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City Hunter: Episode 20 (Final)

Am I dead? I think I might be dead. City Hunter may have gone killed me dead.

This finale hits all the right notes for me, wrapping up the plot and giving us some emotional payoffs along with the narrative resolutions, and doing it with suspense, tension (my blood pressure is still spiked, I swear), and satisfaction. The ending leaves me feeling wistful and bittersweet at the cost it took to get to this point of resolution, but the series signs off with enough openness that I can imagine my own continuation of the story from here.

Or, you know, they could give us a Season 2.* JUST SAYIN’.

*Seriously! We have such ideas for another season! Really good ones. Auuuuugh, Season 2 aja!

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Let me just take a moment to talk about Young-ju’s death, which I freaking love and yet totally am shattered about. He was the one person — aside from Yoon-sung — whose death would have really meant something to me, which would’ve knifed me in the gut and then twisted the blade, and I’m totally in awe that the drama went there. Even if I’m also feeling a little raw and upset about it.

Just when we thought they weren’t going to actually get dark and serious and kill anybody to add that bit of gravitas you can’t fake with near-misses, the drama went and knocked one off that really, really counts. Nana and Shik-joong had their moments, and if they’d been killed at this stage, I would have been dissatisfied — it would’ve been too late to have impact, and lost its shock factor, and I would have argued that both characters would have been more effectively killed earlier.

I may be one of a minority who loved the Young-ju character the whole way through — so determined, so passionate, so upright and fair — but even more than that, his death has such resonance because it makes a difference on an ideological level. As was pointed out in the previous recap, these two men were capable of doing what the other couldn’t, and therefore they both needed each other to mete justice. Now with Young-ju gone, he practically mandates that Yoon-sung do the right thing, without distractions or wavering or letting personal feelings interfere with the truth. It sets us up for a pretty dramatic conclusion in this episode, for sure.

They way he dies is so thematically perfect, and consistent with character. Of course Young-ju would choose to face the bad guy over his own safety; he always has the greater good in his sights, even if he’s sacrificing his own health to ensure it would be protected. When he took out his phone to ward Yoon-sung away from him, gaaaaahhh that just about killed me.

So I was already half-dead when starting this episode, which killed me all over again.

FINAL EPISODE RECAP

Beaten to a bloody pulp by Chun Jae-man’s minions, Young-ju dies, hand clasped in Yoon-sung’s.

And then…Kim Jong-shik wakes up in his hospital bed. Oof. What timing.

You know what? Now I’m glad Kim Yong-shik is alive, because waking up to find that his cohort-in-crime killed his son? It’s the perfect way to make him regret his actions for the rest of his life, in a way that his suicide attempt would never have achieved.

(I’m sorry for doubting you, City Hunter. I should have had more faith. *sobs*)

Yoon-sung takes Young-ju’s phone, and sees the text message supposedly sent from the City Hunter that directed him to the junkyard.

He asks Jin-pyo why he did it, and Jin-pyo replies that all he was doing was sending the prosecutor to find the truth. Yeah, if you put the truth in the middle of a lion’s den and strapped a bloody steak to his chest.

Yoon-sung says that Jin-pyo essentially killed the innocent prosecutor, to which Jin-pyo says that his comrades were innocent men who died, too: “Now Chun Jae-man will die at my hands.”

Chun arrives at the port for his getaway, only to be stopped by Jin-pyo, who takes out the two minions swiftly with his cane. He doesn’t even break his stride, much less a sweat.

Chun stutters, “What do you want?” Jin-pyo: “Your life.”

Chun makes feeble excuses for the 1983 massacre, saying he had no choice. Jin-pyo turns that right back on him, saying there’s no choice now, either: He’s gotta die.

Chun dashes for the boat, scrambling away from the slowly advancing Jin-pyo, who at one point is beautifully framed by the Korean flag behind him and the ship’s light casting him in shadow — now there’s an avenging angel of death if ever there was one.

As Chun kneels and begs for mercy, the camera shifts focus to their two shadows. We hear Jin-pyo drawing his sword-cane, then striking.

Yoon-sung arrives at the dock and makes his way to the boat, finally finding the bodies of the minions unconscious, and Chun Jae-man lying in a pool of blood. He shouts in frustration.

Yoon-sung flips through the secret book, reading about Operation Clean Sweep’s origins and the five men who orchestrated the affair: now-dead Senator Lee Kyung-wan, former presidential candidate Seo Yong-hak, recently comatose Kim Jong-shik, freshly killed Chun Jae-man…and President Choi Eung-chan.

The last name is the surprise, and Yoon-sung understands now: “This is what it all comes down to?”

In the morning, he goes to his father to tell him he’s responsible for Young-ju’s blood as well as Chun’s. Jin-pyo says calmly that Chun was the one who killed Young-ju, but Yoon-sung counters, “You’re no different from Chun Jae-man. He didn’t kill those special agents himself, either. He merely borrowed the hands of others.”

That pushes a button, and Jin-pyo whips his blade around to point at Yoon-sung’s throat: “You dare put me in the same category as Chun Jae-man?!”

Surprising Jin-pyo with his knowledge of the full truth, Yoon-sung asks if the final step in Jin-pyo’s cruel revenge was to have President Choi Eung-chan die at his son’s hands: “You’ve had quite a lot of fun these past 28 years, stealing me from my mother, making me believe a different man was my biological father, and telling me to take revenge against my real biological father. That revenge — I don’t think I’ll be able to do it.”

Jin-pyo asks if it’s because of their blood tie, but Yoon-sung says no, and that he’s seen up close what a good president Choi is. Jin-pyo counters that he didn’t get to his current position with clean hands, and says, like the sadistic bastard that he is, “I look forward to seeing your expression when you find out what he’s really like.” Yoon-sung says, “Don’t look forward to seeing my expression, period. Things won’t happen the way you want.”

Seo Yong-hak — ironically, he’s the safest of the targets in prison — sees the impending shitstorm and tries to pre-emptively strike to protect himself. Calling the press, he announces that the fifth City Hunter target will be the president, and that the five targets had been involved in Operation Clean Sweep together — but that the first four were “scapegoats of revenge.” The actual leader, he declares, was the president.

This forces the president to also speak to the media, and he calls an emergency press conference. He plays the “I know nothing about this” angle, though — and why do I feel like you’re reliving your childhood regret of refusing to cop up to the stolen lunch? The harder you insist now, the more disgraceful this is going to be later…

The president ends the press conference having stated nothing of relevance, but is stopped by one last question: Was he aware that the Seoul district prosecutor who was in search of the confidential records has died? Judging from his reaction, this is a surprise.

When Sang-gook hears the latest news, things finally click into place for him. He’d wondered all this time why Jin-pyo was wasting his time talking up senators and high-ranking officials when he had the book in his possession, but now he guesses that Jin-pyo was purposely bribing the people around the president, to feed the corruption before taking him down for it.

Sang-gook pleads for Jin-pyo to end this now, to restore honor to the dead and stop there. Jin-pyo ignores him, as usual.

The mood is heartbreaking at Young-ju’s funeral. Sae-hee collapses in tears, his father weeps quietly, and his co-workers mourn his loss. Surprisingly, more than the tears or apologies, I’m moved by his boss’s reaction; he says in a shell-shocked voice, “Dead or alive, you’re one of my boys. What you couldn’t finish, I’ll do it for you. I’ll catch all the bastards who did this to you and feed them prison rice, and that society of justice that you so wanted to see realized… As long as I’m wearing my prosecutor’s robes, I’ll do everything to preserve it.”

Oh, that breaks my heart. Why does this make me cry even more than his actual death? It must be that painful understanding that Young-ju’s death carries narrative purpose, and that makes it particularly poignant to see that people are spurred by it. When you live a life so passionately and unwaveringly, your conviction moves people, even if it’s belatedly in death.

The president arrives and pays his respects, and a few moments later Yoon-sung steps through the doors. Young-ju’s assistant Pil-jae gets in his face belligerently, asking why he’s here: “This happened to our prosecutor because he was chasing you. The City Hunter! That’s you!”

He calls Yoon-sung a murderer and screams his vow to catch him.

(Aggggggh, this is such a perfect setup for Season 2, it’s kills me. No really, there are little bits of my sanity dying right now, so aggrieved are they that such a fantastic setup won’t get to see fruition — ’cause this means we have the dumber, slower, but now incredibly impassioned second prosecutor taking the place of the first, but operating under an incomplete understanding of the truth, vowing with all the best of intentions to capture the City Hunter…)

Without confirming or denying the City Hunter accusations, Yoon-sung tells the president quietly, “I came because of the loss of a worthy prosecutor, but I’ll go.”

Sang-gook joins Team City Hunter to share what he’s found regarding the connection between the president and Chun Jae-man. There are signs of deals and favors being made between them, such as the large amount of Haewon Group money that funded Choi’s presidential campaign.

President Choi mulls over the accusation of Yoon-sung being the City Hunter. Not happy news for him. He looks over immigrations records that place Yoon-sung’s entrance into the country just months ago, and puts together the facts that have been there all along, such as Yoon-sung’s proximity when the City Hunter routed his incriminating videos through the Blue House’s network.

Those suspicions are confirmed when prosecutor Pil-jae drops by to fill him in on the City Hunter investigation. He explains that Young-ju had been chasing Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung, the former of whom is linked to the 1983 incident. Yoon-sung, on the other hand, was born to former Secret Service agent Park Mu-yeol…and Lee Kyung-hee.

This comes as news to the president, who clenches his hand as he registers the implication.

Nana warns Yoon-sung that the president may have caught on to his identity, and has requested his personnel file. Yoon-sung is called in to his office, and for a moment both father and son look at each other, both knowing the truth but pretending not to.

President Choi asks if he’d seen the press conference. Yoon-sung asks the loaded question about whether his statements (denying knowledge of Operation Clean Sweep) were true — will he cop to the truth, or deny it? He waits tensely for the answer.

Choi says, “It’s true.”

Aw, that’s disappointing. Choi explains that being president requires him to make decisions, too many in number for one person to handle alone, so he’s chosen to concentrate on two causes: the health and education of the people, which he will do his utmost to protect. It’s why he was against Chun’s bill to privatize health care, and against Kim’s methods of denying university students tuition. In a few days’ time, an amendment regarding these social issues will be up for a vote, and he’s determined to pass it.

Yoon-sung asks if he’d still stand by those causes even if the methods he uses are unjust.

Nana hears the truth of Yoon-sung’s paternity from Kyung-hee and asks Yoon-sung about it. She understands the dilemma he faces of going up against his father, and doesn’t want him to continue.

He tells her that Targets 1 through 4 all had corrupt skeletons in their closet: “If they hadn’t, I would have forgiven them.” When Nana asks if he’ll act against the president, too, he hesitates a moment before replying, “If he’s corrupt.”

Nana tries to argue that he doesn’t have to be the one to punish the president, but Yoon-sung cuts her off to say that that’s the dilemma faced by Young-ju, who didn’t act and covered up his father’s misdeed: “But was that really to his father’s benefit?”

In strategizing their next move, Team City Hunter focus their attention on Senator Lee Young-taek, who is under investigation for taking bribes regarding Chun’s privatized medical care bill. He’s a necessary figure in passing the president’s amendment.

True to expectation, the president meets with Lee Young-taek in a restaurant, asking for privacy. Lee asks what he’ll get in return for backing the bill, and President Choi offers to get the police to back off their investigation. Oh no, you just gave the City Hunter reason to go after you…

Choi isn’t happy with the deal — he clenches his fist tellingly — but sees it as a necessary evil. Lee accepts the deal and leaves, at which point Choi’s expression darkens.

And then, the sliding door to the adjoining room opens, and there stands Yoon-sung: “I had no idea you were so skilled in striking deals, Mr. President.”

Choi stands by his choice, though: He doesn’t regret the compromise made because it will enable countless students’ educations. People want this amendment to pass because tuitions are too high, but the people with power are the politicians and rich fat cats. He says that in politics you have causes that require you to make deals, and there’s no other way to effect change.

Yoon-sung asks the Jean Valjean question of whether it’s okay for orphans to steal in order to eat. I’m guessing he didn’t see Les Mis, because the whole tenor of that story runs counter to his point. But he argues that you can’t sacrifice things along the way when brokering your backdoor deals, and use them to cover up corruption.

He informs the president that he has the confidential book: “That decision you don’t regret — I’ll make you regret it.” Phew. Badass son.

Nana has been keeping watch with the bodyguards outside, but picks up on a strange noise and heads off in search of the potential trouble. She bursts into the president’s dining room moments after Yoon-sung’s departure, but the whole point of the distraction was to allow Yoon-sung this confrontation without Nana in the mix.

Posing as a reporter, Yoon-sung tracks down a man involved in President Choi’s presidential campaign and asks about the funding source. The man has his own suspicions, but suggests that Choi kept record of it somewhere, since he’s scrupulous about keeping ledgers.

The man then warns the president that a man had sought him out asking for information, and Choi guesses that Yoon-sung will seek him out soon.

Yoon-sung goes to the presidential quarters and cites tutoring for Da-hae as his reason for gaining entrée, but hides himself in a separate room. He goes through the study looking for that ledger, but finds nothing.

President Choi senses Yoon-sung is around and retrieves the ledger from its hiding place inside his pillow, and finds Yoon-sung mid-search. Holding out the book, he asks if this is what he came for, and wonders at Yoon-sung’s motivation for doing this.

Yoon-sung: “Because of faith. The faith that citizens have that the politicians they elect will act in good conscience. The faith that soldiers who enlist to protect their country have that their country will protect them. The faith that universities will turn out talented people, for the sake of our next generation. The faith that businesses will both suffer with and grow alongside their workers. And the faith of twenty-one men who were promised by their country to be met off the shores of Nampo. Protecting that faith is my cause.”

Goddamn that is a good speech. Young-ju is deeply principled in his belief in the law and the quest for justice, but despite their differences, Yoon-sung is just as principled in his own cause, even if that requires him to break some laws.

The president says, “In the past 28 years, I never for one day forgot Operation Clean Sweep. I understand well how much pain Jin-pyo felt.” Uh, unless you were shot in the chest by the bullet that pierced your best friend’s heart, I’m gonna say you don’t. But okay, we’re being figurative here.

President Choi gives Yoon-sung the book, calling this the record of the illegal funds “I had no choice but to receive.” Dude, I get that you’re a decent guy with a moral compass that’s relatively normal — not like the skewed megalomania of your Council-mates — but your tendency to frame everything as though you’re a victim of your own choices is starting to piss me off.

But at least he’s a man who understands that his actions will have consequences: He tells Yoon-sung that he’ll be grateful if he’s the one to handle this. Yoon-sung takes the book and heads out silently, stopped when President Choi calls out, “Yoon-sung-ah. The father who made you live this way is sorry.”

Ack! Yoon-sung is stunned at this admission, but not swayed from his own cause. He walks out quietly, determinedly, with tears in his eyes.

Nana asks if he means to continue to the end, saying that the longer this goes on, the person most hurt is himself. Yoon-sung says he must, as there’s nobody else to do it.

He’s disheartened as he swoops into action, but doesn’t stray from his path; he sends copies of the confidential 1983 file to media outlets, as well as the ledger pages detailing the illegal campaign contributions.

Voting begins on the amendment, just as the packages arrive at the papers. The amendment passes, to the president’s relief, but that elation is cut short by the breaking of the news of his two scandals. Calls are made for impeachment.

Choi tells an aide ruefully, “It’s okay. I feel a weight has been lifted. This is how it should have been from the start.”

The next delivery to the front of the prosecutor’s office is a six-parter, with the bribed senators roped together and delivered with photographic evidence of their misdeeds.

After monitoring the news, Yoon-sung gets up to prepare for the inevitable confrontation: “Father will be coming.”

Meanwhile, Jin-pyo readies his handgun and puts on the remaining dog tags.

Nana is entered into the system as being off-duty tomorrow, to her surprise. Aw, Yoon-sung, trying to take her out of harm’s way — and consequently putting her right in the thick of it, because what are the odds Nana is going to sit this out knowing that he’s planning to move? Thinking of the possible conflict, Nana contemplates her own gun.

Yoon-sung prepares his gun, too, and can I say that I do not care for this elegiac background score? I care for it NOT AT ALL. It’s making me crazy nervous. Also, there are too many guns for this to end well, I’m thinking… Damn you Chekhov and your gun rules!

Jin-pyo calls President Choi to give him the warning: He’s due for his judgment, and not from the people but from Jin-pyo. Choi is resigned to his future, and tells the lead bodyguard that he’ll be expecting an important guest, who should be led to him politely without being frisked. He asks for time alone and gets it, while Nana peers into the room to check — she didn’t take her day off after all.

Jin-pyo arrives and is told the president is waiting for him, and is led inside. Yet when he steps inside the hall, it’s Yoon-sung who meets him instead.

Jin-pyo will not be thwarted from his final target and tells Yoon-sung there’s nothing for him to do anymore: “You can’t stop a revenge 28 years in the making.”

Yoon-sung counters that he’ll take care of this, leading to a standoff as they stare each other down…and then both grab for their guns. Ohhh, fuck.

Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung pull their guns out at the same time and level them at each other. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. This is just like that damned dream, only a hundred times worse ’cause it’s REAL.

Yoon-sung: “The cruel revenge that requires me to shoot my biological father — do you think I could carry that out and live well? Having to point a gun at the woman I love — do you think I could do that without a care? Having to fight the father who lost his leg for me — how do you think I’d feel? I wanted you to think just once of me, and stop. I…just want to live an ordinary life…happily with you. But…that was all a dream.”

And then he points the gun at his own head.

WHAT THE—?!?!

And for one moment, finally, Jin-pyo looks surprised. Yoon-sung vows: “If this is my fate, then I will end it by my own hand.”

NOOOOOOO!

Yoon-sung’s finger tightens on the trigger…hand shaking…Jin-pyo looking on in shock…

A voice shouts, “No!” It’s the president, standing with Nana, who points the gun at Jin-pyo.

Nana tells Jin-pyo to stop, and then pleads with Yoon-sung to lower his gun.

President Choi tells Jin-pyo he’s been waiting for him. Jin-pyo returns, “I’ve come for that life I promised to take.”

President Choi tells Nana he’s sorry, then shoves her out of his way. He closes his eyes, having accepted his fate, and awaits Jin-pyo’s bullet.

Jin-pyo turns his gun from Yoon-sung to President Choi — and there Yoon-sung is, with the choice to let one of his fathers die. He can let Jin-pyo shoot Choi, or shoot Jin-pyo first.

But no, he’s got to be a goddamned hero, because he jumps in front of Choi instead — and takes the bullet through the heart.

Nana recovers her bearings, turns to see Yoon-sung shot, and shoots Jin-pyo.

HOLY SHIT. They’re going all Hamlet on us. Blood, blood, everywhere. It happens so quickly that it’s almost over before anyone’s fully taken in what’s happened.

The bodyguards rush in and escort a thunderstruck President Choi away, while Yoon-sung collapses to the ground, wheezing in pain. Nana rushes to his side.

Jin-pyo is bloody and badly injured but still able to hold his gun up. Ordering the bodyguards surrounding them to stay still, he points his gun at Yoon-sung on the ground.

With effort, Jin-pyo addresses the room (not unlike Young-ju in his dying moments as he declares himself):

Jin-pyo: “I am the sole survivor of 1983’s Operation Clean Sweep, Lee Jin-pyo. To avenge my comrades who were betrayed by our country, I killed Lee Kyung-wan and Chun Jae-man with my own hands, dropped Kim Jong-shik from the overpass, and sent Seo Yong-hak to the prosecutors. Now I will kill the last, President Choi Eung-chan. I am the City Hunter.”

Oh god, he’s taking the fall for his son. He’s exchanging their lives, and now he drops the clip out of his gun. He whirls to face the bodyguards with an impotent gun, and they fire away reflexively.

Jin-pyo is hit with several bullets and collapses slowly, with Yoon-sung watching in horror, too injured to do anything but lie there in pain.

Yoon-sung reaches out his arm toward his fallen father, and with difficulty, father and son inch their fingers toward each other until they can clasp their hands together, both lying amid their own blood.

Oh god oh god. This is just like Yoon-sung’s nightmare, except waaay worse. At least his Nana fears were realized happily when they reached toward each other with his blood infusing hers, but this time it’s a literal death-dream come true.

Heartbreakingly, Jin-pyo looks at Yoon-sung with a faint smile.

And then, we rejoin our characters an unspecified time later.

Da-hae works in a small cafe — perhaps one she runs, or at least manages. Nana visits her, her usual upbeat attitude in place although her father has recently passed away.

Ki-joon and Eun-ah are finally an official couple, and come bearing wedding invitations. Eun-ah complains that the Blue House is a lot less interesting now that Nana has quit and Yoon-sung is “gone” (deliberately vague to keep us on the edge of our seats).

At Yoon-sung’s apartment, a wreath of flowers has been sent by now-former President Choi Eung-chan, wishing someone a healthy and happy recovery. They’re for Mom, telling her that he’s thankful and sorry, and that he wishes her happiness. Kyung-hee and Shik-joong have packed their bags and are ready to embark on new lives in the U.S.

Nana walks through the airport with her own packed suitcase in tow. Spotting a familiar silhouette in the distance, she hurries toward it — but to her disappointment, she doesn’t see him.

But the camera whirls around, revealing Yoon-sung standing behind her, alive and well after all. Not that we doubted. But still! Phew, relief. You can start breathing again.

She turns around and sees him…she smiles…and he smiles.

At the military cemetery, a large memorial has been erected to honor the memories of the 21 valiant soldiers who died for their country, the first two names being Lee Jin-pyo and Park Mu-yeol.

And later, Yoon-sung drives along in the night.

 
JAVABEANS’ COMMENTS

What a satisfying way to wrap up this story arc, yet leave the story open-ended enough that we can imagine Yoon-sung continuing on to become the City Hunter for hire that characterized the original manga story. Even if we never get more of this City Hunter, the setup works in creating an origin story with its own, complete wrap-up that still points to more in Yoon-sung’s life in the road ahead, whether or not we get to see it unfold onscreen. (Although, we really should see it unfold onscreen. Really.)

I think the idea of Jin-pyo’s death was pretty much a possibility from Day 1, so it’s not a surprise. But what it did was achieve a lovely sense of closure for this story, and while I think Jin-pyo wouldn’t have given up his quest for the fifth target on his own — I don’t really think he got to acceptance or forgiveness — if pushed to choose between that and saving Yoon-sung, he had no qualms in making his choice. *Tear*

The cruel irony of the sacrifice is that Yoon-sung now knows that Dad did love him after all, but it needed Dad’s sacrifice to prove it. And Jin-pyo gives not only his life to Yoon-sung but takes the blame, so that Yoon-sung could in fact have a happy life after all this darkness and revenge. That’s been the big question all series long, hasn’t it? Not whether City Hunter would survive, but how he would be able to live as a normal person as he so desperately wanted. And until ten minutes before the end, there didn’t seem to be much hope of that for him. It’s a pretty damn satisfying resolution, in my book.

As I said in the podcast, this drama isn’t perfect, and it has plenty of flaws along the way. But it had a special magic about the way it stirred my emotions, got me invested in these characters, kept me on the edge of my seat, and surprised me at multiple turns. It’s beautiful to look at, scored with music that fit every mood, and boasts a gorgeous melancholy ambiance; it would have made me a fan even before we got to the tight plot. (It wasn’t airtight, but it was well-thought-out and developed well.) But then you add in heaps of thematic and emotional resonance to the mix, and you’ve basically owned me for the past two months.

 
GIRLFRIDAY’S COMMENTS

Not a perfect finale or a perfect show by any means, but damn was it gripping all the way till the end. I love that the final episode’s central conflict was the showdown between Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung. To me that was always the heart of the show — the father-son relationship that was so fraught with pain and misplaced love. It was the central love story to me, above Yoon-sung’s relationship with Nana.

One thing I absolutely love about this show’s treatment of the paternal conflict is that Jin-pyo IS the real dad, in the only way that matters. The fact that the president is the biological father does not somehow transfer nineteen episodes of daddy-angst onto someone new because of blood. Yoon-sung remains, from beginning to end, Jin-pyo’s son. Not by blood, obligation, or anything else but unconditional love. And Jin-pyo’s sacrifice in the end proves that Yoon-sung’s love for Dad wasn’t unrequited. Finally, a story that acknowledges that blood is NOT the end all be all! Welcome to kdramaland!

Jin-pyo was the most tragic character in this drama, and I knew from the start he would never survive. (A character that extreme can only end in epic death; it’s like a law of the universe.) But no matter how totally screwed up his worldview was, his all-too-late realization that Yoon-sung was the only thing that mattered, and his final resting place alongside Mu-yeol as a soldier finally put his vengeance to rest and his soul at peace in a satisfying way.

I’m good with the open-ended relationship with Nana (and prefer it in fact to a candy-coated version), because no matter which way you slice it, their relationship will always be an open-ended one. I would’ve liked more interaction, more words, more time, even if the end result were just as open-ended. But I got the sense that it was a casualty of the live-shoot, which is too bad.

As a series, City Hunter gave me that perfect combination of action and heart – what began as a quest to avenge a death became a young man’s journey to becoming a hero. It tapped into the core of what I love about hero fiction, in illustrating the cost of being an idealist in a corrupt world.

That’s why the death of Young-ju is so fitting in an ideological sense, because he was the most upright defender of justice, who paid the gravest price. To me that death is what seals Yoon-sung’s fate as the City Hunter. What came before are the stirrings of a hero; in taking up the mantle after Young-ju’s death, he becomes the hero both men were meant to be.

My biggest disappointment with the finale is the drama’s failure to nail this in a concrete way onscreen, at the end. It’s there thematically, and Young-ju’s death resonates with all the characters, but if I were writing this show, the last scene would’ve been Yoon-sung at Young-ju’s grave, overlooking the city he’s sworn to protect.

No words necessary; just that image alone would’ve satisfied the promise of the City Hunter’s future, spurred by the sacrifice of his brother in arms, the perfect mirror to the opening brotherhood between Jin-pyo and Mu-yeol, also separated by death. The moment was there in his death in Episode 19, and their relationship is the perfect bookend, but that tiny push of thematic resonance and closure would’ve been my ideal send-off for the City Hunter.

I loved City Hunter for a million reasons, but the biggest is this: it gets me right there, that place in my heart where my six-year old self refuses to give up on the idea that heroes fight evil and good prevails. It ran the gamut from hilarious and cheeky to kickass and epic, and though the finale’s delivery wasn’t pitch-perfect, as a whole the show swept me up in its world and made me want to live there.

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Thank You!

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Yes, THANK YOU Javabeans and Girlfriday for helping me understand and love CH more throughout this wonderful 20-episode journey. LOVE LOVE LOVE CH!

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Javabeans and Girlfriday... You Rock! Thank you for making City Hunter an amazing experience!

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EXACTLY! DAEDAN HI KAMSA HAMNIDA JB and GF!!!

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Yes, thanks so much.....I love reading the parting thoughts from both of you!

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First off THANK YOU JB and GF!!!!! you guys are what have made the City Hunter Mania INCREDIBLE!!!!! so from the bottom of my krdama heart/soul THANK YOU!!.....

I hope we all get to meet each other again on maybe City Hunter 2???....who knows what may lay ahead but it was one of the most rewarding and thrilling ride ever.

:D :D

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Thank you, ladies, for you hard work in recapping this -- this show was awesome. Definitely one for the reruns; this is the first kdrama over 16 episodes where I felt the extra two weeks were justified and gripping, rather than fluffy filler. I'm so impressed with Korea's television programming! Personally, I haven't seen a show as engrossing as this in the U.S. since LOST ended.

Goodbye, Batman City Hunter! You are loved.

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So happy that YOON SUNG didnt die!!

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http://www.allkpop.com/2011/07/spoiler-city-hunter-the-producer-of-city-hunter-clarifies-the-ending

Yoon-sung is not dead. Never thought he was and wondered why some thought he was.

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first? hah, shameless!

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thank you!

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Thanks for the recap! :D

My reactions in a nutshell:

Yoon-sung turning his gun at his own head: My heart shattering into little pieces, part one.

Jin Pyo dying while holding Yoon-sung’s hand: My heart shattering into little pieces, part two.

Yoon-sung and Nana reuniting: No ring? No proposal? Wait…she’s not hallucinating, is she?

Final shot of Yoon-sung driving: Wow, that musical transition was kind of choppy…hey! Was that the ending? Seriously?

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Now that I've actually read the recap, I have a few more things to add.

I am thrilled that the ending is happy. I'm glad that Yoon-sung gets to move on with his life and that he finally returns to Nana! And like JB and GF point out, it's so touching that Jin Pyo sacrifices his life so that Yoon-sung can begin his life anew, and that although not by blood, Jin Pyo really is Yoon-sung's father. So. Perfect.

My main complaint with the ending was the epilogue. It was a bit ambiguous and seemed a tad rushed. For instance, the scene with Nana and Yoon-sung definitely should have had some dialogue. And I totally agree with GF--having Yoon-sung visit Young-Ju's grave would have made the ending so much better, thematically.

Overall, I'm still unsure how I feel about this drama.

There are so many things I liked about City Hunter--the slick look, Lee Min Ho, the intricate plots, the amazing music, Lee Min Ho, the gripping cliffhangers, Lee Min Ho... :)

But there were also many things that I dislike about City Hunter--the middle episodes focused too much on the romantic angle, Nana's character still seemed a bit underdeveloped, Sae Hee's character had so much wasted potential, and so on.

I know that no drama can be absolutely perfect, but I feel like I never entirely got on board with this drama because of some of those things I disliked. So while I did enjoy it, I wasn't in love with it. It was definitely worth my time, but would I watch it again? I'm not sure...

Anyways, I really do appreciate your recaps, Javabeans and Girlfriday! Reading your hilarious comments and insightful interpretations adds so much more to my viewing expereince.

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I do wonder whether things like

"Nana’s character still seemed a bit underdeveloped, Sae Hee’s character had so much wasted potential, and so on."

don't in fact point to a second series being a possibility. The ambiguous ending and well drawn and apparently under-utilised secondary characters would make very fertile ground for another series. An excellent launch pad for a whole new adventure rather than a slightly unsatisfactory ending to the current one.

Here's hoping!

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That definitely could be a reason!

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Wow... after watching the last two episodes, I must say it was a nice ending to a wild and unpredictable ride. Yet, I'm still having conflicting emotions about the ending and whether even a second season will live up to the drama's potential. I DO want another season to make me satisfied, but I know there won't be a Young-ju or a badass Jin-pyo to intermingle with the surviving characters. It definitely was a bittersweet ending that gave me relief but still makes me feel uncertain for Yoon-sung and his loved ones.
I always knew Jin-pyo had the heart but I accepted the fact that he was already too far along the road of evil to save himself in the real world. But his self-sacrifice for Yoon-sung was the perfect way to show that he still had the capacity to love (he's only human!) despite his deep revenge for his country's men. Seriously... he gets the badass award hands down. I'm still shaken from Young-ju's death and the thought that Sae-hee will never be able to start anew with him is heartbreaking bc she always cared for him. She just doesn't deserve that kind of loss in the end. And Young-ju! Why Young-ju??? Out of all the people. I loved his character so much and his budding bromance with Yoon-sung, but it all got shattered bc he can't return from the freaking dead for Season 2. DAMN it! If only... if only.....
But of course, I'm happy Yoon-sung and Nana remain together bc that's what everyone was rooting for even though others had to die for them. And thank goodness he didn't end up shooting himself. Gah! But then, he got shot twice! Please stop shooting him now! He's not REALLY made of steel! I like how the ending was uncertain for their future, yet was happy and had direction for new stories to come.
It was definitely a crazy ride, and I'm happy I embarked on this adventure in the world of City Hunter. I don't remember the last time I was this emotionally drawn to a drama. I'd love more k-dramas to take on as much complexity has this one did. Thank you JB and GF for the recaps. It was great reliving the events while reading them. Go, Team City Hunter!

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I agree with GF's analysis of Yoon-sung and Jin-pyo. I loved the relationship they had, even though it was cruel at times, and that they still loved each other in the end no matter if they were related by blood or not. The fact that Jin-pyo sacrificed his life for Yoon-sung to live "normally" is perfect bc Yoon-sung didn't choose to be taken away and brought up in the harsh, deadly environment that turned him into the City Hunter. Jin-pyo gave Yoon-sung the chance to have what Jin-pyo couldn't give before. I totally respect that even though this journey was by no means simple and without legs blasting off and people getting stabbed, cut, and shot.
The ending was way to choppy and fast-forwarded for my liking, which just got me confused and I had to think it over for a few minutes after the credits suddenly appeared. The whole Nana-Yoon-sung relationship kind of faded towards the end of the drama, so there wasn't a satisfying feeling for the couple even though they ended up together and safe. I like GF's idea of Yoon-sung at Young-ju's grave at the end. That would've made my heart feel a little better. But they made so many little scenes that I didn't much get a good sense of calmness for. But overall, the drama beats a whole lot of others, so even with the flaws, I am glad that this drama even existed to make me want to be part of this world, even if it was just for 20 episodes.

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Lidia, I think that you are definitely on target. There was a lack of resolution at the end that was unsatisfying. If I thought that it was an intentional decision, it would be easier to accept, but as was suggested by others, the ending was probably rushed due to a lack of time. This is so common in kdramas and because I really loved City Hunter, it is particularly disappointing now.

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Ditto, Lidia! Well said...

And many thanks for DB & GF, your recaps are just fantastic!

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Oh my gosh, that's exactly what I thought at the end final scene of YoonSung driving off LOL.

It really was a choppy musical transition...then my eyes went O.O "WHY IS THE SCREEN BLANK?!?!".

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Yoon-sung's nightmare's came true except instead of Nana it was Jin-pyo...

City Hunter.... when will there be someone like you again?

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O.M.F.G.
CITY HUNTER IS THE BEST FUCKING SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE ENDING
STARTED STRONG, FINISHED STRONGER

THANK YOU: DIRECTORS, WRITERS, ACTORS, JB, & GF

IT WAS AN AMAZING RIDE!!!!!!! <3

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!!!!SEASON 2!!!!
PLEASE DRAMA GODS

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DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THAT INSTRUMENTAL OST HAS FINALLY BEEN RELEASED YET. ITS THE ONE THAT'S USED IN THE ENDINGS A LOT, THE DRAMATIC ONE WITH ALL THE VIOLINS.

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I think it's called Red Water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJSgudAi_o

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@hhk.
sadly no, its another one that was used right at the end of ep 19 :'( but thanks

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I don't think that instrumental will ever be released. Been waiting forever! :(

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Seriously. There NEEDS to be a season 2.

Awesome recap.

Come back City Hunter

come backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

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TOTALLY AGREEE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID! (:

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THANK YOU SO MUCH. i'm so sad it's over. :(

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Thank you JB!!!

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another wonderful drama at an end.
a lovely way to finish off july

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Best kdrama, EVER!

Long live my Flamingo Dreams. I will never forget you!

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Cynthia, I am slow so I don't get the Flamingo Dreams...Care to explain?

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LMH's epic pink pants (the OTHER Best Supporting Actor/Prop :)

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Ah...I had a hunch it was the pink pants, but needed confirmation. Thanks!

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LMAOOOOOOOOO Flamingo Pants were indeed the BEST accesory in City Hunter....I mean who else can rock those pats and still look a Greek God....I need LMH therapy...

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Flamingo Dreams indeed!
It's sad that the infamous Flamingo Pant did not make an appearance in the finale. ;)

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aghhhhh!!!!!!!! guess not. hahahaha

sorry folks, had to try.

anyways. i gotta say,

I TOTALLY CALLED THIS ENDING A FEW EPISODES AGO!!!
(about jin-pyo sacrificing himself for yoon-sung and declaring himself city hunter before dying.)

maybe i should start writing my own k-drama, hahahaha.

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First!

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How mundane! City Hunter, Kim Nana, Mom (now cured of leukemia) and Bae Sik Joong live happily ever after. Presumably, together. Lee Jin Pyo dies (no surprise there). President Choi gets off with no punishment or jail time, other than a hint of impeachment. And Kim Young Joo is really, really dead.

All the angst, existential strife and blood in the 19½ episodes - for this? Instead, why didn’t everyone else die in Episode 20 in a way for the trio of City Hunter, Lee Jin Pyo and Kim Young Joo to (1) cleanse themselves of all their sins and (2) return alive in Season 2 to build together a new society based on justice and fairness? That would be the high road, far more satisfying.

Watching Episode 20 was as climactic as reading an annual financial statement or reviewing a college application. Sure, these are necessary activities, having some utilitarian value. But, by the time the smoke clears of the OK Corral shootout in the Blue House, I cannot but wonder – so much ado for so little. Even the virtuous sentiments, nobly expressed by City Hunter here and there in Episode 20, come off as convincing or sincere as an official press release.

So, the death of Mr. Prosecutor in Episode 19 turns out to be the actual climax of the drama, and all that comes afterwards in Episode 20 is just a very long dénouement, mostly tedious but occasionally sparkling. Rather than killing off Kim Young Joo in Episode 19 in the hands of thugs, the drama might have incorporated his heroic sacrifice into the shootout scene of Episode 20 for far better dramatic effects. Well, the paths not taken by this drama can fill several volumes of a book.

The finger-locking between Lee Jin Pyo and City Hunter in the Blue House shootout is evocative of either Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam or the tomb scene of Romeo and Juliet. It is moving but also weird. Lee Jin Pyo’s change of heart came too late, too little, and too abruptly to make it genuine. And, shouldn’t it be Kim Nana rather than Lee Jin Pyo, who is locking fingers with City Hunter in death agony? Oh wait, Nana and City Hunter already did do just that - in Episode 12, I think.

Which leads me to Lee Min Ho. It is beyond question that Lee Min Ho is a super star with unparalleled talent and on-screen charisma, well capable of finely-nuanced performance. But in City Hunter, Lee Min Ho’s acting seemed mostly pedestrian, though his fighting sequences helped hide it. For long stretches, his megawatt star power was on leave of absence, leaving Lee Min Ho on auto pilot. This becomes painfully evident in Episode 20, when he no longer has Lee Joon Hyuk to kick around. So, I am guessing that Lee Min Ho alone could not carry this drama.

Finally, in Episode 20, City Hunter leaves Mr. Prosecutor’s dead body where he found it. How this transpires is callous beyond words. Shouldn’t City Hunter rush Kim Young Joo to a hospital emergency room to revive him or, granting that Mr. Prosecutor is beyond help, make an affirmative gesture that signifies City Hunter’s respect for the dead before he leaves – well, anything other than summarily ditching it?

Episode 20 does not close the door to City Hunter Season 2. But I have no regret that City Hunter 2011 is over - the screenwriters clearly ran out of things to write. What lives on is my mourning for Kim Young Joo.

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When YJ was dying, the baddies were rushing towards the docks and YJ told YS to hurry up and go catch them. Except YS waits to hear YJ's last words and to be with YJ until his moment of death. After there was no more that he could do for YJ, he rushes to the docks only to find the baddies all dead.

(though if it was me, the moment I saw all that blood, I would be dialing up 911 before talking to him and holding his hand. But then this is a drama. Since we all know there was no hope for YJ, gotta milk every dramatic second!)

I bet he made an anonymous call anyways abt finding a body and then let the police take care of it. Or else the body could have rotted there for days without anyone noticing.

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Wow, Dominque, you're so ballsy. I love every word of what you've written, if only because the love for this show causes people to be rude and reactionary to the point of demeaning your personal character when you point out the flaws that people do not recognize or do not think are pertinent to the enjoyment of the show. It's funny: those of us who care about these things care, and those who don't don't.

Thanks, Show, for the ride, and thanks, dramabeans (JB and GF) crew, for the recaps. Your enthusiasm was engaging. I am now exhausted and plan to rest up with some good ol' Coffee Prince and Kimi Wa Petto.

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@ladida

"if only because the love for this show causes people to be rude and reactionary to the point of demeaning your personal character when you point out the flaws that people do not recognize or do not think are pertinent to the enjoyment of the show."

Its strange for you to say all that because from the comments that you have posted so far, I see you as the one who is rude and reactionary - the pot calling the kettle black...

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oh

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i totally disagree on what you said that LMH cannot carry this drama alone!

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Bravo, Dominique...I could not agree more with everything you've said...

1. "So, the death of Mr. Prosecutor in Episode 19 turns out to be the actual climax of the drama".

2. " What lives on is my mourning for Kim Young Joo."

*there goes Mr.Prosecutor stealing the glory from the City Hunter.*

" It’s there thematically, and Young-ju’s death resonates with all the characters, but if I were writing this show, the last scene would’ve been Yoon-sung at Young-ju’s grave, overlooking the city he’s sworn to protect. "- gf

"No words necessary; just that image alone would’ve satisfied the promise of the City Hunter’s future, spurred by the sacrifice of his brother in arms, the perfect mirror to the opening brotherhood between Jin-pyo and Mu-yeol, also separated by death."- gf

* now, that would be wayyy a better finale.*

" And Jin-pyo gives not only his life to Yoon-sung but takes the blame, so that Yoon-sung could in fact have a happy life after all this darkness and revenge. That’s been the big question all series long, hasn’t it?"- jb

* COULD...*but, (based on the epilogue) is der a possibility that YS did actually die?

Thankyou, Dramabeans!

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This is the first time I find my reaction to a drama very much out of sync with JB & GF's. Your description of episode 20 as a very long denouement resonated very much.

Also, I'd always been irked by the final scene of YS's nightmare of his shoot out with Nana, and I actually was even more irked that the scene was reframed for YS and Jinpyo, although the reframing makes far more sense for precisely the reason you mentioned, its evocation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. I couldn't put my finger on it while I was watching it, but that was precisely it. (The YS/Nana version of that scene is indeed evocative of Romeo & Juliet, which I found utterly poignant as a teenager but incredibly indulgent as an adult.)

And your assessment of LMH's portrayal of City Hunter - I didn't connect with it either, which is strange given how enamored I am of him both as an actor and star. I felt as if I were watching one of my students come of age, which is more mundane an experience than one wishes, more often than not. Indeed, the most compelling character for me was at first Jinpyo, then Lee Young Ju for a large majority of the Show's run.

Nearly every episode, City Hunter made me want to revisit Time Between Dog and Wolf, whose surrogate father-son relationship resonated far more richly than did any father-son relationship in this Show. I am still haunted by TBDAW's final scene between the two men and find much more pleasing that the closing relationship was that between the two brothers than that between the romantic leads. (So, yes, I fully with GF's idea that YS and YJ's bond be the one privileged by the Show's finale, but alas.)

Anyhow, just wanted to voice appreciation and agreement where due.

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Wow! I also applaud your courage in writing your thoughts so boldly! I agree with much of what you wrote, and I'm glad to hear others feel the same way too.

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How is it that from the comments that you have posted, you seem only to be interested to applaud, support and agree with the commentators whose comments seem to voice their dislike of CH?

Do you have some kind of inferior complex that is manifested in your tendency in being contrary?

Fascinating character study...albeit disturbing and alarming as well...

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Hahaha, I crack up at your observing comments....:D

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@drama fever

I agree with you and @observer.

I have noticed something very peculiar and unsettling about certain commentators who post comments in this blog.

Some commentators seem so intent on only agreeing with the commentators who list all the things that they dislike/hate or are disappointed with CH...
and then proceed to applaud those commentators for being 'bold' for voicing their dislike/hate or disappointment with CH...
while conveniently and happily berating the commentators who expressed their love, like and admiration for CH...

Why are these commentators so against those who expressed their love and admiration for CH??

Why do these commentators seem to TAKE DELIGHT in seeing comments that highlight the flaws and shortcomings of CH, while sniggering at the commentators who highlight all the good stuff that CH has managed to produce?

Why are there commentators who seem positively gleeful, indeed, giddy with happiness, to see comments by commentators who highlight CH's flaws and shortcomings, then seem to take delight in jeering at the outpouring of love and admiration for CH by so many commentators?

Why does it bother such commentators so much that so many of us love CH so much?

Does the outpouring of love and admiration, even from our lovely hosts, Javabeans and Girlfriday, bother such commentators so much because they have a problem with people who are concerned simply with being happy with CH has to offer without being too critical?

Why does it bother them so much that so many people are happy with CH and are accepting and forgiving of its flaws?

Why do such commentators think that by being contrary, opposing and critical, they are the better viewers, while the rest of us who prefer not to be too critical, cynical, petty or judgemental are lousy, mindless, brainless viewers?

Why do such commentators think that they have not been rude and reactionary in their comments while accusing others of being rude and reactionary?

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Are you talking about my comments? I didn't really think that I was being that contrary. I only wanted to let Dominique know that she shouldn't feel bad for posting a more negative opinion. I do respect the opinions of people who like CH. I do not try to cut down people when I comment. And it doesn't bother me that people like CH--I liked it too! I just wanted to recognize that sometimes it is difficult to post one's own opinions if they don't necessarily coincide with the majority opinion, and let Dominque know that I agreed with her opinion. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

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After re-reading my comments on this post, I don't really think they justified that sort of response. I have to admit, I'm a bit hurt at being told I have an "inferiority complex" just because I agreed with someone who happened to disagree with the majority opinion. Once again, I am sorry if I offended anyone, although I really don't think my comments were that inflammatory.

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SPOT ON, my dear observer! *claps*

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I agree that Yoon Joo's death would have been more effective if it was in Episode 20. And I don't really like almost everyone (except Yoon Joo) having happy endings really with everything seeming to fall in place with virtually no consequences. I thought the president should have gotten some punishment as well. And what happened to the vet afterwards? I still think the show was really good, but some things didn't keep up until the end (e.g., the CH and Na Na romance really fizzled for me in the middle when CH started purposely keeping away from Na Na and by the end was left ..well, it was just left really...).

But I disagree with some of your other opinions. I think Lee Min Ho did a "really" good job throughout the whole series, like I'm surprised how well he did. In the beginning, he was the playboy, playful with Kim Na Na, badass when he needed to be with the bad guys. But then when things got more serious and he got deeper into the revenge, especially with finding out about the betrayals from Jin Pyo, he became more serious and focused on his main goal - to get revenge but also to stop Jin Pyo from getting revenge his way. And I thought he played that intensity and focus really well. What you see as "auto pilot", I saw as exactly how his character should be acting. Yoon Joo was more emotional and showed it more, the opposite character from CH, and he played that well, but I think just because CH was more subdued doesn't mean the acting wasn't as good. I tend to look at Lee Min Ho's eyes when he's acting, and personally I think he nails every scene with his eyes - emotional, surprise, despair, anger, etc. So for me, he definitely carried the show. Also, I didn't have a problem with him leaving Yoon Joo lying there - Yoon Joo wanted him to catch the guy at the port, if CH had taken him to get help, he would be pretty much doing what Yoon Joo would NOT want him to do (and you know Yoon Joo is all about justice and getting the bad guys).

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I maintain my high expectations of Lee Min Ho as he is now as well as how far he will go in a long and glorious career. Also, I am all for subdued (what I call "nuanced") acting, which is largely missing in Korean Dramas - Eric, anyone?

John Gielgud once uttered, I forget where, that what is impressive and what is great are two different things. In City Hunter, Lee Min Ho seemed to repeat his impressive self that we had already seen elsewhere many times, like a cardboard cutout of himself. In addition, it seemed that the story seemed to swallow him whole, rather than the other way around. Instead, what was great was Lee Joon Hyuk's acting, which seethed with God knows what.

I still wish that the drama maximized the dramatic potential in the scene where City Hunter realizes that Kim Young Joo is no more. The example of Tosca lighting candles and making the sign of the cross, after stabbing Scarpia to death, comes to mind, though this is not the best analogy.

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Hey, our screen names are homophones! Just thought that was cool.

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Did we even watch the same show??????

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My main complaint about this drama were, The plot, conflict they have delivered were complex, but the emotion behind it? abit lacking. Something was missing. DEPTH EMOTION when u face something important! emotional ride u would expect will coming for some character in such circumstances, didn't show! Such as when Nana found out about who is the city hunter. U expect she will show some guilty, shocked, and felt sorry for YS into thingking how much she had hurt him with her bullet, But it didn't happen.

And when Yoon SUng found out everything behind it, I expect some great emotional scene, and his conflict with his father become higher and have depth, But it didn't happen...

I loved revenge drama because of this kind of thing. The emotional, roller coaster emotional ride, the complexity behind character. We just thinking they have suffer just based on the situation they have face is complicated, but their reaction? flat to me.

Some conflict that look complicated at first, were so easily resolved and become lukewarm and forgettable after that...

BUt it just me, Honestly i love this drama alot for it's solid acting, directing. Writing is abit lacking for me because I expect more. MAybe because I just watch some good revenge drama before this such as Mawang.

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I agree with you MissJB. One thing I found lacking indeed was the lack depth of emotion. The only time I felt something was the relationship between City Hunter and his father...

I did not cry or shed a tear at all... *sigh.

Still, a good watch to pass time. :)

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YES YES YES YES! I agree 100%! I was searching for that too. I just couldn't point my finger at it until you pointed that one out. LMH, while super hot and cool, was at times too innocent, too Gu Jun Pyo, that I forget that he's supposed to be a guy who grew up trained to fight and kill people:)

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YES YES YES YES! I agree 100%! I was searching for that too. I just couldn't point my finger to it until you pointed that one out. LMH, while super hot and cool, was at times too innocent, too Gu Jun Pyo, that I forget that he's supposed to be a guy who grew up trained to fight and kill people:)

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THIS DRAMA WAS SO EPIC. MY HEART WAS RACING IN MOST EPISODES. GREAT SERIES. PROBABLY MY FAVORITE DRAMA OF ALL TIME (or at least for a very long time).

BUT. i have to say the ending left so many questions unanswered. in the back of my mind, i’m thinking it might’ve been better if yoon-sung had actually died. i don't know. i'm not saying that the ending was terrible *ahem*bad guy*ahem* but i could have thought of a WAY better one.

i wasn't expecting a grand happily ever after ending either. but something so subtle as, maybe yoon-sung being in the car WITH nana. yeah? and then maybe not even show the transaction, but a close-up shot on her hand and we find the RING?!?!!?! wouldn't that have been great?! what a waste of a nice prop.

did i mention that was REALLY REALLY shocked when yoon-sung pointed the gun to his head? literally gasped out loud. that has never happened to me while i was watching drama....then i was a wailing mess when jun-pyo and yoon-sung were on the floor, bleeding, reaching out and holding their hands. i will remember that scene for a long time. so beautiful. and so sad.

ha..with that all said. i love 'city hunter' to pieces. what am i supposed to look forward to now every week :'(

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"a close-up shot on her hand and we find the RING" that would have been perfect.

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finally was able to actually read the recap.

"Yoon-sung at Young-ju’s grave, overlooking the city he’s sworn to protect."Girlfriday, i couldn't agree more. that would have been amazing.

funny, idk why i didn't notice that she was carrying a suitcase (i was too caught up in thinking if yoon-sung was alive).

HAHA rereading my 1st comment, idk why i said it would have been better if yoon-sung had died. i was on crack. i said that because i didn't get the concrete final i was hoping for? this is like the prequel to city hunter actually becoming city hunter right? yeah......i'm going to think that way. since there's season 2. and i'm going to continue to think that way.

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well dad saying he was city hunter was on the cards early on, once he starting killing people and the deaths linked to city hunter, the only way yoon-sung would have any chance at a normal life was is someone took the fall for all City hunter actions, and he was the logical one to do so, add that to the fact he was a killer and a drug lord. As for the gun to his own head..this guy couldn't even kill those he thought had killed his 'real' father, he is hardly going to kill the person he still though emotionally as dad, so no surprise for me there at all.
As for the lead guys acting, he did take the repression of emotion bit a bit far, so to make he seem wooden. But it not an easy thing to try and play someone who hides his feelings and at the same time get across those feelings still to the viewers.

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Thanks JB. For me this finale hit the right emotional spots, though I walked away from the drama kind of confused about what the overarching themes came to (or didn't come to). Still though, it was a great watch.

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Awesome & epic! love, love, love!!!

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10/9 => my ratings (enjoyment vs. actual)

and since I really enjoyed this drama, I won't read the rest of the rants. ;)

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@Ace ;)

yeah, no point in reading people's unhappiness abt CH when you are so happy!! ;)

don't tarnish your happiness by people's rants...

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Exactly. I'm happy and sad at the same time. have I gone crazy? Yes.

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@Little Lulu!!! ;)

So glad to have you back here with us! Missed reading your comments!!! ;)

Have been meaning to respond to your comments but I am swamped with work and have yet to recover from the ending of CH...my broken heart needs time to be put back together again...

As for your comment here - I am so with you, Little Lulu, dear!!! Feeling happy and sad at the same time!!!
We are crazy...

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Yah, its finally here.

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Omg, I thought my heart stopped while reading this :)

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Why am i so confused with the ending?

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Same here...confused?! :(..

He embraced being the City Hunter( driving along the night)but, at least a hug to Nana won't hurt just to make sure he is indeed alive... just a thought.

Thanks for the recap.. fabulous!!

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I think it's pretty unrealtistic 0.0 if the love of your life comes back to you wouldn't you at least run after him with a smile, hug him, kiss him and make sure that he is alive or? That would be human like!

Oh by the way where the hell is Mr Creepy and what happend to the ring? I don't get it!

Still this is the best drama ever! I love it that's why I play the music on my piano :)

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Yay! Thanks for the great recap as always

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Have yet to watch this drama. Glad to see many enjoyed it though.

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Finally OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow a lot of blodO in this episode,,,,
Thanks JB for the recap

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Finally OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow a lot of blood in this episode,,,,
Thanks JB for the recap

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For once, I won't be reading the recap before watching. I'm halfway through the episode and boy do the writers keep me gasping. I now understand why Young-ju's father wasn't killed off - he's paying for his sins by the loss of his son.

It's been a wonderful ride; thank you so much for covering City Hunter, JB and GF! I hope the ending is as good as I hope it'll be...fingers crossed for some happiness. Yoon-sung deserves it.

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Aww. I just finished watching/reading and can't be more pleased with the ending. Everything was absolutely perfect; despite all the bloodshed, Jin-pyo's acknowledgment that Yoon-sung is his son was touching and heartbreaking. This has been the drama of the year for me, no doubt, even with months left in the year.

That being said, I can't wait for Season 2. There just has to be one...why else would they leave it so open-ended? (Don't give me the logical literary/thematic reasons...give me some Lee Min-ho love!)

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谢谢你!thanks so much for recapping! 您辛苦呢!thank you!!!

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YES!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!! god, this drama was so. freakin. BOSS! i mean, that scene with jin pyo and yoon sung holding hands, bleeding out... that's like.. their first moment of real openness wasn't it? and for it to be done like that??? ... KILL ME WHY NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you so much for the spazz-a-thon that has been city hunter. from the fragmented promotion stills (which you thoughtfully put together and gave a storyline to, tyvm :P) to this epic epic ending.... it has been a blast. the only bad thing about it was that it had to end!!!! *withdrawal shakes*
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

(ps: i died when young ju died. juuuust because... it was like willow dying. no joss whedon-y season 5 for us, i guess. :( ) heheheh

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Well JB, you were asking for 'blood' and Show finally granted you your wish.

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Only they manage to kill off the one that matter to us the most.

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Like I said before, CH has yet to kill off anyone and when they did it, it has to be someone everyone will feel the loss for and Young-ju is just that person because of the potential that we all see in him...

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this ending was disappointing in my opinion just because city hunter started off with a bang and ended up bleh towards the middle and ep 19 brought the energy and the excitement back up and then the end....

the writers seemed to have forgotten about YS and NN relationship foreshadows. what happened to the ring? what was the point of the photo shattering? and it pains me saying this, as much as i love Lee Min Ho, i think i would have been a lot more satisfied had YS died, unless they give me a season 2 with a new female lead just because PMY could not act in my opinion. i felt zero connection with her emotions and that was a huge reason why city hunter started to fall downhill. the female lead should have been casted with someone else. or skip the whole love thing. it wasn't even necessarily in the plot considering how little screen time it served and it was weak. i usually support the couples first thing but this couple, 20 episodes later and still nothing. i love lee min ho though

the thing i loved about it was JP death. he kept fighting for this bloody revenge but his death...it made me tear up. he does have a heart afterall and i love that father-son relationship even if it was non-biological.

and i am still upset with YJ's death. i wish he was alive to see everyone arrested and what he risked his life for. and poor SH. i would have traded his death with NN. i think that would have been an interesting twist

it started off with a bang and it should have left me speechless.

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Haha...

I too wish the heroine had been enacted by another more capable actress. Anyone other than Park Min Young. Certainly would have found her much more useful dead and triggering some serious soul-wrangling on YS's part midway through.

I too would have been fine with YS's death.

Lastly, there's a part of me that makes me want to speak up for Nana's dad. Comatose and conveniently off'ed in the last moments of the final episode after having been forgotten by a once-devoted daughter? What?

And strangely, right at the end, I found I couldn't care less about YS's mother or even my favorite ahjussi. Meh. :)

The Show pretty much spent itself with YJ's death, which was pretty epic.

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Same here. When I think about Nana's character in theory, I feel I should like her and how strong she is... But PMY's acting prevents me from really connecting with her... Seems to me she has had a maximum of three expressions on her face during the show. It feels as she's always holding back

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"i felt zero connection with her emotions and that was a huge reason why city hunter started to fall downhill. the female lead should have been casted with someone else. or skip the whole love thing. it wasn’t even necessarily in the plot considering how little screen time it served and it was weak."

so true. i actually liked the veterinarian more than her. i found her character unfitting for the role of a bodyguard and too immature(?)

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Wow. The roller-coaster ride is finally done, but it was amazing while it lasted. So beautiful!!!

Thank you so so so so much for the recap! <3

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DID CH DIE???

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I was pretty sure YS died.

How did he survive a bullet through the heart?
Or was it above the heart?

Everyone here seems to think he lived?

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@jomo

I'm with you there..how can you survived that gunshot wound?

anyhow, I too think he died.

but, everyone said he is alive bec. NN saw him. But, my argument is why he didn't even touch her hand to say goodbye if she is leaving going somewhere?

No wedding. That's fine but, at least a proper goodbye?! And not just smile at each other. Their not even miles apart on that scene for not be able to touch. : (

oh I'm confused...

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This whole dad thing completely crushed me all around.

YJ's father's heartbreak and guilt tears at me.
JP's last reach for YS after taking the blame for being CH - aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgghhhhhh It hurts!

While real dad watches- FROM AFAR. Come on Mr. President - you let them usher you away WHEN YOUR SON IS DYING ON THE GROUND?!

Can someone please convince me that the YS at the end was not in Nana's imagination? Please?

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If he DID die, then why is he shown driving at night in the closing scene? If we're supposed to assume that Nana was letting him go emotionally after his death and imagines him saying goodbye, what's with the last scene? Not many people drive to heaven, even in Kdramaland...

I'm a staunch supporter of "Yoon-sung lived" because the last scene doesn't make sense in the context of his death. Sure, it's still unlikely someone could survive such bullet wounds in the first place, but I'd take a living Yoon-sung any day, logic be damned.

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"not many people drive to heaven, even in Kdramaland..."

nope, they just ride elevators :P

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Not many people drive to heaven, even in Kdramaland…

@Lidia Yes! Elevators WTF!

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If he's alive, I bet he went to the vet for treatment. Isn't that the theme for CH? Gunshot go to the vet. YJ died because he wasn't shot and therefore the vet wasn't able to fix him. :)

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If he was not real, NN went crazy at the end, no? :)

Srsly, YS was shot above his heart it looked like. Since YS is so tall, JP must have been aiming for the president's head!?

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That is why I am confused about the ending...

there is no fucking way someone can survive a gunshot from a close range high caliber gun... even if it didn't hit the heart directly... the damage around the heart would cause excessive blood loss in the region causing severely low blood pressure, unconsciousness and eventually death.

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@everyone

I'd like to believe that he lived but considering the last few scenes that were shown...it's possible that the YS that NN saw was just a figment of her imagination. I mean there was no skinship there or anything!!!! I AM SO CONFUSED and I WANT an extension or another episode that will clear things up!

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I thought maybe he really did die too since everyone seems prepared to move away while YS seems like he's sticking around..and besides, the mom is wearing a white flower on her shirt [white--color of death in asia]..but then I'm not sure how his death would mesh with Jin-pyo sacrificing himself so that YS can lead a normal life without the shadow of City Hunter following him everywhere he does, so it's my belief that he's alive, putting together some sort of normal life.

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oh woah. WTHHH. now my day is ruined at the possibility that YS died.

I was thinking, thats totally rediculous to survive two bullets, esp the 2nd one was near the heart.

But then I saw him and Nana, and I was like happy ending!!

But now thinking about it...
OMG.
no, kdrama gods. he better be alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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There's no question that our City Hunter is alive and kicking. I think most of the confusion is coming from JB's statement in the recap that JY was shot through the heart. Of course, he wasn't - the gunshot is clearly shown to be in the upper left quadrant just below the collarbone. It wasn't a "kill" heart shot.

As for YS meeting his NaNa at the end, I believe that she's dragging her suitcase behind her because she's finally moving in with him. They smile at each other because they've come through the fire and lived to tell the tale - together and in love.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it :)

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OK, i'll accept that. :D

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Also, as an additional comment, some posters are making note of the fact that NaNa is wearing white in her last scene with YS. White clothing denotes mourning in Asian societies, generally speaking and would add to the erroneous premise that YS is dead and NaNa is dreaming seeing him.

However, on a much happier and logical note (for me), wearing a white dress denotes that I'm on my way for a wedding ceremony. Especially when I'm dragging my suitcase behind me and I've got a big, radiant smile on my face while the love of my life is smiling back at me.

Let's all go to that happy place together, friends.
There's plenty of room on my bus!

:) :) :)

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I came up with the same scenario! Stick to your guns, they're good ones! ;)

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Okay. The speculation is OVER. This is part of an article that was posted over at ALLPOP from the Producer:

"Even though at the end, Yoon Sung and ‘Na Na‘ (played by Park Min Young) reunite, some viewers were left to believe that Yoon Sung was actually a ghostly figure. However, the producer, Kim Yong Sup, stated to TVDaily through a phone conversation on July 29th, “Yoon Sung is not dead“.

Kim Yong Sup elaborated, “Lee Min Ho was shot by a gun, and after much time passes, he eventually meets Park Min Young. He didn’t appear as a ghost as it was actually a time jump. Of course, I respect the arbitrary interpretation of the viewers. However, just the fact that Yoon Sung didn’t die is strictly speaking, the definition of a happy ending. The director and writer put in the scene with this as their mindset.”

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@ Cynthia, I like your idea of the wedding scenario. Girl in white, boy in black, yes, that's the attire color for a wedding. Oh, and the place they met looked more like a botanical garden which is a perfect place for a wedding ceremony, isn't it? Thank you for sharing your idea with us, I love love love it so much!

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Thank you! Now, if they'd only show us the Honeymoon Night....

:) :) :)

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I, too, like your story. Didn't think of it that way. Good thinking :) City Hunter is a perfect drama, but surely a well-made open-ending that craves you for more. Season 2, bring it on!

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I believe YS lived. There would be no reason to show Na Na, carrying a suitcase, to go meet up with YS later on (though would it have killed you YS to at least hug the girl after making her wait all this time?). No reason to show him driving away in the night. It would be weird if they were just dreams, because what purpose would it have to show those? And about surviving the gunshot, there are lots of stories of people in the real world surviving something far worse than a gun shot to the chest (heck, there was even a story of a guy whose head was basically severed from the rest of his body, hanging only by the skin around his neck, and he survived). So I can absolutely believe YS survived his one gun shot to the chest.

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Oh wow, I never even made the speculation that the particular scene in question would've entailed a ghost of YS?!

Thankfully read the comment below and confirmed that our hero was definitely alive *_*

And wow, Show. Never thought I would've cried for Young-ju even though I do like the character, but wow the directing was done to such a point of perfection with the absolutely AMAZING soundtrack.. that my eyes just had to be brimming with tears.

I can't say I'm a fan of the open-ended ending, but I guess it's better than NN and YS never even meeting ... sigh, if only the last scene at least had Nana in the car with him! I don't see any kind of dramatic significance with him driving alone, man. Who cares of a lonesome hero when there's a lovable Nana Bear heroine right in the corner?!

Season 2 would be lovely, but that just means I'd be suffering a very bad post-drama breakdown if it's as good as this one.

Cannot believe I thought CH might have been boring when I first watched the premier.. wow, on the edge of my seat almost every episode. Lee Minho's acting BEYOND impressed me (yes, many may argue differently but my expectations of him were perhaps a little to begin with, so I was REALLY pleasantly surprised)

Overall, Show.. you were-
Friggin badass EPIC.

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Pretty good for a drama we all thought that we would hate lol :D

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jb and gf! thanks sooooo much for the recaps!!

I LOVED THIS DRAMA! I really think it might have been one of the best korean dramas i've ever seen.

i <3 LMH~

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omg i want to read this soo bad, i'm still downloading this episode DD:

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"You know what? Now I’m glad Kim Yong-shik is alive, because waking up to find that his cohort-in-crime killed his son? It’s the perfect way to make him regret his actions for the rest of his life, in a way that his suicide attempt would never have achieved."

Yes, now I finally understand why Show chooses to keep him alive. That's brilliant. Best punishment ever for him.
1. Lost son
2. Lost power
3. Lost money
4. Lost reputation
Basically, he lost everything. Best punishment ever!

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I cant thank you enough. City hunter derinitely exceeded my expectations it was so heartwrenching

Gahhhh i loved it!!!

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SEASON 2! SEASON 2!

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"Chun dashes for the boat, scrambling away from the slowly advancing Jin-pyo, who at one point is beautifully framed by the Korean flag behind him and the ship’s light casting him in shadow — now there’s an avenging angel of death if ever there was one."

Tell me about it! JP looked so menacing in that part, even I was scared.

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Yes! I've been waiting for your recap! Gahhh...what an epic ending. Broke my heart -- esp. the scene where JP sacrificed himself for YS. This drama was definitely heart wrenching in all sorts of good ways. Thanks once again for the review/recaps<3

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Thank you!

I cried twice in this episode.

1) was when Young-ju's co-worker was mourning the loss, and yelling at Yoong-sung for coming to the wake.

2) was when I saw the memorial for the soldiers. Because isn't that what Jinpyo wanted all along? recognition for his brother's in arms?

ACK it isn't a perfect drama but it is a damn good one.

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Thank you SOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHH =D

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i love you city hunter!! I love how the ending is so ambigious, it makes me all the more excited for Nana and the role of City Hunter :) The saddest thing about this drama is yong-ju's death, and how sae-hee is just absoluetely shattered, as are we. So unexpected.
Depressed now cos it's going to be taken off the "In progress" banner down below ...LOL

Do think YS died though, if it goes anywhere near the heart, its pretty much instant death. Pretty sure the ending was in Nana's head....

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I'm with you!

I think the writers were absolutely genius to leave the ending ambiguous so they'll have netizens like us debating the ending. But for me, I'm in the "YS-died" camp.

Not that I wouldn't prefer a fairytale ending or a Season 2 (I would fly the writers to meet JB and GF to hear their plots in a heartbeat), but narrative-wise, YS's death would make more sense to me. I mean, seriously, how many times does this guy have to be shot and still survive?

The end scene where he sees NN nails it for me. It's like a dreamlike sequence, and all this talk of lack of skinship and what happened to the ring---it can't happen cos it's NN's imagination.

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I'm with you in this perspective... I think so too that he died...

NN wearing white was also my point. And it's in her head that she saw YS before she lives in the airport. And he was saying goodbye in her head. She just happy that YS found the peace he is looking for.

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LOL then how do you explain the subsequent scene where YS drives alone into the "road ahead" looking badass as ever as city hunter?

Though the ending could be more emotional if YS had died, I honestly don't think he did. If Nana's scene was all in her head then who's head is conjuring up that driving away into the night scene? LOLs

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Jin Pyo really died...Kim Young Joo really died. But I wouldn't have asked for a more fitting one. All I can say is that Jin Pyo genuinely loved his adopted son. That love was only complicated because of his desire for revenge. What a sad sad ending.

I ASKED FOR A SEASON 2!

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SEASON 2!! I DEMAND IT!!

Wow, so it finally ended and I'm so sad :( Thanks Javabeans and Girlfriday for the wonderful recaps...I really do hope the PD'nims call you girls coz I'd love to hear your ideas for a second season :) Now, what am I going to watch to fill that hole in my heart now that CH is over :(

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Love Love Love Love Love Love Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I agree, it wasn't perfect but it got me hooked for 2 months and got me at the edge of the seat.. the live action was intense.. and true this is an action story, and its not much about the relationship between Yoon sung and Nana, its about father and son relationship which was mirrored in not just Yoon sung and Jin pyo, but with also Yoon Ju and his father and for the wrongs he did as well.

I have been reading your recaps and not fully watched ep 20, but i have to say, I do really need to start and watch from beginning to end because it really is worth watching a second time (since I kinda started from ep 6)

But all in all, Javabeans and girlfriday's thoughts were both direct and on the point with what the show was really all about. Thank you for all your hard work in recapping the show.. Keep up the good work with work you have been doing and many more with upcoming K dramaland! :)

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i agree, thanks so much GF and JB!! your commentary never ceases to combine wit, humour and show-stopping, breathless descriptions. Love dramabeans!!! :D

now to start Heartstrings....and maybe even Playful kiss LOL

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goodbye City Hunter TT___TT. Thanks for the ride.

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Thank you JB & GF for CH ending recaps! ^^
It's perfect ending for Yoon-sung and Jin-pyo's love-hate, son-father relationsips.
RIP Young-Ju and be happy Nana & Yoon Sung!
CH is a good drama! ^^

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wow...i can't believe it's over! loved the journey, JB & GF! is there any way for you to send your season 2 proposal to SBS? or whoever might see and agree with the bountiful prospects of a season 2? =P anywhosers...thanks for being recap goddesses...you guys are awesome!

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jb.. thank you very much.
i cried my heart out for YS and JP.
Dont care what other ppl saya, this is the best kdrama i ve ever ever encounter.
so good bye, dont cry and smile.. no cannot smile, still crying.

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I LOVE THIS SHOW MAKE ME A SEASON 2 PLEASE SO GOOD!

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Thank you Javabeans and Girlfriday for recapping this wonderful series from start to finish! This drama kept me on edge the entire time, but I must say, I find that the final two episodes were the best by FAR!!

I was in tears when Yong-ju died, but Jin-pyo's death just made me sob! To think that in the end, Evil Daddy was the true father who didn't hesitate in dying for his child. The way he smiled and took Yoon-sung's hand at the end was so bittersweet for me! I had so desperately wanted Yoon-sung and Jin-pyo to have that happy normal life that Yoon-sung so wanted! *sob

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OMG wish I cud watch this over and over again....its one in a million thou.

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