Family Matters – K-drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

Karma 

Family Matters Episode 2 starts with a flashback to when a young Young-soo tried to escape. After she is captured, we realise that she was not escaping but doing an escape drill. Why was she planning to escape, and who was the mysterious woman who was training these kids?

Presently, Young-soo continues to cut into Kyu-tae’s thigh while explaining why his actions deserve tough consequences. The other hostage watches from his cage and tries to record using his smartwatch.

Kyu-tae screams in pain and reveals that he works for the class president, Jae-gon. The scene cuts to Jae-gon making the videos in his room, feeling proud of his perverted self.  Young-soo sarcastically laughs, noting she will have to sew Kyu-tae back together, and the lad faints from pain.

When Kyu-tae wakes up, he has been sown together, and he faints again. Ji-woo rushes out of the room, disgusted, but Ji-hoon simply smiles, enjoying the torture show. Gang-sung follows Ji-woo and asks her not to worry too much about what she saw. Later, Young-soo tells Cheol-hee that she is worried about Ji-hoon’s reaction. Speaking of Ji-hoon, we see him visiting the other hostage.

Meanwhile, one of the bullies visits Kyu-tae’s dad, the deacon of the church. The young man tells Kyu-tae’s father all about him getting beaten by a girl. Elsewhere, the police continue looking into Yu-jin’s case. They look into all the CCTV footage of roads leading in and out of the Kumsu-ro trail. They spot the family’s van and the other car tailing it, but only one of the detectives finds it weird.

The following morning, Kyu-tae’s father starts looking for his son. Young-soo brings Kyu-tae home in a wheelchair and claims he slept at her place. She explains she asked Kyu-tae to visit so she could warn him about bullying and reconcile the children.

Kyu-tae cries in pain, saying he is hurt, but when his father checks, there is no sign of anything wrong. It is then revealed that Young-soo has some out-of-the-ordinary hypnotic skills. Young-soo mocks Kyu-tae for being weak, annoying his father, who is proud of his bully son.

At home, Cheol-hee shows the children the video taken during the Kyu-tae incident and explains that it never really happened. Ji-woo is sort of relieved, and Ji-hoon is a bit disappointed. Gang-sung calls the skill brain-hacking and explains how it works. He adds that Young-soo can also erase memories, among other things.

Of course, the kids have many questions, but they run late for school. On the way to school, Ji-hoon asks Ji-woo to give their mom a chance. Ji-woo still finds it hard that they are not allowed to use social media or have phones. Ji-hoon reveals that he has seen his mom use her powers before. He vividly remembers Young-soo dealing with the abusive husband of their former neighbour. They see Jae-gon and decide that they should each handle their own problems.

As Gang-sung continues to note all the CCTV cameras in the area, Pastor Yoon tries to hold the community together. He talks to Deacon Joe and scolds him for being late. The deacon explains that his son fell sick.

Sister Oh expresses her concern for Kyu-tae, and Deacon Joe secretly warns her to be careful of Young-soo. He says that Kyu-tae spent the night at Young-soo’s and came back as a shell of himself. Sister Oh agrees to escort Pastor Yoon to fetch his dog from the vet’s office. While there, she tries to be snoopy, but when she uncovers the cage, everyone is shocked to see it is empty.  

Cheol-hee asks the Pastor to give his dog more time to heal and return later for him. Pastor Yoon seems surprised to learn his dog was hurt and not sick.  Sister O offers to give Young-soo some parental advice and is offended when the latter turns her down.

After the guests leave, Cheol-hee and Young-soo wonder what happened to their hostage. It looks like someone set him free. They suspect the kids, but they are still at school.

Meanwhile, at school, Ji-hoon flirts with Mi-jung while Ji-woo teases him. Jae-gon summons Ji-woo and thanks her for taking care of Kyu-tae. He refuses to accept he is the big boss behind the bullying ring. He claims he is only a manager and offers to pay Ji-woo in cryptocurrency. Ji-woo is stunned at his audacity, but Ji-hoon convinces her to calm down and accept the money. Simultaneously, Ji-hoon puts a malware virus in Mi-jung’s pictures.

As for the police, they arrest the man who was caught on video following Yu-jin. They quickly realise he is not the killer they are looking for. Still, the man provides some insight into what happened to Yu-jin. He explains he followed her, and she got started and started running. However, she came across a man who acted as if he was her boyfriend and left with him.

The scene cuts to the man who took Yu-jin. It turns out to be the same man that Young-soo’s family had abducted. He is currently in his house and never called the police to report what happened to him. Through a flashback, we learn that he was the one who killed Yu-jin and left her in his car. The car is currently at Young-soo’s place.

Speaking of Young-soo, the family calls for a meeting, and Gang-sung agrees to give each one a chance to ask one question. The kids deny setting the hostage free. Ji-hoon asks if he can learn Young-soo’s hypnotising skill, but Cheol-hee says it is not something one can learn.

Ji-woo demands to know about Young-soo’s origin. We then learn that Young-soo was abandoned at an early age, and she found herself at the Special Training Battalion. There she met Gang-sung and Cheol-hee. They were all trainees at the centre.

However, they agree to escape and save Ji-woo and Ji-hoon, who were brought in as infants. Young-soo was determined to give the children a better future and protect them. The kids realise they are on the run, and that is why they can’t use social media.

It seems the adults are still hiding something else. As they talk, the former hostage calls and informs them to check the gift in his car and call him back. Young-soo and Cheol-hee discover Yu-jin’s body in the trunk of the car and call the former hostage back.

He threatens to expose them, but once he checks his video, there is nothing criminal to report. He then adds he is the wanted serial killer, but Young-soo and Cheol-hee don’t believe him. They think he doesn’t suit the profile.

The family comes together and decides to clean up the car and deliver it to the police station. Gang-sung gives them costumes to hide their faces as they push the car outside the police station. However, before this, they offer some prayers on Yu-jin’s behalf. The next morning, the media reports on Yu-jin’s body and how the killers left it outside the police station.

They argue that the killers were mocking the police. However, that was never the intention of the family. After the incident, the family grows closer. Young-soo is happy to see Ji-woo slowly warming up to her. She then reveals that she knows that Gang-sung set the hostage free and questions why he did it.

The Episode Review

This episode gave us a few answers into who Young-soo is and how this family came to be. They are not related by blood but by circumstances that forced them to become a family.

For whatever reason, Cheol-hee, Gang-sung and Young-soo opted to escape from the training centre to give Ji-hoon and Ji-woo a better life. It may be life on the run with lots of secrets, but they are always there for each other. However, why did Gang-sung set the hostage free? What did he expect to happen?  

If Young-soo and Cheol-hee are certain that the former hostage is not the serial killer, why is this man insisting he is? If he is a copycat, who is the real serial killer? We also have no answers about how the family will deal with Jae-gon now that they know his secret. I can’t help but wonder whether Pastor Yoon knows more than he is letting on. He seems suspicious.