Heart-warming but bittersweet

I have too many thoughts. It's true that this drama focused less on the romance plotline and more on friendship and family, which I can get behind. BUT—for fifteen episodes, the romance barely progressed, and I honestly found myself thirsting for any sort of development. The triangle was one of those situations where for once I wouldn't mind who got the girl because I loved both love interests so much. It definitely wasn't who I expected at the beginning, where I was firmly on Team Jung-Hwan, but the way they went about making Taek the husband was so natural that I fell for him HARD along the way, and their hotel kiss scene turned out to be my favorite scene. which I've rewatched at least 50 times since finishing the drama an hour ago.

I really appreciated that Deok-Sun fell for him on her own and, unlike the other two, didn't just like the idea of being liked first (in which she was unlikable and had stilted character development); to add, the fact that she lied and didn't chase after him because she cherished him so much as a friend...that broke me into a million pieces. Their relationship was honestly all kinds of natural, and even though everyone treated him so preciously and she did too, she was also one of the few who weren't afraid of wrestling him and treating him like everyone else. Like I said, even though Deok-Sun seemed to have some stilted character development because she was such a passive part of the love triangle for so long and didn't even understand her own emotions after the time skip, I really liked how everything ended up playing out—I just wished her pacing was less bunched up towards the end.

My heart still hurts for Jung-Hwan, especially with all those episodes after the time skip, and I wish he had more development even after it was clear Taek was the husband. But one huge thing I loved about Reply 1988 in comparison to the other dramas was that, even though it was heart-breaking, it teaches that you have to ACT and fight for what your heart wants. Jung-Hwan might've loved Deok-Sun, but he never fought for her, treated her indifferently, said hurtful things, and for once the tsundere-with-lack-of-communication didn't have that hail Mary / miracle at the end and get the girl, which is a much more accurate representation of real life. Jung-Hwan's episode 18 revelation was one of my favorites: when he sees that Taek got to her first, blames the red lights, then finally realizes that he had had all the time in the world and could only blame his own hesitation and cowardice. It can all be summed up in that on scene where Deok-Sun says she has indigestion, JH only asks if she's okay, but Taek follows her out and gives her medicine.

Taek was the one who was always there for her, and even after knowing about Jung-Hwan's feelings and folding his own, Taek still dropped everything for her—not because didn't care for Jung-Hwan, but just because Deok-Sun was that much of a priority.

The time skip in this one surprisingly didn't bother me as much, even though I still felt kind of iffy about it at first, as I do with all time skips. Unlike Reply 1997 where Yoon-Jae and Shi-Won didn't talk to each other for six years, I liked that characters kept in touch throughout the years and still met up, which was why their relationship was so natural even though we could see them growing up.

The ending broke my heart, and honestly I wish it ended at episode 19, where everyone was happy. But since we DID have episode 20, I wish the things introduced in that episode were wrapped up, like their family and friends' reactions to Taek and Deok-Sun's relationship.

I also HATED Bo-Ra at first, because she was rude and angsty and bossy and yelled ALL ThE TIME. But she grew on me, and I loved that her political activism was a storyline. Her relationship with her dad was also a dark horse that I didn't expect to cry so much for them.

One thing I wished we had more of was friendship for Deok-Sun within the group. I loved her scenes with Dong-Ryong which were JUST friendship, and I loved the bromance between the other characters. But since Deok-Sun was the only girl, I couldn't help but feel like she was left out of some of those deep talks.

It took me a little longer to understand who was who, simply because this one had the most adults and family members. At some points, there were some plots that I didn't care for and felt like they were filler, but they really grew on me as the story progressed.

Another thing that really didn't work for me was the different actors in the present day scenes. I liked that it meant we didn't have the guy's face obscured at all times, but I really felt like I disassociated the older characters from their younger selves and just could not get used to the different faces and voices.

Lastly, the 1994 cameos were woven in beautifully. They tied into the message of the episode perfectly. I loved the Reply 1997 characters and their cameos in 1994, but I wish they had the same impact as the ones in this serial.

I honestly would give 10/10 for the last 3 episodes because they had the perfect balance of romance, friendship, family, culture, etc...but overall, my rating would still be 8.5/10. As much as I liked that this one didn't focus on romance, some of the episodes felt more filler, and I felt like some of the plotlines were recycled from previous Reply dramas, like the realize-you-have-to-treat-your-parents-right-after-a-health-scare.

ALSO - give the actress for baby Jin-Joo an Oscar. She was hilarious, adorable, and stole every single scene she was in.

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