The wildly popular Korean drama Descendants Of The Sun comes to a close tonight.
Fan anticipation for the finale is at such an all-time high, the show’s screenwriter Kim Eun Sook even had to come out and reassure viewers that she will not mess up its ending.
She has worked on other K-dramas such as The Inheritors (2013), Secret Garden (2010) and Lovers In Paris (2004) and is credited for reworking Descendants’ screenplay and beefing up the love story.
The 16-episode military romance tells the story of army special forces captain Yoo Si Jin (Song Joong Ki) who is sent on a peacekeeping mission to a fictional war-torn country, where he falls in love with a surgeon (Song Hye Kyo) working with a medical organisation.
Lovers In Paris reportedly had an ending with a twist – the entire drama turned out to be the protagonist’s dream – and netizens have been worrying that Descendants would suffer the same fate under Kim’s script.
But according to Korean entertainment website allkpop, Kim told the KBS1 radio show Hello, This is Hong Ji Myung: “I’ve heard that people think that the whole story is Yoo Si Jin’s dream in the end.
“If that is the case, then I might really need to (emigrate) to another country, because I would not be able to live in Korea.”
She added: “Viewers gave me trouble for my endings in the past. I don’t think I want to make the same mistake again. “I want to tell viewers not to worry and watch the final episodes.”
Descendants’ finale is available tonight on online video platform iQiyi at 8.50pm with Chinese subtitles.
The telecast with English subtitles will be on viu.com and the Viu app at 6am tomorrow.
It will also air on KBS World (StarHub TV Ch 815) on April 21 at 8.50pm.
‘SO GOOD’
Allkpop user jinssam wrote: “(Kim is) notorious for her endings. Like for Lovers In Paris, I just stared at the screen thinking, ‘Are you kidding me…’ I hope that doesn’t happen this time.”
Other netizens are hoping Yoo doesn’t die and that the ending won’t be “sad” or “open”.
Singapore fan and 17-year-old student Steffie Toh, who watches Descendants before heading to school, told The New Paper: “It doesn’t matter if the ending is sad or happy as long as it gives viewers some kind of wistful or happy feeling to savour even days or weeks after watching it. Then, it’ll be successful storytelling.”
Student Zayd Abu Bakar, 25, has so far binge-watched 11 episodes in two days.
He didn’t sleep on Tuesday night because his plan to watch two episodes failed when he ended up zipping through five.
He said: “I probably could have finished (catching up) in a day, but I want to take longer to watch it so that I can savour each episode. I don’t want it to end.
“This is the first Korean drama I’ve watched and it’s so good. It’s really cheesy and corny, but that’s the best part.”
This article was first published on April 14, 2016.
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