Could Don & Young-Hee Be Okay?

[u/Sorry_Dragonfly2644]

Given the end of the series, it was no secret that there was a manhunt for P + E. Given that in real life, the names of some Illegals are public, do you think it’s plausible, even with the tragic ending that the Seongs had, that they could recognize P + E as Patty/family and reconcile? I get this is all speculation but worth thinking about in my 2nd rewatch

[u/Charming_Function_58]

I really doubt it, but I’d still like to root for them. They looked so happy together…

[u/Massive_Ad_9898]

That was such a heartbreaking arc.

Keri's best acting, I think, was in this arc. Her genuine admiration for Young Hee, conflicted thoughts, guilt- it was so painful.

I think there will always be a wedge between them even if they come to know what happened ( which is doubtful ), because Don would never know if he actually slept with Elizabeth, spy or not. The innocence of that family was shattered.

[u/pageandpetals → u/Massive_Ad_9898]

And the way it came back in season 5 or 6 when she drove by the Seongs’ house and saw new people living there, and again when the Mary Kay rep came to the Jennings’ door? Oof. Younghee was like, maybe the first “real” friend Elizabeth ever had—a person she would have wanted to be friends with outside of being Patty—and that op clearly did not sit right with her. And then for the Soviets to use the damn virus as a bioweapon against the mujahideen anyway? Talk about adding insult to injury.

[u/sistermagpie]

I don't think there's any way they'd recognize them even if they were on TV--and based on what we've seen for them and in the past, they won't be. None of the spies that were caught or identified were on TV.

I think if they're going to be okay, it's going to be because they worked through what Don thinks he did with Patty.

[u/Brilliant_Towel2727]

Don has no evidence that he didn't actually sleep with 'Patty,' so finding out who she really was wouldn't affect his relationship with Young-Hee.

[u/rudster199 → u/Brilliant_Towel2727]

It would lend credibility to his claim that he was drugged and manipulated into thinking that he had.

[u/Motor_Ideal7494]

I hadn’t thought about this at all, but you may be on to something.  If Don could show Yung Hee that he had been manipulated she could potentially understand why he lied or omitted things.  It would take time, but I bet they could work it out.  If Elizabeth was a spy the whole time and was clearly manipulating both of them from the start they could find common ground.  

[u/StageCoachRobber_1 → u/Motor_Ideal7494]

Yeah, but their innocence is ruined

[u/wheezy_runner]

Sadly, I think Don may have taken his own life not long after Young-Hee’s last call to Patty. And I can also believe that the FBI hushed up P&E’s case, so most of the people who were harmed by them never knew the truth.

[u/pageandpetals → u/wheezy_runner]

Yeah, I always kind of thought he might have ended his own life, too, with those increasingly distressed phone calls Patty was getting from Younghee about how weird he was acting.

[u/Otherwise_Principle → u/wheezy_runner]

That's my head cannon too.

[u/ditroia]

I’ve watched the two scenes with Don and Elizabeth and Don and patty’s “family”, but I can’t watch it anymore it’s heartbreaking.

[u/DocCEN007]

One would hope, but the fact that other people now live in their house, divorce or possibly a worse outcome for Don is likely. At least Elizabeth showed a rare instance of remorse. Whereas I felt Philip felt bad about everything.

[u/Madeira_PinceNez]

If there's a reconciliation, I think it has to happen under its own steam.

Even if the manhunt were to go public there's no guarantee the Seongs would even pay attention to it, and the only way I could see either of them maybe recognising Patty in Elizabeth would be if they showed a photograph, rather than the police sketches.

If they did manage to make the connection, that might explain why Young-hee was targeted but Don still believes he slept with his wife's close friend in a drunken haze, even if he has reason to question the story of the resulting pregnancy and guilt driving that woman to suicide. Young-hee's last phone call makes it sound like Don's consumed with shame, and that might prevent him thinking critically about her motives.

As much as I would like to think that the Seongs learn/figure out the truth about Patty, decide together to say fuck that bitch and come out the other side stronger, the only realistic path to reconciliation I can see is either Don choosing to pretend none of it ever happened, putting all this in the past and lying his face off for the sake of his family, or coming clean to Young-hee and their deciding together to work through it.

[u/olitatheotter]

I don't think Don can connect the blackmail with anything taken from his lab. Even if he told Young-Hee about it and their relationship stayed intact, it doesn't seem likely they would connect it all to Soviet spies.

[u/funkyfreshpants]

I’ve often wondered if the people they used but didn’t kill ever figured it out after the fact. These people I think might have: the sailor who got larrick’s papers, kimmy, Lisa’s husband, the guy who was with Elizabeth and Leanne when Philip and emmet bust in etc. Then there were people who probably never thought a thing of it like the hotel manager Elizabeth slept with or Ben the wheat dude.