Legend of The Blue Sea - Episode 16 Summary

Across a wide intersection, mother and son realize they’re about to reunite after years of searching, and stare at each other with their hearts in their eyes. As Joon Jae (played by Lee Min Ho) walks toward his mother, he envisions her as she looked when he last saw her, just as she sees Joon Jae as the little boy he used to be. Their steps quicken until they meet in the middle, and then Mom clings to Joon Jae, sobbing that she’s sorry. At first he just stands there in shock, but then he hugs her back.

Chung (played by Jun Ji Hyun) watches the reunion and thinks, “Of the many things I’ve learned after coming to this place, the best words are ‘happy ending.’ This moment right now is a happy ending. But the hope and despair given by life is that time keeps flowing, and the moment passes. Nobody knows what other moments will come after the momentary shining happiness.”

Mom keeps her head bowed as she and Joon Jae sit in a coffee shop afterward, filled with guilt over leaving him now that she knows that he was neglected by his stepmother. At the time, she’d thought he’d be better off with his rich father, thinking he’d be looked after, and believed that he’d been schooled abroad and lived well.

Joon Jae assures his mother that he lived well anyway, and met good people. She asks why he ran away in high school, and Joon Jae replies, “Because I missed you. I missed you so much.” He’d thought he could find her right away, but when he couldn’t, he’d even wondered if she’d died. Mom starts sobbing again, but he asks her to stop saying sorry, because he’s grateful just to have her alive and well.

Joon Jae dabs at her tears and pulls her close, and teases that his mom has gotten small: “When I was young, I was always held in your arms. I’ll have to hold you every day now.” Mom says he must have endured so much, growing into adulthood all on his own. He tells her she can’t go anywhere now, and she nods.

While Joon Jae talks with his mother, Chung rejoins her birthday party and fills in the others on what just happened. Nam Doo’s amazed that the mother Joon Jae looked for so desperately was close by all this while, and Homeless Fashionista points out that this sort of overshadows Chung’s birthday. Chung doesn’t mind, though, saying that picking today as her birthday enabled the reunion to happen, and Nam Doo compliments her on her logic.

Then he stubs his toe on the couch, and the sensation jolts the part of his memory that Chung had erased when he’d discovered her swimming in the pool. He doesn’t understand the full memory, but it’s enough to make him eye Chung suspiciously and think hard about what he’s unable to recall.

As they walk back to the house arm in arm, Joon Jae tells Mom he never imagined that he was eating her food all this while, thinking only that it tasted similar to his mother’s. Mom asks if it’s true that he’s dating Shi Ah, as she implied, and is relieved when he says Shi Ah’s just a former classmate.

She guesses that Chung is his girlfriend, and recalls all the times Chung helped her, like pulling her out of a car’s path. Joon Jae gets alarmed at that and nags his mother to be careful around cars. Mom asks how Joon Jae can afford such a nice house, and he assures her that he made lots of money and can take care of them, and tells her to move in with him. Mom asks what kind of work he does, and Joon Jae mumbles vaguely, “This and that.”

They join the party, where Joon Jae reminds Chung to make a wish before blowing out her candles. She immediately wishes, “I want to live here happily with Heo Joon Jae for a long, long time!” Nam Doo chides her for saying it aloud, saying it won’t come true then, and she looks crushed until Joon Jae assures her that it will still come true.

When Joon Jae reaches to pull out her candles from the cake, she stops him and suggests that they relight them to celebrate their other happy event. So this time, Joon Jae and his mother blow out the candles together to another round of applause… and then Chung asks if there are any more congratulations needing to be given. Little Yoo Na says she got a perfect score on her test, so cue a third round of candle-blowing, and then Nam Doo calls an end to that before Chung can find more things to celebrate.

Nam Doo calls Shi Ah to invite her to join the fun, sharing the news of Joon Jae’s big reunion and saying that she must be quite close to Mom since they lived in the same house. Shi Ah just collapses and whimpers. The party winds down and the guests say their goodbyes, and Homeless Fashionista—who’s been commenting the whole time on how she’s used to other parties being more lavish—asks for her goody bag. Nam Doo offers her leftovers, and she says she doesn’t eat food more than two hours after it’s been cooked.

Nam Doo notes that all Chung’s friends are very strange, but she says she likes all the friends she’s made here, including Joon Jae’s mother. Joon Jae’s surprised at that, but Mom confirms that they’re friends. Over drinks, Nam Doo recollects how hard he tried to locate Mom, and she supposes it was difficult, because she spent a few years abroad after the divorce, then lived in other people’s homes once she returned to Korea.

Then Nam Doo asks if she knows the name Kang Ji Hyun, since his research showed that the woman (whom we know to be Stepmom) went to the same high school that Mom did. Mom confirms that she knows her—and that Joon Jae does, too. “She’s your stepmother,” she informs him.

Joon Jae is stunned, but when Mom asks after his reaction, he tries to dismiss it. Nam Doo starts to explain that they’re looking into the whereabouts of the fugitive Ma Dae Young, and how this woman is connected to him somehow. This is news to Chung, and she asks what their relationship is. This time, Joon Jae cuts in and tells Nam Doo not to say more, and brushes the matter off as no big deal. Neither lady looks convinced.

Shi Ah paces nervously in front of Joon Jae’s front gate, unable to ring the bell. Tae Oh comes upon her as she’s winding herself up in knots about Joon Jae’s mother, and rather than joining the party, she drags Tae Oh along to get a drink.

Over soju, Shi Ah offers to help Tae Oh get over her by admitting something that’ll cool his affections, and says that she knew her housekeeper was Joon Jae’s mother. She’d been so terrible to Mom that she thought she could make amends before revealing the mother-son relationship, but now recognizes that it’s all over for her, and that Joon Jae will hate her when he finds out. She calls herself a bitch and says that Tae Oh should be glad she’s enabled him to get rid of his feelings for her. Sobbing, she wishes for her feelings for Joon Jae to disappear too.

Joon Jae informs Detective Hong about his stepmother’s true identity, and this at least explains why Dae Young has been targeting Joon Jae. He suspects that Stepmom was behind it, motivated to claim Joon Jae’s inheritance. Still, Detective Hong warns that because there’s no evidence to support their investigation, poking into the case could backfire on them. That’s not good enough for Joon Jae, who is determined to investigate on his own terms and find the evidence himself.

Thankfully, Chi Hyun didn’t succeed in killing Manager Nam in the hospital, though it does put him in a coma. The doctor assures Ajusshi’s wife that there’s still hope that he could wake up healthy… although he does call that a miracle.

Meanwhile, Manager Nam dreams of his Joseon doppelganger, who goes Dam Ryung’s orders to find a scroll hidden in a secret room. When an intruder enters, he manages to slip out quietly, only to be confronted in the yard by Joseon Chi Hyun—and Nam Doo?

Joseon Ajusshi runs, but they easily keep him in their sights. In the present, Ajusshi’s hands twitch ever so slightly as he reacts to his dream.

Chi Hyun bursts in on his mother to ask, point-blank, whether Ma Dae Young is his father. Stepmom just tells Chi Hyun that she’s doing all the work and all he has to do is wait for her to make things happen. He bursts out that he can’t stand the idea of being the son of someone like Dae Young—it makes him feel like moss that can’t go out into the sunlight.

Stepmom tells him of how she and her twin sister were abandoned together, and her sister got adopted into a nice family. She, on the other hand, grew up in poor home with an abusive drunkard for a father, and saw no future for herself. “In that situation, I had one advantage,” she says.

In flashback, we see a teenage Stepmom sobbing to a police officer that she thought her father was just sleeping, looking heartbroken at his death. Years later, she cries at her dead husband’s memorial for him to take her with him. She tells Chi Hyun that people believe the words of the weak, and has used that as a weapon to get where she is now. Chi Hyun looks devastated, and she cradles his face in her hand and says that she doesn’t want him to take the long, hard path she had to travel, considering Dae Young and Chairman Heo merely parts of that road. Chi Hyun flings her hand away, but she presses him to continue on this path, and to step out into the sunlight and live as a flower rather than moss.

Tae Oh sees Shi Ah home, and tells her that he’ll be able to get over her now.

She seems a little disappointed at his quick recovery, and he adds that she should confess her feelings openly to Joon Jae. She worries that she might not be able to see him again if she does, but Tae Oh points out that seeing him this way isn’t exactly desirable either.

Mom calls Jin Joo to let her know she’ll be staying with her son tonight, and Jin Joo reacts excitedly to the news. She really is invested in Mom’s comeback, in a cute way.

When they’re alone, Chung asks Nam Doo to elaborate on what he was saying earlier about Kang Ji Hyun and her relationship to the killer. He tells her what we know so far: that Kang Ji Hyun was involved with Ma Dae Young, and that she’s surrounded by suspicious deaths. They were unable to confirm whether the couple had a child together, but if she is in fact Stepmom, then Chi Hyun is likely that child.

Chung supposes that Joon Jae must have been quite lonely, and Nam Doo says it’s a good thing Joon Jae met him when he ran away from home, because his family home was so cold. After Chung leaves, Nam Doo remains behind to stare at the pool, trying to piece together the memory fragments of that day he can’t remember. Suddenly, he remembers himself urging Chung to cry. He can’t figure out why, and mulls it over.

Chung shows Mom up to her loft room, and finds a present waiting for her from Joon Jae. The card reads, “My beloved Mung-Chung-ie [dummy], you went through a lot to come to me. Thank you for coming. From now on, I’ll make sure you only wear pretty shoes and walk in good places.” Inside the box, Chung finds a pair of shiny new sneakers and giddily puts them on, then lights up to see the pink stuffed octopus in the next box. Then Mom pulls Chung into a hug, saying that she’s grateful to have her with Joon Jae. Chung says the same right back, that she’s glad Mom is here with Joon Jae.

Then Chung adds, “If something ever happens and I’m not with Joon Jae, don’t go anywhere and stay with him.” Brow furrowing, Mom asks what might happen, to which Chung just says it’s a hypothetical.

Down below, Joon Jae smiles to hear Chung thanking him in her thoughts, and sends her a text asking why she’s not asleep yet. She replies via her thoughts that she didn’t get a proper chance to look at his face on her birthday, so he texts her to open her door and beams up at Chung when she does.

He texts for her to go to sleep now that she’s seen his face, but Chung pouts that on TV, birthdays come with kisses. So Joon Jae laughingly waves her down, and Chung does, after first checking that Mom’s asleep. (Mom totally isn’t, and smiles to herself.)

In the pool area, Chung puckers up for her birthday kiss, and Joon Jae chides her for trying to steer their romantic love toward the dirty side. He also requests that she keep her nighttime thoughts down, since it’s so noisy in his head that he can’t sleep. She mutters that it’s unfair that he gets to eavesdrop on her thoughts, although he replies that he doesn’t want to hear them either.

She asks if he called her down to complain, and Joon Jae says no, pulling her close in a hug. He says he’s checking that her heart is still running properly, and notes that it seems weak right now. He gives her a kiss, then declares her heart back to a strong heartbeat.

The next day, Mom returns to Jin Joo’s house, and Jin Joo thrills at the thought of Mom and her son regaining their rightful places. Mom isn’t interested in that for herself, but does want Joon Jae to reclaim what’s his. Jin Joo calls Mom “unni” and tells her not to bother cooking today, and suggests tea, wanting a nice long gossip session. She gets up to serve Mom, and then her husband comes home and treats Mom like a guest too. Jin Joo has even sent him to grab groceries in Mom’s stead, although she then berates him when Mom doesn’t like the look of the produce.

Shi Ah does a quick 180 out of the room when she sees Mom there. But Mom notices, and drops by Shi Ah’s room to guess that she already knew Joon Jae was her son. Shi Ah stammers that she was going to speak up, and asks if Mom will tell Joon Jae.

Mom surprises her by taking her hand and thanking her for being a good friend to Joon Jae. She asks her to continue being a friend, and Shi Ah is so relieved and thankful that she swoops in for another hug—but Mom is prepared this time and wards her off, hehe. She also tells her not to call her “Mother” but to act as she did before, leaving Shi Ah wondering if she just drew a line keeping her from being too close to Joon Jae.

Joon Jae shows up unexpectedly at the company to demand his father’s whereabouts from Chi Hyun. Chi Hyun dismisses his entourage of executives, who walk away murmuring about Joon Jae being the chairman’s son. Chi Hyun repeats his earlier lie about Dad being off on a vacation, and when asked where, he pauses for a moment before saying Hawaii. Joon Jae doesn’t buy it and says plainly that he doesn’t trust Chi Hyun, and walks away wearing a grim face.

Detective Hong confirms that there have been no records of Chairman Heo leaving the country in the past six months. Joon Jae calls Nam Doo to announce that they’ve got a new target to infiltrate: his father’s house. Nam Doo’s excited to have a new job, though confused at the target, while Chung perks up to hear Nam Doo’s end of the conversation. She even offers her help, and he rejects it right away, knowing Joon Jae will get angry. Then he suggests they can just keep it from Joon Jae, and she agrees.

Even Mom gets in on the action, asking for Jin Joo’s help in drawing Stepmom out of the house for a few hours. Jin Joo’s thrilled to play a part, and ensures Stepmom’s presence by specifically inviting everyone but her to a gathering, promising to tell them juicy news. Ha, that’s clever, since Stepmom decides immediately to go, not wanting Jin-joo to shoot off her mouth.

Chi Hyun drops in to see Chairman Dad in his bedroom, sounding pretty drunk and asking if Dad can just have one son, promising to protect him through the end. “Do you really need Joon Jae?” he asks, a bit despairingly. At Dad’s non-response, Chi Hyun plays it off as disappointment in Joon Jae for refusing to see his sick father, lying that Joon Jae had told him, “He’s your father, so you take care of him.”

Trying to get his father on his side, Chi Hyun adds that Joon Jae is a con artist now, asking if he really needs him. Dad just tells him that he’s drunk and sends him away.

Nam Doo scopes out the chairman’s neighborhood by going around with advertising flyers, and notices that their mailbox contains a letter from a pest control company. Then, we see a van in their fleet of cars with that company’s logo on it.

Joon Jae dons his disguise for the day and gets ready to move out, as does Chung. He asks where she’s going, but when she asks the same of him, he quickly deflects to avoid having to answer. Nam Doo shoots her a wink behind Joon Jae’s back, which she returns.

Joon Jae complains that her dress is too short, and when Nam Doo points out that he’s objectively wrong, Joon Jae fumbles for another reason to object. “It’s too… pretty! Go change!” It’s absurd, but on the other hand, Chung does concede to herself that looking too pretty doesn’t suit her purpose today.

The moment Stepmom leaves her house, the team swings into motion. Detective Hong and his partner keep watch from the pest control van, while the con artist trio head out dressed as exterminators. The team presents themselves as the household’s regular pest control team, and Nam Doo keeps the housekeeper busy while the other two split up, pretending to inspect for bugs. Joon Jae is hit with a wave of emotion as he looks around his old home for the first time in years.

Nam Doo had assured Joon Jae that Chi Hyun would be late coming home, and now we see that he’s ensured this by Chung going out to dinner with him. Chi Hyun is happy that she called him out, but his face falls immediately when she asks if he knows Ma Dae Young, and what his relationship to the man is. Neither of them seems aware that Dae Young is, at the moment, just tables away.

Chi Hyun asks why she wants to know, and Chung explains that Dae Young keeps popping up in their orbit for unknown reasons. But she wonders if it’s something Chi Hyun could have a part in stopping, if he’s somehow related. But Chi Hyun tells her coolly that he can’t do anything, because he has nothing to do with Dae Young.

Tae Oh hacks into the security system to disable the cameras, then copies files from the chairman’s computer regarding company investments. Joon Jae makes his way to Stepmom’s parlor, and takes a few quick photos of all the purple flowers decorating the space. He finds a jar of pills and swipes some, in addition to a vial. He sticks a device underneath her table, then heads upstairs.

He pauses for a moment before opening his father’s door, and steps inside to find his father sitting on his bed in a dark room. The chairman looks up blankly as he asks if it’s his wife. Joon Jae watches with sad eyes as his father fumbles for the light, then squints at his figure and asks if he’s Chi Hyun.

Dad gets alarmed at his silence and feels around for his phone, but Joon Jae approaches and places the phone in his hand. Dad recognizes Joon Jae’s voice, though his face remains a blur. Joon Jae’s worry and frustration come out in an angry shout as he demands to know why Dad is here, and what’s become of him. “Did you leave Mom and treat me so horribly just to end up like this?” he asks accusingly.

The housekeeper gets suspicious of the voices from upstairs and shakes off Nam Doo’s attempts to distract her, hurrying away to check on the situation.

Joon Jae tries to usher his father out, saying that it’s dangerous for him here. Dad scoffs at that, but Joon Jae tells him that Stepmom was behind Ajusshi’s accident, as well as Dad’s condition. But I guess that just sounds like childish complaining, because Dad bristles, taking Joon Jae to task for coming home for the first time in years and accusing his mother. Joon Jae, on the other hand, takes offense to that use of “mother.”

Dad says defensively that Joon Jae must want for him to admit he was wrong about everything, and Joon Jae readily agrees. But Dad says it was his life and his choices, insisting, “I wasn’t wrong. I was happy.” He says that his eyes will heal with surgery, clinging to his denial.

Upset at his father’s reaction, Joon Jae says, “I’m not the only thing you can’t see right now. You can’t see anything. You have no intention of seeing how far your life has fallen.” But Dad thinks Joon Jae is only driven by hate of his stepmother, saying that she’s a kind woman who waited for his return for years. “I know her best,” Dad says. “What do you know?!”

At that, Joon Jae lays out the facts: Stepmom’s real name, and her backstory, with two dead husbands. That shocks the chairman, even as he insists weakly that it’s all nonsense. Joon Jae says that Dad doesn’t have to believe him, but he refuses to leave him here, and intends to drag him by force if necessary.

Joon Jae reaches for Dad’s arm, and at that, Dad bursts out, “They say you go around conning people! And now you’re acting like this to your own father, you bad guy?” Stung, Joon Jae lets go of his arm.

The housekeeper calls Chi Hyun to tell him that the exterminators seem strange, and that there are loud voices from the chairman’s room saying something about Father. Guessing that Joon Jae’s there, Chi Hyun tells her not to let Dad leave the house and to call the police if necessary. He also supposes that Chung called him to draw him out.

Chi Hyun drives off in a hurry, leaving Chung on her own—and that’s when Dae Young, who’s been lurking, steps out and approaches Chung in the parking lot. She doesn’t seem scared and starts walking toward him, and doesn’t even seem that fazed by the hammer he holds up.

But suddenly, Dae Young throws it upward—not at her, but at the pipe above, triggering the sprinkler system.

Chung starts running as water spurts from the pipes, and Dae Young chases. She makes it into the stairwell without being sprayed, and runs up with Dae Young close behind. Near the top, she heads through the door—and when Dae Young opens the door moments later, he’s surprised to find her standing right in front of it, waiting for him.

Chung grabs his arm and pulls him out onto the rooftop, warning that his memories will erase now, and then he’ll be apprehended. Dae Young tries to pull his hand away, but she grips tightly, telling him that he’ll be in a kind of hell, not remembering anything but having to pay the punishment anyway.

She closes her eyes to begin the memory wipe, and we see a succession of murders flash through his mind: a man in a stairwell, a woman in a field, Younger Stepmom crying over a body, Adolescent Stepmom and her adoptive father…

Then his Joseon lifetime mixes in with the images, and the scenes play in Chung’s mind too. She watches the scenes from Sae Wa’s life that involved Lord Yang, such as her initial capture and reunion with Dam Ryung, culminating in the final encounter in the water when Dam Ryung had thrown himself in the path of the harpoon meant for her.

In shock, Chung lets go of Dae Young’s hand as she remembers Joon Jae telling her of Dam Ryung and Sae Wa’s happy ending, horrified to realize it was all a lie.

Personal Thought:

Oh noooo, why do I have a sinking feeling about this discovery? I was pleasantly surprised when Joon Jae found out the truth of Chung’s heart and didn’t insist she return to the sea or do some other nobly stupid thing “for her own good.” I was relieved when his response to seeing Dam Ryung’s and Se-hwa’s tragic fates was to decide that it was an opportunity for him to change his ending with Chung, especially when this couple is so darn cute when they’re together and open about their feelings.

But now that Chung sees that fateful ending for herself, I wonder if it’s too much to expect for a similar reaction from her. For one, this is a mermaid story, and dramas do love to play with the story of that little mermaid who died while her prince lived on. I don’t for a second believe that’s what’ll happen, but that doesn’t mean we won’t flirt with that angst. And I don’t love the whole “If anything ever happens to me” speech Chung made to Mom. I just hope that the show will continue its pattern of addressing conflicts swiftly and letting them move aside, not lingering too long in them.

I’m intrigued by this revelation of Joseon’s version of Chi Hyun and Nam Doo being in cahoots. It wasn’t at all a surprise that Joseon Chi Hyun was involved, or that Nam Doo would turn out to be dark, since those are elements that have been teased before. I just didn’t expect them to be in cahoots, and now find myself really curious to know if modern-day Nam Doo has anything to do with Chi Hyun or his mother.

I wonder if it’s purely optimism to think that there’s still hope for either/both Chi Hyun and Nam Doo—I’d like to believe that there is, not just because I want them to shed their dark sides but also because I find them more interesting that way. Both are well-acted, by actors who know how to play up both good and bad aspects in their performances for morally ambiguity, and both have flashes of something promising in their personalities. Does having one trajectory in the Joseon timeline guarantee that their modern counterparts will follow? I really feel like it’s up to them to decide which way to tip, and not a foregone conclusion of fate. Which we can then extrapolate to the drama as a whole, in an optimistic sense, because I’d rather believe in Joon-jae’s declaration that fate isn’t fixed, but changeable. In that sense, tragedy can be used to prevent future tragedy, rather than predicting it.