"Bubble Gum" Episode 16 Final recap

Well, third time's a charm. This epilogue ends up really actually being an epilogue, because this is most definitely the final episode of "Bubble Gum". The minor leftover plot points are, if not dealt with satisfactorily, at least dealt with in such a way that there's a sense of closure. Beyond that it's just more of the filler I've come to expect from "Bubble Gum", although except for the driving scene very little of it involves Ri-hwan and Haeng-ah being cute.
It does tend to be mostly pointless. Like the elevator scene. I was at a bit of a loss as to how that managed to turn into a crisis in the first place. With a little bit of hustle it's not that difficult to outrun an elevator by using the stairs. You wouldn't be able to catch a fugitive from justice that way, but a senile woman who isn't actually trying to escape shouldn't pose that much of a problem. In all fairness that scene mainly appears to have been designed to provoke a preposterous coincidence.
Se-yeong and Joon-soo do, on that note, end up addressing the whole question of meeting the parents. Although the delivery isn't terribly dramatic. Mainly this story point appears to have been introduced for the sole purpose of allowing the cast to go through another couple of cute, smiling scenes. I guess...who needs conflict when we can just have cute instead?
To the drama's credit I did find the filler here funnier than usual, mainly because the occasional bit of dialogue recognizes the absurdity of the various situations. Ji-hoon is practically self-referential at this point, admitting that his relationship with Tae-hee has gone through the same movements several time by now and this time, the proof that he's really made a genuine sincere change is, that they now meet at the same place but he's not drunk. Additionally Ji-hoon is at least willing to hear questions, even if no answers are offered.
That, as far as I can tell, is what we were supposed to be getting out of "Bubble Gum" as a whole. We got lots of questions, very few answers, and the general appeal of the people involved is about all that made the experience tolerable. I guess that kind of works as a metaphor for life in general- it's not like we ever know for sure that a relationship has a future just because a few simple roadblocks have been overcome.
Review by William Schwartz

"Bubble Gum" is directed by Kim Byeong-soo, written by Lee Mi-na-I and features Lee Dong-wook, Jeong Ryeo-won, Lee Jong-hyuk, Park Hee-bon, Bae Jong-ok, Lee Seung-joon and more.

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