Summary
Episode 3 weaves complex relationships propelled by excellent performances.
This recap of Netflix K-Drama series Green Mothers’ Club season 1, episode 3, “That Dawn Before the Day Breaks,” contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
Now and again, a K-Drama comes around that has a lot to say, but it’s not spoken about enough. Green Mothers’ Club appears to be one of those series. While other series appear to be thriving on Netflix, this K-Drama seems to be passing by. Let’s hope it picks up in popularity.
Green Mothers’ Club season 1, episode 3 recap
Episode 3 opens up with Jin-ha crying as she recalls the moment she had a major spat with Eun-pyo. Flashbacks show the women in the past. They appeared to have a special friendship, but as it delves into art college, Eun-pyo felt Jin-ha’s obsessive nature with their friendship. We should expect more truths to be revealed as the story progresses.
In the present, Eun-pyo tells Chun-hui that she neglected her children for her studies, and she asks for advice. Chun-hui tells her that it’s up to her to find a solution. At school, her son’s troubles continue — a teacher tells Eun-pyo that children study ahead of their year, which puts her in a complicated position. But the situation is made worse when Eun-pyo overhears the other mothers discussing that her son has been blacklisted from the other children. It’s such a cruel ordeal for Eun-pyo to hear that as a mother.
Eun-pyo confronts the mothers and scolds them for ranking and dividing the children. She’s emotional and furious with them. Realizing how serious this situation is, Eun-pyo tells her partner that she intends to move Dong-seok to another neighborhood and school. Late in the night, Chun-hui and Eun-pyo catch up outside while having a smoke. Suddenly, Chun-hui receives a message and leaves. Someone is asking her if she can “make a delivery.” Yun-ju looks after her daughter for her.
Jin-ha asks Eun-pyo if she’s moving out of the neighborhood because of her and apologizes. Eun-pyo isn’t interested in talking, and then she has to pass Jin-ha’s partner Louis. There’s plenty of conflict in this connection. She asks Louis to pretend that they don’t know each other and to forget their past.
But there appears to be another unhealthy dynamic in this series. Chun-hui’s husband and Yun-ju’s husband greet each other, but Chun-hui’s face says it all; she holds a secret with Yun-ju’s husband. Both men are medical professionals. Yun-ju’s husband pays for a meal for all of them, despite Chun-hui’s husband being a doctor. Yun-ju is furious that he paid for it.
Eun-pyo and Chun-hui meet late in the night again, and this time they have a drink. Their friendship is evolving. They decide to go to a bar to drink wine, and they get fuelled by alcohol. Chun-hui asks Eun-pyo how she’d feel if she ran into an ex-boyfriend in the neighborhood. Eun-pyo states she’d “be pissed,” and both women cackle in laughter. Eun-pyo admits to Chun-hui that she isn’t a professor and got fired. She calls herself an excellent liar. We can only assume at this stage that Yun-ju’s husband is Chun-hui’s ex.
As they get a taxi home, Chun-hui knows the driver. When Eun-pyo leaves the taxi, the driver drives off with Chun-hui as he’s angry at her for something. Eun-pyo throws a wine bottle at the car to stop him. At the police station, the man turns the situation on to Eun-pyo, but she loudly exclaims that the man was trying to kidnap her friend. Unfortunately, Chun-hui tells the police she doesn’t know the man (she clearly does). Both women get off scot-free as Eun-pyo knew one of the officers. They walk away from the station howling with laughter. Jin-ha finds both drunk women having a good time, and she looks jealous. But does Chun-hui have more than one secret? Why was the taxi driver angry with her?
The next day, Eun-pyo tells Jin-ha that their friendship breaking down is all about the inferiority complex and wants them to be in good spirits the next time they meet. She wishes her luck with her art exhibition.
The ending
As episode 3 ends, Eun-pyo and her son have a change in fortune…
Jul-pin’s mother posts on the school community website about the expectations of one of the teachers for her to home study her child because they are behind. She calls it a discriminatory education system. She then gathers the other mothers and states they should remove the gifted students’ programme and work together as a unit. Chun-hui disagrees, feeling she’s only doing it because her child is behind. Jin-ha disagrees with Chun-hui.
Meanwhile, Eun-pyo receives an update from a teacher regarding Dong-seok; apparently, her son finds multiple-choice questions boring, which is why he keeps failing, but he’s able to do the advanced assessments — he’s incredible at problem-solving. He’s a gifted child in the top 0.01%. What does this mean for Eun-pyo and her place in the community? No doubt she will stay in the neighborhood now.
Episode 3 weaves complex relationships propelled by excellent performances.
Additional points
- Jin-ha talks to a friend who suggests Eun-pyo is jealous of her because she has high aspirations; she raises how Eun-pyo stopped her painting and major because of her. Jin-ha looks guilty at this revelation and considers the pain Eun-pyo is in.
- Eun-pyo meets her mother-in-law, and she’s furious that she is moving again, which includes abandoning her husband. She thinks she’s taking away her children’s education and breaking up the family.
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