I’ve got to admit, Heavenly Ever After is good as a concept but feels quite cringy when you’re actually watching it. There are some very interesting bits, especially when Hae-Sook is trying to explore her past, but it all falls apart when it comes to Nak-Joon’s shenanigans and then the dog stuff. Now, I get the sentiment here, that humans should look after animals, not “rule” them. It’s just a humanitarian message, but spending so much time on how the abandoned dogs feel really drags out the episodes, which definitely don’t need to be over an hour each. Sometimes, I feel that the editing room in Dramaworld has forgotten that there is such a thing as cutting things out. We’re not watching a drama like Heavenly Ever After for hours on end to be bored by the length of things; we’re watching it to feel something somewhat profound about old age, about beauty, and about what heaven might feel like. Anyway, I really hope the episodes get crisper and the show starts taking itself more seriously (not in that it shouldn’t be a comedy, but that it should not be as cringy?). With that, let’s dive into episodes 3 and 4.
Spoiler Alert
What Does Hae-Sook Learn About Her Childhood?
Heavenly Ever After episode 3 begins with Hae-Sook and the center head going through the last bits of orientation. He finally takes her to a place where you can go through your old memories from childhood to death. In these memories, we learn that Hae-Sook’s mother apparently drowned in a river when she was really young. We also see her reflect on her first meeting with Nak-Joon, which was an unexpected one. He interrupted her on the way to a blind date and basically stole her away from a strange older man that she’d have been forced to marry. Then the accident and how things went from there. Later, we go back to the end of episode 2, where Nak-Joon has a surprise for Hae-Sook, only it’s the girl who shows up and ruins everything. The next morning, Hae-Sook finds some flat purple disks on the ground, with memories of what’s happened in the last few days that are all somewhat negative. Nak-Joon explains that they’re supposed to add up to make a bunch of 6 grapes. Hae-Sook has already collected 4 of them, but if she collects two more, she will be sent to hell for bad behavior.
Nak-Joon tells Hae-Sook that he found the girl on the subway (the hell and heaven one) and somehow felt worried for her. Somehow Nak-Joon, who was meant to sit still, felt the urge to keep the girl from going to hell, so he held her down in the subway and brought her to heaven instead. This is probably why she has no memories and only remembers his name. Almost the entire 3rd episode is spent with Hae-Sook telling Nak-Joon to get rid of this girl and also being disappointed in her own jealousy. Seeing as she’s unidentified, the dogs wonder if she’s one of them, too, but she’s clearly not. The girl names herself Som-I, even though Hae-Sook offers her the name “Grape,” seeing as she’s the cause of all her problems. But things escalate when Nak-Joon can’t figure out how to send Som-I away. Additionally, if anyone who is meant to go to hell gets caught in heaven, then they could get permanently exterminated.
Meanwhile, Hae-Sook is sent to reform herself after getting 4 grapes. Nobody likes her at the reform center, so the center head sends her to church instead. The pastor there is disappointed to see Hae-Sook, because he’s expecting somebody, but he’s more annoyed because she doesn’t bother listening to him and just asks 100 questions and sleeps. When Hae-Sook goes home and notices that Som-I is still there, she decides to leave her husband behind and go find her mother instead. Of course, the heavenly authorities aren’t allowed to just grant anyone’s wishes like that unless the second party is willing to meet them too, but the center head notices the desperation in Hae-Sook and lets her go find her mom. Hae-Sook travels to the 1950s heaven and wonders if her mother will recognize her. To her surprise, her mother recognizes her in an instant. After spending a day with her mom, eating her food, and just being happy that she’s around, they fall asleep at night. They wake up in the middle of the night, and Hae-Sook learns that the woman she thought was her mother was not her biological mother. Hae-Sook was born to a mistress that her dad took in, leaving his wife to do chores like a maid. The two ended up dying in a car accident together, but it didn’t matter because Hae-Sook was raised by the man’s wife, and she became her mom.
Meanwhile, we see Nak-Joon do his delivery work, and it seems he’s quite a decent person who wants to make people happy as a postman. When he’s back, he meets the center head, who tells him that though it’s nice he’s so caring for everybody, he should be the same way to the one closest to him. So Nak-Joon goes and finds Hae-Sook at her mother’s. They go back home together, where Som-I is still hanging around, but Hae-Sook is a little bit changed. At the end of episode 3, Som-I has a nightmare where she sees wraith-like creatures attack her. Hell is waiting for her.
Is the girl Young-Ae?
In episode 4, we see an old couple having a portrait taken. In it, the woman is holding two chopsticks, but she’s doing a knitting motion, which her husband doesn’t realize. This is something to remember for the end of the episode. In heaven, Hae-Sook and Nak-Joon see Sonya spend some time with Som-I and not run away from her. This is strange, because she’s a cat and doesn’t like strangers, so how is she so comfortable with her? On the other hand, the 3 abandoned dogs decide they’ve had enough of human mistreating animals and gather all the animals that have been hurt by their humans. They want to open a separate hell for the people who specifically hurt animals. The center head notices what they’re doing and shows Jjampong, Mandu, and Jajang the power of love through the memories of the other animals. They are shocked when they find out that one of the dogs wants her owner to forget about her and get a new one so that she feels okay. This is the power of their bond.
Back at home, Hae-Sook is shocked to see Som-I do the umbrella trick that Young-Ae used to do on earth, saving her from a shuttlecock. At night, Som-I has another nightmare and decides to sleep with Hae-Sook. She puts her hand in Hae-Sook’s pocket because it makes her feel safe, but when Hae-Sook wakes up, she is surprised again, because this is what Young-Ae used to do. Hae-Sook rushes to see if Young-Ae is dead at the help center and learns that she is indeed dead. Hae-Sook then concludes that Som-I is Young-Ae, which is why she felt so connected with them.
Now, the 3 abandoned dogs had thought that Som-I was one of them, but when they learn that there’s a runaway in heaven, they realize it’s Som-I and make a plan to catch her. They try to get ahold of Som-I, but Hae-Sook is allergic to dog fur and gets another grape because she curses about it, leaving her with one last chance before she’s packaged off to hell. At the same time, Nak-Joon worries that Som-I isn’t Young-Ae, but also that if Hae-Soook has to separate from her, she will be unhappy.
The old man from the beginning of the episode shows up at church, and Hae-Sook starts talking to him. She says she’ll make soy milk for the old man, her, and the pastor to share together. The old man lights up at the thought because it reminds him of his wife. The 3 of them start talking about who has the saddest life story. The pastor was an orphan, and we know Hae-Sook’s husband was paralyzed, but the old man’s story is the saddest. Turns out he was diagnosed with 4th-stage cancer after spending years with his wife, living on a truck. This would be okay if his wife were doing well, but she had dementia or Alzheimer’s, leaving the old man worried about who would care for her after his death. This is why he drove the truck off a cliff to end both of their lives together. At the same time, Nak-Joon receives a red muffler for delivery, knitted by the old man’s wife.
At the end of Heavenly Ever After episode 4, the old man takes Hae-Sook hostage because he’s desperate to know if his wife has come to heaven. He’s revealed to be the runaway from hell. The center head shows up at church and tells the old man that he didn’t sin by killing himself, but he did so by killing his wife, who never consented to his plan. The old man has to be sent back to hell, but he takes Hae-Sook hostage to force them to tell him that his wife is in heaven. The center head says he can’t do that because it is against the policy of heaven, but this is when Nak-Joon shows up with the muffler. The reason the old man’s wife held onto the chopsticks was because she was knitting a muffler for her husband the whole time to keep him warm and safe. In the end, Nak-Joon gives the old man the muffler and whispers in his ear that he should atone for his sins and return to heaven to find his wife, basically letting him know that she’s in heaven. Hae-Sook is finally safe thanks to Nak-Joon, but at the same time, when they return home and Hae-Sook calls out to a frightened Som-I with the name Young-Ae, we see the real Young-Ae looking over her shoulder in hell, as if she can hear something. So then, who is Som-I really? I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out. Additionally, in the next episode we’re going to see Hae-Sook go to hell, probably for helping Som-I, a runaway, and earning herself the final grape.
