A New Face
After last week’s jump forward, the drama returns with a more soap-orientated episode while we catch up with the lives of all our protagonists. We’re also introduced to a new character, Tae-Rang, and his family. We can already predict that he may be the one who could steal Seol-Ah’s heart and convince her that money doesn’t buy happiness. The episode starts with Cheong-Ah studying and struggling to stay awake and with her sister Seol-Ah busy updating her social media page with pictures of herself in the gym. We then cut to her husband, Jin-Woo, waking up next to an empty space on the bed. Cheong-Ah complains to her roommate, Baek-Rim about having to wait for her exam results as she doesn’t want to fail them again. He tells her that she will pass and promises to be there to support her. After coming back from his run, Joon-Hwi reminisces about his brother’s letter and decides to look for the girl he was with on the day he died. Cheong-Ah’s mother is now delivering healthy drinks around her school and as she brings some to her daughter and Baek-Rim, she hints that both of them should always stay close. Cheong-Ah replies that he’s like a brother to her, nothing more. Meanwhile, Jin-Woo’s mother complains when she sees that her daughter-in-law is spending all of her son’s money. She vows to get rid of her sooner rather than later and as Seol-Ah arrives with roses for her mother-in-law, Hwa-Young belittles her, saying she’ll never accept her and calls her a thief. Seol-Ah then thinks to herself that she will win as Jin-Woo loves her. After this exchange, Seol-Ah reminds her husband about their Ob-gym appointment. He tells her he has a business trip to go to and that they should maybe live without children as he knows she doesn’t love him. Tae-Rang comes home to find his father and younger brother fixing the sink. His father is not happy that he has quit his job to start his own business. Tae-Rang replies that he had a good deal thanks to Hae-Rang’s connections as she’s the secretary of the vice chairman. As he goes to see his sister, she tells him that she’s going away on a business trip. Hwa-Young has another shouting match with one of her maids which is quickly stopped by her son. She then speaks to her son and Seol-Ah about their fertility issue and tells Seol that it is because her heart is not in it. She gives them one more year or she will have to intervene. As Hae-Rang gets dropped off for her trip, she’s joined by Jin-Woo in the hotel. It seems that the trip was an excuse for them to meet up. She then admits she loves him in the lift while we see Seol injecting herself with hormones, determined to get pregnant to secure her place in the family. Baek-Rim asks Cheong-Ah to help him out with his job; he needs her to wear a superhero costume while handing out flyers. Joon-Hwi is overseeing the preparation for a sporting event while his mum comes to see him to discuss him dropping out of law school. Suddenly, she sees someone about to jump off the bridge. Tae-Rang’s dad, who is a policeman, receives the call and arrives at the scene to find the man desperately trying to jump but held on by Cheong-ah who refuses to let go of him. Tae-Rang’s dad manages to bring him down safely while Cheon gives him a touching speech. As Cheong-Ah heads to the toilet dressed in Mr Lightning’s costume, she tries helping a girl with a wardrobe malfunction. However, the girl takes it the wrong way and thinks she was being inappropriate. After this awkward moment, Cheong heads out and it’s here that Jin-Woo mistakes her for one of the competitors in the climbing event. He then takes her to the climbing wall and tells her what to do. Unfortunately, midway through climbing she misses a step and falls off, ruining the event. Jin-Woo then realises she wasn’t the real Mr Lightning and berates her for causing damage to the camera. Seol-Ah receives good news from her doctor who seems to think she has a good chance of getting pregnant. She then receives a call from the emergency room as her husband has been in a serious car accident. As she rushes over, she also sees Hae-Rang being wheeled off right after her husband, followed by a running Tae-Rang, there to be with his sister. Joon-Hwi tries to find the owner of the costume as the police are out looking for him. This leads him to Cheong-Ah’s dorm who’s shocked to find him on her doorstep. After the surgery, the doctors give them an update: the surgeries were successful but they haven’t woken up yet and will be in intensive care for a while. The episode closes with Seol-Ah realising that her husband was probably having an affair. The latest episode of Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life has certainly changed the tone and feels a lot more like a soap opera than the previous ones. While this might not appeal to everyone, it still had some interesting story lines, even if some of them can be a little predictable. Cheong-Ah finding herself in Joon-Hwi’s path again is certainly one of them as she’s tightly linked with his family because of his brother’s suicide. In true Korean Drama fashion, this revelation promises to be quite explosive. Things are looking very bleak for Seol-Ah with her husband in a coma and the discovery of her husband’s affair too. Her mother-in-law is bound to use that against her and we should again be treated to some more dramatic exchanges between the two. Will the new character Tae-Rang, be the one who will finally make her happy and help her with through these difficult times? Only time will tell!
