When My Love Blooms: Episodes 15-16 Open Thread (Final)

22 June 16, 2020June 16, 2020

When My Love Blooms: Episodes 15-16 Open Thread (Final)

by missvictrix

Our tale of reunited lovers comes to a close this week, but before that can happen, there’s a lot of redemption, wrap-up, and closure in store for us. Each of our characters reaches a turning point in the final week of the story, and it’s these moments that determine where they land at the end of our tale.

EPISODES 15-16 WEECAP

While I found the pacing of our final week a little incongruous (so much sudden movement and so many character awakenings after weeks of stasis), I did like where we landed. The drama, in fact, is really careful to wrap everything up for us. It does such a nice job injecting moral and positivity that you can tell they’ve been waiting with bated breath to give us this warm ending, after all the somber scenarios that have come before it.

Last week we left off with a crazy cliffhanger when Jae-hyun was brutally stabbed. We quickly move through this little plot arc, though, because what the drama is really interested in is what comes after — in short, the chaebol plot line wrap-up, and what that means for our hero. At first, I didn’t find this life-threatening plot arc to be very crucial, though it did tie up the storyline with Jae-hyun, the protesting father who misunderstood him, and the instigator Se-hoon. On second thought, though, post-recovery Jae-hyun is essentially the closest to the Jae-hyun we know from the past. So perhaps, in a way, he did need that life-threatening event to metaphorically bring him back to himself.

Of the many character changes in our finale week, Jae-hyun’s is definitely the most important. Even though he and Ji-soo fell in love again, there was still that friction between Ji-soo’s rock solid in her beliefs ever since their 20s, and Jae-hyun’s rocky road that made him lose himself.

But, it’s Ji-soo that finally gets to him, and causes him to change his course. And it’s rather poetic that his own rhetoric and beliefs are reflecting back at him, because of her, and creating a mirror. So, while he continues with his plan to expose Hyung Sung, he chooses to renounce the company ownership he’s long fought for. And just like that, our hero is back.

Ji-soo knows he’ll make the right decision, and it’s her faith in him that not only proves they’re meant to be, but is the catalyst for Seo-kyung to finally let go of her grip on her dead marriage. She realizes how much more deeply Ji-soo knows him; Seo-kyung realizes, too, that she cares for her family and position more than keeping her marriage. I actually like where these two women end up; there seems to be a mutual respect of sorts now.

So, Seo-kyung renounces Jae-hyun in the same way he renounced his hold on her father’s company, and they agree to part ways amicably. I liked their final conversation and the closure around their relationship. I like where we leave Seo-kyung, too, by the end of the drama. She’s far more wise, far more mature, and far more focused on her son (and he needs it!)

Our Ji-soo also has a final mountain to climb, and that’s the healing around her trauma, and how she’s unable to face her birthday ever since the accident that took her mother and sister. With her crew around her, and Jae-hyun prodding her along, she takes a big step towards healing. The drama represents this beautifully, with Ji-soo going back to that moment that has been haunting her for years, and finally getting the closure she needed: seeing their faces, and being able to say goodbye. For me, this moment of healing was stronger than any other, in a conclusion that was filled with people learning the error of their ways, forgiving, and finding peace.

Healing, kindness, forgiveness — these are the themes that our drama closes with. In fact, there’s so much warmth by the end of the final episode that it almost feels like we’re watching a different drama. Not only are our lovers forever united (and they put a PPL ring on it too), but all our other characters are also sent off well at the end of the drama. Young-woo adopts puppies and then meets a new love interest, the malicious Hyung Sung chairman is in jail, Seo-kyung is happily being a mother, and Se-hoon is taking his punishment.

Our story is over, and our characters are all in their rightful places, but the drama isn’t over yet. Instead, it chooses to conclude with a symbolic sequence where adult Ji-soo meets young Jae-hyun, and adult Jae-hyun meets young Ji-soo — both recognizing their beloved as they knew them in the past. Then, Ji-soo and Jae-hyun embrace their younger selves, signifying this peace they’ve made with the past.

Even though this might feel a bit out of place in our drama, I’m positively a sucker for this kind of ending. They did the same thing in Come Here and Hug Me, and I was a shameless bucket of tears. There were less tears here, but the tenderness of this moment was quite lovely, especially when juxtaposed with the somberness of the drama that preceded. We’re left with the heartwarming wish that everyone might have a love that blooms eternally — but more than blooming loves, my favorite bit was the little treat in our final flashback scene.

We see young Jae-hyun at a rally, and we can tell it’s before they’ve met, and before our story began. He pulls down his bandana as he recognizes Ji-soo across the crowd. The drama is trying to tell us that he liked her first, even while he pretended to be aloof — but for me, the best thing about this closing sequence is the sense of the story coming full circle again in order to close.

“I found you,” Jae-hyun says to himself. They’re fitting words to tie their love story — and our drama — together, reiterating the story’s theme of finding, losing, and reclaiming the things that are most precious to us.

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1 Lurker

June 16, 2020 at 10:19 AM

Well I love Lee Bo Young and Yoo Ji Tae too bits, but I dropped this drama at episode 12. Not much happening and it just felt like the story was going round in circle. I started episode 13, than went to see the end of episode 16 and felt that I really didn't want to invest more of my time in these story. It's a pity because I really loved it in the beginning but it just feels like it would have been better with less episodes. Some just felt like fillers.

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starseeo

June 16, 2020 at 4:57 PM

like you, i scrolled to the last 3 minutes to watch the ending and decided to cut my losses and not bother with the episode.

them speaking to their younger selves was so cringey and cheesy, i could not bear it.

what a pity though. this drama started out so strong.

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2 R.D.

June 16, 2020 at 11:18 AM

No real comment regarding the drama except that I enjoyed it. All the angst (basically for 15 episodes !) became bearable because of the actors that portrayed the protagonists. They were excellent. Just that I really appreciate the always thoughtful recap here. It feels like the drama I love is cherished with care and there's a proper closure ;). Thank you.

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3 Eazal

June 16, 2020 at 1:26 PM

If only this drama would have lasted 12 episodes! It could have been much better! We could have skipped at least four episodes of nothing and enjoyed our couples much more... *sighs*
But even so, this last two episodes (specially the last one) felt warm and full of healing. Maybe too much, I would say, like YoungWoo and his puppies and SeHoon and his penance.
I was there with you in the scene with our two couples, as I was with you while watching Come and Hug me. I loved them both and was happy to see they finally found the path to walk together and let's hope that forever.
I loved all four leads, they did a magnificent job, and I can't wait to see Jin Young and Jeon So Nee in a proper leading role. They deserved it.
And yes that line "I found you, JiSoo" will probably stay in my heart forever. That last flashback was so sweet. After all, it was destiny, one favorite in Dramaland!

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4 gem28

June 16, 2020 at 1:29 PM

I do believe they could have been a little more creative about the whole situation with Seo Kyung, Jae Hyun and Ji Soo but at least it got wrapped up neatly. I still don't like Jae Hyun in the present time line till the very end.....it was a as good of an end as it could have been. Should have been 12 episode drama.

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5 Shari

June 16, 2020 at 3:33 PM

I loved the beginning episodes of this drama when it was still unclear that the leads would end up together. I continued watching it to the end but with growing disappointment as it became clear that the resolution was "I'm leaving my wife for you." It just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Their early love was beautiful, but they burned their bridges when they married other people. He showed his lack of judgment and disregard of the sacredness of the marriage vow when he chose to marry a woman he didn't love, and he continued to show that same poor judgment by then dumping her when his first love showed up. I don't care how they try to justify it, it's adultery. He can't even use the wife's infidelity as a reason for divorce because he didn't leave her when he first learned about it. This was a story of all-round very flawed people.

That's sixteen hours of my life I won't get back.

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gem28

June 16, 2020 at 5:04 PM

Its as if we don't remember the fact that Jae Hyuk decided to let it go, the affair of Seo Kyung in early episodes......if Ji Soo hadn't shown up he would have still been together with Seo Kyung...I am not sure I like this sort of wishy washy man...anyway I think Seo Kyung deserves better...and Ji Soo and Jae Hyuk belong together in a way.

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Tizzy

June 16, 2020 at 10:10 PM

I agree with you, Shari. I dropped this drama when I realized Jae Hyun is going to have an affair. I didn’t watch far enough but even if it were just an emotional affair, I wouldn’t support it. Too bad, I love both sets of leads.

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6 Slice-of-Life Dramatics

June 16, 2020 at 6:34 PM

I second the opinion that the first few episodes started out strong, especially with how the 2 timelines were so beautifully and seamlessly interwoven like parallel mirrors. But then the weak storytelling and lack of progress of happenings in the current timeline just kinda resulted in the drama becoming super draggy.

I still do like the themes of how the two leads came back full circle, that's always nice to see. Hoping to see the 2 lead actors in new works soon!

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7 Denali

June 17, 2020 at 12:43 PM

I would like to thank @missvictrix for picking this drama and keeping me/us updated on its development. I remember leaving one or two comments over its course but I was very much looking forward to reading your weekly recaps. My completist self is satisfied, despite the sobfest and various issues, as always in dramas, in my POV. Here's to hoping that the lack of enthusiasm displayed by Beanies and possibly Korean viewers for this drama will not lessen the casting perspectives of the main actors in a near future.

The penultimate scene with the trees surrounding the 4 characters mirrors Traces of love's own ending so much. Wondering if the PD/writer duo were so fond - like me - of this 2006 movie starring Yoo Ji-Tae that they decided to incorporate various elements in the drama.

On a sidenote, @missvictrix, do you ever get discouraged by the small numbers of comments left on your recaps, considering the time, effort, and hard work you have put into them?

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missvictrix

June 17, 2020 at 1:43 PM

@karineonni An honest question gets an honest answer! I definitely put a lot of time, love, and labor into my posts, but I try not to measure their "success" just by comments. If I can write a good piece that I feel captures the drama (tone, theme, plot dev, etc.) and brings some interesting thoughts to the table, then I'm really satisfied to see it published regardless of how many reads/comments it gets. Writing really is its own reward. Also, there's always that one person who really connects to the drama, or what you've written about it, so I think if it makes even just one person happy, that's enough for me :)

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missvictrix

June 17, 2020 at 1:45 PM

PS: And thank you for reading and enjoying the weecaps!

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halofan68

June 17, 2020 at 3:51 PM

I second the appreciation of your work. If a person who connects to the drama you're (wee/re) capping makes you happy, rejoice! I absolutely loved this show and had no complaints about pacing, technically adulterous characters, etc. WMLB was one of the (occasionally the only) highlights of my week for the last couple months, in addition to reading your thoughts upon it.

Not only do I want to send my compliments for your writing, but I applaud your work dedication to writing about shows I find unwatchable like Rugal. I had to sit through all 16 episodes of King due to a promise to my wife and I would have gladly traded for multiple dental appointments. I can't imagine doing it on a regular basis.

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R.D.

June 17, 2020 at 4:55 PM

Everything you said here ! WMLB was a lovely one. I didn't consider the drama finished until I read the wecap here. Thank you @missvictrix !

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Babylilo

April 29, 2024 at 10:12 AM

@missvictrix - I just finished watching this show for the first time. I thought you might want to know that, five years after they first appeared, your insightful and beautifully-written recaps are still being read and appreciated. Thanks for all your contributions to the Dramabeans community! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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missvictrix

April 29, 2024 at 11:10 AM

Thank you for reminding me how much I love this drama!!

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8 storm

June 17, 2020 at 11:53 PM

Thank you for the Recap. I really enjoy reading it. Though I felt the ending was too quickly wrapped up, I did enjoy this drama. I thought of title of that book "Paradise lost then Paradise found" while watching it. JH after losing the love of his life and his father basically lost himself. Though he did not love his wife at all he was comforted by her initially and thought that was a good enough reason to get marry compounded by the fact she insisted. His motive after sacrificing 4 years of his life was revenge against her father. So him staying with his wife after knowing about her infidelity is not surprising to me because now his motive and focus were to grab power away from her father. But all that became mute when he reunited with the sole love of his life. Remember he did try to get his divorce from his wife but she held that hostage. So should he have taken the chance to lose the only woman he ever loved to a person who not only did not truly love him but only wants to hold on because of the strength and ruthlessness she felt he exhibited on behalf of the company? His wife even complained that she did not like the new him which was in fact his true nature, and not the ruthless one created out of pain and hopelessness.

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9 azkiya

June 18, 2020 at 4:25 PM

so sorry i’m late for reading the weecap! slowly started to work from office (30% employees on a shift) hence starting to juggle time allocation between work, watching drama, and coming to DB kekee..

to drama, I love the final episode! I watch the ep 15 twice (raw and then subbed) but patiently waited for the subbed ep 16 afterward because I don’t think I can bear to not enjoying every dialogue of final ep of this beloved show. it’s no secret that my feeling for this drama has never changed drastically since ep 1, for me it was always a mellow joy (is that a term I invent? probably,,), I should say though that ep 13-14 could be used to explore more on past ji soo’s life with her ex husband, that would make it more meaningful I guess..
But overall,, i love the leads, the way it tells its story, I tiptoed on the ‘adultery’ part but I found it to be balancing the issue on it with the reasons for both side’s marriage to happen in the first place, and I felt both couple’s did justice for their past determination to wed their respective spouse, and stayed in the marriage before it start to crack,,
I love the dad’s convo with the kids, especially JH’s, it gave me hope that both sons will be alright through the challenging journey,,
and of course my sob fest for all those scenes with ji soo’s birthday: the gang helped ji soo overcome her trauma, ji soo’s dream that made her able to say goodbye to her mother and sister, the pic of her with mom dad and sis back to her home,, i was the mellowest at those! ^^
The hug for their younger selves were done wonderfully I think coz my heart felt warm at that :)

It’s a beautiful show, and would like to send thanks and appreciation for you @missvictrix for doing the weecap ,,til the next show! :))

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10 bidan

June 18, 2020 at 5:32 PM

Thank you missvictrix for your recaps. As always your final recap was as good as all the previous ones.

If I were to summarize the positive comments that I read here and other sites about this love story is as follows: "... anticipating the weekends but now it is over... " "... beautifully crafted and well structured drama..." "... a lot of emotions explored..." "... it is a mindful watching experience..." And the last remark that is a MINDFUL WATCH caught my attention immediately as I agree wholeheartedly. This drama make the viewer think and reflect at different levels as the well balanced pace progresses. Some may say that it is slow but I disagree. I never felt that the story was not advancing, nor wanted to skip scenes. In other words, like any good drama it engages the viewer fully and in my case it grabbed by attention and interest completely.

Now I understand what the director had said during a presentation of the drama, that we could see elements of My Daughter Seo young, and as well of the movie, One Fine Spring Day. For sure we can see the "pride and prejudice" element of the heroine in MDSY reflected here with our Ji-soo, however, I cannot comment on the movie as I have not seen it. Instead, I have seen Traces of Love many years ago, and see elements of deep longing of the hero reflected here with Jae-hyun, of course, in addition to the department store collapse.

Finally, Lee Bo Yong sure knows how to choose a drama and because of her status quality productions follow her. In my opinion, this is the best love story in the melodrama series category, and I have difficulty in finding one as good as WMLB.

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11 lixx

June 19, 2020 at 12:45 AM

I want to thank you too for the weecaps!! As some people have already said, they are so thoughtful and you definitely put my feelings towards the drama into words!
When My Love Blooms was a nice drama (clichés and tragedy included) and even though the final scenes may have been a little cheesy I enjoyed a lot watching it from begging to end, the past scenes were filled with youthfulness and were so cute I can't move on from them. This drama was warm and by the ending scene I was smiling, in my opinion that is what a good watch should do to you don't you think?

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12 Mich

June 20, 2020 at 11:57 AM

OH HALP my heart >.< re-reading that revelation of how Jae-hyun saw Ji-soo first really tugged at my heartstrings again. not to mention the other flashback before that, when Ji-soo helped him at his first rally! despite all its makjang overtones and slightly wayward ethics... i still quite enjoyed watching this drama, especially the 90s scenes. glad that there were a number of lighthearted moments seen even after the tragedies (Ji-soo's trauma and Jae-hyun's vengeance) so it wasn't all doom and gloom. i wasn't really convinced by Se-hun's remorse and change in demeanor... but to each their own.

some parts i wished they'd tackled: Youngmin's school situation (would have liked to see him be happy in a new school), Youngmin x Junseo having some sort of 'moment' (they are going to be stepbrothers after all....), maybe even seeing Hwa-jin's supposed 'crush' on Jae-hyun (which was mentioned by her husband at her funeral wake).

above all though, i think this would have really been quite a walk down memory lane, especially for those in Korea who grew up in the 90s and can identify or relate to the cultural references of that time. i've just published a list of music, movies, books and poems referenced in the drama. this was quite a labor of love, so hope it's useful for those who'd like to learn more :) there's also an overview of the drama if you're keen!

thank you @missvictrix for your hard and heart work with the weecaps :)

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13 NH

December 3, 2023 at 5:51 PM

Great review !

Watched in 2023, took a couple of months to get through this one.

Show started of with a strong story, characters and of course great soundtrack ! The format for episodes was also really interesting but the shift between present and the past was overdone and quickly became repetitive & predictable which really made what should have been meaningful moments, less impactive.

An extremely welcomed surprise was the use of LEON as a significant reference for the past as that is a personal favourite movie and such a contrasting genre for it to even be referenced yet have significance was a shock !

Struggled and ended up a few weeks not watching at around ep12 and forced myself to get through an episode when i would remember to every week or so.

Nice closure…

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