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Descended From the Sun: Episode 16 (Final)

Cuteness abounds as we watch the soldiers and doctors we’ve grown to adore settle into their lives, finding ways to compromise and love one another despite their occasional clashes. It hasn’t been an easy road, as they’ve struggled to meet in the middle without compromising their own principles. But there are many ways to wage a war, and those battles are worth fighting when the reward is love.

FINAL EPISODE RECAP

Shi-jin walks over the dune to Mo-yeon, picking her up when she falls to her knees in her shock at seeing the man she was told was dead. Mo-yeon stammers, “You were dead?!” and Shi-jin hugs her, apologizing tearfully.

Once she accepts that he’s alive, Mo-yeon grows characteristically angry, pushing him away and snapping at him that being alive doesn’t make everything okay. She goes through a gamut of emotions — crying, yelling, calmly saying that she doesn’t need him, then back to hugging him and declaring her love, while Shi-jin patiently waits for her to work it all out.

Over in Uruk, now-Sergeant Ki-bum exclaims over the rare snow they’re getting, and Myung-joo wanders outside to see it up close. As she holds out her hand to catch a snowflake, a figure turns the corner in front of her — it’s Dae-young, injured but also alive.

He stops right in front of her, just looking at her with those eyes, already crying. He says the words that he’s probably been dying to say for a year: “I’m sorry I took so long to reply. We’re not separating. I will never separate from you again.”

Myung-joo weakly beats his chest, sobbing wordlessly, and Dae-young pulls her close for a kiss. She pulls away to hit him some more, and he just takes it, then kisses her again.

Sergeant Kim-bum is confidently in charge of his men, sending them out to the training grounds. But he immediately loses his composure when Dae-young walks into the barracks unannounced, bursting into childlike tears to see his friend and savior alive.

Dae-young indulgently hugs Ki-bum, and teases him for crying in front of his men. He asks how the high school equivalency test went, and Ki-bum squeaks out, “I passed.” Proud, Dae-young smiles and hugs him again.

Later that night Myung-joo gives Dae-young his dog tags back, which she’s been wearing all this time. She cleans him up, shaving him while he watches her intensely, and he promises never to die on her again. Myung-joo doesn’t believe him, though she wants to, because having him come back to her has used up all of her luck.

He tells her that Shi-jin is alive as well, and that as soon as they were able to report that they weren’t dead, they found out where Myung-joo and Mo-yeon were and each went there. Myung-joo asks what really happened on their mission, and he tells her that the enemy militia captured them just before the bombing.

They were kept in a bomb shelter, then a prison cell for several months. We see them, beaten and bloody, saved by a masked man just as their captors came to kill them. The man bends to release them and takes his mask off — it’s Jung-joon! He’s alive, and he came to fulfill his promise to pay Shi-jin back for his help in Seoul.

Shi-jin also tells his story to Mo-yeon, and she fusses at him for breaking his arm again. He just jokes that he’s lucky to have a girlfriend who’s a doctor, and she says that she missed his jokes and hugs him again.

He thinks back on all his injuries, how he’s been shot, stabbed, and beaten in the course of his job. He says that it won’t happen again, and he’s surprised to see the food for his own memorial set out nearby. Mo-yeon suddenly worries, and grabs a nearby volunteer to verify that Shi-jin is really here and not another figment of her imagination.

Satisfied, she offers him the food from his memorial (“It’s meant for you whether you’re a ghost or not.”), and takes a video call from her friends at the hospital while he eats. She turns the phone to find better light, and everyone gapes to see Shi-jin sitting right behind her. Hee, they all assume they’re seeing a ghost, and Sang-hyun actually faints.

Mo-yeon laughs, and when Shi-jin complains that this isn’t funny, she’s all Are you really going to pass up the chance for an awesome joke? They call her back, and Chi-hoon cries as he instructs her to tell Shi-jin’s spirit that she loves him so he can rest in peace.

Mo-yeon giggles at her friends’ histrionics and tells Shi-jin that they’re trying to get rid of him already. He complains that his widdle feelings are hurt, making them all shriek in fright again. Mo-yeon trills that she’ll explain everything when she gets home, and hangs up. Only now does everyone back home realize that that really was Shi-jin, alive and well.

Dae-young and Shi-jin make their way home, and before they can even salute Lieutenant General Yoon, he grabs them both in a giant hug and thanks them for coming home safely. Even Lieutenant (now Colonel) Park can’t make it through his grumpy speech before bursting into tears.

All attempt at formality is abandoned when Team Alpha come screaming up to grab Shi-jin and Dae-young in a group bear hug. Miffed at being left out, Colonel Park orders Shi-jin and Dae-young to write up their report in excruciating detail, and the rest of Team Alpha hilariously bail on them.

Shi-jin lets Dae-young do all the work while he offers ideas to spice up their story (Dae-young: It’s not like they’ll write to the enemy militia for confirmation!). They decide to base their embellished story on the Bourne movies, and Shi-jin skips out leaving Dae-young to do all the work. He says it’s because his girlfriend is here and Dae-young’s is still in Uruk, which, ouch.

He takes Mo-yeon to their coffee shop and asks if she remembers dumping him here, and she says that she might do it again today. She asks seriously if he plans to continue going to “the department store,” and he responds that no soldier plans to become a dead hero. Mo-yeon takes that as a Yes, but she tells Shi-jin that she won’t object.

Even though he’ll always feel sorry and she’ll always hate him for it, she says that she’ll support him. It’s her way of fighting for peace — his peace. Shi-jin apologizes that all he can do is be sorry, and to cheer him up, Mo-yeon asks him to go fishing with her tomorrow.

So they go, and while Shi-jin is finally getting the relaxing fishing trip he’s wanted, Mo-yeon complains that she’s bored. She wants to do something else, but Shi-jin objects to her ideas, and has one of his own. He chirps that they have a tent right there, and suggests that they take a break. Ha, he’s practically waggling his eyebrows at her.

Shi-jin’s big plans are foiled when Mo-yeon actually catches a fish, and he goes adorably squeamish when it comes time to clean it. Mo-yeon handles with with surgical precision, laughing at Shi-jin’s cute shivers.

That night they lay in the tent, while Mo-yeon looks up nearby hotels on her phone (so much PPL, ugh). She shows him the white stone she still has from their beach and says that this got her through the year of thinking he was dead. She thought that if she could go back and replace it on the beach, she could finally forget him. Over and over she bought plane tickets and canceled them, never able to actually do it.

Shi-jin starts to scoot over to her side of the tent, and when she doesn’t push him away, he tries for a kiss. Mo-yeon shoots him down, petting him on the head like a little kid, while he whines that she’s too hard to get. I’ll say.

Dae-young calls Myung-joo to complain about his report, but really just to hear her voice. She tells him that she’s asked Ki-bum so often if he’s really back, that now Ki-bum just says, “It’s not a dream, he really is back,” every morning as soon as he sees her, ha. Still, she can’t relax unless she hears Dae-young’s voice.

Dae-young invites her to call him any time, though tomorrow he’s escorting a VIP. In fact all of Alpha Team is on the job, though they argue whether it’s Dae-young’s or Shi-jin’s job to actually escort whoever it is.

Ha, it turns out to be girl idol group Red Velvet, who are entertaining the troops today. No wonder the boys were fighting. Dae-young even dances along as they perform their hit song “Dumb Dumb,” and Shi-jin holds up a fan sign that says “Red Velvet is sweeter than my girlfriend.” You better hope your girlfriend doesn’t see that, buddy.

Which is exactly what happens, when Mo-yeon gets a gander at a fan video featuring Red Velvet’s performance. And there’s her man, fanboying all over them.

While getting ready for her television show, she asks the host to ask her if she has a boyfriend. When she does, and Mo-yeon makes a point to innocently say that she’s much too busy for a boyfriend. Shi-jin gets all huffy, and Mo-yeon breezily says that since he was acting like he didn’t have a girlfriend, she just figured they weren’t together.

She’s even tattled to Myung-joo, who gives Dae-young an earful the next time she calls him. Both men try to justify that it was just awkward editing, and that they were actually cheering for their battalion commander. Yeah, right.

Dae-young tries flattery, while Shi-jin falls back on his charm, not that either tactic works. What does work on Mo-yeon is the news that Shi-jin is being promoted to squadron leader, and Shi-jin teases her for being a little too happy about the boost in pay.

Mo-yeon narrates as Shi-jin receives his promotion, then leaves and returns from another mission, that she’s in love with a squadron leader who protects women, children and the elderly. She’s now the most famous doctor at Haesung Hospital, and it looks as though she’s finally been given that instructor position she’s wanted.

Myung-joo comes home from Uruk, and tells Dae-young that she’s spent her time there deciding exactly how to kill him. He obediently hangs his head, until she says that all that thinking of him just made her miss him that much more, and he risks a glance up at her. He’s entirely too adorable.

He suggests that they go see her father tomorrow, though he’s decided that he won’t leave the army. He’s fully prepared to tell her father so, which makes Myung-joo so happy she forgets all about being upset with him.

So they stand in front of Lieutenant General Yoon, hand in hand, until Myung-joo throws a wrench into the whole thing: “Father, I’m pregnant.” At Yoon’s glare, Dae-young stammers that it’s not true, and he stage-whispers to Myung-joo, asking if she planned this. She just says that she decided it’s best to go on the attack.

Confused, Yoon sits them down to get the straight story, insisting that his daughter let Dae-young speak for once. He respectfully tells Yoon that he can’t keep his promise to leave the army. Even while he was locked up and tortured, he never once regretted becoming a soldier, and he doesn’t believe that his country should lose a soldier like that.

He promises to find another way to gain Yoon’s approval, but Myung-joo’s father says that he’s already proud to call Dae-young “son-in-law.” He tells them that he had already decided on the day that Dae-young left to approve their relationship, and that he spent a year regretting letting him go.

Myung-joo’s face shines when she tells Mo-yeon that they finally received her father’s blessing, but that’s not why she came to see her. She delivers a Christmas card from Fatima, who’s been studying Korean and has decided that she wants to become a doctor.

Chi-hoon borrows Sang-hyun’s laptop to show everyone the video that Myung-joo made him from Uruk. Chi-hoon’s little friend finally got his goat, which bleats when he finally tells them his real name. Poor Chi-hoon, he’s never going to learn the kid’s name.

Curious, Ja-ae decides to see what’s really on that file Sang-hyun is so nervous about. It’s full of pictures, but they’re not porn as she suspected — it’s pictures of one person, a girl, and the photos range from her childhood to adulthood. Every single picture is of Ja-ae.

A little stunned, Ja-ae wanders through the hospital halls like a ghost, until a visitor knocks her down and Sang-hyun comes running to help her up. He sits her down and tells her to rest, and says that he knows she looked in his secret folder.

Ja-ae apparently threw it in the trash folder, because “you said you wanted it deleted.” She asks why he has those pictures in the first place, and he says it’s his proposal, his proof that he’s loved her since they were kids together.

Ja-ae thinks he just feels pity for her, but Sang-hyun says that he knows what he feels, and it’s love. Ja-ae tells him to stop, that he doesn’t need to convince her any more, and that she’ll confess or whatever he wants after she finishes paying him back the money he loaned her. Then she runs off “to earn money,” hiding her shy little smile.

Mo-yeon names her new car Big Boss, and she instructs Shi-jin to drive somewhere secret, to his confusion. Mo-yeon explains that she’s scared to drive Big Boss, since she tends to destroy cars, and they head to a car wash where she makes him wash the car, too.

Mo-yeon gets out to help and immediately blasts Shi-jin in the face with water, and she gives him her coat, joking that she can see through his clothes like he did to her once. Shi-jin takes advantage and snuggles up to her, claiming to be freezing.

Dae-young and Myung-joo have lunch at the base headquarters, where he complains that she’s torturing him — by playing footsie with him under the table. She says she’ll leave him alone if he’ll visit her in the medical area, then loads up his plate with her own food to give him indigestion.

She gives him an invitation she received to Ye-hwa and Daniel’s wedding in Canada, and we see that the entire Uruk medical team have also been invited. Ha, the women are all upset, having been told they were only colleagues, just now learning that Ye-hwa is snapping up the handsome doctor.

Dae-young is confused, since he thought they were married already. Myung-joo explains that Daniel once had to pretend to be her husband to gain her political asylum, which saved her life.

Dae-young asks if Myung-joo ever read his final letter to her, and when she says she didn’t, he calls her a coward. He continues and we realize that he’s reciting it by heart: “If you’re reading this will, I, the cowardly one, will remain as a painful memory until the end. Don’t forgive me, and as much as I always thought of you, I hope you live a happy life. I love you with all my heart, Yoon Myung-joo. That will never change, whether I live or die.”

Myung-joo doesn’t believe that he’s really memorized his letter, and takes it from her pocket to prove it. But it’s true, and she gasps as she reads the words that he just said, perfect down to the last word. He tells Myung-joo that he wrote that letter a hundred times, and the whole cafeteria catcalls until he snaps them to attention.

Dae-young stands, and orders anyone of lower rank than himself to close their eyes. They do, and he leans down to kiss Myung-joo’s forehead while those of higher rank continue their Oooohs.

So Myung-joo stands and issues the same order, which gets everyone in the room to close their eyes, including Dae-young. She plants a real kiss on him, and every soldier defies orders and cheers them on.

Shi-jin and Mo-yeon share some beers at her apartment, where Mo-yeon tells him that she still donates monthly to Daniel’s cause as repayment for dropping his car in the ocean. He gives her a hard time about her schooling, and she wonders when he plans to go home, ha.

She thinks about what it means to take vows like her doctor’s vows, and narrates that there are a lot of words that stay in your heart. We see a new doctor taking her vows, and a new crop of Special Forces soldiers taking their vows to their country. We get a montage of the doctors and soldiers in Uruk, upholding their vows even when it means their lives were at stake.

Mo-yeon calls in her promise to whisk Shi-jin away at a moment’s notice, and they hop on a plane to Uruk. They finally visit their beach and replace their stone, and Mo-yeon teases that since Shi-jin lived, she lost her chance to come here with a different man.

They stay to watch the sunset and Shi-jin grows serious, refusing to share Mo-yeon’s wine because he’ll have to drive the boat back. Mo-yeon snarls that they have to go back at all, but she offers him another way to taste the wine. Rawr?

She admits that she was nervous when he kissed her that first time, and Shi-jin says that he’s nervous right now, at a beach with wine and a beautiful woman. They look up to see a shooting star and Shi-jin asks if Mo-yeon made a wish, and tells her that his wish is sitting right next to him.

She urges him to continue, and he says that she’s shining brightly, which brightened up his life. He wonders softly how such a woman became his, and she jokes that he must have been a soldier in his previous life and saved the nation. Which means that they’ll date in their next lives again, since he’s still saving the nation.

Shi-jin asks again what Mo-yeon wished for, and she says that she wished for a kiss. Shi-jin is more than happy to make her wish come true, only pulling away long enough for them to exchange “I love yous,” then going right back for more.

Everyone heads to Canada for Ye-hwa and Daniel’s wedding, and HAHA, Dae-young caught the bouquet. He looks at it fiercely, refusing to put it away when Shi-jin complains.

Chi-hoon breaks the fourth wall, asking the audience if they like endings like this. Everyone overcame life’s difficulties with love, and lived happily ever after. Suddenly the lights go out and everyone wonders out loud what’s wrong with the scene, and when the lights come back up a waitress comes running in to shriek that there’s been a volcano eruption.

The guests flee while the soldiers and doctors just hang their heads, then start preparing for another disaster. Dae-young says he should have taken that discharge, Myung-joo wipes off her lipstick, and Ja-ae puts her hair up. Mo-yeon tells her pretty heels to prepare to be destroyed, and Shi-jin loosens his tie, already dreading the report he’ll have to write.

 
COMMENTS

That ending was both odd and amusing, but I have to admit that I found the tongue-in-cheek poke at the overwrought dramatic happenings everywhere these people go to be pretty damn funny. By this point it’s too late to expect realism, so we may as well go with the obvious laugh.

I thought that both couples were given good, strong endings, showing how much they grew and proving that they’ll all have happy futures together. Dae-young’s decision to remain in the military, and Myung-joo’s father’s approval of him based only on his merits as a good man and a good soldier, especially got me right in the heart. Dae-young has never wanted anything but to be seen as worthy of Myung-joo, and to earn that regard honestly and sincerely meant a lot to him. We don’t know a lot about his past, but I have the feeling that being respected isn’t something he got a lot of growing up. You could see that having a father figure see him as a good man means the world to him.

Mo-yeon and Shi-jin’s relationship didn’t have as much angst, but that can be a good thing. They only had their self-inflicted hurdles to conquer, and both being people of strong moral convictions, that wasn’t an easy task. But they found a way to make it work with a little compromise and a lot of understanding, and I actually appreciated that their personal love story was simple and clear.

I worried for a while there that Shi-jin would quit his career, but regardless of the danger it puts him in and the worry it causes Mo-yeon, I’m happy that he didn’t. He’s said from the beginning that he believes in fighting for peace, and I respect that even after his year-long ordeal, his beliefs still hold strong. He has no intention of dying, but he’s not willing to give up the fight, not even for love.

And it’s a testament to Mo-yeon’s growth as a character that this time, she accepts his answer and decides to stay with him, even if it might mean losing him again. She knows now that Myung-joo is right — the only thing worse than losing the man you love, is not letting yourself love him while you can. She’s found a way to help Shi-jin, by being his peace when he’s home, and she’s content to be that for him, which is beautiful.

I also adored the friendships, particularly Shi-jin and Dae-young, and Myung-joo and Mo-yeon. The bromance between the soldiers was alternately adorable and heart-rending, as they proved that not only did they genuinely like each other, but they loved each other enough to lay down their life for their friend. Mo-yeon and Myung-joo started out as bitter rivals, but also learned, through their love for their soldiers, to put those things aside and learn to respect and even like each other. Again, I love that nothing ever really threatened those relationships but their own behavior, and that in the end, the friendships all came out the stronger for their struggles.

I do admit that I’m a little disappointed in the nice neat bow everything was tied up in. It’s not that I wish for Shi-jin’s or Dae-young’s death — the drama-lover in me wants everyone to have their romantic happy ending, naturally. It’s just that, again, the show deprived us of some pretty rich emotional moments by making both of it’s main male characters practically immortal. I think back to a particular King and his Earnest Bot, and while their story nearly killed me, it was realistic, and paved the way for some incredibly poignant moments and growth for those who were left behind. It’s just that Descended From the Sun had such potential to be great, and fell short by shooting itself (literally) in the foot, and not letting us feel any real fear or grief because we knew that the boys were coming back. They always came back — there were never any true consequences when they went off for another dangerous mission.

I’ve thought about it for weeks, and I think that the major weakness of Descended is that it set up some pretty heavy-duty background for the main story, yet the main story never elevated itself beyond the typical romance stories we see in other dramas. For a drama set in a war zone, I expected a lot more realistic situations, yet even the events like the earthquake and Shi-jin and Dae-young’s repeated threats to their lives never landed with any more gravity than moments in dramas with much lower stakes. My expectation was of a grand, sweeping show with a lot of angst and drawn-out plot lines, but what we got instead felt like a series of vignettes about life as a doctor and a soldier. Every plot point was solved within an episode and a half, so we never got to feel any real fear that there was any real danger.

And what really irks is that I could see the potential for better, in some of the characters and situations. Take North Korean soldier Jung-joon for example. His story arced over the entire length of the show — when he showed up he made a splash, then he’d fade back just long enough for us to forget him, then BAM, there he was again. Because he was allowed to be mysterious and sometimes lurk in the background, the impact of his appearances carried a lot more weight. When he showed up to rescue Shi-jin and Dae-young, it was a truly exciting surprise. There were several characters who hinted at the possibility of more, such as Daniel, Fatima, and Ye-hwa — just imagine if more of the characters had been handled like Jung-joon’s character was handled… we would have been truly blown away.

But as I’ve said before, it’s the characters and their wonderful relationships that really made this show a success, and despite my complaints about what could have been, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Honestly, recapping a show does make you analyze a bit more harshly than you might otherwise, but the part of me that’s just a regular viewer has completely loved this journey, and is willing to remember the show while overlooking the flaws and plot holes. For me, the most important thing that makes or breaks a drama is the characters, and in that sense, Descended From the Sun exceeded all of my expectations. There were no stock-drama-trope characters, no messy annoying love triangles, just genuine, flawed (in a good way!) people trying their best to love one another in a difficult situation. The men were respectful and adoring, the women were strong and capable and stood up for their beliefs, and the friendships were loving and lasting. In that sense the show exceeded expectations, and that’s what I’ll carry away with me.

 
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Thank you for the recap! WOW! What should I say? All is well, that ends well? I expected this drama to tie things up with a pretty bow, but wow, did this drama tie everything up with some neat bows! (Except for Blekie, whose name we still don’t know, LOL). I remember that in the last recap of SeGa, the recapper mentioned that KES had tied everything up with a bow. Her being one of the writers for this drama (and I can see her heavy influence in this one), I expected the same to happen here, however it also felt like a checklist of items were well… checked off: 1-KMY and YSJ together forever (check), 2-Dr. Song and Nurse JA together (check), 3-Fatima and KMY still being a part of each other’s lives and caring about each other (check), 4-Nurse JA finally looking into that secret folder on Dr. Song’s computer and finding out what is in it (check), 5-Dr. Song finally proposing to Nurse JA, (check), 6-“Blekie” and LCH still being in each other’s lives (check), 7-SDY not leaving the army (check), 8-SDY and YMJ finally being together forever (at last) (check), 9-Daddy Yoon finally accepting SDY (check), 10-Daniel and YH finally getting married (check). 11-Tearful, emotional reunion between SDY and YMJ, (check). 12-Emotional and happy reunion of SDY and YSJ with the rest of the army men (check). Have I left anything out? Please feel free to add to this list.

I guess the only thing we didn’t see (and I was hoping to see), was LCH’s new baby. As sweet as this episode was (I think I might have diabetes now), there are many things I liked about this ep., the tearful reunion between SDY and KKB being one of the highlights for me. The way that KKB tried (and failed) to keep his composure as SDY was walking towards him, was very moving to me. The way in which KKB started to cry, seeing the man he admired and loved, the man who had saved his life and given him a chance at having a better future, the way in which SDY simply took him by the neck, and held his head against his chest were simply beautiful to me. They didn’t need many words, all the emotions were there. That reunion moved more than SDY and YMJ reunion, tbh. And the cherry on top for me was finding out that KKB had had a promotion.

I was surprised to see how much Col. Park was moved by the return of both of his men. If you start watching from 15mns into the ep. you can see the many faces he makes, and it is hilarious, really. And if you try to pause at 15mns and 20secs, his face looks very funny then. The reunion of the whole Alpha Team was the best, I always loved seeing all those guys together. Poor SDY and YSJ, all those reports to write, and of course, YSJ was not going to write a single line. I also LOLed at the Alpha Team being so excited at being at the concert, dancing to “Dumb, Dumb, Dumb” (I guess is the title of the song?) SDY and YSJ should keep their day job for sure, they couldn’t dance to save their lives, though they were cute to watch.

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I kept waiting to see LCH's new baby

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it keeps budging me since ep 15- where is YSJ's dad? no sign of him. his son was dead for almost one year yet he has no scene in drama, not even a crying scene or a hugging his dead come alive son!

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There is a scene of YSJ's dad crying when he received the last letter from YSJ through Myeong Joo's father. He cried, a lot, an it breaks my heart

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thanks..saw it....though the scene length was too little,at least it was there.

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Yoo Shi Jin's father was at the ceremony when Si Jin was promoted to Major. He is to the left of the screen.

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You chose the same scenes I did for most touching and funny. I posted in on page 2 then came here and saw that we had the same thoughts.

The new Colonel has a very malleable face. I think he's made for comedy!

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Thank you GB Unnie!!!!

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@ GB Unni,
Could it be because "great minds think (and feel :-) ) alike?" Thank you for the compliment!!!! :-)

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Hi Ivoire, glad to see you here. How are you? Are you still on gmail? I was wondering if you had a permanent place and email access, or time to come by DB like before. Do keep in touch! I'm always glad to 'see' you!

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Hi Ivoire I told my friend while she was ranting about DOTS that if you're the one who gets to post the first comment here.. I'll watch whatever drama she will write!

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Hi Coby,
This is late, however does your friend write Kdramas scripts? Just curious...

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Hi ivoire,
No, my friend is no where close being a writer. I'm referring to you (coz you seem to have a good plot there). Good to "see" you though! :)

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Hi again coby! Awwww... Thank you for the compliment! I appreciate it. It is good to "see" you as well. I think I have not commented here (on DB) since 2016. It's nice that they have the notifications (when did they start that?) That way, people know that there is a response waiting for them, and they don't have to go look at ALL the possible posts they have written to find the response. They are directed to it, and can respond (if they wish) directly.

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So coby, by this, "I'll watch whatever drama she will write!" Did you mean that you would watch whatever drama I wrote? Your comment left me confused...

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Hope to see if there any season 2 series.. love it so much!

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I was not surprised when Nurse JA found pictures of herself in that folder, on Dr. Song’s computer. After that ep. when Dr. Song had mentioned the folder, someone had written a fanfic about both characters, in which Nurse JA found out that Dr. Song had actually stored many pictures of her. I thought that was very creative, and that blogger told me that she never believed Dr. Song had stored naughty pictures in that folder. So when Nurse JA found the pictures, I was not surprised. I assumed that was what was going to happen, when she asked to used Dr. Song’s computer.

I learned a new expression with the ending, “breaking the fourth wall,” and that they did. I wondered if it wasn’t writer KES’s way of winking at the viewers, as I read yesterday that she had said (and learned) that the viewers had been very upset with the ending for Lovers in Paris. She added in that interview that she had learned her lesson, and that she would not make the same mistake in the future. That question, “is this the kind of ending you like?” (or something to that effect), felt to me that she might be making a reference to that time.

I am a romantic, however this ep. made me feel like I should probably stay away from sweet things for a while. There was so much of it, and so many throw backs to things said and things that happened in the past. After seeing YSJ return from the “dead” in ep.15, I didn’t expect him and KMY to go their separate ways, and so the conversation they had in that café did not surprise me either. After all they had gone through, it was expected that they would come to an acceptance of the responsibilities and dangers their jobs would bring. It was the price they had to pay for being together. I also found the circumstances behind Daniel and YH’s wedding interesting, and contrived, to an extent.

This drama being a big budget, I understand the need for PPL, however since the cast has come back to Korea, man has there been a lot of it. And this ep. was no different, that was another check from the list of things needed. From almonds (which we also saw in Heirs), to beauty products, to cars, to watches, phones, sandwich restaurants, and even an airline company (etc…), the writers made sure they covered them all (PPL, check).

I didn’t know what to expect going into this drama, and tbh, I didn’t expect much to begin with. Once I started watching however, I saw (like many others) what this drama could be, and I then wanted it to be more. The premise started to make sense to me, and I thought and hoped that the drama would live up to it. Unfortunately it didn’t, and I am left with mixed feelings. The drama for me started really well, however by the end, it became predictable. I find that deplorable because I feel like the writers had the time to do more research, and write a more cohesive, meaningful and deeper script (I read that Writer KES came on board in 2014).

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The financial budget was there, and they had a really good cast (and crew, I am assuming).

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I'm feeling your last points. Lollypip's comment about Jungjoon and how other characters could've been treated like him leads me to think about Argus a lot, and how that arc could have been handled better. I also went into this show, expecting little besides The Pretty, and my expectation were also raised after what seemed like a solid start. Then, I just wanted more, and yet, it started to pan the way KES's dramas usually do. I'm left with mixed feelings about it in the end, because I genuinely did enjoy so many moments, just not so much how they were strung together and the cohesion as a whole. DB and GF have talked about how it feels like KES writes the big moments and then asked the other writer to fill it in, to get from point A to whatever point she's already written, which I do agree with. Her grand moments are grand, and yet the way we get there sometimes leaves much to be desired.

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And I would add that more importantly, they also had more time to film (than other dramas do, because of the live shots, which they eventually fall into). We know that the drama had to be pre-produced, so they must have had time to plan, and the script could have been better.

I guess what I'm also taking from this drama is that because a drama is pre-produced, and has a big budget doesn't mean that it will be (or turn out to be) a quality drama through and through. I'm hoping though, that the working conditions for everyone involved were at least better. They deserve that, and they would all perform better, as we know.

@ michelle, thank you for your comment. I will be back to respond.

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I agree, this finale tied everything up with a neat bow made out of cheese with a super thick coat of sugar (yup, not a very delicious combo). I was cringing from the beginning to the end which brought back memories from the first two episodes. I mean I'm willing to endure corny fluff but turned out I underestimated 60 minutes of nonstop KES fluff. Brrrrr. XD (and at the end it wasn't even for SJK's prettiness anymore, just my stubborn self having to finish anything I started lol)

The only scenes I enjoyed were probably the video call between medical team and MY+non-ghost SJ and DY dancing to Red Velvet with a straight face (it was so bizarre lmao). Other than that like you said it was just checking off the list.

Oh and the PPL, don't even get me started. DOTS reached a whole new high of product placement, it's become a character of its own since so many scenes were just written for it, PPL galore for four.freaking.episodes! I know dramas have to be financed somehow but I hate it when they do it so blatantly and when the plot is already weak it's not even just distracting anymore but becoming laughable.

But oh well, I didn't expect a lot from this drama from the beginning, I liked the bromance, didn't really care for the romance, it was overall very pretty to look at and entertained me in a very weird way. Most importantly, thank you for casting SJK!
Will I rewatch it? Most likely not, I have enough dramas that are still on my to watch and rewatch list.
Anyway good for those who enjoyed it thoroughly and all I can say now is Hallelujah, it's finally over!

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What is PPL? :)

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Hello Lily,

PPL stands for Product Placement. There are those products we are enticed to want to buy in movies and T.V. series. As a way to financially support a movie or a drama, so they can have some funds to produce and make their drama or movies, companies will have their products shown in movies and dramas. Most countries do it, in the movie or drama, and during the commercial breaks.

In kdramas, the PPL is very obvious (and not subtle), and that can be distracting. It also becomes irritating after a while, though we know it's needed. PPL also gives companies (at least with kdramas), a lot of power, and they would often get to dictate the plot's direction of a drama, or some of the plot's writing, so their products can be shown.

So for instance in this drama, you have Dr Song in episode 11 eating almonds, and Kim Ki Bum given almonds in episode 15 before he takes his test. In this episode, we see Capt Yoo and KMY wearing a sports clothing brand jackets when they are fishing (Kolon I think), we see KMY use her fancy watch to search where to go with Capt Yoo, because the fishes are not bitting. We see them eat Subway sandwiches, drive a Hyundai (sp?) car, fly Edihat (sp?)Airlines, an airline company, only go to a certain cafe, etc...

The thing is that scenes are written so that PPL can be shown. So the fish are not bitting, KMY then gets bored, so she looks at and uses her fancy watch, and we are shown that, so now we think about that watch and want to buy it, or at least look it up, etc...

I hope this explanation helps. Please tell me if it didn't :-)

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@Ivoire Were almonds really PPL? Is it a particular brand of almond? I enjoyed the car PPL in Urk. A war torn country with beautiful vistas and flash new cars (Hyundai?) around every corner. Than Daniel fella was handy with the vehicle acquisition.

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Thanks for the explanation in detail. And you are right most of the people I know who watched this drama are looking up the watch & the shoes that MY wearing. Thanks again ?

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it's ETIHAD and don't forget hotel Combined.
Soooooo many PPL there.. i also found it distracting!
too many product promotion in each episode of Kdrama.. hahahahaha..

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I keep wondering if Red Velvet was a PPL as well..

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I loved the ending. It could have ended with our OTP on the beach, but took it a step further and got a little meta/weird and I liked it. I agree with the comments though that a weakness of the show was that no one ever stayed injured. Especially Shi- Jin's miraculous recovery from being shot. I just took it all with a grain of salt and enjoyed the ride. Thank you for the recap!

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Not gonna lie, I burst out laughing at the Volcano in Vancouver. Brilliant. I found it fun, and in keeping with most of the plot. Completely over the top and cheesy as all get out.

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I know people will point out the million flaws and reasons this is overrated, but to me..it's just fun to watch and I loved the characters and the end just brought a smile to my face.

I especially loved the main couple and how once they worked out their issues, they stayed together through it all and just made it work together. It was seriously refreshing to see. I kept waiting for them to break up, and then get back together... but no, other than the unintended separation they've been together since her confession. I enjoyed seeing them make it work in their normal every day life, it's just so much more meaningful to me than ending it at Urk. You see the problems they have, but they still love each other and work to be together. Seriously favorite OTP in a long long time, if ever.

At first I did want SJ to quit and move on to a safer job in the army, but he wouldn't be him if he did. He's also basically immortal and getting promotions, so I figure he can survive another few years before he's the one in charge instead of the one doing the dirty work lol.

I also appreciate that MY is still doing her own thing, but going back to becoming the doctor she always wanted to be, and being the best girlfriend in the world. I'll still stand by saying she's the real star of the show in both her growth and character.

I would have like an engagement, but I guess I love you forever and I'll love you in my next life is just as good.

Since this ending is good, I'm going to rewatch it. I know it's realistic for someone to die, but I couldn't have taken it if someone did.

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I also love the main couple... One of the best and more refreshing ones in kdramaland. My only complaint it's that I'd had loved more skinship overall but that's just me being picky XD

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Yeah, I wanted more since their kisses were freaking amazing lol. But I think it's part because it had to pass in China and SJK's injury made it harder to do. Still, honestly I swooned when they talked so openly. And SHK is the perfect height for SJK to hug. Loved it.

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sigh, OP is right. I want YSJ to quit being a special forces officer so his life wouldn't be at risk *again* but I guess that would go against what he stands for and what he's good at. I'm imagining that YSJ and KMY's relationship will always be at risk ... if we extrapolate what we saw in the last few episodes, there's just gonna be more 3 month sort of separations, chances of his team mate breaking the news to her, more death wills.

and I'm on you on more skinship. even if they can't show it, couldn't their lines imply it? they're hanging out in her apartment, in a tent, on a shipwreck at a deserted beach. it just bugs me that KMY's "innocent" behaviour don't match what I would expect of an adult female who is alone with her boyfriend, grrr!

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Exactly, they claimed to love those guys jogging naked every morning and the dude came back alive and all they do is talk?
Kissing scenes are all so weak in my opinion. LOL....haha...need much more improvement on that, the too chaste in kdrama is just WEIRD.....

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Me too..
I want MORE..
more skinship..ahhahahaa..

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I also think that KMY is the star in the show, i feel so proud of her for being brave and courages of accepting that she's in the wrond and she's ready to make it up. I love the whole casts all together, they really compliment each other's acts. I feel like the chemistry is not felt only between the leads but even between the supporting ones such as YSJ's dad, Ahn JoongJin, and all of those who showed in such fewer times but left a big impact in the show! :)

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Dae-young & Ki-bum reunion was more touching than the 2 leads... Please don't hate me

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I agree with you. Their bromance is so special and touching.

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Dae-young and Myung-joo reunion was 1000% more real and touching than the main lead

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Nope. Sergeant Puppy and DY was great, but GooWon should stop kissing.

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lmao. I saw most of your comments (I'm checking all DotS recaps) toward the second couple are always negative.

Chill. Your fav couple has a lot of kiss scenes. They got the most screen time as well. Relax.

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+10000000000 for this comment...
Couldnt agree more with you.. @yeah

Lol...

Please... Take a chill pill....
Inhale... Exhale....

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I agree. The secondary couple showed passion towards each other; they probably would have fought less if some skinship had been allowed. The primary couple, I could see the eventual love, but, I never picked up on any passion. The Captain let it be known verbally he felt desire, but, she never gave any signals that she was interested in any kind of skinship. That played out odd to me. She did develop emotionally and finally let him into her heart, but, she was stingy when it came to the physical aspects of love. His patience in that area was, I feel, unrealistic. He had a right to try to test the waters, but, he never did. Hummm, his bravery had it's limits.

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I also felt that that was weird, and for me it made the story painfully awkward to watch because I couldn't believe the attraction between the lead couple.

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Agree. Wasn't moved much by my and sj reunion but totally teared at ki bum

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It's over!! Thank you Lollypip for the recaps! Although, like many said, this show had the potential to go places and it didn't, I'm still pleasantly surprised by all the elements that made this last finale episode so enjoyable. Leaping over the gaps in logic from the past few eps, so many of the scenes were cute and well placed. The Red Velvet performance and the soldier's signs ("Red Velvet is better than my girlfriend") and SDY dancing with a straight face-- I gotta hand it to KES, or her co-writer, whoever did that, you're amazing. The "Everytime" music that played as YSJ joined SDY under the umbrella? Comedy gold. Also, the goat bleating over the kid's name was even funnier. Perhaps one of my favorite parts was when everyone thought Shijin was a ghost lmao!
I also liked the fourth wall break at the end, it felt like the writer was poking fun at herself for the neatly wrapped ending. And the volcano in Canada-- everyone's reactions were like "Again?"

Overall, Descendants was a really feel-good drama, that I appreciated a lot for it's attempts to go somewhere, the Pretty, the stellar cast, and the High Production Value, and the amazing OST. I'll miss discussing the drama with you fellow beanies too!! ♥

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Yes! The part where he was eating his own memorial offerings was so funny XDDD

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and then he was like "wow you just killed me three times now" aklsdjf yoo shijin never gets a break

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I heard the writer originally was going to have Myung Joo die so I am just going to be satisfied everything was tied up with a little bow. I don't think I could have recovered from that.

All in all, I got exactly what I expected from this writer so can't complain. I think the casting was really well done and am very happy for all the attention the four leads are getting now - well deserved because they were really what kept me watching. Even more happy that this was pre-produced so SJK can go straight into another drama without worry of him being overworked. :)

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Was that folder with her pics supposed to be cute cuz thats honestly creepy. Even had her baby pics like....bruh.

I Enjoyed most of the drama but disappointed because it had the potential to be really great. It could have went a much more mature and touching route, but the writer chose to focus on the cheesy love to rake in fan girls.

Every meaningful moment was ruined by plot hole corniness. Like you made me cry for the North Korean soldier for no reason. Why was he still alive and how did he even know they were captured?

Despite all that though, the love lines were entertaining so I'm not too upset at the end of the day.

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Thank you! You have expressed some of my thoughts. It's knowing that this drama COULD have been GREAT that makes it so disappointing. Honestly, many ingredients were there. They add great actors, whose talents they could explore, thoroughly. The script and consistency of it just needed to be there as well.

Your questions about the NK soldier are also on point. Not that I wasn't happy to see him but, how come he knew of their situation, and I guess his country didn't kill him, or put him in jail? YSJ had said he didn't know if he would be alive, or well. So much confusion I felt.

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The NK soldier was returned to the North unharmed after proving who was the real traitor. He's someone high up in the chain of command in the North Korean army so I'm guessing he could have access to classified and top secret military information.

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I'm just gonna believe that Dr Song really had porn photos in his laptop, but replaced them with her photos after he got back from Seoul. maybe she uploaded her childhood and throwback pics on Facebook and he saved them from there.

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Lollypip thank you for an awesome series of recaps. I loved reading your insights and critiques, particularly your take on Dae Young. Did you say you came from a military family in one of the previous recaps? I'm not sure if that's why you had such insights but whatever it is... Thanks for a great ride. Love you and your writing so much. I'm looking forward to your other recaps in future! xoxo

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heheh. wanna add my mini review from my blog.

No, it won’t get award for best plot. But it was soooooooo pretty. From the actors, OST, locations, to the cinematography, it was just that. I kinda ignored logic and the medical mistakes and took it as is. A nice pretty drama. It does keep you on the edge all the time and the couples are all so cute with lots of fanservice. What’s there to complain? No WTF endings nor are there major major plot holes (TBH plot was weak, there were themes in the show, but no major plot) so I ain’t going to complaining.

And yes, I am a huge fan of Song Joong Ki prior to this drama. But that was not the reason I watched it. I think I watched for the hype and story was pretty interesting from reading the recaps. it’s a light watch (Ok, I did cry a couple of times), it ain’t no complicated stuff like Inception (I was going to say Signal, but SO TIRED for people putting down DOTS for signal so I won’t - This coming from a huge signal fan). I recommend this for those of you looking for a light, cheesyish, funny, and pretty kdrama.

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Thanks so much for your usual insightful recap. Fully agree that it was a very romantic n fun drama. I also agree with your comments that we should enjoy all the friendships, love n the nice ending. The last scene shows us that life goes on.
I read that the writer said if the ending was sad " I would not be able to live in Korea "?
Please carry on giving us more dramas. Thanks.

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Thank you for the recap. I was satisfied with the ending. Although there are some flaws, I turned blind eye to that just to enjoy the drama. Daeyoung dancing to dumb dumb dumb with a straight face was the best thing in this episode. Haha! I'm sure I'm gonna miss this drama.

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This drama has no logic. Lol. That said, I just loved that it doesn't have the annoying love squares or triangles...i wish kdrama do more of these double couple threads. The characters were love and I think many think so judging from the overwhelming love for the show. Hopefully now whenever they cast 2 male and 2 female leads i won't have to groan that its yet another complicates love square....

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A drama that had promise, was a easy, funny for most and even emotionally solid to watch at some really awesome parts that ended with a volcanic eruption in Vancouver, British Columbia. I'm sorry, there's a limit to how many brain cells I can shut down to enjoy a drama and the number was way too many and past my boundary level for the finale. Mediocrity in writing at its best is what I call the ending of this otherwise fun drama.

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I had to Google whether or not there were volcanos in Vancouver, as soon as the show ended.

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And that's not even Canada they are showing but New York??
WTH...lol

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Mt St Helen's not that far from Vancouver...

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I have read the comments about taking this drama for what it really was, basically a romance story. I however feel that there is something to be said about knowing that a drama could be more, and not seeing it get there, in some ways because the writers choose not to do it, for many reasons. Equally sad to me, is that in the end, none of that will matter much since this drama has been such a commercial success, contributing hugely to the Korean economy over the months (and maybe years ), to come. I think that for me, I became really fond of the drama and its characters, and so it felt like seeing someone you love not give their best, when it was obvious that s/he could be and do so much more. In the end, you know that it is up to them, and that you need to let it go. It doesn’t make the disappointment less real or felt. I guess this is where those who said that the writers might have bitten more than they could chew were right. I still have that niggling feeling inside me that asks, “how hard did they try though?” Maybe they didn’t want to, I will never know.

Having said all of that, there are definitely things I really liked (and even loved) in this drama, and things I became disappointed with, of course. Like many, I feel that the 1st twelve episodes were quite good. There were some major flaws (LCH’s arc and experience in Urk could have been written better, for example), however overall, the drama was still quite good. After ep. 12, things started to go down hill. There are things I don’t understand about ep.16 for example. What country did SDY and YSJ go to? Where were they taken afterwards (to a different country)? And how come the NK Commander was there? Was he on a mission there as well? All we know is that YSJ and SDY were protecting peace, and Col. Park said that they were also protecting the peace of Korea. So where were they? And how did that contribute to peace in Korea? We were never told.

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Some of the things I loved in this drama were: 1-the romance of both couples, because they were different, and there was no love triangle. 2-I ABSOLUTELY LOVED the bromance between SDY and YSJ, and the bromance between both men and the rest of the Alpha Team, and at the end, how much their superiors cared about all of them. 3-I loved how good YSJ and SDY were as men, and as boyfriends, though both were quite different, physically and otherwise. 4-I personally LOVED how diverse the supporting cast was. I know that this is a Korean drama, however from the few articles I have read, and from a few of the television programs and news I have watched, there is a multicultural population slowly growing in Korea, and as an international viewer, I simply LOVED seeing the population of this fictional country be so diverse. I can’t remember how many times I replayed the beginning of ep.9, where we see the dad that had been impaled, with his racially diverse family. They were so cute, and the little girls just looked adorable. 4-The earthquake episodes were the best ones, imho. From how they were filmed, to the acting, the emoting, the dialogues, the growth that we saw all the major characters go through, to what happened up to episode 12 were scenes I really loved (for the most part). Episode 11 felt long to me. 5-I loved seeing how all four leads, and some of the supporting characters grew as well. And I loved seeing how close they became.

The cinematography of course was really well done, however I could not say the same for the editing towards the end of the drama. Consistency in the last episodes was not always maintained. And the acting was very good (most of the time) as well. I also love the OST, especially the instrumental pieces. Please feel free to add to this list :-)

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Concur on the greatness of the romance. Demolishing love triangles, yay! For me that was the strength of DOTS. While we didn't get a narrative written as a compelling whole, we got a series of beautiful (in more ways that one) vignettes about learning about the one you love, and that in the real world we need more than just wuv to make things work.

I'll add that 1) I loved Doctor Sang and Nurse Ha. Like the young nurse, I completely thought the doctor was cool. Underneath his geeky ways and passion for living a melodrama, he was saying some deep things about loving while you can. 2) Guy who ate the diamonds was disgusting but brought home the inhuman horrors in aftermath of disasters (I kept thinking 'gah, you slimy eunuch from Empress ki, how like you!) and really brought those episodes together.

What I really wanted was a cameo, any cameo, for Seargant Choi's wife. Was she really beautiful and smart? It would have been interesting to see a real soldier's wife.

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And why would someone kidnap two soldiers for roughly 150 days without informing their country and extort some kind of ransom or a political deed?! And where were they for the other 215 days?
(And why would a healthy couple in their 30s after being apart for a year only kiss for the first time after more than 6 months after being reunited?!)

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LOL that is what I was thinking too! It's like too chaste even though YSJ said he was conservative. At the very least, hug more!

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YES!! @newbie
I wondered about the 150 days too, I expected it to be mentioned in the recap or in comments, I need an explanation. Because MY says it is the Anniversary of YJ's death, so 1 year has passed.
But when SDY was explaining what happened to them he said it is been 150 days (so that means roughly 5 months, what happened with the other 7 months)
I was watching with English subtitles so maybe I didn't get the right translation for that part

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@Ivoire

I echo a lot of your sentiment, except I also feel guilty and a little sick - like I've eaten cotton candy floss knowing it had no value, but decided to anyway.

Since early episodes, I felt that the show made use of real life difficult circumstances as just scene settings for the romance. There's not enough real payback to the real life sorrows and challenges of war, human-trafficking, the illegal drugs or diamond trade. The show made it look like these serious world issues could surely be solved in a a day or two - if you had an immortal Shi Jin. It makes everything feel a bit cheap.

So for me, because I did enjoy every frame of SJK's gorgeous face, and the moments of banter and humour, I feel like I've contributed to the success of a show like this, which shamelessly uses these scenarios to manipulate our emotions. When really, what I want is for them to do better, and that to know the audience can do better too.

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I dropped watching this drama few episodes back but kept reading your recaps religiously. I love the casts, the prettiness and bond they have. The ending is cute, but... Anyway, through DotS I admire JG and KJW more. They're gorgeous here, both acting and appearance.

Thanks for the recap, LollyPip~!

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It cant be over yet?

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"For me, the most important thing that makes or breaks a drama is the characters, and in that sense, Descended From the Sun exceeded all of my expectations. There were no stock-drama-trope characters, no messy annoying love triangles, just genuine, flawed (in a good way!) people trying their best to love one another in a difficult situation. The men were respectful and adoring, the women were strong and capable and stood up for their beliefs, and the friendships were loving and lasting. In that sense the show exceeded expectations, and that’s what I’ll carry away with me. "

Well said, LollyPip!! Totally agree with you on this and thanks for the recaps!

Loved this ending! True to DotS whole theme, pure entertainment! And them breaking the 4th wall made giggle because lol, even they are saying not to take things too seriously and to just enjoy the ride.. which hopefully most did!

So much fun and laughter and romance in this finale that it left me feeling good!

Dumb and Dumber fanboying to Dumb Dumb ..was all sorts of epic! The bromance was also spot on for this show!! :)

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"Dumb and Dumber fanboying to Dumb Dumb"
lol idk if the writer intended for it to be punny but it was hilarious

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It was like eating a cupcake....some people like the cake, some people like the frosting and some like both. I'm a cake kinda gal - frosting being too sweet for me so in the same vein, this drama was diabetes inducing but I could see how some people loved it.

I think the bromance was my favorite part of this drama. I never really "felt" any of the OTP's presented to me, but I really enjoyed the bromance scenes with Shi Jin and Dae Young and their hijinks.

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It was good show, but there were some things I wanted to have more, be more.
Thank you cast, crew and staff!!!

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So many things I like about this finale!! I for one am SO glad that the writer decided to give us a happy ending. I was actually wondering if someone would die, given the context of this show, but heck, I'll take what I can get. Happy endings FTW!

- YAY North Korean soldier friend!! I have a soft spot for him and their friendship.

- I LOVED all the parroted scenes that reminded me of old episodes, especially MY's "Put on this jacket, your clothes are transparent and I don't like other girls seeing that". I was like "oh if only that shirt was transparent, girl." HEH.

- So many happy scenes between DY and MJ! Especially when they were drinking, and the look on his face was just... he looked so PLEASED. I like.

- "I'm pregnant!" And then cue the looks of horror on dad and DY's faces. HAH. I love Myungjoo!

I really, really like this show as a whole. I wish it had broken through 40% ratings, but 38.8% is amazing as well. I think what I loved most about this show was the characters. No messy love triangles - it was GREAT that Sijin told DY they should fight on the same side. No bitchy second female lead who keeps trying for SJ. Lots of other adorable cutesy side stories like CH and his pregnant wife, Dr Song and Ja Ae... LOVE. I like. Very much.

As a final thought, I thought the story of how Daniel and Ye Hwa were married was just... ^u^ And the ending of the show? I LOVE the characters speaking in the dark.

"Kiss time?" - Myungjoo. HAH.

Thank you for the recaps this far! I've had lots of fun reading recaps and commenting.

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I love SJK but I really only watched because of DY and MJ. I'm so happy that my 2016 streak of my couple not making it is OVER!!!! It started off with Deok Sun and Jung Hwan, then came Yoo Jung and Hong Seol, and the last OTP that sunk was Bang Ji and Yeon Hee. So glad Dae Young and Myung Joo made it to the end. Their snow reunion reminded me of Winter Sonata. I actually felt more for DY and Kb's reunion. They ended up being like brothers in the end. For a pre-produced drama, it could have been better since they had so much more time. Episodes 13 and on were so weird. SJ is like wolverine. He heals pretty fast. He barely looked injured when he reunited with MY. Meanwhile, DY looked like he came back from hell.

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- The drama gods heard my Werewolf Boy wishes and inserted a Chul-soo headpat!!!
- The scene when Dae-young went to find Ki-bum, man, all the ninjas chopping onions in front of my screen
- BUT what's up with making the girl group wear those french-maid-like costumes? (but I suppose this is more of an issue with SM Ent than with the drama)

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Oh gosh Werewolf Boy... T_T looks like he's destined to get his head patted in his shows?

IKR all those onions when Kibum saw DY... darn them ninjas.

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So true!

From all the reunion moments in this episode, I love SDY - Ki bum reunion most.

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I also thought of The Werefolf Boy head pat when MY pet SJ's head instead of kissing, snuggling and more!

Was that a deliberate choice due to needing to pass the Chinese censors as part of pre-broadcast screening?
I was expecting some full-body snuggling between our OTP at some point, not just kissing, after the preview at the end of Ep 14 where they showed two pairs of feet under a blanket. They obviously shot a scene but I didn't see it in either Ep 15 or 16.

SJK is still cute, though, with his head down and being petted.

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SJK said his injury made some scenes hard to film. I'd guess they can get too cuddly when he's got a big cast. And I hope the extra episodes show that part that was cut.

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Thanks for the recap! I am so happy with the ending. I love this drama! I watched the scene when Shi-jin was eating the memorial offerings while Mo-yeon's friends watch in shock over and over again. That was so hilarious! I love the cast! I just love them all!

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I just noticed something is it descended from the sun or descendant of the sun? I noticed someone had used descendant of the sun just curious anyways what a great drama! ? I'm going to miss these awesome characters ?

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Volcano in Vancouver, LOL! Shouldn't the writer have checked first if there is indeed a volcano in Vancouver?

Liked the series, on the whole, and enjoyed it by putting the logical side of my brain on mute for a good deal of time. I agree with those who find the main female lead's acting so-so (for me, her facial exoressions never really changed that much, whatever emotion she was expressing; her portrayal lacked depth for me) and enjoyed the second leads' romantic story and performances more realistic and credible.

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but for the impact to suit their reaction, wouldn't it better if they goes with bali or hawaii instead? it popular wedding spot and has real active volcano.
the volcano's distance to vancouver (80 km, plus it's considered in remote place) make it unlikely to have major impact to make them react that way.
but to have huge eruption in hawaii or bali in the mid of wedding reception will worth a movie about rescue mission

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Well, the logic boat has sailed looong looong time ago!

Fret not yukari, cuz I had the same reaction and had to google for answers :p

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HAHAH I laughed too at the volcano though. I see quite a few comments on the volcano thing so I thought I throw in what I know as someone who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia (VANCITY REPPIN').

I think many of the volcanoes in British Columbia are either dormant or in remote areas away from Vancouver that I would think it'd take pretty significant volcanic activity to impact the city of Vancouver. Mount Garibaldi is probably the one of the most famous but is considered dormant. Also its just to the north of Squamish, which is to the north of Vancouver, so it could have an impact on Vancouver but probably not? I mean, I know lots of people who go up Garibaldi for a hike/ climb. We like our outdoor activity in British Columbia. Although it is big so...I don't know. I'm not a geogologist.

I think it would be FAR more likely for there to be an earthquake. There was a 4.3 in December and prepping emergency kits is now a thing. Many Vancouverites are expecting a really big quake in the future. Volcano..not so much. But who knows. Theres lots of mountains, including a few dormant Volcanoes. Some people are scared of Mount Baker erupting. Generally considered unlikely, but maybe a volcano in Vancity is not as far fetched as people think.

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I don't know, it didn't look like Vancouver at ALL to me. Does it look familiar to you? I had to stop and stare because I didn't recognize the skyline at all! And the restaurant where they were.. It was a little disappointing to blatantly label a place when I don't recognize it. Uruk was fictional.. Vancouver is not.

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LOL nope! That was most definitely not Vancouver (coming from another Vancouverite). Lots of my friends on FB speculated it to be NYC, but not 100% certain.

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That Canadian volcano got a snort out of me, too.

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I thought that volcano part was purposely wrote that way to poke fun at the lac of logic and realism. It's like "I know you all are laughing at how this show doesn't have brain; it is and I'm giving you this one big final laugh here" kind of feel to me.

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They probably discussed like this:

"Let's let another disaster happen at the end"
"Good idea, what about an earthquake?"
"We did that already, we need something new."
"So no war, epidemic or earthquake... That only leaves hurricane or volcano."
"Let's just go with volcano. That sounds grand."

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I have silently followed enjoyable recaps here for a year now. I don’t always agree with the points made but I do subscribe to the idea that dramas are meant to be enjoyed yet should not require us to turn off our brain. With that in mind, I thought DOTS was a fun drama with two couples that I could root for, full of warmth and humour, but that seemed to lose its focus in the last episodes.

The show actually made me reflect on war films in general. We had some interesting meta clues like Saving Private Ryan. First YSJ jokes that he runs through bullets to save friends. He gets shot repeatedly but just keeps bouncing back up in what to me did echo Hollywood war films such as SVP - yet we all know how unrealistic things are there only to be jarred into reality with Tom Hanks dying at the end and we are left howling at how unfair it all is. We know that these guys live by their skills and luck, but as Agus said, we knew YSJ might never come back. Like the girls we are left to think they died in an unidentified place on a random mission. That was the nature of their job, and neither the girls nor us would ever learn the context of the mission. Because of that I was actually ok if YSJ had died by the end of episode 15 (well, not really, but ok plotwise if that makes sense). I really wanted to buy it so I could cry my heart out with the women, and they actually almost convinced me before YSJ showed up in the desert (what if they had left that for episode 16? Yeah, I guess half the world would have died of heartbreak).

Agus as a character did not have depth, but make him the worthless equivalent of Private Ryan-as-he-might-have-ended-up was a nice flip of the Hollywood story. Matt Damon shows up again in the final episode. I think we are told that he’s YSJ’s favourite actor, one who usually portrays a brave character who’s willing to take on risks, only to have to be saved in the end hehe. YSJ is in contrast the one doing the saving, except at the very end where he needs his North Korean friend to swoop down and save him. The point is, YSJ and SDY agree to write their report as if based on a Matt Damon film because the real thing seems so trivial and boring: instead of getting beaten every day, make it so we try to escape at least once a week, ha. Can I apply this to DOTS and wonder if we got a warped report/story to what actually happened in Episode 14-15? I thought YSJ getting shot and taken to the hospital was a brilliant way to bring on the expected angst, but perhaps we skipped the life-threatening surgery and longer convalescence that followed? On the other hand, war as medicine have surreal moments, and even if you can’t believe it, exceptionally it snows in places where it hasn’t for a 100 years. I don’t know. Do we use meta to explain gap holes or do we just accept that sometimes the impossible happens? Speaking of that, can we have more SDY dancing in the special episodes?

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I....
I dunno, something seems to be off at the ending, to name few; the timing, the product placement, volcano...

I don't mind Red Velvet though because I can watch fanboy side of those die-hard soldiers.

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Yeah. I think the last scene seems odd.

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what if because of high rating, in the mid of airing they get many PPL offer so they re-do their final episode to accomodate that.
well, they used to live shoot right, so it possible to be done. It can explain why the editing in final eps not as good as before

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Loved the ending! Sure it was saccharine sweet, but I would take sweet over punched in the gut and can't even breathe, any day, any time (looking at you there King 2 Hearts). And seriously, this is like the first drama I'm watching where I'm not screaming at the characters to get their head in gear. They met realistically, like adults; she gave him hell because she wasn't going to fall for some cheesy line, like an adult; they started to date like adults; broke up like adults; found their way to each other like adults; kissed like adults; worked their issues out like adults; and lived happily ever after like a fairytale. Sure there were some continuity issues and all those injuries that were miraculously healed, but nothing says adulthood shouldn't have some sort of fairytale and magic mixed in. Lol.

All in all, I loved this drama, flaws and all and I will always go back, if only to say look at Mo Yeon, she's smart, beautiful, capable, strong, speaks her truth and reacts in the way any normal 30 something year old woman would. Bravo and you go girl! You go!

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That seriously sums up Song Song "like adults". That's what was so refreshing about them to me. I also loved the only real reason the relationship works is because MY makes it work.

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While others may feel off about Shi Jin or Dae Young coming back alive. I'm just thankful that the writer decided not to take that route. The death of Earnest Bot Eun Shi Kyung is enough for me.

Maybe someday they'll die but I'd be better off not knowing about it.

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Honestly, at the start of this drama, I really thought they were setting up SDY to be the next earnest lol. What with the forbidden love, service to the country etc ..but then I realized this is Kim Eun Sook and I've never heard of her killing her leads so.. I was very hopeful haha! Thank god this was a feel good ending!

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I think the reason k-dramas with multiple plot holes like this keep getting made is because they know we viewers generally don't care, not especially if they have strong acting and pretty, pretty people & set to bank on.

I loved DOTS, flaws and all. I needed that ending too, and it will be my happy pill, my crack for a long time. Sometimes, it's shows like this that numbs the realities and harshness of life.

Anyway, back to the show. Here is my wish-list and what I liked about the ending:

1. I wished ep.16 was longer as I'd wanted more explanation as to what happened to the boys in that one year. Scenes of them being tortured would've been gold.

2. I wished Chi Hoon talked about fatherhood a bit. I've invested a lot of emotions for this boy so I really wanted more from him. Onew should take on more projects!

3. I wished we witnessed the reunion between Si Jin and his dad. Ep. 15 was powerful partly because of that one scene with dad quietly crying.

4. I am so happy Mo Yeon chose to become his peace whenever he's back. At the end of the day, I still love her and I love that both Si Jin and Mo Yeon need each other.

5. I am so happy we got to witness the reunion between Seo Dae Young and Sgt Kim Bum. That is one storyline I will cherish for a long time.

6. Finally, the human aspect of this drama warm the cockles of my heart. So much heart, portrayed but truly wonderful actors. I'm fairly new to k-dramas (since 2013 haha) so before this I have not heard of Song Joong Ki. I'm glad to have known of him now. As for Song Hye Hyo, I've gotten around to watching her other stuff yet. Am gonna catch Sungkyunkwan Scandal next and dunno...maybe Full House too?

Thank you DOTS and thank you Dramabeans. On to the next show!

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*by truly wonderful

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*I haven't gotten around.

ARGH!!

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'Scenes of them being tortured would’ve been gold.'

No words.

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Hi! Does anybody remember the preview at the end of episode 13? Where KMY was worried for YSJ then he stepped out of the door and looks like he's going on a mission. Then camera focused on KMY resisting to cry.
I was waiting for that scene on episodes 14, 15, 16 but I didn’t see it or did I miss it?

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Hi Julie,
I will have to check on that, and come back to you.

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I think it's a flashback when SJ was going to get the medicine from Argus' gang.

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Not all scenes in preview are aired. Just like how there's scenes of YSJ and KMY's legs are flirting with each other during tent scene, but it wasn't aired. Maybe we can wait for epilogue?

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i remember that..
the preview end of 13..
it seems the location is still in URK..
and YSJ hug KMY and said to tick out worries when i comes about YSJ going to a mission..
i also waiting for that scenes.. but i never show in ep 14 to 16.. not even in the episode 3 - 13.

hmmmmm....

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Thanks for the recap. This was a drama I enjoyed thoroughly with all it's flaws. All the actors did a good job in bringing life to those characters. The writer has done her best not to disappoint the viewers. You cant ask for a better wrap up.

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what is the korean word when they say when the soldiers salute? Been checking the korean dictionary n google translate but cannot find out the word that resembles that sound!

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단결.

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It's dan-gyeol (단결), means "united".

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@Sun - Kamsahamnida!! I've been wondering abt that for the past 16 episodes!! :)

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"and I think that the major weakness of Descended is that it set up some pretty heavy-duty background for the main story, yet the main story never elevated itself beyond the typical romance stories we see in other dramas. For a drama set in a war zone, I expected a lot more realistic situations, yet even the events like the earthquake and Shi-jin and Dae-young’s repeated threats to their lives never landed with any more gravity than moments in dramas with much lower stakes. My expectation was of a grand, sweeping show with a lot of angst and drawn-out plot lines, but what we got instead felt like a series of vignettes about life as a doctor and a soldier. Every plot point was solved within an episode and a half, so we never got to feel any real fear that there was any real danger.". U read my mind,Lollypip.

My comments :

1) I am happy for second couple. I just love them so much. The snow kiss was among the best scenes

Is someone ask me about this drama, my answers will be below:

1) If you are a looking a drama with not heavy plot and a lot of romance, this is for you. Plus lot of fan service was a bonus too.

2) No love triangle. One good thing because almost all kdama have love triangle which I hate so much. So I do appreciate this drama managed to balance the stories for 2 leads.

3) the leads are eye candies with beautiful scenery. So at least you will only see pretty things in this drama. Good for your eye.

It was a fun ride with DOTS. Glad it also ended nicely and neatly. can look forward for next drama ☺

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OH I HAVE A QUESTION. TWO ACTUALLY.

1. Is the title "Descendants of the Sun" or "Descended from the Sun"?

2. What does the title mean? Does it mean something in Korean language/literature?

*scratch head*

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1. Descendants of the Sun is the official name.

2. The story is focus on doctors and soldiers who help and protect others selflessly and without discrimination, just like the sun giving out its light and warm.

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Wow! I can't believe I watched the whole thing! Of course, I swore I would stop watching Heirs too, and I watched all of that as well. Fortunately, this was more rewarding than Heirs, though far from perfect.

Probably the main reason I kept watching was Jin Goo. If you stuck that man in a box and told him to act using only one eyelid, he could do it; and look really hot doing it too. (Jin Goo in Boxing Helena, anyone?)

When this show was at its' best, the dialogue reminded me of American movies from the 1930's and '40's. The cynical, battle-hardened man up against a smart, sassy, strong woman works for me every time. It made me think of the chemistry of Bogart and Bacall, or John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. For the most part, in DOTS women were portrayed far better than in most Kdrama.

Unfortunately, those moments were few and far between, separated by wildly improbable scenes of manufactured mayhem. And many times I felt I was watching a glorified recruiting film. Granted, since military service is mandatory in S.K., recruitment isn't necessary as it is in countries with all-volunteer armed forces. But the nationalism come across as fairly heavy handed and emotionally manipulative. For what it's worth, I don't appreciate it when I see it in my own country's entertainment either. It just made me roll my eyes. I guess I'm too old, and have lost too many friends in war and other violent ways to appreciate any romanticism around it.

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Might Kim Eun Sook have poked fun at her own reputation here? When Shi Jin jokes that the army will accept whatever story they write, and that they should settle for the right balance of reality and drama. We as viewers expect drama writers to provide a story with substance, that's not too far-fetched.

And when Dae Young suggests the Bourne films instead, because Myeong Joo likes a certain hot actor, like how some of us are watching for the cast? KES certainly casts leads of high star power.

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Ha, didn't even see it from that perspective. If she did, then she's either a genius, very confident of her work or a fortune teller since the whole drama was pre-produced.

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I think she did. I even think that she made that volcano eruption at Vancouver happens just to poke fun at herself that how this whole show does not rely on realism and logic.

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I thought she did a lot of poking fun at herself. SJ's scene where he's eating his food and everyone thinks he's a ghost too. And even MY has to ask if he's actually there.

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I Loved the Ending. It was PERFECT!!!! The only thing I would have loved to see was Ye hwa's Wedding dress and more of Daniel. But all in all it was Great.

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DotS is a 16hrs long movie!!

Bet it can be reworked into a 120min movie.. Get to it Editor-nim

I thoroughly enjoyed the finale, glad nobody matters died.. As someone said, the logic boat has sailed long time ago, just enjoy it as it is..

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Thank gawwd this is over...all that hype was annoying me to high heaven. just my opinion #SorryNotSorry

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Urgh, tell me about it. My friends were flooding the timeline with high praises about DOTS like it's flawless. I liked DOTS enough but to say it's THE BEST DRAMA EVER, is reaching it. I started wondering if we even watched the same drama. Well, to each his own. I'll just keep scrolling past them on FB and IG etc.

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Lol! Maybe for them it really IS "the best drama ever" ..sad that you have to keep seeing that on your timeline tho

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Now they've even mentioning/tagged me in things related to how awesome DOTS is and I'm so not in the mood to fangirl. Urgh, I'm ignoring as polite as I can.

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"Best drama ever?l LMOA DOTS is just like heirs no matter how many times any

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Sorry my Cimmerians t got cut off...but DOTS is just like heirs in every way from the lines to the story, it's just that DOTS had such beautiful scenery. And I should know cause I watched heirs from start to finish. But I guess we love some and we hate some.

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People enjoying things really bothers me too!

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Thank you for recapping this drama! It was such a fun ride... I'm sad it's over.

Just to let other Beanies know, the Korean DOTS fans are trying to gather enough fans/interest to get a Director's Cut Blu-ray/DVD produced. If any of you are interested, please check out this site!

http://cafe.daum.net/kbsdotsdvd

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I'm glad it's a happy ending, but OMG there are sooo many PPL and they were so obvious about them that I nearly forgot the basic story?. Downside of pre-produced I guess..

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first thanks for the recap. and second whenever I try to click one of the post like the tittle or read more button to go to read it it always redirect to category, recaps or podcast so it was so hard to read one of the post by phone.

over all,I love this drama so damn much. the romance and funny things this drama try to bring just great and it cover so many flaws. I notice the brain nerving plot, not making sense but because of MY and SJ and others makes all the flaws gone.
ah what will be my wed and Thursday now that DoTS is end.

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I loved the setting of of the two couple's reunion.
SJ-MY were at desert. It represents their relationship as always warm and cheerful (and sometimes hot? xD). It shows their traits as well. The reunion was cute and so true to their characters.
Meanwhile, MJ-DY were at some place in uruk, with snow flakes which gave cool/freezing feel. It shows how their story is always serious, sad(?), but beautiful.
I like both couples (although I am biased to the second cpl more), and I love how they carry the show with such a depth. I never fell in love with such a friendship between the main leads this hard before. I simply love the four!

Let's be real. I know that we're basically watching a fictional kdrama, but can the last scene be any more fake? Like lollypip said, it's amusing and odd!. I could feel that the dialogues didn't sound natural. I could 'see' how the actors were reciting what's written on the script and was waiting their turn to deliver their part. It felt like I was watching a live-drama performance at my drama class. lol. The moment when the waitress walking around and screamed 'volcano' was so unnatural. well maybe that's only me who feel this way :p . However, I like how Nurse Ha asked the doctor to 'get up' while tying her hair. That's my fav part. She looked badass!

DotS....I wish I could watch it few years ago, to enjoy every small thing without being bothered by its glaring flaws and distracting PPL. Like others' said, Dots is a super pretty drama. It tells us a warm story. It did the best part in the comedy and romance department. It's just that, a warm love story.

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I'm aware that making this drama was VERY expensive, but daaaaaamn (Daniel! LOL) the PPL cheapened the experience for me.

Sure, there were days when I wanted Subway ... Or a self-driving Hyundai after watching an episode. But it's that kind of blatant PPL that takes away from the whole drama-watching experience, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth :(

I do love the smooth transitions and cinematography :) and all the pretty people. Ki Bum, Dae Young, and Myung Joo are my favorites.

We don't get a lot of war zones-doctors-soldiers type of dramas coming our way so maybe that's why i've set my standards a little higher for this, and ended up - not disappointed - but feeling like it could've been more than internal battles that could've at least scratched the surfaces of their characters, or the humor.

It's funny because i set out to watch Come Back Ahjussi expecting mostly humor, but ended up crying because of the drama's HEART; and set out to watch this drama expecting a lot of angst and heart, but ended up laughing more instead because of the humor.

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Love this drama series.

My favourite moments:

1. YSJ eating his memorial food on his death-day and horrifying the hospital staff. Hilarious.

2. DSY doing the worst dance ever and YSJ smiling like crazy at a girl band dressed like 8-year-old alice in wonderland. Weird, but so funny to see the stoic soldiers become fanboys and totally letting loose. Although that "red velvet is sweeter than girlfriends" sign was such a bad idea, dude.

3. YSJ complaining about how many months he spends alone with only crew cut men. Good point. No wonder he finds KMY so pretty, compared to those dour soldiers...

4. MY torturing DSY with footsies in the soldier's mess hall. Wow, she really is shameless about liking him and letting everyone at work see it. Or, wow, she is really brave for loving him so long and so openly and then doing this and not caring that everyone knows/sees. She is so hellbent on seducing this guy before he can get away (again).

5. Fatima gets her ambition to be a doctor, Bleckie gets a goat, Ye Hwa gets married to Daniel, Nurse Ha loves Dr Song back, North Korean Lt Ahn lives, the only thing that didn't get tied up was the Hospital Chairman. One more scene of him getting his just desserts would have been perfect...

6. The military reunion scene. Who would have thought the Colonel was so sentimental? Though it makes sense considering how easily he lost his temper, the man is so emotional.

7. Kim Ki Bum as a leader of men, and so sweetly making ramen for MJ.

8. YSJ is promoted! YAY!!!!!!!!

9. KMY is also a teaching doctor, on TV, and the most famous face of the hospital. YAY!!!!!!

10. KMY explaining to YSJ that the girl who wouldn't lie down in a boy's bed isn't her - that girl was from a year ago and didn't know anything. YSJ being squeamish about fish.

11. Daniel and Ye Hwa get married and their backstory.

12. Returning to the shipwreck beach and athletic YSJ chasing KMY and flirting with her.

13. Nurse Ha dressed up at the wedding reception. She looked so pretty! I liked the ending, although I wondered why the girls and boys were seated separately. Chi Hoon talking to the camera and the volcano (in Canada of all places, I didn't even know they had any volcanos - which is probably the wink-wink point) is all very tongue-in-cheek and self aware. I like how the very last few minutes was like the prelude to a superhero movie, called back to the Urk episodes, and KMY making fun of her character wearing crazy heels in crises.

14. The main leads are sooooo nice to look at. KMY is the prettiest, and has the closest close ups. Her makeup and face are flawless. There are a lot of Korean actresses who look weirdly artificial - like the awful Dr Kim at the hospital - but KMY looks like a completely natural flawless beauty. I was watching the very tight close up of her face in the coffeeshop scene and wondering what kind of makeup they used to look so good so close. I mean, YSJ's skin is also amazing...

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Regarding point #13: Didn't you check volcano locations in Canada on Wikipedia?

Regarding point #14: South Korea is so much into beauty products that beauty stores are lined up next to one another. The stores' representatives would actually give free samples to every passersby to incite them to use the products.

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Hi Blue Sky, Song Hye-kyo is the ambassador for makeup company Laneige. I guess since she endorses the brand, her makeup were mostly done by Laneige?

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Also, would it have killed you, drama, to give us some "provate" scenes with our lead couple?

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I think when we get to watch dramas such as Signal, which is so well produced, and then see one with glaring plot holes, we start to nitpick.

Various writers seem to write so well in the beginning, and then after having the climax, they do not know how to do the resolution satisfactorily.

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I love the recappers but I hate when a recapper references a movie or show's characters without giving the name of said show. Anybody know what this is from? :

...particular King and his Earnest Bot...

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King 2 Hearts. There was an adorably earnest and handsome bodyguard who fell in love with the princess. The princess ended up in a wheelchair and the handsome bodyguard died. So the second leads' romance was a tragedy.

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Loved that drama. I think it stands alone in excellence for it's uniqueness and the dedication the actors gave their characters. The character of the Bodyguard deserved a memorial. Giving the wheelchair bound young women, his love interest, that small parrot to keep w/ her and ride around on the chair w/ her was the one of the best gestures, humane and romantic, I've seen. Whoever, writer, producer, director or actor, came up w/ that idea is kind and brilliant.

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Oh gosh. Don't even start with King 2 Hearts. I wasn't interested in watching that drama since the promo posters, the teasers etc did not look interesting. Even Lee Seunggi couldn't draw me to watch it. Then, a dear told me how wonderful the drama is and I decided to give the drama a go.
That drama tore my heart left and right. I guess that's the reason for the title? To tear our heart in two... or in several more pieces.
As much as I love DFTS, K2H remains to be a personal favorites. Too bad it isn't as famous as it should be.

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