Love in Sync: Episodes 7-8 (Final)
by Unit
The finale of our fantastical show gives us the full picture of our leads’ childhood connection, as well as noble idiocy and ghosting games. But we get a satisfactory resolution for our major characters, and that’s all that matters.
EPISODES 7-8
Eun-hwan’s license revocation appeal is successful, and he can finally return to his counselling career. As for Ji-an, she can now understand emotions by herself, and she no longer needs Eun-hwan on set with her. But as for her scandal… Ji-an overhears Eun-hwan and her former manager discussing Yi-jin’s possible role in her bullying rumors, and she storms the dressing room to slap Yi-jin. But Yi-jin is in the middle of shooting a vlog and the slap is caught on tape. Oops! Jun-shik demands that Ji-an be fired for assault on set, but she’s suspended from filming instead. Ji-an is down in the dumps and she tries to push Eun-hwan away, but he’s not leaving her side. At least, for now.
Eun-hwan manages to get a hold of the stylist behind the bullying rumor, and it turns out Yi-jin merely gave her “no strings attached” money for her mom’s treatment. It was Jun-shik who orchestrated the entire scandal after promising to introduce the stylist to a specialist doctor for her mom. Smh. Eun-hwan uses Jun-shik’s fav tabloid reporter to expose him as the mastermind of Ji-an’s scandal. The stylist also uploads a clarification post and an apology to Ji-an, and public sentiment turns in our leading lady’s favor. Yay! Ji-an thanks Eun-hwan for believing in her and proving her innocence, and they spend an entire day hanging out. The hangout ends with Eun-hwan kissing Ji-an, and it’s a perfect day in her book. She wakes up the following morning floating on sunshine and clouds, but she soon crashes back to earth on learning that her leading man has ghosted her.
Ji-an’s reputation and career is back and better, but her love is gone. She goes through all the stages of grief as she searches for Eun-hwan, but it’s all in vain. Ji-an has an accident a near miss on set, and she uses it to lure Eun-hwan’s worried ass out of hiding. But he returns to noble idiot mode once he finds out she’s okay. Ji-an is most frustrated by the fact that she can feel Eun-hwan’s emotions and she knows he’s lying. But she has no idea why he is so desperate to push her away. It’s not until she finds herself trapped alone on a rainy day. In her claustrophobic haze, Ji-an recalls the memory of Eun-hwan’s father saving from the accident. His once-blurry face becomes clear in her head, and the truth hits her like a ton of bricks when she realizes he’s the same ahjussi she saw in the family picture at Eun-hwan’s house.
Ji-an’s mom returns to Korea, and Ji-an confronts her for lying that she was the one who saved Ji-an in the accident. Mom replies that she was trying to protect Ji-an from the truth that someone died trying to save her. Apparently, Ji-an insisted on shooting a scene that required her to be locked up, so she wasn’t able to escape when the fire started and Eun-hwan’s dad had to go back to save her. In the present, Ji-an feels guilty for insisting on such a dangerous shoot. And I suppose her claustrophobia on rainy days is a manifestation of her PTSD. But she was a child at the time, so I’m not sure why anyone listened to her supposed insistence on shooting the scene. Anyway, Ji-an’s mom feeds into this guilt and takes over management of her career.
Eun-hwan hears that Ji-an is miserable under her mom’s management, and he drops by the set to see her. But Mom intercepts his visit and tells him to mind his business. Mom also demands that supporting actress Ji-an gets more screentime than lead actress Yi-jin, and Ji-an is dragged into another abuse of power controversy when the crew complain online about Mom’s unreasonableness. Meanwhile, Jun-shik faces career ruin after Yi-jin and other talents in his agency file contract termination lawsuits. But he refuses to go down alone, so he tells Ji-an that her mom made him orchestrate her downfall because she wanted to swoop in and control Ji-an’s life again. Sigh. This is all too much for an already stressed Ji-an to handle, so she ghosts everybody.
It’s Eun-hwan’s turn to look for Ji-an like crazy only to be greeted by silence and regret. But they eventually reunite and make up. Ji-an terminates her management contract with her mom, and she reveals that she knows it was Mom who forced her to do the locked-up shoot. “I will no longer destroy myself just to be loved by you,” Ji-an says, and it’s buh-bye to her mom. Ji-an drops by the columbarium to pay her respects to Eun-hwan’s dad, and Eun-hwan tells her not to blame herself for his death because the accident was no one’s fault. But they agree they cannot be together because…tragic childhood connection, so they part ways after a goodbye kiss. Smh.
Time skip to a year later. Ji-an wins best supporting actress for Director Moon’s movie. Aww. Eun-hwan’s counselling career is back on track. Song-hwan and Ha-yul have a better mom-daughter relationship. Song-hwan’s painting career has taken off and she even holds a successful exhibition. She apologizes for blaming Eun-hwan for her misfortune, and gives him implicit permission to pursue a romance with Ji-an. In our final scene, Ji-an and Eun-hwan reunite and smile at each other. There’s no need for words since she can still hear his thoughts and feel his emotions. Their happily ever after starts now. The end.
Apart from the earned bean, Love in Sync didn’t do much for me in terms of excitement, humor, a swoony romance, or an emotional connection. But it didn’t promise anything spectacular from the jump, so I can’t say I’m surprised it maintained its mid vibe till the end. It wasn’t that bad a watch, to be honest, but I would have liked Yi-jin’s story to be a bit more fleshed out because she was an interesting and misunderstood character. But hey, wrapping up the story in 8 episodes is the best thing this drama did, and I can’t complain.
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