Phoenix (2004 TV series)

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Phoenix or Firebird (불새), is a Korean drama series that aired in 2004.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Storyline

Lee Jee-eun, is a spoiled daughter of a rich tycoon. The story starts off with Jee-eun almost running over Seh-hoon. Seh-hoon is a poor car repair shop worker. They get off to a bad start and she steals his bag with important things in them. Jee-eun meets with her "friends" who she eavesdrops in the bathroom saying that Jee-eun will never get a boyfriend because she is so spoiled. Jee-eun makes a bet with one of her "friends" who has an upcoming wedding, that she will bring her boyfriend as a date. She thinks about who she can take as a date, until the perfect idea pops into her head. She decides to take poor Seh-hoon who still doesn't have his bag. He reluctantly goes as her date, but they have a good time. After the wedding, there is a scene where they are looking at a painting of a phoenix. They talk about how the phoenix dies and then rises back up from the ashes. This is the theme of the drama.

They fall in love. Her parents disapprove and they get married, but she has to give up her wealth. Meanwhile, Jee-eun has an old friend, Meeran, who she tells all her love life drama to. Meeran is a university student who is studying abroad. She happens to be visiting South Korea at the time. But Meeran goes back to the US. Jee-eun, not used to this lifestyle, has a hard time. She becomes pregnant, but after a fight, she runs out and falls down the stairs, having a miscarriage. She cannot deal with the pain and decides to get a divorce with Seh-hoon. Seh-hoon, in the meantime, gets a special opportunity from his university to study abroad in New York. After the divorce, he goes to New York. There is an Airplane Scene in this drama too. She is going after him when she witnesses her father getting run over by a car and dying. Therefore, she is unable to catch Seh-hoon.

Many years pass by. A different man has managed to take over her father's company and Jee-eun's family is poor now. Jee-eun had to work hard to support her mother and younger sister now that her father is gone and they are not rich anymore. Through these experiences, she has changed and is no longer the spoiled immature girl anymore. She meets Seo Jungmin, who is the son of the new owner of her father's company. Jungmin loves Jee-eun, but Jee-eun is not over Seh-hoon yet, even though it has been many years.

Jee-eun runs into her old friend Meeran while she is with Jungmin. Meeran is in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. They start talking, when Meeran says that she wants Jee-eun to meet her fiance, who is in the bathroom. Meeran's fiance comes back and Jee-eun is shocked because it is Seh-hoon.

Seh-hoon is a new man. He is now successful and sophisticated, changed just as much Jee-eun did. They keep their former marriage a secret from the others. Seh-hoon acts like a jerk to Jee-eun, but behind the bitter front, he still loves her. Finally, one day he cannot take it anymore and it is known he still loves her. We find out that the reason that Seh-hoon is with Meeran is because once, he was driving with her in the passenger seat and they were in an accident, and the reason that Meeran is paralyzed is because of him. Therefore, he is with her out of duty, not love. Meeran, in the meantime, finds out that they were married when she snoops around his apartment and finds their old wedding picture. She becomes very paranoid and psychotic. For example she tries to kill Jee-eun by pushing her off of her boat. However both Seh-hoon and Jungmin rush to save her. She does anything to keep them apart. In the end, Meeran commits suicide.

On the more serious side, Jee-eun finds out that her father's death was not an accident and Jungmin's father ran him over to take over the company. She feels she cannot be friends with Jungmin any longer. Jungmin decides to leave and come back a better person.

Another few years pass by. The ending scene is a chance meeting between Seh-hoon and Jee-eun and they kiss.