When a drama I really loved finishes, I usually need a gradually weaning off of it. Such as rewatching choice scenes, and inevitably posting some more about it until I’m ready to put it to bed. So if you didn’t like Big, ignore me as usual unless you want to listen to me talk to myself (which might be amusing in itself). Otherwise I thought about some valid gripes with the ending and pondered how to plug that hole where issues were unresolved. I asked my Brains side to debate with my Feelings side (what? I’m a Gemini, that’s how we roll) to try and make sense of the Big brouhaha over the drama itself, the ending, the writing, and what happens next. This might seem surreal so think of it as underwater Yoon Jae talking with underwater Kyung Jae. As a bonus, KBS released a final BTS clip where the main cast bids farewell to the drama as well as showing Lee Min Jung and Gong Yoo filming the final scene of the drama.
Brains: Hey kid, it’s embarrassing to share a body with you thanks to your Big love. Do you know the majority think that drama was a piece of shit?
Feelings: Lalalalala….excuse me, what? See this happy face? See how much I care what other people think? Yeah, do not care. My heart, my feelings. Why should what the majority thinks or does sway my beliefs when it comes to purely personal enjoyment of frivolous entertainment?
Brains: You’ve got a point there. But how could you enjoy something so poorly written that sense didn’t just take a nap, it probably never got on the bus to begin with?
Feelings: True dat. This story was indeed silly. But I found something really sincere and moving tucked away inside all that ridiculousness. The parts where a kid is struggling with adulthood, the impetus for an insecure girl to fight for her love. If Big was a glass where it wasn’t just half empty, but mostly all empty, I simply enjoyed the one sip of water that remained in it. I recognized what was lacking, but chose to enjoy what was there rather than bemoan what wasn’t.
Brains: Yeah, so that you could “enjoy” this drama in peace, I really “enjoyed” being locked away in that room you lured me to using promises that we would build a bonfire and burn Fifty Shades of Grey together.
Feelings: We could still do that later. *bats innocent puppy dog eyes*
Brains: I didn’t know you were such an optimist when it came to lackluster drama constructions. Now you make me seem like a grumpy grouch who wants to rain on your happy parade.
Feeling: But you come out and play all the time. When there is a drama that is lacking and I don’t care much about it, I let you take charge and dissect it to pieces.
Brains: Which makes me seem like the bad guy all the time by being “overly analytical”. And how come I only take charge when you don’t care enough about something? Doesn’t seem fair to me.
Feelings: *shrugs* We can’t both be the good guy all the time, and frankly you can take your sharp knives to Big and that wouldn’t change how I feel about it.
Brains: I can? Good. *takes out sharp knives*. So what you think about the fact that the final resolution of about a billion plot points happened off screen. Care to comment?
Feelings: I already said it didn’t bother me. But yeah, a good writer would have found a way to resolve it properly onscreen since many of those plot points were important to viewers.
Brains: Like that Yoon Jae feller. Whatever happened to him? Did he fall off the face of the planet? Did anyone care in this drama? I felt like his name was mentioned in every other freaking scene and in the end, poof its like he didn’t exist anymore.
Feelings: Yeah, that Yoon Jae got shafted big time, no doubt about it. He did nothing wrong, and ended up waking up from the world’s longest nap only to find his fiancée married and then dumped him while he has no memory of it.
Brains: Now you’re going to say love is not a crime, right?
Feelings: It isn’t! Dating, engagements, marriages, it begins and ends voluntarily and premised on feelings that can come and go. I feel like Da Ran and Kyung Joon have to (must) beg Yoon Jae’s understanding and acceptance of their getting together, but that is for them to do and doesn’t make their relationship anymore right or wrong.
Brains: So how come Yoon Jae’s story never interested you?
Feelings: Because I didn’t understand him. Even from his actions alone, I couldn’t figure out how he felt and what he was thinking. In episode 1, what little I saw of Kyung Joon, I understood his impetus. Conversely, in episode 1 (and later on the additional information we learned of Yoon Jae), that man was a mystery to me. So he liked Da Ran from the moment he saw her at the wedding, but then why propose to her in such an unromantic (and frankly clinical way) by saying he’ll take responsibility for her since she missed her teaching exam because she got hurt thanks to him bumping into her. Why was he so warm and cold with her? Was he just a love idiot? I don’t get his motivations even based on his actions, so how could I be interested in his story?
Brains: So what do you think happened with that poor sap? After he woke up again and got cured again.
Feelings: I think his mom sat him down and told him about his two years where he lived abroad with her for a year, and then returned and married Da Ran for a short period of time before she ended things with him. I think he eventually came back to Korea and returned to work. He made his way to the mandoo restaurant to say hello to Da Ran’s family, and found out she was working in the countryside. He went to see Da Ran there, and they caught up on each other’s lives. Yoon Jae knows that Da Ran is no longer waiting for his answer, but he wants to tell her that he was going to say he loves her. Da Ran thanks him for coming to see her and answering her question. She really did love him when she agreed to marry him, but back then she was so unsure of herself and never really knew what it meant to love someone without reservation and fear. Things didn’t work out between them the way she wanted, and for that she’s to blame. She’s so sorry that she fell in love with someone else, and she understands that she wronged him and accepts his disappointment and anger towards her. Yoon Jae reveals that he’s not angry. He’s sad, but the two years of lost memories (in his mind) made those feelings lighten over time. He wishes things could be different between him and Da Ran, but he hopes that she’s happy with her choice and doesn’t regret it. Da Ran says she will never regret it, she’s only truly sad that she hurt him. Yoon Jae smiles, saying that he’s happy to see her so happy and confident. The Da Ran in front of him is the girl he fell in love with at first sight, and he’s sorry for brushing her off many times during the engagement and making her question his feelings for her. They wish each other well, grateful to have journeyed a part of their lives together, even if that journey ends now.
Brains: Hahaha, that’s how you justify to yourself this guy getting shafted. What if he’s off crying somewhere, not showering and growing out his beard, and spending every day stapling skirt hems together? What if he trolls weddings to find his Da Ran again, and poor innocent victims get bumped left and right?
Feelings: C’mon dude. Yoon Jae? The most emotional I’ve ever seen from him is when he was swerving to miss the wreck and saw Kyung Joon also swerving and had this shocked look on his face. Every other time he was complete and utter calmness. Even if he loved Da Ran so much his life depended on it (which no one can convince me of), the most he’d do is do some solo traveling to soothe his wounded heart. And with his looks? No way this perfect man wouldn’t be able to move on. I never believed Da Ran was the love of his life, losing her is not the end of the world.
Brains: You got a point there. So moving on – what the frickety frick was the ending with Gong Yoo’s body as a stand in for grown up Kyung Joon? Did the production not have money to pay Shin for the final scene? Did Shin get suited up only to be locked in the trailer by Gong Yoo? Did the plaid shirt fit Gong Yoo so that sealed the deal? Did the two guys rock-paper-scissors for the right? Did Shin know he was signing up for a drama where he was laying on a bed for 15 episodes of it? Ahhh, my head hurts! Explain it to me, missy!
Feelings: I have no explanation. I wanted Shin in the last scene. Wanted it from the moment I laid eyes on my boy in episode 1. You won’t hear me defending this execution as ideal. I am fine with it because it still worked. I was still all teary-eyed knowing that Kyung Joon came back to find her, and she was going to hold on to him like she promised.
Brains: But you do understand that (1) half the world is pissed off, and (2) the other half are confused. I still hear people mistakenly bemoaning the unfairness of Kyung Joon staying in Yoon Jae’s body at the end. A drama that ends with such a majority of viewers unhappy is not the way to go.
Feelings: Agreed. Which is why I said that I liked the concept of ending (the bus, the umbrella, the rain), not that I think the ending was ideally executed. If anyone needs to spend time analyzing the ending to make sense of it, then the ending is not well done. This is the whole Lovers in Paris thing all over again.
Brains: Whew, thank god for that. Here I thought you were off in stupid land as well as happy fantasy land.
Feelings: Hey! Name calling me is like name calling yourself.
Brains: Not really. I’m the one who did all the heavy lifting. Who earned all our degrees? Yes, you probably ought to be credited for graduating Kindergarten what with the “show me how you feel” requirements in that grade level, but everything else afterwards was me. If it was up to you, we’d still be in college where you would ride your bike around the Quad in circles, pausing to read the Daily and eat froyo, and still trying to pass that CS 101. One day when technology advances so I can be removed and cryogenically frozen, I’ll be happy to part ways with a body so prone to excesses of feeling.
Feelings: Good luck with that. *sniggers*
Brains: So what about all the other loose ends?
Feelings: Gil parents still happily married, Choong Shik becomes a mandoo chef and eventually moves on from Mari, though they stay friends. Mari keeps in touch with Kyung Joon and understands all her misdeeds in the past and atones for it by being a platonic connection to Kyung Joon’s past (his surrogate mom, life in LA), that he can always reach out to. Kyung Joon’s aunt and uncle continue running the restaurant successfully enough to be content with their finances. Kyung Joon and Yoon Jae are still getting to know each other, but Kyung Joon doesn’t like Yoon Jae’s stuffiness. Evil mom makes the effort to embrace Kyung Joon into the family and patiently deals with his snarky attitude. Loser dad is still a spineless loser.
Brains: Sounds plausible. And boring. I guess it was okay we didn’t see any of that onscreen. Moving on now to what happens after Kyung Joon and Da Ran reunite. There is not enough soju in this world to numb the shock of learning those two got together somewhere down the line.
Feelings: Which is were formerly-psycho Mari comes in. She reveals the truth about the soul swap and who Da Ran really married (the soul of Kyung Joon in Yoon Jae’s body), and how Da Ran and KKJ ended up falling in love and being really really sorry to Yoon Jae. Everyone gets their mind blown. Kyung Joon doesn’t even blink in eye, because his feelings for Da Ran are as strong the second time around even if he doesn’t remember the first time still.
Brains: What about family dinners and reunions for the next 4 decades?
Feelings: Awkward of course. But the Seo family was awkward enough already, I don’t see this derailing a formerly happy functional family. Plus Yoon Jae likely got back together with Se Young, who in the character descriptions was described as breaking up with Yoon Jae the first time around because she didn’t want to settle down, hence this time around she does, and they plausibly make another go at their relationship. I would love to be a fly at those family dinners.
Brains: So how did memory-less Kyung Joon know to put on the watch and find Gil Da Ran again? Did he already have his memories back when he got off that bus and called her name?
Feelings: This is where the viewer is asked to believe in the miracle of love as an emotion that is beyond the control of memory. We can talk about nerves and synapses and love being hormonal, but it is something that science cannot explain. Kyung Joon at the end still didn’t have his memories of Da Ran from the time they spent together, but his heart remembered vestiges of her and that compelled him to act. It’s like we sometimes get to urge to do something that we can’t quite explain why.
Brains: I still don’t understand it. Sounds like a bunch of hoo doo to me.
Feelings: You’re not supposed to understand it. If you loved the OTP, their reunion in the end is supposed to bring the feeling of satisfaction and contentment, not intellectual clarity. That’s what I got out of it.
Brains: And you have no problems with Da Ran being in love and engaged/married to one brother and ending up in love and likely engaged/married to the other brother?
Feelings: Nope – because of the context of this story. Wasn’t like she was really married to Yoon Jae. Yes she loved him and he loved her when they got engaged so quickly, but I didn’t feel the love was built on a strong foundation or had the legs, so short pain is better than long pain. I can’t believe that folks discussing the two brothers-one girl set up as some sort of major sin fail to see that this is a recurring arrangement in K-dramas. Hello? And I the only one who doesn’t have a momentarily memory loss that this is really quite common in K-dramas?
Brains: Is it?
Feelings: Allow me to share two. The grandmommy of all – Beautiful Days, where Choi Ji Woo is in a love triangle with older brother Lee Byung Heon and younger brother Ryu Shi Won. Or My Sister-in-Law is 19 (wherein I started my Yoon Kye Sang love), where girl marries older brother Kim Jae Won and ends up divorcing him and being with younger brother Yoon Kye Sang.
Brains: Those dramas sound way too messy and complicated for my brain not to fursplode if I watch it. But yes, you’ve made your point, Big is hardly the first ever drama with two brothers in love with one girl.
Feelings: I think the concept is fine and yes I accept its going to be awkward in the long run, but the only way this would work is if the execution and resolution need is satisfying and logical. In Big it wasn’t satisfying for those who wanted closure for Yoon Jae. I get that.
[Fingers: Will you two zip it up there. Some other body parts do way more work every day and are trying to get some rest. Recaps don’t just write itself, you know!
Eyeballs: Just ignore them. This is nothing compared to the last time they had it out over some drama called Lie to Me.]
Brains: So where to from here?
Feelings: Onward to the next drama, of course!
Brains: Did you enjoy the ride? Was it lonely up top (or rock bottom) all by yourself?
Feelings: I loved the ride. It wasn’t lonely because I did have a few folks for company, but I’m a “the more the merrier” kind of person. I have this niggling sensation that more people like Big than care to admit since the tidal wave of consensus rides the other way. Perhaps when the waves recedes this drama can be enjoyed more for what it did rather than what it failed to do. Or maybe not? Maybe it just is that unsatisfying to watch.
Brains: So where do you put the OTP of Lee Min Jung and Gong Yoo?
Feelings: They were fantastic together. But in this drama, I see them as Kyung Jae and Da Ran, they were my OTP.
Brains: Do you think this is the worst Hong Sisters drama?
Feelings: Probably, considering that it pissed off so many people. Qualitatively, I would rank it pretty low on their oeuvre for all its myriad faults. But emotionally, it’s my favorite, the one work of theirs where I truly connected with the OTP’s love story.
Brains: Do you realize that you seem to like a lot of dramas that people think suck donkey balls?
Feelings: So? Your point is? I have no taste? Of course I have no taste, tongue refuses to share her buds with me.
Brains: Haha, funny. Stop prevaricating.
Feelings: I’m not. I would gladly pimp out awesome dramas I love if more folks would watch them and want to talk about it. I can sit here discussing the majesty of Joseon X-Files or the magnificence of Resurrection all day long and I’ll probably be talking to myself. But what is taste? Is there an arbiter out there on K-dramas? An “authority” so to speak, who doth always judge on a higher plane than I, a mere Koala?
Brains: There might be. I’ll need to look around. If I find such an “authority” and that person thought Big was a pile of shit, would that change your mind?
Feelings: No. That logic is epic fail, you know that, right?
Brains: I just wanted you to know that you’re dragging down the IQ meter for me.
Feelings: You’re a sanctimonious ass. How could enjoying something silly equate with intellectual limitation. Whatever. You can talk to my metaphorical hand now. Conversation over.
Brains: Jeez, no need to be so sensitive. Just pointing out a possible perception is all.
Feelings: And the majority view is always right?
Brains: Touche. You’ve got guts, Feelings, that much I give you.
Feelings: Awww, you paid me a reluctant compliment. I’m so verklempt now (NOT). To end on a high note, let’s go watch panda videos now. We both like that.
Brains: Oh yay! I want the one where four pandas slide down the slide together and then get tangled up on the bottom and can’t get up.
Feelings: Let’s die of the cute together. Oh, I almost forgot, KBS released the final BTS video from Big showing the cast saying goodbye as well as Gong Yoo and Lee Min Jung filming the final scene of the drama. Watching Shin out of his PJs and walking around, he’s really much manlier than his baby-face gives off. I’m sad we couldn’t see him shooting hearts out of his eyes towards Gil Da Ran in that final scene.
Brains: Stop talking and gimme my panda video like you promised! I want pandas! Pandas……
Final Big BTS video with Shin, Suzy, Lee Min Jung, and Gong Yoo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr0MnSmtOnk
Brains wants to share the Panda video with y’all:
I loved this Brains vs Feelings debate. It was fun to read even though I personally was disappointed in Big. You should do this again.
Fingers says no to that suggestion.
LOL
Jomo wants to know what the hell happened to me?
Did I crashland somewhere like a really bad fairy?
I hear you’re on an acid trip somewhere. Call me when you stumble back having lost two years of your memory.
I do agree with the fact that the writers left YJ’s personality an enigma.
When you have a character that ambiguous the audience is forced to fill in the gaps. Seems like some folks sketched in all kinds of fun romantic traits, and some, like me, thought he was as colorless as his father.
Another strange hot/cold YJ –
Why did he only steal a kiss when she slept? That creeped me out a little.
Feelings – you did not wrap up Dr. SY’s story. Is it because you don’t care, or because you just don’t care?
I supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ly don’t care, though I think Yoon Jae is cooler than his wet blanket of a dad. I agree that his kissing of Da Ran when she was asleep was creepy, considering that was the ONLY time they ever kissed. If they were kissing like bunnies all the time, awake or asleep, then it’d be fine. But if you can’t kiss your GF/fiancee even once when she is awake and the first time is when she is asleep, you’ve got serious issues when it comes to expressing feelings.
Word.
This is the talk I would have with my brain too!:D Thank you, ockoala!:3
that was the most interesting recap of a conversation ever! i literally LOL! i get both sides, but dang did i want SHIN on that last scene. needed to see his pretty eyes land adoringly on DR. = sigh =
– 911. What is your emergency?
– Please help confine a koala in a wild animal mental institute.
– I am sorry, Madam, could you please repeat?
– I am worried about her sanity. She seems to have lost her marbles with a schizophrenic side to it, referring to herself as brains and feelings, plus she keeps seeing a boy in a man’s body. Please help!
– …
^^
You’ll miss me when I’m locked away.
Koala-unni I love youuuuu~~~ for writing this hahaha and man i THOUGHT i was such a level-headed story-critic but then ack, Big somehow just overwhelmed me with feelings I still don’t quite know what to make of it haha you’re so brave… to tackle it right there with a frank convo btwn brain and feelings =3 *throws confetti for that witty convo*
by the way, I love your imagined way of how the YJ-KJ family dealt with the marriage fall out and amnesiac sons… honestly, I don’t think it’d be a very boring part of the story to explore… Ionno maybe I’m just the type that has a soft-spot for meaningful family struggles– and that’s part of why I liked Big… the journey that KJ took to find and learn to accept this new family. I think it’d be awesome to have Big 2 on that (don’t shoot me!), and us seeing how Daran sticks by KJ’s side (though he’d be slightly confused) and they work this whole thing out (just let’s… not have the Hongs be the scriptwriters… I think i can only bear through a part 2 with a stronger writer… the Hongs had a lot of heart in Big… just not a lot of skill =__= ) hey… it sounds pretty meaty to me~~ and even if it’s not enough for let’s say… a 16-ep drama… i won’t mind something like those drama-specials of 2 or 4 or even 8 episodes =P… anyone second me? XP
Oh! did I imagine it or maybe i remembered it wrong but… didn’t one of them colored those pandas with a black tail? (KJ and/or D)… and in the vid the pandas had white tails…. !!!
I’m sooo random… i know… XD
Glad you enjoyed it. I, too, wanted more from Big, but alas, I was strangely content with what little I did get. Weird, this thing called feelings.
do you know how to tell if you’re in love?
someone said that…before your brain says so, your body knows 🙂
LOVELOVELOVE this.
So true.
Oh, but that’s lust.
I would say, before your brain says so, your soul knows.
it’s not meant to be in a sexual way…it means that your body gets pulled in by that person either by wanting to see them all the time, put a smile on you face, or even physically protect them from harm even before your mind can answer “why”
To make somebody smile or protect, aren’t they the desires of the heart?
Haha! ^^
Love this drama or more precisely I love the OTPs (sooo cute). Thank you for making this a great place to enjoy my “Big” love.
A very nice way to wrap up BIG ms.Koala^^
Though I’m personally disappointed with BIG progress, so many things to dig, but left out at the end, I respect Your (and other’s) choice to love it. The interaction between two leads is awesomely adorable, but maybe because I’m not a romanticist I can’t buy them all.
Love this, Koala!
I know for sure my “feelings” wins for this drama!
I do wish Korean dramas have ending where there are weddings etc not just they are now together. Really so unreal to me.
I have to admit that I’m one of the lovers of Big. When I watched it, I felt myself float peacefully away. My logic department shut down and let me dreamily watch Da Ran and Kyung Joon interact. That’s pretty much all it was. Pure enjoyment. But I have to know! Is Big at least getting some cult-like love where there is a clear dedicated fan base letting them know they were great? I want Lee Min Jung, Gong Yoo, and Shin (even though he didn’t do that much, but his presence was there all the way) to get some deserved love!
Also, I apologize for being a silent lurker! I actually check your site for updates at least twice a day and I have for at least one year!
Lovelove to Ms. Koala!
Jane
End though I did not end up caring much for Big I can so relate to you loving a drama that it seems everyone else hated. I loved Lie to Me and Secret Garden and have re-watched both many times.
Awww, I loved this write up! I disliked Big but I can certainly identify with being emotionally involved in the OTP and thus happily overlooking any flaws (I loved Spy Myung Wol and at times that made Big seem like Shakespeare).
Glad you enjoyed it! I think I’ve now gotten my fill of Big and said my last piece about it so I can move on. I really loved it a lot, no reservations about my feelings.
And in the year where we got the incredible, stupendous, indescribable thing that was Fashion King, I don’t know how anyone can say Big is the worst drama of the year. XD
Agree. Although both are on nonsensical categories; Big wins over the preposterous Fashion King- aarrghhh…my wasted time on that drama.
And THAT is what I call CLOSURE…
thanks Ms Koala, I enjoyed the feelings/brains convo. i hope you will have time to watch “Beloved” during the kdrama break and share us your feelings/brain convo just like this one. this drama has a very interesting plot worthy for discussion, now on its ep10.
koala forever alone :p
Loved this brains vs feelings convo! Thanks Koala! And I have to say the panda video is ADORABLE! I actually loved Big until the very last scene. If they said that KKJ and Yoon Jae never switched back Kyung Jae and DR ended up together it would’ve been fine and I’d would have still liked the drama. But the fact that they said their body switched back…but when KKJ supposedly came back to see DR due to “curiosity” the fact that it was Gong Yoo’s body just upset me. I was so invested in wanting KKJ in his own body and DR being together at the end that when it didn’t happen it was SOOOOO disappointing. I don’t know, I guess I’m upset that I liked the whole entire drama until the very last scene spoiled the whole thing for me…sigh..
Even though the ending was disappointing…on the whole, I enjoyed the show. Love GONG YOO in this drama. GONG YOO….Fighting!!!
Brilliant! Koala, you would be such a great script writer! Thank you for such a lovely piece. 🙂 sarang hae!
Oh, this drama. I won’t get into my feelings for it; just count me in the “head exploded by the finale, heartbroken by the wasted potential and feel like the THS also came by and kicked my puppy for good measure” camp. Some of the positives are that it introduced me to Gong Yoo (Hello, new Korean crush!), there were some genuine adorable moments and I discovered this site because of it. My opinions differed from yours quite a few times but I appreciated how well written and well thought out your anaylsis was. (I love the brain/ heart discussion too, Ms. Koala, and have my own indefinable loves that reason or logic shall not sway.
This is the worst drama for me for 2012 !!! I have watched most of the Hong Sister dramas…this is by far the worst. The whole noona donseng and soul swapping plus makjang. I sensed that they were trying to redeem after about half way through the show but they went tooooo far fetched to come out with a good ending. No soul swapping back scene, no actual kyung joon showing and no tying of lose ends show they they are struggling to end it. Bad bad bad !
I, too, loved BIG… And I still do!
. PERIOD.
Illogically enough? PROBABLY XDDD
Thanks you Ms. Koala, it’s been a wonderful ride!! Keep it up!! And brains please be more understanding of feelings <3
This is so hilarious! I especially like the snarky comments from eyes and fingers. 🙂
I agree 100% with you that it doesn’t matter what others think when it comes to enjoying a drama – it’s entertainment, after all! As long as you genuinely enjoyed it, who cares if no one else did? I didn’t love Big, but I’ve loved my share of dramas that were vehemently disliked and emphatically mocked by many, so I’m definitely with you. Sometimes we just need to lock Brains in a room and just go with it.
And taste, by its very definition, is relative. So how can there be an authority on it?
Watched only for Gong Yoo. Till the very end. Although the drama itself felt very disjointed, continued to be invested in Gong Yoo 🙂
He has a history for such choices of characters. His ‘One Fine Day’ was another headbanger. God only knows what is next.
This is so AWESOME Koala! I keep telling myself Im not affected by what other people think. Whats important is how i feel about it that matters, but I have to say I am, Im still somewhat frustrated and disappointed to read so many hate comments about Big. I started to question as you, brains vs feelings. Whats wrong with me? O.k, its not the best of script writing.. but I love it! It made me love it so much, I cant explain how I was able to overlooked all the flaws that came with it. Even if I see it, it just doesnt bother me. Thank you so much for this close up post on Big. I needed it too. @ Brain, love the panda clip!
Also, to nurse my withdrawal of Big, I went on a rampant books search. Christian Grey just doesnt come close to GY/KJJ. 🙂
Bwahahaha, I think our friendly Koala is going crazy LOL! Did the gummy bear fetus get you?
First of all I admire your dedication and love for the show which translated through the very many articles you wrote for it. Is it a new record?
I am in neither the lovers or haters camp as I was reading recaps (still deciding if I should watch it) in a detached manner. I liked the premise of the show and wanted to see where the Hong sisters would go with it but well they disappointed me in come ways. This is my 3rd Hong drama and I think the HS have issues in finishing a drama. They did the same thing with You’re Beautiful (build-up the angst until twin comes back then poof-tension gone with time jump), Best Love (tease out the heart condition all series long then he goes to surgery then tension poof-again dreaded timejump). I am baffled as I think they are capable of following through. Maybe writer’s block?
Anyway thanks for the article, it was really funny.
Hahaha, it does seem like alot, doesn’t it? Nyah, this is nowhere to close to how many articles I wrote for Lie to Me, Playful Kiss, and Mary Stayed Out All Night. I might have to write 10 more to even the numbers. Anyhoo, if you haven’t watched, then don’t. At this point your perceptions will cloud the experience and you already have expectations and know what will come. At which point ALL the many many flaws will become impossible to ignore. I could do it because I was watching live and sometimes adrenaline kicks in first before sense settles down. This is probably the last article on Big from me. I loved and I’ve said pretty much all I want to say. This was a fun exercise and a good way to discuss the few points I didn’t get a chance to discuss in the recaps or elsewhere. ^__^ The Hong Sisters suck big time at writing endings. It’s well known, and here I liked the ending, but objectively speaking it is bad in terms of leaving the viewer feeling satisfied. I doubt I’ll ever recommend Big, it really is a drama that will only be liked by a small sliver of the viewing populace.
I’ll probably have to join you at the top/bottom of the hole. I loved watching Big, right from the start to the end.
Was it the best written drama ev-ah? No. Did Gong Yoo play one of the cutest characters ever and can cry up a storm? Undoubtedly. Will I continue to go back to episode 12 and watch all my highlights over and over again? A resounding yes.
I did find it strange how much happened off camera, and felt a little gypped about Gong Yoo stealing Shin’s final scene. And I disliked how they emphasised a lot of things which turned out to have to no say (‘love memories are in your heart, not your head’, or the ominous dream Da Ran had with ‘how only one of them can be saved’ But I loved the drama way more then the issues bothered me. The best thing about off camera happenings is that you can make up what happened for yourself.
I think more people just needed to shut off their brains and simply enjoy the ride that was Big. Not everything needs to be an artsy, profound, thought inducing drama…sometimes all you really need is for some witty dialogue, characters you like, and something that resembles, but not entirely unlike a plot.
I find that logic and true love are often incompatible, in dramas and in life. I got off the Big train early on but have loved reading your coverage of it all along the way…even if I don’t get it, I respect that you shared your thoughtful consideration and love for this drama. The Internet would be a mighty boring place if everybody automatically agreed with the dramabeans assessment of a show just because they’re dramabeans, after all =x
Right, love often has its own way of developing, never depending on logic. But that’s another thing.
The problem we are dealing here is by how the whole story was served to the public and also, maybe by excessive expectations from some audience for a mere rom-com genre.
In my humble opinion, both intellectual and emotional sides should be equipoised to make any story relishable. Even rom-com or fantasy.
But, of course, when I want to watch a masterpiece, I don’t scroll thru a list of entertaining stuff.
I have enjoyed “Big”, ALMOST to the limit it can reach, but not more.
Dear Ms Koala:
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.
I almost cried when I realized that this might be your last post on Big.
Big is way too precious for me. Yes. It’s not perfect. But so what?
True love is unconditional acceptance. It does not need to make sense–and it should not. My heart falters and elates with Big and that’s what matters.
This is a wonderfully heartfelt community here. I am not only a fan of GY and LMJ now. I am also a fan of koala!!
Kudos to koala’s sincere and beautiful insight!!
Apparently there is a Russian guy whose “ultimate goal is to make immortality possible by transplanting the brain and its personality into a robotic body.” (http://planet.infowars.com/science/immortal-avatar-russian-project-seeks-to-create-robot-with-human-brain)
Just a suggestion…
…and we keep the Feelings for our BIG obsession 😉
BTW, have you seen the 1994 “Feelings”? I quite liked it…
This is freaking hilarious.
I’m not in either camp, as I fell in LOVE with the first few episodes but then grew disinterested around episode 10 or so for inexplicable reasons. I’ve been following the storyline through recaps, though, which has allowed me to form strong (if ill-informed) opinions on the show.
I still think that the first few episodes of Big were brilliant and one of the most successful examples of television that is experimental without being pretentious or abstruse. The way it explored subjective reality and called into question not only the character’s perception of events, but also the audience’s, was incredible and that alone makes this show above average in my mind.
But seriously. WTF, ending?!
I think what bugs me most about the ending (apart from the bizarre choice to have Kyung Joon played by Gong Yoo instead of Shin’s) is that after building up Da Ran’s character growth as basically the focal point of the show, they have her take such a passive role in requiting her love with the real Kyung Joon. The ONLY possible reason I could come up with for the unnecessary angst of episode 17 (and believe me, this is still a huge stretch because it could’ve been accomplished so much more gracefully without stupid idiocy which isn’t even noble so I won’t give them the pleasure of having nobility associated with CRAZYBALLS DECISION-MAKING) is that it was to show us that Da Ran has some fire in her blood and that she’s willing to fight for her relationship with Kyung Joon even if he forgets. So why the hell is she out of his life for an entire year, and when she finds out that the body swap has occurred, WHY DOES SHE NOT DROP EVERYTHING AND RUN TO FIND KYUNG JOON? Why does she write a letter to the radio station and whisper to herself all emo-like, “Happy birthday Kyung Joon!” instead of hunting him down and giving him a big sloppy birthday kiss?! I mean, I get that she has a job, and that the writers/PD want a beautiful reciprocal moment to happen on the bus to allude to fate and destiny and whatnot. But after watching Da Ran evolve from a naive little mouse of a girl into a brave, strong woman willing to fight for her love, I wanted her do just that! How much more satisfying would it have been if she tracked down Kyung Joon and followed him on/off the bus, so that their roles were reversed and this time SHE was the one sparking their interaction? That, IMO would’ve been the perfect bookend to the series, so we could see how far she’s come in leading her own life and making her own destiny, and we could see how Kyung Joon finally got what he always wanted–someone who loves him unconditionally, believes in him, and is willing to fight for him.
I weep for the missed opportunity that was the final two episodes of Big.
Thank you Ms Koala for that wonderful debate between your logic and feelings it gave me such a laugh and I feel the same way!
We must be both going crazy like Da Ran at the start of ep 16.
I loved Big to bits and like all dramas there are always lovers and haters. Indeed Big had its flaws but it also brought me lots of laughter and tears (mainly due to Gong Yoo’s outstanding performance).
The ending dissappointed so many people who wanted to see Shin appear as Kyung Joon but how I portrayed it was they never showed us the face but used GY’s body, clothes and watch because that is how Da Ran last saw Kyung Joon. She remembered what he told her to do which she did and at the end, it was like they were back to a year ago hence the flashback. For me I didn’t need to see Kyung Joon’s face because his speech represented it all with the Uh Oh! A year has passed and he would have changed a bit but i guess it is a bit far fetched to say they are twins so in time Kyung Joon would resemble Yoon Jae??
I was hoping they would tie up the Yoon Jae and Da Ran line. He wasn’t meant to remember anything after accident so his last memory would be heading to see her and tell her if he loves her. Wouldnt he want to find her after he woke up?
I loved watching this drama and glad Ms Koala loved it along with me!
I will miss your updates on Big 🙂
Ockoala…loved your brains and feelings debate…after rewatching the BIG finale for 3x and reading your recap and thoughts 2x…i have already accepted cleared my senses…and understands the essence of its ending without me – debating with my brains and feelings.
The finale showed me a happy ending between Daran and the real Kj in the end..whether the drama implied that its Hj’s face – i dont mind it at all!
Now, to those who are still in LIMBO bout the ending of BIG – MOVE ON…there’s more Korean drama in the offing specially this August!
This whole series I had faith that THS had an entire story they wanted to tell, so I was patient. However, the last two episodes killed me. I think I still love this drama, but the ending was too obscure and gave me so little closure. Sure, Da Ran and Kyung Joon ended up together, and I love the whole tying things together from the bus and umbrella incident, but everything else just confused me. But, I guess that’s what THS do best with their endings—confuse people.
Also, Koala, I wonder if your Feelings have any idea *why* we had to keep seeing crazy uncle and Vice Principal’s forlornness. It was probably the one thing in the drama that had absolutely no purpose. Was it just an excuse to show more of Jang Hyun Sung and Choi Ran? I thought they’d drop it eventually, but they kept bringing up that story line.
Thanks for all your recaps and posts about this drama. I really enjoyed being able to turn to your blog when things got crazy, and feeling like someone else out there felt the way I did about many things. Also, your insights were so great, and any understanding of the ending of this drama is due to your final comments on the last recap. Thanks again!