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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Master's Sun" Episode 16

"Master's Sun" has managed to power through the extension without losing too much steam. The story is rolling along, emotions are strongly felt and no character is left undeveloped. Around this time in a drama, the last few episodes, stories seem to stagnate and spin on their wheels as they wait for their finales. While "Master's Sun" was slower-paced throughout episode 16, it was full of juicy emotional development. Gong-shil is annoying in her insistence that she leave Joong-won to seek out the reason behind her ability to see ghost. However, her reasoning for wanting to leave is solid: she is terrified to hurt him again.

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These unilateral decisions are frustrating. There are two people in a relationship and decisions should be made after discussion. Gong-shil wants to leave and doesn't even give Joong-won a real chance to be a part of her life. Yes, she allows them go to on a date that involved touching that has nothing to do with ghosts. Yes, they enjoy themselves. But in the end she leaves him. No discussions had; only explanations given. I'm waiting for a healthy, unconvoluted discussion between the two that doesn't involve some overused metaphor and where both people genuinely listen.

This is a flaw in this drama: lots of witty dialogue between the main couple that doesn't lead to any kind of resolution. The dialogue is fun or moving or whatever it needs to be, but it gets us nowhere plotwise except back to where we were. It does serve some major emotional development, but in the second to last episode, the story needs to go somewhere.


What all the explanations and one-sided decisions do lead to are some excellent emotional development. So are the one-sided decisions a flaw then? Perhaps they are a Catch-22. Joong-won understands Gong-shil when she leaves and let's her go. Gong-shil knows that he loves her and wants to be with her and that it's not just because of the fact that she forced herself into his life. Kang Woo and Yi-ryung have some adorable moments where she throws herself at him and he patiently keeps her at a distance, treating her flirtatious actions as outbursts of a teenager. He doesn't take her seriously and she knows it, but he does find her endearing and respects her feelings for him as true.

A strong point of the show is that Joong-won's ghostly problem has already been resolved. The show isn't keeping every single point of tension going until the bitter end. It's slowly wrapping up individual storylines and leaving only a few problems left unsolved for the finale. Joong-won accepts his secretary back with a bear hug after firing him. (The secretary never told Joong-won he was Hee-joo and Han-na's uncle.) Joong-won's aunt comes to accept Gong-shil as the love of her nephew's life. (How often does that happen so soon in a K-drama?) Gong-shil's sister starts dating the snooping security guard. (A minor plot thread, but it is still a resolution of the sexual tension they had throughout the show.)


What is left is to see how Gong-shil and Joong-won will rekindle their relationship after their three hundred and seventy-five day separation. A forced separation is a favorite K-drama plot tool, but in this case, it was expected and therefore not as ridiculous or annoying. Also, there is Lee Chun-hee's character who didn't really do much in this episode but wait around for Gong-shil to go with him. He sees ghosts and was the person her spirit spent time with while she was in her three-year coma. As a person with the same unusual skill and as a person who obviously loves her, I expected him to have a bigger role to play. Perhaps he will during the finale as a person who helps her figure out her ability.

Gong-shil's ability holds the most intrigue. It is obvious that the main couple will be together in some way, but it is not obvious whether or not she will continue to see ghosts. Will she come to terms with her ability if she keeps it? If she gets rid of it, will she regret losing it? Will she be relieved? How will she change? The finale hopefully holds these answers.

Written by Raine from Raine's Dichotomy

"Master's Sun" is directed by Jin Hyeok, written by Hong Jeong-eun and Hong Mi-ran and features So Ji-sub, Kong Hyo-jin, Seo In-guk and Kim Yoo-ri.
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