WHAT A RIDE!! I loved this drama so much ❤ and I'm a little sad it ended. I'll do a reflection about this drama final episode and a little background story time on how I have found my love for Kdramas again because of Tomorrow.
(My reflection on the final episode and drama as a whole is at the second part with RED words if you only want to read that. 😁)
Now, I want to laugh a bit because I was not aware of the terminology "kdrama" and the Korean entertainment world in general and how popular kdramas are, until this drama showed up in my IG feed because I liked the song in that video and IG started to bombard me with more videos that used that song. Now, I was unconsciously introduced to kdramas back in 2000 and I didn't know it was called like that 😅
Last time I saw a kdrama was probably back in 2005. I was a kid, watching dramas for adults, don't blame my mom. I was very mature for my age even though I was not allowed to see kissing/sex scenes 😅 and back then and kdramas barely had any kissing, IF ANY. So they became my favorite thing to watch.
I used to watch Mexican dramas that in Spanish we call "Novelas" wich usually have about 100 episodes, more or less, and they have kissing in every episode and passionate sex scenes very frequently as well. It's the norm in most Hispanic/Latino TV romance dramas but nothing explicit, as it's broadcasted on regular TV channels.
I loved Kdramas back then, my first love was a drama in 2003/2004 called "Stairway to Heaven" which I saw probably more than 10 times. And I would highly recommend it!
I was infatuated with the main male lead. I mean, how could I not? Look at that...
The funny thing about this, is that this drama made me cry so much every time I watched it, even when I knew the story while re-watching it. And so did Tomorrow as well, I cried 😅, some episodes were a lot.
The one with the dog hit me hard because I lost a dog that I mourned more than I had for a person and even though for some people that episode was irrelevant, for others like me, it was a lovely one.
Well, for some reason I grew up and I started to get busy with school and I wasn't watching dramas anymore and instead I would watch movies when I had the chance. So I forgot my love for Kdramas. And the reason I loved Kdramas so much was because it showed me that I really didn't need that much kissing or sex scenes in order to see the romance between two people and their love story. Although a little hug between Ryeon and Park wouldn't have hurt. That was cruel for us the viewers🙄
I never came across any kdrama content on Instagram, Netflix or anywhere really because that was not in my content search so I guess the algorithm wasn't showing me anything and I wasn't aware that kdramas were a thing, but man!! Thank the lord for showing that video to me because now I'm watching dramas again and I found my love back for them. Quite addictive honestly, I have to be careful binge watching them now 😅
So I started watching Tomorrow without knowing what it was really about, just because I liked that 20secs video and was excited about Ryeon and Park's love story, I assumed it was about them.
Now if someone read this, yes you can laugh at this because you already know I got played with the amount of screen time they got 🤡 that was brutal.
However, I did love the theme of the show, and it's importance and even appreciated many things that were said that will stick with me for the long run.
Oh wow, I must say it was better than I expected. Thank you writers 😅
Could it have been better? Sure.
Nonetheless, it didn't leave me unsatisfied as I thought it would, since a lot had to be covered in one hour episode, I was scared it would leave me empty. So in my opinion, they did well.
I binged "Twenty Five, Twenty One" yesterday, that end left me with no hopes for Park and Ryeon at all today. I liked 25-21 ending because it shows reality, but you know, I was too invested into Tomorrow's story that it would have been depressing to watch another end like that two days in a row.
Plus, I have been watching this show as an ongoing show for the past 3 or 4 weeks, and I never do that on Netflix, I didn't even know that was a thing there, I thought they always dropped the whole season at once 😅
I watch things after the season ends because I don't have the patience to deal with the wait. So I guess waiting every week for an episode gave me time to think about theories, read people's opinions in Twitter and here as well, and all of that made me be more invested in the story than when I binge watch a show because that doesn't let me have too much time to be thinking about possibilities.
I don't want a Season 2, because I don't see the point, but I do wish it had at least two more episodes to have more development between Ryeon and Park healing conversation, and Choi's life after waking up. I've read some viewers complain that Lim got almost 3 episodes to cover his story and that the others should have too, but honestly I think they all got about the same amount, the difference for me is that Lim had his story show consecutively and the others stories were more spread out into different episodes. Such as Choi's father story, the mom and sister hardships after he went on a coma, etc.
After all, Lim was part of the main cast and he didn't get as much time talking to the people they were saving, so for me it was a balance.
Now, I do think Ryeon and Park needed a longer conversation at the end, I loved that they were together for the final scene and they looked at each other in a way that it felt like an open ending was up to the viewer to interpret what happened in those 6 months and what would continue to happen after that final episode.
I don't want to read the Webtoon because I read it's different from the series so I just want to keep it for my interpretation of their future relationship. (But if the end is better in the Webtoon, then please someone tell me 😅)
For me I'd like to believe that they are never going to choose to reincarnate because they know that their fate is broken in the land of the living and they won't find each other there. But as reapers they get to see each other, work together, heal together and love each other again. I do think that love between them will happen because now that Park knows his past we saw in their conversation that he realized his mistakes towards Ryeon and the RM team purpose, and he acknowledged that his pride made him misunderstand Ryeon's opinion of suicide and that made him do foolish things as he said. That he realized he went to rescue her from being taken to hell again because of his pride not because of his feelings. And for me that shows growth, and healing overall.
That experience changed him for the better. And I really loved that for them.
I know many complaint about his behavior towards suicide and his hate towards people that think of this as a choice to end their sadness being part of the story line. And I will say, that is a real thing, and I am glad it was part of the show, I have known people like that in the past with that mentality, and although Park changed his view on the show, some people never do, even nowadays when mental health is more prioritized. There are still people like him out there.
Also, others complain about the show not having mental health professionals to be part of the show, I do think it should have been part of it as well indeed. However, the show did have Ryeon as one in the episode with the singer whose wife died. Of course more than that would have been ideal, but nonetheless, it did shine light into it.
Also, many say that the people changing their mind in the last minute by talking at the end was too rushed and simple. Yes, it seems so, but:
One, it's a show with an average of 50min per episode and writers are limited by the channels they broadcast in.
Two, they are grim reapers who's job is to save those that are in their last moments of committing the act. By that time, imagine a friend saving another in their last moment just by talking to them. That happens a lot, not only health professionals are part of that moment when it happens. Also, many can't even afford one at all, or don't want one. Etc.
So my point is that all ways here are valid. Could they have shown more of a mental health professional approach. Yes, indeed.
However, that doesn't make their way in the show wrong either. I mean, Ryeon could have been less aggressive like Choi, but again, is a show, and this world is full of different types of people with their own personality, nobody can judge someone else by their own standard of how someone should be like. And more specifically, is a Korean show, so according to what I have read so far about Korea when it comes to mental health, I think that the show did a good job in addressing the issue of suicide there and the need the country has as a whole.
I heard/read many times how people have killed themselves even after years of therapy. I personally know two people, one unfortunately did die, and the other one survived after the act because the hospital was quick enough. Both had mental health professionals helping them, and both committed the act anyways. Unfortunately this topic is not black and white, there's a lot of shades of grey in between.
I didn't mean for this post to be this long 🤯 I started to write something in specific and now I got a whole essay. 😅 The fact that when I have to do one at college I can't even write a page properly and for things like this I find my ways is just a joke 🤣
If someone read this long, I appreciate you 🤗
P.S. English is not my first language, so I'm sorry for any mistakes 😅
Now an appreciation for the 4 characters:
Ryeon and Mr. Lim are made for eachother as team, those two are cold and honest as F* 🤣 I love them.
Choi, you are so cute, and funny ☺️
And last BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST!
I address you at the very end because WOW!
Sir, your gaze towards Ryeon in that 20sec video I saw. That gaze sir, is what made me watch this drama.
And that walk, I got in every episode for a bare minimum of 5 seconds per episode made me excited each time. 😅
I repeated each episode throughout the weeks many times just to see scenes between you and anybody else in the show. That's how much I had to compensate for the fact that you were almost non existent in it sir. 😅
I have to say that Lee Soo-hyuk just added another follower in his career because I'm about to watch anything this man has been on now. 😍 I mean, that man is stunning to watch talk, walk, and see how he looks at things with those eyes. 🤭
I am very interested in learning Korean because I saw a few episodes in Spanish voice translation, and things were said differently than the English subtitles in many occasions, which I understand since the voice needs to be in synced with the mouth of the actor. However, I have read people say that the English subtitles many times are not as accurate either, so I hate not having the actual thing said translated properly 😅 I like watching shows in their original language because I feel like the tone of the words said are never translated with the same emotions into another language. How difficult is Korean? Asking for a friend 🤣🤣🤣
If someone got here, then here is the video that started everything for me.
Thank you for reading, it was a pleasure to talk about this drama. I'll definitely watch it again in a year or when I feel like I need it. ❤
