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Equator Man: Episode 20 (Final)

We find out exactly how powerful one sincere apology can be as revenge and redemption come full circle in an ending that’s sure to tug on the heartstrings. Equator Man brought new depth and dimension to the idea of a tragic backstory, and functioned well as a human drama where choice is all that stands between us and a padded cell. I may not have been completely satisfied with all the choices made, but I felt for the first time in a long time the very pull that hooked me to this show in the first place.

And while we had some inevitable mishaps due to the live-shoot system (last episode’s broadcast troubles tacked on an extra ten minutes to the finale), I can’t heap enough praise on the cinematography of this show, which has been stellar from start to finish. This is a director who relies less on fancy editing or funky camera angles and actually focuses on how he fills the frame to tell a story – a trait I’ve admired since White Christmas. I’ll definitely be looking out for his future projects.

Equator Man lost the ratings race at the finish line, coming in right behind Rooftop Prince at 14.1%.

 
FINAL EPISODE RECAP

Jang-il bursts into Sun-woo’s office to proclaim the news of his father’s death to see if that satisfies Sun-woo. Sun-woo calls him out for still being the same selfish Jang-il – why isn’t he thinking of how he felt fifteen years ago when his father died? (I get where you’re coming from, Sun-woo, but as of now you’re not the only one with a dead dad.)

But Jang-il isn’t having any of it. “You’re just like your father,” he accuses Sun-woo, speaking of Chairman Jin. He blames Sun-woo and his father for killing his own, and even yells at Ji-won the second she comes in to try and stop the fight. He levels a dark look at Sun-woo before he growls, “You and your father are both devils.”

Later that night, Sun-woo tries to cheer up the atmosphere by claiming that his revenge is complete, so why shouldn’t he feel relieved? Chairman Jin is out of business, Jang-il’s father is dead, Jang-il lost his job, he ruined Soo-mi’s paintings… everything he wanted, he achieved. His face tells a different story, as Ji-won notes.

“I had to do it,” Sun-woo finally admits, as if to reassure himself. “But I don’t feel as good as I thought I would.” And finally he just breaks down into sobs while Ji-won cradles him in her lap.

Chairman Jin has sent money for Yong-bae’s funeral costs, and uses that as leverage to try and get Jang-il to help him regain his resort. Jang-il simply hangs up on him and gazes at the memorial picture, claiming that he wanted to do something for his father’s 49th-day tribute. Does this mean that he won’t be around for that 49th day?

Sun-woo goes to pay his respects to Yong-bae’s memorial. There’s a post-it note attached to the glass from Jang-il directing him to the receptionist, where he receives a letter from Jang-il. It reads (as we hear in voiceover):

“Kim Sun-woo,

You’ve come to see my father. You were my beloved friend, and yet you were the one I hated the most. Since when did we become enemies? I have these dreams, dreams of us being in the same class together. But they are only dreams. We can’t go back now. I’m going to end it once and for all. Thanks to you, I have realized there were friends rather than competitors in this world. I’m sorry if I killed you back then. Do not forgive me.”

Okay, what? This is Jang-il’s expression of remorse? The moment I’ve been waiting for? In a letter? This is like breaking up with someone via a post-it note. What do you mean, “since when did we become enemies?” When do you think you became enemies, Jang-il? You think that maybe, just maybe, it was when you took a tree branch to his head? Sheesh.

And we’re back full-circle to the opening scene of the drama set in Thailand. Jang-il buys a gun to confront Chairman Jin at his resort, while Sun-woo races to the scene to stop them.

We get to footage we haven’t seen before as Sun-woo enters the resort and reads a letter that troubles him, though the contents remain unknown to us. We’re back to the footage we’ve seen before as Jang-il confronts Jin on the vista overlooking the city, and reminds him that this resort is no longer his.

Just like we’ve seen before, Jang-il levels a gun at the back of Chairman Jin’s head. He’s written their final wills (presumably what Sun-woo read inside). Once again, Chairman Jin tells him that he’d be nowhere without his help, though Jang-il claims that he didn’t know the helping hand he accepted was stained with blood. Except… he totally did. De Nile is not just a river in Egypt, Jang-il.

Sun-woo arrives on scene. “Jang-il-ah, let’s stop this,” he says, and for a moment Jang-il’s resolve is shaken. But he stays the course, angry tears falling down his face as Chairman Jin taunts him by claiming that he’s just like his father. These aren’t the right words to say to a man ready to shoot, and Jang-il pulls the hammer and prepares to shoot… only to have Sun-woo force the gun away so he can stand between Jang-il and his father.

Jang-il aims the gun again, this time directly at Sun-woo, and his face contorts in sorrow. He can’t do it – he can’t kill his friend that he just started caring about when it was time for the finale. So he turns the gun on himself, ready to commit suicide.

Just before he can pull the trigger Sun-woo tackles him, and a shot rings out – the stray bullet hit Chairman Jin in the arm. Sun-woo shoots the remaining bullets into the air so there are none left.

And then we find Sun-woo piggybacking Chairman Jin down a street to get to a hospital. Chairman Jin looks contrite, and wonders why Sun-woo is helping him. “Are you my child?” he asks. Sun-woo replies that he isn’t, which causes tears to spring to Jin’s eyes. He cries on his son’s shoulder. That seems sudden.

And Jang-il, stripped down to his shorts, sits and shivers under the spray of a shower.

Sun-woo forces his way into the room to find Jang-il in a robe taking shots. Jang-il deadpans, “You ruined everything.” He asks if Chairman Jin is Sun-woo’s real father, and Sun-woo once again denies it. But now that Jang-il has turned onto the idea of revenge, Sun-woo warns him against it, because he’s suddenly learned the error of his ways. “What if Jin dies? You think you will feel better?” he asks Jang-il.

Seems like the answer is yes, though Sun-woo is put off when Jang-il tells him to be quiet: “Can’t you see me talking with my father? I’m talking with my father right now.” Only silence follows. Boy done lost his ever lovin’ mind.

Sun-woo seems to realize this and wants them to head back to Korea together, stat. Because all is forgiven, apparently.

The next morning, Sun-woo watches as Jang-il lies in bed shivering uncontrollably. Sun-woo urges his old friend to sleep more, and that he’ll be back soon.

So next we find him, he’s back in Korea with Ji-won, who tells him that Chairman Jin will be arrested soon for fraud.

Geum-jool catches up to Soo-mi, who’s out taking her wheelchair-bound father for some fresh air. He tells her the bad news: Jang-il has lost his mind. She doesn’t even seem surprised – in fact, she looks pleased. Kwang-choon is upset to hear that Sun-woo is footing Jang-il’s hospital bills, since he’s sure Jang-il will just backstab someone the second he’s better. Geum-jool: “I don’t think that he will get better.”

Soo-mi is sure that Sun-woo must be happy to see Jang-il in such a state. (He’s not you, honey.) But she’s excited to go, because someone who once looked down on her is now insane – a clear cut victory in Soo-mi’s world.

She finds Jang-il reading serenely in the mental hospital and talks to him like a child. She only came for a moment, though she’s stopped on her way out when he asks her when they’re going to go to the seaside cliffs (he’s specifically referencing the date he once promised her when they were young, the same one he stood her up on when he found out who her father was.) So he’s reverted back to his teenage self, pre-tree-branch?

To Soo-mi’s credit, she at least turns back to him with something akin to pity in her gaze.

Meanwhile, Chairman Jin’s wife and daughter leave him for good right before the police arrive to arrest him for embezzlement, fraud, the works.

Sun-woo heads to the hospital grounds to visit Jang-il, and through Jang-il’s now-warped worldview we see adult Sun-woo transform into his younger self, who greets Jang-il with a hug and a smile. When the camera pulls back we see that Jang-il has also transformed back into his younger incarnation.

It’s just like old times as the two boys bicker back and forth over Sun-woo getting into too many fistfights and studying. The table set with school textbooks Adult Jang-il had been sitting at is now used for Teen Jang-il to help tutor the errant Teen Sun-woo to improve his grades. I didn’t expect it, but this moment has got me all choked up.

And then the camera reveals what we’ve known all along – that they’re not their younger selves, and that Sun-woo is playing out Jang-il’s insanity fantasy. It’s heartbreaking, sad, and beautiful that Sun-woo is doing this for him. I need a tissue – scratch that, I need the whole box.

Jang-il pauses, and then warns Sun-woo to tell his father not to go to Chairman Jin’s villa. He doesn’t remember why, but Sun-woo can’t let him go. Sun-woo nods, going along with the pretense, reassuring Jang-il that he’ll tell him.

Then they’re back to their teen forms, with Jang-il saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I think I got you into trouble… but I can’t remember.” Young Sun-woo reassures him that nothing happened – there’s nothing he needs to guilt his conscience over. He returns to his homework as they transform back into adults, and Jang-il looks out into the distance with a vacant expression.

Sun-woo tries to focus on his ‘homework’, though he fights to hold back tears. Gah. There are a million things wrong here (like Sun-woo being the reason Jang-il lost his marbles, but then Jang-il was the reason this all started, endless cycle and all that), but the fact that he’s there supporting him now, when Jang-il’s mind is so broken, his posture so feeble, counts for something.

In prison, Ex-Chairman Jin receives the paternity test results from Tae-joo confirming beyond a doubt that his fiancée was always faithful to him, and that Sun-woo is his son.

It’s another evening at the hospital and Sun-woo has come to visit, though Jang-il looks more focused than before. He thanks Sun-woo for forgiving him, because he can remember everything now… starting from the day he found his father hanging on his birthday. Everything.

Sun-woo tries to divert the subject, but Jang-il is insistent. “Actually I wanted to kneel in front of you and ask for forgiveness all along, but I couldn’t. If I were you… if I had to go through the same thing… I would never have forgiven me,” Jang-il says, his eyes wide and lost.

But Sun-woo assures him that it’s okay, because he’s already forgiven him. And that he’s also wronged Jang-il, so they’re even. With a newfound clarity, Jang-il insists that he wants to be discharged so he can start his life anew. Before that, though, he wants Sun-woo to take him back to their hometown.

Jang-il is released from the hospital, and the two boys walk the same paths they once did when they were younger. He’s all smiles as he asks Sun-woo to take him to the place where he scattered his father’s ashes so that he can apologize to Sun-woo’s father (the cliff where he hit Sun-woo). He’s sort of sane now, right? They wouldn’t have let an insane man out of the hospital, would they?

At the edge of the cliff, Jang-il performs a formal bow to the spirit of Sun-woo’s father. He squints into the setting sun and sees someone that isn’t there, up on the cliff. He wants to go there but kneels instead, telling Sun-woo that ever since “that day” this cliff has become his nightmare. But today he will overcome it. (Bad vibes. Baaaad vibes.)

He flashes back to the scene of him hitting Sun-woo, only this time he tries to warn the young Sun-woo to dodge the blow. The adult Sun-woo tries to urge him to go home, knowing what he’s going through.

Jang-il: “Sun-woo-ya. I’m sorry. After that day, I have never smiled wholeheartedly, nor have I slept well.”

“I know,” Sun-woo replies. “Just let it go now.”

But Jang-il begins to stagger toward the cliffside where he sees an image of Young Sun-woo standing there, smiling at him. Young Sun-woo approaches him silently, and Jang-il asks the specter, “Will you forgive me?” Young Sun-woo smiles, “I already have.”

Adult Sun-woo (bear with me here) hears his name being called… and turns to see an image of Young Jang-il approaching him. Wait, who’s the crazy one in this outfit again? Young Jang-il: “Sun-woo-ya. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” Adult Sun-woo tells him that he already has, and asks to be forgiven in turn.

We have an image of all four versions of Sun-woo and Jang-il as they all make peace with one another. And then, only Jang-il and Sun-woo are left on the cliff. Sun-woo is ready to go home and turns his back on Jang-il as they start heading back, but Jang-il stays behind, riveted by the memory of him hitting Sun-woo playing before him like a movie.

When Young Sun-woo gets pushed off the cliff and into the ocean, Adult Jang-il springs to action to save him… and Sun-woo only hears a splash. Jang-il has jumped into the ocean.

He turns around as realization sets in. Running to the edge of the cliff, he screams Jang-il’s name. But the waves are crashing too hard, and Jang-il can’t be seen.

As Jang-il begins to sink to the ocean, we see a memory(?) of him and Soo-mi in their old high school classroom on friendly terms, with him admitting that he shouldn’t have stood her up on that fateful date.

Sun-woo jumps into the ocean to save his friend, desperately swimming toward him as he sinks deeper and deeper. Jang-il smiles at him while he stays just out of Sun-woo’s reach…

Super awkwardly-edited cut to: Sun-woo hearing from the doctor that he’s gone blind again. This time it’s not from blunt force trauma, but psychological trauma. Whether he’ll regain his sight again is uncertain.

Ji-won is back to taking care of Sun-woo, and goes back to her old routine of reading books aloud to him. She flashes back to all the memories they shared when he was blind, just as Sun-woo interrupts that he has something to tell her. It sounds serious until he simply admits that he was the one to send her those flower bouquets all those years, which disappoints her because she already knew. She takes a cell phone picture of her disappointed face so he can see it later. (Ha, that’s kind of cute.)

He gets to what he really wanted to say – that he might never see again, and that they should break up before he clings onto her. Ji-won is quick to defend their love: “The Kim Sun-woo that I loved was someone who couldn’t see. He was not rich like he is right now, nor was he the David Kim who went to a fine school. It’s not a problem if you can’t ever see again.” I get where the romance in this statement is supposed to be, but there are so many things wrong with what she just said.

Sun-woo doesn’t seem swayed, and admits that he’s sorry, which sounds like a “breaking up” sorry. Jang-il seems to be alive, since he asks her about his well-being, though he gets no response. He’s got a place to go with Geum-jool and she leaves him be for the moment, but not without a light peck on the cheek before she goes.

He goes to see Jin in prison, though his father doesn’t seem to realize he’s gone blind at first. The two remain cold and cordial to one another until Jin gets up to leave, at which point Sun-woo grasps his hand from across the table to keep him there. Even Jin can’t help but smile just the slightest, having waited for his son to acknowledge him.

Unfortunately their time is up, and that’s when Jin notices the cane next to Sun-woo. He puts two and two together and takes Sun-woo’s sunglasses off to reveal his unfocused eyes, the sight of which brings tears to his eyes. He grabs his son in an embrace and cries. Maybe it’s a testament to Kim Young-chul being a phenomenal actor, but I buy his redemption. He just plays it so well.

And as he pulls back, light begins to filter back into Sun-woo’s vision. He’s not able to see clearly, but he can see the blurry outline of his father.

Ji-won is happy to find that Sun-woo is regaining his sight, though he chooses that time to drop the bomb that he went to visit Jin, his father. The news hits Ji-won hard – she doesn’t want to believe it, and asks Sun-woo to never repeat it so she can pretend she never heard it. And the important question: “Do you think of him as your father?”

Sun-woo claims he doesn’t, but he can’t just treat Jin like he’s a nobody, either. Ji-won struggles with her racing thoughts as she asks for time to process all of this, but Sun-woo barrels on about the blood on his hands and how the guilt of it all caused him to go blind. He knows very well the destruction Jin caused: “I hate him now, but at the same time I feel burdened.”

So Ji-won asks for some time and leaves him. In voiceover we hear a letter he wrote to her, one very like the letter he wrote when he first left her so many years ago. In it he claims to know that despite her acting like she’s happy, he knows that she won’t be because of who his father is and how it relates to her dead father. He also knows that she wouldn’t be able to leave him, so he’s doing the work instead – he’s leaving her.

We see him gazing at the picture of Ji-won she gave him when he was blind as we cut to Ji-won reading the last of the letter, different from the last because he’s not going to ask her to wait for him… nor will he wait for her, either.

The breakup settles in, and Ji-won asks a picture of her father what she should do. She can’t forgive Jin, but she can’t leave Sun-woo either.

Soo-mi paints in her old high school classroom and reminisces on Crazy(?) Jang-il telling her that he’ll keep their date from fifteen years ago. Her father never recovered fully from Yong-bae’s murder attempt and still gets around in a wheelchair, though he got his wish by moving back to the countryside.

The two sit out in the playground, with Soo-mi asking her dad why nothing in life goes as planned. He sagely explains that the date of one’s birth and death can’t be planned, so therefore nothing will ever go as one plans. It’s the same for everyone around the world. Soo-mi’s instantly comforted by his words, and she seems pretty okay. Is this how her story is going to end?

Ji-won is back to working at a library, and helps the first blind person she sees as an obvious stand-in for Sun-woo. She’s back to recording audiobooks, and exactly how many audio versions of The Old Man and the Sea does that library need?

We find Sun-woo driving a jeep in a tropical locale, and in voiceover we hear him say that leaving Ji-won was the only way, and that he’s off to the equator again. Because it’s in the title and had to be made relevant somehow.

Time passes, and Ji-won arrives at the Equator Airport. She drives to a remote house/tent nestled against a beautiful tropical landscape. Is this where Sun-woo is staying?

Only, she emerges from the tent with tears falling down her face. Uh oh. What did she find inside?

So she’s back on the bus, and in voiceover we hear a native child explaining to her that Sun-woo has gone – wait for it – to the equator. They barely miss each other at the airport, oh horrors.

Sun-woo returns to his primitive tent-home outfitted with modern amenities. He plays Ji-won’s song, “Moon River”, and puts up a framed picture of her. Evidence that she’s been there remains in the form of heart stickers on the picture of him and his father.

Apparently Min-yun (Sun-woo calls him by his name, “Mr. Kun”) is living there too, and Sun-woo mistakes the approaching footfalls for him when it’s really Ji-won. Argh, so why did we do this missed-connections-bus-airport-jeep-runaround again when they were just going to meet anyway?

They’re reunited, but it isn’t a warm one as he tells her to go back home. But then he asks her if she has the ability to do so. Ji-won: “No.” Sun-woo: “Don’t go then. Stay with me forever. I love you.”

Now that all their problems are solved, they share a romantic kiss against the pretty scenery. Then they read each other’s backs as if Braille were written on them, with Ji-won reading from Sun-woo: “I’ve been waiting for you.” And Sun-woo reading from Ji-won: “I always loved you. I will go anywhere with you.” They kiss again.

 
COMMENTS

A surprisingly happy ending for a revenge tale that seemed bound for tragedy, with some stories tightly tied up and some just left drifting. I get that side characters are side characters for a reason – although it would have been nice to see the drama give even a bit of closure to characters like Geum-jool, Tae-joo, or even Min-yun. Remember that dropped storyline where Chairman Jin was going to get his stepdaughter to date Joon-ho for inside information? Or Sun-woo letting Joon-ho in on the whole plot? Or Sun-woo’s plan to return Ji-won’s father’s company to her? Yeah, I don’t think the writer did either.

Parts of the finale were incredibly satisfying, though some of the emotional levels we reached felt like we cheated our way there. For instance, Jang-il’s apology letter seemed like a cop-out in the scope of how important his big turning point was. The scenes we got with the boys later were great, but it felt like we went from point A to C by skipping B along with the dramatic depths that could have been explored if we were actually able to witness the moment Jang-il finally turned around. To have that kind of a moment skimmed over by him basically saying “I’m sorry” in a letter seemed cheap, no matter the personal apologies we got later when he was already half out of his mind. You can show us the minutiae of Ji-won’s equator travel sequence, but you want us to fill in the blanks with Jang-il making a monumental life-changing decision just so you can shoehorn in the opening sequence? Not okay.

The same can be said of most of the big emotional transitions, dating back to Sun-woo transforming into Dark Avenger Sun-woo. It’s not that the drama wasn’t building up to his violent turn, but it felt like we went from the justice-hound version of Sun-woo to the bloodthirsty, vengeful Sun-woo without seeing that exact moment of change, thus being robbed of a moment of revelation rife with dramatic possibilities. The same goes for Jang-il’s turning point, or Chairman Jin’s turning point into a sad and remorseful father. Where we ended up in the story made sense, how we got there (mostly) made sense, but the exact transitions were fuzzy enough to have me going “Where did this come from?” at certain moments, like Jin crying on Sun-woo’s shoulder during that frenetic Thailand excursion.

Jang-il has always been an incredibly engaging character, and throughout the drama I wanted to believe that he felt remorse for what he’d done. Time and time again we were shown the exact opposite, so when Jang-il finally admitted to Sun-woo that he’d secretly wanted to ask for forgiveness all these years I believed it because I wanted to, even though the story hadn’t really led us to that point. If there had been even one moment prior where Jang-il showed that he was even resisting the tendency to fall to his knees and beg forgiveness, his admission would have held more water. I never got that sense from him, so it felt like we jumped from a Jang-il devoid of human compassion to a Jang-il suddenly so full of human compassion and remorse that it drove him mad.

From the moment Sun-woo and Jang-il were being set up as friends-turned-enemies, it was fairly clear that the revenge aspect of the show would never be a cathartic experience. I was always on Sun-woo’s side when he was against Soo-mi, and was honestly surprised that she got off so easy. She was a character who entertained but never changed, and one who never learned. Yet her life remained the most in tact – sure Sun-woo took a knife to some of her paintings, but it’s not like he went through with the threat to break her hand. However, I admit that wanting her to display some remorse is strictly wish-fulfillment, and that it fits with her character to just remain awful forever.

Things get a bit trickier when it comes to Jang-il, who may have been misguidedly harsh for most of the series… though I don’t think he was being unnecessarily narcissistic or crazy when he would claim that Sun-woo wasn’t the only victim. There’s no excusing Jang-il or Yong-bae for their actions, though Sun-woo’s retaliation didn’t seem much more moral or ethical. He put the pieces in place for Yong-bae to kill himself, effectively knowing that he would rob Jang-il of his father (which seemed to be the point), and he would have been just as responsible if Kwang-choon had actually died. While Sun-woo went blind for a time he was able to come back better than ever and could have lived a fulfilling life, but he made it so that Jang-il had it worse than he did when the whole dead father thing happened. He may have gone blind, but Jang-il went plain insane.

If Jang-il’s letter was the big turning point for Sun-woo it’s sort of sad, because with such a lame apology Jang-il would have only needed to say “sorry” once and Sun-woo would have forgiven him on the spot. (Or so it seems.) Again, it’s the transition from Unforgiving Sun-woo to Very Forgiving Sun-woo that jarred me. The moments he shared with the institutionalized Jang-il were beautiful and heart-wrenching in all the right places (I was bawling my eyes out), though I found myself oddly upset when Sun-woo kept sidetracking Jang-il off the subject of their past, like, It’s time for us to move on. Which is fine, except Sun-woo has made it so that Jang-il can never move on, ever, and it’s such an easy thing to say from Sun-woo’s side of the fence now that he’s completely destroyed everyone who wronged him. But if we put the two of them side by side, who really got the short end of the stick?

I’m guessing answers to that question may vary, although I’m of the mind that they both wronged each other gravely. Jang-il’s fate is left slightly ambiguous (though I can’t see his life consisting of more than a padded cell at this point), while Sun-woo gets the girl and a fresh start in a tropical locale. Whether he necessarily earned it (by incapacitating another human being for life) or not is still a big question mark in my book, but I enjoy the fact that I can think so deeply about a character’s ethics and choices.

And that sort of dichotomy is true of the whole show, when you get down to it. Equator Man wasn’t the most even of shows, and suffered inevitable lags in storytelling even when it had mountains of story to tell. At its core it was a thought-provoking character drama with top-notch acting and some of the best no-frills cinematography in recent memory, with a bromance of epically heartbreaking proportions that’s seared itself into my memory. I still don’t quite know what an Equator Man is, though I have the vague feeling that I may not ever want to meet one.

 
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Ah. At least a good ending ! :) This was a gem of a show for me :)

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Finally, the last episode.
Thanks, headsno2.

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honestly, this episode is the first time I bawled my eyes out in the whole series... I don't know, There is something that really got me about Jang il's remorse... Maybe I have wait for it for too long.. And when they showed it, I can't handle the tears anymore... If only they showed remorse jang Il more often, If only I can get that raw emotion when He torn wheter he want to killed Sun WOo the second time... *ahh that RAW emotion I have been waiting for*

If only the transtition for each character emotion more detailed and has subtlety throughout the series... Not Bad vs good guys intencity for the sake of intense scene.

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Thank you.Err.... don't know how I feel.I don't think just having the boy with a girl at the end was or can be called a good ending for a drama.They were never central to the plot.So in the end the 4 of them couldn't continue with their lives normally.Those scenes with the young-old selves. together were heartbreaking.

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Judging from how he likes cuddling and all in 1N2D, TaeWoong must be very happy for the kissy scenes. LOL.

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I feel dissapointed with this ending, jang-il got to be forgiven too easily... I spent sooooo many episodes waiting for sun-woo's revenge that the letter wasn't enough for me and i felt forced to accept jang-il's apology by writing.
Also i would have prefered a bromance last scene because i actually never cared for ji-won, i found her so terribly boring.
Thank u for all the recaps :)

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And that's the end of the roller coaster ride. We've pulled back into the station, but I can't help wanting to ride it again.

Yes, there were issues in this finale. As you pointed out, the transitions between Jang Il and Sun Woo's repentance and forgiveness were a bit fuzzy. I do think if you look at the context of Jang Il's apology letter, it sort of works. He was planning to kill President Jin AND himself. So, it was a suicide letter. But, Sun Woo chased after him and put a stop to that plan. And this leads me to a point I made in an earlier episode - Sun Woo still cherished his relationship with Jang Il. This finale proved it. This is why he first went about his vengeance through the justice system; he was giving Jang Il a chance (many, actually) to apologize and repent. He definitely knew that tactic had little to no chance of working, but he still attempted it. Jang Il unfortunately left him little option but to CHOOSE the other option.

And like you mentioned, the ending scenes in the Equator (I assume that was Thailand) did seem a bit silly with Ji Won and Sun Woo missing paths, only to then meet at last. It is sort of in character with their previous meetings, though; there was that moment earlier in the series when Sun Woo thought Ji Won was involved in an auto accident and they nearly missed each other then. :D So, yeah, the production was just drawing out the reunion there.

And of course, there's Soo Mi whom I feel got off too good for her role in things. Oh well.

Overall, though, I was pretty much content with the ending. It was perfectly bitter sweet. Those scenes with Sun Woo and Jang Il and their younger selves were easily the strongest of the episode and provided great imagery. Personally, I am of the belief that Jang Il is either dead or comatose. Either way, he's definitely 'destroyed' as Sun Woo mentioned. That's what leads me to believe that Sun Woo didn't get a complete happy ending either, at least when compared to the norm. Think about it: The man who raised him - his adopted father - is long dead; his mother is dead; the man who took him in and gave him a new chance in life is NOT his biological dad; his best friend's life is forever destroyed, and all of this stems from his biological father. And, of course, he has the guilt of his part in the destruction that happened, too. What he has left is Ji Won and the Equator - the woman he loves the most and the place he loves the most. I'm glad he can at least have some peace in his life now.

All of the characters' fates are a result of the choices they and others made. That's the thematic message this drama succeeded in delivering. Jang Il wasn't born evil. Sure, he did have a dark side, but he was at heart just a boy who only wanted to move up from his poor lot in life. However, he chose not to do the right thing when confronted with the horrible decision his own father made. And, he chose to attempt to kill Sun Woo because of it. All throughout the entire series, he had the option to make the right choices, but he never did and he knew that. Sun Woo is almost the opposite of Jang Il in terms of choice; his life was a result of having NO choice. His adopted father was murdered, he was betrayed, and he lost his sight. He was powerless until Tae Joon stepped in and gave him the power to HAVE choice. That's a great responsibility. And that's what Sun Woo was faced with in the last act of the show. He finally had the power of choice, so what would he choose to do with it...?

The choices we make in life can have powerful repercussions, and the main characters in this show are the example of that. The potential for good and evil exists in every human being; it's just a matter of choice.

Equator Man is definitely a contender for my favourite drama from this first half of the year. Uhm Tae Woong and Lee Jun Hyuk delivered in spades and I'm very glad I decided to go along for the ride.

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P.S. Thanks for the recaps, HeadsNo2. I may not have agreed with all of your views on the show, but I'm glad you provided the opportunity for me to flesh out my own thoughts on it. This was a great show to discuss. And it was fun reading everyone else's thoughts on it.

I look forward to whatever you choose to recap next.

:)

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Very well-said.

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For me, the end was rather anticlimatic. And I still don't buy into any of that romance. But I enjoyed the acting of the 2 male leads throughout this series though.

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Thank you for the recap! Though there were parts in which I found unsatisfying, overall this drama has been pretty damn awesome. And ugh, even though Jang-il hasn't exactly been shown regretting his choices, when he went insane and such, it broke my heart. Anyways, can he just not die in one of his drama? City Hunter was enough for me, heh. And too bad he's going to army :( See you in 2014, Jun-hyuk! Fighting!

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The scene with them on the bench doing homework was really touching. I felt sorry for Jang Il at that moment and it was just so sad seeing him regress that much. Also the four of them on the cliff was very well done.

While Jang Il said he never slept well and felt remorse, I kept searching my memory to see if I could pinpoint when that happened. *scratcehs head* So I do agree with your comments Heads. The transition could have been much better but kudos to the actors for making their remorse sooooo very believable. I even felt something for JIn as he cried in prison.

But...what the hell? Soo Mi was supposed to die. Tch! Damn you Soo-Mi. She still holds the place of 'worst character ever' in my book.

The romance....*sighs* I won't mention it. Thanks for the great recaps Heads. :D

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They have shown Jang Il's remose, like when he cried when he saw soo mi's painting.. or when he feels cold when he cross the bridge. it just didn't shown more frequently to makes us believe his remorse and concsience ....

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Yeah, but it was hard to buy into what he was crying for. It struck us as more of a case that he was crying because his position as star prosecutor was being compromised.

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i actually felt that Jang Il was regretful of his deeds, somehow i felt it through the drama, when he asks about Sun-woos well being after the coma, how he stared at him sometimes when his still blind.. i just felt it, through his action.. mian'i cannot post a comment so i just reply to your post..

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jangil is such a suffering soul, the moment he jumps into the ocean is the moment his soul is free, the last scene at the cliff is like making my tears running down like streams...and lee junhyuk acts beautifully in this very last episode..
ppl do not like soomi, but i really like her painng plots which is fantastically dramatic..!!!

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ooophs....it is her painting plots..

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i agree 100%, the final scene with jang il in the water was AMAZING and heartbreaking and beautiful all in one...i cried and cried for him.

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"She’s back to recording audiobooks, and exactly how many audio versions of The Old Man and the Sea does that library need?"

it's for distribution to other libraries?

all in all i was more entertained by The Equator Man than the other 2 dramas of the same time slot.

may the UHM FORCE be with everyone!!

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thank you for the recaps!

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This series was a hard series to watch - especially when I was watching a light and fluffy like Rooftop Prince and King 2 Hearts (which was dark mixed with heaps of fluffies)

But seriously cudos to Uhm Tae Woong and Lee Jun Hyuk. Stellar performances by both...

I also had to grab a box of tissues... It was quite crumpled from the last couple of episodes from me throwing the box in pure frustration and anger towards Jang Il/Yong Bae/Chairman Jin/Soo Mi/Kwang Cheon but am very happy with the ending. Actually out of the three dramas - the most satisfying ending.

Whilst I understood that it was a low blow for Jang Il to leave a small note for Sun Woo confessing that he was sorry - I understood that it was just enough. A man who was in love with himself and would stop at nothing to get what he wants and to immerse in more attention, the small note was enough. Though when he could not get the "revenge" he wanted by killing the "root" of the whole mess (aka Chairman Jin) - He lost his mind.

Funny how he found Yong Bae such a nuisance, yet it wasn't till too late that his father sacrificed so much to pave a path for him.

This drama precisely portrays that whilst revenge will help bring justice to the wrong do-ers, ultimately it brings more sadness and pain to both parties. I mean, I think we knew it and the characters did, but human emotions aren't so easily controlled.

...blah... Let me go watch the last episode again... I feel the tears coming down again.

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thank you for the recaps! contented with the finale!

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HI,
Girl leave Mobile phone in the refrigerator. She takes care of the baybe and she is late for an interview Which is korean's drama on KBS TV? Please help me:)

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Thx for recapping this one! I enjoyed reading/watching with everyone here.

There were flaws, true enough, but all in all it was an entertaining 20-hour ride. I became a fan of UTW from 1N2D and this is the first full drama/movie I've seen of his. I may not watch this one again (as I do with dramas that make it to my "favorites" list) but I enjoyed his performance and Lee Jun Hyuk enough that I'll be looking for other projects of theirs.

Even though some parts of the finally made me think "How did we get here????" I'm glad Sun Woo learned the freeing act of forgiveness, Jang Il gave voice to his remorseful conscience and apologized to Sun Woo and our OTP will "stay together forever."

On a scale of 1-10, I give Equator Man a solid 7.5.

Heads - THANKS again for the recaps & I'm already looking forward to whatever comes next!

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So Jang-il lived? or died? I'm quite confused right now.. It seems that from the conversation he did live, but how come he has no other closing scene?

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I actually thought that Jang Il died, and was surprised no one else was wondering about that in the comments section. It certainly wasn't clear, but the last we saw of him, he was sinking further and further down-- with music and a flashback(!), out of Sun Woo's reach. A smile came across his face, suggesting that he was finally at peace-- then we saw Sun Woo looking like he couldn't see Jang Il. It faded to black, then Sun Woo was being told by a doctor that his blindness was the result of shock or emotional stress. I interpreted the question about Jang Il being alright to be referring to his well-being in the afterlife. If he did survive, I don't know why they didn't show us the two hands connecting, which would have been full of powerful symbolism. Since I wasn't sure, I googled it, and it seems there is some confusion about it, including among Korean netizens. I read somewhere that viewers of the Women in the Sun finale were similarly confused about whether or not one of the main characters had actually died after a suicide attempt/car crash, and that the production team had had to clarify that yes, she had died. (You'd think that after that experience, they'd be careful not to confuse viewers again about the possible death of a character, but apparently not.) I was only able to check sources in English-- maybe someone can report back to us about what's been said in the Korean media. In any case, it seemed like that was the end for Jang Il one way or another-- but maybe he's in a coma or something.

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Ah, thank you for bringing up that bit about the scene with the doctor and reminding me! I was leaning more towards 'he's dead' but couldn't exactly pinpoint the scene that led me to conclude that. But, now I remember.

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I'm quite confused as well... but actually I want to believe that JanG Il died. It will be out of character if Sun Woo never visit jang il after that incident. knowing how much he loved his friend and Jang Il's forgiveness makes him sane and stop his revenge. and after that incident he never once think about Jang il's condition..

And it will make the scene at cliff more powerful..

Just want to add, when Jang Il thinking about Soo MI after he jump, it's not a flashback, rather than his imagination (he explain he has imagination with Sun Woo as well... He wrote it in his letter.. it's shown he regret about all he did in the past, including with soo mi. He regret he rejected Soo mi back then.

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he lived.

after the diving scene, sun woo visits the doctor and discusses his condition. he leaves and then goes to sit on a bench in the park. ji won appears. she did ask him 'how's jang il' and i remember there was a 'fine' response. i'll rewatch it again to make sure.

it was done so quickly that it'd be easy to miss. i seriously remember this happening. if anyone else can confirm, please do so!

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I think the show is leading us to believe that Jang-il lived. It'd be way too existential for Sun-woo to ask Ji-won about Jang-il if he were referring to Jang-il in the afterlife. How Jang-il ended up is open to interpretation, but my guess is that he'd be in a coma (from almost drowning) or back in an asylum.

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i thought he died, but then i do remember sunwoo asking how jang il was during his blindness...so i guess it makes some sense that he's in a coma. maybe i need to go back and watch again.

either way, dead or alive, he is ruined forever.

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There are some other comments that I wanted to make, but I'll be really pressed for time for most of this week. Maybe later. For now, I'll just say congratulations and thank you, HeadsNo2-- once again, you did a great job recapping this series!

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Thanks for the insightful recaps, Heads! :)

This show has been a little heavy for me. But I'm glad I gave it a try.

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This was a rather uneven drama as said in the recap. I did like it a lot but it should've been edited better (some scene changing was really baffling) and Ji-Won should've been dropped or written differently. She really DID suck out drama almost in every scene she was, especially in the later part of the series. Her romance with Sun-Woo worked ok in college years when he was blind but after Sun-Woo came back, she was only burden to drama. I do understand her point as being conscience of Sun-Woo but I didn't get the feeling that she played that part very well. She was utterly useless in it as well as being his pillar - come on, man cried on several occasions and best she could do was to ALLOW him to lean onto her lap and pad him on the shoulder?! And she's supposed to be in love with him, right?? No way were those two in love, that was like two sisters minus the kissing scenes.

But Jang-Il, Sun-Woo and Young-Bae - relationship between those guys was interesting, wonderfully executed and heart-wrenching. Except for the that "not showing exact moment of change" as HeadsNo2 pointed out but even without it they felt real and engaging. I also liked Jin's end and didn't feel it came out of nowhere. He still hated his fiancee so he was clearly emotionally still connected to her and through her to Sun-Woo, his son. When he found out that all that hatred had had no base, it's quite plausible in my eyes that he lost his ground, so to speak. If he had trusted his fiancee, Sun-Woo might have been his son in every way, not just through DNA.

Soo-Mi's ending - well, she surely did not get what she deserved. I'm not quite sure what I think about it, I'm not exactly satisfied nor am I disappointed. So I'll just skip that part.

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EQM you are finished too...
Ep 20...Had beautiful scenes, but not perfect to me.
The first half of the ep was good...So much feelings...
The best scene for me was on the cliff, no doubt...
Detail in that scene were everything...SW and JI opposite, one in black one in white, hunting memory, the forgiveness, sad and love.
Second half of ep we have ending, but not much effect on me...
One thing was good, goodbye kiss...that's how you ended it...hehahaa...

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Why is the last scene of jiwon and sun woo, i would have preferred it to be centered around sun woo and jang il since their relationship is what the drama is about right? and jiwon is a TERRIBLY boring character.

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I will never ever be able to disassociate Lee Joon Hyuk from Jang Il's character from now on. Those disturbing close up shots of his face revealing the cold, dark depths of his psyche has been indelibly etched in my brain. During those moments, his eyes were seriously creepy or contained manic glints and his face seemed almost reptilian *shudders*. Even if I see him in another rom com, Jang Il won't be far from my mind. I now almost feel like Jang Il's character was wasted in this drama. I would love to see a more detailed, nuanced, fleshed out version of Jang Il in a movie.

Also, I was shocked when Jang Il became insane, but I guess I shouldn't have been since it's a common mechanism of justice in rpure, innocent, brotherly friendship *bawls*. Ahh...evenge dramas. Anyways, it worked. I felt sorry for Jang Il. He was just like a frightened child, and it really was pitiful to see him shivering and hallucinating. And the reunion of child Jang Il and child Sunwoo was really moving TT_TT. It brought back all the memories of their pure, innocent younger selves and their lost innocence....And if you just ignore logic and reason, the scenes of Jang Il's repentance is heartbreaking. Bah, the scene where child Sunwoo forgives child Jang Il is also moving. Bromance, why doth thou tug at the heart strings so??

Anyways, if we're going to discuss the meaning of the phrase "equator man," I can only think of the two obvious ones. One, the equator is a line dividing the globe into north and south, heaven and hell, good and evil, etc. Sunwoo could be an equator man because he has stood at the edge of morality and immorality, and had to make a choice (I think the drama's intent was to show that Sunwoo ultimately chose good over evil, though it's debatable). It could also refer to his discovery that the line between morality and immorality is actually very, very thin, and how easy it is for man to cross over to the dark side. Or maybe it means that morality and immorality is actually ambiguous.

The other meaning of an equator man could refer to the fact that the equator is the hottest region on earth. Sunwoo could be an "equator man" because he is so passionate. (Yeah, me knows, it sounds lame ^^). His love for Jang Il and his (first) father was passionate, his desire for revenge was passionate, etc. I'm still confused as to why Sunwoo wanted to return to the equator though.

As far as I remember, the only hint for the meaning of "equator man" was child Sunwoo's words about saying he felt like he was heading for the equator after he realized his father was murdered. So I guess the equator could also be a symbol for the point of no return. Either way, I find the metaphor unique, and I wish its meaning could have been made more clear~~

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i would say that equator man not just refers to man, but woman as well...man at equator with burning desires..like soomi's desires for jangil, sunwoo's desires for revenge, jangil's desires for success, jangil father's desires for protecting his son, jin's desires for his hatred over his thought-to-be betrayed girlfriend...all lead to destructive force and death eventually, like the hotness of the sun at the equator is going to burn everything into ashes...and the only woman not from the equator is jiwon who is from ice age..

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did anyone notice that jangil was reading the book " Great Gatsby" in the hospital when soomi went to visit her...i think this tells sth about the character that the director/writer wants he to be...

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Indeed. And the page contains "Goodbye" at center, if you focus on it. Just saying :)

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Hi heads! THANK YOU!
Its been great reading your recaps on this great drama.
Look forward to other recaps by you on (hopefully) another great drama ;)
Now off to read~

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Was I the only one who was constantly nervous every time Sun Woo turned his back on Jang Il? For awhile, I kept thinking, "This is an insanity defense setup?!" I was so distrustful during some of the moments mentioned. I will have to watch again now that my unease was unnecessary! The moments where the Young Sun Woo and Jang Il were my favorite ones! When they were doing homework, that was probably the only moment where I almost cried. Soo Mi, lucky b*tch! She pretty much got off unscathed! I had no idea at the end whether Jang Il was alive or dead. There were some scenes that were kind of disjointed. I could have done without all of the flashback too. I think there could have been additional information they could have provided us for closure. But I guess we should be happy that Sun Woo and Ji Won got there happy ending...

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YES!! i felt like that, like "watch out, he's behind you sun woo!!" during much of the cliff scene!

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wow
thank you, its finished now and this drama is one of the best in its genre I loved it from the beginning and I love it even more now.
thank you headsNo2 for recapping this drama
I really enjoyed watching it!

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This drama did wonders for lee Jin hyuk n uhm tae woong's careers. If my crush isn't enlisting, producers will be lining up outside his door to discuss his next project

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Thanks HeadsNo2! I found this episode kind of uneven as well. And I kind of wonder whether the extension would've helped. You know, make the shift in characters seem more apparent.

One thing I don't quite agree with you on is how easily Sun-woo forgave Jang-il after the apology. You seemed to think it would out of character, but I would say it was actually hinted at many times before. Sun-woo has time and time again asked Jang-il to apologize. I think he really was looking for the best excuses from all these people. Jang-il, Soo-mi, Bae-yong, etc. And when they stayed so persistent and let him down time and time again, it drove him crazy and made him want revenge even more. He was particularly really attached to Jang-il out of everyone that betrayed him, so I believe him giving in and forgiving Jang-il after that apology. Even if the form the apology was given in sucked (agree with you there).

Kim Young-chul did really well in this role. Gah, I couldn't even hate him after having him be the devil for 19.5 episodes! Grr. As a side note, he really reminds me of Kim Soo-hyun. Not sure why, but I think it's the way they speak and how their mouthes move. That sounds super weird, but I can picture Soo-hyun turning into him he grows up enough to be playing a chairman figure.

Again, thanks for the recaps!

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Thanks for the great review!

I really liked Equator Man. It was engaging and had terrific acting from the leads.

I thought Soo-mi had a lot of potential as an antagonistic character. Too bad the writers let her story and development go. Nonetheless, I enjoyed her presence in the drama, perhaps even more so than Jiwon, who was boring and served no real purpose.

On a side note, I came from somewhere very near the equator (Singapore!) and found it surprising that the writers came up with such a name to illustrate the burning desires of the characters. Honestly speaking, I can only think of palm trees and sweaty days under the sun lol.

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They broadcast Jang Il's remorse and second thoughts in small scenes...the hospital visit, almost turning to go back to the restaurant where Sun Woo met them again for the first time, freaking out afterwards whenever confronted with the truth, and so on...but in the end nothing.

That note was an effort all alone and only because he was going to kill himself.

The reconciliation was good and the return of the younger cast was glorious but I knew that it was a BAD idea to go back to the cliff.

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i agree with you about jangil's remorse moments, if jangil got no remorse at all, he wouldn't have gone insane in the end, he would have thought seriously on how to get rid of sunwoo totally completely...just that the remorse moments are so small and tiny and could be easily ignored by both himself and the audience as well...

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HeadNo2, thank you so, so much for your hardwork! I have enjoyed your insightful reviews and the wonderful community that has clustered around you. I hope that we will have many more opportunities to read your recaps in the future.

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done... thanks for the recap..

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one thing i did learn is that in korea, everybody gets a piggy back ride. even the eeeeeevil ones.

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Thank you so much for recapping Equator Man! I only checked out this final recap because I was curious about how the drama turned out and became obsessed with reading all of the recaps. Still so sleep deprived from reading all the recaps at once. I'm definitely going to watch this drama now! Thank you so much!

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i was reading the Equator Man recaps while watching White Christmas. :D

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I've just watch episode 15 in KBSW today,, aagghh it's so slow,, feel I can't wait any longer..

everytime there's new recap of EQ, feel like I want to comment but I CAN'T cause I HAVEN'T watch it. sigh..

5 more episodes to go.

btw, uhm tae-woong's cry breaks my heart. top acting!

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I think this was quite complex the tale of Jang Ill and Sun Woo. First of all I have no idea how they became friends... but whatever they were. I think deep in his heart Sun Woo knew why Jang Ill did what he did and he might've even did the same thing for his own father. But his pride/conscience wouldn't let him just forgive his BFF for essentially killing his dad and making him blind. The whole series I felt Sun Woo's revenge was only half hearted. He really though he wanted revenge but when shit started hitting the fan he realized all it was is a funky mess. All he wanted was justice/a honest explanation. If Jang Ill had ever said I'm Sorry Sun Woo would've forgiven him on the spot and moved on, but he was so stubborn about not saying it. Although it was quite clear that Jang Ill was so remorseful for what he did. I'll leave out the father side story because I found it irrelevant and unneeded.

I'm mostly satisfied with the outcome and I definitely enjoyed the ride. Equator Man was a gem.

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Cry me a river....
So, we are told again that revenge best served cold and... forgiven is the best revenge we can ever do...

I'm really surprised with this ending, salute, bravo, good job producers, writers, director, actors, and all.... You present me with one of memorable Kdrama (again).

Thanks to you HeadsNo2. I always looked forward every Monday and Tuesday to read your recaps. Those were good....

Now, what should I do when this one is over? Arrggg...
Sometimes, the time between the good ones appear is always blah/meh time....

I love how they portrayed human being here. There's no 100% right or wrong, everyone entitled to their reason/believe (aside whether it's right or wrong), lots of nuances and grey area.

No Dad vs Real Dad, Best Friend vs Father, Best Friend vs Best Crush, how can you judge and condemn them? When love, hate, greed, power collide within one person?

I may never forgive the ones that I hate, but... this give me another side to look and to ponder... why don't you love and accept someone as he/she is? The real person behind all those masquerades and labels... The one that you can really see with your heart, not your eyes...

Ugh, oh.... what a weekend to come....
I salute humanity (as much as I hate human)

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Thank you so much for the recap. It was a pleasant journey with this drama through your recap. I enjoyed it a lot! I didn’t like the drama at the beginning and I had to skip some episodes till I got hooked. I so appreciate the time and effort you put in here. Thanks again.

Regarding the drama, I was all about the revenge and waiting for all baddies to get punished and for someone to die BUT I was disappointed with the finale  no one died! And no one got really punished for their crimes!!! That just reminds me of my disappointment with Thorn Birds. Ok forgiveness and matureness are good and make the world a better place to live in BUT what about all the pain the hero/heroine has to go through? What about justice????
Anyway, it was disappointing but not as BAD GUY, ugh I hated all the nonsense in that drama. So thanks again HeadsNo2 

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Yeah bad guy has the worst ending I've ever seen for a drama Hands down.I actually liked this ending though I just wished that the last 30 minutes were not wasted on jiwon&sunwoo together,their scenes together were painfully boring because of jiwon who btw is the worst female lead in a drama EVER if she was just going to be sunwoo's love interest and nothing more then don't give her so much goddamn screentime we don't care about her.

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I did not watch the second half part at all...what's the point?? the drama ended when jangil jumped into the ocean..!!

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VOTE FOR BEST 2012 KDRAMA: http://polldaddy.com/poll/6291076/

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Jang-il's apology to sun-woo was sincere..I have always believed that beneath his cold exterior that he felt guilt and remorse for what he did,like after seeing soomi's paintings,but the scene underwater made no sense to me,he has never liked or cared for soo-mi so why would he be thinking of her when he is dying?I never seen him feel bad about standing her up once and he's always treated her like shit ever since he found out she was a shaman's daughter,besides sunwoo has told soomi that jangil will never like her EVER so wtf is with that scene?I'm just going to go with the writer wanted to redeem jangil by having him showing remorse for his wrong-doings,but other than that flaw I loved the ending.I'm glad that for once they have a happy ending for a revenge drama!

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So in the end, jangil couldn't forgive himself when others already forgave him

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Thank God this drama had a happy ending after all ; but only for the two, Sun Woo and Ji Won. As for me, Jang Il and Soo Mi might go well in life after this kind of tragedy. Sad to say, the writer made it this way. Well, not everything you want in a story will be written the way we want it to be. Jin's role is portrayed fantastically. Same for Lee Joon Hyuk! I love how you did it here. Fantastic and incredible acting. My tears kept flowing like a river of no re turn. I hope this gets so much credit for drama category. Nice!!!!!!! I now understand the many facets of the meaning of the man from the equator. The fight between the good and the bad; the character of Sun Woo being the equator man, and the meaning of revenge as against that of forgiveness which we sometimes find it hard to do for others.

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huh... either I was falling asleep or the DVD (Director's Cut) I was watching didn't show that scene where SW met his father in jail?

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Yepp, the transition of the turning point always lack of the "WOW factor",, it could've been better than that.
Well, it was quite disappointing while the idea was actually good.

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Jung IL shouldnt have died. I watched the whole movie because of him and his gorgeous face. Stupid writer

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I'm going voting crazy!

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