The Good Bad Mother (나쁜엄마) is a Korean comedy-drama slice-of-life TV series directed by Shim Na-yeon, written by Bae Se-young and stars Ra Mi-ran, Lee Do-hyun, Ahn Eun-jin and Yoo In-soo in main roles. The series is all set to release on JTBC and Netflix (in select regions) and will take over JTBC’s Wed-Thurs 10:30 PM timeslot previously occupied by Interest of Love.

The Good Bad Mother episode 8 has a runtime of 63 minutes.

The slice-of-life series follows Young-soon and her son Kang-ho who share a tumultuous relationship with each other thanks to her strict parenting when he was a child. Now an adult, Kang-ho is a cold-hearted prosecutor who chooses to keep his distance from her mother and lives in the city. However, when a tragedy strikes, Kang-ho is forced to return home to the village, wherein he finds a new lease on life and rebuilds his relationship with his mother as well as with his childhood friend Mi-joo.

– The Good Bad Mother Episode 8 Review Contains Spoilers –

The Good Bad Mother Episode 8 Recap

After a complicated and rather heartbreaking situation in the previous episode, The Good Bad Mother episode 8 starts with Young-soon being rescued from her attempt by Kang-ho and being elated on finding her son standing on his own. The moment is temporary as, after Young-soon comes down, Kang-ho is traumatised from the entire ordeal, even though Young-soon is overcome with happiness.

A traumatised Kang-ho rushes out of the house against his mother’s wishes and is found on the road by Mi-joo, who tends to his broken fingernail. Kang-ho opens up to Mi-joo about his mother abandoning him, but she assures him that his mother would never do such a thing and if she even did, then she would have a good enough reason to do so. Mi-joo, in turn, shares that she, too, was abandoned once, and she thus knows his feelings. A curious Kang-ho asks her why she was abandoned, and Mi-joo wistfully answers that she would also like to know the reason.

Soon after, Young-soon finds Kang-ho, and at home, he directly asks his mother why she abandoned him. Young-soon tells him that she is a little sick and that she needs to be looked after, which she didn’t want to burden him with. A morose Kang-ho asks her whether he is a burden on her since he is unwell, and a heartbroken Young-soon is left tongue-tied at her son’s sound logic.

In the end, she apologises for saying so and mentions that he is not unwell anymore and will be able to walk and run soon enough. Thus, he will be able to become her guardian, just like how she has been to him. After the emotional conversation, Young-soon encourages Kang-ho to stand up. He tries with all his might but fails to make progress.

The failure, in turn, enrages Young-soon, who wheels her son to a nearby pond and throws him in, asking him to use his legs if he wants to survive. Either way, the emotional trauma from being thrown in the water turns into Kang-ho going through intense physical therapy and getting better slowly. Meanwhile, Young-soon’s health slowly deteriorates. Thus, it’s a moment of emotional celebration as Kang-ho is finally able to walk and stand on his own.

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Meanwhile, the villagers plan on buying Kang-ho a mobility scooter, unaware that he is able to walk again and Mi-joo’s nail salon has taken off. But, there are other problems cropping up for her – in the middle of her workday, her kids call her to let her know that their father has come back. A shocked Mi-joo rushes back home and finds out that it’s her friend’s boyfriend, and he is also trying to fleece her. He gives him a month to pay him back and also has to face the consequences of raising her children’s expectations.

In the midst of the humdrum, the villagers buy the mobility scooter for Kang-ho and excitedly take it to Kang-ho as a surprise. However, they are all left slack-jawed when Kang-ho comes out of the house on his own two feet, leaving Mi-joo clearly smitten once more. In the midst of this, Ji-suk tries his hardest to get the evidence as soon as possible but faces obstacles every step of the way.

Meanwhile, during a group lunch celebrating the good news, Kang-ho takes the opportunity to tell Mi-joo that his mother assured him that she didn’t abandon him, and thus, Mi-joo was also not abandoned. The conversation makes her heart flutter (and there is surely something there in the past), while Kang-ho’s close relationship with Seo-jin and Ye-jin makes Sam-sik extremely jealous. In the midst of the drama, Kang-ho finds Ji-suk and his associate behaving oddly after they find the evidence in a shed out in the back and make up a story to scare them out of the house.

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Afterwards, Mi-joo asks Young-soon about Kang-ho’s words from back on the water, and the latter doesn’t let her finish and promises her that she will never do something like that again. On her way back home, Mi-joo comes across a drunk Sam-sik, who asks her whether she likes Kang-ho and then proceeds to propose to her since “the kids need a dad”. Mi-joo gives him a piece of her mind and rejects him tremendously, but he hears the little positive that is there in her words and promises to be back.

Young-soon gets a call that night and rushes to meet Kang-ho’s building security officer the next morning, wherein she gets a letter that Kang-ho had kept with him with specific instructions. It’s evident that Kang-ho knew very well that something like this was bound to happen. Either way, she takes the letter to Kang-ho, who has no recollection of writing it. Young-soon has some very pressing questions that we were all thinking about a minute ago, but she is unable to get her answers since Kang-ho doesn’t remember anything.

Either way, Young-soon gets a call from the investigating officer who tells her about Kang-ho’s engagement with Ha-young, which leaves her stumped. She expresses interest in talking to her son’s ex-fiancee, but the officer informs her that she is getting married soon and it’s best to leave them alone. Elsewhere, Woo-byeok tells Tae-soo that his men found some evidence and then informs him that Kang-ho is walking again.

The Good Bad Mother Episode 8 Ending

The next day, Kang-ho and Young-soon go to town to take some pictures, but not before Kang-ho totally wins Ye-jin’s heart in the cutest scene of the episode! Either way, Young-soon takes this opportunity to come back home and teach her son what to do after she passes. It’s an extremely uncomfortable scene as Young-soon pays respect to her own framed picture as she teaches Kang-ho what to do after her own passing. After a rather traumatising scene, the mother-son duo do some skincare, during which she remembers a part of the letter she received previously.

Realising the clue she has been looking for is inside a picture of the three of them, Young-soon opens the frame of their family picture to find an SD card inside.

The Good Bad Mother Episode 8 Review

Well, I am thankful for an episode that doesn’t emotionally destroy me at this point. The Good Bad Mother episode 8 is quite chipper, although its emotional points are still deep and meaningful. Although it’s interesting how we don’t talk about Young-soon’s suicide attempt as if nothing happened, it’s nice to see the family finally catching a break for once. The twins are the highlight of the episode, and Ye-jin’s kiddie crush is too adorable.

Young-soon and Kang-ho’s dynamic and particularly the latter’s complex (past) character decisions keep the episode upbeat and mysterious, with new questions popping up everywhere. Although we do have an inkling regarding where it might be going, there might just be a shocking twist somewhere that we are yet to be aware of.

All in all, this is a mixed episode that is quite entertaining but also emotional in the right ways. The chemistry between the leads, especially Lee Do-hyun’s excellent acting, is something you should be prepared for. He’s simply excellent, and so is Ra Mi-ran. However, if I had to change something, maybe it would be to make Sam-sik less annoying. But then again, his annoying character is also quite funny sometimes, so I don’t know what to feel about him at this point!

The Good Bad Mother is streaming on Netflix.

Also Read: Our Reviews of The Good Bad Mother