Jang Bori Is Here! - Episode 25 (KimJiCap)

This episode delivers! It delivers no-boredom, exploding ovaries, almost abs, and a bunch of insanely stupid people. The Hanbokers manage to go from semi-sane to bat-shit-crazy to WTF within minutes and I am now convinced their brains are destroyed by all that dye-sniffing. I also think that Veggie Ahjumma is missing her brain altogether. Also: isn't it amazing how this drama manages to solve at least one mystery per episode and still leaves us with a gazillion more?
JoAnne: I don't really care. Keep giving us BiDan and Jae Hwa together, Show, and I'll follow you anywhere. Actually... I'd follow you just for BiDan.

Episode 25

Ah, the sweet moment when Min-jung's hopes are crushed (crushed-ish) by a phone call from her own mother!! I cannot watch this enough times (and I notice once again that Bong2 really cannot act). So, the Hanbokers now know that their daughter is alive and well. Bong2 almost dies of happiness, so does the Matron, and BaDIL as well. They agree to wait at Bi Sool Chae for the woman who raised their daughter. And the adoption? OFF the table. buahahahaha.
JoAnne: oh, I was beside myself with joy over this.  Just the irony of her finally getting what she wants, only to have it SNATCHED out of her hands by the real daughter...except we know it's too soon, sigh...
Awwww, Bori is so happy for these people she barely knows. That's until she looks at Min-jung and then goes and talks to an old dog in the courtyard (who probably knows who she is). She tells the dog she doesn't remember one bit about her parents and wonders what happened to them and her. She seems sad and hurt to be abandoned like that.
JoAnne: That's the first time she's ever confessed to thinking about it at all, beyond  feeling like she owes everything to Veggie Ahjumma. I don't know why everyone just assumes that no one would have been looking for her, though. I wouldn't have thought that, in her place. 
Bi-dan calls Jae-hwa! Oh no ... she is crying, the poor kid, and HOW WELL she cries, omg. She is very upset that Jae-hwa will marry another woman, since she has been dreaming about a future for all three of them. Jae-hwa explains to her that he was forced by his dad to go on a blind date but really doesn't plan to marry that other woman. Can't he introduce her mother to his parents then? Bi-dan wants to know.
JoAnne: Oh God. This kid. This tiny baby, she made me cry SO hard for her.
Jae-hwa gets serious and says that things are complicated in the world of adults - which prompts the poor kid to say it's probably because of her, who is a burden to her mother. She'll not follow her into marriage, she has already decided that. (I think I gasped out loud.) Please stop, show - this breaks my heart. Jae-hwa says this is all bullshit: she is a precious daughter and her mother is the best. Oh Jae-hwa ...I notice he doesn't say he wants to marry Bori though and I wonder whether that's because of his father? Or because he isn't sure she likes him? Or because he doesn't want to? Just stop fooling around, Jae-hwa.
JoAnne: I noticed it too but then again, really, they haven't even dated...he likes her, he thinks she might like him, but they haven't even gotten to the point of being a couple, and then there's his family...it's SMART of him not to make promises to the child. Look at her face! Tori used to rub her eyes like that too...always killed me.
GooDIL hears about the Eun-bi news from Bori and about the invitation from Matron to come back to Bi Sool Chae now (since they know she wasn't the one that kidnapped Eun-bi). She tells Bori (who is still down) that her mother is currently looking for her parents, too. All of a sudden now, Bori doesn't want to hear that, because her mother will always be her mother (god beware!), but GooDIL knows better: that relationship will not change, even if she finds her real parents (!!!!). Also, she advises Bori to deposit Bi-dan's DNA at the police station (in case HER parents are looking for her. Shit. DON'T DO IT! Min-jung might find it. Or CreepDad!).
JoAnne: Wow, Korea! That's like chipping your dog - but WAY cooler.
The Hanbokers are dying of nervousness - the caller doesn't come. Ah, but here sounds the bell! They are so stressed they can't walk properly, so Min-fucking-jung runs to the door first ... and she is the first person her mother sees when the door opens. Oh fuck. Min-jung rips the flyer from her hands just as Bong2 catches up - and Veggie asks in her head: why is Min-jung at Bori's parents' house?! She realizes that unmyeong has put Min-jung where Bori should be, when Min-jung signals her with her phone to friggin leave without mentioning anything about Jang Eun-bi - and Veggie does. Of course she would.
JoAnne: I somehow didn't realize that Mom didn't know who they were until that moment and then it just struck me as so funny, that moment of OH SHIT what have I done now?
Min-jung convinces the Hanbokers that Veggie came by to ask for money - she heard her daughter (=Bori) was making Hanbok for free. They believe her. Of course they do, the idiots. She also suggests that it was just a prank call, earlier. Which brings them to believe the following: that Veggie, who speaks in the same dialect as the caller so it must be her, was ordered by GooDIL to call, to just be ... evil. And most likely, evil Bori also knows. Suuuuuuuure. Pfffffft. Hahahaha. Show. No. Seriously?
JoAnne: These PEOPLE see conspiracy and lies in absolutely EVERYONE but the ONE person who has lied to them for 20 years.  They're so STUPID.
When Bi-dan returns from a school outing, Jae-hwa is there! And Bi-dan runs into his arms, shouting "appa". Ovaries ... DEAD. The teacher and the other women are quite interested in this man that Bi-dan calls "appa" and Jae-hwa confirms that he is Bi-dan's prosecutor father ... at the moment.
JoAnne: Did you pick these particular moments to highlight how similar their features are?
Bi-dan beams and it's so cute my ovaries come back to life, just to die again, when Jae-hwa answers Bori's question (whether he has nothing to do) with: he has a lot to do! He has to see Bi-dan. And then Bori. Then Bi-dan again. And Bori again. When Bi-dan and Jae-hwa run after a flustered Bori, Min-jung, who is just stepping out of GooDIL's shop (she had to confirm that GooDIL doesn't know who Bori really is), sees them ... and follows them.
JoAnne: Like a little dark cloud of misery
Jae-hwa gets to eat a potato at Bori's house (but no water for him). He claims he is always scamming a meal because he doesn't have much money and needs to save for his marriage. Bori is quite rude, but Bi-dan tells him not to mind. He doesn't. And he brought her a map: he circled all the places he wants to go with her. He wants her to memorize it: it's her homework. She doesn't want to, since he didn't turn up the first night (he is touched she actually waited for him), but then, he makes her promise to study. And he seals it with a kiss! On the cheek, but MAN this is cute. Outside the gate: Min-jung. Filming it all. Including Bi-dan calling Jae-hwa appa.
JoAnne: Headlines read thusly: Cutest Family Ever, Stalked by Troll
 
The video goes straight to Jae-hee and of course, they want to show it to people to make Jae-hwa lose his job and ruin his life, etc. etc. I don't like this AT ALL and it's sad to see that Jae-hee is quite in love with the vixen. Upon realizing that Jae-hee and his Min-jung are having more than just a good relationship, AppaNotOppa looks even more gloomy-murderous than usual ... and after the two love-birds have left the room, he picks up a recording device from a bouquet of roses. Oh, NICE. He knows of their evil plan. But what will he do with this knowledge?
JoAnne: Something I will approve of strongly, I am sure.
Stalker Bride is now going on the offensive - she wants a Hanbok, and of course, Dumb Mom suggests that Bori makes one for her (it's much cheaper). Oh, and Stalker Bride has a name, too: Jo Joo-yeon. Of course, she makes it so that Bori must realize she is Jae-hwa's "bride" (why do we constantly get close-ups of her jewelry though? Is it PPL? Or does it have another significance?) (I think it's just to highlight to Bori that she's riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich) - and that her "sunbae" is Scrap's mother. And that her mother works at Jae-hwa's house. Bye bye secret! And Stalker Bride is sly, as we know, and she lies about getting flirty phone calls from Jae-hwa and even has the gall to ask Bori to make them wedding clothes. Bori is rattled and angered by this - she now starts to doubt Jae-hwa's intentions about her. I can't really blame her - Jae-hwa may drop all these "L o V E" hints, but that's about it. He really seems like a jester most of the time. 
JoAnne: Yep, except he had lunch WITH Bori, so she should know that the girl was lying about that call, at least.
It's school-time! Jae-hwa teaches her idioms ... ("elders first"), well, when he isn't distracted by how pretty she is. The gist of the lesson is that she has to respect the elders, including him - and he wants her to call him oppa. She has to work a little on the "cute" still, it seems ... but he has homework for her. It's a letter ... and though it's held in difficult language (which got subbed the very last, it's a love letter and nothing else. D'awwwwwww ... but ... Jae-hwa? Just tell her in your own words and so that she can understand! You two are making me uneasy .... 
JoAnne: Awwwww...it's so cute when they get along, I just know there's tears coming. How many episodes is this? He could end up having to MARRY that Stalker Bride for a while.
The Hanbokers find out that Veggie made that phone call to them about Eun-bi (CCTV be thanked)- but Min-jung also finds out the Hanbokers have found out and tells her mother about it. To give Veggie some credit, she is really conflicted about this newest lie; but she is also really scared of the consequences if she tells the truth about Bori/Eunbi. Here come the Hanbokers! 
JoAnne: She's in a pickle, that's for sure.

Oh wow, this is ugly ... in front of Bori (who has just come back from her "lessons"), Veggie admits she just prank-called them out of anger. WTF. The Hanbokers voice suspicion that Bori is in on it all and call the two of them the lowest trash. Bi-dan hears it all, which makes Bori furious. She demands an apology from the Hanbokers, but they just push her aside and leave. Bori sobs and sobs ... not understanding why her "mother" acts like this.
JoAnne: This was rough, man.  And it's going to come back to bite the Hanbokers hard some day, too. I've been wondering about this for a while - they're so mean to Bori, how is that going to just get smoothed over once they know who she is?
The next morning, Bong2 calls Jae-hwa, to ask him about Bori ... and Jae-hwa finds her in the dye yard, hanging up cloth to dry. He taps her shoulder and she chases him ... and we all know what going to happen, right?! Oh yes, it does ... he stumbles and falls into blue dye. And suddenly, while she says he looks like an alien and he starts washing the stuff off, she has this massive déja-vue - because this is exactly what she already experienced with him once, so many years ago.
JoAnne: so close! so close! Why doesn't he remember that time?
 
She stares at him (I would too, since he has half-opened his shirt) and asks: "Scraps, have we ever met each other before, somewhere?"
JoAnne: I love his stomach. That's a good stomach, there. That is a gooooood stomach.
The Rest

After the "Meet my Brother"-fiasco, Jung-ran is locked into her room. She calls her nephew, hoping he would bust her out. But he is more concerned about Big Kang and whether he has told Auntie about his previous job. He hasn't of course. How do you tell somebody you love that you've been a gangster? Jae-hwa thinks to himself  Jung-ran needs to give up on Big Kang. A woman with a kid? That's something one can get used to. But a gangster? Nope.
JoAnne: Poor Jung Ran. Poor Big Kang, the least gangster-y gangster since Oppa in WAML.
Plan to bust out Jung-ran in effect! It involves our adorable gangsters and a black noodles delivery guy, who has to swap places with Big Kang. Aaaaaaand ... we get another Temptation of Wife joke, when they draw a mole on Big Kang's cheek and play appropriate music. I was wondering what that was all about. Posing as the delivery guy, Big Kang sneaks into the house - and him and Jung-ran manage a few moments together up in her room (and confess their love, awwwwwwww), before they're found out and brutaly separated. Make babies already!
JoAnne: They are SO freaking CUTE. You know, I'm seeing him in bit parts in 2 other newly airing dramas and in all 3 he plays someone COMPLETELY different...he's awesome :)
Bad Dad installs CCTV in Jung-ran's store: to make sure Big Kang cannot hang around there anymore. A bit later though, Big Kang saves Bad Dad's life on the street ... but runs away as soon as he realizes whom he has saved (which is STUPID). He loses his wallet there, which has a photo of him and little Kang in it ... as boys. Of course, Little Kang recognizes it. So ... Little Kang knows his brother saved Bad Dad's life - but I don't think he knows he is Jung-ran's boyfriend, right?
JoAnne: I don't know if he's made that leap  yet but didn't they ask him how he felt about unsuitable men earlier, talking to the two parents and Ga-Eul? He'll put two and two together pretty soon.

Comments

Oh YES! Bori is beginning to remember! and Kim Ji-hoon might take his shirt off. In real life, a person would of course have asked "have you ever fallen into blue dye before, right here, in this courtyard?". Not in Jangbori-land, though. In Jangbori-land, people ask "have we ever met before?", which of course he cannot answer with "yes", since he simply doesn't know what she is talking about. I'm just saying this in case you are getting your hopes up that the Bori-Eunbi mystery is about to be solved. Think again.
JoAnne: Ahhh, they're so cute.  Look at her dimples!
As for the Hanbokers ... their back and forth about believing Min-jung, not believing Min-jung, believing GooDIL is good, believing she is bad, ETC. is actually quite amusing to me since I don't care one bit about these people. I thought this episode did quite a good job though to show how Min-jung's lies make the lie seem true and the truth seem a lie - the Hanbokers are now so into that "Veggie is evil" plot, they don't get suspicious and don't question all the weird circumstances. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to defend these idiots ... but the lies are shrewed, and with Veggie backing it all up, it does indeed sound, somewhat, believable.
JoAnne: I hate that you're right, not because I don't want you to be right, but because it IS right.
And then, I had  an epiphany about Min-jung. She truly IS a pitiful person. But not because of the reasons she thinks (being poor etc.). She is very, very pitiful because she has worked HARD all her life to get a better life, doing all kinds of horrible, horrible things - only to make her life more and more horrible. She has to live in constant fear of being found out, and now, she has to live in constant fear that someone will uncover Bori's true identity. She is living in hell. 
JoAnne: Oh, definitely. And she created every bit of it.