We did it, drama fans! We made it through the dark night of the soul (the many, MANY episodes of the dark night of the soul) and now the light is beginning to shine again. Read on to see just how everything is resolved in episode 16 of Do You Like Brahms?
The Dam Breaks
Joon Young FINALLY opens his mouth and talks to Song Ah! Not only that, but he confesses, and she asks him for some time. Their relationship has come full circle. The piano trio performs again for Grandma Director’s memorial — another full circle! — and Song Ah shows up as Joon Young’s page turner. Could this be a glimpse into the future? Or the ultimate finale?
The Ultimate Finale
Hyeon Ho bids his final farewell to Mopey Princess, and my heart was so happy for him. Move on and be free, Cello Man! Joon Young also returns music to Mopey Princess for the last time, and she’s confronted with a final choice — pursue a useless course with no support, or take control of her music.
Taking Control
Song Ah gets into graduate school (I was shocked too), but chooses not to go. Joon Young decides to play music the way he wants to, and even Mopey Princess finds a place to teach the way she wants to. Song Ah has a frank conversation with one of her former coworkers about giving up the violin, and gets the advice she needs to slowly let go of her original dream.
Crescendo and Support
During a conversation with Sweet Noona Director, Song Ah is offered a job at the foundation, and gets some solid life advice involving crescendo. She happily accepts — the advice AND the job. During a later conversation with her mother, she finds out that her mom was happy she was dating Joon Young, and that he could help Song Ah play music the way that her mother couldn’t. (For those who are counting, we are now three out of three family members actually supporting Song Ah’s pursuit of music.)
Understanding
Song Ah is late to Joon Young’s undergraduate recital, but arrives in time to hear him play “Widmung”, a song of love and happiness that she understands is just for her. They’re finally speaking the same language AT THE SAME TIME!
Confessions
After the recital, Joon Young’s mom tells him that even though she didn’t know anything about piano, his last song made her cry. Awwwww. Then Song Ah finds him, and he thinks she’s about to friendzone him, but she confesses her love for him instead. They finally got over that final obstacle! Hallelujah. And then there was lots of kissing in a softly lit room while our hearts cheered.
Graduations
Song Ah and Joon Young graduate without setting fire to the university. I’m rather proud of them, to be honest. CEO Yoon graduates from his little workshop — the building got sold and he has to move — and Clueless Bestie graduates and moves to the US. Best of all, Joon Young tells his mother to graduate…well, to divorce his invisible dad before he makes all of their lives even more difficult.
Moving From One Love to Another
Song Ah bids an emotional farewell to her violin, ready to pass it on to someone who will love it as much as she did. And cue the montage of Song Ah and Joon Young being adorable and couple-y! He looks happier on his next album cover, but even better, he gets couple rings for himself and Song Ah. It works out way better than it did for Hyeon Ho and Mopey Princess. However, inquiring minds want to know — will they ever drop the formal speech??
Final Thoughts
Karie the Maknae: Overall, this is a sweet drama with an adorable OTP. The final episode redeems it from a lot of the misery that happened in the episodes prior to it, but not enough that I would happily recommend it. I definitely will not be rewatching it — if I get nostalgic for the OTP, I hear there are LOTS of clips on YouTube to satisfy me.
Kmuse: I loved the first half and was frustrated with a lot of the second half. I don’t regret watching it since there were some very memorable moments but there were an equal amount of aspects I was frustrated with. So in other words, I give the show a 5/10 and probably won’t watch again.
Til the next recap,
The Fangirls
Dramas With a Side of Kimchi
Meanwhile, I went with Record of Youth instead, which had a lot to like, despite a subdued downbeat tone and an ending that could be ambiguous.
I started watching them at the same time, and kept getting the storylines confused! They were a little too similar that way.
I also watched both Record of Youth and DYLB and I found them similar. However, while the writer totally dropped ball with ROY (as DWASOK thought might happen) and gave me a finale that left me completely pi***d off for a couple of days, I thought that the DYLB writer gave us a wonderful ending. I loved the show from beginning to end. It was a little difficult sometimes because both main characters just kept getting beaten down, but I felt that we did see a lot of character growth and that the final episode was amazing. I’ve gone back and watched the last half hour several times. Especially after I watched the finale of ROY and needed a palate cleanser 🙂
That last episode is definitely an excellent palate cleanser — it was full of hope and happiness!
Thank you Fangirls for hanging on during this drama with never ending silent scenes and characters that were indeen interesting but dull.
I enjoyed your reviews more than the actual drama, that I dropped around episode 3 or 4, but still wanted to know what happened.
P.S – a final friendzone would have been EPIC and a first in k-drama, but I’m happy the OTP have their happily ever after.
I would have DIED if she’d kept him in the friendzone forever. A girl’s gotta have some payoff, you know? Glad you enjoyed the recaps!