The end is here! And it is not without pain, suffering, sadness, and tears. Oh my – I think I sound quite depressive, but then again, how else can I feel when such a wonderful series comes to an end? There are enough happy moments, but all tempered with a tinge of dread as we all know what’s going to happen to Sun-Man. I hope you’ve enjoyed watching this series, more so than reading recaps; What’s Up is quite the rare gem, and it’s definitely up there in my list of favorites.

Now let me just whip out a box of tissues…

SONG OF THE DAY

This ballad plays quite frequently in What’s Up. [download]

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 20 (Final) (3,076 words)

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Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up

Episode 19 and 20 are really two halves of a whole. It sends the entire series hurtling towards the end, and wraps up the Tae Hee and Jae Hun storyline into a neat little bow. I actually don’t like that it’s a neat bow, but more on that later. What we do get is a nice moment with Chae Young, who shows no indication of changing her manipulative ways… or will she?

I was most disappointed by the lack of music in this episode. Boo.

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 19 (2,978 words)

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Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up

Agh – these two episodes were emotional roller coasters. I felt happy, then sad, then heartbroken, then happy again, then euphorically happy, and then sad again. SHOW – WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!?!? The best part is? Episode 18 had two wonderful performances. I couldn’t bear to write about them as two separate recaps…

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episodes 17-18 (5,334 words)

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Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up

Whoa. I fervently request that all remaining episodes – however many it may be, because I REFUSE to count down – be 90-minutes long each. At it’s rate, it’s going to be difficult to resolve everything when each episode is only 45-50 minutes long, and the drama is just starting to reach the climax by adding more conflicts and obstacles for our dear characters!

Plus, I’m getting really attached to the coupling in the above photo.

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 16 (3,082 words)

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Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up

Being obsessed with a show has a double-edged sword; when things are going well, it’s great. When things go exactly the way you want them to, and/or turn out to be better than you expected, it increases the level of fandom. And that’s difficult for me because I can’t go shouting on the rooftops, “What’s up, WHAT’S UP!!” and turn on everyone’s computer to episode 1. I’d get the stink-eye, no matter how sweet or charming I think I am. The point of all this “fandom rambling” is: this drama needs an official OST, stat. The songs are what increases my love for this show each week because of the talent involved. There’s only so much I can do with editing audio tracks from the drama episodes to create my own personal OST.

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 15 (2,990 words)

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Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up

OH THE ANGST! At least we have some resolution now with Tae Hee and Jae Hun, but the ANGST! I knew it was coming…

As for Byeong Gun’s storyline, it’s predictable in how it ends, but that doesn’t take away from the sweetness factor of it all. I am most touched by the revelation on who his first audience/person really is.

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 14 (2,756 words)

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Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up

For anyone wishing to get Byeong Gun and Do Sung’s backstory, you get your wish in this episode! While Do Sung’s is told quite quickly, his story is heartbreaking enough that I’d rather see him move on, than try and resolve the issues of his past. Mothers can be so damn ruthless. They’re ruthless about your appearance, your future, the state of cleanliness of your room, when you’ll be home for dinner, when you’ll be home so we can continue another drama marathon…

I digress. Gah.

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 13 (3,077 words)

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Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up

At this point in the series I am now Byeong Gun’s biggest fan. I used to be Jae Hun’s, but now it’s Byeong Gun because he never fails to make laugh. I have this internal tally in my head, and Byeong Gun has made me laugh 3x more than Jae Hun. I need MOAR of his voice. MOARRRR.

We finally move on from the Tae Hee-Jae Hun storyline, as it is mostly resolved… for now. We are now getting snippets of the others – a revelation on Sun-Man; Byeong Gun’s family; and solidifying the rivalries as every character now has a relationship towards each other. This episode left me wanting a Do Sung-Soo Bin showdown.

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 12 (3,381 words)

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Jae Hun is the BEST ever! I have never loved such a prickly but honest, and loving wise-ass character in the WORLD! Wait – Uhm Tae Woong in Dr. Champ was kind of like this. But Jae Hun is better – he’s younger. And for all the Tae Hee haters, she kind of gets her comeuppance in this episode.

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 11 (3,670 words)

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Aaaaand time jump! Although not a massive one – it’s just a hop and skip over summer break. It’s weird that a semester has passed when I feel like only a week passed, but it’s the drama world! This time jump also gives me hope that we’ll cover a good amount of time while these students are in school. We’ll get to see these characters grow over a longer stretch of time rather than change drastically in one semester. It also gives me hope that when these characters change once, they have time to change again.

I am now caught up – let’s save the spoilers for when we get to that episode, ‘kay?! No – I don’t watch previews!

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Read the rest of What’s Up: Episode 10 (3,292 words)

© kaedejun for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 69 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Daesung, featured, Im Joo-eun, Im Joo-hwan, Jang Hee-jin, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-hyuk, What's Up