Ha-ri is constantly reminded of her struggles and reality everywhere she goes. From work to home to family, she has to persuade herself that things aren’t so bad for her after all. However, Ha-ri is determined in getting what she wants and refuses to let other comments bring her down. It’s this confidence and determination that will allow her to reach a conclusion that might be the biggest decision she’s had to make just yet.
Oh My Baby Episode 2: Am I On the Right Path?
Ha-ri struggles to come to terms with the devastating news she’s received from her OB-GYN doctor: her chances of becoming a mother is little to none. Because of her age, it’ll be difficult for her to get pregnant naturally. She also suffers from endometriosis so she has to choose between either hopefully getting pregnant within the next 6 months or going through with the surgery treatment. When Ha-ri remains speechless and silent, her doctor decides that they can wait another six months. If Ha-ri still hasn’t gotten better by then, they’ll proceed with the surgery.
Upon exiting the clinic, Ha-ri remains confused as to where she is or where she plans on going. To gather her thoughts, she seats herself outside and comes across Yi-sang who slowly approaches her. In a panic, Ha-ri proposes to Yi-sang and asks if he would like to marry her. It’s not until Yi-sang responds to Ha-ri’s question that she finally escapes out of her trance. No, he does not want to marry her nor is he interested in marriage. However, he is concerned about her. Ha-ri attempts to get away from the familiar stranger, but he inclines to give her a ride back home. When that doesn’t work, he directs Ha-ri to his car. Her fake baby bump is planted on his car and he needs her to remove it before he can drive. Ha-ri embarrassingly grabs the item and walks away.
Back at home, Ha-ri’s mom encourages Jae-young to let Ha-ri help take care of baby Do-Ah. She’s good with kids and she knows a lot so she’ll be helpful in raising the baby. While walking to work, Ha-ri catches a group of mothers being greeted by their kids from a bus stop. She imagines being greeted by her own daughter as well and positions herself as if she was a mother. Ha-ri is still dreaming and wishing. Just then, Ha-ri receives a phone call from her mother about her cousin’s upcoming wedding. Although Ha-ri uses work as an excuse, Mom knows the real reason as to why Ha-ri is hesitant in going. She’s embarrassed and ashamed that she’s not married yet, but Ha-ri argues that she doesn’t need to be married. The mother-daughter pair quickly end the conversation and proceed with their respective schedules.
When Ha-ri arrives at work, she gets into deep trouble by Editor-in-Chief, Mrs. Shim, who has returned to work after being on maternity leave. Since Ha-ri got herself involved with the Advertising Department, she has to take care of the mess that ensued as a result. Mrs. Shim throws another project at Ha-ri for work, but Ha-ri’s not having it. She leaves work early that day.
Jae-young heads upstairs to visit Ha-ri only to find her laying on the living room floor with the fake baby bump on. She expresses regret in not having been able to successfully find a partner to date, marry, and settle down with. She had all this time in the past and now she’s a single woman almost about to turn 40. Jae-young doesn’t have much to say to Ha-ri so he leaves her alone after receiving a pajama gift set for baby Do-Ah from Ha-ri. However, a conversation between Mom and Jae-young replays in his head and he feels guilty for leaving Ha-ri behind. Prior to moving in with Mom and Ha-ri, Mom pleaded for Jae-young to move in with them so he could get closer to Ha-ri and possibly settle down together. If that wasn’t possible, they could at least become like brothers and sisters.
After being reminded of this conversation, Jae-young heads back in the house to visit Ha-ri again and offers to set Ha-ri up with a man if she wants him to. Although Ha-ri is wishy-washy at first with her response, she eventually gives in and remains honest about her wants: yes, she does want Jae-young to set her up if he can. Jae-young sets out with a new goal in mind.
Yi-sang sets out on his next adventure: rock climbing! He makes sure to take a photo of him participating in the activity and uploads it onto his SNS account afterwards. Curious as to what Ha-ri is up to, he checks her SNS account and likes one of her photos. Ooh~. Meanwhile, Jae-young meets up with his friend at a kid’s cafe who he plans on setting up with Ha-ri. His friend too is a divorcee just like Jae-young. During the brief conversation they have with each other, his friend throws him an envelope full of money. Contrary to what Jae-young assumes, the money is from his ex-wife, Jeong-won. Jae-young grows upset after learning that the money is from Jeong-won. He refuses to accept child support money from the lady who chose to stay out of her daughter’s life.
Ha-ri checks her SNS account at the work studio only to find Yi-sang’s like on one of her photos. She’s offended at his like and rants to Soo-cheol. However, Yi-sang ends up appearing at the same studio as Soo-cheol and Ha-ri so she has no choice but to put up with him. She eventually proposes that they have a “proper conversation” to clear everything up so they head to a cafe to talk. It’s obvious Ha-ri isn’t comfortable or friendly around Yi-sang for several reasons. However, Yi-sang argues that it should be the other way around.
The episode then throws it back to the night of the party where the two first met. After having too many drinks, Ha-ri confronts Yi-sang about his rejection towards her. Does he despise women? Does he have something against women? She’s curious (and a little furious) as to why he doesn’t want to befriend her or get to know her better. Yi-sang is positive he will never fall for Ha-ri, but she dares that she will get him to fall for her eventually. Fast forward three years later to the present and nothing’s changed. Yi-sang doesn’t have any feelings or affection towards Ha-ri which makes setting boundaries for Ha-ri easy. From now on, they’ll pretend to not know each other and will avoid each other.
However, things are easier said than done and Ha-ri runs into Yi-sang again the next day at their work studio. They have a photoshoot with a baby model, but Soo-cheol is unavailable to take photos for he has another important interview he urgently needs to attend at the same time. The only other person they have as a photographer is Yi-sang, but he refuses to take photos for the photoshoot. Just when all hope seems lost, Yi-sang eventually steps in to be the photographer for the photoshoot. With addition help from Eu-Ddeum, the photoshoot is a success. Phew, that was close!
Ha-ri’s three colleagues, Yeon-ho, Hyo-joo, and So-yoon, all devise a possible plan to find Ha-ri a man. However, they realize that this is much harder than they thought. There’s no one in the workplace that is suitable for her and dating in the workplace can be difficult. Who will be available for Ha-ri to date now? Speaking of Ha-ri, she crosses paths with Yi-sang once again. This time, he gives her a ride to Gangnam to run some errands and then to attend her cousin’s wedding. She invites him to stay for a meal since he drove her around, but he kindly declines the offer. Ha-ri greets her aunt and uncle and then proceeds to give a rendition of Hong Jin-young’s ‘Love Battery’ as a congratulatory performance at the wedding ceremony. Yi-sang enters the wedding hall to watch Ha-ri perform.
Ha-ri’s performance peeks interest from some men and they attempt to approach her after her performance. Maybe she will succeed in finding a man at the wedding. However, each man who approaches Ha-ri quickly avoids her which confuses Ha-ri. Why are they walking away from her? It turns out Yi-sang was trailing her the entire time which could explain for why all the guys quickly avoided her. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Yi-sang now wants the meal ticket that Ha-ri offered him earlier so she gives it to him. Haha, I love it! During dinner, Ha-ri’s aunt and uncle attempts to cheer her up by encouraging her to just stay single and grow old alone. She has a good career, there’s nothing wrong with being alone for the rest of her life. Of course, Mom – who is also at the wedding – grows frustrated and upset at the remarks. She too has been suffering as a result of Ha-ri’s inability to get married and to have kids. Ha-ri feels apologetic to her mom, but Mom persuades her that it’s not a big deal. She doesn’t need a kid or a son-in-law like most Mom’s have. However, it wouldn’t hurt for Ha-ri to search close by. There might be potential partners closer to her than she thinks. Of course, Mom is referring to Jae-young who is sound asleep with baby Do-Ah back at home.
Ha-ri heads to a cafe near her house to meet up with Jae-young’s divorcee friend. To her surprise, Yi-sang also happens to be at the same exact cafe for some personal matters of his own. With no way out, Ha-ri has no choice but to stay at the cafe with Jae-young’s friend. Yi-sang decides to also stay after his meeting to eavesdrop on Ha-ri’s conversation with her date. The more Ha-ri and her date talk and chit-chat, the more she realizes that they are on different pages. Jae-young’s friend has no desire to rush into a relationship and would rather get to know each other slowly, but Ha-ri wants to start a family as soon as they can. She isn’t sure how long she’s willing to wait. With the two being on different lengths and levels, it becomes obvious that the two aren’t going to work out.
Jae-young heads out to the convenience store to buy himself and his baby daughter some snacks and goodies. Meanwhile, Ha-ri storms out of the cafe after her date with Jae-young’s friend concludes with an unsuccessful finish. Yi-sang chases after her with an umbrella to protect her from the pouring rain. All Ha-ri can think about was Yi-sang listening in on her conversation during the date and questions whether it’s been fun for Yi-sang to pester her. Yi-sang clarifies that he hasn’t been doing this for entertainment, but Ha-ri thinks otherwise. While attempting to get away from him, Yi-sang accidentally rips a small part of Ha-ri’s shirt apart. At this moment, Jae-young witnesses Ha-ri confronting Yi-sang and he steps in to rescue Ha-ri from who he thinks is a pervert. OMG, this is gold! Yi-sang and Jae-young eventually wrestle with each other and get into a small fight in the pouring rain while Ha-ri watches them and contemplates on her next move. Eventually, the trio stop the fighting and clarify their intentions over some drinks at a street vendor.
Jae-young understands Yi-sang to be Ha-ri’s colleague which they both vehemently deny. They’re not colleagues like what Jae-young assumes. Meanwhile, Jae-young apologizes for fighting with Yi-sang earlier. He and Ha-ri are like siblings so he thought she was in danger. Jae-young moves on to inquire about her date with his friend. How did that go? Both Ha-ri and Yi-sang don’t sound too optimistic or cheerful about it. It didn’t go so well and nothing came out of it. To simply put it, they just weren’t a match for each other. Ha-ri grows sentimental and questions why she tries so hard when it comes to love anyways as it’s only caused her heartbreaks and hardships.
She’s reminded of the last break-up she had with her former boyfriend. Yi-sang and Jae-young too recall the break-ups they endured in their respective relationships as well. The three are heart-broken just thinking about their failed relationships. Ha-ri in particular questions why people pity her for not being married at her age. She rather be single and happy than be miserable just to get married.
The next morning, Ha-ri goes to visit her friend, Eun-young (Lee Mi-do). Although Eun-young has twin boys of her own and loves her kids, she also advises Ha-ri to enjoy the free time she has now before she has her own. Ha-ri jokes around that she can’t have any children since well, she can barely even get married, but there’s a sense of truth in her comment. Later on that night, Ha-ri takes care of baby Do-Ah as Jae-young attends his friend’s funeral. There, he encounters his ex-wife, Jeong-won, who shows up to the funeral to pay her respects. However, the two don’t interact with each other and it’s obvious the two are not on good terms with each other.
With Jae-young occupied at the funeral, he doesn’t notice the heavy amount of calls coming from Ha-ri who’s calling because Do-Ah has a fever back at home. Thankfully, the baby is rushed to the hospital and is given some medication to recover. Ha-ri sleeps with baby Do-Ah over night and awakens to find her up and healthy the next morning. The two play with each other upon waking up and Ha-ri enjoys spending some time with Do-Ah. Aww.
The new issue to ‘The Baby’ is released and Ha-ri skips to the page in the magazine of her with the fake baby bump. After seeing the photo, she makes her decision and understands what it is that she wants. In a conversation with her OB-GYN doctor, Ha-ri firmly states that she wants to have a baby. She doesn’t plan on getting married. She just wants a baby.
My Thoughts:
I didn’t realize how charming this second episode was until I rewatched it again for the purpose of this recap. To be fair, I wasn’t really paying attention the first time around so it wasn’t until I sat myself down and truly focused that there were a few moments in here that stood out to me.
Given the general excitement that I felt prior to premiere week, I’m going to be honest: my excitement for this drama has gone down a bit. I think I might have been expecting something a little bit more, a little bit funnier, a little bit lighter, and while the drama is all of these things, I also feel like there’s still pieces missing. I’m not so sure what it is, but I’m still not completely sold and captured by this drama. I think what I’m waiting for is just more context or background information on why Ha-ri is so keen on having a kid and becoming a mother. We got a small glimpse of her reasons in the first episode, but I want to know more. I want to see more. Granted, I’m pretty sure this is what the drama is going to spend the majority of its time on so I just have to be patient, but I also want some answers sooner than later.
Yes, it was interesting and intriguing and heart-breaking watching Ha-ri struggle with her reality of not having a husband or kids because you can see just how bad she wants it, but you also want to know why she wants it so bad. Is there something more to all of this that we just aren’t aware about yet? Is the drama ever going to give us additional context? Or is the drama going to simply just focus on Ha-ri’s journey to what is hopefully motherhood and her interactions with Yi-sang, Jae-young, and Eu-Ddeum mixed in between? I would personally prefer to know more about why Ha-ri is so determined to become a mother and to have a kid. I think it’ll definitely help us root for her even more when she does become one or when she ultimately decides that it’s maybe not for her.
We saw with the ending in this episode that Ha-ri wants to have just a baby while her surgery and marriage can come afterwards. While I am not going to completely rule out that maybe motherhood isn’t what Ha-ri wants or expected it to be, I think it’ll be so much more fun with the three guys involved once Ha-ri does have a kid. Things will be the other way around! Whereas usually mothers have a partner to start a family with, it’ll be so much fun and entertaining if Ha-ri had her own kid and then got involved with three different guys afterwards. Of course, that would be really messy and complicated, but it’ll be interesting to see each guy’s take in helping raise a baby that is not theirs. With this being said, I’m not so sure where the drama is planning to take us. My biggest fear is that the drama is going to pull a Reply 1994 on us and Ha-ri ends up somehow with either Jae-young or Eu-Ddeum instead of Yi-sang. Not that that’s such a bad thing because I think Jae-young has an interesting story himself and his relationship with Ha-ri could make for a potentially interesting dynamic, but I’m expecting Ha-ri to be with Yi-sang at this point. And I hope they are the end couple in this drama because the two have such interesting history with each other and it’s obvious they’re going to continue to cross paths even if that’s not what they might want at this point.
I do think Yi-sang is a lot more interested in Ha-ri than she is in him which I love. As much as he wants to claim that he’s not in love with her (which is true to an extent), there’s no denying that he’s interested and enamored by her. There’s something about Ha-ri that Yi-sang is charmed by and attracted to which is why he keeps helping her out or following her around or eavesdropping on her conversation with her date or liking her photos on her SNS account. He wants to remain in her life and wants to stand out to her, hence, why he’s putting in so much more effort into keeping in touch with her whereas she’s ready to just cut all things off with him. I love how tsundere and cold Yi-sang seems to Ha-ri, but it’s obvious that he has some sort of interest in her. The only mystery is whether this interest formed and remained from their interaction three years ago or whether it was something that he developed upon his return to Korea. Regardless, I’m enjoying Yi-sang and Ha-ri together. They’re so funny when paired up and have such a complicated push and pull with each other, it’s so fun to watch.
The best part about this episode for me was the context that we got of Yi-sang and Jae-young’s break-ups. It was nice to also see Ha-ri’s separation with her last relationship, but we were already given insight on her thoughts regarding love and relationships so it was just as interesting getting a glimpse of Jae-young and Yi-sang’s former relationships. As we saw, Jae-young isn’t on such good terms with his ex-wife who chose to divorce Jae-young. I hope the drama explores the cause to this divorce and why she seems okay with not being involved in Do-Ah’s life (or at least that’s what it seems like so far). Even Yi-sang himself is a divorcee which was a pleasant surprise to find out about in this episode. It just makes things so much more interesting with the little details that you are given. Now you have two single divorcees potentially become the love interests to a single woman who wants to become a mother and maybe settle down. Jae-young views Ha-ri as a sister, but it’s going to be so interesting when he romantically develops feelings for her and sees her as something more. The same thing can be said about Yi-sang who wants to keep being in Ha-ri’s life and continues to pester her if that what it takes to do so. I’m so ready for this love triangle (square with the involvement of Eu-Ddeum) and it’s going to be so much fun when things get bigger and better.
‘Oh My Baby’ hasn’t done enough to impress me too much with its first two episodes. I think I wanted more and was expecting more, but if the drama does things right and has a vision as to where it’s going and what it wants to accomplish, then I’m willing to wait to witness all of that unfold. Of course, the biggest reason as to why I started this drama was for Go Joon (which will remain that way), but I also have to admit that I’m really liking Jae-young as a character and all the details we’re slowly given about his complicated past. I’m here all for it and I think I’m willing to stay.
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