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The Third Charm: Episode 14

Joon-young’s relationship with his girlfriend Se-eun is everything that he ever wanted–they have similar traits, similar tastes and similar goals. In other words, it’s everything that his relationship with his first love wasn’t. The important question, though, is if Joon-young and Se-eun have similar feelings toward each other. If they do, is it enough to outweigh his past feelings for his first love?

 
EPISODE 14 RECAP

After four years of dating, the time has come for Joon-young to meet Se-eun’s family. He’s looking mighty son-in-law-worthy in a suit and ready to impress. His parents wish him luck before sending him off with Se-eun. Joon-young’s nerves start showing on the car ride there, so Se-eun reassures him that her father isn’t scary; he can actually be quite cute.

Meanwhile, the salon staff notice that Joo-ran is feeling down. One of her clients, MJ (the idol that Soo-jae refused to hire), notices as well and asks what’s wrong. Instead of answering, she turns the question on him. He explains the Soo-jae situation, and she nods knowingly.

Soo-jae and his team are holding auditions for the main role of their film. The next group come in, and the board is surprised when a candidate removes his hat and reveals himself to be MJ. The idol is nervous as he tells them that he came without his representation. And though Soo-jae is still skeptical, he lets MJ continue his audition.

Afterwards, Soo-jae actually admits that he did well. MJ says that he took Soo-jae’s criticism seriously since his boy band career left him with a complex. His insecurities prevented him from trying new things, so he’s glad that he was able to do this audition, even if he doesn’t get the part. Soo-jae is surprised to hear this, realizing he might’ve been too quick in his judgment.

Joon-young and Se-eun make it to her family home, where the mom greets them with a grin. Joon-young’s nerves kick right back up, though, when the dad and two brothers file out with hard expressions. Ha, welcome to the lion’s den.

Everyone gathers inside to eat, and Se-eun’s brother notably gives her a hard time for putting food in Joon-young’s bowl rather than her own. Getting straight to the point, both brothers then question Joon-young’s career change from cop to chef.

The conversation starts getting heated, so the dad slams his spoon down and demands for alcohol. Dad pours Joon-young waaay too much soju and urges him to down the whole thing. Joon-young politely pours for Dad too before chugging like a champ.

After their meal, Joon-young and Se-eun head out, and her family watch them drive off. Mom thinks that Joon-young is a total catch, and even the brothers think that he’s a good guy. “If Se-eun likes him then that’s enough for me,” Dad adds.

However, Joon-young tells Se-eun that he got the feeling her dad dislikes him. She smiles and says that Dad’s hard look was actually his happy face, lol. He’s relieved to hear that, but Se-eun can tell that something’s still bothering him.

Young-jae walks into her kitchen and sees the thermos of leftovers from last night. She grabs a spoon to finish it off, still marveling at the taste. “You found it again,” she thinks, referring to Joon-young always finding things for her. “I won’t lose it this time.”

Joon-young meets up with Officer Jung to have a big reunion with Officers Gong and Lee (aw, yay, I missed these guys). They head into a barbeque place for dinner, where, whoa, former criminal Snakehead and his girlfriend are the owners.

As they eat, Joon-young notes that Snakehead seems to have really turned his life around; he’s even attending church now. Snakehead says that he’s let go of his past because his girlfriend is most important.

He then asks Joon-young if he ever married that Young-jae girl, confused when the other officers try to shush him. Joon-young just smiles and announces that he is getting married–to Se-eun. Jaws drop all around.

They’re all incredibly happy for their former team leader, and Officer Gong even jokes that he’ll lock Joon-young up if he doesn’t treat Se-eun well. With that, they all clink glasses to commemorate Joon-young’s engagement.

The next day, Young-jae readies to leave her apartment, dressing warmly as Joon-young instructed. She goes to the supermarket and buys all of the necessary ingredients for Joon-young’s spicy stir-fried octopus recipe.

At home, she recreates the dish, following Joon-young’s recipe step-by-step. And she’s delighted when it turns out to be a success, being just as delicious.

However, a phone call interrupts her meal, the voice on the other line surprising her. She goes out to a café to meet the caller, who happens to be Se-eun. Se-eun wanted to apologize for before, when she’d asked about a boyfriend and accidentally brought up Young-jae’s divorce.

Young-jae accepts the apology and chats with Se-eun about Joon-young and how they came to be engaged. When Se-eun mentions her confession in the airport, Young-jae praises her, saying that courage is needed to gain someone’s heart. She understands now why Joon-young must like her.

Se-eun then gets to why she really called Young-jae out; she wanted to set her up on a blind date. Se-eun starts to say that she knows a nice guy, but seeing the expression on Young-jae’s face, she stops.

Young-jae looks up at her and asks, “Then will your heart be at ease?” Se-eun responds with confusion, so Young-jae just encourages her to set up the date. When Young-jae leaves, Se-eun doesn’t look at ease; she looks regretful.

Later, Joon-young is contacted by Se-eun’s dad and learns that he approves of their marriage. Joon-young then calls Se-eun to relay the news, saying that her dad wants them to marry sometime this year.

It should be a happy moment for them, but Se-eun’s smile drops as soon as they hang up. She sighs, still feeling horrible over her actions toward Young-jae.

While shooting some free throws, Soo-jae has a hard time concentrating. He’s bothered by his knowledge of MJ’s insecurities, Joo-ran’s outburst at his prejudiced attitude suddenly hitting home.

He tries to call Joo-ran, but she’s busy getting ready to leave (presumably to another doctor’s appointment). He then thinks about calling Young-jae but decides not to. Instead, he decides that maybe it’s time to pay Joon-young a visit.

After Soo-jae surprises Joon-young by rolling up to the restaurant on his scooter, the two catch up over dinner. They haven’t seen each other in years, so Soo-jae wanted to thank Joon-young for playing a part in his now successful film career. He also wanted to see how Joon-young was doing these days.

Joon-young admits that he’s getting married soon, and though Soo-jae expresses his congratulations, they’re both thinking about Young-jae. Soo-jae gets into one of his film references, saying that relationships are funny in that their chances of meeting are slim.

Still, if these people can’t always see or be with each other, they should at least wish each other the best. Soo-jae clarifies that he’s talking about him and Joon-young, though I’m sure they know who he’s really referring to.

Afterwards, Soo-jae tries to pay for the meal with his card, but the restaurant only accepts cash. Joon-young offers to take care of it, making Soo-jae fuss that he needs to be the one that pays. But with no cash and no ATM, he has no choice but to be indebted to Joon-young once again.

Since they’d been drinking, Soo-jae needs a designated driver to take him home, which Joon-young also pays. Soo-jae is saddened that he can’t repay Joon-young for all he’s done, but instead of apologizing, he wants to say thank you. And with that, the two part ways.

Joon-young’s parents are writing up the wedding guest list, but they’re coming up short since Joon-young doesn’t have many friends or any employees. Dad doesn’t see the big deal when a wedding should be intimate and romantic, but Mom thinks that this is important, considering that they won’t be able to do this with Ri-won.

Speaking of whom, Ri-won is getting ready to leave for work. Sang-hyun is upset because it was supposed to be her day off, and even more upset to hear that she’ll be with the junior he’s jealous of.

She asks if he’s feeling insecure, and he grumbles that he is. “Even if I do break up with you,” she says, “I’ll discuss everything with you beforehand.” That said, she doesn’t want him to worry about it. She gives him a reassuring kiss before leaving.

Se-eun and her superior wish their co-worker luck before he heads out on his blind date with Young-jae. And seeing her co-worker so excited, Se-eun’s guilt starts to intensify.

Young-jae meets up with her blind date, nowhere near as excited as he is. She sits down with him, acting polite, though it looks like she already wants to leave.

Meanwhile, Joon-young treats Se-eun and her superior at the restaurant. In the middle of their meal, the superior gets a phone call from their co-worker and learns that his date was cut short. Apparently, the woman claimed that she had somewhere to be, though she did pay for the bill.

Se-eun urges her superior to continue eating, afraid she might reveal everything with Joon-young right there. But the superior keeps talking, saying that setting a divorcee up probably wasn’t a good idea. It dawns on Joon-young who they’re talking about, and he turns to Se-eun, appalled.

When the superior leaves, Joon-young drops the friendly smile and tells Se-eun to sit down and wait as he cleans. She offers to help, but he snaps that he’ll do it himself, surprising her. Eventually, when they’re driving back, they get caught in traffic, forcing them to talk about it.

“What were you thinking?” he demands, not just annoyed but legitimately angry. Hurt, Se-eun asks him the same question, wondering why he didn’t tell her that Young-jae was his ex-girlfriend. (Whoa, wait, she didn’t know?) She points out that in the four years of their dating, this is the first time he’s been mad at her. And of all things, it’s because of Young-jae.

Joon-young realizes that she’s right, and his expression softens. He quietly apologizes for making her anxious, saying that it won’t happen again. He then tells her that he’ll walk from here so she can get out of this traffic.

Young-jae goes to Joo-ran’s salon–Joo-ran’s phone call having ended her date–and finds her sitting by herself. Joo-ran starts talking about the salon and how it’s come to be her husband and her baby. And she thinks that her employee Noo-ri would be the best choice to take over. She’s starting to scare Young-jae, so she finally looks up at her and says, “I have cancer.”

We flash back to the day of Joo-ran’s diagnosis, when the doctor had told her that she was in the third stage of cervical cancer. She could be treated, but she still wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. Joo-ran now cries, expressing how embarrassed she feels for trying so hard to have a baby.

She also tells Young-jae about the cancer patient she encountered in the bathroom. When she saw her, Soo-jae was the first thing that came to mind. She then understood how scared he must’ve felt after his accident, how hard it must’ve been to feel comforted.

She regrets ever bringing up his pain, remembering the way he would just smile at her like everything was okay. Both Joo-ran and Young-jae are crying as she asks for one favor–she doesn’t want Young-jae to tell anyone about her illness. She doesn’t want to show it off.

Young-jae accepts Joo-ran’s wishes, and also agrees to cut her hair. Joo-ran’s eyes continue to fill with tears as Young-jae carefully cuts her hair all the way down to a pixie cut.

She shuts her eyes when the clippers come out, and only opens them when Young-jae is done. As she looks at the new her, she grasps Young-jae’s hand with a grateful smile.

After closing up shop, Young-jae takes Joo-ran home and tucks her into bed. Joo-ran is still emotional by the time Young-jae leaves, crying into her pillow.

As Young-jae walks back to her apartment, she looks up at the moon and gets a sharp pang in her heart. She’s reminded of a time when little So-ri had sweetly claimed that she wanted to eat a lot of food and become the moon because the moon was everywhere.

The memory is too much for Young-jae to bear. She falls to the ground and sobs right then and there, under the moonlight.

When Se-eun arrives home, she realizes that Joon-young left his planner in the car. She reads through it and sees that there are little notes everywhere, reminding him to spend time with her, bake treats for her, and so on. She smiles at one note that says “1500th day with Se-eun.”

While drinking beer outside, Joon-young gets a call from an unknown number. He freezes when he hears Young-jae’s weak voice come through: “Joon-young, it’s Young-jae. I wanted to call someone, but I had no one to call.”

He listens to her deep breathing as she shakily continues, “All the people I love end up getting hurt or leaving me.” Joon-young starts to say that they shouldn’t be contacting each other, and she answers that she knows and that she’ll be leaving soon.

“I will leave,” she repeats. That’s then followed by the sound of falling glasses and someone’s concerned cries. Joon-young panics and says her name over and over, but there’s no answer.

 
COMMENTS

This is so freaking sad. How many times do I have to say that? I feel like I’ve been saying it throughout this entire drama, and frankly, it’s starting to get to me. We only have two episodes left, and I have no idea how any of this is going to be play out. We have an engagement possibly falling apart, we have a female lead suffering depression, we have the second female lead diagnosed with cancer, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. It has to go up from here, right? It can’t leave all of our characters in pain, right? I don’t even know anymore.

Young-jae’s depression has been festering the last few episodes, leaving me on edge, and it seems to have progressed to suicidal thoughts. I don’t think she was trying to hurt herself during that phone call (it sounded like she passed out drunk somewhere), but her words make me think that she wants to. She just sounded so… done. And it’s truly awful because at first, it looked like Joon-young’s advice got to her for a while. She was taking small steps by dressing warmly, making a home cooked meal and, though it didn’t work out, going on a blind date. Granted, that blind date was the worst possible suggestion on Se-eun’s part.

Se-eun and Joon-young’s fight was inevitable, and it went as I expected. He was furious with Se-eun, and understandably so, only to end up furious with himself all over again. He’s been frustrated because he’s doing exactly what Young-jae did–he’s making Se-eun nervous, making her question their relationship. But I feel the same way I did when Joon-young and Young-jae were going through this problem. I want them to work it out. They can work it out. All it takes is some communication and understanding. I know that this is a drama and that we’ve been rooting for one couple for a long time, but with the way things are now, I don’t think getting the original OTP together is the best solution.

Young-jae needs time to heal. Joon-young needs time to mull things over. If the show is going to maintain its realistic atmosphere, then these things need to happen. But with the finale right around the corner, I’m afraid that all we’ll get is another time jump. And if we skip from heartbroken Young-jae and Joon-young to happy Young-jae and Joon-young, it won’t feel earned. So whatever happens after this ending phone call, I hope it leads into something better.

That last scene was very well done, though. If there’s anything I’ve been looking forward to in this drama, it hasn’t been Young-jae and Joon-young reuniting. It hasn’t been them getting back together for the third time. It’s been for them to communicate, to open up to each other like they never have. And though it may seem too late, Young-jae finally opened up to him. I hope that he finds her, I hope that he talks to her, and I hope that he gets all of her repressed feelings out. Romance or not, he could help Young-jae through this. Her call to him was a desperate cry for help, and he needs to answer it.

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I'm only reading the recaps, but this episode still hurt me a lot. I thought we were promised a lighthearted romance, not a depressing melo. This drama is really cutting it close with only two episodes left.

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I can't believe with K-drama genre anymore. After experiencing many misleading about the genre, I would watch any K-drama without knowing anything. Like this, I thought it would be warm. light, little comedic, not this sad.....

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Poor Young Jae, how many people can she still lost? Her family, her child and now her best friend is sick? Her oppa in a wheelchair. She's a divorcee. She's so lonely. I was so happy to see her cooking. And you can see how she cares about Joon Young's happiness when she accepted to go to a blind date to reassure Se Eun.

I don't care if they will be a couple or not but I really hope that JY will be able to help her without screwing his own life.

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...and I hope the writers will stop piling S.H.I.T. on her and her loved ones and will give Young Jae a proper and happy closure.

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This more than JY's happiness because she deserves it for trying, with everything.

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I'm still mad at the writers that they are using TRAGEDIES in the last arch. I find it cheapening the story (well more precisely Young Jae's story). I really hoped for something in the vein of Same Time, Next Year.

Thank you SailorJumun for your recaps and let's hope the last two episodes deliver.

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I have imagining the Discovery of Love ending style for this drama.
I want JoonYoung and Seeun to working out their problem. I still want them to marry and looking forward for their future.
It's so sad for YongJae and I think I relate to her character. She needs help. She's really need help. Looking her like that really hurt me.

Anyway, I can bear to watch the painful from this drama, just bcoz there's no noble idiotic to show up.

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I'm a bit troubled by the fact that Joon Young has all this notes about Se Eun in his planner. It's like he needs to be reminded to do things for her instead of wanting to do it.

At this point I don't think Young Jae is looking for romance so pairing her up with Joon Young again in this timeline may not be a good idea. What she needs is to heal first and someone to be there for her. If that person is Joon Young it will definitely note bode well with Se Eun. I really have no idea how this show will pann out. With 2 more episodes I hope we don't get any more new surprises.

What I would really like to see is Ri Won finally agreeing to marriage. I think Sang Hyun has more than proven himself and deserves that at the very least.

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I would not be surprised that if there is a TTC wedding before the end that it is between Ri-won and Sang-hyun, God help him!

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@phaiklin,

I'm a bit troubled by the fact that Joon Young has all this notes about Se Eun in his planner. It's like he needs to be reminded to do things for her instead of wanting to do it.

I'd like to suggest another way to interpret Joon-young's planner and task list. Speaking as someone married to a computer scientist for nearly 30 years, I'd like to point out that for a person with a logical, organized mind who works on multiple highly-detailed projects simultaneously, it is second nature to keep track of tasks and project deadlines with a calendar. That carries over into life outside of work, too. I worked as a secretary for about 10 years, but I would have lost my marbles long ago if I hadn't started using a planner. I originally carted around a paper Franklin Planner, and later switched to the much more portable PalmPilot edition I could back up on the PC.

We know how compulsively nerdy and organized Joon-young was even as a kid. That flair for detail was one of the things that made him so effective as a police officer. All those Post-It notes neatly arrayed along the bottom of his monitor with reminders of report filings and upcoming trials immediately tipped off Officer Se-eun that they were on the same wavelength.

The entries in his planner are reminders from Joon-young to himself precisely because he wants to do them. He takes every one of those actions seriously enough to write them down. You can bet your bippie that he programs every one of them into his handphone, too.

Consider this: Joon-young thinks of Se-eun at least twice for each of those entries: first when he writes it, and at least once again when he reads it to do it. If that isn't evidence of how often he thinks of her, I don't know what is. It's like the Annals of Joseon on steroids. As I watched the look on her face while she reads, I could see that she realizes he thinks of her constantly, always coming up with thoughtful gifts and things to do that are tailored to her liking. It may not look like it, but Joon-young's planner and task list is far more eloquent than many a purported love letter. Each of those actions comes from his heart, and Se-eun knows it.

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Point well taken. I guess I was seeing it in my own personal perspective. I'm someone who, if I need to do something important, will fret and think about it all day long. So reminders aren't really necessary for me. But I see where you're coming from.

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When an act of love becomes a task, I am not sure if I will appreciate it. Did JY write down every single chore he did with YJ? He saw her 2-3 times a day, drove her to work, ate lunch with her, & sometimes ate dinner too... I wonder if he wrote all these down. If one is in your mind all the time, there is no need to write. This is just my opinion coz I am very impulsive 😉

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I'm with you on this. But it's just my personal opinion. We are all wired differently. There is no right or wrong. I am not one to write things down either. I'm not sure what the writer was trying to convey by showing Joon Young's planner. Maybe his current situation is more laid back and allows him more free time to keep a detailed itinerary. We won't know if he kept one when he was with Young Jae, but I can't imagine him doing so seeing as he was a cop then. His job was very unpredictable so he wouldn't have been able to keep to his plans.

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it was really quite a whirlwind of an episode! i loved the silly first half (who would have thought the Violent Crimes Team 3 would ever share a drink with Snakehead!?), but as for the solemn second... wow.

while i started out as a strong JY/YJ OTP supporter, now i really don't think they will, and should get back together, despite how this episode ends. let's see what the finale brings us >.< it better be good. we've all come too far through these 14 + 2 eps to be disappointed now.

if any of you have a person like YJ in your life (i.e. not in a good place)... please reach out to him/her and be there for them.

...

locations:

Se-eun/Young-jae's meet-up place: Famus Ground [페이머스 그라운드] - https://koreandramaland.com/listings/famus-ground-%ed%8e%98%ec%9d%b4%eb%a8%b8%ec%8a%a4-%ea%b7%b8%eb%9d%bc%ec%9a%b4%eb%93%9c/

Passing by: Broister [브로이스터] - https://koreandramaland.com/listings/broister/

Blind date location: Milky Way Café [몽마르뜨언덕위 은하수다방] - https://koreandramaland.com/listings/milky-way-cafe/

Soo-jae/Joon-young's meal: Ssangdaepo Restaurant [쌍대포 본점] - https://koreandramaland.com/listings/pork-restaurant-%ec%8c%8d%eb%8c%80%ed%8f%ac-%eb%b3%b8%ec%a0%90/

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I’ve noticed that quite a few beanies (me included) are only reading recaps. I don’t have the heart to watch the drama on screen, but it’s an interesting character study (at first I considered it too fluffy for my taste, go figure). Kudos to SailorJumun for making the _viewer’s_ journey shine through as much as the characters’.

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[Part 1] “I know that this is a drama and that we’ve been rooting for one couple for a long time, but with the way things are now, I don’t think getting the original OTP together is the best solution...But with the finale right around the corner, I’m afraid that all we’ll get is another time jump. And if we skip from heartbroken Young-jae and Joon-young to happy Young-jae and Joon-young, it won’t feel earned.”

There we go. You nicely summed up some of my biggest feelings and concerns without all the excess ranting and detail I'm prone to. If they time skip (I have a bad feeling that they will), it will be another cheap trick from the writers, and it will leave a bad taste in my mouth.

So, this episode. Lots of things happened, and at this stage it gets harder and harder for me to pick it apart because I struggle to understand or follow the trajectory of all the writing decisions.

1: First and foremost, I want to talk about JR. My heart broke for her in this episode. I'm still in awe that they made her previous struggles to find a man and have a child into almost a slapstick comedy, only to snatch it all away from her with what could end up as either her death, the removal of her reproductive organs or both. How was this a good idea? What does it even bring to the story? If you must use something like this is a plot device...what exactly is the plot?

Call me bitter, but I find it really sucky that once again someone else's very true pain and tragedy is being made into YJ's. It's because she's depressed, yes, and probably not very rational right now. But this happened with SJ too. It's like the writer wants to use other people's very horrible tragedies and suffering to manipulate the main leads into the shape they want them to be (or at least, how they want them to be perceived to be).

SJ at least was able to provide to the story and push it to the 'second charm'. But why is this happening to JR? For what reason is it necessary to make one small group of characters suffer so much, especially the women, and especially a woman who used flagrantly for comedy before now?

The haircutting scene was wonderful. JR was dignified and tragic. I was reminded of Queen's “The Show Must Go On”. In that moment, it was her anthem. In fact, I might post it to my wall.

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[Part 2] Ni: I wonder when and how SE found out that YJ is JY's ex. Because we don't know all the little details like that, or how recently YJ divorced etc, it's hard to judge how silly SE was with her blind date plot.

But I get what happened here – she's paralleling JY, except maybe not so bad. Because remember how JY was with HC. He literally ran a police background check on him for no reason. Surely that's litigable for breach of data protection? It must be against many, many rules and it's an abuse of authority and position. He needs to cool the hypocrisy off a little and let the high horse go and graze for a while.

So I don't really see how arranging a blind date is all that bad compared to a background check etc. It gets murky if YJ literally divorced last month or something and SE knows it, and if SE knew about the child it would be downright awful. But as it stands, I don't see this as a high crime, just a normal standard of human insensitivity that JY himself is capable of. And it's obviously designed to a) draw even more parallels between JY and SE, and b) start showing cracks in their relationship.

It's a shame, I feel like this is being manufactured for what the writers will see as a 'happy ending'. I don't think YJ and JY will be a happy ending, not for me at least. It's fine if JY doesn't choose SE, but that doesn't mean he should choose YJ either. He needs to decide what's best for him...but he also shouldn't judge SE in a way that amounts to little more than throwing stones in a glass house.

I wouldn't do the same thing myself, but I can see where SE is coming from. YJ has re-entered JY's life and seems to be hovering around for whatever reason. JY is clearly responding to her on some level. It's not just that SE is 'insecure', it's that she has a legitimate reason to be concerned, and she's reacting to it. As viewers we can judge her. If we were in her position, I wonder how many of us wouldn't behave the same or worse?

3: I mentioned this in my comments on episode 13, but I've seen some opinions in comments and forums that scared that pants off of me. There are actually people out there that think JY and YJ should get back together purely because she 'needs' him and 'would die without him'. If you break that down, it sounds a lot like a hostage situation to me.

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[Part 3] That's saying that JY, regardless of his own needs, his own health and his own current lifestyle, should run straight back to a relationship that already failed twice purely because that person would kill themselves otherwise. Does that sound healthy at all? To anyone? He would be her hostage, her life support, and what would happen when it's all over? Would YJ feel 'guilty' towards him again and leave again as soon as she felt capable? What would JY be left with?

And what if JY chose to live his own life, not being responsible for someone he has no actual responsibility for, and she died? The perspective of those comments would make him responsible for her death, even though she cut off ties with him years ago and they live separate lives now. How unfair and dark. It's like he's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. How is this supposed to come right in just two more episodes?

If he chooses to go back to her...well that's his character choice, but I only hope if it must happen, it will happen in a way that doesn't glorify unhealthy relationships. There aren't many things I despise more than unhealthy relationships and the misrepresentation of the affects of mental illness.

4: I'd be shocked if we DON'T get a timeskip at this point. YJ will go back to Portugal where her child is buried. JY will go back, with or without SE, because he mentioned going back. They will meet again there. And probably the writers will have them reunite in some way with revelations, sparkly eyes and the promise of a bright future yada yada.

I'd be happily surprised if they didn't do this and they love other people healthily but remain as good friends. I have no faith that's what we'll get. I have no idea why I'm watching this until the end, I can only think it's because of SKJ's hypnotic eye-acting. I really wanted to see him in bigger and better things after AYHT.

Can we just get a second season of AYHT? I want NS and NS-III brotherly shenanigans. And Young-Hoon having a midlife crisis cleaning up after them. The world's first robot-human wedding. David and So-Bong's dad cohabitate.

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Thanks @alex8825 AlexDanno. before getting into some of the heavy parts of an episode it nice to chuckle a bit and this got me (last paragraph):

I have no idea why I'm watching this until the end, I can only think it's because of SKJ's hypnotic eye-acting. I really wanted to see him in bigger and better things after AYHT.

Can we just get a second season of AYHT? I want NS and NS-III brotherly shenanigans. And Young-Hoon having a midlife crisis cleaning up after them. The world's first robot-human wedding. David and So-Bong's dad cohabitate.

O/T but I think you can use this (NS-III):
https://img.playbuzz.com/image/upload/ar_1.5,c_crop/q_auto:good,f_auto,fl_lossy,w_640,c_limit/v1534267056/vu5gcwoijfjjbkxvzzhf.jpg

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You are AMAZING. Not only does it always make me feel good to see my robot child, but that's one of my favourite screencaps of him <3

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Thank you for that lovely portrait of Nam Shin III, @marcusnyc20 Bong-soo. It is much appreciated as THE THIRD CHARM goes into the spin cycle. ;-)

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Seo Kang Joon's hypnotic eye acting. Omg I'm laughing so hard!

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@sailorjumun Thanks for the recap!
I'm not actually watching or religiously reading recaps, I just read this one, wondering if I wanted to get back to watching this show. To my surprise, what I thought was to be a breezy and less heavy take on getting a romance right, has had many layers of melodrama added to it. It did not occur to me that this would be such a sad show!!

I looked up MyDramaList for its list of genres for this show and the first word was comedy, followed by romance, drama, melodrama... I think I'd put melodrama first, followed by romance, and if there was anything really comedic, I'd have that at the end of the list.

Your recaps have been great, so on just reading a bit, I've picked up enough to have a an idea of the events that went before, so maybe I'll drop in on the last 2 episodes to see if we end with tears of relief, joy or sorrow!!! 😉

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What to say other then, This was sad. My goodness this drama needs 4 more episodes. The pacing hasn't been the best. I 100% agree that there will be a timeskip. If they had paced better we could live with the characters and understand their motivations. Unfortunately, it looks like the writer wanted to write just for JY and YJ was his supplement. That sucks mostly because Esom is killing it and her character is interesting to boot, it's kind of a waste.

That being said, the hair cutting scene was well done from the acting to the direction. Favorite scene of the episode.

Ri Won is my favorite character, but she needs to give her man some love. She is neglecting him a little bit.

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YJ is a great character (though a lot of folks disagree). She’s fundamentally kind person just like JY. The fact that she went on a blind date just to put SE’s mind at rest is pretty awesome. She wanted SE to feel at ease and by extension JY to have a happy relationship with his fiancée. That there is a kind person. I guess that is why I like YJ’s character. She might not be demonstrative in small ways like JY and can seem dismissive but she is thoughtful (and perceptive) on certain things.

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I won't be surprised the drama will have an open ending. After another time lapse, JY and YJ will meet again (in Portugal?), both still single, and YJ is at a police station complaining about something (again), then JY shows up to help.... the "third charm"... This will take us back a full circle as if nothing has happened and we have all wasted 16 hours... hahaha...

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@candycane Oh NOOOO!!!! But actually possible!!

Should I be wickedly, self-congratulating that I only watched about 8 hours? 😆 😂 😉

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The last scene in and of itself is an entire episode. YJ does something she could never do — she reaches for someone. I keep thinking back to when she told Joo-ran she wished she could talk to JY about her turmoil. It has never been about JY not understanding. It has always been about YJ trusting him enough to expose her heartbreak, her fears, her doubts.

Third Charm has been building to that phone call. His reaction mirrored the intimacy, the excruciating exhaustion and bleakness in her voice, and it was mesmerizing to watch.

I think a time jump is necessary, just for the sake of expediency, but I think it’s possible for the writers to end this in a way that feels organic.

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I like this. I wish the writer made it more obvious, but thinking back I agree that the show was building up to that phone call, the execution is unfortunate though.

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This show is frustrating and disappointing and heartbreaking. It should just be called the “Joon-Young show” because it really is all about JY’s journey. The writer doesn’t seem to know what to do with the many interesting women characters that they had started with and have now just reduced them to one note characters. YJ and JR are sad with tragic losses. RW and JY’s mom are neglectful partners and SE only cares about being with JY!
Meanwhile the guys get to learn and grow, even SooJae and SangRyul have shown change.
Too bad! The show had so much potential!

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*SangHyun not SangRyul

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Okay let's do a reality check. Young Jae,
1. Lost her parents at a young age
2. Her brother was hospitalized and lost the function of his legs (forcing her to fend for him)
3. She broke up with the man she loves twice
4. She lost her daughter
5. She divorced her husband
6. Her best friend has cancer

My God...

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Unrelated, but there are times where JY's certain behaviors INTENSELY reminds me of SKJ's past characters. Like Nam Shin III when he greeted SE's family. And Baek In Ho when he beat up SH for making out with RW. That doesn't happen very often with other actor I've seen.

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I noticed something similar in one of my favorite dramas this year LIFE ON MARS. There were at least two scenes where I swear Jung Kyung-ho (Chief Han) went into Paksa-adeul mode which was his character in HEARTLESS CITY. It was like he was making cameo appearances of himself from 2013.

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It's like someone cross-bred a UK soap opera with a country song at this point tbh

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Am I the only one thinking that Young Jae's daughter is actually Joon Youth's child? That will make total sense to me for them to get back... I mean the drama is called "third charm" for a reason.

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The child was born in 2015. How could she be JY’s child?

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The times shown on her gravestone mean the timing doesn't add up. I'm glad about that too, tbh. I don't think it would have been a way for them to get back together but instead it would have looked very, very bad. What reason would she have had to not give him the chance to know his child for those years? And to have another man - THAT man that he had such issues with, too - raise it with his surname?

Such a thing would have crushed him to pieces even without the child dying as well. I'm very relieved that the story at least doesn't have that complication on top of everything else.

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I don't comment very often, mostly just lurk, but I find that I disagree with some of takes on this drama. I honestly have never seen this as JY's drama, YJ is clearly given the meatier, albeit more tragic material. They both seem to equally share the screen. I really like this drama in part because on paper it is pretty melodramatic but the show does such a great job of grounding its plot shifts so it all feels real. Having it all happen to YJ is a weird choice, I agree, but I do think the show never loses that grounded feeling which makes the show all the more sad. I think we may headed towards an open ending, or one where the
OTP does not end up together and I'm okay with that. I do wish the show was longer though.

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I don't think JY and YJ equally share the screen. Episode 11 is mostly on JY (80% of screen time). We have not been told much of the inner struggles of YJ. Why was YJ married to the doc when she rejected him on Episode 10. Do you know why?

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We don't know why JY decided to be with SE either but we accept that time played a part in it. I assume she was with HC for the same reason JY is with SE, they complement each other and a relationship with someone who complements you is easier.
Also one episode does not undo an entire series that seems to split the show up more evenly. Episode 11 clearly purposely left us in the dark about YJ, if the story was not about her, we would not have noticed the absence.

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A couple of thoughts on the first (lighter) half of the episode.
I enjoyed Joon-young's reunion with his police team buddies. Notwithstanding JY's eccentricities they really seemed to like Chief On. He seemed very comfortable around the guys. Also it was nice to see that Snakehead appears to be on the straight and narrow.
Now on to JY's meeting with Se-eun's family after four years of dating. I thought JY handled it well all things considered. I loved the image above in @sailorjumun's recap:
http://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/thirdcharm14-00066.jpg because it reflects (right or wrong on my part) for me an idea I have of there being a strong macho streak in Korea. I base that on no scientific evidence or study but only on watching kdramas.
I am glad JY passed muster with the clan particularly the male part. Mom was not a problem.

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