I am honestly shaken, just imaging the toll this show would take on me. Losing the female lead and the second male lead?!?!? I literally cannot. I'm even sadder for that sort of ending, because you've talked about how exemplary the show was in every other respect. Ugh. Awful. I am sorry you had to go through this, and if I were a genie, I would fix that for you STAT.

OMG yes! I was OBSESSED with this drama when it first aired, but the ending destroyed me! I am still upset about it! But it introduced me to Jung Il-woo and Jo Jae-hyun and Lee Yo-won so I can't blame it too much.

This drama was great! No, it wasn't perfect but not because of the ending. The ending made perfect sense. It was about making the most of your time, understanding the effect you have on other people and how they really feel about you, and maybe finding redemption. It was about learning, and all of those things were better explained with that resolution. Not every good story needs a HEA, sometimes it's the very opposite. This wasn't about any couple, they were just there to tell the bigger story and very few kdramas ever dare to be that brave.

it was a great story.....i just won't watch it again.

Reminds me of the ending to High Keck Through the Roof. Though in that case, it was mercifully quick. I had enough time to say, uh oh, they wouldn’t dare ... then right between the eyes, BAM! Argh.

@katiepeep,

Thanks for your essay on 49 DAYS. It was one of my first non-sageuks as I worked my way through Jo Hyun-jae's filmography following THE KING'S DAUGHTER, SU BAEK HYANG. It was also my introduction to the twists that come out of nowhere in Kdramas and mow down your heart like a pedestrian in the path of a Truck Of Doom.

I may have tuned in for JHJ, but Jung Il-woo stole the show as the Scheduler, which led me to check out his filmography. Come to think of it, the Scheduler was my introduction to Kdrama grim reapers in general. They came as quite a revelation after seeing the reapers and gravelings in the American TV show DEAD LIKE ME. Only later did I encounter the classic Joseon reapers in ARANG AND THE MAGISTRATE, plus additional contemporary reapers in BLACK and the ALONG WITH THE GODS movies. I found the Buddhist metaphysical and spiritual aspects of 49 DAYS to be quite interesting, actually.

Happily Ever After may not have had a ghost of a chance in the show, but the ending made as much logical sense as what inexplicably happens in real life sometimes. Some things are unpredictable. They happen anyway, and that's that.

Thanks for reminding me of 49 DAYS, which for me was a thought-provoking drama.

#foreverbitter
The ending ruined the whole show for me, which was really too bad because as you said the rest was so good. I don't get why some writers undermine their whole message just for...dramatics? to be different? I don't know. I just felt so cheated.

This show destroyed me! I cried buckets when Scheduler and Yi Kyung said goodbye for the last time, but he was already dead so it made sense that they couldn't stay together. But when they ripped apart our main couple I just about threw my computer across the room. What was the writer thinking?! I'm still not over it. I love to rewatch my favorite shows, but this is one where the ending spoiled everything good about the show; I haven't been able to watch it again since.

I am shocked at myself. I have seen this drama. I loved it. But I don't remember the ending. My memory of this ends when she got the last tear drop. I don't know how but it seems my brain has somehow erased the ending for me.
I find it strange because I usually re watch all dramas i have re- watched every drama except this one and i don't know the reason. I absolutely loved the drama. The Scheduler obviously stole the show. And i was under the illusion that it was a happy ending.

My brain had, on its own, deleted the ending for me that many many years later I accidentally was reminded of all the emotions I'd felt for the show and of how much I'd enjoyed the whole ride and decided to watch it again. The ending ambushed its way and left me half dead.... again.... If you were to turn off the show right when ji-hyun wakes up... that would be P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

Love this drama.
I didn't find the ending bad at all, only that last bit about the girls being sisters is a little too contrived.

About the OTPs being torn up, I would think it will be more ridiculous if Scheduler returns to life. For Ji Hyun, she has the chance to find love and say proper goodbyes, there is no regret in her passing. All is good.

I hated the end for the main couple. It was really unfair and cruel. They could let her die without knowing how her fiancé and her best friend betrayed her. But no, she had to learn it in a very cruel way but at least she discovered that a great was in love with her, all of that for nothing because she has to die anyway?
For the second couple, it was very sad but I think the story was that the girl learns to live without him.

I get traumatized by endings such as this. Hello, Autumn in My Heart and What Happened in Bali! I can’t.....

It’s crazy your post came out this week. Last week for some reason I felt the urge to rewatch the drama knowing perfectly well how it all played out. Still loved the drama though and still love the scheduler. When he finds out the connection between him and Yikyung is still one of my favorite scenes in a drama.

I was also upset that Ji-hyun pretended not to remember what happened to her during her 49 days journey. I understand why she felt that it was necessary but it still bothers me.

Kinda unrelated but I'm literally having the exact same thoughts and feelings about The Last Empress (An Empress's Dignity)'s ending. I started watching because of my baes, Choi Jin Hyuk and Jang Nara (2 of my top favorite actors), and also because the plot was so intriguing and got me hooked in spite of all it's ridiculousness. Like you with 49 Days, I became so invested in this show, I kept up with all the news surrounding it, laughed & cried & cursed in frustration more times than I'd like to admit, and I rooted for the main characters every single episode until the very end. But alas, all good things must come to an end and such was the case with this drama. It's ending left me feeling empty and cheated (lol), and I will continue to be bitter until Jang Nara and Choi Jin Hyuk do another drama where they finally get their happy ending. Please drama gods make it happen!!! Anyways, say what you will about this outrageous show and it's ridiculous characters, Sunny & Wang Shik deserved better than they were given. But even if they couldn't be together in the end, at least Wang Shik deserved a better ending. Bae could never catch a break even with his 9 lives. I will never forgive this writer for writing off Choi Jin Hyuk they way that she did 😭😭😭 Now excuse me while I try to cheer up by rewatching Tunnel and all it's bromance glory! ♥️♥️♥️
***Prays for Jang Nara x Choi Jin Hyuk reunion to happen ASAP***

I am still trying to read and not read your review at the same time, cause I haven't finished it yet. But I am aware of the greatness of the drama from the 2-3 episodes I have watched. Lee Yo Won was amazing in it, and she had great chemistry with Jung II Woo's ripper. It sucked that they were not together in a literal sense but the backstory hurt so bad. Hmm, I aspire to finish this drama now lol.

Thank you for writing the essay about 49 Days!

This drama has a special place in my heart. It was the first time I watched a Kdrama live, and thanks to it, I found Dramabeans site.

To me, the ending makes sense and I applaud write So Hyun-kyung for sticking to her idea and crafting a meaningful story rather than finishing the drama in fairy tale, HEA style. I remember feeling dehydrated because I cried so much watching episode 19. Yi-soo and Yi-kyung's closure was satisfying, though bittersweet. They loved, they fought and would have had made up in a day or two if fate had not interfered in a cruel way. At that point of my life, I also lost someone who meant the world to me a few years earlier. I kept thinking how lucky they were to have that one day to clear up any misunderstanding, to let the other person know how much they meant to each other, and to say goodbye. For Ji-hyun, if she woke up and went on with her life without remembering those 49 days, what would she learn from it? Though it seems unfair, she got the chance to learn the truth, set things in order and said her last goodbye to her parents. Not everyone got that kind of chance in real life.