518

Answer Me 1994: Episode 21 (Final)

We finally conclude the mystery and the journey, as the beginning of adulthood ushers in the end of an era. Everybody gets a name and Na-jung gets her husband, which means she gets to kick that headless groom she’s been marrying for ten weeks to the curb and replace him with the real deal. Bye, Headless Guy.

The series went out on a high of 11.9% ratings. It’s a bit of a rushed production that could’ve used a few hours of editing finesse had they had the time, but overall it goes out in true Answer Me style, as a love letter to the nineties and bygone youth.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Seung-hwan – “기다린 날도 지워질 날도 (Days That I Waited, Days That Would Be Erased)” [ Download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 
EPISODE 21: “To the nineties”

Both the wedding and the housewarming party draw to a close, and everyone gets up to leave except for Oppa and Chilbongie who linger behind. One of them comes up to put an arm around Na-jung as they say goodbye to their guests, and they note that sometimes first loves do make it.

We go back to 2000, when Na-jung gets that message from Oppa on her way to Chilbongie, asking if she’ll come by because he’s sick. She bursts into tears right there in the cab, and sobs the whole way.

The doorbell rings and Chilbongie opens his door… to Binggeure, who’s here to chase him down after he fled the hospital sooner than he was supposed to.

And at the same time, Na-jung braces herself before ringing the doorbell… and Oppa answers. She cries, half-angry that he called and that she came despite it all, and brushes past him to go inside.

He tries to hold onto her but she shakes him off, and he finally just throws his arms around her and hugs her close. She cries into his shoulder and her legs turn to jelly, sending them both crumbling to the ground in tears.

Oppa just cups her face in his hands and looks at her for a long moment, and finally whispers as a tear rolls down his cheek: “I love you. I love you.” Once he says the words, she’s the one to reach out and wipe the tears from his face, and she leans in for a kiss.

Oppa comes to work the next day all better from his cold and floating on cloud nine. He hears the other residents oohing over Chilbongie being at the hospital, trying to figure out how to get an autograph.

Na-jung gets calls from Yoon-jin, then Samcheonpo, then Haitai, all telling her to hurry home because Mom’s cooking something special. That’s so cute. She asks Haitai if he called Binggeure and Chilbongie too, and that’s when he tells her that Chilbongie is at the hospital and checked himself out before he was supposed to.

She calls Chilbongie to ask where he is, and finds him at the baseball field. He waves at her from the mound and she waves back from the stands before coming out to the field. He makes her stop when she’s a few feet away though, not letting her come any closer.

He puts on a smile and says he has a wish, and points to a glove hanging on a bat at the edge of the field. He asks if she’ll grant his wish if he hits it, and though he struggles with his injured arm, he hits his target like he always did.

He turns to her, “Na-jung-ah…” but before he can even say it, she rushes him with a hug, throwing her arms around his waist and leaving him speechless. Aw. He smiles, “How’d you know?”

He continues, “I don’t think I’ll be able to call. I think it’ll take some time. Sorry.” He holds on for one more moment before pushing her away. Na-jung looks up at him: “Joon-ah, of all the people I know, you’re the handsomest.”

She names all his good traits and says that he’s the most impressive person she’s ever met: “Do you know how thankful I am that someone like you liked me?” She says it was because of him that she found out that she wasn’t half bad herself.

She says that someday if she ever has a child, she’s going to brag about how that famous person on TV liked her. “Joon-ah, thank you for liking me. Because of you, my age twenty will be a beautiful memory.”

They smile at each other and he swallows back tears: “Me too.” He hugs her one last time and says goodbye. And then long after she’s gone, he sits alone looking out at the field, and lets himself cry. I’m not crying. I’m not. *sniff*

Later as he packs, Haitai calls to say he should come by the house to have drinks with everyone on his last day. He can’t, of course, because of Na-jung, but he has a final doctor’s appointment anyway to check on his injuries before he flies out.

At the hospital, the doctor tells him his shoulder and back aren’t in good shape, and at some point he’s going to need surgery. It’s his back that’s worse off, and the doc has called in a specialist to do a consult.

In walks Garbage, who’s now the head brain/spine doctor, which is a really hard thing to wrap my head around because I’ve seen him wipe his face with a floor mat. The air is awkward, naturally, and Chilbongie sits quietly through the session as Garbage the Neurosurgeon explains that he can treat it without surgery, but that means he’s always one injury away from permanent damage. He says the same thing—at some point, he’ll need surgery, and perhaps sooner is better so that he’ll have a chance to recover.

The residents line up to get autographs afterward, and Garbage waits till they’re the only two left in the room. There’s no more avoiding it now, so they sit down for a chat. Garbage tells him about his back in simpler layman terms, and gives him advice about what to do.

He knows Chilbongie is headed to the airport to fly out tonight, and stops to put a hand on his arm as he says goodbye and tells him sincerely to take care of himself. Chilbongie replies, “You too, sunbaenim.”

Garbage turns to go and then whirls back around, “Hey, you used to call me hyung. Are you not calling me hyung anymore? What’s with the sunbaenim? All the other guys call me hyung. You’re the only one. What’s that about?” Chilbongie smiles and asks if he’d be able to do that if the roles were reversed, and promises, “Next time. Next time, sunbaenim.” Garbage looks at him thoughtfully… and then scrunches his face to whine that he really dislikes him. It’s cute that he’s trying for the laugh.

As Haitai and Samcheonpo watch Chilbongie board his flight on the news, Haitai decides that he’ll name his child after Chilbongie so that he makes a boatload of money. Samcheonpo says he’ll do really badly in school then, so Haitai revises his plan and says he’ll name his child after Garbage. Samcheonpo: “Do you plan to raise him as half-human, half-beast?” Lol.

At the hospital the next day, Oppa tells Na-jung he’s five seconds away from his office, where she’s waiting with every snack imaginable on his break. His pager rings and he gets lost in thought for a moment, and Na-jung has to call him over and over: “Oppa. Oppa! Jae-joon oppa!”

He finally turns around. And just to put a stamp on it, a close-up of his nametag reads: Kim Jae-joon.

We go back to the wedding footage, and this time we finally get to see the head attached to the groom, and it is indeed Oppa, looking sheepish when Dad scolds him for choosing such a terrible day to have a wedding, having to pry Na-jung away from Dad at the altar, and smiling back at her as they walk back down the aisle as husband and wife.

And at the housewarming party, this time it’s Oppa who takes the phone from Sook-sookie to tell Mom that he’s usually a good kid (while kicking him silently), and he’s the one that Shi-won recognizes as looking strangely familiar, though neither of them can remember why. Heh.

And as the friends get ready to leave, Chilbongie stands up after tying his shoe, standing in the doorway with the rest of the gang after all. Turns out this house was his to begin with, which explains why he’s so comfortable here (enough to take a nap and order takeout). He even took a hit when he let Na-jung take over the contract at a lower price, and they joke that it was the First Love Discount.

She warns him that he can’t take it back, and he says his wife complained, but she counters that she has three kids which pretty much makes her constantly broke. Chilbongie calls out to Garbage because he left his phone behind, and calls him hyung.

Haitai looks at Garbage and Na-jung together and says that sometimes first loves do make it, and they each go down the row saying “Like us,” and even Chilbongie joins in, which makes everyone laugh. The non-blurry wedding photo shows the whole gang there at the wedding, including Chilbongie.

After the housewarming party, Na-jung cleans up, and Oppa goes to check on the kids. The youngest is stirring, so he puts him to sleep, and they nod off with their legs crossed exactly the same way. That’s so cute.

As they get ready for bed, Oppa calls Chilbongie impressive for finishing out his pro career (he’s playing for the Twins after all, fulfilling Dad’s wish), instead of coaching in the States with so many offers coming in.

Na-jung runs down a to-do list with Oppa, calling him oppa, yeobo, and Sannie’s dad in three consecutive sentences. He laughs and tells her to stick to calling him one thing. She says it’s all the same, but he says each makes him feel differently.

He says when she calls him oppa he wants to be really good to her and take her out to movies, and when she calls him Sannie’s dad he gets strength like he’s suddenly a bear. “And yeobo?” He shudders and pretends to be annoyed at the sound of the word, so she yells at him to get away, now calling him Kim Jae-joon-sshi. He just gives her hugs and kisses, laughing.

He asks why Haitai married so late, and she says they had a long-distance relationship too, and broke up another time before getting back together. Oppa asks where she went, expecting the name of another country, but Na-jung says Suwon, which is like twenty minutes away, ha.

Back in 2002, Haitai is still living at the boardinghouse, and Dad asks if he’s going to live here forever. Haitai says he’s saving money, and Mom insists she loves having Haitai around.

Samcheonpo and Yoon-jin are newlyweds, and Haitai says they just had a huge fight the other night because Seo Taiji came back with a new album, and Yoon-jin ran out and bought a hundred copies to pass out to everyone she knows and even strangers in the street. Dad holds up his copy.

They light up when Chilbongie shows up on the news in a report about his surprise return to Korea, and we finally get his name: Kim Sun-joon. Dad worries about him, knowing he’s back for surgery and that he’ll be all alone. Mom and Dad ask Haitai if they’ve talked to him at all, assuming that naturally they’ve lost touch.

Chilbongie returns to an empty apartment, and ponders Binggeure’s worries about him undergoing surgery alone. I’m gonna cry. WHY IS HE ALONE? He winces in pain at his shoulder and opens up his sad empty fridge, and then the doorbell rings. Please be the gang. Please be the gang.

Yay, it’s the gang! He’s shocked as they just barge in unannounced and make themselves at home, talking as if no time has passed. Na-jung is on the phone with Mom who wants to make him food and the rest of the guys are already getting out bottles and bottles of soju.

Binggeure tells him he was going to come alone but they already knew and came along. Two seconds later the doorbell rings again with the chicken they already called to have delivered. The shock finally wears off and Chilbongie laughs.

The group gets into a debate about whether or not Chilbongie should have surgery now, with Haitai and Yoon-jin arguing that he should finish out the season first and go out on a high, and Na-jung and Samcheonpo arguing that he needs to hurry up and get surgery so that he can recover sooner and have a better outlook for his long-term career.

It’s hilariously heated on both sides, and even funnier for the fact that they’re not listening to Chilbongie or even asking what he thinks, determined to come to a decision as a group, because that’s how they do things. This makes me so happy.

They make Chilbongie make the ramyun while they continue to argue over his future, and Binggeure says they might end up crashing here if they keep drinking. But Chilbongie says that Haitai gets up early to go hiking in the morning, and Yoon-jin and Samcheonpo are taking English class in the mornings, and Na-jung visits Garbage on the weekends.

Binggeure wonders how Chilbongie knows more about their daily routines than he does. A flashback montage shows Chilbongie alone in the States, lighting up every time he received a new email from one of them. They wrote back and forth the whole time, and never lost touch. Awwww.

Oppa is working in Gangneung now, which means Na-jung only sees him on weekends, though she tells Mom and Dad that she’s happier than she’s ever been. She happily lays out her outfit to wear tomorrow to go see Oppa, and heads to bed.

But just as she lies down, she hears someone come through the front gate. She sits up as Oppa sneaks into her room, having driven all the way here just to see her a little earlier.

He snuggles up in bed with her, and Na-jung says matter-of-factly, “If we get caught like this, we’ll both die by Dad’s hand.” He says it’s okay, “I have to get my head cracked open once before we get married anyway, so it’s all the same.” Haha.

She asks how he knew, and says with a huge smile that Dad has plans to kill and pickle him. I love that she says this stuff in the tone of an endearment. She asks when they’ll tell Dad, and he says they’ll tell them soon and she can just hide behind him.

She whispers, “Jae-joon oppa, I love you. Really.” He says he knows and gives her kisses. And then we see their two sets of red family mittens sitting side by side on her desk.

On the day that they do tell Dad about their plans to get married, he comes at them with the giraffe paddle again, screaming his head off. They protest that he’s known they’ve been dating for two years so marriage was inevitable, though of course Dad argues that it’s really been seven years since they started this crazy mess, and refuses to be party to it all over again.

Dad’s temper always precedes his softer side, so he declares that they can do whatever the hell they want, but he’s not going to that wedding. Mom takes their side and says she’ll go, but Dad brings them both to tears when he screams that they hammered a nail into his best friend’s heart and his own once before, asking how they can bring up marriage again so flippantly.

Oof. It’s really Oppa’s relationship to the parents that gets me in the heart—I think Dad was more heartbroken over the first engagement than the kids were. Oppa fights back tears and gets down on his knees, and pulls Na-jung down too. He promises, “Father, we’ll live well.”

Na-jung brings Mom coffee outside, and asks if Mom likes Oppa that much—she always took his side, even the first time when Dad was so against them dating. Mom: “He’s my son. Jae-joonie is my son.”

Mom says she might not know, but that first time when Dad was so upset, Mom was just grateful and cried by herself in the bathroom. She thinks back to that day, when Oppa had first told Mom and Dad about them.

After Dad walks out in silent protest, Mom tells Garbage it’s okay and cheers him on: “Mom is on your side.” She changes the subject asks if he’s picked a specialty yet, and he says he chose neurosurgery.

Mom instantly starts to cry. “It’s because of Hoon, isn’t it?” Awww, Oppa. She says he stayed by Hoon’s side the whole time he had surgery for his brain tumor, and doesn’t even need to tell her—she knows he chose that field because of Hoon.

He lies and says it isn’t, and she tells him to choose something else to make life easier for himself, and that he needn’t do this for her. Oppa just takes her hands and swears it’s the field he wants to go into, and hugs her while she cries. Dammit, you can always count on Oppa for a sneak-cry, just when you thought you were all clear.

Back in the present, Oppa is now on pins and needles around Dad, who gives him the silent treatment and only makes Oppa more nervous and fidgety, if that’s even possible. Meals are tense, and he gets slammed in the face with a ham when he accidentally flicks a radish in Dad’s face.

By February, Oppa brings Chilbongie hospital food. Aw, you fixed up Chilbongie. And in March, he’s still following Dad on eggshells, trying to be on his best behavior and killing Dad’s favorite plant in the process.

Chilbongie is still recovering in the hospital in April, and the gang comes in for regular visits to play games and shoot the breeze. In May Oppa is still on Dad’s bad side, and by June, it’s sort of turned into this immature game, where Oppa follows Dad around like his shadow, and Dad runs away like a little kid.

Oppa follows him to the neighborhood store and perks up whenever he has the chance to do something right like remembering what Mom asked him to buy or paying or doing the heavy lifting.

Dad scowls gruffly the whole time, but then as soon as Garbage steps out with groceries in hand, he’s bragging to the shopkeeper about his doctor son-in-law. Omg. So cute. And SO like Dad.

Four days before the wedding, Korea plays against Italy in the 2002 World Cup, and everyone gathers at the house decked out in their red shirts. Everyone bets on Korea while Dad is the loner who bets on Italy, and then Chilbongie arrives with chicken and joins Team Italy.

Korea ties the game which sends them into overtime, and Garbage, who’s playing bookie for the day, decides that it’s the last chance for anyone to switch their bets if they pay a little more cash. Dad stays firmly on the wrong side, but Chilbongie decides to change over at the last minute.

Garbage takes it back and says he missed his window, and Chilbongie whines, “Hyuuuung!” Cuuuute. Garbage caves to being called hyung, though he tells him he can pay double because he’s a major leaguer. Ha.

Korea wins and makes it to the quarterfinals, and the house erupts in cheers and kisses for all. Dad makes sure to take back his money during the commotion, lol.

Mom announces the big news that Haitai is finally leaving the nest for an apartment of his own, and Dad tells them they’ll be selling the house because nobody stays at these old-fashioned boardinghouses anymore. Aw, sad. End of an era.

Mom tells all the kids to sleep over tonight, and offers to make whatever they want for breakfast. She fills the table with mountains of all their favorite foods, and then everyone comes down for their last meal together at the house, trying their best not to cry.

Haitai can’t even take a bite because he’ll probably sob into his rice (he really did love Mom best, I think) and heads upstairs to finish packing.

Samcheonpo comes up and helps him pack the giant puffy blanket they shared for years, and wonders why he’s taking such a heavy thing. Haitai says he can’t sleep without it.

Then Samcheonpo remembers that it was his, and then they go back and forth trying to remember whose mom sent it. Samcheonpo says he can hardly remember, “What’s mine became yours and what was yours became mine, and now I can’t tell what’s yours-mine or mine-yours anymore.”

He goes back and forth so many times that Haitai loses track: “So whose is it?! Mine or yours?” Samcheonpo says it doesn’t matter: “You have it.” Awwww.

The kids gather downstairs to say goodbye, and Haitai busts out his newfangled digital camera to take a picture. They gather outside the house for a group shot.

Afterwards Dad writes up a handwritten note to put over their boardinghouse sign that says they don’t take boarders anymore, and Na-jung watches with a long face.

Samcheonpo: On June 19, 2002, Shinchon Boardinghouse closed its doors. Thus we became Shinchon Boardinghouse’s first and last boarders. At my age twenty that wasn’t anything special, in a Seoul [called formally Seoul Special City] of ten million, the special connections that were like a miracle. That place, that made the youths of a couple of country bumpkins bustling, noisy, and eventually special. We spent a very special time together at Shinchon Boardinghouse. We cried, laughed, met, parted, and ached. We had different memories, different connections, different loves, but we were in the same time and the same place together, like a miracle.

A trip down memory lane brings us back to the night of the World Cup, when Chilbongie runs down the street holding six chickens in his hands. He suddenly drops out of frame and the fried chicken goes flying, and we see that he’s collided with someone and broken her fall. Eep! The boy just had back surgery!

He helps her up and she lifts the headband out of her face, and omo! Jung Yumi! She says she’s okay but as he cleans up the chicken, she hobbles around clearly missing a slipper.

He asks if she lost something, and she cries after her ddal-ddalie, which is exactly the word that Na-jung uses for slippers, and one of the first conversations they had at the house about Oppa’s ddal-ddalie being his favorite and Chilbongie finding her strange words for things cute.

Jung Yumi suddenly slips into her country accent as she hops around looking for her shoe, and Chilbongie just smiles after her and laughs to himself. Thank goodness they got an actress I love—I think I might’ve died a little inside if they had paired him with someone less than stellar.

Back in 2013, Haitai takes a call from his boss late at night, and Na-jung shuts the TV off, telling her three young sons that chasing stars will make them stupid (ha, it’s A-Pink, for one last Jung Eun-ji cameo). And Samcheonpo tells his cabbie the best route to take home like an expert.

And at the house, Dad takes down the last sign for new boarders.

Samcheonpo: Right now we might be pitiful salarymen who are mindful of the world, but we were once Korea’s first new generation: Generation X. We might now be ajummas who pour on the nagging like waterfalls, but once we were hot-blooded youth who hanged our lives on our oppas. And we were the first generation who was blessed to experience both an analog and digital world.

I repent for the days I used to belittle seventies music and eighties movies. That those movies, that music weren’t just movies and music, but your youth and your era—is something that I now realize when I am no longer young. December 28, 2013. In a few days, we become forty. To all the forty-year-old youths of Korea, and to everyone who lived through the nineties and endured till now, I dedicate these words to you:

Do you remember that we lived through a beautiful age, that our brilliant youth shone brightly, that our relentless loves ran hot, that we were great in years gone by. Though the next era may be a difficult one, let us live it passionately enough to be old-fashioned. That era that was so hot and innocent that I long for it with a chill. Do you hear me? If you do, answer me, my nineties.

 
COMMENTS

The finale delivered a faithful ending given the final trajectory of the show, so there weren’t any missing pieces or huge twists, and I think in general it puts in every bit of effort to give everyone a believable happy ending with no resolution left unturned. Because I was annoyed enough that we were dragging the mystery all the way to the finale, I was glad when Na-jung made her choice in the first five minutes, which in the very least gives us the rest of the episode for some closure and a chance to wrap up everyone’s stories. I still think the hour and a half left something to be desired for the secondary characters, but I much prefer an ending that focuses on the family as a whole and what that house did to bring these people together, so points for that.

As for Na-jung’s choice, I fully expected her to pick Oppa, and I fully expected to have my heart break for Chilbongie, so I was neither disappointed nor surprised about it. I don’t even feel weird about my feelings being split (in that I’m happy for Oppa and Na-jung and crying for Chilbongie), because the show was written to make me feel bipolar about the romance. I do think in that sense neither guy gets the classic win because both got shafted throughout the journey for the sake of keeping them in the race till the last possible second, but as far as resolutions go, I was satisfied for both of them and found the final hour more pleasant than most of the second half of the series, which so often put mystery before character development.

I’ve said as much already in my year-end review so there’s no need to rehash everything, but it goes without saying that Answer Me 1994 got stuck in its own tunnel of mystery, and sacrificed far too much of what was good about the show in service of fueling this strange fixation with the bait-and-switch. I mean this on a structural storytelling level, and not the fact of the overarching who’s-the-husband mystery, because that’s just a gimmick and is as annoying or not depending on how they want to play it. The writer was just obsessed with the bait-and-switch in this drama, wherein we’re purposely led to believe one truth (they’re siblings/not), or more frequently led down a path of murkiness where nobody outright says a thing (What does Binggeure feel for Oppa? What does Oppa feel? What is Na-jung’s reaction to anything?) just so that the story can be clever and jump out at us with a surprise twist.

Sometimes it works, and sometimes it’s confusing, but by and large what happens if you do it for long enough is that we stop trusting your truth as truth and keep ducking for that sudden left hook. I felt totally shafted on Binggeure’s character development and found his sudden resolution to be a twist for twist’s sake—had he been confused about his sexuality, been exploring what his conflicting feelings meant, had we been in on his journey from the start or been allowed to know what he was going through, I’d have found his resolution to be fulfilling and a nice statement about the fluidity of sexuality and the importance of choice. Mostly though, I feel cheated out of what could have been that story because the show was more concerned with teasing the idea that he’d be gay so that they could swing around and do the big tadaaaaa moment. What is the point of that? I don’t disagree with the outcome, but I’m disappointed in how we got there.

The biggest misstep was with Oppa and Chilbongie, which of course ignited some crazy fan wars, the depths of which I don’t care to relive. The story chose a frustrating withholding strategy to prolong the central love triangle by taking turns putting Oppa in the corner and then Chilbongie in the corner, then back and forth and back again, until at some point we stopped caring whose turn it was and wanted it to stop. For as much thought as this writer puts into creating nuanced characters, she let The Hand of Mystery motivate their actions, which I found to be endlessly frustrating. I kept wanting deep, complex reasons, and kept getting non-answers and purposeful omissions for the sake of keeping things opaque.

Now that we’re able to look back on the series as a whole, the latter half really sags with the weight of a single mystery stretched far too thin—now it shows just how little conflict was being prolonged for that much story time, and makes me wish they had just answered the question early if only to force them to come up with more story afterwards. If they had told this story in twelve episodes, it might’ve been brilliant. Told in twenty-one, it loses all that pizazz. It’s doubly encumbered by the episode length, which grew preposterously long and drew complaints, eventually leading to the production releasing apologies, but sticking to its hour-and-a-half episodes anyway. What kills me is that I know this director has a strong sense of comic timing because Answer Me 1997 was spot-on and felt whip-smart because of its pace (until it also started to lag via bloated air time). This time scenes went on endlessly, jokes got lost because there were no editing choices made, and I could actually feel them padding out episodes and refusing to kill their babies, which dulled the zing factor—and one of my favorite things about this franchise is its zing! It felt like a raw production that should’ve gone through one more hardcore editing pass, perhaps from someone who wasn’t so attached to the cast.

Even still, this show was fantastic when it was firing on all cylinders—when friends became family, when people showed up for each other, and when they finally learned how to ask for someone to stay by their side. Go Ara finally got to shed her acting criticism and her just-a-pretty-face image, and did an fantastic job of being believable in every moment, no matter what tiny thing she was doing. It was lovely to watch. Jung Woo is just amazing, and gave Oppa a vulnerability and a depth beyond what was written. His character is literally one that can’t exist without that actor, which you can’t say about most roles. Yoo Yeon-seok got the full Nineties Lee Jung-jae workup, so in a meta sense he gets cosmically rewarded for walking away without the girl; you get to take all of the other women in the world with you, which you can’t exactly call a raw deal. I’m pretty sure I haven’t watched a drama that so romanticized an unrequited love and gave it the hero treatment since the nineties, so I have to assume his entire character is a love letter to that era. Which I guess just makes me a goner from the start.

In execution, this drama was proof that you do lose something when you try to have your cake and eat it too. But what this franchise always manages to do right is make us smile and look back on our own youths with the same sense of longing and nostalgia, and the hindsight that comes from maturing. I wish it had been a smoother ride because I love all the characters dearly, but I’m glad we at least go out on a good note. Thanks for the memories, Shincheon Boardinghouse—the good, the confusing, the funny, the frustrating, the heartrending, and the sweet ones all.

 
RELATED POSTS

Tags: , , , ,

518

Required fields are marked *

Awesome awesome episode!!! Loved it...
Oppaya i want a husband like you...

Only little disappointment was CB loveline wish they had developed it more with that Jung Yumi and told the his wifw was her. Would have been a better closyre for his fans as well as the drama fans.

0
12
reply

Required fields are marked *

Agree with this - the mystery did little to help the drama, but overall, Answer Me 1994 has a fond place in my heart. I think I'll remember the small heartwarming moments and just forget all the missed opportunities to treat the romance as well as the family/friend dynamics.

Thank you, Javabeans and Girlfriday, for capturing its magic so effortlessly! Long live, 1994.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

for all its faults (the drama over who the husband got old near the end), easily my favorite drama of the year...there weren't too many drama series that this year that i finished, but this one kept me interested til the end, both because the cast was amazing and their characters were pretty well fleshed out...and i think this drama holds a deeper significance for the domestic audience than for foreign viewers, since it ties into the storyline events from the viewers own adolescence and childhood memories that they can look back fondly on...i really can't remember seeing a drama that made me reflect back on my childhood than this one

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I stopped watching when they dragged out the love triangle. I'm a big CB fan but I was happy that he had the closure that he needed. I was probably more invested in him because I'm currently in the same situation he's in (so hard to compete with freakin first loves), but I'm glad they had Jung Yumi! I liked her in I need romance!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Same here! I hope things work out for you. I ended up finding closure and moving on. :)

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Mehhhh...Goat bleat.

Any show that leaves a significant amt of its audience disgruntled leaves much to be desired.

Any show that gets its audience so invested that fan wars erupt is a big success, at the expense of the audience.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

sure, there are disgruntled viewers (the extremely happy ones and disgruntled ones are really vocal and you can't extrapolate the entire audience from the extremes), but i think the ratings show that people in general liked the show (not saying that ratings are a perfect measure of a dramas quality)...agree with you on the second bit

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I found that it was a good way to end the series given the way the story was set up. I am not shocked that Na-jung ended up with Garbage. He was really the first and truly only one she loved and I am happy that she got her happy ending. I know that many viewers (myself included admittingly) wanted Chilbongie to be the end game but it just could not have been possible given the way they set up the story. If they initially planned for Oppa to be the end game, the writers should have showed us the romance/relationship between Oppa and Na-jung instead of dragging the love-triangle. It would have helped me root for their relationship more if I got to see their cute moments or even the awkward and embarrassing moments. I totally agree with you on the fact that Chilbongie’s loveline should have been developed more. I wanted more closure for him because I have never fallen this hard for a second lead before. I wanted him to have an epic love that would have made up for all the heartbreak. Chilbongie seriously has to be the IDEAL GUY but I guess he just wasn’t the right guy for Na-jung which is ok because if she won’t have him then I will. HAHA. I now have to seriously nurse my crush from Yoo Yeon-Seok LONG LIVE CHILBONGIE!!!!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

i think, for me, what they did right with the "second male lead" w/c made me root for the 2nd lead for the 1st time ever i think was they never really made him out as a 2nd lead. initially, there weren't any lead or 2nd lead..they had equal footing.
chilbongie became d 2nd lead because he wasn't chosen by najung-ah at the end..but almost the whole way through..he was a lead too..he was a 'hero'

yeah yeah i'm a chilbongie shipper all the way!! :D

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i'm still curious what picture in Miracle World book that CB showed to NJ wks

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

It was a picture of a heart.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I honestly, hated the ending. I really thought CB should have gotten the girl. How often is it that the odd man out, wins the girl? When will they write a script where the girl realizes she's really in love with the guy who was there for her through everything? I would've ended this with her, choosing CB over Oppa and showing the viewers all the times she felt doubt about Oppa and found herself, being drawn towards CB. It felt like they were in love but just couldn't say it out loud. I stopped watching this at 18 because I predicted the ending. After reading this recap, I'm disappointed in this drama. So predictable. :(

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I COMPLETELY agree with you ! I loved the drama, but that ending... dammit that ending !

I thought this drama was fresh and new ! Showing that first love does not FORCIBLY mean the only one !
But it was none of this :'(

Right now, I have the feeling that Chilbong still loves Najung and that he basically married another girl just to put an end to this "chase", event hough he still is madly in love with Najung !

I would have liked her to end up with Chilbong, because even though he was far away and a bit distant, he still cared deeply for Najung T_T AND THEY DON'T HAVE THIS FREAKING BROTHER-SISTER RELATIONSHIP !!!

Just the fact that she married the man who was her older borther for almost 20 years... eeeww ><

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for this and all of your and JB's recaps.
It wasn't an easy ride and I commend you for sticking with it.

I loved the finale; have no real complaints about all the fun that happened after the finally heartbreak that we all knew was coming for our pitcher.

Still I would very much have liked to see SOME GIRL, ANY GIRL smiling adoringly at Chilbongie as he totally needed that, especially when HIS MOTHER NEVER CAME TO SEE HIM?! Are you kidding me?

The moment when CB called Oppa "Hyung" was good; I did feel there was some peace between them. I also liked that CBie could exclaim that he is a MAJOR LEAGUER as nobody ever gave him real credit for that, which was the perfect way friends treat their own stars..."A prophet is not without honor save his own home."

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

Oh!
LOVED when Haitai says going into the last minutes of the Italy/Korea game to everyone:

"It ain't over till it's over!" and CBie leans over and shouts:

"KREU-CHEE!" which I translated as "Damn straight!"

What a great nod to the frenzy that surrounded him saying that.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

I didn't watch the finale yet, but did Haitai really say that? Lol what was up with all these throw back jokes towards Chilbong? What a slap in the face for him, ouch!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Or the moment when Haitai made a jab at Oppa for raising the bet to $10, "You still can't let it go!"

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Chilbong's relationship with his mom has got to be one of the most heart-wrenching ones that I know. How did he grow up through all that loneliness? I used to think that Binggurae was the new Kang Joon-hee in AM1994, what with the fragile heart and delicate love story. But now, I think Chilbong could have been meant as the new Kang Joon-hee.

Ah Chilbong-yah!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I loved the "That's right, cause I'm a MAJOR LEAGUER" moment from Bongie. So funny!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I wasn't interested much in this drama up until yesterday, when I saw the crazy shipping war in almost every kdrama site! Dramaland is calling for me to ship passionately and strongly!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I for one am just happy that Jeong follows her heart....I don't read most comments on sites after I stumbled upon really demeaning ones which are hurtful to the actors. I am just glad that most people don't translate their love for chill bong into hatred towards oppa... And some on the actor himself...that's why I only go to dramabeans coz jb or gf can really remain professional even when we know which side they favour...that takes a lot of wisdom and guts

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I wish the show downplayed the love triangle. Cuz I really loved all of the character moments. So spot on and heartfelt. That is why I think that why the hug was a big HUH. It wasn't heartfelt it didn't feel natural. I mean I knew CB was a nice guy the writer just made him plain dumb. I think that if the love triangle wasn't so in our face then I would have accepted it better. Instead of the love triangle focus on CB's parents. What about BG's girlfriend/wife? What about Haitai and his girlfriend, why not expand why they did get married sooner. Why not show more more CB's life in Japan and the US. What about NJ at school. What about Bing adjusting to the hospital? There are so many what abouts that I wished were expanded on. The writer sacrificed a lot of screen time (there was a lot of screen time) for the triangle, just to end like this. It is like the Soprano's and their ending. That was a WHAT! All these amazing season and we get WHAT? A black screen. I know that not all questions be answered, but there are just too many that aren't answered and on top of that the ones that are answered are sloppily put together.

Besides the wedding love triangle issue the ep was very beautiful. I cried bucket not because CB didn't get the girl but that they were saying good bye to their youth. I think that is why Haitai stayed the longest he wanted to hold on to that time of his youth so much that he couldn't let go of the boarding house. Closing the house was a way of closing and saying good by to their youth and start growing up. Everyone got their miracle. Even CB, he got the family he always wanted. It might not have been the miracle he was hoping for but it was the one that made him complete. I am happy about that. I am crying just thinking about it how beautiful it is. I am not saying that the show didn't have its faults but take away the love triangle, the 2013 and wedding miss steps, and crazy last hug goodbye, it was beautiful and heartwarming. It could have been so much better if they didn't have to the up the mystery and all of its loose end. In the end 1997 will be better because it didn't paint it self into the corner because of the mystery. The mystery was there are as plot devise not the focal point. But all of the slice of life moments were so touching.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

'Reply 1994: when tricking audiences is more important than the story making sense.

I I can't even.....this finale was just...ugh!

On to the recycle bin show.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

If the conflict in the story was compelling enough it should not be necessary to 'trick' viewers into watching.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The writers annoyed me soooooo bad with the last episode! i DEFINITELY would not watch the next reply....if the producers decide to make another

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

This drama... It failed to live up to it's potential. Najung could have broke up with Trash and ended up with Chilbong (this never happens in k-dramas) and the puppy could have been happily gay with Hoya from '97. This also never happens in k-dramas. Don't worry, it's only a typical drama where the first lead gets the girl. 21 damn episodes, 80 minutes each. For what? I was losing interest like Usain Bolt. This could have been a very good drama. But it's crap. To recommend this to someone, you have to be a little dead in the head. It has no rewatch value. Watching this again would be painful. Chilbong, my heart bleeds for you.

0
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

This drama is a major frustration to me. NJ and T getting together the way that was done in the show, lacks so much creativity. I mean, really, think about their trajectory on the show: BORING. They've known each other since ever, they fall in love, they date - all these made in a very not special way, I dare say, because for me their interactions alone without the who's-the-husband thing ware so... blé. Can you imagine a full drama only about NJ and T as a couple, in a typical rom-com drama? I can't. The only plausible conflict was NJ going abroad and I just think of that as a plot device to extend the show.
I wouldn't care about them getting together if I had seen some good character development (NJ biggest trait on the show was loving oppa) - and that applies to all characters, which means I probably wound feel the same about a rush ending with CB being the husband. But I didn't see that, and now I'm all bittersweet about this show: it isn't bad, but it isn't so great either.
And what makes me more mad is that they had *reaking 21 EPISODES THAT LASTED ONE AND A HALF HOUR *EACH* AND STILL WEREN'T ABLE TO DO SOMETHING BETTER. What got me through the second half part of the show is the unique vibe of the AM series that masked the flaws AM 1994 has; if I take the style off, sadly there won't be much to hold on to. The lack of story just got me thinking how AM 1997 was such a better experience for me, what doesn't help me being frustrated.
Would I recommend it to someone? I don't know. Like I've said, it isn't bad, but it isn't so great either, but what makes it hard to take in is that it could have been so. much. better.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

well i think the whole point of the whole "slice of life" drama approach is in fact to emphasize all the mundane aspects of REAL LIFE. and i found the way that the director progressed trash and NJs relationship to be rather refreshing...
cuz u know every other freakin korean drama out there is full of gimmicks to get couples together... aka contract marriages, rich man/poor girl setups, betrayal schemes, and EVERY OTHER RIDICULOUSLY UNREALISTIC theme possible lol.

its like one of the rare times that i got to see 2 normal ppl get together to be a couple. and i thought it was still very entertaining to watch. and for once relatable.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

That's what I thought... at first. I'm not complaining about the couple but how they showed me the relationship. For example, they skipping all the firsts with the time jump, and ending up without showing all the awkwardness of the beginning of a relationship - that I think is such a sweet thing when you have the present intimacy and the past uncomfortable beginning to compare with.
I'm all in for a portrayal of a normal regular couple, but I never felt the butterflies with T and NJ, I never saw the sparkle. I don't think it wasn't there; I think that what the writer chose to show us was not enough for me to feel it. Obviously only a few people would agree with me, but they looked like a random couple I've met somewhere, not the couple I was suppose to root for end be happy for them to be together. That's from where my frustration comes. I wanted a more solid ground; for some, what we got to see was enough; for me, it wasn't.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I give a thumb up to your comment (y)

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My flippin ship sank, but not only that, they butchered chilbongie's character(as well as trash and na jung for suddenly being so insensitive). Very pissed. Illogical ending. Hard work ends with tears and heartbreak. It ain't over til you waste over half a decade of your life. Go for the man who barely lifts a finger to text you to come running to his house to make out and get back together, rather than the man who travels 12 HOURS just to enjoy your presence and be by your side for just a little while longer. Smh

0
23
reply

Required fields are marked *

I agree! I just didn't like the message it gives to those currently in unrequited loves, or stuck in the friend zone. It just makes me so sad, and a bit discouraged now. I was team oppa at first, I seriously was. Then CB won me completely over. I really admired CBs strong fight, and I constantly waited for Trash Oppa to step it up. But he barely fought for her. Others can argue against us, but CB was the better lover.

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

I agree. It T had done more then send a text message...sheesh...I would be much more satisfied. I don't care that it represents his opening himself up to her emotionally. A momentary impulse and makeout session does not necessarily make permanent change. If this is our true focus and not the love triangle they certainly did not develop it enough.

Spoiler:

Not telling your gf your mother died? There's more to that then just not feeling like you want to burden yourself to your gf. Text messages don't cut it. Sorry.

And to contrast that with CB. Probably not the best choice. They made CB too good for texts to work. And then T doesn't even make that final effort until after he sees CB with NJ. Passive. Passive. Passive.

Regardless of which guy your prefer, I want the main lead to act and do something epic for our leading lady. Not text her. He should have gone to her. While he was sick. That would have been more of the epic sort I'm looking for.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

yeah but na jung never liked chilbongie, it's better to learn something here from chilbongie, if the girl has no interest on you whatsoever don't waste your time looking like an idiot and move on...

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

the message it should give to people stuck in the friend zone is to move oN because it's WEIRD /especially/ in the case of men. hard work works in like. your job, a relationship you are CURRENTLY in, your life outside of romance but it doesnt work in getting someone to like you it's weird what he did is literally everything a boy should not to and i really cant help but laugh

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Posting from a post in tumblr:

Kim Boong Do had to try and kill himself and travel years to get HeeJin. Gu Jun Pyo had to overcome murderous attempts and Mama Kang to get Jan Di. Haru had to go to to Canada and become a better man to earn Aki's love. What did T do? Get the flu and send a text. Word to NJ: a man will only treat you as well as you treat yourself.
And THIS is why twenty years later you're picking up packages while your husband is sitting on his lazy a**.

0
13
reply

Required fields are marked *

Also;

Don’t tell me just by trying hard, you will get what you want.
fate doesn't exist, so does miracles
no matter how many times you get the right timing,
no matter how many times you put so much effort to make thing right
in the end, you get nothing but an empty heart

"Because I was nice, I was ruined”
- Chilbong

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

seems like someone needs to breathe slowly and count to 10...while i also really get passionate about the characters that i fall in love with and pull for, in the end, its just a drama

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

how condescending damn lmfao

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

If Trash has to live up to your expectations and be like Gu Jun Pyo and other typical KDrama leading men, I'm pretty happy he failed.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

That post is totally blind to the happenings of episode 20, jfc. The reason for Najung and Oppa's break-up in the first place because he was being his typical noble-oppa guy who didn't want to expose Najung to his sufferings, fears and insecurities. Because /he/ was too nice to Najung and completely dismissing his own feelings just to protect hers, their relationship failed.
You could see how important that text message was to her because it broke down the 'sibling' wall between them to make way for a healthier, open relationship.

0
6
reply

Required fields are marked *

It's just that we didn't get to see that... the show failed us that way, by simply brushing the most important things while it spent so much time on things that didn't really matter to us (or that we'd seen already), so I couldn't be on board, and I guess nor would most viewers.

1
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

We saw it. He asked her to stay outside when informing her parents about their relationship to shield her. Later that night, he lies that everything went well despite her father's reaction. He doesn't tell her about his accident till she has no choice because she's visiting him. And we see that she's visibly upset by it. We don't see much of their long distance relationship since they gave us a 3 minute montage and broke them up. However, two episodes later, they tell us the real story. The writing is flawed and the creative decisions can be frustrating but the explanations are there.

0

SO TRUE. i noticed that a lot of ppl claiming "oh the message of the show is so effed up blah blah cuz oppa didnt do shit and got the girl and CB did everything and didnt " actually seem to have totally missed certain scenes..... or there was some sort of disconnect.

the whole freaking point of the text was to demonstrate that oppa finally took the first step and displayed vulnerability to NJ. they broke up because he was TOO NICE and would never ever show NJ he was hurting. so of course NJ is gonna be emotional over the fact that oppa finally opened up to her. -_-

another scene alot of ppl misinterpreted was when NJ and oppa told the parents about getting married... the dad didnt catch em sleeping together. that was a completely diff scene.

also, some ppl are saying that they are being insensitive to CB in 2013 but the fact that they can joke around about NJ having been CBs first love is actually a good indication of how "OK" they are with each other now.

1
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

well, its kdramaland so a single text is enough. but in the real world, its not so. dont read too much in a text, in a glance. most of the time, you are just over-imagining things. until he says it, dont even think its what you think. just saying because you might believe all the message this drama has brought. life is all about fate, timing, and hard work, in EVERYTHING. whether in your relationship or profession, you have to work well to make it work.

0

Hmmm. Is it "nice" to shield your love interest from every bad thing, or is it condescending? I am still waiting for Trash to treat Na Jung like a fellow adult.

1

preach! not to mention that oppa's been there and taking care of najung HER WHOLE LIFE, especially after the unfortunate incident of her older brother's death.

i personally didn't think that oppa needed any grand gestures to prove his love to najung, because he'd already shown it over the years he'd taken care of her.

and @skelly: oppa's actions over the early course of their relationship still showed that he thought of najung as a kid sister to take care of. by exposing her to his vulnerabilities and allowing her to worry over him, he was opening up to the idea of her as an equal in their relationship. :)

0

His lazy ass is what makes Na jung happy. Again I understand you are frustrated with CB love story completely get it, but being bitter about it and slamming the other side just because they had more fleshed out characters does not make it better. NJ loves Oppa period. They have been together for years and she never once felt he treated her badly(he never did). Yes he did not travel hours to be with her for 5 mins but he did not have to. He is the only one that makes her happy. The story was a heartbreaking for CB but he never had a chance against NJ unwavering heart I do not blame him for hoping it would, but he has to and did face the consequences for his actions. He could have given her the world but it still would have be en empty to NJ without her oppa. Thats just the way it is.
Where do people get the idea that if you work hard enough a girl(or a guy) will like you. If only heart works that way. NJ only likes oppa. It is not bad had he ever done anything to intentionally hurt her. He did wait for a few months before confessing but that was because he was afraid of the consequences.Yet their love story was one of the most beautiful things ever to be depicted in dramas and i enjoyed it immensely.
I felt horrible for CB but that does not make me wish anything different cause this was NJ and Oppa's journey ever since she confessed about her dream to marry her oppa. Writer trolled a little with 2013 scenes but never once was there an inkling in 90's oor 2000's which is the time of the drama that there was any alternate ending possible.
Jung Woo was clearly the lead and the lead mostly gets the girl exp if the girl is in love with him.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

this is slice of life genre drama... story about real live not in dreamland.. more interesting than ridiculous story about fate and coincidence all time tru drama storyline

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Before I begin my rant the CB-NJ-T triangle, I've gotta commend the show for bringing back the cuteness and poignancy of the family/friendships that built up throughout the years. The hilarious appa, the loving mother to all the boarders, the caring med student oppa, the lost puppy binggrae, the friendly fangirl najung, the hardcore fangirl yoonjin, the clueless samcheonpo, the i-need-a-woman-in-my-life haitai, and the adorable smiley chilbongie. All very precious creations.

Where it all went wrong: The Husband Mystery.
I honestly believed Trash would be endgame the moment they showed a montage of Trash and NJ growing up together, and revealed they're actually not blood-related. It was firmly set. Especially if they were to follow its predecessor AM 1997 when Yoon Jae and Shiwon had a similar montage growing up as best friends. I was still getting the feels around this point, and found it so sweet when NJ first realized she had feelings for Oppa in the hospital bed when he was taking good care of her. I couldn't wait for this ship to sail, and they just had such a nice back story together. Then Chilbongie came along for the first time, but I did not find him as a strong contender at all. Trash was way in the lead, except we were continuously kept in the dark about his feelings. Several episodes passed. Still nothing from Trash, NJ getting nowhere pining for him. More Chilbong, Chilbong, Chilbong scenes. Him falling deeper in love, showering us with adorable smiles and sweet moments. Still nothing from Trash. Chilbong travels 6 hours for the gang and NJ. Trash runs off the play billiard with people instead of the gang(disappointing!). Chilbong bravely confesses in heart-stopping countdown to the new year, new beginnings. Total: 6 hours travel, few hours with NJ, another 6 hours travel back = 12 hours. He OFFICIALLY WON ME OVER at this point. Even narratively, it would be so beautiful if these two ended up together, with it being the New Year and all. A time where the characters grow up, change, experience new things. It was perfect. His confession at the last moment of 1994, now, please, "Answer Me, 1994," as the title speaks.

Then the darn hubby mystery ensues, Trash still in the dark, wake up call from CB, still nothing, anxious about whether NJ hanging with CB at the hospital, jealous, self destructs and smokes a whole pack of cigarettes, kisses NJ right after that to lock her into place, finally..? THIS part of the story just ruined everything for me. The writer made him look SO BAD, and terrible! Is that really what it takes in order for him to finally return the feelings NJ had for him? WHAT. All the while, CB gets this beautiful snow falling scene, with a heart-wrenching goodbye, and disappears for a few episodes in Japan, with "Let's date," "It ain't over til its over," "9 ends 2 outs is when life begins," "10000 hour rule," "December 31st 1999" hanging over our heads.

Years go by fast-forwarding around T-NJ being blissful, so much time has passed that the well-acted proposal felt like sealing the deal that Trash is endgame. THIS WAS IT. I lost hope for CB. I just wanted him to move on and find his happiness elsewhere. But! The Hubby Mystery had to keep going, so he was used as a mere plot device to keep up the tension in the final episodes, and gave Chilbong-lovers hope with the moving narrative given over their scene on December 31st 1999, preparing for yet another new beginning. The narrative...

1
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

^(continued)

The narrative destruction continued when NJ continued to LEAD HIM ON without a straight out answer that she just couldn't reciprocate his feelings. Torture for 6 YEARS, she's still giving him hope, maybe as a back up if she doesn't work out with T? Uhmm.. NO, just NO. This is so wrong. Chilbong's tortured love survived 6 years despite the distance, but T-NJ's love was not even enough to overcome the distance of 2 years. Think about it. The writers just wanted CB to SHINE so much to keep up the game and to not make it so predictable. Little did they know that this was destroying the beauty and message the story was trying to tell, everything's all mixed up.

And what really upset me in the final episode is the sudden, and sped up Chilbong recovery so that he could meet a new girl by the time his great first love of 6 years marries another man. Makes sense much? I think not. Maybe he got a screwed up lobotomy from Dr. Trash to forget his wasted youth pining for someone he can never have. To make him look a bit less pathetic, they drop a girl on him(literally), and have friends over at his lonely house, although they're the type to completely forget about his birthday. Poor soul. No other story arc. No reconciliation with his neglectful mother. No nothing. Just completely cheated.

END RANT

*cries in a corner*

1
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

OMG. My thoughts exactly. Non-CB shippers just don't understand the pain we feel.

*joins you in corner, sobs*

1
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

There are plenty of ppl sobbing in the corner, I'm sure.

0

*gives you a hundred thumb-ups.... and cries in a corner with you*

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I kind of hate that they butchered CB's character like that! Oh well, the writers love trash so much so no wonder.

1
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

lol its not about the writer's loving trash... trash is a fictional character. they CREATED trash. they CREATED him to be the husband way earlier.

and every korean drama has one lead that the drama focuses on. if ppl dont know that by now, they havent watched korean dramas enough...

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

Well, of course the writer created Trash. The writer created all of the characters. And of course every writer has a story arc planned, stating who will be the OTP (unless you are the crack-smoking writer of MHIYD) and the story is written to that endgame. Fine.
What I think fffff meant by "loving Trash" is the same as the obsession the MHIYD writer had with the sad-sack chaebol played by JongHwa - if you want someone to be the endgame, then show us exactly why. Chilbongie was practically up for sainthood, he followed all of the kdrama tropes for the tryhard who wins in the end, but then he didn't. The writer dangled all sorts of hints and withheld information and even created some logical disnonnects to have Trash the endgame, without showing us the progression of internal thought and outward action that showed how he makes up for all of that Chilbong epicness. A text message? History? It's all supposition, because the writer was too busy jerking us around to fill in the blanks.

1
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

plenty of people seemed to understand and can literally counteract everything you just wrote. i'm not going to do it because it seems like you're being willfully obtuse but i will say cb aint no saint and we all know it.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I am completely and utterly shocked.
I have never rooted for the second lead before. NEVER, in all of my drama watching. But Answer Me 1994, has finally made me become privy to it.
Oh, Chilbongie. I knew the chance of him ending up with Na Jung was rare by the time Oppa proposed the first time around. But still, I hoped, and when they broke up, I was actually SO happy (I'm sorry Garbage fans), thinking that it gave Chilbongie an actual shot at getting the girl. And when the last three episodes or so had more Chilbong/Najung screentime than anything/anyone else, I was certain that he was the husband, that since I'd never had Second Lead Syndrome, I wouldn't have it this time around either. If only I knew. Sigh...
I think my personal bias overtook my whole enjoyment of the show. I've always thought what the AM team did best was the family/friends stuff, and I think that's what made me love this show so much in the beginning, more than 97. I was content with the love triangle because it didn't seem very serious to me in the beginning. I liked both guys, and I rooted for both of them at different parts of the show (Garbage was like 1-4, then I think around 11-13, while Chilbongie was from 5-10 and 14-21).
But then the love triangle got going in earnest, and I found myself squarely on Team Chilbong. Because the show was trying so hard with the who's-the-husband game and I was rooting for our Chilbongie, I found myself disliking Garbage Oppa more and more (which doesn't even really make sense cause I actually really loved his character during the first half of the drama). And then it even translated to Na Jung, who became like a pawn during the last half of the show, until I was left liking no one but Chilbongie in the love triangle. (All the other side characters I love; special shoutout to the awesomeness of Samcheonpo) And how can someone enjoy a show who's main character they don't like?
The husband game really ruined this show. I mean, okay, Garbage is endgame. Then what was with the overflow of Najung/Chilbong scenes in like episodes 18-20? If Garbage was endgame, then she should've spent the last few episodes with more Garbage/Na Jung scenes. Giving viewers hope and then taking it away from them...This writer had my heart and then she just took it away.
So overall, I don't even really know what I feel about this drama. Since my love of Chilbongie kind of overtook everything else in this show, I don't think I can even rate it properly. The first half was pitch perfect in my opinion, and then maybe it started going downhill afterwards. I don't know, because any scene where Na Jung was happy with Garbage Oppa, I was just sad that it wasn't Chilbongie.
Therefore, I leave this show with bittersweet memories, as its lead couple didn't really work for me, but the side characters are definitely one of my favourites ever. Thanks, 1994, for the laughs (the goat bleats though) and the joy you gave me this year :)

1
11
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yep, all the NJ-CB interactions in eps 18-20 were the worse part.
It was already clear that she loved Oppa and felt nothing for Chilbong, so the last episodes would have been more satisfying (and realistic) if they had showed us Chilbongie moving on and NaJung and Oppa living their relationship.
I would have loved to see Chilbongie liking another girl and not only a first "meeting", and we have seen few NaJung and Oppa romantic moments...it has been a bit frustrating in the end.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

As a Chilbong fan myself, thank you for a rational and honest assessment of why it is difficult to give a rational assessment of the show. (As opposed to "HOLYWTFBBQ, DESTROY ALL THE THINGS!!!")

I wish less time had been devoted to the love triangle; I think Trash was always the endgame but YYS's strong work and shipping wars in part drove up ratings and the writer and producers stretched the love triangle until it was a skinny rubber band. If anything, that awesome goodbye scene between Na-Jung and Chilbong could have been had before he left for Japan and then we could have watched as he became this happy and whole person (albeit a baseball superstar) growing up outside of Korea. It was a little mortifying to watch him hold on so desperately.

I love all the characters and wish there was more time devoted to them as well. Some things I wanted to see are:
-Yoo-Jin and Na-Jung being badasses at their jobs since they were so bad-ass at home
-More Hai-Tai with and without Ae-Jung
-Yoo-Jin wedding planning

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I can just nod my head in agreement. Am I the only one who think this AM 1994 got the wrong leading couple? That it should have been SP and YJ? hehe ^^

1
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

Can I just say, I am devastated with the ending D':

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I was so devastated that I sat there dumbfounded and depressed the whole Sat. evening! No show has ever left such a bitter taste in the mouth.

By Sunday morning, I was able to tell myself:
CB doesn't get the girl, but YYS gets all the love going the way of his char. That's gonna buoy his career to great heights, which I'll wait expectantly to see.

That's his reward for playing this sweet guy who got his heart broken into a million pieces (mine along w it). I just have to take my consolation in that thought. YYS Aja!

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Exactly SCP and YJ should have been the lead couple

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yah as much as I like CB, SP and YJ were the couple that actually evolved and faced challenges large and small and triumphed. Their portrayal in 2013 was entirely predictable. Maybe its because we weren't trying to guess who Yoo Jin's husband was?

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I feel and felt in the exactly some way. Liking Trash in some parts, disliking him in others and then, without even noticing, being CB Team.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I feel you!

Never before I had the second lead syndrome, I guess for me even that happened here not knowing he was the second lead!

And its actually really sad that the writer chose to go to mystery route rather than the heart!

Please writer, next time you wanna write a mystery show, please dont mix it with a story that has a lot of heart and give us heartbreak! :(

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Ty, I wish I can give you 100 thumbs up. I feel the same way.

I just liked Chilbongie character so much. He was very atypical K-drama male--he was so gentle, warm, considerate of others, well mannered, he forgave his teammates right away who harbored ill will toward him, he was persistent, patient, and willing to work hard! I think I fell for this character hard and he was my hero.

For me I watch drama to escape from reality sometimes. In reality many times life is difficult and not fair. I just did not expect his life to be so hard when it came to love. If you don't find good ending for your hero in K-drama where would you find it?

I really hope to find another Chilbong like character in another drama who will get the girl in the end. I am a sucker and know I will be rooting for him again.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Let's be friends

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The ending was a no brainer. Just wished they've done something with Chil bong's character :/

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I was rendered speechless that this writer did not even deem Chilbongie (and US!) worthy to write up the closure he SO deserved. His 'friends' forgetting his b'day hurt... NJ hugging whilst feeding that trash, HA!!, to him HURRRTTTTT!! Forever Alone: what makjang $hit is this?!!

YYS wanted to play a character that received sympathy from the viewers. He sure achieved it by acting the heck outta Chilbongie!! His CB's being described as the second-coming of WB's Tae-suk which means that he's officially arrived!!

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

I know, huh? It's like one heartache after another for Chilbongie. And the writer did not even give us a satisfactory ending for his loveline. Augh.

YYS sure did portray CB like there's no tomorrow. He has indeed arrived.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Three work offers posted in a row...yup, I think AM1994 along with Werewolf Boy and Gu Family Book has given YYS a huge boost and it is well deserved.

Frankly, the entire cast was amazing. Where some elements did not come together, the cast and their abilities was not one of them.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

For me it showed that CB had made his own family - that he wasn't forever alone. When they all barge into his house and pick up like there had never been any time apart, where they email him all the time when he was overseas, when he's still part of the group in 2013.

For me that was the best part of CB journey - he was lonely, and had no family, and then he made his own family. And they all loved him.

(And I do cut people a lot of slack with birthdays - I'm terrible at remembering them).

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Such a TRASHy finale, good riddance Show!

1
12
reply

Required fields are marked *

why? was it simply because the endgame was not what you wanted?

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

clearly lol

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

I hope one day milan and the others that agree his/her comment realize that an ending of CBxNJ would be not make sense because the love was never there.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

then why was the writer giving the love triangle so much air time?

1

Lol! at that pun, that actually trended at my country when the finale aired.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

It was trashy because they made Najung disrespect her husband (from the 2013 scenes).
1. She gave Joon the menu to call for food even if her husband is going to pay for it.
2. She's still cursing when her husband told her not to. But listened when Joon told her.

It was trashy because it made Oppa just sitting at his place
1. While he lets Joon serves his mother in law.
2. While he lets his wife have intimate convo with Joon. I thought he's a jealous man but I guess since he married her, he doesn't care...as long as he can live in a nice address place without paying too much money for it.
3. While he lets Najung went down to take the packages.
He's not just lazy, but he also pimps his wife to make his own life easier.

What a way to make me kill off my affection to some of the character.

1
6
reply

Required fields are marked *

she's a human being not a puppet ew do any of you actually know breathing women

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

let the hate flow through you.

Seriously though, I think some of you shippers need to just take some time away from the show and think about things objectively. There's been too much venom spewing around all these k drama websites.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Goodness, this was apparently another time travel series, with viewers tuning in from the Joseon era, when wives had to obey every order their husbands give them. Makes me glad we live in the 21st Century, it does.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

haa haa, nice reply. Too much passion in the comments section. I am not reading them any more.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

She saw him wipe his face and hair with a doormat to a bathroom that the whole house used, AND she thought he was the greatest guy on earth.

She went to his apartment, which looked like a tornado had hit, and spent hours to clean it up alone w that bad back of hers while he had to go back to work.

She waited until dawn for him to return to blow out candles on that Bday cake, but he didn't.

She knew what she could expect from him, and she went back to him, and left CB who had loved her for 6 years.

So, a little 'laziness' in their married life isn't surprising.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

1. it was CB's house aka he is more familiar with the places to eat around his house.
2. hmm i dont really have an explanation for this one i must say
1. CB is like family to everyone. if anything you should be HAPPY that CB is so at home that he can treat NJs mother as his own. thats how close everyone is. isnt this what CB fans shoudl want for him? he is tending to his loneliness by finding a family within NJs family and all his friends.
2. this is a good sign if anything - it means that trash oppa is completely fine with CB and NJ and has gotten over the past. if oppa was jealous, thatd be a sign that they are not on good terms. is that what you would want?
3. wow so a wife going to get a package for her husband makes him a lazy pimp? wow if thats how u view relationships then... i have no words. i do favors for my bf all the time. because u know, i love him and he does the same for me. trash oppa cares for NJ in so many other ways. knows exactly how to cheer her up and knows when shes having a bad day. that is a good husband.

u are obviously just hatin. no other way to put it.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Wait. What. Yumi?! Okay, this show was put on hold since ep 12 (or 13) because I was losing interest (it was because of my short attention span actually). I knew Trash was the endgame (YAY, btw) after the last ep aired but I didn't know Yumi made a cameo until I read your recap! Now I want to see Jung Yumi and Yoo Yeonseok together in a drama/movie. Hahaha. Sorry. This comment is totally OT.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

hi may i ask who is this jung yumi? like what drama/show did she appear before?thanks

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Chilbong deserved more in regards to character development. I wish when he first left for Japan the husband mystery would have ended. He would return and spend the next episodes reconnecting with his mom, spending fun times with the boarders, and discovering new love with someone else. This would have erased all the angtsy love triangle moments and had the used for growth of CB, T, and NJ. I think Nareki fans can agree that the writer messed up and should have ended it earlier so that way Trash and NJ story lines would be more focused on them as a couple opening up to each other ( more focus on Trash dealing with his mother ect). In the end Cb fans feel used and Nareki fans had to spend episodes watching the angst when it could have been focused on developing T and NJ more. The later episodes could have spent even more time on the other boarders which I think made reply 1994 so special. Because towards the end the triangle sucked life out of CB,T, and NJ

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

Why did they make CB so pathetic at the end?

Such a let down that Trash and NJ broke up after 2 years and suddenly she gets a text that he's sick and she goes running back to him.The story goes down the drain.They dragged the mystery husband on forever that I lost interest. CB's conclusion was really dismal.

I glad the actor got 3 movie roles after this because he deserves better.

1
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

there was clearly a meet up between trash and NJ before the phone call addressing many things about their breakup and the nature of it.... it wasnt just out of no where.

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

We can suppose so, but the writer didn't choose to show it to us because there were too many delicious opportunities to make Chilbong look pathetic, leave useless clueless about the endgame, and give Na Jung more opportunities to cry over the fact that she was in love with Trash.

You can give the writer all the free passes you care to, filling in the blanks in the relationships, giving Chilbong a better story arc, having Trash actually reveal somehow how he feels for the first half of the show - but it wasn't there. You are just kind enough to add it in.

1
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Wait... did we even watch the same drama?

When Michelle said that Trash and NJ met up before the phone call addressing their breakup, she wasn't just "filling in the blank." The writer did not "choose not to show it to us".

It WAS shown to us. Like literally. In the drama. Just one episode ago. That cafe scene where NJ realized the real reason they broke up wasn't because of the physical distance, but the emotional distance that T put between them in an attempt to protect her. Man, I feel like some of you people exercise selective memory loss whenever it justifies your biased views.

0

We can suppose so, but the writer didn't choose to show it to us because there were too many delicious opportunities to make Chilbong look pathetic, leave useless clues about the endgame, and give Na Jung more opportunities to cry over the fact that she was in love with Trash.

You can give the writer all the free passes you care to, filling in the blanks in the relationships, giving Chilbong a better story arc, having Trash actually reveal somehow how he feels for the first half of the show - but it wasn't there. You are just kind enough to add it in.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I am so glad this show is over. I stopped caring about the romance and love triangle so many episodes ago. I was worried they would take away baseball from CB too but they didn't. I wanted more to him than that but hey I have to take what I can get. I didn't really think that first love line in the elevator was necessary but whatever I guess. The mystery really hampered down the show for me. I wanted more about the friendships which was the real heart of the show for me. 21 episodes was too much. Oh well I really loved the characters for the most part. I wish I got to see a lot more of the side characters too that were not part of the triangle.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Lol at the backlash on twitter when the finale aired, it seemed like majority really wanted chilbong to be the husband, ifans and also a lot of korean fans, sucked that he didn't get that much story arc more than his love for najung, who IMO doesn't deserve someone as amazing as chilbong, so im happy she ended up with trash so that cb can forget her and find someone more deserving of him.

1
17
reply

Required fields are marked *

uhhh trash is actually..probably.. more popular internationally iirc also the opinions of ifans largely don't matter and the romance is not even what makes up a large chunk of the show

and BS that she didnt deserve someone as "amazing" as him. she didn't like him even when he was persistent and annoying about it and that's life, get over it i don't think people realize how terrible they sound when they say things like that but it's clear so many people invested in the lovelines don't care about how she feels

0
8
reply

Required fields are marked *

She might or might not deserve him but you have to admit that it was terribly awful for her to just not do anything about his feelings for her, not reciprocating is one thing because it wasn't what she needed to do but to still not reject him outright even when he confessed twice, well that's what makes me angry. A simple no would suffice.

1
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

do you know how many annoying men follow women around and it's so hard for them to say no and be more forceful. there are a lot of reasons for this and additionally people would probably HATE her over that let's be real. it wasn't terribly awful of her to do anything but whateverrrr

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

HE KNEW she didn't like him. He said so many times himself that he knows she likes someone else at the moment to her. It was HIS choice to keep going for her. People need to stop shifting the blame to NJ who showed no signs of romantic interest besides being a very good and loyal friends to everyone. ITS NOT HER FAULT.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

He KNEW she didn't feel the same way about him, and this was made clear to him when she began dating Trash. Notice that THAT'S why he didn't even contact her while he was at Japan for a few years. He avoided her at all costs and gave space. They only began to spend time together again on NYE, and Najung was no longer dating Trash. Since he still dearly loves her after all that time, he took hold of his last string of hope that MAYBE, just MAYBE he would find a place in her heart this time around. He once again poured out his unwavering heart to her, but she didn't even give a reply. She led him on, and agreed to all his requests to spend more time with her until he has to leave for America. And that's what upsets me.

0

If we had seen NJ telling CB to his face, "Thx but No thx" earlier, I think the CB and Team CB would have been able to move on.

Instead the show has her hugging him, crying tears of relief in deep heaves, and running to the hospital to take care of him, ppl are bound to feel somewhat cheated.

If we were shown that convo they just had in ep 21, w NJ saying: "TQ for liking me, etc." 6 or 8 eps sooner, it'd have been great.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

It would be a pointless argument to account for which team is more popular in RE international fans. On twitter, about 95% comments are pro-CB anti-show!

I kept reading that JW is super popular in Korea (he and the rest of the cast deserve all the accolades) but the AM94 makers prolly didn't anticipate the humongous backlash they'd face by tying up all of the characters' arcs save for Chilbongie.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

wait sorry i meant domestically not internationally as i believe cb is probably more popular internationally from observations

and this post lol. yea jw is rly popular in sk rn idk if the backlash is as big there and tbh idc and they probably dont either $$$

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Aww, poor Chilbongie-ya!

Don't know how big the local/Korean pro-CB "backlash" is, but I'm just glad the writers didn't cave to outside pressure and change the OTP at the last minute (Mirae's Choice, I'm lookin straight at ya!).

Sure, there was a lot of filler and padding out of episodes (and yep, some of them felt pretty long, towards the end) with the husband mystery and longest ever wedding video, but the writers had a story arc and they stuck to their guns doggedly, for better or worse. So I give 'em points for consistency.

I'm saying this because I never saw a real CB-NJ loveline developing - she never saw him that way. And if they'd tried to switch to that pairing, there was just no time left to do it in a couple of episodes!

In an earlier episode, Chilbongie in 2013 walked over to Na Jung's bookshelf and picked up his old baseball which was lying there. He stared at it so intently and pensively - I took it as a pretty strong hint that he wasn't Hubby.

It didn't stop me from loving Chilbongie - it was weird: I was rooting for him, but at the same time I didn't wish for a CB-NJ marriage cos I didn't think she loved him.

I think girlfriday's recap explains it best, for me anyway:
"I’m pretty sure I haven’t watched a drama that so romanticized an unrequited love and gave it the hero treatment since the nineties, so I have to assume his entire character is a love letter to that era."

That's a pretty big role for just one character, but judging from the outpouring of love and indignation for Chilbongie, I'd say it was a resounding success! At least he confessed his love, so he's one up on Lee Jung-jae in Sandglass!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yup. Too bad the writers continued to use CB's character as a plot device just so they can continue the mystery husband game and string along the viewers.

I'm hoping (and will be impatiently waiting) for YYS to star in a drama where he'll get a really good role and where he'll finally GET the girl.

Dramagods, what voodoo do you want me to do for you to make this happen?!

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

YES!! While the prayer circle did not work for our Joon-ah let's hope YYS signs for a drama soon times. But with 3 movies in the pipeline it won't be a good decision on his part to sign for a drama right away!

While CB may not have won over NJ's heart YYS sure gained a whole lotta fans. In an almost last min announcement, his agency announced that he'd be offering free hugs. Look at that crowd ^^: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqQCSvD50gY&feature=c4-overview&list=UUGW3j1RiArV6uUdypcyyG8Q

0
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

Awwww!!!!!! Now my heart is no longer aches!

He looks happy!

I dont think there has ever been a second lead who has won over these many fans both domestic and international! He deserves every bit of it!

To make people's heart ache like this over a fictional character is no mean feat!!!!

You rock YYS! Come back to dramaland soon in a role that makes us all swoony and fist pump in the air when you finally get the girl!!!!!!!!!!!!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I want free hugs from YYS!!

Lol some of the fans literally pranced on him and almost knocked him over.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

That daddy who brought his little girl up to be hugged by YYS - so cuuute!!

It would've been funny if they snuck Na Jung into the line of girls waiting to be hugged. On the other hand, maybe that would've sparked a riot!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thx for the upload. It heals my broken heart.

This level of popularity is new to YYS, and he is obviously thrilled with it. It's great to behold. TQ.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I want him to have a woman to whom he IS the world, her world.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

ughh, that got to me! :"(

We get to SEE the others WITH their significant others & a bit of back stories (HT & Grae). For CB we didn't even get this and THIS why the huge outcry at the non-satisfactory so-called resolution of Joon-ah's arc.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I'm still hoping this is just a bad dream, I will watch the final episode whe I feel strong enough to do it
And does Na Jung really says those words to Chilbongie in the hug scene??? Like WTF I can't even.........
BTW if the writers do another reply drama who do you think the husband will be?
My bet is on the childhood friend who grows up together with the girl because it seems to be the only love story the writer know how to do

1
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for all the recaps and insights, girlfriday and javabeans! (And thanks for continuing to recap this until the end :)

Ah, finally, it’s over. The finale episode was really good. Even if my ship sunk to the bottom of the kdrama ocean, I’m still glad I watched this and stuck with it until the end (though I’m still a bit upset with the writers for stringing me along and making me hope). I kinda prepared myself for Chilbongie’s inevitable heartbreak but watching him crying by himself like he’s in a world of pain still just about killed me. Oof. With the number of kdramas I’ve watched, I’ve been a bit tough and jaded so it’s been awhile since the waterworks emerged while watching one. *sniff sniff* Yoo Yeon Seok as CB really did a number on my emotions in the last couple of episodes.

On a brighter note, I loved how Trash Oppa and Na Jung looked really very happy during their wedding. It seems like they were glowing from the love they have for each other. Great acting from Jung Woo and Go Ara for that one.

Sure, I have my criticisms for this drama but, if anything, I’ll always be thankful to this show for 2 things: First, for introducing me to a host of wonderful characters (and to the actors who fleshed them out and gave those characters so much soul and heart). Yeo Yeon-seok was great as CB and I couldn’t have asked for a better romantic rival to root for. Jung Woo was perfect as Trash Oppa. He brought just the right amount of quirkiness to the role. And, of course, Sung Dong Il and Lee Il Hwa will always be my all-time favorite kdrama parents. If not for this show, I’d have never discovered Do Hee, Sung-kyun (funny funny funny), Ho-joon, Baro and Go Ara. Love all of them.

And second, for showing me the how the friendship of this ragtag band of country bumpkins (and one Seoulite) developed throughout the years while they were all living in (and even if they already left) the boarding house. Watching this final episode made me think that even more so than the love lines, it was their friendship that kept me engaged and invested in this drama. That scene in this final episode when they were all at the boarding house and they’re watching the World Cup (Korea vs. Italy) reinforced how much they’ve become one happy family. It was great seeing them all ecstatic and having fun. (On a side note: how cute was ChilBong when he said, “Because I’m a Major-Leaguer!”? I’m so glad to see he’s happy.)

Over all, it’s been one heck of a wild, crazy, and impassioned ride with a heaping baggage of some seriously nutty shipping wars. I think I’ll watch it again after a couple of months and maybe I’ll enjoy it more the second time around.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Agree! you said exactly what I wanted to say! :)

Haven't watched all of AM1997 yet, so this was my first introduction to the genre and franchise. So heart-warming! So many feels!! Loved all the meta and cross-overs!!

Will remember it fondly, like a first love...

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Initially my belief in Chilbong being endgame wasn't nearly as confident as they have been these past couple of weeks. Heck, I wasn't even expecting to ship him with Na-jung, I was rooting for Chilbongie as an individual. But as I stated before, the more I got to know his character and the more I grew emotionally attached to him, his desires became my desires. So when the writer dangled that carrot of hope in front of my nose, I selfishly chased that hope around and when I finally got hold of it I ran away with it. Even if a part of me deep deep down was telling me not to give in and not to bet my feelings on an ending with Chilbong and Na-jung, I did so anyways. So partially it was my fault for letting that hope consume my fears, but who is even bigger at fault is the writer. She yanked us around time and time again, telling us "It's Chilbong. It's not Chilbong. It really is Chilbong this time guys... JK it's NOT Chilbong!" and with that added on to that craptastic ending he got? It just left us feeling more manipulated and cheated as ever.

So we have every right to be disappointed and angry, our favorite character got written off in a way that did not justify him at all. Especially in regards to such a character like Chilbongie, he had so much potential, but the opportunities to develop him was missed on the writer's part.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I swear Chilbong was the husband as soon as Najung embraced him, when she found out he was safe from the mall tragedy. It was also about there where I decided to bite the carrot dangling over my head. It's sad because I fell in love with a plot, who was Chilbong. He wasn't a character, but a mere plot-line the writers created. I think that is why we are all remorseful.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Chilbong is human, but the writer wrote him as if he has a steel heart.

I find it hard to believe that Chilbong can still associate himself with Na Jung and Trash like nothing happen...

It's like he's the joke of the drama. I hate this. Ugh.

1
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

oh, goodness, yes. he suffered for years (almost 20 episodes) just so the writer can keep her husband mystery game, and his resolution was haphazardly done in one episode, with his future happiness glimpsed in one minute screen time....

and all throughout that one episode, he and his unrequited love was made out to be a joke several times... what the...

i have no words really.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Maybe because they decided to portray CB as a mature adult? In the end these people were his friends. The show's finale message for CB, that so many shippers seem to just let blow over their heads, is that he was so massively lonely, but over time he realized he wasn't. He had a family this entire time and that was the members of the boarding house. The scene with the emails showed him becoming happier and happier each day as he realized this. Would you guys really want CB to be portrayed as a typical bitter second lead with a chip on his shoulder, and always forever being lonely?

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

That's it! CB had a crush on NJ and was so LONELY. As I as an outsider understand Korean society, it is difficult to interact with people and he desperately needed contact. The boarding house gave him the warmth he yearned for and he hang his heart on NJ, because she symbolized all the happiness and warmth of this house to him.
Being abroad in America, with no real understanding of the language, and living in Japan, another Asian society with strict rules for interacting, having a job with no female contact, he stays lonely and keeps idiolizing NJ.
The second he lets himself fully realize, that NJ will marry Oppa, he is able to admire another women.

CB as a character was never a real contender to Trash. Puppy eyes and abs are not the basis to choose your life partner! Friendship, understanding, mutual history and a shared sense of humor is.
The show never really told us something different, we even got NJ and Trash in couple clothes in the first poster.

I highly recommend the blog Electric Ground to read the analysis, why Trash was endgame all the way.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I already said enough on twitter, but I have to say it again. Reply 1994 didnt just revolve around the love triangle, but it was everything about their youth, coming of age, and relationships that blossomed. I was so sad when I got to read some hate tweets about the writer, and even calling the drama Trash because Trash oppa was the husband. Yes, we were always teased with 'Who is Najung's husband?'. I have always been Team Chilbong but I wasnt surprise Trash oppa was Kim Jae Joon. Chilbong always had Najung's friendship but never was her love. I feel bad for the viewers who only focused on the shipping rather than the story itself.
Right now, I am having strong withdrawal feelings. This drama has been part of my every week routine. After i get off from work, i watch this friday and saturday night while i eat dinner. The cast and crew did a great job in making me feel attached to the show. Though i was only a year old in 1994, I was still part of the 90s after all. *sniffs*
I love you Reply 1994, and I will definitely watch you again...

0
7
reply

Required fields are marked *

i agree and i am definitely so surprised at how many people deemed this show as ruined because she didn't end up with him. maybe we just watched and "read" the narrative differently but yea. i'm waiting for a few months before to rewatch because i definitely miss it and feel withdrawals i didn't realize i was so attached.

0
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

Most of the pro-CB comments here aren't directed at NJ but at the writer for stringing along CB and us and not even writing up a decent resolution for him. The fact that we didn't get to SEE our beloved character have a happy ever after hurts like a B!thc.

1
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

i never said they were but it's not like he died and he's miserable but tbh i dont care

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

He did have a happy ending despite not getting the girl. They showed him happy with the crew watching soccer games and in the present. He has a wife, and more importantly they showed that he overcame his loneliness when he realized that the boarding crew is his family.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I am happy that someone agreed with me.

This drama was made to confuse us, and if we fell for it, then it means they were successful with it. Chilbong may not have ended up with Najung, but he gained more than what he ever imagined. And that is he earned true friends who loved him for who he is and not for the star athlete that he was known for. If some don't considere that as a great happy ending for him, then I don't know what I'm missing anymore.

If you're asking me, I cried alot when Chilbong cried on his own. I felt his pain, and truly felt bad for him. But what can we do? Throughout those long episodes, we all knew that Chilbong was only a friend to Najung, and she has always been in love with Oppa. All of us wished for a twist. That Najung would love Chilbong back, but I knew it would never happen. If Chilbong and Najung did end up together, but we can still clearly see that Najung still loves Oppa, do you think Chilbong would be happy? He already said it that liking Najung made him feel even lonelier. I am glad he got his own happy ending. Having true friends and meeting and being loved by his wife (whoever that unnie is, you are damnnnnnn lucky!).

and true that this drama played with us with the guessing of the husband, I once again say that there was more to that. It brought us back to the past, the beautiful 90s, or even our very own coming of age.

anyway, thanks again to dramabeans team! :>

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

One of the few sensible comments in the fan war madness. I didnt enjoy the show as much as I did Reply 1997. I never felt any connect between NaJung and Chilbong. I loved Chilbong as a character and found him very sweet. But I never understood the reason why he liked Najung. She never treated him any different from the other guys. She cherished his friendship though which was why she never could reject him outright. But oppa and Najung had a deeper connect and more basis for a relationship. Enough abt the shipping. This is kinda why I think 94 sucked. There was too much focus on the mystery that it almost felt like they didnt know what to do with the plot. In 97 series, even if we had taken off the entire 2012 arc out of the story, it would have still been an enjoyable watch, but 94 would have been no different from any other drama if the 2013 arc and the wedding video sequence is taken off. The plot was not crispy, editing was poor and scenes were unusually long. I love the AM series vibe, the comedy and the parents relationship and the friendships in both, but the quality of the second production with regard to plot development and conveying of messages that touch your heart and impact your life was fairly substandard. I have rewatched Reply 97 abt 7 times so far but I dont think I will rewatch 94 anytime soon. :-( This, I reiterate is not because of the shipping. :-)

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I so agree with @omona143!

Finding your true love is important, yes, but the family, the friendships, the experiences of growing up and beginning to find your identity, the moments in history (like, where were you when Nelson Mandela died? what were you doing when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States? when the Snowden leaks hit the news? when same-sex marriages were legalised in England?) - that's what the "Answer Me" series is about, right?

Otherwise, it would just be a rom-com like so many other shows. This is where Answer Me 1994 excelled, for me.

Go Ara and the whole cast really breathed life into their characters and made them so believable and lovable! I'm treasuring the warm fuzzies from the show - thanks for the recaps, Dramabeans!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Dear Writer-nim... You leave a character missing for 2 episodes.
Make him come back and have his hope raised for the chance that he can get the girl.
But in the end the story goes on as if he never stood a chance.

What makes me angry is that there was absolutely NO time where Na Jung said to him straight out saying "Chilbong, I am sorry but I do not see you that way." the writer just left him hanging. Worse character trait for Na Jung she basically just dragged him around.

It doesn't make sense! Chilbong waited for her for not 1...not 2... but 6 years!
One doesn't just magically or logically just get over that kind of emotion.
People can argue that yes time would heal... but that kind of rejection is bound to leave a painful scar.
How can Chilbong who has been in love with her for 6 years just be okay with seeing her with Trash without the twinge of pain or awkwardness?
Is this some kind of dramaland magical emotion potion? Oh no wait that just bad writing bleeding out of my screen...

I have to say at the beginning of the series I was a total Trash shipper.
However as the episodes went on I was becoming more aware of how Chilbong was making his advances and his effort to try to win Na Jung's affections.
To be completely honest... I don't to this day do not believe that Trash if not for Chilbong would have thought of Na Jung as a woman versus just as a sister.
I'm annoyed that Trash needed that awakening moment and someone to literally point out to him saying this girl is in love with you for him to realize something. And even then he hesitated before making a move. To me it feels as if Trash is thinking, oh no Na Jung is being taken away I need her by my side.... love.... maybe?

Chilbong deserved better...
Even in the end Chilbong was the one that let go...

and my rant is finished......

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

What breaks my heart is CB's loneliness. Because honestly, if he didn't get over NJ/T's relationship, what would he have? He would lose the entire boardinghouse, never to hang out with them again. I know there are other motivations, but I do think a big motivation for him to somehow get over a 6 year unrequited love is: "either I get over my first love or I'll lose the only family I have". Lesser of the 2 evils. Seriously, there's never been a character who broke my heart more.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

It feels as if I was watching 2 different dramas. First half going one way then somewhere in the middle, the writer just pushed the delete button and started all over again.

But I do love the other little moments in the drama. I LOVE SCP and YJ's relationship. How many times they brought so much to this drama. The mom and dad and their undying love for one another. Every scene that they are in just lights up the screen. Then there is Haitai and his crazy hair and his love of the new. I felt too that he must have like NJ but was freindzoned early on so he knew his place in their relationship. Then there is Binggure, he went from a puppy that followed Oppa, so a man that fought back and said his peace. In the end, he became the brother that CB needed and wanted.

I would have been happier if the writer just didn't end it the way she did. That hug was ..... CRUEL! Her speech even colder. I can't understand what the writer was thinking. I can't get other this. The more I think about it, the more I question what in the world where these people thinking. They could have given CB such a better ending, but in the end just kick him down, then kicked him again, and then right when he is about to get up, they sucker punch him. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Can you feel my anger!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I was (am) a CB shipper, but I don't see NJ's speech in the ball field as cold. Perhaps to CB it was because, well, he is hearing something he doesn't really want to hear - that she does not feel the same. What she says is her truth about his place for her and actually she holds him in a rather high regard, it seems. I do, however, think that this talks was long overdue - 6 years overdue. But then again, we would have no story if she had told CB in these no uncertain terms that she does not return his romantic feelings. Such is the story this writer created.

Now, I doubt that this writer understood how polarizing this drawn out love triangle would get. Thanks to the planets that aligned for some aspects of this drama (I already mentioned that the cast and the acting was amazing IMHO) we have characters to love, root for and miss along with some great new opportunities for the actors to grace our screens and other chances to get invested and taken away with more stories in future. :)

Maybe they will have a CB spin off. :) Nah, best left to our imaginations.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I am still in grief. Enough said.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

First loves ain't all that. I was with mine for 5 years and given the choice between him and the man I married, I would choose my husband every single time.

And secondly, I am friends with some people who married their first loves. And guess what they are? DIVORCED.

Relationships based on unequal footing will always remain unequal. NJ will ALWAYS be overcompensating for her husband. He will forever be sitting around while she picks us packages. Like I said, first loves are overrated. Seen through rose tinted glasses.

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

She picked up his package because it was part of the plot about Kim Jae Joon. If CB had been the husband, she still would have picked up his package. You lot are just being silly right now.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

It's not even the package. It's how she camped almost every single night at his pad (Dad's comment), how she went to Busan when he was on internship/residency, how she went to the hospital late night to show that she can squat (I'm sorry but what kind of a plot tool was that) and almost every time when she pops up, it's always wanting to be with Trash.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hm? Did we watch the same show? Because NJ did choose her career over her marriage with Oppa, didn't she?

When do we ever get something else than the idiolized first love in Kdrama? Why only attact AM1994?

All the 2013 scenes had the task to confuse the audience to prolong the 'mystery'. The mystery that never was, because it was always the story of NJ and Trash becoming a couple. Look at the first poster, it got both of them in couple clothes. CB never was a real contender, he had nothing in common with NJ, she never felt anything for him but a strong friendship and some guilt. And CB's happy ending is, that he finally was able to let her go, because he liked her for all the wrong reasons. Loneliness is not why you should choose your partner. A common ground is. The common ground Trash and NJ shared.

CB understood it in the end. Hope, all the sad CB fans will understand it too eventually.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

What in the world.

Why am I seeing so many CB/NJ shippers nitpicking over silly things like picking up packages.

Despite your feelings and experience with first love, I'm sorry, but first love prevailed here whether you like it or not. It's done.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Man this is getting extremely ridiculous... I feel like there aren't many people left here that aren't either delusional or outright insane.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I wonder how different the show would've been if they kept trash as na jung's blood brother? Either way, I enjoyed the show. Just wished they didn't throw a random girl at Chil bong, even though jung yumi is pretty cool!! Felt kind of disappointed at the Chil bong story line.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I'm not disappointed or relieved by the ending. I kinda expected it, so no suprise, but it didn't leave me with a "I wanna rewatch it someday" feeling. It started out great and made me sigh at the end.

Why is it that even college/start of life drama like first loves? So many people got their first love as their life partner, it kinda feels sad (especially because it was kinda the same for the 1997 kids). Which is one of the reason I wanted Na Jung-ah to end with Chilbongie when most of the other kids had been seen as married in 2013 (though it would've meant he got his first love too, but it would've meant that it's ok not to end with your first love who also happens to be the Oppa you dated and almost got married to). Damn k-Fate. And also, I really loved Oppa and Na-Jung separately but I didn't feel their connection enough to actually root for them or their relationship (yet, I still enjoyed Oppa trying hard to appease Dad for instance).

I'm glad friendship and family was yet again at the centre but I did feel let down by the romance many times throughout the show -whereas I was fine with the 1997 kids' romance.

Thanks for the recaps, it allowed me to enjoy (and sometimes understand) the show (and references) a little more, as usual!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I was going to marathon this show as soon as it was over when I knew who the husband would be. *I hate being yanked around.* Now I'm rethinking this decision because of some of the reviews people have been writing about 1994. The first episode was really boring to me, and it didn't grab my attention as quickly as 1997 did so I decided to put the it off until the drama was over. Should I continue watching it or just save myself the time? A couple of things that put me off it was the LONG episodes, the unnecessary long scenes in the 1st episode, and I didn't connect with any of the characters.

0
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

maybe you can try watching until episode 2 or 3, and see if it speaks to you then? it is just really long and dragging at times.

since you're watching it after reading the recaps and knowing the ending, you'll feel less jerked around by the drama's obsession with the so-called husband mystery and can then focus on what makes the show amazing.

the drama has its faults, admittedly, but it did gave me chil bong so i suppose, i can still "less than like it" but "more than tolerate it".

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks. I think I will go ahead and marathon the drama this week. I went into Reply 1997 knowing who the husband was too so that's one part that I'm happy about knowing. I was able to enjoy it more. :) Maybe the shipping wars did affect some people judgement of the overall show, so I'm not going to let the comments of "worst drama of the year" affect my perception of this drama. It sucks that everyone says Reply 1994 is still draggy though, that might turn me off.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

If you don't like typical slice of life dramas, you may not like this drama at all. I happen to LOVE this genre, so Reply 1994 touches me in ways dramas rarely do.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I love slice of life dramas, but I hate unnecessary long ones(episode length and 20+ ep. dramas). Most of the time I lose interest halfway through them.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

crew tried their best to capture the essence of the 90's through another group of friends... it hurts to see how they threw away everything like trash.

I am not mad that Chilbong did not end up with Najung. I'm disappointed at how they treated his growth in the entire series by giving him a half-baked ending. Everyone in the show had an ending that made sense. Everyone but Chilbong.

Sure, love is not something you deserve. I have no issue with that.
But everyone deserves a satisfying ending--regardless of whoever they end up with,

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I was waiting for the recap like mad because I almost blew a gasket of holding the; "I was right" dance. Of course, my hunch was right from the get-go and I was super happy about Oppa and Na Jeong. Still, my heart still goes out to Chilbongie coz let's face it, how can a girl resists Chilbongie? Well, unless she has an Oppa that lurves her that is. I love that Chilbongie got his own happy ending and OMG! I do love the actress (which I like to assume) is his future wife. Kudos for the casting.

There's that little bit and pieces about the little touches in this final episode that got me all swooning. Whether it was the maknae son of Oppa and Na Jeong mirroring his father or Chilbongie calling Oppa "Hyung" once again and he was thoroughly touched by it. I was sold. Completely and thoroughly.

And I agree, I think it is possible that Haitai, of all the kids, loved mum best. That was such a bittersweet moment. The final picture basically send me into another long sob.

I can't say in a sense I understood about being 20 in the 90s -- I wasn't even a teenager then, but, I lived through the era of pencils and cassettes as well as the first few that learned of computer. So, be it Reply 1997 or 1994, they both will always have a special place in my heart -- Wouldn't it be funny if they make another one? Nah... :P

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

A couple thoughts/questions for this forum:

1. How is Oppa famous? Even the greatest surgeons are not that famous are they? They mentioned Na Jung's husband was famous so many times.

2. It would have been nice if they showed Oppa/CB talk about the baseball one more time, use it to remind Oppa how lucky he is, etc.

0
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

He became famous cuz, wait for it, he treated CB!! bahahaaaaaaaa

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Wow, I would have preferred that he found a cure for cancer or something else than that.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I think Oppa is famous between baseball players because Dad always brags about him. The one who said that was the other dad, also a baseball couch, and we have a piece of how much Dad likes to brag about him in the neighborhood, I bet all couch know who his Neurosurgeon-son-in-law is.

Also, he is a good doctor, already Chief in his hospital, so his name was remarkable by years of expirience.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i don't buy that reason for oppa to be famous tbh. i mean really, writer? people don't even know who's CR7 or messi's (or any other famous athlete) doctor is lol

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

There are some very famous doctors out there. Sanjay Gupta comes to mind. And in sports circles there is a very famous orthopedist named Dr. James Andews who performs surgery on pretty much every top athlete out there. I don't think he was famous in the "People Mob Me When I Walk Out The Door" sense. But in the "Oh Yeah, I Think I've Heard of You Somewhere" sense.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

another thing about the baseball
so his face was like that when he looked at it
1.because his most treasured baseball was still kept by his rival (T should have given it back)
2. he was sad because he didnt get NJ in the end

so CB was putting a brave face in 2013 and laughing at the wedding video but in reality he just wanted to leave ....

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

As frustrated as I got with the last third of this show, I sobbed through the end, when the family got ready to say their goodbyes, to the boardinghouse.

LOL at Samcheonpo catching the wallet that was meant for Na Jung's hubby after all. I'm glad he got to wrap up the end of the show, as he did set the tone of the beginning of the show for me, what with them being outcasts of society. I luff this show so much for the moments that showed their bonding, growth, and individual journeys. I found the trolling with the love triangle annoying at times, and it did feel a little scattered by trying to devote itself to everybody's arcs, but that shouldn't prevent me from loving everything else about this show, such as Dad's heart to heart talk with Trash about losing another son, everybody's worrying over Chilbongie from that department disaster, Trash confronting Bingurae to stand up for himself, Haitai and Samcheonpo going from bickering to hugging each other to sleep.... ahh the list goes on and on. It won't overcome my love for 1997 (a great little story paced wonderfully from beginning to end), but it is lovable for different reasons and I'm glad we had this in 2013 as it did become one of my favorites this year.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I just read the recap, I'm a couplke of episodes behinds but I-m still emotional about the finale....I think I will cry a lot.

Although it certainly dragged its feet at the end, I really enjoyed this drama and got me all this nostalgia feels... I guess I'm getting old!!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Ok, not that i didnt love Trash Oppa because I did a lot, but i became so invested in the Na Jeong-Chilbongie relationship i couldnt help but be a little disappointed. And his crying scene made things that much worse because you could just see how heartbroken he was, and i also had to fight a couple tears on his behalf. For me, this might just be a more tragic second lead role than boys over flowers haha but i am also glad he gets his happy ending :) i just love yoo yeon seok even more after this role and even though its over, i amielondono a die hard chilbongie fan xD

But despite that, i am also relieved we got the mystery husband business out of the way because oppa and na jeong are just too damn cute :3

Thanks for the recaps!!!!!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

For me the drama ended when NJ and CB meet up for new year. that scene was epic.

1
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

aha maybe i should just pretend the drama ended then too ;)

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

i can not accept the fact that after all this build up of a character, they just used him as a plot device at the end.

the fact he has no one who sincerely loves him he is pulled and pushed aroundby the writer for th past 20 episodes, im totally fine with t and nj ending but at least let CB have some dignity sved! he was stripped of all emotions and then was left hanging until the very end! i mean he disnt even have the last say in his frst love. a thank you for liking me, thats all he got??? i would have preferred if he had the last word with NJ then i would been more in peace! as a viewer who rooted for this guy feel cheated and insulted because his character was not given the correct ending he fukcing deserve! throw a girl at the end for him at the last minute, yes youre a throwing bone at us but at least throw us a big bone not a fukcing chicken bone!

basically the writer destroyed her own universe! "theres one person in a man's. world that you cannot touch, that person's name is first love" then we see CB hanging out with NJ? dafuq, show?

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

For all the feelings this drama gave me, I'm so going to miss it anyway. The fan wars have been so heated, even I have to admit got lost it in sometimes just for the sake of defending a character that connected with me so much. I share with GF's sentiment that show sacrificed character development for the sake of keeping the husband mystery until the end, which prevented me from fully enjoying the Trash-NaJung moments while constantly worrying about what Chilbong might feel. Although I wished we got there sooner and had screen time for the other characters as well. Overall though, I have no regrets watching it just purely for the comedic Appa moments, the love and care that each of the boarders have for each other and the precious life lessons learned as they were finding themselves in the big city.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

So if oppa was the husband, why was chil bong's baseball friend at the wedding??

0
19
reply

Required fields are marked *

Chingu yaaaa! You're being unfair by asking 'relevant' questions!! ;p

1. YJ mentioned that NJ's husband suffered tremendously as she put him thru the wringer. umm, WHEN exactly did Trash suffer?!

2. I cannot for the life of me wrap my mind around the fact that NJ expected CB to place the order for dukbokki when she passes by Trash a few seconds earlier.

3. All THOSE looks exchanged b/w them in 2013 (when he asks her to bring out appa's alcohol). THAT is not a look that's exchanged b/w a friend who had a half a decade crush and said person.

4. All the parallelisms about the number 7, timing, hard work, & miracle did not really mean anything after all.

There's MOARRR but here's a few of the gazillion questions that I have!! These 'clues' were just used to troll us... which disappoints me that the writer led us by the nose and shoved us in a trough filled with ice cold water!! :/

0
18
reply

Required fields are marked *

You all read the drama wrong with shipper goggles which is why you missed the biggest clue of all - the entire love story! When two people have mutual love for each other, they end up together. That's what happens in all dramas. Why should this one be any different?

I don't remember anything about number 7 parallelism, the story was never about timing but you all wished it was because it would mean that Chil Bong has a chance. How many people fall out of love with someone they've loved for several years just because they are late? Na Jung already told us her miracle was Oppa. Since when did hard work force someone to fall out of love with somebody and fall in love with another? And what kind of drama has that message?

0
17
reply

Required fields are marked *

Love isn't a skill which can be gained by working on it over a time. EVERYONE knows it. The fact that the writer kept stressing over hard work (heck even an episode was titled 10,000 or so hours) and timing and it didn't amount to anything. What was the point of deliberately stressing over things via voice overs that eventually didn't mean anything?!

0
6
reply

Required fields are marked *

Because she was trolling. I think after a while, it became quite clear that the writer just put things there to create some suspense so I'm shocked that some viewers didn't catch on and start ignoring them. This was a flaw in the writing and intended to pretend that the husband wasn't already so obvious.

For example, she had CB say "It's not over till it's over" at the end of episode 13 just to act like he was still in the game. But in the next episode, Trash and Na Jung were together and it was all about CB's sadness. And CB still had no impact on their relationship. Another time, she brought CB right back into the story by having Trash watch him on television and go off mad but in the next episode, Trash wasn't even thinking about him. So while I agree that the writer slipped in these little traps to get people to think that CB was a contender, when you actually watch the interactions between the characters, he never was. Because Na Jung never showed any hint of having feelings for him. It doesn't matter how much Chil Bong wants her or works hard if Na Jung has no interest in him.

0

And THAT is where our anger stems from: the writer. AM97 was alright and 1N2D S1 is dear to my heart. The writer trolling for the sake of ratings disappointed me immensely. I didn't expect this from her! I expected better... we expected better. Chilbongie being the sacrificial lamb in terms of character dev't so it could serve HER purpose of maintaining this farce of a love triangle hurts because we all fell in love with him. We wanted him to probably reconcile with his family... have his own family someday - which the rest of the gang eventually did save for him!

0

Guys, are we sure that this was even the same writer who wrote the amazing reply 1997? Because it sure felt like it wasn't.

0

@Saima but this was the writer's tale to tell - not yours. In her story, Chil Bong is married but instead of reconciling with his biological family, he finds one in the boarders. Unrequited love was his main arc and the writer resolved it as she wanted. This doesn't make it a bad story or bad ending for him. It's just a different story from what you'd hoped. I agree that he didn't get as much character development as some others but he's also not the main lead. And he got a lot of screentime towards the end.

0

@Tina: It is the writer's story to tell... but this drama is for public viewing. Regardless of our thought processes we'll have an opinion that'll vary across a spectrum. mmkay?!

1

It is the writer's story to tell, and ours to critique. How well did she tell this story? How organic and realistic was the character development? Did the world-building make sense? Did the plot follow a logical progression?

Some people enjoyed the show because they were able to ignore the attempts at creating "mystery" and focus on some great ensemble acting. Others were able to see into Trash's head and create an epic romance. Still others loved Na Jung's selfless devotion and how she triumphed even after the breakup caused by her following her own career.

But I want a writer to be honest, honest with the story and honest with me. I don't like it when plot is manipulated for audience reaction or information is withheld just to keep us from sussing out the endgame. This writer was a troll, and I refuse to play.

0

I would have accept the ending, no question asked, if they didn't show the 2013 scenes. But the 2013 scenes gives lots of clues. That is Joon is at home and Oppa is the guest. Oppa reaching home didn't take off his coat? Oppa at home just sits on the couch while Joon acts as host? Oppa puts his wallet in his back pocket?

Writermin...If you don't have the ability to write mystery, please don't be so ambitious. Just write melo or romantic drama. For someone like me who watches lots of thriller like Sherlock Holmes, Conan, Agatha Christie and the boatload of detective stories, you really fall flat on your face.

I do think that Joon is Jae Joon because he uses number 77. That is initial JJ upside down. If his name is really S Joon, then he would have used 57.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yeah sure jaejoon has JJ in English hahaha. But the drama's korean and I doubt the writer thought oh in English it's spelled this way so it's a clue to use 77. I'm really sorry but I had to lol with the imaginary clues running wild. I agree with above poster that even with the 2013 scenes that some of you thought was leaning towards chilbong, the story shown was more important. If it wasn't shown in the flashbacks then it isn't going to happen in the future.

0

Yep, they really teased us with all the guys dressed identical (white business shirt, black pants), and most of the guys not taking off their jackets for almost 15 episodes... all part of the darn husband mystery.

I know that in real time, they must've gotten off work and stayed until 11pm, but since they spun it out over 21 episodes, it felt like they never took off their jackets. I was feeling so uncomfortable for them! hehe :D

0

Why does it matter that this is a Korean drama?

It's a television show. Why can't these arbitrary rules be broken?

Honestly, that's why I shipped CB. I assumed she was going to try something new and different because of the mystery format (that I foolishly thought would actually be utilized which under other direction would have been).

Sure, we were wrong, but I fail to see why simply because it is a Korean drama means the story always has to go a certain way.

The truth is the mystery format has huge potential for being an interesting way to tell the story. Instead they just used it for trolling. It's a sad waste.

But regardless. Are we to assume that Korean dramas will never thing outside the box and do something new? Why can't they?

Sure, this time it didn't work out, but I would love to see new and interesting be done with the format. And I don't regret for one second holding on the that hope.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I didn't say anything specifically about it being Korean but even in American dramas, characters who have mutual love end up together. Isn't this common? Even if they date different people, the OTP is usually established early on but since a show can have multiple seasons, fan reaction has a stronger effect.

0

"Because she was trolling."

And that's exactly why the rage. If this is some random drama, I don't think viewers will feel cheated. But, because this is the phenomenal AM series, the expectation higher. Who would expect that the same writer who wrote the beautifully executed, smart writing and right pacing AM1997 will produce such underwhelming AM1994 in which there are so many loop holes?

"I’m shocked that some viewers didn’t catch on and start ignoring them"

How a writer expect viewers to ignore the plot? It's so ironic.

AM1994 would have been a so much better drama if they were not so invested in the love triangle for the sake of rating. Or, if the writer smart, she can keep the rating while still produce a smart writing. Unfortunately, as you also admitted, she cannot deliver. AM1994 has its strong points, yes, but it can negate the lackluster.

Anyway, the critic should be on the writer and shippers should not shift it to the characters.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

AM1997 also had trolling as well but most people didn't fall for it because the husband was even clearer there.

If there's a mystery, it also means that there are red herrings. I may refer to it as trolling but that's all that it is and is a legitimate literary device. I may have called it a flaw because I didn't feel it was particularly well executed but perhaps it wasn't since so many fell for it.

"It aint over till it's over" is not a plot. It's just a statement that you all fell for. While Chil Bong was making statements like this, there was this other plot going on which was Trash and Na Jung falling deeper in love. But you ignored that and decided to hold onto this belief that he will come back and steal her away from Trash.

0

May I ask you guys a question from a storytelling point of view? The writer had CB go to Trash and tell him that he would come back later and steal his girlfriend. Did you really think he would succeed?

0

@Tina -- love your sentiment here and I want to add an addition to it.

Especially in term of this "It's not over until it's over" quote that is being held on by others while the writer has clearly gave closure and explanation to that in episode 20.

The start of that quote if one look at it without bias would see that what it show is that CB has hard time in handling interviews and throughout that episode, he had been constantly around asking about people mentor.

And he eventually ask his baseball peers who told him that mentor because of that mentor "It's not over until it's over" that he eventually use during his interview. That was one he taken from another.

And closure to that quote that so many had held onto in episode 20 as the boarders and Na-jung help him prepared to which Na-jung suggest he just response to them interview with honesty. And that is for once, his honesty shown on the interview, without the use of someone else insight.

And honestly, there really is a big comparison in love triangle because through it all, there really is no love triangle (and that may be the biggest twist of all) because for love triangle to occur, the heroine must at the very least feel something for the second lead and if one feel that there is a love triangle, then I say please see the comparison in Na-jung feelings to the other kdrama (has involve love triangle - say Boys over Flower, or even the love triangle between Shiwon, Yoonjae, and Taewoong) ...

The drama arc for CB wasn't about the love triangle but "familial love" and "loneliness" as even re-iterated at the beginning (at his mom wedding scene) in that he doesn't believe he is wanted, love for, and care for thus he love the boarding home because they welcome him with open arms, care for him and so his arc end with him breaking his loneliness to realize that he may not mend his relationship with his family but in place of that, he has built and form a new relationship with the boarders who he can now call "family" who care for him and love him like family.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

very good point esp with there being no love triangle. it was always about nj-trash and he ended up having such little affect on their relationship and i think that's also very hard for people to see.

i will say even though i did find him uh...whatever that his loneliness was a very sad part and it hurt but he did find a family and that's so valuable.

0

I'm a hardcore shipper so don't mind me, just needed to vent out somewhere.....

Here is what makes more sense to me...

writer : here is the half of the final episode script..
the cast : who's the husband ?!!
writer : i haven't decided yet ..
the cast : what..for real ?!!
writer : yeah ..i will go to have a cup of coffee..then open the internet and see what people want ..who's more Popular
director : but if it's trash ..then what will you do with all the hints that was pointing to CB as the husband ?!!
writer : really ?!! you thought that CB is the husband..because i haven't decided yet
director : well..if Trash is the husband then why on earth you made CB acting like the man of the house..he even made the coffee for NJ's mom..how would you explain all those 2013 hints to CB's fan ?!!
writer : i won't explain it..i will let them wondering for several days then they will just move on to another drama

1
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

Lol that was so funny and awesome thanks for cheering me up

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

this was pretty much it...
all the evidence was pointing to chilbong being the husband, but NOPE
WHO NEEDS EVIDENCE RIGHT??

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

They didn't explain the inconsistent time jumps. Like what happened in between those dates? Are we missing something in here?

God this drama, i can't even.

1
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I'm really upset about how the writers treated Chilbong. Most other characters had a happy, true to the character ending. But Chilbong ended up lonely and married to some random girl. His ending broke my heart, really. I'm ok with him not being the one but to take baseball away from him too, was just too much. Why not make him a bigger star with a full career. Instead, he is injured and can't play for the rest of his career! He is now a coach! WHY??????

I also don't think Bingurae's ending was true to the character. All along, he was this bi-curious kid in love with Trash but suddenly he is "over it" and is in love with Die-Die?! I don't get it. A better story, would be for him to be waiting on the side of the road for the "red car" to pick him up.

I will say that the reunion between Trash and NJ was truly emotional, sexy, and a long time coming. Their chemistry is off the roof! From the time that they hinted that the wedding was the day of Korea World cup semi-finals, I had a hunch Trash would be the only person simple-minded enough to do such a thing.

Glad it's over. I think they dragged on the "who's the husband" thing too long. I prefer Answer me 1997 in that regard, the story made more sense in it's timing.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

hah

I did not watch the series, but I read a few recaps.

somehow, I don´t quite feel it.

the nineties for me? dont hold very nice memories, maybe thats´why

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

You know what will make this ending more ridiculous?
Ara has an interview and says that if she were NJ, she would pick Cb.

0
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

LOL I'll laugh because reasons.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Lol! And what if Jung Woo also has an interview and says he would pick Cb.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Didn't Haitai say he would pick CB?

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Aw...I'm gonna miss this show a lot. It's been a fun ride, even if it was a bumpy one.

Despite all of its flaws, I think the best thing about this show was that all of the characters felt like they were my genuine friends. So each episode just felt like I was checking in with them, seeing how they were doing.

Is it bad that I sort of want another Answer Me series? I'm just realllly going to miss characters like these, characters who feel like people. I'm sort of sick of the dramatic stakes of some of the currently airing dramas. Meh, we'll see.

Thanks for all of the recaps!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this show. It might actually be my favorite show of 2013. But the husband-mystery did a disservice to both character development and the narrative flow. I would have loved to see more of Chilbong's world outside of baseball and Najeong. I wanted to see more of his family life, or lack thereof. I also feel that the other amazing characters (such as Haitai) were relegated to the background by the second half of the show.

I am glad that I never joined in the 'shipping' wars. I'm not sure that there ever was a war to be won in the first place. In my post for the penultimate episode, I wrote that having given up on his quest to win Najeong's heart, Chilbong could now be free to expand his emotional horizons (and lend some credibility to his fondness toward his friends at the boardinghouse, with whom he supposedly shared many memories). This last episode allowed him to do so. At first, I thought that the 'closeness' of the others toward Chilbong at the early portion of this episode was a little forced upon us. Yes, we know that Haitai would call him while he was in Japan and that Chilbong would participate in drinking games with the others, but he always felt like the outsider, tenuously connected to the core group by his relation to Bingguere. I felt that he was there but not there. And much of the others' fondness for him seemed connected to his celebrity. This criticism aside, I could believe that he could have credibly cultivated a stronger bond with everyone in between giving up on Najeong and the wedding day.

I was not sad that he lost the girl. I was happy that he gained friends and family and that the emptiness of his emotional life could truly begin to be filled. The romance hinted at toward the end was a bonus.

I loved the slice-of-life storytelling. Unfortunately, a lot of that was lost in the second half. And, as mentioned by Girlfriday, we were often not privy to the internal conflicts of characters such as Bingguere and Trash. An unfortunate service indeed....Still, I will look fondly upon this series.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yes, despite Chilbong being one of the main players, his character development really was shortchanged by the husband mystery, as many commenters have pointed out.

We know that the Shing-chon Boarding house was like family, and how much it meant to him, but we never really got to see him having a close one-on-one relationship with the others - he had a lot of scenes alone, compared to everyone else, and also compared to Trash Oppa, who was always interacting with someone - so it did feel like he remained a bit of a Seoulite outsider. But that's also precisely why he's attracted such a fan following! So I think, all in all, he played a very successful second lead!

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

"Because I was nice, I was ruined"

Yup guys, moral lesson. Dont be nice to anyone. You will get nothing.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

that is such shifty logic to teach men when it comes to loving women that this whole reaction is actually laughable

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

In his head he was nice but he was also the guy who kissed her knowing she liked someone else. Pressured her to see him play by claiming there was a jinx. He wasn't ruined because he was nice. She just loved someone else. The message is don't go falling in love with a woman who's in love with someone else. And if you do, don't wait around hoping that her relationship fails.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yeah I was team Chilbongie and his resolution hurt me hurt so bad. I have never had second lead syndrome so bad....why did you make him so pitiful, only to shank him in the end..Gave the boy so much false hope and stuff...only to go "No! No happiness for you!" The least they could have done since they were wasting so.much time.is make us feel better about his wife...like she gave him what he was missing ...that he didn't miss out with Na Jeong but gained by having this wife.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks to GF for the recaps and reasonable discourse throughout the series! I stood on all sides of the fence for AM1994, so I was not disappointed with the drama at all. If anything, the MUSIC is what made me swoon with delight in every episode. I had to go back and dig out my cassette tapes from that time frame for another walk down Memory Lane, so this OST will now be added to my Frequently Played List. And rediscovering Lee Seung-hwan after all these years was just the cherry on top of the wedding cake. *swoon*

Cheers to all DBers, and Happy New Year! :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i will really miss it. i loved this episode and most of the show despite the flawed and it was a great ending. sucks for the people that hated it tho

0
7
reply

Required fields are marked *

Totally agree. This is how I see if. If CB=husband, OMG i love the ending, this drama is the best, etc. CB=not husband, OMG this is a trashy drama, stupid writer & PD, waste of my time, its a popularity thing, etc.

0
6
reply

Required fields are marked *

to be fair i think a lot would feel the same abt having trash not be married to her however if it went the other way around (which it wouldn't an i firmly believe they woulld rather have her be alone then be with CB tbh) it would make no goddamn sense.

i mean the responses to nj in 18-19 about how she navigated around her ex were terrible from trash/nj fans alike and it bothered me but i think that's another issue like how drama fans (western or otherwise) navigate women (and a lot of them do it horribly)

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

It's a bit of an exaggeration because while some trash/nj fans were mad at her, most weren't. Many were confused about the reasons behind the break up in the first place. And many acknowledged that Na Jung was also depressed because she was binge eating. And once the true reason for the break up was revealed, Trash was blamed. I'm talking about the international fans.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

yea but a lot of what i saw wasn't that. i mean it's not surprising. and yes while i agree that tones changed it's so typical for this to happen. it's not just here tho it's literally a repetitive problem that i can't see anyone denying doesn't exist but yes i see what you mean.

0

As a NJ-CB shipper, I can say I'm not disappointed about the finale and the resolution of the mystery; what really makes me mad is the show as a whole. The way they got to the end is frustrating; it's not all about who gets the girl.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

Exactly my sentiments. It's condescending to attribute my dislike for the show to favoring certain pairings. I was foolish to think that the writer would come up with a good ending when he/she had 20 episodes of drawn out, flawed writing. And in general, I'm surprised by the amount of people saying "I love it, in spite of..." I feel people are being very forgiving with this drama because of love for the franchise, actors, or there were slim pickings for 2013. On the contrary, maybe I'm more critical because I have seen what the writer is capable of: concise and intelligent writing with story, laughter, and emotional moments via R97 that I see just how lacking R94 was. GF's statement is exactly what I feel about this drama: I'm not critical of the outcome, but how we got here. SMH

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Reply 1994.. Sigh.. With all honesty, I gotta say I'm not so happy with the ending. I'm not hating on Oppa or anything. I'm only voicing out what I feel. I don't want to attract any haters for this comment. But there are really points I wanna verbalize.

Yes, I admit I'm a Chilbong shipper. But it doesn't equal that I hate Oppa. I, honestly, think that Oppa is a very well-rounded character. He's obviously selfless, dedicated to work and funny. Well, I think him making all those weird faces is just... Well... Weird but then it's part of his funny character. In Chilbong's defense, I think Chilbong has all the good traits I think that would make him ideal. And his looks is a plus. I'm actually swooning over him every time I see him but it's his character that made me fall for him. I had a strong feeling that Chilbong and Najeong had this spark every time i see them together. I'm biased, I know. But I just couldn't feel her with Oppa. Unlike Siwon and Yoonjae, whom I immediately felt the spark then and there. I just saw them as Oppa-dongsaeng ever since ep 1 and it felt really weird for me when I found out they'll be playing a couple. *Sigh* I felt cheated when Chilbong was just suddenly kicked out of the story, brought back again and used just to make the mystery longer. It honestly clenched my heart and hurt me so so bad. Seriously, I hate it that it really hit my weak point. Chilbong was there in every moment that Najeong needed Oppa, like in Samcheonpo, but it saddens me that his efforts are for naught and ended him in a complete heartbreak. I completely related to his situation and I seriously didn't like this feeling, being heartbroken and my first love and all. He was alone all his life and he only found joy with Najeong and it got a not-so-good result.

Well, for what it's worth, as I'm watching the last episode, I realized that Oppa really match with Sung Dongil Appa. He would have been a perfect brother to Najeong and I would have loved him much much better. I was expecting twists but then... Oh well... Reply 1994 was a ride. I really enjoyed it and it was really worth the watch. Disappointed but it was much much appreciated, especially the family and friends part. It was a lesson that really touched me the most. I totally agree with the review. The show kinda lost its 'zing'... The mystery being dragged became this drama's weakpoint and shortening their air time would have been a big help to keep the story less dragging and smooth. But now, I'm really starting to miss the anticipating feeling every weekend. I hope that if they ever make another franchise, I hope they keep their strengths and develop on their flaws in their series. Sending my love to girlfriday for making such an excellent recap and review. You always speak out what's on my mind! thank you!

0