Big: Episode 16 (Final)
by girlfriday
Well, it ends. Listen, my mother said that if I don’t have nice things to say… waitaminute, my mother never said that. Let the ragefest begin!
This show is basically a lesson in math. Turns out you can have great parts, but the sum can add up to less than those parts. I know! I didn’t know it worked that way either! But math is wily like that. And apparently, so are dramas.
SONG OF THE DAY
Big OST – Gong Yoo “Because It’s You” [ Download ]
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FINAL EPISODE RECAP
Da-ran makes her big confession (handy to have the whole cast rounded up) that she’s in love with KKJ. She takes off the ring and leaves it on the table. Kyung-joon drags her away, and her parents are left to apologize to the in-laws.
Kyung-joon calls her crazy—he’s going to lose his memory and she’ll be all alone and hurt. Da-ran: “I’m going to remember. Even if it hurts, I can’t pretend you weren’t here.”
He stammers, “You’re not going to pretend it didn’t happen?” Is the question you’re really asking, Then was the last episode all for nothing? Because that sure is MY question.
Da-ran: “No. Because I said that my feelings for you were real. The you that I like is there. He’s there now and will be in the future.” He looks at her, dumbfounded—but he might not remember, and he might call her a crazy person!
She says through her tears that it doesn’t matter. She’s going to remember and protect their love, and she’s going to tell him everything. She’s crazy now, so why not go with it? He agrees that she sure doesn’t appear sane.
She gives him the watch she fished out of the lake, and he decides she’s officially crazy. He cups her face in his hands, sighing that she’s all dirty and smelly. She says it again—that even if he can’t remember her, she’s going to remember for the both of them, and that she won’t let go of him.
A tear falls as he hugs her tight.
Little Kyung-joon’s vitals spike, and his heart rate gets dangerously high. Se-young calls the parents, who run over and stay up with him that night, worried.
Kyung-joon and Da-ran walk down the street hand-in-hand, and he asks if she doesn’t want to go home and shower first. But she says she’s going to have to learn to be seen as a crazy person by the entire world, so she may as well steel herself now.
To that end, she decides to pick some flowers out of a planter on the sidewalk, to make up for the time she threw out the flowers he gave her. She runs across the street to wave them about and sing the Pororo song, and she successfully gets called crazy.
Kyung-joon runs over and sighs that he’d hate to forget this—it’s fodder for a lifetime of mockery. She says in turn that there are so many things she didn’t do for him when she thought he’d remember, and now that he’s going to forget she’s just full of regret.
Mari comes back to the restaurant to retrieve her fake ring and asks Aunt and Uncle to be a witness for her when Kyung-joon wakes up, to say that she’s the one who was by his side the entire time.
They nod that she’s right about that, and she sighs that she’s the only one who has the right to be by his side, and not lying Gil Teacher who goes back on her promises.
The Gil family waits on pins and needles for the fallout, and Choong-shik worries—if Yoon-jae and Da-ran left like that, the air must be frosty between them right about now…
Cut to the happy couple shooting furtive smiles at each other across the kitchen table. Kyung-joon starts in on his interrogation: “When did you first start liking KKJ?!” He slams his hands on the table for emphasis.
She retraces her steps, like the time she felt something when he showed up at the theater, or realized in the park that she was no longer waiting for Yoon-jae, but searching for Kyung-joon.
She argues that they should be going over his half of the story since his is the memory they have to recreate, but he counters that his part is just full of pain, like the time he confessed he liked her and she called him a blood clot, and on and on ad infinitum. Well, when you put it like that, *sadface.*
She wonders why she didn’t find the courage to confess her feelings sooner, and he tells her to just do well from here on out, because he’s going to write it all down from now on. And then they just make moony eyes at each other in an explosion of cuteness.
Mom and Dad sit by Kyung-joon’s bedside all night, and Mom says it feels just like when Yoon-jae was young and sick all the time. She wonders how it feels the same now, watching over Kyung-joon.
Da-ran heads home to face the music, telling Kyung-joon that they can’t exactly see each other out in the open anymore. He asks if they should just run away to the boonies and she vows not to do any more running.
She steps through the door cautiously to find the whole family waiting for her. They send her upstairs right away. Mom comes in brandishing a pair of scissors: “Even when my mom cut off all my hair, I still liked your father.”
She tosses Da-ran a wedding photo, and in it Mom’s hair has been chopped off. She asks now if Da-ran wants to end up the same way. Da-ran says it doesn’t matter, because if she has to pretend her feelings aren’t real, then she’ll never be able to smile like Mom in this photo.
She closes her eyes and braces herself, and even when Mom grabs her hair and puts the scissors to her head, she says nothing in protest. Mom stops when she sees Da-ran’s resolve, sighing, “You’re really crazy, aren’t you?”
Mom sobs in her room, as Dad comes to pat her back. She adorably calls him Teacher, and cries that she just said the same things to her daughter that her mother said to her. She wonders now how much she broke her own mother’s heart. Aw.
Kyung-joon stops by the hospital to check on his coma body, and is alarmed to hear about the near-heart attack. Se-young remembers that he first woke up in the morgue after the accident, after being declared dead.
He confirms it. Oh noes. This is going to an ominous place.
He sits with Teddy, blowing balloons, and tells himself the body swap will be fine—just like inflating a balloon, deflating it, and then inflating it again. But next to him, Teddy over-inflates his, and it pops, jolting them both. Kyung-joon grabs his heart in fear.
Meanwhile Mom happily tells Se-young to wait for Yoon-jae to return to his old self. Mari tells Kyung-joon that she’s going with him to Germany, but he says they’re not going anywhere.
He tells her that Gil Teacher will stay by his side when he wakes up and Mari gapes—you mean by your side, the little brother of the man she just cheated on? She calls Da-ran crazy, and he affirms that she is with a goofy grin.
Kyung-joon spends the entire next day trying to see Da-ran, but the Gil Family is on high alert, taking shifts to watch her every move. He finally has to romeo his way to her window late at night, and puts his arms out to 10:10 for her to jump.
She’s about to when Mom stops her, reminding her not to do something as despicable as keep all her options open (ie. play both Yoon-jae and KKJ), a phrase that means in the literal sense, to “maintain your fishing pond.”
Da-ran grumbles that her pond only has the one fish, and then worries, “What if it dries up and dies?” She decides to jump, to water her fish and save it.
She gives Kyung-joon his watch, newly fixed, and then leaves him with a peck on the cheek. He watches her go with a swoon, muttering that if she was going to water the pond, she should’ve splashed him, not given him one little drop. But then he goes right back to swooning.
The next day Mari stomps into the hospital with a team of bodyguards in tow, and declares that she’s going to take Kyung-joon away. Um… are we adding kidnapping to your ever-growing list of crimes? Because you can’t just steal people’s coma bodies and get away with it!
Kyung-joon goes to see Mom to tell him that he’ll go to Germany with Dad, and they should leave Coma Kyung-joon here. To his surprise, Mom says she’ll stay here with Kyung-joon then.
But they’re quickly interrupted with bad news: Kyung-joon is gone. WUT. She really took him? How does a person just walk away with a coma patient? SIGH. Whatever.
She answers Kyung-joon’s call to announce that she’s going to hide him away till he wakes up, and keep him from ever seeing Gil Teacher again. “You said Gil Teacher was crazy? Well then I’m double double double crazy!” Um… were you waiting for someone to argue?
He tells her that he’ll just stay in this body forever then, and not get treated. She starts to panic that he’ll die that way, and Kyung-joon calls her bluff: he’ll meet her tantrum for tantrum, and he’ll just die in this body if she keeps going. She breaks down and tells him she’ll stop.
Kyung-joon tells her that being with Da-ran is what he wants, and Mari can’t force things to go her way while ignoring his feelings. She counters that he’s doing the same, ignoring her feelings and Yoon-jae’s.
She puts the ring on the table to remind him that when Yoon-jae wakes up and finds Da-ran by Kyung-joon’s side he’ll be as heartbroken as Mari. Yeah, but I doubt he’ll resort to kidnapping to argue the case.
At the same time, Little Kyung-joon’s vitals spike again. Teddy and Rabbit worry that they yanked too hard, and we see that the Miracle picture has been torn in two.
Mari continues on her quest to meddle, and why this character is even still trying to run interference at this point is beyond me. She goes to the mandoo restaurant to lie to Da-ran that she hid the ring in the mandoo filling, just to send her digging for it.
Da-ran bursts all the mandoo to look for the ring and then chases after the delivery guy to steal other people’s mandoo dinners, all the while feeling terrible that she ignored Yoon-jae’s feelings.
At the hospital, Yoon-jae-in-Kyung-joon’s-body cries a tear, and then his heart rate goes shooting up again. But Kyung-joon shows up to hold his hand, and he comes back down to normal. Kyung-joon says he’ll wait until Yoon-jae’s stopped time gets cleared up too.
He finds Da-ran trudging along in the street, looking for something. He guesses right away that it’s the ring and he says he found it. They stand across the street from each other, talking on the phone, and Kyung-joon sighs that it won’t work for them to hold hands right away, will it?
The blinking red light and her silent pause confirms that he’s right.
He wonders how long it’ll be before they can be together, hoping that it won’t take too long. He worries that he won’t remember and they’ll be apart for so long that they’ll miss their opportunity.
But she assures him that she’ll remember. Kyung-joon: “If my heart has grown enough to be able to look back at someone else’s heart, if my heart has grown just a little… then won’t I wake up, not as a child who knows nothing, but someone who can remember Gil Da-ran, just a little?”
She says that her heart will grow too, every day as she remembers him. She promises to keep growing her heart, so that it’ll be impossible to ever let him go.
Kyung-joon finally (FINALLY) spells it out plainly for Mari, that he’s not going to wake up by Da-ran’s side right away, but he’s not going to stay by Mari’s side either. He tells her to stop running after him, because no matter how much she does, he’ll never go to her.
Just think of all the felonies that could’ve been avoided had you done this sooner! He says he ignored her feelings completely in all this and did as he pleased, but now he feels sorry and can’t keep letting her do this.
He says he’ll put up a very clear signal for her, and puts up his hand, “Mari-ya, stop coming.”
She looks up with her puppy dog eyes and cries, and then steps forward, just until her head meets his outstretched hand. Aw, that’s kind of heartbreaking. She goes literally as far as he’ll let her, and stops there, resting her head against his palm. He drums his fingers on her head one last time.
And then Choong-shik sees her off at the airport with a long face, as he watches her approach the gate. He calls after her at the last minute and runs up to write his name on her purse.
Mari: “Gil Choong-shik!” Choong-shik: “That’s right! I’m Gil Choong-shik! This will probably take about ten years to repay via pizza. I will pledge that time to you. You wait, Jang Mari!”
And then he walks away, finally getting his cool exit down just right. She smiles after him.
Kyung-joon meets with Mom to go over travel plans, and finds her studying a notebook. He asks what it is, and she says it’s her Kyung-joon notes, gathered from Da-ran and Mari, so that she can learn as much about him as she can.
She worries that he’s a picky eater and that she isn’t the best cook, but Kyung-joon tells her to do her best, and prepare for a cold response since he’s not the most well-behaved child. He grins to himself, touched at her effort.
Ae-kyung and Na Teacher pass around their wedding invitations, and Ae-kyung asks Da-ran what she’ll do next if Yoon-jae heads off to Germany. She says that he’ll return someday to give her an answer.
She says that she’ll tell him then, that she’s no longer waiting for his answer, but has come to love someone else, even more.
Kyung-joon watches over his body and says that he’ll meet Yoon-jae soon, and by now I’m just screaming, You said that eons ago. Can soon be now?
He runs into Se-young and apologizes to her for acting so immature lately, and says that when she touched his arm after the accident that was kinda sexy. She should do it again, when Seo Yoon-jae returns. He walks away with a smile, leaving her confused.
Da-ran walks through the park and stops to drop some money for a homeless man sleeping on a bench, and is shocked to find her green umbrella sitting right there, still with her name and number on it.
Wait… did you just steal from a homeless man? Er…
She takes it to a shop to get it fixed and finds Kyung-joon watering the lawn. She tells him to make it rain and opens the umbrella, asking if he remembers the day they met.
He remembers, and confesses now that he followed her off the bus, not because she stole his umbrella, but because he swapped them on purpose. Ha.
They ride the bus together now, remembering that day, and he says how funny she was, giving herself away with the radio story. He saw that their umbrellas looked similar so he slid his over to her, and she picked his up without even looking.
They wonder that if he liked her enough to do that, maybe when he wakes up, there’ll still be a little of her in his heart.
They get off the bus and she opens her umbrella, and he puts his hands over hers just like that first day. She hopes that if she remains in his heart, he’ll come after her again. He asks that if he does, for her to hold onto him, no matter what, and tell him about their love.
Kyung-joon: “Then we’ll come back to this time.” She takes his watch and says that the moment she tells him her feelings, Kang Kyung-joon will return to this instant, and says he’s now been hypnotized.
They get ready to part, and she starts to cry but smiles through the tears. He ekes out that he’ll be going, but then stops to say one last thing. “I didn’t want to say this. I wanted to say it to you when I returned, but… Gil Da-ran, I love you.”
A tear trickles down his cheek as he says it, and then he puts the umbrella back in her hands, and walks away.
One year later.
Da-ran is a teacher at a new school, and Mari sends her an email to say that both boys have returned to their rightful places, and that neither remembers anything after the accident. Wait… the big finale body swap happens offscreen? @&*#$T#*#KK!
Kyung-joon hasn’t asked about Gil Teacher, and per her promise to Kyung-joon, Mari won’t tell him.
Da-ran says to herself that per her promise, she’ll continue to remember.
Rabbit gets better and even gets to go home from the hospital, and Teddy gives her a big hug. Ae-kyung and Na Teacher are pregnant and happy. And Da-ran still stops every time she sees sunflowers.
Choong-shik slices and dices as the new chef at the mandoo restaurant, and Mom and Dad say that Da-ran is due for a visit, after stopping by her old school. Choong-shik heads out to send Mari yet another package of mandoo, only to find her standing at his door.
She’s here to accept an award, having turned her stalker photographer skills into an artistic pursuit instead. Well that’s lemonade out of lemons if there ever was. Choong-shik asks hopefully if she’s been eating the mandoo he’s sent, and she says her dog enjoys them.
She admits she’s tasted at least one, and he asks her how many points she’d give them. She judiciously says, “One.” Choong-shik pumps his fist in the air, to have finally made it out of zeroland.
At this rate it’ll actually take you a hundred years to get your girl. He asks if they can take a picture together and eagerly awaits the day he’ll get to two points. Aw.
Da-ran drops by Kyung-joon’s old house and sees a mother and her son living there now. She says she used to live here and just dropped by, and as she leaves the kid says that the hyung who was just here said the same thing…
It starts to rain, and Da-ran hops on the bus. She hears her letter being read over the radio, wishing the person she loves a happy birthday this June 24. Da-ran whispers on the bus, “Happy birthday, Kyung-joon-ah.”
The radio message continues that she’ll be going next month to see him, and though he won’t remember, she’ll tell him everything that she remembers. She looks down at her watch and it’s 10:10.
The message concludes, “I’m running towards the time right now, 10:10.” She looks down at the aisle, where another green umbrella lies next to hers, and she smiles.
She gets off the bus with her umbrella, and then suddenly a voice calls out to her: “Gil Da-ran!” Wait, that’s still Gong Yoo’s voice. Urg, and though we only see him from above as he runs under her umbrella, it’s still Gong Yoo. WHY. Why Show, why.
It’s supposed to be Kyung-joon back in his own body, but they refuse to show it to us. This is so lame. I waited sixteen episodes for them to reunite like this?
He puts his hand over hers and she looks up. And then the scene is intercut with Kyung-joon’s farewell scene, earlier in the episode. If we were going to do that anyway, would it have killed you to have Shin playing the present-day half of his own character?
Past Kyung-joon tells her to hold onto him if he comes back. Da-ran looks up and smiles at him now, “Hello, Kang Kyung-joon.”
Kyung-joon plays it cool, saying that he just came around because he was curious how she was doing, and she says she knows the real reason (his little crush). He walks off with the umbrella and an, “Uh-oh, you’re overreacting.”
Back to Past Kyung-joon, who asks her to hold on, even if he’s mean and cold and bristly in the future. She runs after him now, returning that gesture and putting her hand over his under the umbrella.
Past Kyung-joon says that when she tells him her feelings, they’ll return to this moment. She smiles up at him now, and his watch reads 10:10.
Back to Past Da-ran: “I love you.” Past Kyung-joon: “The moment I hear those words, my heart will grow, as big as it is now. Like a miracle.”
They beam at each other, and then we end, on Past Kyung-joon and Past Da-ran, under the umbrella on that day they parted.
JAVABEANS’ COMMENTS
What? Huh? What? What? Was that just in her head? What? How did he get his memory back? What? What was the point of the year? Did Yoon-jae get over his sadface? What?
I have no more words for you. Drama, you don’t deserve any more words. Go sit in a corner and think about what you did.
RAGEQUIT.
GIRLFRIDAY’S COMMENTS
*HULKSMASH*
THE FUCK? We don’t even get ONE measly glimpse of Kyung-joon in his own body, even when they meet again? BAH. So. Disappointing. I know it’s jarring, but you’re the one who stuffed the hero in the wrong body for the entire goddamn series; own up to it and let us see the couple who’s supposed to be together, TOGETHER. If that’s the line you’re playing, you have to see it through!
It’s not like Shin has to appear 30 for crying out loud; he’s just 21 so how hard is it to let us see the 21-year old hero in his own body, finally getting the girl? I was so ready to say that despite some unnecessary episodes and senseless prolonging of plot points, that they managed to salvage a satisfactory ending. Until they didn’t show the swap. And then that last scene… where they didn’t give me my ONE moment, of Da-ran with the real Kyung-joon! Aaaaaaaaargh.
That’s just… plain mean.
Siiiigh. So many ways this drama went awry, and sadly, I think it began at the roots. They should’ve stuck with the original Big concept of a boy who rapid-grows into his own 30-year old body, because then at least it would’ve been HIS body. Having him stuck in Yoon-jae’s shell (even till the final moments of the show, dangnabbit) just kept me at arm’s length the whole time, knowing that she was having to look past his shell. Sure, it’s admirable that she can, and I went along because I expected that we’d get the final scene with Kyung-joon in his own body to say yes, Da-ran still loves him completely, as himself. IS THAT SO HARD? Why must you take that away from me? How can a story culminating in a body re-swap… not show the swap??? I. Don’t. Get. It. And did Yoon-jae just never come back to see his fiancée, or did that happen offscreen too? Why do you need a drama if all your most interesting narrative payoffs are going to happen OFFSCREEN?
Okay, calming down now. Truth be told, I might be angry now, but I was pretty checked out emotionally for most of the show’s run. There were definitely things that kept me invested, like Gong Yoo’s fantastic performance. But a showcase for one actor does not a drama make. And despite my love for Gong Yoo as the teenage Kyung-joon, my heart is always with the story first and foremost. That’s why I needed to see Shin playing the character in the end, because to me, telling me that they re-swapped offscreen is not enough. If I’m buying into the idea that he’s one character, no matter whose body he’s in, then you have to trust that I’m going to buy it till the very end. It shows a lack of trust in the audience, and for that, I feel betrayed.
I certainly don’t think that it was all bad, because there was a whole lot of cute and some good coming-of-age stuff in there amidst the confusing. But one thing I constantly asked all series long was: Are we there yet? I feel like somehow every step of the way, the show never got a step ahead, never surprised me. I held out hope that the boys would swap back sooner than the final hour (because honestly, I think the fallout is FAR more interesting than the lead-up), but that didn’t happen, and then to top it off, we didn’t even get to witness the big moment. No heartfelt first official meeting between the brothers, who saved each other’s lives? No my-hand-was-warm-because-you-reached-out-to-save-me-first? No wonder twins, activate? Nuthin’?
It’s really too bad that the whole drama failed in the writing department, because the Hong Sisters have penned some of my favorites over the years. I don’t love all their works before Big, and neither am I going to just write them off because of this one drama. But I’ll call a dud a dud, and this one just sailed right into the crapper. It turns out you can’t shape a whole drama on one big premise and leave things like logic and character motivation and emotional payoffs at the door. We kinda like that stuff. It’s sorta why we live here, in dramaland.
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Tags: Baek Sung-hyun, Big, featured, Gong Yoo, Lee Min-jung, Shin, Suzy
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51 Yushi
July 24, 2012 at 8:38 PM
thanks for recapping, heres to hoping hong sisters come back better next time!
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52 DangCinDee
July 24, 2012 at 8:38 PM
What th f...
That was the biggest mind f... Episode to ever. So was all that in head in the end? So many many questions unanswered.
1. It's kind of nasty if they end up together this way. No? If we think about it in real time, the plot is pretty messed up. Lets think about this for just a sec. Imagin being YJ and waking up to find his fiancé is no longer his fiancé and they supposedly got married and had all these memories (which he doesn't remember) but she cheated on him with an anonymous KkJ . All this would be retold to him by ppl since he had no recollection prior to waking up. Oh the devastation! The drama never really gave us an answer that he did cheated on her. Let's say that he never did cheated and he really, honesly, truly loved her at first sight and followed her around....it's quite the salt on open wounds.
2. Zoom past a year later, YJ gets news that his exfiance who cheated on him, left him, AND he has no memory of all this....is now with his estranged younger brother. Uhm , ew?
If DA ran thought YJ's mom hated her before, oh boy, is she going to find how much more hate and grow? If I was their mother, I would tell that skank to stay away from all my sons, nephews, dogs cats and turtles. I'll hold a machine gun and grenades to keep her away. The beep just cheated on my older son and she came back for round two for my younger baby? Lol oh drama, u give me heart attack.
3. Sooo YJ wakes up and doesn't visit Da Ran? No final goodbye? No questions? Doesn't he wonder where his memories are? Most sane ppl would find this odd.
4. Soooo did the final scene happened? Is she imagining it all? Am I imagining it? Did I really watch the final ep of big or is this one really bad, awful, sour nightmare?
5. If iwas KKJ and suddenly I have my homeroom teacher grab my hands, my first thought would be "the f...." and u know what? The next day, that homeroom teacher won't be a teacher anymore. She'll be an inmate.
Drama! Wtf....!
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zodd
July 24, 2012 at 10:12 PM
Seriously the more you think about the ending the more you figure out how dumb the show ended.
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oblivious
July 24, 2012 at 11:14 PM
That's what i'm saying. As if it to say give it a year and all will be forgiven and forgotten. No it bloody well will not!
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909
July 25, 2012 at 5:24 AM
Also, How is YG's body still alive? Did they perform the surgery but the soul-swap didn't happen? Like number 4: "Is she imaging it?" that's what I thought too? Does this mean their both dead?? @.@ Either way, someone was lying-Mari vs Daran. Hong sisters are over-rated, how are they still directors/writers? They should take a long break and think about this for a while...
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houstontwin
July 25, 2012 at 5:55 AM
Exactly! Those are precisely the problems with this ending.
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Gom
July 25, 2012 at 7:30 AM
Lolol. I laughed so hard at "Am I imagining it?"
This is the first time I'm realizing that through the entire 16 episodes, I felt like I was in a trance. Like everything was happening, but not happening, at the same time.
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Ana
July 25, 2012 at 4:59 PM
Love this post - nothing in the drama indicated to me that KJ and DR would ever be allowed to be together. So if YJ is in Germany, his family will magically forget that DR divorced him for his younger brother? I don't buy that and I don't buy KJ and DR as a couple.
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foolmoon
August 5, 2012 at 11:45 AM
YES, YES, YES !!
That's what I thought, too ...
*needmyhandsandfeettofacepalm*
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53 awkwardturtle
July 24, 2012 at 8:39 PM
This drama had a lot of potential from the first episode, but then it just started going downhill from there on.
I endured soooo much FUCKERY throughout this series, and although I really enjoyed the cute GDR & KKJ scenes.... I still wished there had been a lot more "unff"!
le sigh....
Thanks for the recap you guys, I feels ya.
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54 samlun100
July 24, 2012 at 8:40 PM
I'm glad that I quit watching this drama after 5 episodes.
It was cute and funny in the first 2 eps, then I noticed it went down hill after that.
I don't really care about Daran at all. I hate female characters who are the adults but act like innocent cute kids (Lee Min Jung in Big and Kim Ha Neul in Gentleman's Dignity)
However, Suzy and Shin Won Ho should act together in a drama. They look so cute together.
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oren-ji
July 24, 2012 at 8:46 PM
Shin and Suzy are much cuter in their BTS photos and videos. Agree with u,i hope they will work together again in the future.
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Myra
July 25, 2012 at 12:42 AM
I agree. I enjoyed Mari and Shin's KJ more than the main leads.
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houstontwin
July 25, 2012 at 5:58 AM
Yeah, Kim Ha Neul's character is really icky. That seems to be some sort of kdrama version of cute that would be creepy in reality.
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55 Aliiiiiiiice
July 24, 2012 at 8:42 PM
I can only hope to speculate that something went down behind the scenes where TPTB didn't feel comfortable showing the physical pairing of Actual Kyung Joon and Actual Dara. (RANDOM: was rewatching My GF is Gumiho and it turns out the dokkebi girl the half-human veterinarian stabbed 500 years ago that looks like Miho's name was Gil Dal. If he ever called her "Dal-ah", it'd have been "Gil Dara". Uncanny.)
I mean, even with Hong Gil Dong's (Oh. Kay...?) ending, the Hong sisters never had a serious problem with plotting a drama. They even said that they learned their lesson to stick to 16-episode formats because they don't have to struggle so much at the end to figure out stuff for the characters to do.
THEY STUCK WITH 16 EPISODES.
So something must have went terribly wrong.
Seriously, when were they ever this bad?
Even if they were doing their best to be as non-silly and more-adult as possible, they have/had an ingrained knack for satisfying an audience's deepest desire and thusly moving the plot speedily along.
This drama slowed down and dragged. With two limping, left feet.
And it never really quite finished.
One of the hugest gaping plot holes for me was Yeon Jae's love for Daran. Did he or didn't he? We never got to hear it from the horse's mouth, to know if his love was real. And there was nothing very deep enough to explain her level of crazy almost Mari-like devotion to Yeon Jae in the first 5 episodes or so.
It just didn't add up or make sense. It's so unlike the Hong sisters. Perhaps there was sister drama behind the drama. I don't know.
In general, they just don't know how to do boring. And yet boring it got. They don't know how to slow down a plot line to a backwardly inefficient crawl. And yet the story started to do the hokey pokey and turn itself around. They know how to answer the most burning, pressing questions the audience holds. And I don't think any of them were truly answered.
More than unsatisfying and boring, this drama was just straaaaaaange. Someone's on meds. Something went down behind the scenes. There must have been infighting. Or a giant brain fart so powerful that it left a fog over the entire story.
No wonder the actress who portrayed Daran seemed so confused and timid and lost as to how to deliver her lines. She just had no idea what the hell was going on.
Myungwol the Spy was more satisfying than this!
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Pat
July 24, 2012 at 10:42 PM
I cannot forgive the Hong sisters for this EVER!
At least Bad Boy had the Army as an excuse. And I got over the overly creative ending of " Paris "eventually. This is a hot mess all by itsself and they had a cowardly, who knows what the hell happened NON-ENDING. Sooooooooo mad.
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bd
July 25, 2012 at 1:50 AM
The Hong sisters struggled w/ the endings for HGD (not that it really mattered since HGD was pretty bad) and MGIAG - which I stated at the time, was lazy writing.
Seems like the Hong sisters spent the past couple of months doing exactly that.
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Aliiiiiiiice
July 25, 2012 at 8:22 AM
Yes for HGD's ending (the show itself was okay.) Ironically my least favorite show was one of their most popular: "You're Beautiful", but MGIAG wasn't too bad at all!
People either liked the show or they didn't -- it's subjective -- but all in all the plot elements fell into place. No huge gaping inconsistencies or unanswered questions and, even though it was a fantasy rom com melo, things had REASONS and made SENSE.
My only huge gripe with MGIAG was the flatness of the love rivals and their subsequent over-under acting. I would've preferred a more Scheduler type to stand in for the goblin-hunting vet.
But even then, people were fairly consistent in terms of character choices and sensibilities.
As for lazy writing, I disagree. It felt more lobotomized and frenetic than lazy.
They weren't being lazy! Just crazy!
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Aliiiiiiiice
July 25, 2012 at 8:27 AM
I do agree with Pat that their choices were, in fact, cowardly.
If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
To the same effect, why create a romantic set up between an older woman and a young adult if you're only going to PRETEND to go there??
The premise had a delicious risk. But tasteless, undercooked payout.
If you're going to take a risk, be brave and go all the way! Otherwise it comes off as though you're judging what it is that you're championing.
Half baked. Half baked. Under seasoned.
It's like painfully waiting for a soufflee to finish WHEN THE SOUFFLEE HAD NO FRAKKING INTENTION OF RISING.
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Lord of the Things
July 25, 2012 at 3:53 PM
hahahaha, this made my day, are you a chef? Cos that's a lot of cooking-related metaphors for disappointment :p
56 ellie
July 24, 2012 at 8:43 PM
What a frustrating ending! The first time I watched the ending, I was confused. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had to watch it the second time to process what happened and I wasn't happy.
I get that Gong Yoo is the star of the drama, but they couldn't let him share the ending with Shin? So, I am supposed to accept that when Daran sees Kyungjoon in his own body, she sees Yoonjae? I needed to see Daran still in love with Kyungjoon as himself. What the ending made me conclude was that Daran would have loved anyone in Yoonjae's shell.
And really, why did Daran feel bad about "bretraying" Yoonjae? He was the horrible fiance that was too busy to hand out the wedding invitations and let her shop alone for their home furnishings on her own. Did she really need to run around town stealing people's mandoo dinners and ruining the reputation of her parents' business?
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houstontwin
July 25, 2012 at 6:05 AM
Did the director feel that the actor who played the sleeping Kyung Joon didn't have the acting ability to carry the end of the drama? Or, did they think that it was weird dropping their expensive male lead half way through the last episode?
The last 2 episodes should have been devoted to the aftermath, post body switch.
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57 cindy
July 24, 2012 at 8:43 PM
There are writers who have guts and do what they want, have others who don't and do what fans want, and that is what happened.
Hong sisters didn't have the guts.
Couldn't show Shin's face as KKJ. Why?
Because in the end of the day he is still barely legal, and DR fell in love when he was her student and a minor.
So? End with GY's body to not make fans uncomfortable.
Because people couldn't buy Shin and LMJ pair.
But LMJ and GY? Yes they buyed it. So well that people didn't want KKJ in his original body.
Hong sister just pleased the fans in the end.
Made them comfortable to ignore the student/teacher/much young/pedo-noona situation.
An easy way out.
And let's not even say about Young Jae's end.
What the...
If you won't show his story at all, why even show a bit of it in the beggining and make us interested and don't get a reply in the end?
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hijkl90
July 24, 2012 at 9:05 PM
Basically. Either that or some external party discouraged anything too taboo.
It just confuses me why they continued with their plot the way they did. With such a slow pace, they had SO MANY opportunities to turn it around back to Yoon jae and have HIM end up with Da ran. I mean, it was even set up with the possibility that he still loved her, with the flashbacks and the fact that he was maybe distracted with finding his brother.
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Pat
July 24, 2012 at 10:51 PM
The taboo issue was inherent in the set up so why go there at all if you are too scared to follow through. they could have
let her sacrifice her feelings for a while so the brothers could bond etc. We could ALL come up with better endings if asked.
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ar_arguably romantic
July 24, 2012 at 9:08 PM
While I think they meant to please the fans, I really wonder, did they end up pleasing the fans with this ending?
Is the majority of the audience so small-minded that they would dislike seeing Daran with (Shin Won Ho as) Kyung-joon, even though we all know that Daran ends with Kyung-joon?
Girlfriday said it best regarding how the ending scene was handled: "It shows a lack of trust in the audience, and for that, I feel betrayed".
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58 panshel
July 24, 2012 at 8:43 PM
SONOFABITCH!! >_< Gloss over the surgery, the waking up, the returning to their own bodies -- what a motherf'king cop out!! Stupidest ending ever!! I guess it fits for such a stupid drama! What did I waste 16 hours of my life watching!? AAAHHHH!!
Just like I had stopped caring about a gaining conscious Gong Yoo, I also stopped caring about a vitals going haywire Shin. Going into the last episode, I thought Big would do what I feared I Do I Do would do -- tell Tae Kang he is the father in the last episode, or in this case, wake Little Kyung Joon up in the last episode. But we didn't even get that. What was the point of casting Shin to have him sleep through 15 episodes? And writing the character Yoon Jae to not tell us anything about him? Da Ran in that one scene pretty much sums up the entire drama -- crazy. Big has failed in making viewers care about the couple. And by not having Kyung Joon end up in his own body, Big has failed in making me care about Kyung Joon.
Choong Shik, I love him~ The best thing to come out of this drama. Reunites my love for Baek Sung Hyun ever since Stairway to Heaven. Everyone else can just shove it. *headdesk*
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59 sarang
July 24, 2012 at 8:44 PM
I don't have much to say other than this drama was an utter disappointment. It wasn't necessarily the ending at fault, but more-so the series as a whole. I felt like the HS's came up with a brilliant premise but failed to follow it up narrative wise. I didn't care for these characters or this world so I often found myself asking "Why am I watching this again?". If I had to say a few positive words (and it's not going to be about the writing), GY and the music director were the highlights of this drama.
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60 misachan
July 24, 2012 at 8:45 PM
ugh I WAS WAITING FOR THE SCENE WITH DA-RAN AND KYUNG JOON IN REAL BODY PRETTY MUCH AFTER THE FIRST EPISODE!!
There were so many things that they could have explored in this drama... WHAT HAPPENED!?!?!?!
I have been staying pretty damn quiet and passive throughout the 16 episodes.
I LOVED the first 6 episodes and pretty much checked out at every scene that does not involve gong yoo.
Oh you awesome and gorgeous actor, GET YOURSELF A BETTER PROJECT PRONTO!!! And this makes me sad because it had so much potential. *sigh*
*rages*
*deflates*
*sulks in corner*
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61 vania
July 24, 2012 at 8:45 PM
i only like the fist eps. from this drama, after that it was just boring episodes! the teachers story was more fun. and most importantly I did not see SHIN awake.
I can only say
WTF BIG
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62 SPOT ON!!!!!
July 24, 2012 at 8:48 PM
OWWWW......SO BASICALLY ALL THESE WTF ROLLER COASTER RIDE WAS ENDED OFFSCREEN...OK...BINGO..
WORST DRAMA EVER....
BTW, IF KYUNG JAE JUST REPRIMAND MARI IN THE FIRST PLACE...THEN HER MEDDLING WILL NOT CAUSE MORE HEADACHE (SHE'S A GOOD GIRL AFTERALL)...I MEAN SHE COULD HAVE MEDDLED IN OTHER THINGS...THAN JUST FOLLOW KJ AND KJ RUNNING AWAY FROM HER...
WORST CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT EVER...
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zodd
July 24, 2012 at 10:16 PM
Feel bad for Suzy. Her character was somewhat likeable but her character didn't receive much development.
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63 DangCinDee
July 24, 2012 at 8:49 PM
I am so mad! I'm going to make my own ending to compensate.
Sorry, I'm going to have to kill one of the brothers off to make the drama less incest. Unfortunately YJ passes away, they mourn, we mourn, everyone mourns, dun dun dun, KKJ stays in YJ's body and everyone believes he's really YJ still. DR and KKJ who's still in YJ's body holds hands and lives happily ever after.
This makes wayyyyyy more sense. And it's a lot less incest and disgusting, ex cheating fiancé now marrying my little brother. What kind of plot is that....?
Roarrrrr
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Shiku
July 25, 2012 at 7:58 AM
You too an easy-out that would still be less-satisfying.
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Shiku
July 25, 2012 at 7:59 AM
*took
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64 polinonae
July 24, 2012 at 8:49 PM
I am glad I stopped watching the drama after ep 2 and only read the recaps. I guess my guts told me to now waste 2 hrs a week on watching this show and just read the recaps! Gong sisters have really disappointed me. Just like Mary Stayed out all Night, the great actors couldn't keep me focus on this drama.
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65 jambo42
July 24, 2012 at 8:50 PM
Totally agree....should've stuck w/ original Big premise-18-yr old mysteriously finds himself in his 30-yr old self. I just want Gong Yoo to end with Lee Min Jung, and even though they never showed his face, argh!!! It's just not the same. Ending with past Da Ran and past Kyung Joon just emphasized why they shouldn't have gone that body swap route.
And what about Teddy? Why can't he go home too???
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66 Haruni
July 24, 2012 at 8:50 PM
Truly, a very disappointing ending! I expected more from the Hong Sisters! :(
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67 kooriyuki
July 24, 2012 at 8:50 PM
I sure am glad to make the painful decision (because I totally enjoyed all the Hong sisters' dramas I watched) to stop at episode 10. It no longer made sense, and there's virtually no plot development, and I was SO hoping for Kyung-joon to wake up with Yoon-jae's soul and the hijinks that could have happened!
When you say soul-swap, it'd be natural to expect TWO walking bodies with swapped souls, instead of just ONE. Big is just like Rooftop Prince; the switch/time traveling could have happened way before the finale but the writers just want to prolong everything and give a slipshod ending.
Disappointing.
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68 metrogeekythinker
July 24, 2012 at 8:51 PM
The best part of this episode is the credits photo slideshow...
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panshel
July 24, 2012 at 10:52 PM
In which we see Shin Won Ho three times. That's more than the entire drama combined. (Sleeping does not count.) There was even a picture of Shin Won Ho going over his lines with Gong Yoo. What lines?! He doesn't even get to switch back! >_<
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69 Angie
July 24, 2012 at 8:51 PM
thanks for the recap
actually kind of disappointed after reading... the story really ended badly...
was actually looking forward to scene like the two brothers come back and appear before DR, what YJ wanna say before accident, DR choosing between the guys or even if the switch didnt happen in the end, they could have show them getting married for the 3rd time...etc
the ending left a big hole in my heart...
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Aliiiiiiiice
July 24, 2012 at 11:09 PM
PUN intended. heeee.
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70 cv
July 24, 2012 at 8:51 PM
It did leave quite a few questions unanswered. It wasn't a bad drama but it could have been soooo much better.
Thanks for the recaps ladies! ^^
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71 mint
July 24, 2012 at 8:53 PM
This is my third Hong sister drama and it is to me between Best love and MGIAG.
Will wish to see what happen when the brothers meet and how the couple get over the obstacles of their age difference and memory lost, but hey it is 16 episodes so I am okay with the suggestion and hope for their union at the end.
Am really glad I follow this drama from start as I don't think I would have watched it otherwise, with all the negative comments.
Awesome acting by Gong Yoo and Lee Min Jung.
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72 Emy
July 24, 2012 at 8:53 PM
Unlike a lot of people, I was pretty engrossed in this drama -- until this episode. That ENDING! Such, such a cop-out. Is ONE scene with Da-Ran and the REAL KKJ too much to ask for? UGH. I actually didn't like a lot of Hong sisters' dramas, but had such high hopes for this one -- but this ending is so disappointing. >:(
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73 Russel
July 24, 2012 at 8:53 PM
I'm with javabeans, dissapointed honestly the whole time, I was so disconnected the whole season I stopped watching a just read recaps hoping that there would be something to have be go back to watching, but it just got more disappointing. My beautiful Gong Yoo wasted.
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Cynthia
July 24, 2012 at 9:02 PM
I think it's kind of harsh to say that Gong Yoo was 'wasted'. I actually thought he did a fabulous job of embodying an 18 year old personality.
:)
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taechic
July 25, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Oh hey did he was fabulous!! but I wish that he was in a drama with a better story is what I'm saying.
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Lisa
July 26, 2012 at 3:29 PM
Oh, he was totally wasted in this show. Nobody is saying that he wasn't great IN it, but the show itself was so awful, he deserved better.
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74 Yon Yih
July 24, 2012 at 8:56 PM
so...disappointed, wats the purpose of this finale whn everything is offscreen & not lettin us c ...wait i thot drama was supposed to b seen... so aft wasting 16hrs in 8weeks, i did not c how thy swap back, did not c YJ bonding wif KJ as bros, did not c YJ meet DR for the answer, did not c whether KJ really remember anything o not, n worse did not c the real KJ (Shin) end up wif DR at all ... wait so wat did I c? Did i c anything, SHOW tell me wat did u let me c?
I'm goin to turn into JooWon mode: Gaksital will never forgive u !!
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75 Cynthia
July 24, 2012 at 8:57 PM
It's a curious thing - all my anticipation that I had for 'Big' was actually realized in 'I Love Lee Tae Ri', a drama that just finished up. I just couldn't emotionally connect with 'Big'. The plot just kept going in circles, while in ILLTR, the premise was closer to the Tom Hanks version of 'Big' - young boy played by SuJu Kim Ki Bum (14) gets transformed into his own 25 year old body- complete with problems and hi-jinks.
I kept waiting for the heart of 'Big' but never found it. The finale left me totally cold, while conversely, ILLTR had me sobbing at the end when the change happens, and thrilled at the way they handled their time jump to reunite the OTP. It was satisfying and romantic and happy. Everything that 'Big' wasn't.
The Hong Sisters so rarely fail. I can understand the ending of not showing Shin - he might be 21 but still looks 12. It really was a rather cheap trick not to show him, but still, who could accept that pairing? The age difference is painfully apparent and I blame that on casting Shin to begin with. (He's one fortunate kid. Practically no lines to learn, lots of napping, starring alongside 2 big names and getting paid, to boot.)
Have to agree with JB and GF. All writers are capable of producing an occasional turkey. Let's hope that this will be the only fail in the Hong Sister resume. Live and learn.
:)
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76 LT
July 24, 2012 at 9:00 PM
BIG really had the potential to be something great but the execution was so poor. Loose ends were not tied together. They could have at least gave us an idea of what the purpose of the whole body switching was. I am so disappointed! I really wanted to like this drama!!
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77 CrazilyAddicted
July 24, 2012 at 9:01 PM
WHAT THE FREAK. what. I don't understand this. seriously, why is KKJ still in Gong Yoo's body?! what. MIND-BOGGLED. seriously :(
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78 Sudi
July 24, 2012 at 9:02 PM
what i felt after watching and reading this drama is the world every phenomena is based on GivE and Take..And equillibrium of justice but way in the ridiculous way."Im not coincidence im designated to save my hyung...but hd repaid me.That i fall fie his woman in first sight in my first return to korea in bus"WTF.Cast r good but drama is like half bake cake.What with this ending Im mad at myself for having such face hope...:-)
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79 dcmbr
July 24, 2012 at 9:03 PM
With each episode I keep thinking to myself "How is this story going to end..." and further into the story ... "Really, how is this story going to end". When you get that kind of curiosity for a drama you do expect a good ending, not great but a good ending. So it is not surprising that I am super disappointed in the ending.
I was so invested in the story and the mystery behind Yeo Jae's feelings for Da Ran (does he love her does he not), and plus with the brotherhood (what is Yeo Jae's reaction to finding out the brother he was looking for).
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iamdeb
July 24, 2012 at 9:08 PM
I think some commenters on here should look into writing K-dramas. The possible endings that were conjured were 100 times more compelling, satisfactory and interesting than this.
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80 hanabi
July 24, 2012 at 9:04 PM
ugh. As everyone else seems to be saying, what a waste of 16 hours. This is the most disappointing, least satisfying end to any drama I've watch. I was really hoping it would tie up nicely. No such luck.
Now I need something to cleanse my drama palate. hmmm...what to watch.
...at least this week's Running Man was a lot of fun.
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81 BattleAngel
July 24, 2012 at 9:05 PM
Ending was a total WTF DUD! Wasted all my watching for such a lame ending. Glad they got together in the end but it wasn't the REAL KKJ and what happened to Yoon Jae and their closure?! Although I have to be thankful that the ending isn't as bad and the drama "Bad Guy" where I literally wanted to smash the screen in and hunt down the drama writers and run their heads into the wall... but this one was pretty lame...sigh..
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82 IJS
July 24, 2012 at 9:07 PM
Why, drama, why? You could have been great! You had such potential to be awesome! Why?!?! How did you f%$# this up???
People told me they didn't like it in the beginning and I insisted it gets better! I feel like I have to apologize for getting people into this!
I got soooo invested!! 49 Days hit me really hard in the end, but this made me numb in the end. I feel like every person who has watched this could have come up with a better ending. I can't even be mad at it. I'm just at a loss.
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83 pumpkinattack
July 24, 2012 at 9:07 PM
Yup. I'm in the WTF camp. However, girlfriday and javabeans, your comments just now made the series worth watching.
As for me, Big was definitely a fail, and if you can base fail level on the level of expectation, then an epic fail. But I guess you just can't win 'em all. Gong Yoo was great, and that's why I stuck it out...but I didn't get Da Ran as a character, there were no compelling side stories, and you are 100% right about them taking the best pay-off moments and, well, NOT SHOWING THEM. LAME.
Seriously. It could have ended a dozen better ways and they could have cut out an episode or two. Everything kept repeating. He unconfesses, she confesses, she reconfesses, everyone cries, everyone cries again. There were some funny moments, some lovely moments, and some absolutely ridiculously illogical moments (trying to trump up some drama, rather unsuccessfully). I suppose it would have even passed if the filler were the Hong Sister brand of comedy? Truly memorable laugh-out-loud moments? (The "Gumiho" action director peeing against a wall that collapses comes to mind... BAHAHAHAHA!)
I guess they get props for branching out and trying something new...but this was yet another example of "a concept does not a drama make." So many shows are promising, but the writer doesn't think it through to the end.
Lastly, there was no WAY the ending could have ever been good for me without her meeting KKJ again (in his real body) if she was supposed to "end up" with him. So... was it in Gong Yoo's contract that he would be the only lead actor after the body swap? -_-' Sigh.
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khai
July 24, 2012 at 9:18 PM
yeah, i though the same. I also think maybe the writer got confuse or maybe the writer has amnesia.
because of that it always repeat the confeses, the crying scene, all...
n i think it is true that Shin's contract say that he will only lying on the bed and never appear at the end of the episode. WTF.
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kooriyuki
July 24, 2012 at 10:11 PM
It's the attack of the brain fetus.
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bd
July 25, 2012 at 2:06 AM
Speaking of the brain fetus, while 'Dr. Jin' at times is so bad that it is unintentionally funny, I'd say that Jin was more positives than 'Big.'
Lee Beom soo as the Prince/Prince Regent is an interesting character, as are the former gang leader turned left-hand man, Joo Pal; Chun-hong the gisaeng headmistress, the brother w/ the mysterious vocation, the funny doc, the Left State Minister and the Dowager Queen.
Even the King who passed away was pretty interesting despite his limited screentime.
Basically, ignore/avoid the 3 leads in the stupid love triangle and 'Dr. Jin' would be a half-decent sageuk drama.
Otoh, 'Big' had 1 character that wasn't frustrating, the dim-witted brother.
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kooriyuki
July 25, 2012 at 3:33 AM
Highly agreed about the brother in Big. Like girlfriday and Javabeans mentioned, he's the only logical character.
Le sigh.
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pumpkinattack
July 25, 2012 at 6:43 AM
He was cute! :D
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84 iamdeb
July 24, 2012 at 9:07 PM
Yeah, it's extremely ridiculous that such important developments happened off screen.
So, we are to take from the ending that she sees and loves KJ only as Kyung Yoo Jae?
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85 Jennifer
July 24, 2012 at 9:07 PM
Did i wait so much long for this ?! (X.X)
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86 dcmbr
July 24, 2012 at 9:07 PM
and plus I knew that 1 year skip was coming when there was less than 10 minutes left in the episode. I thought to myself there is no way all that could be solved in 10 minutes, and what do you know, a one year skip happens.
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87 Kitchel17
July 24, 2012 at 9:08 PM
WTF?! all the time wasted for this? i'm seriously disappointed in the hong sisters, they can do so much better than this! its was such a huge let down, since the two main leads are great acotrs, *sigh* super regretting watch this, this is just lazy ugh!
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khai
July 24, 2012 at 9:13 PM
me too.
I'm really regret watched this drama.
after Queen In Hyun man, i tried to watch another drama.
then I encounter BIG, because of the storyline, i got attached. somehow i want to see KKJ in shin body.
and after 15 episode, i still hope it will come true,
but at 16.... nothing happen!!!!!
what the @#%&*(%$@..
i feel the same as you.
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88 khai
July 24, 2012 at 9:08 PM
TIDAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to see KKJ in SHIN.
i feel regret watched the 15 episode before.
Why I watch this drama at the first place.
This drama is one of the drama that i will not recommend to others.
the ending is just.......... @#%&&%$$##
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89 oren-ji
July 24, 2012 at 9:10 PM
Okay,i'm gonna admit this.I teared up a bit when KJ tells Mari to stop liking him.When he's motion her to come closer and how hesitant she is,it's so sad.If this how easy to make her stop,you should have told her sooner KJ.
I'm the minority here.But I like Jang Mari.Really wish they would invest more on her character. They should stop dragging her story and start develop her and Choongsik's loveline.
I'll remember u Jang Mari. You make me laugh,annoyed and mad with your crazy antics.But one thing i admired about u is that the fact that u stayed beside KJ at the hospital.Doesn't matter what's your reason and purpose doing that,the fact that u were there really touched me. (personal experience).Your words and actions don't make sense all the time but there are times that i was nodding along with u.Sometimes u makes a good points.
Crazy girl indeed.
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SPOT ON!!!!!
July 24, 2012 at 9:28 PM
Don't worry I like her too....She's crazy but albeit all her crazy wackos..she's the only one who stood right next to sleeping beauty....She's consistently there and have never been waived. I was just so disappointed how they develop her character into a savaged kid...
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90 Myra
July 24, 2012 at 9:11 PM
Y'know, they should have done it like 49 days. I mean make the swap maybe one or two episode earlier before the finale. And made Shin Won-Ho play his own character (Kyung-Joon) in his own body. It would have been much more intriguing that way.
But I get why. Actually I knew this was gonna happen. They simply didn't want to have Won-Ho play the real Kyung-Joon because it would be controversial to have a 17-year old teenage boy madly in love with his teacher. And this is a romantic comedy, not Majo no Jouken. Let's say the writers were just too lazy and afraid to explore the story to that extend prffttt. And let's face it, this is Gong Yoo show. They wanted GY to be the lead/hero and it should be 'GY' to end up with Daran, re-swap or not.
But really. Like GF said, at least, they could have used Shin Won-Ho in the last scene. For one last (important!) scene. But they didn't. What a disappointment.
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ar_arguably romantic
July 24, 2012 at 9:34 PM
would it really be that controversial? This isn't the first teacher-student romance drama. We've had Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy (also starring Gong Yoo) a few years back. And by now, Shin Won Ho's character is like 20. Shin was great, but they should have probably brought in an older looking kid.
I wanted a scene like this one (from Biscuit Teacher):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74NzV-40iOg
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Myra
July 24, 2012 at 10:19 PM
Kind of? Especially when Shin Won-Ho is so baby-faced hehe so when you pair him next to Lee Min-Jung, they really look like a teacher and a student. But that's what makes a story interesting. Too bad the pretty face and talent wasted just like that
Oh thank you for mentioning Biscuit Teacher. I think Biscuit Teacher worked fine because the drama focused mainly on the teacher-student angle, without involving this thing called body swap. So even if the relationship is kinda 'forbidden', the writers can still develop teacher-student romance without having to worry about actor's screen times and other explanations to do.
When you have body swap drama, and actors with big names like Gong Yoo starring in it, I really doubt they would make a newbie like Shin Won-Ho to appear more than him. So for me it's more like Gong-Yoo-Is-The-Lead-Actor issue here and his management probably had an agreement with the writers/producer way before this drama started, that Gong-Yoo MUST appear in all episodes lol. It kinda makes sense actually. Because people already loved Shin's appearance from the first episode. If it wasn't because he stayed coma for practically the whole series, I bet he would steal audiences heart with his performance as Kang Kyung-Joon more than Gong-Yoo's.
Just my 2cents :)
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Myra
July 24, 2012 at 10:46 PM
Another example of a teacher-student rom/com is Flower Boys Ramyeon. Nothing's controversial. Because Jung Il-Woo looks like 25 instead of a high school boy and I think they did the several years later thing? Time jump is always the safest way you end up story like this kekeke.
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ar_arguably romantic
July 25, 2012 at 4:54 AM
I knew Gong Yoo was the lead actor and was ready to accept that he would have 99% of the male lead screentime and that we wouldn't get the re-swap till the very end. While I would prefer for the characters to deal with post-body-swap issues, the drama is really ultimately about the characters and their growth and love for each other rather than the plot, so the post-body-swap thing may be a non-issue because Daran and KKJ are confident in their love for each other and can get through anything. They will find a way to each other (and they did one year later).
However, I felt it insulting to use his body as grown-up Shin they're afraid the audience can't handle Daran with young Kang Kyung-jooon.
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91 Eternal
July 24, 2012 at 9:11 PM
Viewer who actually enjoyed the ending of BIG. Party of one?
I think it's because I kind of prepared myself that the Hong Sisters would never truly have time to resolve all the issues they've thrown out there (i.e. How the Miracle works, Yoon-jae's side of story, etc.), but at least I was given a hopeful ending to Da-ran and Kyung-joon's love story, which mattered most to me (although I do wish they used Shin Won-ho in the ending sequence haha ... oh well, point is, it's Kyung-joon under that umbrella, so hurrah).
Not that it excuses them for leaving so many plot holes, but I was so invested in Da-ran and Kyung-joon I kind of overlooked the rest of it. Big is one of the rare dramas that actually made me feel for the main couple (whereas most of time I'm just nodding along - my mind's with the couple but my heart's not quite in it), so I can safely say it's now a personal favourite. It was at times hard liking a drama that everyone else hated, but I'm glad I stuck to it (not that it matters - but my opinions usually align with the masses - first time liking a drama everyone else thought was a "big disappointment").
P.S. I wish there was a kiss during that umbrella scene where they say goodbye. Come on, the scene was asking for it!
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Lord of the Things
July 25, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Aw! I'm sorry everyone's bagging it, but they're just a little heartbroken... there's nothing wrong with the fact you loved it, sometimes there's no logical explanation for why we fall in love, right?
I think its very cool that you aren't afraid to love an unpopular drama, and your reasons make sense to me, even if I don't feel the same.
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92 jt99
July 24, 2012 at 9:14 PM
I've come to love the dramas by Hong sisters. This one by far is the WORST EVER!!!!!!! I was extremely irritated that the boy was constantly SLEEPING. The writers drum up all this damn drama and doesn't know how to resolve it at all. HATE THE ENDING.. SUPER RUSHED. where the heck is the main guy. We basically get snippets of what KJ found out about the main guy without him there to defend himself. What the heck dude..
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93 Mar
July 24, 2012 at 9:14 PM
Total cop out. Worst ending ever. I don't like this game. Thanks for all the recaps, kudos!
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94 Zieko
July 24, 2012 at 9:16 PM
Okay no one seems to have my brain, so I'll share it.
Y'all misunderstood the ending.
The picture of the miracle was torn by the children. In my opinion, they never switched back. They couldn't. The miracle ended then. This is why we see Gong Yoo in the end, and why she recognizes him immediately. Kang Gyung-Joon remembers, why else would he be wearing the watch?
It is so clear and you all are complicating it. They never switched back. Both woke up. Seo Yoon-Jae did love Gil Da-ran, but he prolly stepped aside for his lil bro. He's a nice guy remember? It's so complicated they needed a year to digest what was to happen next.
Gil Da-Ran and Kang Gyung-Joon in Seo Yoon-Jae's body lived happily ever after.
(I am still team Gil Da-Ran and Seo Yoon-Jae tbh, but whatever).
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dcmbr
July 24, 2012 at 9:24 PM
if that is what happened, they should have showed it, the main reason why people are upset is because they did not show us what happened. Maybe it was implied, but hey it's a drama, people need to see it. If Yeon jae did step aside, why are they not showing us that? Is there a significance with not showing us any of this?
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ilikemangos
July 24, 2012 at 9:33 PM
Huh.. why else would the hong sisters use flashbacks instead of never showing us gong yoo's present face if it was him all along?
It's not so much clear if there are a majority of people questioning things and giving wtfery faces. Especially coming from the goddesses of dramas.
I feel like this crap ending was meant for people to make their own versions of it.
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95 ava
July 24, 2012 at 9:16 PM
WTF?????
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96 Leira
July 24, 2012 at 9:16 PM
All I can say is WOW. I absolutely cannot believe it ended the way it did. I am completely disappointed. The entire time I kept thinking "I hope they switch back this week because then it'll get good." But nope.
I feel like Shin as an actor got the short end of the stick. Did he even know that he would get a mere five full minutes of screen time where he was actually conscious? I was upset about that because I wanted to see what he could bring to the table as an actor. But I kept holding out because I thought for sure I would at least get to see him in the last episode.
As for the Hong Sisters, I am totally let down. They had all these really interesting plot points but THEY WENT NOWHERE WITH THEM. I know they have it in them, so what happened here?
So basically it boils down to:
WHY, WHY, WHY DID I WATCH THIS SHOW????
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pumpkinattack
July 24, 2012 at 9:27 PM
Gong Yoo?
Cuz... that's why I did. Just sayin'. ;)
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97 moniq
July 24, 2012 at 9:16 PM
it is a happy ending drama..but...................i am so disappointed with the last scene..that's it?? just like that??hmmmm........that's yj' body but kkj's memories?? still confusing.....but ...I LOVE THIS DRAMA!!!;()
it's not bad at all..........
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98 gerberairis
July 24, 2012 at 9:17 PM
with all the flaw.. i Really Really Love this Drama.. Especially Gong Yoo Acting..
it is still much much better than fashion king ending or/and story for me..
party for two Eternal?? LOL
thanks for the recaps!! :D
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mint
July 25, 2012 at 1:28 AM
party for three Eternal and gerberairis,
I enjoyed most parts of the drama, especially the cute parts and the amazing acting of GY.
Even the side characters are not as irritating to me compare to the other HS dramas.
I wish there are more to the ending, but I can live with it and be contended.
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Eternal
July 25, 2012 at 8:59 PM
W00t! party time :D lol
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99 JJS
July 24, 2012 at 9:17 PM
I hate I cannot Watch this drama again, no matter how I like gong yoo! Just too painful, it hurts. Nope, I can't watch it again...once is enough. I still like gong yoo though.
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100 Dona
July 24, 2012 at 9:18 PM
So disappointed with the ending! I love Gong Yoo but I wished they let little Kyung Joon play his character at the end!
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