The Good Bad Mother – K-drama Episode 11 Recap & Review

Piecing The Mystery

Episode 11 of The Good Bad Mother begins with Sung-ae beating up Sam-sik at home for trying to scam Kang-ho. He feels bad that his own mother dotes on the neighbour’s kid but never even made him a birthday meal. She reveals that she was kind to Kang-ho because his good influence would have probably helped Sam-sik and she starts crying.

Mr. Bang is angry at his son and Sam-sik says he needed the money. They ask how much and as he puts up two fingers, they think it is 2 million won and are shocked.

At home, Young-soon is trying to wake Kang-ho up for the blind date but he gives her the cold shoulder. She suddenly faints and he is worried. He rushes outside for help and sees Mi-joo, the twins and the blind date, Hoang. Hoang administers first aid while Mi-joo drives them to the hospital.

Kang-ho is told that Young-soon has stage 4 cancer and it has gotten worse. Unable to take it, he goes to Young-soon and begs her to get up. He promises never to become a prosecutor or like Mi-joo again. Both the women hear it and Hoang leaves as she tells Andrea that it won’t work with Kang-ho.

In Jouri, Geum-ja is walking by Hoon-ah’s house while begging her eldest daughter to take in Mi-joo as her life will be ruined if she stays. She then wonders why Hoon-ah is absent for so long. She goes in and sees that his place is filthy and he has been drinking. He asks about Young-soon and she is confused. He is upset that she is still keeping her illness a secret and tells Geum-ja.

The neighbour is upset and asks God what has the Choi family done to suffer so much. In the hospital, Kang-ho wonders the same. He thinks of his suffering as punishment but asks what did Young-soon do to warrant the same thing. Mi-joo assures him that they are not bad but such things can happen to anyone.

She is hugging him when Geum-ja shows up. She is angry at Mi-joo as she swears and beats her. She says she will stay with Kang-ho and tells her to leave. At that moment, they see Young-soon, having woken up trying to leave as she needs to meet Hoang. 

Meanwhile, the buyer who bought the luxury bag calls Sam-sik and tells him to take it back as it has a tear in the stitch. He tells her he has no money but when he shows her his bank account, he sees that his mother has transferred 2 million won. He is touched and as he thanks her, he asks for a little more money as he had to pay back the buyer for the faulty bag. As he inspects it, he sees that in the lining, Kang-ho has hidden the DNA test and a memory card.

At home, Young-soon tries to meet Hoang but the woman refuses because of Mi-joo. Young-soon is upset and even though Kang-ho tells her to rest, she leaves. Meanwhile, Geum-ja pities Young-soon but tells Mi-joo not to throw away her life taking care of her and Kang-ho. Mi-joo assures her that she is not thinking of getting together with him but everyone needs to know the truth.

At that moment, Young-soon shows up and berates Mi-joo for ruining the blind date. She asks why she always ruins Kang-ho’s future and Geum-ja who is listening is furious. She almost spills that he is the one who ruined Mi-joo but her daughter stops her and makes her leave.

Sam-sik shows up while Kang-ho is alone and gives him the test. He tries to get him to investigate it but the latter is crestfallen as he says his mother doesn’t approve. Sam-sik tries to push him while trying to unlock the memory card but keeps failing. Kang-ho sees the hourglass wallpaper of his laptop and something triggers as he had used a bugged hourglass to record his meeting with Tae-soo and Song.

The password is ‘father’ and as they open it, they see that it is an audio recording from the hourglass bug of Tae-soo, Kang-ho and Song deciding on how to get rid of Secretary Hwang. After Kang-ho leaves, Song then says that if it is revealed, they can always make the boy a scapegoat and Tae-soo is impressed. 

Sam-sik is impressed and endearingly calls Kang-ho his fiancee. He is excited to use the evidence to extract money from the men but Kang-ho refuses. Sam-sik changes tactics and says he will find out the truth and Kang-ho warns him not to mess it up. 

Kang-ho then visits his father’s grave and asks why he remembered him on hearing the audio. He wonders why he misses a man he has never met. Young-soon who was also making her way to the grave sees him sulking. She recalls her happy memories with Hae-sik and how he would talk to Kang-ho when she was pregnant.

She asks her son to bury her in the same place so the couple can look after him as he grows older and has kids and grandkids. He starts crying as he asks why she always says hurtful things. He knows she will die but asks her to stay a little longer. She smiles and says okay as she hugs him. 

She then goes to Geum-ja’s and kneels as she apologises for hurting Mi-joo. She says she never realised how misguided her love for Kang-ho was even after they got a second chance. Geum-ja goes to pick her up and Young-soon suddenly hugs her and cries that she wants to live. Geum-ja cries with her while Mi-joo who is listening from inside tears up.

The next day, Kang-ho keeps doting on his mother and doing her chores. In the town square, the Rural Development officers want to interview Cha and So and they are nervous. Mrs. Son thinks they may be hiding for having done something bad and so, So gives a moving interview to keep up the disguise. Cha is delighted while So is embarrassed as he needs to apologise to Song before he sees their interview.

As they are leaving, Sam-sik runs into them and asks for a ride to Seoul. They are shocked that he is going to meet Oh Tae-soo but drop him at his place. He stalks Ha-young and crashes into her car to get her attention. She is shocked to hear the audio and tears up the DNA test. He says it was with Kang-ho which catches her attention and he asks for 202 million won to pay back the gambler and his mother.

She agrees but when she leaves, Tae-soo’s men who have been trailing her, kidnap Sam-sik before he can update Kang-ho. The same assassin with the wrist tattoo threatens him but at that moment, Cha and So show up and beat up all the men with farming tools. In the chaos, Sam-sik runs away. However, two of the henchmen escape and tell Oh Tae-soo that the blackmail was enacted by Song as So and Cha are his minions.

He is furious and warns Ha-young to keep her mouth shut. At the wedding, Director Song shows up uninvited and mocks Tae-soo. Before Ha-young’s entrance, she disappears as Song slips her a photo of Kang-ho walking. In Jouri, he is getting ready for a date when Ha-young shows up in her wedding gown. She sees him worriedly calling Sam-sik and she walks off. 

As for Kang-ho, he is surprised to see a secret phone in his jacket pocket and hides it. That’s not the only surprise as he sees that his date is Young-soon. She never got a chance to eat a proper meal with him or watch a movie or go on any trip. She makes a list of fun things and he agrees to do them with her.

Behind them, on the TV, the news covers the mysterious death of Hwang and how the police are investigating it. Tae-soo is frustrated as he beats up Ha-young and has her locked in a hospital till his election is over. He also tells his secretary that they need to put an end to the whole thing.

At home, Kang-ho thinks Sam-sik has scammed him again and is sad. He puts it out of his mind and decides to sleep in the same room as Young-soon so that he can take care of her and do anything she wants. He wants him to sing and he is awkward but complies. Mi-joo sings the same song while taking care of a sick Ye-jin. She feels bad for not taking care of her well and Ye-jin brings up her father.

Mi-joo thinks she knows the truth but the little girl thinks that her father is having an affair which is why he has never contacted them. She says it is okay to be divorced and there isn’t much to it as long as they can live happily with those they love. Geum-ja smiles while Mi-joo tears up as she apologises for being a bad mom. 

That night, Young-soon gets a call that there is smoke from the pig farm. She and Kang-ho rush inside to see the farm is on fire. She gets deja vu and starts crying as the pigs burn. The doors won’t open and Kang-ho breaks open a window. She refuses to leave first but he pushes her out of the window.

But before he can get out, there is an explosion and he hits his head and falls down. He suddenly hears his father’s voice and recalls his very last memory before his accident, that of Ha-young walking away before the truck crashes into his car. He wakes up and looks determined.

The Episode Review

It would have been fun to see the cute dynamic between Sam-sik and Kang-ho from the beginning of The Good Bad Mother but better late than never. It is endearing to see their development from enemies to friends and how they tease each other with Sam-sik going along with the fiancee joke. Despite being selfish and trying to extract money from Ha-young, Sam-sik still does his best to follow Kang-ho’s plan. 

As for him going MIA, it feels odd that he wouldn’t contact Kang-ho despite being saved by So and Cha. It is likely that he has been kidnapped once again when he ran out. This could also follow the theory that Tae-soo locked Young-soon and Kang-ho inside the farm to kill them.

But the Hwang mystery just keeps getting more complicated. The last we saw her, she looked alive so what really happened? Is she actually dead or is someone using her to get to Tae-soo?