‘Que Sera Sera’
At least they didn’t draw out the forced separation too long. Matthew and Ye-jin go their separate ways and spend some time moping through their daily routines before (in another fortuitous coincidence) they run into each other at a resort (Ye-jin scoping it out for work and Matthew there for a business meeting). Just when you think they’re going to drag out the misunderstanding some more, Kwang-mo thankfully steps in and reveals Matthew’s real number to Ye-jin.
This in turn leads her to find out about her mistaken late-night calls to him and helps her realize the depth of his feelings towards her. She confronts him and they are officially back together and are blissfully happy. I’d long thought that Matthew hiding the phone calls would be a source of conflict, so it was refreshing to see it be the thing that actually brought them back together!
In a more interesting storyline than our main couple (something I did not think I would say for a romantic drama), Eric’s sister, Michelle, has landed and is donning the mantle of villainess with glee. She promptly fires Eric for having the gall to admit L’Étoile’s culpability in the aborted HIT launch. If that’s not enough (which it isn’t since the show hasn’t done a great job of making me care too much about Eric), she also pressures all of Gojeuneok Bio’s other customers to cancel their contracts in a bid to pressure them to re-sign with L’Étoile. Ah, an unethical executive who doesn’t care about their customers and loves throwing their power around…who doesn’t love to hate such a character! However, just as it seems that Matthew’s resolve might be starting to crumble, a last minute saviour appears in the form of their former colleague and friend, Chang-ho, who now holds an important role in H.O. Cosmetics and is willing to sign up with Gojeuneok Bio. Meanwhile, Eric is finally starting to show more personality and is working secretly with his former assistant to discover the truth behind the product contamination and Michelle’s plans.
The other big development is related to Ye-jin’s parents. In a long overdue conversation, her dad confronts her mom about the scandal from 5 years back which finally prompts her to do the most basic of digging to uncover that Ye-jin did not knowingly tank her career. I guess this is supposed to be the start of her redemption arc. To that end, they even try to show her perspective where she had decided to sacrifice her career to shield Ye-jin after the scandal, only to find out that Ye-jin was supposedly ‘bribed’ to pass the faulty cream without the proper quality testing. Perhaps between friends or acquaintances that would explain her feelings of bitterness and betrayal. But towards her own daughter? And given how easily she found out the truth when she bothered to ask, it really feels like she was all too ready to treat Ye-jin as a scapegoat (perhaps to justify to herself her decision years prior to break contact with Ye-jin). In my opinion, she doesn’t deserve to be forgiven for her behavior over the years, and I don’t blame Ye-jin for not showing any inclination to clear the air.
Apart from the main plotlines, there is also a real sense that the show is moving to its conclusion as several secondary storylines make big strides towards their endgame. Sung-mi, after some minor misunderstandings, makes her feelings clear and directly asks Kwang-mo out. Ae-ra softens towards Mu-won after seeing his consideration towards her ailing grandfather. Som-yi finds out about Matthew’s role in the face cream that affected her and absolves him of blame which motivates him to go back to product development to help her. Everyone seems to be moving forward.
Stray Musings
- In another coincidence (because why not), Eric moves into a new apartment which is next door to Ye-jin. Ye-jin is all in on Matthew so this is really just to provide a setup for Matthew to get jealous
- Poor Matthew – unknowingly insulting your future father-in-law’s cooking before you even have a chance to impress him!
- There are a lot of flashbacks in these episodes – they don’t really tell us anything very new but do help add more context to Matthew’s actions. For instance, he’s so tormented by the face cream scandal, not just because of the effect it had on its users, but because the scandal also led to his friend and mentor (the founder of the company) committing suicide. And Som-yi is the one who helped bring Matthew out of his subsequent depression which explains why he is so attached to her.
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