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The Lonely Shining Goblin: Episode 14

It’s been a long week and an even longer wait for our characters, but my biggest fears have been assuaged and I feel good about where we’re headed for the final two episodes. Narratively speaking, the show benefitted from having this episode delayed a week, to give loss and heartache a chance to feel like it had taken root in our characters’ lives. The show didn’t seem to suffer ratings-wise either, as it hit a new high at 17.5% today.

 
EPISODE 14 RECAP

Shin says his final goodbyes in Eun-tak’s arms, and the fire from his heart spreads until he’s nothing but fire and ash. He scatters into the wind before her eyes, and she collapses to the ground in tears.

A strange sensation passes through Deok-hwa in that moment, and Sunny and Secretary Kim too. We also see Eun-tak’s friend the class president, and the ajusshi who was Shin’s second-in-command in Goryeo.

The writing in Shin’s diary starts to disappear, and even the scribble he added in Eun-tak’s book of poems—”It was first love”—starts to burn off the page. Oh noooooo, is he being erased entirely? Every trace of him?

Eun-tak seems to sense that Shin is fading from every memory they shared, literally disappearing from the scene as she remembers it, so she scrambles to her bag to grab pen and paper. She frantically starts writing to herself:

“You have to remember. His name is Kim Shin. He’s tall and when he smiles he’s sad. He’ll come as the rain. He’ll come as the first snow. He’ll keep his promise. Remember. You have to remember. You are his bride.”

Tears fall as she writes the last words, and she clutches the notebook close, sobbing and trying desperately to remember. Fade to black.

A butterfly lands in a vast snowy tundra, and a lone figure stands in the distance—it’s Shin, back to his original form as the Goryeo warrior. Butterfly-god says that Shin has been erased from the minds of everyone who knew him, and that this is a consideration from god. This is you, being considerate? I’d hate to know what the mean version is.

Samshin Granny narrates over the scene that his punishment was over now, and that he should close his eyes and rest at peace. “But there were tears in the goblin’s eyes,” she says.

Shin cries as he remembers Eun-tak and the moment he realized he’d make this choice. He says to the gods, “I will stay in this place. I will remain here and go as the rain. I will go as the wind. I will go as the first snow. For that one thing, I ask heaven’s permission.”

Samshin Granny narrates that it was a childish choice. Butterfly-god answers him: “I was always with you in your life, but in this place, I am not here.” And butterfly-god leaves him too.

Back on Earth, Samshin Granny is back to her grandmother form as she tells this story, saying that the goblin was all alone, stuck between this life and the afterlife, between light and dark, his soul trapped forever in a place without god.

The person listening to the story is Shin’s second-in-command, who asks curiously what happened to the goblin. Granny supposes, “Memories will fade, and all that will be left is shining futility. He’ll walk in that futility and walk some more. And then what will happen? Where will he reach?” Just as she described, we see Shin trudging through the snow wearily, walking and walking with no end in sight.

Nine years later. Eun-tak is a radio PD, and her writer flips out when it suddenly starts to rain and she has to change the DJ’s opening monologue to suit the weather. Eun-tak takes it in stride, though she seems to be in a subdued mood. She ignores a text from her nasty cousin Kyung-mi asking to borrow some money.

As she leaves work, Eun-tak stands outside without an umbrella and watches the rain come down, looking pained. And then a tear trickles down her face. Does she remember?

Omo, Reaper comes up right behind her in line at the coffee shop, but they don’t seem to recognize each other. This can’t be a coincidence though—she’s 29, which makes her vulnerable to grim reapers, doesn’t it?

At home, Eun-tak remembers seeing Reaper at the age of 9, and wonders if the man in the coffee shop could be the same grim reaper. But she thinks she must be mistaken. She wonders about the destiny necklace she’s wearing, where it came from, and why she can’t remember.

Shin continues to walk in the snow, and he narrates, “In that desert / He was so lonely / He walked backwards at times / Just to see a set of footprints ahead of him.” The scene fades into that very poem in Eun-tak’s book, as she copies it down. She flips back to the page with the first love poem, and wonders how it only burned in that one spot.

She heads to the chicken shop and tells Sunny that she’s as pretty as ever. When Eun-tak asks for soju, Sunny wonders why she’s down when today’s radio show was great, but Eun-tak sighs that they have no advertisements, so she’ll probably be fired soon anyway.

Sunny makes Eun-tak get her own drinks, and then her high school friend arrives. Eun-tak still just calls her “class president,” while Sunny greets her familiarly as Lawyer Kim. I’m so glad they’re still friends.

Class Prez asks if Eun-tak doesn’t want to go on a blind date with a cute chef who looks like a puppy when he smiles. Eun-tak says that’s not her type, but Class Prez says the chef is a fan of Eun-tak’s radio show.

Sunny joins them and advises Eun-tak to grab the opportunity while she can, sighing at how she used to be the first love to so many men. Class Prez agrees that Eun-tak should date before she ends up like Sunny, and Sunny wonders if Eun-tak doesn’t have any other friends.

Eun-tak sighs as she notes that it’s raining outside and she’s got two friends to worry about her. She pours herself another drink and says in Shin’s manner of speech, “It’s a nice day.”

As Eun-tak stumbles home that night, two ghosts watch her pass—one of them is the girl who always used to follow her around. They wonder why she can’t see them when she’s the goblin’s bride, but they figure that since the goblin has never shown up, she’s more like a widow.

At home, Eun-tak’s depression worsens and she writhes in pain and chokes down sobs, wondering what she’s so sad about and why she’s always like this. Poor thing.

The image of her sobbing fades into Shin walking in the snow, stumbling but forcing himself back up. And then we see that he’s clutching something in his hand: His contract with Eun-tak.

At one point he just collapses in exhaustion, and the contract blows out of his hand. It starts to fly away, and he scrambles to his feet, falling over himself in desperation to retrieve it.

And down on Earth, it begins to snow. Eun-tak looks up at the sky sadly, and it’s almost as if she’s looking up at Shin, who’s now face-down in the snow, unable to walk another step. A tear falls as he shuts his eyes.

Eun-tak sits alone with a birthday cake, wondering to herself, “What have I forgotten? Whom have I forgotten?” She lights a candle, and in that moment, the sun shines on the contract and Shin opens his eyes…

Eun-tak: “What face and what promise have I forgotten that all that’s left is such deep sadness? Somebody, anybody… please, save me.” As she says the words, Shin snaps to attention, like he can hear her voice. He can hear her!

She blows out the candle, and a familiar smoke rises out of Shin’s fingertips. The contract begins to smoke and turn to ash, and then just like that, Shin appears at Eun-tak’s side.

They reunite just the way they met ten years ago to the day, when Eun-tak blew out her birthday candles at 19.

His eyes full of emotion, Shin marches over to her and grabs her in a hug. Ohthankgod it’s still you and one of you remembers! Eun-tak bursts into tears in his arms.

They both cry for a long moment as he holds her, and then Eun-tak suddenly pulls away, apologizing for crying because she can’t control her mood swings. Then she realizes that this random guy hugged her out of nowhere and asks what he’s doing and if he knows her. She takes another look at him and assumes he’s an actor.

He sees that she became a radio PD from her station badge, and remarks proudly that she realized her dreams. She bristles at his use of banmal, and Shin takes it in stride, remembering butterfly-god’s words that he’d be erased from everyone who knew him. He says it’s okay if she was at peace. Not understanding a word, she just directs him to the drama department.

Eun-tak begins to walk away, but she turns back and asks how he got in here. Shin replies, “Someone called me.”

Secretary Kim—er, CEO Kim—notices Deok-hwa sneaking up beside him as they walk into the office, and he reminds Deok-hwa that he’s still the CEO, while Deok-hwa is a team leader. Deok-hwa laughs sheepishly.

They stop in their tracks when Shin calls out, “Deok-hwa-ya!” Security guards rush to block Shin, but CEO Kim wants to hear what he has to say. Shin approaches and says that he didn’t think he’d ever see Deok-hwa again, and how happy he is to be reunited.

Deok-hwa asks who he is, and Shin starts to say that he’s his uncle and his brother, but Deok-hwa cuts him off and calls him a crazy person. At lunch, Deok-hwa wonders how that crazy guy knew about his uncle, when only he and Grandpa know of his uncle’s existence.

It’s clear that Deok-hwa doesn’t actually know said uncle though, because when CEO Kim asks if that uncle’s name happens to be Kim Shin, Deok-hwa says that’s silly because if he’s in the family, his last name would be Yoo. In any case, Deok-hwa plans to protect his company from any interlopers.

Shin goes to see Sunny next, but remains at a distance just watching her through the window. Sunny pauses curiously at the sight of him, but he leaves before she can get a second look.

Shin’s last stop is Reaper’s tea room, and he looks in the same window (invisible to humans) where they first spotted each other. And just like that first time, he says, “You’re wearing a terribly vulgar hat… as always.”

Reaper tips up his hat and wonders if it’s that goblin who was rumored to return to nothingness. Shin says his rumors are exaggerated and turns to go, when Reaper suddenly says, “I guess you didn’t scatter into dust, and wind, and rain. And of course, it wasn’t the radish you eat either.” Omo. That’s the pun the goblin used to say about not knowing if he’d turn to nothingness [mu] or end up a radish [mu]!

Shin looks back at him in shock, and Reaper finally betrays his emotion, as a tear trickles down his face. Eeeeeeeeee, Reaper remembers him! I was going to cry if he forgot too.

They sit down inside, and Shin asks how it is that Reaper still remembers him when no one else can. Reaper doesn’t know but he has a theory, and thinks back to the moment when Deok-hwa (as butterfly-god) swore to take Reaper’s side to the end when he first moved in.

Butterfly-god had told Samshin Granny that it was a moment of weakness, and she’d asked him to keep Reaper’s memories intact, thinking “Shin and Tak” too pitiful if no one remembered their love. Butterfly-god said it felt like leaving a door open to rediscovering that closed world, and mused cheekily whether he hadn’t closed that door properly.

Reaper cries as he tells Shin that he’s so glad he’s back, and Shin admits that it’s nice to be welcomed. In his typical way, Shin calls it thoughtless, but he smiles a tiny smile.

Shaking, Reaper says, “I’m too late, so late. I should’ve said it nine years ago, nine hundred years ago, but I hope you’ll forgive the words I say now: Forgive me for not protecting you, who protected my lover and my Goryeo. Forgive me for receiving love but not loving anyone.”

Shin simply nods—it’s one tiny motion, but all is forgiven. Reaper smiles gratefully and suggests a haircut, heh.

Back at home and back in modern clothes, Shin has a beer with Reaper and sighs that he’s finally back in his house. Reaper notes that it’s still his house, as he has ten years left on his contract.

Shin asks if Reaper has seen Sunny, but he says he’s stayed away for the last nine years, and that he’s in the middle of receiving his punishment, to miss her. Reaper guesses that Eun-tak can’t remember Shin, and says that he listens to her radio show often. Shin asks for the station so he can listen too.

They’re alarmed when someone opens the lock at the front door, and Reaper says it’s Deok-hwa. Shin ducks behind the couch just in time, and Deok-hwa comes in and tells Reaper he met a weird man today. He suddenly wonders why he calls Reaper “Last Room Uncle” and not just uncle, and when he started living here.

Reaper tells him to look at the contract, and Deok-hwa asks why there are two beer bottles on the table. Reaper grabs them and says he likes to drink double-fisted, but then Deok-hwa asks whose feet are sticking out from behind the couch. Busted.

Shin stands up and tries to play it cool, praising the owner for his taste in furniture. Deok-hwa gapes to recognize him as the weird man from earlier today and says, of all things, “You had your hair done.” Shin says he’s Reaper’s friend, and just like Shin did to him once, Reaper waves and tells him to leave now.

Shin glares but then shuffles toward the front door, muttering to himself that Deok-hwa is wearing terribly vulgar clothes. He stupidly goes through the front door and teleports himself upstairs into Eun-tak’s room with Deok-hwa standing right there, and Reaper finally has to intervene: “Look into my eyes…” Ha.

Eun-tak pops some pills at night and is so distracted with thoughts of the strange man who hugged her that she makes a glaring mistake in her radio program, misreporting the weather as 22 degrees when it’s 2 degrees. Her boss rips into her for the mistake and asks if she’s dating or something, to report spring temperatures when it’s freezing cold.

But then her assistant yelps that Eun-tak must be a magician or something, because right now outside their station, it’s exactly 22 degrees, and flowers are blooming in winter.

Eun-tak runs outside to see people stopping to take pictures of the flowers, and she looks across the street to see Shin standing there staring at her. They look at each other for a long moment, and then he walks away.

Eun-tak works at a coffee shop all day and when a server puts a candle on her table, she mindlessly blows it out, thinking of that man she saw across the street today. She reaches over for her coffee, and someone slides it into her hand.

It’s Shin, of course, and Eun-tak starts to cry again just at the sight of him. She mutters that the meds are really only effective when you first take them, and asks what he’s doing here. He says that someone called him here, but can’t recognize him.

She tells him she doesn’t want to share a table because she’s waiting for her boyfriend, and he just says she doesn’t seem to have a boyfriend, and she clams up. Eun-tak mentions the haircut and says she almost didn’t recognize him, while he counters that she still doesn’t recognize him.

She asks if he was there earlier outside the station, and he says in his vague way that he’s often everywhere and nowhere, but he was there because he missed somebody. “When I’m looking at her, it seems like she’s going to run into my arms at any moment, but I know that won’t happen, so it hurts my heart,” he says.

She wonders why he’s telling her this, and he just says it’s because she asked. She points out that he should order something, only to end up having to pay for him because he doesn’t have a wallet. He tries to explain that he didn’t have a chance to grab his coat before being called here, but she just stomps off, making sure to go in the opposite direction of where he’s headed.

Shin bursts into Reaper’s tea room to borrow some money to repay the coffee, then bursts in again for more money to buy books. Are you going to ask him if the money goes with your outfit? Reaper grumbles but hands over the cash grudgingly, but when Shin wants a lot of money to buy meat, Reaper muses sarcastically that there’s probably a reason god left his memories intact.

Shin feels sheepish having to constantly ask for money, but Reaper points out that he can’t even sell those gold bars that Shin left behind because they’re stamped with serial numbers. Shin decides that there’s only one recourse… and he appears before Deok-hwa and CEO Kim.

Deok-hwa hides and wonders how Shin got in the house, and Shin says dramatically in sageuk tone, “I am water and fire, light and dark.” As soon as they hear his name, they gape to realize that he’s the secret uncle and the man mentioned in Grandpa’s will.

Just as described by Grandpa, Shin has appeared on a stormy night, surrounded by blue fire. Shin looks out the window and says he misses Grandpa especially today, and tells them that he doesn’t need the company or the family assets—he just needs his house and his identity, a credit card, and a nephew. Aw.

Eun-tak gets yelled at by her boss again and he tells her to secure new sponsors or lose her job. Shin runs into her at a bookstore and tries to act casual, though it’s clearly not a coincidental meeting.

As they walk outside, Eun-tak sees a group of high school girls run by and sighs like an old person that they’re at a nice age, and Shin chuckles to hear her say something like that, calling her cute.

She asks if he isn’t going to repay her for the coffee, and he asks eagerly if not repaying her means that they can meet again. She warns him that if there’s a next time, she’ll make him pay criminal charges for stalking her. She ends her statement with a characteristic Kim Shin turn of phrase (meaning something like “You’d think I’d know but I don’t”), and that makes him laugh again.

She demands to know why he’s laughing, and he says, “Because I’m so happy. Because I can’t believe this moment is real. Because everything is perfect.”

She doesn’t know how to respond, and just asks which direction he’s headed in. His face falls knowing she’s about to leave again, and he says he’ll listen to her broadcast. Eun-tak points out that she never told him what she does for a living and finds him completely suspicious at this point.

She starts interrogating him about where he works and what he does, so Shin points up at Grandpa’s company and says he’s the boss there. She doesn’t believe him, of course, so he asks for the advertisement proposal in her hand and offers to prove it.

Cut to: Eun-tak in CEO Kim’s office. He signs her contract personally, saying that it was a request from their president, and she asks awkwardly for Shin’s name and phone number, to thank him.

CEO Kim points out how weird it is for him to be signing this contract if she doesn’t even know his boss’s name, but he offers to pass along her phone number and tells her that Shin’s name is Yoo Shin-jae—the name he uses legally.

Eun-tak is greeted by applause from her staff for scoring the huge advertising deal and saving their program. They excitedly start work on a new radio segment about finding people who’ve lost touch and connecting them over the radio.

Her friend Class Prez thinks the new show is a great idea, and wonders if she should use it to track down her first love. She tells Eun-tak to try finding that Kim Shin person, referring to the journal entry that Eun-tak wrote to herself after Shin died.

Eun-tak is sure that it’s in her own handwriting, which is why it’s strange. Class Prez asks if maybe Kim Shin is a ghost, since Eun-tak used to see ghosts all through high school. Eun-tak says she hasn’t seen any ghosts in about ten years, until now… and jokes that there’s a ghost standing right behind her just to see her jump in fright.

At home, Eun-tak takes out the journal and wonders who Kim Shin is and why she’s his bride.

Deok-hwa runs over to Shin and Reaper with a letter that got sent to a building he owns that used to be a chicken shop. It’s the letter that Eun-tak mailed from Canada ten years ago, and Reaper tells Shin to return it to her.

Shin doesn’t see how he’d give her this letter without suspicion, and tells Reaper to do it. Reaper tells him to give it to Sunny then, because Eun-tak lives above her in the rooftop apartment.

Deok-hwa offers to do it over and over, but they ignore him. Shin says it’s going to be strange any which way they do it, so it’s best if Reaper gives it to Sunny then. Aw, you’re totally inventing an excuse for him to go see her, aren’t you? Shin pats him on the back, like he’s giving Reaper permission. Deok-hwa just pouts at being treated like he’s invisible.

Reaper goes into the chicken shop tentatively, but Sunny isn’t there that day, or the next day, or the next. He finally just asks the server to pass the letter along to Sunny and leaves.

On his way down the street, he keeps seeing Sunny’s face on every woman he passes like he did long ago, until finally the real Sunny walks right by him. Stunned, he turns back to look at her, and she turns too. But she doesn’t seem to recognize him and just goes on her way, and Reaper cries as he watches her go.

Sunny brings the letter to Eun-tak at the station and tells her how weird it is for Eun-tak to have sent this letter to the old chicken shop (which they think Eun-tak has never been to) and from Canada, no less. Sunny says it was so strange that she looked at the CCTV footage to get a look at the man who brought the letter, and she says he was unbelievably handsome.

Eun-tak reads the letter, which is addressed to her mom. She writes asking how heaven is, and if it’s anything like this beautiful place. She says Mom would be shocked to know how she got to Canada, and says that she can go through a door and end up in a place like this if she’s with “Ajusshi.”

She writes that she has someone in her life to ask how she’s doing now, and tells Mom not to feel sorry for the fact that she can see things she isn’t supposed to. “Because of that, I’ve become special to someone,” she writes. She signs off with a promise to be happy and live well until they meet again.

Eun-tak doesn’t understand how she could’ve sent herself a letter from Canada when she doesn’t even have a passport, and thinks this is getting a little scary. She takes out the journal to compare to the letter, and wonders if Ajusshi is Kim Shin, and what could’ve happened to her nine years ago.

Shin calls in that moment, interrupting her thoughts, and when she nearly knocks a candle over, she blows it out. He appears in the sound booth behind her, and asks if she was waiting for his call.

He can see her totally flail before calmly answering that she’s been very busy, and he grins like a fool to see her reaction. It’s so cute. She thanks him for his help the other day, and he asks her on a date, which she accepts giddily.

He sees her spray on the perfume he gave her, and when they meet up, he says he likes the scent. He tells her that she’s the only woman in his phone contacts, though he then explains that he just bought the phone since he came from “somewhere far away with lots of snow.”

When her alarm rings, Eun-tak takes her medication, and Shin asks cautiously what it’s for. She says it’s for her “illness of the heart,” and says she doesn’t really know when it started or why, and that she’s weird and he’s free to run away from her now. Shin just offers to be weirder than her, and she laughs.

She tells him that she’s going on vacation, just in case he comes around looking for her. She worries about it since it’s her first trip abroad, but he recites her own words back to her that she’ll find her way around almost as if she lives there.

Eun-tak gets her passport photo taken and tells Sunny about the trip, which she says she’s taking because there might be answers there. She asks Sunny why she never moved out despite making a bunch of money, and Sunny just reminds her that she bought this apartment building outright, and that she hates new apartments. Oh just say you love her!

Eun-tak goes shopping for new clothes and then flies to Quebec, where she heads straight for the hotel where the letter came from. She’s surprised when the clerk answers her in Korean, saying that the founder of this hotel is Korean.

She says that the letter got stuck in their mail chute for ten years, which they discovered while remodeling. She’s sure about the timeframe because of the hotel’s stationary design, which is ten years old, and apologizes for the delay in sending it.

Eun-tak says that there must be a reason it arrived late, and that there’s always a reason for every step that god takes. Her own statement gives her pause, and she tries to recall who it was that said that.

Back in Seoul, Reaper stands on the bridge where he first met Sunny, while she pours herself a drink and looks out the window like she used to.

In Quebec, Eun-tak goes out for a walk and takes in the sights, and one particular red door makes her do a double-take. It’s the door Shin used as a portal to bring her here the first time, and of course it’s at that moment that the door opens and Shin walks through it. He tries to turn around when he sees Eun-tak, which only makes him look more foolish, and he quickly makes up an excuse that he came here for work.

She asks suspiciously if he followed her here, and he asks if he’d get arrested if that were the case. He swears that he’s not a bad person, and reminds her that he got her that ad contract and she offered to buy him dinner to thank him.

Eun-tak folds her hands together remembering how much she owes him, and cheerily leads the way to dinner.

 
COMMENTS

I’m so relieved he didn’t have to be reincarnated to come back. I figured we were in for a magical deus ex machina—when you have an actual capricious god calling the shots, it’s a given—but I didn’t mind greatly, so long as Shin didn’t have to be reborn as someone new who’d only remember the original Shin as a past life. I just didn’t feel like that could’ve satisfied my criteria for a happy ending if he were someone else. There are still a million questions about the why and how, given that Shin is magically good as new and still a goblin, and I don’t know if that means he lives forever or just a regular lifespan now, or why walking in the tundra for nine years is butterfly-god’s idea of a proper punishment. Also, the gods’ idea of nothingness is a whole lot of something, if Shin just gets to be back in his body after it freaking disintegrated in front of our eyes. I’m just sayin’—your rules are awfully changeable to be rules of any kind.

But obviously I’m happy that butterfly-god was enough of a softie to stick Shin in purgatory or whatever that in-between space was, and to leave the door cracked open enough for him to be summoned out by Eun-tak. That part, I really liked—that it was up to her to make a wish desperate enough to reach him even in the afterlife, and that it wasn’t anything Shin did to earn his way out, but her longing that called him forth. After seeing that she first summoned Shin at 19 and was able to again at 29, it made me think that her being close to death in a plus-nine year had something to do with breaking down some kind of barrier between her and the goblin, whether it’s just her being in more danger, or linked to the way Shin saved her when she was near death before she was born. In any case, the pattern of her summoning him with her birthday wish made for a great reunion scene, because despite not remembering him, it still felt like she saved him just when he was about to give up.

I don’t think anything that happened in this episode was a surprise, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t still manage to make me feel the right emotions when Shin got to come back and reunite with everyone. Reaper’s reunion was best of all; I could not have been happier that someone still remembered Shin. If after nine years of solitude in the snow he came back to no friends and no home, it would’ve been too sad to bear. It also seemed like the least Reaper could do, given all the things he has to make amends for, even though I know it wasn’t in his control to remember or not. But welcoming him home with tears was also the perfect excuse they needed to bury the hatchet and forgive past sins. It also made me feel like Shin had someone to relate to, because Reaper had essentially put everything on pause for nine years himself.

I’m still not sure we needed three whole episodes of reunion, because on the one hand, the callbacks to everyone’s first meetings are nice, but on the other hand, it’s starting to get repetitive. I see that the cyclical nature of everyone’s relationships is the point, but I’m also eager to move past the setups and the jokes that we’ve already seen, because I was there the first time. I do like the repetition when it points to consistency of character or relationships, because in this case, it’s a comfort to Shin to return to life and find that some things never change. Like when Eun-tak has taken on Shin’s manner of speech and his odd turns of phrase, it points to the fact that he’s influenced her, and that she remembers him subconsciously. We’ve seen the show handle amnesia well with Reaper and Sunny, so I’m not surprised that Eun-tak’s amnesia actually gives the love story more depth, and that fast-forwarding nine years gives her emotion the weight I wanted. If there’s one thing this show has hammered in, it’s that the heart doesn’t forget, no matter how many years or lifetimes have passed. Shin has every reason to love Eun-tak still, but now it’s Eun-tak’s love that I find moving, because her heart still remembers her great sadness and longing, long after she’s forgotten his face.

 
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It was weird yet refreshing to hear Kim Shin speaking in formal/polite language to Eun Tak, instead of the usual informal language hehehe

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Also Deok-hwa's forced formal speech to address Kim Shin and Grim Reaper! So cuteee.

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Indeed! So sooo weird to hear him use formal language. However, like what Korean viewers are saying, Gong Yoo sounds so sexy in formal tone and language. lol

And lol at Deokhwa trying his best to be polite to his uncle! I'd like to hear him struggle a bit more and then his uncle will go, "Just talk causally like you've always done in the past. You never respected me." lol

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i would like to see that scene in one of the last 2 episode. hhihihi Deokhwa being... Deokhwa <3

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I just finished watching the new episode, thanks Girlfriday for the recap :)

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Haha, same! The ending for this ep left me hangin'! Omg, so cruel. What a tease. I literally gasped. I'm so glad the next eps are within hours from now--yay!

Yes, thank you for the recap, gf!

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For the first time in my years of watching k-dramas that I don't mind they cancel an episode. Ep 13 & 14 just doesn't go well together.

Thank goodness ep 15 & 16 are airing back to back. And that scene *wink wink*

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And THAT scene. Kekekekeke *perv thoughts*

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:ooooooooooo WHAT SCENE?!!!!?? jfslkjfslkjflksjdfklsjdk gaahhhhh you guyysssss!! I need to go to sleep.

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It was such an abrupt ending. But thank goodness for back to back episodes tomorrow.

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Yes, totally abrupt, BUT, I actually liked it? Haha. I didn't mind it! I was surprised, but I thought it was kinda cute. Like, I was ready to follow Eun-tak in showing Shin around Canada (ha. Did you see his face at the end? It was that, "Oh please" face he used to make at her when she'd call herself a fairy/Tinkerbell! But this time, he's more amused than annoyed, which is adorable!), but I have to wait a little before I get to see their adventure! It was a cute little tease, I think. But yes, thank goodness for back to back eps! *crying behind my smile* I'll be okay!

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Yes! I am excited for back to back episodes. I would have dreaded it if they only aired two episodes and made me wait another week to find the finale. I am just so happy that they reunited a lot earlier than I expected. I thought it would happen at the end of this episode like all dramas usually are with reunions. Very glad it did not happen here since it allows for more interactions between the characters instead of an entire episode focused on where everyone is at in their lives.

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This is one of those times were I didn't mind the amnesia troupe and time skip. I agree that it actually gave the story more emotional depth.
I am just worried about the previews, I know that the writer will most likely write a happy ending because if not people are going to want to lynch her XD, but I couldn't help but remember the movie "City of Angels" with that preview. I hope this writer's ending doesn't go in that direction. Also THAT scene in the previews, if you saw it you know which one I am talking about ;), Yes please, now that they are both adults we can finally get a more intimate relationship. The way those scene were edited in the preview actually made me cry, it just felt so bitter sweet.

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Yes! The amnesia troupe ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE! So I guess l shouldn't be too worried because like most amnesia troupes, the characters always regain their memories, right? ;) And while I initially hoped for the time skip to be earlier on in the show (I'm talkin' like after the second ep, max, ha), I don't mind it much anymore.

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This drama really handled lost/wiped memory well both for Grim and Sunny and now Shin and Euntak. And I really like how Euntak was quick on her feet when she felt that her memories of Shin were slowly fading. She wrote down what she needed the remember. This way, she's not completely blank slate about the past.

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Yes! When she grabbed her notebook to write about Shin so she doesn't forget about him, I was so amazed and proud because she's so smart and like you said, quick on her feet! It was so sad how desperate and vulnerable she was in that moment/scene. I'm also glad that her notes provided her some clues on Shin for the future and that she really doesn't have to start from the beginning. Good girl!

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yay to quick-thinking Ji Eun Tak !!!
Slightly off topic: I was too nervous to watch ep.14 as soon as it was subbed, so I watched "Introverted Boss" instead. the weird coincidence is that the 1st scene in that show is of a girl on a high rise rooftop, wearing a similar coat to Eun Tak, who jumps off !!!!! My heart SKIPPED with anguish 'coz for a second, I completely forgot I was NOT watching "Goblin" !!
ha ha ha ha

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Patience is a virtue. I'm so glad I'm finally able to watch it. So sad it's ending T.T

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Seriously, I've been so patient waiting for this ep, so I'm so so happy to finally be able to watch it! It was worth it to avoid Goblin tags on the 'net because most of the scenes in this ep took me by surprise. Yay! But now I've got quite the dilemma; I can't wait to watch the final eps, but I also wish I could hold off on watching them so they won't ever end. This show will be the end of me!

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I swore off SNS when the clock hit the airing time in Korea. haha! Spoilers were everywhere. I'm glad I went in without any idea.

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Ha, good for you/us! I literally avoided stalking anything Goblin this entire week! It was so hard, but I knew it would be worth it! Now I must leave the comment section (most likely not) here because ya'll be talkin' previews and I purposely didn't watch 'em! THE STRUGGLE!

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Are you me??? Hahaha...
I didn't just swore off SNS... I completely shut down my phone to avoid spoilers. Lol

Because I'm the kind of person who can't stand surprises. I just NEED to know! So to keep that part of me in check, I decided to off my phone & went to bed. At 8PM! Lol.
The length I'd go to avoid spoilers....

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I watched this episode 8 hours after it aired and gosh those 8 hours were excruciatingly long. I kept telling myself that I'm going to binge watch all the last three epispde after my exam on the 25th psshh who was I tring to fool? On top of that, it was raining outside so i kept thinking "Kim shin is here as a rain" LOL

Can't believe its ending today. Part of me desperately wants to see the end and another part of me never wants this drama to end.

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@Millionstars aw~ haha, I think I'm gonna think of Shin whenever it rains, too. It doesn't snow where I live, but when I do see my first snow, I'll probably think of him, too!

Your last sentence literally describes how I feel about the last eps of this drama. OH, THE DILEMMA!

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Me too! When it rains I will be reminded of Shin and his sadness.

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Idk which is sadder the storyline or the fact that this amazing drama is going to end huhuhuh

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DEFINITELY the latter. </3 huhuhuhuhu I'm like T_____T~!

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I am both sad and relieved that it's ending. Sad because I really enjoyed this drama. Relieved because I need to focus on my studies. haha! I will surely miss everyone, but most especially Gong Yoo because we don't know when he'll be back to dramaland. I hope he squeezes in a drama in between his films.

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I felt like I waited 9 (no, 900!) years for this episode to come out!!! But it was worth the wait.
- YES Goblin is the President!! ET is wearing the same clothes as the day Goblin envisioned her in Canada too.
–Waiting for GR and Sunny to finally reunite...seems like next ep is all about restoring memories.
- Still can't get that wind bomb kid out of my head. By now, he should be a high schooler. Perhaps he meets ET again, and has a crush on the noona that protected him? (crossing my fingers for this to happen so Goblin gets jealous, heh.)
- But some questions. Goblin returned... because of the contract? So that's the symbol of ET's indomitable human will?
- Happy to see that ET continued to see Class Prez even after graduation, becoming so close. They both became so successful too!
- That preview though. I am so ready for more gong yoo-level kisses.

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omg if the wind bomb kid likes her i will die because it would be too cute ;.;

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better yet, what if the kid was the Kwak Dong Yun cameo we were waiting for?

Man, I saw all three previews. Bittersweet, tearjerker and heartwrenching are the three words I'll use to describe the three previews. if my prediction for tonight is correct, then let be rain to mask out profound sorrow.

btw, I danced the silent chicken dance at 1 in the morning watching the scene where Eun Tak summoned Shin from the oblivion. So worth not sleeping

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Oh yeah, I wonder whatever happened to that Kwak Dong-yeon cameo we were supposed to get... that'll be cute if he cameo-ed as Wind Bomb kid!

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Dongyeon was supposed to be Wang Yeo but Kim Minjae eventually got the part.

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Kwak Dong Yeon was supposed to play the young Wang Yeo but in the end theErole went to Kim Min Jae. It could be that he lost to Kim Min Jae during casting.

Or (this is pure speculation) he backed off on purpose since the role of Kim Sun is played by Kim So Hyun. Poor guy might want to avoid more scandal and scrutiny after mentioning that she was his ideal type once.

Personally I don't dislike Kim Min Jae. But Kwak Dong Yeon looks more similar to Lee Dong Wook and it would make more sense (visually) to have him play the younger Wang Yeo. But oh well.

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"The contract terms states that the contractee (Shin) is supposed to come when summoned by the contracter (euntak) during first snowfall."

So Shin returning is a combination of human will (euntak's desperate cries for help with her unknowable depression and memory loss) + first snow/the contract terms + candle (+ also maybe the fact that she's 29, the age where she's most vulnerable to some sort of calamity)

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thanks...I needed that

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Ahaha, I'd love to see a comeback from Jealous Shin--especially if it's because of the Wind Bomb kid! Yeah! Bring it on! That'd be hella cute.

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YES! I want to see jealous Shin because he so much fun to watch. What more fun it will be now because Euntak has no memory of him.

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The preview for the double episode ending tho. I'm kind hoping for BE but not until we get full on bed scenes pls.

This show singlehandedly brought me back to kdrama. Yes it suffers from a lot of replay scenes and the usual cliches but the actors made it worth every second. I'm going to miss the cast and particularly Gong Yoo, the first non-pretty boy actor I have a mad crush on.

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what's BE?

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Bad Ending xD

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It surely did the trick for me. I stopped seeing K-Dramas after that Miserable Warm & Cozy (please don't see it) and this drama raised me from the tomb.

About BE as Bad Ending and similar abbreviations, please remember that this is an international forum and sometimes we non-native speakers could be easily lost in translation ;) . This is NOT an admonishment but a recommendation.

The BBC wrote an article about this:

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20161028-native-english-speakers-are-the-worlds-worst-communicators

Thanks and hope it helps!

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Brilliant article! Thanks for posting it.

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oh Gong Yoo is pleeeeenty pretty *wink*
But yes, I get what you mean. He looks manly-man. unlike most excessively pretty kdrama actors... not that there's anything wrong with them, by the way

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And we're forced to believe that even 9 years after goblin's demise, Samsung would only produced Galaxy 7 Edge.
Or maybe that's the point all along?
They're trying to tell us that the phone is so everlasting and even has the anti-dingy formula that it would last for a good 9 years. As we see how euntak' and basically everyone's phone always look as good as new.

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Kim Shin: "You may not be immortal, but this phone is."

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Product Placement done right ?

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yyyyooooooooo!! THAT'S what's up!

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Well, i'm willing to let go of those. It's very tiny detail. Lol. Plus the world developed so fast i believed it will slow down in the next ten years.

I appreciate this than assuming that by 2026 we have flying cars or phones attached to our hands. Haha.

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"And we’re forced to believe that even 9 years after goblin’s demise, Samsung would only produced Galaxy 7 Edge."

Omg hahahaha I totally thought of the same thing when her phone went off! ????

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Having a time skip of as much as 9 years into the actual future (instead of just ending up in the present) is something I haven't seen before in a drama. Usually time skips are about 1 year and take only half an episode or one episode, so details of the 'future' don't have to be shown. But because we spend 3 episodes in 2026, details (like the phones) are likely to be shown. Then the production team can either create a fake future image (which might make people who watch this drama in 2026 just laugh at some things) or just keep those details the way they are now. In this case, I actually prefer the second option. The first one might actually make me focus more on the way the future is represented here, rather than the actual story.

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lol.
oh come on... they tried. that's why they included the whole "We're pretending it's 2016" bit with New Sunny & New Grim Reaper.

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What happened to Euntak is so sad and pitiful. It's unfortunate that some people are criticizing for being too mopey and down or for being materialistic (only being nice to Kim Shin after finding out he's rich)

She spent the last 9 years depressed to the point where she has to take medication. There are also some subtle hints in the things she says that shows that she's also been emotionally unstable all these years. (i.e. When she first meets Kim Shin again on the roof, she tells him that she gets really bad mood swings when she apologizes to him for crying. She mentioned it again when she apologizes for tearing up again when she saw him at the cafe and even mentions that she takes some sort of medication. Later on during their "date", she even takes it in front of him and tells him it's medication for if your "heart's sick" and that she's been like that for as long as she remembers and doesn't know why).

Every time it rains, she gets a sad look on her face. That scene where she goes home in the rain, a little drunk, collapsing on her bed and breaking down to cry alone in her room broke my heart. She cries and gets random attacks of sadness whenever it rains or snows and she doesn't even know why. Her memories of Kim Shin are gone but the lingering emotions, the heartbreak, the sadness is still there. Kinda like when Grim Reaper saw Sunny or the drawing of the Queen for the first time and broke down and he didn't know why.

And doesn't it make sense that she was guarded around Kim Shin at first? Some random guy you don't know keeps showing up whereever you are and following you and for some reason acts like he knows you? Plus, add to the fact that she's extra guarded due to the state of her mental health and loner-mindset. It makes sense that that she's prickly at first. And, of course she would be a little nicer if that guy finally tells you who he is (kinda) and helps you out at your job. At least now she (kinda) knows why he's following her around - (she thinks) for a date.

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" It’s unfortunate that some people are criticizing for being too mopey and down or for being materialistic (only being nice to Kim Shin after finding out he’s rich)"

What? Still? Ha.

She's kind to KS because he was able to save her radio show which benefited the rest of her coworkers. I would too. And up to the last point she still thinks that KS is stalking her because he kept on following her.

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Eun Tak was indeed much more keen on the Goblin once she found he was a CEO. But I figured that's because even though she has no memory of him, she's clearly still yearning for Kim Shin and there isn't room in her heart for any serious romantic interest. In the mean time, there's no harm and no foul in going on one date with this random Yoo Shin-jae guy who's rich and handsome.

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Well said!

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Aha, date with destiny.

And if I ever see Gong Yoo in that warrior costume(probably never), I will just surrender and ask for an autograph.

No photos, I'd look like a troglodyte beside him.

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The cinematography on this episode is so breathtaking. And 17.5%? Awesome. So happy for the cast and crew who braved the cold and shoot the majority of this show outside. I've been in Seoul and the winter there is surprisingly brutal for an asian country. Lol.

I wonder though how come ET was able to summon KS just now. She didn't atleast blow a single birthday cake? I can understand before because she don't have friends and family. And her mom didn't bother to buy her one. But now she have friends and colleagues. No one bother to buy her one? Lol. And also she seemed to be fascinated with scented candles. So that added to my confusion.

I'm so happy that KS and ET met once again. Their moments is much cuter that before.

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He came back because the contract stated he would be back at first snow should ET summon him. Just so happened she blew a candle on a first snow day 9 years later.

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Oh yeah. Haha. Thanks.

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With regards to why ET has summoned KS just now, I guess it is because she blew a candle on the day which coincides with the first snowfall - as it is written on the contract. This episodes also made it a point to clarify that the early snowfall has not happened since 9 years ago, when KS made it snow, when ET made the contract.

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Thanks for clarifying this. :)

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Now that I think of it.. her birthday is in September. That's indeed a quite early first snowfall o.o

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Some people have mentioned this and the only explanation I found is this one. Like girlfriday mentioned as we know her life is in danger because she is 29. Remember in Korea there is a believe that when your age ends in nine you kind of have bad luck because a new decade in your life is starting. They also mentioned that the snow was early that year and that the last time that happened was nine years ago. That was the first snow and the show has emphasized countless of times that the first snow is important. She blew a candle and made a wish on her 29th birthday on the first snow, hence it brought him back.

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Yes.That's first explanation i have in mind. That she's 29 and all these Gods are going to return her life. Because like what GR said, ages with 9 are crucial to a person's life. I just forgot the 'first now' part. :)

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The screenshots could probably pass as my desktop's wallpaper!

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Yes. Especially the Time Lapse moment. Awesome.

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It’s been a while since I followed a drama this closely—from forums, to recaps, live stream and subbed.
I love it and I will surely miss it.
That said, I agree with most that it would have been a bit more meaningful if they showed glimpses of EunTak’s life those 9 years without Shin. E.g. 23 years graduating, 25 years going on a blind date but going home feeling empty and sad, 27 working hard at the broadcasting station but looking out the window as it snows or rains feeling she is forgetting someone….in my mind that is how those 9 years passed.

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Just read an article that the cast is going to Thailand for their reward trip. I'm kind of hoping Na PD will kidnap them for a Youth Over Flowers episode. Kim Go Eun, Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wok, and the Deokhwa actor (sorry I don't remember his name).

Anyway, I like how you wrote "the right emotions." I was expecting so many things, but even though my expectations didn't happen, the episode made me feel the right emotions. It's so sweet, the story.

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Everyone's hoping Na PD to kidnap them! Hahaha... but I doubt it. Gong Yoo's star power is just too strong for that kind of stuff

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I was totally thinking the same thing how Na PD should kidnap them all (and bring them here to UK). That'd be so fun. IFrom what I've seen both LDW and GY seem to have a very playful personality so it'd be hilarious to watch them get lost in a foreign country.

*Sigh* But like Claire said, It'll probably never happen since everyone's schedule is most probably jampacked...

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Yeah Korean viewers want them, but it's highly unlikely. Gong Yoo has a backlog of CF deals (shooting and promotion) to go through after Goblin ends. Sungjae has promotion and concert with BTOB. Dongwook will probably be busy too.. I think their schedules are already packed after Goblin or they planned to rest (which they really need). Anyway, I do hope we see them again together. I just love everyone in Goblin.

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Sungjae has law of the jungle filming right after btob concert (he also filmed clenched fist during jan 1st), and then btob are planning to come back in march, and tour in japan in april. No time at all.

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I just hope CUBE let Sungjae go to Phuket. That boy work so hard he deserve it. Sumatra isn't that far from Phuket

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YESSS!!!!
Ughhh, if Sungjae doesn't go to Phuket, I'm going to rage!!!
MY BABY DESERVE THAT HOLIDAY!!!!!

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Sungjae filmed so many different things during goblin filming it's insane.... He also filmed celebrity bromance, year end shows, btob new men comeback performances with new men, then Japanese comeback with Christmas time and another show I forgot. The guy had mad dark circles in pictures of yesterday's Btob concert. Can't believe he didn't collapse preparing for the concert when he was spotted filming goblin on the last day of shooting and then had the concert the day after. ??

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Wishing everyone a great weekend and good things coming your way!
Gosh this episode made me so happy and giddy by the end ^.^
I love the part where she blew the candle on her 29th birthday and Kim Shin appeared <3
But I felt sad when she pushed him away and didn’t recognize him ;_;
Thank goodness the power of bromance helped Goblin settled back down <3
Goblin and Grimmie <3 My otb (one true bromance) ~
Also that preview… I want some mini goblins on the way ;)
——
With the preview of next episode and how things are turning out, I’m a bit curious about the missing soul thing (that was mentioned in another comment section). Does Eun Tak still have to avoid dangerous situations now that she is 29?

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I almost cried at the bromance! I almost care about the Golbin&Grim Reaper more than Globin&Eun Tak.

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I think the age of 29 is still dangerous for Eun Tak, because in one of the previous episodes the Grim Reaper told the Goblin she will be in danger at 29, too, but it will be another Grim Reaper who will come for her. I suppose they'll join hands again to save her.

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They spent time developing the female Grim Reaper story earlier, but haven't done anything with it so far. I wonder if she's going to be a source of danger to Sunny, and by extension Eun Tak in these final episodes.

I think there's more to come from both the female GR and the little wind bomb boy. The writing has been too tight to leave those kind of loose ends just dangling in the wind.

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I thought reincarnation was the only way, but I am so happy it did not go that route. Even with the rules of reincarnation in this world that reconcile the past and present personas, I just couldn't accept a Shin who's even a tiny bit different from the Shin we've all come to know.

I liked very much how he chose to be stuck between life and afterlife. And damn the gorgeous cinematography in those scenes with Gong Yoo wandering in the snow! The clouds and the sky!!

I was surprised with how he returned, but as the episode unfold, the pieces fit in my mind. I knew the contract will serve a purpose, but I did not expect it to be for Shin's return. I should have known because the show repeated the clause in the contract many times that says Shin agrees to be summoned on the day of the first snow.

I like how GF pointed out how the heart remembers even with no memory. I just feel truly bad for Euntak because she had it diagnosed to severe mood swings and she is taking meds for it. I do wonder how she'll come to remember him and her past with him.

Congrats to Goblin for hitting an all-time high of 17.5%!!! I hope the cast and crew will enjoy their vacation in Phuket. Everyone deserves the reward for all the hardwork they've put in the show.

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And I hope the ratings continue to be high, so as to have secretary (sorry, CEO) Kim do the TT dance, as promised (maybe together with the other members of the cast!)

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It's quite obvious now that he's the president. Because Secretary Kim told ET that KS is the President (with a different name of course.)

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Thank you for the swift recap, girlfriday!

1. Writer-nim KES has really improved her craft. Goblin may still have flaws here and there, but they are not as glaring as many of the major wtf-ery that happened in Secret Garden.

2. So, so glad that Reaper remembered! It was also an emotional reunion which paralleled the past. This time, Reaper somehow redeemed himself by being the only one to remember Kim Shin and welcome him back.

3. 29-year-old Eun tak is bolder and more comfortable. Love it! It's sad to think though that the "grace of the almighty" translated into her having to take pills for 9 years.

4. Kim Shin being giddy is just too squee worthy. Where can I find my own goblin who couldl be summoned anytime and who doesn't have to work yet be filthy rich? Lol.

5. I was expecting the reunion among the secretary, Deokhwa, and Kim Shin to have a bit more oomph. I dunno how exactly, but I felt his reappearance was meh and the turnover ended too quickly.

6. Excited for the next episodes, yet sad to know Goblin's ending. Let me take my happy pills to heal, too!

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Yes. I find it unfair for ET to be on medication for the past nine years. :(

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Yeah, and she pops it like it's no biggie, a testament to how long she has been taking it already. :'(

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But even had she remembered, the pain would have been the same, probably even worse than when she doesn't remember. So the meds would still be there.

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I loved Secret Garden and have wracked my brain for the "glaring major wtf-ery" you're referring to? Like Goblin, it wasn't perfect (what drama ever is?), but I really can't think of anything outstandingly wtf you may be referring to?

If you wouldn't mind sharing your thoughts on this, I'm sincerely curious.

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FINALLY settled down and got to snuggle in bed with Goblin and I just finished this ep. Now I can sleep in peace--until the next eps! As per usual, I checked Dramabeans after finishing an ep, so thank you, Girlfriday, for the recap! Will read it later. <3 Omg omg, I can't believe they're at the 17% mark! I'm so so proud of them! Dare I say they'll surpass and beat out Reply's record?! I really hope they do. <3 Sorry not sorry, Reply!

I haven't and won't watch the previews for the next ep(s), so I'm gonna be cautious around the comments section until I've watched the next ep because y'all be talkin' about the previews here and I'm like, frantically scrolling up, down and away from spoilers!

Anyways, what can I say about this ep besides that it was oh so totally worth the wait! The excruciatingly long wait... BUT I'm just so so happy to see our Goblin gang back on my screen again! I couldn't believe that Eun-tak still had the ability to summon Shin by blowing out flames! Omg. YES! I wonder if that solved everything (doubt it), but idc because I was so relieved to see him back again and most importantly, he didn't have to walk for who knew how long in all that thick, deep snow! I was saddened to find out that Eun-tak forgot about him, but hey, I'm lovin' that he's already trying to win her back and he doesn't even have to try hard because she's already smitten! Gah, so many memorable moments in this ep! Where to start... I loved that whole bit where Shin was constantly asking Grims for money and then realizing that he needs his identity back. When he asked for a credit card, I immediately thought of Deok-hwa and wondered if Shin thought to himself, "Ah, now I know why Deok-hwa treasures his credit card so much." If only Deok-hwa remembered Shin, I think he would've totally rubbed it in his uncle's face, all like, "Ha! See! See how important it is to have your credit card!?" Aw, but then he asked for his nephew back, too! Yay! I'm glad it didn't take Shin too long to ease back into his old surroundings again. <3 BUT, I was totally expecting to see Grims give Shin a haircut when he mentioned how long his hair was and that he needed one. One bromance scene wasted, show! But gah, I'm just happy the bromance is back and alive! It's so cute that Grims regularly listens to Eun-tak's radio show! Eun-tak, so cool as radio PD nim! I'm so proud of her for successfully pursuing her dream career! I can't believe he jumped outta that red door in Canada WHILE Eun-tak was looking right at it! Lol, and the way he immediately turned back around, embarrassed. So so cute!

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Hi.

Thank you Van for believing in Goblin as Goblin had officially passed the 20% mark (? I'm a little bit teary-eyed here ... phew ... finally a tvN drama that able to make the 20% breakthrough). As reported by Naver, its AGB nationwide rating for its episodes on the 21st January is 20.5%.

Also, congratulation to Voice for becoming the highest rated OCN drama by its 3rd episode. The shift to the 11 p.m. time slot indeed does wonder to its rating.

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Before I read the read the thoughts of GF about this ep, I would just like to say that even if I wasn't even halfway through, this episode is making me bipolar with the ups and down lol. It's like there's a tug of war inside me. I do feel sad of course because our otp were apart for 9 yrs and Shin being in limbo. He's not alive, and not dead either (I don't know whichbis worse, alive but not really living. But hey, at least he found ET in that life), and it sucks that ET managed to avoid fire-blowing situations altogether -- for 9 freaking yrs! I guess I shouldn't be surprise ecause she did just that after her 9th bday. For a smart girl though, even if you did lose all your memory of the supernatural, I wouldn't be all cool with some cosplayer puffing out of nowhere and hugging me lol! I'd definitely find it odd and ask more questions than "are you an actor?" Or "how'd you get in here" lol! That's one more thing, I don't know how he reverted back to his Goryeo clothes and hairstyle, shouldn't he have gone with his current look when he died as a goblin? It was supposed to be a sad scene: Shin looking at his live ones longingly with them having no memories of him. At the same time though, if I think of from a bystander's perspective, I can't help but laugh so bad! This show is giving me 2 opposing feelings at the same time haha! It's also very nice to see the bromance back! Now that he's "poor" right now, it's so funny to see GR being able to get back at him for what he did when reaper first moved in. lol! Love that in just 9 years, he seemed like a fish out of water lol!

Nonetheless, I still feel pissed that nabi god is a very biased god. I mean, I'm thankful that Yeo retained his memories so that there's someone to welcome Shin, and I do love the funny bromance scenes smacked in the middle of a sad episode; but it's like comparing it to a parent favoring one child over the other, when you should love them equally. Not to be mean, but WY's character isn't one to be favored though.

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Hi! Can you explain to me about the scene where nabi-god and samshin halmoni talking and she said that nabi-god favors GR more (flashback of DH-possessed-by-god-mode saying that he will always on GR side until the end? And in what aspect that the nabi-god favor GR more that Goblin? I don't really understand this conversation..

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She blew fire before I suppose, but not in the manner she did during her 19 and 29 bd, where she made a desperate wish and plea to the gods. that's when Kim Shin first heard her. + first snowfall.

Since his life as a goblin is erased, he returns to the state when he died as a human, living in between life and death in that tundra space.

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I also want to add that in previous recaps, people have pointed out that each time she had previously blown out a fire (like that trash can paper), even accidentally, she was thinking of Kim Shin at that time, so it seems that she needs to think of him (or of him through a plea to a god) to summon him.

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Thanks again for the recap GF ?
I'm just not sure if I'm ready for the ending today ???

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Bromance wins over everything.. I was crying and jumping when reaper remembered shin...

Hats of to KGE ...when she was despretly writing to remind herself of shin or when she was crying in depression her acting was on spot ... I love 29year ET compared to 19year one..

Shin speaking formally with ET is so satisfying I didn't even know I wanted that hehe

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I love, love, loveeee this episode. It has the perfect amount of sadness, lol-ness, giddyness from KS and adult ET meeting, and some ooh-and-ahh scenes. This drama doesn't end yet (well, it will be in a few more hours) but I already feel really bad withdrawal from this one. This goes on to be my most favorite k-drama of all time (yes I'm a sucker for fantasy-genre) and I'm proud to say it. I came to this drama to see LDW and GY but left as a fan of KGE. I'll make sure to watch out for her next projects!

Now I just need that happy ending for both couples!!!! Please KES I have faith in you!!! In the span of 12 hours they already gave us 3 previews and boy, that TOD came again!!! I will never forgive you writer-nim if you make way for reunion of KS and ET just so KS can watch her die! Man that is depressing. Jinjja!!!!!! Happy ending jaebal yo jaebal

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I am positive that there will be a happy ending for KS and ET as it should be and trusting KES she never gave a sad ending for all her main otp but I have given up hope for a happy ending for Grims and Sunny! Up until now they are still miserable with no real and genuine happy moments together! making it alright and giving them lovey dovey moments with 2 episodes left will feel so force and unbelievable! so now I'm in for a sad ending but even if it is a sad ending for them I just hope that the writer will make it beautifully done at least!

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Whatever happened to that baseball oppa? He went to join major league and is not in the story anymore? But I want to see jealous Shin!

Can anyone direct me to the episode where they wrote the contract (that Shin is clutching in his hand in the "tundra")? Thanks!!!

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At the end of episode 6 :)

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The contract was first mentioned in episode 6, during the first snow scene at the Buckwheat field just before Eun Tak's first attempt on pulling out the sword.

Shin later have a copy of the contract (keeping the original for himself) to Eun Tak on episode 13 during the vacay scene

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@lyricalwax, @flamie: Thanks!!

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Ooh I cried at least 3 times during this episode!!

The angst was heart wrenchingly good! To have Shin suddenly come back and be the one to comfort Eun Tak when she was at a huge low point had me welling up with tears... and then the reunion scene with Grim just had them spilling over!

And every time Shin gives Euntak that soft look when smiles at her fondly and she doesn't really understand why... Urgh it just breaks my heart.

I'm a total sucker for guys pining after their true love. This is the amnesia trope done right!

Can't wait for tonight!

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Me, too! Gong Yoo's eyes. Arrgh ... His eyes could've melted the eternal snow in limbo land, for all we know.

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The first hug OMG /tears

The one week delay did wonders for this episode. The weight of his absence was there. It was felt in all the characters even though they (except for Grim) no longer have memories of him. The emotions were there and it hit the right spot for me, especially for Euntak and Grim.

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+10000

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Also if only I can reach out to the CG team I want to hug em tight and say THANK YOU for your ever so wonderful job of making the CG in this drama really, really good. The scene where KS walk in limbo between life and afterlife.... and all of the CGs they made throughout this drama. I'm so thankful to their team to make

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I second that!

I can't begin to imagine the purgatory the CG team must've gone through as they take on live shoot cuts + tight deadline + visual demand of the mythology. The PD-nim god must be on their necks all the time. Lol. Salute!

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Speaking of live shoot. Korea should really stop patronizing live shoots. This is badly produced drama. The quality is just so poor. The sound is noisy. It's obvious it's done in a hurry.

I don't mind the many zooms because that's the new trend now seeing it in many dramas but the repetition of scenes is just intolerable. Looks like they run out of shots.

On a positive note, it's an entertaining drama.

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...it incredible. No wonder the reason for the push back was the ambitious desire of PD-nim for the CG as it turns out the CG is really really wonderful. I can't wait for tonight's back-to-back episodes! Thank you GF for your great recap ?

Dang my phone's acting up the comment's posted while I'm still writing -___-

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I love how each character was erased in the journal of Shin and the book of Euntak (more like burned). That was a very well done CGI. Love the scenes of Shin in limbo. The clouds, the sky, the snow... everything.

Even with live shoot format, the cinematography is still top-notch.

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I cried buckets watching this ep. Poor Eun Tak. For every moment she can't remember Shin but her heart does and she grieves unknowingly, so do i for her ( which was literally 50mins of 75mins)

And that line "i'll come back as the rain." totally killed me and made me bawled like crazy.

I cant wait for the finale! I hope the Giblin couple has a happy ending.

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While I also love that line,I`m still waiting for a meme to come out showing the goblin with Jung Ji-hoon`s face,you know,since he promised he`ll come back as Rain (비 로 올께)

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LOL! Kim Tae Hee must be screaming seeing the new face and saying, "Please come back Ahjussi" to the real Rain!

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Omg, when Class Prez asked if Eun-tak wanted to go on a blind date with the chef that looks like a puppy when he smiles, I really thought she was talking about Grims! Of course, this was before I found out he was still a grim reaper. Heh, I actually thought he became a human... but seriously, with that kind of description, how can I NOT think of Lee Dong-wook!? That man's got the most puppy dog eyes I've seen! Especially when he cries, omg. Crying puppy right there!

Eun-tak's current state reminds me of how Grims used to be--she doesn't remember, but she FEELS. It's so sad to see her in pain and sorrow and she not even know why or where it's coming from. Gah, poor girl thinks something's wrong with her... :'(((

When I noticed Shin reacting to Eun-tak's voice, I was like, :O Can he hear her?! YES, HE CAN! And then when the familiar smoke surrounded his hands, I was like, "OH HALE YEAH!"

Idk if that was really all it took for Shin to come back (like, is he back for good now? No more strings attached? No catches?), but if it really is, heck yeah, I'll take it! That was kinda easy, but it's all good. I'm just glad he's still the same old Kim Shin we know and love (and not a reincarnation, yeah!) because even though Eun-tak doesn't remember him or the past atm, I believe she'll regain her memories eventually, so I'm just gonna enjoy him trying to win her over before that time comes.

I'm so glad for Eun-tak's sake that Shin has his identity back (err, kind of. I'm so glad she knows the name Kim Shin, though! That'll come in handy!) because I didn't want Eun-tak to keep thinking he was some kind of creepy stalker... even though he kinda still is a stalker... :x

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Omo .. what if that chef turns out to be Kwak Dong-yeon's character? And he has been a fan of Eun-tak's show since! Imagine the jealousy from Kim Shin. ^_^

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Haha, that would definitely explain his cameo that was supposed to happen like ages ago! It's sweet that Chef's a fan of Eun-tak's radio show and I'll definitely get a kick outta seeing Jealous Shin! I really hope Chef makes an appearance!

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KS: "I am fire and water. I am your uncle and your son. And I need a credit card. STAT."

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Ha, exactly! If Deok-hwa remembered Shin, he'd probably give Shin a really hard time about that part. "NOW you know how I felt all those times yearning for MY credit card, huh?"

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Ahhhhhhh.. reading on mobile.. usually the recap is truncated and you click on the 'read more' tab to see the full recap....but right now there is no read more tab. ... so sad.....

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Mm weird. Submitted the comment and now i can read recap. Yay~~! Off to read. So happy

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Aha, yay! That was probably Kim Shin helping you so you could read the recap. ;)

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Thanks GF!

Loved it through and through!

I noted some plot holes and have questions and a theory... That letter that Eun Tak posted in Ep 4 had a blank envelope. So there's a bit of a plot hole that it could appear in South Korea, at the old building with Eun Tak's name on it. The hotel staff said that no letter of 10 years ago had been found and sent, so there's a supernatural element at work here. Perhaps god decided to let the letter arrive just at this point in time so that Eun Tak and Shin would reunite in Quebec?

It's strange that neither Eun Tak or Sunny can recall that Eun Tak did work with her at the old Olive Chcken restaurant. I wonder if this has meaning or is nothing important.

I also found it strange that CEO Kim did not recognise Eun Tak when she met him to get the advertisement contract. It's a pity that she knows him as Yu Shin Jae... a great way to prolong the suspense of when and how she'll figure out that he really is Kim Shin and the Ahjusshi of the letter. :)

Love, love this show!

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Something struck me as I re-watched the earlier episodes and compared them with this one.... the red scarf is conspicuous by it's absence. She's in sombre colours of white and grey-black mostly and her scarf is black. I'm waiting for the lifting of her spirits (and realisation that Shin is the pill she needs not the other meds!!!) and for the colours to come back into her life. I noticed that after meeting Shin, she at least moved into a red-check coat and later a light brown coat. Will the colours brighten? :)

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That is so true! I appreciate dramas that take into account all the small details, from the fabric colors to the symbolisms and parallels. Goblin is far from perfect, but the show sucked me in because of the tight myth (well, as tight as KES could weave it), the amazing CGs, the actors, the OSTs, and the lovely, lovely locations.

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"as tight as KES could weave it"

I agree. KES is not the most profound writer out there and known to write so-so stories, but with Golbin, she managed to make something new and interesting. She created a world and quite frankly, Goblin is the most stand out project she has ever written to the point that it does not seem to be a KES work. She truly improved (that as well as time helped her a lot because I read she's been on this idea for three years).

I do think her fantasy world and story has the potential to be richer, but with what she has done so far, she's done quite well.

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Omg, I completely forgot about her scarf! What happened to it? Where is it? And yes, can't wait for her to get rid of the pills! Who knows how long she's been taking them... :(

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I have a feeling the red scarf will reappear.

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I Always tied the red scarf in with granny. The red is symbolic of fate...the red string of fate...and ET fulfilled her duty as being fated to pull the sword. So when she did the color red is no longer associated with her. If like to see Kim Shin wearing it to show that he is fated to be with her

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I applaud Grandpa for his foresight in writing the will. <3 I'm guessing it was in case after 20 years his descendants wouldn't recognize Kim Shin when he returns but this works too. XD

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CEO Kim mentions that every ancestor had the same will.

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That's right! They're so loyal. <3 gah, I love all the forms of love in this drama!

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I'm glad my cat was the only witness of the swinging emotions I experienced while watching this episode last night. I mostly weep and wail, but there were also some cackle and guffaw in between my tears. God, I was a mess. I finished re-reading Half-blood Prince just before I watched the show, so I'm pretty sure my abnormally active tear glands were to blame for the amplified sadness, partially at least.

But seriously, how more poignant can Goblin and Euntak's tale ever going to be? It was probably the most horrible 9 years of their life; the hopeless but steadfast wandering of Goblin and the unknown surge of sadness that haunts Euntak every night (but at least she did achieve her dream and have Sunny and Class Prez by her side). Even all their encounters after Goblin's return were sprinkled with sorrow. I really loved that it was the contract between them that became the loophole, the open door for their reunion. Now that Goblin is back, there will only be sunshine and unicorns for them, right? And maple leaves too. I am sooo ready for that. Bring on the cuteness!

And I'm also scared for Reaper and Sunny. The preview at the end was not what I expected for them. I really hope it was just a red herring and what my untamed monstrous imagination has seen was just a mirage. Fingers crossed for their happy ending!

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I felt that Sunny and Class Prez were with Eun Tak, knowing that Eun Tak was in depression and taking meds for it. They had that worried look when she claimed it was nice that there was rain and she had 2 friends with her. It seems true that Sunny and Eun Tak don't have any other friends except each other. Time for the 'family' to re-group!! :)

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I like so much that it is full hearted commitment that has brought Shin and Eun Tak back together.

Even in death, he remained true to the contract, sacrificing his own peace, by rejecting 'heaven' and opting instead to remember and suffer loneliness to give himself as rain and snow.

It is also the committed loving of the heart that continued Eun Tak's heartbreak to the point that she pleaded to be saved as she made her birthday wish. These and his sacrificing himself in limbo were what made it possible for him to be brought back into her life.

This show is just so beautifully romantic, the way it plays out with intentional pacing, the longing that continues and the patient waiting for the right time. I'm so happy that the right time has come!!!

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+100000

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Even in death, he remained true to the contract, sacrificing his own peace, by rejecting ‘heaven’ and opting instead to remember and suffer loneliness to give himself as rain and snow. And that's just another one of the many reasons why Kim Shin is such a good character. I love him so much. And you're so right! I didn't realize that's what he chose to do and that he gave up on resting peacefully and decided to continue suffering–all to keep his promise to Eun-tak. Little did he know he'd have the chance to go back to his loved ones.

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Thanks @Van :)

I feel that although Samshin Fairy's voiceover said that his punishment had ended, he continued to endure the punishment of loneliness... but he never really received a reward for the good he did as a guardian and for his self-sacrifice. So going back to his 'family' on earth is the final part of his life, where he hopefully gets rewarded. Others who reincarnate are supposed to have 4 lives to go through... he had only the one life ... so let's hope it's he now has a last quarter of his life in 'harvesting' from all the good he did in his long life.

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"Even in death, he remained true to the contract, sacrificing his own peace, by rejecting ‘heaven’ and opting instead to remember and suffer loneliness to give himself as rain and snow."

Ah such beautiful words. You put it well into words. It may seem foolish to the gods, but it's a testament to Shin's commitment and love for Euntak.

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In Your future life, you will be reincarnated as a TV critic.

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I think it is as much self sacrifice as it is self preservation to stay in that snowy in between place. I can't see Kim shin being peaceful while longing for Eun tak. Also, I think everyones vision of heaven is different, and Kim shins vision of heaven has Eun tak in it, but he knows that's not what the almighty has in mind

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Lol @ that one candle ppl in this ep! Who passes out jars of candles at a restaurant/coffee shop? So weird... but I love how Eun-tak just nonchalantly blows 'em out now not knowing what happens when she does. Such a hoot to watch! I'm waiting for her to blow out flames in her own house and watch how Shin would explain himself, then! Hahaha.

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Lol, right! Although I'd like to believe that the almighty is pulling some strings again, such as possessing the server to pass out jars of candles. Haha

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Oh and bless the kind and generous person who has produced this video of the Full Album with a songs list and clear indication of which song is being played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdK0uz6twes

Wonderful music... I'm listening to this as I read the recap and type this! :) Enjoy

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Thank you for the link! They're all my favorites, but for some weird reason I keep thinking of Lee El and her red stilletos whenever I listen to "Winter is Coming". :p

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Gah, it was all so lovely, nothing happened, but still lovely.

I have no idea why Eun Tak was hanging out on a rooftop alone with a birthday cake(?) at work. It must be an unwritten kdrama rule; all poignant moments must happen on rooftops. But whatever it hit home emotionally for me, with the added bonus that it worked like the So/Su modern ending I was promised and never received.

So Eun-Tak doesn't remember the old chicken store or the Reaper, I guess all memories tangentially related to the Goblin were removed as well. Is this why Sunny supposedly doesn't remember the Reaper either?

The butterfly god definitely plays favourites because Yeo consistently gets a better deal than Kim Shin. Guess that's where all the love you get from being a past Goryeo King gets you, tough luck Shin.

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I was thinking that the kindness in Reaper's remembering was more for Shin and Eun Tak as it would be too sad that their love was completely forgotten - this according to Samshin Fairy.

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I know this is going to upset a lot of people but technically isn't Kim Shin undead and/or a zombie errrr...literally walking dead? Still trying to figure this purgatory thing... what do you guys think?

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LOL, Shades of Train to Busan!

It's not clear if he gets summoned back as a mortal or immortal. As the former... he is more human and gets to die. Does that make him more like a zombie?

If he's still immortal, then he's back to what he was... a deity of some kind.

It appears that nothing much has changed for Shin. He is still continuing the life he had after dying twice!!! LOL ... and still has his powers.

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Question. Why did Kim Shin borrow the $5? It seemed to be for an excuse to see Eun Tak but then later she still says he hadn't paid her back the $5?

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Haha, besides the fact that the show's making it a running joke (which I was hoping they would bc I find it hilarious that this rich man doesn't have $5 on him), Shin didn't have $5 or any money on him bc Eun-tak (unknowingly) summoned him suddenly when she blew out the candle at the coffee shop. His excuse was that he didn't have time to grab his coat that he kept his wallet inside of. Of course, we know he didn't have time bc he was transported within seconds from where he was to where Eun-tak was.

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i thought the same thing.. maybe he kept it so that he can use it as an excuse to keep meeting her idk

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Oops, I read your comment thinking you asked why Shin borrowed $5 from EUN-TAK. You were talking about him borrowing from Grims! Ah, okay. Hmm... idk then. I figured we'd see him preparing a lavish dinner for her or something because he also borrowed $10 for a book and another $100 for meat, so I wonder if they're just holding off on showing us what he does with all the money he borrowed from Grims. But yeah, I also think it's because he thought he could use any excuse he could get just to see Eun-tak again. Just like how Eun's-tak gave him her rent money previously and told him to use that as an excuse to see his sister.

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Wow just finished reading. Awesome recap and comments. Much appreciated GF

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Omg, two potential tearjerker and full on bawling moments could be when 1.) Shin writes to Eun-tak's radio show about his first love (Eun-tak!) and shares their sweet love story and moments together. It'll be beautiful to hear him talk on her radio show about her, but she won't know it's her... unless that's when she regain pieces of her memories of him? Ooh, and 2.) when Eun-tak finally regains all her memories of Shin and the nine years ago, I know it's gonna be too real to deal. It's gonna be like her performance in last ep's scene when Shin died. Or maybe I'm just being dramatic... anywho, hoping to hear Shin's love story on Eun-tak's radio show!

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Omg, I forgot about Grims! He's totally gonna call in/share his Missing Love story, isn't he!?

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When Shin enumerated all the things he needed... his house, identity, CC... and his nephew! Made me go d'awww. Shin really truly adores him even though he never treated his uncle with respect and always spoke in banmal. haha!

Love the reunions in this episode. I am waiting for Shin and Sunny proper reunion.

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Thanks for the recap.

Seeing ET suffer through the blue devils and not know why was heartbreaking.

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I'm so in love with this drama I'm driving up to Québec city this spring. I love this city and i's been too long. I'll even stay at the Château Frontenac.
What a beautiful show and I LOVE the OST.

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Ahhh, I am so jealous! I went to school in Quebec, and got to live there for 3.5 years. It was like living in a theme park, only it was real.

Also, the rooms ET stayed in would be almost $800.00/US a night in October. A NIGHT!! Next time I go I'm going to try an AirBnb...

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Thanks for the recap! I learnt something new! About the radish comment!

Like fellow beanie Van , I also haven't watched the previews for the next ep(s) and will try to avoid them at all cost, so I'm also frantically scrolling up, down and away from spoilers! I just wanna share my thoughts and I'm sorry if some of these have already been mentioned by some other commenter too.

1. If all memories of Kim Shin have been erased, then why is the writing in Eun Tak's diary to remind her to remember him not disappear...? The late chairman's will as well.

2. Why get a birthday cake when she didn't eat it? Haha! She didn't even bring it back in with her.

3. I find it weird, a bit formal for Sunny to address Eun Tak as Ji PD.

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(1) I think the only ones erased are those written by Kim Shin himself. Both the entry in ET's diary and the chairman's will were not his own writings, so.

(2) Come to think of it, she hasn't eaten a single cake for the past freaking 9 years! Lol. She has been leaving her cake wherever. And in the only time she was given a cake by her "family", Kim Shin took all of it out of pettiness. LOL

(3) Perhaps when Kim Shin's life was erased from Sunny's and Eun-tak's memories, their initial encounters were also erased? That was also weird, that Sunny didn't remember ET used to work for her in the previous chicken place.

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Oh yeah! Hahahahaha! He friggin' hogged the poor girl's birthday cake! Omg. He totally owes her one. And another bluetooth speaker/camera ?!

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Haha, all the power to you, fellow beanie, BedeliaJane! I let my eyes wander at the comments and when I see certain keywords, I skedaddle! It's tough, but since I wanna join in on the fun... ??‍♀️

Anyway, to address your questions:

1.) Good point! But maybe it's just all clear and evident traces of Shin disappeared–like his own handwriting and memories of his appearance and voice. The other remnants of him were left by other people and not Shin, himself, so it didn't disappear because it was done by others that wanted to remember Shin's existence.

2.) You MUST be new! ? Jk, but c'mon now, K drama characters rarely eat/drink the food they buy/order! You have no idea how many times I've noticed characters just leaving after ordering their drinks/foods. Sunny did it at least once when she left Grims. And I didn't notice it the first time, but I'm pretty sure Eun-tak's cake that brought Shin back to life was a ppl product.

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Thanks Klurker & Van for your response!

Haha yes, in general for most dramas, usually the cast drink more than they eat (unless it's the Let's Eat series!) And when they do eat, it's stuff like cup noodles and jajangmyeon that they will finish up :)

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1. I think it's a part of God's "leaving a door open" plan. That Kim Shin was erased entirely from the world except for those clues so that he could come back.

2. Oh well, because Gong Yoo is more important than the cake? lol.

3. It's because Eun-tak is an adult with a proper job now, so i think it's Sunny's way to address her with respect? Eun-tak is not related in any way to Sunny now (not a family, not a hoobae, not an employee, not a same-age friend). I think that's endearing. Besides, she can always call her Eun-tak when she wants to. Because Sunny's cool like that. ^^

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HAHAHAHA Your No. 2 is so on point! As long as Gong Yoo is in the mix, Gong Yoo is the priority. LOL So Gong Yoo >>> Cake

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Haha! I noticed from the Goblin thread how math keeps finding its way into the discussions, such as:

1. Exhausted, crack-lipped Gong Yoo > PPL cake
2. Eun tak's desperate pleas + a contract (the original, not cc'd) + extinguished flame = Gong Yoo
3. Gong Yoo in any form > Cake in any kind

I'm no Math geek so I hope one such Beanie can compile all sorts of combinations and formulae.

ps I guess this is how I'm coping with the dreaded end of Goblin.

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Your equations made me laugh to the point of crying. But just to illustrate how hard it is to conjur up a Gong Yoo from thin air--you're missing a couple things in #2.

ET's desperate pleas + A contract (original, not cc) +extinguished flame + first snow + age ending in the number 9 + goblin raising your mother from the dead while you're in her womb, thereby branding you as the goblins bride.

Probably why I, personally, haven't been able to make Gong Yoo appear in my life. Lol.

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Gotta love dem equations. The only time I appreciate math. lol It always ends with = Gong Yoo hahaha

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@Ally and @Klurker - those equations are gold ! lol

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Oh my gosh! I LOVE YOU GOBLIN CAST AND PRODUCTION!

I had an exam today at 11 and watched the episode around 6 in the morning. Man...... I was acting like the 29 year old bipolar Eun Tak during the exam (who smiled remembering ahjussi's comeback and almost crying cause he can't get Eun Tak's recognition). I almost wrote down 'Gong Yoo' and 'dokaebi' on the paper ? Wonder what my Bengali teacher would have thought.

I knew KES will keep on twisting and turning kdrama cliches in this drama. And so she did with the comeback of our goblin and the 'amnesia'. It makes so much sense that the god would do something like wiping out Kim Shin from all the characters' memories. I always wondered how come the amnesia affected characters never had anything written down or a proof of the loved person's existence. So I was satisfied to see ET write down his description when she felt that he was being wiped out from her memory. And what should I say about the CGI and cinematography in this ep? No words needed!

The bromance in this episode and romance in the upcoming episodes will be mind blasting. I won't dare make any theory about the last two eps although I saw the previews. Happy Dokaebi day to all the beanies. Let's cherish this shining drama for a long time.

P.S. who else lost their marbles while laughing when Deok Hwa was adding 'Yu' after every question (to seem more formal I guess)? ?

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What I like the most about Goblin is its mythology, even when the rules are not clear as day to us. I think the ambiguity in the rules gives leeway for the writer, but I also think it captures how our own personal faiths go. While religions have 'rules' they go by, there will always be something considered *mysterious*, and the ambiguity of the mythology of Goblin is what makes it quite real for me.

For example, we two gods ever present in the story, and even they find some of their choices mysterious. I like how the drama has used human desperation as a point where the mysterious tends to work -- the way Shin's desperation to be somehow with Eun Tak allowed him to stay in some sort of limbo, and the way Eun Tak's desperation allowed them the loophole to bring Shin back to Earth.

Of course we have questions on how things will be now, if they can actually live a long life together, etc etc, and while we have many reasons to doubt the writer and the way she ends her stories, I will choose to have faith (har) in the mysterious for this drama.

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I know this episode is THE Goblin/Eun Tak episode, but for me, the most moving scene was the Resper and Sunny scene. Absolutely heart wrenching! ??

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Depressing first half, but it was back to its old funny self after Reaper took in Goblin. An ex-chaebol borrowing five dollars was a sight. It was good to see Deok Hwa again. This proves that Eun Tak's Canadian restaurant president is Shin.

I thought Eun Tak's words on her notebook would disappear as she wrote them like how Shin’s writing was burned off. I'm glad to know she went to therapy and got medication for her unknown depression. This amnesia has been unfairly painful for her.

Thanks for the recap, girlfriday!

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Yup, I thought her diary writing would be burnt off too... anyway do see comments above from Klurker and Van on this :)

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Yay! After a long time, I finally watched an episode in time to comment!

I felt really sad for eun tak this episode. Knowing why you are depressed will help you move on someday or atleast will keep you content in the fact that you know the reason for your sadness but you don't mind being that way. Like you get used to that pain but don't mind carrying it around. But not knowing why you are sad yet still can't help feeling that way, that sounds terrible. It reminded of this line I have read, "Taking away the memory of pain doesn't keep a person from having to suffer through it". It was perfect for eun tak's situation, she doesn't know why she is hurting but she is still hurting. Arghh. I am so glad shin returned. I felt like eun tak would have died of heart ache otherwise.

Also, all the scenes where gong yoo smiled shown together just made my day. It was wonderful. I am going to cut that part and save it so that I can watch it when I have a bad day and feel better. :P

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This is the first episode in a very, very long time I didn't fast forward any scenes. Every moment felt truly devastating (unlike the whole 'should I leave her or not' question that dragged earlier in the series), and I truly felt for Euntak. How it must feel to have spent ten years being triggered by the strangest and most mundane of things to become truly depressed, so sad you feel like nothing can make it better. That moment where her two friends stared at her sadly across the table said so much. And ugh, Goblin treading through snow without any sense of hope for nine years ...................... and Reaper ............ SO DEVASTATING. And so excited for the next episode which happens in half an hour!!!

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