Showtime Begins!: Episodes 15-16 (Final)

by mistyisles

As the time for goodbyes draws near, our characters prepare to take their final bows. But when every ending leads to a new beginning, is it ever really the end?

EPISODES 15-16 WEECAP

With two out of three ghosts’ final wishes satisfied, there’s only one employee’s story left to resolve: Sang-goon’s. We already know he left behind a wife and a piano-playing daughter, and as we’d expect, they’re what tie him to this world.

Sang-goon’s daughter has taken piano lessons since she was very small, delighting both parents with her talent. While Sang-goon was still alive, she’d promised to become proficient enough to play a particular piece for him, and he’d taken on extra work as a replacement driver to buy her a piano. One night, his very drunk customer had grabbed the steering wheel, sending them swerving into oncoming traffic – and that’s how Sang-goon died.

Now his daughter believes she’s responsible for his death, since he took the job to pay for her piano. Overcome with guilt, she swears off the instrument, despite having a competition the next day. With Cha-woong’s help, however, Sang-goon is able to visit her in a dream, absolve her of guilty feelings, and encourage her to keep playing.

But, in all honesty, this storyline fell a little flat for me. It came out of nowhere, resolved itself too easily for its own emotional weight, and left me confused about its message. Is she carrying on with piano because she loves it and needed to have that love restored, or out of obligation to do it for him? And why should we care?

However, Sang-goon’s final wish does give Cha-woong the chance to prove how much he’s changed, because for the dream visit to work, they need a talisman written in blood, and Cha-woong doesn’t even hesitate a moment to offer his, even though it means multiple finger pricks.

With that taken care of, it’s time for the ghosts to say goodbye. Throughout Dong-chul and Mi-young’s posthumous wedding and the ghosts’ actual departure, Seul-hae is the one who seems the most heartbroken.

Cha-woong, on the other hand, remains upbeat, keeping it together until everyone is gone. Then, in arguably one of the most touching moments of this entire finale week, he sits in his dark, empty house and breaks down in sobs.

That leaves us with just the problem of Cheon-moo to deal with, and somehow it both plays out predictably and goes completely off the rails. For starters, once the shamans and Choi Geom finally realize Cheon-moo is still at large, they determine that Choi Geom isn’t strong enough to take him on alone, so Cha-woong volunteers to let Choi Geom possess him and combine their strength.

Unfortunately, he decides to un-learn a lot of the lessons he and Seul-hae have learned about partnership and breaks up with her without explanation, hoping to protect her from harm. She’s unwilling to give up on him, however, which fuels Cheon-moo’s impatience.

After Seul-hae unsuccessfully tries to talk sense in to Cha-woong, Cheon-moo gives her an ultimatum: choose him or die. Hee-soo, trapped deep inside, fights to stop him, throwing himself in front of a moving truck in a last-ditch effort. Seul-hae leaps to save him, and they both end up in the hospital, banged up but alive.

In another show, that might have been the end: Hee-soo sacrifices himself to save Seul-hae, taking out the evil spirit, and we move on to the happily-ever-afters. Not so with Showtime! Instead, Cheon-moo leaves Hee-soo in the hospital and possesses his father, the police chief. Then he kills the elder woman shaman and frames Cha-woong for the crime.

Cha-woong flees to his childhood home, where Ye-ji performs the ritual to meld his and Choi-geom’s souls. They’re ready to face Cheon-moo now, but Cheon-moo has already captured Seul-hae. And just before Cha-woong reaches her, Cheon-moo possesses her body.

He causes Seul-hae to attack Cha-woong, and though Cha-woong overpowers her, he can’t bring himself to hurt her. Instead, he offers himself to Cheon-moo for a new vessel. Cheon-moo agrees, forcing Choi-geom out, and Cha-woong impales himself on Choi Geom’s sword.

At last, Cheon-moo is destroyed. Strength fading, Cha-woong declares Choi Geom’s treachery atoned for and releases him.

But then Cha-woong’s soul appears to leave his body and travels back in time to Princess Cheon-hwa’s chamber the night before she and Poong Baek died. She offers the heavens her life if it will buy Poong Baek’s innocence, asking that in her next life, she be allowed to serve her people as one of them and to love with full measure.

Seeing Cha-woong, she realizes he must be Poong Baek’s reincarnation. Though she understands from what he says that she and Poong Baek will die the next day, she doesn’t waver from her determination to go after him, trusting that her prayers for their next lives have been answered.

Cha-woong’s soul is returned to his body, just as Seul-hae wakes and fears him to be dead. They hold each other tightly, and then we head into the epilogue.

Hee-soo recovers, and Seul-hae urges him to rejoin the police force when he’s ready. His father, meanwhile, pays for his crimes in jail, as Ye-ji’s cop boyfriend has worked behind the scenes to uncover the truth.

Speaking of Ye-ji, these episodes especially made me wish she’d had a much better arc. There’s so much that could have been done with the contrast between Cha-woong, the naturally gifted shaman who refuses his role, and Ye-ji, the less-talented shaman who truly loves the profession and wants to proudly own her family’s legacy. Instead, her scenes were almost entirely annoying filler.

Anyway, back to the epilogue. Choi Geom reaches the throne of the Jade Emperor, only to be scolded for exploiting the Cha family and posing as their general spirit – and is ordered back to earth to atone for that sin.

Cha-woong keeps performing, with a new trio of assistants. (Are they more ghosts? It’s unclear.) He and Seul-hae get married (offscreen, sadly), and five years later, their son’s friends have some very familiar mannerisms and styling. Looks like our ghosts have been reincarnated. And I guess Choi Geom wasn’t sent back as a spirit this time… but as the newest member of the Cha family.

Cha-woong starts to realize his son reminds him of someone, but decides not to think too much about it. And I can’t blame him, because that’s kind of the best way to enjoy this finale: don’t think too hard or look too closely.

Overall, I think I appreciate what Showtime’s ending was trying to do more than what it actually did. Many elements that I loved – like Cha-woong being spared for Cheon-hwa’s sake – weren’t given the time or buildup they needed to fully land.

Others – like the three elderly siblings who may or may not have been our ghosts helping Cha-woong in his greatest need – were fun and sweet, I guess, but didn’t really mean anything.

That said, does the less-than-stellar conclusion ruin my enjoyment of the whole? Not really, but it does make me a little sad for what could have been and now will never be.

Buzz Pinay Daily

Subscribe Us

Showtime Begins!: Episodes 15-16 (Final)