'Mystic Pop-up Bar' Episode 12: Kang-bae, Yeo-rin, Weol-ju and Gwi get happy endings, but not without struggle
'Mystic Pop-up Bar' came to an end with episode 12 on Thursday where the lead characters -- Kang-bae, Weol-ju, Gwi and Yeo-rin -- found their happy ending but only after major suffering. The show's climax portrays how a gift from the heavens is only possible when one has led a life filled with struggles, broken dreams, and unbearable losses. In the previous episode, Weol-ju had found out the truth about Kang-bae being her son in whom resides the spirit of the sacred tree.
The spirit of the sacred tree had awoken when Weol-ju was almost killed by her enemy from the past, Won-hyung. He had been keeping a track of her by taking over his father, Mr. Death's body and so is aware that she is very close to completing her punishment. He doesn't want to give his former best friend Gwi and Weol-ju another chance at happiness and so he does everything possible to stop them from finding love with each other. In the finale, we see how Kang-bae managed to thwart Won-hyung's attempt at wanting to kill Weol-ju by waking the power of the sacred tree within himself. Both Gwi and Weol-ju realize who Kang-bae is and so they try harder to complete the punishment.
Gwi and Weol-ju have only two days to complete their task, however, they are unable to find any customer whose grudge they could resolve, and in the end, they agree to Mr. Death's request. Won-hyung was Mr. Death's son in the living realm and he wants to pay for all of the sins committed by his son by bringing him to the Afterlife. He wants Gwi and Weol-ju to help him do this so that his grudge can be resolved. Considering they do not have anyone else to help, and since Kang-bae's life depends on this, the two agree.
Meanwhile, Won-hyung, who has learned of Kang-bae's connection with Gwi and Weol-ju comes up with his own plan for revenge. He understands that if he were to kill Kang-bae and leave Gwi and Weol-ju alive, his revenge would be complete as they would finally understand what it means to lose something they loved so dearly. While trying to save Kang-bae and bring Won-hyung back to the Afterlife; Gwi gets hurt and initially, it seemed as if his soul had dispersed. Considering the contract that he had signed with Ms. Underworld in Weol-ju's place, it seems as if he has disappeared forever. This breaks Weol-ju's heart, but she concentrates on saving Kang-bae from falling into oblivion within the dream world. So she sacrifices herself to save Kang-bae and disappears from his life.
Kang-bae, who was forcefully fed the mystic drink by Won-hyung, wakes up after Weol-ju falls from the staircase of oblivion to find that neither Gwi nor Weol-ju are around. After the powers of the sacred tree had awoken within him, Kang-bae had learned the truth about who he was to Weol-ju and Gwi, so he understands their intentions and is forced to move on with life.
It seems like the three main characters are fated for a sad ending. Turns out, by saving her son Kang-bae, Weol-ju unintentionally resolved her own grudge. She had always felt guilty about not being able to save her child in the past, so now that she did, she becomes the 100,000th customer and thereby all of the powers that Kang-bae had, get resolved as well. However, Kang-bae ends up believing that Gwi and Weol-ju would not be returning to the living realm now and so he leads his life missing the two of them dearly.
Then one fine day, he walks past a pop-up bar and is shocked to realize that it is the same bar that was owned by Weol-ju. Turns out, she has returned to the living world, and has become enthusiastically involved in resolving grudges. Before she was forced to resolve the grudges that humans held, however now, she does it voluntarily and this gives her a chance to return to Kang-bae's life. After successfully eradicating the evil spirit that had escaped from Hell, both Weol-ju and Gwi receive gifts from heaven, and that is the permission to stay together as partners and continue to do what they did in the past.
The ending was abrupt and haphazard, as it moved quickly between lead characters losing loved ones to gaining them back on a stroke of luck. Even Yeo-rin for that matter doesn't receive much attention in the end except to see her fight a bunch of possessed goons. However, the happy ending prevails over the flaws of the show.
All episodes of 'Mystic Pop-up Bar' can be streamed on Netflix.
