I watched the final episode of Burnout Syndrome twice, and honestly, I could probably watch it again and still…
What a beautiful, deep and insightful comment, thank you so much for that!
Among others for this line: "It’s love, but it’s also labor, emotional and creative, and Jira refuses to pretend that labor is weightless."
It allowed me to grasp the emotion underlining that move.
PS. In the novel Koh agrees to the price, with payment in 277 monthly installments. It was their own way of promising to spend their lives together.
PPS. I also noticed people in Koh's home, and I tried to make sense of the noises that were coming from that space. I wonder if Koh opened his parent's old factory again.
Dew has his own BL as the male lead coming out this year!
Uggh, they say in the comments below that it is not a BL but a bromance - it is called Mr.Kill . I was 100% sure it is going to be a BL, but I see now that at the series page there is confusion and even battles about it.
This has been an amazing ride. 10 weeks of masterful storytelling, acting, framing, music. I have yet never listened to the whole OST of a series regularly how I did with the Burnout syndrome OST.
P'Nuchy created such a captivating story - and so piercing in its actuality. And the actors executed her vision with such artistry that I often forget to breath witnessing their performances.
Like in the last scene, we see Koh seeing the picture seemingly not changing his facial expression, but it conveyed such a deep emotion. He drank that picture in. He was impressed. He was captivated. He was longing. And he was crying long before we saw his tears streaming down his face.
It is moments like this that make me rewatch them several times.
Throughout the series, I was impressed by Off so many time - and I was even worried for him in the beginning, seeing how real his insomniac exhaustion looked like.
Dew was truly a discovery to me. Each episode he was opening from yet another side. His portrayal of deeply flawed and human Pheem shone with different colors in each episode. In the final episode it was like Pheem in his final form - for this story, for this chapter of his life. Beautiful, sad, but also resolved and open.
His words to Jira on artists and AI having each their own audience is the true message of P'Nuchy, and it feels meaningful and significant that she gave these lines to Pheem. And Dew delivered them with such love and care. I thought that it was not only Pheem speaking to Jira, but also Dew speaking to all the artists and creative people going through a crisis right now.
Pheem as a character earned my respect and affection - not for "who he is" but for "what decisions he made". Each of us has power to make new decisions and seek change.
Gun's performance was what initially locked me in (together with Pheem-Jira chemistry I was feeling so much in the first 4 EPs). Jira is a complex character, and Gun portrayed that complexity in such a natural manner. My favorite Gun is the Gun whose character is listening to their partner and responding to what he hears with different facial expressions. We are on this journey together with him.
Ing is a friend we all need - and I hope she has a person like her in her life. All of us who happened to become support for other people know how much we also need someone to lean on and to tell all our stories.
Last but not least - Mawin, a good friend to Pheem, in good and in bad times. The expressions they exchanged with Pheem when "Do not answer" contact called him was pure gold, and it was not just comedy gold but human relationship gold. Him using his chance to apologize to Jira was a good call, and telling Jira where he stands on Pheem and Jira relationship was also so good. Lets not forget the "If you mean the result... then it looks like a tie" :D
It was an amazing series. I will miss it in the ongoing version, and I am glad that we have it as a full story now. And of course, I will keep listening to the OST.
Thank you so much for watching it and discussing it together throughout all this time. It made it all so much more fun, gave so many new insights and perspectives. It will be great to meet you again at other titles too.
The one year time skip was important because we can see that Pheem has finally healed. That lingering good bye…
I think Pheem looked at peace already at the gallery - when Jira talk about the painting of him and Koh, Pheem is listening to him with a light smile that shows relief of being at peace with the fact that his love story was over.
The thing that really got me in Koh's action is that he KNEW Jira would be unhappy or angry, and he still went ahead and did it anyway. He knew because he asked to "please not be angry" because he was so excited about what he was to show Jira.
This is a textbook entitled behavior: to believe, to be absolutely sure, that your emotions are the more important ones and that it is your emotions that define the situation. That the person to feel the same emotion as you equals love. We see it all around in real life when power dynamics is in play. Men tend to not only measure every interaction with a woman with their own emotions, but for many men even things like acknowledging a woman's boundaries equals defining them for her.
Koh has this love blooming inside and genuine wish to connect with Jira but he is ignoring Jira's boundaries so brutally that their obvious connection just gets screwed.
And - Koh knew. He just chose that if he is happy enough, than Jira must be happy too.
Big mistake.
Jira, well done, my boy - even though it is heartbreaking and hella scary. But this is not a wound to ignore.
Dew acting a broken heart when Jira confessed was so real. I could not look away. You can see everything: how his heart drops to his stomach, how the pain starts spreading in his chest and spreading roots fast, yet step by step. I am in awe - and in pain, he acted it so well.
Sad painting 🎨😔 Pheem keeps wondering why Jira can't draw him as he drew Koh and after finally meeting the…
I wonder if Jira will share with us why he cried looking at his painting of Pheem.
In the novel, when he painted the picture, he realized that romance was possible between him and Pheem, but then Koh came and swept him off his feet, and everything changed. Here though it looks somehow different for me. I wonder what meaning P'Nuchy embedded here.
I am also trying to remember - did Pheem see Koh's paintings or did he know anything about them? I am trying to recall, but it seems to me that he will not know the difference until he sees a picture of Koh.
May I just say how much I love watching JoongDunk reacting to this series - in some ways even more than watching the series themselves. Seeing them laugh, respond emotionally or sharing some behind the scenes stuff is so great.
Among others for this line: "It’s love, but it’s also labor, emotional and creative, and Jira refuses to pretend that labor is weightless."
It allowed me to grasp the emotion underlining that move.
PS. In the novel Koh agrees to the price, with payment in 277 monthly installments. It was their own way of promising to spend their lives together.
PPS. I also noticed people in Koh's home, and I tried to make sense of the noises that were coming from that space. I wonder if Koh opened his parent's old factory again.
Sorry for sharing the unconfirmed info!
I have yet never listened to the whole OST of a series regularly how I did with the Burnout syndrome OST.
P'Nuchy created such a captivating story - and so piercing in its actuality. And the actors executed her vision with such artistry that I often forget to breath witnessing their performances.
Like in the last scene, we see Koh seeing the picture seemingly not changing his facial expression, but it conveyed such a deep emotion. He drank that picture in. He was impressed. He was captivated. He was longing. And he was crying long before we saw his tears streaming down his face.
It is moments like this that make me rewatch them several times.
Throughout the series, I was impressed by Off so many time - and I was even worried for him in the beginning, seeing how real his insomniac exhaustion looked like.
Dew was truly a discovery to me. Each episode he was opening from yet another side. His portrayal of deeply flawed and human Pheem shone with different colors in each episode. In the final episode it was like Pheem in his final form - for this story, for this chapter of his life. Beautiful, sad, but also resolved and open.
His words to Jira on artists and AI having each their own audience is the true message of P'Nuchy, and it feels meaningful and significant that she gave these lines to Pheem. And Dew delivered them with such love and care. I thought that it was not only Pheem speaking to Jira, but also Dew speaking to all the artists and creative people going through a crisis right now.
Pheem as a character earned my respect and affection - not for "who he is" but for "what decisions he made". Each of us has power to make new decisions and seek change.
Gun's performance was what initially locked me in (together with Pheem-Jira chemistry I was feeling so much in the first 4 EPs). Jira is a complex character, and Gun portrayed that complexity in such a natural manner. My favorite Gun is the Gun whose character is listening to their partner and responding to what he hears with different facial expressions. We are on this journey together with him.
Ing is a friend we all need - and I hope she has a person like her in her life. All of us who happened to become support for other people know how much we also need someone to lean on and to tell all our stories.
Last but not least - Mawin, a good friend to Pheem, in good and in bad times. The expressions they exchanged with Pheem when "Do not answer" contact called him was pure gold, and it was not just comedy gold but human relationship gold. Him using his chance to apologize to Jira was a good call, and telling Jira where he stands on Pheem and Jira relationship was also so good. Lets not forget the "If you mean the result... then it looks like a tie" :D
It was an amazing series. I will miss it in the ongoing version, and I am glad that we have it as a full story now. And of course, I will keep listening to the OST.
Thank you so much for watching it and discussing it together throughout all this time. It made it all so much more fun, gave so many new insights and perspectives. It will be great to meet you again at other titles too.
Honestly, the AI part of the plot grabbed my attention so strongly that at times I have been forgetting all the romantic part throughout the episodes.
This is a textbook entitled behavior: to believe, to be absolutely sure, that your emotions are the more important ones and that it is your emotions that define the situation. That the person to feel the same emotion as you equals love. We see it all around in real life when power dynamics is in play. Men tend to not only measure every interaction with a woman with their own emotions, but for many men even things like acknowledging a woman's boundaries equals defining them for her.
Koh has this love blooming inside and genuine wish to connect with Jira but he is ignoring Jira's boundaries so brutally that their obvious connection just gets screwed.
And - Koh knew. He just chose that if he is happy enough, than Jira must be happy too.
Big mistake.
Jira, well done, my boy - even though it is heartbreaking and hella scary. But this is not a wound to ignore.
- You are good enough as you are already. It is just being good and being loved are two different things.
For real though, as Joong and Dunk said in heir reaction to episode 4, I think - nothing is moving except for their relationship 😂
In the novel, when he painted the picture, he realized that romance was possible between him and Pheem, but then Koh came and swept him off his feet, and everything changed. Here though it looks somehow different for me. I wonder what meaning P'Nuchy embedded here.
I am also trying to remember - did Pheem see Koh's paintings or did he know anything about them? I am trying to recall, but it seems to me that he will not know the difference until he sees a picture of Koh.