Before going into When Life Gives You Tangerines, I had a feeling it would be an emotional rollercoaster, but I’ve cried so much watching Vol. 2 now that I’ve got a headache. The K-drama tells the story of a family through the generations. Episode 6 has got to be the worst episode of the show. Not because it isn’t well made or anything, but because of what happens in it. I guess, in a way, each episode of the show teaches us a tough lesson. Episode 5 begins where we left off in Vol. 1, with Gwan-Sik out of work and Ae-Sun heavily pregnant. It is then up to Ae-Sun to fix things for her husband and save their family from utter ruin. Before you go into this volume, I’d highly recommend keeping the Kleenex ready, because it will leave you completely shattered. With that said, though, let’s dive straight into the recap.
Spoiler Alert
How Does Gwan-Sik Get His Own Boat?
Episode 5 begins with Gwan-Sik feeling a bit broken since he can’t feed his family. But what he doesn’t know is that help is everywhere for these two kind people who are just trying to make ends meet. It seems the landlady has been putting rice grains in Ae-Sun’s pot ever since Gwan-Sik lost his job, and Ae-Sun just can’t seem to understand why. Throughout her struggle, though, Ae-Sun always thinks of her mother. She looks to her as a guide and also as a source of emotional support. No matter how many years pass, the pain remains the same. With no other choice, Ae-Sun goes to her paternal grandmother for support, but she never asks for help; she just cries in front of her. Maybe it’s because of how she was always treated as an outsider, probably for being born a girl. Whatever it is, Ae-Sun’s grandmother does help her, not because Ae-Sun begs her but because her mom made her promise to support her daughter.
Ae-Sun’s parents died when she was really young, but her mom made sure she’d never be left alone. Ae-Sun’s mother’s gift to her before she died was to surround her with loving people who would support her till the end. The same women who she grew up watching take on the sea. Ae-Sun’s grandmother has a whole lot of money, which she’s meant to give the girl, so she is able to buy Gwan-Sik his own boat and also feed her family. Ae-Sun’s water breaks while they’re celebrating the boat purchase, and he brings her to the hospital in a cart. After working for a bit, Gwan-Sik surprises Ae-Sun by buying her the house her mum used to live in. When Ae-Sun was young, she’d run to her whenever she had something good happen to her. Ae-Sun’s never been happier.
You’d think that’d be it, but their baby fever didn’t stop there. The next thing we know, Ae-Sun’s pregnant with a third child, and her mom’s dropping by in her dreams, telling her that the neighbor has a truck so she can drop her off at the hospital in the middle of the night while Gwan-Sik is at sea. A blessing and a curse, if you ask me, this boat. On the other hand, she becomes the village deputy, who does better work than the chief himself, who is the useless Sang-Gil. It’s Young-Ran, Sang-Gil’s wife, who gets in trouble for going out dancing with her young daughter, but it’s Ae-Sun who makes sure they escape his wrath. Ae-Sun and Sang-Gil’s wife have an interesting relationship. Even though she can’t resent her for not marrying the guy, Young-Ran openly tells Ae-Sun that if she had, all the ill fortune would’ve befallen her. Young-Ran finally tells her own daughter that she should marry a man like Ae-Sun’s husband. I suppose this is a way of expressing her gratitude because Ae-Sun saved her.
At the end of episode 5, despite having a superstition about women getting on boats bringing bad luck, Ae-Sun follows her daughter Geum-Myeong onto her husband’s boat. Gwan-Sik tells her that the only gods he has are his three children, and Ae-Sun believes him. Finally, they’ve got everything sorted, but will it remain this way?
What Happens To Dong-Myeong?
Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik’s three kids are named Gold, Silver, and Bronze. In episode 6, Ae-Sun learns that Geum-Myeong was in an accident because she took the bicycle during a typhoon. At home, Dong-Myeong drops a box of candies because he wants to have some, but Ae-Sun yells at him for not finishing his meal. Sad about dropping the candy, Dong-Myeong cries and asks for a hug, but this is when Ae-Sun learns of her eldest daughter’s situation, so she rushes to bring her home. She tells a neighbor watching TV to look after her sons and rushes off without really checking if she’s actually going to do it. When mother and daughter are back, both boys are missing, and Ae-Sun starts to panic. They look everywhere for the boys, and some neighbors bring Eun-Myeong back, but he also doesn’t know where his younger brother is. A little later, Dong-Myeong is found, but he’s already passed. I can’t really tell how the boy died; maybe it was because of the rain, or maybe he drowned, since he was found near the seawall.
It’s not just Ae-Sun who blames herself for Dong-Myeong’s death, though. Geum-Myeong thinks if she hadn’t taken the bicycle, her brother would still be alive. Eun-Myeong blames himself for running after his mom instead of staying put with his brother. Gwan-Sik blames himself for going away to put up the barrier instead of staying at home during a storm. But as they say, life goes on. After 3 days of mourning the loss of their little one, Gwan-Sik comforts his daughter after learning of her guilt, and Ae-Sun does the same for Eun-Myeong. Gwan-Sik then goes back to work, and life goes on because it has to. Of course, it’s impossible for Ae-Sun to so much as look at the sea because it reminds her too much of her son. She always wanted to go away, but it was always the sea that held her back. Again, Ae-Sun has the support of the whole village, which brings food to the family every day. Finally, Geum-Myeong gets into a university in Seoul, which is basically her biggest dream. Whatever Ae-Sun dreams of, her daughter will now get to experience. It’s no ordinary school; it’s the Seoul National University.
Episode 6 ends with Geum-Myeong telling Yeong-Beom, her college heartthrob, that she won’t go with him to the military camp to say goodbye. I guess this is her way of shielding herself from heartbreak. She keeps him at a little bit of a distance so she doesn’t have to be the one to get hurt. Parallelly, we see young Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik, as well as the middle-aged versions of them, holding hands and discussing their lives. It reminds us that no matter what storm and how much they each break individually, eventually, they’ll move on together. It’s impossible to deal with the death of a child, but they must live on for the ones who are alive.
Final Words
I’ve already given this show a perfect score for its first 4 episodes, but now I’m wondering how I can turn it up further. There’s something almost torturous about watching such a show that plays with your emotions like a basketball, dribbling away until you’re deflated. And boy, does episode 6 leave you deflated. I don’t know how IU and Park Bo-Gum do it, but the amount of crying they’ve had to do in this show is unbearable. This show will really remind you to cherish your parents and always try to understand their point of view. If you’re not in the mood for something sad and truly heartbreaking, though, I’d recommend skipping this show entirely because I’m sure this isn’t the end of the sad stuff.
