Meteor Garden - Ending Explained

The overarching plot of "Meteor Garden" follows the tumultuous romance between Dong Shancai and Daoming Si, which is continually thwarted by his mother, Daoming Feng. After they first get together, Daoming Feng forces their separation by threatening the livelihood of Shancai's family and friends. This leads to a period where they are apart, with Shancai in her hometown and Si being set up with a more 'suitable' fiancée, Xiaozi. However, Xiaozi realizes Si's true love for Shancai and helps them reunite.

A major turning point occurs during a trip to London. Daoming Si gets into an altercation that results in a head injury and temporary amnesia, causing him to forget Shancai completely. During this time, he is cared for by another woman. Shancai must patiently and persistently try to make him remember their love, effectively reversing their initial dynamic where he was the pursuer.

The climax of the series sees Daoming Feng making her final, most cruel move by financially ruining Shancai's family. In an act of defiance, Daoming Si renounces his inheritance and joins Shancai in a hunger strike to protest his mother's actions. On the brink of death, Daoming Feng finally relents, moved by their unwavering commitment. The final episode transitions into a surreal wedding sequence, which is revealed to be a grand surprise orchestrated by their friends. The series concludes with them happily married, having overcome all societal and familial obstacles, with the final scenes implying that their love has not only triumphed but also healed the fractured Daoming family.

The series finale, particularly the wedding sequence, has been subject to various interpretations due to its surreal and dreamlike quality. A significant portion of the audience found the transition from a life-threatening hunger strike to a bizarre, theatrical wedding jarring and confusing.

One interpretation is that the entire wedding sequence is a hallucination or an afterlife fantasy. Proponents of this theory argue that Shancai and Daoming Si actually succumbed to their starvation. The strange behavior of their friends and family, the absence of Shancai's parents, and the dream-like reenactment of their past all point to a symbolic union in another realm rather than a literal event.

A more straightforward interpretation sees the sequence as an elaborate surprise wedding orchestrated by F4 and Daoming Si's sister. In this view, the theatricality is simply a reflection of Daoming Si's grand, often over-the-top personality and his desire to give Shancai a unique and memorable declaration of his love. The strangeness is attributed to artistic choice, meant to be a final, playful game before they settle into their happily ever after.