Yes, let's get that secondary romance fully under way (way to go Daddy). It was funny when one of the Deerlings misheard Mi-ho's name (Ku Miho) as 'Gumiho"- particularly given that hair is essentially the same color as that of a red fox. So, 'one night stand' plus a possible conception dream? We shall have to see what happens next.

As far as our ML and FL: I have loved a lot of the interactions but the separation at the end of episode 8 left me at a bit of a loss.: Why? The speculations of Daebakgrits are certainly reasonable but we will have to see whether they were on the mark or not.

In any case I am really enjoying this show.

Very Parable of the Lost Sheep with a side of John 15:13 this week, Seo Ji Hwan, bless you.

the deerlings vs the couple moments reminds me of how kids walk in on their parents when they are having private time

and methinks Il Young didnt say mistake bc he doesnt like Mi Ho, it is cause he wants to be better than that and feels it was weak of him. cause indeed it kind of made him look like an opportunist and thats not how he wants to be perceived. plus obviously being afraid to allow himself to feel happy. but giving all deerlings a normal life is exactly what Ji Hwan wants not them living in debt to him.

Settling & Asking Some Burning Million-Dollar Questions:

1) Who is Hyun-woo?: Settled ✅ Thankfully I have no need to stab my hand with a meat-carving knife or go bankrupt because it is our ML.

1a) How will Hyun-woo? : Now the next big question is how will Jang Hyun-woo (Mr Justice) frame or break the truth to Eun-Ha? (I sure hope he has the moral decency to not mislead her / or lie / or withhold crucial info) This had better be Justice's redemptive arc, I tell ya

1b) That cliff-hanger ending of "Let's not ever see each other again" is making me twist my knickers in angst (but not in a bad sort of way?).
On top of that, it's breathtakingly audacious as a narrative decision at this juncture I must say (mid-way Ep 8 is when most OTP have their first real kiss and seal the deal, and they throw us a breakup juggernaut. Well played show, well played)

2) PT stick: Seriously, whose pregnancy test stick was that?! (was the editor taking kid candy drugs whilst cutting last week's trailer for this week?)

3) Conception dreams are_______ (complete the sentence). No adjective is too preposterous

4) Rats!: Ok, we got that out of the way. Finally. Tis who we thought it was. (Now, I wanna know "why". Does he owe a debt to the Prosecutor too?) I fear there may be more though

Well I still like the show, ji hwan and eun ha and our mobster family. I knew ji hwan was her oppa from the beginning so the reveal wasn't surprising. And so thought I would be okay with this childhood connection in kdramas, I'm not really enjoying it or feels it's necessity. And SL feels stupid for drawing conclusion that ji hwan as the villian from that one glimpse. And the noble idiocy I have mixed feelings. But I'm looking forward to the upcoming episodes they seem back on track.

NOW, unto all the glorious hysteria and shenanigans & gush-worthy beats I love to bits about this week: (in no order of merit)

a) The hospital dressing-down: JH is awe-inspiring when he unleashes his fury in comic juxtaposition to the huddle of contrite & shamefaced deerlings.
By the time, Man-ho broke the tension with his whimper and full-mode sobs, I was in guffaws.
Then the icing on the cake: "Dear sister-in-laaaaaaw!" (Cue: dragged off stage left, exit) Cut to mortified embarrassment of JH. Brilliant circus 🤣🤣

b) Definitely the fried rice dinner interrogation scene: poor dude has no idea he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and given the third degree while missus is calmly dipping her tea-bag. His interpretation of the scene was comic genius.

Side note: For same reason, I am now totally enjoying Ye-Na as a plot catalyst for our OTP, cos every time she has any skin-ship with JH, EH just escalates into a jealous fit = great comedy. 🤣 You go gal! Dig your claws into our prime meat of a man, and let the love tussle begin!

c) The most tense morning breakfast ever in the Deerlings household:
"This is the winter of our discontent" - the first salvo was fired (courtesy of a pissed Jae-soo, and the Cold war is afoot.

Nothing quite as priceless as seeing Jae-soo and Eun-Ha forming a coalition on the hapless misunderstood JH. (I want a front row seat to that show!)

And nothing screams *ostracization* like someone heisting your banchan right under your nose, not once but TWICE. (yeah, just to make our point. Ahem)🤣🤣

d) Bulldog: "His name is bulldog" (UTG utters this line dead-pan. How many actor can get away with it?) Kudos.

I love this show so much! And I think these two are my favorite episodes so far! I love the family dynamic, so I'm just happy we got to see more of that this week.

1. Papa deer scolding the kids, and mama deer defending ☺️ awww.
Also, I finally confirmed papa's and mama's favorite child.

2. Jae Soo calling his future sis in law "not human" 😂
And that said future sis in law hurting her neck from trying to look at her incredibly tall future boyfriend. 🤣 Jk.

Btw, I want more scenes of Gumiho with the deerlings.

3. The boys thinking they were going to be uncles just to end up being a dead pig (bad luck). 😂 But did they really thought that after sleeping together (in separate beds), she was going to wake up pregnant the next day?

They need to stop postponing those classes. Eun Ha has work to do.

4. Jelly Eun Ha was nice to see!!!
I'm so used to dramas dragging situations like that and making the jealousy a big deal, that I was expecting Eun Ha to misunderstand the situation on her own and then avoid talking to Ji Hwan for days or something like that.

I'm so glad she just got the anger out of her system and the answers out of him at the same time. Yeah, he probably got indigestion that day, but that's better than me having to suffer for an hour of dumb misunderstandings.

And Eun Ha may be nice, sweet and kid-friendly, but she always makes it clear that she's not a child. She's always straightforward with Ji Hwan.

And I liked how she responded to his rude behavior. Noble idiocy or not, there's no excuse for treating her like that. He could've been nicer about it.

Anyway, I loved seeing different sides of Eun Ha this week. And when she cried. 🥺🥺🥺 Ji Hwan better treats my girl right.
She deserves the world.

5. I loved seeing Taek alive and well and reunited with his dongsaeng! The little girl made me cry!

6. Ji Hwan also made me cry when he told Il Yeong that he would've died happy knowing that IY felt like a regular boy even for a second.

This is a real family!

And that's why scenes like Jae Soo ignoring Ji Hwan and Il Yeong at the table, or the deerlings waiting outside the police station are so beautiful to me. Just like Il Yeong, all the boys have a deep connection with Ji Hwan, and they not only feel like they owe him, but they just deeply care about him.

And the same way Ji Hwan ran to save Taek, he would've done the same for the rest.

7. I really loved how Jae Soo said "if we even keep secret between the family, then why do we need to pray together?" and then he proceeded to side with mama deer. Because I feel like Ji Hwan doesn't really understand what he has done in the past ten years. Or maybe he's just trying to keep a distance for other reasons. But the boys know that this is a family, their family, and they want to protect it as much as Ji Hwan.

They have the right to be mad at him for not talking to them about Taek's situation. What if something had happen...

Can I just give Seo Ji Hwan a hug? He needs a hug!

Theme development that are stand-out gems for me, other just downright moving:

a) Joon Taek's & Yeon's long-awaited reunion:
After 8 full episodes this narrative arc finally concludes in a fitting manner. I commented in Ep 4 that to me this brother-sister story is a parallel emotional commentary shedding light on the motivations and relational dynamics of our childhood ML-FL.

What kept Taek on the narrow path and not going back to drugs is not wanting to be a shameful brother to the lil sister he adores. He wants to do right by her. Likewise, I don't think JH would ever stand before EH as her Hyun-woo Oppa who dreams of being a prosecutor and taking down baddies IF he cannot wipe his slate clean or walk out of the long shadow of his chequered mobster past. It's not noble idiocy, it's frankly too painful.

b) The kite wish ("I want my brother to come back to me quickly!") -- that's why this to me is such a great narrative sign-post. Rewind back to end of Ep 4: the one who is helping little Yeon fly her kite in the
breeze IS actually Eun-Ha.

This plot device is cleverly doing double-duty here, so Joon Taek being returned to Yeon after a long arduous trial -- bloodied and bruised but safe and sound -- bodes well for our OTP as well (I hope!) Cos she flew the kite. She wants her Oppa back. The prodigal brother returns home after a 23-year-wait.

Joon's last words to his sister are also very telling: "Sorry I made you wait so long." (Yes, show we hear you. Don't drag the separation of our OTP for too long either or we may riot)

c) How the same memories/experience may mean very diff things for the people who went through it together. Someone made an astute observation: "It may mean heartwarmingly happy memories that Eun-ha cherished dearly in her lonely childhood. But to Ji-Hwan, it may be a grim reminder that everything you hold dear can be taken away from you in a moment." That is a dark place to revisit.

d) Love all the flashbacks and backstories this week: whether it be the explanation of why JH had a special soft spot for EH since young because he detected they are lonely kindred souls, or the hotel flashback (there, there Prosecutor, you really need to retake your exam); or Il Young's remorseful confession of his regret that he was not there for JH because he was out letting his hair down -- all so good

p.s. digression rant (aside to Prosecutor) : It's so unfair to fault JH in the hotel bloodbath. That poor dude was knifed in the guts, his entrails are probably spilling for crying out loud, he was crawling on the floor and no one was attending to him (one of those moments in drama-land where you know you're better off being a frail old granny if you wanna cut the queue on a "save me" triage)

Can I just say I loved how the plot developed in these 2 episodes? I was kind of expecting the plot to develop like most other Korean dramas I’ve watched, with the hidden secrets and misunderstandings getting long drawn out just for the sake for dramatic conflict. But I was so glad that everything came to light relatively quickly, which makes for a very comfortable watching experience, rather than us audience having the bird’s eye view of the truth, but watching the leads running around with prolonged misunderstanding, which makes for such a frustrating watch.

Loved how these were all out in the open in these 2 episodes:
1. Ji Hwan finding out that Eun Ha was mistaking 2ML to be Hyun Woo oppa.
2. 2ML telling Ji Hwan honestly that he knows that Eun Ha is mistaking him to be Hyun Woo oppa, and also that he knows that Ji Hwan is the Hyun Woo oppa that Eun Ha is looking for. This puts everyone on equal level footing.
3. Revealing who amongst the Deerlings was 2ML’s mole quickly enough.
4. Revealing the hotel back story quickly enough too.

It felt like everything was playing out naturally as what normal people in the characters’ respective positions would act, without having the conflicts being all dramatically drawn out for way longer than they should for the sake of dramatic conflict for a plot (yes, side-eyeing you Castaway Diva). So it felt very comfortable to watch as the events flowed and played out naturally. Very much unlike other Korean dramas. Such a refreshing and comfortable watch.

I also liked how there was a lot of heart and deeper emotional and character insight and development. That exchange between Il-young and Ji Hwan by the road felt so raw and heartfelt from Il-young’s perspective - it conveyed Il-young’s deep-seated self-blame all these years, and also provided more depth to the Deerlings’ loyalty and Ji Hwan’s compassion towards all of them.

And I especially loved that aspect where Eun-ha herself did her own self-reflection after hearing Ji Hwan’s words, and wondered if she would be imposing on someone by digging up their past even though they went through the same experiences. And I loved how she seemed to respect Ji Hwan’s decision to push her away or not to admit being Hyun Woo oppa at the end of Ep 8. I really really loved this aspect of her character development.

The noble idiocy trope here, I can accept. It felt logical and not contrived. They both knew he had a legitimate reason for pushing her away. Especially after all the danger that she had witnessed he had gone through that day.

I also liked that the plot development put 2ML in such a more favourable perspective in these 2 episodes. Him encouraging Eun Ha to remind herself of her original intent to make children happy, and to continue doing that, and helping her with it. And also that he acted respectably in telling Ji Hwan that he didn’t think he should tell Eun Ha who Hyun Woo oppa was because Hyun Woo oppa himself seemed to have his...

Thank you for this candy sweet recap. 

Noble idiocy is what none of us ever sign up for but we receive it as free "service" from K-dramas. The Deerlings will definitely bridge the gap between their Mama and Papa Deers.

Dearest @DaebakGrits just when I thought your recaps couldn’t get any better, you went and dialed the cuteness up an extra few notches. 🥰❤

I mean "cover (frozen, blue lipped) model for a damn harlequin romance novel"!! Hehehe.

Also I can't say anything about farm animals but Beanies from far and wide are effortlessly summoned by to your front yard recaps. 🤣

Mama Deer scolding Papa Deer for making her best deerling cry was just so very cute. Omo ... this drama is rightly named Sweet. Should actually be the Sweetest of 'em all Sweet. 🫰

I half hoped / wished that this time Ji-hwan would "hide" under the sheets on the hospital bed beside Eun-ha as the totally fake Hyun-woo came for a visit. Ah! that would be the day. 😍🙃🥵❤

Grumpy DeerJae-soo and other deerlings are not the only one with paggro technique down pat, Eun-ha can beat them hollow on it. And that lift of a brow while sipping her cup of allegedly calming cup of tea. Oooh if looks could kill. Ji-hwan better learn some tricks to calm down his "woman".

I am soooo happy that uri Sweetie Papa Deer is the really real Hyun-woo and didn't meet up with Eun-ha under false pretext or a borrowed name. 😂

Okay then, hopefully only the noble will remain next week and the idiocy can get kicked to the curb pali, pali, jebal. 🤞

Just dropping by to say this My Sweet Mobster is closely becoming one of my fave 2024 kdramas.
I also love Miho's parents especially his Dad. He can be a good influence for Il Young.
Not a fan of noble idiocy and we are still at the halfway mark. I hope this separation will end next week.

Noble idiocy is often used as shorthand for whenever the OTP decides to separate for the other’s good. I am guilty of using this term loosely myself. However, I think in this case, the show has done a good job of establishing the necessity of why Ji Hwan pushed Eun Ha away. Go Yang Yi now knows of her existence and her place in his house and in his heart by Ji Hwan’s reaction when the mention of her garnered a resistance and steel to the beating he was getting. While it is easy to think the reason Ji Hwan hasn’t had a girlfriend in 36 years is out of some purity fantasy for romantic leads, it seems that he hasn’t had one out of concern that anyone who is brought into his world becomes a vulnerable target to be used against him and he cannot in good conscience endanger someone. On Eun Ha’s side, even though she finds out he is the real Hyun Woo both because I think the prosecutor told her so but also because she was putting that together over the course of these couple of episodes by asking (following up on why Ji Hwan said that some memories shouldn’t be dug up), listening (processing when Ji Hwan said that shared memories can mean different things to different people), and observing (seeing how Ji Hwan actually goes to great lengths to take gentle care of her), Eun Ha respects Ji Hwan’s decision to push her away and she won’t impose herself on him out of some sense that they should be together. What I liked though is that even though Eun Ha accepts his decision, she calls him out on how he did it when she gave him the medicine—she doesn’t believe it’s her right to be with him, but she does believe that she deserves to be treated respectfully and says so.

This week’s episodes showed what great acting is. Um Tae Gu and Han Sun Hwa just brought it—the restraint and nuance in their scenes that conveyed the many different, but deep emotions betwen them packed a punch more that the action scenes, which Um Tae Gu is also a master. The whole series of scenes post-fight was astonishing good from both actors (actually all the actors): from the arrest, the interrogation scene, Eun Ha breaking down privately behind the police van while waiting, the deerlings and Eun Ha outside the police station and Ji Hwan seeing them and her and turning back in, Eun Ha waiting for him on the house stairs, Ji Hwan seeing her and then in an instant deciding to push her away, Eun Ha coming back in and then steeling herself and walking past Ji Hwan out of self-protection AND self-respect, and then culminating in the scene with the medicine when Eun Ha tells him she will respect his decision to be left alone but also she is entitled to not be harshly treated and to be concerned for harm that has come to any fellow human being. How this last scene finally breaks him when he had been trying to be strong through all this was just breathtaking and heartbreaking because Ji Hwan didn’t burst into tears or punch a wall—instead, how he just slightly sunk into the wall...

Side Note: after last week's gentlemanly "preface-before-the-deed huddle, I wanna flag the other equally chivalrous & gentlemanly gesture -- the couples tracking app

I love that lil detail of how he was on the verge of saying "You know how when a couple" then caught himself and switch to "two people'', get her consent and buy-in, then install the app.

Again, so gentlemanly (unlike some other prosecutor in another show who installed tracking app on FL phone when she went to the toilet.)
MND, here's lookin' at ya 😑

Noble idiot? Let's see, UTG is so cute that we forget that he is the leader of the local mafia. This guy just saved the life of his subordinate by risking his own against the same people who almost killed him ten years ago. The rival leader has confirmed that he has someone better to kidnap to easily finish off SJH and his entire faction. His devastated expression at the door of the hospital felt especially sad since it was not only due to a deep shame for EH seeing him at his worst as a gangster, but also to his certainty that to take the target off of him, he had to definitively renounce her without wasting time. The only idiotic noble facet that SJH sins from is not wanting to involve his men in the rescue. I'm not surprised that Jisoo is offended. SJH has tried to protect them to the same level as it protects the "little rat." I would also give him the silent treatment for a couple of days >=(

I love this show and what a fabulous set of episodes. The leads are fantastic, every side character is well etched and the humor is so on point. The rom com that finally roms and coms aplenty.

Seo Ji Hwan hurting makes my heart ❤️‍🩹
This poor man deserves happiness and I am so glad Eun Ha is the perfect match for him. What’s better than two absolutely genuine and thoughtful people getting together!!

I loved the backstory.

Whoever is dressing up Uhm Tae goo deserves a raise!! Hubba hubba that man is 🔥

I don’t like you and I’m only nice because you’re my tenant, “nothing more, nothing less.”

Dude totally deserved the silent treatment the next morning as well as her moving out. Unnecessary.

Il Yeong. Dude never tell a woman you had sex with it was a mistake. You can apologize for rushing things but she just might be embarrassed, insulted, and completely not understand WTF you mean when you make that type of declaration. He was lucky it wasn't fatal.

My take on the Ep 8 ending is that the prosecutor Hyun Woo told Eun Ha that the childhood Hyun Woo is none other than our sweet lobster.

Will see.

Themes
Don't rely solely on the evidence of your eyes.

Don't assume you know someone because of what they look like.

Don't think you know what's going to happen because you've seen it all before.

Also, if the biblical parallels are going to keep holding. Someone's probably gonna die, and it's gonna hurt.

Was there anything cuter than Ji-hwan watching a documentary about penguins, remembering said documentary to cuddle Eun-ha, and then trying to distract her with fun penguin facts? And later with the list of hospital stuff? 😭

Also, wow, who knew that Hyun-woo was Ji-hwan. I am so shocked. Shocked, I say! They really DID pull a Castaway Diva.

Regarding the end of ep 8: WHAT DID YOU DO, KWON YUL?

What a delicious recap. Thank you @DarbakGrits. This week I found myself greedy for all the screen time to be given to our OTP. As much as I LOVE the Deerlings and all their crazy shenanigans, they have the worst timing in the world and they were just getting in the way of our couple getting closer.

Ji-hwan and Eun-ha's sweetness to each other makes me swoon. Not only do they do nice things for each other, but they also don't let each other off the hook when the other person is being unreasonable or inflexible. I love that.

I was impressed with how well Eun-ha has been tracking and paying attention to Ji-hwan. He was speechless and looked smitten in the hospital when she gave him a rundown of his sensitivities and what she had observed about him. She remembered things he'd said in seemingly passing conversations and she connected the dots so well. I'm a sucker for that level of attentiveness and both of them are doing such a great job listening to each other even amidst misunderstandings. #relationshipgoals.

The other spotlight for me was Ji-hwan's relationship with Il-young. I really, really like their bromance. It's subtle yet loud and always present. I had a tear in my eye when Il-young refused to let Jihwan go on his own to rescue Taek. I'm not sure how he was planning to accomplish that mission all on his own because clearly it worked SO much better with Il-young there.

Ji-hwan is not only learning to open his heart to Eun-ha but to his Deerlings too. The found family theme in this show is beautiful to watch.

I really want more of the secondary romance. I hope that one ends happily too. I suspect the pregnancy test is Miho's. I am guessing the reason for Il Young's behavior is has something to do with his loyalty to Ji Hwan and MAYBE something also to do with not wanting to get a love interest involved in his dangerous life. Maybe he has a little of Ji Hwan's self loathing too? There was a hint of that in the way he talked about what a terrible deerling he was for partying on the day JH was stabbed.

I'm still curious as to how IY ended up in the deerling gang. He implied that he was not an ex-con, though he should have gone to jail for drunk driving. I hope we get more of that story and see the details of his connection.

Also--so relieved the maknae was the mole. He's got no personality to speak of, so I don't feel betrayed, though I do wonder what the eventual fallout will be. (I was worried it was going to be IY. That would have been heartbreaking.)

Overthinking the plot (the dark tragedy cut)
Taek (in hospital) and Yun and Halmeoni could all be victims now - an easy way to get to Ji-hwan If they are going to go that route. It would of course be Eun-Ha that they attack though if they were going to - Taek and Yun have done their dramatic duty by mirroring our main lead, and will drop out of the plot now.
Dad and Kitty gang leader and and the big bag of money can make a load of trouble. Co-opt Ye-Na as well for a slapstick version instead of dark tragedy.
Major back story secret is yet to be revealed and will result in a more serious end-game break between our couple. We still don't know what happened after the snow container/beating incident, but we do know that Eun -Ha thinks it is her fault that she never saw Hyun Woo again, and also that Eun-ha's parents divorced.

Back in regular programming, Mr Prosecuter has shown himself to be a upright justice guy. It's going to be a personality change if he tells JH that he won't tell EH- and then tells her. But it certainly seems like EH knows by the time she comes home again.

I didn't see anyone comment on this, among all the excellent other comments, so I'm just going to add: although Ji-hwan may not have grown up to become a prosecutor, he certainly grew into a righteous man who scolds bad guys, mostly his own.