Samseong-Dong, Hyochang-dong and Gocheok-dong
Chan-Young is rushed into Hankuk University Hospital. Mi-Jo is there first, of course, but Joo-hee arrives after with Seon-U and the others. They’ve reached a critical point in Chan-Young’s deteriorating health. The doctor tells Mi-Jo to get ready, pointing out that this is going to become ever-frequent until the end.
What are Chan-Young’s final requests?
Chan-Young is sitting in the middle of the night, watching a service take place for a recently deceased patient. She can’t help but feel like her time with the grim reaper is fast approaching. She sits with her best friend (Joo-Hee obviously) and gives Mi-Jo a list of people she wants to attend the funeral. “We’re so close and you’re so precious to me,” Mi-Jo tells her.
Eventually, the pair sit together and begin giggling. Joo-Hee is fast asleep. That is, until they tease her about Hyeon-Jun and she bolts upright. Chan-Young’s night in the hospital is not permanent though, as she’s discharged and heads home. Jin-Seok is there for her, massaging her legs while Chan-Young’s mother watches over her daughter from afar. She eventually tells Jin-Seok outside that she’s going to visit once a week to make sure her daughter is okay.
When does Chan-Young pass away?
Jin-Seok is worried though, pointing out that Chan-Young is acting weird. It’s obviously because she knows her time is coming to an end and all of our characters just seem to be waiting for the inevitable to happen. Among those is Mi-Jo, who divides up Chan-Young’s list of people attending the funeral, with Joo-Hee tasked with phoning half while she tackles the others.
Chan-Young heads out with Jin-Seok and bumps into old school friends. Only, it turns out this was all planned, as Chan-Young meets all the people from her list – including Gi-yeong, Mi-Jo and Joo-Hee’s families. Her own parents are there too, along with her best friends Mi-Jo and Joo-Hee.
Mi-Jo thanks everyone for coming to her brunch, urging them to get a medical check-up too. As it starts to snow outside, Mi-Jo and the others vow not to cry and stick by that promise. It’s a beautiful brunch, one that fades out on a truly gorgeous sunset.
How do Mi-Jo and Joo-Hee surprise Chan-Young?
The sun rises, and Mi-Jo wakes up to the sound of birds singing. She looks out her window and sees that everything has changed. The trees are new, the sky is blue, and Chan-Young is with her. They are happy again.
Mi-Jo and Joo-Hee are left to deal with the aftermath of Chan-Young’s death. They quickly realize that their relationship was not as strong as they thought it would be. Despite this, they manage to keep their spirits high and continue to support each other through the tough times.
What happens in spring?
Hyeon-Jun is still running his restaurant successfully, while Joo-Hee is doing well with her nail salon. Mi-Jo meanwhile is fulfilling her promise to help out Chan-Young’s parents and Jin-Seok is just hanging around, reflecting on his time with Chan-Young. It turns out that Chan-Young also asked the cake maker to prepare a cake every year too. ..
Meanwhile, So-Won has made peace with her adoptive father and points out that she has rehearsals coming up soon with Seon-U. In fact, she hopes that he’ll be able to see her play in the future.
A new movie is out in the cinemas and Chan-Young’s parents are obviously attending. Joo-hee asks Mi-Jo to show up with her but she refuses, instead deciding to go out with Seon-u instead. It’s a broken promise to Chan-Young, given she actually asked her to go and see it (typified by the post-it note) and also breaks her other promise to Joo-Hee to spend time with her and not drift apart. ..
Chan-Young’s movie becomes a hit but after, Joo-hee confronts Mi-Jo about her absence.Apparently she never went because she feels sorry she couldn’t see Chan-Young off. Joo-hee gives her a reassuring hug.
What does Chan-Young get for Mi-Jo?
Chan-Young delivers a package to Mi-Jo’s house, from Joo-Hee. Mi-Jo asked Joo-hee to hand the gift over when she’s having a hard time and hurting. However, Chan-Young cares more about Mi-Jo than her (something she actually admits in a flashback).
Mi-Jo is grateful for the gift her friend Mi-Jo gave her. Mi-Jo thanks Mi-Jo for turning her funeral guest list into the best brunch ever. Mi-Jo says that she’s not worried about Joo-Hee, but she is worried about you. Mi-Jo finishes by saying that Mi-Jo loves you very much.
How does Thirty Nine end?
Mi-Jo and Joo-Hee start spending more time together, watching TV at the latter’s house. Mi-J is also still with Seon-U too although she has a tendency to ring her number when she’s really drunk, clinging to the hope that she’ll pick up one day.
As the episode ends, Joo-Hee and Mi-Jo visit Chan-Young at the cemetery. Joo-Hee is on the verge of proposing to Hyeon-Jun now and as the pair walk away, they reflect back on how much they miss Chan-Young.
The Episode Review
In the final scene of “Thirty Nine,” we see a visibly sad and somber limping figure crossing the finish line. However, had we not fast forwarded past the funeral and jumped straight to a happy scene afterwards, the tone in this show would have been much more somber. This deviation from the intended tone is likely one of the most egregious examples of how this series has failed to live up to its potential.
It’s a shame because the acting has been great and the moments involving Joo-hee breaking down or the video call at the end are fantastic… until you actually examine the characters and realize how shallow, vapid, and selfish they are. Mi-Jo has always made this terminal illness about herself, with large swathes of the show dedicated to how she feels and how Chan-Young’s death is going to affect her. ..
Joo-hee has been the outcast in this K-drama, even pointing it out to her friends. However, they completely brush over her feelings and carry on like nothing is wrong. The final lines of “I’m not worried about Joo-Hee but I am worried about you.” basically spell it out for the audience that she shouldn’t matter.
The main point of this article is that the focus was too much on characters who don’t have a lot of importance in the story. The relationship between Jin-Seok and So-Won was done in a way that was not satisfying to the reader.
This show has been really disappointing and despite some parts of it wrapping up nicely, there’s only so much you can do with such overwhelming problems with the narrative.
