The 8-episode series 'I Shopping', which has been noisy both inside and outside the work, is coming to an end.
The final episode of the ENA Monday-Tuesday drama 'I Shopping' (written by Ahn So-jung, directed by Oh Gi-hwan) will air at 10 PM on the 12th. The story depicts the desperate survival and revenge of children who barely survived after being abandoned by their adoptive parents and coming close to death. It is based on the webtoon of the same name serialized on Kakao Webtoon.
Since its first broadcast on the 21st of last month, 'I Shopping' has been quite controversial during its 4-week airing. Before it started, concerns were raised about the lead actress, Yim Jung-ah, overlapping her appearance with the tvN Monday-Tuesday drama 'For the First Love', which began airing on the 4th. Even though the airing times were different, the fact that the broadcast days were the same added to the disappointment.
In response, Yim Jung-ah stated at the production presentation, “'I Shopping' was filmed last year. 'For the First Love' is still in production. Actors have no authority over scheduling, so we have to accept it. I think it’s fortunate that they are completely different genres and characters. I love both works, so I hope you will support them.”
As the broadcast began, the controversy over Dex's (Kim Jin-young) poor acting emerged. While Dex's specialty, action, was handled adequately, he received criticism for his delivery of lines, eye contact, expressions, and even his walking, which were deemed unstable and unnatural. This was further criticized in comparison to the overwhelming performances of acting masters like Yim Jung-ah, Choi Young-jun, Kim Soo-ro, and Son Jong-hak.
Before the first week of broadcasting was even over, on the 25th of last month, the controversy surrounding the late Song Young-kyu's drunk driving surfaced. It was belatedly revealed that he was not prosecuted by the Suwon District Prosecutor's Office for allegedly driving under the influence from Giheung-gu to Cheoin-gu in Yongin City around 11 PM on June 19.
Since the filming and editing of the work had already been completed, and Song Young-kyu played a key role as Pastor Yoon Se-hoon, the father of Joo-an (played by Ahn Ji-ho), one of the abandoned children, the production team stated after much deliberation, “It is difficult to completely edit him out, but we will edit as much as possible within the range that does not affect the flow of the story and viewer understanding.”
On the 4th, news of Song Young-kyu's passing was reported. He was found dead in a vehicle in a residential area in Yongin City, and a friend reported it.
The controversies and incidents did not end there. The next day, on the 5th, there was a spoiler controversy regarding the final episode. After the 6th episode aired on ENA, the VOD of the same day's broadcast was supposed to be released on the OTT platform Tving. However, instead of the 6th episode, the final episode, the 8th episode, was mistakenly uploaded, and some viewers watching through Tving encountered spoilers by seeing the 8th episode instead of the 6th. The video was deleted within 20 minutes.
As this was an unprecedented incident on OTT, the controversy grew, and Tving stated, “On the 5th, due to a meta-matching error in the video transmission process of 'I Shopping' released on Tving, the 8th episode was temporarily exposed instead of the 6th episode,” and sincerely apologized for the confusion caused to viewers.
As 'I Shopping' comes to an end amidst continuous controversies and unexpected incidents, it seems that various controversies will be discussed longer than the message the work intended to convey. Given that it has completed its run despite difficult circumstances, attention is focused on whether the final episode can achieve a satisfying conclusion and be evaluated for its artistic quality.
The final episode of 'I Shopping' will air at 10 PM on the 12th on ENA.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
