It looks like I hold the relatively unpopular opinion that the last two episodes featured some of the best writing of the entire series. More on that soon.

What initially captured my attention for Twenty-Five Twenty-One was a) Kim Tae-Ri and b) the time period setting. The latter actually didn't seem to have much of an influence on the story as a whole but rather intervened in key moments at the beginning and the end. I think that's ok. And, of course, it goes without saying that Kim Tae-Ri put on a superb performance.

Nevertheless, it took me TWO YEARS to finish this drama. Yep. That's right. Essentially after the conflict between Na Hee-Do and Ko Yu-Rim was resolved, I felt like I was wading through molasses at the mid-way point of the series. I wasn't invested in any of the romantic plot lines and felt like at least half of the screen time between Hee-Do and Yi-Jin should've been slashed. I was desperate for more screen time between Hee-Do and her mum as well as Hee-Do and her daughter. In fact, it was the relationships between the women that meant that after a lottttt of dipping in and out, I was eventually motivated to finish watching the latter episodes.

Personally, I don't think this could've been a true coming-of-age narrative if those last two episodes had been any different. Putting aside the wish for more screen time between the characters mentioned above, what the last two episodes satisfied was the really annoying itch that had bugged me throughout all of Hee-Do's high school years. Yi-Jin felt like a teenage first love. And because he felt like someone trapped in that naive bubble, I struggled to invest myself into their relationship. But in the last two episodes, the two characters grew independently so quickly - while also growing apart from one another - that I rapidly became invested in that romantic storyline at the same time that I was crying over its poignantly inevitable demise.

At the end of the day, I believe the strength of the story actually comes from Hee-Do and Yu-Rim's relationship. Honestly, this is despite some hella bold choices from the drama's creators. Picking Hee-Do as the protagonist was risky. I think this could've been just as strong a story if it had been told from Yu-Rim's perspective (and I do think some of the class elements were fumbled a bit). But I think they made it work nonetheless. The other major risk was choosing fencing as the feature sport given it's relative lack of popularity and that it's - let's be real - super wanky. But, again, I think it ultimately worked.

In my opinion, Hee-Do and Yu-Rim's relationship should've been more central than the romantic one. I don't think it's a coincidence that I found the overall pacing slowed down when the pacing in the development of Hee-Do and Yu-Rim's relationship slowed down. Otherwise, maybe I could've squeezed out another star for this drama.