I’m highlighting @Welmaris’ post because she speaks for me.
An open ending often alienates us, viewers who seek a conclusive happily-ever-after with Prince Charming. We have an insistent and pessimistic voice in our heads that keeps warning us, “She must end up with the guy now or she’ll never find another one like him.”
But in “Yumi’s Cells 2,” I’m satisfied with the lead character not ending with either one. and @Welmaris explains it well. I’m reminded of a quotation I saw on pinterest, attributed to Candace Bushnell, writer of “Sex and the City.”
The quote goes, “Some people are settling down, some people are settling and some people refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies.”
Thanks, @Welmaris.
@GrowingBeautifully, I agree that characters who either annoyed or appalled us ended up looking good by the end of the series, and I attribute that to how Yumi handled each one. Yes, Yumi is Writernim’s avatar, and Writernim didn’t want us hating any of her babies at the end. Even Da Eun is shown realizing that she was wrong to drunk call BaBi, showing that her character is maturing a bit.
Would I love to see a third season with the romance unfolding between Yumi and Sin Sun Rok? You bet! But I can imagine the storyline from Yumi’s perspective, because she’s been so well developed as a character over two seasons.
@Kate, you mention BaBi knocking his socks off to make the relationship with Yumi work. He did shower her with kindness. But in the end, we see that his basic nature is one not compatible with Yumi’s. He’s not as transparent as she needs in a partner. He broke her trust on multiple occasions. Yumi gave him a second chance, and he repaid that with a whopper of a lie that spanned a full week.
His tearful marriage proposal after Yumi discovered the deception was an attempt to tie her to him by law since trust was shattered. Even setting up the meeting between Yumi and his father, BaBi manipulated the situation by withholding information. He didn’t give Yumi much advance notice, and he gave his father none. And then the untruth–we were just in the area, so dropped by spontaneously–rolled so easily off BaBi’s tongue. During their meeting at the airport, BaBi also told a white lie about seeing someone when asked if he had a girlfriend. The choices BaBi makes, thinking he’s sparing someone a burden, have more harmful consequences than the feared burden.
That’s a lesson BaBi can’t seem to learn.
In a small way, Woong gets the resolutions he wants.
First, he got the acknowledgement he needed from Yumi–graciously given in his office–of his business success. He’d been motivated to climb back from bankruptcy by love: thwarted love that wanted to prove something to Yumi. When Yumi, in all sincerity, said Woong had done well, it was a healing moment for their relationship, allowing it to transform to deep friendship.
Second, Woong told Yumi he could be happy for her if she married someone other than himself, but not if it was BaBi. He distrusted BaBi, having been on the receiving end of BaBi’s situation manipulation and lack of full disclosure. He also knew how much Yumi valued transparency, since that issue is what ultimately caused his own breakup with Yumi. How galling it would be for Woong if Yumi married someone demonstrably less transparent than him! There would be little hope of Yumi and Woong maintaining an ongoing friendship if she’d married BaBi.
So Yumi calmly putting an end to her relationship with BaBi was a win for Woong, even if his own romance with Yumi is never to be resurrected.
Thanks @pkml3 and @Welmaris!
I already gave my comment in the Ep 13 and 14 thread. But I heartily agree with @Welmaris’s points. 🙂
@ packmule3 and Welmaris.I agree with everything you said. The drama is Yumi’s Cells not BaNi’s or Woong’s even though we’re privy to seeing both of theirs
It’s Yumi’s journey to selfhood that is the central part of our drama and I’m happy to see her come to accept herself and her needs. BaBi might have been an attractive choice initially but he was never really loyal to Yumi. He ultimately was a person who took care of HIS needs.in some ways I think he was a love bomber and we know how well that goes. To me the best thing that he did was finding a way to return Yumi’s laptop to her. The fact that he kept Da Eum’s number speaks volumes.Come to think of it, when he broke up with his first girlfriend he was already on the road to pursuing Yumi.so good riddance BaBi.
I liked Woong but understand the futility if a relationship with Yumi I can see a good friendship which is where they ended up. They also had more in common being creative people and that they both had professional success without jealousy shows the basis of a real friendship. Woong could not, however, give Yumi the romance she needed so that type of relationship would end up being a no go.
I would love to see how Yumi’s cells approach her OTP and to see her marry. It would be interesting to compate and contrast her reactions to her other relationships. I also would like to see her professional relationship with Shin because he is an editor- the meeting of the minds
It needs not be done in a whole season but could be handled in a couple of special episodes showing her cells’progression to true love and partnership. But I also see the validity to an ending at season two’s end. I just love Kim Go Eun in this role. (We will be seeing her in the Jo role in Little Women soon so I get my KGE gux soon).
L
@GB,
I’ll transfer your post here when I get to the hotel.
@OldAmericanLady,
It’s a bummer that we don’t get to have Season 3. We had fun speculating on the actor who’d play Future Husband.
https://bitchesoverdramas.com/2021/11/05/yumis-cells-hiatus-open-thread/
😂😂
“Love Bomber” is a much nicer way of saying “player.” Well, I still appreciate that, while Babi was in the game, he brought his A-game with him. Who wouldn’t swoon at his dating style?
But some guys are boyfriend material; some guys are husband material; and some guys are friend-zoned.
@packmule3, thank you for sharing the fun if speculating who would play ayumi’-s husband. There are so many worthy actors out there that would be great. My vote is for the great Lee Joong gi. He is so talented and can play any age. I can watch Flower if Evil forever. I would love to see him paired with KGE and in a lighter(AL t hough quietly serious role).these two are powerhouses in their own rights. I would love to see them together. I know it would be a long shot but it’s fun thinking of those two in a project together.
Hi @OAL and @pkml3, I laughed when I went back to read that thread. I realise now that I want to add two more actors to the possible husband list.
Lee Jong Suk and Hwang In Youp. LJS, we can consider quite the veteran in romances. He does so swoon-worthy well in all of them. HIY is a relative newbie and not given much of a main role yet, especially romantically. Since KGE would always be the lead in a Yumi show, HIY wouldn’t be over-pressured to be the lead, but he’d still be the next main character. Give the young man more practice!
reposting for @GB. Thanks! -pm3
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I agree with @pkml3, good points @Welmaris. Especially about Woong’s resolution. He needed Yumi to acknowledge that he wouldn’t always be thought of as a loser by her, and her praise was exactly what he and Louis needed to salve their wounded egos.
I did notice Ba Bi’s lies and how he does not see any problem with them. I definitely did not like the wedding proposal at the point of the exposure of his deceit and was a bit confounded that Yumi had caved in immediately to agree to marriage, especially since she was never able to say honestly that she even loved him. It was a swift move by Ba Bi to distract her from the negative issue he was confronted with. For all intents and purposes, he seemed to have succeeded, since we did not see them talking through his huge deception.
He appears to have been a very sweet, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth manipulator, and oh sooooo charming. I can understand many falling for him. There are many Ba Bis in real life too, so Bitches, beware! 🤪
@packmule3 and @GB, I agree that Yumi provided Woong with the affirmation he needed. Their relationshipmwas not romantic but showed caring and friendship. That Yumi and Woong became successful in their fields made their later meetings much more positive. I hated that whole rice cooker episode and was happy that they put that behind them. Woong is essentially a good guy.
I can’-t say the same for BaBi. I think the description of him as a player is true. He coesn’t appear to be one and seems to be all in on his girl of the moment but his eyes are looking for his next conquest. When he was running in the neighborhood he picked up on Yumi, even though he was in the midst of another relationship. He drove DaEum while in a long distance relationship with Yumi. He is not loyal. While we know that he is affectionate,it appears that his affection actually is used to meet his needs. I am so happy that Yumi came to her senses and realized she didn’t love him. I am also happy that she left the company to write. Her relationship with BaBi, if they still worked for the same company would have constituted a form of sexual harassment as he was a team leader. Even BaBi’s poverty moves like having his jacket ready in the car to warm a poorly dressed girl were suspect. The drama cast Jinyoung in the role and that was brilliant. The actor is pleasantly attractive and for some, swoonworthy. He pulled off the stealth player well. We, as well as Yumi’-s cells were definitely fooled by his attention. In the end, he was basically superficial.zAnd as I’ve said before, he was not professionally compatible with Yumi; he being a company man and she being a creative (more in line with Woong, a game creator).I also think he and DaEum deserve each other-two superficial and fickle people, who when married, have the potential for carrying on afrairs(she who falls in love easily and he who is not loyal).
That being said, I would love to see Yumi’-s end game, now that she likes and respects herself. Would there be a new prime cell and how would all that play out. It is not just Shin rock that I want to see, but how her cells have grown and changed. That to me is the crux of this drama. Ultimately we will be seeing what a positiv relationship is all about in our self actualized Yumi.8 hope we get a couple of special episodes to show this or a movie length episode to tie up loose ends.
I love your perspective on Woong and the resolution he had with Yumi. Also on Babi’s not so truthful and transparent bf. He really is the swoony, almost perfect bf but then if you are wise enough to see that it will be on shakey foundation. I didn’t like Babi’s sudden proposal that was like using the trump card to guarantee the girl’s heart. He really knows the moves but doesn’t see how a relationship needs more than those cool moves.
I felt despite those outward show of love, Yumi didn’t love Babi the second time they got back together. She couldn’t even tell Woong that she loves Babi. It was probably for the sake of being in a relationship that she missed. I’m glad she didn’t drag it on and the phone call from Daeun was her wake up call that she no longer had feelings for Babi.
Hi @grace, on looking back, I feel that even from the beginning, Yumi never clearly had real feelings for Ba Bi. Her Love Cell was never fully on board with the relationship but was out-manouvered by Sensitive/Sensibility Cell and the Ba Bi fan club. I was saying that she was afraid of Missing Out with such a nice boyfriend-type. She thought she would be a fool to pass up on a guy that other girls would snap up. Her mad dash to confess that she liked him too, smacked of desperation rather than genuine regard. In the end Love Cell just went along with it, because she could not explain why she was not all in with Ba Bi.
Yes, I liked the way Da Eun became ‘helpful’ to Yumi. Her presence was a red flag. It’s interesting that Show has Yumi being upset and breaking up with Ba Bi, but does not have her being brokenhearted… at least not for long. It was different with Woong and her previous boyfriend. Her emotional upheaval lasted longer. Then Da Eun became helpful once again with that drunken phone call. It made it clear to Yumi that she was actually indifferent towards Ba Bi’s disloyalty and dishonesty. The wrong kind of lack of emotion to be experiencing in a relationship that is supposed to be lifelong.
We had experience with one show–ahem!–that claimed from the get-go to be aiming for three seasons, but ended up being two (for which we Bitches are grateful). In the case of Yumi’s Cells seasons 1 & 2, the story has been so well told that we want more! I know it would be a miracle to once more pull together KGE, Writernim, and Directornim if they’ve all moved on to other projects, but I can’t help but wish for Season 3. Perhaps the original author prefers us to turn to the webtoon for the denouement.
No subtitles but fun BTS from a number of key Yumi’s Cells 2 scenes.
Always good to help let go of a story – seeing the actors having fun.