In the final act of our story, there’s a beauty pageant, heated conflicts, villains seeking vengeance, and a close call for one of our heroines before things turn bright for our girls again.
But while we get some sort of happy ending, we can’t help but question whether the anguish leading up to it was really inevitable, or if it was the show’s way of amping up unnecessary drama.
- Main Leads: Kim Da-mi | Shin Ye-eun | Heo Nam-joon
- Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: Reply 1988 | When My Love Blooms | Twenty Five Twenty One |
Bunny S. watches A Hundred Memories on Viki
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06| 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | Finale Week Recap + Series Review |
A Hundred Memories Finale Week Recap
As it turns out, Jong-hee was there too that night and witnessed the love confession. Now that Jae-pil chose Young-rye, one would think the girls no longer have a reason to compete with each other. However, the drama seems resolved to have the girls facing off against one another.
The director at Yeong-rye’s new salon urges her to enter the Miss Korea Pageant. At first, Young-rye is reluctant, but learning that the winner receives a substantial scholarship fund, she changes her mind. Also, Jae-pil encourages Young-rye to enter the beauty pageant.
Hearing about it, Jong-hee resolves to enter the beauty pageant too. In her defense, Jong-hee always dreamt of becoming Miss Korea, and if it hadn’t been for the money prize, Young-rye wouldn’t have thought of entering. Yet, it is lamentable to see the girls who were best friends turning into rivals because of some poor writing decisions. Anyway, after some intense training, the girls enter the regional preliminaries. And Young-rye comes in first, titled Miss Seoul, while Jong-hee is a runner-up.
The next phase is a 3-week training camp ahead of the last contest. The girls end up as roommates. Something they would have been excited about before, but we can see their bond is now broken, especially on Jong-hee’s side. She tries to act cool, but we can tell she is mad at Young-rye and in pain. From making things hard for Young-rye during practice to right out ignoring her, Jong-hee turns nasty.
With the contestants working hard on their practice and finishing ahead of schedule, they get a half-day off. But they must return to the camp by 9 o’clock or else get demerit points. And that is when things start to go out of hand. The personnel manager, along with Jong-hee’s abusive brother, drops by the chairwoman’s office, aiming to use Jong-hee’s past to exploit her for money. When nothing works, they use the stabbing incident card. Yet while the chairwoman looks flustered, she sends them away without a penny.
Returning to the camp, Jong-hee finds the chairwoman waiting for her. But it isn’t because she misses her, but to take the humiliation out on her and remind her she must win the crown no matter what.
Witnessing that scene, Young-rye is shocked to realize Jong-hee has been enduring that abuse for all these years. She asks why Jong-hee lives like that, and the latter lashes out at her, throwing all the blame on Young-rye for having to leave the bus company and breaking up with Jae-pil. Jong-hee blurts out many harsh things she doesn’t mean, and Young-rye remains silent all along.
Turning to the press, the personnel manager tips a reporter off about the stabbing incident. But the chairwoman buries all the articles. So, he secretly infiltrates the camp. Spotting him, Jong-hee gets terrified and faints. Thus, the chairwoman hires some hitmen to kill him and make it look like a suicide. But he survives the attack and becomes more resolved to take revenge. (Doesn’t this man have anything better to do?)
Having a sudden change of heart, Jong-hee’s brother tries to warn her. But he gets hit by a motorbike and is transferred to the hospital where Jae-pil works. Recognizing each other, the brother tells Jae-pil about the personnel manager’s plan to kill Jong-hee. So, Jae-pil rushes over there, but by the time he arrives, it is too late.
Meanwhile, we follow the pageant as the contestants are filtered out to the 8 finalists. The girls share an emotional moment where Young-rye mentions her most precious friend. If she could go back in time, Young-rye would tell her friend (Jong-hee) that she doesn’t have to sacrifice her happiness for her and that she is both sorry and grateful. Then, the host reveals the winner of Miss Korea, Jong-hee.
Having achieved her lifetime dream, Jong-hee is ecstatic, giving a speech and being congratulated by Young-rye and everyone. Young-rye is sincerely happy for Jong-hee. But the drama chooses that exact moment to unfold a crisis. The personnel manager shows up with a knife in hand. Stepping in, Young-rye takes the hit and collapses. A shocked Jong-hee holds Young-rye in her arms as Jae-pil arrives. And all he can do is plead with Young-rye to stay with him.
In the aftermath, the personnel manager is caught, Young-rye falls into a coma with Jae-pil staying by her side, and Jong-hee blames herself for what happened, feeling guilty over the mean words she spewed and scared Young-rye might die before she can apologize to her. Acting as the voice of reason, Young-sik assures Jong-hee that what happened to Young-rye wasn’t anyone’s fault. She chose to protect Jong-hee, and she will pull through it and regain consciousness.
Learning that the chairwoman ordered a hit on the personnel manager, Jong-hee breaks free from that woman. Just then, the police arrive to arrest the chairwoman for solicitation of murder. With nowhere to go, Jong-hee wanders in front of Young-rye’s family’s diner, and Young-rye’s mother lets her inside the house. Spotting their photos together, Jong-hee cries. But luckily, Young-rye opens her eyes soon, yet before we can get our girls’ reconciliation, the drama has another time jump to one year ahead.
Young-rye is living her dream as a college student after Jong-hee gave up the scholarship for her. Giving us a mini proposal, Young-rye and Jae-pil plan to get married after she finishes school. Jong-hee looks more relaxed, and there is a hint about her getting together with Young-sik. Sang-cheol marries the woman he loves (one of Young-rye’s bus conductor friends). Hyeon takes over his family business and tries to get over Young-rye. Their final hug was a highlight, giving Hyeon closure and concluding this arc on a good note.
As we end the drama, our trio goes on a trip to the beach. They are back on friendly terms, without jealousy or resentment tarnishing their bond. And then the drama pulls its curtains.
A Hundred Memories Quick Series Recap
Set in the 80s, two girls meet while working as bus conductors and hit it off. One day, they get entangled with a young man with a scarred past. An encounter that changes the lives of the three of them.
A Hundred Memories Series Highlights and Musings
This drama is a perfect example of a story that throws away what it does best in favor of annoying plotlines that no one cares about or wants to watch. It was at its best when it was about our girls. But then, the second half kicked off with a time skip that we could have done without, disturbing the momentum and shifting the focus from the central friendship to the love triangle, though there were more interesting themes to cover, like growth, dreams, and the problems the youth faced at this time.
Young-rye and Jong-hee started off likable and multi-layered, and we appreciate how the drama portrayed them as totally different people who complemented each other the best. But then the show did Jong-hee dirty and turned her into a typical nasty second female lead, though this was supposed to be a story with two heroines.
There were many ways to make Young-rye shine without ruining Jong-hee’s character. And the show didn’t have to resort to a near-death scenario and the mini-thriller movie we got in the finale week, especially since that arc was thrown in to raise the stakes, even if it doesn’t make sense. Actually, there were some plot holes along the way, but the finale week had one too many that it was hard to sit through.
On the acting side, everyone did their best, from our main trio to the supporting characters. But the one who stole the show was Kim Jung-hyun. As Hyeon, he outshone the leading man and gave us a severe case of second lead syndrome. From the start to the end, Hyeon has been by Young-rye’s side, supporting her in any way he can and handling the rejection gracefully, and wishing her the best.
A Hundred Memories might not be the worst mess out there, but it is a disappointing show. Wasting its potential, it could have entertained us with a captivating story. But the lazy writing dashed our hopes and left a lot to be desired.
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
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