HIGH SOCIETY - EPISODE 16 (FINALE)

At a board meeting, all Chang Soo can think of is Ji Yi. Joon Ki comes home and for the first time, openly hugs his mother. Ye Won meets with her father and is stunned to find out that he will broker a merger deal with Kyung Joon's company because it's good for business. After reflection, Yoon Ha's mother sits down with her husband and tells him they're both at fault for their relationship going sour, but there's no resolution. Later Yoon Ha comes home, and tells her mother that when things were darkest, she'd still think of her mother for comfort. Chang Soo's mom, at his prompting, gives Ji Yi her blessing.

Joon Ki and Chang Soo have a heart to heart. Joon Ki's mother leaves the mistress for another job. Joon Ki, having lots of free time, takes his father out to the river, and they have a heartfelt talk. That evening Yoon Ha runs into Joon Ki in the lobby of Taejin, and they go out. And talk (of course). Not only that, Chang Soo shows up at Ji Yi's pad, tells her he loves her, and suggests they live together. Joon Ki takes Yoon Ha to the hotel where she and Chang Soo had their blind date. He says he fell for her then, and they kiss as the elevator doors close. A year later, Yoon Ha is still the high-powered businesswoman, Ji Yi is married and pregnant, and they all gather at a barbecue. Joon Ki proposes to Yoon Ha, and they all banter together. Presumably, this time, there are no fisticuffs...


She's all up in his grill

Finally! This drama was starting to annoy me with all the agonizing and reasons they couldn't be together. It was getting ridiculous. "You hurt me/I'm embarrassed I fell for it/we're different social classes and your mom hates me" got repetitive really fast. For a happy resolution to happen, you knew they all had to get together. What was interesting is that Chang Soo seemed much less broken the last two episodes. He just seemed normal. Maybe a little dreamy and still trying to come up with a solution that will please everyone, but he was a far cry from what we saw in episodes 13-14 where he didn't even want to live.

Joon Ki's unflappable nature had me fooled. The man's so calm and low-key, we weren't sure whether or not he was being calculating or not. Regardless of whether he was using her in the beginning or not, I still felt there was something there that he felt. They kept dropping hints. It was like peering through a door where the occupants suddenly realize you're snooping and they close the door on you, blocking your view. It was well-done. Rather than being wooden, it just seemed more like he was inscrutable. We know Sung Joon can be charming from his turn as the lead in 'I Need Romance 3.' This was sort of a different part for him to play and I'm glad he was equal to the task here.


When you need your desk cleaned in a hurry

Overall this drama really had some uneven parts. And I feel they artificially created some makjang elements to make us go WTF, and then dialed them back suddenly, to avoid the drama becoming one long gabfest. Which is kind of what it was, ultimately. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. American dramas have the pitfall that they keep having to come up with situations for the characters to react to every week, and hopefully do it well for several years. With very few exceptions, Korean dramas have a few weeks in which to tell their stories and then they end, hopefully happily. So you'd think they'd take care to make every episode count.

I think they tied up all the loose ends. Taejin is more prosperous, relationships were cemented, although we still don't quite know what happened with the boys, but at least they have their bromance back. We don't really know what happened to Ye Won, either, but presumably Yoon Ha took over and she was ousted. The parents just resigned themselves to live miserably.

At least we had a reasonably happy ending. And we got to see our couples back together and happy. And in the end, in a romance drama, isn't that really what matters?

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