Family's Honor: Episode 2 Recap

This episode has a lot of traditional Korean ceremonies. Park Shi Hoo appears in 34:41, 40:14, and 49:40.

Episode 2 opens with an elderly man doing a spirit invocation on top of the roof to the passed away Great-grandfather. Dan Ah returns home and she cries with the help lady. Then all the members of the family cry.


Throughout the episode, I notice a lot elements of patriarchical nature in a traditional Korean ceremony. The women have to prepare and serve while the men are the ones doing the guest-greeting, discussions, and directing. There are also a lot of rules, such as can't eat for 3 days.

Tae Young and Dong Dong have to ask Soo Young to tie their necktie. Too cute.

A lot of the elders want a longer funeral but they have to settle for a 5-day one because that is what Grandpa want. Grandpa is the one who restored the family: he bought back the family house and gathered the family members.


Day 1 of mourning. Dong Dong is so cute. What do you expect from Tae Young?

Dan Ah and the help lady are very close. She is practically Dan Ah's second mother. Here they are bonding.



Jung Hyun Kyu, a university student who is pursuing our Dan Ah, comes to the funeral. History major students come to the funeral to study but he comes anyway. In a cute conversation (19:00), Dong Dong pokes fun at this and Hyun Kyu insists Dong Dong to call him "hyung" instead of "ahjussi."

Even during mourning, alcoholic Great-aunt still can't control her alcohol urges. She asks her guy to buy to get her liquor. While drinking, she commented on how money can solve everything, even restoring the fallen honor of a family. Great-aunt's grandpa, Dan Ah's great-great-grandpa, was a gambler and he had gambled away all of his fortune, including the family house. Grandpa, great-aunt's older-brother, worked hard to buy back the family house.


In the casket house, both dad and son (Tae Young and Dong Dong) are nodding in sleep. LOL. Aw, like father, like son. This is so true, as grandfather is also nodding in sleep. When they're outside to sober up, Dong Dong says in defense that even daddy fell asleep too. Tae Young rebukes "When did I do that? I was mourning for Grandpa with my eyes closed." Hehe.

I feel cozy looking at this scene. Please don't divorce!

Awwww.

Dong Dong then says to his mother that he will marry the girl she chooses and the one that dad chooses. LOL. Way to get a petty revenge. At this, Hyun Ok (the mom) saddens and says to Tae Young to choose wisely. This also demonstrates the still backward way of this esteemed family: arranged marriages and such.

(23:25) Another cute conversation between Dong Dong and Hyun Kyu.

Super cute.

DD: All your friends left, so why are you still here, Mister? HK: Like l said, I'm a close friend of your aunt's. And I told you to call me Hyung, didn't I? -But you're not even my aunt's boyfriend. Your aunt and I are good friends. -Boys and girls can't be friends. Aren't you too young to be so old-fashioned? -My dad told me that boys and girls can't be friends. You have quite a dad. Anyway, you're not busy, right? -Why do you ask? Go fetch your aunt for me.

LOL. It's so cute when men try to use kids to approach women; well, at least it is in K-drama land. We also find out that Hyun Kyu is 24 and Dan Ah is 30: 6 years difference. To which cute Dong Dong says, "At my school, if an underclassman acted up to his senior, he'd get beaten up." Dong Dong!

(29:42) Soo Young and Young Hee faces off. She's 4 years older and resented him for not approaching her at all through the 20+ years of their marriage. He has always been formal with her, even now. "That's no way to treat your wife." She says that if he wanted a younger wife, he should've told his elders that. Here's another demonstration of the crutch of an esteemed family. She's also frustrated at his indifference. She asks him can he at least get a little angry that she cheated on him? To which he replies he has no right to do that. All the while, Dan Ah overheard all this. Young Hee says to Dan Ah she's glad Dan Ah has overheard and asks Dan Ah to explain to the elders.

In the casket room, Great-aunt breaks down and cries to her passed away father.


Now, my favorite part of the episode: Kang Suk and his dad! His dad is just sooooo funny. He's like a child seeing awesome things for the first time. He goes around trying to impress people and take note of how nobles conduct their funeral so he can do the same thing himself next time. LOL. I hope we'll get more of this learning-how-to-live-like-a-noble. (34:41)

Dad: I guess this is how a noble family gives a funeral.
Kang Suk: Intimidated?
- Shut it! As long as we buy a good genealogy, we can do so much better. Take good notes on how everything works around here.
I'll put them right here. :pointing to his brain:
- Did you put about 10 grand?
Isn't that too much?
- Brat, now's the time to show off. That'll show them what kind of people we are. Now's the perfect time to show our wealth.

Swoon.

LOL. In the casket room, instead of mourning for the dead, daddy comments on how impressive and extravagant the funeral is. LOL. Grandpa bullet-eyes him but daddy continues on anyway. Oh no, daddy, you just made a formidable opponent for your son.

Don't anger him!

Kang Suk looks so proper.

Dad: What a propitious funeral!
We've lost the head of our family, so one wouldn't say propitious...
- But this is quite extravagant, right? There are so many people in attendance. I'm quite surprised. A funeral of this scale should have officers directing traffic. I'll stop by city hall on the way back.
Thank you for your offer, but we're trying not to inconvenience anyone.
- But this is a funeral of an esteemed family member, so all the councilmen should... [stopped because Kang Suk pinched his thigh]

When outside, he says "Anyway, I'll use this opportunity to see how a noble family conducts a funeral." Hee. Then he goes to meet the elders of the Ha family and brags that he's actually is from an once-fallen noble family too so he can symphathize with their family. But he becomes stuck when the elder ask what clan.


Another super funny from daddy Lee:

Dad: What was in that wooden basket?
Kang Suk: Who knows?
- Take note of that. Too bad your grandfather passed away already... We could have had those cool things at his funeral...
A little later:
- Is this where we pay the tribute fee?
You can leave a name card or sign the guestbook.
- Well, here's the tribute fee.
We're not accepting any tribute fee.
- Then why are you having such an extravagant funeral?
This isn't much, but thank you for coming... :hands them a bag:
Dad: What the heck is this? :holding a gift:
Kang Suk: Who knows...

:dad takes out a money bill from the bag:
- What is this?
Don't ask me things I don't know.
- So a noble family is supposed to be generous to people?
I suppose so.
- That's not my style. :finally gets it: Right, it's not like people would pay that much anyway. This looks much cooler. Remember this. At my funeral, twice more than this, okay?

BIG LOL. This is perfect contrast. The new rich vs the old rich. This makes me remember The Great Gatsby where similar dynamic is the theme. Kang Suk's dad tries too hard it becomes silly and a little laughable. He goes around take note of this and take note of that, trying to imitate the Ha family. It's just so hilarious.


(40:14) Kang Suk wanders around and meets Dan Ah again. He comments that since she is from this family, she could've bought the ticket from him for $100,000. She thinks he is insensitive to talk crudely to someone who's mourning. To which he replies, "Aren't you so articulate? Is that how noble people talk? Did you learn that in an academy? I'm really curious, so l can teach my sister... :slap:" Yes, he gets a slap from Dan Ah. It's so funny when the Ha family is looked up to like they're royalty and how people expect them to behave in a certain way and interact them as though they're aliens. Seriously, "Did you learn that in an academy?" is not a question I would pose to anyone about their behavior. LOL. The help lady saw the slap so she made Dan Ah to apologize. Kang Suk mistook the help lady as the head housewife since she conducted herself so well.

LOL. PSH fully expects a slap and closes his eyes beforehand. Hee.

Kang Suk meets his dad, who is mad he was bombarded with questions, after the encounter. Here goes another funny convo:

Dad: Did you find out anything useful?
Kang Suk: Genealogy aside, I think we have to change our caretaker first.
- Why?
lf we're benchmarking them, let's do it right. Even an old caretaker talks differently here.
- Then we'll scout her. What's her yearly salary?

I'm assured now that Kang Suk's dad, and therefore Kang Suk too since he is trained by his dad, really believes that anything can be bought with money.


Next, they are put in a library/tea house to rest. Looking through books, Kang Suk finds a picture of young Dan Ah. The drinks server comments on that's when Dan Ah was living at Cheonghak. I think Cheonghak is an academy for girls.

Dad: So noble families raise their children in Cheonghak?
No.
- But you said she grew up in Cheonghak.
That's just Dan-ah. She studied in Cheonghak for 10 years, starting at age 7.
- So it's a tradition to send the girls to Cheonghak... :takes note mentally: Hey, that makes sense. That's the best way to raise a girl to be conservative. Maybe we should send Hye-joo... :thinks better of it: I guess it's too late. l wish I'd known this earlier...

LOL aside, so this is part of the reason why Dan Ah is so serious and stern. She lived 10 years in girl-military school. Kang Suk is intrigued and keeps looking at the picture. He probably had a "Ah ha, that's why she's like that" moment like us too.


Dan Ah overhears a conversation (again) between Young In and her dad and finds out that Young In is pregnant with dad's child. She goes to a nearby river to think about this, where Hyun Kyu (her guy #2) finds her. He asks jokingly is she trying to die a maiden. She answers cryptically that she's not a maiden. He laughs and says that she's only not a maiden on paperwork. This means that Dan Ah was married but for some reason, her husband passed away before anything happened.


Kang Suk and his dad is leaving the funeral:

Dad: Shouldn't we stay here all night?
Kang Suk: There are plenty of others who'll do that.
- But I'm sure there's more to see at night. [Yes, I'm sure this funeral is like a sight-seeing to you, daddy Lee.]
We'll get more opportunities later.
- Genealogy's important, but I think we need a gaudy family house first. Repair and construction would take a while... But it'd look nice, right?

After several days of ceremondy, Great-grand is finally buried. Grandpa tells his subordinates to distribute their paddies's harvests to the townpeople as thanks. Young In and Hyun Ok reveal to Grandpa they're divorcing. In anger, Grandpa hits Daddy Ha with a brick pillow. Ouch. That must hurts a lot. He declares that he is regretting that the restored the family as he has brought nothing but disgrace to the family name for having descendants like them.


Comments:

I WANT to

PINCH his CHEEKS.

You must have noticed now that I am a super biased recapper. I recapped scenes with Park Shi Hoo and Dong Dong in extreme details with many pictures. Dong Dong is just sooooo cute. Park Shi Hoo's Kang Suk and Kang Suk's dad are just soooooo funny.


I make this recap longer than I planned; but this episode's just too funny! I LOVE this episode. I am planning to combine episodes 3 - 4 into one post. I will probably stick to the plan as there's less funny moments. I am pleasantly surprised that the camera work is very good. I thought it'll just be the first episode but even this episode has wonderful scenery.

Posted in: K-Drama Labels: Family's Honor, K-Drama Recaps, Park Shi Hoo, Recaps