The K-drama Tomorrow concluded after 16 episodes on a bittersweet note. A supernatural fantasy that had rather dark undertones, Tomorrow revolved around a group of Grim Reapers from the ‘Crisis Management’ team, who are entrusted with the task of saving suicidal humans and have to prove to them how important life really is. After handling some cases rather brashly and with much insensitivity, the series takes a less problematic route.
The drama stars Kim See-hun and Yoo Ji-on as Grim Reapers Ryeon and Ryong-koo, respectively, who cross paths with a rather miserable Choi Jun-woong (Kim Ro-woon). After a terrible misunderstanding that lands Choi Jun-woong in coma, the Grim Reapers sign him on as part of their team. The show detailed their escapades as they saved humans from killing themselves, while slowly teasing the real story between Ryeon and her leader Park Joong-gil (Lee Soo-hyuk). At the end of the show, the loose threads are all tied up, even if a little too quickly. The ex-lovers get the closure that they’ve been craving for over two centuries, and the Grim Reaper understands the true purpose of her team.
A tragic love storyÂ
It is revealed that Ryeon and Joong-gil were madly in love in another lifetime, but fate (as always) was cruel to them. They were living as a blissful married couple until barbarians attacked their home and took Ryeon as hostage. She is rescued, but the experience scars her for life. Society is less than supportive about her mental health, and rumours abound.
Tomorrow expounds on the idea of two people struggling to overcome trauma together, and despite being in love, they’re unable to become each other’s support systems through healthy means. It also has a warning message: How far will you go to protect your loved ones? In case of Joong-gil, his desire to protect Ryeon from rumours was so powerful that it engulfed him, leading him into a murderous rage, which later cost him his wife. She takes her life as she becomes despondent on seeing more death around her, and he follows suit in grief. It also explains why Ryeon becomes a Grim Reaper in this department—she wants to save others from committing such acts.
In the present, Ryeon, who is compelled to work besides Joong-gil, who has no recollection of her, undoes the good that she been doing and endangers others leading to the question of her being sent back to hell. Joong-gil has no memory of his life with Ryeon, and it’s only after Jun-woong probes him, does he remember everything and makes a deal with the King Of Heaven and saves Ryeon from eminent punishment. Towards the end of the show, Ryeon gets a new lease of life and understands the meaning of her job and promises to do only good.
While fans have been busy rooting for the couple throughout, it’s not quite certain whether the two would get back together or not, because as Ryeon says, the love is still there, but it has just faded over the course of two centuries. Yet, there is a certain closure as Joong-gil now remembers his past, which he had earlier locked away.
Jun-woong returns to the land of the living
After being in coma for over six months, Ryeon tells Jun-woong that it’s time to return and that they will meet in ’49 years’, hinting that as he won’t obviously live forever, he will join his friends soon and return to work.
Tomorrow is streaming on Netflix.
