Parents are humans, too….They are real people, which means they are viable for taking care of their children and making a million mistakes.
“Twinkling Watermelon” thoughtfully explores the father-son dynamics by putting them next to each other, with the same age and in the same era.
On November 14, 2023, Twinkling Watermelon aired its finale at 8:30 p.m. KST on TvN nad Viki. The episode starts with an insecure boy, Yoon Joo Yeob, who tries to kill Eun Gyeol, but instead, Yi Chan interjects and gets severely injured. It is revealed in the hospital that Yi Chan has lost his hearing, and Eun Gyeol feels guilty about not being able to change the past.
Meanwhile, Eun Yu finally meets her mother, Se Kyung, and encourages her to take a stand for herself. Cut to the future/present, Eun Gyeol is a K-pop idol; his family is wealthy and thriving, and he is reunited with Eun Yu.
What Happened In Twinkling Watermelon So Far?
Before diving into the finale, here’s a short summary of “Twinkling Watermelon” –
The story begins with a small family of four, where Eun Gyeol is the CODA (child of deaf adults), a low-key prodigy. He is the only one in his family who can hear and becomes a link between his family and the world.
With a small mom-and-pop restaurant, the family struggles to make ends meet. With sometimes friendly and often deceitful people, the family encounters challenges throughout, but Eun Gyeol always handles the situation.
However, he is also living a double life as a model son focused on becoming a doctor to make his parents proud. Meanwhile, his heartstrings are attached to his guitar strings as he dreams of becoming a musician one day.
This becomes the central conflict between the father and the son.
Thus, the universe intervenes, and Eun Gyeol time travels to 1995. He meets his father, Yi Chan, and mother, Cheong-ah, but the twist is that they are all the same age. Hence, the plot thickens as they all navigate their lives as students while Eun Gyeol also meets his love interest and fellow time traveler, Eun-Yu.
And finally, we are at the finale of the heartwarming series.
Twinkling Watermelon Ending Explained
The “Master” of destiny, the grandfather who guided Eun Gyeol during childhood, had been looking out for him all along.
Year 1995:
Cheong-ah– Our fierce Eomma learns to come into her “f*ck you” era and hands it back to her stepmother, Lim Ji-Mi when she abuses her.
Lim Jim-Mi is also frustrated with her incompetent son, Yoon Joo Yeob, and scolds him that even a guy like Eun Gyeol, who just came into their lives, is able to impress Mr. Yoon, but her own son fails.
Meanwhile, Mr. Yoon uses sign language with his daughter, Cheong-ah, for the first time. He also discovers what his evil wife is doing to his daughter.
Yi Chan– On the other hand, Yoon Joo Yeob has blood on his mind as he feels insulted by his mother’s harsh words. He decides to kill the root of his ego, and that is killing Eun Gyeol. In a classic K-Drama troupe of “hit-and-run,” Joo Yeoh goes after Eun Gyeol.
But instead, Yi Chan comes in the middle and is severely injured in the planned “accident.” Yi Chan is rushed to the hospital, where he discovers that he has lost his hearing.
Eun-Yu– her main goal in time travel was to find her mother. And they both finally come face-to-face. Eyun Yu looked exactly like her mother, Se Kyung, when she was young. Eyu Yu finally expresses her resentment toward Se Kyung and asks her to be nicer to her daughter in the future and stop controlling her.
Eun Gyeol– Eun Gyeol breaks down crying when he finds out that he couldn’t alter the past and avoid the accident that cost his father’s hearing. But at this point, the fate works its magic. Mr. Yoon declared financial support for Yi Chan after he discovered that Joo Yeob was the one who caused the accident.
Year 2023:
Eun Gyeol travels back to his real timeline and discovers that his reality has shifted drastically.
As it turns out, he is the rookie K-Pop idol SPINE9 and an artist under MJ Entertainment. Cheong-ah becomes the CEO of her dad’s company.
Yi Chan has graduated from an international university. He also reunites with the members of his actual band, “Watermelon Sugar.”
Eun Gyeol reunites with Eyu Yu when he spots her in the crowd at one of his concerts.
An AverageBeing Review of Twinkling Watermelon
The series delves into relationships that are tied tightly with loose threads.
By the climax of episode 16, Yi Chan puts two-and-two together when he sees a casket with “A Song For You” engraved dropped from his son’s pocket. He realizes that his own son was his beloved friend in 1995.
This symbolizes that the generational cycle of not going after one’s dreams was broken because Yi Chan decided to follow his path regardless of what anyone thought. And later, he encourages his son to do the same. When, in fact, his son was the one who time traveled in the past and helped Yi Chan to get hold of his life.
In a way, it exemplifies “life comes a full circle.” I definitely recommend this drama for all those who feel riffs in relationships with your parents. It is a perfect drama that shows that they are humans too and often need guidance from their children.
What is your review of this drama? Did you feel that the ending was a bit rushed? Let us know in the comments section below.
