Former girl group T-ara member and actor Ham Eun-jung delivered explosive immersion as she portrayed the fateful reunion of twins who live completely opposite lives in her first work after marriage, "The First Man."
Episode 5 of MBC daily drama "The First Man," which aired on the 19th, delivered peak immersion as it depicted the tense moment when Jung Sook-hee (played by Jung So-young) teeters between life and death after falling from a cliff, the discovery of baby Jang-mi left alone in a warehouse, and the fateful first meeting of the grown twins Oh Jang-mi and Ma Seo-rin (played by Ham Eun-jung) after skipping 30 years. Episode 5 recorded nationwide ratings of 5.2% and 5.4% in the Seoul metropolitan area, with a peak momentary rating soaring to 6%, marking another self-record high in the metropolitan area and sustaining a heated response.
In the episode, Lee Kang-hyuk (played by Lee Jae-hwang) judged that Sook-hee, who jumped from the cliff, and the baby had died. Cha Hwa-young (played by Oh Hyun-kyung) also heard the news and said with relief, "We didn't get our hands stained with blood. We are blameless. We did nothing wrong." But Sook-hee's sacrifice was a final choice to save the baby. Sook-hee had already hidden baby Jang-mi in the villa's warehouse, which was soon discovered by Oh Bok-gil (played by Kim Hak-sun) and became a spark of hope. Bok-gil found a four-leaf clover bracelet on Jang-mi's arm and was convinced the baby was Sook-hee's. Sook-hee, who had fallen into the water, was also miraculously found by a fisherman and saved. In particular, Bok-gil's scene crying out loud upon seeing Sook-hee in the hospital conveyed the long relationship between the two and his profound feelings, leaving viewers deeply moved.
At the same time, Hwa-young went to Chairman Ma (played by Lee Hyo-jung) carrying one of the twins, Seo-rin, and proudly said, "This is the daughter of Dong-seok, whom I gave birth to," entering the chaebol family as a daughter-in-law. The scene in which Chairman Ma holds Seo-rin and Hwa-young whispers to Seo-rin, "From now on you will live as my daughter for life," signaled the start of an ambition that will pierce through 30 years and added a chilling note.
Time passed, and the transformed adult Jang-mi and Seo-rin appeared, marking a turning point. Jang-mi works hard part-time at a restaurant. By contrast, Seo-rin appears in a hotel elevator wearing sunglasses and draped in luxury goods. Although they have the same face, the stark contrast between the two who grew up in completely different environments delivered a powerful shock. In particular, after the cliff jump, Sook-hee regressed to the level of a 5-year-old and lived as one family with Bok-gil and Bok-gil's son Oh Tae-pyeong (played by Lee Ki-chang) while running a side-dish shop. While Jang-mi chose underwear in a department store to buy a birthday present for Sook-hee, Sook-hee wandered the streets crying, "I miss our Jang-mi," and this scene painfully revealed Jang-mi's deep filial piety and love for her family.
At Dream Hotel, Hwa-young still stood at the center of power, elegantly supported by Kang-hyuk. Her constant calls to Seo-rin and her worry that she is a "time bomb that could go off at any moment" hinted that cracks exist in Hwa-young's seemingly perfect life. Meanwhile, handsome lawyer Kang Baek-ho (played by Yoon Sun-woo) appeared preparing a welcome party upon news of his brother Kang Jun-ho's (played by Park Geon-il) return, adding warmth. Jun-ho, a former Michelin three-star chef, emitted the charm of a neat and perfect style from his first appearance. Then Dream Hotel employee Jin Hong-ju (played by Kim Min-seol) showed that she expected a promotion after helping recruit the star chef with Jun-ho's help, foreshadowing the romance line that will intertwine them and raising expectations.
Above all, the fateful encounter of the twin sisters who accidentally met in the department store decorated the ending of episode 5, leaving a stronger impact than ever. The moment Jang-mi, who had bought a gift for her mother Sook-hee, and Seo-rin, who was shopping, passed each other was the twins' reunion for the first time in 30 years and was enough to foretell the whirlpool of destiny to come. In this way, "The First Man" captivated viewers by unfolding the twins' crossed fates through dramatic developments between life and death and a 30-year time jump. The fateful reunion of Jang-mi, who grew up as the daughter of a side-dish shop, and Seo-rin, who grew up as a chaebol granddaughter, who lived completely opposite lives, raises anticipation about what kind of huge storm their reunion will bring in future developments. <
[Photo] OSEN DB, provided by MBC.
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