Recap "Green Mothers' Club 2022" Episode 14

Episode 14 of Green Mothers Club starts with Eun-Pyo reeling over Yeong-Mi’s words at the end of the previous chapter; Jin-Ha intentionally set out to steal Luis and succeeded. Yeong-Mi rings her husband that night and talks about his “narrative”, which seems to reinforce she knows he’s not being entirely truthful.

Meanwhile, Chun-Hui shows up at the seedy bar to straighten out her husband’s gambling. He’s not doing too well and Ju-Seok demands she hand over some cash to help. Instead, she gives him divorce papers. She’s had enough and is finally standing up for herself.

Ju-Seok bites back, promising to go to the police and reveal everything about her illegal drug selling. For Chun-Hui though, she’s had enough and this is finally what’s pushed her over the edge. Given she’s been teetering on the cliff for a long time, she’s finally taken a leap of faith and taking control of her life – regardless of what consequences that may have.

While Eun-Pyo is cleaning the house, she’s approached by Jin-Ha’s housekeeper who reveals the note she found on the floor was actually a photo. This photo explains what’s happening between Geon-U and Jin-Ha, with the former out of his mind and definitely the one stalking Jin-Ha rather than the other way round.

On the back reads: “My Jeanne Hebuterne. Now let’s finish our fierce and beautiful love story.” On the flip side is a naked picture of Geon-U. This is proof to back up the fact he was the one stalking her.

That night, Chun-Hui meets up with Lee Man-Su and tells him she’s getting divorced. She regrets her choice all those years ago and asks whether he wants to run away with her After seeing him happy with his family earlier in the episode, he’s obviously taken aback and a bit speechless. Chun-Hui claims she’s joking but it’s very clear that she’s not. Anyway, Man-Su does eventually leave the car, as Chun-Hui makes her mind up over what to do.

Meanwhile, Dong-Ju happens upon Rhea while she’s walking past the park. From across the road, Eun-Pyo notices Rhea and it immediately confuses her. Rhea heads off to see Luis that night, quizzing him about his wife. It would appear that Rhea is actually his sister, given he mentions “our parents”, which makes the whole ordeal that much more bizarre.

Eun-Pyo makes a big decision and messages Yeong-Mi, showing her the picture of Geon-U. She demands Yeong-Mi set the record straight on exactly what’s happening, blackmailing her into submission. If she doesn’t, then she’s going to tell Jin-Ha’s whole family. Yeong-Mi messages her husband, telling him to “prepare for the worst situation.”

Eun-Pyo heads out to meet Chun-Hui while Jae-Ung plays with the kids. Geun-U notices Eun-Pyo leaving and decides to stalk her. He’s not exactly subtle about it, and in the alley by the side of the pub, Geun-u grabs her and demands she stay quiet. He rabbles on about killing her but Eun-Pyo manages to break free and run into Chun-Hui’s arms.

Naturally, Jae-Ung rushes down to the station when he learns what has happened to his wife. Chun-Hui can only sit gravely, watching on. She’s understandably shook up after this and as Eun-Pyo heads off to the pharmacy, she notices Geon-U there too.

He confronts her outside and asks why she seems to be out to get him. Based on this, Eun-Pyo realizes that her attacker in the alley was, in fact, Geon-U. She also finds his glasses in there too, as it would appear he never actually picked them up. And now, 14 episodes into the show, Eun-Pyo decides to bring her detective husband into her investigation. Great work Eun-pyo.

Anyway, CCTV footage of the time confirms everything that has transpired, including Geon-U’s despicable stalking. Not only that, Eun-Pyo’s statement, and the photos he’s obtained of Jin-Ha, lead to him being detained. Yeong-Mi receives the call to let her know. It also turns out that the artwork of Jin-Ha was actually photoshopped too.

Through all of this drama, Chu-Hui rings Eun-Pyo and lets her know about the divorce and moving out. She turned her phone off after that day and she’s well aware that this is going to be a tough, long, drawn out battle with her husband. Eun-Pyo is crushed and feels bad for only complaining about her own life. Chun-Hui tells Eun-Pyo to live a happy life before hanging up.

---

The Episode Review

So Chun-Hui has now finally left her gambling husband, determined to set out and make a proper name for herself now and not be held back by Ju-Seok anymore. Chun-Hui’s character growth has easily been the best part of this show, which has increasingly becomes obsfucated and confused over what sort of series it actually wants to be.

I mentioned that in my recap yesterday and today it only reinforces it. We see absolutely nothing about the children beyond a couple of glimmers of Dong-Ju and instead get this bizarre, soapy story involving Rhea, played by the exact same actress as Jin-Ha. This in itself is strange enough but then it raises question marks over whether this is an incestuous relationship, a weird lovely sister thing or something else entirely. It would appear that it’s going to directly tie into Jin-Ha’s death but quite how remains to be seen.

In the meantime though, Green Mothers Club bows out with another tonally conflicted chapter. This isn’t a bad show per-se, and the Geon-U saga has been well managed on the whole, but it also feels like a bit of a missed opportunity for what could have been a much more tightly written show.