The ending we deserved

I want to believe that the Dodal endgame is because of their agency. Because it would be even harder to admit the writer is that mediocre. With her previous work, I liked the way she kept their relationships clean, no love triangle/mess.

This is how the last 2 episode should have gone (I blame agency politics & tvn for the ending) considering the symbolism, etc.

JP giving up the plant and coaching DS.

JP saying to DM he's leaving.

DS asking DM for the reason why she likes him, she saying "because it's you".

DS asking his mum why she and her dad got together and she gives him reasons: your dad this and that, making him reflect.

DS asking DM again, and citing the letters. DM realizing she's not anymore the girl in the letters and ask DS why does he like her. He doesn't find reasons either and both break up.

JP moving away

DS geting over his pettiness and telling DM the truth about Noongil and how JP saved them.

DM realizing finally who she loves (JP) and running to the airport to catch him. She asks for forgivness.

(JP realizing he's too good for her and going away anyway, YES I WANT REVENGE)

Except for the 9th step, this is the ending we deserved. Instead we got manipulated to think JP still got a chance and went for all the drama chichés in the book. Ugh

Kim Seon Ho is to blame

He is hats off the best korean actor I’ve seen in any kdrama (there’s might be more good ones, but none of their performance was as impactful as his). Every facial expression, every gesture, he is completely captivating.  Episode 1 when he finds granma and he’s emotional but still smiles when she holds his face...like... The Swoon interview only reassured me: he’s that good, and that hard working. And this made me think his audition might has been as amazing as the scenes we’re seeing, because he wasn’t as well known and there’s no other reason to believe a more famous actor couldn’t get the part. I’ve seen the dramas he acted in before, but there he landed those loud dumb drama roles I kinda hate (he did a good job there too, but I suspect he had less creative freedom) To sum up, I’m really excited for his future roles, to see more of him. The way he acts is... art. He has the gift of acting. Not many people has this control over every facial muscle or over their body. His expression always on point, reflecting deeply the feelings of the character. I’m ready to sink with the Jidal ship, but more than that... I’m ready to see more of Kim Seon Ho.

The colors of the bean bags and the book between them is pink and blue. It looks like both colors together have a business/professional meaning. Same when in episode 14 Dalmi recieved a call from DS, the screen was pink + blue. 

More Evergreens/ Parallels + 1% Chance

Jidalers, you’ll want to read through to the end for an important bit of 1% chance, plant-related development.

What did the writers want with this scene?

It parallels this. Look at the colors:

This moment is Ji Pyeong’s chance, and his lowest point.  Dal Mi is in love with another guy.  She recoils from Ji Pyeong.

We give him crap for not trying something for three years, but he started from the bottom of the barrel. 

The differences:

1. The plum and green colors do not intersect in Do San’s scene.  Do San is in a way recreating this scene, though he is in front of Dal Mi and Ji Pyeong was behind her.

2. As a result of the paths being parallel, Do San doesn’t exactly traverse the plum (Dal Mi) side of the scene.  He is firmly rooted in green (Ji Pyeong) land.

3. He is more of a mecha for Dal Mi than her lover, no?

Piggybacks are not romance, they are the stuff of pre-romance. He is playing the role of support. Even if he is (once again) getting a bit handsy with Dal Mi in spite of not having a relationship (with her consent of course), it’s pre-intimacy stuff. 

You have to face each other for love.  It’s not enough to just walk in step.  You have to see each other.  Hence why Ji Pyeong says Do San should look at Dal Mi again in the preview.

Ji Pyeong and Dal Mi face each other in Ep. 9.  What’s more, their sides make a cross. Vertical for Ji Pyeong.  Horizontal for Dal Mi.

Exactly what they do here. Are we getting Catholic imagery for them now? (Note that Dal Mi is pointedly not looking at Ji Pyeong but still mimics him immediately.  She’s noticing him without directly looking at him. And her finger points to him)

The plum-green scene is not the only parallel that they drew between Ji Pyeong from the past (2001 and 2016) and Do San from the present in Eps. 13-14.

Dal Mi falls asleep while talking to Do San at the mountain.  Everybody is wondering what this means lol.

To me, it maybe means she is comfortable, but maybe too comfortable.  When I first saw the Ji Pyeong scenes in Ep. 8, they were steadfastly the stuff of the second lead.  The second lead is usually the guy that the female lead doesn’t converse with - she just falls asleep around him, giving him a chance to pine in her presence.

This is also a parallel. Do the bean bag colors look familiar? 

They should, because this book between Dal Mi and Ji Pyeong was way too loud to be unintentional.

This was from when Ji Pyeong was stuck in mentor-land. Professional-only land.

Now he is polite and careful, but he has steadfastly refused to be Dal Mi’s mentor throughout Eps. 13-14. He mentored Young San against his interests. But not Dal Mi.

He wants to be her partner.  Not her mentor.

Leading to some hilarious scenes. Isn’t the conversation with the mom and Grandma fantastic in Ep. 14? Grandma and mom are beasts at Ji Pyeong style old school mentorship.  Has Ji Pyeong been giving them lessons, or did he learn from Grandma 18 years ago? Either way I love it.

The Changing Rooms

Do San has not been able to get over Dal Mi.  His room has a laser-minded theme on moons (right) and girls on the swing (left), cast in blue-white.

Dal Mi’s room is too cluttered for me to spot all the differences.  There’s a fair bit of yellow (Do San). But there’s also a bunch of other colors.

I always thought her room and Ji Pyeong’s apartment were paralleled.  Ji Pyeong was lonely, but he brought blasts of color to his place.  Same with Dal Mi, though her colors are much more lively, messy and fanciful.

But now there’s something very, very green above Dal Mi’s bed in Ep. 14:

Wasn’t there before, folks. This is the timeline.

Ep. 3 (pre-money tree). No plant right above her bed in sight.

Ep. 4, pre-date. Still no plant.

Then, in Ep. 11, there’s the plant. A bit thinner than in Ep. 14.

And now, Ep. 14, when she’s debating starting a business venture with her ex-boyfriend, when there’s a guy who has feelings for her she hasn’t given an answer to.  The plant is straight over her head.

Query when exactly the plant first appeared, and what kind it is.  But Dal Mi and Ji Pyeong BOTH have plants in their homes, their safest spaces (right above Dal Mi’s bed??).  The 1% chance is still on.

Symbolism of “sailing off without a map”

The sailing off without a map is a part of the past selves. Dosan seems to be in love with the Dalmi from 15 years before. He is still stuck in that time, citing the letters all the time. I suspect him being in love with the Dalmi from 15 years, not the one from the present. The question is, does Dalmi still thinks the same? Is she the same person she used to be? Because sailing off without a map is not as a good idea as it looks (even Dosan needs a map to arrive to his uncle’s house). Maybe, just maybe, with her sister influence she thinks differently now. She and Dosan, they were so similar. They were both emotional and impulsive. Ji pyeong is the opposite, rational. Fate made Dalmi find out about the letters after Ji pyeong gave her up. Fate punished Jypeong for his lies and humbled him. He had to give up Dalmi to change. Fate was correcting him. He will need to give back the plant (it wasn’t gifted to him) and that would be the moment of maximum growth. Maybe then Fate will act. When he humbles himself again. Dosan, on the other hand, ends up keeping things that don’t belong to him. Contrary to the medal, he won’t give the letters or Dalmi back. His character will grow when he decides to give her back. Like keeping the title of the younger person to win the Olympiads made him miserable, keeping the letters are doing the same. The marker/ball scenes are not a symbolism of Dodal/Dalmi. The marker is Dosan dream and he found it (the self driving car): he can’t erase it even if he tries (the famous “kiss” marker scene is also an anology of this: Dalmi’s dream stains Dosan and it became his too). Dosan found his dream: the car. That’s his character growth. He seems to be destined to be Dalmi’s business partner. Dosan’s room has a picture of a girl in a swing in white/blue. BLUE is business/professional color. (when Ji pyeong was only a mentor he used to wear blue). If Dosan ends up with Dalmi, it would be unfair as we can see she doesn’t belong to him, like the medal (when he became greedy he lost her). And he seems greedy again. Overcoming this would be his final character growth. For us, as viewers, it seems unfair if Dosan doesn’t pay the price. Dalmi is the mystery. Her point of view is not explained. What does she feels? She seems trapped in the past (yellow car) but she is in deception about her feelings for Ji pyeong. For me, her feelings will be explained in the end. We’ll finally see her point of view. What I do like is Ji pyeong not beeing so hung up on the letters. He seems to like the present Dalmi, not the old one. Who she is now not the one from the letters. Dosan is in love with the old Dalmi, but who is Dalmi now? Did she change? (the letters WERE important for Ji pyeong, that’s why he kept them for 15 years. But not in a romantic way until he met present Dalmi/ it’s better like this because she was a kid back then, so thank you writers for not making it weird)