Happiness Battle: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

by solstices

How far would you go to maintain your reputation? Pride, power, and perfection take center stage amidst the cutthroat competition of elite mothers — winning is everything, until the pretenses come crumbling down.

Editor’s note: This is a first episode review only. To chat about the drama as it airs, please visit the Drama Hangout.
 
EPISODE 1

We open on a hauntingly grotesque scene of a bloody hand, from which a USB falls several stories to the ground below. It isn’t clear what has happened or who was involved yet, but as the paramedics arrive on the scene, we hear a nosy neighbor gawk that “one of them” must have survived.

Rewinding back to before the incident, we’re introduced to our three high society moms through a social media montage. There’s OH YOO-JIN (Park Hyo-joo), fashionable mother of two adorable daughters; SONG JUNG-AH (Jin Seo-yeon), the CEO of her own company; and KIM NA-YOUNG (Cha Ye-ryun), who brags about her doting husband at every opportunity.

In contrast, our protagonist JANG MI-HO (Lee El, yay!) is living a much humbler life as a bank employee. Together with her coworker LEE JIN-SEOB (Sohn Woo-hyun, double yay!), Mi-ho is tasked with screening applicants for a giveaway event. That’s how she comes across Yoo-jin’s name on the list, and it clearly rattles her.

The perceptive Jin-seob quickly catches on that there’s history between Mi-ho and Yoo-jin, and he’s not wrong. If Mi-ho’s photo frame and Yoo-jin’s photo album are any indication, the two used to be childhood friends — until it all ended in high school.

Through Mi-ho’s flashbacks, we see recollections that paint a picture of a nasty falling-out. From the looks of it, Mi-ho seems to have been the victim of school violence — and either Yoo-jin was the perpetrator, or she did nothing to stop it.

Even without this added layer of mystery, there’s more than enough tension in the air. Our three moms are perpetually locked in a passive-aggressive battle to come out on top — each one is determined to outdo the others and secure some social media bragging rights.

The latest topic of contention is the upcoming school play, and naturally everyone wants their child in the lead role. That means our moms go to extreme lengths — whether that’s Yoo-jin secretly cutting up the custom designer dress that Na-young had tailored for her daughter, or Jung-ah revising the script in favor of the prince so that her son Min-sung can shine.

Amidst all the covert scheming, though, lies one more variable. That’s fellow mom HWANG JI-YE (Woo Jung-won), who leads a considerably less privileged life than the rest. It’s clear that the other moms look down upon her — but while Ji-ye may not have the resources to secure opportunities for her daughter, she’s certainly resourceful.

Suspecting that Yoo-jin lied about her daughter having a peanut allergy in order to force a do-over audition and snag the lead role in the previous school play, Ji-ye deliberately orders a dish with peanuts for the kids’ playtime snack. That effectively exposes Yoo-jin’s lie, planting the seeds of doubt in the other moms’ minds.

Having nursed an inferiority complex all this while, Na-young jumps at the chance to drag Yoo-jin down from her pedestal. Jung-ah’s a little more patient — recognizing that they need concrete evidence in order to properly tarnish Yoo-jin’s image, she’s been biding her time. Now, they have ammunition, and the other moms are more than ready to back them up.

Meanwhile, it’s back to work for Mi-ho, who’s forced to reluctantly call Yoo-jin as part of her assigned tasks. However, Yoo-jin doesn’t recognize her at all — not by her voice, nor by her name. The axe forgets, but the tree remembers. Deciding to confront Yoo-jin, Mi-ho dials her again.

By now, Yoo-jin has finally remembered who Mi-ho is — and just the thought of her showing up is enough to have Yoo-jin quake in fear. Terrified that Mi-ho will dredge up the incident from years ago, Yoo-jin tries to seal her lips with a hefty cash bribe.

Of course, Mi-ho isn’t having it. She chases Yoo-jin all the way from the cafe back to her apartment complex, refusing to leave until Yoo-jin comes down and takes her money back. It’s enough to send Yoo-jin into a tailspin — but when it rains, it pours. That’s the exact moment that the horde of angry moms arrive, ready to call Yoo-jin out for her deceit.

Trapped in the web of her own lies, Yoo-jin panics. She can’t let the moms find out about her ugly past with Mi-ho, and she can’t let her husband find out about all her deception. Thinking fast, she calls Mi-ho up to her apartment — but that just means she’s stuck in the hallway with Mi-ho next to her, the moms on the other side of the door, and her husband and children one room over. To make matters worse, the cash spills out in her brief tussle with Mi-ho, strewing the evidence of Yoo-jin’s guilt all over the floor.

I didn’t think I’d care much for Yoo-jin coming into this show — I am a Lee El fan through and through — but she’s a lot more compelling than I initially thought she’d be. Perhaps it’s the way Park Hyo-joo is playing her, but Yoo-jin is almost sympathetic, in a pitiful sort of way. Her methods aren’t excusable in the slightest, but there’s this desperate edge to her actions that makes her feel very human. It makes me wonder if she’s experienced falling to rock bottom with nothing to her name — to the point that she’ll now do anything to keep up her carefully-curated image of being the best, because she’s terrified of losing it all.

It’s almost sad how self-absorbed these mothers are — they’re raising their children not as individuals in their own right, but as extensions of themselves. Yoo-jin wilfully turns a blind eye to her daughters’ interests, pushing them into enrichment classes against their will. (And does anyone else get the feeling that she favors one daughter over the other?) Meanwhile, Ji-ye is bent on securing a fair opportunity for her child, but she doesn’t care about the other kids she might be harming in the process.

Also, it was already apparent from the drama’s first poster, but this show is so beautifully filmed — every shot feels deliberate and artfully designed. Those flatlays feel like they were taken right out of a home decor magazine! The tasteful cinematography makes the drama feel as polished as our leading ladies’ social media feeds, crafting an aura of elegance while hinting that all is not as it seems. The show has been doling out subtle details so far — for example, both Mi-ho and Yoo-jin are left-handed — and I can’t wait to find out what role they’ll play down the line.

 
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