Where we left off last week: Shin Ae’s lies are exposed! Mi Poong and her family are finally reunited with Grandfather and Daddy Kim.
With nowhere to go after she was kicked out of the Lee family home, a starving Mama Jo shows up at her daughter’s store seeking refuge. At first vehemently refusing Hee Ra’s urging to turn herself into the authorities, Mama Jo panics when Hee Ra tells her that Hee Dong is so traumatized by Shin Ae’s betrayal that he is devoting all his time to searching for her.
Promising her daughter that she will turn herself in if she can just see her son one last time, Mama Jo pleads with an unmoved Hee Dong to move on and forget Shin Ae. Sobbing as her precious son refuses to even look at her, Mama Jo could only beg her husband to talk some sense into their son before turning herself into the police.
While Hee Dong is hunting everywhere for her, Shin Ae has since lost all her money after being scammed by a man that was supposed to take her and her daughter (Yoo Jin) to China on a boat. Meekly following her mother everywhere while Shin Ae tries to hide from the police, Yoo Jin finally calls Hee Dong out of desperation when Shin Ae gets sick. Frantic once she realizes who Yoo Jin had called for help, Shin Ae manages to hide with Yoo Jin right before Hee Dong showed up.
Becoming more worried the sicker Shin Ae gets, little Yoo Jin resorts to stealing food in order to give her mother some much needed nourishment. Overwhelmed with emotion as she watches her young daughter tearfully begging the store owner on her knees to let her keep the food she had stolen for her sick mother, Shin Ae sob in regret.
Convinced that killing herself is the only way to end everything properly, Shin Ae sends poor Yoo Jin back to the orphanage and heads to the beach she once went with Hee Dong. With no clue where to find Shin Ae, Hee Dong has been camping out at the beach and so was able to confront Shin Ae the moment she shows up. Yelling in frustration once it becomes apparent that Shin Ae is willing to go the length of committing suicide to “pay” for her sins, Hee Dong vehemently tells Shin Ae to stay alive and atone for her crimes.
Mildly surprised to see Shin Ae suddenly appearing in front of them, Mi Poong and Mama Kim are unmoved as Shin Ae kneels in front of them and apologizes for everything she had done. Quietly accepting Mama Kim’s words that the only thing they want is for them to never see her again, Shin Ae numbly allows the police to take her away.
Already seething with fury and resentment against Shin Ae after finding out from her daughter that 1. Grandfather Kim had given a few of the best real estate and a business to Daddy Jo. 2. Grandfather Kim had always intended to give Daddy Jo half of his inheritance. 3. Her precious son had not only left the country but has taken Shin Ae’s daughter with him., Mama Jo goes crazy when Shin Ae ends up being sent to the same prison cell as herself.
Perhaps out of love for Hee Dong and the guilt she feels, Shin Ae not only meekly accepts Mama Jo’s anger but even comes to Mama Jo’s defense when the rest of her cellmates try to bully Mama Jo. Quite pleased to be able to strut around in her little cell with Shin Ae as her protector, Mama Jo’s attitude towards Shin Ae quickly softens…that is until the next time she remembers their old grudge.
With her family back and her job back, Mi Poong is ready to get her man back as well. With memories of all that Mi Poong had suffered at his own mother’s hand still vivid in his mind, Jang Go grimaces at Mi Poong’s suggestion of getting back together and tells her honestly that he feels too guilty towards her.
Harboring no ill will towards Mama Lee, Mi Poong recounts how Jang Go had stayed by her side through all her darkest times and reiterates again that she has never stopped loving Jang Go.
Jang Go was, of course, no match for a teary Mi Poong and soon our two leads are back to being happily in love.
After bitterly regretting her actions towards Mi Poong, Mama Lee is overjoyed when Jang Go comes home to announce that he has gotten back together with our heroine. Unfortunately, since we still have one more episode to go, it is Mama Kim’s turn to be a stumbling block for our leads.
Overwhelmed with guilt to be the sole reason impeding her son from a blissfully happy marriage, Mama Lee pleads with Mama Kim for forgiveness and even promises to cut off her family ties with Jang Go. Unable to forgive and forget all the torture her daughter had suffered because of Mama Lee, Mama Kim remains opposed to her daughter getting back together with Jang Go.
Not about to give up on the love of her life even if both Grandfather and Mama Kim have both voiced their opposition (Grandfather Kim found out about Mama Lee’s mistreatment of his granddaughter), Mi Poong perks up with hope when Daddy Kim promises to stick up for her. Determined to help his daughter no matter what, Daddy Kim firmly silences everyone’s objections and declares that as Mi Poong’s father he gives his approval of Jang Go.
With Daddy Kim to the rescue, Mama Kim eventually relents and gives in to her daughter’s wish.
With ALL obstacles out of the way, our two leads can finally have their happy ending! The music box Mi Poong is holding is the one she and Jang Go found back when they were young that was supposed to predict their happy ending.
Ninja’s Final Thoughts
Well, that actually ended much better than I had dared to hope. I had lost quite a bit of confidence in the writer after how draggy Blow Breeze got for the last 15 episodes so it was a pleasant surprise that I found the ending fairly satisfying overall.
I was especially glad that the writer did not whitewash both villains but instead had given Shin Ae and Mama Jo a rather fitting yet hilarious ending.
One scene I found particularly loved was when Mama Jo got huffy after looking through pictures of Hee Dong traveling in Cambodia with Yoo Jin. Getting angrier as she complains how Hee Dong shouldn’t be raising someone else’s child, Mama Jo hollers at the prison guards to change her cell so should wouldn’t have to see Shin Ae anymore. Rolling her eyes, Shin Ae yells her agreement even as the prison guard reminds Mama Jo that they had changed Mama Jo’s cell once already but she was soon protesting that she can’t live without her daughter-in-law and had even gone as far as starving herself to force them to move her back. Ha!
Here are the postscripts for the rest of our characters after what I am assuming a two-year time jump:
- Looks like Daddy Jo did get a divorce and remarried.
- Daddy Kim still hasn’t recovered his memory but seems happy nonetheless.
- Shin Ae is serving a 10-year prison sentence. Feeling ashamed when Daddy Kim visits her in prison to bring her photos of Yoo Jin and Hee Dong, Shin Ae tells Daddy Kim to not visit her anymore but Daddy Kim softly tells her that he will come again.
- Hee Ra and Jang Soo has a little daughter. Jang Soo is an actor now and even has a starring role in a tv show…one that has Blow Breeze’s cover.
- Mi Poong and Jang Go also has a baby daughter.
- Out of guilt and repentance, Mama Lee moved into a monastery. Mi Poong tries to convince Mama Lee to move back home but by this point, Mama Lee insists that she is choosing to stay because she honestly finds it more peaceful there. I am surprised that the writer left Mama Lee at the monastery because while she was a very flawed character I do think without Mama Jo’s meddling she would’ve accepted Mi Poong as her daughter-in-law long before Mi Poong was reunited with her grandfather.
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
Well I’m exhausted and you’re the one who had to watch and write about it all. Thanks Ninja for finishing this one to the end! Like you they made them actually responsible for their actions which is more than I hoped for but, is there this unspoken rule that says consequences can only be give at the very end? Especially considering even with the jail time and such they obviously made them with hopes of redemption down the road so why not show that instead of 50+ episodes of torture.
Oh man am I grateful that I found your episode re-caps! I had sat down one day and started watching this drama with my grandmother, even though I usually don’t like dramas at all due to my hot-temper and impatience.
But by episode 20-ish I had become invested in seeing Mi Poong find her happy end and also for karma to smack Shin Ae as she deserves. With my temper running short, I’m happy to read about the ending even though I cannot sit through its 50 episodes.