Faith: Episode 24 (Final)

434 October 30, 2012January 24, 2016

by girlfriday

We finally reach the end of our journey, but it’s only the beginning for Eun-soo, who at last deals with that pesky issue of time travel and faces the consequences of messing with the space-time continuum. If there’s anything I’ve learned this year in dramaland, it’s that there’s always a price to pay for tampering with time…

FINAL EPISODE RECAP

Ki Chul attacks the king’s men powered up on magic go juice, and Young finally arrives to find the hall littered with bodies. Loyal Dol-bae sees Young’s trembling, swordless hand, and lunges at Ki Chul with his spear.

Young screams, “Nooooooo!” But it’s too late, and Ki Chul icy-hands him till he falls to the ground. Young runs over to Dol-bae, who’s spitting up blood but still smiling at his leader like a faithful puppy…

And he dies in Young’s arms.

Young gets up and asks for someone’s sword. Deok-man hands his over, and Young orders everyone out. But it’s Gongmin who refuses, saying that he knows what’s happened to his hand, and that it’s okay to step down just this once.

But Young insists there’s nothing wrong with his hand, “just that the sword has become heavy.” Ki Chul scoffs and calls him a liar, declaring that he will kill every living soul in this place until Eun-soo is brought to him.

Young puts his foot down, dragging the sword along the floor like it weighs about two tons. He tells the men to leave again. Gongmin: “No. I will stand behind you!” Aw. Not so practical, but very sweet.

Young starts to fight Ki Chul, and he swings wildly with both hands on the sword. Ki Chul easily knocks it out of his hand, but he just picks it back up again. They clash, and this time, Young gains the upper hand, and Ki Chul looks up in shock.

He shoves Ki Chul back, and gathers all his strength for one swing, and chops Ki Chul’s sword in half. Nice.

Ki Chul asks wide-eyed, “What sword is that?” Young: “I told you already. It’s a heavy sword.” Ha.

Eun-soo wakes up, and Aunt rushes to her bedside. She asks for Young, and Aunt says he was with her all night and just stepped out. Eun-soo sighs in relief as she looks around her, “I was so scared… that it was all a dream.”

She worries about how hard it must’ve been for Young, but Aunt asks if the poison-to-fight-the-poison worked. She checks… her fever’s down and her vitals are back to normal, and Eun-soo gasps that she might live.

Dae-man sees Flute Boy and Firestarter approach, and sounds the alarm for everyone to protect Eun-soo.

Meanwhile, the stateroom is at a standstill. Young asks the king if he intends to keep Ki Chul alive, and Gongmin says that despite Ki Chul trying to kill him, he doesn’t want to do the same to him. WHY NOT?

Ki Chul sees an opportunity to be the devil on Young’s shoulder, and says that despite Gongmin going on and on about his people, none of the people even knows his name. But Choi Young, on the other hand… now everyone knows that name.

He offers it right then and there on the spot: Doesn’t Young want to be king instead of serving one? All those people he collected for the king in fact follow him, don’t they?

It’s an eerily familiar quandary to Young, and he flashes back to the king who killed his Jeokwoldae leader, and the same question posed to him – what he was going to do about the fact that the people trust him more than their king.

Gongmin gulps, and asks Young to answer the question.

Young: “Someone I know was asked a similar question once. And because that question was so heavy, the only thing he could do was to answer with his life. I know now… that he was wrong.”

It sends Gongmin’s heart to his knees. But of course Young isn’t finished: “He was wrong, because he ran away.” Ki Chul sighs at his lack of ambition – doesn’t he want to be king?

Young: “I already have the king. What else could I want?” D’aw. Can we break the tension for a round of hugs? A high-five? A badass nod?

Young asks again if they aren’t going to kill Ki Chul already, but he doesn’t give them a chance to decide. He smiles that this should’ve bought enough time, and walks out. Oh crap.

More Woodalchi stand in his way, but Young shouts at them to move, instructing no one else to go near him.

Hwasuin storms into Eun-soo’s room, where Dae-man and Aunt fend her off. She starts to burn Dae-man by the throat, but he uses a washcloth and a basin of water nearby, countering her fire hand with water so that she’ll just steam herself. That’s pretty smart.

He struggles to hold her off, but it buys enough time for Aunt to come up from behind and shove a dagger right through her heart. Finally.

While that’s going on, another Woodalchi takes Eun-soo to safety… or so she thinks until she gets tossed into a carriage with Ki Chul’s minion. He knocks her unconscious and they ride away.

Dae-man runs to Young to tell him what happened, and Young picks up his chin to look at the burn marks on his neck, and pets him on the head before running off.

Gongmin finds his room tossed and the eunuchs find a few things the baddies left behind: Hwata’s instruments, and the pages from Eun-soo’s diary that we’ve seen.

Noguk wonders if maybe heaven is retaliating because they brought the heavenly doctor here, where she doesn’t belong. Gongmin admits that it was his doing, and so he’s the one who ought to be punished, if that’s the case.

Noguk says she learned some heavenspeak from the doctor, and says she’ll say it to him when something good happens. He names things that sound like far-off pipedreams to him, like reclaiming Northern provinces (which in fact he does do later in his reign).

She says yes, as if it’s just a given, and he beams. She holds his hand, and asks him to think of Young and Eun-soo first, and he agrees.

Young finds Aunt sitting in his room, and she says numbly that Firestarter’s body was removed, so Flute Boy probably took her, which means someone else took Eun-soo. He asks about her condition, and at least gets one millisecond of relief to hear that the poison was neutralized.

He turns to go, but Aunt reminds him that the king said to wait. He shouts back that he knows, “But I feel like I’m dying right now.” He grabs his sword off the wall (yay) and storms out.

He goes to see the king, who asks if he’ll follow Eun-soo to heaven once he finds her. Young impatiently asks if this is the reason he’s holding him back – to get an answer to his question.

Gongmin: “I know how weary you’ve grown in this land. So are you going to follow her?” Young: “I already gave you my answer. The answer my teacher gave, the path he chose – I won’t follow it. So I have already returned to you. Help me bring my woman back too.”

He finally makes Gongmin understand, and without another word, they nod at each other and Young walks out.

Eun-soo wakes up with a sword to her throat, and a fuming Flute Boy who demands to know who killed Hwasuin. Ki Chul puts a stop to that right away, and tells Eun-soo that they’re going to heaven together. He finally puts Hwata’s third thing on the table.

She opens it with trembling hands… and takes out a… what IS that? A tape recorder?

Meanwhile, Suribang gets the bright idea to track the medicine that Ki Chul always takes, in the hopes that it’ll lead them to their hideout. It works, but they’re a step behind. Young gets on his horse and goes after them alone.

In the carriage, Eun-soo warns that she doesn’t know where the portal will actually take him, but Ki Chul doesn’t care. He gets that crazy gleam in his eye and says he’s going, no matter what. “All doors in the world are there to be opened and entered.”

She says fine, she’ll take him to the door, but she has to remain here. Ki Chul is adamant about the fact that they have to go together. Can we just shove you in and hope you come out in the Cretaceous period?

Young follows their trail, but always a half-step behind. He stops at an inn the morning after Eun-soo has come and gone, but finds a note from her scribbled on the wall. It’s the one heaven-phrase he would recognize: “It’s okay.” I love that she’s a quick thinker.

She even offers to check Ki Chul’s vitals at their next stop, but he stubbornly refuses to let her check on his health. I don’t think she’s particularly broken up about it. Moments later, there’s a loud knock on the door of the inn. Whoo, is it hero time?

Young bursts in through the doors and Eum-ja fights him off. But this time Young isn’t faltering or losing his grip, and stabs the first minion, and then pins Eum-ja against the wall with a table.

He leans in close… and then stabs Flute Boy clear through the table. Nice. Not as satisfying as doing something to make his eardrums pop for good, but in any case, he goes down bloody.

In the commotion, Eun-soo manages to use her dagger to slice Ki Chul in the hand, and he runs away. Young and Eun-soo have a tearful reunion, as he makes sure twice over that she’s really poison-free and okay now.

Young: “Then will you be staying by my side?” Eun-soo: “Yes.” He grabs her in an embrace, and she cries in his arms.

They lie in bed together and he watches over her, asking if she wants to go to heaven’s door tomorrow to at least say her goodbyes to the other side. She warns that Ki Chul will probably be there, but Young says he can beat him in a fight.

OR how about you guys just head for the hills and say your heavenly goodbyes to yourself? How about that?

She asks why he’s looking at her, and he says it’s to remember her, “Now that I don’t have to forget you.” You guys are making me nervous. This is way too much happiness and counting chickens and whatnot. Stop tempting fate!

She traces his nose and his lips and he kisses her on the hand and tells her to sleep.

With zero transition to get us there, suddenly Ki Chul is standing before heaven’s door, with the portal swirling open. He goes through… but the portal rejects him and spits him back out. Huh. Is there a morality quotient involved in time travel?

He finds Eun-soo and Young on their way there, and asks how you go through the door. She says you just go through, but he calls her a liar, thinking there’s some trick she’s not sharing with him.

He launches at her in a fury, and Young throws his sword and skewers him in the chest. But it’s not enough to take him down, and he grabs Young in a death grip, and freezes him until he falls to the ground, paralyzed and frozen and barely breathing.

Eun-soo tries to revive him, but Ki Chul yanks the sword out, sticks it in the ground at Young’s side, and drags Eun-soo away to the door.

Young watches her go unable to move, and thinks to himself: “Why did it happen to be her? – I wasted a lot of time wondering that. Father, I have now found it. Am I too late?”

Ki Chul drags her kicking and screaming to the portal, and shoves her in. No! He tries to follow her through, but gets rejected again, and falls to his knees before the door. That my friends, is the world’s saddest popsicle.

Eun-soo goes through the portal and finds herself back home in 2012. Young’s voiceover continues: “But she’ll answer this way: It’s okay, it’ll all work out. It’s only the beginning.”

She dashes to the hospital, and grabs a reporter’s backpack and cleans out the medical supply closet and adds a few things from her office, like that tape recorder-y thingamabob we saw among Hwata’s things earlier. Uh-oh. I don’t like where this is going…

She runs back to the portal, as an announcement of an explosion in space flashes behind her.

Eun-soo (voiceover): That time in Seoul, when I was running only thinking of saving that person. That day, what moment, what thing… went wrong? To return to the person I had left once, what was it that I needed? Was I lacking in yearning? Or in faith?

She goes through and runs back to the field where she left Young… and no one is there. Crap. It’s the loop, isn’t it?

Her voiceover continues: “I am once again far from that person. I’ve been left alone a hundred years before that world where I left him, as he lay dying.” She runs back to the portal, and it’s now closed.

We see her live out her days as Future-Eun-soo-in-the-past. (Or is she Past Eun-soo now? Urg time loop sucks.) She writes in the diary, and heals people, and says in voiceover that she believes in her heart that he’s alive and well in that other world.

She turns on the thingamabob, which turns out to be a pocket projector that stores videos. It has her lecture from earlier that day she was kidnapped, and a video from her parents. She watches it over and over until the battery dies.

Sometime later, she journeys back to the portal. Eun-soo: “Someone said that earnest desire makes fate, and memory is what makes that moment happen.”

Suddenly, the portal reopens. She goes through it like a seasoned pro. Lord knows how many times she’s done this now. She ends up back in 2012, which doesn’t surprise her in the least. She simply steps back in.

She goes to an inn and sees some familiar uniforms. Woodalchi. She stops one to ask what he’s doing here on Yuan land, and he wonders if she’s been living under a rock. He tells her that this is the fifth year of Gongmin’s reign. Yaaaaay! We’re back!

And then familiar voices rise from the din. It’s Deok-man, and Dae-man, who now order around the other boys, using Young’s trademark, “Just do it! Well!” Aw.

And Choong-seok comes in behind them to ask where the general is. “You know, there. Where that tree is.” Dae-man wonders if they should bring him food, ’cause he usually spends three or four days there every time he goes.

At that, Eun-soo goes tearing back to the field…

And there, sitting by the giant tree, is an older, more grizzled Choi Young, waiting faithfully for her to return.

He turns to her and smiles, not surprised at all that she’s just appeared out of nowhere after all this time.

A tear falls as she walks toward him, finally in the right place at the right time.

COMMENTS

Thank goodness for a happy ending. I was worried for a minute there that she’d just be stuck a hundred years in the past in that endless loop, which would’ve driven me crazy. For a show that really didn’t deliver in so many basic ways, a bad ending would’ve just sent me over the edge. It makes sense that she’d have to go back to the past and in effect become Future Eun-soo, and only after that could she find her way back to the right time. It’s just… if that’s where we were going, I would’ve rather spent more time with her on that journey back to him, rather than all that poison-re-poison hullabaloo.

The implication is that she travels back and forth over and over until she gets it right, and that it’s a long journey back to each other, earned through their faith and longing. It makes their reunion feel whole and deserved, which is a nice complement to the supernatural, because the last thing you want is a magical poof, happy ending! without it being earned. This way I feel satisfied that they didn’t just get an easy out, and their commitment to finding each other is what won out in the end. It’s probably the only thing about the finale that feels greatly satisfying, as the execution of the rest (as usual) leaves a lot to be desired. But, of all the things to get right in the finale, this is it – it’s the one thing that will carry you a long way.

This drama is such an interesting case of having solid parts… but put together all wrong. Kind of like sticking a new sports car’s guts inside your grandma’s ’84 Buick. Just… why? It’s painful to know what a scene is intending to do, and then have to watch it flounder time and again. The end result is that no matter how impactful a line of dialogue or a written heroic action, we don’t feel the full effect onscreen. There’s nothing worse than seeing the emotion that you know is supposed to be there, but not getting to feel it with the characters. And for me, there’s no coming back from that, as a drama. I enjoyed the characters and I liked the setup and the world. But the directing and the editing left me cold, which means I watched it all at arm’s length, excavating what was intended from what was given. There were certainly moments that got through to me, but they were far too few in 24 hours of screen time to get me on the hook.

I don’t even think that it’s a case where they took stellar writing and just shoved it through the wrong delivery device either, because there was maybe enough story for a 16-episode series. I feel like precious time was wasted recycling a handful of conflicts over and over, and meanwhile all sorts of things just fell by the wayside. And if getting the lovers back together was going to be the only central conflict we really deal with in a satisfying finale-worthy concluding arc, then why did we spend so much plot time in the political arena? I expected a much grander closing for Gongmin, who carried so much of my interest through the show. But alas, he just got a cursory Future-You-does-some-good-stuff nod to the audience, which left me wishing for more.

All told, it was still a fun show. I can’t in good conscience call it a good show, but it was enjoyable, mostly because of the hilarious band of baddies (We’ll miss you, Ki Chul!), and the thread of wit that carried through. That was something evident in the writing that the directing couldn’t mess up; in fact, the wit was probably this show’s saving grace. I came to this party for Epic; alas, he was a no-show, and instead I walked away with a sweet love story. It didn’t fulfill what I wanted this show to be (or heck, what Show wanted itself to be), but it was a nice consolation prize, and at least it closed its own story in a logical way, which is more than some.

434

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151 faithfan

January 21, 2013 at 1:41 AM

hi all, i have some question, perhaps already discussed before:

1. why her color still brown when she returned to 1355 (just before final ending), well she should stay for sometime right in 1250 (for some duration we don’t know).. the hair should have got longer

2. still dont get the ‘dont do like me’ parts.. if this is parallel universe, where is the older ES.. so actually how many ‘probable’ alternate universe ES has created

answers/thought will be greatly appreciated.thanks!

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152 Cindy

February 6, 2013 at 4:57 AM

Such a lovely ending!
Even though i was so confused about so much stuff and the movie could've been way better with such a good storyline and cast. ES and CY's romance was just amazing in the drama and so happy that it was a GOOD ending, i was so scared that CY disappeared and ES was left wondering the past or future ALONE.

Satisfied still, such a sweet ending.

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153 wandy

March 14, 2013 at 3:16 AM

Beautiful drama, I think LMH acting very well.of cousr he is always very good in previous dramas as well (BOF /CH )i love all of his dramas.

He has great facial features that a man must have. that's why lots of people attractive at him. god bless lee min ho!!!!

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154 fiza

March 17, 2013 at 8:49 AM

its seem like i dont understant what ending of faith korean movie...why eun soo back to heaven twice? after that she's found general (last part)...could you please explain to me?

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155 Faithful Sammi

April 25, 2013 at 12:09 PM

Lol.. was thinking if CY will follow ES through the time portal to 2012 and they live happily ever after in the modern days where we can see CY's handsome face (with nice haircut, clothes and all) and his "struggle" to get used to the modern ways (just like how ES got used with the olden days).. but ohh well, that should be another story then.. Haha xD

By the way, am also thinking... what happen to the Prince Deok-heung, Gongmin's uncle.. after he ran off to Yuan? Since Georyeo prosper during Gongmin's reign for 5 years and Yuan is defeated, I suppose that he should be defeated too right?

Totally agreed with one of the commentors here that the director & scriptwriter for this drama likes to create unnecessary side conflicts and expect us to solve it ourselves (like the Yuan envoy "mystery"...lol)

But all in all, it's a good movie indeed - a very faithful movie! Simply because it's LMH's movie!!! <3

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156 ella

May 8, 2013 at 6:44 AM

It will almost be a year now since Faith was shown in Korea and I happen to watched it only 2 months ago. I regret to say I lost following up LMH's activities and dramas for the past yearsand it's really been long since I last saw him in BOF. So now I'm practically restarting over again to fill up what I've missed from the previous years in LMH's career. I have not seen yet City Hunter and PT, but I think it willl still be Faith for me as the best among these 2 dramas. I super love this drama so much that I have watched it 2x already. I even recommend it to my colleagues from work who are also a LMH fan to watch it. One of my all time fave drama.

In its entirety, Faith is one of the best historical drama I've watched so far.The story, the production,the casts and the ost's (which I've downloaded and listen to it
everyday), it's all amazingly beautiful. The drama also educates non-korean audience as we were able to know that the characters here are non-fictitional. I was surprised that there really exist as King Gongmin, Queen Noguk, General Choi Young and others as part of Korean History. This is reallly good to know.

The only flaw I've seen (like most of the comments here pointed out) is the character of Eun Soo. I also got confused about her character but through the help of a friend who's also a LMH fan and have seen the drama, I finally get it. I also believed that the Eun Soo we saw towards the end is the same Eun SOO we've seen althroughout the drama., the same ES who travels back to the past 100 yrs, before the time of General Choi Young and became Hwata.

What I like best in the story is the true love that developed between General CY and EUnSoo. I think the title Faith seemed to sprung from the "faith" that CY and ES felt when they got separated from each other. That Faith and their undying love towards each other made their seemingly impossible reunion to become possible. The faith that no matter when, no matter how, they will find each other to share a beautiful life ahead. Indeed, true love endures everything.

The drama also proved that skinship alone is enough to make a sweet and romantic scenes appear as they are to appear on tv. I really, really, loved all the sweet moments of CY and ES, how true love blossomed between them. No confirmation is necessary to affirm their love for one another because we know that oftentimes, silence speaks for words that cannot expressed. LMH and KHS, were so perfect in acting out their character. Even the other casts were so great too, especially Kichul. I want to stab him completely hehe ^^ he made the Imja couple suffered so much.

Lastly, the OST is really wow. I'm so inlove with the sound track. I like I See You by Sung Hoon the best. Although the melody is heartbreaking, I still love it. Alll the songs perfectly match the scenes where they are played as background song.

Thank you drama beans for a wonderful recaps all the time. ^^

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157 ella

May 8, 2013 at 7:11 AM

@fiza The ending part showed the travels that ES made. First time she passed to the portal to get some things to save CY., then she went back. However, upon entering the portal, it was not the period of General CY, but 100 years before that. When she tried to go out, the portal is close so ES waited again for the portal to open. When it finally opened, she passed again to the portal that's the time, the second time she came to present Seoul 2012, so she went again, goes to the portal again, and then finally it was the time of General Choi Young. ES was in search for General CY that's why she goes out and then goes again in that heaven's door. Hope my explanation helps in a way..^^

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158 martha masunda

May 12, 2013 at 1:15 AM

general u did great, but the king was not that vibrannt

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159 martha masunda

May 12, 2013 at 1:17 AM

good

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160 carma choden

May 12, 2013 at 9:15 AM

Thank goodness for a happy ending.........I really enjoyed....

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161 bella13

May 19, 2013 at 6:47 PM

Thankkkk youuuuuuuuuuuuu this is such a touch drama ! i love sooooooooooooooooooo much !! .. but im abit confused tho can anyone tell me about the going back in time :S .. like all through the film she finds her note book and such but then last bit of the film she had the same note book and other items that she found from the pass :S im really confused ! .. so does that mean the story is going over and over again ? and how she met with choi young 5 years after when she was in another centery ??.. im so bad at history :S! but apart from that i loved the film even tho i wished they kiss more in the film because all together they only kissed 2 times through the film that it :( .. but i love their romantic time together it was sooooo sweet !! .. it was to bad that DR.Jang passed away i thought he would protect her till the end like how choi young did !! .. great film !! .. thank you :D

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Ali

June 26, 2013 at 11:53 AM

Hey, happen to see your post and can answer some of your questions.

First of all you have to understand a bit about the mechanism of how the portal works. So, as they alluded to in the first episode, the portal opens due to solar flares. But the portal is unpredictable in terms of the time period one ends up in if one goes through it. If you watch enough Star Trek or Stargate SG-1 you'll become and expert in wormhole and time travel science like myself - LOL!! Of course "Faith" wasn't being 100% consistent in their presentation of the wormhole / portal time travel science so you just have to ignore the inconsistencies. For instance, how come the first time CY went to find a doctor in 2012 time was able to come back to the exact same spot he left? I guess they were lucky that one time it worked out. However, as ES discovered when she went through it to go back to 2012, the portal doesn't always bring you back to the exact same spot that she left. She ended up 100 yrs too far back before CY's time. So, at that point she understood where all those notebook, old rusty surgical tools, the plastic film roll container etc. came from. They were left behind by herself when she was in the time period 100 yrs prior to CY's time. The notebook etc. came from the black backpack she took from that Japanese photographer (so some of it was his stuff) + the things she grabbed from her office at the hospital. The show has its flaws, but I'm certain that at least the time travel part did check out by my calculation.

The other thing I'm able to tell you is that the reason they killed off Dr. Jang is because the actor had some sort of accident before finishing filming all the episodes and had to drop out of the show completely!! I was just checking out the bio etc. of the actors in the show and discovered this information by accident. His name is Lee Philips. So, who knows what they were going to do with his character if he was able to continue on.

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Audrey

July 5, 2015 at 11:33 PM

Yes, Lee Philip (or Philip Lee) born Lee Kwang-hoon, suffered an eye injury, not related to the filming of Faith, and had to drop out for scheduled surgery in October, 2012. (See Dramabeans 10-19-2012) I honestly feel like they did the best justice they could to his character, Jang Bin, in the drama and if he had to leave, they found a meaningful way to add to the drama in his departure, which I feel he would have appreciated since he had no physical recourse. He regretted not being able to finish the drama so close to its ending.

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162 asha

June 6, 2013 at 7:43 PM

wow!!! itz an amazig story... but.. i dint understand the time loop thing correctly.... someone please help me understand...PLEASE

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Naneki

September 16, 2013 at 4:10 AM

In episode 18, it was revealed that in Goryeo time, they interpret her name in hanja/chinese as appeared here.

http://imgur.com/tf761Lf

If it is correctly corresponded to her hangul name. Then, her name means willow mercy. If that interpretation is correct then, it is a play on her profession as willow is used to make acetaminophen and mercy is the doctor's hippocratic oath.

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163 watercolors

June 12, 2013 at 6:35 PM

I have a question that has been in the back of my head the ENTIRE series. In the first episode, when Young kidnapped Eun-Soo, it took an hour or two in the present time (in Seoul), but it was only an instant in Goryeo-time. If that's the case, shouldn't A LOT of time have passed in Seoul-time while Eun-Soo was in Goryeo? But whenever she went back, that nurse lady acted like she had only been missing for like a few days. Does anyone see where I'm going with this? Because I'm VERY confused...

Someone please help.

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164 Haydee Ching

June 15, 2013 at 3:56 PM

San po ba pwedng mpanuod ung ending kulang po ksi sa drama crazy eh ?

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165 Sandra

June 16, 2013 at 4:33 PM

This film is so mind blowing for me and my family member. All my friends that watched the film gave a good comment about the film.

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166 Cai

June 22, 2013 at 5:17 PM

Thank you for the recap of the ending and comments on the entire story. I have to admit there were times I wanted more but am always fully aware there is only so much time to produce a story. After watching all the episodes I looked for the history about the king and the countries...there were many comparisons. It brought back the few scenes where it was mentioned that Hwa Ta's (Eun Soo) presence there changed history. Simply put, my point is that I feel there were more subtle complexities and ideas put forth. The story was fun. Thanks to everyone for all their work.

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167 Ali

June 26, 2013 at 11:27 AM

Just finished watching the final episode. Thanks for the full recap and clarifying some lingering questions I had. It was not at all apparent to me that ES was hopping in and out of the portal several times before she finally found the right one. So that was news to me. I just thought that she stayed in the 100 yrs before Gongmin's time and then went through that once to try to get back to CY. I guess she could have been trying several times .... But I didn't realize that the portal opens that frequently. Also, why did it not let KC go in but ES and CY could .... a Divine hand working behind the scenes perhaps? And is it certain that Hwa Ta was in fact ES? Where did that piece of info. come to light? I know that KC said he had Hwa Ta's "relics" but it was passed down from before his time so it could just be a guess. Isn't Hwa Ta suppose to have been a man? I'm unclear about this point.

Although the show got me hooked, I found myself somewhere along the line .... maybe by episode 17 or 18 .... wanting to skip all the political scheming and posturing and get to the meatier important bits. I finally lost patience after episode 21 and skipped to the final # 24. I also wasn't really paying full attention to some of the episodes and had it on while I was cooking and doing chores around the house - LOL!! I agree with you that it would have been more interesting at least in this final episode to spend a bit more time going over ES's journey to get back to CY's time. How many different time periods did she go to? If she did affect major historical events by saving someone's life she shouldn't have or something to that effect. And maybe even go over a bit how CY survived the freeze and dealt with her being gone. He obviously expected her to come back through the portal at some point. Oh, here's a thought, what if her actions in the past time periods before Gongmin's time ended up causing CY not to have been born at all!!?? That would have been a total mess. I agree with the Yuan Envoy dude that one should not mess with historical timelines. It's a Pandora's Box one should not open. (surely one of Star Trek's Starfleet Prime Directive!)

Anyways, also agree with you, that it was a relieve that there was a happy ending and they found each other in the end. K-dramas have a tendency to go for the tragic ending .... you Koreans have something in common with the French and Russians!

Time for me to get off the K-drama train for a while. Too addictive!

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168 esther

July 31, 2013 at 3:49 PM

I think d part of d diary burnt should have been about cy encounter with kc at d portal. All the same I love this show nt even because of LMH but because of yoo eun so, she was so funny n nt easily affected by if she was d exact opposite then she would have broken long b4 d end of the drama. You don't expect to get to the n see every thing as normal of course she would surprised n laugh at the beginning like maybe she is dreaming or someone is playing trick on her. I REALLY LOVE THIS. Many good people surrounding the king.

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169 Pathokuhle

August 7, 2013 at 12:30 PM

It was a nice show not happy with ending but very nice

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170 apurwa

August 11, 2013 at 10:04 AM

I think the last part distroyed the whole story. That connections did not show properly. Suddenly current ES vanished and the old one appers. It seems old ES never go back to the future. Then how was the current ES is same as the earlier one?

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171 Laden

August 16, 2013 at 3:45 PM

I just came across your blog about a month ago and I must say you perform an epic Job at recapping dramas.1st time commenting too.I just started watching korean dramas recently.
I basically started watching faith because of lee min ho,I absolutely love that guy and he did a great job with faith.
And I must say this,there was this particularly cute thing he did with his brows(I think in episode 18 when eun soo gave him a drink amidst the other woodalchis) it was absolutely adorable and I also noticed he has put on more fat on his cheeks which I like anyways cos I prefer this fat cheeked look to his skinny cheeked gu jun pyo look

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172 MiSoll

August 24, 2013 at 4:13 AM

Well well... Faith just happen to be a nonsensical fictional interestin drama that kept most eyes glued to the screen. I enjoyed watchin it, even over and over again, thanks to GF and JB and to everybody that gave their comment to make the storyline understandable... Seriously i was tryin to ask people to break down the show for me the first time i watch it but no explanation was enof for me to wrap my head around it, but readin so ,any comments gives me the idea especially that of "Fahanana".
Thumps up to all the actors/actresses and my center of attraction to the drama LMH/ dea-jang CY

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173 Beth

August 26, 2013 at 8:24 AM

Hello. I just finished watching all 24 episodes of Faith on Hulu.com in the US. My first Korean drama and I absolutely LOVE it! I really appreciate this site--I read all your recaps (AFTER I'd seen the episode, even though it was hard not to read ahead!) and found them very helpful to a non Korean-speaker. Two questions: 1) what is the meaning of Eui Seon? 2) what K drama should I watch next? Thanks for everything!

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174 BabyRoy

September 12, 2013 at 1:41 PM

Thank God for the happy ending I thought ES would die and imagined what the remains of CY would be? Its a drama of its time that need to be watch over and over again,

Time travels, wish everyone could have that opportunity to change back the hand of time to correct each and every small short comings of our lives till we get it right then heaven would have being a home for all.

Now FAITH is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Heb 11:1-2)

Faith heals ES and made her to see her dream man again. What a touching story, love every scene characters Good works they all did
ES & CY chemistry I love most.

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175 Naneki

September 16, 2013 at 3:36 AM

I finally finished this show after a week. I am quite good at suspension of disbelief, so I enjoy the jaunt. I'm also a sucker for period drama, between the Asian big three. I feel that with LMH's performance he is more than capable of convincing you that the lady he stars with is the love of his life and make you swoon along with her. I have a tiny problem with that KHS doesn't seem to having much chemistry with LMH in this one. Don't get me wrong, I love KHS and I loved that she is back from her hiatus. I loved her performance in Myth with Jackie Chan. The chemistry she had in Myth, there is just no comparison. That's "smack in your face until you are black and blue" chemistry.

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176 sadun

September 17, 2013 at 7:57 AM

hi. i'm from Sri Lanka. I just watched this K drama. I think its very sweet story and i like all the characters. I have watched some K dramas but this is the BEST story. good luck for all of the characters in this drama.

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177 yemsy

September 25, 2013 at 3:11 PM

So far, so good. I really enjoy reading abt d movie than watching it. Thanks 2 u guys 4 ur contributions, it helped a lot. 4 my sweetheart, Lee Min Ho (I guess am allowed 2 call him dat), he was so cute in d movie but I don't really like his look @ d ending. How I wish I can see him in Nigeria.#sign#

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178 vamide

November 1, 2013 at 5:42 PM

the trembling of CY hand can be compared to PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). soldiers have been known to experience such after their service in the army, so basically CY's heart was getting weary from all the killing. Therefore the trembling was a physical manifestation of his emotional turmoil which he was able to put aside when KC reminded him of his leader. Reminding CY of his leader who died by succumbing to his own PTSD (heavy sword scenario), makes CY to make a decision, either continue being inflicted by your emotional turmoil and fail to defend the king and ES or overcome it and fight now that he's needed.
I didn't like the ending initially but on reading other's comments, I agree that a hot fevered kiss at the end would have been out of character.
Also like that KC didn't die, though he was the leader o the baddies, he was more of a power filled misled villain unlike a black hearted evil like the prince.

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179 Su

November 19, 2013 at 4:02 AM

Great casts + amazing plot= Faith
I m still confused with one thing thou
When ES got her own msg from 1000yrs ago in the lil bottle, does that mean she is that great doctor(Hwata?) from 1000yrs ago? How is that possible??? Oh wait, that's her faith?

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180 Marjorie

November 22, 2013 at 4:37 PM

The thing that gets me is that when CY went over the first time and returned with ES they came directly back to the same time just a few minutes after he left in the first place. Why then did she not do the same when she crossed over and back? I guess it would have made it boring for some? LOL :)

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181 JLee

December 5, 2013 at 1:54 AM

That was the saddest, most beautiful ending I have ever seen. It's sad because I know I won't be seing my lovely choi young-ah again (back off eun soo he's mine now) and beautiful because it was so simple and so heartfelt. I was swimming in a puddle of tears theought the last episode but that smile of LMH's at the end killed me. The fact they just smiled, as if knowing that finally they can be together was so mesmerizing that I had to remind my self to keep calm and not weep and go into like a week of mourning because it ended. This may not have been the best show ever fio many people, but this really was for me. I adored our hero from tge very beggining and every time he gave that smile of his made me swoon all over again. I loved the fact that he smiled so little in this show because that made every smile more precious.
And wow our OTP was just amazing. One thing I really loved was the fact that both of them didn't have to express their feelings in words for the message to get through. Most of the time they just knew and they acted according to what their hearts felt. I love how Young stared out wanting to die and then ended up wanting to live because that brought something quite unique into the picture: both Young and Eun Soo were not willing to die for each other because death was never the issue between them. They were willing to survive for each other because of each other and that means a whole lot more that sacrifisibg your life. It is much easier to take the easier way out and just cease to exist but to live and survive? That is truly hard. And the fact that both of them kept their faith in each other just made me realize that true love doesn't mean a passionate live to end all loves. True love is a love where both people are willing to keep faith, be brave, have the patience to wait, to suffer and to endure every hardship, just to be with each other. Now since the drama is over I only have one wish: I hope all k dramas can be this sweet and heartfelt in the future. Woodalchi Daejang Choi Young you are the best hero EVER!!!

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182 Faith-in-faith

December 7, 2013 at 10:00 AM

Oh Faith, how much do I love thee? You are the best tv series I have seen in a long while and you are the only one I connected in a personnel level. I had watched a few seguk dramas before but this was truly the one that got me hooked throughout. I loved the fact that the costumes didn't look as grand as those of the Joseon ear because I always had a feeling that those were a bit exaggerated and over the top and I adored the fact that no part of the drama was overly grand or epic. It seemed more realistic that way.
This is the first time I've truly fallen for a character (Thanks LMH) completely and wholeheartedly. I loved the fact that LMH acted a little restrained because it seemed to fit his character perfectly and every time he did show a grand display of emotion, it meant so much more because it was a rare occurring. I often think that if a historical drama makes you more interested in that era in history, then it has definitely accomplished something huge because it is not an easy thing to be engrossed in history. But Faith made me more curious about a part in world history that I never even knew existed (my knowledge of Asian history is very poor) and after delving deeper into the whole story behind Choe Young, I was utterly captivated and fascinated with the rest of Korean History.
Faith may not have been a perfect dram, but it did have a perfect mix of the essentials: an endearing love story that spoke not through words, but through feelings, nice moments between a young king with an inferiority complex and how he overcomes it through the help of his wife, the beautiful and ever loyal friendship between said king and his trusted warrior and also the best villain ever. I don't know why but i found myself empathizing with Ki-Cheul a lot throughout the series. I think it's because-albeit a twisted way- his line of thinking and reasoning just made sense to me. His personality was flawed in many aspects, but there was something very human about everything he wanted to gain and every move he made. This was really the first time ever I felt truly sorry for the villain (I didn't even feel this sorry for disney villains) and I seriously wanted to give him a hug at the very end.
And the romance: wow! Did they ever even say 'I love you" directly? But the beautiful thing about this romance was that they never had to. It was not a romance of Lust, passion or mere infatuations. This was the real deal. This was about trusting your other half, to keep faith in them no matter what and I loved the fact that our leads made it look like the most natural romance in the world. There was nothing awkward about it and every moment they spent together was so precious. I was utterly mesmerized by their romance because it was so simple and to the point. It didn't involve any grand display of emotion nor did it involve stupid separations for no good reason. It was just a romance that came out in the most natural way possible and that restored my faith (faith!) in love in many ways. the fact that none of it was over the top makes us realize that real, true love is special in a way that no words can describe and I think our leads did a fantastic job in conveying that.
I cannot belive this series is over :( But then again, I'm gland it ended in such a beautiful note because it really proves that this drama is priceless. Love you Faith, and thanks so much for the recaps!!!

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183 Jacqueline Patrick

January 19, 2014 at 3:30 PM

i guess it becomes complicated if you want it to be...

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184 Mia

March 24, 2014 at 8:07 AM

*sigh* I finished watching this drama and now i'm a puddle of tears. I loved CY so much and it turn now i've become a huge fan of LMH. It wasn't the best drama but for me at least, it was a life-changing drama. I still have no clear idea why i love it so much, but i do LOVE it, flaws and all. I will never get tired of Daejang or Imja couple... and really i hope, if i'm lucky enough, that my life, will end like that (by which i mean, with a guy who waits 5 years for me and then gently smiles with all the love in the entire world when he sees me-----sidenote: i wonder who Minho was thinking about at that moment to convey such deep emotions)

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185 edenbekele

April 7, 2014 at 4:33 AM

thanls for the recap..it helped me understand z movie..i got lot to say but better if i dont start.but it was rly rly awesome..all the actors are fabulous

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186 ayo

July 7, 2014 at 4:57 PM

Great drama....2 comments
1. So much time wasted on less important things
2. Some great scenes that were 'kiss moments' were missed.

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187 geemekoon

July 27, 2014 at 3:43 PM

the scene where YS rescues ES from the baddies... he learns that she is cured of the poison. Wonder why he didnt just ask her to return back to palace and forget about the heaven's door.

That would eliminate the near death match with KC / and ES would have never had to return to seoul and being separated from YS. Although, it may erase all of ES travels and remove Hwata's legends and historical artifacts.. it would have made things very interesting!

anyone else had that thought too?

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188 T Wright

August 12, 2014 at 4:36 PM

I'm so happy I came upon this episode 24 recap by girlfriday. First of all, you are a wonderful writer. Your comments made me laugh and smile, especially the one about Young and ES heading to the hills rather than saying heavenly goodbyes.

I am late to the Faith party and have watched the show 2 times on Netflix where it is called the Great Doctor. I love this show so much. Like you, I got the sense that the writers and producers were going for more than what they got but in the end what they got was something timeless and special, a unique love story although I didn't quite get the ending at first.

When ES got stuck in the time loop 100 years earlier, my heart was sad that she would not be united with Young. Then she went thru the portal again and Bam! Reunited. I loved that Young was still waiting for her and that his love for her had transitioned from ine based on fear to one based on faith which is the way it should be.

Because of this show, I have now gone down the proverbial rabbit hole that is Korean dramas on Netflix which I guess is kind of funny since I am an African American woman. But the final episode did leave me with questions and, thankfully, I got my answers here. Thank you from one writer to another for your enjoyable and funny recap and I would love recommendations for any other K dramas worth watching.

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yayabean

August 31, 2014 at 1:46 PM

T Wright,

I feel you. My heart sunked when ES went 100 years before CY's time.

I'd suggest watching "when a man loves". You can also find it on Netflix. That was my first Korean drama and i've hooked on kds since them.

Happy watching :)

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189 yayabean

August 31, 2014 at 1:38 PM

I'm 2 years too late for the party. I found "the great doctor" in Netflix last Saturday and i was hooked from the 1st episode. I could not stop watching it. Needlessly to say, i finished the whole series in one weekend. Now, I'm hooked on Lee Min-ho!
Thank you to the episode recap by Dramabeans, i was able to cure my "great doctor/Faith" withdrawals and have a better understanding of this drama.
Now, on to "boys over flowers", "city hunter", "the heirs", "personal taste".
So much KDs to watch, not enough hours in three weekend.

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190 azir

November 29, 2014 at 6:37 AM

I've watched Faith for the nth time but I will still watch it on december 8 in the Philippines. I love you LMH!!

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191 prettysup

February 27, 2015 at 5:11 PM

Ahhh LMH looks so good in that stubble at the end! He should have done it throughout the whole show !!

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192 Jenica

May 3, 2015 at 11:23 PM

This is one of the best kdramas I've ever watched like srsly. And also, I would like to thank the people/person whose been giving these short summaries per episode because it helps me understand the whole picture better. I can't even imagine how hard Eun soo worked just to get to the right moment after time traveling for so many times(considering the years she wrote on her notebook). I just wanna hug them both for so being faithful that they will see each other again after years of separation. It might have been just 3 years or so for Choi Young, but for Eun soo, I don't even want to think about it. Thinking how eager she was and how long it took her just to bring the right time, the right moment back once again. The feels are killing me. Anyway I really loved the drama, I think there's no other way to end it but the way it did. Also good job to the people/person whose been working hard just to help us get the whole picture of every episode, kamsahamsida <3

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193 mercy

June 22, 2015 at 8:42 AM

thank you

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194 dramabird

October 16, 2015 at 4:06 PM

I'm going voting crazy!

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195 No1

October 18, 2015 at 2:59 AM

The ending is little off but best action drama
five stars all the way

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196 frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

October 25, 2015 at 1:32 AM

I really enjoyed this drama, I think it was Lee Min-ho's best role. Ki-chul's death was a little inconclusive, though.

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197 nina

April 15, 2017 at 5:49 AM

Little bit confusing, hope theres season 2 that can explain about the watch, how CY recover from his freezing body and the notes that left in the palace which king and queen waiting for ES to come back. :)

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198 Sunny

May 28, 2017 at 3:47 PM

The drama is very exicting and a way too touching,and am thankfull to the writter and the director. Bt i have a quetion,"why did the other wooldaichi member not recognises the hevenly sent when she come back. Thanks for the recapitulation of this drama, thanks!

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199 Backley

May 28, 2017 at 4:20 PM

Is everything written in the history by the hevens?why is it not written that a hevenly doctor came and heal the queen that is where i get confused in the drama. But yet the drama is very exicting, infact, i love it....................hmm,hmmmmmmmmmmm very good hero and heroine