After 16 riveting episodes, “Crash Course In Romance” drew to a close with the main leads, Nam HaengSeon (Jeon DoYeon) and Choi ChiYeol (Jung KyungHo) solidifying their relationship and confirming what the audience knew all along – that they were perfect for each other. Not as satisfying was the end result for key three villains: SuA, SuA’s mother SooHee and, of course, the “Metal Ball Killer”, Mr. Ji.
Your (Kang NaUn), the first of our villains, conforms to the traditional school bully trope (albeit a high achieving one) looking for every opportunity to undermine and sabotage the very likeable HaeYi (YoonSeo’s spirit). The situation escalates significantly when SuA begins to imagine her scholarly nemesis meeting grisly, violent ends, usually at the hands of SuA herself. The obvious sleep deprivation and anxiety underpinning SuA’s hallucinations doesn’t make us like her anymore, though. SuA’s behaviour both in and out of Woorim High, however, is never really addressed at the conclusion of the series. There is no confrontation or admission of fault; if anything, there seemed to be an air of acceptance around SuA’s actions – I mean, she was preparing for her university entrance exam! Everyone’s a little bit crazy! While still giving a lonely air, SuA’s admission into medical school and emergence as the love interest of GeonHu (Lee MinJae) is hardly the consequence she deserves, given the heartache she caused to HaengSeon, Mr. Choi, and HaeYi.
Our second villain, SooHee (Kim SunYoung), provides some explanation for her daughter’s unhinged activities, as she micro-manages and manipulates SuA’s journey through the South Korean education system. SooHee even sagely states at one point “Kids like SuA who whine and complain tend to be healthier. Those who are obedient stay bottled up and flip out later.” Ah… sure. If that wasn’t enough to form a dislike for the woman, she consistently meddles with The Pride Academy, The Pride’s parents and of course, the Nams. Slowly but surely, SooHee’s toxic web begins to unravel around her, culminating in the discovery of her husband’s affair and online sharing of their filmed confrontation. Somehow, despite all of that, SooHee ends up working at The Pride, taking the opportunity to boast about her academic daughter, and conveniently leaving out the part where SuA’s studying almost drove her insane. Attorney Jang (Jang YoungNam) is even still accepting SooHee’s calls. It is all just so mystifying; definitely not the resolution required to absolve Su-Hui from the havoc she wreaked throughout the series.
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Finally, Mr. Ji himself, played so very convincingly by Shin JaeHa. For all the deaths, including that of his own mother, Mr. Ji should have at least had a showdown with the detectives who diligently put the pieces together. Instead, in a very anti-climactic end, he commits suicide by jumping from a building after a heart-to-heart with Mr. Choi. Mr. Choi did seem moved during Mr. Ji’s confession, but not enough to do a last-minute lunge for his falling figure. If only Mr. Ji had had a moment of redemption, an acknowledgment of all that he had endured to that point, perhaps viewers may have had more closure. Instead, Mr. Ji’s enduring memory is that of an obsessed killer, who in the end was simply unable to escape his crimes.
A highly enjoyable watch, “Crash Course In Romance” has such memorable relationships and characters, and the villains are no exception. Consequently, the aforementioned villains didn’t quite receive the endings they deserved. More importantly, the real issue connecting all of the villains is ignored – the competitive nature of the education system itself. Maybe the villains are merely victims of a more extraordinarily complex social issue.
Disclaimer: Fan Writers’ articles do not represent Kpopmap opinions.
