iaria

Overall I enjoyed this series.

+ I was surprised that Jesan bothered to have Jinmyeong crowned as king instead of taking the role himself. I thought I saw Dowager Queen Jah-yeon amongst the dead in the previous episode so I figured Jinmeong was already dead. It does seem like the plan is to kill the weak Jinmyeong at some point but why even bother with having him be king at all rather then another poor victim of Heon's madness?

+ Jah-yeon honestly seemed like she did not buy at all what Jesan was telling her but of course what could she do otherwise?

+ Heon figured out Bailong's warning so quickly. Ji-young really messed up in not passing it along immediately after getting it. Could that have been the point where she could have genuinely changed the future? I don't know that Heon could have done anything right then to stop Jesan but it appears he didn't even try? At least send a group of guards to arrest him.

+ Being motivated out of rage and grief over the Murin Purge and all those Heon had tortured and killed is not an unsympathetic reason. Except of course that isn't the true reason and only the excuse needed to get what he's always wanted - the throne for himself.

+ Gil-geum and the kitchen staff showing up to fight with Heon and his men was very brave and loyal, and I love them but no, no, no. Watching them fighting with kitchen items was amusing but they should have been killed so quickly. I'm happy that none of them did die but I really don't find it believable. Ji-young absolutely shouldn't have been there either.

+ Chang-saeng showing up to add some fire power was nice. Glad to see him again one last time. See this is the only way Ji-young should have been involved in the fight - bringing in others to fight for Heon.

+ Heon didn't seem to have that many soldiers left on his side so I find it hard to believe that they managed to over-power all of Jesan's men guarding the palace. Sure, it'd be nice to wrap things up by having all of those in the coup gone, giving Jinmyeong a fresh start as king but it honestly didn't make any sense to me.

+ Heon choosing to go after Ji-young alone instead of bringing any back up was also a terrible idea. At least bring the kitchen staff! Actually bring everyone, kill Jesan and then go and take back the palace. This isn't really and either/or situation.

+ It's nice for Gong-gil to get some closure for his sister's death in killing Mok-ju but I loved her taking her death in her own hands and stabbing herself and I wish that's how she had died instead.

+ I have to admit I'm a bit annoyed with Ji-young standing around, refusing to run away and generally being a distraction to Heon who is fighting for both their lives.

+ I also didn't like Ji-young running between Heon and Jesan's blade to save Heon. Maybe because we've already seen people sacrifice themselves for Heon. Or because I have a hard time believing Ji-young would sacrifice herself? IDK, but I was meh about that choice.

+ I am sad that Gil-geum who always believed in Ji-young and was at her side never got to see the proof of her being from the future, nor got to say goodbye. Boo. They deserved a goodbye!

+ "Why must you take her from me now" Uh, she's probably dead or almost dead, so isn't this the perfect time for the magic book to take her back to the future and possibly the chance to live?

+ I'm glad that Heon was able to kill Jesan.

+ After so long in Joseon it was weird to see Ji-young back in modern clothing and surrounded by the modern world.

+ Ji-young getting to work with the look-alike descendants was nice.

+ I love the little plastic face masks the chefs were wearing. That's so hygienic, and I love it.

+ I liked Ji-young getting into a fight over the food with Song-jae's look-alike (reincarnation).

+ You know if we were getting look-a-likes at the restaurant I wish it had just been filled with people from the past - Chang-seong, and Heon's court lady getting to enjoy Ji-young's cooking again, and Su-hyuk and Gong-gil and even Mok-ju. Just go all in!

+ I liked Ji-young and Heon's reunion, and the hand hold and the kiss. I'm really glad it was Heon not a reincarnation of him.

+ I loved the epilogue of Heon making Ji-young bibimbap for breakfast, just like he promised. I also really loved Ji-young giving him a cooking lesson and him being really into it. How had she never given him a cooking lesson before this?

+ At least Heon doesn't have to worry too much about a job. I feel like becoming a chef or a critic would be high up on potentials for him. Maybe he and Ji-young can become a famous chef couple.

+ The show leaves it open to how Heon made it to the future but honestly is not that hard to come up with an explanation. When we last saw Heon he was unconscious and the ripped page of the Mangunrok has landed beside him. So lets say that when Ji-young read out the page in the future instead of finding herself in the past the book transferred Heon into the future? Makes as much sense as anything else that has happened.

No what I want to know is the story of how Heon newly arrived in the future managed to get from the ragged state we last saw him in to the very well outfitted Heon we saw at the restaurant. He probably hasn't been in the future for a significant amount of time but he has been long enough to be able to get around. How did all that happen? Did he find someone to help him? I'm sad we never got to see that culture shock!

All the back and forth coups in these final two episodes felt like it actually needed more time. But what I really would have loved was a full episode of Heon in the future, seeing how he got there and got to the point of finding Ji-young and then her showing him how to live in the future.