Well, it’s taken me a whole lot longer than I intended, but I finally finished this dang drama and all I can say is, I’m so glad I decided to watch this one! It really has been the most adorable drama and I’ve loved having something so cute around to brighten up these dreary winter days! That being said, I’m a bit sad the time has come for me to wrap up my thoughts on this drama but at the same time, I’m happy I can walk away with so many warm-fuzzies to remember it by.
But before we can get to all the warm, happy goodbye fuzzies, we first need to talk about all the times I cried in these last two episodes; starting with the sudden return of Joon Hyung’s mom. GOOD GRACIOUS! Talk about tears! At the end of episode 14, when mommy dearest showed up out of the blue, I was so full of hope. I had hope that she and Joon Hyung would be able to talk things out, that she would have some amazingly legitimate excuse for her long absence, endless silence and all-around horrible attempt at mothering. When she first approached Joon Hyung at the beginning of episode 15, I allowed that hope to grow. She seemed like she really did care about her abandoned son. She seemed as if she’d really returned to make amends for all of her years of awfulness. She really seemed like she was sorry and she seemed like she wanted to make things right. Alas, all of my hope was wasted on a woman who really was just as selfish as I’d always imagined her to be. *sobs*
Showing up out of nowhere, Joon Hyung’s mom didn’t make the long trip to Korea to see her son. Instead, she came to beg for money from people she’d cut herself off from for the past decade. If that wasn’t bad enough, it seemed as if she had every intention of taking the money and running away, without ever saying a word to Joon Hyung. Had this poor boy hadn’t happened to overhear his family’s conversation, he would have suffered the pain of losing his mother all over again. As it was, Joon Hyung did learn the truth and though his initial reaction to everything was rather awful, it did ultimately allow him to find the healing he so desperately needed. Not that having a total breakdown, saying hurtful things to your family, and running away is a really healthy way to deal with things… But he’s young and impulsive and as such, he didn’t make the best decisions. (Then again, can’t that be said of us all?) I suppose the silver lining to all of this was that by throwing such a fit, Joon Hyung was finally able to release all of those years of pent-up feelings. After venting a decade’s worth of anger, frustration, sadness, and hurt, he was finally able to start down the path of healing, and that’s a very good thing. On a much broader scale, this whole fit throwing debacle demonstrates just how important it is to talk out your feelings, fears and frustrations, as opposed to keeping them bottled up so long you can’t help but explode. Life-lessons aside, I’m happy Bok Joo was able to talk enough sense into Joon Hyung to make him see that he really needed to be the one to make peace with his birth mother before she left for good and make peace with his adopted family as well. I have to admit, I don’t think I could be as gracious as Joon Hyung, if I were in his place, but he is a drama character, after all and as such, he has the uncanny ability to become a much better person than I will ever be.
Wrapping up Joon Hyung’s family drama, the only other really major issue to be tackled in these last two episodes was the matter of Bok Joo’s dad’s health. It was impossible for him to be left so very, very ill so, of course, a kidney donor was miraculously found just as Bok Joo was starting her career as a national weightlifting representative. Don’t you just love drama timing? What amazes me more than the timing of all of this, is Bok Joo’s dad’s determination to keep such vitally important information from her. I get that he was trying to spare her from the added stress that would inevitably come with his surgery but c’mon! You don’t keep life-altering information like this to yourself! Bok Joo has proven herself to be a very emotional person, but she’s also someone who’s proven she can handle a great deal of responsibility. After all, she’s been sharing the burden of caring for her father, with her uncle, for how many years now? She may have been shocked by the news of her dad getting a much-needed kidney, but I don’t think she would have let that information ruin her life. On the contrary, she proved just how wrong everyone’s assumptions about her were, by using her dad’s surgery as motivation to train harder so that she could bring him home that gold medal. By lying to Bok Joo like they did, her family and friends did more to hurt her than help her. Just look at how stressed and distracted she was when she thought Joon Hyung was cheating on her. If he’d been able to tell her the truth straight away, she wouldn’t have suffered nearly as much. But again, this is a drama and as such, things have to be overly dramatic and stupid up until the very end.
At least things did, ultimately, get worked out and everyone was able to find their own version of a happy ending. I’m happy that 삼촌 was able to find a girl who was as into him and he was into her and I love, love, loved that Kim Seul Gi just so happened to be that girl. (Oh! I adore her!) As for the other couple paired up in these last two episodes, I was beyond excited to see them experience those first few flutterings of new love, but I was so very, very disappointed that we never got to see more. I know Sun Ok and Tae Kwon weren’t the stars of this drama, so focusing much time on them wasn’t technically important, but I still would have loved to have seen a bit more of their romance. If only Tae Kwon had stepped up a bit sooner! We could have had a few more adorable stolen glances and holding-hands-over-the-popcorn moments. Eeek! That would have made me so happy! As it was, we got just a hint of what might have been and then we were fast-forwarded 2 years and everything seems to have been for nothing. I’m happy Sun Ok went on to be a pro weightlifter. She needed to prove to her parents that she wasn’t wasting her time, pursuing something she loves, and she did. Yay! I’m also happy for Nan Hee. I think she’ll be much happier doing nail art than weightlifting and she seems to have a pretty good knack for it. Also on my list of happy, is the fact that Jae Yi finally stopped being a putz and properly went after Ah Young. If you ask me, it took him way too long to realize just how important she was to him, but he did ultimately come around so, yay!
What I love, more than anything else, about this drama is its OTP. I know it took them a while to officially get together, but the road they traveled to get to that point was one that allowed them to build a solid foundation for what was to come. By spending so much time together as friends, they were able to get to know each other in a way you just can’t do in any other sort of relationship. As Joon Hyung became Bok Joo’s confidant, counselor, happiness and strength their relationship naturally progressed beyond friendship. Building a foundation of solid trust and friendship first, Bok Joo and Joon Hyung were able to naturally come to depend on each other and that’s what makes their relationship so wonderful. It wasn’t forced, in any way, it just sort of bloomed on its own and because something wonderful and beautiful and something that will stand the test of time. *sigh* I’m getting all sappy here, just thinking about these two and how wonderfully happy they’ll be for the rest of their lives. Oh! *sniffles* They really are the most perfect OTP ever and I love them both so much! (Okay, I need to stop gushing now. I’m starting to tear up!)
As far as dramas go, this one can easily be counted among my favorites. I know it has its flaws (as all dramas do) but I was still able to enjoy the story from start to finish. There’s something to be said for a drama that makes you happy, every time you sit down to watch an episode. It’s a nice feeling, knowing that no matter what happens in an episode, you’re going to ultimately walk away feeling all warm and squishy inside. I’m not sure there are a lot of dramas out there that can make you feel that way but this one does and that’s why I like it so much. Of course, how I feel about this drama isn’t necessarily the way you feel about it, which is why I’d love it if you’d let me know what you thought of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo in the comments below!
You can catch up on all of my Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo reviews here: