Guys help, I have an exam tomorrow but after watching this show I can’t stop reading my notes in Mr. Kim’s voice 😭. What do I do???

They’re the worst characters. Like just truly awful people for so many different reasons.

I've started watchnig Kim's Convenience. It's a great show to have on in the background. The one thing that completly ruins the show is Shannon. I think her character is "Quirky" but fuck me, the second hand embarassment i get when ever she is on the screen in unreal. I was just on the episode where Shannon starts highland dancing for Jung and i could'nt even watch it. I had to fast foward through it. On a side note the dynamic between her and Jung is so off, but that might just be my opinion because i can't stand her at all.

A close second is Chelsea. She gives off unbelievable "pick me"energy. Can't stand her either, her character isnt funny shes just annoying at best. The way she invites herself into evey situation and copies Jannet down to the detail is exhausting.

After Amy tells George about Danny messing up the toilet carpet he initially doesn't want to go with her to confront him then she says "he had a problem with you being Japanese".

This makes the non combative George accompany her in the next scene. My question is why? Given he did not seem interested at first. What was he hoping to achieve if they found him?

Also in the limited Korean/North American media I have seen (Beef and Kim's Convenience) there's always a character with "I hate the Japanese" trope. How prevalent is this in real life and how do Japanese people in north America feel about it? Is it just a trope? I know a bit of the context regarding 20th century imperial Japan but was hoping for more thoughts.

We can all agree that KC didn’t get the ending it deserved and many characters’ storylines remained unresolved. There was no proper closure to the show and it’s characters. In my opinion, there could’ve been another season (since one season only has 13 episodes) where things began to close from the beginning so the show, it’s characters and the audience got a good closure. It being a light hearted “feel-good” show, it deserved a light hearted “happy” (or happier) ending.

My thoughts: I don’t know how many will agree but the final episode felt like everything that they had built from the first season, they tore it all apart in the last episode. Except Appa and Jung’s relationship, which was (barely) evolved (from not talking at all to being in this awkward talking stage).

For this to happen, we need to alter two things in the original season 5 ending.

First: Jung’s presentation to Appa and Umma about the future of the store. The entire point of this was to apply Jung’s learnings from business school in real business. Jung going to business school was surely because of the actor’s unavailability, but this leaves a huge plot-hole in the story. He ends up in the same job as before. Moreover, if he never went to business school and the future of the store was never brought up, then it’d be completely okay to leave the things as they were. But these things did happen and it was all sitting perfectly right until Jung’s says no to taking over Kim’s Convenience and now, we have this sad feeling where we know that one day someone else is going to take over and change the store’s name. The only explanation to this was Janet saying that she believed that Jung could do much more greater things in life. I believe that could be done while being the store owner and growing the store, getting the business better than it ever was, transforming the store and diversifying, a.k.a., using his entrepreneurial knowledge that he gained from the business school.

The Change: Jung doesn’t straight-up deny the offer and asks Appa and Umma for time to thing about it. So, he can discuss it with Shannon and how it’d affect their future. Now, keep in mind that I’m only building into this storyline because Jung taking over store is the ONLY lead in the story where Jung grows in his career and it sits right with the business school bit. Otherwise, it ends in him still working at the car rental. The possibility of another job is unlikely because of his past records (also shown in earlier episodes where he tries to switch jobs).

Second: Before Jung and Shannon joins the family for dinner upstairs, they have a disagreement where Shannon panics and tells Jung that she was planning to break up with her and they end up breaking up before the dinner. The major reason being the “dream couple” conflict. Personally, the only reason of this conflict was them not being on the same page and lack of communication.

Change: During the disagreement in the store, Jung and Shannon calms down for a second and decides to talk about this after dinner. After the family dinner, they go back to their apartment, and Shannon confesses that she meant it when she asked Jung to marry him. Jung acknowledges the fact and apologizes for the misunderstanding. He continues to tell Shannon that he wants to take the relationship to next level as well. The reason he didn’t want it right then was because he wanted to be in a better position financially to support them better (We have seen how Jung and Kimchee could barely afford getting food from outside in the beginning and Jung had the same job in the end as well). Then, he continues to say that now he has an opportunity in his hands and discusses taking over the store with Shannon. Shannon tells Jung about the job opportunity that she has. They decide to start saving up and hunting another apartment so they could move in, just the two of them.

Shannon

In the last season, we see Shannon being on call with someone who seems to be a potential recruiter for another company where Shannon had applied for the position of a director (I’m not sure if that was the position). The final season begins after a few months of time jump where Shannon had already been working for another company for the past few months.

Kimchee

In the last season, Kimchee tries to find his father who had abandoned Kimchee and his mother in his childhood. He seemed to have found his dad but that’s a dead end. I thought about a storyline where he keeps digging and finds his father. But if we think deeper, he probably abandoned them for someone else and would be with that family, probably with kids (Kimchee’s half siblings). We do not know how Kimchee would take it. Moreover, Kimchee’s father was only mentioned once and Kimchee doesn’t seem to remember much or think about it much so I think the story better end at that dead end with Kimchee accepting the fact that he’s happier not knowing.

With Shannon leaving her job, there’s an empty spot and Kimchee was shown to be a great acting manager. Hence, Kimchee takes up the position of Handy’s branch manager. Stacie takes up Kimchee's old position (technically, T-ball taking the position would make more sense but what the hell, it’s my story now lol).

Janet

Her love life was a mess so I’m not going there. Janet and Raj was too complicated. I wouldn’t say Janet deserved better than Raj because she hadn’t treated her dates too well either. Janet and Gerald was not happening either. Janet and the girl was a dead end as well.

But what Janet was very passionate about and good at photography. She also mentions to Gerald that she wanted to start freelancing and that having a partner would be great. So, they create a website together and start using their connections, families and friends to get gigs for themselves. This way they maintain their friendship and do what they love.

Jung

In the beginning of the final season, Jung seems to have accepted his parents’ offer of taking over the store and had spent the past few months learning from his Appa about wholesale and other work in the store. Jung has been taking workload off Appa and been saving up for diversifying and generating other revenue streams. Business has been booming, thanks to Appa’s years of experience and Jung’s application of learnings from business school (computerized billings, digital price charts, online orders, inventory management system etc.). Jung has been working harder and earning much above his income from his previous job. By the middle of the season, Jung is completely caught up and has taken up most of Appa’s workload. He decides to employ a staff of 3 members who can work alternatively so Appa can retire and he can work on further ideas of expanding his business. Another thing that I didn’t understand was why Janet was living in the basement, maybe I missed something, but for now I’m assuming that Janet is living upstairs in her room and the basement is turned into a bedroom for rental which will support Jung’s parents’ retirement along with Jung’s additional financial support, if required.

Appa and Jung’s relationship

Since, Appa and Jung had been spending a lot of time together, they have had time to talk about things. What Jung’s been through after being kicked out leading to his resentment towards Appa. They talked about how Appa felt and that he had tried on multiple occasions to have a better relationship with Jung. Talking about their feelings and working together as a team helped them move past the awkward talking and fighting-like-a-father-and-his-teen son phase.

Jung and Shannon

Jung and Shannon had moved into a new apartment a few months ago and their relationship had been stronger than ever knowing that they both were on the same page and wanted a future with each other. By the end of the season Jung is finally ready to take their relationship to the next step and propose to Shannon. Jung takes blessings from Shannon’s adopted parents and proposes to her. He also mentioned that he had given a downpayment for an old house which they will build together and then move into it after their wedding. He was all in for building a beautiful life and a beautiful home with Shannon. Jung gives the good news to his family and they invite them, Janet, Kimchee and Gwen on a dinner at the Kim’s for celebrating the engagement.

The season ends in everybody leaving after dinner and Mr. and Mrs. Kim turning off the store’s lights. Mr. Kim having his arm on Mr. Kim’s shoulder walking towards the stairs, disappearing in the dark.