caliban
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Excellent buildup, terrible ending
Let me preface this by saying that Lovely Writer is one of the best series I’ve seen. It has its flaws and inconsistencies, but all can be forgiven thanks to the magnetism of its two leads, and the progression of their cat-and-mouse game.So you can imagine my disappointment when they gave us THAT ending. I’ve been trying to figure out what I hate about it, and there’s a lot, and I can go scene by scene explaining how they could’ve made it better.
SPOILERS AHEAD
But ultimately, I think it’s because the whole final episode was a disservice to the show’s characters. The last major decisions happened at the end of episode 11, where it all fell apart. We can think of episode 12 as simply the aftermath of all those terrible decisions.
While we see Gene and Nubsib actually end up together, it wasn’t because of their own decisions. Rather, it was due to a jump forward to a time when they were no longer newsworthy. It was business-as-usual after the time-jump.
My problem with that is that it invalidates everything that led up to it. There were no stakes. It was just a wait-it-out scenario that happens in real life, not in a finale episode of a fictional story.
In every story, character development and growth is important. Lovely Writer did not give any of its characters that privilege. Everything and everyone remained the same.
Gene, per usual, remained a pushover and just accepted the situation, no matter how it’s gonna hurt him. Nubsib, in his refusal to compromise, remained a childish character and seemingly did not learn anything from the experience.
This makes their reunion underwhelming and devoid of emotion — and it actually played out underwhelming and devoid of emotion. It was just the next logical step to neatly tie up loose ends.
But did it stop there? No. They had to include a series of imaginary ending scenarios, which I think were not there to serve as a nod-and-wink, but a cry for help that they actually had no idea how to end the story.
From the time-jump onwards, it all felt like betrayal after betrayal as they were peeling off the layers one by one. It was as if they were telling us that all our emotional investment was stupid and unnecessary, and it was, after all, just a novel that is adapted into a series.
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Lovely Writer Special Episode
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The right way to end the series
Special episodes have traditionally been fan service with no real story -- an epilogue of sorts meant to simply reward fans with a little extra sweetness between its two leads. They're a slice of life, showing them get comfortable in their relationship and faced with a minor conflict that's easily resolved within 45 minutes or less. But if a special episode is presented as an almost two-hour movie, one that you have to pay for to watch, we should expect for there to be stakes that could make or break a relationship.Lovely Writer Special Episode spends most of its runtime on two elaborate schemes. We see Nubsib do what he does best -- avid viewers know what this is so no spoilers needed. Just like in the main series, we see Gene in situations he was forced (or coerced) into. But this time around, both characters have shown growth. They're more nuanced -- by the way, props to Kao and Up for showing those subtle nuances with restrained facial expressions -- while still retaining their season one personalities. It only has been two years since, after all.
While the episode could've used its time more efficiently and showed a more complex story, I feel it didn't have to. Gene and Nubsib are, for the most part, an unproblematic pair and what is shown is really probably the most realistic conflict they can have as a couple. And it's already a much better narrative than the series finale (episode 12).
There's also something to be said about a sequence late into the episode, which delves into separate character arcs. These were told in such a succinct (and effective) manner that there's room for speculation, interpretation, and potential for exploration in a future season or spin-off. One, in particular, involving Aey, is a story that should be told as it deals with another one of the "open secrets" of celebrity life.
Finally, we get to the end, which is the best ending I could ever ask for. It's a quiet one, but packs a punch, especially now during Pride Month. In it, aside from the usual things you'd expect from an ending sequence, they managed to sneak in an important message about a key queer issue -- and did so seamlessly and naturally. And the final frames just sealed the deal, providing a truly satisfying end.
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