New Tales of Gisaeng review: episodes 31-40 Other Storylines
While Sa Ran and Da Mo are getting back together, both Ra Ra and her mum have trouble with their relationships. But Dr. Geum and Ms. Han finally get married (ah, cute) and Gong Joo and Son Ja are getting on very well too…
Ms. Han gets married. New Tales of Gisaeng, SBS, 2011
Ra Ra
At first Ra Ra’s future mother-in-law continues to be nice as pie to Ra Ra. So Ra Ra believes she is marrying into a good family. She takes her aunt to meet her new mother-in-law for dinner. But her aunt thinks they should be honest and tell the new mother-in-law that Ra Ra’s real parents are her aunt and uncle, not Dr. Geum and his wife. Ra Ra doesn’t object to this, so over the meal they explain the situation. The news doesn’t go down well – After all, if Dr. Geum is not Ra Ra’s real father, maybe Ra Ra won’t inherit Dr. Geum’s hospital…
So the future mother-in-law is starting to show her true colours. She gives Ra Ra a long list of relatives and suggests the presents Ra Ra’s family should give them! But there’s no talk about what the groom’s family will give Ra Ra’s family in return. Ra Ra’s aunt can see immediately what kind of woman they are dealing with and she is not happy about it. But Ra Ra is still too naive to realise that she is being used.
Ra Ra, New Tales of Gisaeng, SBS, 2011
Ra Ra’s mother-in-law is becoming less satisfied with Ra Ra and thinks her son can do better. She throws a fit when she discovers that the house the newlyweds will live in is just rented, not bought by Dr. Geum. So she tells her son to start dating other women to find someone wealthier! She has no worries about calling off the wedding even though they have already set the date. She really is a piece of work.
Her son is a mummy’s boy so does exactly what she tells him to do – he tells Ra Ra that he can’t see her because he is meeting his friends and then goes on a blind date instead! He could at least have chosen somewhere where Ra Ra was not likely to go, but he doesn’t. And there’s a brilliant scene when Ra Ra arrives at a restaurant with the girls and then sees her fiancé sitting at the next table flirting with another woman. (Oh boy!) She calmly goes over to the table and questions his date who has no idea what is going on. The young woman is mortified to hear that he is already engaged and storms off. Ra Ra is fuming too. But all her fiancé can do is plead for her not to mention this to her father! He is only thinking about his job. What a wimp.
When Ra Ra’s mother-in-law hears what happened, she thinks that she can easily persuade Ra Ra that she has been mistaken and that her son wasn’t really on a date. So she calls her and gives her a very lame excuse as to why her son is seeing other women. They think Ra Ra accepts this excuse (they think she’s an idiot) as she has led a sheltered life and is quite naive. But she’s not that stupid. She tells her father exactly what happened and that the wedding is off. Dr. Geum agrees that they must accept his resignation!!!!
Ra Ra catches her husband-to-be on a date with another woman, New Tales of Gisaeng, SBS, 2011.
Ra Ra is shocked and disturbed about what happened and begins to think that she is not meant to find happiness in marriage. So when Ra Ra’s mum reveals to her that she is the owner of the gisaeng house and intends to take it over one day, she asks her mum to give the gisaeng house to her. She also decides to become a gisaeng like Ms. Oh who she admires as a career woman.Nobody is happy to hear this. But Ra Ra thinks after her experiences she is not meant to lead a normal life – She tells Ms. Oh she wants to be a gisaeng since no decent man has ever shown interest in her. (But at the beginning of this drama Ms. Lee did not invite Ra Ra to become a gisaeng – they only wanted Sa Ran! I suppose it’s different now that Ra Ra’s mum is the boss of the gisaeng house!)
Ra Ra’s Mum
Ra Ra’s mum has her dreams of happiness shattered too. She is not satisfied with her new man and tells him she is disappointed because he’s changed – he’s not the same man she loved at university. Now he has got into bad habits and curses and eats in a vulgar way! He says she’s changed too – she has no interesting conversation and just nags him all the time. But when he tells her that he chose to be with her after his wife died despite having the opportunity to date younger women (!) she decides to call it a day.
Well, at least now she knows what life with him would really be like. The idealistic image in her head is not the reality. But it’s sad that she has spent all these years dreaming about an idyllic relationship with him whilst living in a loveless marriage. She sits alone in her new flat and gets a photo out of the drawer of herself with Dr. Geum. It looks like she is regretting the divorce. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all? Maybe she wants him back?
Sure enough, she starts going to visit Ra Ra’s house. The first time everyone is out – they seem to be happily getting on with their lives without her. She has a snoop around and is shocked to see Son Ja’s stuff in one of the bedrooms. She quizzes the adjumma about who he is. On another occasion she turns up at the house when Ms. Han is there. She mistakes her for the adjumma and asks her to put her flowers in some water! Awkward. She has come to talk to her ex mother-in-law. They go in her room and she immediately kneels on the floor. (This must mean that she wants to come back)
Sure enough, she apologises and says she made a mistake and wants the family to take her back! This is interesting. She wanted a divorce because they didn’t love each other but now she wants to come back? It’s also interesting that she goes to her mother-in-law to ask this. Surely she should go to her ex-husband? Of course she is shocked to hear about Ms. Han’s relationship with Dr. Geum. She didn’t see that one coming. She obviously thought she could just apologise and everything could go back to what it was. But everything has changed now. We also learn that she broke up with her first love because he was poor. So she must have chosen Dr. Geum because he was wealthy – but she has paid the price in a loveless marriage whilst wasting years yearning for an impossibly idealistic relationship. It seems that she is not quite ready to give up on Dr. Geum though and meets with other members of the family to try to discover how serious he is about Ms. Han. 
Ra Ra’s mum arrives to find two adjummas. New Tales of Gisaeng, SBS, 2011
Then she meets Dr. Geum for coffee. But it’s so obvious what he’s going to say. And I do feel bad for her as now she seems so lost and obviously doesn’t want to be on her own. After their marriage ended, they both went back to their first loves! But because her relationship didn’t work out she thinks his won’t work out either. So she suggests that he just come back to her instead! This is an interesting theory but his relationship with Ms. Han is a lot more genuine and of course they have a child together too..
Confused and desperate, Ra Ra’s mum calls Ms. Oh who guesses that she wants to know about Ms. Han. When she accepts that the relationship is serious she decides to go and stay at the gisaeng house! She’s lonely and has nothing better to do! Ms. Oh is naturally unsure about this but as she is the owner of the gisaeng house, Ms. Oh can hardly refuse her. But as soon as she moves in she starts interfering in the running of things – she makes the gisaengs change their hairstyles, then she wants a title as she will be part of the house from now on. Ms. Oh does not look happy about this. Maybe it’s only a matter of time before Ms. Oh gets kicked out. After all, the two women have never been friends.
Ms. Oh talks about her concerns with Ms. Lee, New Tales of Gisaeng, SBS, 2011
Ms. Han and Dr. Geum
When Ms. Han hears about Sa Ran’s plans to have a gisaeng marriage she is concerned even though they don’t know each other. Ms. Han is worried about her and wonders if she should say something since Sa Ran’s parents are obviously not concerned about her! But there is nothing she can do and she feels sad when she watches the gisaeng wedding take place. This contrasts dramatically with Sa Ran’s step mum’s attitude towards the wedding – she just thinks about all the nice things the family will have after Sa Ran is married.
Meanwhile, Ra Ra’s grandmother seems to have softened towards Ms. Han. (It must have been the food!) She tells her to hurry up and marry Dr. Geum and go on a honeymoon. She even gives her a necklace because she has noticed that Ms. Han doesn’t wear any jewellery. At first Dr. Geum and Ms. Han are not in a hurry to get married but when the fortune teller tells them that they should marry this month, they set a date. They get hanboks made and have a traditional Korean wedding, followed by a honeymoon in Jejudo.
Dr, Geum and Ms. Han have a traditional Korean wedding, New Tales of Gisaeng, SBS.
Ra Ra’s uncle and aunt
Ra Ra’s aunt finally forgives her husband for having the affair years ago. She decides to meet his love child, Son Ja. Son Ja moves in to Ra Ra’s house at first because his dad knows his wife will refuse to let him live with them. (no kidding?) But after she calms down Ra Ra’s aunt suggests that Son Ja should live with them since they don’t have any children at home. Wow. Would this really happen?
Then their future daughter-in-law Michelle arrives for a visit from the States. But Ra Ra’s aunt and uncle are not overly pleased at the prospect of a foreign daughter-in-law…(no that would be terrible!)
Gong Joo and Son Ja
Gong Joo’s mum is not pleased that Gong Joo is still seeing Son Ja even though he has moved out of their house. She is worried that she is jeopardising her chances of finding a rich husband by hanging out with Son Ja. She thinks that Gong Joo can do much better for herself now that Sa Ran has married into a rich family. But Gong Joo and Son Ja still spend time together. Son Ja has realised that he has strong feelings for Gong Joo that go beyong friendship…
