‘Typhoon Family’ Episode 14 Recap – A Late Break From Formula

You wouldn’t think that Episode 14 of a 16-episode run was necessarily the right place for a significant change of pace, but Typhoon Family has other ideas. After regaining some energy and giving Tae-poong a win, “Born in the Wind” gives him a break. This turns out to be a good idea. I was only recently complaining about the show’s slightly recursive structure, constantly looping through a new calamity and then its improvised solution, with little room to develop relationships and little chance of meaningful payoff. Perhaps a break is just what everyone needed.

Needless to say, this allows for more focus on Tae-poong and Mi-seon. After the latter’s near-death experience prompted her to reconsider her feelings and share them openly for the first time, there’s an official feeling to the leads’ relationship that adds a new contour. It allows for a honeymoon phase to set in. The relaxed vibe is nice. But it isn’t like conflict is eradicated completely, since there’s a bit of friction between Nam-mo and Mi-ho, the debacle about the promissory note and Mr. Pyo’s debt is still hanging over everything, and Hyun-jun takes his resentment to a rather extreme level.

After that promissory note revelation last time out, Episode 14 of Typhoon Family begins with a bit of an explanatory flashback, finding a hard-up Bak-ho on the verge of bankruptcy, turning to Jin-young for a bailout to the tune of 40 million won. In the present day, of course, Tae-poong is threatening to cash in on the debt, despite not actually being in possession of the note. He wants Typhoon Trading to have a clear run at the surgical gloves. Bak-ho is willing to acquiesce, but only if some conditions are met, putting Tae-poong in a pickle once again as he gambles his position as CEO to guarantee he will produce the note.

Hyun-jun’s fuming, obviously. But he’s already getting away with arson, since while the insurance company will pay out for the fire, there’s no evidence to prove it was Hyun-jun who started it. His hands are pretty much tied, though. His dad does owe the money, and what’s worse is that he’s starting to realise that Tae-poong is smart and driven in a way that Hyun-jun isn’t, which causes even more friction between them. In response to being unfavourably compared to his arch-rival, Hyun-jun ends up knocking his dad out and stashing him in a container, which is a bit of a melodramatic turn.

The crux of the matter quickly becomes whether Tae-poong will actually be able to find the note in time. His early efforts to do so don’t go well, since he’s arrested for trespassing, but the subsequent bailout does allow him and Mi-seon to spend some time together. This grows into a beach trip for Tae-poong, Mi-seon, Nam-mo, Mi-ho, and Beom, which is full of nice moments backdropped by the lingering worries about work and the financial crisis.

Another problem emerges in Typhoon Family Episode 14 in the form of Mi-ho’s ex, Tae-min, who is looking for her, much to the chagrin of Nam-mo, who overhears a conversation and gets a little upset about it. This stuff feels a bit like conflict for conflict’s sake, if you ask me, which is weird since the second leads’ relationship has made a nice counterpoint to how long Tae-poong and Mi-seon have taken to properly come around to each other.

At least the promissory note deadline is deferred, since when Tae-poong turns up on the set day, despite not having found the note, Hyun-jun is occupying the office. The money from the gloves allows the Typhoon Trading team to move back into the office, which is a positive development, but the episode ends with Song-jung getting a call and then panicking that his father is about to take his own life, which is not so good. There should be just enough leftover drama here to fill the remaining two episodes, but as much as I enjoyed this little break, I’m still generally of the opinion that a 12-episode season would have been a better idea.

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