You may discover I have been too lazy to put up something in about two months. However now, due to the whole and utter trash hearth disguised as cleverness that was the finale of Misty, right here I'm. Nothing like a bit (okay, a number of) rage to gas the running a blog flames!
The factor is, I would not be so offended at Misty if I hadn't beloved it a lot up till the ending. I began reviewing this Ok-drama in my head all final week, able to sing its praises to the heavens (and the drama viewers who hadn't began it but).
So, earlier than I've my say about Misty's ending, let's overview all the many issues that went proper on this Ok-drama. Don't be concerned—I am going to warn you after we're heading into spoilers.
The Good
A posh feminine lead you'll be able to't assist however admire
Misty revolves round profitable information anchor Go Hye Ran (Kim Nam Joo). When she's accused of the homicide of a former lover, her estranged husband, Kang Tae Wook (Ji Jin Hee) should step in as her protection lawyer.
Allow us to all pause right here to acknowledge the sheer glory that's the character of Go Hye Ran. I jumped ship over to this present in a bout of frustration over Hwayugi principally sidelining its feminine lead, and Misty saved me from nearly giving up on all Ok-dramas.
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| 😍😍😍 |
Right here we've an formidable, profitable, succesful, decided, and sensible girl, and we see how having all of these qualities in a world dominated by males has compelled her to even be calculating, laborious, and, at occasions, outright merciless. Over the course of the drama, she does not change into a wholly completely different particular person or a docile, domesticated feminine lead, however as an alternative, she embraces who she is whereas additionally studying find out how to be susceptible and open herself to like.
I do not usually watch melodramas, however I discovered myself swept up in Hye Ran's story as a result of all the feelings felt real looking and earned.
The pantsuits
Sure, the pantsuits get their very own subhead (and forward of the romance, besides). Whoever ran the wardrobe division on this collection ought to get a big bonus as a result of Kim Nam Joo regarded flawless from head to toe in each single scene. I might watch this whole collection yet again simply to indulge in the great thing about these pantsuits as soon as extra.
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| Absolute perfection. |
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| Bam. (Ji Jin Hee ain't half dangerous, both.) |
Pantsuit envy is a really actual illness, okay?
The connection dynamic
Misty is not a conventional romance by any means, nevertheless it's actually a compelling one. Identical to I rooted for Hye Ran with out applauding each single resolution she made, I additionally fell laborious for what a good friend referred to as Tae Wook's "courtly love" whereas additionally recognizing that his adoration wasn't at all times wholesome or productive. (Extra on this later.)
They're two flawed individuals navigating a really flawed relationship, and I discovered myself breathlessly hanging on to each longing look from Tae Wook or small smile from Hye Ran.
It does not harm that Kim Nam Joo and Ji Jin Hee make for a mature, horny onscreen couple. There have been a number of scenes the place they walked off arm in arm, and I simply thought "Dang, they give the impression of being good."
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| Cue "Attractive and I Know It" |
The Unhealthy (WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD)
Do not learn after this if you happen to do not need to be spoiled on what occurs!
(Is it protected to begin?)
THAT ENDING.
DJF;HGSHG;OISEHRG;IUEHRGUHERIULGHERLIUGBHVJEBRLGIUHELRG
I didn't go into Misty anticipating a contented ending. I wasn't watching to see Hye Ran and Tae Wook strolling off cheerfully into the sundown, so the truth that it is a tragic ending is not what made me so upset.
However this is what will get me: that specific selection of an ending undermined virtually each single factor I beloved about the remainder of the present. Some individuals may even see the entire thing as a intelligent twist or as an affordable consequence for a fancy story like this, however I truthfully really feel like the author sacrificed the center of the collection for the sake of shock.
Let me climb atop a really giant cleaning soap field to clarify why.
Okay, so Tae Wook is the killer. SURPRISE! Sure, it is an surprising consequence, nevertheless it additionally takes all of these nuanced, emotional interactions between Tae Wook and Hye Ran and releases an enormous fart of their face.
Tae Wook did not must be taught to belief and imagine Hye Ran as a result of he knew she wasn't the killer from the very begin. Certain, there's nonetheless the interior battle of defending a spouse he believes has betrayed him, however he additionally does not have a lot selection as a result of she's getting blamed for one thing he did. Solution to lower the emotional legs out from underneath the complete first half of the present.
All these scenes the place she's begging him to imagine her? Oh wait, pointless. He is a murdery murderpants. And he simply stood there and watched her sob.
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| So what you are telling me is that this face was a lie. |
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| And these pet eyes? |
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| Absolutely not this one too! |
However even when the author should make Tae Wook the killer (which I do not purchase as a result of who killed Kevin wasn't the precise level of the present to start with—why not simply reveal that it actually was an accident or go away it ambiguous?), the way in which the aftermath performed out within the closing episode was even worse.
Permit me to take some deep, calming breaths earlier than rage typing about this.
All through the whole lot of Misty, individuals just like the police officer and Eun Joo preserve making feedback about how the demise of the pawn store proprietor and, later, Kevin, are Hye Ran's fault as a result of the boys round her kill to guard her.
The best way the finale performs out simply reinforces that declare.
So let me get this straight. As a result of Hye Ran has the absolute audacity to need to go to varsity or break the glass ceiling or—I do not know—not get sexually assaulted by a man she dumped a decade in the past, she can't presumably be taught to have a standard, loving relationship.
Did she do issues fallacious all through the present? Sure. However we already noticed how she and Tae Wook labored via the betrayal of her abortion and her tryst with Kevin. Actually the one purpose the present has for suggesting that she does not deserve happiness at this level is that she's Go Hye Ran.
The finale reaffirms that nobody of their proper thoughts would love such a lady, and the one males who might presumably keep on with somebody as formidable as her are obsessive, impulsive killers. If solely Hye Ran had been good and candy and popped out infants for her in-laws to admire, Tae Wook would not have snapped!
Even the ultimate scenes assist the concept that Hye Ran had no proper to suppose she might ever be completely happy. Tae Wook's "Hye Ran-ah...so, are you cheerful?" mocks her and her silly perception {that a} highly effective girl can be allowed to have a private life.
OF COURSE SHE'S NOT HAPPY, YOU MORONS! Why would she be completely happy when she's spent her whole life traumatized by guilt over an act of violence that wasn't her fault, solely to let her guard down a teensy tiny bit and have ANOTHER fool take over her life with ANOTHER act of violence that wasn't her fault.
Neglect the attractive relationship of mutual respect she's constructed together with her boss through the years. Neglect how she turns into a trusted mentor for the upcoming technology of reporters. Neglect how she took down the untouchable baddies. Neglect all of that as a result of this ending is about dudes making horrible selections and everybody blaming it on her. (And that police officer can go take his self-righteous lectures on an extended stroll off a brief pier as a result of accusing individuals of homicide over decades-old hunches is approach much less moral than something Hye Ran did.)
Watching all of this play out makes me need to go full Myung Woo on whoever thought this was a fantastic concept. Congratulations. You have taken badass Go Hye Ran combating towards sexism and injustice and turned it into dudes controlling Hye Ran's whole life once more.
Is Misty price watching?
Should you requested me per week in the past, I might have stated sure occasions ten million. However now? Possibly I am going to have a greater reply for you as soon as the emotional response wears off.
At the very least we'll at all times have the pantsuits.
The place to look at Misty:
