Entering Green Mothers’ Club
Episode 4 of Green Mothers Club begins with Jin-Ha and Chun-Hui butting heads over dropping the Gifted Child program at school. Yun-Ju worries that this could affect housing prices in the area, while the other women try to work out what Jin-Ha’s end-goal is in all this. After finding out that her child is gifted, Eun-Pyo realizes that Dong-Seok also learns that her son has been diagnosed with ADHD. The way he thinks is incredibly intelligent. It turns out the “butterflies” Dong-Seok drew at school were actually a birds-eye view of the apartment complex. He drew the buildings from above! Eun-Pyo re-evaluates everything her child has done up until now in a different way, realizing that all those times she thought he was just goofing off, hints of brilliance were evident in his work. Eun-Pyo and Jae-Ung boast about their son, revealing the news to their mother-in-law and even entering Dong-Seok in a gifted student academy. In the middle of her research, that snake Yun-Ju shows up and tries to make amends with her cousin. Eun-Pyo decides not to move out after all and instead, tags along with the other women as they all message each other secretly, gossiping about Eun-Pyo and how she can’t take a hint. When Chun-Hui shows up, she’s surprised and taken aback by Eun-Pyo’s presence. Eun-Pyo immediately ruffles feathers by casting her vote in favour of the Gofted Child program. She supports Chun-Hui’s decision. She even asks Chun-Hui after the meeting to let Dong-Seok join Yu-Bin in the Rube Goldberg Test. She tells Chun-Hui not to underestimate Dong-Seok as a wry smile crosses her lips. Curious, Chun-Hui decides to let Dong-Seok join the team, which consequently means Yun-Ju is kicked out. Eun-Pyo eventually finds herself having to contend with both parents and children alike, as Yu-Bin calls Dong-Seok a dummy and worries that they’re going to fail the contest. It turns out Yu-Bin is always mean to him at school but Eun-Pyo convinces her son to give it a day and see how he feels. When the teacher gushes over how Dong-Seok a genius and showing middle-school levels of genius, Eun-Pyo can hardly contain how proud she is of her son. However, the battle lines are drawn, especially when Yun-Ju brings Su-In to work with Jin-Ha and Henry. Now interwoven around this story is a separate subplot involving Eun-Pyo heading off and getting a part-time job. Lessons for Dong-Seok are not cheap so she gets a gig as a ghostwriter. Ironically, her first client happens to be Luis, who talks about his past in detail. Interestingly, there’s one statement he mentions, pointing out how the family isn’t his own, that stands out. It’s unclear exactly what this means but we’ll have to wait and see! During the contest, everything looks like it’s going to take a horrible turn, especially when Dong-Seok’s team run out of cardboard. Jin-Ha wants to lend them some but Yun-Ju tells her team mate to look out for themselves instead. However, Dong-Seok has an idea and suggests they use the xylophone Dong-Ju is messing about on. Eun-Pyo blames herself for messing this up but as the results come in, the Grand Prize winners go to the Tiny Conquerors, meaning Dong-Seok, Yu-Bin and the others win the top prize. They go home with one million won and usurp Jin-Ha and Yun-Ju in the process. After the contest, all the women decide to go out for drinks. When Chun-Hui mentions their husbands, a little more light is shed on how they all met. For Yun-Ju and Man-Su, they fell into one another’s arms at the pharmacy. When Jin-Ha and Luis are brought up, Jin-Ha admits that Eun-Pyo actually introduced her to him. Tensions are high between Jin-Ha and EunPyo, and after drinking copious amounts of alcohol, Eun-Pyo is left to look after the woman, who can barely stand. Eun-pyo begrudgingly brings her back home but given how drunk she is, she throws up all over Eun-Pyo’s clothes. Luis is there too, and he stands outside the bathroom door, letting Eun-Pyo wear one of his shirts given her own is covered in vomit. In the hallway, Luis stops Eun-Pyo from leaving and leans forward to kiss her. However, Jin-Ha happens to be watching from afar.
The Episode Review
Green Mothers Club returns with a really solid episode, building on the drama and foundation established last episode and leaning into these clear divides between the two sets of women. Something big happened between Eun-Pyo and Jin-Ha, something beyond just this inferiority complex and that seems to stem from Luis. The details surrounding that are still unclear though so we’ll have to wait and see where this one goes next. Meanwhile, Chun-Hui and Eun-Pyo continue to build on their unlikely friendship, and their chemistry is probably the best part of the whole show. Well, that and Dong-Seok’s brilliance. It’s such a nice touch to have him actually the most gifted child out of them all, and it’s something the show has handled with elegance throughout. Hearing the teacher gushing over how brilliant Dong-Seok is is music to my ears and I’m sure a lot of other people will feel the same way! The ending hints that next week we’re going to be diving deeper into the past and the growing rivalry between Jin-Ha and Eun-Pyo. Unfortunately it would appear that the kids are going to be unwitting casualties in the midst of all this.
