The hits just keep coming, don’t they? At this point, I think in my own mind I’ve decided that Kang-ho’s paralysis was psychosomatic. I’m sure there were injuries to his limbs and spine initially, but those have long since healed and now it’s just lack of use and in his head. That is really the only way to explain a lack of food “motivating” him enough to regain the use of his arms a few episodes ago, and his mother’s suicide attempt being the thing that would make a difference for his legs. I’m really tired of her abusive parenting techniques getting results. I can’t believe she tossed him into the pond to make him stand up (I mean, I can it’s just awful), and this coming minutes after their great breakthrough moment together. Talk about whiplash. I wish she would have to deal with her abusiveness at some point, but maybe she will when he regains more of his memories? I can’t imagine Kang-ho will have an easy time trying to square all the good moments with the abusive ones as it is, let alone when he remembers all the past abuse also.

In a stunning turn of events, I find myself on team Mask Lady/Shakespearean Fool. When her husband said that he deserved to die for the things the villagers had almost done to Young-soon, I said, “True” at the same time she said, “That’s true” and it has cemented her role in my mind as the eccentric truth-teller of the group. Also shout out to Sam-shik’s dad this week, who got his wife to stop indignantly defending their son when he was obviously a bully as a kid.

I’m pretty relieved that Kang-ho seems to be gaining in maturity as he gains his physical abilities back. We’re more than halfway through the show at this point, and he was a bit slow to progress from his 7 year old mindset at first. I don’t mind that it happens a bit slowly, but I don’t want to run out of time and have it all happen at the end, especially when there are so many issues to resolve that seem like they will need an adult version of Kang-ho to clear up. Don’t blame Ye-jin for having a crush on him though - he’s progressed just enough to really seem like her oppa.

Can someone explain what the point of Sam-shik is? I can’t help but think that this story would be exactly the same if he was not in it. I like Yoo In-soo, but I have found myself pretty unable to like Sam-shik and his overbearing crush on Mi-joo, and he doesn’t seem to be adding much that the adorable farming thugs are not already bringing to the table.

Arghh I’ve basically tapped out. Apart from Kang-ho’s and Mi-joo’s relationship and their cute children I don’t really give a F about anything else. Mi-joo is a perfect foil to Young-soon, she really listens and her words of encouragement, support and honesty effect Kang-ho far more than any of Young-soon’s harsh words and techniques.

And don’t get me started on Young-soon, I can rant about that lady for DAYS. We know from tons of research POSITIVE reinforcement helps with recovery and basically everything else from education to work. But this lady watches a video about a man who was in the water with an another man helping him to float for his recovery. And what does Young-soon do instead? Literally throws her son from his wheelchair into a cold ass lake and just shouts at him??? Doesn’t even get in the water with him! Whaaat?!

I don’t care if she has cancer, the story was meant for both mother and son to reconcile their differences but also for them to repent and do better. So far Young-soon hasn’t at all connected her abusive behaviour to Kang-ho’s corruption. She doesn’t seem to understand the role she played in his life, one that was built on fear, anger and loneliness but never one of unconditional love. This is why I hate the cancer plot line, it absolves her of her guilt and puts unnecessary pressure on Kang-ho to ‘heal’ faster. And any abusive techniques Young-soon uses is deemed ‘necessary’ because of cancer *sigh*

“Yong soon pushes Kang Ho to the limits.” When I read this in the episode summary on Netflix I was debating whether this would be a good time to drop this show. My wee heart can’t take more of that nonsense. Episode 8 had me wanting to kick her shins. The stupidity was mind numbing. When he is working with a therapist, what is the point of torturing him by repeatedly throwing him in the water? I wanted to hold her head under said water for just a few minutes.
The most adorable moment for me was when Kang Ho forced himself to look ferocious as he said “son of a …” 😂
While it’s important to be realistic, the unrelenting hardship that falls on everyone in this show is hard to watch. Perhaps they need to tone it down a little and show a little upswing.
I snickered a little at how seeing his mom hanging somehow gave him the ability to stand.
I am thinking he will regain his memory just before the election, and expose the politician in the last possible minute

There were so many sad and moving moments this week that Young-soon's return to her old ways felt especially jarring. From the culling of the pigs to her utter descent into despair, I could really feel her pain. But then she started abusing her son again and I mentally checked out.

At this point, I'm just here for the thug farmers. It was such an excellent sight gag when we go from seeing the thugs in suits to seeing them in the typical flowery quilted vests. And Sweet Thug grew a lettuce leaf! You go dude, live your best farming life!

Thanks for the weecap @lovepark
Every week there is a now to be expected ‘How does that even make sense moment’ with Youngsoon. This week was way beyond her worst actions to date and we didn't think it could get any worse. Jebal, jebal, jebal writernim 🙏 let’s draw the line here as surely there is nothing left apart from killing him…oh yeah even that was almost actioned this week😬

It is a known phenomenon that certain life or death incidents can lead a person to temporarily gain superhuman strength and when the situation is resolved there is no way they can do that thing again. I think the fact Kangho was abandoned, rode home, saw his mum attempt suicide and somehow managed to stand up to save her in all one day was more than enough for anyone physically and mentally. It was unbelievable that rather than register how scary that would all have been to a 7 year old; Youngsoon’s first thought was to make him do stand again.

At no point in her throw him in the water approach to physical therapy, did she do anything that would have helped build up the muscle strength. He was literally in traumatic response mode trying not to drown or get pneumonia. The fact she didn't share her booster session techniques with the actual physiotherapists shows that she knows what she is doing is wrong.

In other news:
The Ajusshi farmer outfits and the joy of the lettuce was one of the highlights from this week. The gorgeous children, the quiet phone call to cancel the hen for the long awaited ‘welcoming of the prodigal son in law home’ ceremony were all elements that lifted the mood. I loved the dead pan way Samshik’s mum told him where the pesticide was. I wish he could just tell his parents what was going on rather than try to scam someone/anyone in order to pay back the gangsters.

I do not know how I am balancing the humour, love story, and cute twins with annoying village people and the ridiculous logic that is being applied to Youngsoon’s abusive parenting approach. Case in point; Kangho was never allowed to go on a picnic because two random unrelated to the food incidents took place and that led to a strong connection between picnic food and death. Is the audience really supposed to accept that as good enough to cancel out the very damaging impact this ‘all work and no play’ approach had on Kangho’s quality of life as a child?

I have come to accept that Young-soon will probably always remain the bad mother, perhaps the drama never had the intention that she would be reformed and become a good mother.
In a way, she is the extreme example of a tiger mom.

That's why I wasn't shocked when she was diagnosed with cancer. But I found the scene when the pigs had to be slaughtered much worse. The poor little piglets.

As for Sam-sik, I wonder if the writers want to make the audience sympathise with him. They certainly fail to do so with me. He is a crook and probably always will be. And he was a bully.

I am eagerly awaiting the moment when Kang-ho realises that the twins are his children.

Lovepark, thanks for the recap!

I like the cast and most of the characters. We have wonderful acting talent.

I only wish the storytelling was bit more coherent. I like Mi-joo ,Kang-Ho and the children.

The other elements; evil Kang-Ho, corrupt politician, murderous thug and Bad Mom’s eye rolling “rehab methods” are a jumble. The goofy thug farmers seems out of place. Not sure what the writer has in mind.

I’ll continue to watch though, Ahn Eun-Jin is a pleasant surprise.

Just a few thoughts regarding this week's episode:

-Was anyone a little surprised at Young-soon's decision to take her life? I could not have predicted that at all. I know she must have been going through so much mentally and emotionally especially with her situation with her terminal cancer and the pig farm, but it still shocked me a bit at how extreme her decision was. I expected her to be a bit more resilient, even for the sake of Kang-Ho. Also, it seems the writer wanted to use Young-Soon's s*icide attempt as a catalyst for Kang-Ho's "first step at walking," but I wonder if there could have been a different or more nuanced way to do this?

-This week, I enjoyed seeing the subtle changes in Mi-Joo's demeanor towards Kang-Ho. Maybe because this "younger" version of Kang-Ho is more pure and thoughtful, but her slight bitterness or aloofness towards him seems slowly subsiding. My only grip is that I wish we had longer glimpses of Mi-Joo and Kang-ho's interactions (either in the present or past timeline). Those have always been the highlight of the drama for me.

-Lastly, the acting continues to be exemplary and there are a few lighter and comic scenes to help balance out the depressing moments. But shout out, in particular, to Yoo In-Soo who plays Sam-Shik with so much charm. His persistent one-sided crush on Mi-Joo is always delightful to watch and I'm glad we got to see more of him this week.

SIGH, she is really truly a terrible mother. WTAF, sigh.

On to the good parts, Ye Jin utterly in love with her father is the CUTEST thing in the world. Once she had to truly look up to him, it was over.

Min Joo continues to be great. She is going through it. Loving, despite everything. She is my favorite.

As for Lee Do Hyun. On a beanie thread years ago, there was some kind of comparison pole between Lee Min Ho and Kim Soo Hyun, who do you like better. I will never forget this, a beanie said I don't know who is better, but when Kim Soo Hyun cries, I cry. Lee Do Hyun is the same, every time Kang Ho was sad, I was too. I was crying with his crying.

Ra Mi Ran is also excellent in this. She is awful, I do not like her as a mother. How is she kinder to everyone else than to her own child.

I really enjoy this drama.

Young-soon does not deserve to be a mother. That was not a "double suicide" -- that was murder-suicide. In that scene, I realized how mature Kang-ho is despite his mental age because I believe that he knew when he offered to open the bottle and said, "after we drink this." He then tried to talk her out of it by telling her that they can start over with Lion. How does Kang-ho not have PTSD of water after being thrown into the creek over and over? Young-soon's never-ending child abuse is why I have no sympathy for her pain and suffering from cancer.

The annoying neighbor is ruining this show, but I'm watching for Kang-ho to regain his memories and reunite with Mi-joo and their twins and the unexpectedly funny farming thugs. I love the farming thugs, especially the cute sympathetic one who said, "Thankfully, this pig survived, but she lost all the other pigs." As soon as they brought Young-soon to the hospital when she collapsed, I can't wait until they turn good.

When Young Soon kept throwing Kang Ho in the water, that was rough. I get her frustration because he does things unconsciously or on instinct but can't when he's actually told to. It must be so frustrating to watch and then the added pressure of "I need him to be prepared and capable for life without me". I get her; I really do even though the things she done is seen as abusive or barbaric. Would I necessarily do it or be as understanding if I knew of this happening in real life? Probably not leaning towards no but in the context of the show, I get it.
(Also that scene reminded me of videos (or maybe it was 1 video) I've seen of a parent throwing their baby into a pool of water for them to learn to float or something and comments said that's apparently a thing)

The girl twin's (I think her name is Ye Jin) crush on Kang Ho reminds me of when people say a girl's first love is her dad.

There's a moment when the twins and Kang Ho are talking about how to refer to each other now and when the boy twin (I think his name is Seo Jin) said does that mean we should use honorifics, Ye Jin made a face and he backed down. Kang Ho said (softly) he always thought they should have been doing that. My question is: does that mean the boy twin is the older one and wanted to be referred to as Oppa? Would that be using honorifics?

I still think, at heart, that this is a good show with a lot of genuinely moving (the devastating loss of those innocent pigs) and hysterical (I'm still laughing over the wheelchair-reveal-gone-terribly-wrong) moments. But these episodes were often very hard to watch. It just all felt like too much, from the cancer to the pigs to the suicide attempt to the poor twins longing for a father who is in front of them and yet so far away.

I've chosen not to dwell too much on Young-soon returning to her abusive ways and throwing her paralyzed son into muddy water in which he easily could have drowned. It was cruel, very in-keeping with her character, and predictable. The fact that it also worked is honestly what bothered me most, because for the first time it felt like the writers were asking us to accept that her methods--which previously were framed as unacceptable even if they resulted in the desired outcome--were justified, and therefore, correct. And that's only because the writers were in a hurry to move past this point in the story and get Kang-oh back to being vertical.

Besides Young-soo, there are other mothers in this story who make questionable choices that they justify to themselves by fully believing what they're doing is in their children's best interests.

This week, I thought a lot about Mi-joo's dilemma, and what the ethical, right thing to do was and is. I completely understand why she initially lied to her mother and children that their father couldn't be in their lives because he was off in a faraway country doing his best to financially support them. This is the kind of well-meaning, simple lie that works with very young children who couldn't possibly understand the truth which is, as far as Mi-joo knows, that she was abandoned when no longer useful to their father. I didn't love the choice to fake photos and video chats, but I could understand the logic and care behind her choices.

I'm not sure how far the show will go in exploring this, but I find myself wondering what's the truly moral thing for Mi-joo to do now. I absolutely believe she should not keep lying to her children; this lie is only hurting them, and they are old enough now to hear some version of the truth. But, of course, Kang-ho doesn't know he's their father and besides, without the aid of memory and maturity, it's not clear that he even has the capacity to process her explanations and be a real father to them right now. Plus, Mi-joo still doesn't know why he left her, or what kind of person he became, which means she can't be sure his presence in the children's lives won't in some way be dangerous. And once the children find out it's not like they will be able to refrain from telling him or understanding if he has any other reaction than what they're imagining.

So I'm torn about that, which is a testament to how good the show is.

Other Thoughts:

--I'm sorry, but I still wish mask woman would go away.
--Sam Shik can...

Can't wait to start this drama, currently waiting for it to finish airing so I can binge on it.

At this point, I'm watching only for Kang-ho, Mi-joo and the twins. Every interaction between these characters are ADORABLE and I'm living for it. Ye-jin becoming enamoured with Kang-ho is so cute. I'm counting down the days till Kang-ho realizes he's the father of the twins. Ahn Eun-jin and Lee Do-hyun are so great together, I need a proper romcom with the two of them.

As for the elephant in the room, Ra Mi-ran is a force of nature but I find Young-soon's actions in these episodes to be quite irredeemable. While I felt some semblance of sympathy for her in the murder-suicide scenario (even if there is no justifying killing your son because of your personal difficulties, I understand a person being driven to the brink by an escalating series of tragedies), the scene at the river horrified me. IMO there's no turning back for her no matter what the drama says. Starving your mentally disabled/paraplegic son was already too far, but throwing him into a river where he could easily drown just reinforces my stance that Young-soon should never have been a mother. Some people simply do not deserve to be parents and Young-soon is one of them. The show is actively depicting Young-soon's abuse as effective parenting and I cannot in good conscious condone it.

this show is ridiculous. I dont mind a bad mother, but the way they're sending a terrible message about disabled people is infuriating. I'm not watching this since the first couple of episodes, but reading the recap and other comments online made me furious. what are the trying to do?!

I know life can just be really terrible, but at the same time I feel like the drama is just emotionally manipulating us throwing every possible bad thing toward this family. there's not a single moment to breathe, they want us to cry and feel bad all the time. its honestly tiring.

I wanted to say a lot about how I am mad at Young-soon's character. But the best thing to describe her as @lovepark says, she is neither and both at the same time

I absolutely struggled to watch Kang-ho being thrown in the pond: genuinely traumatic and I am spitting bricks that it's highly unlikely that they will address the impact on him. He's mentally seven - how could witnessing his mother's attempted suicide and experiencing her trying to "drown him" not be traumatising? To suggest that he's just bouncing back without fallout is irresponsible at best...

I also found the practising of her funeral deeply troubling. He was clearly not comfortable with it; she kept forcing him to go on. He understands the significance of it - and it's planting anxiety in him about when she's going to die. This is not just bad parenting, it's horrendous.

But this does make me keep wondering what the drama is ultimately trying to say. Is it raising questions about what bad parenting is - where the line should be drawn? But since no-one's questioning what Young-soon is doing, that's not happening. Is it trying to get us to contrast all the different parents in the drama and reflect on the ways all of them are "bad" to some extent? But then Young-soon is so eclipsing the others with her bad choices that we're not encouraged to think about all the other parents. So what is it trying to say??

FWIW, I think mask lady has a facial disfigurement and her husband married her to rescue her in some way. Really not sure what her function is, but her masks are something else! Shout out for the pig, the unicorn and the Joker...

The main thing that's keeping me watching is the moment when the twins and their dad have their reunion as children and parent rather than friends. That's going to have me blubbing...

Kang-ho's Omma must betray every country she has been reincarnated to receive quadruple crowns of misfortune in every K drama under the sun.

I really like this show and even though we have a couple of more weeks with it, kinda dreading when it's over.
Even though so many seem to dislike Young Soon, I like or understand the character. If the show ends with her death, I think I'll shed some tears.

Part of KH’s cryptic letter to his mom reads:

“... but I still live in the memories I shared with you and Father.”

The mother correctly guessed that the “memories” refer to the picture of them together, and that’s where she found the memory card.

So, KH knew that his life was in danger or that he will be killed, that’s why he hid that memory card there – most probably when he and the Assemblyman’s daughter came to visit. I wonder what is in that memory card? Maybe evidences he dug up on SONG and OH.

Will the content of this memory card awaken his “sleeping” memories? Hope we’ll find out soon!