Rich Family's Son - Episode 1 (KimJiCap)

kakashi: The description of this drama ("Lee Gwang-Jae (Kim Ji-Hoon) is the son of a rich family and he is immature. His father dies and leaves behind large debts. For his father's honor, Lee Gwang-Jae struggles to pay off his debt. Kim Young-Ha (Kim Joo-Hyun) with her bright and positive personality supports Lee Gwang-Jae") makes me weep. This is going to be bad. And 50 episodes long! The good news: each episode is ONLY around 30 MINUTES (the not so good news - there are four of those each Sunday). Wish me luck.
JoAnne: There is no such thing as luck. It is fated that we will suffer because Kim Ji Hoon picks terrible dramas, so that's all there is to it. We will suffer. But out of suffering comes great art (and some of our best recaps.)
Trotwood: (rushing in out of breath) The things we do for Kim Ji-Hoon. I think we should or at least Kakashi should get some sort of prize. I know there are probably fans of his who love him and watch everything he is in thinking he is wonderful and everything he does is wonderful. But real love means attending just because even while acknowledging that it may very well be train wreck again (said by every parent that has attending a middle school band concert)

Episode 1

Flashback to 1991! Soju bombs, short-skirted escort girls, some business men go wild at a karaoke room. So... pretty much 2018 but a different color palette. That is what I was thinking. At the same time: a woman (Park Hyun-Sook) gives birth, yelling for her husband (who isn't there). Her mother is though (SakiVI popping in with a correction: mother-in-law) (Park Soon-Ok). She tells the partying father (Kim Won-yong) - who at least has the decency to call and then feel bad - to get his ass over to the hospital. He doesn't go... because his boss tells him the job is more important than his wife. Papa Kim, wow... you are weak.
It's not like he can do it for her...they won't even let him in the room. (Yes, he's terrible.) 
He is weak. But the boss is horrible. 

Oh, it gets dramatic. A father comes running in, his unconscious... I'm guessing wife in his arms. She's very pregnant. There's blood. The mother dies, but the baby is saved. It's a boy (later, Grandma Park gives a nurse a shawl to wrap him in when he's left at the hospital for a bit... wanna bet we'll see it again in 45 episodes or so?). The Park baby is delivered basically at the same time and it's a girl! Grandma is a bit disappointed, she wanted a boy.
They didn't mention a baby switch, hmmm.  So we're not going FULL makjang, I guess?
You mean.... the heroine is actually a MAN? Oh.....
Baby switch? Why didn't they mention this in the synopsis, especially since it happens in like the first 15 minutes, so it can't be counted as a spoiler.

Fastforward to present time! I was really confused by this and had to go back to see if I had missed something. It also seemed cheap--like they had those episodes, but decided they didn't like the child actors so cut them.Wow, no 20 episodes long backstory? Drama, I might like you. We're at a fancy restaurant where our heroine Kim Young-Ha works. Was she the 4.5 kilo baby that was born? It seems so! She spots Kim Ji-hoon (Lee Gwang-Jae) with girl and freezes. Yes. The hair is horrible. Oh, they know each other? Oh.... they used to DATE?!
I thought the wigs to make the middle-aged folks look like their younger selves were bad but this...this THING on Kim Ji Hoon's HEAD. What color IS that?
Ass-blonde.
Very difficult to find a match, but I think it might be called dark cool blonde. Although I like "ass-blonde" better, it probably wouldn't sell as well.
(Another pop-in: must've hurt, bleaching that.  Maybe it's a wig?)

Okay, I do like this drama, hahaha. Kim Young-ha is just congratulating herself on staying so cool in front of her ex when she falls and pulls the entire table cloth with her. Lee Gwang-Jae's girlfriend freaks out about her "baby"... which is her purse. It cost 2.000 Euro, she got it in Italy (it seems they're both just returning from a longer trip) and Kim Young-ha, who is only a part-timer, is asked to pay for it. Gwang-Jae convinces his girlfriend to let it rest, but not in a nice way for Young-ha.
I'm torn. This is very funny and he does a good thing, but in the most dickish way possible. For a minute I thought maybe he and the waitress were pulling something on the date, it was very weird.
This is what I meant when I said I was surprised at comments on twitter about his personality. He's really a jerk to her. There is no need when she is already having to come up with that much money on a part-timers salary. And is no one but me going to comment on what he's wearing? I thought we were back in 2018. Why is he dressed like a Backstreet Boy?

It's extremely embarrassing for Young-ha and it seems Gwang-Jae has a need to rub it in how rich he is and how poor she is. Anyway, her pride is hurt and she insists on paying anyway. But only after demanding to see the guarantee card and receipt from Miss Honey (she keeps flirting with Gwang-Jae, gross). Gwang-Jae - smooooooth - tells Young-ha to give him her phone number so that he can send her the relevant account details.
I missed the teeny bit (very teeny, it's just a sentence or so) where we were told they had dated previously, (I missed it, too) so I had no idea how she knew his name, and this part where HE got the number, that was what made me think they were pulling something - it was clear to me that he liked her but I couldn't figure out how they knew each other - but he clears it all up next episode, thankfully.  Or maybe by the 4th episode. I don't remember...they went fast.

Of course, our heroine loses her job over her (admittedly bad) attitude she shows with these customers. Meet Mr. Nam (Nam Tae-Il)! Her face lights up when she hears his voice and they agree to meet. She tells him: "once a teacher, always a teacher" when he asks when she'll stop being formal with him. Yes, definitely a second lead :D He helped her when they were younger, with a start-up (she lost all money in the process though and now owes her father, who also owns a small business now, interests) and is helping her again this time, with a job in his uncle's restaurant.
Doesn't he usually play jerks? There's something puckish about his face. I want to like him but I'm wary.
I am pretty sure he'll be a jerk. He has a jerk face. 
Stop. I really love him and am said that he almost always plays jerks. I think it's stereotyping from his role as the ex-boyfriend in My Name is Kim Samsoon--yup that's him. But he can be adorable as a good guy lead. See the Wedding Scheme. He is so obviously the 2nd lead. He so obviously likes her when he asks if she will always call him teacher. He will be a rival with no hope. Sigh. WHy do shows do this to me? 

Next, we meet Gwang-Jae's parents, Lee Gye-Dong (a very successful chef - and also the man we saw carry in his dying wife in the beginning... so who is the pitiful boy from 1991?) and his (new) wife, Nam Soo-Hee. She has a brother, we hear from some VIP customers, with big plans - he and Mr. Lee want to open a branch overseas. It's the first Nam Soo-Hee hears about it and she hates it (major dislike for her brother there... I wonder why). Okay, so... Mr. Nam the 2nd lead is Nam Soo-Hee's nephew (hence the son of that brother she doesn't like) and he's CEO of this restaurant? Or something.
Funny, I thought this guy was poor.

The episode ends with Grandma - hmmm... is she involved in something shady? She gets paid by the neighboorhood ahjummas in secret - being visited by heroine's mother and her sister-in-law (rich and loud). They talk about our heroine's older sister Kim Kyung-Ha and that she should really get married since the clock is ticking...
I think it was rents....but she might be doing a little neighborhood loan thing, too. She definitely didn't want her daughters-in-law to know much about her money.
Hahahaa, someone pointed out that she is watching herself on TV in this scene :) Coffee Prince! 

Comments

I can't say much since we're still in the middle of introducing a gazillion characters and their relationships. Surprisingly, I have no objections so far! Which is more than I expected. The tone is light and occasionally funny. Kim Ji-hoon is no asshole (I'm glad!) and our heroine, though the stereotypical "I work many jobs"-girl, has some spunk and even once tried to start a business. Makes them somewhat more equal. 
I was neither outraged nor put off by screeching, so I continued right on to the next episode. Well, I felt some outrage over Kim Ji Hoon's brassy greenish blonde hair but whatever.
I'm only sticking with it because recapping with you guys is always so much fun, and I feel the need to support Kakashi's Kim Ji-hoon loyalty.