A great and satisfying ending for a drama affects me way more than an impressive start, it’s the last thing to cross my eyes and mind and with it the lingering effects leave a swelling crescendo. KBS Wed-Thurs drama Uncontrollably Fond ended its 20-episode run today, with an ending that was narratively expected but an emotional payoff way better than anything the drama has achieved up until then. In fact, the last two episodes were so incredible and amazing it redeemed the story for me, and along the way showed that patience does pay off.
Lee Kyung Hee tried hard and managed to bring it all together in the end, leaving me crying for 60 minutes of episode 19 and then sobbing for another 60 minutes of episode 20. Bravo to the cast for committing so fully to their performances and this difficult emotional narrative, with Kim Woo Bin deserving a shout out for his final arc acting bravura, Suzy stepping up continuously in incremental baby steps as the drama went on, and second leads Im Joo Hwan and Im Joo Eun being jointly amazing even though he made my heart hurt and she made my heart seethe.
The veterans were also phenomenal, with mommy Jin Kyung being the award-winning standout but Yoo Oh Sung, Choi Moo Sung, and Jung Sun Kyung were all impressive in their own right, and Lee Won Jung‘s guest starring role as the deceased father was the heart and struggle of the entire drama.
I loved the ending but get why other viewers may have hated it. At least it wasn’t Lee Kyung Hee’s classic truck of doom, nor was it a random event that threw in a last minute struggle. From the first to last episode Joon Young was facing a terminal illness and the entire story was about how he made things right and lived his life with purpose during the time he had left. It didn’t even feel unfair because when his Eul got hurt he prayed to God to save her and he would in exchange give up all the happiness in life, so it was merely a price he had to pay but in the end he did find happiness even if it wasn’t for as long as he wished. I’m soooooooo happy UF worked so masterfully for me in the end, especially as the middle sections had me increasingly bored and sometimes pulling my hair out. Now I’m going to rewatch and see if the drama works even better as a marathon session rather than a live watch experience.
Uncontrollably Fond MV:
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OMG I cried so much, and am so sad it's over. I will miss my wednesdays and thursdays filled with UF episodes. KWB and Suzy had amazing chemistry, I hope to see them in another drama in a few years.
Suzy never ends up with her leading man in any of her drama's. They either break up, or one of them dies.
I cried so much my eyes glued shut. Thank you to Lee Kyung Hee for the final two episodes, its better writing than most of the K-drama scripts out there can even attempt to elicit in raw emotion.
I agree with you about LKH. Many viewers blamed the underwhelming ratings on screenplay. But I always think this writer has more classical literary elements in her writing to show off. I'm on ep 16 now and really like the flow of the story and the dynamic directing as well.
UF still leaves me reeling from all the feels. My eyes puffed up so bad! I thought I'm done witn UF but I went through the screencaps on Soompi and I still teared up! UF wasn't perfect but like you said, the final 2 episodes made up for it. It was really hard to part ways with the characters esp JY and NE. I really hope KWB's performance will be recognised. He's just too good! The way he cried and smiled at the same time. It was soo real! Too bad the ratings didn't meet his acting quality.
Glad that it's over finally! Woobin-ah choose drama carefully next time.He was the only strong link in this otherwise mess of a drama sorry.
Actually, I'm glad he took this role in the first place. Otherwise I would have never realized how good he is as an actor.
I tried watching this but had to quit in the middle, but now I may have to watch the ending! Want to see if this is really as sad as everyone is saying!
Quite. I dropped it halfway. Then did the end and I am a wreck.
I can't drop it. I'm already invested too much in Joon Young's journey. I can't sleep I can't work properly for 10 weeks because of this drama. This drama ruining my life for 10 weeks LOL. Sobbing for every touching moment... Joon Young's monolouges is the best...
I don't think im brave enough to rewatch, Captain. Doubt my heart can take it. Had a hard time explaining to Bosses about my puffy eyes yesterday, LOL..
One of the worst dramas of the year, what a mess! I watched it for KWB's sake.
I tried watching this, but Suzy's acting just doesn't cut it for me, and the plot was boring as hell.
Then I thought maybe the lovely Im Joo Eun & Im Joo Hwan could have saved this...but still no. Hopefully they'll both pair up again in another drama & get to be the leads.
What bored me the most is the revenge plot, it' s just take too long.screen time while this is the simplest plot revenge i can remember for a melodrama lol. The politic shenaningan it's also not that intriguing.but the rest is good. For me the best episode is epi 2-4, 11-12, 19-20.
And also, props to kim woo bin. He is abit stiff in the beginning, trying to adjust his acting as a person who is dying. But he come to his own slowly. Can I dare saying this is his best acting yet? I hope he will take more chalenging roles like this. I don't hope much with Suzy, she is still un even, sometimes underact or overact. She is doing something right when she doesn't has to potray a character with a mix feeling at once in one scene when it happen, she is having a hard time to emote.. But what a pity for IJE. Might be due to her roles is just hard to pull off of being spoiled brat, she only come into her own at the last 2 episode.
I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did. I feel the story maybe could have been told in 16 episodes and cut down the angst a little but overall and in hindsight I can honestly say I did like the whole thing. There were a few episodes where nothing seemed to happen but now I can see it was good for Joon Young to be cruel to Eul so she could find her strength to not give a s@# and move on in the face of her world crumbling around her. I kept remembering how she went from feeling she needed someone to take care of her at the beginning to being the strong side of the equation by the end. Plus, 20 episodes of Woobs > 16 episodes of Woobs so it's all good. The ending was so beautiful and satisfying.
I skipped the few intermediate episodes after episode 8 and only catching up with the final two. I don't have the stomach for a marathon re-watch. I think Kim Woo Bin did a good job here and Suzy is annoying in the beginning (I don't totally blame her, it's because her character is written as such) but I get used to her in the end. Overall, it's an ok watch.