Lies Hidden in My Garden 2023 K Drama Episode 7

Episode 7 of Lies Hidden in My Garden starts with Joo-ran paying her mother a visit. Joo-ran gets a flashback from the time her sister was alive. She recalls leaving her sister to go for a trip with Jae-ho who she was then dating. Joo-ran is brought back to the night she discovered Young-ran’s dead body in her bedroom.

She recalls how her mother was introducing her to an influential person at Young-ran’s funeral instead of letting her mourn the loss of her sister. The woman also blames Joo-ran for her sister’s murder.

Present-day Joo-ran asks her mother why she lent a huge sum like 50 million won to her son, Seung-jae. The woman claims that she thought it was best to keep it a secret from Joo-ran because Seung-jae reached out to her instead of talking to his parents. Joo-ran tells her mother that she was going to leave Seung-jae to live with her for a few days. The woman does not want to babysit her grandson but ends up unwillingly accepting Joo-ran’s request.

Joo-ran’s mother is relieved when she learns that Joo-ran was not going to get a divorce from Jae-ho because she thinks that Joo-ran is worthless without her husband.  Joo-ran then recalls how the woman blamed her for Young-ran’s death. She claims that she was somewhat responsible because Joo-ran asked Young-ran to live in her apartment when she was away which ultimately led to her death.

Joo-ran demands an apology from her mother for causing her so much trauma. Joo-ran’s mother claims that she had forgotten about the comment and adds that she will not apologize because she does not feel fully remorseful about her comment. Joo-ran leaves to go back home feeling powerful for speaking for herself after so many years.

She calls Sang-eun to her house and makes an odd request, asking the pregnant woman to kill Jae-ho. Joo-ran offers to pay her money for killing Jae-ho in the same way that she had killed Yoon-beom. Sang-eun is shocked when she learns that her mother had told Joo-ran the truth about Sang-eun killing Yoon-beom.

Sang-eun refuses Joo-ran’s request and goes back home. She gets a call from her sister-in-law, Don-hui, claiming that her brother has been in a road accident. At the hospital, Sang-eun learns that her brother had crashed his car into someone else’s because he dozed off behind the wheel. Don-hui asks for Sang-eun’s help with the compensation money for the accident caused by her husband.

Sang-eun borrows the sum from Joo-ran and pays off the victims of her brother’s accident. After that, she tends to her mother in the hospital. She asks why the old woman never let her come back home despite noticing her bruises from when Yoon-beom beat her up.

Sang-eun wonders why her mother cooked nice meals for Yoon-beom despite knowing he used to assault her. The woman claims that she treated Yoon-beom well hoping that he would stop hitting Sang-eun. The woman acknowledges that she was a bad mother and claims that she will have to give her apartment to her son and daughter-in-law.

She also claims that since she can do that, Don-hui will take care of her in her old age out of greed. She asks Sang-eun to cut all ties with her family and tells her she should not receive any calls from Don-hui, no matter what. The woman asks Sang-eun to live her own life and never be bothered by her family members who only invite trouble for her.

Sang-eun goes back home and does as her mother had asked, ignoring calls from Don-hui. That night, Hae-soo comes to Joo-ran’s house to drop off something for her but Jae-ho asks her to stop hanging out with Joo-ran. He tells her that Joo-ran is sick and mentally unstable. Jae-ho claims that he would love for Joo-ran to have some privacy.

However, Hae-soo claims that she too was sick and loves the fact that Joo-ran is also like her. The next day, Sang-eun is cleaning out all of Yoon-beom’s items from her house. She ignores calls from her sister-in-law. Joo-ran meets Sang-eun at her house. The two women discuss how they would kill off Jae-ho.

Sang-eun sets up a camera recording their discussion as evidence where Joo-ran claims to pay her 500 million won in compensation for killing her husband. Sang-eun asks Joo-ran to start recording her husband’s abuse by involving their neighbour – Hae-soo. She asks Joo-ran to show her bruises to Hae-soo and talk to her about  Jae-ho killing Yoon-beom.

Sang-eun also asks Joo-ran to have Jae-ho buy them a charcoal briquette in order to execute their plan. Sang-eun makes Joo-ran text her using Jae-ho’s phone, inviting Sang-eun home to make it seem like Jae-ho was calling Sang-eun home. She asks Joo-ran to add sleeping pills to Jae-ho’s drink so that he will be unconscious when she arrives to kill him.

A flashforward shows Sang-eun killing off Jae-ho in the same way as she killed Yoon-beom. The women leave Jae-ho’s car by the reservoir with the charcoal briquette burning while Joo-ran places the charm from Soo-min’s phone in Jae-ho’s hand.

Back in the present day, Sang-eun tells Joo-ran that she had to kill Yoon-beom because she had no other option after he used to constantly abuse her. Joo-ran asks if she regrets her decision but Sang-eun claims that she would do it all over again because in killing Yoon-beom, she saved two lives, her own and that of her unborn baby.

The episode ends with Sang-eun showing up at Joo-ran’s house to kill Jae-ho. However, when she turns around, Jae-ho wakes up and chokes her as Joo-ran watches in silence.

The Episode Review

This show is really blowing my mind with its manipulation. Joo-ran is not the only one being manipulated and gaslit but the show is actually gaslighting us, the viewers into thinking we believe something only for it to be far from the truth. There is so much going on in this episode with Joo-ran’s mother blaming her for the fact that her sister was murdered.

After emotional abuse at the hands of her mother, Joo-ran was manipulated and gaslit by her husband. It is right of her to want him dead but the plot twist at the end of the episode has me worried. Sang-eun does not deserve to die just because of this toxic, manipulative couple. I can’t wait to see the season finale.