Jindan’s internal monologue is as nasty, vicious and entitled as his conduct. Yuck. I hope Jiyoung/Dora’s further entanglement with him doesn’t come to pass.

And, I really don’t like how Pilseung speaks to the assistant director. He sounds obnoxious and hence, is getting on my nerves. It is an unfortunate change in his character’s depiction over the last few eps but it tracks with some of the sexist and arrogant characteristics instilled in a male KD archetype.

They got Pil-seung's foundation to match his skin by the end of episode 21 thank the goddess!!! Please don't go back, MUA! Jebal!

Also OMO biceps.

Also, Ji-young's jump of surprise at the very beginning had me laughing so hard, I watched it 10 times just to relive the experience!!!

I see a lot of hate for Jindan... so I'm throwing a controversial opinion here 😁 :
I actually find Jindan OK after the restart?
This time it is Dora who basically forces him to be in her company... and I also so far don't see much difference between Jindan's behaviour and Pilseung's behaviour, both are in their on way sort of forcing stuff on Dora (I even think Pilseung is right now worse for confusing Dora).

Also, the reason that Dora makes Jindan laugh is a good reason to be interested in her and want to spend time with her.

* I have not watched E21 yet.

Episodes 21 and 22 were very enlightening. The bright spots? Myeong-dong finally won a scriptwriting contest and as a result she and Do-shik can start dating. Plus, Do-ra’s acting talents are being recognized.

Now for the bad news: Jin-dan never learned a thing from what happened two years ago. His behavior last week was a head fake: His real objective with “Ji-yeong” is to make her his mistress even as he marries Kin Tae-Hee, the Chaebol heiress. He really is scum.
Do-ra’s mom is still unable to control her temper or behavior. She too has learned nothing.

Ma-ri has pursued Pil-seung and had her heart broken. Pil-seung says he just sees her as his little sister (little does he know). But, Do-jun is back in the picture and appearing in episodes again- and Ma-ri got to feel his biceps. This last may be the start of something more once Ma-ri is over Pilseung.

Thoughts on Ep21-22: Not sure if it's just me but it seems like the pacing has slowed down a little compared to what we've been used to. For everyone's sake (especially the viewers), can they please resolve the "Ma-Ri seriously obsessing over Pil-Seung" issue sooner rather than later?

Also, I get why Pil-Seung is trying to protect Ji Young from repeating her traumatic "1st life" again, but without her memories, his current reaction to her budding acting career is evidently pushing her further an further away from him (and into the hands of dangerous people). The silver lining is that the synopsis indicates that he will patiently and devotedly raise her up again. I'm looking forward to him softening up again and supporting her in her choices as that's the only approach that is likely to work.

At least Ji Young seems to be much more assertive this time around. Too bad Jin Dan is likely to turn nasty again when she turns down his advances. I am loving the references to her "grandma" saying that "you get nothing in life for free, there is always payback". Poles apart from what her real mum would have asked her to do.

I feel sorry for Myeong-dong and Do-sik. You can’t choose your parents, after all. But if any two characters should be screeched at and have their hair pulled, it’s her mom and his mom — doing it to each other as they both so richly deserve for their inability to self-reflect, experience shame or see their family members as anything but a means to become chaebol-adjacent.

I actually SCREAMED out lout and clapped my hands to my face at 58m46s of episode 23.

I had had the stupidest grin on my face for the previous 20 minutes and then...

😱

Episode 23 shifted the focus first to our secondary couple and then to Ma-ri. Also, Pilseong was finally forced to back down and will now help Do-ra achieve her dream of acting. Maybe this is the final gift of amnesia to Do-ra- she is no longer going to do this for the money but because of her love of acting. Amnesia has truly been a blessing to her.

Our second couple has lied to their families about breaking up but will be sneaking around instead: Expect comedy to ensue.

As I thought Ma-ri is made of much sterner stuff than people give her credit for. For all that she speaks in a childlike manner and has been dressed like a child she is no child. She is very much a woman and desires to marry. She hatched the idea of sneaking into Pil-seong’s room with the object of sleeping with him to make a baby. She did not bargain on falling asleep in his closet so that plan collapsed in about as harmless a way as possible, but her stunt did serve a purpose or rather two purposes: First the dramatic purpose of finally forcing her mom to confess and reveal Pilseong’s birth secret. Second, as a reminder that someone like Ma-ri may not possess all of the abilities that most of us have but she is not less than a whole human being just because that is so.

The reveal of the birth secret before we have reached the half-way point suggests that the writer is definitely not done with Ma-ri’s story. Whatever else may transpire do not forget that Ma-ri may be disappointed but in fact has gained something priceless: An older brother.

Meanwhile Jin-dan is seeing Tae Hee. For the moment both sides of our double triangle are broken, but it is doubtful that we have seen the last of Jin-dan.

There's no way Ji Yeong can withstand Pil Seung's charms now that he has dialled it up to 11.

He still has curly hair on his KMS staff ID pass. 😀

Mari has a lot more moral understanding than we have given her credit for. She really laid things out very clearly when she talked about her mom’s abandonment of Pilseung. It may have been the most poignant moment in this show so far.

But really what was coolest was Ma-ri's little vignette later in episode 24 when she is watching her Oppa at his workplace. She has already accepted and adjusted to the new situation. With twenty-six more episodes yet to go there is obviously much more to come with her story.

Which also shows us that this drama continues to clip right along.

Jin-dan just demonstrated that he is still a first-rate cad. He had me fooled in the last episode but episode 24 proved me wrong. What an idiot and a fool as well. That boy is riding for a fall and when it happens it will truly be one hard landing.

Ep 24: dial up the makjang! We have both hair pulling AND face punching in one episode. Recap: Pil-Seung (❤) 2; Jin-Dan (☠) 0.

#25: The “Lovely Runner” got name checked in B&MR! That’s a hilarious meta moment.

Ep. 25:
- scene where I found the collected antique childhood toys
- I loved the scene of FL doing the changing-fashion makeover scene of a fashion store. That fashion store looked beautiful.
- Wow! I found the heart-shaped padlock!
- I don't believe that there was a entertainment agency Gogo Entertainment and I probably knew that the name Gogo was a dance that originated from 1960s. I hope that FL/Im Soo-hyang will not dance the gogo with the gogo boots since this weekender was now lived in modern era. Go-go dancing became one of the old-time dances.
-Not only all of female catfights and even hair-pulling just like from this weekender, all of the past weekenders and even Korean daily dramas, there was male dogfights or male bawls. So I loved the male dogfight/brawl near the mens restroom and this scene made me kind of fun.
Ep. 26:
- I found the logo of real Korean brand Dualsonic. Did this weekend sponsored Dualsonic?
- That ornaments during the shaman scene looked elegant.
- There was the scene at the cafe of KMS building, one of the villainess took revenge to look at the back of FL/Im Soo-hyang. Is there any burns or just an insect bites at FL's back?

Well, I'd say we're starting Chapter Four, then, huh? Pil-seung now has a high-flying job courtesy of his genetic mother and we'll see how that all goes--I suspect his aunt's screenwriting talents will probably be coming to GoGo Entertainment at some point as well.

Ji-young is now officially an actress and has moved out of Pil-seung's family home, and Do-ra's mom (pretty much) knows that Ji-young is Do-ra now. Let the reveals begin!

Ma-ri also seems to be more central to more of the plotlines--for example, accepting Pil-seung and Ji-young--and she sure is dogged. I was very excited to see her eating pasta with Do-jun. More Do-jun, plz.

I did think these episodes dragged a bit, but I'm going to hold out hope that this was because of the transition to the new plotlines. It also seems a bit like they've "lost the plot" on Jin-dan, unfortunately. I hope they turn his narrative into something interesting and coherent STAT!

Episodes 25 and 26 mark the midpoint of this show.

Ma-ri has figured out a way to have an older brother without upsetting the applecart: She tells Pil-seung’s family that she wants to treat Pil-seung ‘like an older brother’. She has a flair for the ironic and when her mom tells her that Ma-ri is a thousand times smarter than she is I have to admit that at least in some ways she might actually be right.

However, if Ma-ri is going to intervene in a fight to protect her Oppa she really needs to at least take boxing lessons first- or better yet learn Mixed Martial Arts. Clearly her parents have neglected important parts of her education.

Meanwhile Jin-dan and Do-ra’s mom seem fundamentally unchanged- neither has learned a thing. I do not see how a redemption arc is really possible for either one given their basic characters. Jin-dan should have focused on the beautiful, desirable and rich Tae-hee instead of Ji-young but ended up utterly losing control: This boy is just “too stupid to live” (to quote my Contracts Professor). Now he can kiss Tae-hee good bye (figuratively- no way Tae-hee is actually going to touch him in any way). Both of our villains share the same faults: Impulsiveness and anger management issues. WE may have seen the beginning of the Decline and Fall of Jin-dan.

But my special disgust in episode 26 was reserved for Pil-seung’s grandmother- she stepped so far over the line that I really think that Pilseung should just disown her outright. A nasty person who always speak badly of others- unfortunately we have all met someone like that.

I know that she was being paid but the shaman spilling the beans about Do-ra being alive to Do-ra’s mom: Even if it was highly professional, how unfortunate.

Episode 27
I am really enjoying the thought of Ji-young coming to terms with being Do-ra without getting her memory back. But also...Boy! You can just walk into the "Korean Genetics Analysis Center" and get a test done on anyone, anytime without their permission or knowledge, can't ya?

I'm in love with a drunk-tantrumming Jin-dan because I have a very selective memory. Also, he's not a real person. Also, that both Most Hated Granny is "encouraging" Ji-young to marry/date Jin-dan and even Jin-dan's hyung is all "why don't you just pick a woman and date her--even if it's Ji-young," is deliciously cyclical of the writer.

Lastly, anyone else shout "DO-JUN!!" at the screen when he showed up? Ma-ri's totally gonna spill the beans to him.

PS: Don't believe a word your mother says, Do-ra. Not...one...word. I don't even believe she feels a single ounce of responsibility for anyone but herself.

Episode 27 does effectively commence a fourth chapter, but this time without a time skip.

What sort of mother deliberately feeds her (possible) child something that she is allergic to? I actually know of someone who lost a child to a nut allergy- it was incredibly tragic.

Do-jun is back- and apparently was studying Architecture before he had to stop. But what startled me was the scene when Ma-ri came in to tell him about Pil-seung’s prize. For the first time she was not dressed like a little girl but rather as a woman- in attire that actually flatters her figure- and her hair was also less childlike. We got to see her as what she really is: A very pretty woman. Who had the good sense to call her dad when her uncle showed up drunk at Pil-seung’s house. She may act childlike, but she is actually a very grounded person, unlike her uncle and many other of the adults in this drama. Is the writer signaling the possibility of a romance for Ma-ri? Do-jun’s physique has already elicited at least one “Daebak” from her so I have to think that the possibility is being raised.

In any case Ma-ri continues to be one of active participants in this story- one who moves it along even if she is not a central character.

How tragic for Do-ra to find out that her Grandma was not her grandma- and that she is in fact genetically related to ‘That Crazy Lady’. Who is fully back to being her sociopathic manipulative self. And Do-ra is back living with her? It made my stomach churn to see that.

In any case the story has definitely picked up speed again. And now I am waiting for Pilseung’s response to Do-ra.

Episode 28 was painful. Do-ra broke up with Pilseung because he knew who she was and did not tell her- and now she has fallen into her mom’s clutches again. At this point it is now unfortunate that she does not have her memories back. Do-jun has been told. But the wider truth of Pilseung’s birth may have just slipped out from the mouth of his birth mother- and not from Ma-ri- who reacted faster than anyone else when that wall fell on her mom and her brother.
I think that it is an interesting parallel between Mari and Dora that both of them have suffered traumatic brain damage. Yet we see Dora as operating normally but are surprised when it is Mari who is doing or saying the right thing before anyone else does. Both of them have difficulties because of the trauma but the reality is that as a practical matter at least at this moment Do-ra’s amnesia is ‘handicapping’ her far more than any limitation that Ma-ri has.
Meanwhile Jin-dan has momentarily talked Tae-hee back into the engagement and a family meeting is planned. But now he has been informed that our ML and FL have broken up. We are still in the ‘Decline’ part of the story of the Decline and Fall of Jin-dan. I expect to see this situation blow up soon.

I am dropping. I just can't watch the FL to suffer second time around.

I have not been invested this show because my KBS America channel is several weeks behind in airing episodes, if at all (it has been showing random Golden Cross episodes for no apparent reason) and the fact I quickly grew tired of the repetitive screeching evil of several characters. I think I have seen episode 24(?) but I have been reading some of the hang-out posts, I agree that this is better than the last two weekender clunkers but it is not great.

The real issue I have is I would call nothing in BAMR “romantic.” ML and 2ML are not romantic toward FL but “possessive.” Mari’s dating attempts at ML were “obsessive.” ML aunt’s dating was “pitiful desperation.” Maybe Mari will be the only one to have a real romantic suitor.

I also take issue with ML hiding Dora’s reality from her when she has amnesia. It was not really helping Dora (medical counseling and memory recovery would) but more of a means to for him to mold her into what he wants from her.

The series may be a stealth promotion of class separation. 2ML slumming it with country bumpkin = not good; he has a suitable partner in his own social status. ML’s middle class family takes strong issue with ML dating the same poor country girl. All of the families are so rigid in their ways there is no hope for character development or change. Watching that is like starting to eat a bucket of burnt popcorn but continuing to the bottom thinking it would get better.

I believe the foundational reality of current Korean cancel culture would make it impossible for Dora to return from the dead after her previous scandals (and the new one that she was “hiding” from her creditors with “fake” amnesia.) I cannot suspend belief that this reality will be abrogated for a forced happy ending.

Anyone else note with glee two BMR tropes that were (I'd like to say copied) used by other dramas this week?

In Freaking Fairy Tale our OTP chirped at one another like little birdies as their pet name...

And, in Miss Night and Day...there's a suspicious ankle scar that she calls her "tattoo" that's gonna be a dead giveaway for our leading lady/ladies...

I am of course, joking, about the "copying."

Just hopping on here to join the conversation 👋

Imagine how easy Do-ra’s life would be if there wasn’t such strong social stigma about the kind of “classy” work lead actresses are “supposed” to do lol. I mean, everyone falls on hard times & there’s worse things to do to earn money. In that odd sense, though Mi-ja is an idiot for going against the contract behind everyone’s back, I think her financial desperation is a lot more understandable than Soo-yeon’s snobbery. Mostly though, I just want Do-ra to be happy and free 😭

I hope ep 30 brings better things

I really and truly loath Pilseung’s grandmother. This character is so prominent in the drama and it makes me think that this was done to lock up the two viewing demographics at the same time: both those who approve of this character and those who hate it but the latter including us are suffering. I have to say thought that the actor is fully committed to the role!

I miss when this drama was about Do-ra. I wouldn't have stuck around this long if Im Soo-hyang didn't do such a good job making you care for her. Pil-seung's family are just such a drain, though i guess its realistic that the middle class homeowners are also the most vicious snobs in the story. Now that we've got the birth secret out, fingers crossed the story will go back to Do-ra cos I really don't care about anyone else 😭 (except Ma-ri and Do-jun).