It’s time to lay all the cards on the table, face the truth behind the lies, and send our characters off into their respective sunsets. Our leads have a few remaining hurdles to cross, but fortunately they have each other to lean on and trust in, no matter what.
EPISODES 15-16
Deuk-chan survives the car crash and subsequent surgery, and finally confesses the entire sad story. On that tragic night, he’d gone looking for Do-ha and found Eom-ji. To his shock, she already knew he liked Do-ha, so he pulled her away to the woods for privacy. There, they argued over who was more delusional, and when he pushed her in an emotional outburst, she hit her head on a rock and died.
Deuk-chan panicked. Gossip was already spreading that Do-ha and Eom-ji had fought, and, fearing Do-ha would be blamed for her death, Deuk-chan tried to make it look like suicide instead. But just in case, he kept her shirt that was splattered with his own blood (courtesy of a tree branch during the hasty burial) so he could produce evidence if he ever needed to definitively clear Do-ha’s name.
He’d hoped to take both his crime and his feelings for Do-ha to his own grave, but when his ring was unearthed, he knew time was up. Thus, he had Jae-chan turn himself in so he’d have time to wrap things up for his family and everyone at J Entertainment. Now, Deuk-chan apologizes to Do-ha, and though Do-ha maintains that an apology alone isn’t enough, he also acknowledges that Deuk-chan had his share of suffering.
Deuk-chan is sentenced to prison, and the truth is revealed to the public, along with an apology from the reporters who helped perpetuate false accusations. Now released, Eom-ho finally holds Eom-ji’s funeral. He bows in apology to Do-ha, sobbing, and Do-ha assures him their violent history is water under the bridge.
In the aftermath of the car explosion, however, Sol-hee has lost her powers. At first, she assumes there’s simply been an uptick in honesty among the general public. But an encounter with a new VIP client — who, trusting in Sol-hee’s signals, magnanimously accepts the increasingly ridiculous excuses put forward by his uninterested crush — makes it impossible to deny: Sol-hee can no longer hear lies. Her employees gamely agree to keep running the tarot café like a normal café, despite the drop in pay.
One of the worst things about Sol-hee’s loss of abilities is that hurtful lies hit her extra hard, since they sound true to her ears. But the best thing about it is Do-ha’s response. He takes full advantage of the opportunity to surprise her for once. Only someone who’s used to relying on their ears to detect lies could fall for his unconvincing poker face, but Sol-hee takes him at face value when he says he forgot he has work to do and drops her off at home right after priming her for steak and pasta. Which he then cooks from scratch so he can surprise her with a candlelight dinner. Sol-hee is delighted, and decides she’ll be okay if her abilities don’t return. Cue lots of happy kisses.
Since the main story is pretty much wrapped up by this point, we then spend almost an entire episode convincing Sol-hee’s parents to get back together. Her mom’s latest con has progressed to the point of a marriage proposal, even though she’s physically repulsed by the man, but her feelings get all complicated when she learns that her divorce from Sol-hee’s dad was the result of mutual misunderstandings. With some prodding from Sol-hee, the two go back and forth, hemming and hawing and not wanting to admit they both still care about each other.
Eventually, Sol-hee and Do-ha give Sol-hee’s dad a makeover and send him in with a brand-new ring to interrupt Mom and her fiancé. Sol-hee’s mom blurts out that she doesn’t want to live with him again… and a familiar bell rings in Sol-hee’s ears. Her powers are back! Her parents reconcile, and ultimately open a noodle shop together.
One year later, Do-ha, Young-jae, and Ethan have jointly produced a chart-topping album. This time, Do-ha accepts his Best Composer trophy in person, thanking Sol-hee in his speech for believing in him. Sha-on, who announces the award, has signed with a new company and scouted Chi-hoon to be her bodyguard (and eventual boyfriend). Kang-min has also moved on, no longer visiting the tarot café because he knows, at least for now, he won’t be content to just be friends with Sol-hee. (And I hope for the thousandth time that Seo Ji-hoon can move on to the leading roles he deserves!)
After hours one night, Do-ha finds Sol-hee at the tarot café and presents her with the cutest little handmade tarot card that has a picture of a bride and groom on side and the words “Marry Me” on the reverse. He promises to be someone she can always trust. After she joyously accepts his proposal, he also gives her a ticket to see her favorite soccer team play.
Though her powers have returned, Sol-hee has yet to take any more VIP clients. After much thought, she posts a notice: the Liar Hunter is closing up shop. People are more complex than a true/false verdict, she’s learned, and after so many years of listening for lies, she’s ready to spend her days focusing on love and trust instead.
Like the rest of the show, there was a lot about this finale week that I loved — and also a lot that I wish I could re-write. I’m relieved that Eom-ji’s death was largely an accident, and I did find myself empathizing with Deuk-chan more than I expected, but I still would have preferred a very different explanation. And something about the way most characters spoke about Eom-ji after the case was closed — including Deuk-chan’s final reveal about her goodbye text message — almost felt like they were talking about a different person who died in a different way after all.
Additionally, instead of the shopkeepers’ side romance and (honestly kind of mean-spirited) teasing at Baker So’s expense, I’d have loved for Young-jae and Ethan’s story to take a more prominent part of the overall show, since their journey to confidence and success directly intersected with Do-ha’s.
As for Sol-hee’s powers, the best explanation I can come up with is that the cognitive dissonance of hearing something she knew was a lie stated so emphatically as if it were true somehow triggered her alarm to work again. Again, I’d have liked to see that “trigger” be something much more meaningful to her personally, but I didn’t hate how it played out. And I did like that, in the end, she chose to walk away from her Liar Hunter career because she wanted to look for the best in people instead of the worst.
Overall, My Lovely Liar suffered from a lot of missed potential and questionable narrative choices, but — to borrow from its message — my feelings toward it are more complex than just “bad show” or “good show.” Do-ha and Sol-hee were an absolute delight together, and the show certainly raised some interesting questions about truth and falsehood and what makes for a healthy relationship. The execution wasn’t the best, but I can appreciate the intent and say (honestly!) that I enjoyed the majority of the ride.