Cashero is one of those interesting K-dramas that has a good heart but doesn’t fully make sense. Kind of like its main character, Sang-Ung. They say money can’t buy you happiness, but here money buys Sang-Ung strength enough to save whole worlds, but what does that mean for his life? Cashero has a simple yet effective message that culminates nicely in the final episode. It’s not about superpowers (obviously), nor is it about money and power; it all boils down to what it means to be a good person. The world that we live in today leaves us quite bitter and dull for the most part. It’s all about the hustle and struggling to lead a “happy” life, but does it ever come? What’s the big dream? Also, can I be that person and call this show baby-making propaganda and make it 3 for 3? One could argue that the fact that this superpower thing is inherited makes for a good joke here, at least, no? But with that said, I’ll jump straight into the final episode of Cashero.
Spoiler Alert
How Does Sang-Ung Come Back to Life?
At the beginning of the final episode of Cashero, we’re first made to believe that Sang-Ung is dead, given he uses a hand grenade in the elevator that he’s in with Jo Nathan to kill both of them and end all of this once and for all, saving Min-Suk, the love of his life, and the world simultaneously. Guess he didn’t account for Anna at the time. We see Min-Suk mourn for the loss of the love of her life, only for Ho-In to show up and tell her that there is a way for her to bring back her fiancé: find the detective who was after Sang-Ung and ask him to turn back time. When she does go to the detective, he’s happy to help, but he does say that the person who is asking for time to be turned back will lose some life expectancy. While this is fine with Min-Suk for the time being, I genuinely hope it doesn’t come back to bite her at the worst time ever. Especially considering the happy ending we get for the lead pairing.
Min-Suk then goes back in time to give Sang-Ung his “daily allowance,” which feels quite ironic, because when she first heard about his powers, she wanted him not to use them so they could save money to buy a house. Guess she finally realizes that life is more precious than money, and it had to come at such a high price (no pun intended). Sang-Ung doesn’t understand where he got the money from when he “comes back to life,” because he was so prepared to die, but obviously, Min-Suk has no memory of what happened after those events because she turned back time. So this is what I mean; even though everything seems great for the near future, I don’t want to think about it turning into a tragedy later on.
What Happens To The Jo Family?
Cashero’s ending sees Sang-Ung fighting Jo Nathan directly after the man has killed his own sister and stolen all of her research work. While Anna wanted to tame the power, Nathan wanted to absorb all of them at once. They’re both a little stupid if you ask me, but I think Anna made the smarter choice here, not turning herself into an experiment. It’s always the same when it comes to villain siblings in K-dramas; they hate each other because they need to fight for the spot of favorite. While Anna uses her brains, Nathan wants to use his strength—well, stolen strength. Anna wanted to make drugs based on the powers of the superhumans, which would eventually be given to ordinary people, who would get addicted and do anything to better themselves until they spent too much money and died from greed. As I said, it all leads down the same road, one that’s taken a lot. We do see a little bit of this earlier in the show, but nothing really comes of it in the end. I’m thinking it’ll be a bigger crisis to deal with by the police later on. But luckily there will be no more supply (unless someone tries to replicate it).
It’s not hard for Nathan to kill Anna, because he uses the strength of the woman who is in love with him, Korea’s own quicksilver. This woman goes so far as to save her “lover,” thinking he’ll always keep her around and give her everything she wants, but in truth, he only uses her until he doesn’t need her anymore. After using her to kill his sister, he tries to kill his dad too, but he manages to escape (lucky for him). Maybe if they’d grown up with a mom, they’d have turned out more normal. Anyway, ultimately, Nathan takes all the powers that exist in Anna’s research facility and injects himself with them. This is when the true chaos begins.
Nathan confronts Sang-Ung, excited to kill him, but Sang-Ung puts up a good fight until he’s out of money. Oh, and unlike usual, this whole situation is happening in public view; nobody is hiding their superhuman strengths or wearing masks or anything. Finally, even Bun-Mi and Ho-In show up to help, but they’re each knocked out pretty soon by Nathan’s strength. Finally, even Sang-Ung is ready to give up because he’s out of money, and to taunt him further, Nathan wonders where the “strength in his heart is” because Sang-Ung told him once that it comes from his heart.
While on paper, this sounds like a lovely line; in truth, Sang-Ung’s power demands selflessness, which is hard for anyone in a world where everything costs money, and it’s hard to even breathe without worrying for one second. Sang-Ung tries to get up on his own, but to no avail, until a piggy bank crashes near him from above (that could’ve been super dangerous). It seems everyone who was watching already picked the side of kindness, i.e., Sang-Ung. Having seen everything that went down, the people of the apartments around make it rain money all around Sang-Ung. So I guess he was right after all; it does come from the heart, no? Because he’s been so kind to help people and protect them, Sang-Ung will always be okay. Ultimately, Sang-Ung uses the strength of the community to defeat Nathan, i.e., kill him and save the day. It’s beautiful to see everyone supporting Sang-Ung, realizing the price of wanting to do something good. I suppose we’re not meant to waste even a penny, and every penny counts to save Sang-Ung (that’s why the coin imagery). Pennies are something we discard because we think they’re useless, but if Sang-Ung actually picked up his “consolation,” he would be rich I think.
Finally, Cashero ends with all the superhumans with powers still returning to regular life because the Vanguard is now completely destroyed. Jeong-Ja seems to be the one to continue lending Sang-Ung money, but maybe, having seen him do a bit as a citizen, Sang-Ung has other means of earning. He is a superhero after all, a man of the people. Jeong-Ja cleaned everything up for the lot, and the Jo family patriarch was sent to prison for embezzlement. Meanwhile, Ho-In reconciles with his young daughter, who has also inherited his strength and now needs alcohol as a teenager (oh, that could be messy). This kind of strength could easily turn messy from greed; that’s what happened at the beginning of the show. But, ultimately, everyone is happy and peaceful; they’ll probably use their powers in a minimal way. Though, since at least some part of society knows that there are superhumans, there’s a chance of a Jo family-esque group returning to ruin their lives, but we’d rather think positively.
Meanwhile, Eun-Mi visits the fire-lady’s cafe, because it seems she left the bread for her during that final fight, saving her life. On the other hand, the show ends on a somewhat terrifying note for Sang-Ung, which some will call hopeful, because Min-Suk is now pregnant. She tells him this news just as they step into their new apartment, which they can finally afford, but will likely be paying off the mortgage for the rest of their lives. Sang-Ung won’t end up like his father; he won’t abandon his kid, so that’s one thing to admire about him. Guess this is a generational difference, while Sang-Ung’s dad’s generation took their strength as a burden, Sang-Ung’s generation of superhumans see it as an actual strength to do good. Not something that suffocates you.
With Min-Suk by his side, I don’t think he risks being broke, because she’ll always keep him in check. Maybe their kid won’t inherit this strength and will end up normal. Who knows? I think the ending is hopeful, certainly, because those who are kind reap the sweetest rewards, but it’s also a bit grim due to the inheritance aspect, making for an interesting final few minutes of the show. What did you think of Cashero? Do you think it should come back for another season? Yes, ultimately, it’s a happy ending. Even the detective seems to have moved on, swapping his old watch that travelled back in time for a fancy new one. Everyone moves on. Guess if there were a sequel, we’d know how these people got their strength, but this time around, we don’t get any details. They’re just born with it, and it’s inherited from parent to offspring.
