City Hunter - ep 20; absolutely NO SPOILERS OUTSIDE OF CUT

[dangermousie]

I was going to hold out for subs, but viki is freezing on me and I am working and travelling all day tomorrow so no getting to a subbed version until Saturday. No way was I going to hold out that long. So I watched the raw. I'll probably do a proper liveblog once I get the subs, but for now this will have to do.



This might just be my favorite scene in the drama, the culmination of all the themes of revenge and tangled families and Yoon Sung's utter breakdown (he pulls the gun on himself and you can see it's almost a relief for him, he's beyond gone - look at his eyes) and his self-sacrificialness and Nana's strength (she needs it, he has none by then, but oh, the look on his face when he sees her). And the sheer mindfuck of Yoon Sung getting shot by one father when protecting another as Nana sees, and Nana shooting (thankfully not fatally or they'd be hard-pressed to move past that) Undaddy to protect Yoon Sung. And Undaddy doing the one unselfish thing in his life (probably out of horror of seeing YS shot by him) and getting the bodyguards to mow him down after confessing to being City Hunter. Yoon Sung's nightmare coming true only with a different loved one than Nana. Just the sheer intensity of it all, and YS not being able to move and likely slowly dying as he watches the only father he's really known (even if he was awful, YS loved him) get shot in front of him. God, he needs so much therapy.







































































































































































And this was the second. Clearly, some time has passed and then they meet, never to separate again and to start a new future without the horrors of the past (I hope he got the best therapy money could buy, 10 hrs a day, every day, since they separated) and to heal each other and be healed.
































City Hunter, I thought you would be horrible. The idea sounded dull and the promos worse (this is a revenge drama where the concept of revenge was mentioned nowhere before it started! Some promos made it look like an office romcom. And Godfather is a fun story of an Italian family, I suppose). But you came, I gave you a chance, and you stole my heart and soul away. You had a tight, twisty script, gorgeous cinematography, competent directing, and characters I fell in love with, as played by actors who did an amazing job (oh, what a pleasure to see Lee Min Ho given a chance to show off his chops in a genuinely great drama). Oh, and the OTP. The OTP. They are in running for my OTP of the year award.

City Hunter, you were perfect.

Comments

[millie10468.livejournal.com]

Oh good. I was afraid you'd think (like some Soompiers do) that it was a horrible ending and there was no closure and there was no big reunion scene btn YS and NN. Truthfully speaking, I think it was a really kind way to end a revenge thriller. I mean, we all know how they tend to end. At least, YS lived and he's with NN, right?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a great ending. It was a revenge drama, not a love story (much as I adored the couple). And a big mushy smushy thing would be out-of-whack at that point - hopefulness and new beginning struck the right tone. Tongue makeouts, much as I would appreciate it, would feel wrong after all the tragedy and tonally really off.

Plus yeah, revenge thriller. They should just pray to heaven they didn't get another IRIS or Mawang. Even dramas that have kinder endings are either open but hopeful (Dog/Wolf and Resurrection) or totally the same as CH - new hope and start of happiness (Green Rose, Lobbyist, Swallow the Sun, Return of Iljimae). It just fits.

[ma. freyja dizon (from livejournal.com)]

Yes when I saw him put the gun on his head I was shouting at the computer, please someone stop him...don't do it YS, you must live...I wanted to reach out and hug him and tell him he can get through this...that look on his eyes was like, this is it I'm done I'm at the end of my rope... but then Nana came and the way his eyes showed that his resolve was slowly being broken and that Nana is there to support him was amazing...

Lee Min Ho really did a great job playing YS, I hope his next project will be just as awesome...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LMH was beyond amazing. I want him to make a period drama next.

Yes, the gun at his head was the lowest point in the entire drama for him precisely because while he was doing it to stop Undaddy, he really didn't care if he lived or died at that moment, he just gave up.

And yes, Nana's presence saved him (doesn't it always?) because she gave him a desire to live, to try to survive again (and also shot Undaddy giving Undaddy time to snap the fuck out of it).

[craxycat-76.livejournal.com]

I was screaming too! Oh gosh please don't do it! I figure the collective CH fans all joined together in fear might have created a shift in a tectonic plate.

I am on board with LMH's next project. I am sold on him completely. I even tried YT for vids of him, and saw a BTS video of BOF where they were holding him back while kissing (look at how in character he was...awesome!) even though it was horrible he did shine when they let him.

[seven-trees.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I'm not even bothered that there was no big kiss scene at the end. Before watching those two scenes (haven't watched the rest of the ep) I read a spoiler which was basically: "OMG HE'S GONNA SHOOT HIMSELF!". You can imagine the conclusion I came to. Basically, the fact that YS and Nana live is enough reason for this to go into my top five drama endings.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I have yet to see a revenge drama which ends with a big makeout. Even the happiest ones like RoI and Green Rose do not do it. Probably because it would feel really jarring. "here, look at all the corpses and angst. And now look at tongue.'

Yeah, I am still a little shellshocked and very surprised and pleased they live and live together. I was half-paranoid about IRIS through to the end.

[popaddict.livejournal.com]

I agree with your overall feeling on the sries and this episode. I still haven't caught up and I'll be in NYC this weekend, but once I return I plan to marathon the heck out of this series. It's going to be awesome.


I am actually very annoyed with 80% of the soompiers right now but at least the people I think are sane are proving to be.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Well, people on soompi seemed to view CH as a romcom, if you go by the amount of shippy stuff and kind of shippy stuff they wanted in it. Now, I love a good romcom, especially if the leading couple has half of Lee Min Ho and Park Min Young's chemistry. But this was not a romcom.

I do not get wtf else they expected.

It's like watching Princess' Man or some other sageuk and complaining that the characters are freaking out at the sight of an ankle or that they spend a lot of time on politics and swordfights and less on romance.

[(Anonymous)]

You can't really blame them. Romance was build up from the first half of the series till he pushed her away (btw, episodes 12-14 got some of the most highest ratings post-Best Love).

No one's also saying that this is a rom-com but a proper conclusion to what has been build up would have satisfied most people. Maybe they just feel shortchanged. I would have to agree though that some posts expressing disappointments are really annoying. I also find it funny that a few people are condescending towards the YS-NN story arc, saying how CH is not about romance and then they romanticize the JP-YS relationship. hah. Justice was just served.

All in all it was a very good drama, imo.

[(Anonymous)]

Can you really blame them? Romance was build up from the first half of the series till he pushed her away (btw, episodes 12-14 got some of the most highest ratings post-Best Love).

No one's also saying that this is a rom-com but a proper conclusion to what has been build up would have satisfied most people. It would be difficult to pretend that the YS-NN romance did not exist in the first half of CH. Maybe they just feel shortchanged. I would have to agree though that some posts expressing disappointments are really annoying. I also find it funny that a few people are condescending towards the YS-NN story arc, saying how CH is not about romance and then they romanticize the JP-YS relationship. hah. Justice was just served.

All in all it was a very good drama, imo.

[rectherapyfreak.livejournal.com]

The only thing I didn't like about the ending was no closure with the president! I need closure in my dramas! Is he in jail? Do people know that YS is his son? Inquiring minds want to know!

I liked the ending part with Nana and Yoon Sung.

I feel bad for poor plot device Sae Hee.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Poor Sae Hee, I cried for her.

I would have loved to know more about Pres but it didn't bug me much because blood or not, JP was YS real daddy as far as feelings and importanc were concerned.

[lain7.livejournal.com]

I fell in love with this drama so hard, as I did with The Devil. At first I only stuck with this for Lee Minho's looks, but somewhere along the line it won me over, and I actually shipped YS/Nana. Wah.

The showdown scene blew me away. Lee Minho's acting, Park Ming Young, and everyone else over the 20-ep run. Frankly, letting YS survive kind of undid the dramatic impact of the climax, but I didn't care. I'd gotten so invested in YS/Nana and wanted them to be happy.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, agreed. Logically and dramtically it may have made more sense for YS to die, but at that point I did not care about logic, I just wanted him to live and be happy.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Well, I couldn't wait for subs for the last ep either. I just HAD to see how it ended and I wasn't disappointed. We got 2 deaths that mattered, narratively but thankfully our OTP survived. Oh, I'm so glad CH wasn't another Mawang or Karei Naru, God forbid!

I'd almost made up my mind not to watch CH either but I'm glad I got pursuaded by good reviews of the early episodes. Who the hell decided to make those promo vids they way they were? And the drama description was off too. Way to make people disinterested.

Even though I never got as emotionally invested in as some people did, I think it is a very good drama overall and definitely LMH's break out one. He is the one that truly made CH for me, though the cast in it's entirety was great. LMH in a period drama? Yes please!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think LMH would nail a period drama - he's got not just the actinf chops but the presence and physicality for it.

Yyes, I loved how the ending was hopeful yet narratively made sense. Such a good drama.

[rekuci94.livejournal.com]

I couldn't wait for subs either. I wanted to see how ends this story. I'm not disappointed. I loved this drama and I'm waiting that moment, when I can see it translated to my language. I'm glad that Nana and YS survived this and they can continue their life.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Such such a gorgeous drama with such a lovely, hopeful ending. Definitely going on my favorites list.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

what am i supposed to do now that the drama ended? i feel a bit lost. to think that i wasn't going to watch this because i thought it was going to be a complete mess, but decided to give it a go just because of the pretty. i never expected it to be a drama with so much heart. i'm still devastated that the prosecutor had to die, his death really shocked me because he was the last person that i expected to die, i'm also surprised how much it messed with me because most of the time i was annoyed by him. i loved that undaddy died the way i wanted him to die, giving his life for his son, saving YS so he could finally have his well deserved life. i loved how everything was handled, i loved the characters to the core.

i'm so thankful for the fact that city hunter gave us an honorable hero, who was so flawed and hurt, but yet full of heart. that they gave us a heroine that was sweet, silly and kind, but smart, level headed, strong and courageous, that was there to guide our hero through his journey and to remind that there was hope. damn i'll miss this drama so much!

As much i wished we had more OTP moments i understand why they didn't, it's not a roncom after all, and the open ending gives me a lot room to imagine. would be too much to ask for a second season? i mean they created a perfect setting for a second season!

and a rant to end the good feelings, there’ people who still say that saehee was a better woman for YS and that had more chemistry with him than nana and it annoys me more than it should. those people actually wanted a second season wit them as love interests, which makes me wonder, where they actually watching this drama? can't them see that YS' love for nana is a driving force that makes him be better and want better? i don’t think that his love for her would end just because the revenge is now done.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wanted to smack prosecutor more than once during the drama but when he died I bawled and bawled - he really had spine and integrity and did not deserve what he got.

I am so happy YS got to be free of the past and actually to choose his future - his choice was taken away from him when he was a baby and he never had it again until now. It was fitting that Undaddy, who yanked that choice from him when YS was a few days old was the one who restored it to him with his dying words.

Re: SH and Nana - all I can say is WTF, weird fangirls. Nana was awesome and tough and fun but, more importantly, she was Yoon Sung's soul, his reason for living. The reason he kept trying to survive, the reason he kept trying to hang on to the shreds of his sanity, the reason he did not pull that trigger and blow his brains out was Nana. It was her.

Part One (I wrote too much...)

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

You watched it! Wasn't it awesome? The ending was PERFECT for me. I know a lot of people on Soompi were disappointed but I loved episode 20 RAW and was blown away when I watched it with subs (I've just finished watching it as a matter of fact and I'm still crying a bit).

I've never seen a drama end so well. And by "end" I mean the last two episodes, not just episode 20. My greatest worry was that they wouldn't have the time to do anything good in only 2 hours but I should have trusted the writers. I was amazed at how they put together the last two episodes. We went on a roller-ocaster of emotions while still having some time to breathe and clam down. It didn't feel rushed either.

Getting back to the episodes proper....

First, YJ, because he deserves it. His death was like a kick to the stomach. Until I saw him leave SH in slomo at the hospital I could have sworn that he was the least likely character to die. And even after the slomo I kept hoping, especially when YS showed up at the junkyard. But he did indeed die and what an exit! He had a great character arc. I loved that him and YS got the chance to "find" each other before he died. Two men, both very similar and very different, who acknowledge the other's strength. A short and simple scene but very powerful. What a team the would have made had YJ lived. I cried buckets at the end of episode 19 and again in episode 20 at the funeral. All the actors were great. The emotions felt so real.

YS and his "fathers". I LOVED LOVED LOVED that it wasn't all about blood and family ties and that JP remained YS's 'real' father to the end. When YS learned that Pres was his biological father it was a blow for him but what cut him most was learning that Undaddy knew all along. And still, he loved him and was ready to go all the way to stop him. He was shattered by the way Undaddy wrecked his life but I firmly believe that he wanted to stop him out of love. I'd predicted that Undaddy would probably sacrifice himself for YS and take the blame for all the City Hunter stuff so I wasn't surprised when it happened but the scene still made a great impression on me and made me bawl like a baby. YS's eyes (LMH is so good when it comes to "eye acting") when Undaddy was shot! The pain. JP looked at peace, freea t last. There couldn't have been any other end for him.

The President was at peace as well when everything was revealed. He never had the courage to speak up and needed someone to do it for him. I really liked him as a character. He was always dignified and mostly a good man. But he remained a bit of a coward to the end, true to his character.

Part Two (Eps 19 and 20 made me crazy)

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

I read some complaints on Soompi about the lack of YS/NN scenes. I understand where they come from because the drama did give us plenty of shippy stuff in the first part only to take it brutally away mid-drama. (It was never a rom-com, even at its shippiest, but it was was unabashedly romantic in places) I was fine with it because by the time that happened YS and NN had basically gone through everything with near death experiences, kisses, flirting, arguments etc...It was very clear that he couldn't live without her and that she would wait for him forever if need be. And it would have brought the drama down if YS had to keep saving NN over and over or if we saw him angsting about his forbidden love every five minutes. That's not to say I would have said no to more scenes together of course. The drama was well-plotted from beginning to end but the writers could definitiely have made some room for a couple of tender scenes (not necessarily kissing of the like). My one nitpick with the drama is about this actually. I would have liked something tender between them in the last episode. There's a very short scene at the Blue House between them after the President gave YS his notebook about the illegal campaign funds. I would have loved Nana to gently touch his sleeve before leaving to remind him that she would be there for him (or for him to do it to her). It would have taken 2 seconds to include it and I think it was needed because the last few conversations between them weren't that friendly. They weren't hostile or anything but at that point in the drama it's been a long while since they actually talked about their future.

But the face-off at the end made up for it (almost). At one point YS says to Undaddy that it's hell to have the woman he loves point a gun at him. I think that's a reference to an earlier scene between him and Nana where she reminds him that if he continues with his plans they might find themselves on opposite sides once again (cue YS's nightmare of them shooting each other). At the time YS didn't say anything but when he releases all he has with Undaddy, we can see how he must have repressed his angst and fear about that very thing. Another example of Show Don't Tell that this drama did so well. It's all about reading between the lines and getting inside a character's head. But that might not be enough pay-off for some viewers and I understand that.

And now that the drama is over, I think I don't really want a season 2 after all. There's enough material to make another season and I would watch it for sure if it happened but I'm satisfied with the story we got.

I'll be re-watching it soon (I need to recover first, I'm still all emotional about it) and I'm buying the DVD even if there are no English subs.

The Princess' Man looks like it could be a good candidate for my next obsession. I'm already watching raw and I'm dying for subs. Getting subs the following day for City Hunter spoiled me. The wait for PM is intolerable. I need help.

[algelic.livejournal.com]

Subs are out! Go get them! =D

Man, this was so perfect! *wipes tear*

But in the end I still grumbled "No bed scene... that would be a nice way to please me wrap things up... but noooooooooooo... they just STARE at each other... -__- "

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I will once I get home - I am on a plane :)

Yeah, sex scene would be nice but I guess we'll just have to use our imaginations. Luckily, mine is a vivid one :P

LJ picked a horrible time to go down.

[village.livejournal.com]

I loved it so much. Left me with this bittersweet feeling even after seeing that the light was at the end of the tunnel.

Undaddy was a fucking psycho - he almost let YS pull the trigger, wtf? WTF?! I hope he was just shocked - but I was so attuned to YS, that it was actually hard for me to hate JP entirely. YS loved him so completely, that even though I knew he was horrible, I wanted him to redeem himself for Yoo-sung's sake. Which is essentially why I always expected him to die in Yoo-sung's place.

I think it's what makes me the saddest of all. All YS wanted was his father's love. Even when he found out about Undaddy knowing the truth about his real father, even when he slammed the necklace on the glass and told me that he would make him pay, even when he pointed a gun at him, he still called him Father. He was always his father. And even, lying in his own blood, he reached out for the man who was so blinded by his own revenge that he couldn't see how much love was being offered to him. Heartbreaking. For both of them.

I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way. Could there have been more OTP moments? Absolutely. But watching the finale, I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. For a revenge thriller, I think we were pretty fortunate with what we got. I think 17, 18 would have been the episodes to include more OTP moments - a kiss, would have perfectly capped off the "wait for me" scene, but in episodes 19 & 20, there were too many things left to be unraveled for them to spend too much time on Nana and YS's feelings.

A lot of stuff going through my head right now. I'm sure there will be more for me to say when I'm not quite as emotional.

Re: LJ picked a horrible time to go down.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think Undaddy himself did not realize how much he actually cared for YS until he shot him (talk about dysfunctional!)

But yes, YS love for the man made me cry. Because he was a horrible person who ruined his life but he was still the only father he knew and he couldn't help but love him. YS has an amazing amazing heart and Undaddy pretty much threw it all away for all these years .

I would have loved more shippy stuff (who wouldn't) but I am fine with what we were given - they had a lot of plot to address.

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

I just finished it and this drama was just so very amazing! I still feel a bit adrift because it was such and intense experience (I marathoned eps 11-20 in about 3 days). Lee Min Ho was really amazing, but I also loved how Kim Na Na was such a fighter throughout the drama. No wilting flower persona for her!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OMG, I can't imagine marathonning 9 of the eps in 3 days, I'd be dead from intensity.

And yes, Nana was an amazing heroine.

[smothered-pith.livejournal.com]

This show was amazing from beginning to end. It remained dignified to the very end and gave me EVERYTHING I wanted in a good action/revenge drama without overdoing or holding back. You have corruption vs idealism, you have father-son conflict, and also love, sacrifice, hope.
I feel like the creative force behind this drama actually trusted its viewers to be people that don't need a plot handed to us like we're 12. They gave us a great story that they unraveled piece by piece but with subtlety so it wasn't in your face.
Lee Min Ho nailed his character for me. From start to finish. And you're right, his eyes are probably his strongest feature because he can give you every emotion and have you feel it. The scene at the port after he finds out the Pres is target number 5? How had to get out and the look on his face and how his shoulders hunch and he just covers his eyes? That was my favourite scene. It just spoke volumes. Then again EVERY scene with him had that effect. That confrontation with his father, I wasn't surprised by I lived every second of it. When he lays into him about ruining his life, I got goosebumps.
And Jin Pyo was a character I loved hating. He was extreme and insane and so far gone that there was really no way he could come back from it but he somehow managed to make his end so freaking epic.
And I'm so happy YS has his chance at happiness. That the 3 people he wanted to protect, live. Sure maybe a second or two showing a more tender moment between NaNa would have been nice but we are so aware by now of how much they love each other that it didn't even need to be said.
Also how perfect was it that YJ's father wakes up as YJ dies? His punishment is having to live and see a world where the corruption he fought for and supported against his son is the very thing that kills him. He has to live with that. I feel so bad for Sae Hee though!
Also I've read a lot of critiques on the recaps at DB talking about how the female characters aka Na Na went from being relevant to irrelevant in the last few episodes. Personally I don't see it. I thought each character played his or her part with varying degrees of significance but that I don't see gender as the reason why either Sae Hee or Na Na might not have been as significant as say the Prosecutor. Still it irritated me that in a drama that makes a character as strong as Na Na who can actually stand up to our male lead, we're still nitpicking the "lack of female presence"
But in anycase, I'm actually relieved to see this drama end because this emotional roller coaster was costing me my study time and sanity. I think I'm going to have to pick up lighter dramas that don't make me as crazy to recover from this.
Also thank you for giving me the space to rant on your LJ :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thank you for commenting! You always have awesome things to say.

JP made a great antagonist. I hated the old bastard but could understand why YS loved him (an abusive parent is, sadly, still a parent).

I can't believe people are nitpicking Nana and/or Sae Hee. This drama had awesome female characters. *rolls eyes*

LMH has the most expressive eyes. Even when he was wearing masks, I could feel every bit of what he was feeling because we could still see his eyes.

I am so happy YS can now live happily and normally with Nana, Ahjusshi and Mom and not worry about dying or having them taken away from him. They can just all heal and recover. And Nana and YS can have a bunch of kids and Mom and Ahjusshi can compete for who is going to feed and spoil them.

[yummy-dreams.livejournal.com]

I stumbled upon your blog while searching for "City hunter" on livejournal.

I agree with what most people mentioned about romance... perhaps I am one of the rare people who hardly watch entire kdramas (probably have not watched in 2-3 years) and also, I feel like I've had enough slow romantic dramas ("Stairway to Heaven" and Winter Sonata), the backburning of romantic elements in the last few episodes were fine with me.

Overall, I felt that something about this show was very entertaining and gripping - enough for me to spend more than 20 hours of my life watching it and to pull me back into kdrama world (even though it might be a brief venture. I'm not sure anything right now interests me). I cannot say for certain, since I do not watch kdramas regularly - but perhaps it is because a main theme is about justice/revenge, I felt it was refreshing and worth the watch. With the nice cinematography and OST, good directing, some inspired acting - it was a very pleasant package.

Also, this blog, it seems like a very nice "space" to talk about kdramas. So thank you.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

But yes, I thought CH balanced genres and pace very very well. I love a good romance (and this drama had an excellent one) but it wasn't a romantic melodrama so amount of time spent on shipping was, understandably, less.

[flyingmemory.livejournal.com]

'revenge'.
I'm still confused why they never use that word to explain about what is the main story about City Hunter. It's the main reason why I don't have interest to watch this drama at first. Gladly, I usually watch LMH's dramas(since I can stand watching BOF and PT, why not watching him for another drama, right?), so when JB gave positive review for the first episodes, I feel relief because I usually like her choice of dramas. It's like what JB said, this drama has 3 good factors which are good directing, good writing and good acting. It also have really nice OST for me.

I actually like the ending. I admit I LOL when I read that the production had to explain about the ending when fans were confused, whether YS is really alive or it's just Nana's imaginary. That's what you get when you just showed us the silent moment between Nana and YS at the end :). I'm looking forward for this director's work because I like all of his dramas so far( Painter of Wind, Briliant Legacy, Prosecutor Princess and City Hunter).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly, worst promos ever. I only checked this out because I am a LMH fangirl but I thought it would be awful.

LOL, people were confused?

And yeah, this PD is awesome.

[linfer.livejournal.com]

It's after 10pm, so I didn't scream at the screen during the shodown...but oh dear, I was so clsoe to not giving a damn about my roommate and my neighbours,

And seriously who needs a cliché scene between Yoon-seung and Na-na when there is such a beautiful moment? Loved this scene, it made me so happy.

Woah, still super sad because of prosecutor, but I adore the ending.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know. I loved the open hopefulness of it all.