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The Good Bad Mother episode 2 was one of the most anticipated K-dramas of this year, as it features a star-studded cast of Ra Mi-ran, Lee Do-hyun, and Ahn Eun-ji. Premiering on April 26, The Good Bad Mother opened to an average viewership of 3.58% nationwide and 4.16% in Seoul, as per Nielsen Korea. By episode two, it had increased to 4.31% and 4.83%, respectively.
The Good Bad Mother tells the story of Young-soon (Ra Mi-ran) and Kang-ho’s (Lee Do-hyun) struggling relationship. Young-soon tries to raise him to become a strong, powerful man, but her strict love makes him turn into a cold-hearted person.
Episode 2 of The Good Bad Mother gives viewers a glimpse into Kang-ho’s journey of joining hands with CEO Song Woo-byeok and his growing resentment for his mother, Young-soon. However, he ends up in a life-and-death situation.
The Good Bad Mother episode 2: Kang-ho and Young-soon’s lives hang by a thread
The Good Bad Mother episode 2 opens with a montage of Kang-ho’s graduation pictures from school to law school. One noticeable aspect is the diminishing simile in both Kang-ho and Young-soon’s pictures as they grow older.
Young-soon basks in the villagers’ attention as Kang-ho ranks the highest in the bar exam. Meanwhile, Kang-ho is at CEO Song’s place, trying to figure out how to turn the many s*xual assault and embezzlement cases away from the CEO.
At one point, he thinks of giving the evidence that the defendant’s wife gave him in the last trial but decides against it.
CEO Song expresses his wish for how easy life would be if Kang-ho were his son. They then bond over a game of baseball. Kang-ho builds up emotions and tells CEO Song that it would be wonderful if he had a reliable father like him. CEO Song melts and gives him permission to address him as his father.
Meanwhile, Kang-ho returns to his office and finds the father of another falsely claimed assailant protesting against him. His phone rings with someone named ‘Jou-ri,’ and he declines the call. It is then revealed that ‘Jou-ri’ is Young-soon.
The Good Bad Mother episode 2 continues showcasing Young-soon’s hardships. She is seen preparing delicious food. She hurts her back by falling off a ladder. The head of the village and his wife take her in and help her get better.
They question Kang-ho’s whereabouts, as he has never visited the village since moving to Seoul. Young-soon paints a happy picture and lies that he made plans to visit that afternoon, but she dissuaded him.
Elsewhere, Kang-ho declines the call of Ha-young, a ballerina. She gets frustrated over him not picking up the phone and moves in a fit of rage. Mi-joo, who was doing her pedicure, ends up getting the brunt as Ha-young hurts herself. Mi-joo and Ha-young get on each other’s bad terms. After leaving the salon, Mi-joo and her friend, Sun-young, decide to open up their own nail salon.
In the next scene, Mi-joo is revealed to be a single mother. She gets a phone call from her kids, twins Ye-jin and Seo-jin, joking around. Back in the village, Mi-joo’s mother has told everyone that she is working hard in the US.
Meanwhile, Young-soon tries to meet Kang-ho and goes to his address in Seoul with bags of food. She overhears the security guard repeating Kang-ho’s words to tell Young-soon that he is not at home. She convinces herself that he must be busy so as not to break down.
At home, Kang-ho watches former prosecutor Oh Tae-soo on the news as he is in line for the presidential election. Tae-soo is the same prosecutor who joined hands with CEO Song to get rid of Kang-ho’s father decades ago.
The Good Bad Mother episode 2 then gives viewers a flashback into Kang-ho, Tae-soo, and Ha-young’s journey. A professor introduces Kang-ho to Oh Tae-soo as the star student. Next, Kang-ho meets Ha-young and her friends in a club and takes them into custody on suspicion of drug use. Ha-young is later revealed to be Tae-soo’s daughter.
Kang-ho’s gentlemanly deeds bring him closer to Ha-young, who then invites him to his house for marriage. Tae-soo threatens him to leave his daughter. Kang-ho keeps his distance with Ha-young while simultaneously digging up dirt on Tae-soo for CEO Song.
The Good Bad Mother episode 2 gets interesting as Kang-ho gets information on Oh Tae-soo’s secretary, Hwang Soo-hyun, who recently gave birth to Tae-soo’s child. He gives CEO Song a copy of the DNA test that proves it.
When the CEO questions him about the original report, he says that he wants to become his legal son. The three later meet in a sauna and agree upon a deal where Kang-ho marries Ha-young as Song Kang-ho and the two fathers merge their businesses.
A shocking twist in The Good Bad Mother episode 2 arrives when Kang-ho is seen driving Soo-hyun to a "safe place" but spikes her drink. He leaves her in the car and pushes it into the lake. He calls Tae-soo and tells him that he has handled the problem.
Elsewhere, Mi-joo gets back on track as she opens up her dream nail salon.
Meanwhile, the Jou-ri village is bustling with preparations for Kang-ho and his fiancée’s visit. Young-soon and Sung-ae, Sam-sik’s mother, get into some heated discussion as she reminds others that Kang-ho never helped Sam-sik when he was caught stealing. Young-soon calms her down and says that she will ask Kang-ho to get him a job once he gets out of jail.
The Good Bad Mother episode 2 then showcases the cultural gap between Kang-ho and the villagers. Kang-ho and Ha-young arrive together, but the loud conversations and dialect seem to put the young couple off. They also notice the price tag on Young-soon’s clothes. The two go into the house, and Young-soon tries to give Ha-young the diamond jewelry set.
However, Kang-ho asks Ha-young to leave the room. He then brings out the adoption papers and asks Young-soon to sign them so that he can legally become CEO Song’s son. Young-soon is shocked. She still braces herself and says that the seal cannot change the fact that she is his mother. She is all teary-eyed, but Kang-ho remains as cold as ever.
The moment Young-soon stamps her seal on the paper, Kang-ho rushes out. She requests that he eat some food before he goes. Kang-ho scoffs and says he has never enjoyed a meal with her. She tries giving him the jewelry set, but he refuses. Meanwhile, the villagers hear their conversation from outside.
A pivotal moment in The Good Bad Mother arrives at the end of episode 2. In the car, Ha-young complains about the smell of Young-soon’s pancakes making her sick. Kang-ho gets annoyed and throws the bag of pancakes into the lake. Ha-young offers to drive as Kang-ho looks exhausted.
Kang-ho drinks water and changes seats. He dozes off in the passenger seat. Ha-young rolls down her window. Her scarf flies out. She stops the car near a cliff and goes to pick up her scarf. She hears a speeding truck passing by and turns to see the truck hitting the car with Kang-ho inside. She runs towards it, but it’s too late as the car falls down the cliff.
Episode 2 of The Good Bad Mother presented an unexpected twist. While the troubling relationship between Young-soon and Kang-ho was always the premise, it is still heartbreaking to see Kang-ho take extreme steps against his mother.
It also seems that Kang-ho knows what he is doing by being in the same circle as the people who killed his father. Future episodes of The Good Bad Mother will be interesting to see how the incident gives the mother-son duo a new life.
The Good Bad Mother airs every Wednesday and Thursday on Netflix. It is a 14-episode series.
