My Beautiful Bride - Episode 4 (A ThisKicksAssCap)

There are fewer puzzles in this episode: a few are solved and hardly any new ones arise. We also get to know a few new characters as we move closer to the root of all evil - the "problem solvers". They're a scary and brutal bunch O___o (It made me want Safari back). Overall, this is the least gripping of the now aired episodes, but it was needed to take this drama to the next chapter, which may or my not bring us closer to the truth.
We can't continue on like last episode... at a certain point, they have to ANSWER some questions.  So I am grateful for the crumbs today!

Episode 4

After hearing about those ample blood traces in Do-Hyeong's kitchen, Yoon-Mi storms into his cell and starts shaking him, demanding to know where Joo-Young is. She tries to hit him, but hitting him isn't too easy, be it with water or with fists. Aaand ... enter classy lawyer, who calls Do-Hyeong 도련님 (toryeonnim). Hmmm, I like that word. The guy playing the lawyer was in Cruel City and in TEN2. The actor's name is Lee Moo-Saeng.
I always like this guy. And hmmm is right. Young Master? So he's rich? Comes from power, then? And yet has a lowly position in a (shady, we think) bank? Hmmmm is definitely right. Maybe it's his family's bank, and he is secretly examining corruption, and is now shocked to learn that Joo Young's past may have a connection to his family?

Haha, now those stupid detectives get their asses kicked, well, verbally at least. There is no evidence and they mishandled him on top of that. The blood? That's not evidence without the body. And because this lawyer knows his shit, Do-Hyeong walks free!
When did he call a lawyer?
Yeah, that's what Do-Hyeong also wants to know: "How did you know I was here?"

Right into the arms of his mother (Moon In-Sook, played by Kim Bo-Yeon). Who is the CEO of all CEOs, hence the most powerful woman in Korea. Or something like it. Well, Do-Hyeong isn't on good speaking terms with her, in fact, they haven't seen each other for 2 years. He also does not speak to her directly but through the lawyer. He asks him whether his mom is doing well (she does). And he tells him he misses his mother's sweet and sour pork and that he will visit her soon. And he learns that his mother just recently spoke of him and was worried whether he would be eating well.
So did something happen two years ago to split them apart? Was it Joo Young? It must not be his family business then, the bank - because she would have known he was there. She's obviously keeping tabs. Is their divide JUST Joo Young? When did he start working at that bank?

Messed up. And a bit funny. Anyway, she has an envelope for him. It's full of information on Yoon Joo-Young. The mother is gloating, because it's what she always thought: that woman has quite a past, being a bar hostess and a gangster's girlfriend. Do-Hyeong demands to be let out of the car. The mother asks him whether he knew? No, she continues, he probably didn't because he would have never started dating her. The car stops, Do-Hyeong gets out. Without the envelope. And without a good-bye. I guess that visit won't happen so soon then.
So then it was Joo Young, at least in part. Way to not know your son, Mom. He knew all that shizz from long ago, and he does not care.

He goes home, where the door handle is broken and the apartment is full of yellow police tape. He goes to the kitchen and kneels down in front of the blue dye. Crying, he asks Joo-Young whether she is okay and then he collapses and starts sobbing. Ouf. Damn, show.
Uh, hello, has that crime scene been released? (I guess it's not a crime scene. You can't just go find blood at someone's house and then assume it's related to a crime if there was no body AT that place) But okay... seems to me he didn't know about the blood. That's important info. It means he didn't kill anyone there, and it means he isn't trying to cover up for Joo Young murdering Song Hak Soo there. Is he assuming the blood is hers, though?

At the police station, young lady detective has found Joo-Young's OB-GYN. Joo-Young went to a clinic the day she went missing. We see her clutching her abdomen, in pain. And we all know what that means ... This new information makes Yoon-Mi come up with this theory: Song called Yoon-Mi that evening. That was 37 minutes before she left home. As we know, she didn't pick up - but Song left her a message: "Pick up the phone if you don't want to see me get mad". So she picks up when he calls again.

He threatens her. Well, not her - but Do-Hyeong. Song says he himself has to behave - but his guys? A different story. She begs him to please not hurt Do-Hyeong. Okay, he will consider not hurting him - if she is nice to him. Gives it her all. Like ... right now. The shock of this, thinks Yoon-Mi, was too much and caused her bleeding to start (I'm not sure it works like this, but hey ... let's go with it). At the hospital, she hears that the baby is gone. She gets dressed ... and leaves. Nobody knows where. She probably hoped Do-Hyeong would never find out (and we see her frantically cleaning the blood off the kitchen floor)
Yeah, this is weak on many levels. But I will allow it.

Cut to Do-Hyeong, still sobbing in the kitchen. The two police women think they need to tell him what happened - since it was clearly not him that is responsible for the blood. In addition, new evidence comes in that he never called Song - but the man whose phone Song used, a homeless guy. It's what he was doing in the three days he went missing himself: Tracking down that homeless guy and then trying to find Song Hak-Soo. Yoon-Mi is at Do-Hyeong's door, but he doesn't answer. She finally turns away, frustrated ... while Do-Hyeong sits in his kitchen like a broken doll.
Ugh. So he met with Hak Soo, then got home to an empty house, spent 3 days trying to find Hak Soo under the assumption that he had something to do with Joo Young's disappearance, was dumbstruck in the car to find out for the first time that Hak Soo has been dead for all or part of that time...and now knows that someone bled a whole lot in his kitchen. It could have been Hak Soo, it could have been Joo Young. He has no idea which, but now instead of just trying to find a disappeared Joo Young, he has to worry that mabye she's dead.

OOOkay. We have established that Do-Hyeong did not kill Song Hak-Soo (Detective Park isn't convinced of this) ... but who did? And who is trying to frame DH for it? Wouldn't we all like to know that.
If it turns out to be Joo Young I'll be surprised, but otherwise, anyone is fair game. And to be honest, it could still be Joo Young, but without the 'trying to frame' part.

Do-Hyeong hasn't moved all night, but now it's morning, and the name Park Tae-Gyu is uttered - his best lead. Do-Hyeong goes straight to his office, very determined. When he walks along that junkyard corridor, two gangster-types drag a badly beaten Park Tae-Gyu (I think I'll switch to this name now) out. Do-Hyeong lets them pass him by. Well, he looks like a gangster too in his black suit.
I had to laugh a little, imagining them muttering perfunctory 'annyeong' to each other, just guys going about their work day.

Oh, but he isn't done. The gangsters are driving along at a slow pace when suddenly, Do-Hyeong jumps in front of them. He has a massive brick in his hand. And SMASH! There goes the windshield (wait, wasn't that one of the short glimpses of weirdness we got in episode 1?). I think so. When two of the gangsters get out, Do-Hyeong runs away. And he runs fast - the others have no chance against a guy who runs for 60minutes before breakfast. He has EXCELLENT form, too. Very Six-Million Dollar Man. He makes a corner, disappears, and next we see him, he is on his bike, racing towards the car again. The music that plays sounds like one of the cool tracks from the Faith OST. He screams and jumps off the bike, which rams right into head-gangster who was on the phone.
I laughed my ASS off.

Within seconds, Do-Hyeong is inside the car and drives away. With a semi-cheering Park Tae-Gyu in the back. But ... what about your extremely cool bike, Do-Hyeong?! TT_______TT Okay, we get more scenes from the crazy episode 1 foreflash, when Do-Hyeong drives the car to an empty dirt strip (an empty parking lot? A future construction site?). There, Park Tae-Gyu's real identity is confirmed. That Seryo Construction thing? "A side job". He works for Dae Sung Financing. Main job: loan sharking.
How come Do Hyeong knows about Dae Sung Financing? (YES EXACTLY! How did he know that name?) Are these guys going to be buds of sorts?

Okay, fine: but why did Joo-Young have his number? Park still has no clue who that is (and he laughs at the use of the word 신부 (Shinbu)). But then, something clicks. Yoon? Yoon Joo ... it couldn't be Yoon Joo-Hee, could it? But then, Park laughs at the idea that such a woman could know a guy like Do-Hyeong.
So he did NOT know who Do Hyeong was all along. And likewise, Do Hyeong did NOT know about Tae Gyu. Maybe.

And then, we see how Park Tae-Gyu met Joon-Young/Hee. He is friends with her brother Yoon Min-Soo (oh the fucker). We see how he ogles her ... right before she bumps into the drunk Do-Hyeong. But that's not relevant. Relevant is that Min-Soo borrowed money from Tae-Gyu - Money that he did not pay back. And now, the "problem solvers" are moving in - The Shadows. He moans and wails about his misfortunes ... and then says "It's been like this since they paid back Min Soo's loans for him". Do-Hyeong seems to fully understand what that means (I don't - who is they?) and Tae-Gyu guesses it might have to do with Joo-Hee. 
So he was there that night, also? But I'm guessing he doesn't know Do Hyeong was that guy. If Do Hyeong knew that Min Soo was lying about Joon Young's past to cover her with her own lies, it doesn't necessarily mean that Do Hyeong knew that Min Soo was in trouble now or at some point...Which do we think is more likely? That he knew the family was lying, but let it ride and didn't bother to dig into all that much? Or that he would let it ride, but investigate to see what else there might be? I vote for the first, since it seems he really only wanted to give Joon Young what SHE wanted, which was ignorance of her past.

Before he can explain, Tae-Gyu's phone rings. It's Seo Jin-Gi. Who promises he will pick Tae-Gyu up. Crazy Do-Hyeong grabs the phone from Tae-Gyu and says "Yoboseyo". Seo goes: Who the F? Ah, you must be the guy who took my guy's car. "Are you the problem solver?", Do-Hyeong asks. Seo says he'll pick him up too and they can chat face to face. On the backseat, Tae-Gyu is up to something and Do-Hyeong is not paying attention. Oh no! It's a taser! Favorite RoboMan down!
Do we think that's a definite no on the bromance, or just a 'not yet' ?

Do-Hyeong wakes up in the back of the car - hands tied behind his back and between two gangster. He starts to panic (or at least to breath really quickly) - all the more so when they put a black plastic bag over his head. He panics until that very short moment during which he become absolutely still. "I need to go to the bathroom", he says, but they just laugh at him. And then, Do-Hyeong shits his pants - and makes the biggest possible mess by moving about. They're not laughing anymore. I'm not either, but I marvel about the smartness of this drama. How many times have we seen escapes that make NO SENSE? This, on the other hand ... it's how you'd do it. If you were a very clever special forces guy who hasn't been to the toilet for a while.

Okay but wait. Did he panic and shit himself from claustrophobia and then because he's a quick thinker he USED that? Or did he deliberately shit himself as a method of escape. If so, I'm not going too far out on a limb to say that a man who can shit himself at will is a man who can vomit at will, also. Which makes their 'meet gross' very suspect. Do Hyeong, what are you? Who are you?

Hm. I did think he pooped deliberately - especially because there is a short, very calculating moment under that plastic bag. He is playing this softie all along and really has them fooled thoroughly. 

They stop the car and two of them take him to a bathroom, while one starts cleaning the leather seat with a tissue (What a shitty job (and hey, poop is blurred out too on Korean TV!)) and head-gangster is on the phone with Seo. Inside the bathroom, the gangsters debate about who gets to wipe his butt (since his hands are tied) and then ... untie him. Well played. As soon as his hands are free, he cracks his neck and overpowers them within seconds. When the bossy guy realizes that something is wrong, Do-Hyeong is gone for good.

Ahh, those neck cracks gave me goosebumps. They'd have turned me on as well, but he IS covered in shit. Even this level of hotness has a limit.

He went to a motel, where he thoroughly washes his trousers and then dries them with a hairdryer. They were a present from Joon-Young. We next see him near his apartment ... where he spots two gangster-types walking towards him (the track suits! Haha). Coincidence wants it that he's right by the chicken place. He goes in and grabs a fork from the table. Armed this way, he takes a stand outside and waits for the gangsters. When they're almost upon him, their phones ring and they turn back. 

Where they after him, though? Is he now paranoid? How sweet that he makes an effort to save the poopy pants his beloved gave him. I spent a little time imagining what it might be like to stroll down a city street, into a hotel, stand at the reception desk, rent a room, then stroll upstairs, all while covered in and reeking of shit. It's a nice hotel, too. They provide robes. He put a lot of effort into this.

That shot when he stands there in the middle of the sidewalk, readying that fork: It's my favorite bit in this episode. It looks SO BADASS. 

The order to back down came from a guy eating soup, who has a connection to Song Hak-Soo. Head of the gang? He demands to see Seo Jin-Gi (who clearly isn't pleased about it). The elder guy in the yellow track suit seems to be his boss - there is a lot of tension. Track Suit boss (his name is Kang Hee-Jang and he is played by Son Jong-Hak) suggests Seo might be behind Song's death (I do, too! The one who benefits the most from Song's demise is Seo) but of course, Seo acts offended. No, he will do anything to find who is responsible. Track Suit Boss says "You will?", which seems to be his trademark sentence. Promises, we learn, are important to him. Boss Kang wants to find "that girl that Song Hak-Soo couldn't get over with".

So, not paranoid. I'm with you on suspecting Seo Jin Gi right now but my suspicious brain can't help but remind me that this is what the show wants us to think, so it's probably not true.

Seo takes his anger out on bossy guy who lost Do-Hyeong. He is a bit slow though, he still thinks that he is "just a bank guy". I am not sure what he means by "he is a funny guy - you know what I mean", but I know that whatever he wanted to do with Do-Hyeong is stopped by a text he receives, which makes him order everybody to go after Joo-Hee. It also seems Seo has daddy issues - he is particularly angry at Chairman Kang for only loving Song and not him. And by the way, Lee El is just annoying. A redundant character. I did like her in Liar Games, but in here, I just wish she disappeared with the two detective younglings.

Yep. It's like there's a formula: if you have a relatively young serious gangster, he must have a hot and morally corrupt or at least morally ambigious woman by his side. Older gangsters can be married or just not have it addressed at all, and ones who are half serious/half comic or all comic don't get one, or get one who is not part of gangster life at all. I see no point to her, at this moment.

Do-Hyeong is back at his apartment. Waiting for him them are Joo-Young's brother Min-Soo (played by Lee Gyu Bok, by the way). He's a total asshole, right? He claims he quit his job so he can look for Joo-Young. I do not believe him at all. And he made missing person flyers - only he hasn't got enough money to pay for them. Fine, says Do-Hyeong. He will give him the money. But he wants the truth. Did he borrow from loan sharks? 

Is Do Hyeong asking a question to which he knows and has known the answer, in order to judge Min Soo's truthfulness? Or did he have no idea that Min Soo was in trouble, and all of this is recent, and perhaps behind Joo Young's disappearance?

Min-Soo admits it. Do-Hyeong wants to know whether he gave Joo-Young a loan shark's phone number and asked her to pay it back in his stead? He did! Wow. Do-Hyeong loses it at that point and scream at this loser of a brother that he should have come to him directly! It's 30 million won and Min-Soo says it's okay now, since Joo-Young paid it off. At least that is what he thinks. Maybe his sister had extra money - or got it from Jung-hwa.

So then the Do Hyeong-Tae Gyu bank connection really is coincidental. 

Who? Somebody stupid brother should not have told Do-Hyeong about, it seems. But Do-Hyeong knows that person by the name of Kang Jung-hwa (and so do we: it's her hostess friend). Why does he know her?! Currently with Jung-hwa: Miss Detective. They talk about Song Hak-Soo, when suddenly, Jung-hwa asks how Kim Do-Hyeong is doing. Yeah, shit. How does she know him?! 

That's what I'd like to know!

Let's ask him ourselves! Because here he is (and this is filmed in our all-time favorite Cruel City bar)! He asks Jung-hwa whether she has seen Joo-Young (sure? totally sure?) and turns abruptly away when she assures him that absolutely no, she hasn't seen her. Yoon-Mi runs after Do-Hyeong (who gives a rat's ass about that) and catches him when he is about to get into Min-Soo's nice, black car.

Is that why he was in debt? That CAR?

So he knew about Joo-Young's past and her friends? He knew about her dating Song? "I told you already that I know everything", Do-Hyeong replies. He fooking DID say that, didn't he. Only nobody believed him.

We did, though. 

This is what we learn from Jung-hwa: Joo-Young told her about meeting her first love again. And about cutting all ties to her old life. But poor little Jung-hwa borrowed money from the loan sharks ... one particular loan shark, in fact, our old friend Park Tae-Gyu. She cannot pay it back and in her desperation, she calls Joo-Young. Remember that flashback to that phone call and the lie to Do-Hyeong that it was her mother? Yeah. But rather than simply not reacting to an obvious lie, he actually goes and meets with Jung-hwa behind Joo-Young's back. He gives her the money and asks that Joo-Young never finds out about this. Because Joo-Young "doesn't want me to know".

SWOON. I mean yes yes blah di blah it's healthier that he tell her he knows and doesn't care and loves her regardless and she never has to keep secrets blah blah blah but this is SWOONWORTHY all the same.

While driving back to his place, Do-Hyeong wonders who paid Min-Soo's debts. He calls Tae-Gyu, who is just about to flee somewhere with two suitcases. Tae-Gyu (who actually is quite certain DH must be dead) does not answer ... which makes Do-Hyeong believe that Tae-Gyu might be dead. What lead has he got left now? Only the Shadows.

I think she is that woman from Cruel City....I'm too lazy to look, though. Also, looking forward to a happy reunion when each realizes the other isn't dead.

Chicken guy (the name of the actor is Joo Ah-Sung by the way) has called Yoon-Mi because he thinks he needs to share his little Do-Hyeong episode from earlier. Do-Hyeong very politely returned the fork to him after not using it on the two gangsters - and left without answering any of Chicken guy's questions. And still denying that they were ever schoolmates. Which is technically true, says Chicken guy: because Do-Hyeong moved away in third grade.

How do you connect a grown up face to a boy who's approximately 9, if you haven't seen them at all in the intervening years?  I was wondering if he meant 3d year of high school, which would probably mean he'd also know Joo Young, or maybe the story of what happened back then.

Those flashbacks are kinda high-schooly. So yes, probably 3rd year. 

Jung-hwa is about to go home when Seo and his people turn up. He is a mean fucker, this one. Anyway, he gets her phone and checks it for Joo-Hee's number. And finds one. They did talk - for three minutes. And the number indicates she is in Incheon. A friend from a health club retired and is now running a sushi place there (name: Lee Jin-sook ... OMG, is she Paksa's noona?!). 

SHE IS ALIVE, yes! She ran to protect her robot? Or to protect her secret? Which?

Jung-hwa manages to flee (thank god gangsters are as dumb as policemen in Korea) and to call Do-Hyeong about Joo-Hee's whereabouts. The gangsters are already there, searching all the sushi places. And as Do-Hyeong speeds closer, we see Joo-Young/Hee standing on a bridge, looking out to the sea. Well, we see her legs and her hair from behind at first, but then, the camera starts moving around her. And as we get a glimpse into the violent future (THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME), which ends with a bloody Do-Hyeong passed out in a phone booth, she turns her head and smiles. 

At him? Is this at the end when everything is resolved and they can be together? Is this his dying day dream of the future he will sacrifice his life to provide her? DAMMIT GIVE ME ANSWERS.

PS: three shots of them in high school in the end credits. 

Sigh, cuties.

Comments

Do-Hyeong knows everything? Damn. And he kept it from her because she didn't want him to know. That's incredibly sweet and incredibly foolish. But it fits his character. Once he has his mind set on something, nothing can shake him. I don't think he knew that she was pregnant though - that came as a surprise. But I think he knows fully well what that blood on his kitchen floor means; that is why he cried all night. He was mourning the death of her unborn child. 

You think so? That's a big leap for him to make.

Hmmm ... you might be right. It did feel like grieving to me and I didn't think he believed that she was dead or that this was her blood. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part, because if he doesn't know, it will be such a blow when he finds out later. I want no blows for him. 

It seems that the whole trouble started with Joo-Young's brother borrowing money for a business that never saw the light of day. We do know though how (and why) Joo-Young got hooked up with Song Hak-Soo, who was crazy about her, apparently. We do not know who killed him, though my money is on Seo Jin-Gi. If that is true (and it probably isn't), it is not clear how and why the body ended up in Do-Hyeong's car. Because Jin-Gi does not know "banker guy". We also do not know who paid Min-Soo's debt.

Could it have been Do Hyeong, despite pretending not to know? Was it Joo Young? With what money? You think she got hooked up with Hak Soo those years ago because her brother borrowed money? Then it would be Hak Soo who paid off the debt, probably.

What's more, what's up with the high school years? What happened back then? What's that bit about Do-Hyeong moving away? I like that we got to see his mother, though I am not sure what his family background has to do with anything (Yet). I'm sure it's not a coincidence, though. In fact, it's quite possible the whole money laundering/loan shark thing is somewhat connected to her. 

That's what my Kdrama education has taught me to expect, definitely.

This episode had less of the flash-back style storytelling, which I regret, because that stuff was absolutely phenomenal before. I don't mind them going to a more linear type of storytelling from time to time, though. And in the end, we were right back to the mystery of not knowing what is happening when and who is imagening what. I just know I am very happy it's almost Saturday:)

OOOOH...but since it's DF, I bet we don't get subs until MONDAY...and that means I have to wait until Tuesday probably.

I'll be so over this as soon as a torrent becomes available.