Nobody could have predicted the ending of Chicken Nugget. Unless they read the webtoon, I suppose, but I haven’t, so it was new to me. And I hated the ten episodes of Season 1 at the start; I thought the whole thing was so ridiculous as to be actively embarrassing to watch, which I explained in my review. And yet at some point, this ludicrous show about aliens, mad scientists, magic machines, and chicken nuggets became legitimately compelling and thoughtful. Episode 10, the finale, is a good conclusion that reveals a preposterous show about aliens to be fundamentally very human.
Baek-Joong fulfills his musical dreams as Yellow Pants
The finale begins with a flash-forward to 50 years in the future. Baek-Joong has managed to fulfill his musical ambitions and is a beloved global sensation. His stage name is, fittingly, Yellow Pants, and he’s on the cusp of one final performance that’ll be the swansong of his career. However, he’s distracted by a woman in the crowd who looks like Min-ah, reminding the audience of the deal Sun-man made in Episode 9. Since allowing Baekjung to take Min-ah back to his home planet, everyone has been waiting fifty years for her return.
Baekjung takes Min-ah away
Of course, we pick up where we left things in that penultimate episode to go through the trauma of Sun-man having to part with his daughter. Baekjung enters the machine with her — the symbols are corporate brands, and the aliens use Korean as a language because it’s the most perfect alphabet they’ve discovered in the galaxy — and then departs in his ridiculous-looking true form.
As we established, a day on Baekjung’s planet is fifty years on Earth, so Sun-man has to prepare to survive the next five decades. He hands control of More Than Machines to Mr. Kim since he worries that the stress of work will kill him, and then disappears into the wilderness to live as a health-conscious nomad.
It’s also Sun-man who tells Baek-joong to pursue his music career, which starts almost as soon as he leaves. Some high schoolers recognize him from his viral chicken nugget serenade, and he tells them his name is Yellow Pants. A star is born.
Back to the Future
With this context established, we catch back up with Baek-joong. The girl he spotted in the crowd is not Min-ah, but the granddaughter of the first high schooler who recognized him in the street in the previous scene. They share some chicken nuggets, which I’m surprised he hasn’t gone off by this point.
Tae-man is doing well too. He’s now the CEO of More Than Machine, and he and Mr. Kim took the company to new heights with the help of Professor Yoo. They invented amazing products, and the latest is a device that helps people sleep for as long as they want. Tae-man’s face remains the same, so he finally looks younger than he actually is.
A Difficult Decision
When Baekjung finally returns to visit Baek-joong, Min-ah is still a chicken nugget. He explains that when Earth invented weapons of mass destruction, the planet was declared a no-fly zone. The machines weren’t accessible. The one that had been on Earth needed charging for an additional day, but again, an additional day there is 50 years on Earth. By the time Min-ah returns, nobody will be alive who remembers her.
So, Baek-joong has a choice. He can either live the rest of his life without being reunited with Min-ah, or he can reset time. If he does so, everyone will lose their memories of the intervening years. However, the show cheats a bit to make this more desirable by having Baekjung say outright that everyone’s destinies will remain unchanged, Min-ah will just factor into them. So, presumably, Baek-joong will still become a successful musician, and Tae-man will still lead More Than Machines to great heights.
Baekjung gives Baek-joong three days to decide. In that time, he summons Sun-man to see Min-ah in her nugget state. Min-ah is not only still alive at 105 years old, but flourishing — he has become a near-superhuman animal-taming woodsman. However, on the way to see Min-ah, he sadly passes away.
How does Chicken Nugget Season 1 end?
After a final conversation with Min-ah in her chicken nugget form, he makes his decision and resets time.
Chicken Nugget ends on the day it started, with Min-ah showing up with the chicken nuggets at the office. Do you think Baek-joong made a selfish decision? Or was he, as he claims, intending to give Min-ah back the years she missed with her father?
What did you think of Chicken Nugget Season 1 Episode 10 and the ending? Let us know in the comments.
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