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All our characters are exploring their new situations and environments now that they’re intertwined in one another’s lives. Kim Geum and Ok-nam continue to build their bond with each other while Yi-hyun continues to make sense of his surroundings and his life.

Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter: Episode 4 Recap

Jeom-soon rescues a drunk Yi-hyun and carries him home to her mother Ok-nam. While laying on Ok-nam’s lap, Yi-hyun apologizes to Jeom-soon for causing her to live a life without her dad. Back at the park, Kim Geum searches for Yi-hyun after paying for the team dinner. Whether it’s at the bench where he last saw Yi-hyun or at the apartment, Kim Geum is unable to find Yi-hyun.

The next morning, Yi-hyun wakes up to find himself laying next to a tiger (aka Jeom-soon). He exits the house and heads back to his apartment where a worried Kim Geum nags at him for disappearing the entire night. Kim Geum was concerned about Yi-hyun. Yi-hyun brushes off the nagging though and encourages Kim Geum to catch up on some sleep. He probably didn’t get any worrying about Yi-hyun all night.

Our trio – Wizard Park, Teacher Gu, and Fairy Oh – sleep the night in Mokpo assuming they’re in Seoul. Early that morning, Teacher Gu’s wallet gets stolen by a homeless person without his knowledge. When Teacher Gu wakes up, he grows shocked at the signs of ‘Mokpo’ everywhere around him. He finally realizes that they’re in Mokpo, not Seoul like they had originally thought.

The three decide to grab some food before they head out for Seoul. However, Teacher Gu realizes that he’s lost his wallet so he’s unable to pay for their food. To make up for the lack of money, the restaurant owner puts the trio to work for her. As this something they’ve never done before, Wizard Park and Teacher Gu clearly struggle. Back in Seoul, Kim Geum and Ok-nam head out on their movie date. Ok-nam’s wearing the same grandma pants that Kim Geum had bought for her not too long ago.

Watching a movie at a movie theater is widely unfamiliar for Ok-nam. She talks and screams and makes comments in the movie theater and even stands up at one point during the movie. The movie is so sad both she and Kim Geum even cry at the very end (they were watching ‘King Kong’ LOL). When the movie ends, Kim Geum buys himself a flower just exactly like the one that Ok-nam sports. After having a strange encounter with an old lady about politics and wars, the two head off to the park for a picnic.

There, they play a few games to learn more about each other. Kim Geum shares with Ok-nam his special ability in understanding and communicating with animals. It’s been a talent of his since he was young, but he no longer openly communicates with animals in fear that people will judge him. Ok-nam also shares with Kim Geum her ability to communicate with plants – a skill she learned back in fairyland. Sharing these small details to each other brings the two closer.

Yi-hyun and Doctor Lee grab some food together to cure their hangovers. While bickering about Jeom-soon’s fanfic, they witness Kim Geum and Ok-nam walking by the restaurant. Meanwhile, Kim Geum’s Mom stops by the apartment to drop off some side dishes to the two roommates. She stuffs the fridge with the side dishes and rests in Kim Geum’s room until Yi-hyun returns home. Friendly greetings are exchanged between the two and it’s not until a while later when Kim Geum returns home to reunite with his mother.

Things are going well until Mom gets the attention of both boys. The fridge that she had put all the side dishes in was actually a closet that Yi-hyun steams his clothes in. Oops. Haha. Even with the limited side dishes, Mom still manages to cook for Yi-hyun and Kim Geum to eat. Both she and her son volunteer to clean Yi-hyun’s closet for him which makes him hesitant.

Our trio finally finish working after two days and is able to make their escape to Seoul. Back at the coffee shop, Yi-hyun sees for himself just how popular the coffee shop Ok-nam is working at is getting. More and more students have been talking about and visiting the coffee shop themselves, primarily for Grandma Ok-nam who she keeps claiming is a fairy. Of course, this grabs many students’s attention and they even tease Grandma Ok-nam for it. However, Yi-hyun isn’t having any of it and he warns Ok-nam to stop calling herself a fairy. Though hesitant at first, Ok-nam eventually gives in to Yi-hyun’s request. It’s what her husband wants. When she returns to the coffee shop, she lies in front of the students and Yi-hyun that she’s not a fairy as she had been claiming this entire time. It was all just a lie.

Speaking with Ok-nam also causes Yi-hyun to realize that he was with Ok-nam and Jeom-soon the night he got drunk. For Ok-nam, having to lie about her identity causes her to worry. She recalls moments back in fairyland when she learned about other fairies who passed away because they were getting forgotten. She fears that she too will be forgotten one day.

Jeom-soon is accompanied by Bong-dae as she resumes with her fanfic writing. Bong-dae complains about Jeom-soon’s stealing of her chicken coupons and chocolate candies that had alcohol in them. That could explain for why Jeom-soon was drunk and why she turned into a tiger the other night. Since Yi-hyun was able to recognize Jeom-soon as a tiger, Jeom-soon assumes she can cause Yi-hyun to recall his memory faster if she transformed into a tiger every time. However, Bong-dae warns her to stay put and to let him regain his memory naturally.

Wizard Park, Fairy Oh, and Teacher Gu walk along the railroad tracks after working at the restaurant for two days. Teacher Gu expresses his cravings for some food which angers Wizard Park. Teacher Gu was the one who was telling him to not bring too many things and now he’s the one craving food. Thankfully, Wizard Park has a few snacks stuffed inside his bag to feed the three of them.

Back at the university, Gyeong-sul visits Doctor Lee’s office to catch up and eat lunch together. However, they’re interrupted by Yi-hyun who had already arranged lunch plans with Doctor Lee that afternoon. Gyeong-sul volunteers to leave to give the two time to themselves. On his way out of the office, he throws his food away and uncovers the recording device he had hidden on him. With Doctor Lee, Yi-hyun mentions the night he was with Jeom-soon and Ok-nam. He feels as if his body is wandering elsewhere at times at a different place and time than the one his mind is conscious about. At first, he assumed the night he was with Jeom-soon and Ok-nam was fake, but now he’s not so sure anymore. Plus, Ok-nam acknowledges him as her husband which causes him to be confused even more.

While Doctor Lee peeks at Ok-nam in the coffee shop from afar and grows jealous that Ok-nam calls Yi-hyun her husband, Jeom-soon sneaks away to a nearby building to use her laptop. There, she’s interrupted by Gyeong-sul who invites her to join the documentary club that he’s a part of. They need a writer and Jeom-soon would make a good addition. He hands her a business card and relays to her the location of his part-time job. If Jeom-soon visits him at work, Gyeong-sul will take her answer as a yes. After bidding farewell, he creates a new photo album on his phone titled ‘Girlfriend’ and moves a video that he recorded of Jeom-soon into the album.

Our trio are still walking on the railroad tracks when they feel the ground shaking. To their surprise, a train is coming right at them in top speed. As it that wasn’t bad enough, Wizard Park’s foot gets stuck on the railroad tracks. While Fairy Oh and Teacher Gu attempt to save Wizard Park, Fairy Oh is reminded of Wizard Park’s special beans that allows them to turn back time and go to fairyland. At the last second, Wizard Park hands Fairy Oh a bean and she throws it up into the air, enabling the time traveling to occur.

Jeom-soon receives an email from a publishing company interested in recruiting her so she shares the exciting news with her mother. However, when she arrives at the coffee shop, she finds Ok-nam sitting with her head down on the counter. Ok-nam has fallen ill. Jeom-soon manages to get help and has Kim Geum check out Ok-nam’s condition. As Ok-nam suffers from a fever and attempts to stay awake, Kim Geum carries her on his back to rescue her as quickly as possible.

My Thoughts:

NOOOOO, not my Ok-nam! Don’t hurt her! Of course, other than worrying about her, the other question is what exactly caused her to fall ill. It might be that she broke a rule like Jeom-soon assumes and is being punished for it or maybe that Ok-nam really did just get ill. Whatever the case is, she clearly isn’t feeling well and that’s concerning.

While this drama isn’t bad by any means, there’s also nothing as exciting about it as I wished there was. After finishing the first four episodes, I realized that the drama is a little too slow for my liking. There’s not much going on and the same things keep happening over and over again. Because of this, there’s not a lot of new things I have to say about this drama since we’re given similar things every episode. The sub-plot that I’m the most curious about is Gyeong-sul and his motives in approaching Jeom-soon. He’s also aware of who Yi-hyun is and has been secretly recording him and Jeom-soon. Gyeong-sul’s a little creepy so far into the drama given that we don’t know why he’s doing what he’s doing.

I feel bad for feeling indifferent about our trio and their little road trip in this drama just because I know why they’re incorporated into this drama. They’re meant for comedic relief and it’s supposed to be funny and entertaining watching them bicker and adapt to the human realm. However, a part of me feels like their scenes are filler scenes and are unnecessary in this drama. Their sub-plot even feels a bit random compared to the rest of the characters and the two just doesn’t mesh well. One moment you’re occupied with Ok-nam and her wishes of reuniting with her reincarnated husband and then the next you’re watching our trio go through hilarious antics in the city. Watching Wizard Park, Fairy Oh, and Teacher Gu explore and navigate their way around the city is funny, but it also doesn’t contribute much to the overall premise of Ok-nam and her plans in searching for her reincarnated husband. This could explain why scenes of the trio feel a little bit wasted in this drama.

Given my mixed feelings about the drama, I’m still going to watch it to see how things turn out for our characters and who exactly is Ok-nam’s reincarnated husband. It’s just taking a while for us to get there, but I’m hoping the end results will be worth it.

Bonus: Extra screenshots from the episode 🙂

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