Episodes 7 and 8 of Typhoon Family are exciting and romantic, but also quite serious, especially thanks to the annoying behavior of Go Ma-Jin. I didn’t like him right from the start, and his character just seems to get worse, despite proving himself as one of the good guys earlier on in the show. But to feel slightly better, we finally see Tae-Poong and Mi-Seon getting a bit closer, which is great to see. We’re past the halfway point now, and things are getting intense in the show. Tae-Poong is trying his best to keep his father’s company alive, and we’re all rooting for him, but will he really be able to bring all his old employees back and keep Typhoon Trading going? I guess the real point of the show is just how change can make a real difference to how things play out. Tae-Poong is nothing like his father, but with the help of all of his dad’s friends, he’s going to build the business in his own way. But, with that said, let’s jump straight into this week’s episodes.
Spoiler Alert
Does the Shipping Plan Work?
Typhoon Family episode 7 takes off at the same spot we were left at at the end of episode 6, with Tae-Poong and Mi-Seon getting salt thrown at them for trying to get their shoes shipped on a fishing ship. But there’s nothing to fear when Jung Cha-Ran is here. She tells Tae-Poong that the captain of the ship used to be good friends with his dad, which makes things easier to negotiate. At first, the man is skeptical, and even becomes annoying when Mi-Seon tries to add to the conversation, asking why a woman would dare speak up. But ultimately, the captain agrees, and more importantly, Mr. Park tells the gang he’ll go along with the shoes to hand them over safely. This would mean 2 years at sea and leaving his daughter behind for that long, but since he’s the one responsible for this mess, he says he’ll do it anyway.
The reason the captain refused at first was that it would be smuggling to take other cargo on his ship, but Tae-Poong hides the shoes in seafood boxes and gets all the local ladies to help load the ship. However, on the day of their departure, the police arrive, and Tae-Poong jumps off the ship onto a random small boat with a packet of flour. He then looks like he’s snorting the flour, but he’s actually eating it to distract the police that have raided the ship. It somehow works. Turns out, the person who reported the ship was none other than Pyo. After acting like a fool with the bag of flour, Tae-Poong is confronted by Hyun-Jun, and Ryu Hui-Gyu happens to show up too. Fortunately, Tae-Poong eventually drops a bag of cash on Hui-Gyu’s table, getting his contract back and saving his eyeballs. On the other hand, Pyo gets mad at his dad for being so stuck on the Typhoon company.
What Happens At Mi-Seon’s Home?
Between the two episodes, there are many elements of home sprinkled here and there. Turns out Tae-Poong’s mom’s just missing being a mom and treating Mi-Seon’s youngest as her own son. At the same time, Mi-Ho, the middle child, also becomes fond of the woman after a long time of being difficult. Guess all she really wants is a mom too. But this whole situation allows Mi-Seon to focus on herself. Though she worries the woman is using up too many of their resources and they can’t afford any more. However, Jeong-Mi is literally doing her own work now, too, at the tailoring unit, and she’s actually gotten good at it. So maybe she’ll actually contribute too. At the same time, it appears everyone who used to work at Typhoon Trading is suffering a little bit and in a financial crisis, Ma-Jin included. Seon-Taek delivers food and blankets to the homeless.
Tae-Poong also meets an old friend, and they both give each other some money (hidden in gifts) because they’re worried about each other. This friend also hands him a helmet as a gift, but this is what sparks an idea in Tae-Poong’s head. On the other hand, Ma-Jin just had a second child and still doesn’t have a job. Additionally, his dad is giving him money so that his family can sustain themselves, but Tae-Poong goes to him thanks to the advice of Seon-Taek. He should be the ideal guy for sales, and he can help them explore avenues of expansion. Tae-Poong immediately goes to find the man and puts him in a helmet, saying he has to come back to work the next day. Ma-Jin, suffering from unemployment and guilt about his family, decides to show up.
How Does the Meeting With the Helmet Manufacturers Go?
Episode 8 starts with the team at Typhoon Trading meeting with the people manufacturing the helmets that Tae-Poong has decided to export. Of course, this was only possible because of the return of Ma-Jin, the high-flying salesman, who has contacts all over the place and knows how to reach the right people. The meeting turns into a full-blown demonstration of the product, with the helmet even standing up to heavy abuse from a hammer (similar to the one with the shoes, I guess we’re meant to see how great Korean products are). While the team at Typhoon are satisfied with the product, the manufacturers seem pleased with the approach the company’s taking too, and even say they’ll let them buy their helmets on credit, so long as it’s for a small order, only half their usual minimum.
You’d think this would have everybody’s spirits raised, but a dark cloud’s about to descend, and it’s the fault of Ma-Jin, who seems particularly irked by the fact Mi-Seon’s now a saleswoman, not just the “numbers girl.” He decides to wait till they’re the only people left in the meeting room and give her a lengthy piece of misogynistic advice about how she should take the backseat and let the boys do their job, because clearly, women aren’t meant for this role, and Tae-Poong must be out of his mind to have given it to her. Mi-Seon has to take all this calmly and respond politely, saying she feels she is capable of this job. Of course, after Ma-Jin walks out, there’s another humiliating moment where she has to swallow her pride and do the “woman’s job” of cleaning up the cups after everyone’s done with coffee. This tension will keep swirling.
Tae-Poong starts brainstorming about where they’ll export the helmets to. The manufacturers already sell their products in the US, the Middle East, and most of Europe, so he has to think out of the box. Finally, he settles on Thailand, because they were the first to have an IMF crisis, so Tae-Poong speculates they’ll be the first to recover from it. Plus, it was only 2 years ago that they made helmets mandatory by law, which will only really be enforced this year, now that the 1998 Asian Games are to be hosted in Bangkok. That, combined with their unusually high purchasing power, makes them an ideal target.
Does Ma-Jin Ease Up On Mi-Seon In Thailand?
We see Mi-Seon practicing the Thai language before Tae-Poong and Nam-Mo show up with suitcases. She tries to talk about how they should save on the ticket expenses and not bring her along, but Tae-Poong isn’t having any of it. Plus, Mi-Seon’s the one who organized the business visas for them. Ultimately, Tae-Poong and Nam-Mo spend the night there, and Nam-Mo gets to sneak out and have a nighttime chat with Mi-Ho, who seems self-conscious about her eyebrows. It doesn’t matter to Nam-Mo, who says he loves her, and the two of them grin at each other like idiots when they finally go to bed that night. When the team gets to Thailand, they’re in awe of the bustling streets and gape at all the hawkers until they finally find the offices for Sawaddee Trading, run by Ma-Jin’s cousin, Ma-Yong. They’re given a tiny office, or rather just one desk in the corner of one, to conduct their business out of. That night, at the guest house, while they’re being served Tom Kha by the lady who runs the place and drinks by a flirty kid who calls himself Sky, Ma-Jin decides to question Mi-Seon’s capability as a saleswoman again for no reason. It even annoys his cousin, who seems almost embarrassed by how misogynistic Ma-Jin is being.
Ultimately, Mi-Seon retires to her room, and Tae-Poong follows to give her some food and tell her everything’s okay, but this only annoys her more. She accuses him of making her uncomfortable with his special treatment and how he’d called her pretty earlier when they were having pictures taken for their visas. She thinks this special treatment is why Ma-Jin’s been treating her the way he has, but truly, there’s no excuse for his disgusting behavior. The next day, on their trip to the port, Ma-Jin’s no better, and he gets annoyed at her for taking lots of pictures, even though it’s her responsibility to document the trip. While at the port, Ma-Jin slides a customs officer 50 USD as a bribe for “lunch money,” despite Mi-Seon’s objections.
What Happens At The Nightclub?
Ma-Yong had told the team about an exclusive nightclub (really more of a cabaret joint by the look of it, but fine), where they might manage to bump into the daughter of the Nikaham Group’s head. Everybody dresses up, Tae-Poong in a sleek tuxedo, Ma-Jin in a ratty old suit, and Mi-Seon in a gorgeous dress the guest house lady gives her that leaves Tae-Poong’s jaw on the floor. She does complain about the shoes being uncomfortable, but in the moment, she soaks up all the praise from Tae-Poong. When they get to the nightclub, Sky ends up basically introducing Tae-Poong to Nicha, the daughter of the Nikaham head, and she asks him to get on stage and sing when he says he recognizes the song being played. So Tae-Poong goes up in front of everyone and starts crooning to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” amusing Nicha but clearly making Mi-Seon uncomfortable. She ends up leaving mid-performance, and of course, Tae-Poong can’t take his eyes off her. He follows her out to the swimming pool, where she’s taken her shoes off because of the pain, and he calls her feet pretty (oop). They then share a sweet moment when he asks her where in the performance she left, and she hums the section for him. He quickly takes over and gives her a solo serenade, and it’s really quite sweet. We don’t know where Nicha is in the middle of all this.
Why Does the Team Get Arrested?
At the end of Typhoon Family episode 8, Mi-Seon’s alone in her room when all of a sudden, the Thai police burst into the guest house, grabbing all three Koreans and dragging them out onto the back of a truck before taking them to the police station. At the station, Mi-Seon’s the closest thing they have to an interpreter, but that doesn’t stop Ma-Jin from playing it arrogant and demanding the police contact the Korean Embassy. It’s up to Mi-Seon to try to understand what’s being said, but she pieces everything together and realizes they’re being accused of trying to bribe a civil servant. This is all about the $50 that Ma-Jin tried to slip the customs officer, and it’s come back to bite them in a major way. The episode ends with Ma-Jin being identified as the one directly involved in the bribe and being dragged away as the other two try to grab onto him and save him. It seems likely the next episode will see Tae-Poong and Mi-Seon working with Ma-Yong to save the foolhardy salesman from this trap of his own making. Maybe Nicha will come in as a valuable ally, doubly ironic considering how low an opinion Ma-Jin has of women. We’ll have to tune in next week to find out.
