Hyde, Jekyll, and I Episode 19 - Robin and Ha Na Sitting in a Tree....

We are almost at the end!  The finish line is in sight!  But if you thought the writers were going to rest on their horrible writing laurels, then you thought wrong.  Nope, they are determined to drive the Robin and Ha Na ship home, probably crashing into the dock and exploding into a giant bonfire of bad OTP romance.

Let me put this in a different perspective.  Imagine that you are one of three people left on a deserted island.  The other two are your twin and the girl of your dreams.  Now imagine that they totally hook up in front of you all lovey dovey and the girl makes it well known that she is not interested in you.  Then your twin dies.  Now it is just you and the girl of your dreams left to repopulate the world (or at least that island).  Of course she is going to choose you, but really you know that you are second best.  You are nothing but the consolation prize.  That is how i see Seo Jin and Ha Na as a OTP.  No matter how much Seo Jin and the writers try to make us feel that Seo Jin is Robin, and visa versa, we all know that Ha Na does not see them that way and will always choose Robin.  And sadly Seo Jin will be the one she ends up with when Robin is no more.

I really want to feel empathy for Robin and his issues about being a real boy, but he (and his whining) makes it so hard.  We left off after the big birthday surprise where Seo Jin had to pretend to be Robin in order to celebrate Ha Na's birthday. Robin emerges at the end of the broadcast and is very confused.  You would think that Robin would be happy not to let down the woman he loves.  But nooooo..... the thing he focuses on is that Seo Jin was able to become him so easily. Personally I think it is a shame that either personality had to wear that butt ugly jacket that was 3 sizes to big. 

Robin also discovers, via Seo Jin's secretary (who is under the impression that he is talking to Seo Jin pretending to be Robin), that Seo Jin has decided to not get rid of Robin for Ha Na's sake.  Seo Jin is sacrificing everything for the woman he loves.  Later Robin sits in the man cave and wonders if Seo Jin is willing to sacrifice now, what part is Robin left to fill.

Now.... call me odd, but I am glad that Robin is slowly disappearing for two reasons.  The first being that he annoys me.  And the second is that I find it a little icky that Seo Jin now has all of Robin's memories as well.  That is like having a voyeur hanging out on all your most intimate relationship moments.  To actually be able to remember how Ha Na treats the other side of you must be painful,  though Seo Jin is dealing with the situation with dignity.  Even in the middle of all this turmoil Seo Jin's only thought is whether he should tell Ha Na so she is not blindsided if Robin disappears.   The man is seriously a saint.

Not able to deal with all the feelings surrounding his eventual demise.  Robin goes to Dr Kang (seriously who would ever want this quack as a therapist) and requests information about extinction treatmen, not wanting to slowly drift away over the next 6 mths (the period of time Dr Quack Kang gives him before he disappears as an entity). If it was really that easy to "cure" D.I.D. you would think that this would have been tried by now. Also, is anyone else wondering what ever happened to poor evil Terry?  Poor personality didn't even have 30 sec of screen time. 

Anyway.... back to Robin's decision.  Robin says that he would rather leave as himself rather then drift away with mixed memories in the future.  Aww... for the first time I am feeling sympathy for his plight.  Not enough to want him to hang around, but still I feel for the poor pretty personality.

**Sigh** For what feels like the millionth time we see Ha Na once AGAIN, comforting Robin and saying that she loves him specifically.  Sure it is at a new location (hello random historical village) but it still feels stale and old like last weeks left out bread.  But this time Robin sucks it up and makes sure that Ha Na has the perfect date as he takes her about doing couple things.  Although you can constantly see Robin looking at the date as his Swan Song and not as a simple couple moment.

Afraid to sleep because he will lose precious time, Robin decides to stay awake so Seo Jin does not emerge.  Obviously things go a bit wrong as Robin takes Ha Na back to the house (the place he thought he had grown up in) a 2nd time and gives the exact same speech he had the day before.  Ooops.  Robin is busted and Ha Na now knows that something is not right with his memories.

Ha Na excuses herself to the car and calls Dr Kang, who from hence forth will be called Dr Blabbermouth, and finds out that Robin is disappearing. Ha Na runs to a tree where they had buried notes to each other (supposedly to be opened in 10 years) and finds out that Robin is planning to leave.  She runs back (lots of running going on) but finds Seo Jin sitting where she had left Robin. At which point she falls apart and cries a whole bunch.  Just want to insert another kudos to Hyun Bin for making me able to tell which personality is present at all times.

Seo Jin and Robin have a quick conversation via phone video and  come to terms with what is happening.  Pretty much the gist of the conversation is Robin telling Seo Jin all of the things Ha Na loves and how to make her happy.  You know, for after he disappears.  Since it is a given that Ha Na will fall straight into Seo Jin's waiting arms.  I feel that this is somewhat similar to a dying man bequeathing his favorite cow to his BFF and writing down the so said cows favorite type of grain.  Ha Na in the meantime is off crying and despairing over the soon disappearance of her one true love.

Robin emerges again and calls Ha Na to come meet him at a bridge where he has organized a firework display.  Way to go out with a bang....at least if nothing else, the cinematography is pretty.

Robin comforts Ha Na and explains why he has made his decision to disappear.  But even as Robin talks about wanting to keep certain memories, those memories are torn from his mind and he collapses in despair. It is actually a very heartfelt moment, but the cynical side of me can't help but wonder if this is really symptoms of D.I.D or if the writers are pulling this out of thin air.  Personally it seems more like a case of Alzheimers than anything else.  If anyone actually knows if their portrayal of multiple personalities is realistic then let me know.  I would Google it, but refuse to waste any more of my precious time thinking about this plot.

Which brings us to the grand finale, at least of episode 19.  Everyone put on your thinking hats and contemplate:  What is the one thing that the writers have not done to make us give up on a Seo Jin and Ha Na OTP?  If the wedding march suddenly went through your mind, then you would be correct.  That's right.  Ha Na creates an event for Robin and it ends up being a wedding.  If there was any tiny bit of me that still wanted Ha Na to have a happy ending, it just died.  If Ha Na is going to choose Robin (solely) until the bitter end, then I think she should live the rest of her life in mourning over her dead love.  I don't want her to hook up with Seo Jin (although I know they are going to force them together).  I think Seo Jin deserves better than being the sole surviving twin on a deserted island.  Seo Jin deserves someone who chooses him first.  Someone who is happy that he is alive and not just the runner up lookalike who still exists.  I am sure there are plenty of people out there reading this who would happily become that special someone.

My Thoughts:
I don't really have many thoughts to share beyond those that I have already written.  I am sure I will have a few things to say about the show as a whole in our combined TCA finale recap (which should be out early Saturday), so be sure to be on the lookout for that.  More than anything else I want to thank our readers for suffering on this journey with us.  Whether you watched the drama, or just read our recaps, I am sure this will be something we all want to shove into a closet.  So lets go together and find better dramas in our future.

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