I’m traveling, so I’m just going to answer one part of your question. The tree isn’t a pear tree, but Wintersweet…
Hi, it's me again :). I'll try my best to go through the last scene with you without first rewatching (sorry, real late here and my hotel won't let me access right now).
Let's get familiar with the concept of mirroring in storytelling. There is a lot of this in this drama, where one scene is repeated in a later episode with either different characters or from a different POV.
In the beginning of the drama, we have XFF running "from" something. She was wearing red. Then we see her husband in white.
In the middle of the drama, we see a mirroring of Xiao Heng's mother wearing red. She was running toward her husband, XH's father. I believe he was wearing white too.
In both scenes, both women died. Even though XFF didn't "die" in this drama, her old self XFF did. You can say both women died from grief.
In the final scene, we see XFF in red again and this time she was running "to" something. We see her at her door and it was snowing. We must remember, throughout the drama, it always RAINS (the Chinese title is Inky Rain Amidst The Clouds, playing on the theme of being tainted by the Scholar's inky evil, the shame of her being defiled, etc.). The only rain scene that the heroine didn't seem afraid in was Episode 17, when she was with Xiao Heng after getting drunk. I had another post analyzing why that scene had a cleansing rain instead (another topic).
But, back to this scene, the snow echoed her name Xue. This was her "time," so to speak. Also, her husband, Xiao Heng, had promised her he would be back when their tree flowered. XFF knew her wait would be years, but THIS was her time. She went to the tree, her hair loose (not cut off like a widow, as she had said to her "other" father).
A man on a white horse, dressed in red ,appeared. This was mirroring all the previous scenes of the lover appearing, but this time, he was in RED. First, it was Su Go Gong's favorite color, as you know. Second, it was the color of marriage, celebration and love. Some viewers preferred this as some kind of dream or wish on the part of the XFF. However, in the first two scenes mentioned above, XFF was startled awake from the dream and then killed off and XH's mother stumbled to her death. Both were looking straight on at their lovers. In this one, the director chose to have XFF under their tree. She turned in anticipation, as if she heard something (hooves?) and looked toward the coming horse. Yes, it was an artsy-fartsy ending because the director wished it so, but I do believe it was clearly a happy ending for the couple, that Xiao Heng made it back as he had promised.
If the FL were really dreaming this ending, I doubt she would have a pendant dangling on the horse or that she couldn't even see her lover's face. In those two other times, when it was clearly a dream (or nightmare) and a vision (XH's mother), both women clearly saw the man they wanted at that moment. In this ending, XH's face was not shown. I'll take that as a clue that XFF wasn't dreaming, hallucinating or having a vision LOL.
Could someone please explain the symbolism of the ending? I understand it's meant to be a happy conclusion, but…
I’m traveling, so I’m just going to answer one part of your question. The tree isn’t a pear tree, but Wintersweet and they planted a pretty big sapling. If you research, it takes three to five years for a sapling to grow and have its first bloom. Longer response later!
The Double is nominated for Best OTT Original at the 2024 Asia Contents Awards, congratulations!https://www.globalottawards.org/eng/addon/10000001/page.asp?page_num=6079
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Let's get familiar with the concept of mirroring in storytelling. There is a lot of this in this drama, where one scene is repeated in a later episode with either different characters or from a different POV.
In the beginning of the drama, we have XFF running "from" something. She was wearing red. Then we see her husband in white.
In the middle of the drama, we see a mirroring of Xiao Heng's mother wearing red. She was running toward her husband, XH's father. I believe he was wearing white too.
In both scenes, both women died. Even though XFF didn't "die" in this drama, her old self XFF did. You can say both women died from grief.
In the final scene, we see XFF in red again and this time she was running "to" something. We see her at her door and it was snowing. We must remember, throughout the drama, it always RAINS (the Chinese title is Inky Rain Amidst The Clouds, playing on the theme of being tainted by the Scholar's inky evil, the shame of her being defiled, etc.). The only rain scene that the heroine didn't seem afraid in was Episode 17, when she was with Xiao Heng after getting drunk. I had another post analyzing why that scene had a cleansing rain instead (another topic).
But, back to this scene, the snow echoed her name Xue. This was her "time," so to speak. Also, her husband, Xiao Heng, had promised her he would be back when their tree flowered. XFF knew her wait would be years, but THIS was her time. She went to the tree, her hair loose (not cut off like a widow, as she had said to her "other" father).
A man on a white horse, dressed in red ,appeared. This was mirroring all the previous scenes of the lover appearing, but this time, he was in RED. First, it was Su Go Gong's favorite color, as you know. Second, it was the color of marriage, celebration and love. Some viewers preferred this as some kind of dream or wish on the part of the XFF. However, in the first two scenes mentioned above, XFF was startled awake from the dream and then killed off and XH's mother stumbled to her death. Both were looking straight on at their lovers. In this one, the director chose to have XFF under their tree. She turned in anticipation, as if she heard something (hooves?) and looked toward the coming horse. Yes, it was an artsy-fartsy ending because the director wished it so, but I do believe it was clearly a happy ending for the couple, that Xiao Heng made it back as he had promised.
If the FL were really dreaming this ending, I doubt she would have a pendant dangling on the horse or that she couldn't even see her lover's face. In those two other times, when it was clearly a dream (or nightmare) and a vision (XH's mother), both women clearly saw the man they wanted at that moment. In this ending, XH's face was not shown. I'll take that as a clue that XFF wasn't dreaming, hallucinating or having a vision LOL.
I hope this scene exploration helped you!