Who is She – K-drama Episode 3 Recap & Review

Episode 3

Episode 3 of Who is She begins with Mal-soon and Emily coming face-to-face in each other’s bodies. Before they can have a proper conversation, Emily’s group members intervene and take Mal-soon away, threatening her to avoid causing trouble.

Meanwhile, Ha-na encounters Emily in Mal-soon’s body and, thinking she’s her grandmother, urges her to return home. Unable to meet Daniel, Emily leaves abruptly.

At Ha-na’s audition, it’s revealed that Mal-soon struck a deal with Daniel to recruit Ha-na as a trainee in exchange for her cooperation. Ha-na later heads home, runs into her father along the way, and assumes that Mal-soon has returned. However, they are both disappointed to find she hasn’t come back.

The next day, Mal-soon struggles to fit in, becoming the target of ridicule and unending threats. Despite threats from her team members, she remains determined and unfazed. Later, Daniel takes her out for dinner and attempts to communicate in English, hoping it might jog her memories. Calmly, Mal-soon responds that she doesn’t understand a word of what he’s saying.

Eventually, an employee at UNIS takes Mal-soon for a hair makeover, bidding farewell to her “grandma hair.” Back at the company, Mal-soon declares that everyone should call her Oh Du-ri instead of Emily. She then performs a song she used to sing back in her club days, alone. Daniel overhears her singing and joins in, while Kim Ae-sim observes them from afar, clearly unsettled.

Daniel begins training Mal-soon by having her listen to K-pop songs and practice singing modern tunes.

Meanwhile, Ha-na gets accepted as a UNIS trainee and moves into the dorms, despite her mother’s objections. The debut group members feel threatened by Ha-na practicing with the debut team, especially given her friendship with Mal-soon.

Elsewhere, Ban Ji-sook visits her ailing father in the hospital and learns a shocking truth—that her mother had lied to her all her life. Amid this revelation, Ji-sook’s husband starts receiving letters demanding repayment for his loans.

The episode ends with Mal-soon apologizing to Daniel for getting into a fight with a drunken pervert the previous night, only to come face-to-face with Kim Ae-sim.

The Episode Review

This episode of Who is She primarily sets the stage for the upcoming challenges in the characters’ lives, while hinting at the underlying cause of Ji-sook and Mal-soon’s deteriorating relationship. Although we do not yet know why Mal-soon kept Ji-sook away from her father, there are certainly traits Ji-sook seems to have inherited from her mother—whether she admits it or not—such as knowing how to handle people who wish for her downfall.

Ji-sook might have endured a difficult childhood with her fierce mother, but her perspective appears rather limited. This narrow view likely prevents her from seeing beyond her mother’s overbearing personality, which she unknowingly mirrors in her approach to raising Ha-na.

Furthermore, Mal-soon is the exact opposite of the introverted Emily, which could explain why they swapped places. Considering the show’s reliance on familiar tropes, it wouldn’t be surprising if Mal-soon ends up resolving Emily’s issues, repairing her own relationship with Ji-sook, achieving her lifelong dream, and ultimately returning to her own body without any lingering regrets.