Breaking Down the Ending of When the Phone Rings, Netflix’s Thrilling Romantic K-Drama

As a devoted fan, I’d like to share my thoughts about a captivating series that recently concluded on Netflix – “When the Phone Rings“, a Korean-language romance thriller. Unlike many modern dramas aiming for realism, this K-drama is not one of them. Instead, it delves into the extraordinary realm of love and communication, exploring how two individuals navigate through challenges that are intentionally amplified to the utmost extent – a concept known as “makjang” in Korean drama circles. This term refers to a genre that pushes the boundaries of reality, placing its characters in increasingly intense situations that heighten the stakes and emotions, and populating their world with complex, often illogical characters. While some may find this highly relatable, it’s the extreme elements that make “When the Phone Rings” truly stand out.

Unveiling the Intrigue of “When the Phone Rings”

Introduction: “When the Phone Rings” is one of the most gripping dramas we’ve encountered in recent years, boasting a captivating narrative filled with kidnapping, murder, contract marriages, arson, faked deaths, disguised identities, and political machinations. Initially appearing as the tale of an apparently loveless union between Paik Sa-eon (Yoo Yeon-seok), a burgeoning politician, and Hong Hee-joo (Chae Soo-bin), a sign language interpreter, takes an unexpected twist in the very first episode. Here, Hee-joo is abducted and breaks her silence, a stark contrast to her lifelong use of sign language following a traumatic incident during her childhood. This sets the stage for the relentless momentum of “When the Phone Rings,” spanning 12 enthralling episodes and fueled by the electrifying chemistry and performances of series leads Yoo and Chae. In this article, we delve into the masterful storytelling techniques employed by directors Park Sang-woo and Wi Deuk-gyu and writer Kim Ji-won to resolve the series’ myriad unanswered questions in its climactic finale.

Breaking Down the Ending of When the Phone Rings, Netflix’s Thrilling Romantic K-Drama

Hong Hee-joo’s selective mutism

In our encounter with Hee-joo, it becomes evident that she has selective mutism, a condition that emerged following the demise of her brother during childhood. However, it’s revealed as the narrative unfolds that this condition was not caused by the car accident that claimed her brother’s life, but rather by the pressure exerted upon Hee-joo to remain silent by her mother, Kim Yeon-hu (played by Oh Hyun-kyung), soon after the tragedy. Selective mutism is characterized as an anxiety disorder that hinders individuals from speaking in particular circumstances, despite their capacity to communicate verbally in other situations.

In their childhood, Hee-joo’s mother, the once popular singer Yeon-hu, marries Hong Il-kyung, a prominent figure in the media industry, which brings two new siblings into their family: Hong In-a and Hong Yu-jin. Tragically, Yu-jin passes away and In-a loses her hearing following a car accident. Fearing that Il-kyung might seek revenge against Yeon-hu and Hee-joo due to the disparity in the survivors of the accident, Yeon-hu instructs Hee-joo to remain silent. As a result, Hee-joo learns sign language to communicate effectively and help In-a. As an adult, she employs her linguistic abilities to work as a sign language interpreter. Initially, Hee-joo converses aloud only with her father, Na Jin-cheol, who is residing in a nursing home, struggling with dementia.

Why did Paik Sa-eon marry Hong Hee-joo?

Initially in the novel “When the Phone Rings“, Hee-joo suspects that Sa-eon married her out of obligation rather than genuine affection, serving as a substitute for In-a whom Hee-joo’s husband had originally intended to wed. This union was primarily a strategic move to strengthen the alliance between the powerful Paik family and the influential Hong family in politics. Despite her fear of losing their position within the Hong family due to her mother’s warnings, Hee-joo continues to perceive herself as the second choice compared to her elder sister, In-a.

At the outset of the series, Sa-eon and Hee-joo have been married for three years but lead separate lives without much communication. Their union exists primarily as a contract. In the first episode, Hee-joo is kidnapped by an enemy seeking revenge against Sa-eon. She manages to keep the kidnapper’s unique phone, which only calls Sa-eon and masks the caller’s voice. Using this device nightly at 10pm under the pseudonym “406” (the first three digits of the phone number), Hee-joo pretends to be the kidnapper to persuade Sa-eon to divorce her. Feeling trapped in their marriage, especially since breaking it would require paying a substantial sum – 2 billion won or over $1.3 million – to the other party, she initially aims for this outcome. However, as their conversations deepen and they grow more familiar with each other, Hee-joo’s determination to leave Sa-eon starts to waver.

In conjunction with Hee-joo, we come to understand that Sa-eon’s reasons for marrying her were indeed born out of affection. When the Paik and Hong families opted to create a political alliance through matrimony, Sa-eon reluctantly agreed – stipulating that it would be Hee-joo, not In-a who would become his wife. Sa-eon, who had known Hee-joo since his teenage years, had admired and followed her for a long time. He chose to marry her in an attempt to shield her from the suffering he witnessed within the Hong household. During their initial three years of marriage, he did not pursue a closer relationship with her as he didn’t want to force a connection that she hadn’t previously indicated any interest in.

Who is Hee-joo’s kidnapper?

In a surprising twist of events, it was revealed that the actual Paik Sa-eon, son of a prominent presidential candidate and spokesperson for the presidential office, was behind the kidnapping of his wife, Hong Hee-joo. The man we had been familiar with as Paik Sa-eon has long been targeted by this secret version of Paik Sa-eon in a grudge that stretches back for many years.

Originally named Paik Sa-eon, this individual was born into the Paik family with a propensity for antisocial behavior. Shielded from public view during his early life, his actions grew increasingly violent when he progressed from killing animals to murdering local orphans residing near the Paik estate. To safeguard his political standing, the head of the Paik family, Jang-ho (played by Jung Dong-hwan), endeavored to drown his grandson at a secluded lake. The character we recognize as Paik Sa-eon spent most of his early years living by this lake, having been brought up by a poor fisherman named Jung Sang-hoon (Kim Jun-bae). In exchange for hiding the real Paik Sa-eon’s body and allowing Jang-ho to raise another child in his place, Sang-hoon agreed to pass off the boy as the true Paik Sa-eon. Thus, the boy lived under the name of Paik Sa-eon from that point onwards.

It turns out that Jang-ho’s attempt to drown his grandson wasn’t fully successful – when Sang-hoon tries to dispose of the body, he discovers the boy is still alive. He raises the child instead, but fails to control his sociopathic behavior. Years later, when Jang-ho passes away, the true Paik Sa-eon seeks retribution against the imposter Paik Sa-eon for usurping his life. He targets Hee-joo, whom he correctly identifies as the second Sa-eon’s most cherished person, to exact his revenge.

Who is the second Paik Sa-eon?

In the second-to-last episode of the season, we discover that Hee-joo’s husband, who goes by Paik Sa-eon, is biologically linked to Paik Jang-ho instead. The identity of his mother remains unknown, but it appears that Jang-ho abandoned him to grow up as an orphan. Later, when the original Sa-eon became a threat, Jang-ho needed a new potential heir and took him in.

On his deathbed, Jang-ho openly acknowledges everything to Shim Kyu-jin, Sa-eon’s mother and the psychopathic one, as she is known. For a long time, Kyu-jin had suspected that the second Paik Sa-eon was actually Jang-ho’s biological son, and that he had killed her son because she wanted to replace him with his own son. When she confronted him about it, Jang-ho admitted it without showing any regret.

Why did Kyu-jin hate the second Paik Sa-eon?

Following this shocking disclosure, Kyu-jin hastily covers Jang-ho’s face with a pillow to prevent any natural demise, overwhelmed by rage over his suspected role in the presumed death of her son. Sa-eon, our character, secretly records everything on a camera hidden within Jang-ho’s family signet ring, hoping it might shed light on his family’s past transgressions. She doesn’t reveal this footage to the authorities until the second-to-last episode of the series. It is at this juncture that Kyu-jin, who had believed her son to be deceased for several decades, has been reunited with him. In a desperate bid to safeguard her child and exact revenge on the second Paik Sa-eon—a boy she raised—for the sins of his biological father, Kyu-jin abducts Hee-joo at the end of Episode 10 and stages her death.

In this scenario, Kyu-jin intends to keep Hee-joo alive for many years before eventually revealing her to the second Sa-eon once he has lost hope, but if Hee-joo fails to return, minion Min Do-ki (Hong Seo-jun) of the Paik family is tasked with her murder. However, when Do-ki cannot bring himself to carry out the act, he instead sets Hee-joo free and adds an additional lock to the room containing the true Sa-eon.

Unfortunately for Kyu-jin, Do-ki’s decision to release Hee-joo leads to a series of events that he didn’t plan on. In a misguided effort to rectify his own mistakes, the real Sa-eon’s father and Kyu-jin’s husband, Paik Ui-yong (Yoo Sung-joo), forces Do-ki at gunpoint to release the true Sa-eon from confinement.

Seizing the opportunity, the real Sa-eon disarms his father and sets off in pursuit of Hee-joo, leaving behind a trail of unforeseen consequences for Kyu-jin’s carefully laid plans.

What does Paik Sa-eon whisper in Paik Sa-eon’s ear?

In the sequence of events, it was the stand-in Sa-eon who encountered Hee-joo first, before the genuine Sa-eon could fire at her. The police soon arrived, but before they apprehended the real Sa-eon, he leaned close to whisper a secret into the imposter’s ear. He revealed that Jang-ho, also known as the second Sa-eon’s biological father, had orchestrated the car accident that took Hee-joo’s brother’s life. The brother had previously seen the genuine Sa-eon’s face. After swapping places with the real Sa-eon, Jang-ho decided Hee-joo’s brother needed to be eliminated to prevent the exposure of his identity swap. When Hee-joo’s stepfather, Il-kyung, discovered that it was Jang-ho behind the death of his son, he confronted him with a gun. In an attempt to save his own life, Jang-ho persuaded Il-kyung to spare him by promising a debt—a debt that would eventually surface in Sa-eon and Hee-joo’s marriage years down the line.

Why does the second Paik Sa-eon disappear?

Following Hee-joo’s recuperation from her abduction, Sa-eon retreats from both personal and professional spheres due to his remorse over his father’s actions that harmed Hee-joo and self-punishment. However, he hadn’t anticipated a determined Hee-joo who pursues her desires. Six months later, Hee-joo takes initiative, embarking on a journey to the war-ravaged nation of Argan, where Sa-eon previously worked as a negotiator alongside his journalist friend Jang Hyuk-jin (Ko Sang-ho). With guidance from Hyuk-jin and a clue provided by a substantial donation made by Sa-eon to a sign language school in her name, Hee-joo tracks down her husband. Upon being captured by “rebels” and then rescued by a transformed Sa-eon who has become a vigilante over the past six months, Hee-joo expresses regret for their past misunderstandings and estrangement, stating, “I won’t hold back anymore.” She initiates a kiss with Sa-eon, leading them to reconnect physically.

Does When the Phone Rings have a happy ending?

After all the hardships they faced, the two characters find themselves in a harmonious relationship characterized by open dialogue. However, they decide to part ways through divorce in order to legally remarry. Sa-eon adopts a new name, Paik Yu-yeon, which signifies “only love” as Hee-joo explains it to their close friends during a heartfelt gathering at their more intimate and comfortable home.

Yu-yeon and Hee-joo share joy in their union and entertain ideas about expanding their family. Hee-joo establishes limits with her mother and pardons In-a for her frosty behavior towards her during their childhood years. “I’ll be miserable if I keep brooding over the past,” she tells In-a. Meanwhile, Yu-yeon rebuilds his bond with Sang-hoon, the burly-voiced fisherman who nurtured him, and resumes his role as a hostage negotiator. Kyu-jin receives a life sentence for her offenses but petitions, aiming for capital punishment. She cannot bear to live with the torment of not having rectified her failures towards her son, who has now passed away, twice over. Sa-eon’s father, Ui-young, loses the presidential election.

It’s important to mention that similar to the conclusion of other recent Korean dramas like “Lovely Runner,” “When the Phone Rings” follows the popular narrative of “miraculous cures” or “disability reversals,” where a happy ending is tied to characters no longer having a disability. In this series, this theme is seen in both Hee-joo and In-a, who undergoes an unspecified procedure off-screen that allows her to hear again. This narrative pattern can perpetuate the belief that individuals with disabilities cannot live satisfying lives unless they are “cured” of their condition.

Towards the end of the show, Yu-yeon and Hee-joon converse over the phone instead of relying on a communication buffer. Despite no longer needing it, they continue to playfully banter from afar. “I appreciate it when my wife isn’t shy,” Yu-yeon says to Hee-joo. “Please don’t hold back anymore. Go ahead and throw a fit, whine, or nag if you feel like it. Will you make that promise?” Hee-joo agrees, then invites Yu-yeon to return home. The series concludes with this statement: “This pair has become a couple now. They are open about their emotions and honest with each other. They’ve pledged to strive for happiness together.

2025-01-05 02:07