Madame Antoine episode 5 recap

Episode Recap

Soo Hyun (Sung Joon) is trying to wipe the sauce off Hye Rim’s (Han Ye Seul) mouth with his hand, when skin on skin contact causes him to pause. Hye Rim takes advantage of this moment to shove a spicy chicken foot in his mouth. She is triumphant while Soo Hyun looks shocked. Later, Soo Hyun confesses to Hye Rim that he had fun with her. She claims that Soo Hyun appeared more sincere, and asks what prompted the change. Skin on skin contact jumps to Soo Hyun’s mind, but he responds innocuously.

Hye Rim screens the video she downloaded from Soo Hyun’s computer for the Chairman (Byun Hee Bong). Neither of them can make sense of it. The only clue they have is that Soo Hyun’s specialty is women and love. Hye Rim tries to figure out how the experiment that she is supposedly participating in relates to his specialty, but it doesn’t quite fit. 

Meanwhile, Soo Hyun receives a lawsuit from the subject of his first experiment, seen in the video. She is demanding 100 million won as reparation for psychological damage. Soo Hyun dismisses her claim, believing that she was well compensated.

A suspicious Hye Rim asks Soo Hyun to release the documentation related to the experiment on her. When he refuses, she asks for a copy of the contract she signed. She instantly notices a clause that allows her to be kept ignorant of the true objective of the experiment. Soo Hyun lies to her again, then when Hye Rim asks if he is lying, he can only reassure her that the experiment will not hurt her. Hye Rim remains dubious, and Soo Hyun resolves to be more careful, especially in regards to skinship.

Soo Hyun’s brother, Seung Chan (Jinwoon) is at a job interview for the position of elementary baseball coach. He surprises the interviewers with his flippant honesty, admitting that he doesn’t really feel comfortable around children, and will aim to have fun rather than produce a winning team. 

Hye Rim is anxiously awaiting the outcome of Seung Chan’s job interview when he calls her outside the café. She starts comforting him, assuming that he was unsuccessful when Seung Chan announces that he got the job. Hye Rim excitedly hugs Seung Chan, who is stunned then elated by her reaction.

Soo Hyun glances out the window at that moment, and sees Hye Rim and Seung Chan in an embrace. He hurriedly closes the blinds, trying to process the image, before looking out the window again, but Hye Rim and Seung Chan have left.

Seung Chan approaches Soo Hyun soon after, and happily announces that he will put his full effort into the experiment now that he has grown to like Hye Rim. Soo Hyun attempts to dissuade Seung Chan by pointing out their age difference then suggesting that Seung Chan quit the experiment. When it becomes clear that Seung Chan will pursue Hye Rim whether he is in the experiment or not, Soo Hyun must swallow his pride and ask Seung Chan if he will remain in the experiment, but Seung Chan is noncommittal.

Soo Hyun and Seung Chan start fighting for Hye Rim’s time and attention. When Soo Hyun succeeds in scheduling a dinner date with Hye Rim, Seung Chan warns her not to trust his brother. At dinner, Soo Hyun warns Hye Rim that Seung Chan wants to claim her for himself. Hye Rim assumes that Soo Hyun is trying to find an excuse to drop her. She gets up in a huff, but Soo Hyun stops her.

Soo Hyun then attempts to convey doubt about his ability to compete with Seung Chang for Hye Rim’s affections, but ends up looking insincere to her. She bluntly asks if he is still obsessed with his 6% brain activity score, then admits that she had closed her eyes when his photo came up. This revelation prompts Soo Hyun to trimuphantly take a selfie with Hye Rim then send it to Seung Chan. An aggravated Seung Chan calls Hye Rim to remind her not to trust his brother, but she hangs up on him after warning him not to order her around.

Hye Rim is thanking Soo Hyun for dinner when he wraps her in her scarf then pulls her in for a hug. Hye Rim is stunned into silence. As Soo Hyun drives away, he proclaims the mission a success.

Hye Rim sneaks into Soo Hyun’s office overnight to steal the shredded documents. She attempts to piece them together for a clue into Soo Hyun’s actual experiment. All she finds is a reference to ‘6 years’.

Hye Rim’s sister, Yoo Rim (Hwang Seung Eon) invites co-worker, Sung Ho (Choi Tae Hwan) to her birthday party in an attempt to makes robotic genius, Ji Ho (Lee Joo Hyung) jealous. She does a love shot with Sung Ho, before Ji Ho proposes doing a love shot with Hye Rim. Seung Chan intervenes, proposing that he and Ji Ho do a love shot instead. 

Hye Rim goes looking for Soo Hyun with a bottle of wine, but he refuses, claiming to be a cheap drunk. A drop of liquid from the wine bottle lands on Soo Hyun’s hand, prompting the recurring traumatic childhood memory. Hye Rim notices that he is distressed and asks him if he is remembering his biological mother. Soo Hyun confirms that he is, yet he does not remember his mother’s face.

Sung Ho is pouring wine for himself at a furious pace, while a drunk and surly Yoo Rim asks Ji Ho why he has no reaction to her supposed boyfriend. Sung Ho interrupts the conversation with screaming about boxed lunches. He pushes Yoo Rim over, threatens Seung Chan with a wine bottle before smashing it on the ground, then runs outside to rip his shirt off. Soo Hyun directs Yoo Rim to bring Sung Ho in when he is sober.

Soo Hyun and his mentor, Mi Ran (Jang Mi Hee) discuss how immaturity has to find an outlet in every adult, sometimes with the assistance of alcohol. However, they have not yet identified Sung Ho’s issue. Unfortunately, Sung Ho cannot be convinced to come in for treatment.

In the meantime, Yoo Rim has won a drone from a videography exhibit. She gives it to an ecstatic Ji Ho, and they fly it together.

Soo Hyun enlists Hye Rim to have a drink with Sung Ho while he observes his behaviour. Over soju, Sung Ho asks if his problem is severe, and Soo Hyun claims that Sung Ho has difficulty allowing himself to be immature. They encourage Sung Ho to make a prank phone call, and while Sung Ho appears to enjoy it, his alcohol consumption increases afterwards. He attempts to get Soo Hyun to share one drink with him, and Soo Hyun strikes a deal with him: Soo Hyun will have one drink if Sung Ho agrees to be treated.

Hye Rim is calling Ji Ho to come and serve as backup when the switch flips in Sung Ho and he goes running into the street after causing a scene in the restaurant. Hye Rim is left to contend with Sung Ho by herself, because Yoo Rim cannot wake up an unconscious Soo Hyun back at the restaurant.

Sung Ho jumps on top of a car, which sets off the car alarm. When the police arrive, Sung Ho mistakes them for aliens and goes running with Hye Rim following him in a panic. Unfortunately, unencumbered by a shirt, Sung Ho is faster, and leaves Hye Rim behind to be arrested.

The next morning, Seung Chan wakes up Soo Hyun, disgusted that he was passed out drunk during Hye Rim’s arrest and incarceration. He disdainfully tells Soo Hyun to go back to sleep, because Hye Rim cannot receive anymore visitors today in jail.

Soo Hyun decides to wreck Seung Chan’s scooter in order to get arrested so that he can see Hye Rim. He offers to buy Seuncg Chan a brand new scooter when he returns. Seung Chan initially prefers a broken scooter over letting Soo Hyun have a chance to see Hye Rim, but relents after watching Soo Hyun take a hammer to his scooter.

Seung Chan is waiting for the tow truck when Mi Ran finds him. She offers to wait with him, which he turns down, but asks her to identify a classical score he is listening to. When Seung Chan mentions wanting to hear a woman play this song, Mi Ran immediately goes for piano lessons. and though she would like to play Bach, she is forced to start as a beginner.

Soo Hyun succeeds in getting placed in the cell right beside Hye Rim who is amazed at the lengths he went to, to see her. They end up lying side-by-side, and when Hye Rim is unable to sleep, Soo Hyun guides her through mental imagery to relax. She pictures Soo Hyun cooking for her in a warm cabin, and falls asleep in the process. Soo Hyun strokes her cheek, but pulls his hand away, reminding himself that this is an experiment. When Hye Rim wakes up, Soo Hyun is asleep, and she touches his face while observing him.

When Hye Rim and Soo Hyun are leaving the police station, Seung Chan rides up on his scooter. He reveals that he spent all night fixing then cleaning his scooter so that he could pick Hye Rim up. She feels obliged to accept Seung Chan’s offer, and leaves a silent Soo Hyun behind.

Ji Ho shares the letter he has written for Hye Rim with Yoo Rim. It contains a math problem that Ji Ho proudly reveals will create a heart when you graph it. Yoo Rim protests that her sister is terrible at math, and demonstrates how easy it is to simply draw a heart. Ji Ho decides to demonstrate how fun his math problem is.

The subject of Soo Hyun’s first experiment arrives at the café looking for him. Ji Ho quickly intercepts her before she can speak at length with Hye Rim, and brings her to Soo Hyun’s office. The irate woman blames Soo Hyun for ruining her relationship with the experiment conspirator that she fell in love with. Soo Hyun points out that they continued to date after the experiment, but broke up for family reasons. The woman insists that the experiment caused a lack of trust that doomed their relationship, and for that, she can never forgive Soo Hyun. 

Meanwhile, Hye Rim suddenly recognizes the woman as the one proclaiming her love in a tree, in the video she copied. She asks Ji Ho about the woman, and when he claims that the woman has already left, Hye Rim knows it’s a lie. She pretends to go the washroom, and Ji Ho calls Soo Hyun to report that the coast is clear for the woman to leave.

Hye Rim secretly leaves a note on the woman’s windshield claiming that she saw her in a video. When they meet up, Hye Rim asks what the context of the video was. The woman refuses to disclose any information, and Hye Rim resorts to her French gibberish psychic strategy to tease the truth out. To her horror, Hye Rim learns that the woman was the subject of an experiment in which three different men pretended to have fallen in love with her.

A furious Hye Rim marches into Soo Hyun’s office and is about to beat him with her shoes when he calmly directs her to meet him behind closed doors. Soo Hyun tries to cast doubt on the idea that her experiences have been part of an experiment, blaming her low self-esteem for causing her to mistrust her ability to attract three men. Then, Soo Hyun claims that they would not do the same experiment twice, bringing Ji Ho in to back him up.

Hye Rim appears to reluctantly accept Soo Hyun’s insistence that they are not repeating the love experiment on her. However, she states that they should not have conducted such an experiment, and warns him that if she were the subject of such an experiment, she could never forgive him. Hye Rim leaves, and Soo Hyun and Ji Ho looking relieved to have dodged a bullet, but anxious about the precarious situation that they have placed themselves in.

Comments

I laughed out loud several times during this episode. Sung Joon is doing an excellent job as Soo Hyun, the academic who seems incapable of competing with his charming, easy going brother, Seung Chan, in the dating game. When he robotically walked away after being outmaneuvered and humbled by Seung Chan, I just lost it. Same goes for Ji Ho’s enthusiasm for his sexy math problem, and Yoo Rim’s priceless reaction.

As entertaining as Soo Hyun and Ji Ho are, their antics have made it hard to see what Hye Rim and Yoo Rim find attractive about the men, respectively. The fact that Soo Hyun is genuinely falling for Hye Rim really does not account for Hye Rim’s feelings for him, which were already considerable prior to Soo Hyun’s growing genuine affection for her. Really, the only plausible love interest right now is Seung Chan, because he is funny and charming. Plus, the shower scene helped, too.

Based on previous work, I know Sung Joon is capable of turning on the heat, so it is up to the writers to give Soo Hyun the opportunity to be a viable love interest. In the meantime, they are doing a good job of creating lots of ridiculously entertaining scenarios, and punchy dialogue. More shower scenes would do wonders.

Madame Antoine (마담 앙트완)

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