Dramatic Friday Review: Dr Jin, the FINALE (ep 22)

Psst...guess what, AddicKts?

We did it.

We made it.

We have reached the end of Jin.

Forgive me while a let a little tiny squeak of "Yay!" out.

Sorry.

I've tried to hold it in for 12 weeks.  I've tried to remain as objective and neutral as possible in my reviews.  I certainly don't want to offend anyone who loved this drama.  I also don't want to offend JaeJoong Oppa or any of his fellow cast members (because you know they totally read this blog *eye roll*) who really did put a lot of work and effort into making this drama.  But this one was painful.  And I tend to go really easy on my dramas.  I haven't really met one yet that I didn't like to some extent.  And to be fair, there were things that I did like about Jin.  It wasn't all bad.  If I had just been watching it for fun and not for work, I probably would have still watched it.  Maybe.  JaeJoong is really really gorgeous and I have a major celebrity crush on him.  Like MAJOR.  I just wouldn't have been brave enough to admit it to anyone (the watching part, not the crush part - that one I have no problem sharing).  But c'mon, there was certainly a lot of ridiculous flying around mixed in with the few redeeming qualities.  I think we can all come to a consensus on that, maybe?  Or not.  Whatever.  This is my blog and I'll say what I want.

Hall-le-freaking-lujah it's OVER!!!!!!!

Ding dong the Jin is dead!

Well, Jin doesn't die.  I don't want to mislead you.  I mean the show...the show is dead.  Finished.  Caput.  It is no longer with us.  Saturday and Sunday breathe a collective sigh of relief.

I'm doing a crazy happy dance over here right now.  Too bad you can't see it.  It's epic.  I'm a really great dancer.  In writing.

But, just as happy as I was to see this show come to a conclusion, I'm even more excited to see these reviews of this show come to a conclusion, so how about we cease the pleasantries and commence with the final FINAL Jin review EVER!!!!  Yayayayayayayayayay!  Okay!  Let's go!

Around the 36 minute mark, Major Kyung Tak, played by the wonderfully talented and most beautiful man to have ever graced the world with his presence, Kim Jae Joong, a.k.a. my Hero, dies.

The end.









Okay, okay.  Not the end.  Wish I could leave it at that, but I won't.  After all, there were 35 minutes before then that were quite heavy on the Kyung Tak scenes and therefore shouldn't be ignored.  Why did they even bother calling this drama Dr Jin?  They should have just named it "Kyung Tak Lives a Very Sad Life and Then Tragically Dies Saving the Woman That He Has Always Loved but Who Dumped Him.  Repeatedly.  And Other Random Unimportant Stuff."  Or KTLVSLTTDSWTHHALBWDHRAORUS for short.

So, there's this war going on.  Kangwha Island is under attack from the ticked off Westerners.  In order to save himself politically, Prince Heung Seon chooses to lead a troop himself at the battlefront.  They're forming a special forces unit comprised of tiger hunters.  Cool.  Why not?  Sounds pretty awesome.  Jin, upon finding out that Young Rae has already shipped herself off to doctor on the frontlines, begs to come along.

Oh hecks yah!

They convince Kyung Tak to join their ranks as well, though his reasons for going are less than admirable.  Part I think is due to Young Rae and the desire to protect her, but mostly he just wants to get revenge on Heung Seon for the downfall and death of his father.  Meanwhile, PigDog and his cronies are plotting against their own country and have a secret meet-and-greet with the Westerners, offering them riches and telling them of the supply ship enroute to help relieve the people stuck inside the last remaining fort on the island.

By the way, this is the fort that Young Rae is working in.  They're surrounded and have run out of food and supplies.  If the siege continues much longer, they will lose this last stronghold and the Westerners will have taken the island.  Duhn duhn duhn.  {Sorry, couldn't help myself.  Last review.  I'm going to let more snark out than normal, prepare yourself}

There's some battle strategy talk.  I zoned out.

Kyung Tak tries to kill Heung Seon twice only to be foiled in both attempts.  He's caught the second time and then bound.

Inner Fangirl liked that.  She's a naughty Inner Fangirl sometimes.  It made her think of JaeJoong's upcoming movie, Jackal, where he apparently ends up in a similar situation.  You know, bound and tied.  Fangirl gets excited when she thinks of Jackal.  She's not sasaeng, I promise.  She just sometimes has an overactive imagination.  That's why she stays hidden and locked inside where no one can see her.  I only tell you a little of what she does, says and thinks while I'm writing these.  You have no idea what she can really be like.  She's nuts.

More battle strategizing.  I didn't completely zone out this time.  The supply ship has been destroyed according to PigDog's plan and things are desperate.

They're out of time.  They're outnumbered.  They're desperate.  They decide to attack on both sides, from inside the fort and from behind as the enemy is focused on the battle at the fort.  Only they need to get word inside the fort that this is the plan.  Enter Jin and Kyung Tak.  Jin convinces KT to lend them a hand in order to save Young Rae.  They sneak in.  And Kyung Tak delivers one of my favorite lines ever.  Did you catch it?  At one point, an enemy soldier happens upon Jin as he is trying to sneak inside.  KT comes along and slashes the soldier, thus saving Jin.  Jin is so taken aback by watching a man get slashed with a sword right in front of him that he freezes.  KT then says, "What?  Are you going to operate on him or something?" Oh my!  I really truly did laugh out loud.  Well put KT, well put.

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Once they are inside the fortress, they're captured as spies temporarily, but a joyful reunion with Dr Hong (aka Young Rae) quickly solves that little misunderstanding.

Then there's the big battle.  Kyung Tak leads the charge from within.  How yummy was he by the way everytime he ordered them to shoot?  That deep, angry, gravely voice he had?  See, redeeming quality.  They do exist.

Jin and YR are trying to move patients to a safer zone while the war is raging all around them.  YR gets left behind.  When Jin goes back to find her, she's looking for the ring box of his.  The one with the engagement ring meant for Mi Na.  Did you forget about that too?  Well, good thing she didn't (there's some foreshadowing for ya).  As they are leaving, some French soldiers appear.  Not to fear, KT is here!  KT, who it seems has already been injured in the battle, shows up and starts kicking some French baguettes.

He succeeds in saving Young Rae and Dr Jin, but is mortally wounded.  She cries, he dies.

Dr Jin throws his head back in dramatic despair.  Just like Unnie likes him to do.

Dongsaeng starts to wonder what she's going to do the rest of the drama now that KT is gone.  His last declaration to her is that she was still and always was his woman.  Aww.  Heartbreaking and cruel.  Kyung Tak is quite the tragic character, is he not?  Someday, Drama Writers, someday this man will get a lead role and not be the sad, lonely, loser 2nd, right?  Please.  I think he's earned that honor.

While mourning over KT, a cannonball strikes nearby.  Suddenly YR collapses, onto Kyung Tak's lifeless body.

She's been hit with shrapnel.  Jin must do an emergency surgery to save her.  She begs him not to - it is her fate to die and he just needs to let her die and stop meddling with her fate.

Dude, just let me go already.  Stop fighting fate.

Obviously he's not going to let that happen and starts the surgery on her.  This angers Brain Baby and the headache kicks in.

"It's the brain pain Coach Kline"
(15 points to whoever can tell me the source of that reference)

He muscles through it and saves her anyway, Brain Baby be damned.  He's such a rebel, that Dr Jin.

Somewhere in here we cut to another sad scene.  Kyung Tak's body is brought to Young Hwi and he mourns the loss of his friend.  This bromance was another redeeming quality of this drama.  Young Hwi screams and cries and does all that you would expect a man who just lost his dearest friend who was also his enemy to do.  Oh Kyung Takkie, you're life really was as tragic as your death, wasn't it?  Such a sad, sad character.  Nuna's sorry.

Sorry for the interruption, but I just couldn't let that scene slide by without mentioning it.  They're both really hot guys, what can I say?

Back to Young Rae's surgery.  Jin finishes up and goes to wash the wound, only to discover that he's out of water.  Head thrown back in dramatic fashion with a sigh once again...

No biggie, just a quick little stroll over to the well will fix that problem.  Hard part is already done after all.  He's saved the girl once again.  Only, while at the well, he meets up with a rather unfriendly Western soldier who stabs him in the gut.

And now, Dongsaeng's theory is confirmed.  He gets stabbed and a lightbulb moment strikes.  He remembers John Doe Holey Head from the future.  How he was found with a stab wound.  After falling.  Or something like that.  It was 22 long episodes ago after all.  He realizes that there is some sort of connection there and that he's maybe about to go back.  At least that's what I gathered from the dramatic look in his face and the flashback.

He stumbles off, falls off a wall and wakes up, indeed, back in the future.

Tiimmmbbbeerrrrr!

Modern Jin is wayyy cuter than Joseon Jin.  Just sayin.

Hey look!  It's Mi Na and guess what? She's not dead.

Jin celebrates his return by visiting the rooftop.  Yup.  He's back in modern times alright.  See all those buildings out there?  Another doctor comes up then and he finds some stuff out.

Stuff like how he had been at a different hospital where he had had surgery.  He then disappeared from the hospital and was found a day later on Kangwha Island dressed in funny clothes.  He was brought back to his hospital for his 2nd surgery in 4 days.  He asks about the mystery man, John Doe Holey Head, who had had the Brain Baby tumor removed.  The doctor is like, "Dude, that was you that had the fetus shaped tumor".  Oooh!  I don't always accurately make predictions, but when I do, I have to wait 22 stinking episodes to prove it.  So, history has been altered a little.  While visiting together, the doctor also pulls out the ring box (remember the foreshadowing earlier?  Well, here it is - the moment that was foreshadowed so expertly), telling Jin that it had been found in his clothes.

Jin tries to reason all this information out.  Some of the events changed.  For example, he didn't fall from the hospital rooftop, he disappeared instead.  As he is hanging out in the hospital hallway trying to work through all of this, guess who comes rolling up?  If you guessed the child Choon Hong, well then pin a rose on your nose!  Choon Hong rolls on up, and Mi Na suddenly crashes (that's medical speak for her heart stops working right - I iz so smart. S-M-R-T).

Jin rushes in (forget that he just woke up from a 2nd surgery in 4 days) and starts CPR.  It's not looking good.  CPR isn't working.  The shock cart isn't working.  The other doctor is in tears as Jin works furiously to save Mi Na.  He didn't just go through all that crap in Joseon to lose her now gosh darn it!  He works and works and works and it's so obvious that she's dead, but he just won't quit.

Cut back to Joseon.  Young Rae is laying on the operating table in the middle of the war zone.  Suddenly, her eyes flutter open.  She has regained conciousness.

At that same moment, Mi Na's heart starts to beat again.  She's come back to life - huzzah!  Young Rae wakes up and Jin is no where to be found.  She's alone.  All alone.  Jin is gone.  KT is dead.  At least she still has her brother.  And all her doctoring that she loves.

Sure enough, back in the future, Jin gets curious about Young Rae and her fate.  He has figured out that if Mi Na is alive, that must mean that things turned out okay for YR as well.  He opens up a history book and it talks about a Joseon medical clinic and a lone female doctor during the reign of King Gojong.

Oh good.  Looks like she's going to be okay after all.  Phew.  *wipes sweat off furrowed brow*

Back out in the hospital halls, Jin once again runs into child Choon Hong.  He approaches her and tells her that he knows who she is (calls her by name) and that she came from very far away.  Choon Hong is a little shocked by this, but continues to listen to the crazy man who has her cornered.  He tells her that if she meets him again in the future when she's an adult, that she is to please tell him that Mi Na is alive.  You can practically see the "Oh-kay, creepy crazy man..." in her face as she silently rolls away.  Awk-ward.

And finally, Mi Na awakens.  She tells Jin that she's had a very long, strange dream.  As he leaves to go get her a drink, she calls him "Doctor Jin" just as Young Rae had.  "Jinuan"  (Don't know how it's spelled, that's just what it sounds like, whispered oh so delicately and lightly, like a lady would do.)  "That's what I called you in my dream.  You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."  to which Jin laughs and more or less says, "Uh, yeah, I would."

Jin is now back at the (modern day) palace taking a stroll around and reminiscing about his good ol' days in Joseon.  And who should show up but the Prince.

Honestly, at this part I said some not nice things to my screen.  Things along the lines of "what in the world?!"  Weird scene.  Unexplained.  We're just to accept that for some reason Prince Heung Seon can show up in modern times to have one last chat with Jin. Like he has his own magical time traveling Brain Baby or something (pssh...yah right).  Whatever.  Why the heck not?  We've had to swallow a lot of other inexplicable crap stuff all along, why not add in one last one for good measure?  (He doesn't by the way.  I was just being sarcastic).  Anyway, so they have a chat.  Heung Seon looks around and admires the modern Joseon.  They part as good friends.  It was a nice scene between the two, just freaking weird and oddly written.

Our final, parting scene is Jin proposing to Mi Na.  There's a lot crying, mostly from Jin, and she smiles an acceptance of his proposal and then that's it.  22 episodes later, it ends.  With that.  And no kiss.

And so...yeah.  That's Dr Jin.

Tah-dah!

Just ignore the gaping plot holes left open and festering.  The untied ends left loosely dancing in the breeze.  Really.  Don't hurt your brain trying to make sense of it, there's really no point.  Accept it at face value and don't look too deep.  It helps if you squint a lot too.  Maybe close one eye.  And turn out all the lights.  A doctor went back in time using a magical brain tumor the shape of a fetus, saved an alternate version of the woman he loves multiple times, saved some other people, screwed up history big time from his meddling, sort of fixed it all (really the history/fate did most of the work - his efforts all kind of failed miserably), and then goes back and all is well.  His woman is saved and everyone is happy.  Or dead.  Or left alone to wake up from a battlefield surgery back in Joseon in the middle of a war zone.  Or dead.

Nope, don't try to make sense of it.  Don't try to ask too many questions of it.  Definitely don't poke at the festering gaping plot holes - you'll only make them bigger.  Instead, I offer you one option for consolation.  A prize for making it through to the end.

I should have done this all along.  I made a collage of some Kyung Tak shots from ep 22, you know, from the last 36 minutes of his screen life.  Accept this as my parting gift to you.  We've been through a lot together these past 12 weeks, it's the least I can offer you in thanks.




































I return next time with a review about a doctor who travels to the past and saves lives.  o_O

Until then, farewell addicKts!  It's been one heck of a ride!

Dramatic Friday Review: Dr Jin ep 21

Still not fair.

Unnie gets another week off!

What the hay?  Or is it hey?  Hae? (We'll go with the last one - looks more Korean)

What the hae?

Granted, I only have one episode to watch and review this week (again, what the hae?  They promised me two episodes but I only got one.  So, not only did they add two episodes on to my sentence the drama, but now they are making me wait an extra week to finally wrap it all up?!  Grr.)

Now I'm grouchy.

Good thing there are some sweet JaeJoong caramel abs in this episode to help cheer me up.  Not yet though.  You have to wait.  They're coming.  I promise.  Hold on til then.  You can do it.  It will be worth it.  Pinky swear.

Before we get to the abs though, we should probably cover what happens before then.  It's only fair.  I mean, they did go through the trouble of writing it, filming it, editing it, airing it, subbing it....  The least we can do is talk for a minute about it.  Then abs.  Mmmm...sorry.  Distracted.  I've already seen them after all, so I can picture them in my head right now.  Jealous?  You should be.  Unless you watched it as well, then, like me, you're probably imagining them for yourselves at this moment.  Unless you didn't notice them.  I'll admit, I almost missed them as well.  What?!  I know, right?!  That would have been a tragedy.  A travesty even.  A really really sad thing.  How could I almost miss them?  It wasn't my fault - I was distracted by the blood and gore.  I started to turn away from it as has become my custom during Jin watching when I caught them out of the corner of my eye.  And then I went back and watched the whole gory scene again.  You know, to get screenshots.  For you.  A purely selfless act.  Entirely.  Completely.  Yup.

But I'm getting ahead of myself and revealing way more then I probably should.

Back to the review!

We begin episode 21 with Choon Hong's funeral.  Unlike the first gisaeng who died in this drama, this funeral was a little more understated.  Just a gathering of a few people and a flower-covered casket being sent off to sea.

Or river.  Some body of water.  You get the point.  Poor Choon Hong.  Her friends are sad at the loss.  PigDog and Daddy are sad at the loss of the town's best gisaeng and such a "good wench".  Ugh.  Gross.

Jin is a little bummed out.  As evidenced by the signature SSH stance of head held back in despair.

This one is for you Unnie!

He's reeling over the news that Mi Na is dead.  He's so bummed in fact that he goes to throw himself off a cliff.  He is unsure if this means he will return or die, but he doesn't much care at this point.  He doesn't want to be here or there.  I was kind of curious myself.  I was all, "Sure, give it a try.  Let's see what happens."  Too bad Young Rae spoiled the experiment by pulling him back from the edge.

Foiled!  Curiosity goes unsatisfied once again.  I guess you can't kill off the title character a few minutes in to the next-to-last episode (though a certain show *name withheld to prevent spoilage* did it in episode 6 of a 28 episoder), but still.  Could have been interesting.

Amidst Jin's personal whatnot, word comes in that the French have come with their warships (7 total) and are bombing Kangwha Island.

The Joseon people are vastly outnumbered.  Fingers start pointing.  Well, Ahndong fingers at least.  At the Prince Regent.  Heung Seon at this point announces that he will accept responsibility...if they lose the war, he'll step down.  So now Left State Minister is determined that they shall indeed lose this war if he has anything to do with it.

Kyung Tak is a little taken aback by his father's attitude.  Political shuffling is one thing, but wishing for your own country to lose a war just so that you can retain your political foothold?  That's going a little too far, wouldn't you say?  I would say.  Kyung Tak does say.  Yet, he still stays by his father's side, though he does try to talk him out of his newest plan.  And what is that new plan?  He wants to kidnap the king.  Sounds smart.  (Nope).

And here we get a lot of stuff.  A lot of stuff that will be boring if I get too detailed in describing.  Really.  I can promise you that.  So I'll just surmise.  Byung Hee gets KT to plant a false "Dear Heung Seon, This is What the Future Holds, Love Dr J" letter.  Remember how KT stole the original?  Well now he's supposed to plant a fake that says that the king will be poisoned that night in hopes that they will move the king out of the palace where he can then be captured.  The letter is planted and read.  The king is moved.  Only, the palanquin carrying the king turns out to be empty.

KT had warned Heung Seon ahead of time.

Oh but wait!  Before you think that he has switched sides (hahaha -- did you fall for that one too? Silly us. We should know better by now.  We've had 21 episodes' experience after all), it turns out that the warning to Heung Seon was orchestrated by Byung Hee.

Only it backfires.  Young Hwi, if I am reading this correctly, has decided not to trust KT after an earlier conversation with him where KT basically tells him in no uncertain terms, "Dude, you can't trust me."  Byung Hee is surrounded by Royal Guards

It's too quiet.  Run!

and a battle breaks out.

During this fight, KT is shot with an arrow in the side.

Young Hwi carries the injured KT to the clinic.  Only KT refuses treatment by Dr Jin.  He would rather die.

"I don't want you to take care of my life!"

YH:  The world has changed, join me in making a new Joseon

KT: (talking about his loyalty to his dad) When I went to his house holding his hand, this is my fate.

Enter Young Rae.  She's brought in to do the fixing up.

YR: I killed you many times, Sir.

So this time I wish to save you.

Okay, you did it.  You made it.  We're there.  It's time.  Ready?

Here you go.  And how about I make them a little bigger too?

Ignore the blood.  Focus on the chest and abs of the yummy pop star.  I'll give you a moment.  Take all the time you need.  No rush.  This is the best part of the whole episode right here.

Dear JaeJoong, Nuna thanks you for your dedication to your craft.  Really really thanks you.  

Okay, how was that?  Worth the wait?  Inner fangirl passed out.  At least that will keep her quiet for the rest of this review.

{Psst...don't tell Inner Fangirl because she might not be able to handle it, but it has come to this ahjumma's attention that there is a 99.9993% chance that this is a fake torso.  *GASP!!!*  I know, I know.  Not cool.  But still, we know what's really hiding underneath it and it's not too far off, so we will use it as a simulated representation of the real thing and try to contain our bitter disappointment in being mislead.  But really, would it be fair if such perfection actually existed?  I would argue that no, no it would not be fair for one person to contain such perfection - too heavy a burden to bear.  JaeJoong, Nuna still appreciates you and your dedication to your craft, fake torso or not.  Imitation caramel can still taste as sweet, can it not?  We will let it slide this time and just watch some Mirotic videos to ease the pain and satisfy our sweet tooth.}


Through this operation, which is undertaken without anesthesia because he is a warrior and will not let himself be weak and unconscious in front of her, he has a realization.  He recognizes her talent as a doctor and suddenly it all starts to click for him.  Why she broke off their engagement.  Why she pursued this path.  He tells her that she is a good doctor and assures her that the wound will heal quickly (meaning the emotional wound of her dumping him).  Aww!

I should probably mention something before going on.  Prior to this, Young Rae realized that if Mi Na is dead in the other world that she herself is surely about to die as well.

This makes her act rashly.  Jin is desperate to save her.  She's desperate to get away.  The front line of the battle with France is in desperate need of doctors.  So of course she sets her mind to volunteering.  She was packing up when Jin came to get her to doctor Kyung Tak.

After he's all patched up, Kyung Tak stumbles into his father's room.  He's hurting and bleeding, but he immediately draws his sword and swears to bring back the Prince Regent's head for his father's sake.  The boy cannot even lift his sword.  Before this, Byung Hee had been paid a visit by the Prince Regent.  Basically, it's over.  Oh!  Shoot!  How can I forget?!  How did the Prince Regent know of Byung Hee's plans to kidnap the king?  He had a visit from his son.

No, not KT.  Well, he had that too, but no, he also had a visit from none other than PigDog McNasty!  Turns out that PigDog and his cronies have decided that the old man has been in power long enough and it's time for a new AhnDong to step up as leader of the clan, and PigDog is just the man for the job.  So he goes to Heung Seon and spills the beans.  When Byung Hee learns of his "favored" son's betrayal, he's toast.  He knows that he's done.  He has no supporters on his side anymore.  Heung Seon goes to him and offers to let him live if he'll just fade away into retirement and leave politics behind.

So, KT shows up, blade drawn, ready to fight for his father.

We then find out why.  Why KT has stuck by his father's side through all of this, even when he didn't like what his father was doing.  Even when it went against his own conscience.  I've heard of filial duty, but this guy took it to the ultimate extreme.  His father admits that he has treated him like a dog, yet KT was always loyal.  KT basically says, "You're my dad.  You're all I have left to live for."

He is so desperate for his father's approval.  Byung Hee I think is shaken by this.  After everything, the one loyal person by his side is the one he treated the worst.  The son that wasn't worthy of his love and good graces.  He tells KT that he's done - retirement and living quietly in the country with his son doesn't sound so bad after all.

He asks KT to help him up.  KT, who can barely stand himself, stumbles over to his father and helps him up.  Byung Hee then reaches in to KT's robe and pulls out his pistol.

At this point I believe my sentiment yelled at the screen was "What the FREAK?!"  Byung Hee gets this crazy look of glee on his face and then we pan outside for the actual shot.  Who did he shoot?!  When we go back in, both of them are covered in blood.  WHO?! DID?! HE?! SHOOT?!

Himself.  Byung Hee shot himself.

We get a dramatic death scene.  He tells his son that he, KT, was the most like him, BH and that that scared him.  He doesn't want his son to live for him.  He wants his son to live for himself.  I think that this is probably the most selfless act of BH's fatherhood.  I think it is the one moment where he finally steps up and tries to be a father to either of his sons.  When he puts them before himself.  Granted, his world and life as he knew it is over.  He knows he's beaten.  And I think that played into his decision and act, but I think it also was to set Kyung Tak free.  I'm going to believe that of him - that he had a shred of decency in him that he saw his son's pain and suffering at his hand and finally wanted to let the kid have a shot at a life of his own.

So that's how we end it.  Byung Hee is dead.  PigDog has filled his shoes politically.  Young Rae is on the front lines as a doctor.  And Heung Seon has just vowed to lead the troops himself.

One more week to go.  Stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion next week!