Sunday, July 5, 2009
Shining Imheritance episode 13
Boxing ring decided it for me: I’ll devote an entire post to Episode 13.
Haha, pulled your leg for a moment there, didn’t I? In such an important episode like this one, think I would be led (astray) by inconsequential things like sweaty abs and furrowed brows?
C’mon, you know me better than that. I did not take two dozen (or was it 30?) screencaps of Jun-se working out in the ring when this episode is all about…
HWAN’S EPIPHANY.
That’s right. Episode 13 is where our royal jerk finally experiences that moment of awakening that is going to turn his life around, making this my favorite episode yet. It’s powerful stuff, so get ready.
At the end of Episode 12, Grandma Jang drops the bombshell about her new will. Unknown to us, the invitation card to the bombshell party apparently also stipulates a dress code. It is only when Episode 13 begins that I realize everyone is clad in the same somber colors. No wonder a smile feels out of place here.
Lawyer Kim, who has replaced Lawyer Park (Jun-se’s multi-tasking dad), reads out the new will:
All of Jang Sook-ja’s assets, including company shares and property, will be inherited upon her death by Go Eun-sung. This is conditional on Go Eun-sung raising revenues in Jin Sung Food’s second seolleongtang branch by 20% in two months.
As expected, howls of protest greet the announcement.
A disbelieving Hwan accuses Eun-sung of being in cahoots with his grandma. But Eun-sung, with the calm of a person who has found a new life goal and will allow nothing to sway her, simply bows and says she will accept the inheritance with gratitude. She is then asked by Grandma to escort Lawyer Kim out of the room. The two of them exit center stage, leaving Grandma with four very unhappy people (three wastrels and one deposed lawyer).
As the recriminations fly, we see Grandma Jang at her most broken.
This company does not belong to me or to you, it belongs to my employees. I based my decision on the livelihoods of thousands of people. Do I leave my inheritance to my pampered grandchildren who will likely squander it away, or do I entrust it to someone who will ensure the company’s survival?
Your dad and I would have starved to death if not for the kindness of a lady who allowed me to peddle my rice cakes in front of her restaurant, who carried your dad on her back, who bequeathed her restaurant to me when she passed away. She, unrelated to us, reached out and helped me gain a foothold to begin what we now have today. She showed me what it means to change another person’s life.
I did not make my decision lightly. How could I, when I loved you all so much? If you asked me to pluck a star from the sky and turn it into soup for you, I would. That is how much I have loved you.
It’s not money I’m giving to Eun-sung, it’s my life’s principles. The ideals that established the company… I’m bequeathing them to her. She will continue what I have started, she will never sell the company. Until my death, you have a roof over your head and food to eat. When I’m gone, you’re on your own. Plan your lives accordingly.
What is sadder than Grandma’s words and tears?
The glaring fact that none of it is meaningful to her aggrieved daughter-in-law and grandchildren. All they know is that they’ve been robbed. That it is Grandma’s money, earned by her with zero contribution from them, is beside the point. They’re her kin so of course the money also belongs to them!
How their accusations must hurt her. It hurts as much as the memory of her dead Min-suk, as much as the realization that her cherished company will now pass into the hands of someone who was just a stranger mere weeks ago. Because let’s not kid ourselves here; there’s no joy in bequeathing her inheritance to someone other than her beloved Hwan. Doing that is simply acknowledging that he is useless and that she has failed to raise him well.
Hwan knows the implications of that public humiliation, of course. Earlier he had yelled in front of everyone: “Why must it be Eun-sung?!” It’s a question loaded with meaning.
Now he storms into the grandma’s room, demanding to know why he had to foolishly follow Eun-sung everywhere the last one month, from restaurant to factory, if the grandma had already decided to cut him out of her will.
Here is how she replies:
All I wanted was for my grandson to live well even after my death. I wanted you to observe Eun-sung, to learn from her. If you do not know what you’re supposed to learn from her, then obviously you have learned nothing at all.
His eyes filling with tears (Lee Seung-gi is riveting in this episode), Hwan yells back: Do you know what it’s like to follow the person who will take away my inheritance? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT HAS DONE TO ME?!!
Just like Grandma, we ponder the unspoken meaning behind Hwan’s words.
Why are you in tears, why are you so angry? What has happened to you as a result of following Eun-sung around? Is it your pride that is wounded, or is something else tormenting you? This girl living in your house and stealing your inheritance… Has she somehow crept into your heart, stolen it even? Hwan, what is happening to you?
But those aren’t questions that he can answer, not now.
It’s all still so bewildering to him, these conflicting feelings of disliking Eun-sung and yet missing her when she’s not around, of curiosity and guilt, of wanting to goad and also please her, to be a somebody in her eyes.
Unable to sort out his inner turmoil, he runs to the one who is the cause of it all.
(I wrote in my previous Brilliant Legacy recap that Hwan is growing on me and here’s another reason why. Whatever his flaws, this guy is an open book. If something bothers him, he wants to thrash it out, not keep it simmering inside. Isn’t that what every girl wants, a communicative boyfriend?)
Perhaps it’s the sight of her sitting quietly on the garden bench that stops him in his tracks. Perhaps it’s coming up from behind her and thus not needing to rearrange his expression to fit one who’s supposed to be at war. Whatever the reason, the look in his eyes is strangely soft and gentle. Then she looks up and of course the haughty veil comes back down and the accusations fly afresh.
Accusing her of dishonesty (pretending to be kind and virtuous when her real motive is to steal his inheritance), he lashes out:
Why are you making fun of me? Pretending to discipline me when it was all unnecessary. Saying you’ll accept the inheritance gratefully. Ha! You say it’s because of your situation? Fine, tell me what is that situation. Because I caused you to lose your brother? So now you want to take my inheritance away? Is that it? (She replies that it’s unimportant what he thinks of her. She will not reveal to him her reason for accepting the inheritance.) I still want to know. TELL ME!
I don’t want to over-analyze Hwan’s persistent questioning and ascribe wishful intent behind it because I believe he still isn’t fully aware of his own feelings. But I can’t help thinking that perhaps subconsciously the one reason above all else that he wants to hear from her is this: She wants the inheritance because of him. She’s doing it for him because… she cares.
Based on that (wild) conjecture, I can understand why he’s outraged when she replies that it’s because of money. (On the surface it may look like Eun-sung is fibbing, but she really isn’t. Without money, how can she win her battle with the witch?)
You say it’s because of money that you’re taking my inheritance? Because of money you caused me to lower my defenses. You… You changed me… and now you say it’s only for the money?
But don’t blame me, she retorts. You’re the one who drove Grandma into giving her inheritance away to an outsider. It’s your fault.
After all that spillage of tears and angry words, everyone is spent that night, everyone except Grandma (now back to her usual feisty self) and the butler whose culinary skills rise above all worldly strife (or thrive more because of it).
Eun-sung pokes at her food and is chided gently by Grandma who tells her that this is only the beginning, so quit looking so weary. Only the two are at the dining table, which must disappoint our butler chef. Jung and her mom have retired to their comfortable rooms to commiserate with their beds while Hwan sits on his and mulls, trying to make sense of the night’s events.
Grandma is right that the fun has just started. The next day the three wastrels stage a mutiny, refusing to go to work.
But Lawyer Park is at the office as usual, except today he will dispense with the niceties.
This is the angriest we have seen of Jun-se’s father. Not only did President Jang stab him in the back by engaging another lawyer and altering her will, she is reviving the second branch of the company that he had proposed selling. She is giving the company to Eun-sung which means he will be junior to a mere child! His dedication now perceived as unbridled ambition, everything he has done in the last twenty years for Jin Sung Food gone to nought!
Also at the head office is Eun-sung, there to receive instructions from the president. She bumps into Seung-mi as she’s leaving the office but ignores her.
Unknown to Seung-mi, Eun-sung has learned (easily from an online search, egads!) that her stepsister lied to her about the purchase of her apartment. Seung-mi and her mom aren’t as poor and pitiful as they have made themselves out to be.
Eun-sung’s curtness troubles Seung-mi and she alerts her mom. The witch is in a frenzy, trying to locate Eun-woo before his sister can, and aghast that her potential son-in-law might soon become as penniless as that husband of hers now wandering the streets.
Even as her stepmom is plotting more mischief, our Eun-sung is hard at work, checking out the company’s languishing second branch and meeting with her two closest friends, Hye-ri and Jun-se, to tell them about the inheritance.
Somehow this scene with Jun-se makes me really sad. The sweeter he is to her and the happier she is with him, the more bummed I am that they aren’t meant to be together. The fact that he is the first one she tells about this life-changing event speaks volumes of her trust in him. And see how astute he is, sensing that beneath her bright smiles is a burdened heart.
Brace yourself now, Jun-se, so that your pain won’t be as acute as what your fans fear it might become. Chin up, Jun-se!! (But psst, if being down means more trips to a certain boxing ring, then we absolutely do not mind.)
But this is a pivotal episode for Hwan, so let’s return to him.
After a sleepless night, Hwan marches into his grandma’s room (she’s at the office) and grabs the car keys. As he’s driving aimlessly, his mind keeps remembering the events of last night. He seems particularly hurt by the grandma’s words that he must fend for himself after her death; she is not making any provisions for him.
Let me reiterate how much I’m liking Lee Seung-gi’s acting in this episode. It’s controlled and finely balanced between rage and retrospection. He is still a work in progress, so we see the old Hwan who is ill-mannered and self-centered, but we also see more restraint. I love a thinking man and Hwan sure ruminates a lot in this episode. The entire time I was fixated on his eyes and did not once notice his hair!
(But Thundie does have a hair fetish, so guess whose coiffed glory deserves honorary mention?)
(The Good: Butler Pyo’s hair is weather-proof. The Bad: It reminds me of my mom’s hair whenever she has a wedding to attend. “Mom, not that awful hairdresser again!” The Weird: Whoever did our butler’s hair also worked on another character’s hair, resulting in a most uncanny resemblance. Keep reading.
Oops, sorry for that diversion. This recap has been so serious my laugh muscles need defrosting.)
Hwan’s aimless (and at times scarily reckless) driving takes him to a row of bars where he experiences his second public humiliation in as many days. He reverses into a car coming out of an alley, can pay only 70,000 won out of the 100,000 that the other driver asks for, and is scoffed at by the waiters who mistake him for a chauffeur.
The condescension stings, but Hwan reacts in a surprisingly mellow manner, not drawing anyone’s blood. Craving wine but unable to afford any, he makes his way to his friend’s bar. Yes, that wine bar where our Eun-woo is temping as cheap underaged labor: a pianist in return for a constant supply of hamburgers.
This makes for a tense minute or two because we know Seung-mi is coming to the bar to meet Hwan. Will she see Eun-woo?
Several episodes ago we wouldn’t have been worried because Seung-mi seemed to truly care for Eun-woo. But now that she has been infected by her mom’s poison, Seung-mi is unpredictable and there’s no telling what she will do to protect her mom and her own future with Hwan.
As usual in this drama (how about we rename it Brilliant Avoidances?), Seung-mi misses Eun-woo by a split second and he is safe for now. Phew.
Not as lucky are the shrubs along the street.
Hwan has drunk too much, so naturally some of it must come back up. He gets a drink, a hanky and a hug (in that order) from Seung-mi. (The two sure are touchy-feely, aren’t they? Which makes us wonder about Hwan’s feelings for her; ain’t nice to be stringing her along if you don’t love her, mister. May I add that my overly sharp powers of observation have noted a certain spark in Lee Seung-gi’s eyes whenever he’s in a scene with Moon Chae-won. Anyone else saw that? No? Okay, I erred.)
Seung-mi drives Hwan home. As he opens the gates into the sprawling garden, he is greeted by… SUSAN BOYLE!!
Seriously, I shrieked when I saw Grandma Jang’s hair. Good grief, how did the butler’s hairstylist morph our grandma into the above likeness?
It turns out Hwan is having a flashback (and this episode is chock-a-block with them) and remembering the day that Grandma had surprised them with the completed house. She had built it with an especially large lawn for Hwan’s future children (sorry, Jung, you be wedded off anyway; enjoy the garden while you can).
The memory of that long-ago day brings a slight smile to our Hwan’s face. Had they once been so happy and close-knit?
(Everyone’s hair, in an admirable attempt to convey youthfulness, is hysterical, except for Hwan’s. After 13 episodes I have accepted that his hairstyle will never change.)
Standing in that garden, gazing up at the house his grandma built for her grandchildren and great grandchildren, yesterday’s events must feel like a dream.
Would she really give all this away to Eun-sung and not to him? What had he done to deserve a treatment so implausible no one would believe it until its actual execution?
But soon Hwan learns it hasn’t been a bad dream, it is all real.
As he sits on the steps leading up to the house, his grandma and her faithful butler emerge at a garden table. (I love that porch. Great place to read!) It is dark and they have no idea Hwan is sitting nearby. What he overhears will cut him to the bone.
The seasons come and go, but when will our Hwan understand the true meaning of life?
Why did I decide to leave the company and everything else to Eun-sung? I thought Hwan would grow out of his ill temper but he is still the same, still full of anger and self-pity. His dad was the same way, but he eventually changed and understood the value of a person. I had hoped Hwan would change, too. But the moment he flung the money at the restaurant manager, I gave up on him. He’s beyond redemption.
If only he could be like Eun-sung, be even half of Eun-sung…
In the past he might have reacted to that damning condemnation with rage, but our Hwan is changing, even if Grandma thinks he is beyond hope. Thus he sits there unmoving, except for the tears that fall.
And soon our own tears fall, too, except they are of wonder. Because what follows is too delightful for words, a boxing match with only one boxer!
If you’re an avid kdrama viewer, I’m sure you’ll recognize scenes like the one we’re seeing.
You know, the ones which aren’t intrinsic to the plot or even to characterization. They exist simply because we have a writer and director who understand that prolonged watching (anything more than six episodes is long) leads to all kinds of pent-up feelings and that we need an outlet. We need to squeal.
Thus we have So Ji-sub swimming. Kwon Sang-woo bathing. Uhm Tae-woong changing. Bae Soo-bin boxing.
You get it now? Don’t ask any questions about the why. Just squeal as loudly as you can before writers and PDs decide to change tactics and give us So Ji-sub and company gazing into the distance fully-clothed. Like what Eric Mun did ad nauseam in the drama Phoenix.
Following that much-needed diversion in an episode heavy on angst, we return to Hwan.
What did he do after that indirect dressing-down? He goes to his room, studies his wardrobe, and decides whatever change he undergoes must first come from without. He will henceforth dress like a laborer, with a branded scarf (because branded is all he owns) passing off as a cheap towel around his neck. No wonder Grandma stares at him, too stunned to comment.
Give me another chance, Hwan tells Grandma. If you still regard me as your grandson, don’t give up on me. If you refuse, how can I lift my head as a man and go on living? If you still insist on giving everything to Eun-sung, fine. But send me to the second branch. I can’t do anything else.
(I know I should feel sorry for dear Hwan here, but all I can do is try to stifle my giggles. First, because he looks so un-Hwan. Second, because saying it’s the second branch or nothing simply gives away the fact that he’s missing someone. He could have picked the main office to be near Seung-mi, right? Or the main restaurant where he knows every tile, having personally mopped it. Why the second branch, Hwannie?)
Grandma caves in. (I knew the minute he used the “I’m your grandson” bargain chip that she would soften. Sneaky Hwan.) So, to Eun-sung’s horror, guess who should turn up at the second branch?
If Hwan manages to win Eun-sung’s heart (at this stage still harder than training toads to tap dance), I foresee this conversation on their honeymoon:
“Hwannie.”
“Yes, darling.”
“Remember the first few times you held my hand?”
“Hmm, not really. Why, baby?”
“I still have the marks you left on my wrists. Wanna see?”
If Hwan continues to manhandle Eun-sung or to talk rough with her, he can wave a honeymoon goodbye. He could have said, “You know, the two of us will be awesome managing Grandma’s company together. This could be a life-long partnership.” Instead he barks, “If you think I will allow you to take Grandma’s company away from me, you can forget it.”
Oh boy, oh boy. Looks like more fireworks ahead.
Also, a most juicy twist has just been introduced near the end of this episode.
To teach Grandma a lesson, Jung and her mom will pretend to move out in a huff, and they will pretend not to have anything more to do with Grandma unless she reverts to her old will. The wise butler warns them that it’s easy to move out but hard to move back and they reply, “Hoho, she’ll be begging for us to move back in the wink of an eye” or something to that effect.
But without money the two deluded wastrels can’t wait it out in a choice hotel, so guess who offers them a place to stay as long as they like?
I tell you, Episode 14 is going to be so good. I can’t wait!
Shining Inheritance episode 3-12
The first episode is a distant memory and although I continue to harbor (increasingly faint) hopes that Hwan’s hair will look less nest-like, it really does not bother me now. How can I, when the poor guy has been so humiliated of late? Why should I fuss over his hair when it’s his heart that needs tending to?
But let’s put aside Hwan’s woes for now and catch up with what has been happening in Episodes 3-12.
Episode 3 begins with a most unthinkable act: Eun-woo’s abandonment by his stepmom.
That’s right. The mom who raised him for seven years, the only mom he has known since the age of three, drives him all the way to Daegu and leaves him there. That’s about 150 miles from Seoul. Her reason for abandoning the waif? Because Eun-woo has an uncanny ability to remember numbers. Because that ability means he will divulge his mom’s new address to his sister, which is a huge no-no. Our witch stepmom is determined to cut all her ties with her stepchildren.
Left outside a house, Eun-woo is taken in by a kindly couple. He refuses to talk and the simple-minded couple do not insist. They feed and clothe him and soon notice his obsession with playing the piano.
Eun-sung is distraught at losing Eun-woo and searches everywhere for him, walking for miles and returning to her friend Hye-ri’s apartment only to sleep.
Seeing Eun-sung on the verge of a physical breakdown, angel Jun-se (we do all agree on that point, don’t we?) arranges for her to move to another place and tells her to pull herself together for Eun-woo’s sake. They will definitely find Eun-woo, he says, so Eun-sung must think of the future. Where will they live and how will she support her brother?
Realizing that Jun-se is right, Eun-sung settles into her new rented place, which is really just a small room, and begins making dumplings to sell. She makes and sells so little, it’s a wonder why she even bothers. But our heroine is a gutsy girl (which is precisely why we love her) and she concocts a song-and-dance routine to attract customers. (It is really quite adorable, even more so when Jun-se joins in.)
While Eun-sung is toiling away, earning small change with her dumplings and using whatever time is left to look for a more permanent job and continue searching for Eun-woo, the three wastrels in our drama are spending money as if it’s hailing continuously from the sky.
Every won that Hwan, his mom and sister are spending comes from Grandma Jang and her seolleongtang (beef soup) business. But Hwan’s callous words (that he will sell the business when he inherits it) breaks the grandma’s heart and she suddenly goes missing. But not before administering a well-deserved slap.
Do the three profligates worry about Grandma’s disappearance? Not at all. Hwan is still seething about being slapped and arrogantly thinks she has gone away to reflect on her sin. (Forgive me, Lord, for slapping Hwan. The cheeks I used to kiss now bearing the marks of my ill-timed temper. Whatever got into me? My poor darling grandson!) Hwan’s mom and sister also grab the opportunity to have their own little getaway, at the malls.
Unknown to her family, Grandma Jang has changed into the clothes of a peasant and is wandering the alleys, a basin on her head, just like how she used to peddle food. She suddenly begins hallucinating, thinks she sees her son Min-suk (Hwan’s father) and runs after his little boy figure, tears streaming down her face. She then trips and tumbles down the steps in the alley. Eun-sung, on her way home after selling her dumplings, finds the old lady unconscious on the ground.
Just as we expect, Eun-sung brings Grandma Jang home after learning the latter has amnesia from her fall and is unable to reveal anything about herself. Over the next few days the two stay together, forging a bond that will be the foundation for the drama’s main plot (I’ll come to that later). They fuss over each other, quarrel even. It’s all very sweet and touching.
With the little money that she has, Eun-sung buys a woollen vest for her new elderly roommate. She cooks for her, cleans up after her, cares for her as if they are truly grandmother and granddaughter.
Because of the grandma, Eun-sung misses a job interview (with Grandma’s seolleongtang company!) which makes her really upset. (I love seeing the different facets of their relationship. They don’t behave like strangers, but like family members who have known each other all their lives.)
If you’re so mad, just chase me away, the grandma says. How can I chase you away, Eun-sung retorts tearfully. I know how it feels like to be abandoned, to be driven out. Wherever Eun-woo is right now, I hope someone has taken him in. How can I abandon you, she screams at the grandma, how can I? When Eun-woo comes back, the three of us will live together. Don’t ever mention leaving again!
About a week after coming to live with Eun-sung, the grandma vanishes. A man waits for Eun-sung outside her gate and tells her that the grandma has regained her memory and is waiting for her. Eun-sung learns, to her utter astonishment, that the cranky grandma who has shared her room the last week, is actually a wealthy woman living in a mansion.
The grandma strikes a deal with Eun-sung:
Come work for me and live with me. In return, I promise to find your brother. I will use every means at my disposal to look for Eun-woo. But you must live in my house, as part of my family.
How does Hwan feel about Grandma’s decision? Well, let’s just say he’s totally predictable. In fact, the moment he sees Eun-sung going up the steps of the house, he accuses her of trespassing, tries to twist her arm off, and even yells for his mom and sister to get the police. (Never crossed your mind for a sec that the police might arrest you for assault instead, Hwannie?)
But no matter how the three wastrels rage and roar, Grandma’s word is law. Eun-sung moves into the attic room that has been specially (and lovingly) furnished for her.
Even though she is now working for the grandma, Eun-sung still wakes up bright and early to deliver milk. (Coffee Prince flashbacks, anyone?) This of course makes Jun-se very concerned and the sweetie promptly presents her with an extremely girly bicycle (festooned with pink balloons and all, awww).
Just a note about Jun-se. To earn Eun-sung’s trust, he has resorted to lies and pretext. He’s just an employee at his friend’s restaurant (that same friend who dumped Eun-sung early in the drama), he’s just bunking at said friend’s apartment, and he drives a small and cheap car.
But it’s only a matter of time before Eun-sung learns that her “Oppa” is actually his own boss, has his own apartment, and owns a car not to be sniffed at. That realization leaves her feeling betrayed.
I thought you were concerned for me because you understand what it’s like to be poor. I thought we were kindred souls and I could trust you! How could you lie to me?
A passionate outburst ensues (which allows Jun-se’s lustrous lashes to glisten with tears, which of course necessitates more frantic screencapping). But our hurt and angry Eun-sung refuses to accept Jun-se’s explanation and essentially tells him to get out of her life.
But can Eun-sung stay mad for long? What do you think? Can anyone be angry with this face?
After Hye-ri chides Eun-sung, reminding her of everything that Jun-se has done for her, our kind-hearted girl shows up at his restaurant one day. He sees her bent over in the garden, planting flowers carted all the way from New York. (I’m guessing she brought them back as seeds; otherwise how did the blooms survive this long?)
She smiles at him, he beams back with a radiance that instantly eclipses the sun, and all is well again with the two, at least on Eun-sung’s side. He, privately, is taken aback when she says he’s the brother sent to look after her. But better brother than enemy, so our Jun-se (who’s very much in love with her; is anyone surprised?) accepts how the lines are drawn for now. A man can hope, right?
Keep hoping, Jun-se. No one more worthy than you has yet appeared to challenge you for Eun-sung’s affections. If you’re concerned that Eun-sung and Hwan are spending so much time together, don’t be. She absolutely detests him.
But let’s backtrack a bit. Much has been happening in Grandma Jang’s household after Eun-sung moved in. The three merry wastrels’ world is now topsy-turvy, thanks to Grandma Jang. (I totally love her. She’s the best thing in the drama.)
Our matriarch has issued a new edict which I shall summarize thus (with slight modifications):
If you think I’ll continue providing for you to live like Your Royal Highnesses, you are more deluded than a pack of hyenas trying to gatecrash American Idol.
From today all three of you will work in the company. You’ll receive 10,000 won a day. Don’t think about charging anything to your credit cards because they are now as useful as expired train tickets.
If you don’t want to work for the company, go and find your own work. But WORK. No work, no money. No work, no nothing, just leave the house.
Don’t pull any stunts on me because I have eyes following your every move. Think you can pawn your exy branded bags for cash? Think again.
Hwan, hand over your car keys. If taking a bus is beneath you and only a cab will do, just remember you have 10,000 won a day. Spend it as you wish, but don’t expect more. Whining is so yesterday.
By the way, I’m leaving everything I own to Eun-sung. That inheritance that you so covet? None of it is yours except a few wiltered plants. Now weep your hearts out.
And Hwan, if you lay one brutish finger on Eun-sung again, you’ll henceforth be permanently stationed in the restaurant’s restrooms.
It was midway in Episode 12 when the realization hit me:
This drama is not about Hwan and Eun-sung’s romance, it’s about the inheritance. See the title? It’s the legacy, the Grandma’s inheritance, her beloved seolleongtang business, that is central to the plot.
No wonder. Twelve episodes down and Eun-sung is still not the slightest bit interested in Hwan. The weeks of living under the same roof and working in close proximity have not endeared the jerk to her one bit. If anything it has only deepened her dislike for him.
See the laughable way he handles the mop in the main restaurant? Who mops the stairs that way, like a bulldozer, with that brute force, with that weird mix of disdain and vengeance? (Stop abusing the mop. You’ll only tire yourself out, you silly boy.) He wears a permanent scowl (hence that badge on his uniform), is rude to everyone, and gets Eun-sung (who is responsible for training him) into trouble again and again.
Yes, Hwan’s taming, like that of his mom and sis, is hilarious and oh, so satisfying to watch. See how they calculate each won now, trying to make 10,000 won last. It’s overdue comeuppance.
(Although Hwan hasn’t endeared himself to Eun-sung yet, his fall from grace has honestly made him a lot more likable. I even feel bad for the guy. I can also see now why Lee Seung-gi has legions of fans. He really is quite adorable.)
But why have our lazy and spendthrift trio become so compliant? It’s really all about the inheritance.
When Grandma Jang first announced that she was going to bequeath her inheritance to Eun-sung, everyone thought she had gone loony. Even Eun-sung thought it was just a ploy to get Hwan to toe the line, a brilliant idea to knock some sense into his head. It seemed that way to us viewers, too. No matter how much she liked Eun-sung, surely Grandma would not actually give everything to Eun-sung and nothing to her own kin?
But we see in Episode 12 that the grandma is dead serious. She tears up her old will (which would have left all her shares in the company to Hwan, and properties to his mom and sister) and reveals a new will.
Before that sleight-of-hand move, however, Grandma has already told Eun-sung that she is indeed making the latter her new heir. At first bewildered, then adamant that she will reject the inheritance, Eun-sung finally agrees. The reason for her change of heart? Revenge.
(That revenge motive is just my conjecture, having watched only up to Episode 12. But allow me to explain my intuition below. To do that, we must catch up with Eun-sung’s dad and stepmom, and with Eun-woo himself. Everything that Eun-sung does is for Eun-woo.)
All this time, Eun-sung’s dead-but-alive father has been searching frantically for her. He has tried their house, Eun-sung’s number, his wife’s number, Seung-mi’s, Eun-woo’s school, but it’s as if his entire family has disappeared into a black hole.
As a last resort, he hangs out at his wife’s favorite spa and true enough, sees her at the parking lot. This corroborates recent research which shows that even in a recession, women do not stop spending on their looks. It’s one constant in a sea of change.
Another given is that a woman should rightly rejoice on seeing her dead husband now resurrected, even if his face looks like it hasn’t met soap and water in weeks.
But Baek Sung-hee, as we have already established, is not exactly normal. (She may not even be human!)
The no-longer-widowed wife chides her no-longer-dead husband for ruining her life and cooks up a tale of Eun-sung and Eun-woo leaving for the States with all of the insurance payout. She then hands him some money and tells him to scram. When Eun-sung contacts me, I’ll e-mail you. Just lie low and don’t show up and startle me again.
But of course her husband is more resourceful than she gives him credit for.
On his first wife’s death anniversary, he goes to her graveside and is shocked to see that someone else has already left flowers there. Not just flowers, but his wife’s favorite flowers. And her favorite champagne.
Who else but Eun-sung could have placed them there? The girl whose back he had glimpsed earlier, leaving the cemetery with a man… Could that be his Eun-sung?
He runs after them, but it’s too late. Now more determined than ever to find Eun-sung and Eun-woo, he remembers seeing their stepmom’s address on her car.
However, he does not reckon for his once-loving wife burning all her bridges, which includes him.
No turning back, no crying over spilled milk, no trying to atone for one’s sins. Her husband’s sudden appearance at her door may throw her off momentarily, but so what?
She will do everything to protect herself, her daughter, and their new life. No matter how many people will get hurt, nothing must thwart her goal of making Hwan her son-in-law. No one must know how Seung-mi and Eun-sung are related, or that their dead father is very much alive. If Hwan’s family learns the truth, how will they accept Seung-mi?
Of course our witch assumes Hwan is a done deal. She isn’t aware, as Seung-mi is, that Hwan hasn’t committed himself to her precious daughter. If she knew that his eyes had in fact been straying of late, making him see Eun-sung everywhere, she would have totally flipped.
That’s a dolled-up Eun-sung above. Eun-sung like Hwan has never seen her before.
Okay, an explanation. You see, Eun-sung has a sort of group date coming up with Jun-se and Hye-ri, to thank them for all they have done for her. Grandma looks at our girl and sees she’s severely lacking in clothes, so off to the stores we go. Eun-sung protests, but of course Grandma has her way. (I hope I’m not portraying our grandma as a despot; she really is a dear.)
The result? New clothes, new hairdo, a made-up face. It’s enough to make Hwan keel over.
Already our almost-tamed Hwan has been casting sideway glances at Eun-sung, his mind subconsciously processing his newfound knowledge of her.
So her father is dead. And he, Hwan, is the reason why Eun-sung failed to see her father’s body for the last time. Wretched switched bags! So she can cook, preparing the family (one grandma, three profligates and one butler) a fusion dish of steak bibimbap, which everyone wolves down. So she has a brother, now missing, again. (She thought she had found him because the hired sleuths manage to track him down to the couple’s house, but an unfortunate turn of events involving a piano causes Eun-woo to disappear.)
Standing outside her room listening to her sobs, Hwan’s heart begins to move in strange ways.
(And I’m moved too, except it’s from chair to floor. Just see the two guys side by side and their contrasting hairdos. Bwahaha!)
Unfortunately for Hwan, even as his heart is moving towards Eun-sung (he isn’t fully cognizant of that fact yet, I must add, but since when have humans been able to control their hearts?), she has now turned against him completely.
If Hwan hadn’t stepped on her phone that day in the nightclub, that same night that Eun-woo first went missing, she wouldn’t have missed Eun-woo’s call. She knew he would have called her if he had gotten lost, but with her phone broken, there was no way he could reach her. If she had answered Eun-woo’s call, he wouldn’t have been taken away and left in Daegu.
On receiving the news that Eun-woo has been found, Eun-sung and Jun-se rush to Daegu. But the couple, who sheltered Eun-woo and treated him as their son, tells them that Eun-woo had gone to the piano store and must have run off when he found out that the pianos were being moved to another city. They have searched everywhere, but Eun-woo is nowhere to be seen.
Devastated at losing Eun-woo again, Eun-sung lies in bed crying all day. Everyone is concerned, even Hwan’s mom and sis. The former makes porridge (for Eun-sung) and the latter whines, “If I had known her brother was missing, I would have treated her better!” (Same thing as “Show me the money and we’ll talk.” Our youngest wastrel is nothing but pragmatic.)
Eventually, with Grandma’s gentle coaxing, Eun-sung pulls herself together.
Piecing together information from the Daegu couple, Eun-sung learns that when Eun-woo was found outside the couple’s gate, he was eating chocolate. Who gave him the chocolate? A person called “Mom.” Only one person is Mom to Eun-woo. Only his immediate family members (Eun-sung, dad, stepmom and Seung-mi) know how easily he can be enticed to do anything when bribed with chocolate.
Which means the one who abandoned Eun-woo must be… their stepmom.
What does the witch’s dastardly act have to do with the revenge motive I proposed earlier?
My understanding is that Eun-sung realizes that on her own it is impossible for her to force her stepmom’s confession and to make her pay for the anguish and suffering she has caused. The witch’s trump card is this: Where is the evidence that I dumped Eun-woo at Daegu? Who saw me?
The only one powerful enough to help her exact justice is the grandma. But Eun-sung can’t rely on her benefactor forever. She herself must become strong enough, rich enough, powerful enough. That is the only way she can find Eun-woo and get her revenge on their stepmom. So she will accept the inheritance. She will show the witch what she, Go Eun-sung, is capable of.
COMMENTS
I’m not surprised that Brilliant Legacy has continued to pull in impressive ratings. It really is an absorbing drama, well written and directed, with a compelling plot and solid acting. After a shaky start (a first episode which made me yawn and roll my eyes), it hasn’t dragged one bit. Granted a few developments feel far-fetched (like the Grandma’s disappearing act and Eun-woo getting rescued a second time, by Hwan’s friend of all people). But everything is connected, all the pieces fit.
On the surface all the families are incomplete. All the young folks have a missing parent. Everyone has experienced a form of abandonment. Grandma Jang’s pain over losing her son (Hwan’s dad) has never diminished. Hwan witnessed his father’s untimely death and has never recovered. Eun-sung lost her parents and brother and must now grapple with the enormity of her stepmom’s betrayal. Eun-woo is lost, literally. Jun-se’s mother is either dead or divorced. (I’m unsure where she is, but he seems to suggest his dad has neglected her.) Everyone is struggling to overcome obstacles big and small. Everyone is changing, and that change has come from their connectedness, their shared experiences.
The witch in our drama is unlike other evil moms that I’ve watched in kdramas. For one thing I can’t bring myself to dislike her. I don’t feel repulsed by her behavior; on the contrary she intrigues me. She is a mom in every animalistic sense of the word. She fights to protect her young and will kill if necessary to ensure her offspring survives. She is like a wounded lioness still bearing the scars of old battles. She is wiser now but also more cruel, more beastlike than ever. It is the only way she knows how to live.
I like how the relationships are developing, realistically without too much histrionics. Twelve episodes and Eun-sung still hasn’t displayed any romantic feelings for either Hwan or Jun-se. Instead what we’re seeing is a sweet and enduring friendship developing between her and Jun-se. He’s neither clingy nor pushy, he gives her space to be herself, he’s there when she needs him. He’s altogether perfect and what’s wrong with that? The world is a better place because of people like him! As for Hwan, I’m really loving the change and growth in his character and how he and Eun-sung are also laying the foundations for a strong relationship. Nothing like being housemates and colleagues to bring out the best and worst in each other. After her blistering condemnation of him in Episode 12, Hwan is going to need more than apologies to change Eun-sung’s perception of him. Still, their bickering is loads of fun to watch and I can’t wait to see their relationship develop further.
Wait a minute. Did I, a total Jun-se fangirl, just write the last line above?
Yes, I did. The reason is because I honestly don’t mind if Eun-sung falls in love with Hwan. As long as she loves him, that’s fine with me. I’m not worried about Jun-se because a line two miles long of women wanting to comfort him has already formed. (Dang, and I left my umbrella at home. Please don’t rain on me!)
More than the romance, I’m really interested in how Eun-sung is going to use the inheritance. The battle that I want to see is not between Hwan and Jun-se. It’s between Eun-sung and the witch!
But let’s put aside Hwan’s woes for now and catch up with what has been happening in Episodes 3-12.
Episode 3 begins with a most unthinkable act: Eun-woo’s abandonment by his stepmom.
That’s right. The mom who raised him for seven years, the only mom he has known since the age of three, drives him all the way to Daegu and leaves him there. That’s about 150 miles from Seoul. Her reason for abandoning the waif? Because Eun-woo has an uncanny ability to remember numbers. Because that ability means he will divulge his mom’s new address to his sister, which is a huge no-no. Our witch stepmom is determined to cut all her ties with her stepchildren.
Left outside a house, Eun-woo is taken in by a kindly couple. He refuses to talk and the simple-minded couple do not insist. They feed and clothe him and soon notice his obsession with playing the piano.
Eun-sung is distraught at losing Eun-woo and searches everywhere for him, walking for miles and returning to her friend Hye-ri’s apartment only to sleep.
Seeing Eun-sung on the verge of a physical breakdown, angel Jun-se (we do all agree on that point, don’t we?) arranges for her to move to another place and tells her to pull herself together for Eun-woo’s sake. They will definitely find Eun-woo, he says, so Eun-sung must think of the future. Where will they live and how will she support her brother?
Realizing that Jun-se is right, Eun-sung settles into her new rented place, which is really just a small room, and begins making dumplings to sell. She makes and sells so little, it’s a wonder why she even bothers. But our heroine is a gutsy girl (which is precisely why we love her) and she concocts a song-and-dance routine to attract customers. (It is really quite adorable, even more so when Jun-se joins in.)
While Eun-sung is toiling away, earning small change with her dumplings and using whatever time is left to look for a more permanent job and continue searching for Eun-woo, the three wastrels in our drama are spending money as if it’s hailing continuously from the sky.
Every won that Hwan, his mom and sister are spending comes from Grandma Jang and her seolleongtang (beef soup) business. But Hwan’s callous words (that he will sell the business when he inherits it) breaks the grandma’s heart and she suddenly goes missing. But not before administering a well-deserved slap.
Do the three profligates worry about Grandma’s disappearance? Not at all. Hwan is still seething about being slapped and arrogantly thinks she has gone away to reflect on her sin. (Forgive me, Lord, for slapping Hwan. The cheeks I used to kiss now bearing the marks of my ill-timed temper. Whatever got into me? My poor darling grandson!) Hwan’s mom and sister also grab the opportunity to have their own little getaway, at the malls.
Unknown to her family, Grandma Jang has changed into the clothes of a peasant and is wandering the alleys, a basin on her head, just like how she used to peddle food. She suddenly begins hallucinating, thinks she sees her son Min-suk (Hwan’s father) and runs after his little boy figure, tears streaming down her face. She then trips and tumbles down the steps in the alley. Eun-sung, on her way home after selling her dumplings, finds the old lady unconscious on the ground.
Just as we expect, Eun-sung brings Grandma Jang home after learning the latter has amnesia from her fall and is unable to reveal anything about herself. Over the next few days the two stay together, forging a bond that will be the foundation for the drama’s main plot (I’ll come to that later). They fuss over each other, quarrel even. It’s all very sweet and touching.
With the little money that she has, Eun-sung buys a woollen vest for her new elderly roommate. She cooks for her, cleans up after her, cares for her as if they are truly grandmother and granddaughter.
Because of the grandma, Eun-sung misses a job interview (with Grandma’s seolleongtang company!) which makes her really upset. (I love seeing the different facets of their relationship. They don’t behave like strangers, but like family members who have known each other all their lives.)
If you’re so mad, just chase me away, the grandma says. How can I chase you away, Eun-sung retorts tearfully. I know how it feels like to be abandoned, to be driven out. Wherever Eun-woo is right now, I hope someone has taken him in. How can I abandon you, she screams at the grandma, how can I? When Eun-woo comes back, the three of us will live together. Don’t ever mention leaving again!
About a week after coming to live with Eun-sung, the grandma vanishes. A man waits for Eun-sung outside her gate and tells her that the grandma has regained her memory and is waiting for her. Eun-sung learns, to her utter astonishment, that the cranky grandma who has shared her room the last week, is actually a wealthy woman living in a mansion.
The grandma strikes a deal with Eun-sung:
Come work for me and live with me. In return, I promise to find your brother. I will use every means at my disposal to look for Eun-woo. But you must live in my house, as part of my family.
How does Hwan feel about Grandma’s decision? Well, let’s just say he’s totally predictable. In fact, the moment he sees Eun-sung going up the steps of the house, he accuses her of trespassing, tries to twist her arm off, and even yells for his mom and sister to get the police. (Never crossed your mind for a sec that the police might arrest you for assault instead, Hwannie?)
But no matter how the three wastrels rage and roar, Grandma’s word is law. Eun-sung moves into the attic room that has been specially (and lovingly) furnished for her.
Even though she is now working for the grandma, Eun-sung still wakes up bright and early to deliver milk. (Coffee Prince flashbacks, anyone?) This of course makes Jun-se very concerned and the sweetie promptly presents her with an extremely girly bicycle (festooned with pink balloons and all, awww).
Just a note about Jun-se. To earn Eun-sung’s trust, he has resorted to lies and pretext. He’s just an employee at his friend’s restaurant (that same friend who dumped Eun-sung early in the drama), he’s just bunking at said friend’s apartment, and he drives a small and cheap car.
But it’s only a matter of time before Eun-sung learns that her “Oppa” is actually his own boss, has his own apartment, and owns a car not to be sniffed at. That realization leaves her feeling betrayed.
I thought you were concerned for me because you understand what it’s like to be poor. I thought we were kindred souls and I could trust you! How could you lie to me?
A passionate outburst ensues (which allows Jun-se’s lustrous lashes to glisten with tears, which of course necessitates more frantic screencapping). But our hurt and angry Eun-sung refuses to accept Jun-se’s explanation and essentially tells him to get out of her life.
But can Eun-sung stay mad for long? What do you think? Can anyone be angry with this face?
After Hye-ri chides Eun-sung, reminding her of everything that Jun-se has done for her, our kind-hearted girl shows up at his restaurant one day. He sees her bent over in the garden, planting flowers carted all the way from New York. (I’m guessing she brought them back as seeds; otherwise how did the blooms survive this long?)
She smiles at him, he beams back with a radiance that instantly eclipses the sun, and all is well again with the two, at least on Eun-sung’s side. He, privately, is taken aback when she says he’s the brother sent to look after her. But better brother than enemy, so our Jun-se (who’s very much in love with her; is anyone surprised?) accepts how the lines are drawn for now. A man can hope, right?
Keep hoping, Jun-se. No one more worthy than you has yet appeared to challenge you for Eun-sung’s affections. If you’re concerned that Eun-sung and Hwan are spending so much time together, don’t be. She absolutely detests him.
But let’s backtrack a bit. Much has been happening in Grandma Jang’s household after Eun-sung moved in. The three merry wastrels’ world is now topsy-turvy, thanks to Grandma Jang. (I totally love her. She’s the best thing in the drama.)
Our matriarch has issued a new edict which I shall summarize thus (with slight modifications):
If you think I’ll continue providing for you to live like Your Royal Highnesses, you are more deluded than a pack of hyenas trying to gatecrash American Idol.
From today all three of you will work in the company. You’ll receive 10,000 won a day. Don’t think about charging anything to your credit cards because they are now as useful as expired train tickets.
If you don’t want to work for the company, go and find your own work. But WORK. No work, no money. No work, no nothing, just leave the house.
Don’t pull any stunts on me because I have eyes following your every move. Think you can pawn your exy branded bags for cash? Think again.
Hwan, hand over your car keys. If taking a bus is beneath you and only a cab will do, just remember you have 10,000 won a day. Spend it as you wish, but don’t expect more. Whining is so yesterday.
By the way, I’m leaving everything I own to Eun-sung. That inheritance that you so covet? None of it is yours except a few wiltered plants. Now weep your hearts out.
And Hwan, if you lay one brutish finger on Eun-sung again, you’ll henceforth be permanently stationed in the restaurant’s restrooms.
It was midway in Episode 12 when the realization hit me:
This drama is not about Hwan and Eun-sung’s romance, it’s about the inheritance. See the title? It’s the legacy, the Grandma’s inheritance, her beloved seolleongtang business, that is central to the plot.
No wonder. Twelve episodes down and Eun-sung is still not the slightest bit interested in Hwan. The weeks of living under the same roof and working in close proximity have not endeared the jerk to her one bit. If anything it has only deepened her dislike for him.
See the laughable way he handles the mop in the main restaurant? Who mops the stairs that way, like a bulldozer, with that brute force, with that weird mix of disdain and vengeance? (Stop abusing the mop. You’ll only tire yourself out, you silly boy.) He wears a permanent scowl (hence that badge on his uniform), is rude to everyone, and gets Eun-sung (who is responsible for training him) into trouble again and again.
Yes, Hwan’s taming, like that of his mom and sis, is hilarious and oh, so satisfying to watch. See how they calculate each won now, trying to make 10,000 won last. It’s overdue comeuppance.
(Although Hwan hasn’t endeared himself to Eun-sung yet, his fall from grace has honestly made him a lot more likable. I even feel bad for the guy. I can also see now why Lee Seung-gi has legions of fans. He really is quite adorable.)
But why have our lazy and spendthrift trio become so compliant? It’s really all about the inheritance.
When Grandma Jang first announced that she was going to bequeath her inheritance to Eun-sung, everyone thought she had gone loony. Even Eun-sung thought it was just a ploy to get Hwan to toe the line, a brilliant idea to knock some sense into his head. It seemed that way to us viewers, too. No matter how much she liked Eun-sung, surely Grandma would not actually give everything to Eun-sung and nothing to her own kin?
But we see in Episode 12 that the grandma is dead serious. She tears up her old will (which would have left all her shares in the company to Hwan, and properties to his mom and sister) and reveals a new will.
Before that sleight-of-hand move, however, Grandma has already told Eun-sung that she is indeed making the latter her new heir. At first bewildered, then adamant that she will reject the inheritance, Eun-sung finally agrees. The reason for her change of heart? Revenge.
(That revenge motive is just my conjecture, having watched only up to Episode 12. But allow me to explain my intuition below. To do that, we must catch up with Eun-sung’s dad and stepmom, and with Eun-woo himself. Everything that Eun-sung does is for Eun-woo.)
All this time, Eun-sung’s dead-but-alive father has been searching frantically for her. He has tried their house, Eun-sung’s number, his wife’s number, Seung-mi’s, Eun-woo’s school, but it’s as if his entire family has disappeared into a black hole.
As a last resort, he hangs out at his wife’s favorite spa and true enough, sees her at the parking lot. This corroborates recent research which shows that even in a recession, women do not stop spending on their looks. It’s one constant in a sea of change.
Another given is that a woman should rightly rejoice on seeing her dead husband now resurrected, even if his face looks like it hasn’t met soap and water in weeks.
But Baek Sung-hee, as we have already established, is not exactly normal. (She may not even be human!)
The no-longer-widowed wife chides her no-longer-dead husband for ruining her life and cooks up a tale of Eun-sung and Eun-woo leaving for the States with all of the insurance payout. She then hands him some money and tells him to scram. When Eun-sung contacts me, I’ll e-mail you. Just lie low and don’t show up and startle me again.
But of course her husband is more resourceful than she gives him credit for.
On his first wife’s death anniversary, he goes to her graveside and is shocked to see that someone else has already left flowers there. Not just flowers, but his wife’s favorite flowers. And her favorite champagne.
Who else but Eun-sung could have placed them there? The girl whose back he had glimpsed earlier, leaving the cemetery with a man… Could that be his Eun-sung?
He runs after them, but it’s too late. Now more determined than ever to find Eun-sung and Eun-woo, he remembers seeing their stepmom’s address on her car.
However, he does not reckon for his once-loving wife burning all her bridges, which includes him.
No turning back, no crying over spilled milk, no trying to atone for one’s sins. Her husband’s sudden appearance at her door may throw her off momentarily, but so what?
She will do everything to protect herself, her daughter, and their new life. No matter how many people will get hurt, nothing must thwart her goal of making Hwan her son-in-law. No one must know how Seung-mi and Eun-sung are related, or that their dead father is very much alive. If Hwan’s family learns the truth, how will they accept Seung-mi?
Of course our witch assumes Hwan is a done deal. She isn’t aware, as Seung-mi is, that Hwan hasn’t committed himself to her precious daughter. If she knew that his eyes had in fact been straying of late, making him see Eun-sung everywhere, she would have totally flipped.
That’s a dolled-up Eun-sung above. Eun-sung like Hwan has never seen her before.
Okay, an explanation. You see, Eun-sung has a sort of group date coming up with Jun-se and Hye-ri, to thank them for all they have done for her. Grandma looks at our girl and sees she’s severely lacking in clothes, so off to the stores we go. Eun-sung protests, but of course Grandma has her way. (I hope I’m not portraying our grandma as a despot; she really is a dear.)
The result? New clothes, new hairdo, a made-up face. It’s enough to make Hwan keel over.
Already our almost-tamed Hwan has been casting sideway glances at Eun-sung, his mind subconsciously processing his newfound knowledge of her.
So her father is dead. And he, Hwan, is the reason why Eun-sung failed to see her father’s body for the last time. Wretched switched bags! So she can cook, preparing the family (one grandma, three profligates and one butler) a fusion dish of steak bibimbap, which everyone wolves down. So she has a brother, now missing, again. (She thought she had found him because the hired sleuths manage to track him down to the couple’s house, but an unfortunate turn of events involving a piano causes Eun-woo to disappear.)
Standing outside her room listening to her sobs, Hwan’s heart begins to move in strange ways.
(And I’m moved too, except it’s from chair to floor. Just see the two guys side by side and their contrasting hairdos. Bwahaha!)
Unfortunately for Hwan, even as his heart is moving towards Eun-sung (he isn’t fully cognizant of that fact yet, I must add, but since when have humans been able to control their hearts?), she has now turned against him completely.
If Hwan hadn’t stepped on her phone that day in the nightclub, that same night that Eun-woo first went missing, she wouldn’t have missed Eun-woo’s call. She knew he would have called her if he had gotten lost, but with her phone broken, there was no way he could reach her. If she had answered Eun-woo’s call, he wouldn’t have been taken away and left in Daegu.
On receiving the news that Eun-woo has been found, Eun-sung and Jun-se rush to Daegu. But the couple, who sheltered Eun-woo and treated him as their son, tells them that Eun-woo had gone to the piano store and must have run off when he found out that the pianos were being moved to another city. They have searched everywhere, but Eun-woo is nowhere to be seen.
Devastated at losing Eun-woo again, Eun-sung lies in bed crying all day. Everyone is concerned, even Hwan’s mom and sis. The former makes porridge (for Eun-sung) and the latter whines, “If I had known her brother was missing, I would have treated her better!” (Same thing as “Show me the money and we’ll talk.” Our youngest wastrel is nothing but pragmatic.)
Eventually, with Grandma’s gentle coaxing, Eun-sung pulls herself together.
Piecing together information from the Daegu couple, Eun-sung learns that when Eun-woo was found outside the couple’s gate, he was eating chocolate. Who gave him the chocolate? A person called “Mom.” Only one person is Mom to Eun-woo. Only his immediate family members (Eun-sung, dad, stepmom and Seung-mi) know how easily he can be enticed to do anything when bribed with chocolate.
Which means the one who abandoned Eun-woo must be… their stepmom.
What does the witch’s dastardly act have to do with the revenge motive I proposed earlier?
My understanding is that Eun-sung realizes that on her own it is impossible for her to force her stepmom’s confession and to make her pay for the anguish and suffering she has caused. The witch’s trump card is this: Where is the evidence that I dumped Eun-woo at Daegu? Who saw me?
The only one powerful enough to help her exact justice is the grandma. But Eun-sung can’t rely on her benefactor forever. She herself must become strong enough, rich enough, powerful enough. That is the only way she can find Eun-woo and get her revenge on their stepmom. So she will accept the inheritance. She will show the witch what she, Go Eun-sung, is capable of.
COMMENTS
I’m not surprised that Brilliant Legacy has continued to pull in impressive ratings. It really is an absorbing drama, well written and directed, with a compelling plot and solid acting. After a shaky start (a first episode which made me yawn and roll my eyes), it hasn’t dragged one bit. Granted a few developments feel far-fetched (like the Grandma’s disappearing act and Eun-woo getting rescued a second time, by Hwan’s friend of all people). But everything is connected, all the pieces fit.
On the surface all the families are incomplete. All the young folks have a missing parent. Everyone has experienced a form of abandonment. Grandma Jang’s pain over losing her son (Hwan’s dad) has never diminished. Hwan witnessed his father’s untimely death and has never recovered. Eun-sung lost her parents and brother and must now grapple with the enormity of her stepmom’s betrayal. Eun-woo is lost, literally. Jun-se’s mother is either dead or divorced. (I’m unsure where she is, but he seems to suggest his dad has neglected her.) Everyone is struggling to overcome obstacles big and small. Everyone is changing, and that change has come from their connectedness, their shared experiences.
The witch in our drama is unlike other evil moms that I’ve watched in kdramas. For one thing I can’t bring myself to dislike her. I don’t feel repulsed by her behavior; on the contrary she intrigues me. She is a mom in every animalistic sense of the word. She fights to protect her young and will kill if necessary to ensure her offspring survives. She is like a wounded lioness still bearing the scars of old battles. She is wiser now but also more cruel, more beastlike than ever. It is the only way she knows how to live.
I like how the relationships are developing, realistically without too much histrionics. Twelve episodes and Eun-sung still hasn’t displayed any romantic feelings for either Hwan or Jun-se. Instead what we’re seeing is a sweet and enduring friendship developing between her and Jun-se. He’s neither clingy nor pushy, he gives her space to be herself, he’s there when she needs him. He’s altogether perfect and what’s wrong with that? The world is a better place because of people like him! As for Hwan, I’m really loving the change and growth in his character and how he and Eun-sung are also laying the foundations for a strong relationship. Nothing like being housemates and colleagues to bring out the best and worst in each other. After her blistering condemnation of him in Episode 12, Hwan is going to need more than apologies to change Eun-sung’s perception of him. Still, their bickering is loads of fun to watch and I can’t wait to see their relationship develop further.
Wait a minute. Did I, a total Jun-se fangirl, just write the last line above?
Yes, I did. The reason is because I honestly don’t mind if Eun-sung falls in love with Hwan. As long as she loves him, that’s fine with me. I’m not worried about Jun-se because a line two miles long of women wanting to comfort him has already formed. (Dang, and I left my umbrella at home. Please don’t rain on me!)
More than the romance, I’m really interested in how Eun-sung is going to use the inheritance. The battle that I want to see is not between Hwan and Jun-se. It’s between Eun-sung and the witch!
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