Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Black: Episode 18 (Finale Rants)


Of all the shows that Choi Ran did where the lead deliberately ended up dying and I got pissed, Black would probably be that one dang show where the lead not dying pissed me off even more.


I mean, what was so wrong in letting Haram die? I'm not sadistic or anything, but ending the show after Haram committed suicide (just reincarnate her later if you want a happy ending, whatever suits you) felt like a much better ending as compared to the whole reset thing which I'm still trying to make sense of, by the way. Because yeah, Joon ceasing to exist would have caused a ripple of effect not just to Haram's life but everybody else's, for that matter. Should that be the case, what happened to Joon's mother, then? Moo-gang? Moo-gang's mother? Sun Young? What about basically everybody else? What about Mujin? I don't think wiping Joon's existence and the relationships he had built would have stopped Clara and the prostitution from ever happening, although that could have been true for Sun Young... just Sun Young alone. 


Gah, seriously. Haram being the culprit who shot Joon in Episode 17 was already irking in so many levels, and with this whole reset thing that made the show a lot more confusing, I think I am irked even more. I loved Black because it was complex and intriguing and really made me think, but the ending is stealing that away for falling flat, lazy and so out of line, given the show's dark tone. It was like they were forcing a happy ending on us, yet it just doesn't work. I'm still not sure I understood how Black could have retained that face and even pick Haram up for the afterlife when he's supposed to be non-existing. Fudge, I'm not even sure I understood how Haram could have remembered Black in the afterlife when he supposedly didn't exist in her life. No matter how much I think about it, it just doesn't make sense.


I'm not dismissing Black as a whole though because it had truly been a good watch and I loved Song Seung Heon a lot as Black. The show was fantastic and pretty much engaging if you look at it differently, save for the last episode (again), which just felt so off the rail. Suffice it to say I am frustrated. Well, probably not as frustrated as I was with God's Gift, but still frustrated.

Or... maybe I am just as frustrated. Whatever.


Edit 12/21/17: This is such a torture. I can't believe I'm still trying to make sense of Black's ending at this point (after talking to a friend who has just seen the ending), but at least I get to give Choi Ran some slack because of this. Turned out the disaster that was Episode 18 wasn't her fault after all, she was just as disappointed at the production as the viewers were. Apparently she had a different ending in mind but since the director wanted a happy ending for Haram and Black, a lot of scenes had to be altered, thus the ending for the show had changed. Bummer.

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