Our tale of silly humor and heartfelt moments has come to an end. But before our leads and their deer family can relish in their happy ending, we have one final face-off against the baddies. And what a brutal one it is!
The drama wraps its run with the takeaway that as long as one works hard to stay on the right track, they will eventually get their happy ending, no matter how long it takes.
- Main Leads: Uhm Tae Goo | Han Su Hwa | Kwon Yul
- Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: She was Pretty | Thirty But Seventeen |
Bunny S. watches My Sweet Mobster on Viu
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 | 13 & 14 | Final Recap + Series Review |
My Sweet Mobster Finale Week Recap
By the time Ji-hwan arrives, a stupid and clumsy Yang-hi is still there. And spotting Eun-ha in that state, Ji-hwan can only guess what happened. Hence, he loses his reason and beats Yang-hi to a pulp. When the police arrive, it is difficult to determine who is the culprit and who is the victim. So, both Ji-hwan and Yang-hi are taken in for questioning.
A sly Yang-hi claims he is just a passerby who got assaulted by Ji-hwan though he did nothing wrong. But luckily, Hyun-woo, in a much-appreciated gesture, rushes over to the police station after regaining consciousness and hearing what happened. He states that Yang-hi was trying to abduct Eun-ha and Ji-hwan only stepped in to help them. However, after Ji-hwan gets released, Hyun-woo gets back to his condescending manner, arguing he was wrong to trust Ji-hwan and that Eun-ha could have been hurt because of him. Seriously!
The fact that Eun-ha got in danger because of him and how he resorted to violence even though he vowed against going back to this path deeply hurt Ji-hwan’s heart and made him question if he was too greedy, wanting to lead a normal life like others. In a heartfelt scene, Jae-soo reassures Ji-hwan that he is a respectable man who took responsibility for the deer squad and led them to where they are now. So, Ji-hwan shouldn’t beat himself up but focus on how to weather this storm.
Worried about Eun-ha, Ji-hwan has her stay at Mi-ho’s place. But he keeps missing her and visiting her room. On the contrary, Eun-ha won’t let this noble idiocy drag on. If there is anything she can do to help Ji-hwan, Eun-ha will step up. Together with Ye-na, Eun-ha shoots a video to help boost the company’s sales and try to make up for the immense loss caused by the commotion from last week. Yet the girls are caught out by Ji-hwan, who doesn’t seem so pleased to see Eun-ha at first, but soon starts to waver.
Taking the initiative, Eun-ha reminds Ji-hwan of how he said she was family and could stay at the house. Didn’t he promise to stay with her for the rest of his life? Eun-ha feels scared. Yet it isn’t because of what happened but because Ji-hwan isn’t by her side. Eun-ha doesn’t want to be safe alone. Regardless of the place, she wants to be with Ji-hwan. Eun-ha’s words make Ji-hwan’s defense walls crumble, and he hugs her. Putting on the gift necklace on Eun-ha, Ji-hwan asks her to wait for him. He will sort out everything and come back to her.
Luckily, the public respond to Eun-ha and Ye-na’s video positively and the situation at the company gets sorted out. But before we can sigh in relief, things take an even darker turn. As it turns out, Ji-hwan’s plan was to sacrifice himself to protect his beloved ones. If Ji-hwan turns in his father’s slush fund ledgers to the prosecution, they won’t be admissible because they were illegally obtained. But that won’t be the case if the police arrest Ji-hwan and take the evidence from him. No, don’t do that Ji-hwan.
Further complicating things, Ji-hwan’s father sees through that plan and has Jae-soo chained to use him as leverage against Ji-hwan. Since Ji-hwan refuses to give in to his father or to resort to violence and fight his way out, Ji-hwan’s father has his minions beat Jae-soo up. Ji-hwan steps in to protect Jae-soo and takes the hits instead of him. And it is really difficult to sit through that scene of brutal violence.
Also joining that bloody mess is Yang-hi who came to take revenge on Ji-hwan’s father for always prioritizing Ji-hwan over him and trying to cut him off. Foreseeing Yang-hi’s move, Ji-hwan shields his father and gets stabbed in his place. Barely conscious, Ji-hwan thinks back on Eun-ha’s promise to wait for him just before he closes his eyes.
That is really a frustrating turn of events, mainly because there were many ways the drama could go with other than this shit. The part about Yang-hi turning against Ji-hwan’s father and the baddies bringing their downfall is something I wished to see. But why get Ji-hwan roped into this face-off? Was there no other way to throw Ji-hwan’s father back in jail than this infuriating sequence?
Alas. What is done is done. Hyun-woo arrives on the scene with the police hot on his heels, arresting everyone, freeing Jae-soo, and transporting Ji-hwan to the hospital. (Side note: Hyun-woo was genuinely worried about Ji-hwan and was against that self-sacrificing plan.) Luckily, Ji-hwan survives but sustains brain damage because of excessive bleeding. Thus, getting into a coma.
Everyone is devastated and the deer squad wants to stay by Ji-hwan’s side till he wakes up. But Eun-ha tells them this isn’t what Ji-hwan would want them to do. Instead, they should go and do their part reliably and Eun-ha will stay by his side. Luckily, Ji-hwan opens his eyes but ironically, he does it just as Eun-ha goes to grab some necessities. The girl has been stuck next to him, but Ji-hwan wakes up the moment she leaves the room. Anyway, everyone is ecstatic to hear the news and our deer squad throws a small party to celebrate Ji-hwan’s discharge.
Hearing that Ji-hwan regained consciousness, Ji-hwan’s father starts talking and admits to his crimes. (Should we consider this an act of fatherly love?) At least, that incident serves to sever the ties between Ji-hwan and his father forever, since the latter declares Ji-hwan is no longer his son. He had better not go back on his word, though, as no one wants to see him again.
From here on, it is all smiles and happy moments. Hyun-woo settles to give up on Eun-ha and tries to move on, though he keeps following her channel and rooting for her happiness. II-young and Mi-ho get married and give birth to a daughter. The deer squad is crazy about the baby. Eun-ha’s channel goes viral. Ji-hwan works part-time as Eun-ha’s manager besides his job as the company CEO. If he can get his way, Ji-hwan will step down as CEO and stick to Eun-ha all the time. Now all that is left is for Ji-hwan and Eun-ha to have their happily ever after.
But before marriage comes a proposal. And now Ji-hwan laments missing out on the chance when Eun-ha brought up marriage. If only he seized the chance back then. Now, Ji-hwan has to rack his brains over how to prepare a magnificent proposal for Eun-ha. But instead of a fancy proposal, it is a simple yet heartfelt one that wins Eun-ha’s heart and ours, too.
We don’t get to see the wedding, but we can just imagine Ji-hwan being over the moon and the deer squad (read: Jae-soo and Man-ho) being over the top. The deer squad will continue to stay at the house even after the wedding. No one is kicked out, here. They will all live together as one big family. And given how hilarious Jae-soo and Man-ho were on the blind date, I guess they will stay with Ji-hwan and Eun-ha forever. We end the drama with Eun-ha and her deer squad marching forward. She isn’t alone anymore but has a beautiful family supporting her.
My Sweet Mobster Series Quick Recap
A children’s content creator, Go Eun-ha, gets entangled with a former gangster with a heart of gold, Seo Ji-hwan, and a righteous prosecutor, Jang Hyun-woo. Growing up, Eun-ha cherished the memory of her neighborhood oppa “Hyun-woo” who used to be her only friend, but they had to part ways with each other all of a sudden. Now she is curious which one of the two men is her neighborhood oppa.
My Sweet Mobster Series Highlights and Musings
The trailers and the pink-themed posters promised us a light-hearted tale full of silly humor along with a little mystery regarding our heroine’s neighborhood oppa. While the drama delivered the humor, I wished it could have gone all the way instead of turning dark and mundane during the second half.
Initially, the drama introduced Yang-hi’s character as the possible villain. But because of his hilarious attitude and fancy outfits, it was hard to take him seriously even when he tried to paint himself as a threat. Yet everything started to go downhill when Ji-hwan’s father got out of jail and resolved to force Ji-hwan back into the gangsters’ life. Which culminated in the mini-action movie we got this week. If the drama had time to spare, then spending it on the backstories of our deer squad or character development would have been much better.
For instance, we have Hyun-woo, who kept going back and forth between likable and unlikable and didn’t have any characterization other than his one-sided crush on Eun-ha and his grudge against Ji-hwan even after getting proven wrong many times. Likewise, we had Ye-na, who was portrayed as an obsessive second female lead, only to turn over a new leaf out of the blue. Don’t even get me started about how the drama hinted at setting her up with Hong-ki as a last-minute thought instead of taking time to develop their relationship naturally.
The main anchor for the drama was Ji-hwan with all his shades. And getting played by the much-talented Uhm Tae-goo further elevated the character. I want to give a big hand of applause to the casting staff who introduced us to that great actor. It is telling much that by the time Ji-hwan was revealed to be the real “Hyun-woo”, we didn’t care much as Ji-hwan had already stolen our hearts.
Further, how Ji-hwan cares for his employees and keeps looking for ways to support them more and help them study and go to college made me admire him more. He did that with II-young in the past and is now doing the same with Dong-hee, who successfully passed the GED and is now preparing for the college entrance exam. Rooting for you, Dong-hee!
Another thing I liked was the family dynamics between Eun-ha and the deer squad and how they went from deeming her unfamiliar or bickering with her to considering her family. Be it Man-ho playing cupid and calling Eun-ha “sister-in-law”, Jae-soo calling her “tiny mouse” and gradually warming up to her, the matchmaking attempts, the show they put at the orphanage, everyone chipping in to set up Eun-ha’s studio, celebrating her achievements and worrying about her safety. If that isn’t a true family, then I don’t know what is.
My Sweet Mobster was a fun show with strengths and weaknesses. We got a solid first half but a not-so-satisfying second half. Yet there is no use crying over spilled milk or complaining about wasted potential. So, let’s cherish the good memories and use a Bad Memory Eraser to forget about the less satisfying things. The drama that could have been!
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
