Summary
A Virtuous Business makes a key mistake in Episode 12, leading to a satisfying enough ending that could nonetheless have been more.
Time skips can be useful narrative conceits, and in some cases, they can really reinvigorate a flagging show (hello, The Walking Dead.) But there’s one in Episode 12 of A Virtuous Business that I think, on some level, feels like a bit of a cop-out. The need for a cozy resolution creates an urgency to skip past some of the character subplots and finer details, missing some big potential payoffs.
But no matter. This only qualifies as a nitpick since I’m reasonably confident that most people won’t mind it; in fact, I think in terms of its core drama, the finale of A Virtuous Business achieves exactly the climax it wanted – an emotional and poignant reconciliation between Da-hyun and Geum-hui, and a symbolically powerful payoff for the themes of personal emancipation and resilience.
Geum-Hui and Da-Hyun
We learned in the penultimate episode that Geum-hui was Da-hyun’s mother, and there’s a lot of reflection about that here in Episode 12. One of the finale’s gimmicks is that it interweaves the past and present to shine a light on Geum-hui’s painful journey.
And it is painful, there’s no doubt about that. The decision to give up a child isn’t an easy one to make, and it’s important we understand that Geum-hui truly felt like it was for the best. Her sense of guilt and shame over the fire led her to a personal sacrifice that she never quite recovered from – and that now she knows she has to explain.
It helps that Geum-hui has a good support system. Won-bong is great, and the strong bonds developed among the leading ladies pay off here. Da-hyun is understanding, too. But he has a slight issue – his imminent transfer to the cold cases unit becomes an ominous ticking clock. How can he get to know his mother before he leaves, without making her feel pressured?
Jeong-suk helps to push the two together and allows them to get to know each other on fast-forward, and the project is a resounding success.
Ju-ri and Dae-geun
The theme of sacrifice is redolent in Geum-hui’s backstory and you can kind of see it reflected in everything involving Ju-ri and Dae-geun, too.
The former agrees to break up with the latter if Ms Heo allows him to study photography again, which she agrees to, but it quickly becomes apparent that the situation is untenable, and Dae-geun wants Ju-ri more than he wants that future.
It’s an eye-opener for Heo, and for the audience too, seeing how much a personal sacrifice like that can prove about the depth of our feelings.
The Fantasy Lingerie Scam
One of the big revelations of Episode 12 of A Virtuous Business is that Fantasy Lingerie has been a scam. Jeong-suk discovers the place trashed and empty. The products and money are gone. They’ve been duped.
This is hard for Jeong-suk to take, obviously. She allowed her life as she knew it to collapse so that she could reinvent herself in association with this business. To discover it’s suddenly gone, and that it was all a façade to begin with, is crushing.
Through some dodgy composite sketches, Jeong-suk is able to track down the CEO, who reveals that she has to close the business after six months. Early success didn’t sustain, and she ran out of things to sell to keep paying for the products. The cops are looking for her and she’s on the run. It wasn’t intentional, just a spiral of bad decisions.
It leaves Jeong-suk with a lot to think about. But it doesn’t take her long to resolve to continue with the business with her friends.
Four Years Later
Here’s where I think the ending of A Virtuous Business drops the ball a little, picking up four years later with all of the hard parts having been skipped over. Of course, Jeong-suk is on the cusp of becoming a success, and while the products still aren’t a hit in all quarters, she has dealt with another adversity at this point to not be rattled by the pushback.
But I’d have liked to see this develop. If the business went bust the first time, why has it succeeded now? What happened with all the other characters and their personal subplots? How have Da-hyun and Geum-hui been getting on? What happened with Yeong-bok’s pregnancy? And so on, and so forth.
I get it – I see the upside of showing us this outcome. But I can’t help thinking there was more of this story to be told, and that the parts we didn’t get to see could have filled a few more episodes – or even another season.
