Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 2 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 4 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 5 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 7 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 8 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 9 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 10 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 11 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 12 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 13 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 14 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 15 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 16 -| Review Score – 4/5 Korean dramas are notorious for their endings. With 16+ hours to work with, many people grow attached to characters and expectations are always at an all-time high to pull everything off with a triumphant hoorah at the end. Unfortunately for every Crash Landing or Goblin there’s a Vagabond or Graceful Friends waiting to balance out the scales. And so that leads nicely to Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol. It seems odd to begin a review by talking about the ending but out of all the shows released in 2020, the final 10 minutes to this series are arguably the most hotly contested and polarizing material in K-drama world – outside the current feud in Start-Up. This will ultimately make or break the experience for you, which is a shame because everything leading up to the finale is near pitch-perfect. For those unaware, Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol is a romantic comedy with touches of slice of life and healing themes integrated. It’s often funny, full of heartwarming and heartbreaking segments and topped off with a lovable, memorable cast of characters. Fronting the lines are Go Ara and Lee Jae-Wook who portray Ra-Ra and Joon respectively. The former is a rich princess with everything she could ever ask for. After her groom runs out at the altar and her Father suffers a tragedy, Ra-Ra descends down a slippery slope to bankruptcy with nothing but her lovable dog Mimi to her name. Unsure where else to turn, Ra-Ra packs up her things – and Mimi – and heads off for Eunpo where her secret admirer happens to live. Unfortunately, on the way she hits a boy on a bike called Joon who topples over. That same boy happened to be a runner at Ra-Ra’s botched wedding who tried to help her. With fate bringing these two characters together, Ra-Ra opens a studio called Lala Land and shows off her talent for piano playing to anyone who will listen. This stems back to her past as specific reference to the title – Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol – references the notes to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Indebted to Joon after he helps her get on her feet, the two slowly start to grow closer together. Lurking in the wings to try and woo Ra-Ra however happens to be Eun-Sook, the resident Doctor in town. His mannerisms are immediately suspicious and it’s only made worse when a stalker crops up on the scene and lurks in the shadows. This storyline essentially encapsulates most of the first two acts of this drama, intertwined around mysterious men arriving in town looking for Joon after being hired by a stern woman. All of this builds up nicely to the third act where emotions spill over and dramatic truths about Joon are revealed. It’s here where the final two episodes throw a couple of new curveballs in the mix that almost feel like one twist too many. This is where the ending comes into play too. There’s a lot of theories going around about what’s happening during the final moments of the show but suffice to say, on reflection this is going to make or break the experience for a lot of people. I won’t divulge what that is here but I can fully understand why people are conflicted. This also shows the power this drama has had too, which genuinely includes a stacked cast full of likable characters from top to bottom. Whether it be the various colourful residents of Eunpo or the different antagonists that crop up across the 16 episodes, Do Do Sol Sol is wonderfully written for the most part and does an exceptional job bringing to life some of the most memorable characters from any comedic Korean drama this year. If you can go into this one with a bit of an open mind and expect a polarizing ending from the off, Do Do Sol Sol is well worth checking out. It may not be the best k-drama of the year but it is one of the rare exceptions where everything before the finale is so warm and lovely that it would be a shame to write this one off because of the final 10 minutes.
