Family Ties
Acting as the proverbial deep breath before tomorrow’s finale, Chocolate slows down a little and focuses a lot more on its supporting players here, attempting to wrap things up before plunging us into one final twist given the preview we receive for episode 16. For now though, Chocolate continues to deliver the goods with this episode, with another strong dose of characterisation and some nicely worked plot developments, all of which gearing up for the finale. Episode 15 of Chocolate begins with Kang heading back to see Lee Jun, who has his hand cut up. He tells Kang he’ll quit being a doctor soon while Tae-Hyeon is called into the police station following an incident. Cha is called into the station but she tells Mr Moon she has nothing to do with this and requests he leave her out of the drama. Tae-Hyeon follows her back to the hospice though and questions why she wasn’t there for him, prompting her to eventually tell him she wants him to leave. Tae-Hyeon snaps, telling her he wants to remove his name from the register and sever all ties from his sister. Lee Jun and Kang drink the rest of the soju together and discuss their future, as well as their career prospects going forward. For the first time, these two don’t end things with a fight and just before Kang leaves, Lee Jun admits the truth that he’s the only legitimate heir. After learning this shocking reveal and still woozy from alcohol, Kang heads back to the hospice and speaks to Cha-Young before cooking her some low-calorie food. Meanwhile, Yeong-Sil finds herself embarrassed by Dae-Sik who confesses his feelings for her and plants a kiss on her lips in private. She remains calm and pulls away though, brushing it aside and thinking nothing of it. However, it turns out he volunteers at the hospice although as we soon learn, he currently has a medical condition that he’s been keeping from her too. Lee Jun confronts her mother over the people she sent and admits that Kang looked after him. He goes on to tell her how much he regrets messing with Kang given he used to be such a gentle child. Meanwhile Seon-Ae continues to deteriorate as Director Kwon heads up and sees her firsthand shouting at Cha-Young, whom she mistakes for her sister. Kwon manages to calm her down though and in private, talks to Cha about the situation, apologizing that she had to deal with his ex-wife mistaking her for Seon-Ae’s sister. With Seon-Ae unaware of what’s happened in the past, Director Kwon confronts her and breaks down crying, repeating “why” and leaving things on a really poignant note between them. Back at the hospice, Kang Woo looks over the noticeboard again and smiles sadly as narration informs on how important the place is in terms of care for patients. As he does, he phones Hye-Mi and has his answer for her. Before we can find out what this is, Tae-Hyeon heads on an impromptu dinner date with Hui-Ma outside and as they head back in again, Kang Woo confronts Jo Cheol-U, a man trying to take advantage of the sadness in the hospice and filming patients. It turns out this man is the CEO of Sinmyeon construction and someone Tae-Hyeon recognises from a previous newspaper report he read. He hits the man in the face and stands up for the hospice, as Cha watches from afar. As her brother is brought back down to the police station again, Cha comes in and tells the police that she’s his sister. He pushes her away though but she throws her arms around him and apologises. Outside the police station, Kang arrives with a gift – chocolate – and she tells him that chocolate is like a compass for her. Before they can drive away, Kang Woo takes a moment alone where he flashes back to the department store after hearing Cha mention that if his Mum had eaten the chocolate instead of her, perhaps she’d still be alive. As the episode closes out, Kang begins crying uncontrollably, alone on the steps below the station. Beyond some deeper ties between Tae-Hyeon and Cha-Young, as well as some more progression on the various subplots, there isn’t an awful lot else here to get excited about. The preview for tomorrow’s finale promises something pretty special though but also heartbreaking. It seems to hint that one of our main characters may well be dying and if this happens, Chocolate may just go down as one of the most heartbreaking and tear-filled finales in quite some time – perhaps even moreso than last year’s Hotel Del Luna! Regardless of the slow down this episode, Chocolate continues to deliver some great moments and tomorrow’s finale, one way or another, looks set to provide an unforgettable ending to this Korean drama.
