With “Green Mother’s Club” coming to an end, we can’t help but think how this show was quite the saga, which unfortunately suffered from a rather torturous pace. It’s never just a single plot in Korean dramas. There are always subplots, secret relationships, hidden pasts, and multiple motivations behind the actions of every person. We are okay with that because it is the deft handling of those very complexities that has given Korean dramas the popularity they currently enjoy. It is at a point where a K-drama is far more than just a show in the Korean language. It needs to tick these boxes for us to categorize it as such. “Green Mother’s Club” adheres to these specifications down to the T, but sadly, skips out on the inherent charm of the genre due to the rigidity of the specifications. The last two episodes packed very little story in their entirety and still managed to make the ending feel rushed and very forcefully fit into the narrative. Let’s see how they do so by understanding the actions of our protagonists.
Why Does Eun Pyo Help Jun Hi?
This part of episode 15 had us pulling out our hair in frustration. It is one thing to stand by one’s friends, and it is completely something else to go against the law for them. Jun Hi seems to set the record straight with the other characters in the last two episodes. She confesses to Eun Pyo about the troubles in her marriage and the problems with her mother-in-law, who could never really get over where Jun Hi came from. She also apologizes to Young Ju and tells her that what transpired between them was the result of her putting too much pressure on Yu Bin. Young Ju forgives her, and they drink soju together.
However, she is in trouble as the police have decided to arrest her, and Eun Pyo comes to know of this due to her husband. She throws caution to the wind and gives Jun Hi a heads up about this. Though Eun Pyo recommends that she turn herself in, Jun Hi decides to pack up and leave for Canada. But she wants to do the right thing. She plans on dropping off her kids in Canada and then returning to Korea so that she can protect them from what’s happening. She calls up Eun Pyo for her help after Man Su’s refusal, and Eun Pyo agrees. However, Jae Ung has been listening to all this, and he is livid at his wife for siding with a criminal. He manages to catch them right before they leave, though Eun Pyo makes it clear that her loyalties lie with her friend. This was just frustrating to watch. What was the point? Was there really no other way for Jun Hi to keep her kids out of this without jeopardizing her own case and involving Eun Pyo in it? That’s the thing with being overdramatic-the simplest of solutions get ignored in favor of theatrics that don’t even entertain.
What follows her arrest is fairly simple, though. She lets the police know that they need to talk to Louis as he was acting very suspicious the day Jin Ha died. And that the original drug mix-up was her husband’s fault and not hers.
Who Is Rhea Bennett? Who Killed Jin Ha?
Rhea Bennett’s appearance on “Green Mother’s Club” was one of the wackiest things in K-drama land. And it gets worse when Eun Pyo finally realizes that Louis and Rhea were adoptive siblings. Louis meets up with Eun Pyo to explain his side of the story, and tells her that he is in love with Rhea, and he married Jin Ha because she looked like her. He tried all these years to change her into Rhea, but that was just not possible. Which is when he decided to leave her and start a new life with Rhea.
We cannot find enough words to describe how cringe-worthy we find this. It is a different level of ignorance and madness to marry a woman just because she looks like your adoptive step sister and then lead an entire life with her, only to want to leave her because she is not what you wanted her to be. Our only explanation is that the writers of “Green Mother’s Club” ran out of ideas for subplots and had to come up with this ridiculousness. There is no other justification. Following Louis’ revelations, Eun Pyo goes to Jun Hi to find out what happened the night of Jin Ha’s death. Jun Hi tells her that the last time she saw her, Jin Ha was upset that Eun Pyo’s mother did not recognize her and was crying because of that.
The truth of the night comes from Louis when he confesses to Eun Pyo that Jin Ha had found the messages on his laptop to Rhea about wanting to leave her, and she had sat on the window sill ready to jump. Louis had tried to hold her hand and stop her, but had been unable to as she fell down to her death. Ultimately, Jin Ha’s death was a suicide. He has decided to turn himself in so that he can protect Henry from the hell that the whole situation was. “What a mess!” were the first words that came to our minds as we saw this storyline unfold. Really, what was the point of anything? Did Jin Ha not know in all their years of marriage that Louis’ stepsister looked just like her? Did she really not question it? And the most important question of all—’What is wrong with Louis?’ Had he made just one good decision, the whole show could have been avoided. Luckily, the other characters fared better than he did.
What Happens To Jae Ung And Eun Pyo?
We are left with so many questions about this pair. How did they start? Did Eun Pyo marry him because she couldn’t get over Louis? Does she even love him? What is their current relationship like? We definitely saw that she jeopardizes her husband’s promotion by siding with Jun Hi. While “Green Mother’s Club” ends with them being a happy family, we can’t help thinking that the writers should have done away with at least one of the many unnecessary plot lines and given due attention to the story of these two characters. They really missed something important with this. What was Jae Ung, other than Eun Pyo’s level-headed husband, who was investigating the murder? He seemed like someone good for her, but what was it about him that made a complicated woman like Eun Pyo decide to marry him? And not once did we feel during the duration of the show that she loved him. She seems dissatisfied with her life but definitely regards and respects him. But is there love? We wish the show had taken the time to answer that. They make a good family, but it would have been nice to see them make a good couple as well. Luckily, the other couple have a much more satisfactory storyline.
Do Young Ju And Man Su Reconcile?
Young Ju had long been insecure about the ex-relationship between her husband and Jun Hi. Not to mention how she had always felt inferior to Jun Hi at every stage of the show. She was understandably angry at her husband for getting involved with Jun Hi and going to such lengths to protect her. She thought it meant he still had feelings for her. Not to mention how he had kept his involvement with Ju Seok and the drugs a secret from Young Ju, just giving rise to more misunderstandings. But Young Ju decides to look past this and asks Man Su to promise her to not get involved with them ever again, and he does so. However, after Jun Hi’s arrest, Young Ju can’t help feeling that Man Su has tried to help her, breaking the promise he made to his wife. She asks him to leave the house. Man Su does so and goes straight to Ju Seok and teaches him a lesson as to how his wife has been through hell and back multiple times just to keep their relationship going. He owes it to her to testify and tell the truth.
After this confrontation, he goes back home and tells his wife that there is nothing more important to him in the world than his family, effectively reconciling with them. This was one of the more heartwarming plotlines of the show. Seeing a simple family just caught up in the web created by people with ulterior motives but ultimately returning due to their love for each other is heartwarming. We are genuinely happy for these characters. But coming back to Eun Pyo, she really leaves us no chance to instill in us a deep sense of frustration.
‘Green Mother’s Club’ Ending Explained- Does Jun Hi Get Released From Jail?
Yes, she does. Her husband, Ju Seok, does the right thing and confesses his role in the entire scandal, leading to her receiving a lesser sentence. The ending of the show is literally Jae Ung and Eun Pyo admiring how well their son is getting along with the other kids in his school, followed by Eun Pyo going to pick up Jun Hi after she was released from jail. Their friendship is still strong, and they obviously have each other’s backs, though it is pretty laughable when Eun Pyo says that Jun Hi is the reason she is so settled in the neighborhood, considering what the latter put her through for more than half the season.
Eun Pyo is quite the pillar of the neighborhood now with her helping a new neighbor get settled in the place with her child. The other characters are either serving time in jail or are finally happy with their families after all the drama. For the events that transpired in the show, this was definitely too much of a happy ending, with the ends tied together with a neatness that is surprisingly off-putting. We will repeat what we have said before: “Green Mother’s Club” was a mish-mash of literally every trope of a K-drama brought under the blanket of a weak “tiger mom” storyline. And there was no point in naming it the “Green Mother’s Club” when we barely saw the club or what it even signified, to begin with.
Final Thoughts: Why Did The Show Not Work?
After 8 weeks of the show, we are not even sure if the basic plotline had that much potential. We are talking about a community of mothers who are devoted to the micro-management of their children’s lives and education, and a murder mystery thrown into the mix. Honestly, if they had just stuck to the “Tiger Mom” story arc, the show would have been way more impactful because, the thing is, it is a real issue in today’s society. The intentions behind parents’ putting such pressure on their children needed to be explored with all of its nuanced selfishness without throwing criminal motivations into the narrative. And maybe it did not need to be 16 episodes long. It could have been a lot crisper and entertaining with just 8–10 episodes, and that particular execution would have definitely made it a much bigger hit than what it has currently managed to be.
For now, this is a very forgettable drama that is not really worth anybody’s time. It offers nothing new; the characters are not likable, and there are moments like the Louis-Rhea storyline that are so cringe-worthy that they might just tarnish the reputation of K-drama altogether. We would sum up our review by saying that the fewer people that watch “Green Mother’s Club,”, the better it is. Because people who love K-drama deserve better.
