EMERGENCY COUPLE EPISODE 21 (final episode)

It is the very last episode of Emergency Couple. Few events can compare to the end of a series you've followed for awhile. It's like there's an empty space in your heart and in your thoughts after following a drama to its end. There are events and characters you will never forget, and this show is no exception. It cannot hold a candle to losing a loved one for sure, but it is still pretty sad.

Yong Gyu and Ah Reum spend more time together. She brings him food and they sit on a bench looking out at the Han River. While listening to a song together through one earbud apiece, he puts his hand on hers and leans in for a kiss. It's only on the cheek, but apparently she's comfortable with the pace as she rests her head on his shoulder contentedly. YES! I kept hoping those two would get together and they finally have. They took their sweet time getting there and while the kiss was rather chaste, at least it's a start, right?

Once again we see another couple in the throes of love gone sour. This time, it's Sang Hyuk and his wife who are at odds -�Young Ae has even gone so far as to acquire divorce papers. Sang Hyuk talks to Min Ki about it, saying that she's hurt him a lot and gotten hurt in return. At least we don't see them fighting about a baby. That got stale over time and it is a change, even if not a happy one. I was hoping for something magical to shock them out of their contentiousness. Instead they come to a weak resolution that leaves you wondering at the end of the episode: they agree to ride out their marriage until their internship is finished. I guess you could work the kinks out in that time, but it was ultimately dissatisfying.

They've hinted at it a couple times, but this installment finally has Chang Min and Jin Hee spending time in a doctor-deprived area, Taeahn County, famed for its beaches and its national park. They were "volunteered" by Dr. Guk. The visuals in this area are fantastic: beaches, parks, small town undoubtedly sporting mom & pop shops, houses providing a beautiful view of the water, and Chang Min and Jin Hee on a two-seated bicycle. It's a beautiful area and the camera seems to do it justice. We're also provided delightful scenes of our emergency couple feeding each other, teasing each other, and Jin Hee in lingerie, prancing and posing and as attractive as any idol. Chang Min and Jin Hee have great on-screen chemistry and they really shine here. The scenes taken as a whole make Taeahn look like an ideal getaway, provided you have the cash.�

While Chang Min and Jin Hee are providing vital medical services and having the time of their lives, Guk and Ji Hye are doing the domestic dance. Her parents are flying in from America, her daughter in tow, so Guk helps Ji Hye shop and clean. It's a charming setup; those two look amazing together. Various characters in the series have noted this. I figured this would be the time to put them together at the very end of the series, but alas, it was not to be. Guk eventually sees Ji Hye off to America. Here's where I kept mentally yelling at him to "get on the plane!" He never responded the way I wished. A curt, polite good-bye was what he gave. Again we see a rare smile cross his face. If there are two people who could make it work, it's them. They have a maturity that would temper the passion and allow them to make smart decisions about their relationship and future. �
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Sung Sook and Yang Ja meet in much the same way as Sung Sook met with Jin Hee in the last episode. Sung Sook, in her own way, apologizes and says she will cause no more trouble. Sung Sook even gives a tiny smile, which is progress, however small. Sung Sook is very dolorous here and I feel sorry for her. She is a shadow of her former self and I pity her, regardless of how annoying that former self was. There is no epic fight that you can sell tickets to. There is again no over-the-top yelling, merely calm exchanges.

Almost no one is the same as when we started: Sung Sook is subdued by grief; Guk has changed, is more relaxed, and his heart now has room for a girlfriend, perhaps even a wife; Jin Hee and Chang Min are back together and both are more confident than they ever were; Yong Gyu decides he doesn't want to be a doctor; and�Sang Hyuk and his wife reconsider marriage. That's the mark of a good drama, though: no one should stay the same throughout as that would get old fast.�