"Answer Me 1988" Episode 20 Final recap

We find out who Deok-seon's husband is, and you'll probably be surprised at the groom's identity in the grand wedding setpiece. Not that this is all that important. The main thrust of "Answer Me 1988" has always been on the powerful sense of community. This, oddly enough, is the most important part of wedding preparation presented here- the characters have to come to grips with the fact that they're leaving their parents' home, to start out on something new.
But is it really starting something new, when you're doing it together with someone that you've known since you were a little kid? That's the critical question of nostalgia that's dealt with in the modern-day interviews with the main cast in their mid-late forties. And that question is...not really answered because that kind of nitpicking sort of misses the point of what a real community is. Those experiences change you for good, making it all the easier to take on the next level of life's challenges.
I'm lived in Susaek for the past two and a half years. It's a neighborhood in the northwest portion of Seoul that looks quite similar "Answer Me 1988"s Tsang-moon. Next week I'm leaving Susaek, most likely forever. I'm not getting married- the professional situation in Seoul has just gotten to be too incorrigible. But watching the last episode of "Answer Me 1988", I kept getting the sense that for all the struggles I've had in Seoul, coming home to Susaek, and interacting in this neighborhood with people who've spent their whole lives here...it's touching to think just how much of a difference that made.
It's always the little elements. The trust. The friendliness. That's what makes all the difference. "Answer Me 1988" doesn't have a proper epligue- we don't find out everything that happened to everyone in the present day, but that's because we don't need to. Deok-seon still has her determination, Bo-ra still has her charming aggressiveness, and yet for all these differences, coming wedding day, these two are squeezing hands, like we always knew they would.
I'm normally a very strong critic of nostalgia culture, but "Answer Me 1988" has left me swooning because it just gets so much so perfectly right. This drama is a love story less between people and more for a bygone idea- a way of living life where you can meet people that you can actually trust. Other families who you can trust with your food, your kids, your life. We can have a happy existence without that. Even so, it was nice to have the experience.
Review by William Schwartz

"Answer Me 1988" is directed by Sin Won-ho, written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Seong Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa, Ra Mi-ran, Kim Seong-gyoon, Ryoo Hye-yeong, Hyeri, Ko Kyeong-pyo and Ryu Jun-yeol.

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