Good Partner – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

That’s How Fatherhood Begins

Episode 8 of Good Partner begins with Eun-kyung and Ji-sang on the battleground with a family investigator responsible for handling the custody war between the former couple. Ji-sang, acting on the advice of his lawyer, emphasizes Eun-kyung being an absent parent, while Eun-kyung tries to justify the career she built for the sake of providing a good life for their daughter.

While Ji-sang is keen on cutting off his relationship with Choi Sa-ra, as advised by his lawyer, he discovers Sa-ra’s pregnancy. In the meantime, Yu-ri, Eun-kyung, and Woo-jin decide to close a long-standing custody battle where the son wants to live with his father.

However, just when it seems the case is about to come to an end, Woo-jin finds during the hearing that his client is not the biological father of the child. The mother had kept the truth about the paternity of her son from her husband.

This is a huge shock to the father, who has loved his son just as much as the child has loved him. To be certain, he decides to conduct a paternity test and retrieves a DNA sample when his 18-year-old son visits him.

While this is happening, Choi Sa-ra is as persistent as ever. She asks Ji-sang to accompany her to the doctor, which he obviously refuses. He makes it clear that as long as he gets Jae-hui’s custody, Sa-ra is not his priority. Determined, Sa-ra decides that the only answer for her in this situation is to prevent Ji-sang from getting Jae-hui’s custody.

Elsewhere, Ji-sang spends time with Jae-hui at an amusement park where they often went when she was a child. Jae-hui spends the night at Ji-sang’s and comes across Sa-ra’s ultrasound picture in one of the drawers in her room at Ji-sang’s place, which is obviously one of Sa-ra’s antics. While Jae-hui is extremely hurt, she talks with the family investigator.

Elsewhere, Woo-jin’s client decides to drop the child custody case as he wants to remain his son’s legal guardian and father even at a disadvantage. Both Woo-jin and Eun-ho, who are supporting him in the case, feel bad for how things have turned out for their client.  Woo-jin later meets up with the man and experiences how much his son also loves him and wants to live with him.

On the other hand, Choi Sa-ra meets with Jae-hui and blatantly asks her to choose her mother instead of her father. Jae-hui leaves angry at Sa-ra’s persistent disregard and yells that she should apologize to her mother.

At the court mediation, the client is able to retain his legal guardianship over his son and also gets unrestricted access to meet with him. Later, when the case has been wrapped up, Woo-jin remembers his own complicated parental history.

Later that day, the family investigator visits Eun-kyung’s house. Even though the results are undeclared, Eun-kyung feels that Jae-hui has decided to live with her and discloses this news to Yu-ri. She later meets with the family investigator to find out more and is shocked to learn that Jae-hui had known about Ji-sang’s affair longer than she did.

In a flashback, it’s revealed that Jae-hui found out about her father’s affair when she was staying at Sa-ra’s house and has been anxious ever since. Jae-hui even discloses to the investigator that she had given multiple chances to her father, to be honest with her, but he hadn’t. She’s also aware that her mother’s lies are meant to protect her rather than hurt her.

All hell breaks loose when Eun-kyung discovers Ji-sang’s unborn child and that Jae-hui knows about it too. It’s a shocking and emotionally laden scene as Yu-ri overhears the conversation in shock outside the room. The episode ends as we discover that the law firm’s CEO, who is also Woo-jin’s uncle is actually his biological father!

The Episode Review

“Good Partner” continues to adhere to its drama genre with shocking revelations that, although quite common in a show like this, keep us engaged with the characters and their lives through its surprising twists and turns.

The plot is completely focused on Eun-kyung and Ji-sang’s divorce, with Yu-ri and Eun-ho’s storyline, along with the legal cases, taking a backseat. Now that the custody battle is almost at its end, the next few episodes will be judgment day for Choi Sa-ra and Ji-sang, and we cannot wait for the melodrama to unveil itself!