Recaps: The Witch’s Diner Episode 8 : Finale

~ The Final Feast ~

The story starts with Young Hee-Ra falling in love at first sight with a man(Jin’s father) at an art gallery. Hee-Ra narrates, “There was a woman who wished for an ordinary life.”. Suddenly she loses sight of him at the gallery and then finds him with a coffee outside the art gallery.

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Hee-Ra narrates to Jin that Jin’s father proposed to her, and the two lived happily ever after. That’s how stories usually end, but it was not in her case. She finds that he has another family. Hee-Ra one day follows him to another house and finds his wife.

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She realizes it was not love and decides to give up on everything and on herself. She places a curse that the child of the man should suffer the same fate as hers at a cost of becoming a witch herself.

But fate turned so cruel, Hee-Ra becomes pregnant with the man’s child (Jin). She begs her mom(The woman from the brown smoke.) to somehow reverse the curse. Her helpless mom explains to her that wishes can never be reversed. She then asks her to abandon the child and says the child would be more unhappy if it stayed with Hee-Ra, just like how she made Hee-Ra suffer. Hee-Ra gives the child to Jin’s mom. 

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Jin questions how could she give her to her mom (non-biological mom) and then says how she always thought she was a mistake and her father left her mom because of that. Jin’s mom lived in suffering throughout her life because of Jin.

Hee-Ra says it was not Jin’s mistake but her mistake which she will never regret. At that time Jin’s mom was the safest bet and she didn’t have any other option.

Hee-Ra says, “The moment you were born felt like a magic to me.”. Hee-Ra looks at the steak in front of her and then says she will take the revenge as it is her duty. Jin stops her saying that it is her revenge and she will do it.

Jin intently looks at the book and Hee-Ra warns her that it won’t be like last time. Hee-Ra explains that the first time when Jin made a wish her witch blood was awakened and this time if she makes another wish then she would become a witch. Jin finally after finding an apt recipe stands up and announces, “It’s done now.” And says this time her revenge is different than the previous one.

Jin takes a veal heart and starts cooking. Unusually she cooks another recipe with whipped cream and cake. She thinks of how Tom Kim made her suffer and says she made a veal heart for Kim. Jin then thinks of Kim’s wife who is suffering from dementia and his daughter who suffers from rare refractory disease and she made a strawberry whipped cream cake for his family’s health. And coffee to awaken the sense of guilt in Kim. Jin says it’s her own way of revenge.

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As she finishes the dish one by one Kim’s wife suddenly faints in the kitchen. After Jin finishes off everything, a black smoke evaporates from her and is followed by a blue one. Hee-Ra is both surprised and happy seeing Jin.

A month later, Gil-Yong writes his GED for which he stays too calm but his father is totally nervous. Gil-Yong also informs his father that he will write CSAT so that he can attend university which of course makes his father very happy.

After the exams, Gil-Yong meets up with Young-Jae. He seems to be pretty confident and preparing for the CSAT and Soo-Jung(the girl who liked Gil-Yong) is helping him.

Young-Jae enquires him about GED results and then says the school is way better now. Now no one is bullying anyone and Hyun woo is leaving to abroad as he used to bully his friend (another guy in the bully gang) from the middle school and he exposed Hyun-Woo in the media.

Gil-Yong mutters that this is the price that he pays and he should use this opportunity to learn from his mistakes.

Finallyyy Jin and Gil-Yong go to a movie and Jin say it’s been ages since she has gone to a movie. (It’s all fate that they should go now.). Gil-Yong at the movie theatre thinks, “When I first entered the restaurant, I thought I lost directions. But now I understand. you never lose direction. You just keep finding a new way.”. “All encounters in this world are magic.”, appears on the theatre screen.

After the movie, Jin thanks Gil-Yong for staying with her in her hardship, though it was late she wanted to thank him. She then says he had his own problem but he handled it very well. Jin says he is more mature than her and she learned many things from him.

Gil-Yong smiles and says, “When I was an athlete, all I did was look ahead to the finish line. But I see many more things now. There is something that I realised at the witch’s diner. That there are roads in every path of life.”.

Jin pats his head and says, “You are all grown up now.”. (This takes his breath away, again!!).

Gil-Yong asks what she wished for revenge. Jin promises to tell him the next time and says that one sure thing is it is impossible for him to live normally. Gil-Yong wonders, “Live normally?”.

Hee-Ra is all dolled up and Mr. Oh asks her if she is going somewhere. She says it’s the day for the special feast. Mr. Oh says, “You look different today. ”. (He doesn’t dare to say beautiful.) and even for this Hee-Ra scoffs at him, “That’s just your imagination.”.

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Hee-Ra happily prepares for the special feast with Mr. oh. They both enjoy and cook for the feast.

The first one to make it to the feast is Gil-Yong followed by Jin and her mom. Hee-Ra smiles and welcomes Jin’s mom. As they start Gil-Yong asks should they make a wish. (Haha I thought the same ) Hee-Ra says it’s just a dinner. They all enjoy their meals and to add on to the happiness Gil-Yong gets a message that he passed the GED. They make a toast to congratulate Gil-Yong.

After dinner, both moms of Jin sit together and Hee-Ra says she won’t apologize but say thank you. Hee-Ra says it is so indescribable how thankful she felt for so long and she could live on because of Jin’s mom.

Jin’s mom says that she thought she would never have a baby and then Jin happened. She then says when she first held Jin’s hand she realized, ”Oh, It was all so I could meet her.”.

Jin’s mom tells Hee-Ra that Jin is just Jin and it doesn’t matter who gave birth to her and who raised her. They both smile at each other with teary eyes. Hee-Ra asks that she didn’t make her wish yet. Jin’s mom says, “You have granted my wish already. Meeting Jin was miracle and magic to me.”.(Hee-Ra smiles proudly at her.).

Later that day, Jin tells Gil-Yong about the wish she made. She explains that is not a curse but a prayer. She made a veal heart for bringing conscience into Kim and whipped cream cake for his family’s wellness and a coffee for a sense of guilt.

Gil-Yong comments someone like Kim shouldn’t be forgiven. Jin clarifies she won’t be the one to punish him but he is going to punish himself. And continues that the coffee with the veal has a side effect Kim would get Fiery pit of unimaginable pain whenever he does anything to feel guilt. (Ha! Nice one.).

She then says Kim would live his entire life in constant fear of losing his loved ones as he has exposed his family to the media and become a romantic.

The next day, Jin gets shocked to hear from Hee-Ra that she is leaving. Jin shoots her with so many questions. Jin asks how can there be a witch’s diner without a witch.

Hee-Ra reminds Jin that she is a witch now and says, “I am curious about how different you’ll be as a witch compared to me. ”. Hee-Ra then continues that She’ll be just away for a while. And asks her to keep the place well until then.

While leaving Hee-Ra says she started loving her work because of Jin and thanks to her. Hee-Ra then says she is in no plan to retire.

In the car as Mr. Oh drives, Hee-Ra says, “I am looking forward to what kind of witch Jin will become. She reminds me of my past self as well. It was quiet fun back then.”.

Mr. Oh retorts, “Fun? I had so much trouble cleaning up after you. ”. Hee-Ra asks him to just drive if he is going to nag and coolly puts on the sunglasses.

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Jin finds a cigarette of Hee-Ra and as she smokes, she can’t bear the burning of the cigarettes. Suddenly she is surrounded by blue fog and her attire is changed to a proper witch’s dress.

Jin looks around the restaurant and thinks of all the customers who came to the diner. She then thinks, “If I look back, there is no meaningless moment. Every second that swept me by. Every person. Every moment led me here and held out a hand.”.

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Gil-Yong walks down the stairs with a stick and wearing a suit. Jin is surprised to see him.

Gil-Yong looks at the stick and flashes back. Mr. Oh advises him that being a supporter requires qualification in Law, finance, and accounting. Gil-Yong asks if the life of a supporter or witch would change and Mr. Oh says, “It depends on how you think. It’s a lonely path because it’s a special one. Witch’s existed for a very long time to help the powerless and weak. When the weak reach out their hand, the witch’s hold them. As Witch’s help people, supporters help the witch’s with all their power ”.

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Mr. Oh then gives his stick to Gil-Yong and his name magically appears on the stick.

Jin asks him if he is ok with the path he chose and says it would be hard. Gil-Yong assures her that he can do it and asks who else can do it better than him. They both smile at each other.

Jin has her first customer. The customer is a writer and as usual, the customer goes on and tells a long story of how she wanted to become a writer and how she lives on instant noodles and currently she is writing a thriller novel but her editor thinks it doesn’t suit her.

Jin concludes that the writer wants to complete a new novel. The writer nods. Jin puts an apple pie in front of her and says it will make her wish come true. As the writer looks at it, Jin warns her that there would be a price and says her wrist is lovely.

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Jin then gets confused about whether those joints are wrists and says it might hurt a little. The writer accepts the price and starts eating. And as usual, the writer enjoys the food and says she has never had such a tasty apple pie before.

Jin is very elated and thinks, “Even when we think all is over, and we think we are struggling on our own. We are not alone.”.

Later one night, The writer one day struggles to write a novel and she comes up with many ideas like love and all but nothing works. Angrily she taps on the keyboard and the words appear on the screen- “witch”.

She automatically continues to write a story on “come to the witch’s diner” and her mind is bombarded with the storyline of a witch. she ignores her stiff wrist and continues her novel.

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Jin’s voice narrates, “Roopretelcham, everything you think and choose comes true. The more you believe and wish for it, the more likely it is to come true. Such magic does exist. Your life is no exception. So if you are out in the street and you come across a witch’s diner, come inside without hesitation.”.

The episode ends as Jin and Gil-Yong tidying the restaurant and as a new customer comes in they smile and welcome the customer.

Epilogue:

Gil-Yong’s mom shows his photo to Hee-Ra. The woman says she is going to die soon but she is afraid that Gil-Yong would be hurt because of her death. She wishes that even if she is gone her son can live on with strength and happiness.

Hee-Ra says others make wishes for themselves. And Gil-Yong’s mom says she is a mom and her child’s happiness is hers.

Hee-Ra grants her the wish but the price is Gil-Yong must pay through hardships. “Without hardships, no one can recognise the happiness they live with.”.

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This was my most favorite epilogue until now and it would be the last. Maybe because this is the final episode or because of Gil-Yong’s mom’s pure love.

 Every week this drama took me to the witch world that I want to visit again. I thought if Jin chose to become a witch she would be miserable but never imagined even witches can change lives and love their jobs. It was because I thought witches were always crooked and evil and this drama changed this view. (I know it’s fantasy but then also it was another side of the coin that I ignored.)

Through each customer, I learned something and my favorite was we can never judge what other’s happiness is and life is a long journey so we have to sit back and watch to know that the story was indeed happy.

There is always a path that is right in front of us (comfort zone) and the other which we fear to take because it is so uncertain. This drama taught me that choosing an uncertain path may look difficult, hard, and full of hardship but we can land in a happy place just like our Jin and Gil-yong. If you are thinking of doing something in your personal life, carrier life, let’s just do it😉🙌😊, though it is a hard and lonely path it will be a special one.

I also realized that every wish and every decision in our life has a price. Be late and have your morning coffee or be on time, be with your family or go study, work at a place you always wanted to. The price you pay will always be worth it.

So finally the drama has come to an end and I am going to miss this drama, Hee-Ra’s attitude, and Gil-Yong’s smile for sure. If possible I want to visit a witch’s diner for sure.

My wish would be to live in Harry Potter’s world.

What would be your wish?.. shoot it in the comment section 😉😊 I would love to know it💕