If you haven’t watched this drama yet and would prefer a spoiler-free review, please click on the link below for general series information and story summary.

In the 1980’s, two teenage boys meet the spunky daughter of a local theater owner and they develop a close bond.  And as the trio spend time together, both boys fall for their new friend.  But a horrible accident rocks their friendship, changing their lives forever.  Four years later the friends are reunited, but life has taken each on a very different path that will pit a prosecutor against an infamous gang leader.  And lingering romantic feelings will heat up as old rivalries become adult battles.  

One of my favorite things about this drama was Jeong Sin’s unwavering love and loyalty for Du Hak.  If she had wavered any of the times that she thought she lost Du Hak forever, it would have made Cheol Ung’s feeling more understandable and cheapened her relationship with Du Hak.  But instead, she remained true to him, with unquestioning belief in him as a person and their potential future.  

I was so happy that in the end Du Hak’s mom got both her sons back.  She never agreed to giving Cheol Ung to Yeo Jin and she had spent her whole life having to love her second son from the sidelines.  She deserved some kind of happiness at the end of it all.  And her ending is especially satisfying when compared to Yeo Jin, who is left with empty dreams and her own disillusionment.  

I love a good redemption story and I was happy to see Cheol Ung come around in the end.  But his character was so inconsistent throughout the whole drama.  He would change so much from one situation to the next without any real explanation.  And for him to sit side by side with Jeong Sin and Du Hak at the end and pretend it was all fine felt strangely insincere.  

I know O Man Ok is a villain with absolutely no justification for his actions.  But even so, I felt kind of sad when he got killed off.  First of all, that it would be done by his mentor Chung Seong as he looked him coldly in the eye.  But also, it felt like his character got dragged into a situation he couldn’t break free from.  And just when it seemed like he might be able to change the direction of his tragic life, he gets offed.  I couldn’t help but feel for him.  

‘Oasis’  gives us our happy Hollywood ending for our leads.  But it’s a bumpy road.  A grand showdown brings all the secrets to light.  Cheol Ung and Du Hak find out they are really brothers, and in the face of immenent danger, Cheol Ung chooses to protect he and Du Hak’s birth mom before rushing to Du Hak’s side after he is shot.  The scene ends with Du Hak losing consciousness while his friends cry at his side.

So where does that leave us?  In the aftermath, Chung Seong is hospitalized and chooses to jump out of the hospital window rather than be arrested for his crimes.  Having lost everything, Yeo Jin is living in her own reality at a psychiatric hospital.  We see a newspaper that runs a story saying Du Hak has been cleared of all charges.

Outside Jeong Sin’s theater, the boys’ mom waits as the authorities arrive and she begs them to give him a little time.  Though it isn’t directly stated, we have to assume they are there to arrest Cheol Ung, since Du Hak has been proven innocent of his alleged crimes.  Inside the three friends sit side by side like old times.  The boys bicker and Jeong Sin scolds them to try to get along.