I loved this drama. I felt the plot was consistent throughout and the writers did not feel it was necessary to throw in random plot lines and veer off track. I agree that that the three women's stories could possibly have been more well rounded, but I sincerely loved this drama. thank you for the fabulous write-ups!

I know this was Mi-jo's story and it's normal for certain friends to be closer in any friend group, but I still hate how Joo-hee was treated by the writer. Chan-young didn't seem to give her much thought, it was all about Mi-jo for her. Chan-young and Joo-hee's short scene in the finale is the only one I even remember them having together. Joo-hee just always seemed to be left out, and I didn't like it. Her romance even happened offscreen.

There were some good scenes here and there and the acting was good but overall this was a disappointing drama.

I finished it for the bean but did not like it.
I'm trying to figure out why it didn't work for me and it has to do with Mi-jo being not just the center of the story, but also portrayed as flawless, with everyone else falling at her feet and her saving the day again and again. All the conflict they try to introduce for her character feels forced: her biological mother is not a real threat while in prison, so they have some guy show up at her work and then that’s done and over with quickly. Her panic disorder is largely unseen on screen. Even when she’s losing her best friend it somehow ends up being all about her. I don’t get any sense of self-reflection or true internal conflict from her character. And all the other characters seem to exist only for her.

Long Post Alert:

THIRTY NINE (End post): Thanks for the recaps and comment thread. I know some enjoyed the series and I respect their opinions. But to me, the high expectation, three-woman centric drama can be summed up in one word: D.I.S.A.P.P.O.I.N.T:

DUBIOUS DRAMATICS CY is sick. She dies. The End. And that was shown by the end of Episode 2. It was a fertile subject to explore a friend’s terminal illness but the show put no drama, insight or empathy into the episodes. Or they could have hid it to the End for dramatic effect. Instead, it threw in old tropes with no context to the main story line: their long, cherished friendship. The idea that each GF had to have a “boyfriend” dynamic was a forced premise with no payoff. The focal drama points were to throw issues at MiJo for SYJ to have hysterics.

INCONSISTENT THEMES Was the show about three women and their close bond? Was it a show about a terminal ill patient? Was it a show about a successful career woman having an alleged mid-life crisis? Was it about how one defines “family?” Was it about finding a new life (romance) in death? Was it about throwing every k-trope at the wall to give characters a reason to be distressed about their lives? Why some secrets (evil mother) should be kept secret?

SOLEMN CHEMISTRY When the BTS shows the three co-leads interacting well, having fun, like real people, those friend moments never got onto the film reel. And there is where the show lost its charm. I think at some point JMD and KJH deferred too much to SYJ to carry or center a scene. Some call it a “bait and switch drama”: friend chemistry not really present; no real flashbacks to show how three from different towns and backgrounds actually became close friends. What is shown is not a friendship through hard or good times but individual side stories lacking depth and meaningful interaction. But we really do not know how they got to be such close friends for such a long time. JH is the quiet, shy, introverted friend who finally stands up for herself and quits her dead end job. Because she is left out of the girlfriend circle, she is left to fend for herself to find some solace with her new friend, the neighborhood chef, but no sparks were shown in any of the BF relationships. Mijo’s romance also had no real chemistry; SU was treated more as an escort than a BF.

ARROGANCE The emotional affair of CY and JS got the most viewer ire. The whole arc was a train wreck from the beginning (CY putting her life on hold to see him) to JS staying in a loveless marriage because of a child that was not his to his sudden amiable divorce redemption. JS barging into CY’s apartment after his separation was arrogant, selfish and delusional acts to free his guilty conscious. Mijo flaunted her arrogance as being the center of attention throughout the series. Her troubles and emotions overwhelmed anyone else’s concerns, worries, or feelings. CY’s stubborn attitude of accepting death without treatment has...

PRODUCTION. I think part of THIRTY NINE’s problems were in production and execution. As a pre-produced series, it could have shot complete episodes in a constant, easy pace. A pre-produced show should have time to create consistent and balanced episodes. But the final product seemed rushed. Reports indicated that episodes were shot in pieces, out of order, at different days, weeks or months to fit location shoots. For example, though filming started in late August, the golf scene of episode 7 was filmed in Mid-January.

SYJ said she signed on the project because when she read the script, she said it was like the writer had been spying on her private life - - - it sounded just like she would talk with her friends. If true, the script comes across shallow and petulance. It was also sold as a “womance” a drama between three female leads. But somewhere early on, that script focus went off the rails to concentrate on Mijo than the collective friend group. Then more airtime was carved away for secondary character’s issues. The writer and director were interviewed before the finale and asked about their favorite series moments. The list of 5 only had scenes from Episodes 2 through 6 listed.

Part of the performance/script issues could be that the director allowed the actors, especially SYJ, to give directions and ad-libs while filming. When you film out of sequence, these ad-libbed may throw off the context of the story. So some of the weakness in the story is script based and actor/director editing on the fly. When the episodes were filmed piece-meal, out-order and randomly changed, the cast cannot get into a viable rhythm or character development. Not helping was that the script meandered as much as the cut-scenes.

There were also overuse of camera filters that made some scenes ghost worthy. The BTS films also revealed that it appeared that they worked very late (3- 4 a.m. shoot endings). It also seems that the production rushed to finish final filming two weeks early. One can assume that was done to accommodate SYJ’s schedule. Some believe that SYJ’s private life overshadowed the actual series production and promotion. Her marriage announcement was made just before the series premiere press conference and the show’s finale was on her wedding day. It seemed at times SYJ was distracted while filming which made viewers like myself distracted as well.

The series was dominated by a SYJ CF PPL show. She got a highlight reel for the award shows. But the vast quantity of those scenes did not represent quality, emotive story telling. If Mijo was the one dying and was an emotional wreck because of it, it would have been a different story. But it was not. It was not about a friendship journey because the characters did not go anywhere except to a funeral, and for some reason that did not end the show. It is hard to blame it all on the writer since we do not have access to the scripts, but the production company and director could have pieced...

This episode coincided with the real-life wedding of Hyun Bin and Sohn Ye-jin (and even Jeon Mi-do attended in this wedding):
https://www.dramabeans.com/activity/p/1308016

The 12th and final episode of Thirty Nine also marked the end of JTBC low rating drought which was recorded at 8.0%.

It's an ok and watchable enough show that I stayed to the end. While the acting is solid across the cast, the writing is weak. There is not enough depth to the story. Conflicts were introduced but never really get explored. There's lack of characters growth. On lighter drama, those weakness would be easier to let go. But this drama trying to tackle of a lot of heavy subjects. Terminal illness, grief and letting go of love one, family abandonment, affair, mental health... With these many subjects, none given proper justice of exposure and resolution, no wonder the side characters never really get the chance to shine.

Thanks for the weecap, @quirkycase! I loved the friendship shown in this drama, not just of the females but also how the males are connected to each other.

It was disapointing. The ensemble of actors was so promising, so I had expectations. But the story was not so interesting. They could find a balance between the characters.

I liked Cha-Young's story, the fact she had a weird affair/friendship, the way she handled her future death. She should have been the center of the story. I didn't like her ideas for helping her friends : finding a boyfriend and the biogical mother, both things were wrong in the story.

But they chose Mi-Joo as a center and weren't subtile about it. The story of her biogical mother wasn't interesting at all. I mean they hide her the truth because her mother wasn't a good person, she could trust Jo-Hee's mother. But she still went and was disapointed... Her panic attacks were the most interesting part but they didn't really adress them.

Jo-Hee... I never liked this character. They made her childish, the actress used a cute ton that didn't suit the style they gave to the character. I found stupid the way she quit her job. She deserved respect as an employee, but couldn't find a way to get excuses. She still lives with her mother, I thought they will deepen her relationship with her mother and how it played a role for her. But they just used it to show their friendship. The love story between her and Park Hyeon-Jun felt so forced.

Kim Jin-Seok was the most interesting male character. I really liked him and his dilemas. Lee Mu-Saeng was really good in this role.

The others were more like perfect addition in the life of our heroines.

Thank you quirkycase for the recap :) I mostly won't watch anything that is slice of life because these type of genre are really difficult to watch but Thirty Nine is really good (it's much better if it's a movie though).
From the 1st ep end narration, I already know that this story is really about Mijo's journey in life. In a group of friends there tend to be one that you knew the longest and will be closer to so what's shown here is realistic whether you like it or not. I believe everyone can be MiChanJoo in your group of friends but the most important aspect that you are still friends after 20+ years is whether these people are there for you when you needed them the most not who knew about what news first or last.
The adoption arc here is something that I hardly see in a drama. The way it's being told from the child's POV is very rare and it's a very good insight imo. The final scene in Ep 12 is a winner for me in terms of cryfest (Ep 5 & 8 are the other ones in my top 3 list) :P and many thumbs up to SYJ, JMD & KJH for their performances here :)
All in all this is a very good slice of life drama. Highly recommended to those who 'UNDERSTAND' this type of genre.

Mi-jo is the narrator of this story....so we get the main story from the narrator's point of view. It's not Mi-jo's story....it is a wonderful story of Friendship, Life, Love, and Death. It is beautifully written and wonderfully acted. This is a wonderful drama and one of my favorites of the year.

What a beautiful tearjerker from beginning to end 😭😭❤️❤️❤️
Beautiful story of love, family we choose instead of the one we get born into, dealing with loss and pain; but mostly friendship in its purest form ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Binged it in two days, loved every second and cried sooo much.
Makes you treasure the family and friends you have while you have them ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I loved this drama but the shredded lottery ticket! I hope the screenshot she sent her friends would be enough to claim the winnings. It seemed so pointless to not claim.

Thank you quirkycase for the summary. When I first picked this show, I was looking for light-hearted romance comedy. The tone shifted fairly quickly. I still enjoyed the shows but I had a knot in my stomach the whole time knowing the outcome. I will probably see the Crown next and then look for that light-hearted romance comedy after. After all, life does go on.