Bittersweet Hell – K-drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

Episode 2

Episode 2 of Bittersweet Hell begins with Young-won and Jae-jin receiving their awards for their accomplishments in their respective fields. When the host asks what family means to Young-won, she replies, “To me, family is a lifeline.” The scene then cuts to a flashback when Hye-won finds her mother-in-law Sa-gang rejoicing over the death of her husband. Young-won tells her about Go-myu’s involvement with her father’s death and is conflicted over her next decision. Sa-gang suggests she consider how the situation would affect her family, and she decides against taking further action. Hence, she elaborately thanks her father-in-law in her acceptance speech, who adored her like his own child.

Things have changed for the Choi family after Go-myu’s death, but the one thing that remained constant is the criticism over Sa-gang’s web novel. However, this time, a new user defends her passionately. Elsewhere, we see Jae-jin sitting in the operating theater with headphones on as the other doctors proceed with the surgery. Later, the Choi family visit Go-myu’s grave on his 49th death anniversary, where Young-won learns about a rumour that Sa-gang is suspected to have murdered Go-myu in the exact same way mentioned in one of her popular thriller novels.

Young-won becomes suspicious of Sa-gang. During one of her counselling sessions, she notices numbers written on the family picture sent to her by the anonymous sender. It’s clear from the picture that the culprit is targeting Young-won’s family in a particular order, and the next target is Jae-jin. She goes to inquire about the sender but to no avail. This is when she gets a message to visit Do-hyun’s homeroom teacher, who tells her that Do-hyun has been behaving oddly as he gave up on his exam. In the meantime, Sa-gang visits the old Chinese restaurant Soft Hands and asks the chef for a favor.

Young-won takes Do-hyun home with her to find Moon Tae-oh. After customary greetings, Tae-oh excuses himself to talk to Do-hyun and ends up playing catch with him. Young-won feels uncertain about Tae-oh for some unknown reason.

Lee Se-na visits Young-won for her counselling session the next day, where Young-won offers to introduce Se-na to a new doctor. But Se-na is not interested and proceeds to provoke Young-won about her family and Sa-gang’s involvement with Go-myu’s death before leaving. Later, Young-won’s aunt-in-law visits her to show her a copy of Sa-gang’s book titled ‘Murder in a Frame’, where the protagonist kills her husband in the same way that Go-myu had died.

Young-won promptly visits the police station to find that Sa-gang had declined an autopsy in Go-myu’s case. She ends up at the spot of Go-myu’s death to find Sa-gang lurking in the same place, who lightly brushes off the topic when Young-won questions her about the autopsy. Elsewhere, the chef gets ready for a mission, and it’s revealed that he’s the one who defended Sa-gang from the critics of her web novel.

Meanwhile, Young-won is reading the novel when Jae-jin enters. Young-won tells him about the headless stuffed pigeon and asks him to take caution. Jae-jin apparently has a colloquium the next day that’s been continuing for over a year. Elsewhere, “The picture in the frame is complete” Lee Se-na sends a cryptic message before entering a house.

The next day, while on her way to the office, Young-won receives a series of text messages from an unknown sender of Jae-jin with a woman. She checks the place where he’s supposed to have the colloquium but finds that he’s been lying about the location. She’s now suspicious that Jae-jin has been cheating on her. So, when Jae-jin returns home later that day, she checks her dash camera to find it empty. While in the car, she finds through her brother that Jae-jin had a colloquium in Yangpyeong. Through his card transactions, she verifies this claim.

The next day, she maintains her calm while Jae-jin goes on and on about the fictional colloquium. At her office, Young-won receives another box without the name of the sender. Upon opening it, she finds a miniature model. This is also when she receives another message “downright lie” with pictures of Jae-jin with another woman and the time. Keeping the message in the back burner, Young-won studies the miniature and comes across the location – Seojeong-myeon 742-3.

This is the location where her family and Jae-jin’s family once met for a vacation. She travels all the way to the farmhouse. Upon inspecting the place, she comes across an abandoned bouquet and a book titled ‘The Mousetrap Has Gone Missing’ and soon finds Dr. Oh’s body lying on the floor in a pool of blood. “She’s not dead,” says Sa-gang, and the episode ends.

The Episode Review

What an episode, phew! This episode keeps the viewers guessing till the end. Although the plot seems straightforward, the little hints here and there in the episode successfully maintain the tension without losing its hold on the viewers’ attention. The aim of the episode is clear. If family is a lifeline for Young-won, what happens when she discovers the murky secrets unravelling themselves?

On top of an engaging plot, the episode also dabbles in black humour, providing comic relief amidst the weight of the thriller genre. For instance, while at Go-myu’s grave, his sister exclaims, “What was the use of exercising and taking care of his health all his life? He got slammed by a rock to death!” and Sa-gang replies, deadpan, “Exactly.”

Considering the cliffhanger that the episode ended with, it seems the next episode is going to be quite a ride!