Perfect Wife: Episode 6

by LollyPip

I hope nobody is too attached to their pet theories, because this episode reveals just enough of Eun-hee’s secrets to smash what we thought we knew to smithereens. If there’s one thing this show is proving, it’s that you can never know what a person truly feels, or experience what they’ve experienced. Though Jae-bok tries her best to understand Eun-hee, she’s about to learn that for some people, the truth is just something to be manipulated in the pursuit of their own goals.

 
EPISODE 6 RECAP

Eun-hee tells Jae-bok that she knows how it feels to have a husband who loves another woman, because her husband still has feelings for his first love. Jae-bok nervously asks if Eun-hee knows who that first love is, and Eun-hee tells her, “Yes, I know. It’s you.”

In shock, Jae-bok wants to know if Eun-hee knew about this when she rented the upstairs to her. Eun-hee lobs the question back to her, pointing out that Jae-bok also knew before she moved in.

Jung-hee joins them outside, wondering if something is wrong, and Eun-hee plasters on her too-sweet smile and says that everything is fine. Jae-bok insists that she has nothing to hide, and tells Jung-hee that they were discussing the fact that she used to date Eun-hee’s husband.

Jung-hee wonders if they just now figured this out, making Eun-hee smirk like Jae-bok is about to be in big trouble. But Jae-bok bravely tells him that she knew before they moved in, wanting to avoid any further misunderstandings.

She tells Eun-hee that she did date Kyung-woo in the past, but that it wasn’t that serious, emotionally or physically. She asks why Eun-hee pretended not to know anything, but when Eun-hee doesn’t answer, she draws the accurate conclusion that Eun-hee did it to gather information about her.

Overwhelmed, Jae-bok decides to move out right then and there. She tells Jung-hee that she’s going to stay with her friend Won-jae, because she can’t forgive the fact that Eun-hee brought her into this house under false pretenses. She’s angry and embarrassed that Eun-hee was probably gloating over her family situation all this time.

Jung-hee grows upset that Jae-bok plans to take the kids with her, which has Jae-bok bristling at him for making their divorce sound like her fault. She makes it clear that this marriage ended the moment he fell for another woman.

Meanwhile, Eun-hee listens in on their argument, grows agitated, and rushes out of the house. But she’s all smiles in the car, singing along with the radio and looking like it’s her birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.

Jae-bok tells Jung-hee that they’ll discuss what to tell the kids later, then reminds him not to miss Jin-wook’s concert tomorrow. Jung-hee says that he’s letting her go for now to give her some needed space, but it doesn’t mean he’ll divorce her.

Eun-hee arrives back home seconds after Jae-bok drives away, and learns from Jung-hee that she moved out. She puts on a great show of pretending to be distraught.

Too distracted to work out, Bong-gu sits at the gym thinking through the clues in Na-mi’s diary. There was a countdown to the day her large deposit came in, so Bong-gu guesses that she was being paid by this Choi Deok-boon to do something within a certain time frame.

He takes a call from his buddy Sam-kyu, who says that he’s found Choi Deok-boon. She turns out to be a slightly batty homeless woman, which means that the account that transferred money to Na-mi was a dummy account. It also means that Mystery Woman isn’t the real Choi Deok-boon after all.

As Sam-kyu tries to shake off the real Choi Deok-boon, someone watches from a nearby hiding place and calls the fake Deok-boon (she goes by that name, so we’ll just keep calling her that for now). Eun-hee asks her if Na-mi’s diary has really been found, warning her not to screw up. Deok-boon sneers at Eun-hee and says that she’s the one who should be careful.

She goes straight to the little blonde maid’s home, knowing that she must be the one who leaked information about Na-mi. Deok-boon punishes her by hitting her repeatedly with her leather gloves and pushes her way into the house to continue the beating.

Won-jae isn’t happy when Jae-bok shows up on her doorstep with both kids in tow (she’s already taken in their other friend, Hye-ran, who’s still on the run from her ex-boyfriend’s burly wife). But, like the good friend she is, Won-jae lets them stay. Jae-bok tells her and Hye-ran that Eun-hee has known about her past with Kyung-woo this entire time, though she shoulders some of the blame for moving in when she knew it was a bad idea.

She tells her friends that Eun-hee and Kyung-woo don’t have the wonderful relationship she assumed they had. Hye-ran wonders why Kyung-woo never contacted Jae-bok if he’s so hung up on her, as Eun-hee believes.

It suddenly occurs to Jae-bok that Kyung-woo might be Blue Rose, the person she’s been chatting with online for three years. Her friends find this terribly romantic, but Jae-bok cringes in embarrassment at the thought.

Won-jae’s daughter Che-ri comes downstairs complaining about Jin-wook, while he snipes back that he’s not happy to be here either. Hye-ran sing-songs that Jin-wook likes Che-ri, embarrassing the entire room in one fell swoop.

In private, Jae-bok asks her son to please behave while they’re here. He asks if she and Jung-hee are getting divorced, but Jae-bok denies it, explaining that she was just uncomfortable in Eun-hee’s house because of the overly familiar things she was doing.

Jin-wook argues that he likes Eun-hee, and he likes his room at her house. Jae-bok refuses his request to stay at Eun-hee’s house without her, even when he pouts and calls her a bully again.

After she leaves, Jin-wook pulls a brand-new smartphone from his bag. Eun-hee had given it to him, warning him to keep it a secret. He puts it away and grabs his old flip phone, and sends Eun-hee a text inviting her to his concert tomorrow night.

Still at Eun-hee’s house, Jung-hee follows his nose to the kitchen where she’s cooking dinner. He refuses her offer to join her before he goes out to look for work, so she offers to make him breakfast in the morning instead.

Jung-hee explains that he’s going to stay with his mother, so after he leaves, Eun-hee goes back into the kitchen, frustrated. She texts Jin-wook back to accept his invitation to the concert.

Jae-bok stays up late trying to contact Blue Rose, who hasn’t been answering her messages lately. But this time he does respond, giving a vague explanation that he’s been busy. Jae-bok asks if he’s Kyung-woo as she suspects, but he says he’s not.

She accuses him of lying, sure that she’s right, and asks why he rented his home to her. She pleads with him to tell her the truth, but he leaves the chat room without offering any answers.

Eun-hee is also up late, working on her embroidery. Lost in thought, she pricks her finger with her needle, and several drops of blood fall to stain the white linen like a bad omen.

Bong-gu finishes up a restaurant meeting with a client, then rushes off to the restroom. On the way, he hears Jae-bok’s voice and stops to watch as she finishes up a job interview. It doesn’t sound like it went well.

Bong-gu goes back to Sam-kyu’s office and finds fault with everything he’s been doing, insisting that he needs an experienced law assistant. He tells Sam-kyu to interview the person whose resume is on his desk, and surprise surprise, it’s Jae-bok’s resume. Ya big marshmallow.

While leaving yet another failed interview, Jae-bok gets a call from Hye-ran, who tells her that Sam-kyu wants to interview her for a job. Jae-bok tries to refuse, knowing that Bong-gu works there, but Hye-ran points out that she can’t afford to be fussy. Hee, Bong-gu is coaching Hye-ran while they talk, and he tells her to say that he’s leaving soon for a different job.

That convinces Jae-bok to show up, though she walks in with a big ole chip on her shoulder when she sees Bong-gu in Sam-kyu’s office. She ignores him and does her best to be professional, while Bong-gu makes comments like how he wanted to hire a single woman just to get her goat.

Eun-hee goes shopping for a special dress just for Jin-wook’s concert. Meanwhile, Jung-hee answers a job ad for a club performer and is hired right away, mostly because the regular performer didn’t show up for work.

After being nagged by her mother-in-law for not packing Jung-hee’s clothes for him, Jae-bok drops by Eun-hee’s house to pick up his underwear. Eun-hee arrives home to find Jae-bok on her way back out, and Jae-bok explains that she has no other choice but to leave.

Eun-hee looks crestfallen and begs Jae-bok not to go. She says that she likes Jae-bok so much that she pretended not to know about her previous relationship with Kyung-woo, but only to avoid any awkwardness. She promises that she stopped suspecting anything between Jae-bok and her husband once she got to know her.

Jae-bok holds firm, reminding Eun-hee that she said those things only yesterday. Eun-hee thinks fast and says she was just venting feelings she’s had for a long time. Jae-bok replies that she’s glad if Eun-hee truly no longer feels that way, but she’s still going.

Desperate to convince Jae-bok to stay, Eun-hee apologizes for getting too involved with the children. She blames her own excitement to be living with such sweet kids, but although Jae-bok thanks her, she refuses to be talked out of her decision.

Eun-hee chases her out and begs her to reconsider, reminding Jae-bok that she redecorated the entire second floor for her. Jae-bok says that she should have stopped her from doing that and apologizes, but then she takes it back, saying that she doesn’t want to have to apologize to Eun-hee anymore.

Jae-bok turns to go but realizes she forgot her purse, so Eun-hee eagerly runs inside to fetch it. She finds the purse in Jae-bok’s former bedroom, but instead of taking it back down, she stops and looks in the mirror, seeming to get an idea.

Eun-hee skips down the stairs waving Jae-bok’s purse, but halfway down she trips and tumbles all the way to the ground floor. When she tries to put weight on her right leg, she cries out in pain.

A trip to the hospital and a leg cast later, Jae-bok settles Eun-hee in bed and makes her some porridge. She decides that she should stay and take care of Eun-hee, which makes Eun-hee admit that she’s happy she got hurt.

Eun-hee says that she meant what she said about growing to like Jae-bok after she moved in. She repeats that she’s not upset about Jae-bok’s past relationship with her husband anymore, it just slipped out.

Eun-hee suddenly remembers Jin-wook’s concert tonight and urges Jae-bok to go. The concert is already in full swing when Jae-bok arrives and joins Hae-wook and her friends. Hye-ran squeals that Jin-wook reminds her of Jung-hee in his band days, teasing that some girl will fall for Jin-wook like his mom did for his dad.

Jae-bok remembers the night she met Jung-hee — he’d been the lead singer of a rock band, and she’d been one of the throng of screaming girls at his concert. The girls had rushed forward, and Jung-hee had walked the edge of the stage, touching all of their hands. Jae-bok had been holding a single rose out to him, and as he took it, their fingers touched, their eyes met, and it was all over.

Jin-wook is adorable onstage, and when the concert concludes, he jumps down to greet everyone. But he ignores Jae-bok and asks where Eun-hee is, wilting when she says that Eun-hee couldn’t make it.

As they wait for him outside the dressing room, Jae-bok tells her friends that she’s going to be staying at Eun-hee’s house again because she feels partially responsible for her injured leg. Won-jae actually thinks she’s doing the right thing since she paid rent for the place, so she tells Jae-bok not to feel guilty.

Jung-hee is singing tonight too, in the sleazy bar for a group of pushy ajummas. They force him to eat and drink, which makes him feel sick. His new boss brings him something for his stomach and shrugs that at least the money is good.

When Jae-bok calls to ask why he didn’t show up to Jin-wook’s concert, she can immediately tell that Jung-hee’s been drinking. She fusses at him for being irresponsible and hangs up before he can tell her that he got a job.

Deok-boon has a fit when she sees Eun-hee’s leg in a cast, and she says something interesting — that if she isn’t careful, Eun-hee might become paralyzed again. Eun-hee slaps her hand away and coldly asks if Deok-boon is trying to be motherly, but before either can say anything else, Jin-wook arrives home and calls out for Eun-hee.

Eun-hee instantly cheers up at the sound of his voice, and she gives him a congratulatory hug. She sees that Jae-bok brought her bags with her, and thanks her for coming back.

That night, Jung-hee finally gets a chance to explain to Jae-bok that he missed Jin-wook’s concert because he got a job. He lies that it’s with another construction company and that they all went out drinking to initiate him. He thinks that her being back at the house means they’re getting back together, but Jae-bok informs him that she still wants a divorce.

Jung-hee thinks that he’s going to get the kids, because he’s the one with a job. Jae-bok reminds him that he cheated, warning him that she won’t give up the children, no matter what.

Jin-wook bursts into the room, yelling that he knew they were getting a divorce. He accuses his mother of leaving Jung-hee because he doesn’t make enough money, so Jung-hee drags him to his room, threatening a spanking.

Instead of a whipping, Jung-hee sits Jin-wook down, then sits beside him and heaves a heavy sigh. Fighting tears, he apologizes for missing Jin-wook’s concert, but adds that he saw the video and is proud of him.

He levels with Jin-wook and tells him that he and Jae-bok have discussed divorce. But he says that they don’t really mean it, and that it’s not his mother’s fault, though he’s too ashamed to say why it’s his own fault.

After a while, Jae-bok peeks through the door to see Jung-hee playing guitar for his son. She imagines Na-mi sitting with them, her head on Jung-hee’s shoulder, looking up at him with love in her eyes. She wonders if this is how Eun-hee feels about her and Kyung-woo, but she still can’t bring herself to forgive Jung-hee.

In the morning, cranky Jin-wook knocks Hae-wook’s balloon from her hand, causing it to fly up and get stuck in the light fixture. When Jae-bok comes to fetch it, she suddenly remembers that this is where she saw that maid, the girl she saw at the columbarium, and later on the CCTV video leaving the bank statement at Bong-gu’s door.

She meets with Bong-gu, who’s finally identified the girl as Seon Yoo-kyung, a friend of Na-mi’s from middle school. Jae-bok fusses at him for not recognizing his sister’s friend, which has Bong-gu insisting again that Na-mi was not his sister.

Jae-bok asks exactly what their relationship was, so Bong-gu rattles off the facts as fast as he can — his father’s second wife left them for another man, Na-mi’s father. That means that the woman in the hospital is both Bong-gu’s stepmother and Na-mi’s stepmother, since she was married to both of their fathers.

They find Yoo-kyung waiting for them in a coffee shop, sporting a black eye. She lies that it’s not her on the CCTV video, and the bank statement makes her whine that Na-mi didn’t use any of that money to pay her back. She tells Bong-gu that Na-mi borrowed money from everyone, and even dated married men for money.

Bong-gu is silent as he and Jae-bok leave, lost in thought. Jae-bok asks if he feels guilty for ignoring Na-mi while she lived that way, scoffing that Na-mi isn’t even alive anymore, yet everyone is still so upset over her.

She sees a punching machine and decides to work out her feelings, though her punch is pretty wimpy. Bong-gu goes next and slams the machine over and over while Jae-bok watches, realizing how deep his guilt must run.

Won-jae calls her with some information on Kyung-woo, who she’s been looking into. Jae-bok is stunned to learn that Kyung-woo and Eun-hee were divorced three years ago, though they lived apart even before that. Whoa.

Jae-bok questions whether that was actually Kyung-woo that she hid from at Eun-hee’s house that night. Then she recalls Eun-hee calling him by name, and the scar on his ankle that she remembers from when they dated, and she’s certain that it was him.

She picks up Hae-wook at school, then arrives at the house to find Deok-boon struggling to carry in groceries, so she offers to help. One bag breaks and apples go rolling into the street, and while Jae-bok picks them up, Deok-boon glares daggers at her behind her back.

Hae-wook goes inside the house first, just in time to catch Eun-hee skipping down the stairs in her cast. I knew she was faking! Eun-hee is back in her wheelchair by the time Jae-bok gets inside, and Jae-bok decides to get to the truth.

She asks why Eun-hee lied about being married to Kyung-woo, but instead of answering, Eun-hee asks why Jae-bok felt it necessary to do a background check on her. She confesses that she lied, and that she and her husband divorced about three and a half years ago.

Again, Jae-bok asks why Eun-hee said she was married, but the doorbell prevents Eun-hee from answering again. Deok-boon announces with a smirk that the director is here, and when Jae-bok expresses confusion, Eun-hee says it’s her husband.

Kyung-woo walks into the room behind Jae-bok, so he doesn’t immediately see her. When he realizes there’s someone else with them, he frowns at Jae-bok’s profile, then tentatively says her name. Jae-bok slowly turns to face him, and they recognize each other.

 
COMMENTS

Ohthankgoodness, he’s not dead! I didn’t really think Kyung-woo was dead, but I worried, because he was so conveniently absent the moment Eun-hee needed him to be. I do think Jae-bok is probably correct that Kyung-woo is Blue Rose, which may mean that Eun-hee isn’t working alone. Blue Rose is the one who told Jae-bok about the vacant apartment in the house in the first place, which could indicate that he’s been in on the scheme from the beginning. It’s a frightening thought, because Jae-bok has been talking to Blue Rose for years, and you can plan a lot of scary stuff in that amount of time. It’s also possible that Eun-hee herself is Blue Rose, though somehow I don’t think that’s the case.

Another (and in my opinion, more likely) hypothesis is that Kyung-woo is Blue Rose, but that he’s not in on Eun-hee’s revenge scheme — particularly now that we know he and Eun-hee divorced three and a half years ago, and Blue Rose first began speaking with Jae-bok three years ago. It could be that he contacted Jae-bok for his own reasons after his divorce, but that he chose to remain anonymous, possibly because he learned she was married. It sounds as though conversations between Blue Rose and Jae-bok stayed pretty platonic for those three years, since Jae-bok said that he’s mostly been helping her study to get her law degree. Besides, if he’d said anything remotely personal, she would have suspected his true identity sooner.

My guess is that Eun-hee somehow found out that her ex-husband was back in contact with his first love, became jealous, and started plotting revenge. It’s not as frightening as the idea that Eun-hee and Kyung-woo have been working together to lure Jae-bok into their clutches for some evil reason, but given that Eun-hee’s motivation seems to be pure jealousy of her husband’s first love, I think it’s more plausible that Kyung-woo is innocent. Knowing what we know now about the divorce, I think that Eun-hee is also targeting Kyung-woo for revenge, and that she set up this meeting between Kyung-woo and Jae-bok to kick off the next phase of her plan. That look on her face when they recognized each other seemed too triumphant for it to be a coincidence.

And who the heck is Mystery Woman/Deok-boon? What is her relationship with Eun-hee? They seem to be working together, but there’s obviously no love lost between the two of them — they barely seem able to stand each other. And it’s hard to say which of them is in charge, because at different times they each seem to have the upper hand in their relationship. I have actually wondered previously if Deok-boon was Eun-hee’s mother, but the two are so antagonistic with each other that I dismissed the thought. But now Eun-hee’s comment about Deok-boon trying to act like a mom makes me think that there’s more to it. It’s just very strange that Deok-boon is willing to pay girls vast sums of money, not to mention possibly ordering Na-mi’s murder, to help herd Jae-bok’s family into Eun-hee’s clutches when the women can barely tolerate each other. I just can’t imagine what’s in it for Deok-boon, or why Eun-hee keeps her so close, unless they’re inextricably tied together somehow. But if she is Eun-hee’s mother, however strained their relationship may be, it would explain why Deok-boon is so enmeshed in Eun-hee’s plans and why she gets so emotional when the girls — Na-mi and the maid — don’t do as they’re told.

Even though Eun-hee’s end game is still a mystery, I just love how information is being doled out to us with near-perfect timing. The show keeps its cards very close to the vest, giving us just enough to keep us hooked while keeping us guessing as to what may really be going on. It’s a very delicate balance, as giving away too much too soon strips the show of its suspense, while withholding too much for too long can cause your audience to lose interest. I was a bit worried that might happen after the first week’s episodes aired and we had no earthly idea what was going on. But since then it’s just gotten better and better, and I’ve even found myself thinking about the show at random times during the week, rolling theories around in my head and wondering if I’m onto something or if I’m miles off from the truth. And as good as it is already, I have a feeling that we’ve barely seen the tip of the iceberg. I believe that Perfect Wife is going to take us into some pretty dark territory before letting us in on all its secrets.

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