When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

41 March 26, 2025March 25, 2025

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

by Dramaddictally

With autumn comes major change, as well as death in every sense of the word, from losses of life to the end of an era. But with each ending there’s a new beginning, which is why we’re also introduced to a couple of new characters — not to mention that someone in the family has a baby on the way.

EPISODES 9-12

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

One major transition from the drama’s first two volumes to this third installment is the shift from overt politics to a focus on economics. And while the two are entwined, and economics has always shaped the lives our characters, we’re moving away from bombarding headlines and into the murky waters of economic growth.

On the storytelling front, this centers us on Geum-myeong as the main protagonist, with the parents’ lives and struggles coming alive only where they overlap with their kids. Geum-myeong is her parents’ pride and the drama maintains its pressure on the topic of progress. What does it mean for Geum-myeong to fully succeed? Does she have to marry up the economic echelons? Is being a working woman enough? These are internal questions but they also reflect the changing times.

When we left off, Geum-myeong was on her way to Japan to study abroad. When we return, we’ve skipped over that part and see her in 1990, living as a boarder with a family in Seoul. The room she’s renting doesn’t offer the best conditions. There’s a small child that enters as he pleases, a patriarch who wants Geum-myeong to feel grateful that they’ve given her housing, and a grown-up daughter who sneaks her boyfriend into the house against her father’s wishes.

That boyfriend is an aspiring artist named PARK CHUNG-SEOB (Kim Sun-ho). And Geum-myeong first comes face to face with him when he’s hiding in her closet to avoid his girlfriend’s dad. From there, they have another random meeting while Geum-myeong is looking at job postings on a bulletin board, and Chung-seob hooks her up with a gig selling tickets at the cinema where he also works.

Little by little, they interact on the job, as well as on the walks home (because it seems that Chung-seob is still visiting his girlfriend, even after Dad discovered him in the closet). The quiet shots of the two getting to know each other are threaded throughout the episodes, and they run parallel and counterpoint to the main focus — which is Geum-myeong’s deteriorating relationship with Yeong-beom.

We meet back up with Geum-myeong and Yeong-beom when he visits her ticket booth and drops his change, along with a ring, into Geum-yeong’s hand. It seems like she’s been expecting him because she goes on break and runs to an empty theater, where the two embrace and he whirls her around. He’s been out of the country and this is their first reunion in some time.

It’s off to a bad start, though. Geum-myeong wants to show Yeong-beom her life in Seoul but, as she’s walking him to her boarding house, he starts criticizing the neighborhood. From his side, when he sees how run down the area is, he says it’s not safe for her to live there. But from her side, it sounds patronizing and out of touch. They argue, and he says she doesn’t really know Seoul. She retorts that he’s the one that doesn’t really know Seoul (and this a clear dig at his upper-class position).

If you recall in the first volume of episodes, we saw Geum-myeong in the early 90s talking to a potential mother-in-law and being asked to quit her job when she gets married. We later learned that this woman, BU-YOUNG (Kang Myung-joo), is Yeong-beom’s mom. Up to this point, it wasn’t clear if Geum-myeong goes through with the marriage or not. Here, we finally get the answer, and the leadup is a terrible thing to witness.

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

Bu-young degrades Geum-myeong, as far as I can tell, for growing up poor and not being from Seoul. While it’s true that we’ve seen two generations of mothers-in-law that are not nice to their sons’ wives, the social class dimension is what makes these current interactions different. It’s not only that Bu-young talks down to Geum-myeong, but that Geum-myeong appears to be unsure of her own value in the situation.

Two things play into this. First, while the love that Yeong-beom has for Geum-myeong is clear (he wants to protect her, he wants to do right by her), it’s not in his personality to cause conflict in any form. There’s a moment when Geum-myeong is in tears after an interaction with his mother, and she tells him he has to be a good son or a good husband. He can’t be both. Yeong-beom replies, “What man could choose one over the other?” And Geum-myeong doesn’t miss a beat when she says, “My dad.”

This is particularly important because we’ve seen various moments where both Gwan-shik and Ae-soon hear how Yeong-beom expresses his love for Geum-myeong, and both of them think that he sounds just like Gwan-shik when he was courting Ae-soon. But we’ll come to see that the two are not alike in the moments that matter most. Because when it comes down to it, Yeong-beom’s determination to remain neutral is the same as not being on Geum-myeong’s side.

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

The second thing that plays into Geum-myeong’s insecurity about her own worth has to do with her parents, and how they interact with Yeong-beom’s parents. This becomes evident the first time the two families meet at a lunch in Seoul, where Geum-myeong’s mom and dad have traveled from Jeju to get there — and it’s Yeong-beom’s parents who are an hour late.

Ae-soon and Gwan-shik are polite and accommodating, while Bu-young and her husband stride in without apology. Right away, they start criticizing Geum-myeong, and we get inside Ae-soon’s head through flashbacks to see how she’s perceiving it. As she watches Geum-myeong serve the other five people at the table, she realizes that Geum-myeong hasn’t left enough stew for herself, and has a paltry amount in her bowl. Ae-soon blames herself, remembering how she did the same with her in-laws, and thinks, “children do what they saw growing up.”

Ae-soon switches her overfull bowl with Geum-myeong’s and at first no one says anything about it. But a little later, Bu-young starts complaining that she won’t be able to hand over her household duties to Geum-myeong after the wedding because “she doesn’t know anything. Look how she ladled the soup.”

At this, as polite as he can be, Gwan-shik says that as a working woman it will probably be difficult for Geum-myeong to take care of the household duties. And Bu-young tells him that’s why she’s asked Geum-myeong to quit her job. The bride’s parents go quiet, while the groom’s parents insult Geum-myeong and order her around — until they’re essentially insulting Ae-soon and Gwan-shik for not raising their daughter “right.”

When Geum-myeong is ordered to dish up more food, Gwan-shik looks at Yeong-beom and nods in his direction — it’s a gesture that says “help her.” And we see flashbacks to that moment in the 60s when Gwan-shik decided to sit at the table with his wife and daughter during family meals when it was not customary to do so. Geum-myeong’s voiceover says that Gwan-shik fought his own war and “he never left mom stranded alone on the battlefield.” (I’ll be honest, I cried here. Because Geum-myeong deserves so much better than this.)

To his credit, Yeong-beom stands to help Geum-myeong, but Ae-soon tells both kids to sit and she begins to ladle the soup. Bu-young remarks that the reason Geum-myeong doesn’t know anything is because her mother does it all for her. Ae-soon — with a voice that’s about to break but a look that doesn’t waver — says that her daughter was too precious to her. She chose not to teach her those things. And then she serves Geum-myeong first, rather than last.

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

Now, with that kind of defiance, we might think that Geum-myeong would understand her mother’s position. But she doesn’t. After the tense meal, Ae-soon and Geum-myeong can hardly look at each other, and they go separate ways when Geum-myeong rides with her soon-to-be in-laws. Mother and daughter are both questioning why the other is so docile in front of these people, when that’s not the way they usually behave.

This comes to a head when the women go to pick out fabric for the wedding hanbok, and Bu-young dictates what Ae-soon is going to wear. Ae-soon says nothing, and neither does Geum-myeong. Later, mother and daughter get into an argument when they’re alone. Geum-myeong is yelling, asking why Ae-soon didn’t stand up for the hanbok she wanted. “Do you think he’s better than me?” she asks, wanting to know if her mother doesn’t think she’s worth standing up for.

Ae-soon explains that she doesn’t want his family to be cold to Geum-myeong. “How can I act on my temper and send you to their family?” she asks. Both of these women want the other to speak out — and both are holding back for the sake of the other. Geum-myeong seems to think that marrying into a family like Yeong-beom’s will complete her success story. And Ae-soon and Gwan-shik want Geum-myeong to have everything she wants. Neither side is willing to jeopardize anything for the other, and it’s got the makings of a tragedy.

With all four parents wanting this relationship to end, but no one calling it off, Geum-myeong is the one to make the final decision. She finally talks back to Bu-young after she learns that Bu-young made Ae-soon cry. It happened at a lunch with just the two mothers, where Bu-young said she didn’t like Geum-myeong because she wasn’t from the same level of family. It doesn’t matter that Ae-soon did her best to give Geum-myeong everything to outrun where she was born, she’ll always carry baggage from struggling. She’s not good enough for Yeong-beom, who’s his mother’s “masterpiece.”

Geum-myeong tells us that her “first love didn’t turn out to be a fairy tale.” And we see Yeong-beom in 2023, married to someone else — a person his mother selected — and both he and his aging mother are miserable. They’ve never gotten past the damage of him not marrying Geum-myeong, whom he truly loved, but wasn’t able to fight harder for.

The breakup isn’t easy on Geum-myeong either. She tells us they were together for seven years, and then spent a year separating. Neither wants to let the other go, but it just can’t work out. His family will never like her and, even if he cuts them off, it would hurt him, and she can’t live with him suffering like that. And so, she has to be the harsh one at the end, telling him to stop trying. It’s not about love; she loves him, but she loves herself too. And so, they sob and hug goodbye, and she tells us how much she’s losing: “In Seoul, where I had no one, he was my lover, my family, and my best friend.”

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

After this, she goes into a funk and can’t keep up with daily life. Her parents are worried about her, and one day, out of nowhere, she shows up at home in Jeju. With Eun-myeong away in the military, the house has been quiet, but now it’s alive again and the parents have a reason to prepare meals and show their love by stuffing Geum-myeong full of food. She eats and sleeps well, and after a few days, she goes out on the fishing boat with her dad. She’s worried that her parents are embarrassed that she called off the wedding. But Gwan-shik says that she’s good at everything, so he trusts that her decision is the right one.

She cries and feels guilty for all she’s been given. And it appears that her heartbreak is leading her to a place of appreciation for her parents, where she’s starting to see from their perspective. When she talks to her mom later, she asks the same question about embarrassment and learns that Ae-soon never sent out the invitations. “I knew you’d call it off,” Ae-soon smiles. “I raised you that way.” And then she adds, “You didn’t do anything wrong. You avoided stepping in a pile of poop because of your luck.” The time with her parents leaves Geum-myeong restored and recuperated, and ready to face her life again in Seoul.

When she’s back in the city, we see her getting on a bus at the same time Chung-seob is getting off. He’s fresh out of the military and it’s been a couple of years since they’ve seen each other. She doesn’t notice him and the bus pulls away, while he chases after it, calling her name. He doesn’t catch the bus, but we hear that a glistening winter is on its way. And we have a new romance to look forward to next week.

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

That’s where the episodes end, but we still need to talk about Eun-myeong. The interesting thing about Ae-soon and Gwan-shik giving all their attention to their daughter is that their son has ended up somewhat neglected. He wasn’t good in school, got into trouble, and ended up not going to college. But, like he says, where’s the money going to come from even if he wanted to go? They gave it all to his sister.

I don’t think that Eun-myeong is acting out to get attention, but that he believes whatever he does, it won’t really matter — he’s always going to be kind of a screw up in his parents’ eyes. It paints a picture of what happens when the resources that historically went to male children no longer go to them, but there’s no replacement role for them to fill in the family. And in this week’s episodes, Eun-myeong is getting further flung into trouble.

It starts when he gets caught with a girl in his room. They’ve been dating for over a year and the parents had no clue. Gwan-shik is ready to punish him, but Eun-myeong shouts, “Love is not misconduct!” Haha. As Eun-myeong goes on about his love, Gwan-shik recognizes himself in his son and almost seems like he’ll have a change of heart. Until they learn the girl’s name: BU HYEON-SUK (Lee Soo-kyung). That would be the daughter of the town jerk — the one who was chief, and who Ae-soon almost married.

This sets everyone off and both families are against this union. Hyeon-suk’s brother’s friends begin to torment Eun-myeong, beating him up wherever he goes, and he finally breaks it off with her. But they’ve got an obsessive love and she won’t leave him alone no matter the consequences. Finally, he goes to the military, which turns Ae-soon into even more of a mess (since her major conflict this week is how her kids are growing up and apart from her).

At the end, on the day Eun-myeong returns from the military, his parents are waiting and excited to see him. He stands at the front door of their apartment, and then Hyeon-suk enters with him. It turns out she’s pregnant. And by the looks of it, he’s asking his parents to take them in. Oh how times have changed, and yet they stay exactly the same.

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

These episodes have big losses, but we’re also given signs of new things to come. At the same time Ae-soon’s paternal grandmother passes away, she learns she’s about to be a grandmother herself. Geum-myeong breaks up with Yeong-beom, but it also marks her coming into her own. And Ae-soon may feel like she’s losing her kids, but really they’re just going through the same transition she did, when she realized how hard it is to be an adult — and how much it forces you to rely on your support system more.

I’m excited for the conclusion and sad to see this story go. And with our last installment in the winter of life, we’re sure to see the same mix of suffering and sparkling that we’ve grown accustomed to on every stretch of this saga.

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Episodes 9-12

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1 panshel

March 26, 2025 at 11:21 AM

FCK YEONG-BEOM'S MOTHER!! Geum-myeong and Yeong-beom were so in love. It's heartbreaking the two of them had to break up. Their movie theater reunion was the cutest. Her making aegyo noises and him mimicking them and lifting her up and whirling her around. "Should I flash the projector on them?" lol But Geum-myeong will never be accepted by that mother-in-law from hell, and Yeong-beom wasn't willing to cut ties with his family. It was touching how he told her to call him if anything happens because she has no one in Seoul, but they need a clean break from each other lest he thinks their relationship still has a chance. She can call her college friend who came to her apartment after their breakup.

Everybody on the internet is complaining about Park Bo-gum's lack of screen time, and some wish he had played Eun-myeong because like mother, like daughter, like father, like son. But not me. I want Park Bo-gum to play Geum-myeong's husband. We could've suspended disbelief that he's a new character because she's supposed to marry a man exactly like her dad anyway. I just need more IU ❤️ Park Bo-gum. However, not in Park Chung-seob's role because that character is boring to me.

I love Oh-seong, Hyeon-suk's brother, when he defended his stepmom and tried to convince her to divorce his abusive father. I remember the jerk had wanted Ae-sun as his child bride so she could take care of his kids because she had raised her half-siblings. I really wish Young-ran would leave her cheating husband, but now Ae-sun and Gwan-shik will become in-laws with them since Eun-myeong knocked up Hyeon-suk.

Thanks a ton for the recap, @Dramaddictally!

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DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟

April 10, 2025 at 3:10 PM

They were adorably, and one couldn't help loving that first love, but ... He talked about her as someone who was fragile and needed protection, while at the same time he was not able to protect her at all. (I still feel sad when I think of his happy face, though).
While that artist boy I believe at the first encounter, or almost, defended Geum-myeong against his girlfriend calling FL somethin like a stupid gold-digger, by saying something like "Stupid? She's at the (prestigeous) university!"
I found it quite charming that her intellect was at the top of his mind when he thought of her. 😍🧠🧐

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2 westberlin

March 26, 2025 at 11:42 AM

I need to appreciate the the writers for the character of Yeong Beom. For the first time in my life I feel seen with a character like Yeong Beom. I also needed time to find the courage to go against my family and everything I was raised to believe to live my own life. And by the time I was able to do that a large part of my life had already passed and I was too late for a lot of things. It's not so much about lacking courage, though I wouldn't blame people if they said that, but about not being able to see how your family can destroy you sometimes, because we are all raised to believe our family wants the best for us. It's such a waste, but I felt so relieved after seeing his character, for the first time in my life I feel validated.

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Midnight

March 27, 2025 at 3:36 AM

I loved your comment.

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DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟

April 10, 2025 at 3:12 PM

Hugs, pal.

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3 Kafiyah Bello

March 26, 2025 at 11:50 AM

These episodes were great. She still chose a man similar to her father which is great, lol. I felt a little bad for YB, but he needed more strength to be with GM than he had, so it is good they broke up. She needs someone who let's her be her. I am sad this is coming to an end too, but it has been well worth the journey.

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4 Lostpanda is now Sadpanda. 🪦 fanwall 🪦

March 26, 2025 at 12:25 PM

When Life Gives you Tangerines
isn't a drama. It's a work of art.
Every scene, every line feels like the writer and director poured countless hours to perfect it. Ep 9-12 were both heartbreaking and uplifting in the most realistic and raw manner. What a show!
I can't remember what else I'm watching.
I'm both looking forward and dreading the last drop. I don't want this to end.

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5 Britney

March 26, 2025 at 1:22 PM

Now that I watch this and am all caught up, I was waiting for this update!

One of the things I've seen commented about the most was Yeong Beom's mother and how she ruined her son's (love) life. I've also seen some takes about how Yeong Beom wasn't a good guy. I thought their relationship was a good example of how (a) loving someone isn't always enough (b) sometimes certain relationships aren't meant to be (c) you can't always compromise
They're probably examples of more things but I'll stop with that haha.

I thought he did try, in his own way, of standing up for his relationship (such as saying for years he was gonna marry GM or when he said he was moving out) but he just wasn't as firm as Gwang Sik. YB wasn't the type to draw a hard line and leave his family behind but to be fair, not many people necessarily are. At least back then and in that culture.

The crazy thing to me about elitist mother was her looking down GM and her family meanwhile that poor family was able to give their child the same exact things she gave her son. They both went to a prestigious school and studied abroad. What right did she have to be embarrassed of GM or her parents? If anything, GM was probably better than YB because she has real world experiences since had to work for everything without connections or priviledge.

Then I saw alot of comments comparing the painter to her dad and while there's argubly some points to be made there, I thought his dynamic with her was more equal and realistic for her rather than the fairytale of her parents with a guy who was GS lite.

I found it funny how Ae Sun is forever tethered to Bu family because of the kids haha. I laughed out loud when the parents were like "ah, you want to give a salute? Okay, go for it" and the son was like "mom, dad, you're grandparents" haha. "You went to serve your country you brat!" Haha

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6 Kurama

March 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM

It was kinda sad for YB because he didn't fight for GM but he didn't for himself neither and got an unhappy life.

The parallel between the scene of AS loosing her son and the one where she almost lost her daugher was touching. It was funny how the doctor made Chung-seob the guardian just to tease YB :p

The actress Kang Myung-joo died in February from a cancer...she was still young 😥 She had a late debut in Kdramas but was doing pretty well.

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Britney

March 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM

I didn't fully understand that. How was she affected but the others in the house wasn't? Was her wardrobe blocking the vent or whatever and the it got moved?

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Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 4:15 PM

In Korea they use heating system which called Ondol (basically heating floor). Back then for heating it up ppl used coal cylindress (?) with holes you can see many times when they show the trash bump sites in this drama you can notice it all in ash. If floor isolation was making poorly CO from burning can leak in house which causes carbone monoxide poisoning (it was also depicted in Reply me 1988 drama). Unfortunalely in GM's case the leakage went mostly to her room so the result of poisoning only her severly, also her room is very small.

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too_much_tv

April 1, 2025 at 7:04 AM

I remember the spent cylinders from Reply 1988. I'm surprised that this is the first drama I've seen where someone is seriously injured or killed by carbon monoxide inhalation.

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DK-Drama ❤️🎄 Giffing n Space Cadetting 👼🏻🌟

April 10, 2025 at 3:21 PM

Love Alarm ... I think it's not so much a spoiler as it happens before the story starts, but I believe the FL's parents died because of that, and she almost died herself, too.

Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM

And because it was winter and very cold her window was closed so no ventilation, but CS lately said that he lived in this room and window have leakage so probably bcs of it GM survived

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7 Britney

March 26, 2025 at 2:09 PM

I thought one of the most affecting moments was during Yeong Beom's confrontation (if it can be called that) with his mom when he was like "your happiness was all that mattered. You're the only one smiling in my wedding photo". I found that so crazy. How even the bride and her parents aren't smiling on what is "supposed" to be one of the happiest days of a woman's life.

I thought something got lost in translation because I don't get why the mother was miserable years later. People were saying the daughter in law mistreats her. I think the subtitles said something about her walking on eggshells around the daughter in law. I don't even understand how that would happen if this was the bride *she* chose. Then wouldn't she have chosen someone she could be controlling or be domineering towards? Yeong Beom just works and drinks apparently and I guess that was also the sight she didn't like seeing.

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Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 4:04 PM

This show is all about detailes. Bride's mother at wedding photo wore pink hanbok so it seems like YB's mom was happy with this bride and seems like he married up. Also it seems like YB's wife bcs she is equal she didn't treat well her and bcs she needed to watch their child his wife either work or just dumped this obligation on YB's mom.

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Britney

March 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM

So you think maybe the bride & her family felt/thought YB & his family was beneath them (even if they were of a similar status) which is why they look unhappy in the wedding photo and doesn't treat her well?

I mean the bride is for sure unsatisfied with her married life because her husband obviously pines for his lost love plus however his mother acted towards her.

It's all an interesting display of karma.

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Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 6:56 PM

I think it was usual blind date marriage kind of marriage through their parents which was widespread back then and even now. So no love or mutual effection just bcs you need to be married back then. My parents also met like that🫣

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Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM

Also her grandson just passes her not even say goodbuy when it was her who raised him speaking volumes on itself especially in Asian culture. Very sad for her but she did it to herself.

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too_much_tv

April 1, 2025 at 7:18 AM

The mother was miserable years later because she picked the wrong girl. She thought that she could arrange happiness for the whole family by picking someone who was "better" than the girl her son picked for himself. She wasn't merely a traditionalist and a snob. She was wrong.
This is one of the central arguments of the show. The main couple met as children in school. They were not an arranged match and no one in either family thought they were a good match. The key reason they liked each other (aside from physical attraction!) was that he thought she was smart and funny and special. She came to see that he was steadfast and humane in all situations. Her daughter, in this show practically an extension of her, is never forced into an arranged marriage. Her first love is though, so he becomes the object lesson.
In short, good mothers do know best--they know that their children have good values and won't pick a bad person.

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8 KimDewdrop

March 26, 2025 at 3:05 PM

Hmmmmm... This is not just a drama nor a series, this is a beautiful story, an artwork that allows us the bystanders to see and admire these lives on our screen, and affect us in an outstanding way. Give this the Daesang it deserves.
My heart goes out to the children who never experienced the undying love of a mother because it is the best gift every child deserves. Also to the ones who never knew how to differentiate between true love and overbearing love like Yeong-beom. When you grow up knowing your parents know best as they will never hurt you, but even when they do, you may still call it love until you've had enough.
Yeong-beom's mother was oosh!! At the end of the day, she made decisions for her life not for her child. She deserved the consequences of her actions. I'm happy the marriage did not work, as it is not a luck conquest, it is a lifetime commitment and should not be filled with regret and pain. He loved her deeply, yes, but, if I was in that sitting room with them when I heard his mother condemned her parents, I would react. But he did nothing, only yelled Eomma all through.

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KimDewdrop

March 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM

I'm also glad of the parents Geum-yeong has, in a misogynistic society where women are taught to repress themselves at all times, it helped that her father set a fine example for her and showed her what a loving man is. This volume emphasized self-respect and I loved it.
I know most people are pissed off on how little PBG's screentime is but this is a show for women, for daughters, for mothers and for grandmothers. I love the scene of Ae-sun's mother instincts in protecting her child from harm. One thing I noticed was when she and the kidnapper were fighting, the noise did not allow her child to know which show the silent battles loving parents fights for the children without acknowledgement. This is just so beautiful.

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john

March 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM

That was creepy , the ahjumma and her kidnapping cohort .

They would have become Shark food, never to be seen again.

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KimDewdrop

March 26, 2025 at 10:43 PM

They underestimate the fighting spirit of a mother.

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MalcolmPDX

March 27, 2025 at 12:52 PM

I would agree that "this is a show for women, for daughters, for mothers and for grandmothers," and would add that it celebrates the men that support them in the face of societies norms - specifically, Gwan-sik.

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9 john

March 26, 2025 at 4:01 PM

Dramaddictally, thanks for the recap.

♫ Young love, first love, filled with true devotion ♫ -circa 1956
His mother , what a horrible character , RIP to the actress .
Granny passes away, did one of the 3 Aunties pass in the drama too ?
The pirate 🏴‍☠️ web site does not sub the narration , so I am guessing what the context of those are .
At any rate the aunties are eating and the one says, I brought 3 spoons , when there are only 2 of them there.
I did like how the aunties teased the boy saying that “you could have been siblings” .
The broken up boyfriend sobbed way too much
I wasn’t sure what happened to the painter and wasn’t sure if he was the army guy running after the bus.

The final scene where the son brings home his expecting girlfriend, I thoroughly enjoyed a good laugh there.

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Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM

Painter and army guy is the same guy whom played by Kim Seon Ho T_T

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Britney

March 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM

Yep, one of the aunties died.
As did Gwang Sik's grandmother & father and Ae Sun's grandmother.

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peachie

April 8, 2025 at 8:40 AM

how did auntie die?

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Lostpanda is now Sadpanda. 🪦 fanwall 🪦

April 8, 2025 at 11:10 AM

The show didn't portray the aunties passing. The scene was meant to show how organically life and death happens. It didn't give a reason for the passing of those 3 characters. It was a small buildup to the new unexpected grandson.

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10 Britney

March 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM

Oh! Forgot to mention that mama bear moment of Ae Sun's mom saving her from being kidnapped and then how shecaught the would be kidnappers and commenced whooping her ass. I think the guy also got beat up.

The actress had such an intimidating aura in that scene. She looked so solid; like she had the criminal in a vice grip. I felt shook through the screen.

Those maternal instincts are just wow.

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11 Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 4:29 PM

I liked 3rd volume very very much. We actually see how REASONABLE break up finally played out in kdrama. Love can't save everything unfortunately you also need to sacrifice something.
I am glad to see Kim Seon Ho back unlike many of other viewers I recognized him from first glance. Their first encounter was hillarious! Scriptwriter continued to do excellent job!
I can see so many similarities between my life and my mother's life in this drama but actually looking from sidelines gave me more perspective. How even when we love each other we could also hurt eo...
The dialogue that GM had with her mom about buying cheap shoes actually was exsactly the one I had with my mother one time (I think it is not from 3rd volume, but it is my 1st comment for this drama here. I was hesistated to watch bcs unlike mamy I am not that found of PBG 🫣)...
Really life drama, we all humans we have similar problems and generations even if time fly and changes repeat same mistakes but also have same joys.

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Britney

March 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM

I don't remember when I recognized him haha. I think it was when they were at the message board or whatever it's called.

I wonder what is gonna happen with the brother now that he's a father to be. Does he want to continue the family business of being a fisherman? Is there something else he can do and that he's interested in that doesn't involve college?

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Lilona

March 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM

I think he will continue his shady buisness tries on bcs as we saw in trailer for season 4 he will end up in jail🙈. I hope not for long though

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12 princesspreets

March 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM

I haven’t ‘fallen’ as deeply for this drama as I thought I might, much as I love IU. While it’s certainly very well written and yes quite a lot of tearjerker moments, but some of the casting really doesn’t work for me (still can’t get into PBG at all… and I just don’t care very much for Moon So Ari as middle aged Ae Soon, it just feels ‘off’); and while I’m used to it by now, but the jumping back n forth and intercutting betw the timelines does get quite wearying. I’m actually the most excited for the Geum Myeong and painter story (I really yelped when Kim Seon Ho came on - didn’t realize I’ve missed him so much! He really lights up a screen, even if he looks like a suspicious nogooder tramp!), and I hope the show wraps up well enough. But what I MOST wanted to say (albeit it’s just fluff haha), was… somebody give poor Lee Jun Young a happy ending with his first love already!!! 😂 Pretty heartbreaking first in Melo Movie, and now here! D’awww…

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13 Emperor Titus

March 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM

While we hate Bu-young, a.k.a. Yeong-beom's mom very much (her ending is well deserved, and I always love how the cinematography handle the fast forward), I also want to mention Kang Myung-joo, the actress who play that hateful mom, has passed away just 8 days before the show's first episode was aired, due to cancer. You may also recognize her as one of the judges in «Extraordinary Attorney Woo», although her career, which span through theatre and TV drama, is extensive. Not another great actress as great as her, who can play such a character so hateful yet so pity.

RIP.

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14 Alluvial_Fan

March 26, 2025 at 6:26 PM

Before I comment I want to thank @Dramaaddically for these wonderful re-caps. Double duty on the sheer number of eps. But I sheepishly admit to using the FF to make it through these episodes.
Perhaps it is all the yelling?
I grew up in a household of 8 children and it was always so very loud. I admit to an immediate revulsion response to shouting and hitting. I also understand that this show depicts the realty that many people lived through as they emerge from poverty into a kinder more understanding world.
Hoping we can experience a path forward for all our gals.

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15 spazmo

March 27, 2025 at 2:22 AM

i'm trying to SAVOR each episode slowly, i love this drama so much. even had to back up and rewatch parts and all the flashbacks and flashforwards are hard for me to follow...

but such a lovely excuse to REWATCH episodes! i will be sad when this drama ends......

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16 parkchuna 🍉

March 27, 2025 at 7:40 AM

I’m starting ep 11, n i think this is the episode i’m most looking forward to. The tangerine cast is phenomenal and i’ve enjoyed every episode but the one that surprised me most was Kim Seon Ho. He looks so different here that i barely recognised him and had to check the cast list.
I’m gonna keep watching before i read this recap, lol..

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spazmo

March 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM

yeah, only in the last couple eps i suddenly shouted "is that Kim Seon Ho???" i thought he looked familiar, but his hair, glasses and facial hair threw me off! tho the voice should've been telling... *rolls eyes*

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17 Edgar Pordwed

April 19, 2025 at 3:57 AM

These episodes felt a bit too dramatic, and less slice of life. The unnecessary indignity and insults by Yeong-beom's mom, grandma recognising only Ae-sun as her son's daughter, the kidnapping incident, things like that.. also I am not really enjoying the favouritism towards Geum-myeong by the parents. I do agree with Dramadictally’s point about how it's interesting to see a drama explore the perspective of a family that favours the daughter over the son for a change. I also feel that the older Ae-Sun and Gwan-shik feel like different characters than the younger ones.
Still I'm really loving this drama.. it has so many many relatable situations. Great insights from Beanies in both the recaps and the comments.

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