Boys Before Flowers, episodes 24 and 25
And what will go down as one of the highest rated, most popular, most hyped, most anticipated dramas in Kdrama history, is finally over. These twinges of bittersweet snuff, vut are these emotions…
Once more, with feeling:
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Recap of episodes 24 and 25
So, after Jandi settles down into her new fishing village lifestyle comes the obligatory talk-in-the-dark-with-mom conversation. Jandi’s mom is slightly aghast that Jandi seems to want to stay in the fishing village for good, but Jandi doesn’t really see an alternative for herself and doesn’t want to indulge in what’s really going on.
And then probably one of my favorite scenes in the series: Ga-eul and Yi Jung’s showdown. Well, it wasn’t really a showdown, but it definitely got some things out of the way and boy am I friggin’ glad. Yi Jung goes to look for Ga-eul at the porridge shop under the guise of asking Ga-eul for news of Jandi. Ga-eul doesn’t know where Jandi is but Yi Jung reassures her that she’ll be fine; after all, she is Geum Jandi. After a slight lull in conversation, Yi Jung brings up the point that they have the issue of “them” to settle.
They share a moment of silence as they walk down a set of stairs before Yi Jung starts. Before he can though, Ga-eul cuts him off and tells him that she wants to go first. Thatta girl.
Ga-eul: Don’t feel responsible for me. I understand what you’re feeling. That’s why from now on, I won’t look for you anymore.
Yi Jung: Ga-eul…
Ga-eul: My teacher — no — teacher Eun Jae once said that she has no regrets because she already tried her best. Thank you for giving me a chance to try my best. If Jandi calls, I will contact you immediately.
With that, Ga-eul walks off by herself, leaving a speechless Yi Jung to himself. (WHOOPEE!)
Jun Hee worries about Jun Pyo’s state of isolation and doesn’t know what to do. Secretary Jung isn’t exactly a source of comfort, but before long, he makes a decision to tell Jun Hee something, and brings her to the room where an unconscious Gu father lies on the bed. Jun Hee breaks down upon seeing him.
Naturally, Jun Hee has a right to be p-i-s-s-e-d off, and she confronts her mother about it. For once, Madam Kang has nothing substantial to say to Jun Hee because…well, what can you say to your daughter after having lied to her about her father’s death?
…That’s what I thought.
In the middle of Jun Hee’s ultimate outburst, Jun Pyo comes in. Two pissed off Gu heirs for the price of NOTHING! Jun Pyo demands to know what the hell is going on.
And so, with that, Jun Pyo also pays a visit to his unconscious father. He breaks down when he sees him because all that goes through his head are the promises he’s been trying to fulfill and all the lies told in order to keep him in line about being the Shinhwa heir.
Meanwhile, Ji Hoo is alone and contemplative about Jandi’s absence when he catches on TV a special broadcast with a journalist surveying the scene in a fishing village.
Which happens to be Jandi’s fishing village.
Where Jandi was also caught on camera.
Trying to sell fish.
WHAT.
ARE.
THE.
CHANCES.
Naturally, knowing the whereabouts of Jandi sets Ji Hoo out in a hurry and he tries to convince Jun Pyo to go with him, but Jun Pyo refuses. Ji Hoo leaves Jandi’s address with Jun Pyo and whether or not he wants to go is up to him.
When Jun Pyo’s with Woobin, he reveals his reasoning for not wanting to go to Jandi. His pride and his confidence are hurt by his family situation and he doesn’t believe he’s capable of bringing Jandi happiness. Woobin tells him that Jandi won’t mind because she’s not like other girls, but Jun Pyo counters that because she is the woman he loves, she shouldn’t have to go through with this, go through with dealing with his problems. (Valiant thinking…or foolishness?)
Once Ji Hoo meets with Jandi, he finally admits his feelings for her. He doesn’t know when it all started, but she’s become an indispensable part of his life. Unfortunately for him, and he should know this out of habit by now, Jandi cannot accept his love for her. She tries and she tries but she can’t forget Gu Jun Pyo. And naturally, Jun Pyo is stalking watching them from his bright red car, which NOBODY ever notices.
Jun Pyo stakes out by Jandi’s place and at first, he notices a weird man clad in black also lingering around the area, but pays him no mind. Jun Pyo watches as Ji Hoo comes out and in some distance back, the man is in a car, getting ready to hurt Ji Hoo because he presumes Ji Hoo is from Shinhwa and Shinhwa’s done him wrong in the past.
He revs up the car and drives with full speed ahead. Jun Pyo watches in horror and runs out to push Ji Hoo out of the way, and ends up getting hit full force. And then it’s Ji Hoo’s turn to watch in horror — Jun Pyo does some CRAZY flips in the air before hitting the ground hard. He rushes over to Jun Pyo but he’s fallen unconscious and Ji Hoo calls for help.
In some astounding display of emotion, Madam Kang is shaken at the news of her son being in an accident. At the hospital, Jun Hee is nervous as she waits, the boys stand around in silence, and Jandi is in a complete state of shock. When Madam Kang shows up, Jun Hee loses it. She demands to know if she’s happy now. She’s always been saying that she’s only doing this for the sake of Jun Pyo getting Shinhwa group, so is this the result she’d been hoping for?
Mother, do you know what your son likes to eat? What he likes? What he likes to do? Do you know any of this?
After Secretary Jung informs Madam Kang that Jun Pyo’s surgery has gone well, and Madam Kang takes this as the time to leave. She tries to remain stoic, but we know that she’s visibly upset by Jun Pyo’s state, and uncomfortably moved by these ugly accusations of her as a mother.
After some turmoil from all of our lovely characters, Jun Pyo wakes up. F3 and Jandi go visit him to see how he’s doing and Jun Pyo’s happy to see everyone…except Jandi. Because he doesn’t know who Jandi is. He thinks that Jandi is Ji Hoo’s girlfriend, but he really doesn’t know who she is and doesn’t really care in trying to. When Jun Hee asks the doctor what the matter was, she’s told that Jun Pyo’s suffering from memory loss, which might or might not be the result of stress from the accident. The reason that he specifically cannot remember one person, Jandi, might be due to the fact that memories associated with her are particularly painful or conversely, particularly important. He might regain his memory in six months, or he might not ever regain it.
Jandi and F3 set a campaign to try to jog Jun Pyo’s memory. They re-enact scenarios but nothing works, and they only serve to agitate Jun Pyo further.
And then our magical Jang Yumi comes in. Jandi meets Yumi when she frustratedly tries to get a drink from the vending machine but fails, and Yumi comes to the rescue by drop-kicking the machine and handing Jandi the drink. She’s cute and tiny and adorable, just like Jandi, but more like if Jandi were a hideous BOYFRIEND STEALER.
Yumi and Jun Pyo meet coincidentally when Yumi offers her crutches to a wobbling Jun Pyo. While her original intentions were not bad, Jandi is taken aback at what seems to be her love competitor, and after a while, Yumi and Jun Pyo become even more comfortable with each other. Since Jun Pyo has no memory with Jandi, he does as pleases.
As one of the last resorts in jogging Jun Pyo’s memory, Jandi makes his favorite — a bento meal. But when Yumi comes to visit Jun Pyo in the morning, he mistakenly thinks that she made the food and when he claims to have “remembered,” he asks Yumi if she was the girl. Yumi doesn’t deny anything.
Yi Jung lets a bomb drop. He’s going away to Sweden for maybe four to five years. Ga-eul doesn’t know what to make of this at first but she guesses she can take it as a good piece of news, because it can be the start of something new. And then Yi Jung lets another bomb drop. A tiny one. A pellet, if you will. When he comes back from Sweden, Ga-eul will be the first person he goes to look for. Because, um, not that he LIKES her or anything, but if she still hasn’t found that soulmate of hers in four-five years, maybe some things can be negotiated….:D
Yumi, as expected, has more tricks up her sleeve. She tells Jandi that she’ll try her best to try to help her Jun Pyo oppa remember the things he forgot, but in the meantime, it’s best if Jandi doesn’t go over to Jun Pyo’s anymore. When Jun Pyo lets slip to Yumi that something about Jandi’s expression leaves him with an odd feeling, Yumi shouts outrage. How can he do this to her? She was the one by his side in the hospital! Whine blah whine blah blah whine whine.
Just when Jandi thinks it’s time to give up for good, F3 shows her an invitation for a party to be held by Jun Pyo and Yumi. Great.
At the party, Yumi finds Jandi alone by the pool and has something to tell her. She has tried to help Jun Pyo remember, but unfortunately he can’t, and she’s starting to like him. She also has another announcement but saves that for the party hall.
Once an audience is gathered inside, Yumi announces to everybody that she and Jun Pyo are leaving for America to study abroad. They won’t be back for four years, and the news is very sudden, but they wish happiness to everybody and hope nobody misses them too much.
The F3 boys cannot believe what they hear, but their feelings can’t parallel Jandi’s. She’s hurt and confused. She retreats back to the pool by herself, and when Jun Pyo walks into her, she lays it down for him.
Jandi: Gu Jun Pyo, I’m going to ask one more thing. Do you know how to swim?
Jun Pyo: Swim? I don’t want to swim.
Jandi: You don’t want to swim, or you don’t know how to swim?
Jun Pyo: I have some unpleasant memories associated with swimming so I don’t want to. Never learned.
Jandi: No. You know how to swim.
Jun Pyo: What? What do you understand about me?
Jandi: There’s one thing in the world that scares you out of your mind, bugs. You would rather break your bones than hurt the woman you love. You don’t know the difference between “privacy” and “pride.” You mess up all of your four character says. You hate kids, but one day hope to go stargazing with your own child. You want to be a loving father. You’re lonely but passionate.
Jun Pyo: What are you?
Jandi: That’s you, Gu Jun Pyo.
Jun Pyo: I’m asking you who you think you are.
Jandi: I want you to say my name.
With this, she edges towards the pool, takes off her jacket and lets herself fall into the pool. Jun Pyo looks at her in disbelief, and once Jandi hits the bottom, her hand edges around for the J ♥ J necklace she just flung into the water.
The party inside rush out to see what happened and I just LOVE that everybody just STARES at the person who just FELL INTO A GODDAMN POOL AND IS NOT COMING BACK UP. They all wait hesitantly for something to happen and in the meantime, Jun Pyo gets flashbacks of Jandi swimming in water and the multiple occasions where she near-drowned.
At long last, Jun Pyo remembers and shouts Jandi’s name before jumping into the water to grab her from the abyss. Once back on the ground, Jun Pyo tries to resuscitate Jandi much like the way she did for him the time he fell into the pool. When Jandi coughs up water and gains consciousness, she lets her hand unfurl around the necklace. She says with a smile, “Do you remember now?” Jun Pyo doesn’t think this is worth smiling for and says, “If you scare me like this again, you’re dead.” Jandi just continues to smile, and makes one more request of him, “Say my name again.” Jun Pyo grabs her in a fierce hug.
Jandi’s set to graduate from Shinhwa High soon. She doesn’t have college lined up, though she does want to go to Shinhwa medical school, but she’ll wait until she gets some scholarships before going. In the middle of her conversation with her mom and brother, Jun Pyo tells her to come out.
Once she does, he congratulates her for graduating soon and tells her something. In a move all too familiar, he steps around his car and boxes Jandi with his arms before telling her to meet with him tomorrow. Only, he’s cut off by the roaring engine of a motorbike and she can’t hear what exactly it is he wants her to do. Oh well.
It’s the day of Shinhwa’s graduation party and everybody’s expected to attend, but Jandi just helps the grandpa out at his clinic. When she goes out to throw the trash, a blingin’ white limo pulls up to pick her up. Since there’s nobody around for the driver to mistake, Jandi takes it as a cue to go into a stranger’s car and arrives at the party.
F3 is relieved to see that she’s made it, albeit a bit late. And then in a bit that is in reality really friggin’ cheesy but made me a tiny bit emo, F3 each ask Jandi for a dance. As each dances with Jandi, her voice-over describes all of her F3 sunbaes and I’m wailing on the inside. This is SO lame, but it totally got me. God, Kdrama gods, nobody’s dying, there’s no need to do this ;_;
Woobin is the sunbae who is the most observant and most caring of her sunbaes. Yi Jung is cool and suave on the outside, but quite warm and emotional on the inside. And Ji Hoo sunbae is her protector, the person she met and needed most in a time of emergency. She’ll never forget the hero of her life.
:(
When F3 wonder where Jun Pyo was, Jandi suddenly remembered her conversation with him the other day. And then she thought back to the time where he idiotically waited around for her in the snow by the Namsan Tower and she sets out to look for him. When she gets there, Jun Pyo has some magic lined up for her. Towers light up, fake flames shoot out and it’s all around cheese, but the lighting dudes probably had fun :Db
Inside, Jun Pyo gets Jandi the ever-famous 36300 won coffee before they head for the cable cars. Once on the car, Jandi runs over by the seats and won’t budge. Jun Pyo claims he has something to show her, but Jandi refuses to move. Then she yells at him for writing such things because she’ll never be able to get married now, to which Jun Pyo says, “You’re marrying me, who else would you be marrying?!” This is the cutest thing because Jun Pyo says it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he has never even thought otherwise.
When the two have a serious conversation, Jun Pyo tells Jandi to listen carefully. He suggests they get married, but Jandi is taken aback at how sudden his decision is, but Jun Pyo reveals that he wants to go America for some time. He wasn’t forced into doing so because he made the decision himself. He’ll be gone for about four years, and he’ll be living life on his own terms, instead of living it for others. If he ends up reviving the company, that’ll be great, but if not, he’ll personally shut it down. Jandi laments that four years is a bit long, so Jun Pyo asks her to go with him. After thinking it over, Jandi refuses his offer.
Jandi: When you went to Macau, I also made up my mind. My dreams. My future. What I need to do. What I want to do. Like you, I have to do everything with the best of my ability. You go. When you come back as a real man in four years, I’ll reconsider.
Jun Pyo: Are you serious about that? If you miss your opportunity with me, you’ll regret it.
Jandi: Ya, if you miss your opportunity with me, you’ll regret it.
And, well, it’s true. With that, Jun Pyo concedes since he can’t lie for shit where it concerns her anyway.
Four years later.
Jun Pyo is back with a new-ish ‘do and he’s on set with a talk show host. Our precious Ga-eul is dressed prettily walking on the streets when she spots Jun Pyo on the massive TV.
On set, the hostess talks about Jun Pyo’s blingin’ credentials and the fact that Director Gu Jun Pyo has appeared on the three most prestigious economy trade magazines. Meanwhile, Gu mommy AND daddy sit at home while they watch their son on TV. Madam Kang feeds her husband and she…smiles. What a shock.
Back on TV, the hostess asks a more personal question about Jun Pyo’s private life. Being such a big business man dude with so much to do, it must be lonely during his downtime, so how does he deal with that? Jun Pyo politely smiles and senses that his private love life is about to be discussed.
It would be a lie to say I never experienced hard times. But because I am following on someone’s promise, I’ve worked past it.
The hostess picks up on the fact that he already has that special someone in mind, and asks if marriage plans are in sight. Jun Pyo smiles widely.
Jun Hee, in the meantime, sits from her office as Madam Gu Jun Hee and watches her brother with happiness.
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Yi Jung is back from Sweden, and looking more flamin’ than ever. He does follow suit on his promise and goes to look for Ga-eul, who’s teaching little kids pottery. The little kids question who Yi Jung is, wondering if maaaybe perchance he just came back from abroad. And maaaybe perchance if he just came back from Sweden. Yes to both accounts from Yi Jung. SCORE! He must be the boyfriend that Ga-eul’s been talking about! Little brats.
On the Jandi front: She’s now a medical student, very enthusiastic about her tasks, even if not the best person in the world to do them. She has to retake a board exam, whereas Ji Hoo already graduated from studying in his field of specialty. ‘Tis the life of a doctor.
In the middle of their conversation, a helicopter whizzes by overhead, and in great Gu Jun Pyo fashion, a voice comes out, asking for Geum Jandi’s presence by the ocean.
Jandi treks down to the beach where she finds that it really is Jun Pyo. She almost can’t believe it.
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Jandi: Gu Jun Pyo, what’s going on?
Jun Pyo: What do you mean ‘what’s going on’? I’m here to pick up the Geum Jandi personally reserved for Gu Jun Pyo. Will you look at that, with the white lab coat, it really does look like the ugly duckling turned into a swan.
Jandi: It’s Gu Jun Pyo. It really is Gu Jun Pyo.
Jun Pyo grabs Jandi into a hug.
Jun Pyo: I’ve missed you, so much. I’m not going to let go. We agreed on this, didn’t we? When I came back, you’re responsible for me.
Jandi: Excuse me, stupid Mr. Gu Jun Pyo, what I actually said was that after four years, I’d consider it. I never said I’d be responsible.
Jun Pyo: You’re stupid too, yet you remember so well.
Jandi: And if I remember, there was one more thing: You’d have to come back as a real man.
Jun Pyo: Are you really saying that to Gu Jun Pyo?
Jun Pyo: Geum Jandi, marry me.
At this moment, F3 comes a walkin’ and they request that Jun Pyo can only continue if he gets permission from the rest of them.
And the five reunite.
I’m not gonna lie, for all the hair pulling I did for the show, I’m going to miss having this ridiculousness. At the end of the day, what I connect to most with dramas are the ones with characters who are relatable and who I’ve grown attached to. Even if the writing and the directing are big honkin’ lumps of shit (and for the most part, they were for this show), the characters in and of themselves have to tug at some part of me in order for me to connect with the drama, and they did for me in this one.
Again, I’ll reiterate that the one thing I know Kdramas are good at is upping the emotional ante. This can be a good and a bad thing. A lot of times, when done poorly, the emotional aspects of a story feel like contrivances, where I’m force-fed how to feel and how to react to the plight of the characters. But when done right, you end up caring for the characters and what they say and why they hurt. That’s a little dramatic, but I think despite all the inconsistencies of this drama, at the points where they really mattered — Jun Pyo breaking up with Jandi, Jandi breaking up with Jun Pyo, Jandi trying to get Jun Pyo to remember, Jandi’s reflection on her sunbaes — I fell prey to the niceties of their relationships. I did attach myself for three months and I do really care about the last 15 minutes of the show because I want to know where they ended up.
Could this show have been made better? Boy, do not even get me started. For one, Jandi’s character went from badass extraordinaire to girl who would test the limits of her lungs just to see if Jun Pyo may or may not save her. For me, that pool scene was seriously the most annoying, most absurd, most make-my-blood-boil scene from the series. Yes, it was dramatic. Yes, it was meant to be an ultimatum. Yes, you’re supposed to know and anticipate that Jun Pyo will come to his senses.
We’re supposed to believe in the power of el-oh-vee-ee but it’s such an irresponsible scene to show girls. This is not the kind of love you should aspire to, the one where you have to do something as drastic as THAT to test the limits of your relationship with someone. If that scene was parodied by Mad TV, Bobby Lee would play Gu Jun Pyo and after watching Jandi fall into the water, he’d contemplate for a second before he got the eff out of there and let her snuff it in the water. When a scene is entirely mockable, yet is supposed to be romantic and significant, it’s…not well done. And may make a few feminists turn in their graves, but hey, whatever, feminism was never BOF’s strong point.
Now I’m going to take off my Whiney McGrumpy pants and talk about one good aspect of the Jundi relationship — and I think that’s the fact that Jun Pyo is loyal. Technically, both of them only have eyes for each other and we repeatedly see themselves fight over their circumstances to try and be with each other, but Jun Pyo’s loyalty stands out so much more to me. The line “Of course you’re gonna marry me, who else would you marry?!” is so nice because it never even crosses his mind that he would marry someone else, or let someone else marry her. It’s this sort of child-like perception of the world that really makes Jun Pyo ultimately a guy you love because you can see it in his actions when he doesn’t even know he’s doing something loyal. It’s harder to tell with Jandi.
If there’s one thing I learned about watching and recapping this drama, it’s that you should watch this drama with half a non-critical brain, and half a really-mothereffin’-critical brain. I think it’s easier to pick out what you do enjoy from a show when you’ve got both sides working at deciphering the story. Good things will seem even better when they’re set against the barrage of bad, so ultimately, for all I bitched, this was the most fun I’ve had watching a show in a long time. Recapping is not gonna be a “thing” for me but this was a good experience. I hope all those who read my recaps enjoyed my writing and I hope you enjoyed the show! Now, let’s work together on filling that BOF void together…Chocolate cookies, perhaps? Jun Pyo shaped chocolate cookies? What say you?
