[Drama 2018] Secret Mother 시크릿마더

[Orion]

New stills and an article by SBS.

 

 

The article talks about the two heroines brought together by an urgent mysterious phone call, the phone call we heard Yoon Jin receive. The two women commence psychological warfare against Jae Yeol.

 

The piece gives a recap of Yoon Jin finding out that Jae Yeol used Hyeon Cheol's daughter's life to threaten him into lying about Eun Yeong being the hit-and-run suspect. Yoon Jin is determined to find the truth that the terrible duo have been hiding. On the same day that she received the ominous phone call, the car and evidence were found, so Yoon Jin stopped Eun Yeong from returning to Canada.

 

In episodes 25-28 Eun Yeong returns to discover the truth from one year ago. The two women look for evidence on the accident and Hyeon Joo's fate, while Jae Yeol is obviously incredibly pissed (HA! SUFFER!). Yoon Jin wants to stop Jae Yeol, Eun Yeong has a last chance to find her sister, and Jae Yeol is being backed into a corner by them. Fun fun fun!

 

And some making of goodness with Kim So Yeon, Song Jae Rim and Song Yoo Na.

 

 

 

[0ly40]

preview june 30

 

[Orion]

On 6/28/2018 at 3:36 PM, larus said:

I can't wait to watch but I don't think I will be able to watch until July 7 or 8. 

 

In a way, this is better! You'll be so close to the final episodes by then, you won't have to wait the whole week like we will. Take care and see you when you get back!

 

Looks like crew and cast are continuing to work hard and late on the remainder of the drama. Strength to them.

 

 

[Guest]

So how’s hottie Detective going to help them now that he’s suspended ? 

SJR’s fight scenes were pretty legit  part 2 of the BTS

Fan cam of Detective Ha filming 

Spoiler

 

Posted by his agency. IG translate says he’ll have a lot more scenes this week

 

[Melody_06]

Sorry, I just can't hold myself back. And this is legitimately something... these two.... and this is the second time..

Spoiler alert!!!! 

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

[Guest]

Somebody gif-ed it ...gal power. I would love to see MIL's reactions

Trying to find some cuts on IG since I am still up after recapping Life on mars...seems like Hot but suspended detective (bless his tenacity) aint gonna sit down quietly..he confronted Mr Coward.There's a clear picture of him at the parking lot....

I am guessing that the MIL got the doc to arrange for EY to be kidnapped ...well well...just happens that HJW was passing by...you have to say he's fated to save this two women from physical danger...  

 

HJW cuts tonight

Spoiler

 

 

[Melody_06]

3 hours ago, triplem said:

Somebody gif-ed it ...gal power. I would love to see MIL's reactions

 

I am guessing that the MIL got the doc to arrange for EY to be kidnapped ...well well...just happens that HJW was passing by...you have to say he's fated to save this two women from physical danger...  

 

 

 Ikr, definitely someone will gift this scene. We had talked about how Jeo Yeol would react seeing his beloved wife got slapped by his mother. Now, we've found our heroine. I'm obsessed.

 

I so love your second comment. In the first roster, he should have been appointed for a hero who saves women. Lol. 

[roli]

Oh well what a peace of a person te husband is. Now I really don't feel sorry at all for him. Asking her to stop so his son would not be a murders son. Why he did not though so before killing and accepted his fault. He needs to pay for his crime. 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Melody_06 said:

I so love your second comment. In the first roster, he should have been appointed for a hero who saves women. Lol. 

I am actually watching first half of eps 13, and quite a number of interesting reveals so far:

1. YJ's strategy by bringing EY back home as tutor who will live with them (imagine HJY's horror!) is to make him so uncomfortable that he will reveal what really happened and all his secrets. YJ says even if she seems like she is using EY, the latter will not lose out as she will at least get to find out what happened to the sis  and / or get revenge on JY.  YJ actually managed to get a record of the mysterious call to her. She asked EY to listen to it. But they both can't really tell if it's the sis or not

2. Kang did not mean to kill or push EY off the building that night. JY had sent him to recover the CCTV  recording from EY. So it was an accident. 

3. HJW continues to investigate remotely about the case through his colleague. They get hold of Kang's phone records, there was one to an unknown number but they can't trace who it belongs to. They find out that Kang's phone is missing from his things

4. YJ meets with HJW. She gives him Kang's phone. She asked him to listen to the recordings and to find out if her husband is involved in Kang's death. This is a big step as she has come to terms with it and she's choosing to trust HJW to help her. 

5. YJ brings EY to meet the other mums. Everyone is happy to see EY alive and fine. Now everyone gets along. YJ also reveals that the reason she quit her job and move to the neighbourhood was because her daughter died in an accident a year ago. 

 

 

[Orion]

Finished the episodes and reviews, and boy, if the person calling was Hyeon Joo, then this is even more terrible than I thought. If Jae Yeol is lying about being her murderer, then what he has done must be even worse, and she was the witness to it. He probably accidentally killed his own daughter.

 

It wouldn't make sense for the person calling to be lying. It would be silly to fake us out twice, and who would need to fool Yoon Jin at this point? Seon Ja and Se Yeon already had their plans in place, this doesn't look like their doing. It looks like a goon from that hospital brought the phone Hyeon Joo used to Jae Yeol. So who is this mystery woman whose phone Hyeon Joo used, and how did they get that phone from her? I wonder if we've heard her name before.

 

On the other hand, the fact that the person did not react to Eun Yeong's voice is strange. It could be because she had to run away, but there's still that suspicious dead spot at the villa, and it makes more sense for the story if Hyeon Joo is dead. Jae Yeol gave the order to get rid of Eun Yeong to his goons, so it's not like he has any trouble killing people. He probably killed Hyeon Cheol as well. It escalated. But we'll see. Very emotional episodes. Very entertaining.

[Melody_06]

2 hours ago, triplem said:

I am actually watching first half of eps 13, and quite a number of interesting reveals so far:

1. YJ's strategy by bringing EY back home as tutor who will live with them (imagine HJY's horror!) is to make him so uncomfortable that he will reveal what really happened and all his secrets. YJ says even if she seems like she is using EY, the latter will not lose out as she will at least get to find out what happened to the sis  and / or get revenge on JY.  YJ actually managed to get a record of the mysterious call to her. She asked EY to listen to it. But they both can't really tell if it's the sis or not

2. Kang did not mean to kill or push EY off the building that night. JY had sent him to recover the CCTV  recording from EY. So it was an accident. 

3. HJW continues to investigate remotely about the case through his colleague. They get hold of Kang's phone records, there was one to an unknown number but they can't trace who it belongs to. They find out that Kang's phone is missing from his things

4. YJ meets with HJW. She gives him Kang's phone. She asked him to listen to the recordings and to find out if her husband is involved in Kang's death. This is a big step as she has come to terms with it and she's choosing to trust HJW to help her. 

5. YJ brings EY to meet the other mums. Everyone is happy to see EY alive and fine. Now everyone gets along. YJ also reveals that the reason she quit her job and move to the neighbourhood was because her daughter died in an accident a year ago. 

 this super brief recap  just get right into the crux and I'm a lazy reader all the time . Here are some thoughts came through:

 

1. I can't ever love this scene more. Women are strong and their points are pertinent. The way Yoon Jin put it on the table was not any clearer and frigid. I believe she's gifted with a cold-level head now. It looks like the game is staged in her hand and leave the other (no matter who that is enemy or comrade). I still remember one of her line in some last episode "I cannot waste my time being around while suspecting you". I was down to this one. She has points and now she's just a step away from finding proofs. Eun Young ah, I know you're also good, but in this scene, please serve the queen. (Sorry Sso Fans )

2. Well, even if he said that, I'm still on my feet about how he attacked Eun Young. A muscular and brittle man could easily break down a tender and slim woman like Eun Young. Well again, since we're walking on drama land, this detail could be tolerated. However, it still does not make any sense to me. (It's easy to understand that we people never to murder/kill anyone only and only if we're cornered to the end and no outlet for us)

3. How tenacious and persistent our handsome yet truely dignified MAN our Detective Ha is. I've loved his decisiveness and eagerness. I found it quite pleasant (because I"m still a noona-romance prayer, I will not ever give up until the end  ). Bonus two best moments

Jeo Yeol: I have no idea why you're doing this to me (Detective Ha was showing him the capture from CCTV near the burial locus of Kang's daughter)

My interpretation would be "yes, one is that because I'm a cop and I feel ashamed because there is still a cop like you. SECOND, because I want to keep my words with a woman (well, we know who it is ) Ha in one of his conversation with Yoon Jin has said that her words matter him )

Spoiler

 

4. Yoon Jin and cool boy-like Detective Ha. I loved how he rushed to the rendezvous when he received the call from Yoon Jin. I could say her voice in this scene was so soft and fragile. I think she on one side still does not want to accept the truth about her husband and in need of a serious investigation. I'm just curious and bewildered when she said "Please stop him". I don't know if she wanted to protect other involved people or she wanted to heal Jae Yeol. Nooooo, Yoon Jin. You must be freed from him.

Spoiler

 

5. I absolutely loved this scene. To see how mothers gather on a round table and empathize with each other's secrets and hardships is a pleasure of sight. When they bond together, they're stronger. I could feel the nature in their acting, just pure and legitimate. When we open more, we feel less burdened. I love seeing these two find-wine-like ladies on frame together.

 

2 hours ago, Orion said:

He probably accidentally killed his own daughter.

 

On the other hand, the fact that the person did not react to Eun Yeong's voice is strange.

It was suspicious right there. I was telling myself while watching "what, that is not a proper reaction towards your long-lost-missing sister". Nonetheless, these two women was desperately looking for Hyeon Joo which could make them less sane and rational at some points of time.

 

I'm afraid of that theory. I mean, I could feel it's truly and unimaginably hard to accept, no, just listen to the fact that her used-to-be beloved and caring husband is the one who had killed her adorable Min Ji and had "a petty affair". Poor our Yoon Jin. 

 

If I ever had made a tweak to the script, the feeling of Detective Ha in this moment would have been like " Am I invisible Mrs. Yoon Jin? You're just arrived and ask for Eun Young while I'm the one who runs to the end of this world to find that suicide-claimed woman for you"

 

P/s: well, hands down to her driving skill, I could never drive this fast in such a narrow lane like this, I would be a turtle trying to snake pass the car.

Spoiler

 

[Orion]

4 hours ago, Melody_06 said:

If I ever had made a tweak to the script, the feeling of Detective Ha in this moment would have been like " Am I invisible Mrs. Yoon Jin? You're just arrived and ask for Eun Young while I'm the one who runs to the end of this world to find that suicide-claimed woman for you"

 

This series is always about sisters before misters, cinnamon roll Jeong Wan has to wait for his well earned thanks.

 

For me, it's clear what Jae Yeol is hiding now, I'm just not sure whom he is hiding it for. Did he kill Min Ji? Did his mother? Seon Ja keeps looking almost sad whenever she confronts Yoon Jin, so my guess would be Jae Yeol. Seon Ja would look more guilty than sad if she had done it. And she wouldn't keep advising Yoon Jin to forget in this particular manner. She knows the truth is terrible.

 

Of course a cool twist that Dramaland would never do is if Yoon Jin herself really had accidentally done it, and replaced that in her mind as a result of PTSD. They did show her confusing Min Ji as alive once, and Jae Yeol was very ready to believe the other incident was the same, so they'd have enough of a basis for it. It would be tragic, but what a twist! But yep, Dramaland will never go there. So I'm guessing it's as simple as it seems, and it's Jae Yeol.

[joccu]

finally watched latest episodes. still loving this. 

Jae yeol seem the easiest culrit and it really could be him. But watching latest episodes I hv been thinking that maybe yoojin somehow mayde the accident happen and everybody has been covering for her. But maybe that too ridiculous. I mean would you really forget something like that. 

maybe I have been watching too many mystery/thriller series. 

[Melody_06]

5 hours ago, Orion said:

Of course a cool twist that Dramaland would never do is if Yoon Jin herself really had accidentally done it, and replaced that in her mind as a result of PTSD. They did show her confusing Min Ji as alive once, and Jae Yeol was very ready to believe the other incident was the same, so they'd have enough of a basis for it. It would be tragic, but what a twist! But yep, Dramaland will never go there. So I'm guessing it's as simple as it seems, and it's Jae Yeol.

 

2 hours ago, joccu said:

finally watched latest episodes. still loving this. 

Jae yeol seem the easiest culrit and it really could be him. But watching latest episodes I hv been thinking that maybe yoojin somehow mayde the accident happen and everybody has been covering for her. But maybe that too ridiculous. I mean would you really forget something like that. 

maybe I have been watching too many mystery/thriller series. 

 

You two please... my heart is going to be broken before Yoon Jin's actually is. Stop hypothesizing in this way, this direction would lead to a catastrophe indeed. It'll be simply yet purely cruel if the next two episodes are unraveling this theorized scenario. I do love twist and doing twist is an art since whether you gain or you pain. If it were an inevitably acceptance between the most two prevailing endings, I would like it to be that Min Joon might have a murderer father. Because I cannot think of any worse grief or pain than the pain that Yoon Jin had actually killed her own daughter by accident, and the memory falsification becomes true. I would flip any table I see if she could not win any award for the scene. Just trying to put our feet in her shoes, after all those time, turbulence, fight, chaos and even physical dangers, Yoon Jin now realizes she is a culprit of the hit-and-run accident, and her beloved people whom she has always been thinking stabbing at her back were actually protecting her. I just cannot figure out how she would react to this such surreal reality. Nope, please don't do that. It hurts. Literally. 

 

@Orion I quite recall the detail you just said when Yoon Jin confused MinJi being alive, but I can't locate it in my memory, would you please remind me where that was?

[Orion]

42 minutes ago, Melody_06 said:

@Orion I quite recall the detail you just said when Yoon Jin confused MinJi being alive, but I can't locate it in my memory, would you please remind me where that was?

 

 

That was in episode 6, when Jeong Wan and Yoon Jin went to the shopping mall where Eun Yeong's phone was reactivated. When she called her contact in Canada. Yoon Jin first went after a woman who was wearing purple, showing she was reliving the kidnapping incident. Then she grabbed a little girl thinking it was Min Ji. So there's definitely grounds for it, and she also had a panic attack when Min Joon was with Eun Yeong, but I think the drama just went with magical healing. As in, Eun Yeong's friendship "fixed" the PTSD.

 

Doesn't work that way in real life, but it just feels like an element they quickly brushed under the rug for the drama. Dramaland is bad with mental illness in general, and I think this was just to make us doubt her until the more accurate suspicions started forming. If this were not a Korean drama, I'd consider them capable of going for this outcome, but they usually avoid overly dark and tragic stuff for most shows. Most viewers would be very angry if the heroine we sympathize with had an unhappy ending. Korean dramas are very much into wish fulfillment and escapism. And they prefer their villains crystal clear, to cartoonish, caricature extremes.

 

I would be very impressed if someone dared to go for proper tragedy in such a story though. Not that Jae Yeol having done it isn't tragic enough, but they have worked so hard to make him very hateful. That's usually a sign they don't want to challenge viewers with someone who isn't black and white. It would be much more heavy if he were a good husband, man and father who truly made mistakes he regretted and tried to fix them for the sake of others, but in misguided ways. So everything is pointing to him being the easy-to-hate guilty party here.

[Guest]

I just completed the episodes...I have quite a bit to process...but HJY just confessed to killing  HJ and he indirectly asked that YJ overlooks this for the sake of their son...he can burn in hell!   But what happened to Min Jin then??????

 

[Loretto]

My guess is HJY is saying he killed HJ in order to protect his mother, KYJ's mother-in-law.

I'm not sure what the mother/mother-in-law did, but it seems that HJY did not really kill HJ and thinks his mother did, so he is covering for her.

I do think that both HJ and Min Jin are alive.

Maybe HJ has been raising Min JIn all this time in exchange for money and staying out of the way but since everyone has now been looking for her they have had to move her to some unknown place - hence the phone calls (?).

Sketchy - I know - but just thinking...

 

[Orion]

2 hours ago, Loretto said:

My guess is HJY is saying he killed HJ in order to protect his mother, KYJ's mother-in-law.

I'm not sure what the mother/mother-in-law did, but it seems that HJY did not really kill HJ and thinks his mother did, so he is covering for her.

I do think that both HJ and Min Jin are alive.

Maybe HJ has been raising Min JIn all this time in exchange for money and staying out of the way but since everyone has now been looking for her they have had to move her to some unknown place - hence the phone calls (?).

Sketchy - I know - but just thinking...

 

I think, given what they've talked about so far, Jae Yeol knows Hyeon Joo is alive, if she actually is. He got that phone she used from his goon. Maybe that is why he was doing research into finding missing persons. Hyeon Joo must have been kept at that hospital and escaped, so he and his mother are looking for her. It was Seon Ja who called him and told him "She called Yoon Jin, look into it". The calls from the cell phone came from Umyeon, which is the same place the phone booth, and the hospital are located. And we know that hospital is affiliated with the terrible duo. The goons even have a van from it.

 

I'm just curious where she got that phone, since it belongs to someone whose address is in Daejeon. She couldn't have gotten it earlier, otherwise she would have first called from it, not from the phone booth. So first she made it to the phone booth, then she got someone's phone, and then that phone ended up with Jae Yeol's men. I wonder if this means they caught her already, or if she dropped it/returned it and they located it.

 

Min Ji is definitely dead though, we have enough evidence for it already, and it's clear from the way everyone talks and behaves. They've said it clearly, and she even has a tree burial site, with her date of death on it. Unless this goes completely off the rails and ignores the certainty with which this has been established and stated over and over again, we won't be getting the little one back.

 

As for who got her killed, Seon Ja's behavior doesn't really fit that scenario (she seems to be furiously protecting her son and their reputation), but would Jae Yeol even be functional now, if he had done such a thing? He's still my main suspect, because of the guilt and attachment he displays for Min Ji, and because his relationship with his mother doesn't seem distant at all, but it does feel odd that he'd be coping so well with that kind of a burden.

 

Whichever scenario takes place, some things don't fit in, it has to be said. I know Jae Yeol is terrible, but would be he having a pleasant conversation with his mother about her work (as we saw in earlier episodes) if she had been the one who killed his child? What parent wouldn't at least grow more cold and more distant with whoever did that? Unless Seon Ja doesn't know that he knows and he's just trying to not face it. But then why would they collaborate in hiding Hyeon Joo? Not sure. Something doesn't sit quite right in any scenario I can come up with that's plausible, and that the drama would probably dare go for.

[Guest]

@Orion I feel more confused now , and it seems I know less despite more revelations. I’m wondering like @Loretto if HJY’s confession is a red herring. Could it be like how YJ used to say she killed MJ because she was careless ? But I don’t think PSJ killed her own granddaughter.

 

just a comment about the 2 women’s relationship- while it’s heartening to see them helping each other out of sticky situations, there’s still a lack of complete trust when both hesitated to call each other after the supposed phone call fr Hyeon Joo 

IG update by SJR’s agency 

 

[Orion]

1 hour ago, triplem said:

@Orion I feel more confused now , and it seems I know less despite more revelations. I’m wondering like @Loretto if HJY’s confession is a red herring. Could it be like how YJ used to say she killed MJ because she was careless ? But I don’t think PSJ killed her own granddaughter.

 

just a comment about the 2 women’s relationship- while it’s heartening to see them helping each other out of sticky situations, there’s still a lack of complete trust when both hesitated to call each other after the supposed phone call fr Hyeon Joo

 

It feels odd that there would be another person pretending to be Hyeon Joo though, especially so late in the story. Who was this "she", a she that Seon Ja and Jae Yeol clearly want to hide, who called Yoon Jin and pretended to be her, and why did she do that? Everything is pointing to someone being held at that hospital, who escaped and called Yoon Jin, first from a phone booth, and then from a woman's cell phone. With 4 episodes left, would they introduce a new character who is pretending to be Hyeon Joo? It makes more sense that it is actually her at this point.

And if she is, then Jae Yeol is lying (rather than thinking she's dead), because he clearly knows "she" called Yoon Jin. He and his mother both know this woman who escaped. So why would he willingly call himself the murderer of someone in order to keep hiding them? He clearly no longer cared about Hyeon Joo by that point a year ago. So the only thing that remains is that Hyeon Joo is a witness to something which would be worse for him to admit than having killed his mistress.

 

It doesn't really make sense for either Seon Ja or Jae Yeol to have killed Min Ji (even if by accident), but then I can't think of why they'd lock Hyeon Joo up and commit all of these crimes, as well as lie about it otherwise. And if it's a fake Hyeon Joo, it's too late to pull that one, and kind of silly to do it again. I also wonder why she called Yoon Jin's office. Why did she think Yoon Jin would help her? It's an odd choice to call the woman of the child you kidnapped for help. Then again, who would be more invested in locating Hyeon Joo than the woman who wants her to be alive the most aside from her sister, I suppose.

 

I really like the friendship as well. It's still understandable that they can't share everything though. Yoon Jin wants Hyeon Joo jailed, Eun Yeong is probably wishing she could leave with her for Canada. Or at the very least hear her out first before the family of the victim get their hands on her. Their connection is solid, but their duty to their individual family members is clashing.