Jang Bori Is Here! - Episode 31 (KimJiCap)

Two strong episodes ahead of us! Of course we're NOT going for the big reveal this week ... we're dancing a few meters around it, round and round. Heating up, unexpectedly for me, is Bi-dan's secret though.
JoAnne: When even the shows a girl is watching 'for work' become fantabulous, when is that girl supposed to SLEEP, I ask you?
I'm sorry, not sorry.
Episode 31

It's the crossstitch-genius pillow of truth! Finally! GooDIL demands to know how Bori got this, and Bori says she wore it around her neck, according to her mother, when she was young. That's all that she remembers - no memories of her early childhood at all. Heeeeelllooooo, GooDIL! She has amnesia!!!! Don't you get it?! She doesnt ... and since the DNA didn't "match", and the age that Bori was told she was found is wrong, she once again dismisses the theory that Bori is Eun-bi.
JoAnne: Argh, seriously, THESE PEOPLE.
In the meantime, AppaNotOppa takes precious Bi-dan to the amusement park (she actually got permission from her kindergarten? splendid). They have fun and bond a lot. And Bi-dan is happy to have found another father - because she thinks she'll be alone once Bori and Prosecutor Appa marry.
JoAnne: I can't decide what to be more angry about - that the school did that, that HE did that, or that they're making this little munchkin even pretend to be that sad. HOW IS ANY OF THAT OKAY? Amended to add later: I decided for the sake of the story to just be mad at the school. Because really, that can't be allowed.
Min-jung puts on extreeeeemly red lipstick to go after AppaNotOppa's blackmail stuff. She also puts some on the mirror and on her cheek. Maybe she's slowly going crazy? Wait, is she at his old place or his new place? How does she know he has moved? Does it matter? When AnO gets home and sees she's been there, he doesn't seem surprised, just evil-gleeful.
JoAnne: The whole lipstick thing was weird enough to really notice at the time, plus then later when she's in the same outfit with NO lipstick...
It seems Bori's memories are sloooooowly coming back! While drinking tea at Bi Sool Chae, she knows that there is ginger in Matron's special recipe (nobody else ever found that out by themselves, I guess). GooDIL has the good idea to show Bori a picture of young Eun-bi, but, alas ... no Eun-bi pictures can be found in the house. Matron assumes it's out of consideration for Min-jung. WTF, show. A bit later, GooDIL reveals to Matron that Eun-bi was at the scene of the accident, 20 years ago - and might remember. That's the proof they need to dethrone BaDIL. Incarcerate BaDIL?
JoAnne: Because ginger isn't easily identifiable or anything. And fuck MinJung. Pardon my french.
Bong2 admits to Bori that he may have been wrong about her (you don't say) and Jae-hwa gets to be cute for a minute or two, when he once again tries to get a love-confession out of Bori. Yeah, it's about time she told him how much she has come to depend on him. After they two have left, Bong2 marvels at how warm Bori's hands are ... just like Eun-bi's.
JoAnne: The shoes that are dropping will hit these people in the end, and since they appear to be dropping from exceptionally great heights (based on how.long.it.is.taking...) - they're all gonna die at the reveal.
Bori is made Matron's apprentice officially. She is very happy about it and kisses the envelope with the certificate in it, which makes Jae-hwa demand kisses for himself from her. She says kisses are for husbands and since they'll never be allowed to marry ... nopes. She decides to take the subway rather than giving him kisses (he demands them for driving her around), but he stops her and says let's go on a field trip to the beach! With Bi-dan. He is so happy at the thought he almost bursts.
JoAnne: Imagine them as old and wrinkle-y and this cute. Then collapse from the squee.
Bori takes her phone and calls the kindergarten, to say she'll pick up her daughter early - only to learn that her daughter never appeared there! No, she went to the amusement park with "family" (yeah, BRAVO, kindergarten. That's how you do it! Let the kids go with total strangers!). Bori freaks out, as I would, and the search begins.
Veggie Ahjumma kinda smells the rat and thinks it could be Baby Daddy. GooDIL has the same thought and tells Jae-hwa, who is kinda surprised to hear that Bi-dan's father has been identified. They arrive at the amusement park RIGHT when Bi-dan and her Dad leave. 
JoAnne: As one does, in dramas.

From Jae-hee, Min-bitch-jung finds out that her arch enemy AnO has gone to the amusement park with his daughter - and that he has moved to be close to his kid. Jae-hee remarks that AnO is quasi a saint - he could never be as nice to a kid that shares blood with the awful woman who abandoned her child. Min-jung acts immediately on the new information and checks all the documents she stole from AnO's place. Among them, she finds a picture of Bi-dan. When AnO drops Bi-dan off in front of the alley she lives in, Min-jung is there to witness it all. She can't wrap her head around the fact that Bori's daughter could really be her flesh and blood and follows Bi-dan to the front gate. 
JoAnne: Jae Hee has just revealed himself to have a serious lack.
Veggie and GooDIL wait at home when Bori and Jae-hwa return ... with long faces. Veggie shouts at Bori for being a bad mother (WTF!) - and says apparently, she doesn't care about her daughter anymore since she has "Scraps" now. That blows Jae-hwa's top for good and he shouts at Veggie for being so tactless while protectively putting his arm around Bori's shoulder. Veggie shouts back it's all their fault for getting so drunk and Bori steps forward, taking the blame.
JoAnne: Way to be a complete bitch, Veggie. As if you had ANY right to say ANYthing, first of all, and second of all - where's your compassion as a mo-...never mind.
But Veggie has a juicy detail to add: doesn't she know Bi-dan talks about not following her into marriage? Fine with her, she'll raise her! Bori might as well get married today! Bori is completely shocked by this and collapses sobbing on the floor. GooDIL tries to comfort Bori - and Jae-hwa, awesome Jae-hwa, tells Veggie that he never EVER thought of the two separately - Bi-dan is included in his feelings for Bori. He will never take Bori away from her child. Eeeeeeh, this show. What will happen to Bi-dan?! I really don't know what they're preparing us for!
JoAnne: Ohhhhh. she knew that, but didn't know that was Bi Dan thinking alone? Well, in a world where she acts the way she does, I suppose it makes sense, sort off, that Veggie Ahjumma would think that Bori could do that, and thus she would deserve some anger. Hell no, no. There's no one who could see how Bori loves that child who could seriously believe for a minute that she'd abandon her. Logic fail, show.
Jae-hwa leads a new search for Bi-dan - with Big Kang and Little Kang. AppaNotOppa sees them and hears that Bi-dan disappeared; but she was just here! Indeed, she is not far - with Min-Bitch-jung. Who keeps repeating to herself that this is not her child. She questions Bi-dan about her relationship to AnO. When she doesn't answer and wants to leave, she starts threating the poor kid. Min-fucking-jung calls AnO and tells him she'll take and live with "her" daughter. If he cares about her at all, he will forever leave Min-jung alone, quit his job and leave.
JoAnne: She is dead. Dead. They need to end this show with this woman lying crumpled at the bottom of a ravine, dead, with crows pecking at her eyes, while everyone she knows is at a picnic way up high near the top of the cliff (but at a safe distance from it) eating and laughing, not even realizing she's gone.
Feisty Bi-dan bites Min-jung in an opportune moment and manages to flee ... she goes straight to a police station. Ah, you smart child! Bori and Jae-hwa rush to the station, where they find out that AnO took Bi-dan to the amusement park and Min-fucking-jung tried to kidnap her afterwards. How useful to have a Prosecutor boyfriend who knows exactly what needs to be done now.
JoAnne: I'll admit that I had to really stretch to accept that they barely blip on a guy they don't know at all well taking her to an amusement park for half a day but think MinJung's having her at a neighborhood restaurant for a minute is kidnapping. But since it serves to support the MinJung is Evil Personified theme, I made myself go with it.
When Bori sees a picture of her daughter with AnO on one of the rides, she sees a curious resemblance ... uh-oh.
JoAnne: Oh, this is what she notices. Hahaahahahahahahaah.
Jae-hwa goes straight to Jae-hee, demanding he calls his woman here right away. He really has no talent for people, he tells him - why this woman of all the women in the world?! Of course, Jae-hee has to insult Bori at that, but Jae-hwa won't let that stand and punches Jae-hee in the face. How dare he compare the two - when Min-jung just acts innocently and now even kidnapped a child?! Wuuut?
JoAnne: Not gonna lie, losing Jae Hee will be the most satisfying moment of MinJung's downfall for me, I think.
At Bi Sool Chae, Min-jung (now wearing a pale lipstick that makes her look really ill) is arrested by a couple of detectives. For trespassing into AnO's house. She resists, kicking and screaming, but is dragged into the police car ... while AnO watches it all, swearing to pay her back, step by step.
JoAnne: I always wonder how people can act so STRONGLY like they've done nothing wrong when they know they have.

The Rest

Blehblehbleh, Min-jung lies her way out of the very telling video with her mother again. I'm getting tired of her - or rather her convenient lies. But! At least she gets suspected by Bong2 to be the one behind the disappearance of all the Eun-bi pictures. AND Bong2 suggests to his wife that Min-jung might be the reason that Eun-bi cannot come back.
JoAnne: Whateeeeeeeeeeever.
Bad dreams for Dumb Mom: she dreams that she is kicked out of the house because everybody knows she killed Jae-hwa's mom and that Bad Dad's new wife is going to be ... Veggie! Pfffffft.
JoAnne: This was funny!
Dumb Mom shares her worries about her terrible daughter-in-law to be with Veggie, who gloats about it (wait til she realizes it's her very own Min-jung...)
JoAnne: BaDIL and MinJung (and Veggie, too) have all done enough to land themselves in jail for some time, yes.

The Awful Mothers, Jae-hee and Bitchy Evil Witch-Bitch go and look at the wedding hall. Oh yikes-yay, it's so uncomfortable! Dumb Mom constantly talks about what the Hanbokers should pay, BaDIL constantly doesn't want to spend a dime. In moments like these, I kinda like Dumb Mom. Next, Jae-hee takes Min-jung to his (opposing) father, and praises Min-jung's business value. Haha. Bad Dad - who often says exactly what needs to be said - points out that that's not a reason to get married. It's a no. But FUCKING Min-fucking-jung takes the opportunity to talk badly about Bori once again - to look good herself. Aaaaaarhg! Bad Dad seems a bit shaken.
JoAnne: The scene with the moms was awesome. But I did have to kind of agree with BaDIL. THEY don't want all that stuff, they want their simple, traditional wedding. If the other family wants it because of their 'status', then they should pay for it. Part of me would have loved it if MinJung reacted like 'what? you don't love me enough to spend the money?' and all of that fall out, but it was ok this way too.
When the two lovebirds are alone, Jae-hee admits to having fudged the sales figures to make Min-jung look better in front of his dad. Thanks. That's SO going to backfire.
JoAnne: *rubs hands gleefully at the prospect of MinJung embarrassment*

Ga-eul is trying to convince Big Kang to not date her aunt - it's quite fruitless, of course. But there is pizza PPL. Little Kang, pestered by Jung-ran at the fitness studio, is also not ready to let go of Ga-eul. 
JoAnne: Although the people are cute, I couldn't be less interested.

Comments

This was an action-laden episode - well, as action-laden as they come. It brings us several steps closer to solving one of the big mysteries of this show: the Bi-dan mystery. Bori already suspects what is going on ... and from realizing AnO is the father, it's only a little step to realizing Min-jung is the mother. Ouch, this is going to HURT. She gave up her youth for Min-jung's daughter? It also seems that Jae-hwa is taking some action, and I can't say I'm sad about that. He has been quite passive in the last few episodes (or side-lined, rather), which was necessary to focus on some other characters, sure, but isn't too good for these KimJiCaps. 
JoAnne:  It is funny how we spend weeks on nothing much and then suddenly the show takes HUGE leaps forward and we just go, 'Okay, time for this now, yup.' We love it. We love it so much.