Family: The Unbreakable Bond 2023 Episode 1

Family: The Unbreakable Bond episode 1 begins with someone prepping a gun and shooting what seems to be a man. Elsewhere, Kwon Do-Hoon is passed out, and he’s hurt. Just then, a man named Im Pilseung comes with his men to where Do-Hoon is (it seems they captured Do-Hoon). When Im Pilseung confronts Do-Hoon and asks who he is, Do-Hoon reveals he knows everything about Im Pilseung, including the criminal charges against him.

Do-Hoon begins fighting Im Pilseung and his men and overpowers them. Then, Lim Jae-Yeol and other men from the National Intelligent Service (NIS) come to rescue Do-Hoon. As the other men take Im Pilseung and his men away, Do-Hoon asks Jae-Yeol what day and time it is. He then realizes that it was his and his wife, Kang Yoo-Ra’s, 10th anniversary, and they planned to celebrate in Thailand.

Do-Hoon borrows Jae-Yeol’s phone and calls his daughter, Kwon Min-Seo. He asks her if Yoo-Ra is home, and Min-Seo tells him she already went to Thailand for their anniversary.

The next day, Do-Hoon is on his way to pick up Yoo-Ra from the airport. He calls his dad, Kwon Woong-So, who he had requested to go and tidy up their house for him. It turns out, Woong-So also brought Do-Hoon’s younger brother Ji-Hoon and his wife Mi-Rim with him to help him clean the house, and Do-Hoon isn’t happy about that.

Woong-So, Ji-Hoon, and Mi-Rim (who’s pregnant) arrive at the house, and Mi-Rim is startled by how dirty Do-Hoon’s house is. Woong-So asks them to make the house spotless for Yoo-Ra, but, Mi-Rim tells them that if they do, it will make her think Do-Hoon doesn’t need her. Woong-So asks Mi-Rim if they should make the house look even more untidy than it is. Mi-Rim tells him they should just clean it but make it look like Do-Hoon cleaned it so Yoo-Ra can feel she’s needed.

Mi-Rim then wonders why Yoo-Ra went to Thailand alone for her and Do-Hoon’s 10th anniversary just because Do-Hoon wasn’t around. Ji-Hoon and Woong-So begin explaining how Do-Hoon missed Yoo-Ra’s birthday 8 years ago because he was at work, how he missed Min-Seo’s 1st birthday 6 years ago and missed Min-Seo’s birthday again a year back.

Woong-So and Ji-Hoon tell Mi-Rim that Do-Hoon has always been missing important occasions for the past ten years. However, Ji-Hoon wonders why Yoo-Ra got upset that Do-Hoon wasn’t around this time. Mi-Rim tells them that Yoo-Ra must have kept all that anger against Do-Hoon for missing important occasions throughout their marriage and blew up this time, but, Woong-So and Ji-Hoon refuse to believe that.

Elsewhere, Yoo-Ra’s aeroplane is experiencing some turbulence due to weather changes. While the other passengers are panicking, Yoo-Ra is calm. The passenger next to her asks her why she’s calm, and she shows her a section in the magazine she’s reading, mentioning her birthday will be a day full of laughter.

At the airport, Do-Hoon is still wondering how to make it up to Yoo-Ra for missing their anniversary trip when she walks up to him. Do-Hoon gives her flowers, but Yoo-Ra hits him with them.

As they’re driving back home, Do-Hoon tries to cheer Yoo-Ra up after missing their trip, but Yoo-Ra is having none of that. Yoo-Ra asks him if he paid the bills, and he assures her he did. She also asks him if he ordered food from outside while she was away, and he assures her he didn’t. Do-Hoon also assures Yoo-Ra that he cleaned the house and braided Min-Seo’s hair.

Yoo-Ra then asks Do-Hoon if he arranged for her to meet Chief Oh Chun-Ryun, and he tells her that Chief Oh isn’t in the country. Yoo-Ra asks Do-Hoon to pull over, and they begin arguing about Yoo-Ra insisting on meeting Chief Oh to confront her about making Do-Hoon miss all the important occasions in their family. Then, Yoo-Ra gets in the car and leaves Do-Hoon behind.

Yoo-Ra then calls Min-Seo to tell her she’s back, and Min-Seo tells her she’ll talk to her later since she’s in class. Min-Seo’s teacher then scolds her about using her phone in class, and she tells him that her mum may be confused since she was on a flight; otherwise, she doesn’t call her while she’s in class. Min-Seo’s teacher tells her she should turn her phone off while in class, and Min-Seo tells him that her dad, Do-Hoon, told her always to keep her phone turned on so he could reach her if she’s in trouble. Then she goes back to practising a duel with one of her classmates, Kim Bo-Seok.

Meanwhile, Yoo-Ra arrives at Min-Seo’s school to pick her up, and Woong-So calls her. He urges Yoo-Ra not to forgive Do-Hoon for missing their anniversary trip. Yoo-Ra feels guilty for being hard on Do-Hoon, but, Woong-So tells her that Do-Hoon needs to learn a lesson.

School is over, and Min-Seo runs to ask Bo-Seok whether he has agreed to go out with her as she had asked him. Bo-Seok tells her he needs more time to think about it and runs away, and another one Min-Seo’s classmates, Song, tells her she has just been dumped, but Min-Seo refuses to believe that.

Min-Seo goes to meet Yoo-Ra, who’s shocked at what Do-Hoon did to her hair. As they head home, Min-Seo starts asking Yoo-Ra what to do if she gets dumped. She also asks Yoo-Ra how many times she was dumped. It turns out, Do-Hoon told her he married Yoo-Ra because she was the one after him. Just then, Do-Hoon calls Yoo-Ra, and she ignores the call. Yoo-Ra then tells Min-Seo that they should go out for a meal and she will tell her the truth about her and Do-Hoon’s love story.

Elsewhere, Do-Hoon is buying coffee when he receives his next crime investigation assignment. He goes to the NIS headquarters, which is disguised as a garden trading company office. He meets Jae-Yeol, who’s on the way to his assignment. Inside, he meets Ma Young-Ji and asks where Chief Oh is. Young-Ji informs him that Chief Oh is on a business trip, and he gets mad about that. Do-Hoon then texts Min-Seo to ask about Yoo-Ra.

Do-Hoon goes to meet Yoo-Ra and Min-Seo at their residence’s entrance, but, Yoo-Ra drives past him. Min-Seo asks Yoo-Ra why she drove past Do-Hoon and doesn’t want to forgive him, but Yoo-Ra tells her she will only do so if Do-Hoon completes the “homework” she gave him.

Do-Hoon is at a bakery getting Yoo-Ra’s favourite cake, and the baker, Mr Cha, scolds him for missing his family’s important occasions (it seems he has known Do-Hoon for a long time). Do-Hoon then accidentally drops the cake. Min-Seo texts to ask him what’s going on, and he’s forced to tell her he failed, so she tells him to get something else. Do-Hoon settles on fried chicken.

He gets home, and Yoo-Ra is still mad at him. Min-Seo then takes the skin from a fried chicken he brought and tells him to take it to Yoo-Ra since she likes chicken that way. Do-Hoon goes to his and Yoo-Ra’s bedroom, and they begin arguing again about Yoo-Ra wanting to meet Chief Oh. Just then, the light in the bedroom goes off, and Yoo-Ra is mad that Do-Hoon hasn’t fixed it yet. Yoo-Ra then tells Do-Hoon not to sleep in their bedroom until he sets up a meeting for her and Chief Oh.

The next day, while having breakfast, Yoo-Ra and Do-Hoon begin arguing, but not literally. Min-Seo notices the tension between them and tells the pair she’s going to school so they can now fight all they want. Yoo-Ra’s phone reminder indicates that Yoo-Ra is in her ovulatory phase.

As Yoo-Ra and Do-Hoon head out for the day, Do-Hoon texts and reminds her about their “wine day.” It turns out they had agreed to be sexually intimate during Yoo-Ra’s phase, and Yoo-Ra had assured Do-Hoon that they would be intimate regardless of how mad she was at him.

Throughout the day, Do-Hoon keeps texting Yoo-Ra about the preparation for their “wine day,” but Yoo-Ra ignores him. Yoo-Ra then meets Woong-So to prepare for his late wife, Kim Shin-Ae’s, memorial. Later in the day, Yoo-Ra is at her shop when she calls Do-Hoon and asks him to beg her forgiveness. Of course, Do-Hoon begs her for forgiveness, and Yoo-Ra forgives him and accepts to have their “wine day” later in the night after Shin-Ae’s memorial.

Do-Hoon goes to spy on the target he was assigned earlier. The target is a Chief recruiter for the international fraud gang. As he’s spying on her, he realizes she has a daughter. Meanwhile, Ma Young-Ji calls to inform him that Chief Oh wants to see him, and he agrees to meet at a particular Japanese restaurant.

At Do-Hoon’s house, the family gathers for Shin-Ae’s memorial. They’re waiting for Do-Hoon, who seems to be running late. Elsewhere, Do-Hoon is waiting for Chief Oh at the Japanese restaurant, but it seems she has already left, judging by the lipstick on the cup next to him. Meanwhile, Yoo-Ra texts him, asking why he’s late for the memorial.

Do-Hoon gets home and goes to the bedroom to change for the memorial. He begins explaining to Yoo-Ra why he’s late. He finishes changing and goes to join the others. Just then, Yoo-Ra sees Chief Oh calling Do-Hoon on his phone. Yoo-Ra then texts Chief Oh as Do-Hoon and asks her to come to their house.

The memorial begins, and Mi-Rim is “introduced” to Shin-Ae. Then, Woong-So, Min-Seo, Ji-Hoon, and Do-Hoon begin mourning Shin-Ae. Mi-Rim is surprised at what is happening, and Yoo-Ra sends her to comfort Ji-Hoon.

Then, there’s a knock on the door. Ji-Hoon thinks it’s the pork hock being delivered, and he and Mi-Rim go to the door to take it. They open the door and find it’s Chief Oh. It turns out no one except Yoo-Ra and Do-Hoon knew Chief Oh was a she, so they’re all surprised. Do-Hoon is also surprised that Chief Oh is at his door. Just then, the pork hock delivery man comes to deliver it, and Chief Oh realizes it’s a criminal and closes Do-Hoon’s door, then fights him.

Meanwhile, the family begins questioning Do-Hoon about Chief Oh. The episode ends with Yoo-Ra revealing she’s the one who asked Chief Oh to come to the house.

The Episode Review

Family: The Unbreakable Bond gets off to a great start. It’s a perfect mix of comedy and crime drama, and I’m look forward to seeing what Yoo-Ra will tell Chief Oh now that she has met her. I’m also looking forward to seeing Do-Hoon solving the crime of the international fraud gang’s lead recruiter he was spying on.

I’m also eager to see who was the criminal Chief Oh fought at Do-Hoon’s house. Well, I can tell that this show has a lot of twists and turns in store for us!