My Rage for the Ending of 'Twenty-Five Twenty-One'
A Review by Evelya
Massive spoilers ahead for the Netflix show ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’!
It’s quite safe to say that the recently aired Netflix show ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’ has been one of the most popular Korean Dramas recently. Therefore, the incredible wave of dismay, disappointment, and anger from fans following the ending was none too unexpected. The show revolves around the story of a high-school student and aspiring fencer, Na Hee-do. Despite all odds against an age of economic downfall during the IMF, Hee-do strives to become the greatest fencer that Korea has ever seen. She admires and wants to emulate Go Yu-rim, who is another fencer her age, and who has already won the Olympics at a very young age. Spoiler Alert: they become best friends. Throughout her journey to achieve her goals and dreams, she meets Baek I-jin. I-jin quite literally fell from riches to rags, being separated from his family and his money, on the run from debtors. Eventually, he becomes a reporter at one of the biggest news stations. Together, I-jin and Hee-do rely on each other to rise from these unforgiving times and race through their youth. They also meet their best friends Ji-ung, Yu-rim, and Seung-Wan, high school classmates in this story.
Despite the enthralling build-up, the ending was an absolute disappointment. If it was not clear by now, I was incredibly emotionally invested in this drama. It was absolutely irreversible, and I wanted my happy ending. Unfortunately, it was not to be. While continuing his life as a reporter, I-jin learns of a potential story about Yu-rim that would hurt her reputation and amass national hatred towards her. He eventually reports about the event and ends up hurting many people in the process; including his girlfriend, Hee-do. However, they rise still strong from the incident. As a result, I-jin becomes afraid of what he may have to report about Hee-do and decides to become a reporter for the city desk instead. Through this process, he is assigned to be sent as a special reporter to New York, in 2001. As a result, he is forced to go through the traumatic experiences of 9/11, and the relationship between Hee-do and I-jin becomes heavily strained. However, he holds onto the thought that he would be able to be with Hee-do after this long period of time. He holds onto her memories and her existence like an inhaler, closing his eyes and thinking about her to get through it all. Unfortunately, their rough relationship across the ocean is revealed when they are calling after I-jin has had a difficult day. Hee-do realizes internally that her support and encouragement no longer have great meaning to I-jin. I-jin is tired of the living hell that he is viewing first-hand, and feels that he needs to help the people living around him in New York. When I-jin finally returns to Korea, the two are at a cold war, neither one reaching out before the other. The air is tense, waiting for something, some material to burst. Finally, the two meet and show just how separated their relationship had become. They hurled insults at each other, screaming and yelling. The show had literally become unbearable to watch.
It was unfortunate and sad to watch from the perspective of both characters, but looking into the actual plots and reasons for their break-up, it was nothing short of confusing and an absolute dumpster fire. The show spent about 14 episodes hyping the two characters up, building very intricate emotions and characteristics that interact in emotionally complex ways. They shared their different kinds of love for each other, and they eventually started dating. The authors then decided that it would be a brilliant idea to use the excuse of long-distance dating to remove it all. Afterward, they proceed to pour salt on the wound by giving Hee-do and I-jin another tearful ending. The drama flashes forward to the future, when Hee-do is in her middle ages, with a daughter. It reminisces Hee-do’s letter to I-jin many years ago, when they had their great fight and tearful breakup. I assumed that the Drama would make the horrible result into something beautiful, something that viewers and watchers would be able to stomach. However, instead of meaningful moralistic teaching about life and its imperfections, it says, “at least the summer of that year was ours!”. I will end with one thing and one thing only. To those of you who have not watched “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” on Netflix yet, treat episode 14 as the last fine quality story of the entire show. Don’t watch past it, for your sake AND mine.