Summary
A very sweet finale brings Business Proposal to a satisfying close.
This recap of Business Proposal season 1, episode 12 contains spoilers, including for the Business Proposal ending.
We’ve had our fair share of controversial k-drama endings lately, with Twenty-Five Twenty-One sending fans into a tizzy just this weekend. Luckily, there shouldn’t be any controversy around Business Proposal, which brought its first — and presumably only — season to a lovely conclusion in a closing hour that hit some poignant notes while still managing to elicit a fair few laughs.
Business Proposal season 1, episode 12 recap
It all began the morning after the night before, essentially, with Tae-moo and Ha-ri waking up all lovey-dovey (which contrasts a little with what we see of Seong-hoon and Yeong-seo, but we’ll address all that a bit later.) As happy as they are, though, Ha-ri’s mother is less than thrilled when she sees them together and realizes that Ha-ri lied about where she was spending the night. Her mother goes ballistic and assaults both Ha-ri and Tae-moo, but it leads to a lovely moment in which Tae-moo wins Ha-ri’s family over. They all sit down for drinks to celebrate Young-seo’s birthday — Seong-hoon and Young-seo excitedly watch on as Tae-moo confesses his feelings for Ha-ri, which made me laugh — and bond. Tae-moo has a particularly moving conversation with Ha-ri’s father, who explains how, over the years, she never pursued any of her dreams and ambitions because she knew he wasn’t able to financially support her through them. Now, Ha-ri’s father is worried that Tae-moo’s status will draw comparisons between them that Ha-ri will find upsetting, but Tae-moo reassures him with confidence.
But there’s still Chairman Kang to consider. He remains deeply against Tae-moo and Ha-ri’s relationship, so he decides to feign a medical emergency for attention — however, Tae-moo and Ha-ri overhear the conversation, so are wise to his games. To throw him for a loop, Ha-ri visits him in hospital, not Tae-moo, and she remains there to care for him, which he’s initially furious about. Eventually, though, he begins to soften, and the two start to really get on in a string of funny scenes. It all amounts to a moment in which Chairman Kang hears Ha-ri’s singing voice and feigns being almost deaf in his old age just to encourage her to keep singing, so he can quietly enjoy it.
Meanwhile, Yeong-seo’s father tells Seong-hoon to break up with her immediately, which she overhears. As a result, she resigns from her father’s company and cuts ties with him completely, instead deciding to start her own company. Seong-hoon, ever loyal, will be the first person to invest — providing she can show him a solid business plan, anyway.
Business Proposal ending
The Business Proposal ending ups the stakes a little as it approaches its conclusion. As it turns out, the tests that Chairman Kang requested as part of his ruse actually revealed a legitimate issue with his blood vessels, and since there is no treatment for the condition in Korea, Tae-moo wants to take him to the States. After fishing with him and Seong-hoon — who calls Chairman Kang “grandfather” for the first time — Tae-moo asks Ha-ri to accompany him abroad, but she says no because of the potential rumors it would cause and the fact that Chairman Kang still doesn’t approve of her. I like how Business Proposal mildly subverts the expectation of a break-up here, with the couple deciding to remain together until Tae-moo’s return, which will apparently be sooner rather than later.
As it turns out, it’s a year, during which time Ha-ri has excelled at work, Yeong-seo has set up in business (and is happier than ever with Seong-hoon, who is taking a year off work), and Ha-ri’s mother has become furious at the prospect that Tae-moo won’t return, especially when she sees him on an American talk show. It almost seems like she’s going to be correct in her suspicions when a scandal breaks linking Tae-moo romantically to a cellist named Baek Yun-seo, and upon hearing this, Ha-ri prepares to leave for New York. As she’s about to get into the taxi, though, Tae-moo gets out of it. He has returned home early to surprise her. The scandal is simply false information leaked by the cellist’s parents, who don’t approve of her relationship with an international student. Director Kang is better and will be returning to Korea within the week. But he has given Tae-moo explicit instructions not to return home until he has given Ha-ri an engagement ring. It looks like he approves of her after all.
You can stream Business Proposal season 1, episode 12 exclusively on Netflix. Do you have any thoughts on the Business Proposal ending? Let us know in the comments.
