Jang Bori Is Here! - Episode 23 (KimJiCap)

There's FAR TOO MUCH Min-jung-bitch in this episode. Fie! Out of Bi Sool Chae, back into Bi Sool Chae ... can you make up your mind, drama?! Also, why can't we have more of the sweet lovin'? There's obstacles! Many! Can't we go right into the "married years" and have them make cute little babies? Oh, and since I am wishing for things ... Kim Ji-hoon hasn't taken his shirt off for far too long. We all want to see his abs.
JoAnne: We DESERVE abs, after watching that Min Jung. And while we're asking for abs, I want more of Big Kang. Abs uber alles!
Episode 23

Busted! The Hanbokers now have proof that Min-yung knows Bori much better than she has claimed so far. Well, they THINK they have proof, but of course, Veggie Ahjumma and Min-jung continue their pathetic and rage-inducing lying. Min-jung admits that they have lived together briefly in Jangheung, but is quite adamant that Bori isn't her sister etc. etc. etc. It all ends with Veggie Ahjumma forcefully dragging Bori away, Min-jung crying fake tears (I HATE HER!!!) and running away, and Bong2 voicing his suspicion once again.
JoAnne: How does a person just LIE like that?
The good thing: GooDIL has heard and witnessed it all and at home, she really really wants to hear the truth. But noooooooo (you annoying friggin drama you!), Bori suddenly doesn't want to tell the truth anymore. At least, GooDIL is smart enough not to believe any of the lies.
JoAnne: Bori you are not that cute that I won't slap you for being stupid.
Our beautiful prosecutor remembers fondly how he woke up with Bori in his arms, falling on top of her, brushing her off, holding her hand, etc. Bi-dan and GooDIL just grin at the two of them, especially when Bori says she was thinking that it was HER hand she was holding as an excuse for holding his hand. Yeah. Hahaha.
 Jae-hwa is at the prosecutor's office, fantasizing that she might think his whole body is hers. Because he is clearly on cloud 890, his orderly diagnoses "love". Awwwww, look how happy Jae-hwa is!
JoAnne: He's an idiot, and I say this with all the fondness in the world. Also - we have a similar saying, but it's just cloud 9. You Swiss, always have to be the best.
His phone rings and he thinks it must be Bori ... but alas, no. It's his "mother". Shouting at him and demanding to know where he slept last night. He has to go to a dinner. Oh no, it's a blind date! With a daughter of a "sauna household"?! Huh?
JoAnne: So that doesn't seem like it would be very prestigious, no? Unless by using the term sauna they are differentiating from a jimjilbang? You know, more mudbaths and facial treatments, less athlete's foot and hardboiled eggs?
kakashi: Maybe he has already seen all the other ladies in Seoul - and this is the last resort?  
At the hospital, Bori is brushing Bi-dan's hair. Bi-dan doesn't want to go out because she thinks they might miss "him". Omo ... she really IS doing the match-making, isn't she? The phone rings, it's Jae-hwa ... who is right outside the room (so he called to do some PPL I guess?). Bi-dan remarks that her mother is really strange - when she talks to Jae-hwa, she twists her body and speaks in a baby voice. Lol. Jae-hwa is pleeeeased to hear this - and he teases her that it's certainly because she wants to look pretty in front of him.
JoAnne: She dresses better, too. Still terribly, but not as terrible.
Jae-hwa has taken love-happy-pills, seriously. So smiley! He gets to take Bori out and sits with her on a bench. Holding hands. Until she withdraws hers. He wants to know why she is depressed and she says it's because her mother got so hurt today. It hurts her too. She knows that everything that comes out of your kid's mouth goes straight to a mother's bone.
 
He tells her the egg-story (yes! the trauma! I forgot about it!) and even cries a little (please note that interesting muscle clenching in the gif below - sure, I'd prefer abs-clenching, but this is also good), but she is distracted by a banner, advertising a conference. Only ... she completely misreads it, showing a severe lack of education. Poor girl. She gets flustered because she thinks he is ashamed of her, which he is so NOT: in fact, he is really disappointed that she leaves so quickly.
JoAnne: He's not NOW because he's awash in hormones, but eventually he WOULD be. And so would their kids. And they all might try to hide it from her out of love, but she'd know it herself anyway, and she'd see it in them, and no one would be happy.
While there's some toast PPL, GooDIL sees a painting that Bi-dan has made ....... it's the kid version of that Bori-pic. GooDIL is very surprised, has Bi-dan been at Bi Sool Chae? No, says the child, but her mother has always painted it. Even when she was little. DunDunDunDUN. And for the first time, GooDIL actually thinks that Eun-bi would be as old as Bori these days ... and she asks Bori to see her baby pictures. Gooooood. But when she gets to the house and takes out the album, all of Bori's picture are gone. Because Min-jung is shredding them. Buahahaha, SO DuMB. And AppaNotOppa, who saw her do it, sticks them together again. Oh man.
JoAnne: For one very weird, freaky minute where I forgot that Bi Dan isn't actually Bori's child, I thought, 'Wow! She's genetically compelled to draw the same picture!' Then I realized how stupid I was, and yes, I decided to share that with all of you.
Jae-hwa is about to go see what he thinks is his father, when his mother meets him and gives him ... a car key. Yes, Jae-hwa! Be suspicious! Something's not right.
JoAnne:  Everytime I read this I think, 'WHOA....that's not really his dad? How did I miss that?' And then I realize. I swear, cold medicine. It screws with you.
He goes to the restaurant, where he is joined by a beautiful young lady. He mistakes her for a waitress. Lol. He panics slightly when he realizes she is a date, thinking he might have gone out with her before. Hahaha. No, she's just his blind date: Joo Hyeon Cho. He is angry to be forced into a blind date like this and wants to leave, but she gets him to buy her a tea at least. We learn that his nickname is "excessive self-importance" and that little line saves this episode for me. He is puzzled by her cool and wonders whether she is from the Korean cultural ethics association. WTF?! Hahaha. He leaves before she has finished her tea and tells her to get a taxi. I'm glad. I don't like this new person. She looks quite resourceful!
JoAnne: Yes, I have a bad feeling about this.
Oh my ... the new car is from her!! Jae-hwa doesn't know that of course, but we do, and now I'm beginning to worry a little more. We aren't going into angst territory, are we?! When Jae-hwa wants to leave the restaurant, he runs into his little brother who is there with Min-jung. Jae-hwa manages to push a few of Jae-hee's anger buttons again, and Min-jung looks on with big eyes, which can't be good.
JoAnne: #1 Oh shit about the car, that seems weird. #2 Oh so now Jae Hee wants to keep House of Electronics Daughter out of Min Jung's hearing? Hmmm.
Bad Dad tells Jae-hwa to friggin get married. He doesn't want to. Or rather: he doesn't want that woman, of course. Alright, says his father, if he is seeing somebody, bring her. He will look at her. Jae-hwa says he will move out if his father keeps being so dissatisfied with him, but there's no leaving the family before marriage. Jae-hwa asks if it's enough if he likes the woman. Would he accept a woman with child? Maybe not, Jae-hwa. I think you have a problem.
JoAnne: It's ok for dad to have an extramarital affair and then move the low-class mistress and his illegitimate son into the family home practically within hours of the wife's tragic death, but Jae Hwa can't even look at a woman with a child from a previous relationship? Well we knew the answer to that one but still, FFFF you, you blustery old fool.
Bori is waiting nervously in front of the hospital. Haha, so Bi-dan told her that "Scraps" was dying? Obviously, he isn't - but Bori didn't answer his calls. That made him so worried he thought he would die. He got a two-hour permission from the little one - he wants to give her a ride in his new car. She is very "don't touch me" (duh, Bori. Just look at him!) so he says she'll never get married this way. Oh, but she has other plans: if there is a man that likes her, she will get married quickly to give Bi-dan younger siblings and a dad. But Jae-hwa doesn't seize this opportunity (because he is distracted) and says all women look like rocks to him these days.
JoAnne: I was SO ready for Jae Hwa to start talking what passes for sexy in Korea... but no. Thwarted.
That brings her to ask about Young-sook. He calls her a pretty looking stone. Bori: an ugly stone. As they drive, he wonders how Young-sook might be living now ... since she surely cannot forget him? Crying for him, waiting for him? Of course not. She had two kids and twins in her belly! That makes Jae-hwa happy. Until Bori suggests that Young-sook's eldest son looks a lot like Jae-hwa. Omo: you know how one makes babies?! Bravo, Bori! But no, says Jae-hwa: there was nothing between him and Young-sook beyond sensu-dances. The kissing? He did that with her. Also the chest grabbing: with her.
JoAnne: Awwww, look at her face... she's just realizing he was always really only interested in her.
Watching their little outing with an in-built camera: the Sauna Girl. Wut.
JoAnne: Ahhhhhhhhhh hahahahahahahaah I had a bad feeling but I wasn't expecting THIS.  I was just expecting her to be hard to get rid of, and maybe sway him a bit.
Jae-hwa tells Bori to go to school after work: every evening. He will teach her. She says she doesn't need those things, hasn't she told him? But he needs them, he says. She thinks it's because he is embarrassed of her and stuff and tells him to leave her alone. Fine, he says. If she really doesn't want to see him, he will not come (nooooooo!). He doesn't care whether he is with her or not, but it angers him to see her, the woman that he likes, being ridiculed by others. 
JoAnne: Well ok, 90% of that speech was crap because he's not going to stop coming around, but awwww. Although I don't think I'd want the man I'm contemplating sleeping with teaching me stuff little kids already know. Let me keep some dignity.
Bori finds out that Jae-hwa is going on blind dates from her mother (oups ... that woman really can't keep a secret) ... a blind date that also bought him a car. Bi-dan gets really upset about Jae-hwa going out with another woman, because she really wanted to call him dad - and because she must see how upset her mother is by the news, too.
JoAnne: I really didn't expect this complication.
kakashi: Well, Bori will have to step up her game and fight for him. That's probably good.
Outside the hospital, Min-jung waits for Bori ... who walks out with Bi-dan. She sees the wrapped ear and ... could it be?! Also arriving in a car ... AppaNotOppa. DunDunDundundunDUN.
JoAnne:  I blew you kisses, Show.  I did.

The Rest

At Bi Sool Chae, the Hanbokers seem to pretty much list all of Min-jung's crimes as she packs her suitcase. Can she LEAVE already??! She produces "proof" that she is an orphan (is it her father's death certificate? And how does that prove that she is an orphan?!) - and says that Bori's mother is a terrible, terrible person. She didn't send her to school and made her work with alcohol. Ah, so you're now pretending you had Bori's life? She also shows them monthly wire transfers and lies that her "mother" forced her to pay and blackmailed her - or rather "The Professor", whom she threatened to sue for child abduction. WTFSERIOUSLY! *Raaaaaaaaage*
JoAnne:  So angry it made me speechless for a minute.  How does a person COME UP WITH THIS SHIT?  And what really gets me:  the STUPIDITY.  That piece of paper doesn't prove anything about Min Jung, you dye-sniffing idiots.
Ha! He seems to no longer be sniffing dye, because Bong2 DOES NOT BELIEVE her. Wow. Thank you. Min-jung leaves. FINALLYYESSTAYAWAY!
JoAnne: hahahahahaahha we used the same insult.
Min-jung runs straight to Jae-hee. Poor Jae-hee. Too bad that his mother is there and AppaNotOppa. But Jae-hee (THE FOOL!) runs after her and she tells him all about how hard it is to be an orphan. He promises to employ her at the company (isn't she already?) she lies (crying again the bitch) that she only wanted to be adopted by the Hanbokers in order to get recognized (and loved) by him, the chaebol's son.
JoAnne: Oh my freaking God. Well first of all, he already KNEW she was scheming for him before he sent her off to America. Five years ago.  So why act all touched and emotional  and swayed about it now, Jae Hee? Stay strong!  Remember that she's a woman who will do and say anything to get what she wants!  You know this about her! PLUS you spoke the truth - why does she NEED Bi Seul Chae?  She has skills and talent and education and she's fine on her own. She can get everything she wants without using anyone. Ughhhhhhhh.
Jae-hee and Min-jung plot over coffee to destroy the thorns they have in their eyes. Which would be: Jae-hwa and Bori. Don't go there, Jae-hee! It's the dark side! What evil thing is she planning now, the witch??! Leave my Jae-hwa alone!!!! 
JoAnne: We will cut a bitch, won't we Kakashi?
Jae-hee is at Bi Sool Chae, saying he is looking for Min-jung who is AWOL (he claims). Booooooo. Also, she wants to forbid all the sales of the Bi Sool Chae stuff. As we all know, the Witch has copyrighted everything. BaDIL immediately agrees to meet Min-jung and talk to her about it. She pleads her case in front of Bong2 and Matron. Shit.
JoAnne: As a plan, doesn't this seem a bit shortsighted? Way to alienate the home team, Min Jung.

The Hanbokers and Min-jung meet Veggie Ahjumma. Min-jung makes her own mother "confess" to mistreating her for 20 years. This is heart breaking. And just like that, Min-jung is BACK in favor. She cries a little, because in that black and shriveled evil heart of hers, she feels how badly she is treating the one who gave birth to her.
JoAnne: Watching her mother was painful. So painful. I may not think much of that woman but she loves Min Jung and would do anything for her. Which is of course the problem, because instead of beating her ASS like she deserved when she was 9, we have this situation.  But I can still sympathize with her mother's heart.
kakashi: Sadly, so can I.

Pizza Kang gets locked into an elevator with Ga-eul. Big Kang panics. She eats the pizza he was delivering. Outside, waiting ... Bad Dad, Jung-ran, and Little Kang, alerted by phone calls from the two trapped people. As soon as the elevator opens, Jung-ran realizes that there's a potential issue and throws her apron on her PizzaMan's head. She quickly leads him away. Bad Dad doesn't see Big Kang. And Little Kang gets to be very concerned for Ga-eul.
JoAnne: I was so excited for everyone to know about everyone but no. Neatly done. And kinda liked how totally Little Kang did not hide his feelings for Ga Eul.

Comments

I didn't like this episode as much as the last few. Of course I didn't because it was FRUSTRATING AS HELL! Min-jung has a comeback AGAIN and she gets more and more hateful by the minute. There's a special place for her in hell. Jae-hwa and Bori are making zero progress, even though he keeps dropping hints everywhere that he likes her. Wow, he even asked his dad whether he would accept a woman with child as his wife! And what's with Sauna Girl?! Woah. She seems dangerous.
JoAnne: Yep. So Dangerous. (And now I have EXO singing in my head.)
almost idol-boy approves of EXO
The one thing I did like was that Bori will most likely go to school now (not sure Jae-hwa will be her teacher though). She needs some education if she wants to beat all those evil people! It'll make her stronger. This episode also reminded us how awful Veggie Ahjumma has been to her, when we heard from Min-jung how the life of a poor abused child sounds like. All she did was talk of Bori's life as a quasi-slave, pretending that this happened to herself. Did Veggie Ahjumma get it? I don't think so. She can go and move in the slot next to Min-jung in hell.
JoAnne:  I kind of always thought we saw some highlighted bad scenes but that there were long stretches in there where Bori and Veggie Ahjumma were on their own, living quietly and happily together. Bori seemed like a happy child and young woman. And she made serving alcohol seem like child prostitution! Bori served pitchers of something (most likely beer) to diners in her brightly lit family restaurant as a young woman. She wasn't being groped by leering men in some dank dark cellar of a club. There is a difference.