Summary
Episode 3 continues its high-octane drama as another divorce is on the horizon. The characters have embedded well into the story, and there’s an addictive nature ingrained into the storytelling.
This recap of Netflix K-drama series Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) episode 3 contains significant spoilers.
After the last episode, Boo Hye-rung demands to know what her husband Sa-hyeon is up to. She unlocks his phone and sees the contact name — “Nonhyeon-dong”. She rings the contact, but Sa-hyeon stops her. Boo Hye-rung slaps him, and he suggests they talk inside. He tells her he is seeing someone, and Boo Hye-rung is fuming and asks more questions before repeatedly hitting him. She then asks if she lives in Nonhyeon-dong; she slaps him repeatedly again until his nose bleeds. Boo Hye-rung is still breathless and in a state of shock. This is a young marriage that has gone into tatters very quickly, and it’s escalating into all-out war.
Boo Hye-rung tells Sa-hyeon’s parents of their son’s adultery
And the war turns to Sa-hyeon’s parents — Boo Hye-rung visits them and explains that their son is cheating on her and that he acknowledged it. They are fuming that their son has done this. Boo Hye-rung is upset, stating that they’ve been married for less than three years and her heart is ripping into pieces. The father mentions that Sa-hyeon has been in a serious relationship before. It’s almost like he’s suggesting that this will be the same woman, but he never clarifies.
The ashamed son Sa-hyeon visits his parent’s house
And then in Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) episode 3, the word “shame” comes to mind as Sa-hyeon visits his parent’s house with his pants down — there’s no way he can come out of this situation alive with his dignity intact. Boo Hye-rung demands to know who the woman is. Sa-hyeon’s father is furious and wants him to apologise. The parents and Hye-rung keep pressing him for answers. Sa-hyeon says he will get a divorce if Boo Hye-rung wants one, which makes his father explode. Sa-hyeon gets on his knees and apologises, and asks for forgiveness. Boo Hye-rung senses that he loves the woman he is seeing, which worsens the situation. Sa-hyeon wants to end it, so Boo Hye-rung walks out. Sa-hyeon chases her outside and offers to drive her home. The next day, Sa-hyeon rings Pi-young and wants to know where Boo Hye-rung is. He’s woken up, and she isn’t there.
Park Hae-ryun goes for a check-up with a doctor
After asking for divorce himself, you can almost sense that Park Hae-ryun is experiencing a mid-life crisis, and the next scene supports that idea. Park Hae-ryun visits a doctor; the doctor knows his brother and sees a likeness. Park Hae-ryun reveals that his brother is dead. The doctor checks his blood pressure and states he’s generally healthy for his age. Park Hae-ryun looks at the doctor’s photos and asks about his wife and son.
Pan Mun-ho enjoys a reunion at the country club
While at the country club with his wife, Pan Mun-ho (Sa-hyeon’s father) sees Kim Dong-mi, and he’s fascinated by her. He walks right up to her table — she’s sat with Pi-young and Yu-sin. Pan Mun-ho asks if she’s Kim Su-gil’s only child. He tells her that he is the son of the chicken farmer. Suddenly, she knows who he is — a hometown friend. The adoration causes concern for Pan Mun-ho’s wife; especially in the way he was acting.
Park Hae-ryun’s children express their feelings
The scenes involving Park Hae-ryun and his children are hard to watch — there’s too much maturity, tears and despair as the family are about to be split up for good.
Lee Si-eun is still going through the divorce process. Park Hae-ryun is packing his bags, and his daughter Hyang-gi wants to speak to her father. He apologises for everything that’s happened. Hyang-gi doesn’t feel the situation is right; she states that he has known his mother for 30 years. Park Hae-ryun says he will fulfil his purpose as a parent and financially support Hyang-gi until she gets married. The daughter states she and U-ram need their father and promises not to disappoint him — she’s hurt and heartbroken, but cannot imagine how her mother feels. This is an intensely emotional conversation, and it gets worse when his son U-ram sits down and expresses similar feelings.
Hyang-gi then drops a clanger and states if she had a choice, she wouldn’t have been born to him and Lee Si-eun if she knew this would have happened. Afterwards, Hyang-gi and U-ram give their mother Lee Si-eun a present. It’s a beautiful dress, and she’s taken back by it. She offers to pay for it, but her children state that it’s her, and thank her for looking after them. I cannot imagine going through this type of emotional stress; this sounds incredibly awful.
Watching Sa-hyeon sleep and then dropping an ultimatum
Boo Hye-rung watches Sa-hyeon sleep before heading out for the day, and she’s still shocked by everything that’s happened. In the last episode, we were introduced to some new additional characters; Nam Ga-bin introduces herself to A Mi and Song Won. These new characters are on a table near Boo Hye-rung. their relevance is still not clear yet, but I suspect it is somehow linked to Sa-hyeon.
Boo Hye-rung returns home and tries to remain calm. She asks Sa-hyeon if he wants a divorce and gives him one condition — that she can meet the woman she loves. Sa-hyeon doesn’t want to agree to those terms, but Boo Hye-rung is insistent that it can only be this way.
Was it your first love?
And although predictable, the presence of Kim Dong-mi has brought on some insecurity. Pan Mun-ho’s wife asks her husband if Kim Dong-mi was his first love. He denies that it’s not what it seems, and then, awkwardly, Kim Dong-mi and her husband joins the table.
Both wives ask each other how they met each other’s husbands. Kim Dong-mi reveals she met him at a hospital — he’s a hospital director, and she tells him that she loves him. Dong-mi proceeds to feed her steak to her husband, and Pan Mun-ho is not amused. Pi-young suddenly realises that Boo Hye-rung is Pan Mun-ho and his wife’s daughter-in-law and she reveals she works with her at the radio station. It’s a small world. But what’s ironic about this situation is that Pan Mun-ho lectured his son Sa-hyeon earlier in the episode about being in love with someone else, yet here we are; he’s pining over a childhood sweetheart — double standards at its best.
The mother-in-law insists they work on a solution
Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) episode 3 considers the implications of a young marriage getting divorced in these traditional constructs, and how a family reacts to such scenarios.
Boo Hye-rung finds herself debating the divorce with Sa-hyeon’s mother, who suggests that they have a baby so they do not divorce. She doesn’t seem to understand that Boo Hye-rung cannot trust him and that there is no way forward. The mother-in-law wonders if Boo Hye-rung can entice a young, good-looking man anymore. She tells her to learn patience. Boo Hye-rung insists she wants to see the woman Sa-hyeon has been cheating with, but her mother-in-law questions what purpose that will bring.
Happy marriage talk but Mo Seo-hyang reveals her condition
Pi-young speaks to her mother Mo Seo-hyang and talks about her happy marriage and how she works hard every day. Mo Seo-hyang tells her she’s glad that she found a happy marriage. She also reveals she has a terminally ill disease which compounds the situation further. This is a tragic mother/daughter relationship.
The ending
As the episode draws nearer to the end, Pi-young remembers her mother’s words and how she wants her to give Ji-a gifts from her — she’s made it clear that it does not matter if Ji-a knows it’s from her.
Lee Si-eun tells Park Hae-ryun that she understands why he felt lonely in the marriage, but her husband says he feels guilty. She asks him if they can work on their marriage and go counselling and try harder; she promises to be more self-aware. Park Hae-ryun asks her to go to sleep and calls her a “great woman”.
In the middle of the night, Boo Hye-rung watches Sa-hyeon sleep and is frustrated. She fills a bowl of water, and as she’s about to throw it over him, the episode finishes. I hope she threw the water over him just for banter.
Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) episode 3 continues its high-octane drama as another divorce is on the horizon. The characters have embedded well into the story, and there’s an addictive nature ingrained into the storytelling. The main question will be — who is Sa-hyeon seeing? Put your guesses in the comments.
Additional points
- Sa Pi-young and Yu-sin enjoy a few drinks together. They talk about their daughter Ji-a and how mature she is for her age. They believe that she has become a mature young woman because of her mother.
