Thirty-Nine: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

by quirkycase

It’s time for final goodbyes in our bittersweet final week. Everyone prepares for the inevitable, leaning on each other as they work to ensure their friend spends her remaining days happy. She, in turn, does everything in her power to make sure her loved ones don’t suffer too much in her absence. It may sound like a depressing affair, but thanks to all the love and support among our found family, there’s still light to be found.

EPISODES 11-12 WEECAP

We pick back up with Mi-jo visiting Kyung-sook in prison and telling her in no uncertain terms that she is not her mother, and this will be Mi-jo’s last visit. She leaves after warning Kyung-sook not to contact her or anyone around her ever again. Although she was quite nice about it, Mi-jo can’t help feeling somewhat guilty later, but she stands firm.

With that out of the way, we move onto our final and biggest challenge. Chan-young is steadily getting worse, and although everyone knew it was coming, that doesn’t make it any easier. She’s as determined as ever not to burden her loved ones, so she begins handling her affairs on her own.

After hearing that Chan-young even went alone to get her funeral portrait, Joo-hee drags her and Mi-jo out for a photo session. She borrows Hyun-joon’s camera and goes a little overboard taking photos and stressing them out with her orders to look natural. But they end up having fun with it.

Chan-young also spends a lot more time with her parents, worried about how they’ll fare when she’s gone. She wants to do something for them, so Mi-jo helps convince them to let Chan-young pay for renovating their restaurant. It ends up being a group project with the whole crew helping on-site. Even Hyun-joon shows up, miffed that he didn’t get invited when he thought he was part of the group.

Meanwhile, Sun-woo meets up with Mi-jo’s dad to openly tell him about his father’s hurtful words to Mi-jo. It’s an impressive show of honesty, which Mi-jo’s dad appreciates. He surprises Sun-woo by being entirely supportive of their relationship and hoping his father’s issues won’t affect them.

As if Sun-woo weren’t already smitten enough with Mi-jo, So-won tells him she’s taking up piano again thanks to her. Pretty sure he’s about to combust with gratitude and love. Sun-woo then comes for dinner to officially introduce himself to Mi-jo’s family. It’s awkward at first, but soon enough, everyone warms up and Mi-jo’s father is even singing his favorite song into his spoon mic.

All these new beginnings happen right as the end is near for Chan-young. She takes a major turn for the worst and is in and out of the hospital with unbearable pain. Chan-young admits to Mi-jo that she’s scared and has been spending more time wondering what dying will be like. But she handles it all remarkably well and is still mostly concerned about her loved ones.

It’s been obvious that Chan-young and Mi-jo have a special bond, but that becomes more evident in Chan-young’s final days. She tells Mi-jo that she thinks of her more than anyone else – her parents, Joo-hee, Jin-seok. No one gets her like Mi-jo, and Chan-young knows she can rely on her. Chan-young begins leaving Mi-jo instructions for taking care of her parents when she’s gone, checking up on Jin-seok, and even puts her in charge of her list of people she wants at her funeral.

This leads to a lovely, touching scene where Mi-jo surprises Chan-young by having everyone she wants at her funeral gather to see her before she dies. Chan-young is overwhelmed to see all her friends and loved ones there, and says even though her life is cut short, she’s received enough love for lifetime.

And she is indeed loved. Her parents, Mi-jo, Joo-hee, and Jin-seok (along with our newbie group members Sun-woo and Hyun-joon) make sure she’s as happy and taken care of as possible. Jin-seok is so caring that even Chan-young’s mom comes around and encourages him to move in with Chan-young, entrusting him with her care.

Jin-seok wants to marry Chan-young, but she thinks it’s a crazy idea and unnecessary. She tells Mi-jo that she feels it would cheapen their love after everything. I honestly expected the drama to have her change her mind on this one, but I was happy that she didn’t. Marriage is often seen as the end all, be all in dramaland, so it was nice to see them take a different route.

For months, everyone lives in the purgatory of knowing Chan-young could pass away at any time. Mi-jo is glued to her phone, ready at a moment’s notice. And then, that dreaded phone call comes from Jin-seok.

I’m actually glad that the drama didn’t dwell on Chan-young’s suffering or death – we didn’t even see her death on screen. While her suffering wasn’t ignored, the focus was on the good in her life and celebrating that rather than wallowing in grief. But of course, there is a great deal of grief.

We get almost half of the final episode to follow everyone as they live on. Despite the pain, everyone does their best to live well and move forward. They all diligently follow Chan-young’s instructions for them after she leaves. She prepared thoroughly, even scheduling a cake for her mom’s birthday and a special video message for Mi-jo who she knew would struggle the most.

The whole gang treats Chan-young’s parents as their own, especially Mi-jo. Joo-hee opens a nail salon right across the street from Hyun-joon who she’s now dating. Mi-jo and Sun-woo prepare to get married, and Sun-woo’s father makes peace with orphans, I guess, and is willing to meet Mi-jo’s parents.

There’s a melt-your-heart moment where Mi-jo visits little Hoon – they’ve always had a bond – at the orphanage. He’s always so excited to see her and barely leaves her side when she visits. Mi-jo tells him she’s getting married soon and wonders how they should decorate Hoon’s room in their new house. (How sweet is it that she and Sun-woo are adopting?)

In the final scene, Joo-hee and Mi-jo visit Chan-young’s gravesite. They tell her about Mi-jo’s upcoming wedding and bicker about Joo-hee’s relationship with Hyun-joon. As they leave, Mi-jo narrates to Chan-young that they’ll never get used to her absence and miss her.

I appreciate that the drama kept friendship at the center throughout. Although there was romance, Mi-jo and Chan-young were the real OTP. (Sorry, Joo-hee.) The emotional journey was always foremost, and I enjoyed seeing our characters grow and learn to live their lives the way they wanted.

My main complaint is that this really was Mi-jo’s story, and I don’t know how I feel about that. Chan-young’s illness felt almost like a prop, at times, for Mi-jo’s journey. And as I’ve already mentioned, poor Joo-hee was always on the periphery. Although I would’ve preferred a more well-rounded approach where each of the trio was given equal time and attention, I still enjoyed the drama for its poignant yet optimistic story of life, loss, and love.

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Thirty-Nine: Episodes 11-12 (Final)