(Click the picture above to view or download a bigger copy.)From Wikipedia: “W” is a 2016 South Korean television series, starring Lee Jong-suk and Han Hyo-joo. Consisting of 16 episodes, it aired on on MBC from July 20 to September 14, 2016. “W” centers on the clash between “two worlds”: the real world and an alternate universe inside a manhwa, from which the title of the television series was taken. Genres: fantasy, romance, suspense, and thriller.
The series received praise for its unique premise and ranked first in Content Power Index in its premiere week. It achieved modest ratings of 11.63%, topping viewership ratings in its time slot for its entire run.
“W” won numerous awards, among which are:
Seoul International Drama Awards - Outstanding Korean Drama
50th World Fest Houston International Film Festival - Special Jury Award
5th APAN Star Awards - Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries (Han Hyo-joo) and Best Supporting Actor
36th MBC Drama Awards - Drama of the Year; Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries; Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries
How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers
1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.
2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.
3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore. I followed this structure all throughout, except for Episode 16 (Finale) where I included spoilers. Reason — people who have not watched this drama want to know if it has a “happy ending” or a “sad ending” before they invest their time in watching it.
Episode 1
Kang Chul was South Korea’s entry in the 50-m pistol shooting competition in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Two years later, tragedy strikes when he’s accused of murdering four people in cold blood. The prosecutor who takes charge of his case is the politically ambitious Han Chul-ho.
Alone in her father’s office, Yeon-joo thinks about her father’s disappearance and why he’s killing off his famous character. Among her father’s things, she finds his notes, one of which is a copy of Goya’s painting “Saturn Devouring His Son” (about the Greek god who devoured one of his children to prevent his overthrow). As she reads the note, a bloody hand comes out from the computer monitor and pulls her into it. When she awakens, she finds herself on a rooftop and sees a man lying in a pool of blood.
Note: “Manhwa” is a South Korean printed cartoon. “Webtoon” is a specialized form of manhwa that’s designed for digital devices. For more information, please read the “Historical information and backgrounders” section below.
Episode 2
| Ep. 1 recap:
In the mahwa world of “W,” Yeon-joo saves Kang Chul from certain death by operating on him. Kang Chul is a high-profile businessman with assets worth more than 800 million US dollars; as he recuperates on his hospital bed, his assistant tells him that the doctor who saved him can’t be found and has dubious credentials. In Yeon-joo’s world, Su-bong (her father’s assistant) tells Yeon-joo that her father has extended the mahwa series by introducing her as a new character. She begins to believe that her father’s manhwa world of “W” actually exists in a parallel universe. |
Oh Sung-moo plans again to kill off his hero-character Kang Chul, but as he and Yeon-joo are arguing on the phone about it, Yeon-joo is transported into the parallel universe of the manhwa “W.” In his office, Oh Sung-moo draws hurriedly to kill off Kang Chul, but to his shock, Yeon-joo suddenly appears in the frames and intervenes in his attempt against Kang Chul’s life.
Unlike the first time that she entered Kang Chul’s manhwa world, Yeon-joo gets stuck in that world for two months.
On her return to her own world, Yeon-joo argues with her father again, saying that she’s now sure that Kang Chul is a real person. But her father, who has fired all of his staff, says that, like a god, he can do whatever he pleases with the character he has given life to.
Episode 3
| Ep. 2 recap:
Stuck in Kang Chul’s manhwa world, Yeon-joo realizes that she needs a dramatic event as a cliffhanger that can bring her back to her own world. In front of everyone in the department store, she kisses Kang Chul. Oh Sung-moo draws a massive truck that will crush Kang Chul’s car, but Kang Chul survives. To Oh Sung-moo’s surprise as he looks at his monitor, Kang Chul looks up at him and demands to know who he is and what he’s doing to his life. |
Flashback, 2009 ... After Yeon-joo leaves with her mother because of the divorce, Oh Sung-moo falls into despair and decides to end his manhwa. He draws Kang Chul jumping off the bridge into the river below. But the next day, to his amazement, his drawing had changed with Kang Chul hanging on to the bridge by one hand. Later on, his character Kang Chul seems to have come alive and dictates how the mahwa should proceed.
Yeon-joo ends back up in Kang Chul’s manhwa world, unconscious on the dressing room of the department store. Kang Chul brings her to his hotel room where to his surprise, she seems to know every secret thing about him, such as the gun that he keeps under his pillow every night. He becomes even more convinced that she is the key to his life. Later on, however, he’s attacked by the mysterious kiler. He pushes the killer out of the room where Yeon-joo is sleeping, but out on the corridor, the killer overpowers him.
Episode 4
| Ep. 3 recap:
Kang Chul becomes wildly successful in his businesses; he buys a broadcast station and starts a TV program titled “Who and Why” (shortened to “W”) to find out who really killed his family. Yeon-joo tries to get back to her own world by flashing Kang Chul in her black lacy underwear but fails. When Kang Chul kisses her, she still doesn’t transport back to her world. To the surprise of his secretary So-hee and bodyguard Do-yoon, Kang Chul shoots Yeon in the heart. But Yeon-joo is not hurt in any way; as they talk later on, Kang Chul begins to think that Yeon-joo is from another dimension. |
While Kang Chul is on his way to his business trip abroad, his secretary So-hee decides to take matters into her own hands. She invites Yeon-joo to a hotel restaurant where she betrays her to the police. Kang Chul’s bodyguard Do-yoon tries to save Yeon-joo but arrives too late. Yeon-joo is arrested and interrogated.
Episode 5
| Ep. 4 recap:
In jail, Yeon-joo reveals to Kang Chul that he is actually the main character in a manhwa. Yeon-joo’s disappearance from jail becomes front page news, and Assemblyman Han Chul-ho sees it as an opportunity to finally send Kang Chul to jail. Back in the real world, Yeon-joo’s father is still missing. Su-bong finds out that Yeon-joo told Kang Chul that he’s only a manhwa character; he decides to end the manhwa, but all the computers in the office won’t work. In the manhwa world, everyone becomes frozen in time. Kang Chul sees the portal that connects his world and Yeon-joo’s world. After taking a gun from a policeman, he goes through the portal. |
Kang Chul is stunned to see his face in a poster of the manhwa “W” plastered on a bus; he then goes to a bookstore and reads all of the editions of the manhwa. Later, he goes to see Yeon-joo in her hospital where she’s preparing for an operation.
Distressed that his creator has been trying to kill him, Kang Chul goes to Oh Sung-moo’s office and tears it apart. Later, as Oh Sung-moo goes into his office, Kang Chul confronts him. Oh Sung-moo strikes at him with a box cutter, but Kang Chul disarms him.
Yeon-joo has called Su-bong and warned him that Kang Chul has entered their world. As she rushes to the office in a taxi, she hears on the cellphone her father daring Kang Chul to shoot him.
Episode 6
| Ep. 5 recap:
Oh Sung-moo tells Kang Chul that he was supposed to die by drowning in the Han river, but he somehow changed the story by hanging on the bridge and surviving. When Oh Sung-moo was pulled into the manhwa world, Kang Chul stabbed him, but he was unharmed. Oh Sung-moo reveals to Kang Chul that there never was a person responsible for killing his family; the killer was just a way of getting readers hooked on the manhwa. As Kang Chul shoots him, Oh Sung-moo falls to the floor, with blood flowing from his gaping chest wound. |
Despite the medical emergency, the manhwa publisher calls up Yeon-joo and tells her that something strange is going on with the manhwa. As she reads the manhwa on a computer, she gets a letter from Kang Chul saying goodbye.
Kang Chul jumps off from the bridge into the river below.
One month later ... Oh Sung-moo is recuperating at home and has retired from his career. Despite the protests of the angry fans and the worried publisher, Yeon-joo refuses to ask his father to rewrite the manhwa’s ending.
The police contact Yeon-joo and Su-bong that they found a decomposing body from the river.
Life goes on as Oh Sung-moo travels to New Zealand for a holiday with his friends, and Yeon-joo meets a blind date set up by her professor.
Episode 7
| Ep. 6 recap:
Oh Sung-moo tells Yeon-joo that she’s the reason that he cannot alter the manhwa’s ending by bringing Kang Chul back to life. While on a blind date, Yeon-joo suddenly finds herself in the river; she sees Kang Chul there but fails to get him out. Despite pressure from Yeon-joo to save Kang Chul from the river, Su-bong can’t draw the frames. Later on, Yeon-joo finds herself back in the prison where Kang Chul visited her. Kang Chul is saved by a rescue boat, and he reawakens in his own world. But the mysterious killer in his world has entered Yeon-joo’s world. |
Inside the police van that’s transporting her, Yeon-joo reveals to Kang Chul that she created him and rescued him from the river. She also pleads with him to get her out of jail legally.
Kang Chul visits the graves of his family, distraught that his parents and siblings are nothing but manhwa characters. After remembering what Oh Sung-moo said about there being no actual killer, Kang Chul decides to give up looking for whoever killed his family. Later, he visits Yeon-joo in jail and berates her for bringing him back to life.
Kang Chul’s bodyguard Do-yoon visits Yeon-joo in jail, bringing along with him a lawyer who explains the legal strategy to get her her out. Yeon-joo agrees reluctantly with the strategy.
Do-yoon meets Kang Chul’s secretary So-hee who asks him to give Kang Chul her resignation letter. To his surprise, he sees So-hee’s hand briefly morph into a manhwa drawing.
Episode 8
| Ep. 7 recap:
Kang Chul makes it appear that he and Yeon-joo have been secretly married for over a year now. After Yeon-joo is released from jail, he begins to shower her with romantic gestures. The mysterious killer appears before Kang Chul and threatens to kill Yeon-joo. |
As So-hee calls Kang Chul while she’s drunk and crying, her body begins to disappear. Kang Chul drives to her apartment and, along the way, thinks that all the characters in the manhwa world are beginning to disappear.
Yeon-joo is transported back to her world. But as she and Su-bong drive hurriedly away from her father’s office, the mysterious killer stops them along the way and shoots her.
On the flight back from New Zealand, Yeon-joo’s father disappears.
Yeon-joo finds herself back in Kang Chul’s world. Later on, on the rooftop where they first met, Kang Chul gives her a USB where he has written how the manhwa must end.
Episode 9
| Ep. 8 recap:
The mysterious killer followed Kang Chul into the portal that led to Yeon-joo’s world. As the mysterious killer shoots her, Yeon-joo transports back to Kang Chul’s world. On the rooftop later on, Kang Chul tells her to forget all about him and to ask his father to draw the manhwa to make everything that has happened appear as merely a dream. To Yeon-joo’s shock, he then falls off from the rooftop. |
Oh Sung-moo opens the USB that Kang Chul gave to Yeon-joo. He then orders a reluctant Su-bong to work with him in giving the mysterious killer a face, a name, and a history, in order to create a happy ending for the manhwa.
Kang Chul and his TV program identify the mysterious killer and publish his photo. After the police arrest the killer, Kang Chul visits him in jail.
But the arrest affects Assemblyman Han Chul-ho’s political ambitions; his party tells him to drop his bid to become the next president. Enraged, he orders his henchman to throw the killer out of a police window, with a suicide note in his hand that says Kang Chul coerced him into confessing falsely to the murders.
In the hospital, Yeon-joo cries over her failed relationship with Kang Chul. But she’s roused from her grieving when the PA system calls for all doctors to rush to the emergency room to deal with victims of a mass shooting in a TV station.
Episode 10
| Ep. 9 recap:
Oh Sung-moo gives the mysterious killer his face and his voice. The killer (now with Oh Sung-moo’s face and voice) barges into the TV station and shoots everyone in sight. Yeon-joo is transported into the manhwa world; she meets Kang Chul in the emergency room, but he doesn’t remember her. In the office, Su-bong is shocked to see that Oh Sung-moo doesn’t have a face. |
Present times ... Yeon-joo finds herself inexplicably still in the manhwa world. She flees from the hospital and goes to So-hee’s apartment. But Kang Chul catches her there.
After making a deal with Assemblyman Han Chul-ho, the killer orders Oh Sung-moo to write a new story that pins the blame on Kang Chul for his family’s deaths.
With the manager of his TV program shot to death, Kang Chul escapes from the hospital in his car with Yeon-joo. But he has been shot by the police officers. He calls up Do-yoon, saying that he has been framed. As he continues to bleed profusely, Yeon-joo orders him to stop the car.
Episode 11
| Ep. 10 recap:
Yeon-joo realizes that in this new manhwa world, it’s the killer who controls the narrative. In So-hee’s apartment, Yeon-joo tells Kang Chul everything about herself, but to her disappointment, he doesn’t remember her in any way. In a hotel room, Yeon-joo treats Kang Chul’s wounds. As she kisses him, she’s transported back into her world. |
While Yeon-joo is furiously working on her father’s tablet, the killer appears on the screen and strangles her. She manages to press the power button, and the killer disappears.
Su-bong arrives in the office, bringing with him Yeon-joo’s colleague from the hospital. But Yeon-joo has been transported back into the manhwa world, right into the office of Assemblyman Han Chul-ho.
Episode 12
| Ep. 11 recap:
Yeon-joo locks her father out of the office. She saves Kang Chul from his injury and from being found by the police by drawing on her father’s tablet everything that he needs. Through Do-yoon, Yeon-joo reunites with Kang Chul. To her surprise, he says that he remembers drowning in the river; he also does all the romantic things that she had wanted him to do. But he hides from her that he’s beginning to physically disappear. In his hideout, Kang Chul tells Yeon-joo that he read the manhwa that she left the last time she was in his world. He asks her if he’s the husband she mentioned before. |
Through the tablet and with a gun in hand, Kang Chul confronts the killer with Oh Sung-moo’s face. But the killer remains defiant and says that he’s willing to wait things out because Kang Chul has lost the right to be the hero in the manhwa.
After their date, Kang Chul tells Yeon-joo to use the tablet and draw things based on several photographs. He then transports back to the manhwa world and confronts the killer in his hideout.
In her father’s office, Yeon-joo is stunned to see that one of the things that Kang Chul wants her to draw is a rotting corpse.
Episode 13
| Ep. 12 recap:
Kang Chul disassembles the tablet to prevent the killer from using it to enter Yeon-joo’s world. Through some hypotheses, he also finds out that he can summon himself back and forth the manhwa world and Yeon-joo’s world. The police capture the killer. Except for Do-yoon, So-hee and the public believe that Kang Chul is dead. |
Present times ...
After the killer demands to see him, Assemblyman Han Chul-ho calls up his henchmen.
As Yeon-joo walks towards her date with Kang Chul, she imagines how her happy ending will be like. On her actual date, however, Kang Chul tells her that he needs to go back to the manhwa world to take care of some things. Just then, Yeon-joo’s professor comes up to them and sees Kang Chul.
Kang Chul drives up to the real-life counterpart of the manhwa hotel where he stays, but to his surprise, he sees So-hee at the curb. So-hee also sees him. Meanwhile, back at the office, Yeon-joo finds that her father has woken up and has regained his face.
In the manhwa world, Kang Chul signs over to Do-Yoon all of his assets, which wil be used for a foundation dedicated to crime investigation. When he asks about So-hee, Do-yoon says that she had experienced changes in time and space and had seen him appear and disappear. Perplexed, he thinks about another hypothesis — as the main character, he can wittingly or unwittingly summon someone from the manhwa world into the real world.
Episode 14
| Ep. 13 recap:
Kang Chul has unwittingly summoned the killer into the real world; while the killer in the manhwa world escapes from jail, the killer with Oh Sung-moo’s face attacks Yeon-joo and brings her to the manhwa world. He also orders the real Oh Sung-moo to destroy the tablet. After confronting Assemblyman Han Chul-ho, Kang Chul rushes to the warehouse, but the killer has shot Yeon-joo on the back. He engages the killer in a firefight. In the real world, doctors struggle to deal with Yeon-joo’s injury and massive loss of blood. |
Assemblyman Han Chul-ho goes to the warehouse and cleans up any evidence against him. In the killer’s car trunk, he finds something that interests him.
Back in the office, Oh Sung-moo orders Su-bong to lie to Yeon-joo’s mother about Yeon-joo. Kang Chul appears in the office and tells them that after he brought Yeon-joo to the manhwa world, she died.
Oh Sung-moo is rushed to the hospital, overcome by the guilt over having killed Yeon-joo and by the effects of alcohol and pills that he took. Regaining consciousness, he runs to the rooftop to commit suicide.
Kang Chul transports himself back into Assemblyman Han Chul-ho’s office. But it’s a trap, and he gets knocked out.
Episode 15
| Ep. 14 recap:
Assemblyman Han Chul-ho has found the tablet that Oh Sung-moo drew for the killer. He uses it to capture and torture Kang Chul. Kang Chul transports Assemblyman Han Chul-ho to the real world; in the hospital room, Oh Sung-moo and Su-bong fight with Assemblyman Han Chul-ho to get hold of the tablet. Oh Sung-moo draws Yeon-joo back to life, but Kang Chul is missing from the warehouse where he was tortured. Yeon-joo is transported back to the manhwa world where she meets So-hee: she also sees the chyron that says “Final Episode.” |
Oh Sung-moo was arrested as the killer and locked up in a mental hospital. But he has escaped.
After his appeal trial, Kang Chul manages to escape from his police escorts. He picks up Yeon-joo and brings her to the hideout where her father has been drawing on the tablet. Later, as Yeon-joo is preparing some food, Oh Sung-moo tells Kang Chul that they cannot coexist in the manhwa world.
Assemblyman Han Chul-ho finds out that Kang Chul escaped; after kidnapping Do-yoon, he calls up Kang Chul and gives him an ultimatum.
With the police closing in on their hideout, Kang Chul tells Yeon-joo that it’s all up to her how their story will end.
Episode 16, Finale (with spoilers)
| Ep. 15 recap:
Oh Sung-moo has been struggling with the memories of the killer inside his brain; he killed a nurse while escaping from the mental hospital. He tells Kang Chul to kill him in this manhwa world for Yeon-joo’s sake. |
As Yeon-joo reaches the bus stop, she sees Kang Chul die on the bus stop, and she’s transported back to her world. In shock over Kang Chul’s death, she’s rushed to the hospital.
In the manhwa world, Do-yoon finds Kang Chul and rushes him to the hospital.
Oh Sung-moo uses the tablet to confront Assemblyman Han Chul-ho; he draws a gun and forces Assemblyman Han Chul-ho to take his own life. Afterwards, he travels to the bus stop where he sees Yeon-joo and Kang Chul. As he says goodbye to Yeon-joo, he finally disappears.
Kang Chul spends two years in jail before he’s finally released.
As a grieving Yeon-joo gets soaked under the rain in the bus stop, someone walks up to her. The next time she wakes up, Kang Chul is beside her on her hospital bed.
Historical backgrounders and other information
1. Most Popular Fictional Character Comes To Life Movies and TV Shows (IMDb)
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Korean webtoon attracting global viewers with interesting plot and characters
K-webtoon going global during coronavirus lockdown Tools for webtoon creators |
3. What Is Manhwa?
Manhwa is a South Korean comic or printed cartoon. It utilizes a Western reading format where page arrangement is from left-to-right. Some of the subcategories are: sunjeong manhwa (romance stories for girls), sonyeon manhwa (for boys), and seongin manhwa (for adults). In the international context, it refers to South Korean comics or manga-inspired comic strips.
4. South Korea’s manhwas: going global (Financial Times)
According to KT Economy Research Institute, South Korea’s manhwa market, with 6.2m readers a day and 140,000 cartoonists, was worth about $96m in 2012. KT predicts that it will grow to $290m by 2015 as manhwas tap into new revenue streams through partnerships with producers of movies, dramas and online games.
5. South Korea’s booming ‘manhwas’ put Japan’s print manga on notice (The Japan Times)
Unlike Japanese manga, which in most cases are first marketed for a print audience and only subsequently promoted online via apps, [Korean] manhwas cater to digital device users from the get-go: Their format has already been optimized for personal computers or smartphones.
6. Manhwa as a new korean wave in the process of glocalization - Barnett Center (PDF)
7. 15 Amazing Manhwa You Need To Read In 2020
Manhwa has become a big hit for those who are fans of manga in recent years. Manhwa originated in South Korea, although its popularity has spread to North Korea and overseas as well. While manga is in black-and-white, a variety of manhwa is in full color and attracts a lot of people.
Lessons in photographyfrom “W -Two Worlds”
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| Conveying depth through background blur |
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| Low angle shot |
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| High angle shot |
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| Low angle shot, foreground blur |
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| Low angle shot |
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| Conveying depth through sidelighting and background blur |
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| Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Dutch angle, converging and leading lines |
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| Foreground and background blur |
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| Reflection |
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| Establishing shot |
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| Out of focus highlights |
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| Low angle shot, Dutch angle |
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| Shallow depth of field |
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| Lead room, looking space |
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| Conveying depth through sidelighting and background blur |
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| Natural frame |
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| Foreground and background blur |
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| Symmetry and balance |
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| Sidelighting, foreground and background blur |
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| Bokeh (aesthetic quality of the blurred areas of a photograph) |
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| Lines of direction |
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| Foreground and background blur |
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| Foreground and background blur |
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| High angle shot, lines of direction |
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| High angle shot, natural frames |
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| Low angle shot, shallow depth of field |
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| Lens flare, rim lighting |
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