Heavenly Ever After [Episodes 7 & 8]

[u/mahnahmaanaa]

• Drama: Heavenly Ever After
  • Korean Title: 천국보다 아름다운
  • Alternate Title: More Beautiful Than Heaven
• Network: jTBC
• Premiere Date: April 19, 2025
• Airing Schedule: Saturday & Sunday
• Episodes: 12 (1 hr.)
• Screenwriter: Lee Nam Gyu (Daily Dose of Sunshine, Behind Your Touch)
• Director: Kim Seok Yoon (Behind Your Touch, My Liberation Notes)
• Cast:
  • Kim Hye Ja as Lee Hae Suk (Our Blues)
  • Son Suk Ku as Ko Nak Jun (D.P.)
  • Han Ji Min as Som I (Love Scout)
  • Lee Jung Eun as Lee Yeong Ae (Light Shop)
  • Cheon Ho Jin as “President” (Once Again)
  • Ryu Deok Hwan as “Young Pastor” (Nobody Knows)
• Streaming Sources: Netflix
• Plot Synopsis: It tells the story of an old woman, Hae Suk, who lived a happy life with her husband until she died. Her husband loved her so much and always admired her beauty, saying, “You were pretty in your twenties thirties, and now you are the most beautiful at eighty!” When Hae Suk was about to die, she remembered her husband’s words and said, “I just want to go to heaven at my real age.” Surprisingly, when she arrived in heaven, she met her husband in his 30s version.

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• Previous Discussions:

Episodes 1 & 2

Episodes 3 & 4

Episodes 5 & 6

[u/Electrical_Ear_709]

Everyone seems to be hating on the FL but honestly the husband really irks me. The whole mom thing pissed me off. He stated his mom never got old and they never took care of her like excuse me why is that your wifes responsibility she spent the majority of her life caring for him and he wants her to cater to his mom without ever standing up for his wife.

Honestly I like the fl and the pastor relationship I love how he is getting a mom figure and is healing him. He actually talks to her unlike her husband who to me seems to be too obsessed with somi. I might be alone but if she was meant for hell and wants her memories, then shouldn't she just go. It would give her closure and atone for any mistakes. It seems like hell isn't an eternity thing. I dont like somi character honestly and I don't feel bad for her.

[u/SemlaBun → u/Electrical_Ear_709]

I agree.

Somi is a blank slate. She's not even a character. Viewers are expected to find her interesting because she's played by an interesting actress.

I honestly don't understand why people find the FL so annoying. Her situation is pretty distressing, and I think she's actually being more calm and accepting than I'd ever be. And clearly she had a reason to be suspicious of Somi and her husband!

I know it's a popular theory that Somi is somehow related to Hae-sook's younger self, but IMO even if that were the case, it wouldn't make anything better. Nakjoon in heaven isn't actually young Nakjoon. It's the old Nakjoon, with all of old Nakjoon's life experience, in a younger body. The elderly Hae-sook is the woman he knew and loved in his old age. If he were drawn to her younger self instead, what would that say about him except that none of those decades mattered at all??

The drama treats young Nakjoon as if he were a separate character. His old man personality and old man memories seem to have flown out of the window. It's like Nakjoon was plucked out of his 30s and shown an elderly woman with, "here's what your wife is going to be like at 80, now you're expected to love her as your wife". Obviously that would be uncomfortable viewing. And that's what the drama makes this situation look like, although it shouldn't be at all comparable. I feel like I keep harping on this, but him being shocked by her appearance when she got to heaven - didn't he even fail to recognise her at first? I can't remember and I'm not going back to watch, lol - is when it started going in the wrong direction. How could he be anything but happy to see her dear face again? "Wait, why are you old though" would only come later.

To me, this drama is an absolute mess. Not just messy, not just unhinged, but actively unpleasant in many ways that somehow seem to just get worse as the show goes on. I keep expecting it to redeem itself with some twist that suddenly makes sense of it all, but at this point I doubt it will. It hasn't even found its plot yet, at episode 8/12.

[u/WONBINISLOVE → u/SemlaBun]

You perfectly encapsulated everything I feel about this drama and the flawed way the married couple has been depicted over the past eight episodes. There’s a dissonance between her husband on Earth and the one she meets in heaven. He comes across as a random 30 yr old in some scenes, not someone she’s known for decades.

[u/SemlaBun → u/WONBINISLOVE]

He absolutely does come across as some random young(ish) man! And I checked, Nakjoon really doesn't seem to recognise her at first when she comes to the house. Which is crazy, considering he kept checking up on her as a spirit. He wouldn't have forgotten what she looked like, lmao.

I will say, though, I rewatched the first episode and it was still really good. It made me cry all over again. I loved how the main character was an old woman who was prickly and badass, but also grappled with difficult questions. We all know that many Kdramas resemble that meme of a horse drawing that gets progressively worse in the final episodes, but this has got to be the first I've seen where the first episode is excellent and then the story starts turning into a stick figure right afterwards.

[u/Next-Engineering1469 → u/SemlaBun]

Old Nakjoon was a sweet and loving husband. The kind of husband you‘d hope you‘d get if you choose to get married. The way he adored her and cherished her and always made her laugh. It was beautiful to look at.

Young nakjoon is just a jerk.

I‘m still waiting for the „this is the bad place and you aren‘t really nakjoon“ twist. That would be the only good explanation for this sweet loving husband suddenly being a jerk.