“Lies Of Lies” has concluded its run last night. The hit Channel A drama broke multiple ratings record for Channel A becoming the highest rated drama in it’s history.

Fans have mixed feeling about saying goodbye to “Lies Of Lies,” they wish for the characters’ happy ending but also are upset to let it go.

So what happened in “Lies Of Lies” episode 16? And did “Lies Of Lies” ending satisfy fans? Today, we’re here to share the highlighted recap of “Lies Of Lies” episode 16.

Note: this recap is of the episodes pivotal highlighted moments, it is not a recap of every scene.

The Recap

Eun Su sat down with Kim Woong who lies about having something to tell her. She hears his phone ringtone which brings back memories from the incident 10 years ago.

A flashback of the murder time over 10 years ago:

Ki Beom is intoxicated beating Eun Su, Kim Woong appears in black covering from head to toe, he stabs him multiple times until he collapses, he then frames Eun Su for the murder and plays a fabricated recording of Eun Su admitting to murder.

Back to the present:

Kim Woong ends up beating her badly and attempting to strangle her, luckily, Ji Min comes in at the right time to save her. However, Kim Woong runs away and the police begin searching for him.

Eun Su is hospitalized following the attack. Ji Min visits her to let her know that he’s found the secret code meaning Yoon Sang Kyu left behind. It turns out to have been CCTV footage of her father’s hit and run. It shows that Kim Woong intentionally murdered him. Eun Su collapses in tears.

Meanwhile, Chairwoman Kim finds out Kim Woong is on the run and begins to fear the worst.

The next day, Ji Min parents come to check up on Eun Su. While Ji Min and the detective visit the workshop while attempting to uncover details about chairwoman Kim crimes and the identity of the painter. Ji Min ends up uncovering that the name was fabricated and gets the idea to go visit the chairwoman house again.

When they arrive at the basement, they find Kim Woong there drawing out of his mind covered in the same blood when he was hit by Ji Min on the head while trying to murder Ji Min. He’s arrested on the spot.

Chairwoman Kim’s lawyer tells her that Kim Woong is being chased and will soon be found and they should blame everything on him so she gets the shortest sentence. She refuses and says to fight for Kim Woong’s minimum sentence.

The chairwoman finds out Kim Woong was arrested.

Flashback to the past:

Kim Beom is on drugs and on his feet begging his mother not to abandon him. She walks away from him, as she’s walking away he brings her secretary Kim Woong. He’s beating up badly by him, Kim Beom talks about how she should behave or else people might start to think he’s her son if she keeps this up. She doesn’t deny it and Ki Beom loses his mind when he is assured that Kim Woong is her son. He throws a fit and both threaten each other. Kim Beom says if she abandon him, he’ll make sure to expose her.

The present

The news of chairwoman kim and her trial are top news and people call for her dismissal. The news about her son are also reported.

Meanwhile, the Dr. at the hospital tells Ji Min that Eun Su has agreed to donate her organs and told them to take care of her body in case she dies. Ji Min grows worried. He goes to visit his daughter to tell her the truth.

Turns out, Woo Joo already knew she was adopted since her adoptive parents fought back when they got a divorce. Ji Min cries after he finds out. He then tells Woo Joo that her real mother is Eun Su. Woo Joo cries alone later as she recalls instances piecing everything together.

The next day, Eun Su goes to the prison to visit chairwoman kim to basically rub it in her face. Eun Su asks why she was targeted by her, chairwoman kim claims that its because Eun Su lied to her about having been pregnant with a child.

Not satisfied by the reason behind the hell she brought on her, she tells her she’ll never forgive or forget her and she should live her life missing her son rotting in prison.

Woo Joo is having a party ahead of her operation, she tells her dad to invite Eun Su to the party. They have lots of fun together before the surgery. The next day, the mother and daughter hold hands as they’re heading to the operating room. Woo Joo thanks her mother and calls her mom for the first time, Eun Su is shocked to learn that Woo Joo found out but leaves for the operation room happy.

1 year later

Woo Joo has gotten better and is out of the hospital living her life normally. She is with her dad who is making kimbap. On the TV screen, Yeon Joon is shown still winning awards with Se Mi by his side.

Woo Joo dresses up and goes to the funeral home with her dad who tells her, ‘we’re going to see mom there.’

At the final scene, they approach the gravestone and the camera zooms out and we see that Eun Su is alive and well (well-played PD), she hugs her daughter and they stand before Eun Su’s father’s grave.

The end.

The Review

I must start off by complementing every single actor and staff member who worked on this show, thank you all for your hard work, you all did well. Thank you for the enjoyable drama.

Now onto the review.

In my half-way review of “Lies of Lies” I talked about how the motivation behind everything felt shaky to me and how I couldn’t comprehend why the chairwoman was trying so hard to stop her, now I get it BUT my judgement remains the same.

The reasoning is pretty convincing aside from the fact that it still doesn’t add up much if you think about the first episodes. I understand why the chairwoman framed Eun Su, but after she killed her daughter (presumably), even with Eun Su out of jail, I’d assume a rational person like her would just leave Eun Su be instead of stir the pot. A guilty person wouldn’t react that way.

The heir to the D.O. group is allegedly dead, why are you still following Eun Su around blaming her for the death of your son? There is nothing left to do anyways, your son killed him and you know it, just leave it be. Had she not done that, none of this would’ve happened and for a character that is allegedly trying to bury the truth, it felt that oftentimes, she was airing it out begging for us to find out.  

Her actions are illogical and its feels like an overkill, like she’s beating a dead corpse especially in the earlier episodes. I understand why she’d get scared once she found the child was alive, but up until the point she didn’t know, her interference in Eun Su’s life felt overly dramatic and downright cartoonish at times. Like an evil mother-in-law you see in cartoons who is just evil for the sake of it.

“Lies of Lies” has always felt overly dramatic to me, it might be because I liked the drama but never got so invested that I didn’t pay attention to the bigger picture. The ending was obvious from episode 12 but I stuck around because I enjoyed the cast performances.

But I’d understand why the majority wouldn’t even care and would likely think I am overreacting.

“Lies of Lies” had this particular plot hole but aside from that, it’s a very solid drama. You could call that nitpicking, and for the most part it is, but I wished “Lies of Lies” would’ve made more sense.

I think we needed to know more out about the son and the mom dynamics prior to the murder, more than the few minutes we’ve gotten. “Lies of Lies” was fun but it ran for too long, 12 episodes would’ve sufficed with the addition of the backstory of the evil drug addict son.

Regarding the performances, I have nothing but praise for everyone involved including the child actress, she has a bright future ahead of her.

I don’t see many people talking about him, but actor Song Jae Hee who played the character Ki Beom deserves awards for his performance. He was simply astonishing. He was the highlight of episode 16 for me. Since the drama was a success, I hope he takes home at least one award this year.

His appearance was short but very memorable. He remains in your memory despite not being there on screen most of the time. The actor had a difficult job to pull off, a junky who is abusive and vulnerable at the same time, what a complicated combo. He pulled it off so damn well, I wanted to see more of him. I always thought “Lies of Lies” needed to delve to the past of Eun Su and him in more details, it would’ve been even more fun.

Also, actor Kwon Hyuk Hyun has done a great job with his character. He was so hot I just couldn’t hate him. Can’t wait to see his future projects. He looks older than someone born in 1993, I’m crossing my fingers hoping he already served in the military.

So what did you guys think of “Lies of Lies” ending? Did you like it?