There’s a dramatic shift in tone as we head into the climactic finale of My Sweet Mobster and our hero comes face to face with his past. If he wants a happy ending for him and his lady love, then he’s going to have to fight for it — literally.
EPISODES 15-16
Melodrama hits My Sweet Mobster with the force of a Truck of Doom souped up on steroids and dangerously caffeinated energy drinks. In other words, it hits hard, fast, and with a greater risk of heart palpitations among viewers, but the stakes would inevitably need to increase if our story wanted to give some credibility to the horrificness of Ji-hwan’s upbringing. However, because our plot has been more “sweet” than “mobster” up until this point, the shift in tone is a little jarring — despite all the signs last week that we were headed towards a bloody and violent finale. Maybe I was naive in thinking this drama would pull its punches, but — c’mon — have you seen Yang-hee’s outfits? That man’s too fun and fashionable to go full baddie. Or so I thought…
Although it appeared Yang-hee had turned tail after his goon hit Hyung-woo with the brick, he lingered at the scene, waiting on Ji-hwan to arrive so he could pull his knife on his perceived mortal enemy. The sight of a bloody and unconscious Hyun-woo laying in Eun-ha’s arms triggers the dormant instincts that were beaten into Ji-hwan as teenager, and when he comes face to face with Yang-hee, he lets loose, funneling all his emotions into his barrage of punches.
Eun-ha looks on in horror, and when the police finally drag Ji-hwan away from Yang-hee, he’s clearly mortified by his uncontrolled violence. And, along with the shame is the hopelessness of not being able to protect Eun-ha — a feeling that’s later exacerbated by Hyun-woo, whose head injury turns out to be a mere flesh wound.
Hyun-woo ignores doctor’s orders to stay for observation so he can go to the police station. Here, he gives his witness statement and confirms that Ji-hwan — not whiney Sir Yang-hee of the Blackened Eye — is a good guy. However, when they’re alone, Hyun-woo lays into Ji-hwan for not being there to protect Eun-ha when she was in danger. (Excuse me, Hyun-woo? But weren’t you the one who okayed Eun-ha’s little jaunt to the dumpster by herself in the dark even though you could have escorted her there?)
As the morose and chastised Ji-hwan exits the police station, he’s greeted by two individuals: his father and Eun-ha, who was not put off by his heated aggression. Unfortunately, Hyun-woo’s hypocritical lecture combined with the unexpected presence of his father is putting everything into a bleak perspective for Ji-hwan. He decides that Eun-ha would be safer if she stayed with Mi-ho and her family. Thankfully, even though this situation crushes Eun-ha and has breakup vibes all over it, it’s more of a temporary physical hiatus while Ji-hwan tries to get his shit together — both in terms of his evil daddy and his company.
As you can imagine, the Thirsty Deer is struggling now that the majority of its executives have abandoned ship. Company morale is at an all time low, and Ji-hwan’s attention is split between damage control and thwarting his father’s plans for underworld domination. Unbeknownst to Ji-hwan, while he’s colluding with his father’s scar-faced minion to obtain his father’s ledgers, Eun-ha is teaming up with Ye-na to help his company.
With Marketing Deerling’s assistance, she and Ye-na sneak into Ji-hwan’s house to utilize her studio to film a company-saving video. Ye-na is appropriately jealous of the space that Ji-hwan (and his deerlings) so lovingly prepared for Eun-ha, but by this point in our story there’s very little bite or pettiness to her, as the drama has been trying to shoehorn a budding romance between Ye-na and Marketing Deerling into the plot. Honestly, they’re kind of cute together, but it’s definitely a too-little-too-late kind of situation. It’s a shame, though, because Ye-na is kind of adorable — when she isn’t coveting a man who has no interest in her, of course.
After filming the video, Eun-ha runs into Ji-hwan as they’re leaving the house. He initially gives Marketing Deerling gruff orders to take Eun-ha home (to Mi-ho’s place), but then he decides to escort her himself. Eun-ha, however, stands her ground and tearfully explains to him that she doesn’t want to be sequestered somewhere else — safe but alone. She’s scared that he isn’t by her side, and she wants to be with him no matter what. Ji-hwan’s already weak resolve crumbles and he grasps her in a tight embrace.
Later, when he escorts Eun-ha to Mi-ho’s house, he admits that he’s afraid she will get hurt because of him, but despite his confession, he’s not ready for her to return home. Instead, he vaguely asks her to give him a little more time.
During said time, Eun-ha and Ye-na’s joint food challenge — think the Tide Pod challenge from a few years back, but infinitely more wholesome and less moronic — goes viral, and single-handedly boosts all the Thirsty Deer employees’ spirits. Unfortunately, this uptick in happiness is short-lived because everyone’s favorite cat-loving deerling is summoned by Ji-hwan’s father. When he’s reunited with his former gang boss, our deerling begs Gangster Dad to leave Ji-hwan alone, but he’s beaten — repeatedly — for his perceived insubordination.
Ji-hwan is unaware that his deerling has been captured by his father, so after he finally receives the intel he’s been waiting for, Ji-hwan is caught offguard when he arrives at his father’s warehouse and discovers it’s a trap. His father is waiting on him, and our Cat-Loving Deerling hogtied and gagged — a hostage he uses to leverage Ji-hwan’s compliance. Gangster Dad has his goons beat Cat-Loving Deerling — with a promise to stop if Ji-hwan accepts his role as his rightful heir. Instead of bowing to his father’s demands, Ji-hwan steps in to protect his deerling and take the blows on his behalf.
This scene is rough to watch, pushing harder and further with the violence than I’d expected this drama to go, but the stakes were high enough that I was decidedly invested in the outcome of this situation. I was legitimately concerned that our (beloved but expendable) deerling wouldn’t make it through to the end of this drama, but that’s when Yang-hee — recently released on bail and aiming to kill Gangster Dad — comes slinking out of the shadows, stripped of his usual fashionable flair and wielding a knife.
Ji-hwan sees Yang-hee first, and despite the horrors his father has inflicted upon him, he uses his own body to shield his father from Yang-hee’s knife. As he collapses to the ground and bleeds profusly from his wound, he imagines seeing Eun-ha and hearing her tell him that she will wait for him. He whispers her name painfully. (I’m not crying! I swear!)
Shortly after Ji-hwan is stabbed, Hyun-woo (who Ji-hwan tipped off ahead of time) arrives on the scene and — in a move I didn’t think he had in him — disarms Yang-hee and wrestles him to the ground. The police arrive a moment later, and while the baddies are arrested, Ji-hwan is rushed to the hospital and into surgery. Annnnnd cue: coma. (I’m not joking.)
Ji-hwan’s extensive blood loss causes him to fall into a comatose state, but, thankfully, he’s not unconscious for long. Cat-Loving Deerling’s magical gray hair plucking technique is the fairy tale “kiss” that not only wakes Ji-hwan but heralds the return of our drama’s light-hearted tone. And once Ji-hwan awakens, our characters all live happily-ever-after. No really, it’s smooth sailing from here on out because our bad guys have been neutralized.
Yang-hee (presumably) will be locked away for a long, long time — what with all the attempted kidnapping, breaching his bail conditions, and stabbing charges on his rap sheet. Likewise, Ji-hwan’s dad, after watching his son risk his own life to protect him, has given up trying to mold Ji-hwan into his image. He claims he’s disowned Ji-hwan, but he’s obviously had a quick change of heart and is signaling that Ji-hwan is free to live his life how he pleases. And, obviously, that life is with Eun-ha. (Nothing like a near-death experience to rid a man of his fear of physical intimacy, amirite?)
Skip ahead to the 100-day celebration for Mi-ho and Il-young’s baby. The house is overflowing with happiness, and over dinner we get mini-updates on the status of Thirsty Deer and Eun-ha’s content creation. Spoiler: Both are extremely successful. The biggest takeaway from this party, however, is Ji-hwan’s realization that he wants to marry Eun-ha. All it takes is seeing her holding a baby and having one deerling mention marriage, and — kapow! — Ji-hwan’s brain short circuits so bad that the deerlings have to carry him out of the room pallbearer-style.
What follows is a series of scenes reminiscent of Ji-hwan’s early romantic pursuit of Eun-ha. At first, he’s scatterbrained because his mind has no room for anything other than thoughts of marriage — and how he completely botched the conversation the last time Eun-ha brought up the subject. And once he’s committed to the idea of popping the question, he prepares to jump in feet first without a plan. He’s woefully clueless when it comes to these matters and completely forgets that a classically romantic proposal includes — at the very least — an engagement ring. But with a little assistance from his deerlings, he’s able to pull off the perfect proposal.
Eun-ha’s day begins like any other, but her “Hyun-woo oppa” — not to be confused with prosecutor Hyun-woo who’s still kind of crushing on Eun-ha from afar and across the interwebs — is “too busy” to pick her up from a work event. His absence is noticed by one of Eun-ha’s associates, which is such a sweetly subtle way of revealing how attentive he’s been during the time skip.
When Eun-ha arrives home, the yard is dark. But then string lights abruptly sparkle to life and draw her attention to the hole in the yard — the hole where Ji-hwan has placed the time capsule he and Eun-ha buried when they were kids. Eun-ha opens the tin and reads the sweet but simple note from Ji-hwan asking her “Play with [him] always from now on.” After she reads the note, Ji-hwan appears looking extremely dapper — and totally matching Eun-ha’s aesthetic — in a pink (penguin) suit and white bowtie. He tells her that she makes him want to become a better person and that he wants to “subscribe to her” for the rest of his life. And then — omo! — he pulls out a ring box. Eun-ha accepts his proposal, and they kiss. (Not me clutching my chest and dawwwwing.)
Our deerlings rejoice from the balcony where they’ve been spying, and then we say goodbye to our lovable characters in one final scene — which is sponsored by Audi and whatever company supplies pervy neighborhood flashers with their trench coats. All jokes aside, it was nice to have approximately thirty minutes of our finale dedicated to the fluffy happy moments and milestones that have happened to our characters since the bloody and violent climax of our story. Far too many K-dramas skimp out on their epilogues, and I’m glad My Sweet Mobster didn’t.
However, even with thirty minutes of fluff time, we are still left with a few loose ends (like, whatever happened to Ye-na? Or Yang-hee?), but the ending is kind of on brand with this K-drama. My Sweet Mobster has always been more about the in-the-moment fun and experiences than about how well the story holds up with time and under intense scrutiny. I’d never argue that this was the best drama of 2024, but if you asked me which drama has (so far) made me giggle the most or put the biggest smile on my face, then I’d point to our awkward penguin, his sweet lady, and their collection of goofy deerlings.
