Golden Rainbow Episode 1 Recap

Golden Rainbow is the new MBC weekend drama starring UEE and Jung Il Woo. I'm primarily fascinated with the cast as it also features co-star and cutie Kim Yoo Jung amongst many other great veterans of the business. I usually don't watch extended drama's that range beyond the standard 16 episodes, I mean I gave up on You're The Best, Lee Soon Shin after episode 11. But I thought I'd give it another shot with a cast I can't ignore. My first ever recap!

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We're immediately thrown into a mysterious scene where a lady (Young Hye) is hiding watching a baby Ha Bin in someone elses arms.

 Grandma- the chairwoman- sends the child away while Young Hye pleads to see her daughter. She laments on missing her daughter. Harsh words are exchanged on Grandma's side. Grandma blames the lady for killing her son, aka the baby daddy, and is determined to separate them.

Young Hye pleads at the door while the others leave her there.

New scene, we're on a fishing boat heading back to shore. Chun Eok-Jo chats friendly with his mate Han Joo, who is focusing his on work.

Sad Baby Momma Young Hye approaches the boat and Han Joo looks and they exchange warm looks. She invites Hanjoo to have dinner together and they discuss the baby. She's been taken away by Grandma but Young Hye believes she'll have more opportunities in that environment. Her oppa Jin Gi is also there so she feels more assured of Ha Bin's safety. She reminds him about the orphanage they were both from and the difficulties they faced growing up there.

She remarks how Han Joo needs to get married off soon and find happiness while she sheds a sorry tear. He gives her an empathetic look. Later on, Han Joo reports back to Eok-Jo the events of the night over some shikhe. He has a soft spot but Eok-Jo is riled up about how Young Hye left Han Joo and is now messing with him. He feels sorry and thinks she's on edge after losing her baby.
HanJoo rushes back to where Young Hye was staying (his place), worried she might've done something out of despair.

He finds her walking herself into a lake and rushes to stop her from drowning herself. She doesn't want to live and cries over the fact that baby's father left this world without her. She doesn't know what to do, and he holds and tries to comfort her as she weeps for her child.

Ha Bin is making a lot of progress and is already able to walk as she watching on lovingly. Grandma's daughter and husband come to visit . Daughter has a problem with Young Hye  and they all reflect on the events leading to Son's death, primarily shoving the blame onto Young Hye.

Jin Gi, who turns out to be the daughter's husband, chats to Han Joo along the beach as he reveals his plan to take the baby and return her to Young Hye. He plans to snatch the baby on her first birthday with the help of Jin Gi and Eok Jo.
On Ha Bin's birthday, Grandma is weeping over her dead son still. The elaborate 1st year's event continues as HaBin does he traditional event of choosing and item  for future prosperity. She picks the fish- maybe an allusion to her future with Han Joo?

 Young Hye wakes up after the turbulent night and realises what has happened. She sees a note from Han Joo about their plans- he's getting ready for the right opportunity and gets the signal from Jin Gi that it's time. With the Help of Eok-Jo, he enters Ha Bin's room. They cart her out on a dining cart covered in cloth but are caught. Everyone at the party realises what is happening and there's an uproar with rich Grandma's security. Back at home, Young Hye is waiting while everyone's on edge

They escape security and Ha Bin make's it into Young Hye's arms as she cries for her mother. Han Joo encourages her to leave with the baby while security catches up to them and a fight ensues. Han Joo is a really kung fu kicking badass as he fights off several men but Young Hye and the baby are apprehended. Han Joo fights for her freedom but is arrested and the baby is removed from Young Hye. She screams and falls to the fall refusing to accept this.

3 years later Ha Bin is with her Grandma at her company- the Golden Fishery. Grandma explains the story of her ascension into wealth and power and lets her know it'll all be hers in the future.
Jin Gi approaches and reveals there is 3 million missing from funds. He's the Director of Finance. Grandma is riled up and pressures him to fix the situation by tomorrow.

Next minute he's on the docks. He communicates with his henchman on what they need to do. So he is in on it.

Ha Bin's at a theme park  with Grandma, the maid and security. She gets lost amongst the crowd who's rushing to see Pierrot the clown. She's disappeared and Grandma is sure she knows who it was. We're taken to Young Hye who is looking over baby pictures when Grandma lets her know what happened. Jin Gi looks more and more suspicious.

Grandma accuses Young Hye of employing other people for help when the detectives remind her Han Joo is still in jail. At another mysterious location, Ha Bin is locked up in a dingy room and cries for her Grandma. She sees an opening amongst the  barred windows and is able to creep through the small space and  falls onto an open nail. OUCH. She wonders  around for help.

The Kidnapper enters and realises Ha Bin is gone, major freakout ensues. He rushes to look for her and sees her bloodied clothes washed up on shore, picks them up, and throws them deep into the ocean after putting together what must've happened.
The detectives find out information about the hideout being burnt to the ground and they all also assume the worst. They all examine the ocean and find her blood trail and clothes Grandma has fallen to the ground and its weeping all around for the ladies.Young Hye is in disbelief as she calls out for Ha Bin.

Elsewhere Jin Gi beats up his henchman who's massively screwed up and basically reveals he was in on the plan. Oh hell no. Henchman is ordered to finish off the man who is to blame.
Back at home, Grandma is unable to eat and neither is Jin Gi (URGH). Young Hye comes in, drenched in rain and accuses Grandma being responsible. Young Hye  accuses Grandma of killing both her son and granddaughter. Grandma retorts that Young Hye seduced her son. Jin Gi tries to fix the situation but lays an aggressive hand on Young Hye while dragging her away.

Outside, in the rain, Jin Gi still puts on an innocent act while Young Hye is trying to make sense of how this happened. Jin Gi apologises (really?!) and she tells them they'll go their separate ways from now on in.

It's morning elsewhere, and Ha Bin is bandaged up and wondering where she is. A young boy asks tries to comfort her leg as she can only cry. He feeds her but she realises her own hunger and rushes to finish it off. He recalls to himself how he found her on the ocean wash up.
Grandma is whelping beside her and the little boy tries to feed her.. awwwwww. She's mute but wonders who the little girl is. Kid still insists Grandma to eat while Ha Bin asks for more food lol. She lets out a smile after being fed.

The boy is questioning her and tells her he also can't remember her parents. She still isn't talking but he tries to reach out. He tells her he wishes she was his dongsaeng and explains how alone he is- she holds onto him and tries to comfort him too.

Meanwhile, Han Joo is finally released from prison and Jin Gi and Eok and waiting for him. (a/n: I can already tell I'm going to hate Jin Gi so much...)
Han Joo is told of what happened to Ha Bin and that Young Hye has disappeared. Jin Gi still has some serious guilt face and reminisces about the orphanage. Something is ticking in his mind and I don't like it. He explains how he realised there was no one on his side and he doesn't care what happens but he's going to succeed. He apologises if he might step on him in the future too. God, this guy is so slimy already. He wants Han Joo to forget about Young Hye.

Eok Jo is being a hilarious drunk and revels he couldn't fish without Han Joo. He exclaims his bromance (aww) and talks about the fish poachers. They both wait to catch them and find the two kids - Ha Bin and the boy. Ha Bin cries and tries to protect his oppa and they defend each other. Han Joo questions them and reprimands Eok Jo's harsh approach.

Oppa reveals his Grandma needs hospital treatment and Han Joo comes back with them and tries to help, but looks worried after checking her pulse. He explains Grandma is dead (lol..) and both the kids are upset. Ha Bin also cries for Grandma.  Eok Jo and Han Joo bury Grandma and the Ha Bin tries to comfort oppa. Eok Jo is fed up helping them and Han Joo doesn't know what to do with the kids. He can't leave them behind. He feeds them a meal and tries to figure out what to do.
The kids have a tiff as oppa doesn't want to go to the orphanage. He wants to leave before Han Joo takes them there but Ha Bin wants to stay and eat because she's hungry. He tells Han Joo he can can raise his dongsaeng. Han Joo tells them to eat up and worries as they sleep. He connects with Ha Bin while trying to comfort her in her slumber. He's reminded of the unfortunate past bother Jin Gi and Young Hye lamented about and tells Eok Jo the next morning he's going to raise the kids.

Eok tries to convince him he's making a mistake but Han Joo tells him he can't let them go. Both Ha Bin and oppa are playing and both Eok Jo and Han Joo watch them smile They find out Ha Bin can't remember her name and Eok jokes she should be called Cheon Won ($1 lolol) then Baek Won (10c) since her oppa's name is Man Won ($10). She likes Baek Won and they decide to call her that.

Han Joo plays with them at the beach and they seem so happy. awww. They're mucking around and then the scene changes in a time lapse, as both the kids rush to him as teens (Kim Yu Jeong  and Seo Young Joo) and all his "kids" rush up to him- they're splashing him in a playful ambush.

Thoughts:
Flashback intro's can be a hit and miss for me. Although they can be done well, if the best action is in the flashbacks ala Gu Family Book, the present plot is disappointing and everything seems lackluster in comparison. But this was a promising start. I really like that the setup seems to be in place and that it (hopefully) won't be dragging on for too long. The acting was solid and counteracted the draggy feeling first episodes usually have. Nothing was crack-worthy or standout but I'm satisfied with the progress the first episode has made and I hope it's 50 episode run won't turn redundant. I love the dynamic of the child actors but I'm glad it didn't lag too long on them and I'm eager to see how their relationship develops into that awkward-teen phase.
The characters all have interesting connections with one another, Grandma is despicable but I feel a sense of sympathy for her too. Jin Gi is already getting on my nerves, he's got one of those faces I'll be screaming at the screen and hating his guts much like what I've already got going on for Ahn Do Hoon in KBS's Secret. This drama is already extracting from me feels from all directions, and from the preview it really looks like it's going to heat up. The Ahjusshi's especially shine. I particularly enjoy the role Han Joo has taken as the carer for these kids. If anything bad happens to him I can already tell it'll be a tear jerker for me.

There you go! My first ever recap of anything. I apologise for my lazy screen caps as even those doubled the time it took to produce this. Took over 5 hours- I appreciate so much Dramabeans and Koalasplayground who I often go to for recaps now I've gone through it! If you guys enjoyed this, please let me know so I'll continue it. :)