Mine – K-Drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Blue Diamond Necklace

Episode 1 of Mine begins with a nun rushing through the rain to the police station. She claims to have seen a murder, as time skips back 60 days prior to the incident.

Nun Emma walks with Hee-Soo, where they find a teacher called Yoo-Yeon being reprimanded by a group of men. It turns out she has a debt to repay, prompting Hee-Soo to convince Seo-Hyun to take her on as a maid. It all sounds pretty promising, while Seo-Hyun interviews Ja-Kyung as a tutor.

This then starts the line of fate as both women begin working in this luxurious mansion. The rooms stretch on, there seems to be an abundance of stairs and Ja-Kyung meets both Hee-Soo and Ji-Yong for the first time. Food is delivered up to the mansion with a whole team of workers on hand to set everything up as well. This really is like a military operation.

With classical music playing and the table all laid out, our patriarch sits at the top of the table with a satisfied look on his face. Everyone is in formal gear but for Hee-Soo, who shows up in a bright orange dress. The dishes continue to be served while Ja-Kyung starts galivanting around the house. She heads into the dining table and helps herself to the food. While she’s eating raw meat, she meets Yoo-Yeon for the first time.

The real reason for the dinner though is so our patriarch can say goodbye to “her” for the last time. Now, the family believe that could be in reference to Ji-Yong’s Mother. Given she’s dead he may choose his daughter-in-law but it’s all quite vague and not entirely convincing. Well, out come the workers carrying a blue diamond necklace. Just before he can continue, the old man collapses on the ground.

While the chairman is hooked up to oxygen, the family prepare to hide the diamond necklace back in the ground. While the man recovers, Yu-Yeon contemplates whether Ja-Kyung could be responsible for poisoning the man’s wine.

Before she can get a chance to elaborate, Yang Soon-Hye goes insane out in the hallway. She throws bottles of red wine around, but quickly stops when she realizes the whole conversation has been recorded.

Butler Joo has audio evidence of all this, among other requests Soon-Hye has barked out, and claims she’s doing this so she can replay Soon-Hye’s messages and do her bidding more effectively.

When Seo-Hyun catches wind of this, she effectively fires the girl for a breach of contract, waving goodbye to Ms Joo and handing over a ring worth 800 million won. Butler Joo immediately springs into action though, hastily deleting the videos so she can stay. Instead, Ju-Hee is the sacrificial lamb and fired in her stead.

Butler Joo immediately sharpens up and greets Yoo-Yeon, giving her a list of jobs – including cleaning the returning “young master’s” bedroom. That boy happens to be Soo-Hyeok, who’s warmly greeted by the family when he returns to the mansion. The only trouble is, Yoo-Yeon has slept on the job and quickly awakens to hurry back downstairs. When she does, she locks eyes with Soo-Hyeok on the stairs and sparks fly.

Dinner that evening is a much more colourful affair, reflecting the eccentricity of peacock loving Yang Soon-Hye. The attention turns to Soo-Hyeok’s prospective marriage options. As they talk, Soo-Hyeok tellingly looks around the table at the different workers. It seems like he’s trying to find Yoo-Yeon.

While he heads upstairs, a fight breaks out as valuable antiques are thrown. Seo-Hyun is livid and sits Jin-Hee down, telling her she’s not welcome in their house anymore.

Meanwhile, Hee-Soo and Ji-Yong are taken away by Ja-Kyung, who confirms that Ha-Joon is ill. As they settle in for the night, rustling downstairs brings Hee-Soo into the living room. There, she finds Ja-Kyung dancing in her orange dress. How she still has a job after that is beyond me. Anyway, Hee-Soo avoids a confrontation and allows the girl to stay.

Excusing their tutor, Yoo-Yeon phones Nun Emma and tells her the family are strange. It turns out she knows them very well but quite how remains a mystery. As Yoo-Yeon heads outside to go for a walk, she bumps into Soo-Hyeok. He suggests they switch rooms and tells her it’ll be fun.

The Episode Review

How on earth Ja-Kyung still has a job is anyone’s guess. And who is the dead body referenced at the start and end of this episode? We’ll have to wait and see but for now this hierarchical melodrama gets off to an enjoyable start.

Following the time-slot of both Mr Queen and Vincenzo is not going to be easy but tvN have a knack for creating enjoyable, bingeable series and this one doesn’t look like bucking the trend any time soon.

There’s definite Sky Castle vibes here, and not just because Coach Kim (Kim Seo-Hyung) is one of the lead stars. The show has a darkly comic tone to it and the flamboyant, satirical feel to a lot of the material leans into this.

Quite what will happen next is anyone’s guess but this quirky opener is enough to pique the interest.