With the reason why Ji Hyun-woo informed Yoo-jin of the divorce revealed, Yoo-jin heightened tension with a shocking "mother-daughter joint traffic accident ending" in which she rammed a construction site fence with her daughter Park Seo-kyung.
Episode 2 of the MBN Wednesday-Thursday miniseries "First Lady" (screenplay by Kim Hyung-wan, directed by Lee Ho-hyun, produced by Studio Gidam Co., Artist Studio, Roadshow Plus Co.) which aired Thursday the 25th recorded a national viewership rating of 1.8% and a peak minute rating of 2.1% according to Nielsen Korea.
First, Cha Soo-yeon (played by Yoo-jin), who received the divorce demand, angrily told Hyun Min-cheol (played by Ji Hyun-woo), "Do you think you'll get away with that? Divorce is not an option," saying his support rate would fall if they divorced right after the election. In response, Hyun Min-cheol reacted sharply, "You don't even ask why we're separating. As if you already know the reason. So you're the one saying we should break up." Later Hyun Min-cheol asked Shin Hae-rin (played by Lee Min-young) who was worried that the special law might be scrapped again to arrange a meeting with President Yoo, and at the same time gave her the resident registration number of Um Soon-jung, who had been hit-and-run victim, and instructed her to look for witnesses. But when Shin Hae-rin took Um Soon-jung's resident registration number she showed a momentarily wavering look, raising suspicion.
At the same time, Hyun Ji-yu (played by Park Seo-kyung) struggled with Cha Soo-yeon's stylist Lee Hwa-jin (played by Han Su-a) when Lee Hwa-jin was searching for a pendant in Cha Soo-yeon's dressing room, and the two who were jostling both tumbled down the stairs and lost consciousness. News of the accident sent Cha Soo-yeon and Hyun Min-cheol rushing to the hospital, but even in the ward where Hyun Ji-yu lay they clashed violently, with lines like "The first thing you did after becoming president was the Do Tae-hoon special law?" and "Someone died." At that moment Ji-yu came to her senses and showed Hyun Min-cheol Lee Hwa-jin's pendant, saying she recently witnessed a kiss between Hyun Min-cheol and Lee Hwa-jin. Hyun Min-cheol tried to explain, "It's not what you think," but Ji-yu said, "Dad doesn't deserve to be here," and threw the pendant. Eventually when Hyun Min-cheol brought up divorce, saying "We're getting divorced," Cha Soo-yeon dragged him out of the ward.
Cha Soo-yeon and Hyun Min-cheol then laid bare their political crisis and clashed sharply. Hyun Min-cheol mentioned the investigation initiated by President Yoo and brought up H Group, which is connected to Cha Soo-yeon, and Cha Soo-yeon retorted, "You brought out the bomb of a special law, so it's only natural to investigate the illegal succession case that became the fuse in the fire incident," but Hyun Min-cheol firmly stated the reason for divorce, "As long as we are married, the investigation will continue." Cha Soo-yeon tried to persuade him, calling it a "tired, repeated repertoire" and denying the speculation that Chairman Yang's political funds flowed to him through her, but when Hyun Min-cheol remained unmoved and only said he was sorry, she asked the loaded question, "Is it because of that child?" arousing curiosity.
Cha Soo-yeon returned to the ward and comforted Hyun Ji-yu, who sobbed, "I thought being born as my mother's daughter or my father's daughter was the worst. I couldn't even imagine living as the daughter of divorced parents." Hearing that Lee Hwa-jin, who had been hospitalized in the same hospital, had gone missing, Cha Soo-yeon ran to the parking lot and witnessed Hyun Min-cheol handing a pendant to someone while saying, "I'll take care of that person. I chose them, so I'll do it my way," and was shocked to realize the person was Lee Hwa-jin. Cha Soo-yeon welled up in tears, and to housekeeper Sung Hyun-sook (played by Kim Gwak-kyung-hee) who comforted her she smiled and said, "At least there's one person who believes in me," evoking pity.
The next day the presidential transition committee launch ceremony took place, and as Hyun Min-cheol and staff posed for photos in front of reporters, Hyun Min-cheol's moving boxes sent by Cha Soo-yeon arrived and shook the transition committee site. Reporter Son Min-joo (played by Shin So-yul), who witnessed this, treated the boxes as confirmation of the couple's divorce and instructed by phone to investigate evidence that Cha Soo-yeon was involved in Chairman Yang's illegal succession, saying, "On the transition committee's first day, his wife packed his bags and kicked him out. Isn't this a divorce? It's a divorce war."
Meanwhile, amid swirling divorce rumors about the president-elect couple, reporters flocked to the hospital where Cha Soo-yeon and Hyun Ji-yu had been after Son Min-joo's line, "With speculation that the couple's divorce stems from the investigation into Chairman Yang's illegal succession, Cha Soo-yeon's role as a behind-the-scenes power has come under scrutiny." Eventually Cha Soo-yeon fled with Ji-yu in housekeeper Sung's car and sped off wildly to elude reporters. Ji-yu had been distressed by messages from classmates like "Were they a show-window couple all this time?" and "What about Jiyu? She's ruined in one blow." While driving, Cha Soo-yeon tried to grab Ji-yu's phone, later spotted an obstacle and turned the wheel, but crashed into a construction site fence. The scene of Cha Soo-yeon and Ji-yu losing consciousness with blood flowing from their heads in a "mother-daughter joint bloody traffic accident ending" sent tension soaring.
Viewers responded, "The frantic, whirlwind development is really amazing! The thrill and suspense were top-notch!", "You can't leave your seat because you have no idea where it'll turn! You just have to dive in and watch!", "Yoo-jin and Ji Hyun-woo act so well! The casting is perfect!!", "Politics is like 'The World of the Married,' it's really a deadly drama! Don't touch the daughter," and other reactions poured in.
Meanwhile, episode 3 of the MBN Wednesday-Thursday miniseries "First Lady" will air Oct. 1 (Wed.) at 10:20 p.m.
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