Recap Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) – Season 1 Episode 4

Jun 20, 2022

Episode 4 of Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) returns to the big cliffhanger featuring the bowl of water. Well, Hye-Ryung eventually changes her mind, wanders off and comically drops the bowl all over the floor. As Sa-Hyun awakens, he realizes she was about to dump water on her and breathes a sigh of relief.

At the broadcast station, Hye-Ryung arrives late but eventually settles in and begins her morning statement just like before. The engagement is good, at least to begin with, as her attention turns to the comments that offer their own take on what she’s had to say.

Her strong start is undone by a slip up as she announces the wrong engineer. This causes problems for Hye-Ryung though, who apologizes backstage but comes under fire from Mr Seo for her blunder. She eventually heads out with the other girls for their usual drink after work, where Pi-Young learns that her partner is going to be late.

Si-Eun cooks a delicious meal for her family as they all comment on her culinary skills as they tuck in to their food. She and Hae-Ryun continue to try and keep things together for the sake of the kids.

Meanwhile, Seo-Hyang tearfully looks over pictures of her daughter as she wrestles with the secret of her illness. At the same time, Hye-Ryung stays at home by herself while Sa-Hyun eats with his parents, wolfing down numerous dishes. As he does, Moon-Ho receives a call from Chairman Oh and hurries off.

Alone, Sa-Hyun breaks the news to his Mother that his girl is pregnant. He asks for her help, explaining how she need to break the news to Moon-Ho. He claims this child is a gift from God too, admitting he was nearly doused in water the previous night by Hye-Ryung.

Well, this eventually results in Ye-Jung trying to break the news to Moon-Ho while he’s in the bath. Only, he’s fast asleep which makes things difficult. Eventually though she does tell him; later on that day when they’re sitting together.

She tries to pass off Sa-Hyun’s behaviour as him acting like the Kings in the past did, what with having numerous wives, while Moon-Ho tells her again not to claim all men are like that.

Speaking of difficult, Hye-Ryung heads in that night and beats down Sa-Hyun with a pillow, telling him it’s his fault she can’t focus at work.

Meanwhile. Pi-Young learns about Si-Eun’s situation and speaks to her outside the broadcasting station. She tells Si-Eun she’s doing a great job as she holds her hand in comfort.

Back home though, Yu-Shin arrives and greets Pi-Young warmly, kissing her. They sit together and eat ice-cream, as Yu-Shin mentions how his wife is one of a kind and how he can’t live without her.

Back at work, Mr Seo treats the girls out to dinner on the back of a lucky guess. Meanwhile, Sa-Hyun heads to court while Moon-Ho and So Ye-Jung bump into Dong-Mi and Ki-Rim while they’re going out for dinner.

The girls complement one another but in secret have their own thoughts about the pairings their opposite number is involved in. This dinner soon changes to karaoke as they head out for the evening.

That evening, Sa-Hyun heads over and shows his parents a picture of his unborn child. They, of course, want to meet her, as Sa-Hyun likens his lover to an angel. Moon-Ho though quips back and asks if Hye-Ryung is a devil.

Meanwhile, Hae-Ryun meets his friend in a bar who asks about his current romantic situation. He mentions how he hasn’t told Si-Eun the truth, which his friend immediately sighs and tells him he needs to break up with her.

I may be wrong here but I’m pretty sure this is directly referencing his lover and not Si-Eun. Hae-Ryun however, claims he can’t live without either girl.

Hye-Ryung and Sa-Hyun continue to run into problems at breakfast too. Perhaps the most shocking part of this drama so far, Hye-Ryung puts milk in a bowl before the cereal.

That is, before the climax at the end of this episode, which sees Ki-Rim suddenly clutching his chest while sitting in the cinema. Ki-Rim grabs Dong-Mi’s arm but she purposefully ignores him as he goes into cardiac arrest.

The Episode Review

I’m not sure who’s editing this show but this episode is somehow worse than the previous ones. Scenes are abruptly and harshly chopped up midway through background music playing.

Mischievous, comedic music plays during Sa-Hyun talking about his unborn child as if it’s a lighthearted event, while the stories don’t really progress with much pizzazz.

The result is a show that takes the worst elements of Reply 1988, Graceful Friends and Penthouse and squeezes them together into one drama.

Maybe Love will improve over time, maybe it’ll pick up steam and showcase some big dramatic twists but even the cliffhanger ending to this episode doesn’t feel like enough to help raise this up above mediocrity.

Given the sheer number of Korean dramas dropping in February, I’m struggling to see how this one will stand out next to so many others. We’ll have to wait and see of course, but two weeks in this doesn’t look good.