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Heirs: Episode 20 (Final)

The end is here. Not that it’s a surprise, but the Heirs finale doesn’t step outside its prescribed frame for even a second, so mostly what we get is an hour to wrap everything up neatly and send our characters on their way. Truthfully it wasn’t really a drama that had twenty episodes of story to sustain it in the first place, so I’m pleased that at least there are a few good character beats to leave on, if nothing else.

Heirs topped out at 25.6% ratings for its finale.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Cold Cherry – “성장통 (Growing Pains)” for the Heirs OST [ Download ]

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FINAL EPISODE RECAP

Tan and Young-do look out over the city from the rooftop, each lost in thought over his father. For once they both agree—that tonight the city is cold, and dark.

Tan has his legal guardianship changed to his brother Won, and then they prepare to show a united front to the shareholders in a meeting. But they wait and wait, and only two faithful managers show up in the end. The rest—including all of the chairman’s actual family members—are busy plotting their takeover led by Madam Jung.

Chan-young’s dad VP Yoon tells them they have lots of work ahead of them if they have to chase shares down, and whisks Tan abroad to start shaking hands and getting signatures. Tan understands he is to play the part of the dutiful son, and he wonders how his father lived an entire life doing this.

Eun-sang only hears about the chairman’s collapse the next day from Chan-young, and then finds a note that Tan left for her at home.

Young-do eats a tense dinner with his dad, wanting to know what’s going to happen. Dad is for once a little nice, and assures Young-do that even if he does end up going to prison, life will resume as normal for Young-do, who is to trust only their hotel VP.

Dad puts on a smile and says he’ll be out in no time, reminding Young-do not to shirk his dishwashing duties at the hotel. But the very next day Young-do watches as his father’s face gets splashed all over the television along with news of his indictment.

Dad’s team of lawyers tells Young-do not to worry, and to live his life like before. They do have one message from his father though: “There need to be rules. You can’t cheat.” What. Did Crazypants finally teach his son a good thing? Granted it’s through a lawyer so I find it highly suspect that he really said it, but I’ll take what I can get.

Young-do takes it to heart and goes to see Joon-young, the kid he bullied so horrendously. He finds him at his new school, and Joon-young immediately tenses up at the sight of him, asking if he’s here to torment him some more.

But Young-do says he’s here to apologize, and says he’s sorry—sincerely, contritely. It floors Joon-young, who admits he didn’t think Young-do knew how to do that (me neither), but he says with grim determination that he won’t ever accept his apology. Joon-young tells him that if he’s really sorry, he should live the rest of his life feeling guilty, and Young-do doesn’t argue, agreeing to do so.

Eun-sang sees news of Young-do’s dad on TV, and writes to Tan wondering what kind of misfortune it is to bear the kind of weight that includes seeing your loved ones on the evening news.

She continues to narrate as she says that being the first to arrive at school meant that she often witnessed the fake corpse-outline graffiti that was a staple at their school. But what surprised her was that it wasn’t just one person—sometimes it was Hyo-shin, or Rachel, or even Myung-soo. “And today… it was Young-do.”

She wonders if it was since discovering that the graffiti wasn’t someone but everyone that she stopped being able to hate the other kids at Jeguk High. She asks if there was ever a morning when Tan came to school with spray paint in hand.

Young-do braces himself before walking up to a café window. Inside is his mother, smiling at customers. He gazes at her for a moment, but when she turns to look in his direction, he bolts behind a wall to stay out of sight and starts to cry.

Eun-sang narrates: “Even if it’s too heavy, or too cruel, or too sad, I hope that the only thing you can do isn’t to get hurt.”

Won greets Tan and VP Yoon on their return, and even praises Tan for doing a good job. He suggests they move back into the house together to show people that they won’t leave it empty, so the two brothers finally end up under the same roof.

Won asks Tan to go see Young-do about receiving power of attorney for his father’s shares, and Tan asks in return for Won to continue with his development project with Zeus. He agrees to do keep his word on that score even with Young-do’s dad in prison.

Tan goes to see Eun-sang and sticks his arms out for a bear-hug, and they have a happy reunion.

He visits Young-do next, and apologizes for having to come to him for a business matter at a time like this. Young-do guesses that Madam Jung is trying to take over the company, and sighs, “Moms. Whether you have ’em or not, they’re trouble.” Ha.

Tan knows they’re not friends, but promises to repay him for the favor if he’ll stand on their side. Young-do tells Tan to repay him now, and asks that he forgive him for the stuff he said to his mom. Aw. I really like 12 Steps Young-do. So…can you be friends NOW?

He gets up to go downstairs for dishwashing duty, which surprises Tan. Young-do points out that right now washing dishes is the only thing he has the power to do.

VP Yoon goes to see Rachel’s mom, who made it clear to Madam Jung earlier that she hadn’t yet chosen which side to take. It really only takes a moment of connection between the two exes for her to take the boys’ side, and they exchange well wishes that seem genuine and not laced with bitterness for the first time ever.

Won meets with his maybe-fiancée next, and agrees to marry her for her vote. I wish I could say this episode weren’t as choppy as it sounds on paper, but things just happen one right after the other. At this point I’m glad we even met this girl before now.

Then it’s time for the stockholders vote to edge Chairman Dad out, and despite Madam Jung’s smugness, the brothers win majority vote in the end and protect Dad’s position. She tells Won not to rest on his laurels thinking the war is over, and says they’ll be doing this again in no time (meaning when the chairman dies once and for all).

But as soon as she says the words, VP Yoon gets the call that Chairman Dad is awake, and he’s going into surgery now. Guess you’ll have to wait a little longer for your war, lady.

The brothers wait outside the surgery ward with VP Yoon and Madam Han, who is beside herself with worry. They get word that surgery went well, and she bursts into tears. Tan chides her for crying over a man who kicked her out, but she obviously doesn’t care about that now, and even Won sees how broken up she is about Dad.

Young-do returns to his mother’s café, and this time he gets up the courage to walk through the door. Mom recognizes him instantly and he just starts to cry standing there in the doorway.

She wipes away his tears and hugs him close, saying that she’s sorry she didn’t wait longer, that she didn’t go to see him. He ekes out, “Mom, Mom…” like he’s trying out the word for the first time.

At school, Hyo-shin passes his books down to Eun-sang and thanks her for being a bright spot in an otherwise dreary high school career, and she notes that it sounds an awful lot like a farewell.

Rachel gets called into the office to give her opinion on her mother’s new line, and her mom asks if she wants to take a single girls’ trip somewhere warm for the winter. At least she’s trying to be a mom now.

Her main concern is that Rachel seems to be taking her sleeping pills, and Rachel says it’s just because she hasn’t been sleeping well. Mom sends her to the psychiatrist anyway to get her own diagnosis and prescription, just in case.

Rachel runs into Hyo-shin at the doctor’s office, and he surprises her by saying rather plainly that he’s a regular patient here. He floors her with even bigger news that he’s headed to the army, and she asks if he has a girl to wait for him. He doesn’t have an answer for that.

He tells her it’s a secret, but she must’ve told Tan anyway, because he comes running to the train station to send Hyo-shin off. I love that Tan is using banmal now, calling Hyo-shin by name (and also “crazy bastard” interchangeably).

He asks how Hyo-shin could just up and go to army without even graduating high school or letting anyone know, but Hyo-shin says it was all he could think of to buy some time and distance from his parents. He knows it’s nuts, but he seems happy about the decision. Tan hugs him, which is super cute because of how awkward it is, but Hyo-shin finally hugs him back and says he’ll return safely. Aw.

Eun-sang sees that Mom is making more bean powder, and wonders why she’s making so much. Mom hesitates to admit that half is to send to her sister, who called to let her know that she got a job.

Eun-sang demands unni’s number, and Mom worries that she’s just going to start another fight, but Eun-sang surprises her by saying she’ll just tell unni that they’re living well and wish her well too.

Mom asks if she really is happy, thinking that all she does is bring her daughters more pain. Eun-sang swears that being Mom’s daughter makes her happy, and hugs her with an “I love you.”

Chairman Dad wakes up after surgery and tells Madam Jung he’ll be filing for divorce. She isn’t the least bit troubled by it, declaring that if she can’t swallow Jeguk whole, she’ll at least take half in the divorce.

Tan brings Eun-sang by for a visit, and though Chairman Dad isn’t exactly warm and friendly, he doesn’t reject the books she brings him.

Tan takes his mom for a walk out in the world as promised, but she quickly decides that this carefree business is hard. Tan points out that it’s the high heels she’s wearing, but she refuses to dress down: “It was my dream to be Miss Korea. I can’t give up the heels.” Ha.

Chan-young and VP Yoon go on a father-son fishing trip like the adorable duo that they are, and then Won and Tan totally crash it, which is even cuter. Chan-young tries to teach Tan about the art of waiting for the fish, which Tan is of course way too impatient to even listen to.

VP Yoon tells Won that the trip is in honor of final exams being over, which reminds Won to ask how Tan did this time around. Tan beams as Chan-young tells them about his fiftieth-place score, and Won looks so proud… that is, until Chan-young’s dad gapes, “Is that good? I didn’t even know there WAS a fiftieth place at Jeguk High.” Haha.

Won scowls and asks how Chan-young placed, and VP Yoon oh-so-casually says he stopped checking long ago because Chan-young is always, so predictably in first place. Hee. They’re cute when they’re being petty about the kids.

Won is instantly back to sneering at Tan after having just been so pleased at fiftieth place, and Tan drags Chan-young away in a huff for being the cause of his grief. VP Yoon asks if Won has told Tan yet, and Won says the story will be in the news tomorrow.

It turns out to be his wedding announcement they’re talking about, as we see Hyun-joo read the story in the news. This is how you let her find out? What the hell, Won? She cries alone at the bus stop after seeing the story, knowing that this time it really is over.

She meets him and takes out the wishbone he gave her long ago and breaks it. Her side is longer so she gets the wish, and she swallows back her tears as she tells him, “My wish is to break up.”

She says she always knew that despite looking at each other from across the same table, they were always worlds apart. All he can do is repeat that he’s sorry over and over. She promised to wave at him as he rose higher, and does so now. She gives a wave: “Goodbye, Oppa,” and leaves him.

Tan greets him with a barrage of questions at home about the sudden wedding, but Won just says it’s the price of the crown he wears. He tells Tan that he’s thought about it, and he doesn’t have to go to the States anymore. But instead he has to stand behind hyung and learn the family business properly.

He makes it clear that this means there is no other future for him to dream of. Won admits it’ll be a little less lonely this way, though still, they both know it’s a lonely road.

Young-do returns to the bike shop and remembers seeing Eun-sang there. He finally takes out the band-aid she gave him and uses it to wrap the cut on his finger from washing dishes at the hotel, perhaps ready to let himself heal.

Chan-young sneaks a kiss with Bo-na, and Tan receives his journal in the mail from his old professor. It’s returned with a note asking what kind of crown he was trying to wear, whether money, fame, or love.

Tan begins to write again, and as he narrates, we see Won sitting at his father’s desk. “The owner of the study has changed. Hyung rose to the place he wanted to rise to. He became strong, but at night he cried. Was his place of exile perhaps the place he lived his whole life—this house?”

As Tan writes the words, Won sits in Dad’s chair and takes out the broken wishbone, breaking down in sobs at the price he paid to sit here.

Tan becomes a senior in high school (which just makes me laugh to realize they were just juniors all this time, holy cow) and Myung-soo greets him with a camera in his face as always, while Rachel walks past without a word.

Tan warns Chan-young to watch his back in first place because he has no middle ground, and Bo-na quips, “So you’re going for hundredth place again?” Ha.

Young-do approaches, and they walk past each other with no friendly words, but no fighting either. Tan narrates that nothing has really changed, and they have yet to properly learn reconciliation.

And then he sits next to Eun-sang, who asks what it was he wished for on his birthday. He says he wished for everyone he knew to be happy, and describes a fantasy that in ten years’ time, he’ll be throwing a big party at his house, and everyone will be there.

We see his fantasy future, where Bo-na and Chan-young and still together and busy working, Hyo-shin is a movie director and still flirting with Rachel who runs her mother’s company, and Young-do is taking over the big project that Won began with his father.

Dad and all the moms are happy and well, and then Tan goes upstairs to his room, where Eun-sang is waiting, and he gives her a kiss.

Back in reality, Eun-sang says it’s a nice fantasy, and Tan says that maybe it’ll come true someday.

Tan narrates: “At eighteen, we fell for each other, we loved, we cried, we ran, we knelt, and we turned our backs on each other countless times.”

A flashback sequence brings us to the present where they walk away hand in hand, and then we fade to some time in the future as they walk down the street the same way.

Eun-sang: “But despite that, at eighteen, we ran toward each other, held hands, and held each other with all our strength. We might stumble again, or kneel again. Despite that…”

Tan: “We go forward.”

 
COMMENTS

The finale pretty much confirmed that this was a twenty-episode drama based on zero conflict and a vague notion of a story. We’ve been on this road for a while so it was no surprise, and in that respect the final episode delivered exactly what I expected—loose ends tied at warp speed, and everyone’s terrible parents suddenly being nice for no real reason other than we’re at Episode 20. I sort of wanted to ask about everyone’s lobotomies but then Dad really went and got his brain re-wired literally, so that kind of takes care of that on a meta level. I could’ve stood to see him suffer more, but he was, like most of the roadblocks in this drama, a device more than a person.

It wasn’t like I hated the drama with a fiery vengeance or anything, though I doubt it’s news that I didn’t love it. It’s just deflating when you get to the end and realize it was all empty, and the conflict that we thought was driving the entire series was basically all for nothing. Talk about a letdown. For a drama that talked of crowns and kingdoms, I still have no idea why Tan and Eun-sang had to do so much running away from each other when they were just going to defy their parents in the end and have Dad become a softy anyway, or when Tan was just going to make nice with his brother and have his cake and eat it too. What is the point? The final flashback sequence actually had the unintended side effect of making me remember just how much drama and angst there was, and for no real reason to boot. I would’ve forgotten, but thanks for the parting reminder, Show.

At least Won got a somewhat interesting ending, though it only made me wish he had been an equal star in this drama. The brothers’ relationship remained the most engaging part, and it’s really a terrible waste that it was sidelined as a bookend story rather than the meat and potatoes, which it should’ve been. I really liked that Won got the gloomier ending, and that it took him getting what he wanted all this time to fully feel the weight of what he had given up to get there. Had the brothers been the central conflict in the story, I might’ve actually cared. A lot, in fact. Oh well. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

As a drama universe, I did like peering in on the world of kids acting like adults, and sort of skipping their youth to go be groomed to run corporations. Only you can’t really skip that part, because then everything comes out sideways as we saw with the myriad of dysfunctional relationships that populated this world. I wish the drama had said something about it other than pointing it out though, because nothing changes. The world goes on and the rich stay rich, and the dysfunction just evolves. I suppose they’re meant to be growing pains like any other, but somehow I feel like we basically got told twenty times that first-world problems are hard too. Cry me a river.

I guess in the grand scheme of things I had a better time in Episodes 19 and 20 because everyone finally got to be happy or nice, so at least we end on an up-note, even if it hurts the head a little to ask too many questions like why or how. I wish I could say that the drama followed through on its most interesting ideas, or that the romance truly earned a happily ever after by walking through the fire and sacrificing everything for love. But mostly I think we just went through the motions. We sure went through a lot of hoops, but I never once felt the temperature rise.

 
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I don't really know what to say about the ending, apart from "I'm disappointed". Very, very disappointed.
My friend and I started watching it together but along the way (after 4 episodes) she stopped for reasons I could absolutely understand: There was so little story. The only reason I stuck with it was because I saw a lot of potential (especially in YD) and hoped that at some point it would be used, but after watching the finale I realized that hope was just pointless.

I mean, there was not much going on in the first 15 episodes, at least what happened could have been shrunken to less than 10 episodes.
And with every episode I watched I liked ES and KT less and less. In stead I started loving the other characters more and more! Chan Young/Bo Na and the mothers totally stole the spot in my opinion, and don't even get me started on Young Do - man, I got major second lead syndrome!
I know that finally finding his mother is equal to an happy ending for him, but honestly - couldn't you have given him SOMETHING? Like meeting a tough girl that he has to conquer? Just something! (to be honest I was rooting for him and ES...)

And then I felt like the last 2 episodes were incredibly rushed, and I really don't get why. I mean this drama had plenty of time to properly tell its story but instead the author choose to put all the important stuff in the last 2 hours, which really upsets me, and I feel totally betrayed.
I was looking forward to the new episodes every single week (The episodes where released around 1am where I live and having to get up early in the morning didn't stop me from watching it as soon as it was released either - that's how much I was looking forward to it!)
But this ending.. seriously, I am at a loss for words. Especially for KT wardrobe 10 years later, like seriously - not even in the last 5 minutes the stylist could put him into something nice? ARGH!

One thing I that really bugs me is why none of the "mature" characters got a happy ending. I'm talking about KW and his charity girlfriend and Esther and Chan Young's Dad. While I can partly understand that choosing the company over love didn't leave any space for KW's girlfriend. But what is it with Esther and CY's dad? Her company is doing perfectly fine, why can't she just decide on love now? It's not like she need of a financially good match?

Sigh. I just don't really know what to say. After watching it I went to bed with so many unsatisfied feelings and thoughts, and I still don't know what to do with them. Maybe I should just cover them up with ugly sweaters.

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Finally it ends. Some people are asking for season 2, oh please! Im happy but not satisfied yet somehow entertained. Truly, Won bears the weight of the crown while Kim Tan wears and bears the weight of all sweaters, jackets and palid suit, until the end!!! that is really something for a chaebol!

i will remember bona and chae youg! won bin storyline is the the only plot that made sense. The rest are just fillers!

Looking forward to coming week. no more Heirs!

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Kim Woo Bin, NOT Won Bin :)

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I'm not going to miss Heirs. I am going to miss Kim Woo Bin as Choi Young Do.

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oh Won if only he can have both the status and his precious Hyunjoo. They were a beautiful couple and had a greater love than ES/Tan. Sadly they could not be...

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You know, I wish there was more of The bullied student (whose name I'm sorry for not remembering).
We got to see The bully change (I can't really say grow, it was too fast for me), but we didn't get to see The poor boy deal with His trauma.
Help me with this please: how many times did we see YD repenting/thinking about His bullying ways, besides when He wrote that He lived wrong (without stating what this wrong was)?
Some People Said in The beginning that The Writer was trying to make a point about The bullying, but if that was fact, shouldn't it be adressed better, or at least more? YD fell in Love with ES and then He changed. But what were His thoughts while changing? I believe The only reflection He made was about hating Tan for smth that was not His fault.
I'm saying this because having YD go ask The bullied kid for forgiviness without having him properly repent for it before Just looks like last minute wrap up without much planning.
I really came to admire KWB's acting, and He has lots of charisma. However, His character still left somewhat a sour taste for me, mainly because something The recapper Said some thread ago: it feels like there were two YDs: The sadistic Monster we saw at The beginning and The super Nice Guy at The end. It was a fracture too sudden and big, imo, for The time being portrayed.
By The Way, how much time are we talking about here? I considered 5/6 months max. Am I wrong?

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Actually the one thing I really liked about that is that the bullied kid DOESN'T forgive him. That he was basically, "Too little, too late." I thought that was appropriate because really, he made that kid's life hell. He brutalized and terrorized him so much the kid had to leave school. It really would have bothered me if the kid was all "It's okay! No harm done! We're all friends now!" Just because Young Do has decided he's sorry, I'm glad the show made it clear that the bullied kid is under no obligation to make Young do feel better.

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I am in total agreement with you.

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I agree completely that The kid didn't have to forgive YD and it was pretty realistic that he didn't.
What bothered me was that we (or at least me) didn't see YD repent for what He did to The bullied kid. After The BK left school, what YD did to him wasn't adressed but now in The finale. YD changed, He actually Said He lived wrong, but it seemed to have more to do with His fighting with Tan then with The fact that He was a big bully and that He made several people's lives miserable with that.
To have him ask for forgiveness on The last episode without having him repent for The bulling before looks like someone suddenly remembered that this was a loose thread that needed tying.
If The show was trying to make a point about The bullying and it's consequences and The nuances of the victim and the perpetrator, it spent too much time making People fall in Love with the bully and forgot the bullied.

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Yes, the non-acceptance of the apology was realistic. Like one reviewer said, YD's story shows us that having regret for one's bad actions is NOT ENOUGH to receive forgiveness. And YD knows that too. When the bullied kid told him to live with the guilt, YD accepted it. On a side note, I am glad YD asked for forgiveness. That was one scene I wanted to see in this drama :)

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This drama didn't get my attention at all. it is just normal drama. i wish something different, some thin that cannot erase from my mind that easily. like ( Roof top prince, BBF, Faith, I miss you, moon that embraces sun, I here you voice, secret garden, Master's sun, Time between dog and wolf, two weeks) those are my top dramas and they had something different in each, but this is nothing. I don't know. don't get angry with me guys

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Only good thing in this drama is PSH. I think writing is bad and story , plot .. after first 3 episode its downhill. Only watched it for psh.

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i love to minhyuk, krystal, lee min ho and park shin hye and after os this drama also to kim woo bin and kim ji won,

for my heirs is a good drama <3

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It breaks my heart that Tan still can't be friends with Young Do. But at least in the '10 years later Tan's fantasy' there's a possibility of that.
Overall I enjoyed the two last episodes because less angst and more happiness, but still dislike how it's trying to wrap everything in just two episodes. Meh.

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I would like to think they are friends but both of them are too stubborn to admit it. Or else they are acquaintances and/or maybe just friends in secret.

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I think ep 18 showed that deep down, both Young Do and Tan that they are friends when it counts.

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i must have missed every detail about the ending lol . wasn't all that a daydream? nothing was wrapped up except that tan and eun sang are together?

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the 10-year fake time jump? yeah, it's a daydream. the definite Big Freakin' Deal wrap-ups were: YD and mom reunited, YD's dad will face charges for evading taxes or whatever his case is, Kim family keeps Jeguk, HJ breaks up w/ Won, and Tan and ES are together, with both of them hoping that they will still be together down the line.

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i want kim woo bin to have his own drama where he gets the girl, kisses his girl

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Hi everyone!

Just wondering where was the last scene shot?such a beautiful scenery...
Thank you...

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I wasn't a huge fan of this show if i were to compare it with all other lmh shows. i started liking it. i was hoping for better twists. nothing of what i hoped for happened but...i watched until it ended because i like lmh and it made my Wednesdays and Thrusdays a little less boring. Just a little but i had time to spare.

I have always understood the character of KT though. Like most here, I don't agree he is spoiled. Having wealth doesn't necessarily mean one is spoiled. Material things don't always mean happiness.

KT grew up knowing he was illegitimate. He came from a dysfunctional home. He had a father who couldn't show him affection because his brother won't allow it. He had a mother who can't be the best she can be because of her situation. He had to pretend to his world he was okay when he wasn't. And the only friend he had as a kid, he lost. He was sent to the US, not by choice, but because his brother didn't like him around Korea. All his life he just wanted to please his brother and all he got was scorn and anger and hate. He had never really been loved in the real sense of it. He had never been accepted. He always just felt unwanted. Some kids like him would have ended up a drug addict. He didn't. He still persisted loving the people he had grown up with because that was the only thing he knew at a young age. He hoped. Again and again.

Meeting ES wasn't the be all and end all for him. But however it started, she became a source of his happiness. So silly and little it may have been, it was hunger being fed. But he couldn't because he was engaged to someone he didn't even choose to be engaged to. Then one day, the very same people who had been deciding his destiny all his life tells him...No, you can't love her. What may seem just a little thing for some, means the world to KT. You can't blame him if he feels it is now too unfair to take away that little something that makes him smile by the very people who can't even give just a handful of it. Rebellion is justified. I totally understand why he acted the way he did. He wasn't throwing away life. He wasn't drinking to death. He simply reacted to a situation that was there before him.

The story was just a stretch of a year so it is not fair to perceive KT as lazy and useless. Over by the end of the whole show, KT had stood on his feet and tried to help in whatever way he could. But he is also just a boy. Growth is a process. It felt good to see him take a step on that growth. I had confidence he will be a better man as he had gotten over an obstacle like that in his youth. He would be wiser because he had taken the beating. He would be a kinder man because he knew the first thing of what it was like to have people be unkind to him. If he was allowed to just date the girl...if he was allowed to make his own choices...if he was loved by a real home and had friends, real friends, he would have been happier.

Won...he was born out of a proper marriage. He was the eldest son. He had lived long enough to understand what love is. But...he was selfish. He didn't love his brother because he thought of him as a threat. He didn't want his father to cuddle KT because he wanted it to be only him. Always him. He was given the consideration all his life. He was allowed to send KT abroad. No one objected. He, in my opinion, was the spoiled one. He had lesser excuse to be cruel. He had lesser reasons to be mean. But he was. He was selfish. His misplaced...

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Con't...

His misplaced anger was consuming him. And at the end of it, he found guts to go against his father when his position was threatened. He was ready to battle with the man who had always favored him all his life.

I didn't find Won a responsible man in the real sense of the word. He may have been a workaholic. But also, he was motivated by power and greed and selfishness. He wasn't doing it for the love of his father. He wasn't doing it because he was cornered. He was doing it because he loved it. He wanted the position. Giving it away wasn't an option. He was willing to even reconcile with KT at the end, provided he still sits on his throne. He was scheming like his father. He was manipulative. But then again, you can only be what you grew up seeing. He will end up like Chairman Kim. He will be cruel and mean to his kids. He will ask them to marry for business. He will repeat the same cycle.

Being responsible doesn't just mean in the aspect of work or a job. It also means, you are considerate of other people's feelings. Won had too little of that. Remember when Yoon told him that his engagement will be out on the news tomorrow and HJ might find out. He told Yoon, "She will anyway, just go ahead publish it." Ugh...not even a trace of pain in his eyes. How responsible of a man is that? And HJ had to find out in the news. Won never told her beforehand? Jerk.

Won --- I don't think he ended up sad though. He may have cried for reasons of his own but he got what he wanted. The throne.

Everyone got what they deserved. Everyone reaped what they sowed. Everyone had made their choices.

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Where's the thumbs down button??!

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oh unfortunately there isn't one. tsk tsk. but we can agree to disagree... :D

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I mightily disagree - where is the thumbs up button?? I'm so in tune with most of what 'xanti' says...

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This drama looked "soulless" compared to its predecessors.

Not a drama I would watch more than once :)

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A positive thing about Heirs' ending is that You Who Came from the Stars will be starting soon.

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eun sang the realist, kim tan the romantic
i love their last few dialogues with each other and in front of won.
speaking of won, he came out as a hero for me, a sad, lonely hero with a marriage maybe like his dad's and the chairman

all in all i think this drama is telling not to judge those rich kids. they may be flashing their cars, designer clothes and things but underneath they have pains too, that their actions cover up these life pains and their facades are up forever for their and their family/business' image and only a few are truly happy. so don't judge and don't be too envious of their lives.

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Heirs problem is multifold. School plot line is not needed but they want teeny pop viewers so they added school bullying etc.

I never able to connect with LMH & PSH love. It kinda seems distant to me.. They did not give willingly. LMH actions always forced...PSH actions always reluctant participator.

Nice color overall drama. One of the bland flat drama that goes no where ...from 3rd episode.

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Am I the only one who thinks KWB and Benedict Cumberbatch has something in common when it comes to their looks....not the typical handsome but for some reason you can't take your eyes off them;-)

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I think The same. Some episodes Back it struck me that The two of them have this mesmerizing quality about them.
I Hope KWB gets The acknowledgment He deserves after this show.

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Agreed, they definitely have something in common. Can't say they are handsome but just because their looks are a bit weird, they do, in fact, draw attention :D

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To much stars and plot line story....
20 episode and still make a big question, what this serial telling about ?
but, Hoorayyy for a sweet and cuddle couple Lee Bo Na and Yoon Chan Young, just for them I try to hanging harder to watch this series. Two thumbs up for Krystal for her excellent English pronouncation.
Kim Tan?
CHa Eun Sang?
Hm... those kissess just waste..

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What was Eun Sang ranking in the school finals?

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"JEGUK HIGH JUNIOR CLASS FINALS RANKING!

The production team released the ranking of JEGUK High School’s final exam grades for the junior class! As you know, Yoon Chan Young is undefeated, Kim Tan retrieved his pride by ranking #50 instead of #100 while Myung Soo took over Tan’s crown haha. The 150 IQ Choi Young Do actually tried this time and went all the way up to #27 from #98!

The biggest question? Cha Eun Sang’s ranking? She ranked #53! 3 places behind Kim Tan, no wonder she ran away! hahahah Tan will never let her live this down.

Fun fact: They made the direction, Kang Shin Hyo ranked #4! haha

For those who can’t read Hangul, the ranking is as follows.

#01. Yoon Chan Young
#02. Yoo Rachel
#27. Choi Young Do
#35. Lee Bo Na
#50. Kim Tan
#53. Cha Eun Sang
#65. Kang Ye Seul
#100. Jo Myung Soo"

http://the-inheritors.tumblr.com/post/70656854004/jeguk-high-junior-class-finals-ranking-the

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I really don't figure out with those people. If you really hate this drama, why did you watch 20 episodes and said "20 hours were wasted in my life"? And why did you guys come here, see the recap and then leave some sick comments to make us who like this drama feel sick?

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I have the same question, Crystal.
I'm not a particular Kdrama fan, but once I am hooked on one, I know I'll watch it to the end. If, however, I feel very little real interest in a drama, I'll just not watch it, be it Korean or any other.
I have seen only about 5 Kdramas in total but I believe that they were all worthy enough for me to sit through to the end.

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I just watched these last two episodes and I agree with people who were disappointed. This was a very rushed and very contrived ending. It was like it was written by a committee or something. Personally I find dramas that wrap everything up too neatly disappointing and the whole preceding 8 week investment in my time becomes retrospectively boring. Too bad because up until then, I was really enjoying Heirs. I don't know whether this is true for KES or not but it seemed like she was trying to address all audience criticism. It's as if the writer suddenly stopped telling her own story.

Kim Tan is, at the very least, a serious control freak. He's written that way but, in the 19th episode, he suddenly does what's called "breaking the fourth wall" and tells Eun-sang he knows he is a obsessive control freak and "all guys are like this". Well, duh, all guys are not like this even in Kdramas. We even have a good example of this with the character of Young-do.

Then we have a completely gratuitous scene in which Eun-sang and Bona go to meet some boys from another school on media club business where they engage in some very mild and totally innocent flirting. That Tan shows up to put a stop to Eun-sang's personal business is not surprising but Chan-young is completely undercut by having him accompany Tan on this mission of rampant "let's not trust the women we love to conduct their own affairs" control freakery.

Chan-young and Bona have had a pretty normal and mutually supportive teenaged romance to this point but to prove "all guys are like this", he's made to act out of character. This is what is called pandering to the audience because Tan's awareness of his own obsessiveness is there to address its concern about his on-going behaviour and Chan-young is used to prove this.

All the characters' story arcs are like this. We already see Young-do has changed. This has been very well set up in preceding episodes and has made the character memorable. I think that some things are best left unsaid though. We do know he is going to seek out his mother. Oh, but look! She's been there all along. He has a very rushed reunion with her but the really interesting question of why she had to abandon her son so quickly is left unaddressed. He also goes to apologize to his bullied victim. While it's nice to see bullying has consequences for both the bully and the victim, it's not really a satisfying ending for Young-do. Maybe write another drama centred on Young-do looking for his mother and exploring his new-found maturity. If a proper conclusion for a well written and compelling character is impossible given time constraints, then a little bit of ambiguity is okay. Leave it up to the audience's imagination. And don't get me started on Won! Crying in his study all night because he's done the right thing and saved the company! Give me a break!

Too bad this ended on such a downer for me personally because Heirs could have been really great. But thanks to Dramabeans for providing this forum and thanks for all your hard work in recapping.

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most stupid drama by kim eun sok..really waste my time watching it..

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Few questions (some may sound too simple) and comments:

-The going to the army thing was way out of the blue I thought that there would be a cheesy : we now understand our son and let him be free...bla bla bla
- So did Kim tan's mom and dad get together?
- I feel really bad like reeeeaaaly bad for won they should have just not given him a love interest or dragged it that long.
- if that heiress won was supposed to marry, had a boyfriend why did she keep bringing up marriage?
- Why bring up the relationship racheal's mother had with the secretary guy to have them break up/not be together again?
- What happened to YD, his, mom, dad and the company?

For a kdrama that followed all the kdrama rules and the cheesy rom-com scenario there weren't that many happy endings except for the main otp. I feel like I watched the whole show to get back to where it started

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I wonder if the writer had consumed kind of drug while writing this script., and wonder why lee mon ho choose this drama, this is the worst drama lee min ho had act, waiting to see lovely kim soo hyun in next drama, thats the only good thing about heirs.

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This drama sucked so bad. Such a waste of viewers' time.

So the dad is so evil the whole time but then randomly decides to give his consent? LOL. KT and ES don't develop any career goals. Neither of them does anything to solve their problems. The KT character was pathetic. The way he was "breaking down" because of ES wasn't romantic; it was just sad and pathetic. Man up and stop crying like a little beyotch every other second.

The whole drama was basically pretty scenes with Lee Min Ho staring intensely, giving back hugs, and looking teary. Apparently they think their audience is a just bunch of horny women who just want to see that over and over again.

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That was also one of my big problems with the show.

To avoid all his "problems," Kim Tan could have just obeyed his dad while he was living under his dad's roof, not dated Eun Sang and just focused on his schoolwork (which is really the best idea for a high school kid anyway). Then, a couple years later when he finishes college, gets a job and is completely financially independent from his father, he and Eun Sang can get back together. What is so bad/hard about that? That is actually what many people do in real life. Instead, he came across like an immature, spoiled brat.

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does anyone know the name of the actor that played the spy for kim tan's dad?

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Apologies for the late reply - you may not even see this! His name is Baek Seung Hyeon. He also appeared in City Hunter as Kim Na Na's superior.

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Because of press coverage in Chinese, my senior citizen mother wanted to watch this drama about teenagers. It turned out to be all hype but I realized once again that kdramas are not that ... and it's morphine to viewers. At least, this time the leads were not noticeably older actress vs newbie actor.

There's really something suspicious about kdramas. Why was the lead male so stalkerish and staring at the lead female when she was unaware of his presence. The second male lead did this as well.

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Why all the bad mouthing here? I actually miss "Kim tan " .
Thought it was a delightful drama. I loved it and would watch it again!

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I had high expectations for this drama and now watching the final episode, i call Heirs ' A decent drama' :) That's how i can describe it. There are dramas that when the final episode ends makes one go 'Woahh, what a drama' and you start reminiscing a little and then missing the excitement of it too a little, and there ARE other dramas you watch, enjoyed and was even really into the conflicts and the whole angst of it all, and at the end of the final episode, there's a smile on your face, but it doesnt live such a 'Woahh' impact on you after the ending. That's how i unexpectedly think i'm feeling for Heirs :-) Not the kind of drama that i'd consider 'one of the most memorable dramas' but also definitely definitely not the worst, it's a decent drama for me :) Love the actors, Lee min ho & Park shin hye , 2 of my favourite korean actors acting the leads, what else? Didn't dissapoint. Great acting in this drama, saw some new faces, interesting OST also :) Well done to production crew!! :)

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If i knew my last comment would have so many..smiles, i would have edited it lol.

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IF there are any lessons that can be taking from the drama is
1- Being angry inside and hating on people for what they've done to you in the past by creating a shield around yourself & by haring others, threatening them won't help the situation, in fact you will only end up hurting yourself and being pitiful! Forgive the ones who hurt you and be humble. (Yong DO)

2- Never judge a book by its cover, they may look rich, happy, with a great family, but you never know what goes on behind closed doors, so stop wishing for somebody's life or being mean at somebody cos you think they won't be hurt.
Appreciate your life and make the best out of your situations, being respectful to others and not giving back rudeness to someone who is rude to you. Be the better person. (Kim tan being nice to his big bro' no matter what, Kim won being nicer and letting go of his insecurities)

3- You have got to work hard to achieve your dreams. Nothing in life comes very easy, you've got to work hard and know who you are, not feeling down by the ones who may be rude or bully you and not finding your self esteem in what people think of you. (Eun sang) Hard work always pays off.

4- Every dream starts with a vision. The writer of this drama Kim eun sook for any drama she wrote, it all started with a simple vision, an idea, a paper, a pen..
Then all came together and now we're seeing what we're seeing now. No matter how big your dream may seem right now, work hard. Impossible is nothing! Write your dreams, visions down and work towards it no matter how impossible, limit ridiculous it may seem right now.

Life in itself is a lesson,the best place. You learn from your mistakes, move on and become a better person. Always growing...each and every day.

Fighting eurobeun! ..

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Oh my god thank you so much for posting this song. You don't know how long I've been trying to find this!!! XD

Cold Cherry- Growing Pains 2 (OST)
--Sad acoustic guitar--

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Hi, I am one of those people who love to watch Korean tv series, I really like The Heirs. I have two questions, there was a scene in Myung Soo's studio where i think Bo Na and Ye Sol (?) was playing some sort of a wooden board game, it looked like a maze then it has two wooden objects which the other one looks like a pawn, may I know the name of that board game?

Also, the last episode, Ye Sol, Chan Young and Bo na were playing cards and talking about 18, what playing cards are they using and what game were they playing?

I'm just asking because I do try to learn so many things about the beautiful Korean culture.

Thank you!

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Hi there. I don't know who writes these reviews, but I have to say I am thrilled to read them. They are in fact more enjoyable to read than actually watching the dramas!!! Which goes a long way as to how great the writing is (and maybe as to how poor most of these dramas are generally speaking)
I am genuinely surprised by the quality and insight of the reviews. I got here by accident as I was looking for more info on the drama "Faith" which I genuinely enjoyed and consider one of the best I've seen. I haven't read the reviews on that drama save for a couple of episodes (1 and another one half way through the series) as I got side tracked when the person writing the reviews mentioned another drama called "Sandglass". I have started to watch that drama but could not watch more than 15 minutes. I have to say I was very impressed with it but it is too much of a documentary on modern history of Korea for me, coming from the other side of the world, to take a real interest in it. I am more into culture and non-modern history. I have a question to the person who writes these reviews, and it would be great if it could be considered worthy enough to earn an answer: considering you are a gifted writer, why do you actually bother reviewing dramas, is it for the audience you get, or is this practice for when you will be writing about stuff that really matters? Please take no offence, this is pure curiosity coming from someone who is probably a lot older than you and not really much wiser :-)

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I agree with you regarding Won and Tan. If their brotherly relationship was the central conflict in this drama, it would've been more interesting. Although it was very sad, in my honest opinion, Won had the best ending.

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Since everyone is writing down their opinions, I thought i should do that too. So here I go,
This is my first comment ever on a drama, and i reeeeally am a positive girl but im turning into a negative one right now.

I'm really disappointed. The title of the drama is "The one how wears the crown, bears it's weight" and THAT is an heavy name, an heavy title... a Title that means "heavy stuff"..... that means "I'm gonna watch a drama that actually bears its own titles weight.".. but i have haven't seen that in this drama. The writer is known to be a strong one and was looking forward to great stuff but zero it came.

I enjoyed watching it and waiting for something "heavy" to come. The 20 episodes could actually be made into 6-7 episodes if they wanted to.

I wanted to see more of Young Do and Won. Man, Won was actually the only person who made me feel the weight of wearing a crown.

Looking forward a strong drama.

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It actually feels like Won is d only guy in d last ep who actually justifies the Title. And moreover it wud've been good if Chan Eun Sang was rich too and she and Tan had other things or reason that wud justify how the weight of the crown effected their relation and life. Notably she is the only poor girl in this drama ....

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What was the song that played in the background while Young Do was reunited with his mother? It was so beautiful and i cant find it anywhere!

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yeah! i still love it. what should i look out for. which one is next?
oh & does anyone know their real names of the actors?
maybe their twitter name or whatever.... i'm heading 2 korea later for stuff. i need some korean friends.. : )
pls & thank you.

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The heirs was so Beautiful movie I wiss It will
have Season 2

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I am shocked at how things were wrapped up so quickly in this ep. They pulled the story too long and then resolved everything in just one ep.I watched Heirs just bcoz of the star cast. The drama is a waste still I love it. Sad that Yong hwa left heirs for Mi rae as this drama is a success compared to Mi Rae however still can't leave the fact that Yong Hwa grew as an actor in Mi Rae's choice. Anyways id love to see another drama with Woo bin and PSH as it'll b a heart warmer just like Heartstrings after You're Beautiful .Yeah I kno Imma Yong Hwa girl. None d less I still loved heirs and My love from another star after Heirs waa super duperly awesome

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The Heirs is the 4th Korean drama that I have watched in full. I've noticed that with some dramas (and not only just them but also feature films), once they draw you in, you remain within their grip until they are over, EVEN if plot-wise they may not be exactly great.
In this sense, I'd have to say, The Heirs is not my cup of tea. I'd heard about this drama before but having read a short synopsis of it, was almost convinced that I'd not like it. I was wrong, however, as after I kept seeing it being played over here (with Chinese subtitles), I caught myself thinking that I actually want to get hold of a version with English subs and take a look. Now that I've watched it, I realise that despite a trite storyline and some naivite and lack of consistency that you commonly encounter in any drama, I actually enjoyed watching it! And it was mainly thanks to the leads - LMH and PSH and some of the other characters too (Young-Do and even the bitchy Rachel) :-)

God, those Korean drama makers know how to pull the right strings and press correct buttons in an audience. At least that is the impression I'm getting from watching those dramas (nevermind there have been few) as well as watching some of my friends being genuinely interested. The leads, the sets, the music...all that may be able to generate an interest even in a most trivial drama!

I agree with a lot of what user 'xanti' has written above. Her analysis of Kim Tan and Won sounds so accurate to me...I could never understand - throughout the whole series - why the older brother was THAT selfish and and THAT determined to hate his younger half-brother. Why he was so irresponsible towards his poor girlfriend. :-/ Perhaps there is something I am missing about the Korean culture, and being a very structured hierarchical society, especially within a mega-rich family, it is a norm to act like that over there?

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For some of you, PSH and LMH were not convincing, but to me they definitely had a sort of chemistry that made me root for them! That's a major reason why I kept watching this drama. I'm sort of well past the age when one is interested in high school blues and politics, but again, thanks to a few bright stars (one of them being Young-Do) I found that those scenes were actually not boring to watch. ;-)

As I was watching the series, I was reminded of an old Russian pop-song that's called "Those Almighty Kings". The rough idea of the song is that even though kings appear to be powerful, ruling over people and lands, in reality they rarely live a life they wanted, where no one (or nothing) would be dictating how they should be dressed today or who they would marry. Their whole lives are determined by conventions and formalities. In the song a French king falls for a very pretty and sweet peasant girl and wants to marry her, but his whole family and other royal families go beserk and in the end he is married off to a princess who is as ugly as hell, but rest assured - she's got all the right pedigree. The song is presented as a fun piece, but if one listens to the lyrics, it's actually quite sad.

The Heirs aims to show the same thing: that the lives of the mega-rich are basically pre-determined from birth and there is very little they can do about it. Although I still think that it's all about priorities: even kings can abdicate if they wish to (and there are precedents in history, including those when a monarch chose to abdicate because they wanted to marry a commoner), so why wouldn't heirs to major corporations be able to do the same? This is precisely what Kim Tan aimed at and it was exactly the opposite for his brother. Although, having been brought up outside Asia, I still don't get the problem about him marrying his girlfriend: would the company suddenly go bankrupt just because he didn't marry for money?! Once again I agree with 'xanti': Won will follow in his dad's footsteps and will end up being the same, although he once admitted in his conversation with Yoon that he wished to avoid it. Alas, he'll just continue the vicious cycle...

Watching this kind of stuff makes me appreciate who I am and the life I have now...I wouldn't want to be part of any rich clan for all the jewels of Christendom!!

As for the songs that spring to mind when I think about different characters, A-ha's "Hunting High and Low" would be number one for Kim Tan. The entire song is just so...him! :D
"What can I do" by the Corrs would be very suited to Young-Do, especially these lines:

What can I do to make you love me
What can I do to make you care
What can I say to make you feel this
What can I do to get you there

There's only so much I can take
And I just got to let it go
And who knows I might feel better, yeah
If I don't try and I don't hope

And, finally, for the leading couple, overall atmosphere, I think should...

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Oops, sorry, I got too excited and wrote too much. Just this last bit :-)

...for the leading couple, overall atmosphere, I think should be conveyed nicely by Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer':

She says, "We've gotta hold on to what we've got.
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.
We've got each other and that's a lot.
For love we'll give it a shot."

Whoa, we're half way there
Whoa, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Whoa, livin' on a prayer

I'm done :D

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Oh, the last thing!! Am I the only one that was left wondering WHY the hell Young-Do's mum left many years ago?! And why wouldn't she contact her son earlier? Nothing has been mentioned in this respect. I thought this was ridiculous!

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Is the complete drama out of the hiers??? i wanna watch it alot . Lee min ho i love u ... dam crazy for u .

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when won smiles, the world is a better place. i wish he hadn't spent half the show being a turd hammer.

too much cute. after the wallet scene from last episode, i may cute short circuit from the next puppy or baby i see

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I'm going voting crazy!

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IM SO Disappointed

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wow wat a great ending

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