It is a jam-packed finale, featuring a separation trope, multiple time skips, possession antics, one final plot twist, and an emotional send-off for the evil spirit who finally gets closure for the past.
Our leads get their happy ending, and the villainess receives another (though unearned) shot at life. So, all is well that ends well.
- Main Leads: Cho Yi-hyun | Choo Young-woo | Cha Kang-yoon | Choo Ja-hyun
- Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim | Bring It On, Ghost | Sell Your Haunted House |
Bunny S. watches Head Over Heels on Prime Video
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | Finale Week Recap + Series Review
Head Over Heels Finale Week Recap
Despite being stricken with grief, Seong-ah takes it upon herself to protect everyone, Yeom-hwa included, so that Spirit Mother’s death won’t be in vain. She intends to have Bong-su leave Gyeon-woo’s body and come to her instead. It is a risky plan that might cost Seong-ah her life, yet she goes with it, regardless.
Going out with Gyeon-woo on one last date (which ironically marks their first date), Seong-ah bids him goodbye and departs with Bong-su, promising to return before graduation. Some time passes. Seong-ah is still missing. Ji-ho and Gyeon-woo are now seniors, their bond as strong as ever. Back to archery, Gyeon-woo is on a winning streak, making Coach Yang proud. But it is palpable he isn’t happy.
Holding onto hope, the boys await Seong-ah’s return for the graduation ceremony, yet she is a no-show. It is doubly sad because Seong-ah’s dream was to attend the graduation ceremony and take a picture with a bouquet in hand. Instead, Gyeon-woo buys a bouquet, and the boys take a photo, leaving a space for Seong-ah in the middle as if she is the one holding the bouquet.
Deeming killing Seong-ah as the only way to get rid of Bong-su, Yeom-hwa tricks a clueless Gyeon-woo into becoming a ghost hunter, chasing after ghosts for info about Seong-ah. However, his search goes nowhere, and he risks being expelled from the archery association after getting caught by police several times shooting arrows at night in the forest.
His efforts paying off, Gyeon-woo finally catches a trace of Seong-ah. Yet Yeom-hwa beats him to it. Seong-ah wanted to help Bong-su move on by praying for the souls he devoured and helping them find peace. However, when Yeom-hwa attacks her, Bong-su takes over Seong-ah’s body and snickers at her. Arriving on the scene, Gyeon-woo helps Seong-ah/Bong-su escape, despite Yeom-hwa’s protest. Rather than scold him for wasting the last chance to catch Seong-ah, she shouldn’t have tried to bring Bong-su out into the world, as Gyeon-woo counters.
Skipping 2 years ahead, Gyeon-woo is now a promising archer, packing Seong-ah’s cabinet with medals and mentioning her in his interviews. Occasionally, Seong-ah enters Gyeon-woo’s dream (or, more precisely, pulls him into her dreams) but stays hidden and doesn’t let him see her, lest he get hurt. However, he can sense her presence. Seong-ah is glad that the boys are close and live together in Gyeon-woo’s place, yet her spirit is cracking and might die unless Bong-su leaves her body.
Things happen, and Gyeon-woo runs into “Seong-ah,” only to get peeved that it is Bong-su. Jumping at the chance to save Seong-ah, Bong-su tries and fails to possess Gyeon-woo. He repeats the experiment on Ji-ho, but to no avail. For now, Bong-su has the time of his life, putting on weird outfits and pissing Gyeon-woo off by imitating Seong-ah.
Desperate, Bong-su pleads with Gyeon-woo to die in Seong-ah’s stead. But the thing is, Seong-ah holds onto Bong-su tightly and won’t let go. So, they need Gyeon-woo to pretend he is Bong-su and coax her into coming out of her hideout. Bong-su closes his eyes, and Gyeon-woo gets into Seong-ah’s dream. At first, she thinks he is Bong-su, but then she recognizes him and tries to run away. Not that he will let her.
Opening her eyes, Seong-ah is back, and Bong-su possesses Gyeon-woo instead. Though he knows he will die, Gyeon-woo accepts his fate and asks Yeom-hwa to perform a rite and exorcise Bong-su. She knows she might die too, yet that is the price for her sins.
Realizing what they are up to, Seong-ah desperately prays to retrieve her shamanic power. Luckily, she regains her power in the nick of time and stops the rite. She couldn’t help Bong-su move on as they couldn’t find his name. But the thing is: Bong-su knew his name all along, but thought it was his friend’s name. However, there was no such friend. In his last moments, Bong-su saw an illusion that he believed to be his non-existent friend. The ring belonged to Bong-su’s mother, and the regret of being unable to return home turned him into a restless spirit.
Getting closure, Bong-su finally moves on, giving Seong-ah a comforting hug before bidding her farewell. Praying for Bong-su to find peace, this arc finally comes to an end. It was touching to see Spirit Mother (in spirit) helping Seong-ah by her side. But the same can’t be said about Gyeon-woo asking for Yeom-hwa’s real name and treating her kindly. At least, she knows she doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.
A part of us finds Yeom-hwa’s ending irritating, as she doesn’t deserve another chance after making Gyeon-woo’s life hell and using Bong-su for her gain. If the drama wanted to give her a redemption arc, then it needed to do a tighter build-up, not a rushed one during the final hour.
우당탕탕 봉성아 재회 후
드디어 꿈속에서 만난 성아 ʚ̴̶̷̆ ̯ʚ̴̶̷̆견우와 성아, 그리고 봉수의 엔딩은? ????????????#해피엔딩기도햄 ????
오늘 저녁 8:50 최종화 | tvN#같이달려tvN #견우와선녀 #HeadOverHeels pic.twitter.com/CQyLWgRrnO
— tvN drama (@CJnDrama) July 29, 2025
Following a brief time skip, Gyeon-woo competes for a spot on the national team for the Olympics, and Ji-ho cheers for him. The love triangle is over with Ji-ho bowing out and resolving to be friends with our leads. Seong-ah stays as a shaman and runs late for the tryouts after getting stuck comforting a restless spirit. Luckily, Gyeon-woo makes it through and reserves his ticket for the Olympics, and Seong-ah is ecstatic to hear that. They can now be happy together without worrying about anything. And on that note, the drama draws its curtains.
Head Over Heels Quick Series Recap
Leading a dual life, a high school girl moonlights as a shaman. One fateful night, she comes across a handsome guy who steals her heart, thus securing his spot as her first love. The catch: he only has 21 days left to live, and our teenage shaman has to bring her A-game if she wants to save him. Adding to the excitement, the guy is the newly transferred student to our heroine’s school, making them classmates.
Head Over Heels Series Highlights and Musings
Rather than a well-trodden story about fighting evil spirits, the drama blended its fantasy elements with emotionally evocative plot lines and light-hearted humor, enriching its story with various themes, such as innocent people facing misfortune, loneliness, first love, found families, and the wish to protect our cherished ones even at the cost of our lives.
For most of its running time, the show sustained a light tone. But then, it took a dark turn in the penultimate week, with twists piling up, culminating in a convoluted finale. Which had us worried about sacrificing one of our leads to save the other. Luckily, it worked out well, yet instead of an intense finale, the drama could have wrapped up Bong-su’s story in episode 11 and used the remaining time to depict Seong-ah and Gyeon-woo’s dating era. After all this suffering, one scene is nowhere near enough.
Getting raised by Spirit Mother, Yeom-hwa and Seong-ah turned out vastly different. Both suffered many losses, but one chose to wreak havoc and the other opted to save everyone, even at the cost of her life. They were the perfect foils to each other. And perhaps if Yeon-hwa hadn’t gone too far, we could see them collaborating in the future.
Another highlight is the show’s healthy portrayal of Ji-ho’s character, gifting us a non-toxic love triangle and one of the most decent and kind-hearted second male leads. Ji-ho became a human amulet to protect his rival in love, stayed by his side all the time, and willingly walked out after spotting our leads happy together. He selflessly supported both Seong-ah and Gyeon-woo, and we wish the drama had given him a happy ending too.
Bong-su was an interesting character as well, an innocent young boy who had to hold a gun and fight enemies when he should have been playing with his friends. Unfortunately, he met a cruel death, had to linger around as an evil spirit, and then got exploited by Yeom-hwa. But we wish the drama had carried on with the playful portrayal of his character instead of making him nasty and selfish. Still, we are glad he moved on instead of perishing, giving him a semblance of a happy ending.
Perhaps, it would have been better if the drama had found a way to balance out Gyeon-woo and Bong-su’s screentime as Gyeon-woo’s story got mostly relegated to the background after Bong-su was introduced. The only things Gyeon-woo had going for him were archery and the arson case which was pretty much needless to the story.
Setting the bar high, Choo Young-woo once again nailed his dual roles. And it was fun to have Cho Yi-hyun play dual characters too, on top of giving us an impressive performance as Seong-ah. Cha Kang-yoon was stunning, and we will look forward to his future projects. Last but not least, Choo Ja-hyun grounded Yeom-hwa’s character and gave her some nuance despite being an insufferable 1-D villain.
Head Over Heels might have faltered a bit along the way, but it charmed us with its entertaining tale and emotionally resonant plotlines. A rewatch might not be in the works, but its fun parts will stick with us for a long time, and perhaps we will rewatch those parts and skip the less interesting ones, namely Yeom-hwa’s scenes.
Photos and Videos: tvN Drama
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