Jirisan · Season 1 · Episode 16 · 12 December 2021
S1E16 Episode 16
THE MOMENT The reveal of the overarching mystery's explanation - a moment that divided audiences between 'earned revelation' and 'retroactive confusion'.
The finale attempted to resolve multiple timeline threads and a supernatural mystery simultaneously. Critics and audiences broadly agreed it landed below the season's production value - the ending felt abrupt, the supernatural explanation contested, and the emotional payoff insufficient given the sixteen-episode investment.
Full episode analysis below. Spoiler-light verdict above.
Updated
Jirisan Episode 16 aired December 12, 2021 on tvN as the series finale and bore the weight of the critical reversal the series had undergone across sixteen episodes. The South China Morning Post's verdict that 'Jirisan should have been a suspenseful mountaineering drama, but the creators muddied the waters by adding supernatural phenomena' was most applicable to the finale: multiple timeline threads required simultaneous resolution, the supernatural mystery's explanation landed as contested rather than earned, and the emotional payoff felt insufficient against a sixteen-episode investment. The IMDb 7.4 series rating - reflecting audience sentiment that the production's technical achievements in cinematography and mountain location outpaced its narrative coherence - is most accurately read through this finale.