The Good Bad Mother (2023) Episode 12

The Good Bad Mother episode 12 starts with Oh Tae-soo meeting Woo-byeok and freaking out about Soo-hyeon’s body being found – he wants Kang-ho to take the fall for the entire thing, and Woo-byeok agrees but then starts to taunt him, asking him whether he had fun with Soo-hyeon. An enraged Tae-soo kicks Woo-byeok to the ground and tells him not to get too cocky with him since he has proof of all of Woo-byeok’s misdeeds. In the end, he makes up with Woo-byeok and tells him that he will support Woobyeok Group from then on.

Elsewhere, Young-soon and Kang-ho are out on their date when they spot a boat with Kang-ho’s name on the harbour. They both take a picture with it, wherein Kang-ho suddenly remembers sending Soo-hyeon off in the boat. However, he doesn’t mention anything to his mother in order to not freak her out. That night, the family gets news of the farm going up in flames.

Still From The Good Bad Mother Episode 12

The entire village gets to the farm as the fire starts to spread, and after much screaming from everyone, surprisingly, Sam-sik is the one to help Kang-ho out… or, well, Kang-ho carries Sam-sik out of the fire! Either way, although the villagers are all fine, the farm literally goes up in flames in a loud blast.

At the hospital, Sam-sik tries to tell the police officers that there were men on the farm who set it on fire, but Young-soon insists on not investigating further. Curious, Mi-joo corners Sam-sik and threatens him to tell her the truth. After almost throwing him down the stairs, Sam-sik finally tells her that it was Oh Tae-soo’s men who burned the farm down. She rushes to Young-soon and implores her to report the incident to the police. However, she refuses to do so and eventually tells Mi-joo that she will leave with Kang-ho.

Also Read: A Beautiful Life Review: An Aching Musical Tale

Still From The Good Bad Mother Episode 12

The two of them have a long and heart-to-heart conversation during which Mi-joo tells her that Kang-ho only wanted and missed his mother and that he endured all the hardships thanks to her love. Young-soon also comes to the realisation that Kang-ho wrote about Mi-joo in his journal, and she is the girl he loved to death; that’s why, even after losing his memories, he constantly gravitated towards her.

In the end, Young-soon finally learns that Kang-ho has two kids, and Mi-joo learns that Kang-ho never abandoned her; he just wanted to protect both the women in his life from the dangers of avenging his father’s death. Kang-ho, having come to, hears this conversation, but just as they finally breathe a sigh of relief, the police get there looking for Kang-ho and arrest him on suspicion of murdering Soo-hyeon.

At the station, the police come up with pictures of Kang-ho pushing Soo-hyeon’s car off the coast and mention that the body they found had the same clothes that she was wearing the night she went missing. Young-soon, in order to protect her son, almost gives away the truth when Kang-ho starts to behave erratically. It immediately turns the entire thing around, and Young-soon threatens to sue the police for manhandling a man who is mentally unstable.

Still From The Good Bad Mother Episode 12

Back at home, Young-soon immediately understands that Kang-ho’s memories are back and apologises for hurting him. Hugging his sobbing mother, Kang-ho tells her that he is back. Later on, Young-soon tries to convince Kang-ho to let go of the revenge plot and just leave. However, he reminds her that they cannot run away from this problem and that they will be found one way or another. Kang-ho promises to find the necessary proof to get them out of this mess.

The next day, Kang-ho finds Ye-jin and Seo-jin playing on the street and hugs them both tightly and then spies on Mi-joo from the street before going in and sorting things out with her as well. Mi-joo cries her heart out and curses him multiple times before asking him how it is fair for him to suffer more than her when she was abandoned while pregnant. Either way, Kang-ho asks her not to forgive her just yet and that he still needs to see his revenge plot through before he can come back and get things in order with her.

Still From The Good Bad Mother Episode 12

Elsewhere, Woo-byeok is infuriated that no one can get rid of Kang-ho and that he was also released from police custody. He further learns that Soo-hyeon was never in the car when Kang-ho pushed it off the cliff and realises that he duped him. Meanwhile, Kang-ho goes to his office, gets ahold of his car that he had hidden there beforehand and drives off. In the village, Mi-joo finds a video of Ha-young drugging Kang-ho’s water on the day of his accident and shows it to Sam-sik and then forces him to accompany her to meet Ha-young. Meanwhile, Kang-ho finds an old ally.

The Good Bad Mother Episode 12 Ending

On their quest to find Ha-young, Mi-joo finally remembers where Ha-young can be after being shut out of her home. As they make their way to Woobyeok Medical Centre, Kang-ho desperately tries to find Cho Yeong-jae, who turns out to be very elusive. However, a lucky boat might just have all the answers that he is looking for.

The Good Bad Mother Episode 12 Review

Still From The Good Bad Mother Episode 12

Well, with two more episodes, The Good Bad Mother has given our dear Kang-ho his memories back, and we are here for it. I don’t even care that he got it back by being boinked over the head by an overhead light and then came out of the flames carrying Sam-sik on his back. I am just happy it happened. After watching too many tragedies one after another in the drama, this episode feels a bit lighter, albeit filled with schemes and revenge plots. Which is fine – it’s better than your heartbreaking and feeling traumatised in every episode.

Anyway, I enjoyed today’s episode. Young-soon and Kang-ho embracing after Kang-ho’s memories come back are just so heartbreaking. As I keep mentioning in every episode – Lee Do-hyun is just so phenomenal. You know exactly when he is prosecutor Kang-ho and when he is not. The switch is excellent. Young-soon doting on her grandbabies is also heartwarming, as is Kang-ho embracing his children. It’s just a sweet and heartwarming episode all around, although those pigs just went up in flames at first. That was quite sad.

On the other hand, Sam-sik, being kept in line by Mi-joo, is less annoying this time around and is able to provide some genuinely funny moments. I think when he is not operating alone, he is great and maybe, just maybe, he, too, is changing for the better.

Also, something that I forgot to mention in the last review – it is hilarious that everyone’s nails in the village are just so immaculately done. It’s just a reminder that everyone is close enough for Mi-joo to jazz up everyone’s nails even though all they mostly do is manual labour. It’s so funny.