Czakhareina:
REPLY 1988 - i still think there was late shuffling of writer Lee and shin PD, just to have that 'aha' moment of being shocking ending. Felt so cheated from this drama. Still breaks my heart thinking about the end of this drama. Though i did skip the last episode, too painful to watch. I could never ever ever ever accept that ending.
I totally understand being into Jungpal and Deoksun, but I compleeeeetely disagree about any late shuffling. Every. Single. Husband. Clue. Pointed. Straight. To. Taek. I literally just recently rewatched R88 & confirmed just how glaring all of it is -- even R97 (the most obvious of them all in terms of end-game couple) had hints more vague, not even mentioning R94. The only reason for the confusion was that we saw the gang's teen years unfold through the eyes of the unrequited lover, R88's Chilbong, Junghwan. He was the decoy from the beginning, while husband seeds were really always planted for Taek, from the seemingly throw-away lines ("grow up quickly and marry me!" "there's our son in law" "should I seduce him?" etc) to the episode 2 childhood story (which *always* features The Husband) to key & steadfast characteristics introduced that wouldn't make sense unless they were about Taek (Junghwan would definitely never smoke knowing his brother's heart condition, why would anyone besides Taek be being interviewed in the first place, Kim Joohyuk/Husband in present day acted just like Taek's Dad etc). I don't really subscribe to a ship in R88 (or R94, really) although I do have a preference for Taek/Deoksun, but I was actually pessimistic about the chances of them being end-game because Jungpal just seemed like the obvious option, and the obvious won in the two previous installments. Taek being it (imo) made R88 rise to a completely different level, not only was the candidate that ~won unexpected, but it was clearly intricately planned and tied everything together. I was actually really pleasantly surprised by the writer's guts and conviction to tell her own tale and stick to it, tbh, even when the majority were swaying towards a different way.
Also, she said this, "I did not change the script. Hamlet didn't get the girl, but he did get his story told."