Heirs/The Inheritors Episode 16 Recap

For an episode that aired coincidentally on Thanksgiving for those in the US, it’s a holiday that evokes both warm familial reunions and fractured familial niceties. Families that get along enjoy a boisterous meal, families that loathe each other dine in barely concealed veneer of courtesy. Episode 16 of Heirs/The Inheritors finally took the main narrative conflict of dynastic inheritance and ratcheted it up to def-con 5. It was all a feint of course, cleverly orchestrated by the diabolical Chairman Daddy to make his sons dance like puppets on a string to show them exactly how much power they have over their lives. Both Won and Tan learn a hard lesson today, with Won merely getting his pride and self-worth trampled on, but it’s Tan who loses the one thing he’s been clinging onto as a life line. It was time for Chairman Daddy to show us he was more than a paper tiger and all his orders could be flaunted by Tan and still there would be no consequences besides a brief house lockdown. This man isn’t just the Emperor of this tale for nothing, and he didn’t get there by being a nice gimpy man who talks the big talk and has nothing to back it up. He is more lethal and deadly than either of his sons could have imagined, and to secure his legacy he will sacrifice anything including love and affection because those things are meaningless to him. With his money he always wins, so the only way to destroy him is to take away all his money and render him a pathetic old man with a cold cold heart.

Too bad Won is too busy fighting with Tan and Tan is too young to be of much help, so in this episode both brothers got played big time and the drama sets the stage for a big shake up for the final arc. It’s funny how Tan has come across so much more mature than Won during the entire drama, and even in this episode with pivotal moments we see Won becoming frazzled while Tan stands his ground. Perhaps the difference is that Won is old enough to know what his dad is capable of, whereas Tan is still too young and untried to understand that he has no chance against his dad. While I liked how Tan threatened Chairman Daddy to stay away from Eun Sang, the entire time I knew this would come to a very bad end. I suspect a time jump may be coming which would be greatly appreciated since Tan doesn’t stand a chance to prevail in his fight until he grows up a bit. I have come to enjoy the cute throwaway school scenes so I’ll be sad when and if everyone takes off their school uniforms and dons the power suits and designer duds of the heirs turned acting rulers. With Heirs close to wrapping up, this drama has been way more entertaining than I expected, especially after a shaky start, and it wears it narrative purpose with confidence if not originality. Ultimately this drama has its fans for a reason and Kim Eun Sook has rendered another hit for herself.

Episode 16 recap:

Chairman Daddy offers Eun Sang two choices and he has two plane tickets in front of him. Choice one is to leave now and he’ll send here somewhere nice. Choice two is to spend the next 15 days with Tan and then he’ll send her somewhere less nice. This seems like too complicated of a plot. Eun Sang cries but we don’t see which ticket she picked.

Eun Sang’s mom started getting text messages on her phone from creditors thanking her for paying off the debts fully. She goes to ask Ki Ae if the payments are her severance but Ki Ae doesn’t even want Eun Sang’s mom to leave anytime soon so clearly she didn’t pay it. Ki Ae complains about all the ahjummas she’s interviewed and no one will do. She thinks Eun Sang’s mom is not paying attention to her because her heart has already gone to another lady of of another house. Ha, she’s so petty jealous like Tan is of anyone Eun Sang pays attention to.

Eun Sang sits with her mom and hears about all their debts being paid. Eun Sang says he’s made her take money from him already. Her mom tries to ask what happened? Eun Sang prepares to tell her mom the big decision.

Eun Sang walks up to the staircase and the guards let her through, clearly she picked door number 2. She arrives at Tan’s door and knocks. He was sitting inside watching news programs and brooding. He opens the door and sees her happily smiling at him.

Tan pulls Eun Sang inside and she lies about sneaking up when the guards were on a break. Eun Sang candidly admits she missed him so she came. Tan hugs her tightly worried that she’s like a movie special effect that he can see but not touch. She is sad that he’s suffering this fate because of her but he says no, he came back so that they won’t be locked up in the future. Tan wants her to trust in everything he does because she’s the only one he has left and he will find a way for them to be together. She asks what happened and he says he’s just liking her right now. They resume hugging but Eun Sang can barely keep back her tears.

The next morning Tan watches the CCTV feed and perks up when Eun Sang steps out the front door. She must know him well because she turns to the camera and writes him a note that she had a happy dream because he was in it. As long as she’s fine being spied on its good with me.

Secretary Yoon tries to resolve the impasse between the half-brothers but Won doesn’t want to even try because eventually he will fight with Tan over control of the company. He’s seen all his relatives do it from back stabbing to going to jail to being on top and then falling to the bottom again. Secretary Yoon brings up Chairman Daddy splitting the shares equally between the brothers to avoid that but Won is even more pissed since he’s way more capable to run the company. Won wonders which side Secretary Yoon is on but he’s on the side of Empire Group always. Won asks if Secretary Yoon has decided to accept his offer to become VP of one of the constructions subs and he agrees to give his decision soon.

Eun Sang arrives at school to find it swarming with reporters looking for a scoop on Kim Tan. When a reporter approaches her, Young Do and Myung Soo flank her and shoo them away by hilariously declaring that Young Do is the third son of Empire Group while Myung Soo is their daughter.

Eun Sang goes to her locker and discovers its been totally trashed, including soy milk doused on her gym clothes. Young Do walks up and places a call for a delivery of drinks. When the PPL drinks arrive, he plans to trash everyone’s locker with it as revenge on her behalf since one of the lockers must belong to the culprit. Eun Sang stops him since he’s going to hurt innocents to get back at the culprit. Young Do points out she did no wrong either which makes Eun Sang smile since she understands Young Do’s strange thinking. Young Do realizes that Eun Sang smiles as well when she feels thankful. She tells him not to waste food so he tells her to enjoy it since this is his treat.

Eun Sang offers Bo Na and Chan Young each a drink as they are chatting in the library and explains it’s courtesy of Young Do. They wonder if its safe to drink? She hands Bo Na the promised childhood picture of Chan Young, and then hugs them both for being her friends. They look at her oddly for behaving like this. Eun Sang tells them to never break up.

Secretary Yoon arrives for another tutoring session but he cuts to the chase and tells Tan that Chairman Daddy is likely sending Eun Sang abroad. He warns Tan that his dad is way more ruthless than Tan can even imagine, both as a father and as the Chairman.

Tan leaves him room and walks to his dad’s study. He goes inside and takes his phone back, placing a call to Ji Sook to come pick him up at home because he’s going to school. Dad asks if he’s using Ji Sook to go to school to see that girl? Tan knows that thanks to all the shares he now owns, Ji Sook will help him when he asks. Dad says he didn’t give him the shares to use this way. Tan says its a hefty sword and Tan plans to use it. Dad asks if Tan is threatening him right now? He warns his dad not to do anything to Eun Sang otherwise Tan doesn’t know who he may point that sword towards.

Ji Sook and Tan ride together to school. She says money and power are so useful, now he can use it to order her around. Jo Sook says Tan will be paying her back for this favor one day. He asks if she regrets how she treated him and his mom in the past? Jo Sook reminds him to be cordial when they get out of the car.

Upon arrival, Ji Sook and Tan exit the car and put on a cordial show of mother-son in front of the reporters. She tells him about a family dinner tonight as more photo ops and Tan says he’ll be there. Their classmates Myung Soo, Bo Na, Chan Young, and Yi Seul observe from above, wondering if they really are close but concluding it’s just for show. Myung Soo says Tan may be illegitimate but now he’s a major shareholder so in essence he’s still untouchable.

Tan immediately beelines for Eun Sang’s classroom and shoves her things into her backpack before dragging her out. Aiya, aren’t we past all this dragging?

Tan takes Eun Sang to Myung Soo’s playroom and dumps out the contents of her backpack. He rifles through it until he finds the plane ticket for Buenos Aires. He can’t believe she really took it and asks if she really likes him? He rages at her for taking the ticket and for not believing in him. She asks for it back and he tears it up and asks if she wants to die. He knows that she took the ticket so she could go up the stairs to see him, but it also means once she leaves she’s never coming back to Korea. How could she smile after taking that offer?

Eun Sang asks what else she could do because the other choice of leaving him immediately is untenable. Tan says she should have come to him so they could fight together. It’s his father, he’ll deal with him! He has nothing now and all he has and wants to hold on to is her. If she leaves him he’ll really go crazy. Eun Sang just cries and nods her head. He wipes away her tears and apologizes for making her cry all the time.

Young Do walks in and asks why they are arguing and he even made a girl cry. He sees the tossed items and asks if Tan is being a bossy shareholder already. Tan has no time to banter and simply entrusts Eun Sang in his care, asking that he take her to and from school and keep her safe until tonight. Young Do is as shocked as me and asks why Tan thinks they will be here later tonight, but Tan has seen through his nasty shell and knows he’ll keep Eun Sang safe.

After Tan leaves, Young Do wants to know why Eun Sang is crying but she’s not about to tell him about her soon to be exile. He decides to redeem his one favor and Eun Sang suggests they go have noodles after school.

Cut to random night out dinner with Chairman Daddy and Ji Sook walking in arm-in-arm while Tan and Won arrive right behind them. All of this is clearly staged for the throng of reporters outside.

The fake family sits in their private dining room and the facade comes down and now it’s time to get serious. Won snarks that they ought to go see a play next time while Dad acts all pleased at this rare family outing. He turns to Ji Sook to ask for an update on finding Won a girl, effectively dropping the news on Won that Ji Sook has lined up a nice girl ready to meet him and lead to a suitable engagement. Won tries to pick his own bride but Dad says he needs to get married before his career takes off. Won gets the warning and stops arguing.

Then comes the second even bigger bombshell. Chairman Daddy has called a shareholders meeting in two weeks to vote for the President of Empire Group. He’s nominating Secretary Yoon for the position. Won tries to argue but Dad tells him to be quiet since the walls have ears. Dad reminds Won that he fired all of Dad’s loyal subordinates without even consulting him. He placed Won there because he needed someone when he fell ill, but Won seems to have forgotten that the entire company belongs to Dad and he runs it. Dad says he doesn’t have a policy of favoring the elder, he will hand the company to whichever brother most capable of running it. Won asks if Dad gave Tan the shares for this very reason? Dad says he’s lost his appetite and the parents leave after thoroughly screwing with the boys.

Tan gets up to leave as well but Won tells him to sit down. Tan says Won will only keep him because he has something Won values. This time its Tan who says talking now it unnecessary. Won has two weeks to line up votes to keep his presidency of the company, and the last person he’s going to have to lobby is Tan. That’s so ironic since Tan was always last for Won anyways.

Won goes to see Secretary Yoon about how the heck he’s being nominated for President? He asks if Secretary Yoon picked his dad’s side in exchange for his position. He asks how Secretary Yoon must’ve been laughing at him with the VP position offer! Secretary Yoon tells Won to protect his position first, and when he does so Secretary Yoon will take his side and accept the position of the VP of the construction sub.

Tan goes back to the playroom but finds it empty. He calls Eun Sang’s cell and this time its Young Do who picks up, and hilariously plays coy about where he took Eun Sang. He tells Tan that he’s at a place in Tan’s heart.

Turns out he’s sitting at the dokbokggi place with her and Eun Sang knows he’s just teasing Tan. Young Do knows that Eun Sang must’ve have been forced to kneel before the Chairman already despite her claims to the contrary. The Chairman needs to make Eun Sang kneel first in order to make Tan kneel. She asks why they didn’t come for noodles and Young Do wants to save that to hold her to the promise later on.

Young Do gives her a pen and tells her to write down a promise to have noodles together since they didn’t go today. Eun Sang gladly writes it on the wall which Young Do takes in. He wonders why she wrote it so easily and why she cried earlier? She doesn’t answer so he tells her to memorize his number as well as Tan’s number and to call if she ever needs anything. Eun Sang says she needs to go home now and Young Do agrees to let her go to annoy Tan. He sends her home in his car to mess with Tan some more since Tan will be there shortly. Eun Sang leaves and Young Do sits there sadly.

Tan arrives to find Young Do alone at the restaurant. Young Do compliments Tan on finding this place. He thanks Young Do for helping him escape and for today. Young Do asks if Tan has anymore secrets like maybe he’s a girl or something because the big secret is out and Young Do has nothing else left. Young Do tells Tan that his dad appears to have made a move towards Eun Sang. Tan knows and tells Young Do to go home and not sit here alone.

Tan comes home to find his mom drinking wine while slumped on the ground against the sofa, totally drunk and miserable. He is furious when he sees his dad insult her as embarrassing, especially when he hears that Ki Ae is so upset because she can’t accompany Tan to the shareholders meeting. She’s drinking alone to celebrate him becoming a major shareholder. Dad insults her as a stain on Tan’s life and is the reason he can’t take her outside. Mom asks if Tan’s stain was all by herself, she didn’t give birth to him alone! Tan tells him dad to stop being so pathetic as a man and a husband, if he keeps going then Tan won’t hold back anymore. Eun Sang is hiding in the kitchen with a bottle of wine and she overhears this fight. Tan warns his dad to back off lest Tan reach out to Dad’s enemies to take him down.

The lame Won-Hyun Joo loveline continues and he goes banging on her door late at night until she comes out to see him. He sadly says that he can’t come see her for the foreseeable future but his grand plan is to have her go abroad and wait there until he can come pick her up, maybe in a few years. She asks why he’s controlling her life but he wants to do it so that they can be together. She yells that they can’t be together anyways so why bother!

Won begs her to leave so she doesn’t see him even more pathetic. Hyun Joo asks what is happening and will she read it on the news? Won begs her to leave and not to read the news and see how miniscule he’s become. Hyun Joo agrees not to read the news and Won pulls her in for a hug.

Eun Sang gets called out to the kitchen pantry by Tan in order to surrender her passport to him. He’s upset she wasn’t waiting at the playroom for him and was so worried. He tells her to stay where he tells her to and do what he asks her to.

Eun Sang nods and Tan then swoops in for a hot and needy kiss and this time Eun Sang doesn’t look like an axe-wielding murderer is gnawing at her lips. Her body language is a bit stiff but all in all she reciprocates and the two kids kiss. Afterwards Tan hugs her and makes her promise again not to leave him. Eun Sang doesn’t answer but wraps her arms around him.

Tan decides to go to school with Eun Sang in the morning figuring Dad always knows so why bother scurrying around. Good point.

During literature class, Rachel presents her book report on The Great Gatsby, and uses it to pointedly make digs at Eun Sang and Tan’s pathetic love for each other by referencing how Gatsby ruined his life for the love of an unworthy woman.

Afterwards, Rachel and Hyo Shin almost bump into each other in the hallway. To makes things less awkward, Rachel calls him and asks that he avoid her for the time being. Hyo Shin says there is no need but Rachel says she’s not comfortable. They stop in the middle of the hallway and stare at each other and suddenly there is this tension. Oh god, please don’t let them end up together. After Rachel walks away, Hyo Shin peeks to stare at her.

Won lines up meetings with all the major shareholders to lobby for their vote, ranging from Esther, Young Do’s dad, Ji Sook, and finally Tan. Tan strikes a hard bargain – he wants an apartment from Won – before admitting he would side with Won anyways because their dad is trying to bother Tan’s girl. Won scoffs at Tan doing all this for a girl but Tan candidly says that girl is his everything. Won agrees and even throws in a car and driver, telling Tan that he’ll see what Tan does to protect that girl.

Young Do is looking at the bandaid Eun Sang gave him which leaves Myung Soo sighing about his lovelorn self. Young Do doesn’t know when he got hurt or when he’ll heal. Myung Soo notices that Young Do has gotten skinnier lately and wants to take him out to eat. Young Do declines because he has another place to go. Myung Soo tells Young Do not to spend the afternoon waiting outside Tan’s house for her, but lo and behold that’s exactly where he toddles off to.

Young Do doesn’t see her so heads over to the convenience store where he spots her sitting outside in the falling snow. He walks up and drapes his coat over her before taking a seat. Young Do reveals that he’s actually seen Eun Sang at this convenience store three times before they met for real, and he even shoo’d away noisy kids when she was napping. Eun Sang smiles to hear that. Eun Sang wishes she knew earlier that Young Do is both a good guy and a bad guy wrapped together. Eun Sang tells Young Do to let her become a passerby in his life. The next time he likes a girl, don’t trip her so he can hold her and don’t threaten her to have noodles together.

Eun Sang takes off the coat and thanks him, for a short time it felt warm. She tries to leave but Young Do tells her not to and he looks worried. Eun Sang lies that she has a date with Tan but Young Do doesn’t buy it since today is the Empire shareholders meeting and Tan has no time to see her. Eun Sang says they agreed to meet before the meeting. Still Young Do can tell the look of someone planning to sneak away in the middle of the night. Eun Sang doesn’t look like she’s going to meet someone. She looks like she’s about to let it all go. He demands to know what happened? Has she been kicked out? Is she moving? Eun Sang says she’s moving soon and asks him for a recommendation of an apartment, it can be close to his place so they can be neighbors. Eun Sang walks away leaving Young Do sitting there in a daze.

Tan goes to see Won and takes the key to the apartment from him. Won reminds him about the shareholders meeting and says Tan needs to vote to keep him. Won warns Tan that their dad will find that girl very quickly. Tan knows that but he’s showing his father and his brother that he has nothing left after 18 years of loving his brother and father and all he has left is that girl. So he will use everything in his power to protect that girl from now on.

Eun Sang sadly remembers the Chairman insulting her as young and shameless and ruining so much, making Rachel a laughingstock and destroying families and turning Tan into a joke in the eyes of the world. Eun Sang is waiting outside a store when Tan comes up and back hugs her. Young Do has followed her in his car and looks sad before driving off.

Tan and Eun Sang are modeling couple shoes and hanging happily at a cafe. Tan takes Eun Sang to the apartment he got from Won and says this is hers now. He wants her to move in here otherwise he’s worried his dad will keep hurting her. Tan says this is all he can do for now. Eun Sang is not happy with this and Tan knows and apologizes for doing things his way. Eun Sang notices the dreamcatcher hanging in the window and she blinks back her tears.

Eun Sang tells Tan to go to the shareholders meeting and she’ll stay a bit to take some pictures to show her mom. He asks how she’ll get home and she reminds him that she was quite capable in the US. Eun Sang sends Tan off and says she’ll wait for him here. They wave goodbye and Tan says they are like a real married couple. Eun Sang gives him an unexpected peck on the cheerks but Tan doesn’t register it odd. Eun Sang tells him to go safely and she’ll be waiting for him at home.

Once the door closes, Eun Sang starts sobbing but stifles her cries.

Everyone files into the conference room for the Empire Group shareholders meeting to vote on whether Won will be removed as President. It’s tense and the ballots are collected and counted.

The final vote is a stunner – only 3% want to remove Won and over 95% have voted for him. The votes are so staggering that its clear Chairman Daddy never intended to remove Won and told his followers to vote for him from the get-go. Everyone looks stunned at the results while Chairman Daddy sits there with a self-satisfied smirk.

As Won stumbles out of the conference room, Young Do’s dad says this was clearly a father teaching his son a lesson. Chairman Daddy goes to congratulate him but Won glares at him before leaving. Ji Sook asks if Tan understood what just happened? Tan asks if that was all just a show? Ji Sook says Tan has grown up and warns him to stay away from Won who will be in a foul mood.

Chairman Daddy says he did it to give Won a little taste of shame and embarrassment to have him run around like a headless chicken to get votes when he was never in danger to begin with. Chairman Daddy says this whole exercise was also to teach Tan a lesson. Tan asks what his dad means? His dad says Eun Sang, that girl Tan hid away, she left Korea an hour ago.

Tan rushes out to find her, but his calls go straight to voicemail, her locker at school is cleaned out, and her boss at the cafe says she quit. Ki Ae cries reading a letter from Eun Sang’s mom apologizing for leaving so abruptly and thanking for her the time spent serving her. Tan comes home and asks where Eun Sang went and Ki Ae says they left without even saying goodbye to her. Tan finds the room empty at their house.

Tan runs around the streets looking for her but she’s gone. He calls Chan Young who asks what happened between them because he doesn’t know where she is either. He goes to the apartment and finds it empty and dark. He stands inside staring out the window at the shining night lights of Seoul and then breaks down crying on his knees.

Thoughts of Mine:

I actually don’t know if there will be a time jump (likely if Eun Sang did go abroad), or no time jump (she’s stashed somewhere in Korea). Either one there will be plenty of issues to resolve, but the first option seems more interesting because suddenly everything is shaken up including the characters’ options in life. I want to see older Tan with an array of weapons and actually teach his dad that it’s wrong to screw with his sons lives. Chairman Daddy has unequivocally risen to the occasion as the villain of this tale, and he rivals another Kim Eun Sook-penned evil powerful daddy BB in City Hall as one of the most scary father opponent for the male lead. Again I wished Young Do’s acting out would have been limited to at most 2 episodes rather than 6 because I knew he was going to turn around the edge of the cliff rather than jump down so dragging it out with Tan ruined great scenes he could have with both Tan and Eun Sang. These last two episodes made Tan deal with his dad and allowed Eun Sang and Young Do some room to spend time with each other as just unspoken friends. It wasn’t anything particularly meaningful, but it did feel rather poignant in a story that has become much more melodramatic and with greater stakes.

While Young Do has turned into the supportive (and still snarky) second male lead, it was a welcome change because I don’t have time for his antics anymore when Chairman Daddy scares the bejesus out of me with his slow methodical drawl and always being three steps ahead of everyone else. I actually didn’t cry in this episode (or so far in the drama) because I feel like nothing is that dire despite Tan saying stuff like he’s life is over without Eun Sang or she’s all he has. The reason being is that while the rich kids suffer emotionally, there are plenty of kids out there suffering way more due to poverty and even more brutal emotional and physical abuse. So Tan’s sadness is understandable but I’m not of the mind to accord him status of “saddest kid in all of Korea”. Losing Eun Sang was because he underestimated his dad and overestimated himself. I’m comforted knowing he’ll probably take away from this devastating loss to become stronger so he can go find her and then build a forever after together. He may have lost the battle but he hasn’t yet lost the war.

Click here to watch Heirs.


Comments

Heirs/The Inheritors Episode 16 Recap — 47 Comments

  1. Ms. Koala,
    You are so fast. Thank you for taking time out of your day (especially today) to give us the recap of the episode. Oh the last scene of KT looking out from the apartment and then breaking down just made me so sad for him. His dad is such a horrible person, I look forward to KT rising up and showing his dad that in the end he will control his destiny. I knew the sadness, tears, separation was coming but part of me was still holding on to hope that it would not happen. I look forward to seeing how KT moves forward and where the story takes us from here.
    Happy Thanksgivng, Ms. Koala and all your readers. 🙂 Have a wonderful time with your family.

  2. Thank you for the recap!! Another great one.

    I know I should be focused on other things and all… But all I can think of is THE KISS. That is all.

  3. Omg kill me will you im sobbing my heart out right now ! Why why why ? Min ho oppa and his tears make m feel so empty ! ! perfect min ho just perfection ! Loved the eisode
    Thanks koala unni

  4. Omg The KISS. I’ve been replaying that again and again. LMH continues his legacy of great kisser and PSH did well too.
    The last scene was so heartbreaking.

  5. I personally think 18 yr old Won would be nothing like Kim Tan. He never had the balls from the beginning to fight his dad. Kim Tan may be young but I think he will just get stronger. The more his dad hurt him and his loved ones, he will find a way to defend and protect them. He has been the quiet sleepy tiger long enough in the States. But he is more like his dad but with a heart. Maybe that is how his dad test them. Does dad need a follower to take over his Empire when he dies or a Leader to lead the business?

  6. I don’t think a time jump would make much sense. I mean what will happen to Rachel and Choi Young Do’s parents’ engagement? Will they be married years later? God I sure hope not!

  7. Just a different matter. The some of the live adverts they have on this drama is laughable. From the pile of drink Young Do wants to use to take revenge for Eng Sang to the pink shoes Kim and Eng Sang wore. The poor writer have to keep writing such silly props into her drama to please the sponsors.
    Btw, Kim has proven to be a fantastic kisser. But Park Shin Hye still need lessons. She is so uptight.

  8. I found a great chapter is really a drama with a bad start but gained momentum and if it is nice to see, in the chapter that most had me thrill was the kiss which to some extent is the best that has given Park Shin Hye until you notice the effort is not the best kiss of a drama, but kisses pass through the eyes of a deer that at least seem real is an achievement that deserves merit, but if what I was more excited the moment she saw the couple and Tan shoes hugs, I was like aaaaaaa, they looked so pretty and real together
    Ha and finally am latina so the option of not sending a nice place to be hurtful Argentina seemed not gave me a little sad to see that concept we have to Hispanics
    Thanks ockoala thank you very much for taking your time on these dates and make a great recap and happy holidays

  9. Thank you for the recap!!!
    I love the show as a whole, but this episode just gave me wrong feelings. It was obvious that Kim Tan loves Eun Sang. We saw him came after her even since episode 1. We saw him fought for her, cared for her. He did everything he could for her, so how on earth she could leave him like that.
    Eun Sang told Kim Tan she would leave after 15 days, but when he turned his back, she left him right away. Seriously??? Not to mention that Kim Tan destroyed her plane ticket, so how she could leave Korea. The only reasonable explanation was that she came back to Chairman Daddy to get a new ticket. Did she really like him? If she did, how she could leave without a word (He got you a house for god sake!!!)
    Kim Tan did everything for her, but she did not have the courage to stand beside him. I knew the Chairman Daddy paid off her debt, but after what Kim Tan did for her (broke off the engagement, protect her at school, etc…) she still left.
    I just think she does not deserve him

  10. Thanks for the recap MsK.
    Oh my poor heart, it’s breaking for Tan and Eun-sang. I can’t wait till Tan goes vengeful on Chairman dad’s behind. I couldn’t care less about Won, he needs to grow a backbone. Perhaps he has his mother’s soft nature. Ki-ae being so heartbroken about Ajhumma leaving without a good-bye, so cute and funny.
    I don’t want to like Young-do, I need to hold on to my hate but I’m a sucker for bromance so, ottoke.
    Tan showing Eun-sang that apartment is a materialization of a dream I had for this couple and even though it didn’t last, it was so sweet.
    Tan and Eun-sang beat ‘father of the year’, okay? Hwaiting.

  11. I just want to see the next episode ASAP. Having me wait for another week is torture
    What will I do these days. I think I’m gonna watch my favorite oppas. Less tension hihi ^_^

  12. A time leap will be cool. After all, LMH is 27 trying to act as 18. It will be nice to see him as a 27 y.o. being an executive in Empire Group and with better fashion sense. ES will come back and have noodles with YD – she has promised… I hope Esther and Rachel will disappear. CY and Bona will be married and have cute little babies, oh so sweet 🙂

  13. Bravo Ms Koala!!!

    Your site and reviews are a great read. Love you and your Blog!!!

    A couple of thoughts:
    1. Surprised Rachel still hasn’t learned to be a human.
    2. Why Secretary Yoon feels he can talk openly in Tan’s house about dad’s plan for ES.
    3. We still don’t know whats in it for Ji Sook. What’s her plan?
    4. We’ve seen Young Do is smarter than Tan when it comes to ES and the Dad plan. But would he really sit back and let him first love be played by Tan’s daddy??
    5. Why would Secretary Yoon let daddy do something to ES and her mom when he has looked out for them all this time.

    Final question for now . . .
    6. Where is ES sister and why was she ever in this drama????

    It would be great to see Tan and is mom move into the new apartment and leave daddy at home alone. And then watch Tan (with the help of YD, Won and Secretary Yoon) teach daddy a few lessons in short order.

    Now my new wish is for Rachel to end up being Secretary Yoon daughter. That would put her and Esther in check. And yes, Secretary Yoon can handle Esther from there. It would surly end the engagement to YD’s dad. Right??

    Happy Turkey day for US folks. Happy end of November to everyone else.

    • good questions… my little thoughts here… Rachel is such a loser, she will still be rich but her character will not have much development from now on (I hope). I like Secretary Yoon, he has guts. Ji Sook will stay with Evil Daddy as long as she has financial benefit – she is the official Mrs. Chairman. YD will help Tan and ES, maybe Tan and YD will go into partnership in business in the future. ES sister is long gone, she was just the reason ES went to the US and ended up meeting Tan… BTW, Esther is such a bi..h that is not worth Secretary Yoon to be with, how can she be our lovely Bona’s mom-in-law??!! May her be with YD’s dad, who cares?

    • I would like for Secretary Yoon to end up with Kim Tan’s mother, Ki Ae. Surprised? Esther has not changed at all. Secretary Yoon knows everything about Ki Ae. The old man treats her badly still. He would be the knight in shinning armor to swoop in and save her when she got drunk while the old man was yelling at her. I know, so far they have not shown a single interaction from those two except when the old man told Ki Ae to move out if she continues to raise Rebellious Tan and threatened to fire Yoon for not picking a side. Yoon is more of a dad to Tan anyway. Now, that would hurt the old man’s pride.

  14. Hello.

    May I know if anyone know what brand and model for the smartphones used in this drama?
    Th ones that Kim Tan, his mum, Choi Young Do etc are using (the one with flip cover).. Seems like most recent dramas are using that instead of note or S3/4…Eun Sang’s one is a samsung rite?

    Thank you..

  15. Thank you for the recap.
    I also think that there might be time jump.
    But if so, there will also be conflict of the other casts (HS, Won, etc.) hanging in the air?

  16. Time jump will come. In the beginning, ES didn’t have any interest or dream for her future. She just wanted to work as a secretary for $2000 a month. Now, her world has been messed up by KT’s daddy. She should take interest in Corporate world and share holders. Learn about all of those things. Then, come back and does some mess up and damages in Jeguk Group.

  17. I vote time jump! It would be nice to see the characters in the future to see how they’re doing and how Eun Sang overcomes this!

  18. Hmm just a thought of mine, I think Eun Sang didn’t really leave for overseas since Tan took away her passport unless chairman magically get a new passport for her which isn’t impossible knowing what he’d done. And it makes sense that Eun Sang wants to leave because she thinks that Tan is becoming a monster because of her, which is scary to watch myself, just imagine being in Eun Sang’s shoes. Time jump would be nice (with the authority Kim Tan could have get) but knowing that all those time without eun sang would make Tan even scarier than he is now scares the bejesus out of me. I just hope that Kim Eun Sook created a plot that will not ruin Kim Tan as the nice guy, which is why I prefer him over Young Do in the first place.

  19. Funny you should say about not crying. I don’t think I have yet either, now that you mention it.

    But, at least today, I felt I cared a little about most of these people.

    I loved the moment where Won listens to (poor,dumb) little bro talk about protecting his girl, and you can see the Won’s regret that he didn’t try to fight for Hyun Joo. Even if neither boy had a chance to beat Daddy-o, at least Tan is choosing love over success. It isn’t the smartest thing to do, but he is 18, and that is the age where you have to make mistakes to learn. It makes me think of poor JGS in Hwang Jin Yi. He was fighting a losing battle the whole time, but man, did he fight.

  20. So this is my theory about the dad, I actually don’t dislike him and I think that what he is doing is to protect both of his sons.

    1. Won’s mom was a “country” girl and she couldn’t handle the stress of the chairman’s lifestyle which ended up on her leaving and eventually dying alone. I feel like what he is doing with ES and the teacher is also to protect them assuming they won’t survive that enviroment either and will eventually fall into Won’s mom faith. Won’s mom is obviously someone inmportant to him since he uses her birthdate as his combination. I’m pretty sure he was heartbroken when he lost her and saw Won suffer for her too, thus his reason to avoid his sons and love interests fall in the same path.

    2. He got “rid” of the two girls ES and the teacher in quite a nice way, he made sure that they got a better life (paying for the teacher’s education and paying off all of ES’ fam debt and sending her to study abroad) I remember in BOF the mom just went ham on JanDi eventually leaving her homeless, where in this case the chairman is giving them a good life, just not with his sons.

    3. The chairman’s family is messes up. His own brothers suing him and fighting for the company. He knows how harsh it is and sees the reality of being borned into money, there are no family values. So, he can’t allow his sons to be weak or they will be destroyed by it. So far even if he is cold and tough with them he is doing things to protect them (giving shares to Tan and getting him engaged to a good fam to secure his position, making Won CEO but at the same time saying he is not taking neither son’s side, etc).

    I know right now he is being the antagonist and we are supposed to hate him for seperating the main OTP but I think the writer set him up to be a better character than that with more depth to his actions than just being the evil greedy dad. Also, I love how he appreciate Secretary Yoon’s ethics even if SY is not siding with him lol like he threats him to fire him but still has his back and trusts him.

    • You make a very good point about Chairman dad’s motives for doing what he does. However, shouldn’t dad allow them to make their own mistakes and help them pick up the pieces when everything fails? Isn’t that what a dad does? Even if he has good intentions, he can’t keep his children in a bubble and hope they won’t get hurt, they are grown men not little toddling babies. Also, he has no right to treat Tan’s mum like crap like she said, ‘she didn’t make Tan on her own’.

      • Good points on the dad and treating the mom like crap. He did not see anything wrong with extra marital affairs, especially the kind that he, a man who does not let a woman goes to his head or heart. He treated the wife poorly too. These women just take it because he has power amassing from running a big company.

  21. Seriously Heirs?? That kiss made me yawn.
    I wonder if it’s the fact that PSH really can’t kiss, or did the PD tell her to look pained and unwilling on her face while her hands contradictorily clutch onto LMH?

    • LOL. Serioulsy, I don’t even know if there are people kissing like that in real life. If so, I see no point why two people desire to share a kiss? I have a headache watching them kiss and couldn’t get emotional at all. For real, PSH and LMH, you two seriously don’t know your kiss scenes suck like hell.

      • LOL…to be fair Lee Min Ho looked like he was working over time to make that kiss look hot but Park Shin Hye just looked like she would rather be anywhere else. It has to be awkward to do kiss scenes but that’s your job….acting….

    • That’s her kissing face lol she does the same expression in every drama regardless of who the actor is or the context of the kissing scene.

  22. Thanks for the decode Ms Koala! I was really quite clueless about what Daddy Kim’s intent was and what the heck he was doing to the 2 boys. He is so awful.

  23. Do wish kiss tasted with chocolate, strawberry or Vanilla ???
    Hahaha I find the kiss is the problem to pass test of acting ability to some here.
    Actually it is ES and KT guys not PSH & LMH who kiss each other I hope the next kiss with taste of satisfaction to please you and make your eyes closed from it.
    Park shin hye Fighting girl you doing great job .

    • I agree. The kissing does not make or break this drama. A kiss can be a touch, a glance or even a whisper. Why does it need to be anything more than what they gave us in this episode? What about the tender why they held each other after the kiss? Does that not speak volumes about how much they care for one another. Doesn’t it speak to their fears and desires to still be together and get past his daddy tirade.

      Isn’t it about young love and the desire to be together. KT finally found someone that makes him feel alive. The one thing he wants and needs that was not bought with money. It wasn’t about who his parents were or how much money or stock he had. It wasn’t a fake person just making a business deal for the family business. He found her in a foreign land and realized she was that perfect something he wanted in his life. So much so that he was willing to go back to Korea to try and find her.

      • I don’t think people are saying that they have to kiss to show their love for each other. They have a problem( me included) with how PSH the actor does not know how to “act” enjoying a kiss.

        She is supposed to be kissing the guy that she loves and enjoying it…yet her demeanor is of someone who’s being forced to kiss! She’s uptight, akward as if in pain. It’s SUCH A TURN OFF!
        Girl, you are kissing LMH for crying out loud!
        You could see LMH working hard to try to make it look natural and real but she was just too uptight.

        I’m sorry to say this but maybe PSH has never kissed in real life, so she doesn’t know how to relate?
        I mean it’s infuriating that she does the same thing in all her dramas.
        I rather they don’t give her kissing scenes…it’s boring and so not dreamy!

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