Despite a tiny complaint or two, we have found the writing ofThe Good Bad Motherto be quite exemplary so far. But our opinion hit a bump in the road when we saw how Mi Joo romanticized her mother s abusive marriage to reflect Mi Joo s own love for Kang Ho. They are leagues apart, and such a comparison felt very ignorant to us. Other than that, the penultimate episode ofThe Good Bad Motherhas been smooth, and this is the recap of it.
Spoilers Alert
Why Do Sung Ae And Gum Ja Fight?
It would be nice to start with the happier part of episode 13 ofThe Good Bad Mother, even if it lasted for only a few moments. Young Soon is playing card games with Gum Ja and Sung Ae, or rather, she is failing to catch on to the rules of the game, and the two women are exasperated with her. But Sung Ae notices that Young Soon has been in better spirits than usual, and she jokes that people behave differently only when they are close to death. This angers Gum Ja, and she fires at Sung Ae to not talk like that. Sung Ae misunderstands that she is being looked down upon because her son, Sam Sik, is not as successful as Kang Ho. But when she storms out of the house, Gum Ja finally reveals the truth of Young Soon s health condition to her, which leaves the women in tears.
When Sung Ae asks Young Soon to stay alive to witness the day when she may be as jealous of Sung Ae as she has always been of her, Young Soon admits that she has always envied Sung Ae since she had her husband by her side and a healthy child. Sung Ae had failed to count her blessings while being swept away by her insecurity regarding Sam Sik. Even the village head is in tears upon hearing Young Soon s condition. He has come to visit since the police came to him to inquire about Kang Ho. Yong Rak asks Young Soon to tell him the truth about what is happening with Kang Ho. He knows that the police are looking for him in a case of murder, but he doesn t believe that Kang Ho is guilty. Yong Rak was initially miffed since this is a roadblock in the way of him being awarded because the village of Jou Ri had been crime-free for over 20 years. But now that he knows that the matter is far more serious, he is trying to help Young Soon and Kang Ho, as will the rest of the villagers.
How do Mi Joo and Sam Sik help Ha Young escape?
While making their way to Ha Young s ward, Sam Sik recognizes one of his assailants from before. Luckily, Mi Joo manages to disguise herself as one of the doctors and enters Ha Young s room. She tells Ha Young that she is here to help her escape, and if she helps them in Kang Ho s case, they will be able to help her live a life free from her father s manipulative clutches. Ha Young is scared of her father and the influence he has, but Mi Joo reassures her that Kang Ho will have a way out of it. With that faith, the three of them escape from the hospital, though Kang Ho arrives there in time to help them. He must also have come to the hospital to meet Ha Young, since he remembered that she was the one to slip him the medicine. It was a shock for him to see Mi Joo and Sam Sik running out with Ha Young, but the four of them escaped in Sam Sik s van. They now need a place to stay for a few days, and Sam Sik leads them to his loan shark. This is when Kang Ho redeems himself for not having helped Sam Sik in the past. He may have done that by getting him out of the jewelry theft, but this time, Kang Ho is in his senses, so it makes more of a difference. He helps Sam Sik get out of his debt of 100 million won by threatening the owner with the exposure of his illegal businesses. Sam Sik, Mi Joo, and Ha Young have a place to stay while Kang Ho sets off on his own mission. He and Ha Young talk through their final misunderstandings, and Mi Joo asks Kang Ho to come back to her safely.
Why Does Kang Ho Meet Oh Tae Soo?
Episode 13 ofThe Good Bad Motherstarts with Kang Ho finding out what happened to Hwang Soo Hyun. After the boat had left with them, they were ambushed by Oh Tae Soo s men in the sea, and she was forced to jump into the water with her baby. Mr. Cho says that it is technically a suicide, but it is nothing short of a murder. So far, only Hwang Soo Hyun s body has been recovered, and Kang Ho is being blamed for it. Once the baby s body is found, Kang Ho will have stronger proof against Oh Tae Soo. Meanwhile, he also visits his investigative officer and gives him a mobile phone, asking him to derive some information from it in a case that is closed. The officer admits to Kang Ho that the latter had always acted corrupt yet showed him such kindness, and this difference in behavior had always confused him. He had been close to quitting a few times as he did not want to work under a corrupt prosecutor, but looking at Kang Ho s actions now gives him a different picture. Kang Ho thanks the man for his patience and asks him to wait a little longer for Kang Ho to reveal his true self.
At the end of Episode 13 ofThe Good Bad Mother, Kang Ho goes to meet Oh Tae Soo publicly in an aquarium where he was there as part of his campaign. Kang Ho had told his mother that everything was just beginning. That makes us think that either Kang Ho has started a new plan, or he has found some evidence that is going to turn the tables. It might even be the dead body of the baby.
Final Thoughts
We know that Kang Ho is going to mislead Oh Tae Soo by saying that Song Woobyeok is his real enemy and not Oh Tae Soo. But since the next episode is alsoThe Good Bad Motherfinale, we expect Kang Ho s grand revenge to be wrapped up in the first half hour, with the leftover time being dedicated to Mi Joo and Young Soon. Song Woobyeok might just prove to be a more dangerous ally than we initially thought, and it would be interesting to see if he has some hidden ace up his sleeve. The entire thing looks like it will be solved in one fell swoop, so let s see how that goes.