When one drama concludes, another one begins. After finishing ‘Find Me in Your Memory’ and ‘Meow, a Secret Boy’, I decided to embark on my next recapping journey with ‘Oh My Baby’ starring Jang Nara and Go Joon. In an earlier post, I expressed my interest and excitement for the drama so after watching the first episode, I decided to give the drama a fighting chance as my next recapping project (but to be honest, I already knew I wanted to recap this drama before it even aired. Lol). I mean, come on, you had me the moment you announced Go Joon was going to be in the drama.
Jang Nara plays Jang Ha-ri, a 39-year old single woman whose number one wish and dream is to become a mother. The only catch: she doesn’t have a partner or a husband. Through her journey to hopefully become a mother one day, she comes across three different guys: Han Yi-sang (Go Joon), Yoon Jae-young (Park Byung-eun), and Choi-Kang Eu-ddeum (Jung Gun-joo). How will her dream to motherhood pan out with three different guys in the picture?
Oh My Baby Episode 1 Recap: You Want to Know Why I Can’t Get Married?
Jang Ha-ri (Jang Nara) is rushed to the hospital ready to give birth. After an intense amount of time in the delivery room, Ha-ri finally gets the opportunity to meet her baby. She catches her mom holding her baby first so she first greets her mom who seems excited and elated at the sight of Ha-ri’s baby. However, it isn’t until Mom (Kim Hye-ok) turns around that Ha-ri is horrified at what she sees. It’s not a baby Mom is cradling in her arms.. it’s a puppy! Ha-ri screams in horror. Of course, it’s all just a dream and Ha-ri isn’t pregnant nor is she the mom of a puppy. She’s a 39-year old single woman who wishes to become a mother one day. While at a doctor’s appointment, Ha-ri shares that she plans on freezing her eggs for now until the right person enters her life. She also had really bad cramps the last time she was on her menstrual cycle so she expects the same thing to again soon.
After exiting the clinic, Ha-ri encounters a handsome man approaching her. She assumes he’s interested in her when he asks her for directions to a pharmacy, but the situation quickly escalates and it’s the complete opposite. The man ends up exposing himself in front of Ha-ri and she freaks out in response. The man is captured by a bunch of passerby’s and Ha-ri immediately calls the police to notify them of the pervert. Who knew finding a partner could be so hard?
Ha-ri goes shopping with her co-worker and friend, Park Yeon-ho (Baek Seung-hee) for a microphone they’ll need for a work photoshoot the next day. The guests for the photoshoot is none other than Pororo! CUUUTE! The children’s favorite is interviewed by Ha-ri herself who is somewhat able to understand and interpret all of Pororo’s answers even though the character himself isn’t talking at all. While Ha-ri is busy interviewing Pororo, her team manager Nam Soo-cheol (Jo Hee-bong) and co-worker Kim Sang-hee (Son Hwa-ryeong) are busy looking at Han Yi-sang’s (Go Joon) SNS account. He posts a few photos of him trying out different activities including running a marathon as well as doing embroidery. It seems like he’s finally back in Korea after a 3-year hiatus. Soo-cheol warns Sang-hee not to mention anything about Yi-sang to Ha-ri.
Ha-ri’s Mom talks on the phone with Yoon Jae-young (Kim Byung-eun) and invites him and his daughter, Do-Ah, to move in with her and Ha-ri. Meanwhile, Ha-ri greets her next model for the photoshoot: baby Ji-yul. It’s obvious Ji-yul’s mother is exhausted from taking care of the baby all night and day to which Ha-ri gives her a few tips and advice to make things more effortless for the new mother. The baby’s mother encourages and urges Ha-ri to also get married and to have kids of her own to which Ha-ri just awkwardly smiles.
Yi-sung moves into his new apartment unit now that he’s back in Korea after three years. A colleague of his who also happens to be the CEO of an entertainment agency attempts to get Yi-sung to sign with him, but Yi-sung refuses. He’s not quite done taking a break yet. Now that Soo-cheol has discovered Yi-sung’s SNS account, he bombards Yi-sung with comments pleading for his attention. Back at the workplace, Ha-ri herself is bombarded with attention from her junior/hoobae, Choi-Kang Eu-ddeum (Jung Gun-joo). He often refers to her as ‘Aunty’ after the two sang all night at a karaoke bar along with other co-workers a while back.
Fast forward to the present, Ha-ri, Yeon-ho, and Eu-Ddeum all enter the company office together. However, Ha-ri’s menstrual cramps are too painful for her and she finds herself limping to the office. Eu-Ddeum takes care of Ha-ri, but not in the way that Ha-ri or Yeon-ho wanted him too. He shares the information to everyone along the way which only embarrasses the both of them. Once Ha-ri finally arrives on the floor of her office, Eu-Ddeum loudly and proudly introduces Ha-ri to everyone else in the elevator: she’s the deputy manager for the editing department of the magazine ‘The Baby.’ Lol, too funny!
While reviewing the draft for their upcoming edition for the magazine, Ha-ri notices an advertisement that she disproves of. She brings this to Manager Kim Cheol-joong’s attention who then relays the message to their boss. Ha-ri refuses to put the advertisement in the magazine, especially since it’s an article about infertility which she knows can be a sensitive topic and subject to talk about. Their boss finally sides with Ha-ri – who is acting Editor-in-Chief for now – in order to get her to work again. However, she’ll have to face the consequences if there’s any trouble that ensues as a result.
Soo-cheol finally meets up with Yi-sang after getting his attention on his SNS account. He invites Yi-sang to move in with him since it might be difficult for Yi-sang to find a studio at the moment, but Yi-sang declines. He also follows up with Soo-cheol about Ha-ri who he recalls is working at ‘The Baby.’ The two engage in a conversation about a moment a few years back that involved Yi-sang and Ha-ri. It was a snowy day and Yi-sang was waiting for Ha-ri outside of his studio. When she finally arrived, he pretended to shed some tears which surprised Ha-ri. That was her first time ever seeing a man cry.
Ha-ri shares the same story with her hoobae co-workers as they munch on some snacks during a work break. It’s true that Ha-ri had some history with Yi-sang, but she doesn’t think too positively about their interactions they had with each other three years ago. She thinks of him as a psycho and he too feels the same way about her. While Ha-ri’s younger co-workers indirectly tease her for not having a boyfriend or husband at her age, Ha-ri warns them that they too will eventually turn out like her in the future.
Ha-ri returns to her desk to read some comments about her editorial. Many aren’t impressed with the work as it seems obvious that she as acting editor-in-chief doesn’t know all that much about motherhood or childcare. Ha-ri is reminded of the similar comments that Ji-yul’s mother said about her back at the photoshoot. She also recalls the difficult conversation she had with her boss earlier that day at the office about moving to another company for work. There’s little to no chance she’ll be promoted at ‘The Baby’ since she’s not a mother herself.
Yi-sang departs for home after spending some time with Soo-cheol at a bar restaurant. Before bidding farewell, he confirms with Soo-cheol that he did find a place to live in which also happens to be in the same neighborhood as Ha-ri’s house. AHHHH. The two almost cross paths at a restaurant in the neighborhood, but Ha-ri leaves just as Yi-sang sits himself down at a table. That night, the two spend their leisure time watching some movies. While Ha-ri enjoys the romance in the popular ‘A Moment to Remember’, Yi-sang screams his head off while watching a horror movie. LOL.
The next morning, Ha-ri prepares to head out for work. However, she overhears some noise in the house so she scouts around for the cause of the noise only to find Jae-young opening up his moving boxes in the living room. He breaks the news to Ha-ri that he and his daughter will be moving in with Ha-ri and her mom. Of course, Ha-ri disproves of the decision and refuses to let Jae-young and his daughter live with her. However, Ha-ri’s Mom has already made her final decision to let them live in the same house. If Jae-young is to move out, Ha-ri will have to leave the house too. This leaves Ha-ri with no choice, but to allow Jae-young to be her new housemate. Haha.
While at work, Ha-ri brainstorms with a colleague about a new idea they could do for their editorial. Instead of focusing on father-to-be’s like they’ve done in the past, they can focus on the mothers this time and what it’s like to be pregnant. Ha-ri is chosen as the model for a test photoshoot and has to pretend to be pregnant in the photos. She has a baby bump and all her co-workers try to make her laugh for the photoshoot. Although her co-workers doesn’t have as much fun, Ha-ri seems to enjoy things. She keeps her baby bump on for a little longer and goes shopping with Sang-hee and Yeon-ho after the photoshoot concludes. Yi-sang is once again brought up in a conversation so Ha-ri has no choice but to share about the one time she and Yi-sang met at a party three years ago. Unbeknownst to her, Yi-sang himself is at the same exact shopping mall that they’re shopping at. They barely miss each other by just a few seconds.
Yi-sang and Ha-ri first met each other at a party three years ago. It was at that party that Soo-cheol tried to introduce Ha-ri to Yi-sang knowing how interested she was in finding a significant other, but Yi-sang didn’t feel the same way as Ha-ri did. Whereas she wanted to get married and start a family, Yi-sang wished to remain single and not get married which was why he refused to let Soo-cheol introduce him to Ha-ri. Eventually, Ha-ri harbored the courage to introduce herself to Yi-sang later on at the party anyways. However, as we will see, Yi-sang quickly put a halt to Ha-ri’s pursuit by rejecting her. Before leaving her that night, he encouraged her to get a puppy if she was lonely.
Ever since that night, Yi-sang’s always left a bad taste and impression in Ha-ri’s mouth. She confidently states that she’ll avoid him and pretend not to know him if she was to ever see him again. Ha-ri might have spoken a little too fast for she catches Yi-sang standing right across from her right as those words exit her mouth. OMG. LOL. Sang-hee and Yeon-ho quickly run away and leave Ha-ri behind to deal with the awkward situation. Now that she’s all alone, Ha-ri sticks out her baby bump and makes it extremely obvious to Yi-sang that she’s “pregnant”, but Yi-sang merely ignores Ha-ri. He simply walks past her without acknowledging her at all and gives all his attention instead to an item advertised on a pop-up banner behind Ha-ri. LOL. Ha-ri catches herself almost greeting Yi-sang and stops herself in time before actually saying anything. Eventually, she separates from Sang-hee and Yeon-ho and heads to the lobby to take some medication for her bad menstrual cramps. As if dropping the pills onto the floor wasn’t enough, two kids accidentally bump into Ha-ri and spill some water on her stomach and legs.
Ha-ri’s cramps worsen so she groans in pain, but two ladies passing by assume Ha-ri’s water must have broken because of the water that spilled on her legs. LOL. They attempt to rush her to the hospital so they drag her out of the shopping mall and to the parking garage. Yi-sang happens to also be in the parking garage at the same time and witnesses the commotion so he volunteers to take Ha-ri to the hospital. Although Ha-ri instructs him to simply take her to a pharmacy, her groans in pain makes him think otherwise. Ha-ri ends up being transported to a hospital, but she tries to escape in embarrassment. Things aren’t like what it seems. She’s not actually pregnant. However, the pain from the cramps is too much for Ha-ri and she ends up passing out unconscious while running away.
Back at Ha-ri’s house, Jae-young continues to take care of his baby daughter, Do-Ah. When he’s unable to find a cloth to wipe Do-Ah’s burp with, he quickly heads to Ha-ri’s bedroom to look for one. While searching through her drawers, Jae-young finds a single drawer with a bunch of items Ha-ri plans on using once she has a baby. Included are baby bottles and shoes among some other miscellaneous items.
Ha-ri eventually awakens and finds herself at the same clinic with the same doctor she visited just a few days earlier. The doctor delivers bad news for Ha-ri: her eggs are too old to freeze and could potentially get damaged even if they were to freeze them. So there must be another way for Ha-ri to become a mother right? Well not exactly. Because of her age, it’ll be a lot more difficult for Ha-ri to get pregnant naturally and her chances of giving birth will decrease with every passing year. Ha-ri is devastated at the news and she is close to breaking down into tears. She wanders around in search of a pharmacy, but the information is too much for her and she has trouble processing where she is or what she’s doing. Ha-ri is reminded of a conversation she had with her mother back when she was just a little kid. Seeing how happy her own mother was, she also wanted to grow up and become a mother so she could be just as happy as well. Ha-ri can’t seem to accept the fact that that dream might never happen.
Ha-ri seats herself outside to try to gain some composure. She’s eventually approached by Yi-sang who’s curious as to why she’s sitting outside all by herself. Desperate and out of touch with her reality, Ha-ri abruptly asks Yi-sang to marry her. The two stare at each other, one in confusion and the other in panic and desperation.
My Thoughts:
GO JOOOOOOON! Okay, I just had to yell that off my chest. The drama did a great thing by introducing him in this first episode and giving him the most screentime out of the three guys (given, he is assumed to be the male lead at this point) so that was a pleasant delight to see. Unlike most people, I didn’t watch him in ‘The Fiery Priest’, but I did watch him in ‘Misty’ (and boy, oh boy, was he great in there) so I’m super excited and happy to see him in this project. I know there’s three potential love interests Ha-ri has in this drama, but there’s no competition in my eyes as to who I would declare the winner. If I was in Ha-ri’s shoes, I would totally pick Go Joon.
I’d like to differentiate that I’d pick Go Joon, not Yi-sang the character per se. As we saw in this episode, he and Ha-ri have some kind of interesting history with each other dating back to three years ago. They started off on a wrong note and continued to remain on bad terms with each other three years later. It seems like the two will have an opportunity to improve the bad tension between them now that they’re reunited and now that is Yi-sang is back in Korea. And that’s going to be the fun part. It’s going to be fun watching and witnessing Ha-ri and Yi-sang go from hating each other and thinking the other is a psycho to slowly falling in love and keeping in touch with each other. It’s not going to be easy or pretty at first and I predict lots of teasing, but it’s going to be so worth it when their feelings for each other grow. I’m all here for it and I absolutely cannot wait to watch this beautiful mess unfold.
It’s obvious that Ha-ri is desperate to become a mother. Whether it’s naturally with a man or through the freezing of her eggs, she seeks multiple options in order to help her achieve her dreams and goals of being a mom. We got some insight and context as to why this is her dream and goal, but I’m assuming the drama is going to dive a little deeper into why Ha-ri’s number one priority is to be a mom. I also thought her conversation with her boss was interesting as well. Ha-ri needs to become a mother if she wants to even think about being promoted in her workplace. Could this be a potential reason as to why she is so desperate to transition into motherhood? She’s always wanted to be a mother when she was young, but it seems like she might have more reasons to do so now that she’s in a career where her primary duties and audience center around childcare and motherhood. It would make sense as to why Ha-ri’s only focus is on becoming a mother someway, somehow.
I assume that Jae-young is going to allow Ha-ri to gain that experience now that he and his baby Do-Ah are living in the same house with her. Maybe through Jae-young, Ha-ri will be able to gain a sense of what it’s like to be a mother when she helps take care of Do-Ah. Maybe she will reconsider whether motherhood is really what she wants which I might note will also make a really interesting case. Ha-ri is so keen and focused on having her own kid, it’ll be so interesting to see if this is what she really wants the more she explores the chances of this happening. All Ha-ri has known growing up is that she wants to become a mother, but will something trigger her to suddenly change her mind and to want to stay single? Or will she finally get to achieve her dreams by actually marrying someone who she loves and wants to start a family with? This drama could go in so many directions and end in so many ways, it’s a little startling to think what the outcome could be for Ha-ri who has placed so much emphasis on motherhood in her life.
The drama definitely has its comedic highlights and moments throughout the episode which I greatly appreciate. Given, it is a romantic comedy, but these scenes were still great to watch. I just wished the comedic scenes were a little funnier. The scenes are funny and ridiculous and humorous, but it also feels like the timing is a bit off. It feels as if the comedy is missing something and just needs an extra touch to be a little tiny bit funnier. I’m hoping the directing will pick up in the next few episodes to give those comedic scenes that magic touch.
I was excited to watch ‘Oh My Baby’ so I’m glad that I gave it a try. This is a drama I plan on sticking out for the entire series so I just hope something good will happen for Ha-ri, whether that’s her actually becoming a mother or her realizing that she enjoys her solitude and independence as a single woman and that she can be just as happy a single woman than as a mom. Regardless of what it is, I know Ha-ri will come out of the situation stronger and braver. Things will only get harder with each passing day, but they will be well worth it in the end.
Extra screenshots from the episode~
MaryMeKpop 