One More Happy Ending episode 14 recap

Episode Recap

Mi Mo (Jang Na Ra) finishes up her business at the hotel and stops off in the washroom before she goes to meet her boyfriend, Soo Hyuk (Jung Kyung Ho) in the hotel restaurant. Meanwhile, Soo Hyuk is finishing up his lunch with his former classmate, Shi Ah, and her fiancé, Seung Jae (Kim Sa Kwon), who happens to be Mi Mo’s ex-husband.

This could be heading for disaster, but instead, we get an awkward encounter between a clueless Shi Ah, and Mi Mo in the washroom. On her way into the restaurant, Mi Mo has another awkward run-in with Seung Jae and Shi Ah as they leave, but arrives at the table with no knowledge that Shi Ah is practically Soo Hyuk’s sister. Instead, Mi Mo is distracted by the display of roses that Soo Hyuk has arranged at their table. Later, he distracts her further by giving her a necklace, then the two of them proceed to get extremely drunk. They end up at a handbag store, where Mi Mo demands Soo Hyuk buy her a handbag.

Meanwhile, another possibly awkward encounter between exes is happening at another restaurant, where Hae Joon (Kwon Yool) ends up sitting near his ex-wife, Yeon Soo (Hwang Sun Hee), who is on a blind date.

The next morning, a hungover Mi Mo wakes up to find Soo Hyuk and 100 handbags in her apartment, and the two of them sheepishly return 99 of them. Soo Hyuk goes home to find his son, Min Woo on his way out. Min Woo runs into Mi Mo next in the hallway, and they silently ride the elevator together. As he leaves, Min Woo tells Mi Mo not to hurt Soo Hyuk.

Back at work, Mi Mo sits down with her friend and colleague, Da Jung (Yoo Da In). Da Jung tells her about how she had to stare into the eyes of her husband, Gun Hak (Kim Tae Hoon) at couples counseling camp, while Mi Mo has suddenly become concerned about the complications of joining her life with Soo Hyuk’s. Mi Mo has an elaborate fantasy of marriage as either a friendly or a hostile merger, but still ends up worried.

Mi Mo’s friend, Dong Mi (Yoo In Na) prepares an elaborate lunch to encourage her younger boyfriend, Jung Woo, to do well on his English tests. She’s horrified to discover that he has no intention of getting married anytime soon, since he wants to wait five years after getting a job. Later, Dong Mi gets a visit from a friend with a baby, who tells her that it’s not going to end well with Jung Woo.

Back at Mi Mo’s apartment, the atmosphere is romantic, but made slightly awkward by the presence of Mi Mo’s dog, Bbo Bbo. Soo Hyuk and Mi Mo head over to the bed, and spend the night playing Yahtzee in their pyjamas. Just kidding! The two of them get under the covers and kiss, but what happens next is left to the imagination as Bbo Bbo turns on the TV, presumably to drown out Mi Mo and Soo Hyuk making hot monkey love.

The next morning, Ae Ran (Seo In Young) is surprised by her newlywed, ex-player of a husband, Dong Bae (Park Eun Seok). Not only has he made her breakfast and lunch, but he drives her to work as well.

Yeon Soo asks Hae Joon to look at a list of her potential matches, to give her the male perspective. Hae Joon, instead, wonders about her looking at so many men, then advises her against her dangerous love life. Yeon Soo is, in fact, looking for a thrilling love life, and doesn’t believe that anyone can hurt her as much as Hae Joon did anyway.

Back at couples counselling camp, Da Jung walks in on Gun Hak taking a work call, and telling them how his time off is healing for him too. Their next exercise is for each partner to tell the other their disappointments, and for the other partner to respond with empathy, not judgment. Da Jung disappointments turn out to be with herself, for not noticing that Gun Hak was always beside her and supportive, even when she was having trouble. When Da Jung finishes, Gun Hak hugs her and she hugs him back.

Mi Mi is at the vet with Bbo Bbo when Seung Jae walks in. Mi Mo wonders what he’s doing there (so am I, to be honest), since his fiancée is allergic to dogs. Seung Jae confesses that he lied, that he was only getting rid of Bbo Bbo so that Shi Ah wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with a dog from a past relationship (is this really a thing? How petty). The conversation devolves into an argument, as Mi Mo lectures Seung Jae on accepting your partner’s past, whether it’s kids or dogs.

As if to belie her words, Mi Mo has a hostile encounter with Min Woo in the hallway when she gets home. Back in her apartment, Mi Mo’s imagination runs wild as she imagines fighting over Soo Hyuk with a hostile Min Woo, who has her designated as the Virtuous Woman of Yongsan to prevent their marriage.

Back in reality, Mi Mo stalks Min Woo to where his mother’s ashes are kept. Min Woo explains Mi Mo that he can’t call her mom, because he would feel bad for his own mom. He asks her to promise not to hurt Soo Hyuk’s heart, but Mi Mo explains that she can’t. Instead, she promises to make Soo Hyuk laugh everyday. With that, and a hearty meal, Min Woo is won over. Meanwhile, back at home, Soo Hyuk makes plans with Shi Ah to introduce her to Mi Mo on Min Woo’s birthday.

That evening, Mi Mo and Soo Hyuk come up with a system of giving each other stickers… I’m sorry, I can’t even explain what’s going on here. Let’s just say they’re trying to be cute or something, and move on.

Meanwhile, Da Jung and Gun Hak are both preoccupied with their couples camp assignment of saying, “I love you” to each other three times a day, while eating dinner with their son, Tae Yong. When Tae Yong goes to bed, Gun Hak seems to enjoy ambushing Da Jung at different times, but Da Jung reciprocates by just cornering Gun Hak in his bedroom and repeating it three times.

Back at her apartment, Dong Mi comes to the conclusion that she needs to break up with her younger boyfriend, Jung Woo, but can’t think of how to say it to him.

Yeon Soo is on an awkward blind date with a man who claims that the two of them would make a fantasy-like couple. Instead of agreeing, she flashes back to when she first hit on Hae Joon with the same line. After the date is over, she goes to Hae Joon’s office to commiserate, but he has no comfort for her.

That evening, Soo Hyuk tells Mi Mo that it’s Min Woo’s birthday the next day and invites her to dinner. He mentions that he wants to introduce her to someone, but plays coy when Mi Mo asks who it is.

The next day, Mi Mo goes shopping for a winter jacket for Min Woo’s gift, but runs into Seung Jae again. The two of them fight over the same jacket, then finally settle things. But, when Mi Mo gets to the hotel for Min Woo’s party, Seung Jae is right behind her. As they battle their way through the hotel lobby, they both finally arrive at the restaurant to realize that they’re joining the same party.

Comments

Well, that’s awkward. But, since we saw this coming three episodes ago, hardly unexpected.

Have we completely run out of problems to throw at this couple? In fact, have we completely run out of problems to throw at everybody?

While I’m glad we haven’t drifted into random amnesia or evil mother-in-law territory, and I do appreciate the effort to stick to the premise of modern women with modern problems, I feel like we’ve lost all tension in the story. Sure, having your ex as a member of your extended family is awkward, but it’s not really going to keep Mi Mo and Soo Hyuk apart. Since we know this already, all we really have left to explore is the awkwardness, which is, allow me to say it, a little boring. And, the effort to spice things up with fantasy scenes is hit and miss, at best.

Instead, for entertainment, we get the glacial pace of Da Jung and Gun Hak’s inevitable reconciliation, and Yeon Soo trying out dating while Hae Joon gives her inscrutable looks. As for Dong Mi? Well, break up with Jung Woo, don’t break up with Jung Woo, whatever. Maybe try talking to him about it first, though? Instead of everyone else?

Anyway, thanks to what feels like a slow and sloppy episode, I barely managed to enjoy what I assume was meant to be a sex scene. Boooo.

One More Happy Ending (한번 더 해피엔딩)

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