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The Good Bad Mother is the latest project of Lee Do-hyun and veteran actress Ra Mi-ran. The Netflix series premiered on April 26, 2023, with the second episode released the next day. It has a two-episode-per-week release schedule.
The Good Bad Mother is one of the most highly anticipated dramas of the year, as it includes a star-studded cast that includes veteran actress Ra Mi-ran, Lee Do-hyun, and Ahn Eun-jin. The show revolves around the story of Jin Young-soon and her son, Choi Kang-ho.
It tells the story of Young-soon’s troublesome journey as a single mother that taints her relationship with her son, who grows up to be a cold-hearted prosecutor. After a tragic accident, the mother-son duo gets a second chance at their relationship.
The Good Bad Mother Ep 1: Life comes full circle for Young-soon as her son Kang-ho turns into the very people she wanted to protect him from
The Good Bad Mother opens with the introduction of Ra Mi-ran as Jin Young-soon, who delivers animal seeds to buyers across town. She is a strong-willed, determined woman who works for herself.
The Good Bad Mother episode 1 also sets up the adorable and supportive relationship between Young-soon and her husband, Choi Hae-sik. Ji-woong proposes to Young-soon with a ring tied to a pig’s neck, amplifying the importance of animals, especially pigs. The couple is happily married and looks after their pig farm.
Their happy life gets ruined as Song Woo-byeok, CEO of Woobyeok Group, arrives with his personnel at the couple’s door to ask Hae-sik’s signature in order to demolish his pig farm for the Olympic torch relay route. Hae-sik refuses and gets into a fight. That same night, the couple wakes up to screams of fire only to see their farm bursting into flames.
Later, Young-soon finds evidence against CEO Song. The couple takes him to court but is unable to find justice as he bribes people to give false witness accounts.
After losing the case, Hae-sik gathers recordings and other evidence that directly point to CEO Song's involvement. He goes to the prosecutor, who is later revealed to be connected to CEO Song. He picks up the phone and says,
“Things have become troublesome.”
The Good Bad Mother’s turning point arrives as Hae-sik dies in a car crash while on his way home. Young-soon, all heartbroken, visits the prosecutor and tells him about the evidence Hae-sik wanted to submit. The prosecutor manipulates her into believing that he took his own life. Young-soon is then determined to move forward for the sake of her child.
Young-soon’s troubles continue as she moves to Jou-ri Doldam Village with the pregnant pig who survived the fire, thanks to Young-soon creating a separate pigsty for her. However, other villagers become wary of her bringing up pigs and demand that she leave the village.
In the middle of a scuffle, Young-soon goes into labor. People who warned her to leave the village help her give birth to Kang-ho. Soon, one of the villagers goes into labor as well. All the bad blood between them disappears as Kang-ho and Mi-joo are born at the same hour. Beside them, another woman with Sam-sik as an infant on her back watches them.
The Good Bad Mother episode 1 then takes a time leap. All three kids are now in school. Sam-sik bullies Kang-ho, and Mi-joo beats him for it. Kang-ho hurls abuse at Sam-sik. At home, Young-soon beats a crying Kang-ho for swearing. She gives Kang-ho food and grades his test papers. She later tells him to stop eating if he’s full and says that a full stomach makes one sleepy, in turn making them unable to study.
Elsewhere, Mi-joo goes home to find her mother brutally beaten. She then goes to a club where her father is dancing with another woman and threatens him to come home.
Time passes, and the kids enter high school. Sam-sik sees Kang-ho going inside a basement at lunchtime and locks him inside. Unknown to him, Mi-joo, who was tailing Kang-ho, gets stuck with him in the basement.
The villagers later discover that both Mi-joo and Kang-ho are missing. When Sam-sik hears about this, he rushes to the school grounds with the villagers behind him.
The Good Bad Mother is personified when Kang-ho sees the table full of food and cake for his birthday celebration after returning home with Young-soon. She tells Kang-ho she couldn’t prepare the seaweed soup and will do so after his exams the next day.
However, he replies that he has already eaten kimbap (Mi-joo had offered him food when they were stuck together). Young-soon gets disappointed but doesn’t tell him anything.
On exam day, Young-soon drives Kang-ho to the center. He gets off and notices Mi-joo on the sidelines, calling him over. She cheers him up with her antics. As Kang-ho goes inside, he hears Mi-joo getting into an accident. He rushes to the hospital with her.
As Mi-joo recovers, she gets panicked over Kang-ho not giving his exam. He calms her down.
At home, Young-soon throws water on Kang-ho and orders him to leave the house. She gets furious and reminds him how important the exam was for them. Kang-ho, in frustration, screams that he is sick and tired of Young-soon suffocating him. He brings up his dad and says it wasn’t his fault that his father died helpless.
Young-soon slaps him. She tells him that his only ticket out of the pigsty and the hands of the bad mother is to become a prosecutor. Kang-ho retaliates by saying that she wants to feel powerful through him. But in turn, she has raised him to be the same selfish man who killed his father.
The Good Bad Mother episode 1’s last time leap sees Young-soon praying for Kang-ho to win his current trial. He frames the defendant in a false case and wins. When the defendant’s wife comes to him with evidence, he calls someone and says:
“Things have become troublesome.”
It is then revealed that Kang-ho has become a ruthless prosecutor who now works directly with CEO Song Woo-byeok.
The Good Bad Mother episode 1 ties up neatly by making the very thing that Young-soon feared come true in the end.
The Good Bad Mother is a 14-episode series. It airs every Wednesday and Thursday on Netflix.
