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A happy ending isn't always unrealistic. A sad ending isn't always realistic.
Context matters. The fact that we are all reeling and are unable to accept the ending isn't because we are fools. We weren't given enough time to see the cracks in their relationship. We saw missed dates and cancelled plans but then we also saw them showing up at eachother's door and making new ones. If they had to show the disappointment and unmet needs in the relationship, they should've given it more time than one and a half episode. Even if they tell us a lot of time and they weren't able to cope with Yijin being depressed and away and Heedo feeling lonely, I wish they had shown us that instead of just telling us.
The ending feels forced because we weren't given enough time to simmer and soak the 'decided end' and were just pushed into it. I can understand that the relationship is their own, and so is deciding the end. But how is it that they could not even remain friends? How is it that they do not wish to know about eachother? How is it that they gave up on being present in each other's life anymore?
The ending isn't realistic. It is forced, cruel and unconvincing. If they had shown Heedo happier and more content in her life, I could've accepted it. But she goes on about past regrets that she had forgotten, looking for closure even after so many years and having a husband who seems out of the picture. Her workspace is covered in rainbows but her life doesn't seem all that colourful. Maybe I am mad about Baekdo but then it is the writer's job to convince me that it was for their own good. The writers not only failed baekdo to serve an edgy ending, they also failed us.
i've had time to think about and process the 2521 ending and i'm finally ready to talk about it. first, i'd just like to say: WOW. i'm so happy i randomly decided to click "play" on episode 1 one day because watching this show was truly such a satisfying journey. the cast was phenomenal, seeing nam joo-hyuk and kim tae-ri together on screen was such a treat. the cinematography, the soundtrack, the writing, the feeling of nostalgia that this show provokes... 2521 is definitely one of my favorite kdramas of all time.
with that said, i don't claim the ending. a lot of people have said, "if you're not happy with the 2521 ending just because baekdo weren't endgame you clearly missed the whole point of the show," but i'd have to disagree. it's not just the lack of a baekdo endgame that didn't sit right with me, it's the ending that all of the characters got in their adulthood that turned me off.
seung-wan had stated in episode 10 that she found life to be boring, which is a sentiment that a lot of teenagers share. their lives are micromanaged by the schools they attend, the parents they live with, and all of their time is taken up by studying and trying to climb the step-ladder to adulthood. but even ten years later, seung-wan does not seem happy. she still finds life boring, she shows no satisfaction or attachment to the job she has chosen and she says herself that she is only able to see her friends during events like funerals. they may have hinted at a change in her love life with the return of yijin's brother, but considering how much emphasis was placed on having a "rEaLiStIc EnDiNg," his return just seemed very random and fanfiction-like.
yurim's ending also didn't satisfy me. don't get me wrong, i am so ridiculously happy that her relationship with jiwoong survived time and distance, and i'm also glad that she was finally able to gain the financial stability that she had always craved. but again, the emphasis was placed on what she chose as a profession following her retirement from fencing. we can't forget WHY yurim was so determined to make money, and the reason was her love for her family. she wanted to lessen their burden, pay off their debts, and provide them with a better life. i think seeing her with her parents in the present day would have been a lot more fulfilling in terms of a "happy ending."
and heedo... oh heedo. i can understand the baekdo breakup given the context of episodes 15 and 16, but i also think that a huge disservice was done to heedo's character in the name of being "realistic." because what were we shown? heedo lived her childhood alone until she was finally granted a short span of time to enjoy passionate love and friendship before it was ripped away from her. at the end of the day, heedo begins her journey alone and ends it alone. not only does she lose the friends that made her youth so memorable and the love of her life, but she also loses the sport that she lived and breathed for. in adulthood, she no longer finds fencing to be fun. she gets bored of winning. the girl who went through so much effort to transfer schools, worked so hard to join the national team, won three gold medals, and wanted nothing more to fence... quit. all athletes retire at some point but what she chose to do with her life afterwards had no relation to fencing whatsoever. i find that to be TRAGIC.
she shows no attachment to her husband in the present day, he's barely a part of her day-to-day life and she doesn't even mention him in passing. this nameless, faceless man that our best girl heedo spends her life with has no presence in her home, in her life, or even in her thoughts. she doesn't even have a ring on her finger. her reaction to yijin (his face during the 2009 interview, his words found in her diary in 2022) even years after their breakup is visceral, instinctual... and that's why she returns to the tunnel, erases the beach day from her mind, and just seems to have no trace of happiness in her. from where i'm sitting, her story seems like a tragedy full of regret, loneliness, and a bitterness for the direction her life took in the name of "growing up."
yijin also seems to be alone in the present day. it's a shame that he dedicated his life to a career that caused him to begin smoking, drinking, losing sleep, and sucked the hope out of his very being. it's also a shame that his "happy ending" consists of bringing the family together that provided him no form of support during the hardest time of his life. his parents may be his blood, but heedo was his family. and he lost her in a breakup that wasn't even reciprocal. they didn't part ways mutually, he was abandoned yet again during a time when he was struggling with issues completely out of his control. his ptsd and depression were never addressed and, just like heedo, he began and ended his journey completely alone.
why was a rookie reporter sent to the other side of the world indefinitely to cover a foreign story in the first place? why was jae-kyung only able to establish a close relationship with her daughter after ending her career? why did she have to choose? why did baekdo break up after their first and only fight? why did heedo say she would make sure her support always reached yijin when she made no effort in episodes 15 and 16 to help him in any way? were all of their words JUST WORDS? why were there so many remnants of yijin in heedo's present day home if they have no relationship at all? why did yijin and heedo have to lose their friendship, their love, their understanding, the very essence of their bond, just to become strangers with no tie to each other's lives after they broke up because "that's how real life is"? why did minchae even pick up that diary in the first place?