The Uncomfortable Truth
Episode 6 of Mine begins with the announcement of Hi-Soo’s pregnancy, which rocks the foundations of this family. Specifically, Ji-Yong who finds out via a phone call while Hi-Soo is out looking for Ha-Joon. When the call ends, Ji-Yong rings Ja-Kyeong and demands to know where Ha-Joon is. Only, she’s apparently as clueless as the rest of the family. Back at the mansion, Soon-Hye finds herself worried too – but for a different reason. Her peacock has gone missing and as she frantically scrambles to find out more, Seo-Hyun arrives and overhears her mention “two mothers”. This storyline comes to an unceremonious end when the group find the peacock flying away. Just to remind everyone, peacocks cannot fly! Hi-Soo eventually finds Ha-Joon at a concert. He doesn’t say anything but simply sheds a tear and silently heads outside with Ha-Joon. When she takes him home, Ji-Yong is furious and looks set to strike his son for his insolence. Hi-Soo refuses to allow it and eventually winds up sleeping in the same bed for protection. Creepy Ja-Kyeong watches from the doorway though, eventually deciding to do everything in her power to get her son back. This eventually sees her doing the same as Hi-Soo when she leaves, slipping into Ha-Joon’s bed and cradling the child. Hi-Soo confronts her in the middle of the night about this and the two talk in the hallway. She doesn’t fire her though, and instead Ji-Yong tells her to go home. This is enough for Ja-Kyeong to decide to break the news to Hi-Soo… until Ji-Yong tells her Hi-Soo is pregnant. He demands she not get involved anymore and admits he’s going to break news to the public about Ha-Joon’s birth Mother being found dead. He’s going to work with the PR team to make sure this is a reality. After their first kiss, Yu-Yeon is called back to work again. She hands over a flip-book to Soo-Hyeok though; a way of helping him feel better. He keeps it close too, looking at it from time to time to help with his mood. Elsewhere, Kim Sung-Tae uses cheap suction pads and manages to break into the vault and steal the expensive jewelry. Only, it turns out the blue necklace actually has a serial number on it and as such, it’s unsellable. Sung-Tae receives a call from the mansion after, telling the pair to head back otherwise they’ll ring the police. Seo-Hyun visits Mother Emma and asks for advice. At the same time, Soon-Hye speaks to Jin-Ho and breaks the news about Ja-Kyeong still being alive. Seo-Hyun immediately follows her conversation up with visiting Ji-Yong, questioning what he’s doing. She encourages him to tell Hi-Soo the truth before it’s too late. Well, as we soon find out Ji-Yong has some bad blood when it comes to Seo-Hyun. Because of that, he calls her out for her sexuality and claims she’s sinned just as he has. He threatens her – in a round about way – and tells Seo-Hyun they shouldn’t be fighting against one another. Hi-Soo is busy finding who leaked the news to the reporters. That doesn’t last for long though, as Ja-Kyeong stirs things up and invites both Ji-Yong and Hi-Soo to the parking lot. All of this is a big set-up, with Ja-Kyeong intent on ousting both of them together. Her plan goes awry though when Mother Emma rings Hi-Soo. Ja-Kyeong follows after, determined to quit and tell the truth about Ha-Joon. However, Hi-Soo mentions anxiety and stress for the baby, prompting the former-tutor to promise her she’ll reveal her secret the next time they meet. She packs up her suitcase and off she goes. Again. Elsewhere, Seo-Hyun reflects on her memories with Suzy, including how they managed to keep their relationship a secret. Others thought of them as friends but Mother Emma probes her relationship with the woman, Seo-Hyun calls her “mine”. In the morning, Ji-Yong drives Ha-Joon to school and breaks the news to him that his birth Mother has passed away. Ha-Joon is distraught and throws his arms around Hi-Soo back home, telling her she’s all he has. He weeps, telling her he wishes he could go back and be her birth son. Ha-Joon promises to do everything he can to be a good big brother as the two hug. We then skip across to the Ilsin Sponsored Charity Event where Mother Emma and the others are all working. Hi-Soo is there too but she hears word that the source for leaking the news is Lee Hye-Jin. This is, of course, Ja-Kyeong’s alias. Hi-Soo calls on Seo-Hyun who makes a bold choice and decides to tell her the truth. Hi-Soo is obviously shocked, and even more so when Ja-Kyeong shows up at the event, calling herself Hye-Jin. As the episode closes out, we learn there could well be two victims in this murder mystery case – not one. Mother Emma was there that night but why? Why was she running? This woman is very sketchy.
The Episode Review
Finally secrets are revealed and it looks like Mine may actually be picking up some momentum going forward now. This meandering plot line with Hi-Soo’s birth Mother has finally been revealed and it leads to quite the dramatic showdown at the end. Ji-Yong starts to show his true colours too and after the cage-fighting incident last episode, this time sees him blackmail Seo-Hyun into submission and forcing her to stay quiet. But how does he know about her sexuality? I’m sure more flashbacks will reveal that in the coming episodes. It’s taken 6 chapters but finally Mine actually looks to be building up to a more dramatic and enjoyable plot line. There are still problems with this show, including the ridiculous peacock story that sees this beautiful bird hilariously fly away. That pretty much sums up some of the worst parts of this drama! However, there are glimmering lights of promise. Most notably, Seo-Hyun’s past is really intriguing and learning more about her tragic forbidden love is endearing and easily one of the highlights. Unfortunately the forbidden love between Soo-Hyeok and Yu-Yeon cannot follow suit. In fact, these two are so inoffensively bland that it makes their scenes pale in comparison to some of the more spicy moments in this show. And that spice is just now starting to burn, as Mine cooks up a treat ready for next week. This makjang has had a couple of dud episodes, especially with this Hi-Soo birth mother “mystery” dragging on but this chapter finally sees a bit of a turning point for this K-drama.
