MaryMeKpop

I’m struggling to put together the words to write this review post for the final 2 episodes of “Our Unwritten Seoul.” There were tons of crying and sobbing and tissues. There were also moments of laughter and smiles. There were also moments of feeling proud and content and satisfied with the paths that our characters took. And I’m struggling to write this post not because I wasn’t happy with how the drama concluded. In fact, it’s the opposite. You ever just watch a drama that’s so good and heartwarming and comforting that you feel overwhelmed with emotions and can’t come up with the right words to describe your thoughts? That’s how I feel as I’m writing this post.

Episode 12 was such an interesting episode in that it felt so peaceful and nicely paced. It managed to wrap things up neatly. I never once was anxious or worried about how things would conclude for our characters. There was a little bit of everything in the final episode: some comedy and jokes (I literally laughed out loud at Mi-ji’s witty comments and antics!), some bittersweet moments (such as the dream sequence with Grandma’s passing), and also many moments of hope and encouragement. We watched as each of our characters garnered the courage and vulnerability to do what they wanted to do in their lives. Mi-ji pursued her studies. Mi-rae became a farm owner and took over Se-jin’s farm. Mom went back to drawing and pursuing art. Se-jin went to the United States to pursue his goals. Ho-su continued his career as a lawyer while also adjusting to his situation with his impaired hearing. Kim Ro-sa (Sang-wol) taught herself how to read. Episode 12 was such a feel-good episode that carried so much love, warmth, and hope. It’s never too late to do what you’ve always wanted to do. It’s okay to reach out and ask for help. Do the unexpected. Challenge yourself to become a better person. It’s okay to take breaks from work to focus on you. There are people who want to help you and support you and be there for you. There were many wonderful messages and themes conveyed throughout the drama.

While episode 12 was a much happier, jolly, and cheerful episode, episode 11 was the heavier and more emotional one. I also thought episode 11 was one of the stronger episodes out of the entire drama. I wasn’t so sure how I felt about Ho-su and Mi-ji’s break-up happening in the second to last episode. I also wasn’t sure if the drama was going to have enough time to explore the new sub-plot of his impaired hearing that late into the drama. But like “Our Unwritten Seoul” has done many times before, it proved once again that it was capable of handling anything and everything it wanted to do. Episode 11 was so well-connected, interwoven, and layered. Everything about it was intentional and strategic and smart. Typically, Korean dramas love having their main couple break up only to have them make up in an instant without doing much to get them back together. Oftentimes, it feels like these break-ups happen just for the sake of breaking up. Korean dramas feel like they need to do it to check it off their list. But Mi-ji and Ho-su’s break-up was different in that there was a purpose behind it. There was a process to it. There was the reactions to the break-up. Then there was the pivotal moment when the two finally realized that they loved each other and wanted to be together and how they would grow together in their relationship. Episode 11 was able to cover so much ground not only through Mi-ji and Ho-su’s break-up but also in Ho-su and his mom’s relationship, Mom and Grandma’s relationship, and Ho-su’s relationship with his father. It was such a tight and busy episode but one that was so well-done and executed.

Ho-su and Mi-ji’s break-up wasn’t just a break-up. During the actual break-up itself, Mi-ji came to empathize with Ho-su because she knew what it was like to feel like you’re at the lowest point in your life and wanting to distance yourself from everyone else. She went through that after she got injured and shut herself out from the world. So even though Mi-ji didn’t want to break up with Ho-su, she knew she couldn’t stop him either because she was once in his shoes and knew how he felt. It was such a brilliant way to show her complicated feelings to the break-up; there were levels to it and it wasn’t as black and white as just wanting to stay together or wanting to break-up.

The episode also did a wonderful job in illustrating Ho-su and Mi-ji’s perspectives to the break-up. Ho-su’s fear of feeling like a burden and not wanting to impact other people’s lives was what opened the door to him being honest with his mom about their relationship. The scene with him and his mom in his apartment was so raw and real. Years of pent-up emotions finally unleashed all in that moment and Ho-su and his mom finally felt as if they could be in each other’s lives without any worries once they realized how the other person felt. Perhaps the part that I enjoyed the most was the conversation between Ho-su and his mom where Ho-su finally received the answer to a burning question that he had been wanting to know. For years, he wondered what it was that his dad was going to say in the car before they got into the car accident and then he finally got to hear the rest of the message thanks to his mom. The words that his dad said in the car were actually words from his mom and it was such a bittersweet moment. Ho-su tragically lost his dad but he has his mom in his life who cares for him, loves him, and supports him just as much. His mom and dad really loved each other and understood that love and relationships wasn’t about winning or losing but rather losing together as a team even if it meant losing a hundred or thousand times. And it was this perspective on love and relationships that Ho-su was finally able to realize that he wanted to be with Mi-ji and prompted him to return to Mi-ji. For Mi-ji, the break-up allowed her to learn to love herself more. It allowed her to realize her strengths and what she was great at. It allowed her to open the door to her heart. She was able to overcome her fears and realized that there were people who wanted to be there for her and support her. It made her realize that she wasn’t alone. That she could be loved and love as well. This prompted her to return to Ho-su. I’m impressed at how the break-up and make-up between Ho-su and Mi-ji happened only in one episode and I also appreciated how much depth there was to it. It wasn’t just about them breaking up. In the process of processing the break-up, Ho-su and Mi-ji learned so much more about themselves and came out of it gaining new perspectives on love and life.

There were two specific moments in episode 12 that I enjoyed, which was Mi-ji’s time spent with Mom in Seoul and then Mi-ji’s dream sequence with Grandma. I really wanted to see just one more moment with Mi-ji and Mom alone with the two of them and I’m so glad we got to see it in the final episode. The first episode showed the dynamic between the two of them: Mom nagging at Mi-ji to get a full-time job and constantly comparing her to Mi-rae. Mi-ji felt as if she was never good enough for Mom. She wanted to prove that she too was successful in her own ways. And then in the final episode, Mom spent some time with Mi-ji in Seoul and told her that she could do whatever she wanted. This was Mom’s way of saying that she was proud of Mi-ji regardless. Mom’s mindset towards Mi-ji changed and she just wanted to be the best mom she could be for her daughter. She helped Mi-ji sign the lease for her new place. She spent some time with Mi-ji in Seoul and looked out for her. It was so heartwarming to see the mother and daughter pair again just like we saw them do in the earlier part of the drama. And then the episode followed this up with Mi-ji’s remaining moments with Grandma. There are certain scenes in dramas that stand out to me that I will remember for a very very long time. More recently, this was the car scene in episode 8 of “Melo Movie” between Gyeom and Moo-bi and then here, it’s the dream sequence between Mi-ji and Grandma. I just knew the moment that Grandma was walking around the house full of energy that it was all a dream and that this was going to be Grandma’s farewell to Mi-ji. During this scene, I absolutely lost it. I was crying so bad. I had to actually pause the episode to cry because I just knew what kind of scene it was going to be and what was going to happen. And sure enough, I couldn’t stop crying for the rest of the scene. Mi-ji bid farewell to Grandma – the one person who loved her, was there for her, and supported her unconditionally from the beginning. During Mi-ji’s lowest point in her life and during times when Mi-ji didn’t love and support herself, Grandma was always there for her. It was so heart-breaking to watch their farewell but it was also so beautiful. The scene was so well-done, so touching, so heartwarming, and also so sad. It was a moment that was full of love and heartbreak. This dream sequence actually reminded me of Ko Gyeom’s dream in episode 10 of “Melo Movie” when his brother visited him in his dreams. And similar to Mi-ji with Grandma, Ko Gyeom told his brother to not worry about him, to come visit him in his dreams, and reassured him that he’ll be fine. I cried so much watching both scenes and couldn’t help but just notice how similar they were to each other. Farewell scenes are so hard but also so beautiful, vulnerable, and intimate.

Many Korean dramas tend to flame out halfway through but things felt different with “Our Unwritten Seoul.” Even from the very beginning, the drama felt like just such a solid, stable, and intentional drama where it knew what it wanted to do and where it wanted to go. And thankfully, it remained that way the entire time. There weren’t any odd decisions or switch-ups or random murder mystery sub-plots thrown in halfway (or random ex’s appearing out of nowhere. And yes, I’m talking about you “Tastefully Yours” LOL). “Our Unwritten Seoul” was such a solid solid drama all the way through from the very beginning to the end.

I really have to give it to the cast, crew, director, writer, and staff for all the hard work and effort they put into the drama but I especially want to commend Park Bo-young. As a longtime fan who’s been following her since “Scandal Makers”, I felt so proud of her and thought she did a phenomenal job in this drama. It was fascinating to watch her play essentially 4 different roles, but at the same time, I also wasn’t all that surprised because she’s always been a great actress who had the acting skills and talents to pull off such a feat. She made it look so easy and effortless (even though it wasn’t) which not many actors would have been able to do. Additionally, the filming schedule for this drama was quite hectic, intense, and wild. There were many back to back nights of nonstop filming and they would even film until the early morning hours only to return a couple of hours later and then film all day and night again. Everyone truly went through a lot to put this beautiful piece of work together but it was probably the most challenging for Park Bo-young. It wasn’t just that she was the main character and female lead playing 4 different roles which was challenging in itself. But also as the veteran actor, I couldn’t even imagine how much pressure it must have been on her to be the reliable, stable, and strong veteran actor who held everything and everyone together during the intense and wild filming schedule (she even gifted all staff and crew on set with a yummy buffet to keep everyone’s spirits up). Park Bo-young being Park Bo-young, she remained professional, respectful, and considerate to everyone. She never complained or talked bad about anyone publicly. She gave her stand-in’s credit and thanked them during the press conference. A lot of her co-stars only had positive things to say about her. These are all just many more reasons to love her and why she’s my absolute favorite in all of K-dramaland and why she will always be my #1.

Speaking of the press conference, the director mentioned that everyone in the cast worked extremely hard to the point where even he wondered why they were working so hard. And even while watching the drama, you could kind of see what he was referring to. Everyone in this drama brought their A-game. They were so genuine and gentle with their characters and storylines. They gave each scene their best. They themselves were touched and comforted by the drama. And this is telling as to what type of drama “Our Unwritten Seoul” is. Sure, there’s the pressure of rating and viewer expectations. But “Our Unwritten Seoul” was a drama that had a purpose. It had a story that it wanted to tell. It wasn’t just for entertainment. And I think the cast felt that, they knew that, and, therefore, they worked tirelessly to put forth their best effort. Park Bo-young mentioned that even if the drama wasn’t as successful ratings wise (in which it actually did quite well with ratings and was well-loved), the cast still loved the story and felt proud of what they achieved with it. In the end, the cast loved the drama and so did we.

And since I mentioned a little bit of the director, I just have to add that the contrast in the director’s previous project “When the Stars Gossip” to “Our Unwritten Seoul” is so interesting and a little funny honestly. The two dramas are vastly different in terms of quality, story, the setting, and it’s safe to say “Our Unwritten Seoul” is the much better drama (it’s not even really up for debate LOL). But with that being said, I also want to point out that I never felt as if the issue with “When the Stars Gossip” was the directing. Director Park Shin-woo did the best he could with that drama; the bigger issue was the writing. And while I didn’t love everything about Director Park’s directing in “Our Unwritten Seoul”, I’m glad that the drama had a great and touching script paired with nice directing.

Mi-ji and Mi-rae originally switched identities to live each other’s life and give Mi-rae a break from her toxic and tough workplace. But in the end, they both came out of it realizing what their dreams, goals, and passion in life were. They did what people didn’t expect from them. Mi-rae was a successful employee at a large corporation but through pretending to be Mi-ji, she realized that she wanted to get away from that life (at least for now). Mi–ji thought she wasn’t smart and wasn’t good at studying. But by pretending to be Mi-rae, she realized her potential. She saw a future where she went to school so she studied and aspired to become a therapist – something she or other people in her life didn’t expect for her at all (I also loved that Mi-ji ended up working as a part-timer at Kim Ro-sa’s restaurant. As I pointed out in my post for episodes 9 and 10, Mi-ji was passionate about helping Ro-sa out so it was nice to see it come full circle in the final episode). I loved that Mi-rae and Mi-ji defied people’s expectations of them and that they did what they wanted to do in the end without caring about what other people thought (I also loved the scene where Mi-rae told the truth to Mom about quitting her job. You could see Mom’s growth in supporting her daughter and being proud of her for what she’s done and will continue to do. Mi-rae also grew so much in finally doing what she was always afraid to do which was quit her job and finally lifted the weight off her shoulders by telling Mom the truth). In the end, it was up to Mi-rae and Mi-ji as to what they wanted to do and what they thought was best for themselves. And in life, you won’t have all the answers. Sometimes, you won’t know if the decision you made is the right or best one. And sometimes it can be scary and nerve-wracking to venture into the unknown. But sometimes it’s also about taking that leap of faith and courage to see things out. When one door closes, another one opens. When one chapter ends, you have the opportunity to write a new one. And for our characters in “Our Unwritten Seoul”, they continued to write out the chapters to the beautiful stories in their lives.