Extraordinary You – Episodes 21 & 22 Recap & Review

History Repeats Itself

Extraordinary You doubles down on its backstory this week, offering little in terms of plot development but instead offering an eye-opening look at the way these different stories appear to be blending together. With a growing sense of dread surrounding Ha-Roo and Dan-O’s relationship, this k-drama appears like it’s heading toward some pretty shocking and emotional moments to come.

After Dan-O and Ha-Roo’s kiss last time out, we return to our lovers falling hard for one another while Jimmiche watches on from afar, concerned with their future. He’s not the only one concerned either, as we see Kyung through the days Dan-O was asleep, bringing her flowers and genuinely caring about her well-being.

As they head off together, Do-Hwa tries to join in on their conversation while holding hands, prompting Do-Hwa to wonder what’s going on between the two as Ha-Roo tells him he wants to be alone with Dan-O. After pricking her finger on the book, Dan-O heads off to the infirmary to get a plaster while talking to herself about her affection for Ha-Roo. It’s a side of him we haven’t actually seen that often and here it’s pretty eye-opening to see his mean facade break down and the sensitive soul underneath present itself.

After a situation in class with Nam-Joo and Joo-Da, Kyung confronts Jimmiche over changing the scene, convinced he’s hiding something. This clearly rattles the Squid fairy too and as he heads back inside, he holds his head in his hands as we cut back in time to the Joseon Dynasty. Here we see our cast of characters playing out a very different story, one that sees the crowning of the Crowned Prince and plenty of anguish for Jimmiche to deal with.

A smitten Dan-O thinks about Ha-Roo before heading to school and surprising him as he looks out the window. Back to back, she leans into him and her heart begins beating faster when he calls her name. After a humorous moment together in the hallway, we cut back to the scene again for more plot development.

The problems earlier in episode 21 show up here, as Nam-Joo declares he’s leaving for good. As he does, Ha-Roo drifts back and forth between the Joseon era and present day. All of this culminates in seeing Kyung confront Ha-Roo in the hallways at school while in the past, Kyung commands Ha-Roo to slice the neck of a prisoner. He tasks him to find Dan-Oh too but as he wanders through the village and enters a shop, they touch backs, prompting him to chase her through the streets. As they talk, we see the mirrored relationships between Ha-Roo, Kyung and Dan-O begin to mirror that of their present day counterparts.

Cutting back to the present, Ha-Roo figures out the emblem he has links to his past, prompting him to head off and ask Jimmiche what it means. He sighs, telling Ha-Roo that the writer is lazy and keeps using the same characters over and over again. He goes on to tell him his relationship with Dan-O is not supposed to happen. It’s been written since the first story but they keep changing their fate.

At school, a new exchange student arrives and despite having a name, she has no backstory.  Yet. However if I’d wager a guess, it looks like she may be a set-up for Ha-Roo to have a love interest and break Dan-O’s heart. However, Dan-O herself heads out with Kyung where he begins opening up to her, before he stop himself and drives her home instead. As he watches her leave, he believes things aren’t too late to salvage things for their relationship and makes it his personal mission to be with her.

As the shadow turns back to the scene, Dan-O wakes up in bed feverish and forced to take the day off sick. At school, Ha-Roo finds himself feeling heartbroken, confused as to why he feels that way. Some time later though, she returns to school and he tells her he’ll always wait for her. However, Kyung hears his words and immediately hunts for the scorched pieces of the comic, where he finds the exact same sentence written down. The story is repeating itself after all. In school, Ha-Roo creates a beautiful scene using black curtains, leading him to sit her down and tell a story. He tells her he’ll always find her, prompting him to eventually say thank you. As Kyung watches from the doorway, he drops the charred strips of comic to the ground as our two lovers stare longingly into one another’s eyes.

Ha-Roo and Dan-O’s relationship is adorable to watch though and I don’t want it to end. This is particularly problematic because the way this story is going, with the blend of humour and romance between the pair, it all feels like its building up to heartbreak. While the Joseon storyline isn’t nearly as interesting as our modern day shenanigans, seeing these characters acting and saying the same things in that time period as now is certainly eye-opening and more than a little worrying, especially if the story is destined to keep repeating itself in the way that it has been.

Still, tomorrow’s episode will hopefully increase the pace and despite this episode doing well to flesh out Kyung’s character, doesn’t quite have the same dramatic punch some of the other episodes have done here.