The ending of "The Art of Sarah" explained
When I first saw the ending of what is now my new 10/10 show, I was left pondering for months over what that ending was.
However after rewatching it I finally found the answer, the truth lies in the last dialogue in the show "What is your name?"
In The Art of Sarah a core theme of the show was that your name wasn't given, it's earned. Anyone can get a name, but not anyone can build a name for themselves, and that's what this story is about and why our protagonist is our protagonist.
A lot of people think being a protagonist means they are great, powerful, or amazing in some way, that's why people in real life with "main character syndrome" act that way.
But those people are mistaken. What makes someone a protagonist isn't their ability, greatness, accomplishments, or power at all – it's because they have a story to tell.
But to understand the ending we have to understand the beginning, one thing I instantly realized looking at the ending was that it looked familiar
The end of episode 2, where her original identity was revealed. When the cop was in the sewers and was told the name "Mok Ga-Hui" this is what we see.
But in the continuation of the next episode at the tunnel, I thought "hey wait a minute where's the continuation of that ending?"
But it turns out, that's what the entire episode was about. The location that he was in, the garbage chute, was somewhere she was originally in, and that setting represented the lowest point in her life.
We are seeing her in the lowest point of her life and the beginning of our protagonist's journey. The end of episode 2 represents the beginning of our female lead, in her retail associate uniform in an empty room, to the end of the show with her in a dress in a room full of Boudoir's products.
But what does that mean? First we must understand what Boudoir is to our protagonist.
To her, luxury products represents status, and that was something she strived for and was lacking when she was just a retail associate.
Her desire to become an elite – and not do customer service for them, is what lead to her digging herself in this whole with the loan sharks.
To her, Boudoir is a crown of status standing head and shoulders above her old her job, her boss, her loan sharks, her debt, and anyone else that tried to put her down.
Boudoir isn't a company she founded, it's a legitimacy to her elitism to her standing above the rest of the world. Boudoir isn't her company, it's an extension of herself, it was her crown, a crown that says to the rest of the world that she has what it takes to become great, and an elite, that her status stands higher than the rest.
Without Boudoir she's a nobody, no matter what her name is – because your name is earned and not given.
This is why she chose to be in jail and save Boudoir. It was her entire life ambition, without Boudoir she would quite literally be no one, she would be dead. Right before she committed suicide she said "I want to be reborn again" and she did through creating Boudoir.
When we see her first suicide, we see her resenting the lowly life she's in, and seeing a flashback saying "I have a dream! I want to be someone befitting of this bag!" The very bag she brought when she jumped off the bridge.
But from my interpretation of her in the middle of drowning, I believe she thought to herself "Ah yes... I remember when I dreamed of being someone worthy of being that handbag's owner."
But when she tried to get it and it broke underwater, I believe she had another thought "instead of being someone worthy enough to own that bag, why not be someone worthy enough to make an entire luxury brand? With that status I'd be head and shoulders even above those that own luxury handbags!"
She completely ignored that original handbag when she swam out of the water. Her goals and ambitions lie higher than that.
I believe when the cop asked what her name was, judging by her reaction, and my understanding of her character, her response was something along the lines of: "What my name is isn't important, it's who I am. Instead of asking me what my name is, why don't you ask me who I am instead?"
When we see them leave, we can see that her reaction shows one of slight disappointment, but when she turns back, as soon as we see the scene change to the ending scene, it represents the realization of the answer from the cop.
It's that she no longer is that retail associate working at a luxury store, she's someone great enough to build a luxury brand store herself from the ground up and Boudoir is the proof of her achievements.
Those two panels of her in that room represents what she's accomplished and what she's built – that's what matters, not her name.