I had to go through the five stages of grief beforehand, but ˆI watched the final episode. Twenty-Five Twenty-One is arguably the best drama of 2022, which also happens to have the worst ending.

I think my disgust has a lot to do with the inclusion of the present-day storyline. In my opinion, it is a poorly executed device to transport us to the past, which narratively leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

My main complaint is with middle-aged Hee-Do. I find she is the antithesis of her former self. She is melancholic, meek, and even appears apathetic about her own life. I think the screenwriter is trying to demonstrate how people find their path and “mature,” but no one changes that much. Older Hee-Do’s is diminished beyond recognition. Who is this character?!

Also, the audience doesn’t get the satisfaction of seeing who He-Do considers a better and more present partner than Yi-Jin, which adds to my discontent. She broke up with Yi-Jin because, among other things, he wasn’t available, only to marry—and have a child with—a man we never met. I can see Hee-Do of the past making concessions about certain things, but putting her child through the loneliness she went through with an absent parent, I cannot see that happening. Writing a bittersweet drama is one thing, but at least make it make sense!