In the past two months, Familiar Wife definitely had been our ray of sunshine amid the terrible pandemic that we’re in, as it never failed to brighten up our mornings with the delightful scenes and life and love lessons it offered to its Kapamilya Channel and iWant viewers. 

However, as what the oft-quoted adage says, “Good things must come to an end”, the Tagalog-dubbed Korean drama we all loved to watch has reached its conclusion on Friday, August 14. So now, let’s talk about what went down on the finale episode tagged #FWTheFamiliarEnding.

Exciting, heart-warming episode

The creators indeed did a great job in ending the series as it wasn’t something that was forced nor rushed as they made sure that it would be engraved in the hearts and minds of the audiences for a long time.

After all the circumstances and challenges that they had gone through, which involved time travelling and changes in their lives that almost made them completely walk on separate paths, it was still a happy ever after for our beloved couple Paolo Cha (Ji Sung) and Aileen Seo (Han Ji-min).

Even though they had a small argument after Aileen got upset when she saw the photo sent to Paolo by one of his friends, which was a groufie captured by his “ex-wife” Kyla (Kang Han-na) in their college get-together that happened on that same night, they’re still able to iron that out the next day.

As both of them had to attend on important things at work – with Paolo on his training and examination for his promotion bid, while Aileen on one of their customers who had to be rushed to the hospital after collapsing – nobody was left to fetch their children from the day care. Instead of fighting, just like what they used to do in the earlier episodes, the two made a compromise and succeeded in both taking their kids home and in making it still possible for Paolo to get back to the headquarters on-time to take his test. That night, the couple shared a sweet moment together as they affectionately chatted what happened that afternoon.

A few months later, they finally received the good news regarding Paolo’s new appointment as team leader of the loans department at another branch. They celebrated it with Aileen and his friends throwing a little surprise party for him in the restaurant owned by one of them, and Aileen giving her a brand new gaming console as a congratulatory gift.

One weekend, Aileen’s mom offered to take care again of their children as she insisted for her daughter and son-in-law to spend a day together. They were initially hesitant as they wouldn’t want to exhaust her, but they gave in to her prodding and they went on to watch a movie and dine out. 

They also go for a stroll at Paolo’s college campus, wherein they reminisced some of the memorable things that happened to them in the past and imagine the possible scenarios that could happen to them in the future. They vowed to grow old together and be each other’s ally when their kids give them a hard time. As they continued walking, Aileen jestingly warned Paolo that she’ll look for another magic coin to transport her back in time once he made her mad again.

The episode ended with the couple gazing back at the moon and proceeded on savouring their simple and sweet night together.

Compelling performance of the cast ensemble

Familiar Wife wasn’t only appreciated because of its whimsical and relatable narrative, but with the exemplary portrayals and unmistakable chemistry of its cast members as well. 

Ji Sung did a great job in playing the role of Paolo Cha, a man who always figured in quarrels with his ill-tempered wife, thus he wished for his fate to change and that instantly happened because of a magic coin. He later on realized his shortcomings and mistakes and that Aileen was the only woman she truly loves.

His on-screen partner Han Ji-min also astounded us with her portrayal of the nagging wife Aileen Seo, whose untameable temper caused her marriage to her patient and meek husband go on the rocks. We were able to see a calmer, more rational, and more admirable facet of her in the new timeline, which made Paolo fall in love with her again.

Meanwhile, the supporting actors were able to amuse and impress us as well with how they portrayed their respective characters, thanks to the writers and director who did great in balancing the narrative out not just with the main characters, but with the rest of the ensemble as well. 

Takeaways from the drama

Of course, in every drama, it’s inevitable for us to realize a thing or two (or even more!) about life. And in the case of Familiar Wife, it taught us a lot about life, love, friendship, and everything in between, as the narrative didn’t only revolved around Paolo and Aileen, but also tackled the lives of the people around them, too.

But if there’s one important thing that it hugely highlighted, it’s the importance of having a consistent communication and unbreakable bond between two people who are in a relationship, regardless if you’re still dating or already married. As what the popular aphorism states: “it takes two to tango”, so teamwork is definitely required for a relationship to work, apart from love, respect, understanding, and faithfulness. 

It also proved that if you’re really meant for a certain person, the universe will conspire for your paths to intertwine. The journey may be tough and would involve a lot of detours and obstacles along the way, but you just have to hold on because it’s going to be rewarding in the end – just like what happened to Paolo and Aileen.

May the wonderful memories and valuable lessons imbibed to us by Familiar Wife be kept in our hearts and minds for a very long time.