Let’s Eat 2 Episode 4 recap

Episode Recap

Writer Soo Ji sits in a cafe, imagining a story about a bear who kidnaps and mates with a human. As she wonders aloud why the bear didn’t just mate with a bear, her neighbour and former classmate Dae Young comes by. Dae Young sees the bear story as a metaphor for Soo Ji chasing Sang Woo, and warns her that she’ll just chase Sang Woo away.

Back at the villa, Dae Young is enjoying the mugwort rice cake of old lady, Jeom Yi, but when they offer some to Soo Ji, she refuses. After Soo Ji leaves, Dae Young explains that she can’t have any, because she used to be hugely fat, but he’s overheard by an angry Soo Ji. Dae Young runs away to get ready to go to Seoul before he makes it worse.

Later that evening, Soo Ji gets a package, but the delivery man mistakenly leaves it at the rooftop of a neighbouring villa. When Soo Ji goes up to get it, she is surprised to spot a building on the roof of her own villa.

Taek Soo tries to get in to Dae Young’s apartment, but Dae Young isn’t there, and he’s not answering phone calls. Undeterred, Taek Soo pulls out his detective kit, and dusts for fingerprints to the “Sherlock” soundtrack. He’s nonplussed to discover that Dae Young’s code is ‘0000’.

When Dae Young calls back, Taek Soo admits that he’s made himself at home in his apartment, and instructs him to hurry back so they can drink together. Too bad for him, Dae Young is in Seoul for a wedding. Dae Young’s thoughts about changing his password are interrupted when he notices an almost unrecognizable Sang Woo drunkenly goofing around with some friends on the street.

The next morning, Soo Ji discovers some cigarette butts on her balcony, and goes to confront Dae Young about smoking on the roof. He informs her that neither he nor Taek Soo smoke, then remembers to tell her about seeing a different side of Sang Woo in Seoul. He cautions her against Sang Woo’s personality changes, but Soo Ji is only interested in Sang Woo’s stable job. Soo Ji goes to complain about the cigarette butts to landlady, Mi Ran. Mi Ran is discussing with Jeom Yi about finding Barassi 2.0 up on the roof, possibly taken there by the mysterious guy who can’t go out in public, but hushes up just as Soo Ji arrives.

Back on the job, Dae Young calls Sang Woo to come out to a soccer game. While getting ready in the locker room, Dae Young asks Sang Woo about seeing him in Seoul. Sang Woo is so flustered by this question that he runs off without his pants. Sadly, he puts them on before the soccer game, but we are treated to the sight of Sang Woo uncharacteristically cursing when his team gives up a goal.

Later, Sang Woo tries to explain himself in the showers, but Dae Young insists they move to the bathtub so it doesn’t look weird (what?). It turns out that Sang Woo is cautious, because of his job as a government worker, even though he likes to get rowdy with his friends when he’s not working. Sang Woo asks Dae Young not to mention anything to Soo Ji, since they work together.

Back in Sejong, Soo Ji finds a burn on her laundry from a cigarette, but can’t get to the rooftop to complain, thanks to a lock. She returns to Mi Ran and Jeom Yi, who try to pass it off as coming from somewhere else. Soo Ji insists that they get a CCTV, but Mi Ran distracts her by criticizing the state of the apartment, then tells her to pay for it herself.

Sang Woo and Dae Young go out to eat Indian food, post-game. When Sang Woo confesses that he ate no curry on his recent backpacking trip to India, since all curries taste the same, Dae Young finally gives us one of his food lectures. Dae Young proceeds to eat orgasmically, but Sang Woo is too busy admiring the restaurant decor to join in.

They find common ground in video games, and it’s not long before they’re back at Sang Woo’s house, playing a soccer video game. The two of them agree to call each other “hyung” and “dongsaeng”, and the atmosphere goes from awkward to relaxed.

The endless saga of Soo Ji’s laundry continues, as she demands the keys to the rooftop from Mi Ran, in order to hang up her laundry there. Mi Ran protests, but eventually gives in and takes Soo Ji to the obviously occupied rooftop. When Soo Ji asks for the rooftop keys to be distributed to all the tenants, Mi Ran sputters about theft and kicks her off the roof. On their way downstairs, they run into model tenant Dae Young, and Soo Ji drags him off for a drink after Mi Ran leaves.

They go to the convenience store, where Hye Rim, the convenience store clerk, glares daggers at Dae Young. When Soo Ji leaves Dae Young to pay for their drinks, Hye Rim grills Dae Young on whether they two of them are dating. She’s relieved to find out that they’re not, and instantly dumps the guy doing her job in the store. Outside, Soo Ji launches into a diatribe about how cheap Mi Ran is, then whines about landlords in general. When Dae Young brings up spending time with Sang Woo, Soo ji turns full-on paranoid, and accuses him of forgetting the mission to get Sang Woo to marry her in favour of selling him insurance.

Her accusations are interrupted by a text from Sang Woo, asking to reschedule their work meeting. Soo Ji is so excited by this minor development that she loses her shit and goes dancing off to prepare. As she leaves, Sang Woo calls Dae Young and asks to have lunch tomorrow, since he’s rescheduled his meeting. When Dae Young suggests bringing Soo Ji along, Sang Woo refuses, since he won’t be comfortable with her there.

Later that evening, Soo Ji and Dae Young walk back to the villa. Soo Ji is agonizing over how to respond to Sang Woo’s throwaway text, while Dae Young looks conflicted. They spot Joo Wan, Mi Ran’s third-grader son sneaking into the villa, and follow him in. They discover that Joo Wan is the victim of bullying by older students, who are using him to buy cigarettes and trashing the third-floor apartment. As a former victim of bullying, Soo Ji is sympathetic.

Later that night, Soo Ji is awakened from sleep by hunger, only to smell smoke. Soo Ji wakes up the other tenants and when they go downstairs, they discover that the mailbox is burning. As Dae Young runs to put it out, Jeom Yi yells up to the roof that there’s a fire. Just as they put the fire out, the mysterious guy comes running downstairs in his boxer shorts, and slips on the water. The episode ends as they all stare at each other.

Comments

So, episode 4 is usually make-or-break time with me for dramas, when I choose to continue or drop. It doesn’t apply in this case, because we’re recapping, and also delicious food will make me forgive anything. Regardless, it’s worthwhile to take a look back, and nitpick a little.

In four episodes, the two male leads have become a bit more human and gained personalities that go beyond a few quirks. Neither one of them is all that likeable, what with Dae Young’s tendency to put Soo Ji down, and Sang Woo’s bizarre compartmentalization, but they’re at least more interesting than when they started out. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Soo Ji. I’m sure she’ll gain some depth later on, but at this point, I’m not that excited about watching her cycle of stuffing her face, followed by recriminations, self-denial and frenzied exercise. And, all for the sake of landing a man she knows nothing about.

For this episode specifically though, the drawn out affair of Soo Ji’s laundry, the cigarette butts and the roof just went on too long when it was pretty obvious what the end result was going to be. I much preferred the interactions between Dae Young and Sang Woo, especially since they showered together, then went out to eat delicious Indian food. This is obviously going to be a problem later on, since Soo Ji is left out of the new friendship between Dae Young and Sang Woo. But whatever! These two are pretty cute in the meantime.

Mugwort rice cake

Indian food, including naan, samosas, papadums, tandoori shrimp, tandoori kebabs, chana dal, butter chicken, lassi, pilau

As you can see from the photos, there are a couple of dishes that came out, including tandoori chicken and saag paneer, that didn’t get eaten at any point. Sad, because they looked delicious. Anyway, if anyone can identify any dishes I may have missed, please have at it.

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Let’s Eat 2 (식샤를 합시다 2)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 || series review