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 14 has a runtime of 71 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 14 Review Contains Spoilers –
The Good Bad Mother Episode 14 Recap
The Good Bad Mother episode 14 starts with Kang-ho bringing his demands to the table in front of Tae-soo, who is rightly confused seeing him alive and well. Kang-ho assures him that he is not interested in doing anything to him; rather, he wants to destroy Woo-byeok for murdering his father and trying to murder him and Young-soon. He promises not to bring his misdeeds in front of the general public and even brings up Ha-young in order to drive his point home.
Tae-soo, not anticipating this turn of events, realises that he doesn’t have a choice and has to do as he is told. Meanwhile, Ha-young recounts her father’s misdeeds but is apprehensive about coming clear about everything since people might not agree with her, and she might end up taking all the blame. However, Mi-joo assures her to have faith in Kang-ho since he promised to find evidence against Tae-soo.
In the meantime, Kang-ho takes Tae-soo’s warnings seriously – that he must be prepared to face Woo-byeok fair and square with as much evidence as he can since, otherwise, Woo-byeok will destroy everything and everyone. While Kang-ho prepares for the inevitable, Ji-seok meets Woo-byeok to bargain for his life, but, it turns out, he was recording their entire incriminating conversation. Just as an angry Woo-byeok is about to throw Ji-seok off the terrace, Kang-ho makes an entry.
Woo-byeok is shocked but excited to see Kang-ho but, in a shocking twist, arrests him for special assault and attempted murder. Turns out that this was a plan between Ji-seok and Kang-ho, and everyone will totally prepared for this turn of events. At Jou-ri, the villagers are left speechless and excited after watching Kang-ho’s briefing with the media post Woo-byeok’s arrest, and they decide to go to Seoul together.
As the day of the judgement arrives, Kang-ho’s friends and family are left shocked to see him dressed immaculately in the prosecutor’s garb. As Young-soon prays for her son to stay strong throughout the trial and hearing, Kang-ho nails the trial and ends up calling Oh Tae-soo to the stand, leaving everyone shocked. However, Young-soon’s health starts to deteriorate, and she fights hard with herself to stay composed in order to give Kang-ho strength.
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Tae-soo, of course, blames Woo-byeok for everything, even going as far as to say that Soo-hyun’s baby was Woo-byeok’s, and thus he killed her. However, that is when Ha-young stands up and proclaims that she was the one who slipped Kang-ho the sleeping pills. The courtroom erupts in a frenzy at the new information and more so when Ha-young starts to spill more secrets. Desperate to keep his presidency intact, Tae-soo calls Ha-young unstable, triggering her to get angrier and spill in front of everyone that Tae-soo and Woo-byeok were both involved in Hae-sik’s murder
However, when things come to sort of a standstill, with various accounts of the truth coming from different channels, Kang-ho finally brings Soo-hyun’s baby, who was thought to be dead, to the court. It turns out that Soo-hyun had hidden her baby and had committed suicide in order to give her son a fair chance. After realising that he’s not going to get out of this scot-free, Tae-soo tries to flee with Ha-young, but Kang-ho stops him and arrests him for his crimes, resulting in his family erupting in applause.
Tae-soo, Woo-byeok, Jae-min and everyone associated with corruption and illegal activities are arrested and prosecuted.
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Back at Jou-ri, it’s Young-soon’s birthday, and everyone seems extremely excited to celebrate with her. She gives a passionate speech thanking everyone in her life which drives everyone to tears. After blowing out her birthday candles, Young-soon gives Kang-ho and Mi-joo her and Hae-sik’s wedding rings and gives them advice on living a happy life together. That night, Kang-ho and Young-soon sleep side by side, much to her annoyance. But Kang-ho refuses to sleep without her till he is married.
Young-soon asks her son to sing a song for her as she falls asleep, and after telling her son that she is very happy, Young-soon dies in Kang-ho’s arms. A heartbroken Kang-ho, having realised this, sobs as he continues to sing for her. At her wake, everyone comes together to Young-soon’s phone ringtone, giving the rather sombre atmosphere a more lively turn.
The Good Bad Mother Episode 14 Ending
After some time has passed, Gum-ja is having an affair with Hoon-ah, Sam-sik is having an affair with Ha-young, or at least trying to. Ji-seok and Mr Cha are happily growing lettuce, and Kang-ho and Mi-joo are taking care of Happy Farm.
As the series comes to an end, Kang-ho discovers a letter written by Young-soon, in which she tells him that even though she has made many mistakes while being his mother, she wishes to be his mother once more in her next life so that she can be better. After reading the emotional letter, Kang-ho asks his mother to protect them and then proposes to Mi-joo, complete with a tiny piglet!
The Good Bad Mother Episode 14 Review
Guys, what a rushed ending! Did I love it? Yes. But that’s also because, standing on the finale episode, I am hella baised about this show. However, trying to be rational, personally, I feel like the series did a good job rounding off all the characters, giving us a rundown of what happened to them after the trial and also giving us a dramatic and exaggerated trial that was delicious to watch. Not gonna lie, I almost thought that Young-soon might just die in order to take the drama a smidge higher.
Thankfully, they stopped themselves from doing that. I think I really did enjoy the trial, although I did wonder what happened to Tae-soo and Woo-byeok after it. The little twist about Soo-hyun’s child was quite a fun revelation, though fans might have been able to guess something more about Soo-hyun’s death quite a few episodes prior.
Other than that, Ye-jin telling Seo-jin that Mi-joo stole her “man” is absolutely adorable, but more so when she goes over the top with the next little boy she meets. It’s just so cute. Young-soon’s death is probably my worst nightmare and might just make you cry. All of her monologues are also pretty solid, especially the one to Kang-ho and Mi-joo about marriage. I give credit to Ra Mi-ran for fleshing out the script this well; every moment that she speaks is just so sincere.
On the other hand, as I probably mention in every review, Lee Do-hyun will steal your heart, and The Good Bad Mother finale is no exception. The moment he starts to cry and sing for his mother, after realising that she has died, just feels so real. Similarly, the scene at the wake is also equally emotional and feels too real. These moments stay with you. I, however, wish they showed Mi-joo and Kang-ho’s married life a bit more, but with that piglet running off with the engagement ring in the end, I think I am satisfied.
All in all, The Good Bad Mother has been an emotional and fulfilling watch. It brings forth parental relationships and the fact that even parents are humans and make mistakes sometimes. Although I was starting to get tired of Young-soon’s antics, especially when she tried to get her mentally unstable son married off forcefully, the last few episodes thankfully gave her character a nice arc that smoothed things out a bit. If anyone wins here, it’s the twins. The series would’ve been so dull without them!
The Good Bad Mother is streaming on Netflix.
Also: Read All of Our The Good Bad Mother Reviews
