This week’s episodes of Heavenly Ever After were by far the best of the show. We’re finally getting some actual substance, and I somehow feel like this show would’ve benefited from being a few episodes shorter, or maybe if the episodes were half an hour instead of over an hour long. We finally have some answers for Som-I and the pastor’s background stories, and know why they’re stuck with Nak-Joon and Hae-Sook. But of course, some of the mystery has to be left for the final episode, so we still have to wait for the final reveal. In the meantime, there’s also progress in Young-Ae’s situation, and we finally know why she’s in Hae-Sook’s life, but this one’s a tough pill to swallow. With that said, let’s jump straight into episodes 9 and 10.
Spoiler Alert
Who Is Young-Ae?
Heavenly Ever After episode 9 begins with Nak-Joon and Som-I on Earth, where they meet the police officer, Jeong-Gu. Nak-Joon gets furious and grabs the man by his shirt collar when he learns who he is. He calls for help, and some men grab Nak-Joon as Jeong-Gu escapes. But Nak-Joon continues to probe and try to go after him. This is when Jeong-Gu turns around in the middle of the road, resulting in him getting hit by a bus. Now that he’s dead, the grim reaper is coming to get him, but Nak-Joon, now dressed in his heaven uniform, asks him, “Who did you sell him (we don’t know who yet) to?” But Jeong-Gu is so angry about his death that he blames Nak-Joon for it and starts choking him. Seeing this, Som-I turns into a vengeful spirit and grabs the old man’s spirit by the neck, holding him in the air. The grim reaper nearly erases Som-I because she won’t let him take the man to hell, but Nak-Joon convinces her to let go.
The reason Som-I is so eager to be with Nak-Joon is because she feels romantically inclined to him now, but it seems like they might’ve been together back on Earth as well. More importantly, she’s been dreaming about a young boy named Eun-Ho, and when she brings this name up with Nak-Joon, she’s met with rage rather than kindness. Nak-Joon seems like an entirely different person, yelling at her, grabbing her, and even interrogating her in a mean way. Here’s where the confusion lies. Som-I believes Eun-Ho is her son, and that Nak-Joon tried to take her kid away, sell him, and killed her by drowning her too. This makes no sense from Nak-Joon’s point of view, though, because he seems to remember a different version of events, but we don’t know what, though. If Nak-Joon did those things, he shouldn’t be in heaven at all, but not only is he a resident, he also works for heaven, so Som-I’s dreams don’t make full sense.
On the other hand, Young-Ae is excitedly waiting to see the center head again, but her heart’s pounding a bit more than usual lately, so she thinks it’s because she can tell whenever he’s near. But the truth is, her heart is pounding in fear because her father’s now in heaven, after having done his time in hell. When the man comes looking for Young-Ae, she runs inside the house, afraid, and hides just as she used to do as a child when her drunken, abusive father used to return home and call for her. But Young-Ae musters up the courage to see him one last time in heaven, and she takes him straight to the center head to resolve the matter.
While Young-Ae is angry, it’s up to her to let her father suffer in the afterlife or forgive him and let him reincarnate. But this leads to the center head showing the two of them their past lives, revealing why Young-Ae is connected to Hae-Sook. It turns out that the mistress that Hae-Sook’s dad brought home was Young-Ae’s previous incarnation (yikes). But more importantly, Young-Ae’s current dad was Hae-Sook’s father. We already know that Hae-Sook was raised by the man’s previous wife, who never had her own kids. The Young-Ae of that era abandoned Hae-Sook because she worried that her lover would think of her as lesser if she took on the role of a mother. But later, when she saw her baby walking about and being cute, she realized she wanted to be a mom, and she decided to bring back some cute shoes for her. However, unfortunately, both husband and mistress never returned, meeting with an accident and leaving the child behind for good. This is why Hae-Sook felt so connected with Young-Ae, because Young-Ae was the mother who abandoned her. Finally, Young-Ae returns to a worried Hae-Sook. They both realize it’s time for her to leave, and Young-Ae tells Hae-Sook in her mind that she wishes she could’ve been a better mom. Finally, when Young-Ae disappears, Hae-Sook calls out to her home, getting the closure she didn’t know she needed.
Who Is Eun-Ho?
In Heavenly Ever After episode 10, Hae-Sook is happy to learn that Nak-Joon can’t go back to work on Earth, meaning he’ll end up spending less time with Som-I. What she doesn’t know is that he almost got erased because he didn’t make it on the train when the Jeong-Gu situation happened. While Hae-Sook has no idea what Nak-Joon is going through, she is eager to participate in a heavenly lottery that could help her make Young-Ae’s life on Earth much better. She goes to the pastor for help, but she’s also always looking for an excuse to feed him, look after him, and spend time with him. She asks him why he doesn’t tell her anything and only listens to her talk about her problems. He replies that it’s because when he wants to talk, he prays. The scene flashes back to the pastor praying and the center head telling him that prayer is for thanking God for the answers he’s given you, rather than finding new answers. This changes his perspective, but more importantly, it makes him think that Hae-Sook is his mom. Hae-Sook tells him that she and Nak-Joon never had kids, but she’s happy to pretend to be his mom. The pastor tells her that he was just joking, even though he’s crying, looking at her. On the other hand, the Som-I-Nak-Joon drama continues to intensify, and she hits him on the head and runs away from the house because she thinks he’s the man who killed her. But Nak-Joon’s anger makes it seem like Eun-Ho was his kid. So were they lovers? According to Som-I’s dreams, they were, but when she asked the little kid named Eun-Ho who his mom was, he said Hae-Sook’s name. So we’re left wondering, is she the one who kidnapped the child? But how did he end up alone then?
With the help of the pastor’s prayers, Hae-Sook wins the key to become a contestant in the heavenly lottery. The challenge of the contest is to go on television and tell your tragic story and win votes for it. The person with the most votes wins the challenge. But Hae-Sook’s story isn’t tragic enough for the crowd after they’ve heard all the other stories. More importantly, she seems to be almost boring them. So, she comes up with a new plan at the last moment.
At the end of Heavenly Ever After episode 10, Hae-Sook tells the pastor’s story, telling people how he was abandoned at age 5, and he joins in by saying the only memory he has of that time is the cold of the street he was left on. But how does this have anything to do with Hae-Sook? Well, she claims that she’s the mom who left him behind and has now reconnected with him. They hug each other, and everybody starts to cry, but the two of them believe they’re lying. However, nobody can lie in heaven, so what’s this all about? At the same time, at home, Nak-Joon tells Som-I that Hae-Sook is Eun-Ho’s mother. So, who is Som-I, and why does Hae-Sook believe she was childless all her life? Why would Hae-Sook have lost her memory? Maybe she ended up in an accident and lost her memories, too. We still don’t know what the accident was that paralyzed Nak-Joon, so there must be some connection here. Maybe Som-I was obsessed with Nak-Joon and kidnapped his child to get him back.
