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Modern Farmer: Episode 20 (Final)

It’s a cute, sweet finale to a cute, sweet show, which is exactly what I expected from a drama that’s been heavily character-driven from the start. Though not all of our questions are answered, we learn enough to know that the boys and their newfound friends and family will be just fine as time goes by, bickering, arguments and all. And that they’ll never stop dreaming big, whether that’s in music, cabbage, or beyond.

EPISODE 20 RECAP

Soo-yeon takes Han-chul to the hospital after his collapse, where his doctor (having been exiled to the country after a pharmaceutical scandal) takes her to task for not hospitalizing him sooner. She’s horrified to hear he’s in end-stage liver cancer, and that his time is up.

Han-chul wakes up and the doctor goes for his test results, but Han-chul doesn’t want to hear it and ushers Soo-yeon out of there. He doesn’t know that Soo-yeon talked to the doctor and he swears he’s fine, just hungry. Soo-yeon starts to cry and tells him she knows everything, sobbing that he was just going to disappear and she’d never have known what happened.

Back in Hadurok-ri, the boys grumble that they grew cabbages all year when there was all that money right under their field, and Sang-eun gets an idea. She reviews the video she took of the guys being held up for the money, and calls a television station.

Soo-yeon cries all the way home, eliciting weak jokes from Han-chul that he’s happy seeing her cry for him, but he soberly tells her that seeing her made him happy and kept him going. He thanks her for the happy memories and promises not to forget her even after he dies.

Mi-ja finds Soo-yeon crying after he leaves, and she can only eke out that she thinks she actually likes Han-chul before bursting into real sobs. Around the corner, Han-chul hears her crying and barely stifles his own howls of grief.

Later that day Sang-eun comes screaming in to tell everyone to turn on the news, where the whole sordid story about the money is being told, complete with their video. Min-ki is amazed that their entire song was shown since it had nothing to do with the money, but apparently that was Sang-eun’s condition for turning in the video. Now their song will be played on all the stations — free publicity!

Haha, the guys are more excited that this will help sell their salted cabbage than their band. How their priorities have changed. They even get an interview with a news anchor, and spend the whole time talking about their cabbage.

Later Min-ki notices that Han-chul seems kind of down, though he denies it. Soo-yeon borrows Han-chul for the day to take him on a date, making the guys tease him, and she takes him to town for coffee.

Even though he’s finally getting what he wanted, Han-chul is nervous and worried, but Soo-yeon cheerfully offers to do everything with him that he wants to do before he dies. He hands over his phone with his bucket list, and she notices that nearly all of them have to do with a girlfriend. First thing on the list — couple rings.

The other three bandmates get a visit from a music agency representative, who plainly explains that the CEO saw them on TV and wants to sign them. The boys are so shocked they can hardly respond, but it finally sinks in and they celebrate exuberantly.

Soo-yeon apologizes to Han-chul for only being able to afford candy rings, which is frankly kind of adorable. They check the list for Han-chul’s next wish, and both freeze up a little to see that it’s to kiss his girlfriend. Soo-yeon scoots past it by offering to kiss him when they go on a trip, but Han-chul sobers and tells her she can stop now.

He says quietly that she should start over with a better man than him, and that if she keeps this up it just makes him want to live. That is so sad. He explains that he wanted her to like him but now that she does, he regrets it.

He gives in to his tears as he says that when he dies, she’ll be left crying alone, but Soo-yeon assures him that she’s happy that he liked her. Without the right words to console him, Soo-yeon just hugs Han-chul while he cries.

In his office, Han-chul’s doctor has no luck finding him to give him his test results, and wonders how someone in end-stage cancer could just miraculously get so much better (raise your hand if you called it). He wonders why Han-chul ran off like that, and whether he’s off somewhere dramatically crying. Cut to — Han-chul and Soo-yeon in a church, dramatically crying. Soo-yeon begs Han-chul to at least try treatment, and he agrees.

The boys all celebrate their upcoming album with Yoon-hee’s family, though everyone gets serious when Sang-eun points out that they’ll be leaving Hadurok-ri soon. Little Min-ho sadly asks them not to go, and Min-ki promises to visit often, sealing it with a pinky-swear.

Soo-yeon wants Han-chul to go to the hospital for treatment right away, but he asks to stop at the barber first. If he’s going to lose his hair from chemo, he may as well shave it all off now. It’s too much for Soo-yeon when the barber starts with the clippers, and she goes outside to cry some more.

Han-chul’s doctor just happens to walk past and recognizes Soo-yeon, and he tells her about Han-chul’s miraculous test results. Sadly, it’s too late to save Han-chul’s hair, but he’s thrilled anyway. The doctor attributes Han-chul’s improvement to clean living (and eating all that raw cabbage) in the countryside, but reminds him that he’s not completely well yet and still needs treatment.

Han-chul walks Soo-yeon home that night, both of them in high spirits. Soo-yeon points out that she doesn’t have to meet another man now, and they can continue Han-chul’s bucket list. RAWR. She plants such a good kiss on him that his eyes cross and his toes curl.

Yoon-hee’s uncle gets pretty drunk on makgeolli and wails about how much he’ll miss the boys, and Aunt has to take him to bed. Han-chul comes home laughing like a loon, cryptically chirping that life is beautiful and he’s happy to be alive. Min-ki yells at him for cutting his hair when they’re about to make an album, which is news to Han-chul, and his Best Day Ever gets even better.

Yoon-hee goes to feed the cows, but Min-ki notices something isn’t quite right and follows her out to the barn. He sincerely thanks her for all her help and support, and she tells him to go make it big and she’ll be cheering him on from here. They dance around the awkwardness between them, as Hyuk watches from a distance and declares them both fools.

In the morning the guys look over the village and remember all of their special moments in Hadurok-ri, good and bad. They decide to donate the rest of the cabbage to the needy, and to help out the villagers in their last few days in town.

Hyuk and Min-ki hang back to talk, and Hyuk says that he wants to see Yoon-hee happy, but there’s only one person who can do that. He gripes at Min-ki when he still doesn’t get that Hyuk is talking about him, but Min-ki only gets thoughtful and says he still doesn’t know what he’s feeling.

Hyuk sighs about idiots who don’t know love from sympathy, and lays it out for Min-ki — love is when you’re happy when she’s happy, who makes your heart hurt when she’s sad, and who you want to lean on when you struggle. He leaves Min-ki to think about it, and Min-ki remembers all the times with Yoon-hee when he felt those things.

Seeming to realize something, Min-ki grins to himself and heads to Yoon-hee’s house. She’s outside with Min-ho, assuring him that Min-ki will visit just like he promised. They’re both surprised when Hyun-suk shows up, of all people, and he hunkers down to talk to Min-ho.

He haltingly asks Min-ho if he was disappointed, and apologizes to him. He asks if he can hug him and Min-ho nods, and father and son both cry as they hug for the first time. Hyun-suk apologizes over and over, and asks Yoon-hee for a chance to make up for his mistakes. From the other side of the wall, we see that Min-ki has overheard this whole exchange, and he’s disappointed but leaves them to their privacy.

Yoon-hee talks to her family later, not sure what to do about Hyun-suk’s request, and Hong-gu tells her that he wishes she’d get back together with him. Her uncle agrees, saying that Min-ho needs a dad, but Aunt urges her to make her own choice.

At bedtime, Han-chul and Ki-joon assume that Yoon-hee will get back with Hyun-suk, since he’s rich and famous, not to mention that he’s Min-ho’s dad. Hyuk shushes them, knowing their talk is bothering Min-ki, who doesn’t say a word.

The day before they’re to leave town, the mood at breakfast is somber and Yoon-hee leaves the table early. She finds Hyun-suk playing with Min-ho in the school gym, and he says he’ll come every day until she accepts him. He says he’s leaving to go abroad in a month and asks her to go with him, in an eerie re-enactment of their former parting, but Yoon-hee seems reluctant to give him an answer.

Min-ki finds Yoon-hee in the barn where she does all her best thinking, and offers to be a listening ear. She asks if she should go with Hyun-suk, and Min-ki drops the smiling happy act and tells her flat-out that no, he doesn’t want her to go.

But he draws back and jokes that he’d have nobody to taunt if she left, and anyway Min-ho needs his father. He says that whatever she wants to do is what’s important, and leaves before he can get emotional.

Min-ki lies awake that night, and Hyuk hears him sighing and asks if he’s just going to leave like this. Min-ki only says that if Yoon-hee goes, it will be better for her and Min-ho, too. Hyuk says he’s watched too many movies, and he doesn’t seem cool like this.

Nearly the whole town turns out in the morning to bid the guys farewell, and they promise to visit often (Grumpy Uncle: “Why would you? Stay over there.” Awww). Man-gu drives up in the car he bought from Min-ki and, saying it’s too cold to drive a convertible, gives the car back and burst into adorable tears.

Min-ki takes a moment to say goodbye to Min-ho, and teases Yoon-hee that she looks ugly with that serious face on. He gets in the car and Hyuk asks him one last time if he can really leave without confessing his feelings, but Min-ki smiles that he already did in his heart, and he’ll just pray for the rest.

Some time later, Aunt comes to talk to Yoon-hee while she packs a suitcase. Yoon-hee says she doesn’t know if she’s doing the right thing, and Aunt reminds her that in order for Min-ho to be happy, his mother must be happy too. Yoon-hee goes to her room and finds the face cream that Min-ki gave her, and runs her fingers over an old carving in her shelf that says “Min-ki loves Yoon-hee.”

Modern Farmer’s album sells well, and soon they’re giving a concert. Min-ki stops them before going onstage to give them a peptalk, saying that this is nothing after raising over a hundred thousand cabbages, hee. They holler a simultaneous FIGHTING! and walk out into the spotlight.

The concert goes well and they’re on Cloud Nine afterwards (“We’re better than FT Island!” HA) but Min-ki stops when he looks down into the lobby and sees Yoon-hee and Min-ho leaving the venue. He sends the guys on to met their fans, saying he has to go somewhere.

Yoon-hee and Min-ho board a bus back home, and Yoon-hee ponders how comfortable Min-ki looked onstage. Min-ho wonders when he’ll visit them, but Yoon-hee says he’s busy and not to be too disappointed.

Min-ho is sad for a moment but then he notices something, and Yoon-hee looks over to the window to see a hand writing in the frost on the glass: “Yoon-hee loves Min-ki.” Min-ki looks up at her with hopeful eyes, and they just stay there for a long moment, smiling at each other.

One Year Later

Min-ki lays on the couch at Yoon-hee’s house, strumming his guitar and growing a really weird goatee. His now-wife Yoon-hee comes home and immediately lights into him for playing around and not working. Apparently the band flopped after their first album and she chides him for not facing reality, and she orders him to go get back the money that Han-chul borrowed from them since cash is tight. Good to see the bickering hasn’t changed!

Business is slow at the Yeon and Chul Boutique, and Han-chul grumpily chomps raw cabbage as he watches a few of the villagers shop. Man-gu keeps up his familiar griping as In-ki and Soon-boon look at baby clothes, embarrassed to be expecting a brother that’s younger than his own son. Hee, this family is so weird. An upset Soo-yeon delivers the bad news that the landlord wants another ten grand in rent, just as Han-chul gets a call from Ki-joon in Yanbian asking to borrow more money.

Eeeee, Ki-joon and Bul-ja are married and expecting a baby! Only this time it’s Ki-joon who’s the illegal worker, and HAHA, his nickname among the locals is “Bul-ja” and now he wears his hair long to cover his face. Han-chul is a no-go and they try Hyuk next, but he doesn’t have any money either.

Hyuk goes back to his patient who turns out to be Grandpa, in the hospital after a blood sugar spike from too many candy bars. He tells Sang-deuk (who’s wearing matching sweatshirts with Mi-young and little Eun-woo) to limit Grandpa’s candy bar intake, but Eun-woo objects because then she won’t get to eat the almonds she always gets when Grandpa has candy bars. Ewwww.

Aww, Min-ki’s album is reduced to a pot stand for ramyun, and Uncle quips that at least it’s still useful for something. Min-ki swears his second album will be a hit and they’ll all be sorry they treated him this way, and the whole family sneers at him.

A news story catches Min-ki’s attention, about a school of rare tuna in the area that are worth tens of thousands of dollars each. He gets a familiar glint in his eye as he does some quick math, and starts making furtive phone calls to his buddies.

Next thing you know, they’re all on a boat together, planning to catch a bunch of tuna and make another album. HAHA. Min-ki says it will be easy, just cast a line and pull in the tuna, no problem. But they may have yet again bitten off more than they can chew, as a tuna bigger than their boat jumps out of the water and sails overhead.

COMMENTS

What a cute ending to an overall cute and fun show. I won’t pretend the show didn’t have its weaknesses and plot holes (whatever happened to Snake, and Min-ki’s debt to him? You know, the whole reason they went to the country to farm cabbage in the first place), but for the most part it was a sweet, adorable show with characters that will stick with me for a very long time. In fact I believe it’s the wonderful characters that kept the show going when plot-wise there wasn’t a whole lot going on, because even when we were watching the same scenes play out over and over again (how many times can we watch a girl dig for buried treasure, anyway?) I never got bored, because the characters themselves were so endearing.

A lot of that was in the casting, which I think, for the most part, was spot-on. In particular Honey Lee, who I’ve said before never struck me as more than a passable actress, really blew my socks off as Yoon-hee. She had just the right presence and vulnerability to pull off the capable town matriarch who is also an insecure single mother, who unfailingly bolsters her friends and neighbors but whose confidence falters when it comes to making her own decisions. You know an actress has done her job when you can’t imagine anyone else in that role, and I honestly can’t see anyone else doing Yoon-hee the justice that Honey Lee did. I don’t know what changed for Honey Lee, but I sincerely hope this is just the start for her, and that her acting continues to improve and gain depth. If what we’ve seen in Modern Farmer isn’t a fluke (and I can’t imagine a fluke lasting 20 episodes!), I look forward to seeing a lot more from her.

Lee Hong-ki also put in an expectedly solid performance as the immature rocker who learns about life, friendship, and love as he learns to farm cabbage, and I really loved his portrayal of Min-ki. I’ve always felt he was a strong actor, and this show gave me no reason to change that opinion. My only complaint is his lack of chemistry with Honey Lee, because while I thoroughly enjoyed their bickering noona/dongsaeng relationship, I didn’t ever feel any romantic connection between them. I mean, I saw them go through the motions of discovering feelings for each other, but I never really felt it. Maybe that’s why, for a while there, I hoped that the show would tip the first-love trope on its ear and let the second lead get the girl. I felt that Yoon-hee and Hyuk had a lot more chemistry when on camera together, which had a lot to do with Park Min-woo’s ability to give everything Hyuk did or said multiple layers of depth and meaning. You could see from the beginning that Hyuk was a complicated character despite his tendency to smile and pretend everything with fine, and I badly wanted his eventual opening-up to Yoon-hee to be rewarded.

But regardless, my overall ending impression of Modern Farmer is overwhelmingly positive. Like I said from the first episode, we didn’t re-invent any wheels, but we got a show that gave us exactly what we were here for — laughs, heart, some life lessons, and a few good cries. I loved the whole town of Hadurok-ri and all of the weird and silly goings-on, and never got tired of when the whole village would have to band together to solve some “major” problem. While the stakes were never very high, they always felt very rich, because the villagers were always so committed to their town and their neighbors.

But the best thing of all, was that we got some of the best characters I’ve ever seen in a drama, from the leads right down to the smallest of players. Every single character in this show managed to grab me and make me care for them, and that’s no small feat for a drama with such a large cast. Each and every villager felt like a real (though exaggerated) person that you could drive out to the country and meet, and I loved how they enfolded and included our main four boys in the town and into their lives. I’m sad to see them go, but I have a feeling I’ll be revisiting Hadurok-ri and its strange and wonderful inhabitants again very soon.

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Yippee. I was this close to getting some sleep and checked DB just in case the recap had been up, and Tadam, there it is! Thanks LollyPip. //off to read

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Basically I agree with you. Wish the writers had switched the OTP to Hyuk & Yoon-hee. Alas. Good job to the whole cast.

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Thanks for the recap~ I agree, this was a great drama. It had its lesser moments but for the majority it did its job, being heartwarming and fun.

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Sweet show. Alas, though, when it became clear that the writers didn't have my Hyuk in mind for the romance, I kinda lost interest. The ending with the band characters in the same place they were at the beginning of the story was cute, although I did want something better for Hyuk. Oh well.

Thanks all your insightful and funny recapping.

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I was a bit bummed that the writers didn't seem to have Hyuk in mind for pretty much anything. He's the only one who didn't really have an arc. He sort of just gives up because he knows the other two like each other. I mean I'm fine with him just being pouty instead of a jerk who tries to separate them but it also meant that his feelings never at least got recognition for being genuine....neither Minki or Yoon Hee ever really realized it.

And while Minki did apologize to Hyuk for blaming him the whole time for what happened to their band, Hyuk just stated it was in the past and to not worry.

So mostly he just satround and accepted things which is frustrating. He was a really intuitive guy who seemed to mostly understand people really well and yet there's no moment where he really knows what he wants, or has a goal, or where anyone even seems to care about what he wants.

I like both the character and the actor so it would have been nice to give him more.

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I've only watched a few episodes and mostly followed the series through the recaps here but I did watch the finale because I was curious. I was disappointed.
A big part was bec of how Hyuk, the character and PMW, the actor were underutilized in this episode. Even in the scenes where the 4 of them were on, he hardly said a word.
Although he's the smartest in the group, the writers just had him follow along whatever crazy scheme the others come up with. I agree, he's also the most sensitive to emotional cues of people around him and because of this, I preferred him with YH instead of MK. Because she needed someone to put her first and one who can read her without her having to give a ton of clues. I think she would have helped give him focus and helped him figure out what he really wanted to do, plus heal from some of his own emotional scars.
I am not sure if it was tackled in other episodes but I don't think they ever revealed why exactly his relationship with his father is so poor. The other 3 all end up with someone, he's back to square one with no girl and in trouble at the hospital. The only change and maybe arc is that he's back in his friends' good graces.
Seems a waste of an interesting character and a good actor.

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Nope, as far as I remember they dint discuss his daddy issues except that he didn't just follow in his father's footsteps which is considered a disappointment. They really didn't develop his character much at all.

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That's what I thought, that they didn't really explore his daddy issues and only very briefly touched on his mommy issues as well, which from reading the recaps, I was quite curious about.
I could not reply to your comment below but I agree that YH would have been better off ending up with someone other than MK or Hyuk as neither one seemed ready to be a reliable, responsible partner in life who can lift some of the burdens from her shoulders. (though Hyuk might have been closer) I guess in my head, the whole interlude would have been a time where all the characters grow, realize things about themselves and then perhaps go forth and become better versions of themselves LOL!
But no, for sure that's not what happened. From the last scenes at the end it looked like YH had one more person added on to her responsibilities and that left a bad taste in my mouth. Although still quite funny, things like that can really bug me. But that's on me for taking some things perhaps too seriously LOL!

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I'm more surprised that people here still don't want to realize that PMW is not any popular actor at all (i don't say if he is good or bad just that he is not still popular at all). He never been in a high rated drama/movie/show (even Roomemate has low ratings), he didn't do any critically acclaimed role, didn't play any lead role so in this drama he was not even the second lead but just one of the secondary characters (well, his agency tried to promote him claiming at the beginning that he is the "lead" but that obviously was not true). May be from now on he will get better chances and better roles (i wish him success) but it was not the case in this drama! Hyuk was included in the "love square" just to make tense and to catalise the love line between the leads (and the writers choose PMW to make it clear for the viewers that there is not way YH to choose him over MK). He never been considered by the writers to be anything else than just filling, and that's the reason why he had no his own backstory, no romantic line and ending. PMW fans don't be angry with me for my words but just, please, see the reality! Even as young actor as Kwak Dongyeon is much more popular and higher ranked actor than PMW and that's the reason why he had more screen time and more lines and even happy love line. That's it! It's useless to complain that Hyuk didn't end with YH or that he didn't get much attention, you just didn't have to expect that from PMW!

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I'm not sure where you got that people think PMW is popular. Hongki was billed as the lead but that doesn't mean we have to like the pairing. I frankly didn't like Yoonhee with any of them. None of them felt like the romantic chemistry was there.

But just because he's not popular doesn't mean that he can't have some character development in a 20 episode show. That's just lazy writing. Four guys in the band Modern Farmer....only three of them got character arcs.

It's a forum, saying "it's useless to complain" is rather odd. It's a place to address our thoughts on a show. Popularity of an actor has little to no impact on whether something is well written or not. And character development is a big part of writing. I'm not even a PMW fan but your reaction seems so odd to me. Popularity as nothing to do with it.

I can't even imagine how crappy some of my favorite shows and movies would be if someone had thought "oh well this actor isn't popular so who cares if his character is developed?"

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@4D said most of the things I wanted to say. I want to add though that my comment had nothing to do with PMW's popularity but rather his skills as an actor not being given the chance by the writers to be used fully. Also that his character as Hyuk, fully developed, would have made it a more interesting, better written story. And that's what I care about, not how popular an actor is esp since I don't know most of them. And even if he was only picked to be just one of the group, his story should have been given the same time as the guy who had cancer and the guy who fell in love with the illegal immigrant.
That's it, no worries

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I quit this show after the 2nd or 3rd episode and only started watching it again after reading your recaps, LollyPip.
So glad I did. Your enjoyment of the show was infectious. And I definitely caught it.

Thanks.

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Well....I really enjoyed this show overall but. This was perhaps my least favorite episode. I feel like a lot of things happened just because they needed to happen.

I HATED what they did with Min Ho's father. I mean I had a feeling that once he had some time to reflect that he'd want to be a part of his son's life but what...he just three away his fiancée and career? That's not responsible or realistic either.

I appreciated that Hyuk really is so much smarter than he seems. I loved how he told Minki that "acting cool" was just something in movies and no what you should do in real life.

There was way too much crying over Hanchul. It was enough in the thinning but to have SO much after it's already been revealed to the audience that he's fine was excessive. That time could have been used for other things. Also....the cabbage brought h back from stage 4 cancer? Ok sure.

I also felt the pay off with MK and YH was not there. It's not even that I didn't feel the romantic elements between them but he has the one cute bus moment and then.....haha funny stache future.

But ignoring some of my qualms with this individual episode, I really do enjoy this show. It was nice to have an uplifting and cheerful show. I too loved the cast and the individual characters. I mostly didn't feel the romances but I loved the individuals and the village as a whole. I will take away a lot of fond memories from this show.

Thank you for the hard work and wonderful recaps!

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I start veering away from dramas when i feel the plot is no longer driving the story. So when i saw the determination of the writers to create a romance and to force Min Ki and Yoon Hee together, i felt I wouldn't get an organic ending. It was funny and hit on some good social issues but when the paint by numbers love affairs fill in the blank Male Lead must fall in love with Female Lead thing started happening... i couldn't quite go on. So ..some fond memories but before the romance thing kicked in.

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I agree in part. I do wish the writers hadn't stuck so close to the formula...I think this is why the end was hard for me. It was clearly what was planned from the beginning but it didn't entirely mesh up with how things evolved in the middle (or how the cast chemistries turned out).

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It was so touching to watch Minah crying as Sooyeon. Having lost her father just weeks ago it must have been so hard to go to there emotionally, even if it was cathartic. I really enjoyed her in this and in Wonderful Days.

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Blond hair with weird dark goatee? Check out photos of Kurt Cobain. Quote attributed to Cobain?* We've come full circle.

* Actually, mis-attributed. Was Neal Young's, but once you've put your buddy's lyrics in a suicide note, I guess that ship has sailed.

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I thought it was simply a case of the blonde hair still being dyed but the goatee being his natural hair color. Was i wrong? It was the obvious falseness of the shape and styling of the goatee that made me cringe. It looked so pasted on.

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Oh, I know! What a bad phoney beard! :-D

Definitely the quote came full circle. Maybe I'm reading too much into the hirsute aspect, but with the way the writers used references I didn't think it was a stretch to think they might have been playing with that as well.

Cobain's hair was naturally blond, with the beard darker. Yes, a dye job with Hong-ki, but again I think the whole look might have been a winking nod... just like others.

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Especially since he was lazing looking like that when he said the quote.

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Aaah. Strange to wake up today, Sunday, and there was no Modern Farmer to provide LOL moments like ig did for the past 10 weeks.

Thank to this show i discovered Lee Hong Ki and FT Island, Honey Lee and Park Min Woo and the rest of the funny cast. They were a zany and lovable lot!

Thanks LollyPip for your recaps and your love for this drama which telegraphed itself to us fellow fans.

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What can I say? I loved parts of it. I was so disappointed by others. Probably this is one of those rare times when I feel an episode extension might have been welcome to strengthen the final wrap-up, but as that is a moot point and they never did develop certain aspects of the story well enough (the lead romance, the dying band member, etc), I'm glad I can walk away and say that I do not regret the twenty hours I spent watching this. I really did enjoy these characters.

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I had mixed feelings, as well. I'm going to re-watch it once the viki subs are done. I also give the benefit of the doubt when I am tired, as I was. But as it is, I was a bit disappointed and didn't feel it kept up with the quality of writing till then.

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And I agree about an extension. To my surprise, I kept thinking "Gee, maybe this would have been better with an Episode 21.".

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I'm not sure about the extension helping. I do think the pacing was off with things feeling jammed or unexplained at the end....but I also think some parts were really dragged out earlier in the story.

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I agree. Pacing just not as spot-on the other episodes.

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Sure it was a good drama. I was dissapointed in the scene with the doctor telling the nurse Han Chul was OK, since that sapped out a lot of drama about the next scene and made a joke about something the people who had cancer patients in our life have seen and suffered... wait, maybe that's why they did it, it was just so much hardcore.

I also disliked the tuna ending... a better one with the guys being succesful and playing in Haduroki could have been a last scene with a high note.

FANFIC: the guys are playing in the central plaza at Harduroki and suddenly an elk attacks, and we see the main four characters flying in classic Hard Rock poses but being kicked or antled by the elk. The credits roll then. ;)

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I agree about the whole cancer issue not dealt with quite right. They made it look like cabbage is a miracle cure. The with treatment, he can have a remission but they glossed on that. But more than that, what surprised me is the writer's decision to not have the whole issue revealed to his best friends. It might have been an interesting issue to explore plot-wise. Otherwise it makes it seem that the friendship between the 4 guys just seemed shallow. I had the impression they don't really talk about the important stuff, but I could be wrong. Or maybe it's a guy thing, I don't know...

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I'm pretty sure the carving in Yoon-he's house was new - that's how Min-Ki confessed to her (just like he did when they were kids)...it was a sweet return to the cute 'first love' story.

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You know, I somehow missed that but I think you're right. That was almost certainly the confession Min-ki alluded to in the car before they left. Thanks for clarifying that!

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Thanks so much for all the work you put into recapping for us. I'm glad you got a good show to follow every week!

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I was really confused by it. I thought it was new but her reaction to it didn't seem like it was new.....

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Thank you LollyPip for every single 20 episode recaps. Really appreciate your time and insight and your gift in writing. I personally enjoyed the last episode. It brought closure to most of the story lines. And a first time in a drama where the other characters's love lines Took precedence over the leads. But I do like how they ended MinKi and YoonHee's relationship. No kiss to me was appropriate and their bickering will continue.

I may be wrong or in the minority, but I thought the engraved names in YoonHee's room under the jar of eye cream was recent. He told Hyuk in the car that he confessed and will leave the rest to God. So I'm assuming this was done secretly and recently and that YoonHee just saw it and it helped her decision To not go with MinHo's dad.

Again, thank you and to everyone who commented through all 20 episodes!

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I agree with Jenn and JEN -- I thought the carving was new.

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That's what I noticed too
No kiss but I was fine with it lol
Sweet ending after all

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Awww, I was hoping Min-Ki would say kincha-na, kincha-na again sometime in the last episode. I enjoyed this drama, although the ratings were low.
Everyone did a good job! Young Ki-Joon was great! I hope that Hong Ki will continue to act and I hope to see more of Honey Lee, too.

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hahaha! me too! but to no avail and I ended up saying it on my screen.

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me three! i was totally waiting for the gwenchana, gwenchana from minki. also would've loved to hear another scene with san deuk's mum praying 'Oh Father' and the grandpa replying 'huh, what?'

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Eh! I still think she should've given her ex-husband a chance. He just honestly seems more reliable. It was still a good enough show to fill in the days while I waited for Misaeng

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I thought I was the only one that thought that she should have at least given it a try. Not bec of her son but because they seemed to have had a solid, significant adult relationship before and she really loved him then. And it seemed unfinished. He did look her up to invite her to his concert so it seemed maybe he thought they could get back together too. Being reliable - big requirement for a mom.

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Aww, I´m gonna miss that show! Perfect week-end entertainment! The final didn´t blow my socks off, but it didn´t leave a bad taste in the mouth either, which is something to be grateful for:) I liked the silly ending with the boys on another absurd mission more than I thought I would, though for some reason it felt like an easy way out (which it probably was). Modern Farmer never boasted with subtlety jamming together something from each and every genre, but when they hit the right balance between comedy, tragedy and whatever nuttery, oh boy, they hit it good! The mid-run episodes were especially well crafted (that ep when Man-gu got a haircut to look younger!), before the lukewarm romance and treasure hunt started to claim more air-time than needed. But still, I liked it, even parts of the not very believable romance, because the characters where just so darn irresistible and, well, I´m gonna miss them so much:(

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It will be usually be an issue to me if one major conflict was not resolved and that is with Snake. Min-ki started the whole cabbage farming to pay off his debts and what the hell happened to it. But I approached Modern Farmer with a little expectation thus I was not that disappointed. Sometimes I pick a drama wherein I don’t want to use my brain cells to understand, to guess and to analyze. And Modern Farmer was a good choice for me. It entertained me and I come to appreciate/love Hong-ki more!

It’s so funny that when they finally got media exposure all that they could think of was to sell the salted cabbage and not their band or music. I like that bus scene, though the chemistry was so little between Hong-ki and Honey Lee (I suddenly want to watch Bride of the Century again).

At one point I could sense that the tears of Minah were true considering what happened to her dad. I liked her in Wonderful Days and I was glad to see her here in this drama. And this kid, Kwak Dong-Yeon has so much potential. I really like him in each drama that he is on especially in Age of Innocence.

And why I’m seeing giant fishes flying in kdramas lately, the pollock in Valid Love and now a tuna. Modern Fisherman anyone?

Thanks for your great recaps LollyPip!

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The issue I was actually surprised by that wasn't really dealt with was Minki and his family. They were there for one episode? And there's a hint that the differences are resolvable...and maybe a relationship with his sibling. But that was completely dropped.

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Another sub-plot that the show did NOT close was the conflict between Hyuk and his dad and what was all that time spent on Hyuk and the dead Mum?

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totally agree with 4D and dfwkimchi about the dropped stories

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Thank you so much for recapping Modern Farmer LollyPip.

To Modern Farmer,

Thanks for the memories (mimicking Frank Sinatra's voice), all the major & minor characters, the heartwarming & dejected moments, all the laughs & LOL moments, the town of Hadurok-ri, and for the cabbage farming lessons!

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I'm so disappointed with the 1 year later epilogue. i feel like all the character growth they wrote in so skillfully over 19 episodes was destroyed in a single stroke and suddenly our 4 boys were nothing more than a 2 dimensional caricature that any hack writer would have been able to conjure up.

thanks a lot show :(

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I didn't love the year later scenes, either. Although the tuna fishing scheme was just ridiculous enough in concept to work as a throwaway close. All that time spent on the Mi-young/San-deuk story to have it end in family sweaters and a final almond gag. There was ample time to make the Yoon-hee/Min-ki pairing work better if the tertiary lovelines had been trimmed a bit.

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ditto!

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There are some loose ends, but I am thankful for this show for giving me so much laugh! I truely enjoyed it. Thanks for great recap!

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It was a fun, silly drama with lots of heart and plenty of tropes. It was the Yin to Misaeng's Yang. My weekend has just gotten a lot more boring.

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Ha, ha! Yin and Yang! YOU ARE SO RIGHT, weekends got a lot more boring now.

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LollyPip, have a great new year and I wish you all the shows you're going to recap in the future to be as fun as this one!
Ah, Modern! How I'll miss you! A fun show with no false expectations, with no incomprehensible surprises and all the cliches done in a "trolling" way (I'll never forget the use of Kuramoto's Romance). About the chemistry and all that, what can I say? In the few years I watch dramas, I saw so many couples with no chemistry in romances, so I don't mind the lack of chemistry in a drama where romance is not the centre of the story. As far as the loan shark story, I believe the repayment was off since the finding of the guitar and the visit of the "shark" to the village.
Until the end, the writer stayed true to his characters, the show and us, the viewers. Thank you so much!

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Han-chul's miracle cure by eating cabbage - just saw this on yahoo news. Wow - drama writer must have been on to something ~

http://news.yahoo.com/high-heat-turns-cabbage-dinnertime-winner-131942606.html

"My grandmother, who lived to be 92, always said the key to her good health was that whenever possible, she ate cabbage"

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As a viewer i also wish to see more chemistry between leads but in this drama i have to admit i didn't see it. There was no chemistry in any direction in the main love square. Probably because it was not romatic story. I'm actually happy that the writters made it so realistic and didn't force the romance and the chemistry.
First of all because in real life most of the couple have no that "chemistry" but still could be very successful relationship.
Second, because it was neither teenage romance, nor it was chaebol-cinderella type of story so if there was too much cheesy romance it would be just ridiculous. It was the chemistry between a simple man and simple woman from a village, at their late 20's. If you want to watch romance and chemsitry just you didn't have to watch a drama about village life! By the way i've also seen too many "romantic" dramas without any chemsitry between the leads and even some of them looked much more awkward than Hongki and Honey.
And third, because it is winter the actors have at least 5 layered clothes on so what skinship do you exspect! :). As i see Hongki hardly could move so how he could act the "romance", they can't even hug each other properly.
It would be sweet if they ended it with a kiss but anyway, i'll be waiting for the next Hongki drama or i'll re-watch Bride of the Century (there are lots of sweet kisses!)

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Thank you for your words. My sentiments exactly. It wasn't a chaebol/Cinderella nor teenage drama, but honest simple folk story. Exaggerated at times but totally relatable. Toward the end with all the layers of clothing, they looked like the Michelin Tire man. Haha

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Love this drama! It was a really fun watch.

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This is one of the few shows I saw all the way to the end. And I'm glad they dropped the loam shark story line. That's an old, tedious line, and I wish most dramas would drop it. It was enough they needed money to do an album.

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Thank you for the recaps Lollypip!
I really loved this drama and i heard that MF will be aired in japan and philippines.
There are loose ends but still, i am satisfied with the ending. The lovelines did not bother me at all for this drama is not focusing in romance. There are many lessons and realizations in this. Modern Farmer, jjang!

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Thanks for the recaps! I enjoyed this show because it always made me smile.

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I'm going voting crazy!

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I chose that drama just to have something to lol at after work and it didn't disappoint in that regard. Thanks for the recap. I brought to light a lot of things I didn't pay attention to

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I really2 like this movie, because its funny...??

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Looking forward for Modern Fishers where we can see and know more about hyuk, sang-eun and yoon hee's brother

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