Castaway Diva (2023) K Drama Episode 7

Episode 7 of Castaway Diva begins with a look at how the brothers’ parents met. It was love at first sight; he was a civil servant and she arrived needing to change her name to hide from her husband. She didn’t call the police, and when questioned she simply walked away. That is, until Kang Sang-Doo followed Song Ha-jung out and understood her story. Their names now belong to them, but as Wo-hak questions his father, he outright admits that Bo-geol is Ki-ho. Hooray we’ve learned the truth!

Meanwhile, President Lee and Producer Kang butt heads over the latter’s decision for both singers to sing live on TV. Now we understand Bo-geol’s game, given he’s Ki-ho. He shrugs off Lee’s attempt at reprimanding him, admitting that a written apology is nothing compared to allowing lip-syncing on the show.

Elsewhere behind the scenes, Ran-joo decides to make a stand and definitely get up on stage and sing. As for Mo-rae, she has a very different reaction. She throws a drink over Mr Park. Lee shows up and calms things down, admitting that the deal is done and she needs to sing up on stage. Mo-rae is not happy, believing that it’s basically rolling out the red carpet for Mok-ha.

Speaking of which, Ran-joo steps aside and lets Mok-ha take the limelight. While she gets her makeup done, Ran-joo heads into the adjacent room alone. She ponders over the words of her script, knowing what damage this could do to her career. As she weeps, President Lee opens the door and sees her sobbing. He doesn’t say anything but he knowingly shuts the door and actually prevents anyone else from going inside.

While this is going on, Woo-hak shows up and is shocked by how beautiful Mok-ha looks. It’s a brief moment though, as the producer takes her toward the stage. On the way, she learns more about Bo-geol’s history, including founding a club and doing right by her, even all this time.

As she mulls this over, Mok-ha is verbally attacked by Park, who tries to knock her off her game. It doesn’t work, and in fact she runs into Bo-geol, who gives her some sound advice about chances and how she’s going to nail it. In fact, he even chooses the background too, which happens to be the ocean. All of this intends to hark back to Mok-ha’s first video down by the shore.

While Mok-ha waits under the stage, Ran-joo contemplates whether to stitch up Mok-ha completely. She remembers her words and thankfully steps aside to give Mok-ha the limelight. Unfortunately, Ki-ho’s father happens to be watching this and he heads out when he learns about Mok-ha’s whereabouts.

The show goes ahead, the singing commences and it’s the closest run thing they’ve had in years. The vote is also decided by the narrowest of margins. So who has won? Well, it’s Mok-ha! As she steps up to the stage, President Lee decides he wants Mok-ha’s number. The diva from the deserted island wins and she’s overcome with emotion.

She rushes off stage and embraces Ran-joo, telling her that she’ll never betray or let her down. Ad for Ran-joo, she warns that this is only the beginning now. She even gives Mo-rae some advice next, telling her she needs to try harder otherwise she’s going to end up like Ran-joo. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for her, as she’s known as the “queen of live performances” and now she’s squandered her chances. Mo-rae approaches her fans and embraces them outside, telling the pair she’ll do better next time.

Bo-geol congratulates his team for a job well done and takes the idea from one of his fellow producers to take a postcard and sign for him. However, he’s taken aback by it being his brother inside. He shows up and berates Bo-geol for what he’s done. Bo-geol though hits back and tells his brother that he’s sick of lying. He wants to admit the truth and stop hiding what he’s kept inside for 15 years.

Mok-ha though happens to be listening to all of this from the stairwell and she’s shocked. This is actually a secret that his parents have been keeping all this time, and Bo-geol even agreed to keep it a secret from Woo-hak and Mok-ha too.

As she leaves to get some air, she glances out the window and notices Ki-ho’s father on the street. Ran-joo rings and asks her to meet in the parking lot, but Mok-ha is flustered and tells her to go on ahead. However, Ran-joo’s phone dies and she ends up running into Lee. He shows up and admits he’s thinking of asking Mok-ha to be part of his agency.

Mok-ha turns off her phone and decides to head out and confront Mr Jung herself. They go for a drink together, where Mok-ha finds herself caught in a trap. She doesn’t bat an eyelid to him saying “sons” and as a result, Mr Jung realizes that she’s given up that Ki-ho is hiding nearby and he has a brother. That’s very clearly the wrong move, and Mok-ha is not exactly subtle as she leaves and races across the road to get a taxi.

As she leaves, Ran-joo turns her phone back on and finds a message from Mok-ha. Within this, it reads that she’s sorry and has decided to travel as far away as possible on a train away. She’s clearly doing this to protect the brothers. In reality though, she tells Ran-joo this was never her dream and she’s going to go and live a life “picking potatoes”.

Woo-hak and Bo-geol find out and rush out the door to figure out where she’s going. The pair actually happen to be in the same town, and even this far away, Mok-ha is spotted by a lady at a restaurant who calls her a singer and wants her to sign an autograph. It’s all too much for Mok-ha, who breaks down crying. She admits to this poor, flustered lady that she ate gull eggs when she was dying of starvation back on the island. This betrayal is likened to that of the message she sent over to Ran-joo, throwing her dream away.

As she begins sobbing, Bo-geol shows up. It turns out Mok-ha was spotted online and she’s left a digital trace all the way over to this town. Here, Bo-geol admits that he’s Ki-ho in a roundabout way. Mok-ha leaves until they’re alone, where he admits that he wanted to be the first one to find her on the island so he could thank her for being alive. He steps forward and hugs her, as tears fall from her face. As they embrace, Woo-hak happens to be watching from afar and he chooses not to interfere as they embrace.

The Episode Review

Thankfully, Castaway Diva doesn’t drag out the storyline too much with this mystery around the brothers. We’d already figured out that Bo-geol was the true brother, and the drama surrounding the pair, hinting at a love triangle, appears to be picking up now – especially with that final scene and the potential for tomorrow’s follow-up.

The drama with the brothers is definitely something simmering in the background but similarly, the situation with Mok-ha’s dream as a diva and the issues that look like they could fizzle up from that are certainly another point of contention too.

Mok-ha meeting with Ki-ho’s father is definitely a bad move and although she tried to do right and protect the boys, she inadvertently caused them even more harm. Thankfully though, Mok-ha is something of a celebrity now so the guys could find her relatively quick.

Everything is left on a precarious knife-edge for tomorrow’s follow-up though and it’ll be interesting to see just what will happen next.