The Good Bad Mother – K-drama Episode 12 Recap & Review

The Prosecutor

Episode 12 of The Good Bad Mother starts off with Tae-soo going to Song and telling him that both of them will be ruined if the police investigate Hwang’s case. Song mocks him for not controlling himself and Tae-soo is furious. But he calms down as he says he has all the dirt to take down Woobyeok Group and proof that he killed Choi Hae-sik. But they need to work together to kill Kang-ho and then make him look like the father of Hwang’s child.

It cuts to Kang-ho and Young-soon after their date, walking on the docks. They see a boat with his name and they take photos but at that moment, he remembers Hwang. Later that night when they get the call about the burning farm, an injured Sam-sik is trying to warn him. They leave before Sam-sik can call out to Kang-ho and he realises that the burning farm may be linked to Tae-soo and runs after their truck.

Meanwhile, Sung-ae gets a dream about Sam-sik and is about to go look for him when they hear So and Cha outside. They are suspicious about his disappearance and are looking for a way to get him. At that moment, they see Sam-sik running after Kang-ho’s truck and go after him. And after them are the Bangs as they try to stop the Woobyeok minions from catching their son.

As Sam-sik reaches the farm, he sees Tae-soo’s men locking it from outside and tries to stop them. They beat him up but Cha and So arrive and they go running after them. The Bangs run to their son and wonder about the fire as they call 911. Meanwhile, the Sons are hanging out at Geum-ja’s place when they hear about the fire.

Everyone shows up at the farm and see Young-soon coming out of the window. Mi-joo wants to go inside and save Kang-ho but Sam-sik stops her. He heroically enters the farm but what comes out is Kang-ho carrying an unconscious Sam-sik on his back. At the hospital, the Bangs again shout at Sam-sik but start crying as they ask him to stay alive.

He is confused by their attitude and they reveal they have only been bad parents because they didn’t want anyone else to hit and shout at him. Later, as the cops arrive, Sam-sik tries to tell them about Oh Tae-soo’s men but Young-soon just claims that she accidentally set the farm on fire. Mi-joo eavesdrops and confronts Sam-sik.

He thinks Young-soon lied because she knows that he was blackmailing Ha-young and he tells her everything. Mi-joo goes to Young-soon who is sitting with an unconscious Kang-ho and tells her to report Oh Tae-soo. Young-soon reveals that Hae-sik died the same way and that Tae-soo will never stop going after Kang-ho even though the evidence is now gone.

She is sad at the turn of events and how it caused her to be a bad mother to Kang-ho. Mi-joo reveals that despite everything, he never hated his mother, singing her favourite song and searching high and dry for the type of pancakes she used to make. Young-soon realises that the beloved in Kang-ho’s diary is Mi-joo and apologises for everything.

She says Kang-ho did not abandon them but only tried to distance himself because of his dangerous revenge plan. Mi-joo then apologises as she says the twins are his kids and the two women tear up and hug. At that moment, it is shown that Kang-ho is also awake as he tears up. However, some cops arrive and arrest him on suspicion of murdering Hwang. 

They take him to the police station and show him the photos that Tae-soo’s men had taken of Kang-ho pushing the car in the sea. With Hwang’s body being found nearby, they claim he is the murderer. As Young-soon tries to defend him, Kang-ho suddenly throws a fit, wanting to go home and looking scared. She hugs him while he looks calculatingly.

She berates the cops for violating the protection act for the disabled which finally allows them to go home. Back at home, Young-soon asks Kang-ho if he will greet her as she realises that the old him is back. She apologises for being a bad mother all his life and they tear up as he hugs her. He asks how she knew his memories were back and she says she knows him.

As they catch up, he says he needs to finish his plan otherwise Tae-soo will never leave him alone even if they run. She apologises for burning his files and he says he will find the evidence as those who commit multiple crimes always leave some behind. He tells her that no one can know his memories are back and then he goes to visit the twins.

He remembers seeing Mi-joo hanging out with a man while walking the twins when they were infants and tearing up, even though the man is actually Sun-young’s boyfriend. He hugs the twins and apologises for not recognising them. He then goes to Mi-joo and tells her that he has regained his memories.

She wants to be angry at him but is mad that he has been suffering more than her. He tells her that he has not yet finished his revenge so to wait and then after that, he will be waiting for her to forgive him. 

Meanwhile, Hoon-ah comes to give Young-soon her containers while she prepares a meal for the locals. He tells her that he is moving out and she invites him to the feast. She apologises to everyone for being uncaring and promises to live happily with them. They cheer and sing together while she looks at them wistfully.

As for the Woobyeok minions, they seem proud to have caught the two men who tried to burn the farm. Of course, this angers Song who actually was the one who sent them to kill Kang-ho. Another minion of his, Oh shows up and reveals that Kang-ho actually duped them and Hwang was never in the car he pushed into the lake as they find an empty car which makes Song wonder who exactly killed her.

Tae-soo is furious and sets a tail on Kang-ho who goes to his old office and takes his car. Meanwhile, a drunk Young-soon goes home with Geum-ja as she wants to hang out with her grandchildren. They are amused and put her to sleep while the twins regale Mi-joo with tales of the feast.

Ye-jin tries to show her the videos she recorded but Mi-joo comes across one video that was taken on the day of Kang-ho’s accident. Ye-jin is admiring his car when she sees Ha-young putting powder in the water bottles. Mi-joo finds it odd and shows it to Sam-sik. He agrees that something is wrong but is too scared to investigate as he has been hiding in his closet since the day of the fire.

She still brings him along to Ha-young’s place but they learn that she is in a hospital for 4 months. Sam-sik sees the news of her running away at the wedding and they put the pieces together.

Mi-joo also suddenly remembers that when she had almost kicked Ha-young, the latter had fabricated a medical certificate of her fake injuries from a Woosung Medical Centre. They realise that Tae-soo may have locked her there and Mi-joo drags an unwilling but disguised Sam-sik to the hospital. 

As for Kang-ho, he is contacted by his colleague who notices that his car is missing but promises to keep his secret as he had helped him when his mother was sick. Kang-ho then searches for Mr. Cho, the restaurant owner who had promised to smuggle Hwang and is told that the man has disappeared. While searching at different ports, he sees a boat named Gwangmyeongho and realises that it is Cho’s boat.

The Episode Review

Phew, if The Good Bad Mother wanted to be a revenge comedy, it could have worked pretty well in that genre as well. From Kang-ho pretending to be a child to the fake buddy cop duo of Sam-sik and Mi-joo makes episode 12 a fun watch after the last few weeks of tears. And with the trio trying to take down Tae-soo in the next episode, it will be entertaining, to say the least.

We have Sam-sik who is trying to turn to a new leaf. Then there is Kang-ho who will probably be quite confused from treating Sam-sik as a friend to remembering the animosity they share. And poor Mi-joo is going to be stuck between all that testosterone, trying to keep them focused on investigating the case at hand while they are both in love with her.