Episodes 1 and 2 of To My Beloved Thief are a good start to an exciting new historical drama. By the title of the show, it may seem like your typical K-drama, where a prince or nobleman is a thief, and there’s some romance involved, but this show is different. For one, while it is tropey, it does pull an “uno reverse card” on the gender roles, but I’m not giving away any spoilers till we get into the actual recap. I’ve always loved Nam Ji-Hyun, and she’s especially great in roles where she doesn’t play a typical K-drama lead. I think this is one of those roles as well. I’ve never seen Moon Sang-Min before, and he’s quite young in comparison to the leading men we’ve seen Nam Ji-Hyun with before (yes, Suspicious Partner is still one of my favorite shows). But I’m excited to see how this chemistry plays out. But with that said, let’s jump straight into episodes 1 and 2.
Spoiler Alert
Who Is Eun-Jo?
To My Beloved Thief episode 1 begins with an animated visual of people discussing Gil-Dong, a thief who many believe to be righteous. Some believe he’s a 100-year-old man; others believe he’s a monster who turns into a thief, but nobody has actually ever seen him. There’s one person who doesn’t seem to indulge in these “fan theories,” though. Her name is Hong Eun-Jo, a physician (is this unusual?) in the town. At the same time, Prince Yi-Yeol finds himself intrigued by the story of the righteous thief and decides to join Yoon-Bok and Park at the police bureau to solve this mystery. It seems he’s been a mystery solver for a while. The interesting thing is that, despite all the luxuries the people of Hyeminseo have, Gil-Dong has only ever stolen a negligible amount of rice, which doesn’t really give any hints to those looking for him, and moreover, people don’t seem to be complaining either, because their valuables are still safe.
Now, Eun-Jo is a slave, and she’s the daughter of a concubine. While her father wants her to call him “father,” she doesn’t think it’s right, because she and her mother are slaves to his family. But to make matters worse, Eun-Jo’s mother is very sick, and that’s why her being a physician and earning money is so important. Moreover, she doesn’t want to get married, but her father has offered her up to the secretary’s family. However, it’s revealed later that she’s not set to marry Im’s son, but his 70-something-year-old father, who is dying. Eun-Jo tells Im to let her father believe otherwise, because she thinks it’s her duty to get married and help out the family. I am surprised by her familial piety. It is because of the Literati Purge that even her father isn’t doing too well, so she has to make sure that the wedding happens.
Anyway, at the same time, Yeol is meant to meet the Queen Dowager, but he misses the meeting because of his shenanigans, and this leaves her disappointed, but it seems like she’s used to it. However, she’s also eager to get the boy married off. But Yeol has his own plans, and wants the chief secretary to change the queen’s mind. On the other hand, the king is busy with his concubine, while his queen consort is left hanging. She has her own plans, though, of getting her niece married to the secretary’s son. This is when we see Jae-I, the secretary’s son, who already seems to have a concubine and is eager to have his whole “family” have a meal together. When Hae-Rim sees the guy, he’s got his robes open and is painting a sensual scene to entertain his lover, so she freaks out and falls off a flight of stairs, but luckily for her, he catches her despite the distance. Anyway, that’s when he invites her to eat with his “concubine.” But it seems like Jae-I doesn’t really intend to marry her, because he wants to marry for love.
How Do Yeol and Eun-Jo Meet?
Eun-Jo’s father gives her a silk dress and fancy shoes so she can impress Im’s family. This is when she comes across the prince himself, just not knowing who he is. Yeol, after reminiscing about a story of his older stepbrother, who told him that he should stay clear of him to make sure he and his mother live, ends up getting showered with dirty water. That’s why his assistant, Dae-Chu, gives him some rags, which are the only things he can find. Yeol gives him an hour to find him some better clothes before he gets really mad. Eun-Jo finds the prince in a fight with a nobleman. She decides to help him out, “slave for slave,” because his outfit makes him look like one. Despite his stopping her from helping many times, she still steps in, saving him from the nobleman’s sword. Finally, when they’re away in a safe space, Yeol tells her to meet him later because he wants to reward her. She genuinely thinks he’s a mad slave, so she doesn’t bother with what he’s saying and walks away. But already there’s romance brewing here, because Eun-Jo’s made quite the impression on Yeol.
Somehow, at the time that Yeol wanted to meet her, Eun-Jo ended up in the right location, because she’d been distracted by the thought of being married off to an old man. But this is the same thought that leads her to kiss Yeol as soon as she sees him, as if living her moment as a woman for once before being “sold off.” Well, that’s why she’s a thief, because she’s stolen Yeol’s first romantic experience, a kiss; without his permission, on top of that. But that’s when the ending of episode 1 sees Eun-Jo as the masked Gil-Dong, the righteous thief.
How Do Eun-Jo and Jae-I Meet?
To My Beloved Thief episode 2 begins with the kiss and Eun-Jo putting on a Baekjong mask to become Gil-Dong the thief. She steals some rice and other food for a widow whose baby is suffering from malnutrition. She nearly gets caught being out after curfew but manages to make it to the widow’s house, giving her the food she’s stolen. But in this process, she’s also learned that this widow has been interrogated about Gil-Dong, and she worries she’ll be caught soon. While Eun-Jo talks to her mother about her kiss, pretending it was something she read about in a book, Yeol has a room full of court ladies giving him advice. But, at the same time, Eun-Jo’s father promises Im that he will return the gifts he gave him, because he thinks it’ll be a burden on Eun-Jo. This father-daughter duo just needs to talk to each other.
On the other hand, Hae-Rim and No-Eul unknowingly develop a bond when Hae-Rim is too nice to her betrothed’s concubine, No-Eul. So the latter tells Jae-I that he has to find some other way of getting rid of her. Soon after, Jae-I meets with Dae-Il (Eun-Jo’s half-brother) and Seung-Baek for some archery. Dae-Il seems to be a little odd, so nobody hangs out with him except these two seemingly evil guys. Dae-Il makes a random statement about how Eun-Jo might be better than the men at archery, so Jae-I tells her to prove it. He ups the stakes when she says that if she wins, Dae-Il won’t hang out with them any longer. He makes Dae-Il stand under the apple, which is the target. Eun-Jo doesn’t shoot the apple on Dae-Il’s head, but instead hits a target that’s much farther away and smaller, a flying sparrow. She tells Jae-I that she’s accepted his punishment, so she should stick to leaving her brother alone. What she doesn’t realize is that the man she’s rattled will be her grandson soon.
Does Eun-Jo Get Caught?
In the meantime, pictures of the mask that Eun-Jo wears are circulated in the market. But at the same time, Yeol is eager to find out about Eun-Jo, and she’s also caught up in the Gil-Dong investigation because there’s a chance she might’ve seen him while she was out after curfew (they don’t know she’s the guy). The Dowager Queen arrives, but Yeol shuts her down, because he wants to live a quiet life. Now, the Chief Censor has figured out that his missing rice was with the widow and humiliates her. He takes away all her things, but Yeol basically saves her with another interrogation. He realizes Gil-Dong is actually righteous because he’s helping people in need, such as the widow. But this allows Yeol to realize that Gil-Dong will show up at the Chief Censor’s house, specifically that night, to steal again.
Surprisingly, Yeol doesn’t want to catch Gil-Dong (who he doesn’t know is Eun-Jo), because he understands why he’s being good to the people. Turns out Yeol is a really good prince, or a really bad one, whichever way you see it. He offers Gil-Dong a way out; he can continue what he’s doing as long as he doesn’t interfere in grander political matters.
At the end of episode 2 of To My Beloved Thief, Gil-Dong, or rather Eun-Jo, escapes when the bell sounds, because some soldiers see her on the roof. She thinks the prince wanted her captured and gets out of there as fast as she can. What she doesn’t know is that Yeol defended her (well, Gil-Dong) because he wants to help. Yeol gets wounded in the process and walks into the Hyeminseo after seeing a black cat on the roof. Guess the black cat is meant to be a representation of Gil-Dong, the vigilante? And it leads him straight to Eun-Jo, who has just hidden away all her Gil-Dong things. There’s no way she can escape him now, after the whole kiss situation, eh? This romance is going to be exciting.
