[Mar 23 & 24] “Beauty and Mr. Romantic” Ep 1 & 2: Ratings, Recap, Review

KBS 2TV’s “Beauty and Mr. Romantic”—a love story with Im Soo Hyang and Ji Hyun Woo—began with a 15.3% rating, making it the top show on Saturday.

Its episode 2 also did really well. It got a 17.2% rating, which is almost 2% higher than its first episode. It was the most watched show of the day.

“Beauty and Mr. Romantic” episodes 1 & 2: Recap & review

Episode 1

The episode depicted the fateful meeting of childhood acquaintances Park Dora (played by Lee Seol-ah) and Ko Dae-chung (Moon Sung-hyun), along with the tumultuous family histories of the characters. The young 13-year-old Dora, driven solely by the need to provide for her family, was led by her mother Baek Mi-ja (played by Cha Hwa-yeon) to earn money, and Mi-ja exploited her daughter Dora to repay debtors.

While collecting rice and groceries given to broken families, Dora met high school student Dae-chung and instantly fell for him after he helped carry her heavy load and escorted her home. Their first encounter sparked curiosity about their future story.

One day, Mi-ja, harassed by debt collectors, fled with her family under the cover of night. In their new home, Dora coincidentally met Dae-chung again and was overjoyed to discover that he was the son of the landlord Kim Sun-young (played by Yoon Yu-sun). Dora and Dae-chung were surprised to find each other, and Dora, believing their continued encounters to be fate, grew her affection for him day by day.

However, when Dora noticed Dae-chung seemingly had a girlfriend, she couldn’t hide her troubled feelings. So preoccupied with Dae-chung, she ultimately botched a drama child actor audition. Mi-ja, who saw her daughter as a means to make money, lashed out at the distraught Dora, leading to an explosive emotional conflict between mother and daughter.

In the neighborhood, bad rumors about Mi-ja spread far and wide, causing Dae-chung’s family to express their dissatisfaction with her. Dae-chung’s grandmother So Geum-ja (played by Lim Ye-jin) advised Sun-young to kick her out. But Dae-chung’s maternal grandfather Kim Jun-seop (played by Park Geun-hyung) felt sympathy for Mi-ja’s story and began to take care of her.

Meanwhile, the young Dae-chung experienced a period of wandering, meeting an older sister, and riding motorcycles. Noticing his behavior, Dora nagged him, saying, “Does your mom know you’re doing this?” and tried to change his mind. Dae-chung lied to avoid the situation but was quickly found out, and Dora exposed to Sun-young that Dae-chung was riding a motorcycle with another girl.

At the end of episode 1, Sun-young created a scene at the hair salon of the woman Dae-chung was seeing, grabbing her by the hair. Dora could only watch the chaotic situation from behind, marking the ending of the episode.

Episode 2

Dae-chung was caught dating the older Jeong-mi (Miram). When his family opposed it, Dae-chung stubbornly said, “I’ll just live recklessly without going to school.”

To this, Geum-ja revealed Dae-chung’s secret birth, saying, “You’re an orphan, and you don’t even appreciate that we’ve raised you all this time. Where do you get off causing trouble?”

Shocked, Dae-chung left home. He then asked his parents Sun-young, Ko Hyun-chul (Lee Doo-il), and his mother’s close friend Jang Su-yeon (Lee Il-hwa) about his birth mother, but no one knew. However, watching Dae-chung, Su-yeon quietly swallowed the fact that she was his birth mother.

Dora, who had tattled on Dae-chung’s girlfriend, instead confessed her feelings to him. Dae-chung rebuked her, saying, “You’re not even fully grown and you’re causing trouble.”

At the same time, Dora’s mother Mi-ja heard rumors that Sun-young’s father was wealthy and tried to win his heart. Then, loan sharks stormed into Mi-ja’s house, leading to a crisis.

(Source: joynews24.com, stoo.com)