Nokdu Flower Final Ep.
What a fantastic show from beginning to end.
With those last words on the screen
“Because of the Nokdu Flower – we are still here” I felt very emotional.
Once again I’m left with the reminder that it is because of so many brave people who decide to fight for justice in our world – no matter the consequences – that we live in a world that is as decent as it is today.
This show reminds me of what I felt when I finished The Taxi Driver about the student protests South Korean a few decades ago and how the taxi drivers helped them.

The show itself: what struck me was how Baek Ji Hyun was such a conflicted character. He started out so sweet and full of hope – but the ravages and demands of war caused him to turn into a beast. And he couldn’t forget that part of himself.
Of all the cast I think he was the most complex and it showed so much on his face….his acting was superb…

Anyway – I’m glad that I finally finished it and experienced what others had said was a bittersweet ending. Kudos to the cast, crew, director, cinematographer and just overall production.

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    The ending was so emotional. I’m not even Korean and felt proud of Nokdu’s legacy 😭
    Baek Yi Hyun was a truly interesting character, probably Yoon Shi Yoon’s best performance to date. 👏🏻👏🏻

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    I thought the ending was beautiful. I’m so happy the show never faltered–it’s rare something maintains that kind of quality from beginning to end.

    Beak Yi-hyun was a fantastic, layered character. His descent into darkness felt so realistic. Yoon Shi-yoon did an amazing job portraying his struggle. I’ve always liked him as an actor, but this was on another level.

    And I have to mention the awesome, badass women in this show like Ja-in, Yoo-wol and Beo-dul . They weren’t there just as love interests or supportive family members, but had their own, independent roles to play in the story.

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      Yi-hyun is probably his best and most nuanced performance so far. I’m glad he took this project and grew even more as an actor.

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      Re: the strong women
      I was so surprised that we got so many strong women in this show given the era it explored. It was an era when even the noblewomen didn’t have much say about their own lives, yet there’s no shortage of awesome women here. Even Myung-shim ended up being a female character I respected so much.

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        Exactly. I was expecting Ja-in to be the only one who would maybe get to have a strong role, but I was pleasantly surprised that all the women were shown to have agency even though they had less social power.

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    I still have a couple of episodes left to watch but I’m looking forward to every single one of them. The drama has been outstanding.

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      You will not be disappointed at all. I tried not to write anything like a spoiler in case there were still people who hadn’t finished it.
      @ash27 – I totally agree with you about all the badass women. Especially how Yi Hyun’s mother and sister eventually were changed by their circumstances…
      Beo-dul was so amazing even to the end..

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    I agree that out of all the very superbly written characters, Baek Yi-hyun is the most complex. He made me cried so much. And while I regretted his bad turn in the latest eps, it somehow felt inevitable what’s with his circumstances and upbringing. And I’m glad the writer knew exactly how to wrap up his journey well. The way he framed his last choice as some sort of an act of deviance toward his father was shiver-inducing.

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