
Second Shot at Love – K-drama Episode 2 Recap & Review
Episode 2 of Second Shot at Love begins with Geum-ju running away from home. Miss Nosy spots Geum-ju heading to the river. In the morning, Geum-ju's clothes and shoes are strewn around the riverbank, suggesting that she has drowned.
A flashback shows Geum-ju taking off her clothes as she stinks. She steps on dog poop and loses her shoes while trying to wash them in the river. She then jumps in front of Ui-joon's car and he crashes and breaks his leg as he swerves. He is irritated by the whole thing as he carries her home.
In the morning, she is embarrassed and offers financial compensation. Right then, he gets a harrowing call that everyone is looking for Geum-ju's corpse. She runs over and her family is relieved to see her alive. Tired of her antics, her mom, Gwang-ok tries to drown herself.
Seon-wook and Ui-joon discuss how Geum-ju broke Ui-joon's leg and crashed his car. Of course, Miss Nosy overhears and as expected, the news spreads like wildfire.
Everyone scolds Geum-ju and to redeem herself, they order her to look after Ui-joon. It cuts to a montage of her driving him around and doing chores he would otherwise do for his patients. She is curious as to why he left Seoul and he deflects by asking about her job.
A flashback shows her experiencing sexism at her workplace. As revenge, she decides to take all of her PTO leaves. She is unfairly fired because of this.
At present, the neighbouring ladies hound Gwang-ok. In response, she berates them for selling alcohol to her family and puts a ban in place. All the alcohol sellers are forced to listen as she handles the town's quick loans.
Flashbacks show that Hyeon-ju gets pregnant, married and divorced because she drinks. She also drinks as being a single mother is tiring. As for Jeong-su, he loses his junkyard, restaurant and almost loses the house because he drinks.
At present, everyone refuses to sell the Hans alcohol. Geum-ju is annoyed and it doesn't help as Ui-joon claims that the town is trying to help her. She calls him a hypocrite as he is a drinker as well.
Later, Seon-wook reveals that Ui-joon quit so he could look after his patients. He also left Seoul and opened a clinic in Bochun as it lacked basic medical care. Young-woong doesn't buy this and does a little digging. An alumni post suggests that Ui-joon unfairly lost his tenure and his fiancée left him for someone else. He quit the hospital and became an alcoholic for a while. Now he rejects major offers from Seoul hospitals.
Geum-ju finds Ui-joon sulking at a river spot. A flashback shows her introducing it to him to cheer him up after his grandmother dies.
At present, Geum-ju tries to forget about Ui-joon but she realises that she would have liked some support when she broke up with Ju-yeop. She decides to cheer up Ui-joon by making him a lavish meal and giving him pep talks. While he is confused, his nurse warns Geum-ju not to flirt with him.
Right then, Ui-joon rejects a major offer. Exasperated, Geum-ju reveals that she knows about his past and urges him to take the offer. Suddenly, her friends alert her that the alumni post isn't about Ui-joon.
Elsewhere, Hyeon-ju hangs out while her twins take their taekwondo class with Seon-wook. She jokes around with him and we learn that he likes her. Once she leaves, her friend sadly comments on how she could have been a star. Seon-wook is irked as she is still a star to him.
Back to our leads, Ui-joon quickly masks his amusement and tells Geum-ju not to meddle in his life. She is hurt and agrees that she has crossed a line. A flashback shows them at an airport. She tries to stop him and he says that she has crossed the line.
At present, she scolds herself for not respecting Ui-joon's boundaries. However, he thinks of her all night.
The next morning, she decides to go back to acting as his driver. However, she begs Seon-wook to replace her when she gets a notification. Turns out, it is Ju-yeop's birthday and she had ordered a cake in advance. It cuts to a dramatic chase to Seoul to stop the delivery. However, she runs into Ju-yeop in the elevator.
He finally explains that the affair began because he was drunk. Upset by his hypocrisy, she orders him to get it together for his kid's sake. He tells her not to cross a line and that she should solve her issues first.
Ui-joon had said the same thing and Geum-ju is upset. After flinging the cake at Ju-yeop, she gets drunk.
Back home, Ui-joon worries about her. He finds a drunk Geum-ju who is babbling about a cake to Seon-wook. Ui-joon misunderstands and thinks she abandoned him to get drunk at a party. Seon-wook reveals that she is hurting Ui-joon and that she needs to become a decent person. As they leave, she cries.
Angry, Ui-joon drinks at home as well. He suddenly sees a comment on the alumni post and is shocked. It says that Ui-joon has killed someone.
In the Second Shot at Love Episode 2 epilogue, Ui-joon and Geum-ju are having a drinking competition in 2011. She is a sore loser and he carries her home. He wants to win in everything so he can take care of her.
The Episode Review
Having set up the drama of Geum-ju's drinking and how it affects her and those around her, Second Shot at Love Episode 2 goes back to the usual K-drama formula of misunderstandings, miscommunication and mayhem.
Not to compare, but we have seen something like this in recent rom-coms like Welcome to Samdalri and Love Next Door. The female protagonist refuses to tell the male protagonist the truth, viewers are left in the dark about what happened between the couple, and the atmosphere is quite vague and frustrating. This takes away from Geum-ju's alcoholism and tense family dynamic which are quite sensitive plotlines and need a sensitive treatment.
While there is potential for Second Shot at Love to do something good with its ambitious undertaking, we have a feeling that all of that may be sidelined for a tumultuous will-they-won't-they romance that may take up the majority of the runtime. It's a pity since Episode 1 exceeded expectations. But maybe next week can assuage our fears of the direction this show may take.
Previous Episode
Next Episode
Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Review Geek
29-06-2025
- The Review Geek
Good Boy – K-drama Episode 9 Recap & Review
Allez Episode 9 of Good Boy starts with us back in Sao Paulo in 2018. Jong-hyeon has twisted his ankle here, thanks in part to saving Han-na from speeding traffic on the road earlier in the timeline. This is what aggravated the injury to begin with and eventually leads to his eye being hit. Jong-hyeon receives medical attention but he's determined to carry on no matter what. Back in the present, this fighting spirit serves him well as all our team go up against tough battles. Ju-young has rallied the troops with a lot of men at his disposal and unfortunately Jae-hong is soon knocked out. Dong-ju speeds off to save the rest of the team while Han-na holds her own with the shotgun, which comes in very handy to stave off the baddies for a bit. Dong-ju races in to save Jong-hyeon, who's in a spot of bother with Baek, who swings wildly with his knife. Unfortunately, their spirit is not good enough as the group are left to lick their wounds thanks to Ju-young and his cronies coming in and turning the tide. They also take off with the drugs too, with the tracker ripped off the van. Jae-hong is taken to hospital in the aftermath of this, having hurt his back quite badly, while it appears Han-na has been taken too. In reality, she's in hot pursuit of the truck and clings onto the top, determined to try and stop the group no matter what. With the team light on manpower, it's up to Joon-hyeon and Dong-ju to find Han-na before it's too late. Han-na throws her shoes and various bits of clothing to help show the way at intersections as the pair race off and eventually track down the truck. Unfortunately, it's immediately clear from the tyre marks on the ground that the package has been split into different trucks to throw them off the scent. A glove helps give a crucial clue, with Han-na marking the reg plate – 4131. With this crucial intel, the group head back to the station intent on using the CCTV footage to track down where the truck is. With a potential mole at the police station, Man-sik instead brings them to Insung Pawnshop instead. With the help of Geum-nam, they track down our bald eagle, Gwang-se. With drugs stashed in his teddy bear, he makes them pinky-swear to protect him before mentioning that Ju-young and his group are dealing with some Japanese guys. The Golden bunny initially frinted this, as he used to head all the deals with the Yakuza. Jong-hyeon and Dong-ju question Golden Bunny, who has very clearly been visited by Ju-young and forced into silent submission. It's clear from the metal teeth he places down that Ju-young has been visiting his brother, Silver Bunny. Dong-ju is convinced they need to focus their efforts on finding Han-na before raising hell. He's starting to think a lot more like an officer here, but of course he also has his neurological issues to contend with too, which continue to flare up across the episode. Ju-young is definitely dealing with the Japanese Yakuza here, as he tries to broker a deal with a Japanese businessman. He wants to send the goods out to him in parts and attempts to try and bridge the mistrust. To prove how serious he is, Ju-young kills the man's interpreter and forces the deal through. Unbeknownst to the gang, Han-na is actually hiding amongst the goods as it's smuggled onboard the ships. Whilst there, she overhears Leo calling Yeon-ha his 'black cat' and realizes exactly who these gangsters are. Han-na continues to investigate but while spying on Yeon-ha and Leo, she's blindsided by Ju-young who knocks her out with Baek. They don't find anything on her (given she's thrown it all off the truck for Dong-ju and Jong-hyeon), and they don't kill her either. Instead, they lock her up in a container, with a couple of dead bodies, with the promise of dropping her in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Before she's left to her fate, Han-na speaks to Leo. She brings up the case involving her father, Ji Ho-cheol, and we finally see that he's the one who killed her dad. Although Han-na is left to her fate, she does manage to smuggle a phone from one of the goons, where she makes a desperate call to the emergency services, despite the bad signal. Our group thankfully manage to decipher it and race to Geumpo Shipyard, onto a Russian ship called the Victory. The group race off to try and track her down, using Gwang-se as bait to sneak onboard the ship and bypass all the goons. Dong-ju manages to find Han-na inside the container, thanks in part to Jong-hyeon, as he holds off the goons and gives them time to escape. Unfortunately, Baek winds up stabbing Jong-hyeon in the gut, slowing them down, while Dong-ju detours and heads on inside the ship with the others. Unfortunately there are too many men surrounding them so Dong-ju decides to sacrifice himself and raise hell while Jong-hyeon gets Han-na to safety. They don't get too far though as Leo shows up with his men and shoots Jong-hyeon in the shoulder. He's clearly aiming for Han-na but he steps in the way and takes a bullet for her. As he falls and topples into the water, Han-na drops to her knees and is shocked. The Episode Review Is Jong-hyeon really dead? The preview for tomorrow's episode cleverly disguises this and makes it difficult to tell. I don't think he is dead (it just doesn't seem like that sort of show, does it?) Good Boy could throw us a curveball and raise the stakes dramatically by killing Jong-hyeon off. As for the episode itself, there's a really nice ebb and flow to this one, with a lot of action, a sprinkling of comedy thanks to our bald eagle, and some good investigative work too. Han-na throwing her items of clothing off the truck is quite a clever tactic and I was thinking at one point they may have doubled down on the humour and found all her items of clothing leaving Han-na forced to adopt a goon's clothing, but alas, the show hasn't sunk to that level of crude humour, which is actually to Good Boy's credit. The main story has a compelling structure to it though, with the good guys up against insurmountable odds and fighting back no matter what, making for a simple but highly enjoyable watch. However, it's also clear that these guys are not to be trifled with and right now, Ju-young looks like an unstoppable force. We'll have to wait and see where this one goes next though but tomorrow's episode is shaping up to be a must-watch! Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!


The Review Geek
27-06-2025
- The Review Geek
Squid Game – K-drama Season 3 Episode 3 Recap & Review
Episode 3 Episode 3 of Squid Game Season 3 begins with the guards killing the failed Red Team players. To make up for the guards killed during the failed rebellion, we see that the new staff are foreigners. They seem extremely eager to kill the failed players. It is later revealed that they are the VIPs. Nam-gyu is frustrated that he lost Thanos' pill box and almost gets killed while trying to search for it. Myung-gi is relieved as Geum-ja and Jun-hee bring the crying baby in but Jun-hee avoids him. No-eul disguises Player 246 as the doctor, Staff #16 and they sneak out. He wonders why No-eul is helping him but she doesn't say. He hides in #16's room while she works on an exit plan. The game results are revealed. 25 players remain and each player gets 1.7 billion won. Meanwhile, Woo-seok asks around Captain Park's 'hometown' but no one knows of him. He decides to dig deeper, and warns Jun-ho to keep an eye on Park. The voting begins and the VIPs find it more exciting than the actual games. They discuss how greedy the players are and to what extent they will go to keep playing. In a turn of events, Nam-gyu votes no. Seeing that he is going through withdrawal and wanting to make him suffer, Min-su votes yes. Geum-ja begs the players to stop the game for the child's sake but no one listens. The Red Team wins by a landslide. The VIPs mock Geum-ja's speech and her decision to kill her own son for a stranger. The trafficking team finally checks the workroom and finds the dead guards. They scan everyone except the doctor, who has been disfigured and dressed in 246's clothes. They believe #16 has betrayed them. The Officer goes through the CCTV and finds a disguised 246 in #16's room and #11 (No-eul) missing. She sneaks up on the Officer and threatens him to help her and #16 escape. He doesn't understand why she is helping the doctor if she is against organ trafficking. On the boat, Captain Park is about to turn in for the night when Jun-ho recognises an island's shore. Park tries to deter him but Jun-ho orders him to get closer to the island. He remembers the cliff and declares that it is the island much to Captain Park's chagrin. Back in the bunker, Jun-hee feels guilty for Yong-sik and Hyun-ju's deaths. Geum-ja assures her that it is not her fault and that she should focus on her child. Geum-ja then begs Gi-hun to help Jun-hee and her kid survive. She comforts him as he continues to blame himself. She failed her son but they need to help Jun-hee's kid. That night, Woo-seok breaks into Captain Park's home while his friend stands guard. He finally finds a photo of Woo-seok with the Salesman. But Captain Park's dog attacks and Woo-seok is mauled before he shoots. He is leaving when he finds money and a Squid Game guard uniform. Unfortunately, the cops arrive. The next morning, the Officer gives No-eul a boat key. But he feels like something is off and tells a guard to check the workroom again. Unfortunately, they realise that the doctor is dead and Player 246 is pretending to be him. A coffin is brought to the bunker and everyone is in shock as they realise Geum-ja has hanged herself in the night. Jun-hee cries while Gi-hun tears up. The prep for the next game begins. Gi-hun holds the kid as Jun-hee's fractured ankle has gotten worse. Myung-gi watches them from afar. The VIPs believe Jun-hee is a lost cause while VIP 3 reveals he accidentally bet on her. But he still thinks that as a mother, she has supernatural strength to pull through. Unfortunately, the next game is jump rope. Another VIP claims the kid should join the game, harping on VIP 3's motherly instinct to protect the child and win. All the VIPs convince VIP 3 as he claims he will sacrifice his child for their entertainment. Once again, Jun-hee blames herself for Geum-ja's death but Gi-hun assures her that it is not her fault. The 5th game is finally introduced. The players need to cross a broken bridge in 20 minutes while playing jump rope. Whoever fails to cross in time will be killed. Gi-hun tries to strategise that they can leave the kid behind and he can carry Jun-hee across. However, the guards declare that the kid is also a player and has to play. As the players bicker over who should go first, Min-su tests Nam-gyu but he is still rude to him. Upset, Min-su throws Thanos' pill box on the bridge and this pushes Nam-gyu to start playing. He successfully reaches the box but sees that it is empty. While he is distracted, the rope hits him and he falls and dies. Gi-hun decides to cross with the kid first and go back for Jun-hee. This seems to upset Myung-gi. It is almost touch and go but Gi-hun makes it across with the kid. Emboldened, the rest follow and Gi-hun realises he cannot go back for Jun-hee til the rest finish crossing. Jun-hee panics as only 12 minutes are left. However, Player 96 finishes second and starts killing off the players who almost reach the finish line. The Episode Review Not to get our hopes up but it seems that so far, Squid Game is back on track with Season 3 with the little moments between the different characters, the outside world investigation into the game and the actual game. Siwan does a brilliant job as Myung-gi, despite playing a silent role in this chapter. His frustration is palpable as Jun-hee avoids him for killing Hyun-ju. But will he go as far as to let Gi-hun save Jun-hee all alone, or will he finally help the woman he claims to love? Showing more of the VIPs and their twisted mindset while betting on the players was a nice touch as well. It also falls exactly in line with the Old Man's saviour complex, with the way they think they are doing a favour to Jun-hee by letting her kid join the games. The final plot twist with Player 96 also reminds us of the Season 1 hopscotch game, where the players started sabotaging each other. These constant callbacks to Season 1 bring back the nostalgia that was missing in the previous season. Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!


The Review Geek
27-06-2025
- The Review Geek
Squid Game – K-drama Season 3 Episode 2 Recap & Review
Episode 2 Episode 2 of Squid Game Season 3 begins with Player 246 waking up. No-eul kills the doctor and decides to disguise 246 as a guard. Back to the game, the Red Team enters the arena. Each member has 30 minutes to kill at least one Blue Team member. Gi-hun goes after Dae-ho who narrowly avoids him every time. The Shaman and her followers go the way the 'ghosts' tell her. However, we see that she just avoids the noisy paths. Player 100 realises his key doesn't fit all the doors. He teams up with a Blue Team member who has a different key. Hyun-ju deduces the same, that there are 3 locks with 3 keys. Fortunately, the women have one of each key. Geum-ja and Jun-hee even give their key to Hyun-ju to save time. Myung-gi and Nam-gyu aka Player 124 kill two players at the same time, so they cannot betray each other. However, Nam-gyu drops Thanos' pill box and Min-su grabs one. He keeps hearing how he is a coward and he takes a pill. 226 runs into the three women and tries to negotiate with Hyun-ju to let him kill Jun-hee or Geum-ja. It seems that Hyun-ju may give in but she ends up killing him. Player 100 betrays his ally to escape a Red Team member and then later steals his key. Once it is announced that Myung-gi has passed, Jun-hee is hopeful that he will come to protect her and the women. However, Nam-gyu convinces Myung-gi to kill all the Blue Team members. That way, the Red Team members who fail to reach the quota will also be killed. And the prize money will increase for them and Jun-hee. Gi-hun ignores every Blue Team member who is not Dae-ho. Coincidentally, a Red Team member attacks Dae-ho but is accidentally killed. Dae-ho takes his knife and hides. Meanwhile, the women hide in a room as Jun-hee fractures her ankle. To make matters worse, she goes into labour. Yong-sik corners an injured Blue Team player. He is the one who dragged Yong-sik away from his mother during the Mingle game. The Blue Team player attacks but another Red Team player kills him while Yong-sik looks in shock. The Shaman accidentally leads her followers into an ambush set by Myung-gi and Nam-gyu. As she escapes, she runs into Gi-hun. Turns out, she is on his hit list as well. To save herself, she tells him about an injured Dae-ho leaving a trail of blood. Gi-hun leaves her and starts following the blood. She finally finds the exit but it needs all 3 keys to unlock it. Yong-sik comes across an injured Blue Team player but is unable to kill her. Player 100 plays dead and is almost killed by Nam-gyu, who is called away by Myung-gi. The Shaman finds 100 and since he has the remaining keys, she takes him to the exit. Geum-ja and Hyun-ju help Jun-hee give birth to her child. A Red Team member attacks and Hyun-ju fights back. They tussle but she kills him. She finally notices her surroundings and sees that she is at the exit. She unlocks the door as she has all 3 keys. She suddenly remembers Jun-hee and Geum-ja. She goes back to them but Myung-gi kills her. He finally notices Jun-hee and their child. He covers for them and leads Nam-gyu away. Player 100 betrays the Shaman and locks her out once he exits. She is cornered by a stoned Min-su looking for Se-mi. She tries to use her shamanic act to put him down, but it just reminds him of Nam-gyu. He kills her and then panics when he hallucinates killing Se-mi. Gi-hun finally finds Dae-ho who starts apologising and rambling. He never served in the army and lied so he could team up with him and Jung-bae. He also wanted to help bring the magazines but got scared during the rebellion. He begs for his life but then grabs his knife and attacks Gi-hun. He goes as far as to claim Gi-hun tricked them so he could get everyone killed and take all the prize money. Having had enough, Gi-hun chokes Dae-ho till he dies. Jun-hee and Geum-ja finally reach the exit, but while unlocking the door, Yong-sik finds them. With only a minute left on the clock, he needs to kill someone or he will be killed. He decides to kill Jun-hee and Geum-ja begs him to kill her instead. He refuses, going after Jun-hee and a desperate Geum-ja stops him by stabbing him with her hairpin blade. He apologises before the guards kill him for failing. At the end of Squid Game Season 3 Episode 2, Gi-hun convinces himself that it is his fault. Before he can kill himself, the guards stop him. The Episode Review Seems like the original Squid Game charm is indeed back. This game goes as far as to remind us of the marble game in Season 1, where fan-favourites were betrayed and/or killed off in bulk. It is completely action-packed and gory as even the Blue Team members fight back. The Old Man's motto of man being inherently selfish is seen in this game with players betraying even their allies. Maybe Hyun-ju should have been selfish; at least she wouldn't have been stabbed in the back, literally. The emotional quotient is even higher than the marble game, given that the characters had a whole season to be fleshed out and relatable. We already knew it was a bad move for Geum-ja and Jun-hee to switch with Yong-sik and Myung-gi, respectively. But we do wish Dae-ho could have been redeemed, as that would have made his death even more impactful. Instead, he does a complete 180 turn from his Season 2 personality, making him cruel without any set-up except for the previous episode's outburst. Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!