When Life Gives You Tangerines’ penultimate episode is titled “A Very Spring Day.” That is because this is the first ever time the Yangs can be called successful, or at least a little bit rich. Whoever said money can’t buy you happiness never saw a family go from nothing to something. In this episode, the Yangs begin a new journey, as individuals as well as a family. The episode is meant to showcase happy moments, yet it still leaves you weeping by the end of it. In episode 15, we get back to Geum-Myeong’s plot after having seen an improvement in Eun-Myeong’s life. It is finally time to move on for everybody, including Young-Ran. Now, I understand if people will be mad about Sang-Gil getting a redemption arc, but we’ve got to keep in mind that the show doesn’t necessarily push the idea that Young-Ran forgave him; it just reminds us that it’s hard to get out of a mindset that you’ve had for so many years. Still, I don’t think we’re meant to forgive him as much as we’re meant to give him another chance as a character. Of course, if the same thing happened today, we might react completely differently. With all that said, let’s jump into episode 15.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Gwan-Sik Yell At Geum-Myeong?
Episode 15 begins with a phone call between Gwan-Sik and his mum about Ae-Sun not having a baby because it’s too hard. It seems Gwan-Sik initially struggled to handle the whole baby thing, but soon enough, with Ae-Sun’s help, he managed to get a grasp on being a dad. Because of everything that they’ve been through, we never truly understood how young they were when they had Geum-Myeong. Ae-Sun’s life had never been her own; she felt like she was born to nurse people. I guess Ae-Sun grew up without even realizing it. In episode 15, Geum-Myeong and Ae-Sun have a fight after Geum-Myeong tells her mother that she and Chung-Seob live in a matchbox because she wanted to start a business. There isn’t even enough room for Ae-Sun to visit. Geum-Myeong’s always been the responsible one, so her mother is genuinely disappointed by this situation, because if something goes wrong, there is literally nothing that can save them now. Geum-Myeong gets mad at everybody too, though. She talks about how she wants to provide for her children, basically implying that her parents couldn’t provide enough for her and Eun-Myeong. Of course, this isn’t what she actually means, but when her dad hears Ae-Sun say that their troubles never truly end, he decides to take a leap; he sells the cabbage field, puts their house up as collateral, and buys a commercial building in the middle of nowhere.
At first, it seems this is going to be a massive fail because they’re the only ones running a restaurant in this building. We know that Jeju did eventually become a tourist hub back then, but for someone living at the time, they couldn’t have possibly known there would be such a boom on their little island. At the restaurant, Ae-Sun tells her mother-in-law that she has a better mother-in-law than Gye-Ok did because she never blamed Ae-Sun for Dong-Myeong’s death. Even though Gwan-Sik’s mum always pressured Ae-Sun when she was young to have a son and then to be a “good” daughter-in-law, it was when Dong-Myeong was gone that she really stood by her side rather than saying it was all her fault for leaving him behind.
Meanwhile, Sang-Gil tries to win back his wife one last time with a cycle ride together. He can’t even ride by her side, but he thinks just doing the bare minimum will be enough to make her stay. Of course, it’s not. Sang-Gil was never a good husband or parent, but he does show up when he has a grandchild to look after. Or it’s possible that he finally accepts his defeat after Young-Ran leaves him.
At the restaurant, Eun-Myeong gets mad at his dad because he thinks he’s been scammed. Ae-Sun yells at him, saying it’s his money and he can choose to do whatever he wants with it. Back at home, Geum-Myeong also ends up yelling at her mom. Geum-Myeong says that she always felt guilty for spending money on herself; that’s her relationship with money because they were always poor. When Gwan-Sik hears her say all of this, he gets mad and raises his voice at her for the first time. Geum-Myeong says she used to send money to her parents not because she wanted to, but because she felt bad that she didn’t feel like sending them any. All Ae-Sun had been upset about was seeing her daughter begging for money, but it turns out she was doing so because she’s pregnant. Both women are hormonal because one is going through menopause and the other, a pregnancy. Geum-Myeong’s apology is just a picture of her sonograph and a note on the fridge.
What Happens During the Pregnancy?
When it’s time for Geum-Myeong to give birth, things don’t go right, and she’s not given the epidural because the baby isn’t moving. The doctors ask Chung-Seob to choose between mother and baby if something goes wrong; he says he’ll always choose his wife. Remind you of somebody? Yeah. Chung-Seob worries for his wife, so he tells Ae-Sun to come because Geum-Myeong is asking for her mom. As soon as Ae-Sun gets there, Geum-Myeong goes into labor, and despite her going unconscious on the operating table, Sae-Bom is born healthy. Geum-Myeong wonders how her mother had 3 kids by the time she was her age and even rode a cart while pregnant. She wonders how she could’ve dealt with such pain at the age of 18 without any of the facilities Geum-Myeong has now. It’s adorable to see Gwan-Sik worry about his daughter before his granddaughter. Quite the duo they make, Gwan-Sik and Chung-Seob.
After another cold winter passes, Gwan-Sik and Ae-Sun decide they want their restaurant to be successful. They decide to start making deliveries too. So, while Ae-Sun and the aunties worked hard in the restaurant, Eun-Myeong and Gwan-Sik made deliveries. Even when Korea won the soccer game (likely the quarterfinals against Spain), Gwan-Sik was still making deliveries.
The big break comes when actor Lee Byung-Hun eats at the restaurant and it becomes famous. It brings Japanese tourists to try the food that he tried himself. But, at the same time, Sang-Gil gets Cheol-Yong caught. What’s really funny is that Sang-Gil never paid the 70 million, but he bribed the police officer to catch Cheol-Yong instead. I suppose he just wanted his son-in-law’s name to be cleared. Remember, there was a woman who once came to see Gwan-Sik in the middle of Volume 3? Well, she happens to be a famous actress whose life Gwan-Sik had saved many years ago. Now a superstar, she always asked Gwan-Sik if she could help him in any way. It turns out that he finally decided to call in a favor, and that is to promote the restaurant. Also, yeah, of course Ae-Sun knew about it the whole time.
At the end of episode 15 of When Life Gives You Tangerines, Hyeon-Suk tells her mum that her dad is the one who got Cheol-Yong caught. She also tells her that he used to wait around to make sure she came back home after late nights, even if he was the kind of dad who never really took care of the kids. Hyeon-Suk says her dad is a timid man who screams at the top of his lungs so that he can hide that timidness away. I guess, after all those years of fighting, she wants to finally give him a chance, and she asks her mum not to be too harsh on him. The episode ends with the family all heading to the restaurant for the spring time. Finally, something to look forward to for everybody, a new beginning for the Yangs that’ll finally leave them happy.
