My Thoughts and Feelings on Dream High Episode 16

Wow, what a great final episode of a drama. Dream High episode 16 took everyone full circle, and then full speed ahead. All the loose ends were fluidly tied up with some open interpretations to make for food for thought. This drama is definitely a keeper for me, a story about dreams, friendship, rivalry, talent, hardwork, sacrifice and overcoming adversity. But all told in a way that kept the viewers attention and never felt like preaching. I found the ending lovely and poignant, and totally tailor made for me.

The episode started off with the kids debating whether to stay together or split apart in order to debut. Sam Dong once again proves to be the glue, declaring that it’s all or nothing. He’s got his determination back, and he was always a loyal guy.

I love how this episode doesn’t even hide the fact that Hye Mi likes Sam Dong, albeit in an unsure and somewhat reluctant way. It’s like she expected to like Jin Gook, or expected to always like Jin Gook, so this subconscious change of affection takes her off-guard. And makes her feel guilty and confused.

The kids organize a flash mob to promote their single, and it’s totally cute and entertaining in an “only in a drama” way that makes me grin in happiness.

The drama predictably but sweetly sets the stage for two older couples to find their happily ever after.

I love how Baek Hee and Hye Mi are really, genuinely, friends again. Friends learn to forgive and move on, if that friendship is worth preserving. And both girls reached that maturation point in their friendship, and that was wonderful to see.

At their first performance as a group, Sam Dong loses his hearing right before he gets on stage, but Jin Gook signals the beat for him (I love their bromance). What I loved THE MOST about this scene was that the performance was narrated from Jin Gook’s point of view. This was his first time onstage with Hye Mi (who has performed with Sam Dong many times), and a culmination of his dream that involved her.

Jin Gook narrates that he isn’t just happy looking back on this moment, he is happy in the here and now. He smiles as he has fulfilled yet another dream, and found contentment in his life with respect to everything – his dad, his music, and even Hye Mi.

Sam Dong unexpectedly finds out that Hye Mi likes him when he picks up her wallet and looks inside to find a picture of himself tucked behind a picture of the six of them.

Jin Gook and Hye Mi’s story reaches its tender and poignant conclusion when he takes Hye Mi to the river bank where they went in episode 2. He broaches the topic of Hye Mi’s feelings, and gives her the out to be honest with herself. I loved Jin Gook-Hye Mi from the beginning. They had amazing chemistry, and I would have been just as happy if the drama never went to Sam Dong-Hye Mi. However, when Jin Gook left for 10 months, that to me was when Hye Mi subconsciously began to open her heart to Sam Dong. She probably liked both of them simultaneously at some point, but it was a believable plot development for her heart to finally choose Sam Dong.

Jin Gook puts his helmet on Hye Mi, and tells her that after a good cry, they will go back to being friends and classmates, able to see each other without any reserve. Jin Gook – you are an awesome guy!

All six kids get through round one of the EMG auditions, and round two requires them to perform solo on stage.

Cue 7 years later, and we’re at 2018. Pil Sook is a pre-school teacher, after having had a popstar career at some point. She’s gained back some of her weight, but Jason comes to get her and they head off to a concert.

Baek Hee is teaching at Kirin Arts High, and I love it! The girl who gained the most love and acceptance at that school is giving back the to place that nurtured her.

Jin Gook is a super famous pop star, and I love his all-black entourage, including his manager.

That leaves only Sam Dong or Hye Mi who could be K, and the drama doesn’t even wait and drops the reveal that Sam Dong is K. He puts on his K pendant and then takes off his hearing aid. He readies himself to go on stage, and with a giant leap he’s flying high.

We flashback to 7 years earlier, when Sam Dong found out that he was selected by EMG to go to New York. He refused to go, but Hye Mi was the one who told him to pursue his dreams. He tells her that his dream IS her, and that there is no music without her in his life. They both cry rivers of tears, as Hye Mi tells Sam Dong that he has a chance to make the biggest dream of all come true.

Back in 2018, Hye Mi is performing her 100th concert, and all her friends and loved ones are in attendance. She thanks her family and friends, and dedicates a song to a friend who is not here, who is walking the loneliest road of all.

We see that Hye Mi’s little sister Hye Sun is now a student at Kirin Arts High, and she approaches Jin Gook to boldly introduce herself. Jin Gook smiles, and I love it.

The final scene finds Sam Dong boarding the bus, and Hye Mi runs after him, a reverse of their bus scene from episode 3. She catches up to the bus, and he opens the window and leans out. She puts the K pendant around his neck, and he grabs her head and leans in to kiss her.

They kiss, and break apart to look at each other. And we end at that moment of perfection (for me). I know half the DH fandom is disappointed that Hye Mi didn’t end up with Jin Gook, and part of me actually wishes that were Sam Dong to be K, Hye Mi should be with Jin Gook since they wouldn’t need to be apart the way 2018 Sam Dong and Hye Mi are an ocean away from each other.

But I find Hye Mi and Sam Dong’s relationship to be the one that was the most endearing, because it grew from friends into something that is built on the basis of their friendship. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of DH, a drama that may be chock full of cliches, but gave me enjoyment in best of ways.

Thanks, Dream High, it was a blast spending time with you (I totally wish I recapped you instead of My Princess, but shhhh, don’t go telling everyone I said that). For everyone, young or old, I say to keep on dreaming!


Comments

My Thoughts and Feelings on Dream High Episode 16 — 28 Comments

  1. From the start, I always wish that sam dong is K cos he is so talented and his love to music, plus I love his dark sam dong period… he’s was so cool… and my wish is fulfill… Thank You DH for giving me a great start for the year… I will look forward to more great kdramas… Thanks ockoala, for all the previews and recaps… You are the best!!!

  2. Dear koala, Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and feelings. Like you, DH surpassed my expectations, which is one of the reasons why I love this drama so much. Truth to tell, was not even interested to watch the series at first, but hey, the recaps were very favorable and I started to watch it in between MP episodes and quickly got hooked. There are so many things that went well with this drama: nice youthful and energetic characters, growing up angst, first loves, the song and dance numbers, the cute, the heartbreak, even the comic relief. Its wonderful how the show was able to weave all of this together in a way that kept us (me) interested. There was no melodrama (no prolonged crying sessions thank goodness), no purely evil characters, just human beings we can relate with and empathize with. The pacing was just right, I think. Though I still have to wait for subs, the ending will surely make me grin silly for a while. Aaah, the joys nice dramas can give!

    • Oh, I was rooting for SD, so the ending’s PERFECT. I love his character in the story. I love the actor too!

  3. i agree 100% to all you said, ockoala. so so happy i watched this in between MP. though i favored MP than DH, i was so disappointed with MP’s ending. thanks God, DH gave me the best final episode ever…. it’s DAEBAK!!!

  4. Waaah Thanks so much, sadly I start to watch this drama late, ^^’ cuz was so into MP first eps. and I kinda dislike T-ara’s member [BaekHee] since she was in Coffee House drama and didn’t like her role at all in that[Sorry fans ^^], and then MP went down with the good story and then decide to watch DH particulary because I LOVE KIM SOOHYUN and was cuz of him that I decide to watch WISFC? when YAB ended and of TaecYeon of course love him in Cinderella Unnie….
    So I start to watch this and wow what a surprise, totally fell in love with the good story of this, and was EunJung able to reconcile with her performance lol haha

    I guess I’m thinking the same as you know ockoala in recapping DH instead of MP, and for me watch DH instead of MP. . . But well only have to watch 2 ep. I go crazy watch all the ep. haha didn’t sleep much then haha But so happy and sad this drama ended just when I have been starting to love this show!!

    THANKS SO MUCH Ockoala ♥

    • Oh and yep I was rooting for SD too so such a happy end, but I wanted some pics of them [Hm&SD] together like a couple when SD was in the backstage preparing for the concert and there was a pic of the six of them I wanted one of Hm alone or with SD, aaah PD why didn’t u think of this!! But well was a good and perfect ending

      • because a pic with just the two of them would only cause unnecessary scandal. but if it’s a group pic, no one can tell who SD is actually looking at 😛 HM got uncovered because she kept a single photo of SD. had she only kept the group pic, he wouldn’t have known whose face she actually wants to look at lolz.

  5. First of all, thank you so much ockoala for the preview you showered on us every week. It’s what keeps me sane waiting for the nest episodes. I never had any interest of watching DH but JB and GF’s battle piqued my interest both My princess and Dream High(only when sub was available). When it started, I liked them both but after 3 episodes, I stopped watching M Princess and only followed your recaps. However with Dream High- it was opposite direction. I wished rebel souls would take live transcapping of DH again and when my wish came true, I squelled with joy. But even if I already read the live transcap, it’s not enough so from then on, I read live transcap-watch raw version-check for previews and news in this playground while waiting for DB recaps- read recaps- watch with eng sub over and over.

    I am totally satisfied with the ending. Although at first I wanted a HM-JG pairing, later I decided to ignore the pairing and enjoy their individual journey and I’mglad I did. I love love this drama. It has now became my most favorit k drama of all time.

  6. Gaaaah! More!!!!

    I wished they gave a glimpse of the SD-HM relationship in 2018. Were they in contact with each other all those years? Did SD ever go back to Korea for a vacation?!?!

    Sigh. I guess that since HM is singing the song that was for SD, the love must still be there right?

    Sigh….

  7. YEEEESSSSSSS!!! I was hoping you’d do this – I was trying to think of a way to ask you nicely if you’d share your thoughts with us, and lo and behold, I wake up this morning and here it is!

    I already wrote a lot about my thoughts on my blog, but I just wanted to say that I was really impressed by this episode. Immediately after finishing it, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and watch it all over again, and even after seeing it a second time, I think I’ll watch it again today. It was just that awesome. Rarely has any finale ever given me a satisfactory sense of conclusion while also leaving things open-ended enough to leave the characters room to breathe. Not only that, but it was compelling and tense up until the very last moment and left you with a feeling of wanting more. At least I did.

    And how ADORABLE were Jason and Pil-sook cuddling at Hye-mi’s concert???? I almost died of the Cute right there and then. I love their story arc. I think they should do a spin-off drama just about them.

    Thanks again, koala-unni! ^__^

  8. Wasn’t really a dieheart fan of o the drama and only reason i was able to watch it cause of the pilsuk and jason story line which i think is sweet and simple. I think i just found the other story lines to cliche, But what i really like about the drama was the subtitle things it tries to teach us. Very simple things that we all learn as we reach adulthood but the one thing is that we all have dreams and we should keep at it. You don’t need to have fame and forture to be happy. ie: Pilsuk, and Jason were not super famous but are so happy and content with were they are in their life and with each other.

  9. I loved the ending. What else can you need when the guy tells the girl that she’s his dream and the girl tells him she’s her only hope through a song? Even if we don’t see them together in the end, I could tell that they are meant for each other and they would eventually meet up and resume where they left off, with both of them older, wiser, and complete (as they have had accomplished their dreams/full potential).

  10. I also prefered this dorama to My Princess, even though I loved that one at first and only began watching Dream High when it had 5 episodes aired already.
    I’m really happy HyeMi chose SamDong, and I liked that HyeSong may have something with JinGook. To be short, I really liked the episode, except the ending. I would have loved it if ‘K’ was HyeMi and SamDong together. I hate when the pairing has to be separated because of careers and things like that :/ I know I know, I’m selfish. I kept hoping SamDong would appear at HyeMi’s concert and sing together.

    Anyways, thanks for recapping this drama!

  11. To be perfectly honest, I could never warm up to this drama. I tried and tried, but I was too overwhelmed by this energy of full blown ego coming out of the actors in this drama that I just couldn’t stomach watching them. But I wanted to see how it ended since ppl were raving about it so I watched the last episode where there’s a concert and the main female character is singing in English. Sorry, but Britney Spears does a better job lip syncing even on her worst day than this main actress in this drama.

  12. Yeah.I love this drama,wish I would pay attention in the begining instead MP but glad I took ep 4 then love it.no over weeping scene,no beyond evil just ordinary youngster dealing with life,dream,friends,family and love.I want SD to be K and end up with HM and it comes true.so sad this end..I will continue to dream and make it come true

  13. I had a strnge relationship with DH. I watched the first 4 eps not exactly reluctantly but I wasn’t much taken with the story. I took a break. Then I pretty much marathoned ep 5-10 in one day (*hangs head in shame*) and I watched the remaining eps in 2 days. I’ve just watched the finale and I did like it.

    I rooted for SD as K since half-way through the drama. I didn’t mind the OTP switcheroo because, as you said, SD/HM became friends first adn then fell in love and the reason for htat was based on many little things that were totally endearing and realistic, imho.

    I can’t say I never liked HM/JG because that would be a lie (I did like them a loooot), but when he went away, that was the nail in the coffin for me and that pairing. Even if JG was awesome from the beginning, sometime in the middle portion of the drama, he was negletected (probably on purpose) and SD became even more awesome so yeah, I ended up jumping ships.

    That said, I’m going to pretend that at some point, SD comes back and he and HM will finally be together.

    Jason/Pilsook are still love, omg! So adoraaaable.

    Re: MP. Man, now I’m soooo worried about the final eps.

    • Oh I forgot to ask. What do you think about that scene between Jin-gook and Hye-sun? Were TPTB trying to tell us something, er, shippy about them? Cos I flashbacked to Stephen Frears’ “Tamara Drewe,” Ben’s ending and the song Ben/Dominic Cooper sings during the closing credits. *facepalm*

  14. Does anyone know the song they play right before when Jin Gook is like mobbed by the huge crowd?? It goes “One, two, three… let me touch ya and give you electric city” Please help

    Btw This is like one of the best drama’s ever!!! There’s angst, saddness, happiness so much more! I hate dramas have ridiculous plots that don’t make sense! Gah! I am so happy that Hye Mi ended up with Sam Dong!!! <3
    They are worth my undone hw! lol

    • The song is by Wooyoung from 2PM aka Jason! xD and it’s called ‘Electricity’. It’s new, so the full version has not been released yet (I think).

      @ockoala- Thank you for the recap! This drama was very addicting and I love the somewhat openness of the ending. Glad to see all the characters happy and doing well in the end. ^^

  15. aww.. i wish you had recapped this series instead of MP too! – even if i did enjoy your MPt recaps! hehe.

    i love this drama! it’s such an all round feel-good inspirational story. even if i was a JG-HM shipper.. it was such a satisfying ending nonetheless for all the characters!

    thanks, as always for posting goodies!! 🙂

  16. I’m just wondering if how did the Director know Sam Dong at the very first Episode.. i mean he chose him as special student… how did he knows him???

  17. oh where did u caps these beautiful HD Pictures?
    i screamed my heart out when saw Samdong pics in hyemi’s wallet! i’m so happy she didn’t end up with jinguk! :DDDDD
    Definitely my favourite scene along with the samdong and hyemi kiss, cheek’s kiss hahaha…:DD

  18. First, I was disappointed because of the ending, I had goosebumps when Hye Mi sang “Only Hope” with flashback from the past where Sam Dong and Hye Mi met. I was moved by tears and also because this was my favorite song, but I didn’t expected the ending to come out like this I was like “this is it? This is the ending?” I feel like I want more of DH I wasn’t contented. I feel like Hye Mi and Sam Don deserve to be together!!!! Like really!! I know they kissed at the end but it wasn’t stated that they really end up together. They are oceans apart pursuing their own dreams I guess that is really the concept of the story, but they put romance in it, can’t they have a happy ending??! I mean I was really sad that I didn’t see them sweet together like a relationship would be. I really like Oh Hyuk and Hye Mi together but I like Hye Mi and Sam Dong much more because they are so funny. Oh hyuk deserves it. I mean he left Hye Mi to purse his selfish desires, 10 months, is really enough to change a girls heart, and when he left it was Sam Dong’s chance to win Hye Mi’s heart even though Hye Mi was really hard on me. He is really a savior to Hye Mi he protects her with all cast That is why I really like Sam Dong!! SAM DONG AJA! 🙂 <3 Watching DH, it was very inspirational and at the same time giving me hope and encouragement to do better, although not in the line of arts but in life 🙂 THANKS DH!

  19. the movie is great , awesome, and very true. but i hope that there is a scene of sam dong goes to a concert of go hye min or maybe a reunion of them 6 in a restaurant or at the school..

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