Netflix’s latest K-drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines, is a 16-episode series releasing four episodes every week, so we can wait in agony to find out what’s happening next. The first volume of the show is divided into two timelines, basically Ae-Sun’s childhood and then, later, her talking to her daughter in retrospect about her life back in the day. The show begins with a 70-year-old Ae-Sun having to write a poem in what looks like an old-age home or possibly a senior citizens’ retreat. At this point, we don’t know this, but all Ae-Sun ever dreamt of was to become a poet in the 1950s on a tiny island called Jeju. But at the moment, she can’t seem to write anything; instead, she colors her canvas blue, like the ocean she so hated as a child. Soon, we are transported to the 1950s, where a 10-year-old Ae-Sun calls out to her mum, who is diving for abalone. This is where the story begins, and it seems this is where it will end, but I don’t want to cry about that just yet. But with that said, let’s learn about Ae-Sun’s life in this recap of When Life Gives You Tangerines.
Spoiler Alert
How Does Ae-Sun’s Mum Die?
Despite living in the 1950s, Ae-Sun’s mom has had two husbands, and Ae-Sun’s from the one that’s passed away. Her stepdad is very accepting of her, but her mom tries to send Ae-Sun off to her uncle because she’s a girl without a father, and this is what will help her in the future. But Ae-Sun loves her mom too much, and there’s really nobody else in the world who can give her the care that her mom can give. After crying in front of her mom about how her uncle doesn’t even give her fish to eat, even though her mom’s literal job is diving for abalone. Despite wanting the best for her daughter, which would mean keeping her away from her, Ae-Sun’s mom eventually brings her back home after the girl throws a fit. Turns out Ae-Sun’s mom’s been sick, an occupational hazard that’s affected her lungs, and soon after Ae-Sun moves home, she passes away at the deeply unnerving young age of 29. Before dying, though, Ae-Sun’s mom does get to read the poem Ae-Sun wrote for her, and she also gets her to promise never to become a Haenyeo (the women divers on Jeju Island).
Soon, Ae-Sun is basically left to raise her two step-siblings. Ae-Sun’s stepdad isn’t a bad man; in fact, by the standards of the time, one could say he’s one of the good ones, but he basically keeps Ae-Sun with him as a nurse for his very young children. She basically becomes a mini-mom for them, helping out around the house, selling cabbage for her stepfather, and working hard to keep the household alive. But this means she has to neglect her studies, and so her dream of going to a college on the mainland is a long shot. However, Ae-Sun’s stepdad promises to sponsor it before she comes home one day and sees him with a new woman.
Does Ae-Sun Love Gwan-Sik?
I suppose the most adorable meet-cute is when all the Haenyeos of the town expect to see you married to the boy who has been following you around since you were 10. Ae-Sun promises never to marry Gwan-Sik every time they hang out together. But, by the time they’re 18, they’re basically betrothed because of how much it seems they’re joined at the hip. He sells the cabbages from her stepdad’s field for her, walks her everywhere, and even changes her shoes for her by hand! Yet, despite her feeling a certain kind of way for him, she can’t help but wish she could go live her life on the mainland—a rich life at that. However, when Ae-Sun realizes her step-dad can’t fund her big dream, she has nowhere to go because her uncle is also unwilling to take her in, so the only person she can go to is Gwan-Sik. But there’s another problem there: Gwan-Sik’s family doesn’t approve of Ae-Sun because she’s an orphan and a little bit poorer than them. This is unacceptable to them, even though their son has basically been the little lamb to Ae-Sun’s Mary. Realizing they have no choice, the duo decide to run away to Busan. Before they go, they steal from Ae-Sun’s stepparents and Gwan-Sik’s family, too, and take the ferry to Busan. It seems their plan is doomed from the start, because they don’t have documentation to prove they’re adults.
Barely a couple, Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik end up in Busan, completely out of their depth. They find themselves in a motel that promises free boarding, food, and drink for the night if they’re able to pay the next day, but it’s all a scam. “Busan hospitality is (not) the best.” Soon, their bags are stolen, and the motel owners threaten to take them to the police, but Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik are keen on staying and making things work. Eventually, it’s Gwan-Sik’s mom who brings them back, even getting their suitcases back from the scammers and getting them arrested. But this doesn’t mean she approves of Ae-Sun; she just wants to take the duo back home.
A little later, Gwan-Sik’s mom finds a man for Ae-Sun to marry. He’s 30 and already divorced, but since Ae-Sun spent the night with Gwan-Sik in a motel room, she’s already “tainted,” so there’s no way an ordinary single man will marry her. Ae-Sun doesn’t want this, but she’s sold the idea as a way to move to the mainland to study. The guy is rich, so he can at least pay for her education. Ae-Sun tries her best to be a good (soon-to-be) wife to Do Sang-Gil, but when she hears him talk, she regrets her decision and asks him if he can hire her as a maid instead. The man is so pathetic, he tells her he’d get one for free if he gets married. Why would he hire her? Yet again, Ae-Sun runs off to find Gwan-Sik when a storm is brewing, and he’s already out at sea to go to the mainland for an athletic competition. It seems Gwan-Sik’s mum had told Ae-Sun to get out of his way because she was holding him back, but in reality, she was his motivation. Gwan-Sik hears the poor girl’s screams and swims to her because that’s how deeply he loves her, I guess. It seems even the whole island of Jeju is keen on seeing these two together.
Will Geum-Myeong Be Okay?
In the final episode of volume 1, Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik have a daughter and are trying for another kid. What Gwan-Sik doesn’t know is that his mother and grandmother are harassing Ae-Sun so they can get her to have a son, but she doesn’t complain because she loves the man so much. It seems Ae-Sun has a better relationship with her stepmom than she does with her in-laws. On the other hand, Gwan-Sik is working for Do, which Ae-Sun doesn’t know about because she’d have been furious if she did know. Ae-Sun doesn’t want anything but for her daughter to live a better life than hers. Even though she was fantastic with books, Ae-Sun had to get married and have a child rather than study on and become a poet. As any good parent would, Ae-Sun wants Geum-Myeong to have more than she did and actually get that college education, not become a Haenyeo.
Ae-Sun never complains, nor does she do anything crazy to provoke her in-laws, but they just don’t treat her right. However, Ae-Sun’s last straw is when they decide to make Geum-Myeong a Haenyeo even when Ae-Sun’s mother had died because of it and had made her daughter promise never to follow in her footsteps. This is when Ae-Sun flips the table, takes her daughter, and threatens to leave. Fortunately, Gwan-Sik watches all this transpire, picks up his daughter, and tells his mom that he won’t let his wife live in a household like this one. They then move away to live by themselves and soon get pregnant again.
At the end of When Life Gives You Tangerines episode 4, Ae-Sun visits the Do house and meets with Sang-Gil’s wife. Turns out he’s abusing her and Gwan-Sik too, which makes Ae-Sun really angry. She decides it’s time for him to quit and goes to find him, but what she sees is Do bullying her husband. This makes her angry, and she makes a scene, telling the man that her husband will never work for him again. Just as they held hands back in the day, they still hold hands in the 1990s timeline, when they’re in their late 40s and already too tired to keep going.
In the 1990s timeline, we see that Geum-Myeong wants to marry a man who is richer than her, but she’s well educated and has just landed a good job. This annoyed her future mother-in-law. Already she didn’t like the girl because she’s from a poor family. Geum-Myeong tells this woman (unlike her own mom, who put up with so much stuff just to raise her) that she’s as capable as her son, and she wants to go up the ranks at work. Now it seems there’s going to be a conflict before they can end up together, but does Geum-Myeong have a love like her parents, or will she have to let go of her ambition (the opposite of what both her parents had to do to raise her)? We’ll have to wait for next week to find out.
