Recap Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) – Season 1 Episode 7

Episode 7 of Love (ft. Marriage & Divorce) returns to the Mart as Hae-Ryun drives off with his mistress in the front seat. Hyang-Ki notices her Father of course, which throws us back to the present again. She grabs her jacket and decides to head out for a walk. As soon as she does, Shi-Eun slumps and lets herself feel the grief she’s been keeping inside.

We then cut across to her out swimming and quickly back to Hyang-Ki again. Good to see these jarring edits are going absolutely nowhere in this show!

Anyway, Hyang-Ki meets her Father in the park and asks where he was staying that night. “At a friend’s house.” Is his reply.

It’s here Hyang-Ki mentions the woman in his car and asks exactly what’s going on. The truth comes tumbling out as Hyang-Ki realizes her Father has been unfaithful. Even worse, Shi-Eun has been keeping it a secret from the kids all this time. She calls the woman a piece of trash, voice wavering, as she eventually hurries off alone.

Back home, Hae-Ryun returns and mentions the Mart incident and how Hyang-Ki has spotted him with his mistress. Well, despite all this he’s still not going to move out and has decided to ride the storm for now.

Meanwhile, Seo-Hyang meets little Ji-A in a restaurant for breakfast. The two prepare to eat together but Seo-Hyang isn’t eating much for obvious reasons. As she looks sadly at her granddaughter, she thinks ominously about the future.

Yu-Shin also heads out for breakfast with Dong-Mi as this bizarre relationship between the two continues. He suggests they head out for a daytrip to Hanguk Kingdom…which also happens to be the place Ji-A is taking Seo-Hyang.

They get themselves all dressed up in costumes and begin playing on the different rides. Only, during the parade Seo-Hyang notices that Yu-Shin and Dong-Mi are together and tries to keep a low profile from afar.

Yu-Shin cranks up the charm – and the creepiness – as he tells Dong-Mi that she’s beautiful. He eventually tells her she needs to get over his Father and move on. On the way out, he holds onto her shoulder again as a wry smile crosses Dong-Mi’s face.

Meanwhile, Hye-Ryung returns to work where a worried Shi-Eun struggles to get through the shift. Hyang-Ki still hasn’t come home and she doesn’t know what her daughter’s thoughts are on the current situation. However, everyone is distracted by Hye-Ryung’s behaviour as she seems faint and unwell.

In fact she suddenly bursts out the studio and vomits blood on the floor. Pi-Young phones Sa-Hyun, telling her that Hye-Ryung is in a bad state as he rushes over to check up on her. While he does, Shi-Eun breaks the news to Pi-Young about Hae-Ryun’s affair and how Hyang-Ki has found out.

Hyang-Ki suddenly shows up back home and breaks the news to Woo-Ram that their Father is seeing another woman. They both realize their Mother must be distraught and wonder whether they’ll be able to forgive Hae-Ryun for this if he repents. For now, that’s still uncertain.

At the hospital, it turns out Hye-Ryung has an acute, stress-related ulcer and she intentionally hides her face as she’s moved to a different ward. At the same time, Seo-Hyang returns from Hanguk World where a surprised Yu-Shin learns about Ji-A’s big day. She wants her to stay or dinner but Seo-Hyang is not sure that’s a good idea. Instead, she heads out…only to spot Pi-Young arriving back in her car.

She’s cold toward her again, refusing to talk and telling her Mother to go home. When she goes, Pi-Young turns her attention to YTu-Shin and struggles to hide how surprised she is that he went to Hanguk Kingdom with Dong-Mi.

Shi-Eun heads home and speaks to her daughter. She’s not happy about his timing, especially given he broke the news during Woo-Ram’s sleepover. For now, Hyang-Ki wants to know the truth, and that involves Shi-Eun revealing her true feelings on the situation.

Both girls don’t want him to leave but right now there’s massive question marks over the direction of this family. To ease Shi-Eun’s suffering though, Hyang-Ki gives her Mother a big hug.

Finally the whole family gather together to discuss the current situation. Hae-Ryun apologizes and admits they must all be disappointed in him. He tells them he’ll always love the kids as Hyang-Ki lets loose, talking to her about the divorce and the possibility of him moving out.

Hae-Ryun has decided to follow through and divorce, as the kids finally learn the whole truth. Hyang-Ki has the backbone that Shi-Eun is missing, berating her Father for everything he’s done and asking if he’s going to pack his bags and leave.

As this family comes unraveled, and Hyang-Ki says the words that Shi-Eun can’t, she interrogates her Father and demands to know what this mistress has asked for – including whether the divorce was her idea.

Hae-Ryun calls himself despicable, as Woo-Ram admits that he too feels the same way as his sister. Shi-Eun continues to bat for Hae-Ryun though, but the kids thankfully ignore her and keep going. Both of them decide to cut ties completely, as Shi-Eun takes herself aside to weep over what’s happened.

Hae-Ryun shows up in the bedroom though and asks Shi-Eun to try and see his side of things. She’s understandably incredulous, especially when he mentions all the hard work he’s been doing. He even throws the “all men are the same” card too. Ugh, this guy is the worst. Anyway, Shi-Eun finally speaks up and tells him to pack his things and leave quietly. He downs a bottle of soju though and calls the family back for round 2.

This time, he tells them his side of things and how it’s impossible to be in love with the same person forever. He blames Shi-Eun and how they didn’t date before getting married. He admits that his helpless heart was stolen, justifying his despicable actions by claiming that all couples are the same. News flash buddy – no they’re not.

Hyang-Ki stand up for the family though, mentioning Mother Theresa and numerous other people as examples of how this isn’t always the case. She refuses to acknowledge his pitiful excuses, and nonchalantly mentions how they might as well be strangers after the way he betrayed them. Hyang-Ki is absolutely savage, telling him that for everything he gains, he loses something. In this case, he’s losing his family.

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The Episode Review

Is there anyone out there sympathetic with Hae-Ryun’s situation? No? Good, there’s shouldn’t be. What he’s done is despicable and breaking up a family in this way and justifying it as simple “statistics” is simply awful. His excuse is pitiful, to say it lightly, and even worse Shi-Eun’s nonchalant reaction for such a long time actually discredits her character.

Instead, the fiery Hyang-Ki absolutely shines in this episode. She was great in True Beauty earlier this year and she absolutely steals the show here too. The way she stand up to her Father was incredibly satisfying and she’s right – Hae-Ryun only has himself to blame for losing his entire family.

These scenes dominate the latter periods of this episode, in a way losing some of the tight pacing that dominated the early parts with both Pi-Young (who’s still not very likable) and Hye-Ryung’s storyline. In fact, what happened with Hye-Ryung at the end? Is she okay? Or has she still got a stomach ulcer? I’m sure we’ll find out tomorrow!

In the meantime, Love (ft. Marriage & Divorce) bows out with another slice of drama and while it’s a far cry from the level of other melodramas of its kind, it’s a passable enough watch.