Haeundae Lovers Episode 6 Recap

  Okay, this episode really stepped up the funny. Every time Tae Sung cries (which is a lot in this episode), I die. Kim Kang Woo is gut-bustingly hilarious. He gets this look of desperation on the brink of insanity mixed with a childlike innocence and inability to deal with the situation at hand. There is this fantastic juxtaposition of the confident and capable Tae Sung and the Nam Hae who yearns to be like that, but lacks the experience and maturity that were lost along with his memories. 
  I'm sorry for doubting you, KKW. It's just that I haven't seen any of your other work (except Le Grand Chef, but you were so serious in that), so I didn't know the true level of your awesomeness. But I'm starting to get it now, and I give you full props. You are amazing. Jin jjah ye yo! A-ma-zing.


  Episode 6:

  Well, I wasn't wrong in thinking THE look between Se Na and Tae Sung would be less than we were led to expect, but instead of doing the whole "I must be hallucinating" thing, it's more of a looking but not seeing on her part. I can buy that. So, Se Na and Joo Hee stare at the ocean, while about 20 fee away So Ra and Tae Sung get some fresh air. Tae Sung says he still feels queasy after being out on the boat and begs to just get going. So, they climb back into the truck. But Joo Hee sees Tae Sung and thinks she recognizes him, but refrains from mentioning it to the still-fragile Se Na.

  When Tae Sung gets home, he finds Dad hiding/snorkeling in his favorite tank, playing with some kids. He goes over and muses that memory loss is better than becoming simple like Dad. Dad tells the kids that Tae Sung is an idiot, and they are excited that their town has a village idiot now. Tae Sung denies being an idiot, but Dad says he can't remember his name, address, phone number, parents' names, he probably doesn't even know Pokemon. Well, if you see it from Dad's simple point of view, he does look a little like an idiot. The kids agree with dad, but Tae Sung asks if they've ever seen such a handsome, tall, cool idiot before. Dad swats him and tells him not to yell at his friends, idiot! Tae Sung cries a little. 
  Gwan Soon comes over and feels bad for him. She gives him some walnuts or a walnut sweet, since they're good for your brain, and wishes him well. After all her talk about snagging him, I'm a bit surprised she's not making more of a move on him, heh heh. So Ra yells at him to come help her make the deliveries.

  At the Haeundae Hotel Joo Hee gets Se Na up, and Se Na mourns the fact that she couldn't come with Oppa. Tae Sung complains about always having to take the stinky freight elevator (which even has its own liftman, heeheehee), and then wonders why he would rent a room at her place if there are no night clubs nearby. She explains that he fell in love with her and followed her to Busan to be near her. He scoffs—her proportions are all wrong; there's no way he would fall in love with her at first sight (actually, you kinda did). She gets a call from Joon Hyuk about their contract, and runs off to discuss it with him, telling Tae San to wait for her at the truck. He decides he doesn't have to ride the freight elevator, then.

  As he crosses the lobby, Se Na sees, him, but seems to pass it off as a delusion. She walks outside holding her stomach. Tae Sung resents So Ra leaving him all the time and worries it's going to become a habit. When he goes outside and finds the truck locked, he heads back to the hotel, but sees Se Na passed out next to her car. He rushes to help her, and she briefly regains consciousness enough to see him, but faints again. So Ra sees them and they decide to take her to the hospital, and Joon Hyuk pulls up. He volunteers to drive to the hospital, but asks So Ra to accompany him, since he's new to Busan and is unfamiliar with Korean hospitals. So Ra tells Tae Sung she'll meet him at home, but forgets to give him the key.

  Se Na is diagnosed with not recovering properly after surgery. When she wakes up, she freaks out about having seen her Oppa, then collapses back onto the bed. 

  At the hotel, Tae Sung lies on a bench outside, yelling at the cicadas to shut up while he's trying to take a nap. "Do you have a grudge against me?! Are you trying to see who can be loudest?!" This scene is freaking hilarious!

  Tae Sung goes inside to the bar and drinks 13 glasses of ice water in the lounge. Tam Hee comes to kick him out for being a non-paying customer. In the process, she gets bumped and falls against his chest. She realizes that he's "pure muscle" and thinks So Ra might be onto something with this one. Tae Sung decides to walk all the way back, but it's a loooong walk.

  On the way back, Joon Hyuk "accidentally" misses a turn and blames the heat for making it impossible to concentrate. He talks about drinking his mom's lemonade growing up, and So Ra offers to treat him to Busan food. She buys him the Busan Specialty shaved ice and all sorts of street food. Aww, it's like they're at the fair.  

  A mysterious figure emerges from the surf. It's Tae Sung, and he curses So Ra before vowing to get revenge. He goes to the shop, where the phone is ringing, but nobody's there to answer it. He tells the caller the shop went out of business, but pauses when he hears who it is. We next see him elatedly leaving a note on a fishtank and running off to the police station, where someone is looking for Lee Nam Hae. 

  Joon Hyuk drops So Ra home, and they flirt for a while before he leaves. So Ra goes looking for Tae Sung and wonders why his note says he walked a lot when she gave him the key— ah! She forgot to give him the key!

  At the police station, he finds out that it was a different Nam Hae a family was looking for, and Tae Sung starts to cry again. Dejectedly, he leaves, only to have another existential crisis in the parking lot, which he demonstrates by pouring a huge bottle of water all over himself. So Ra pulls up just in time to pay for the water as Tae Sung storms off. When she tells him to wait for a taxi, he turns and tells her that he obviously isn't worthy of riding in a car. She apologizes, but he tells her that it's her fault he had to do a triathlon—walking, running and swimming. He's never felt so pathetic in his life (of one day he can remember—ha!). She tells him that she's come up with a plan to go to the night club where they first met, since someone there must know him.
  At dinner, Tae Sung comes dancing in and tells the uncles that he regrets having to leave just as he's getting close to them, since the next day he'll be returning to Seoul and his old life. 
  The next day, So Ra warns Tae Sung not to be late for the train, before heading out. A neighbor stops her and asks if she's losing her store too. She explains that Haeundae Hotel is building an annex in their neighborhood and all the landlords are selling off their property by tomorrow. So Ra calls Joo Hee to try to confirm the rumor and asks where Joon Hyuk lives so she can hash things out.

  She gets to his yacht while he's skyping with his mom, who's trying to convince him to come back to the States. She asks if he's hiding someone (a girl), and he quickly shuts his laptop when he sees So Ra. So, yeah, he is. So Ra lectures him about ruining peoples' lives, and he tells her he has no idea what's going on, but he'll get to the bottom of things. They go inside, he plies her with wine, and next thing they know, they're out in the harbor (that must have been a lot of wine, if they didn't notice the motor). Joon Hyuk yells at his captain, who tells them he didn't know Joon Hyuk's "girlfriend" was on board, so he set off as planned. But he forgot to fill up the tank yesterday, so they're kinda stuck. "But I have to catch the train! That person is waiting for me!" So Ra threatens to swim back to shore, purse and all, but Joon Hyuk stops her.

  Tae Sung calls and wonders where she's at. He looks like a kid anticipating his first field trip. Cute! He's also super disappointed when So Ra doesn't show up for hours. He shreds their tickets and throws them in the air. (If he weren't so sad, I'd almost expect him to do more gymnastics on the benches at the station—they totally look like pommel horses. :D)

  Late that night, So Ra finally shows up and finds him sleeping in a giant picture frame. She apologizes profusely, but he tells her that the last train has left, and she's crushed all his hopes and dreams of being reunited with his family. She suggests that they stay the night there and take the first train in the morning, and sits down to wait. He goes to leave, but reconsiders and tries to figure out how he can give in without losing face. His facial expressions are HI-larious! He lies back down, and then slithers on his back to rest his head on So Ra's lap. When she asks what he's doing, he tells her that he's so hungry he can't sleep. She does acupressure on his finger to send him off to dreamland.

  We next see Tae Sung's backpack crash to the floor. He stares at the police tape and signs across the entry to the night club, which has been closed for 6 months due to illegal activities.  We hear a sad harmonica play (the song is so familiar, but I can't place it.) He cries again and screams at the heavens. So Ra tells him that she heard that the manager went into hiding and all the employees fled. The police are still trying to catch them all. 

  Gwan Soon is with her friend, who is buying a new apartment. They walk in and see the tenant who is selling the place, and Gwan Soon realizes it's Skeezo (we haven't missed you dude). Isn't this the apartment her family bought for their newlywed home? "Well, you see, your dad gave me a lot of money, so I found a much bigger, trendier, newer home for us." He buys her silence with an "allowance" and tells her this is their little secret, so he can surprise So Ra. "Unni is so lucky!" (Um, she's really not.)

  So Ra and Tae Sung have a beer at her favorite spot. She tells him to stop acting like a weakened squid and gather his strength. She decides that since he'll be around for a while, he needs to learn about Busan, so she takes him on a bus tour. She also buys him a cell phone, which makes him very excited, since he can track her down now. She asks why that's such a big deal, and he tells her it's because he imprinted on her like a baby duckling. He adorably tests the phone and then tells her she'll never escape his grasp. 

  Joon Hyuk comes to the fish shop to eat, and Tae Sung notices the way So Ra acts toward him. He gets jealous and starts making up random rules about them interacting as customer and owner. Tae Sung invites Joon Hyuk to drink with him, since So Ra offered to pay. He tells Joon Hyuk that he doesn't like him, and Joon Hyuk responds that he feels the same, but was being polite because he's So Ra's fiance. Both parties vehemently deny it, and So Ra apologizes for not explaining earlier. Tae Sung lectures Joon Hyuk, saying he shouldn't have gone out on a yacht and had wine with a taken woman. "She may not be much to look at when you first see her, but when you look more, she's uglier." Joon Hyuk tells him it hurts him when he calls So Ra ugly, but he asks what right Joon Hyuk has to say such things. Joon Hyuk falls off his chair, and Tae Sung declares himself the victor.

  So Ra picks up Joon Hyuk's wallet and notices a picture of him and—her mom. She goes to her room and finds family picture with her mom in it. She wonders why Joon Hyuk in in a family portrait with her mom.

  The uncles (we've missed you this episode!) decide to help Tae Sung with his strength stunt training. They have him pull the truck with his teeth, and it even starts moving, but then we see Dad and the neighbor kids pushing it. It rolls down the driveway and crashes into a lamppost. 

  He tries to walk on eggs, but breaks them all.

  He blows fire, but burns his mouth. All because he was "internationally well known." Haha! 

  At the hospital, Grandma takes an unconscious President for a walk, but realizes she has to use the bathroom. She spots Tae Sung outside waiting for So Ra to get his medicine, and asks him to watch President for a moment. He recognizes him as his neighbor from the ER and wonders if he's found his son. When his back is turned, President reaches his hand up to him, but collapses mid-reach, dead. Grandma comes back, but they don't notice he's dead at first. When she notices, So Ra has come outside and recognizes him as her enemy #1. 

  When she tells the uncles, they feel relieved, but she asks what she should do about the condolence call. Maknae asks if she's sick in the head and gets whacked in the head by Bandanna, who tells him to help Dad get ready to go. So Ra tries to explain that President went far away, and Dad tearfully says he really misses his dongseng.

  Tae Sung is hanging out outside and wonders what's the point of having a phone if it only has one number? He sees everyone leaving all dressed up (Bandanna even has mourning headgear!), and asks where they're going. To dinner? They tell him to fend for himself and leave. "I've never felt this way before." 

  When they show up at the funeral, it creates a big stir. They pay their respects, but Tam Hee comes in and throws a fit. She tells her thugs to throw the family out. The uncles are ready to fight, but So Ra says they just wanted to honor the feelings they had 10 years ago, and they go to leave.

  Tam Hee follows them and throws her shoe at So Ra's head. The uncles prepare for a beat-down, and take on the mass of thugs. So Ra tries to stop the fighting, but gets pushed aside as the uncles are taken down. One of the head thugs decides to end things and grabs a candlestick (or something heavy that looks like a candlestick) to beat the uncles with. So Ra jumps in, and he hits her instead, just as Tae Sung enters the chaos.
  Comments: 
  Um, wow. Call me crazy, but I suspect there's a major beat-down in store for Tam Hee and her thugs. I mean, Tae Sung can't be a level 14 black belt in every martial art for nothing, right? We have this great scene here at the end where Tae Sung and So Ra have this moment in the midst of all the fighting, and you can see him realize just what she means to him.

  Let's review a few things. So, Se Na still hasn't really met Tae Sung, though they've had a few brief encounters, which are easily explained away. 
  President actually died. Fo' reals this time. And I don't think Tam Hee got the will altered in time. Also, Tam Hee is definitely behind the hotel annex thing as a tool to get rid of So Ra's family. I just know it.
  So Ra and Joon Hyuk may be related. Why didn't I see this coming? I now understand why he hid his family photos from her last episode, though (I didn't include it in the recap, because I didn't have any answers). It makes his flirting with her extra extra gross. I suspect that they aren't really blood-related, but step-siblings. (Which is still somewhat makjang, but this is a farce, so it shouldn't get too crazy. Right? Right?!) I could be wrong, but he seems older than her, so it's possible that her mom ran off and married his dad when he was a kid. 

  With everything that happened this episode, I'm amazed at how they were able to squeeze in some slower, sweet moments. Like the train station and the tour of Busan. Also Tae Sung has so many crises, and they're all priceless. I especially love how he always says things like "I've never felt so pitiful in my life!" or "I've never felt like this before!" The latter is extra funny to me because it's a holdout from before the amnesia, but has a different meaning now. I just think it's hilarious how he talks in a way that encompasses a whole lifetime, but that lifetime really only consists of a few short days. So great.
  Much as I'm coming to love you, show, I have one important favor to ask: more uncles, please!