My Daughter Seo-young: Episode 41

We’re finally on a roll, and I say it’s about time!  My Daughter Seo-young will not be getting an extension, so we’ve only got 10 episodes left (including today’s) before the big finale.  We need to get a move on, peoples!  To kick us off on our mad race to the final stretch: It looks like soooomeone’s got a little competition. 😉

 

Episode 41

Woo-jae and Seo-young finalize their divorce, and they go out to eat afterwards at his gentle prodding. My heart is breaking – it’s so reminiscent of their courtship, when he would make up any kind of excuse to feed her.  Seo-young makes it clear that she wants a clean break, and Woo-jae, who does his best to act cool and straightforward, says he’ll let her do as she wishes.  Even their parting is so… cut and dry.  All, of course, because they’re putting up a front.

Seo-young goes to the park where Woo-jae proposed to her, tears filling her eyes at the sweet, heartbreaking memories.  I’ve gotta admit, the contrast here between the beautiful autumn day when he proposed, and the barren winter landscape today, is just so well done.  Bravo.

Every lady embarking on a new chapter in her life needs a makeover to go with it, and Seo-young is no exception.  She gets her hair cut and lightly permed, then goes to meet Sung-jae.  Sweetie Sung-jae is probably the only one who is willing to accept anything and everything from Seo-young, but she is determined to cut him out of her life as well.  She tells him she’s sorry for everything and that the person he knew wasn’t the real her.  Sung-jae isn’t so easily shaken off, but Seo-young says Mama Kang is the one who needs his love and care right now.  She asks him never to contact her again.

Woo-jae tells his family that he and Seo-young officially finished things.  Mi-kyung offers her brother comfort, and he apologizes and thanks her for everything until now.  She tells him that she now realizes things ultimately would not have worked out with her and Sang-woo.  Thinking of President Kang’s snobby standards, Mi-kyung tells Woo-jae, “Sang-woo didn’t love me enough to (hypothetically) endure Father’s harsh treatment and marry me.  Seo-young must have loved you so much that she didn’t change her lie …”  She asks him to keep her and Sang-woo’s relationship a secret from Seo-young to the end.

Seo-young has a housewarming cum divorce party with Yeon-hee, who tells Seo-young to live her life to the fullest from now on.  The two share a sweet bonding moment as Seo-young finally lets down all the barriers around her heart.

The next morning, Woo-jae finds Seo-young’s car parked in front of the Kang residence.  Turns out Seo-young really wants everything settled – she returned the car keys, the house key, and her ring.

Sang-woo and Ho-jung finally go out for dinner, much to the sweetie’s consternation.  Before they can even order, Ho-jung runs out of the restaurant as tears fill her eyes.  Sang-woo finds her and asks why she was crying, and when she continues to say it was nothing, he reverts back to the no nonsense tone he used to use with her when she was his exasperating stalker.  For some reason, this feels so much more real than his indulgent, ‘kind’ tone.  He’s really just being himself, instead of being careful/mindful around her, and it prompts Ho-jung to finally admit what has been bothering her the last several days.  She tells him she would step back and let him go back to Mi-kyung, but they are already married so she can’t let him leave her.  Sang-woo finally figures out what was going through crazy Ho-jung’s mind, and he grabs her in a fierce hug, both berating and assuring her that he will not renege on his promise.

Seo-young goes in search of Papa Lee (she got the address from Sang-woo) and tells him (1) she is sorry for her wrongdoing, and (2) she and Woo-jae got divorced.  Papa Lee says there is no need to apologize, but when he hears her second piece of news, he frantically tells her to do whatever she can to get back with Woo-jae.  “Haven’t you figured anything out after enduring me?  The people around you are the most important things in your life.  The parents you are born to, and the person you marry – they change your life.”  His desperate attempt to preserve Seo-young’s happiness, though, is met with anger as Seo-young gets riled up again.  They part again on bad terms, and she runs into Sang-woo and Ho-jung on her way out.

Sang-woo grabs Seo-young, who tries to leave without a word, and he asks if she is going to push even him out of her life.  She asks him for time and explains that to her, Papa Lee is the same father from three years ago.  Sang-woo just feels frustration and sadness that Seo-young and Papa Lee are still locked in the same struggle.

Mama Kang asks President Kang to give Secretary Yoon a franchise store in Seoul, so Sung-jae can go visit her. T_T  She goes to the music academy to practice the drums, and she ends up having coffee with the Mysterious Gentleman after finding his clarinet(?) mouthpiece for him.  Mr. Mysterious Gentleman asks Mama Kang to pick two tarot cards, one to represent her past, and one to represent her future.  She picks “The Hermit”(for her past) and “The Sun” (for her future), and he explains that though she was lonely and locked away until now, a bright future awaits her.  He offers her two tickets to some kind of show – they are her path to leaving The Hermit behind.  It turns out, though, that our Mysterious Gentleman may not be such a nice man after all: all of his tarot cards were “The Hermit” and “The Sun.”  Everything was a setup?!  No middle-age romance?!?

Sung-jae, meanwhile, meets with Secretary Yoon and asks her to leave for his sake – he doesn’t want to hurt Mama Kang any longer.  “Someday, when I become a real adult, I’ll go see you,” he says.  Poor baby.

Seo-young opens her new law office, and she and Yeon-hee pass out rice cakes to their office neighbors.  (It’s a Korean custom to share rice cakes with neighbors when you move in or open a new business/office.)  Seo-young goes downstairs, rice cakes in hand, and walks into a photoshoot, having missed the “No Entry.  Photoshoot in Progress” sign.  The photographer chews her out, and our snippy Seo-young makes her return, curtly apologizing then leaving.

Our meanie photographer, however, comes up to Seo-young’s office bearing flowers, and it turns out he is Kim Sung-tae (Jo Dong-hyuk), former high school friend of Seo-young and Yeon-hee.  Seo-young was his first love, and he tried asking her out, but he was sent packing by whom he thought was her boyfriend – turned out it was none other than Sang-woo.  Hee!

Yeon-hee and Seo-young enjoy a little tea time after all their work, and Yeon-hee marvels that Seo-young has already found another hometown friend.  Just then, Woo-jae walks through the door, bearing his own gift of beautiful flowers…

 

Quick Thoughts

Okay, I need to say this: Woo-jae’s flower arrangement is bigger than Sung-tae’s potted flowers.  Heee!!  Hahahaa I know this ain’t no pissing contest, but I just find so much glee in these insignificant suuuuper important details.  I fear I may constantly be pointing out ways in which Woo-jae is better than Sung-tae…  Oh, I can name another one off the bat: Woo-jae’s scruffy look is waaaay shmexier than Sung-tae’s pornstache.  Heee!

I was watching the interviews on the Seo-young set by Entertainment Weekly, and Lee Sang-yoon’s (Woo-jae) comment really summed things up nicely: “Woo-jae decided to get divorced because he does not believe that that is the end – because he knows that they can move forward after that.”  When asked how she thought the drama would end, Lee Bo-young (Seo-young) answered: “Seo-young will heal and overcome her emotional scars, and through that process come to stand on her own.  I think that as a result, the two (Seo-young and Woo-jae) will begin a new romance…”  Hear hear!  I second that!!

 

**Side Note: It’s Superbowl Weekend here in the States, which just adds on the crazy to what are already pretty busy weekends for moi.  I will do my best to put up a spoiler post tomorrow morning for Episode 42 – judging by the previews (thank you, Avid fan from Cebu!), it looks like it’s gonna be a good one.  Uuunfortunately, I won’t be able to get to the Episode 42 mini-recap until Monday, and the same goes for requested translations for both Episodes 41 and 42.  Thanks for your understanding!