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Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 8 of When Life Gives You Tangerines, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring IU as Oh Ae-sun and Park Bo-gum as Yang Gwan-sik as young adults, and Moon So-ri as Oh Ae-sun and Park Hae-joon as Yang Gwan-sik as older adults. We discuss:

• The song featured during the recap: My Love by My Side by Isaac Hong, a gorgeous acoustic ballad performed with only guitar, piano and voice.
• The full-circle moment when Ae-sun and Gwan-sik’s past kindness saves their daughter Geum Myeong from a false accusation nearly 20 years later.
• Guilt and obligation between parents and children, especially how Geum Myeong's guilt leads to emotional distance from her loving parents.
• Geum Myeong’s awful experience at the police station, reminiscent of her mother’s experience at the Busan police station 20 years earlier.
• Gwan-sik’s efforts to connect with his daughter, waiting all day to see her in Seoul and facing her rejection with grace.
• Ae-sun’s sacrifice: abandoning her dream of opening a café so Geum Myeong can study abroad in Japan.
• The museum that Gwan sik visited, which is probably the Independence Hall of Korea and the historical context of the 1987 democratic elections in Korea.
• The heartbreaking memory of little Geum Myeong waving to her father, and how a grown-up Geum Myeong’s wave brings Gwan-sik to tears.
• How Gwang Rye, in Ae sun’s dream, is still giving Ae sun advice how to discuss the death of Dong Myeong with Gwan sik.
• Ae-sun finally winning the poetry contest after years of longing, thanks to the haenyeos’ secret submission of her poem.
• The mysterious wedding scene where Geum Myeong is sobbing—who is she marrying and why is she so sad?
• Reflections on “gaman,” a Japanese concept of enduring hardship with grace, and how it defines both Ae-sun and Gwan-sik’s character.
• Park Hae-joon’s transformation from the "nation’s adulterer" to the "nation’s romantic lead," and how playing Gwan-sik changed his personal outlook on his marriage and life with his wife.

References

• Independence Hall of Korea - Wikipedia
• 1987 South Korean presidential election - Wikipedia