The Good Bad Mother (나쁜엄마) is a Korean comedy-drama slice-of-life TV series directed by Shim Na-yeon, written by Bae Se-young and stars Ra Mi-ran, Lee Do-hyun, Ahn Eun-jin and Yoo In-soo in main roles. The series is all set to release on JTBC and Netflix (in select regions) and will take over JTBC’s Wed-Thurs 10:30 PM timeslot previously occupied by Interest of Love.
The Good Bad Mother episode 4 has a runtime of 72 minutes.
The slice-of-life series follows Young-soon and her son Kang-ho who share a tumultuous relationship with each other thanks to her strict parenting when he was a child. Now an adult, Kang-ho is a cold-hearted prosecutor who chooses to keep his distance from her mother and lives in the city. However, when a tragedy strikes, Kang-ho is forced to return home to the village, wherein he finds a new lease of life and rebuilds his relationship with his mother as well as with his childhood friend Mi-joo.
– The Good Bad Mother Episode 4 Review Contains Spoilers –
The Good Bad Mother Episode 4 Recap
The Good Bad Mother episode 4 starts with Young-soon bidding adieu to some of her pigs while Kang-ho has a stellar time with Ye-jin and Seo-jin. Their fun and games end in him being pushed over with his wheelchair, and the next scene is of them hilariously being punished for playing dangerously. Kang-ho’s childish antics are hilarious and extremely cute, and it’s clear that even Young-soon finds it cute.
The mother-son duo later discuss his mental and actual age, and Young-soon beautifully tells his mentally seven-year-old that although most people don’t get the opportunity to go back to their childhood, he has been given the opportunity to relive his past and change it. She reiterates that he is not stupid and, thus, there is nothing to be sad or frustrated about.
In the meantime, Mi-joo learns that her colleague is a rather unscrupulous character and has run away to Los Angeles after robbing her. Unsure about what to do, she wonders whether she should pull money from her kids’ bank account and eventually remembers her chance meeting with Kang-ho many years ago when he was still studying and working part-time at a small restaurant. She remembers her promise to Kang-ho to work hard and asks him to leave his part-time job to dedicate his time to studying.
Their relationship blossoms from there, and as they stay, love and grow together, Kang-ho eventually passes the bar exam and, that night, tells her that he wants to live a long and happy life with her. In the present, a heartbroken Mi-joo can’t help but shed tears for a life not lived. In the meantime, Kang-ho gets another round of physical therapy and has a panic attack when he is unable to find her outside. Young-soon comforts her son when he finally is able to find her soon after and assures him that she will never go anywhere without him.
On the other hand, Tae-soo’s little stunt ends up putting him in a ton of danger after truck driver Gu-man ends his life and sends a confessional suicide note to his wife. Woo-byeok takes all of these receipts to Tae-soo in order to intimidate him, even telling him that he knows about Ha-young’s involvement in the incident. In turn, Tae-soo reminds Woo-byeok about Choi Hae-sik and that Kang-ho approached Ha-young with the intention of getting to Tae-soo since he knew exactly who killed his father and was out to take revenge.
Woo-byeok is completely oblivious about who Hae-sik is and who got him killed. When Tae-soo tells him everything, he is left shocked at the sudden revelation, but it soon turns into a grin when he reveals that he knew exactly Kang-ho was from the beginning, and Kang-ho never tried to hide anything from him. In fact, Woo-byeok made him do some of his dirtiest work, so he obviously did a background check and made sure to check on his character before letting him enter his inner layer.
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Either way, Woo-byeok mentions that he doesn’t care about Kang-ho’s intentions since his own hands are equally dirty. He simply wants to use his talents to get what he wants before abandoning him.
The next day, Young-soon goes to Seoul for some work, and Kang-ho spends the entire day waiting for his mother. That doesn’t last long, however, when the twins abduct him away. Meanwhile, Young-soon is clearing out Kang-ho’s place in Seoul and finds a bunch of stuff hidden behind a painting. On her way to his office, she is further shocked to find people who seem to hate her son. Talking to one such wronged person ends up in her fighting the mother of a man who was wrongly sent to jail by Kang-ho.
Although Young-soon refuses to believe any negative comments about her son, it seems like she can’t help but take these strangers’ words into consideration, at least. Meanwhile, Kang-ho subconsciously remembers small things from his past life and dedicates the rest of the day to playing with Seo-jin and Ye-jin.
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Young-soon realises soon enough, unfortunately, that Kang-ho wasn’t a good person when she finds gold bars among his possession. She comes back home and berates and beats a confused Kang-ho and repeatedly asks him why he lived such a life and caused so much pain. Poor Kang-ho has no idea about what is happening and looks on sobbing while his mother breaks down as well and blames herself for how her son turned out.
A confused Kang-ho asks his mother whether he is a bad person and whether he is being punished for who he was. He continuously apologises for his past but tells her that he doesn’t remember what he did. In the end, Young-soon feels bad for her son and comforts him as he continues to cry in her arms. Young-soon later tells Kang-ho the story about pigs that the audience heard in the first episode and assures him that just like the pigs, they are also seeing a new world due to their circumstances, but things will get better soon.
Meanwhile, Mi-joo gets fired from her third job thanks to her creditors and shares her plight with Sam-sik, who promises to pay off her debts once he becomes successful. At the village, Kang-ho feels particularly adventurous and, after getting ready for the day, decides to go out to find Ye-jin’s ball. He’s mostly unsuccessful but is able to do some nice exploring all around the village.
The Good Bad Mother Episode 4 Ending
Unfortunately, this makes his mother extremely tense for him, especially when she is unable to reach him by phone. As night falls, an oblivious Kang-ho is able to get a hold of the ball while his mother searches all over the village for him. Excited, Kang-ho goes to their house to return the ball, only to come face-to-face with Mi-joo.
The Good Bad Mother Episode 4 Review
As per usual, an emotionally heavy episode which some great performances from the leads. The Good Bad Mother is holding on to some great storytelling and plot progression every episode, pushing me to really look forward to the next episode. Kang-ho and Young-soon’s relationship is the highlight of the series, as is their shared past. Every new piece of information has so much emotion attached to it; plus, the fact that the actors do a phenomenal job selling those emotions to us is the icing on this beautiful cake.
The Good Bad Mother episode 4 teases us with a sweet romance that we have craved for Kang-ho. However, the happiness and his present child-like behaviour are overshadowed when his past self comes to haunt him, and the destruction that we witness is nothing short of heartbreaking. Where will the story go? Will Kang-ho be able to mend the error in his ways once he gets back his memories? What will happen to his relationship with Mi-joo, and where does Sam-sik come into this equation? All these questions and more are what will keep me excited for next week!
The Good Bad Mother is streaming on Netflix.
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