the police to come and get the bullies. At the station, Cheong-Ah berates the girls for their behaviour and tells them that she will show their parents the video they made. The mothers arrive soon after but become annoyed that their daughters have been arrested. Joon-Ik gets up and orders them to look at the victim instead. Hae-Rang watches it all unfold, which make her realise what she has done in the past. She then finally apologises to Cheong-Ah after all these years. Back in his house, Jin-Woo carries on with his antics and splashes his mother with holy water, telling her he will not abandon her while Joon-Ik carries Si-Wol back home on his back. He tells him that he should move in with them as he wants to adopt him and make sure he kicks Hae-Rang out of his flat. Si-Wol is surprised by their kindness as Tae-Rang decides to spend the night in his room, calling him brother. Meanwhile, Cheong-Ah and Joon-Hwi meet in his car where he tells her that he’s leaving in two days. She’s not sure they are doing the right thing though but knows that it would hurt him if he stays. He then asks her to say goodbye now as he wouldn’t be able to leave if she came to the airport. The day of his departure arrives and Joon-Hwi says goodbye to his mum. He tells her not to worry too much about him so that he won’t worry too much about her. We then cut to Yu-Ra giving a conference to the press about the truth regarding the hit and run and the suicide of her son. She tells them that another boy took the fall and ruined his life as we see Si-Wol watching this unfold, speechless. Cheong-Ah’s parents watch it too and realize that it is the reason why she was thinking to move to London with Joon-Hwi, who we see didn’t actually go to London as he joins his mum at the press conference. In the evening, Cheong-Ah vists Joon-Hwi and his mum. She tells Yu-Ra she’s worried about her and asks how she is. She replies that she is OK and that she was able to muster up the courage to talk, thanks to her. Joon-Hwi takes Cheong-Ah in his room and hugs her tight, promising not to leave ever again. We then cut to the opening of Young-Woong’s restaurant as we see the whole family helping, including Jin-Woo. Si-Wol is studying and Jin-Woo later signs a sponsorship for Yeon-Ah. Joon-Hwi is staying by his mum’s side while Seol-Ah visits Tae-Rang in his new restaurant. They discuss the past and he admits that he knows she has loved Jin-Woo ever since he met her, which is why they can’t be friends. Instead, he will try being friends with Jin-Woo; that way he will see her from time to time. She then thanks him for being there for her just as Jin-Woo arrives with a plant and both men laugh together as friends. Walking home, Jin-Woo and Seol-Ah discuss what to do about Hwa-Young. He jokingly suggests making a baby first as this would please her. She does become a little outraged and tells him that they are both going to see her to convince her. In order to do so, they head into her house holding hands. Seol-Ah is full of compliments for her mother-in-law and sends Jin-Woo to make some food. She then tells Hwa-Young she wishes to take Jin-Woo with her but he swore never to abandon her. She asks to start over and promises to make him happy. She seems to agree too, as they happily sit together to eat. Hae-Rang returns home and comes face to face with Tae-Rang. He tells her he heard she apologised to Cheong-Ah, so he brings her inside. She’s surprised to find Si-Wol there and they all have a laugh about who will share a room with who. The next day, Cheong-Ah finds out from Joon-Ik that she is being transferred to aquieter town called Gurye, while Joon-Hwi returns to work but his colleagues aren’t pleased to see him. Jin-Woo arrives to save the day and reveals that they are cousins, which quickly changes his colleagues’ stance. Yu-Ra and Young-Ae meet and both wish they could go back in time. Young-Ae apologies for not telling the truth as she was only thinking of her daughter. Yu-Ra tells her not to as it is all her fault. They both cry as they regret their actions and Yu-Ra begs her to accept Joon-Hwi. Joon-Hwi waits for Cheong-Ah at the station and notices that she looks worried. He walks towards her and asks what’s wrong and she tells him that she has been transferred to Gurye. He is a little upset by this news so he suggests getting married if they are going to be a weekend couple. We then cut to some time in the future as we see Cheong-Ah working in the village. She is now married to Joon-Hwi and is busy with all the villagers, while Joon-Hwi works in the fields. At the same time, Jin-Woo and Seol-Ah are happily living together too. In the evening, Cheong-Ah sits outside and as she looks up, she speaks to Joon-Gyeom, telling him how happy she is with her life and that he can rest now. We then see petals floating in the wind, which makes her cry as the episode ends. The epilogue then shows us a montage of the two main couples through the years. Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life ends its long run time with an excellent finale. The last chapter has done a good job at wrapping its different stories and plots up, which gave happy endings to most of our characters. Cheong-Ah and Hae-Rang being witnesses to Song-Yi being bullied was a really nice touch as well, which was what made the tormentor realise first-hand just how serious her actions were. This brought our main story back full circle as it was the bullying that started it all for Cheong-Ah. It was quite the surprising little twist to see Cheong-Ah being sent to a new town too but perhaps it will turn out to be the perfect place for her to work. It would have also been nice to see some scenes of her marriage with Joon-Hwi but the last scene where she speaks to Joon-Gyeom was very emotional. It was also great to see Seol-Ah facing Hwa-Young and finally starting to put things behind them as she begins her life with Jin-Woo all over again. Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life has been a great drama to watch; full of romance, emotion and humour. It has managed to keep its various story lines and characters interesting and engaging across the run-time. I am really going to miss Cheon-Ah, Joon-Hwi, Seol-Ah, Jin-Woo, as well as the rest of cast after watching them evolve during all these weeks and the show will definitely be up there with some of my favourite K dramas.
