A Big Barking Dog
Episode 5 of Mad for Each Other begins with shouting and screaming as the neighbourhood watch see Hwi-Oh in his crossdressing disguise. He tries to convince them he’s not the pervert but he’s brought into the police station all the same. Team Leader Kim is furious when he sees Hwi-Oh, backing up the undercover story after headquarters have called. Outside, Kim doesn’t hold back and blames Hwi-Oh for what’s happened to U-Jin. Min-Kyung happens to be listening and she hears the whole dialogue unfold. Feeling bad, she hurries after Hwi-Oh annd holds an umbrella up for him to shield from the rain. There, she sees his vulnerability and starts to feel guilty. When she leaves and heads on alone, the actual pervert returns and flashes her. Min-Kyung screams until Hwi-Oh rushes up to save her. He chases the man and eventually manages to arrest him after manhandling the guy effortlessly. Min-Kyung helps by ringing the authorities. When the pair walk back together again, this time the rain has stopped and it allows the pair to actually talk and open up about their feelings. Hwi-Oh encourages her to do breathing exercises to help with her anxiety. He also learns that Min-Kyung has difficult trusting people. For now though, she hasn’t told him about her past. Interestingly, the pair both head to therapy and seem to have alternate takes to how they’ve been feeling. Min-Kyung claims her dog is keeping her safe, which is in reference to Hwi-Oh. Hwi-Oh however, decides to stop avoiding his anger triggers and just “enjoy them” instead. Well, when Min-Kyung orders an extravagant amount of takeout food, the pair eventually sit down and eat together. While they do, Min-Kyung requests his help in learning some self-defence. She wants to better defend herself from these different threats. Well, Hwi-Oh shows how to run away instead in a hilarious move. Eventually he caves and gives her the moves for kicking the assailant in the groin. However, she wants to test it out on him. Unfortunately she knees him full-force despite saying she wouldn’t, leading to him doubling over and in serious pain. That evening Hwi-Oh recovers enough to head out and buy some food (rejecting the takeout from Min-Kyung given it reminds him of the pain) and goes to the convenience store. There, he sees Su-Hyeon who hands over some food and thanks him for stopping the pervert. As they talk though, Min-Kyung sees them laughing and smiling, eventually heading in. Out in the street, Hwi-Oh eventually tells her to stay away but as they get back to the apartment complex, Min-Kyung notices a man in a motorcycle helmet in the elevator and clutches Hwi-Oh’s arm for comfort.
The Episode Review
Mad for Each Other finally turns a corner and sees the title of this show turn into a double entendre. Not only are these two “mad” in a colloquial sense regarding their health but also mad for each other as the faint whiffs of romance start to linger in the air. This episode features some pretty good humour too, especially when Hwi-Oh was kicked in the groin and the scene cut outside to the pervert dancing about. This, coupled with the quirky dialogue throughout, really helps to make this light, breezy comedy work as an easy-to-watch stop gap between some of the heavier dramas out right now. The acting from all involved is good too, while the whole “don’t judge a book by its cover” theme is repeated here through the neighborhood watch and the misunderstanding with Hwi-Oh’s outfit. Still, the ending leaves things wide open for the follow up, and judging by this episode it should be a good one!
