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(OCN Drama) "DUEL" Jung Jae-Young, Kim Jung-Eun & Yang Se-Jong. *The End*


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  • Duel: Episode 15duel1502196a.jpg

 

There are no more secrets, which is probably a good thing since we’re in our penultimate episode and are running out of time for last-minute surprises. But it also means that Sanyoung has now figured out where the original cure has gone and will do anything to get their greedy little hands on it, so the race is on.

 

EPISODE 15 RECAP

 

duel1500004a.jpg duel1500032a.jpg

 

Wide-eyed and hysterical, Sung-hoon drives away from the hospital, telling himself he didn’t kill Doctor Mom — it was Sung-joon’s fault. Meanwhile, Big Boss reports to Chairman Park, letting him know that Mi-rae is miraculously healing after being hit by the motorcycle.

Big Boss has also discovered that Mi-rae is Nurse Ryu’s daughter, and that Doctor Mom has been attentive to Mi-rae ever since the accident. So much so, Big Boss adds, that one might think Doctor Mom and Mi-rae are actually mother and daughter. Director Park suddenly gets an idea, and he orders Big Boss to bring Mi-rae to him.

 

duel1500100a.jpg duel1500112a.jpg

 

Mi-rae, still sobbing after watching Doctor Mom get shot, is escorting back to her room by Hyung-shik. He doesn’t notice Big Boss lying in wait to knock him over the head with a wrench. With Hyung-shik unconscious on the floor, Big Boss injects Mi-rae with a knock-out drug and wheels her out of the hospital.

Down in the parking garage, Sung-joon weeps as he holds Doctor Mom in his arms. He begs her not to leave after he just found her. His voice cracks with emotion as he calls her “Mom,†but she’s unresponsive.

Deuk-chun and Soo-ho drive after Sung-hoon, but the clone’s erratic driving causes him to lose the detectives. Hyung-shik calls to let them know that Mi-rae has been kidnapped. When the detectives return to the hospital, Hyung-shik apologizes for losing Mi-rae and for not seeing the kidnapper’s face before he was knocked out. Hyung-shik also sadly reveals that Doctor Mom is dead.

 

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On their way to the security office to find CCTV footage, the detectives run into a dazed Sung-joon. Deuk-chun growls that he was worried since no one knew where Sung-joon had disappeared to after Doctor Mom’s body was brought into to the hospital.

 

=== << Read more: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/07/duel-episode-15/>> ===

 

COMMENTS

I didn’t think I could hate Chairman Park even more, considering all he’s done to ruin the lives of the clones (especially Sung-hoon) in his selfish pursuit to find a cure. But wow. My hatred for him has become a visceral ball of boiling anger that I wish I could throw at him, causing the chairman to combust as he’s punched in the gut with my burning fury. I’ve loved Mi-rae ever since I first met her, when she proved herself to be smart, kind, thoughtful, and caring. She’s one of those heroines who could probably be described as “plucky†yet it’s somehow not a cliché. Mi-rae is wonderful and perfect and therefore I haaaaaaaaaaate that Chairman Park decided that the first thing he would do after capturing her is force her to “meet†her father. Ugh.

What kind of person would show the woman he kidnapped the frozen dead body of the man she’s only just learned is her true father? Especially when it’s only to gloat that he’s still going to use the body for research purposes so that he can live longer — just like he’s going to use her body. Double ugh. What makes it worse is that, unlike the clones where you can almost understand (if you hold your nose and squint) Chairman Park’s reasoning that they’re his “property,†Mi-rae is fully her own person. She was not born in a lab. But I suppose Chairman Park automatically assumes that she’s “property of Sanyoung†because she’s the one who received the original cure, and therefore the fact that she’s healthy means she belongs to the Sanyoung research department as a “test subject.â€

What I love, though, is even with all the hardship Mi-rae has gone through in even the past twenty-four hours (or however long it’s been since she was first struck by the motorcycle), she’s still relentlessly positive and gentle. She believes New Doctor to be “good†and gets the doctor to trust her in the escape plan. Mi-rae’s quick-thinking when Deuk-chun and Sung-joon suddenly arrived also serves as a reminder that she’s still the smartest one of the bunch. If the original vaccine could cure toxic personalities in addition to diseased bodies, then I might accept Chairman Park trying so desperately to get his grubby hands on it.

 

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That sad, I really hope Mi-rae can help with the cure — I need Soo-yeon to live. I need Deuk-chun to live (that bullet wound wasn’t fatal! No one can tell me different!). I need everyone to live (except Chairman Park, who is long overdue to rot in hell). But with the death of Doctor Mom, I’m nervous about expecting a “happily ever after.†Actually, I’m just nervous about the ending, period. Anyone else who has seen Nine: Nine Times Travels may understand my trepidation as we enter the final episode. While I love that this writer is known for some mind-bending twists, I also want to fall back on the comforting promise of a safe resolution where I can feel confident that justice was served — the good guys won, the bad guys lost.

Except I still don’t know how that can be done for Sung-hoon, who flails around in that grey area of what is “good†or “bad.†Despite everything Sung-hoon has done, I can still see in him that sweet, naive, and scared little boy who just wants his mother. I can’t blame Sung-hoon for using his desire for vengeance to keep him fighting through all those years as the “lab rat.†It wasn’t his choice to have the happy and hopeful little boy eventually buried under rage and cruelty. I somehow keep rooting for Sung-hoon to reach back into his inner self and remember who he was — but after he killed Doctor Mom, I’m not sure that’s possible. Sung-hoon may be too far gone. I still have hope, though.

Maybe Mi-rae’s miraculously healing bone marrow can also heal Sung-hoon’s soul and somehow redeem his blood-thirsty ways. She may not be his mother, but she is his sister — after all, they do share DNA. For someone who has longed for family his entire life, it would be heart-breaking for Sung-hoon to lose the chance to experience true, blood family with Sung-joon and Mi-rae. Then again, maybe that “one big happy family†opportunity is already lost. As much as the Chief Prosecutor was an unethical power-hungry man who helped condemn Sung-hoon to a life of pain and torture, there comes a point when perhaps there is just one murder too many to allow for redemption. Well, unless it’s Chairman Park’s murder. I can only hope Chairman Park will finally accept his mortality at the hands of the one person who was most destroyed by his endless attempts to cheat death.

 

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  • Duel: Episode 16 (Final)duel1602346a.jpg

 

Even though Duel never really netted the ratings that OCN has recently grown accustomed to, there was a steady and loyal viewership that remained until the end. Now it’s time to see if that perseverance has paid off — will we get the resolution we desire, or will there be more last-minute surprises as the plot continues to twist and turn?

 

=== << Read full here: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/07/duel-episode-16-final/>> ===

 

COMMENTS

Excuse me while I try to compose myself. Those last twenty minutes or so were pretty rough on my tear ducts. Let’s think about the positives first: Soo-yeon is healed! Yay! Sung-joon seems to be doing pretty well, too, so I’m not sure if he somehow was healed by Mi-rae’s bone marrow in the past year or if he simply wasn’t as in bad a shape as we all originally thought. Maybe one of Sanyoung’s doctors was able to offer up a plea bargain (after Jo-hye obviously revealed all of Sanyoung’s evil doings) by using their illegally gained vaccine-creating knowledge to find a workable cure. Maybe the details don’t matter, since the most important thing is that this little ragtag family of Sung-joon, Mi-rae, Soo-yeon, and Deuk-chun are just that in the end: a family. Soo-yeon calling Sung-joon “Uncle,†clearly implying that Sung-joon is a part of her daily life, made me want to cry for joy (instead of all the other reasons I’ve wanted to cry in the last few minutes).

I can see how some might think the ending isn’t satisfying because it glosses over all those questions we’ve been wondering about since the beginning, and we’re forced to fill in the massive blanks with our own assumptions — but I loved it. Soo-yeon may not necessarily be a “lab rat†like the clones, but she certainly spent most of her life in a leukemia-built cage that prevented her from experiencing so much of the “real†world. Watching her delight in feeling the wind, just like the twelve-year-old clones did, makes me realize that she’s been given a second chance not just at her own life, but also a chance to live the life that Sung-hoon never got to live, with freedom and family and the ability to do whatever she sets her mind to. She’s no longer trapped by her failing body.

As heartbreaking as it was to see Sung-hoon purposefully throw his life away, it was also a beautiful sacrifice. I ache for the way Sung-hoon has been mistreated, and I still wish, somehow, he could be in that car with Soo-yeon and Sung-joon, with his hand out the window, feeling the wind. But Sung-hoon managed to redeem himself through his noble sacrifice, proving that even though he knew he was irrevocably broken thanks to Sanyoung, he still was able to claim some ownership of his body. Sung-hoon likely knew that going to the chairman that night was a suicide mission, but it was also completely his choice. No one forced him to give the bone marrow back to Mi-rae. No one forced him to tell Deuk-chun where Sung-joon was. That was a decision Sung-hoon made on his own after weighing the options presented by the (lying) Chairman Park and the (earnest) Sung-joon. For someone so bitter that Sung-joon never fulfilled his promise to find him when he was young, Sung-hoon’s last gift was to provide Sung-joon the means of finally fulfilling his promise to save Soo-yeon.

 

Overall, while Duel might have had pacing issues and some plot threads that got a bit knotted and frayed along the way (not to mention all the hand-wavey science), I really enjoyed being a part of this “chase thriller.†The conspiracy theorist in me might have delighted over the hours of speculation this show provided, but without a doubt the show’s strength was watching the growing trust and relationships between the characters. I know I’ve said it before, but Yang Se-jong deserves all the accolades for his incredible portrayal of Sung-joon, Sung-hoon, and Doctor Lee. I never doubted that these were all three different characters, even when Sung-joon was pretending to be Sung-hoon (an acting feat that still boggles my mind). I may have been doubtful in the beginning, knowing this important role was given to a rookie with only a couple of small supporting roles under his belt. But now I consider myself Yang Se-jong’s fan for life and am looking forward to wherever dramaland takes him next.

The rest of cast were also solidly reliable, especially once the edges were rubbed off from the harsh characterizations of the first few episodes (thank you, Jung Jae-young, for dialing down the screaming, and Kim Jung-eun for not looking quite as unbearably smug). I have a lot of respect for Lee Na-yoon, the child actress who was so committed to her role that she actually shaved her head. She also managed to make Soo-yeon wise beyond her years yet still believably young and childlike. I’ve mentioned my undying love for Mi-rae previously, so let me also thank this show for taking a chance on yet another “green†actor and introducing me to Seo Eun-soo.

 

 

Even more gratitude must be placed in the hands of the production team. Despite an over-reliance of flashbacks and flash-forwards, I really appreciated the way the director was able to portray such a complex and dense story. All the little clues along the way were fun to pick up and puzzle over, even if they ended up being red herrings (or fake red herrings — is that a thing? A red herring for a red herring?). While no drama is perfect, the hours spent analyzing every little detail felt like a gift instead of a burden. Thanks to everyone who joined me on the adventure — may our shared memories of this drama be happier than a clone’s.

Edited by FranCella
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Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching??

 

 

Life has been a bit chaotic lately, and that means I’ve not only fallen behind on shows I’m watching, but also haven’t been able to pick up as many new shows as I’d otherwise like to. But there are some promising new titles in this bunch, and I’m determined to get a taste of everything on my plate… soon… someday… â€“javabeans

 

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  • Duel: You know, I was legitimately surprised that the finale was so satisfying. I guess I expected it to fail me in some way, but it was poignant and thoughtful and thrilling, and it wrapped up the clones’ stories with so much heart. What a breakout for Yang Se-jong, who just ran away with the show, especially as the tortured, broken Evil Clone. That character deserves a prequel.
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amazing! i loved it so much!! the main actor is so good!!

 

and im sure you've been finished watching this drama right?

 

otherwise the main actor alrdy had a new project for the new drama hurrplz.png

Edited by FranCella
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yes, i finished it! i'm starting the drama circle now.

the actor was good and i didnt know him. it's nice to find new and good actor.

i wish it was the same for actress...

 

what kind of drama is he going to do? i'm sure he is getting a lot of love calls nowadays !!

 

here's the drama thread of his new drama meowfaceplz.png

 

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  • love changed the title to (OCN Drama) "DUEL" Jung Jae-Young, Kim Jung-Eun & Yang Se-Jong. *The End*

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