The Good Bad Mother season 1 finale recap, review & ending explained

Open Go TV / June 9, 2023 / Reviews

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In the finale of The Good Bad Mother, Kang-ho puts his plan into action to take down the people responsible for his father’s death. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Episode 14 recap:

Kang-ho approaches Assemblyman Oh and asks him to join hands with him. If Assemblyman Oh does not help him put Chairman Song behind bars by testifying against him, Kang-ho will get Ha-young to testify against Assemblyman Oh.

Meanwhile, Sam-sik finds out that Mi-joo and Kang-ho are in love, and Mi-joo takes Ha-young’s statement to build Kang-ho’s case.

Mr. So visits Chairman Song and questions him about trying to kill him and Mr. Cha. Chairman Song admits that he tried to kill them, even though Mr. So has served him loyally for years.

Mr. So records Chairman Song’s confession and sends the recording to Mr. Cha. Due to this, an infuriated Chairman Song hits Mr. So, and this is when Kang-ho arrives at the scene to arrest him.

It turns out that Mr. So had called Kang-ho earlier to warn him, and Kang-ho made him do all this because he wanted to catch Chairman Song threatening and beating an employee red-handed.

Kang-ho goes back to being a prosecutor again, and when the villagers see him on TV, they decide to go to Seoul for the trial. Kang-ho is determined to do what his parents could not do years ago.

With Mr. So as his witness, Kang-ho argues that Chairman Song got several of his secretaries murdered because they knew everything about the crimes he committed.

It was not just his secretaries; he also got rid of people who raised suspicions about him or his company, people who were involved in trials against him, and people who were supposed to testify against him.

Kang-ho had earlier convinced Assemblyman Oh to testify against Chairman Song, and he now calls him to do the same. Assemblyman Oh tries to clear his own name by stating that Chairman Song killed Hwang Soo-hyun and her son because Chairman Song was the father of that child.

An infuriated Chairman Song starts exposing Assemblyman Oh’s misdeeds, and Ha-young comes there to back his accusations. She admits that she tried to kill Kang-ho.

This leads to Assemblyman Oh telling the court that he was threatened to do so by Chairman Song, and when he refused, Chairman Song used his daughter because he had killed Kang-ho’s father in the past.

Sick of her father’s lies, Ha-young exposes the truth that Hwang Soo-hyun’s baby was Assemblyman Oh’s illegitimate child. As a result, Assemblyman Oh publicly claims that his daughter is mentally ill and produces a fake certificate to submit in court.

When he does that, Ha-young cries and pleads with her father to put an end to his lies and crimes. Despite her begging, Assemblyman Oh does not stop. Ha-young then decides to reveal her father’s involvement in Kang-ho’s father’s death.

Taking all the testimonies into consideration, Kang-ho believes that the only way to get to the truth is by finding out who is the father of Hwang Soo-hyun’s child.

The Good Bad Mother ending explained in detail:

How is Hwang Soo-hyun’s son alive?

In Hwang Soo-hyun’s murder case, three people — Kang-ho, Chairman Song, and Assemblyman Oh — are accused of being Hwang Soo-hyun’s child’s father. To find out the truth, Kang-ho brings Hwang Soo-hyun’s son to court in order to get a DNA test done.

It turns out that Hwang Soo-hyun hid her baby in Cho Yeong-jae’s boat before she jumped off the boat with a fire extinguisher wrapped in her baby’s blanket. Her son is still alive and is living with Cho Yeong-jae, who brings the child to court.

Are Chairman Song and Assemblyman Oh’s crimes exposed?

Seeing Hwang Soo-hyun’s son rattles Assemblyman Oh. He refuses to testify anymore and tries to drag Ha-young out of there with him, despite Kang-ho’s warnings.

Kang-ho then arrests Assemblyman Oh and Chairman Song for abetting the murders of Hwang Soo-hyun, her baby, himself, Young-soon, as well as Kang-ho’s father. The moment he does that, Young-soon, along with the villagers, cheers for Kang-ho.

With time, Assemblyman Oh and Chairman Song’s crimes are exposed, and so many people who were denied justice for years, including Mr. Park, finally get justice, thanks to Kang-ho. However, Kang-ho also has to resign due to his association with Chairman Song.

What happens to Young-soon?

The villagers gather to celebrate Young-soon’s birthday. Young-soon tells everyone that every loss in her life has taught her to value something and that she feels blessed for being able to live this precious life. She thanks the villagers, as she never felt lonely and was happy because of them.

She then gives Mi-joo and Kang-ho the first rings that she and her husband got each other. She tells them to love and care for each other.

That night, Kang-ho comes to sleep in his mother’s room again, and she asks him to sing her a lullaby. As Kang-ho sings to her, she peacefully passes away in her sleep.

Kang-ho mourns her death, but at her funeral, he sings her favorite song, which makes all the other villagers smile and cry at the same time. They join him in singing Young-soon’s song.

What happens to the villagers?

While Gum-ja is secretly dating Baek Hoon-ah now, Sam-sik is still stealing his parents’ belongings. He is wooing Ha-young, who is in prison and will be there for the next two years. Unlike Mi-joo, Ha-young is actually charmed by him.

Mr. So and Mr. Cha have become farmers now and are living happily in the village. Additionally, it turns out that the village chief’s wife does come from a yakuza family, but she decides against leaving him when she finds out that she is pregnant.

Do Kang-ho and Mi-joo end up together?

Mi-joo and Kang-ho get back together and are happy again. Initially, Ye-jin refuses to accept Kang-ho as her father and forgive her mother for dating him, but when she starts liking another boy, she finally moves on.

Mi-joo and Kang-ho live in the village and run the pig farm together; they even receive a prize for their business. Kang-ho plans to propose to Mi-joo soon and asks her to get dressed.

He then finds a letter by Young-soon, hidden in the picture frame in which he hid an SD card for his mother. In the letter, Young-soon apologizes to him for not being a good mother and tells him that she wishes to be his mother again.

She writes about all the things she would do differently if she gets that chance again. After reading the letter, Kang-ho asks his mother to protect him and his family. He then proposes to Mi-joo the way his father proposed to his mother.

Review

This episode was definitely the best episode of The Good Bad Mother. It had happy moments, sad moments, and everything that a finale should have. Apart from that, it ends on a satisfying note that the fans of the show will appreciate.
Kang-ho goes back to being a prosecutor, and even though it is not permanent, the happiness and excitement of the villagers is certainly heartwarming. The same can be said about the scene when Young-soon witnesses Kang-ho arresting Assemblyman Oh.
Additionally, seeing a woman like Young-soon, who has suffered all her life, celebrating her birthday with her friends and family without any burdens is another scene that will leave the audience smiling and crying at the same time.
Although Young-soon’s death is emotional, the most impactful scene in the episode has to be Ha-young begging her father. The scene is raw and distressing, and perhaps that is what makes it so powerful.
The only problem with the finale is that Kang-ho’s long-awaited revenge gets wrapped up in a single court scene that is too overdramatic to be believable. Furthermore, it turns frightening villainous characters, like Chairman Song, into feeble figures.