Here is a recap of “See You In My 19th Life” 11th episode! Lets get right into it!
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“See You In My 19th Life” episode 11 recap
Finally, it is time to tackle on the first life mystery. But the cause of this longtime extraordinary ability is more shocking than our leading lady can handle. Luckily, she has her first love by her side, promising to always to be there for her come rain or shine.
We open the episode with Ji-eum’s first life playing out in full. Back then, Ji-eum/Su lived happily with her elder sister, Cho-won/Seol, who was as soft as ever, unlike the hot-tempered Su. For an upcoming ritual, they got tasked with dying some clothes. Though the preparations were going well, Su was growing worried because of her sister’s deteriorating health. She could do anything as long as it meant Seol would get better.
Hearing that the medicine that can cure her sister exists, Su gets ecstatic. But the thing is, she can only get it in exchange for the magic bells used in the ritual. A desperate Su settles to steal those bells and escape with her sister. But soon, Min-ki/Cheon-u unfortunately catches up to them, together with his men, including Seo-ha/Han-ya.
Han-ya tries to convince Su to hand over the bells before things get more dangerous for the two sisters. But Su won’t let go of her sister’s lifeline. She begs Cheon-u to let her save Seol’s life in despair, but to no avail. Before we know it, Seol gets slain, and Su wails, holding her dead sister’s body. It is at this point that Seo-ha enters the room, and Ji-eum’s memories get blurry.
Spotting Seo-ha before her, Ji-eum couldn’t differentiate between reality and her memories of Seol getting killed. So, the first thing that crosses her mind is to strangle Seo-ha, the one who most likely did that to her sister. Still, the downcast expression on Han-ya’s face while leaving suggests he isn’t the culprit.
With some help from Seo-ha, Ji-eum snaps out of it. But she is too scared to let Seo-ha get close to her. What if she attacks him again? Ji-eum asks Seo-ha to leave her alone for a while. And Seo-ha agrees reluctantly. But he will come running if she needs him by her side.
Seo-ha gets a call from Min-ki, asking to meet. They both exist in Ji-eum’s first life. But he won’t share further details. There is something Ji-eum hasn’t remembered yet, and she has to get that memory back to solve the puzzle about her unique ability and end that misery. Later, Min-ki drops by Ae-kyung’s hospital room, where he runs into Ji-eum and hands over the bells, leaving the ball in her court to remember the rest or not.
Luckily, we don’t have to wait a long time for Ji-eum to make up her mind. Her impatience has rubbed off on Seo-ha, who heads to see her and talk the whole thing out. Ji-eum is still scared she might attack Seo-ha again, yet Seo-ha reassures her that nothing bad will happen.
With some pushing up from Seo-ha, Ji-eum musters up the courage and holds the bells tightly to remember the missing memory. It was sweet to see Deo-ha holding Ji-eum’s hand to comfort her when she looked hurt while trying to look into her memories.
And it was right to suspect Han-ya isn’t the culprit. The one who brutally slew Seol wasn’t Han-ya but Cheon-u. And he pointed the sword toward Su next, but Han-ya stopped him. Later that night, a heartbroken and enraged Su shows up for revenge. She swings a blade at Cheon-u, but Han-ya jumps in and takes the hit instead.
Su gets shot by an arrow, and with her dying breath, she holds onto the bells, the origin of that ill fate, vowing to remember that memory and the rage burning up in her heart for centuries and thousands of years to come and not forget a single thing.
So, the one who brought that fate upon Ji-eum is herself. That is Bulgasal-Immortal-Souls like, with the male lead being the root of the curse he was desperate to break. I hope we had dived into the first life for more, though. We didn’t get Do-yoon’s identity or his connection with Seol. Also, I wanted to see more of our leads’ relationship in the first life. Spending more time on the first life would be far better than watching flashbacks regarding the car accident.
Now, almost everything is in the clear. Seo-ha and Ji-eum met in their first life and fell in love. So far, there are no signs of a love triangle but a cruel Min-ki/Cheon-u choosing the bells and the ritual over people’s lives. Hence, that ill fate.
Though his actions are far from it, it seems Min-ki regrets what he did and wants to ask Ji-eum for forgiveness so they can move on and live normally. But his words to Han-na about the aftereffect of ending the ability to remember past lives have me worried. Please, writer-nim, end things on a high note giving our characters the happy ending they and we, by extension, deserve.
A Review- My final thoughts on the drama
What a ride. If there is one thing the drama did without a glitch, aside from the talented cast, it would be its enchanting cinematography, especially the scenes from the first life. Again, if a spin-off is scheduled, count me in. Also, the scene with Ji-eum walking across the bridge with her past lives characters following her was a treat to the eye.
Hats off to our cast, especially our lead actress Shin Hye-sun. The scenes of her wailing after Seol’s death speak volumes about her acting range. Ahn Bo-hyun did justice to his role as Seo-ha. Yet I hope we got less of the pool scenes and the accident flashbacks and more of Seo-ha’s character development instead.
If I have one complaint about the drama, it would be the writing and how the plot holes took from my enjoyment watching the drama. The car accident got solved pretty out of nowhere, and the same happened with the stepmother. I wasn’t fond of both plot points and wanted to focus on our leads’ relationship instead. Yet, since they got included, they would need a tighter wrap-up.
Also, I wish we got more of the first life with more in-depth exploration. (How could they only give Do-yoon one scene without even giving us his identity?) After all, that was where everything began. Still, for those beautifully filmed scenes and the outstanding performance of the hardworking and talented cast, I will be willing to focus only on the upsides and forget the downsides.
