5 Reconciliations In Episodes 15-16 Of “My Lovely Liar” That Wrapped Things Up

And that’s a wrap for “My Lovely Liar”! Given the climatic resolution of the murder case last week, the final episodes are more about tying everything up with a bow on top, but we still get a few surprises. Reconciliation is the last theme of the hour, and the show ends off on a hopeful, wistful note as more bonds are made than broken. Here are five reconciliations that rounded things off!

Warning: spoilers for episodes 15-16 below.

1. Do Ha, Eom Ji, and Eom Ho

After being outed as Choi Eom Ji’s (Song Ji Hyun) killer, Jo Deuk Chan (Yun Ji On) attempts to take his life in a fiery car crash, but Mok Sol Hee (Kim So Hyun), Kim Do Ha (Hwang Minhyun), Lee Gang Min (Seo Ji Hoon), and the police are able to get to him in time. He’s badly injured but will survive and see the inside of a jail cell for a long, long time. Do Ha’s having trouble processing it all. Eom Ji’s death and Deuk Chan’s betrayal – it’s too much trauma at once. But that doesn’t stop him from attending Eom Ji’s funeral. A devastated Choi Eom Ho (Kwon Dong Ho) (was he allowed out on bail for this?) doesn’t know what to say as he faces Do Ha.

His search for justice wasn’t misguided, but he spent all this time trying to destroy the wrong person’s life and very nearly took the life of an innocent man due to being unable to let go of his vendetta. And now he’s in jail for attempted homicide. Do Ha proves once again that he has a huge heart by comforting Eom Ho, saying that Eom Ji wouldn’t resent who Eom Ho has become. The funeral is also his final farewell to his ex in a manner that feels well in tune with the lovely person Do Ha is. No matter who Eom Ji became at the end there, he loved her once and never wished for this to be her end. Sol Hee attends the funeral as well and respects this last bit of closure Do Ha needs as he closes one chapter and begins another. But there’s just a couple more loose ends.

2. Do Ha and his mother

Jung Yeon Mi (Seo Jung Yeon), Do Ha’s mother, has lost everything. Like Eom Ho, her downfall is largely of her own making. If she had tried to have faith in her son and not gone and bribed cops on her own, she would never be here. But she didn’t want to take the slim risk that her son was guilty, so she tried to hush it all up on her own, and it came back to bite her. When she meets with Do Ha, it’s to tell him that she’ll be turning herself in to pay for corruption and bribery. Do Ha mentions that he’s dating Sol Hee, and Yeon Mi sadly mentions that she saw them from afar the day of the festival. She says that Do Ha looked so happy that evening, that even though she went with the intention of dissuading him from dating Sol Hee, she couldn’t bring herself to wipe the happiness from his face.

She keeps a stiff upper lip to the end, but knows exactly where her failings were. That’s the lovely thing about this show at times. It doesn’t have any clear-cut bad guys, just bad decisions that added up over time until the people forgot who they were before it all. But there is one character who really does deserve the dislikable label here, and the last episode, surprisingly, features a lot of her.

3. Sol Hee’s parents

The show centers on Sol Hee in the final week’s episodes, both internally and interpersonally. Her mother, Cha Hyang Sook (Jin Kyung), has been a thorn in her side for years, ever since little Sol Hee unwittingly helped a stranger steal money that her mother had collected from other people. Hyang Sook went to jail and never forgave Sol Hee since. She’s pestered her for money for over a decade and is a professional gold-digger, eternally in the hopes of securing herself a wealthy man to fund the lavish life of her dreams, all while gagging at the thought of actually having to engage in romance with said man.

So, it’s a little bizarre when we get an 11th hour second-chance romantic reunion between her and Sol Hee’s dad, Mok Tae Seob (Ahn Nae Sang). He’s been living the woodcutter life in the woods, convinced that he’s better off that way. He’s believed that Hyang Sook cheated on him by going to a hotel with a guy, which ended their marriage. In reality, Hyang Sook went to that hotel for a business meeting. And somehow this misunderstanding has lasted for years. But Hyang Sook and Tae Seob reunited recently with the goal of saving Sol Hee from Do Ha. And now, Hyang Sook has discovered that she may still care for her ex-husband. What follows is a reunion straight out of “Parent Trap” where Ahn Nae Sang gets a full makeover montage from woodsman to kingsman, suit and all. There’s an 11th-hour proposal. There’s Sol Hee cheering in the background as her parents reunite. And the family’s back together.

Hyang Sook owes Sol Hee a massive apology and at least a million dollars.

4. Do Ha and Deuk Chan

There’s no running from the truth, and Do Ha and Deuk Chan are long due a reckoning. As usual, it’s Do Ha who reaches out first by visiting Deuk Chan in the hospital. Deuk Chan spills everything without much prodding. He never meant to kill Eom Ji. He’d just gone by the water after getting a text from her and found that Do Ha had broken up with her. He couldn’t hide his happiness, and Eom Ji was in the mood to hurt someone after the break-up, so she lashed out. She knew about Deuk Chan’s crush on Do Ha and mocked him, saying that Do Ha would never return his feelings. Their argument lasted all the way to a nearby forest, where Deuk Chan grew infuriated when she laughed at him going as far as to have a copy of Do Ha’s couple ring with her made. He shoved her away, and she tripped. The back of her head hit a rock. And Eom Ji died in seconds.

Deuk Chan didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to go to jail, but he knew Do Ha would be the first person the police sought. So, he tried to make it appear as though Eom Ji had taken her life. He buried her in the forest and arranged her shoes by the sea, so it would seem like she walked in. And when Do Ha became a suspect anyway, he stood by Do Ha every step of the way. Deuk Chan confesses that he really was going to turn himself in after the body was discovered. That’s why he appointed Do Ha as his replacement CEO. He never meant for Jae Chan to serve time instead of him. It all just got out of hand. Do Ha listens to him, looking heartbroken. That’s five years of his life that Deuk Chan can’t give back. Five years of paranoia, fear, and hating and blaming himself. Deuk Chan might claim to love Do Ha, but the truth was that he let Do Ha suffer for five years instead of taking responsibility for what he did. The two part on a strained note, but Do Ha isn’t one to keep doors closed.

Some time later, he’s back in the spotlight for the best of reasons. He’s been producing songs for the emerging idol soloist he saw promise in, and the song’s at the top of the charts. Do Ha is lauded with accolades for his work and is presented with an award by Sha On (Lee Si Woo), who has gone to therapy and is a better person for it. Love to see that growth.

Sha On’s flirting up a storm with her biggest fan, bodyguard, and Sol Hee’s ex-chauffeur/bodyguard Baek Chi Hoon (Ha Jong Woo), who looks like all his dreams have come true.

Do Ha visits Deuk Chan in prison to tell him of his success, and Deuk Chan looks happy to hear it. And life moves on.

5. Sol Hee and her ability/relationship with lies

The show chooses to end where it began, with Sol Hee. Her eardrums were affected by the explosion from Deuk Chan’s car crash, and she can no longer hear lies, which is both nerve-wracking and strangely freeing for her. She’s so used to being able to tell when someone’s lying to her that navigating the world in all its complexity is bewildering. She’s never had to read body language or use contextual clues to determine what someone’s really saying. She’s always just known. So, even the simplest argument confuses her now because she doesn’t know if the people arguing mean what they’re saying or not. She spends the first couple months getting used to it with Do Ha and relearning how to exist in a world that’s gray instead of black and white. She’s learning fast and enjoying the freedom of just not knowing, of realizing that people often don’t mean what they say and that there can be hidden truths in many lies and vice versa.

iamacolor

But her ability comes back. We’ve seen Sol Hee struggle upon understanding the limits of her abilities and realize how much she over-relied on them to the detriment of her relationship with Gang Min. Being able to hear the truth is one thing, but Sol Hee has come to realize that the truth is a complex thing. After Do Ha proposes (!!), she makes the decision to live life on her own terms without relying on her ability. And thus, she closes the door on her career as the Liar Hunter and forges a new path with Do Ha and the people she loves by her side. Hearing the truth may have taken her far, but it was her decision to trust in Do Ha despite her ability telling her not to that brought her happiness. And we leave her walking off into a future that promises to be bright and full of love. And there isn’t a much better ending than that.

moonlightsdream

“My Lovely Liar” was as cotton-candy sweet as its title. This show never promised to be dark or gritty and delivered a fun story of two people who heal each other in different ways. That being said, it was far from perfect, and there was really no need for Deuk Chan’s rationale to have been that he was in love with Do Ha because that’s terrible LGBT representation. And it would have been lovely to focus more on Sol Hee as an individual and her growth and struggles because she felt like a supporting character to Do Ha’s story at times. But it was an easy, breezy watch, centering on the ultimate superpowers of trust, friendship, and love. And that’s a hard message to contest!

 

 

cr: Soompi