Recap and Review: Penthouse Season 3, Episode 3 – “We can’t let them walk all over us, anymore.”

Su Ryeon stops Jun Ki and says she does not want her daughter to watch her own father die in front of her. Dan Tae comes around the corner, but Su Ryeon and Jun Ki are able to escape without him seeing them.

Dan Tae returns to the table and Seok Kyung tells him about Logan’s brother popping up in their home. She asks what Su Ryeon’s relationship with Logan really was. Without answering, Dan Tae has a favor to ask of his daughter.

Su Ryeon pins Jun Ki to the wall and he is shocked to learn who she is. She takes him back to her shop so they can speak more freely.

Baek Jun Ki says that he was afraid he’d be framed for Logan’s murder, so he went into hiding. Su Ryeon asks why Logan would bring him to her and Jun Ki drops the bomb: He is the real Joo Dan Tae.

realDan Tae explains that the real Baek Jun Ki worked for his family and their business and he even looked up to him like a brother. When the Joo Family moved to Japan, realJun Ki showed up with a katana, demanding Papa Joo give him his money in the safe. realJun Ki ends up murdering both Papa and Mama Joo.

realDan Tae sees this happen and realJun Ki threatens his life in order to get the code to the safe. After realJun Ki runs off with the money and golds, realDan Tae awoke to find himself locked in a mental hospital with realJun Ki never to be found. But that’s because he had taken his name.

Su Ryeon can’t believe it since fakeDan Tae was clean when they got married. fakeDan Tae even had people from Japan attend the wedding. realDan Tae says that’s all a lie since fakeDan Tae was an orphan. realDan Tae can’t understand why fakeDan Tae would go so far as to murder the Joos and he vows to kill him.

Logan had promised to expose the real Baek Jun Ki, but of course he’s dead now. realDan Tae says he saw realJun Ki at the site of Logan’s death and it all makes sense now to Su Ryeon.

realDan Tae gives Su Ryeon the engagement ring Logan had planned to give her and says Logan really cared about her.

realDan Tae, now Baek Jun Ki, vows he is steadfast in making Dan Tae pay for his evil.

Back at Hera, Yoon Hee tries to comfort Rona over her being accused of sabotaging Eun Byeol. But Yoon Hee begins to suspect Ms. Jin may not be on the up and up.

After the Four Stooges plant some artifacts at the competing development site in order to stop it from happening, they enjoy some time at the sauna and begin to discuss their children’s performance exams at SNU. Yoon Cheol didn’t even know it was happening. Kyu Jin upsets Dan Tae and Dong Pil with the news that Seok Hoon didn’t even take the exam and Jenny didn’t even sing.

After crying all night trying to comprehend the bombshell that her father was in jail for murder, Jenny tells her mother that she would like to be on her own today. Dong Pil rushes home where Ma Ri is freaking out over Jenny’s hoarse voice.

Dong Pil gets on his knees to try and comfort his daughter, asking what happened at the SNU exam yesterday. Ma Ri is shocked to learn Jenny did not sing. But is even more shocked when Jenny shoves her father to the ground.

Jenny confronts her parents over their continued lies, saying she had seen Dong Pil’s expired passport. She directly asks if her father is a murderer and Ma Ri tries to explain that “there was a situation.”

But Jenny doesn’t think any situation justifies murder. She is hurt about having been lied to, first about her mother working at a bathhouse and then now her father being a murderer.

“How many more things can I bullied for?!”

Ma Ri asks Jenny who told her and Jenny plays the audio recording of Dan Tae speaking with Dong Pil. If Seok Kyung knows, Jenny says, then the whole school knows. Jenny thought they could finally live as a happy family. But her lying parents have ruined it all.

Jenny storms out. Ma Ri wants to go slit Dan Tae’s throat, but Dong Pil tells her to wait. He is working on finding proof that Dan Tae murdered “that woman” whose body is still buried under the fountain.

Dan Tae wakes up from a nightmare of Logan burning him alive.

In the penthouse, Su Ryeon puts on Logan’s engagement ring and has a vision of him appearing before her asking if she likes it. When Logan disappears, Su Ryeon vows to make Dan Tae pay with his life.

Later that morning, Su Ryeon asks Seok Hoon why he skipped out on the exam yesterday and he explains that Dan Tae paid one of the judges off and he didn’t want to get accepted to SNU that way. Seok Kyung defends Dan Tae again and Seok Hoon specifically asks if she got their father to help her too. Seok Kyung storms out.

Su Ryeon says she suspects Dan Tae and Seok Kyung are in cahoots. But Seok Hoon says she’ll keep an eye on his sister and will not tolerate her acting like a bitch any longer.

Downstairs, Seo Jin is shocked when Dan Tae has summoned Yoon Cheol to send him on an errand. Dan Tae forces Seo Jin to put on a happy couple show for her ex-husband and then tries to humiliate him by picking up money from the floor for “convenience store meals.”

Yoon Cheol bites his tongue and picks the money up before leaving. Dan Tae laughs as Seo Jin chases after Yoon Cheol to say he suits being Dan Tae’s dog. She vows he will pay for betraying their family, but Yoon Cheol says Dan Tae is the only one on his side now.

Yoon Hee and Su Ryeon have some coffee and talk about who could have sabotaged Eun Byeol at the exams. Yoon Hee says she has one person in mind and asks if Seok Kyung could’ve been behind it. Su Ryeon hates to admit that it’s possible. But Yoon Hee says nothing’s for sure right now.

Anyway, Yoon Hee asks how Su Ryeon is doing and says she’s trying her best as well with her new business. This gives Su Ryeon the chance to ask if Yoon Hee knows anything about Logan’s missing money.

Yoon Hee acts sus denying she knows anything about it. But she flashes back to Logan asking her to use his $10 billion to establish a foundation to help talented kids like Seol Ah. Yoon Hee says Logan or Su Ryeon could handle that. But Logan says he won’t be able to.

Yoon Hee asks how Logan could even trust her. But he believes Yoon Hee, who has both good and evil in her, is the only one who can do this. He hands her the key to the bank vault with the moneys and gold. While he can’t tell her how to use the money, he has one favor to ask.

Logan asks Yoon Hee to not repeat what he is about to say to Su Ryeon, ever: “A bloodline of hers may be alive.”

Su Ryeon asks Yoon Hee if she is hiding anything from her. But Yoon Hee says of course not and asks if Su Ryeon still doesn’t trust her. Su Ryeon says of course she does.

Unbeknownst to them, Sang Ah has been listening to their conversation and quickly tells her husband about the money. They think whoever took that money killed Logan. Kyu Jin wonders if it was Dan Tae, but then defends him to his wife. Sang Ah thinks it’s Yoon Hee.

Over at Cheong Ah, Jenny cleans out her locker and heads to the rooftop. A worried Rona follows her and grabs Jenny from the edge before she can jump to her death.

“Why would you kill yourself when I haven’t?” Rona asks. Jenny says she can’t live her life like Rona. She can’t live as a murderer’s daughter. Rona realizes this is why Jenny froze up at the exams yesterday.

Jenny says the only thing she fears more than not going to college is getting bullied. She would rather die and can’t take any of this anymore. Rona tells Jenny that she can be strong and that they will not let anyone walk all over them anymore.

Seo Jin orders Secretary Do to upload previously unreleased performances of her and get favorable articles written to announce her comeback. Secretary Do tells Seo Jin about Eun Byeol getting disqualified because of Rona. But Seo Jin doubts Rona had anything to do with it. She believes it was Dan Tae trying to get rid of both of them at the same time.

Later that night, Yoon Cheol is watching his daughter from a far. He leaves as soon as Ms. Jin walks out.

Eun Byeol is watching the newly uploaded videos of her mother, which angers Ms. Jin. She grabs Eun Byeol’s phone, but Eun Byeol says she only wanted to see her mother on video since she can’t in person. Ms. Jin slaps Eun Byeol, reminds her Seo Jin left her and that she is her real mom now.

Ms. Jin repeats that Eun Byeol must stop being a stupid idiot and make sure never to betray her or else. A scared Eun Byeol nods her head. Ms. Jin’s demeanor changes to a more caring tone and brings her back inside.

The Four Stooges are enjoying a drink when Jun Ki suddenly appears and hugs Dan Tae hyung as if they are sharing a happy reunion. Jun Ki says he and Dan Tae lived in the same house as kids and are like brothers. He takes a seat with them and Dong Pil offers him a drink.

Kyu Jin says Dan Tae never talks about his time in Japan and asks Jun Ki if he has any stories. Before Jun Ki can tell them one, Dan Tae drags him away.

An angry Dan Tae asks how Jun Ki was able to get out of the mental hospital. Jun Ki confronts Dan Tae about taking his name after murdering his parents. He explains that Logan Lee had told him all about what was happening back in Korea. Jun Ki taunts Dan Tae who tries to threaten him. But Jun Ki easily pins Dan Tae to the wall and says he’ll let him calm down for now.

Jun Ki leaves. But Dan Tae is shocked to find Jun Ki chatting with Seo Jin at home. Jun Ki is able to maneuver his way into being allowed to crash at their home for a few nights. Dan Tae is pissed, but Seo Jin reminds him that they must put on a happy face in front of other people.

Seo Jin excuses herself and Jun Ki makes himself at home, much to Dan Tae’s displeasure.

Later that night, Dan Tae tries to smash Jun Ki’s head in with a hammer. But Jun Ki fully expected that and just watches from around the corner as Dan Tae smashes pillows on the bed instead.

Jun Ki has no problem countering Dan Tae’s attacks and has him by the neck. He lets Dan Tae go and asks him to leave so he can rest.

Seo Jin watches an exasperated Dan Tae leave Jun Ki’s room and believes there’s definitely something fishy.

Next morning, Seok Hoon overhears Seok Kyung talking to their father about what they did to Rona and Eun Byeol. Seok Hoon cannot believe this and asks his sister why she is doing this.

Seok Kyung says it’s because she wants Su Ryeon to only think about her and not Rona. But Seok Hoon says Seok Kyung has no right to interfere with Rona and Eun Byeol’s lives and their dream to attend Seoul National University. Seok Kyung says Seok Hoon should only be thinking about her, his sister and not be whoring around with other girls.

Su Ryeon has heard this whole argument and is disappointed that it was Seok Kyung all along. Seok Kyung defends having Dan Tae do everything he can to get her what she wants. But Su Ryeon forbids Seok Kyung from attending the interview at SNU.

Seok Kyung begs Su Ryeon that if she loves her, she will just let this go. Seok Hoon tells Su Ryeon not to be swayed with pity and escorts her out of the room, locking Seok Kyung inside.

Su Ryeon catches Dan Tae in the garage before he leaves for the office and has him by the necktie and a knife. She says he should be grateful that he is the twins’ father, otherwise, he would be long dead by now. She demands he leave Seok Kyung alone.

Jun Ki watches all of this from around the corner.

Su Ryeon opens the door to Seok Kyung’s room and tells her to get dressed. Seok Kyung thinks they’re going to SNU, but they actually head to Cheong Ah where everyone is waiting at a school violence committee meeting.

Chairman Su Ryeon asks the students assembled who among them has been bullied by Seok Kyung. Everyone except Seok Hoon and Eun Byeol raise their hands. Seok Kyung yells at her classmates and says they were bullies right alongside her. The other kids say they only did it because Seok Kyung pressured them and they had no choice.

Rona and Jenny accuse Seok Kyung of sabotaging their SNU exam performances and Seok Hoon confirms he heard her admit it. Su Ryeon demands Seok Kyung apologize so she can avoid the strictest punishment.

Seok Kyung apologizes… for everyone being pushovers and doing whatever they’re told. She says she hopes everyone can finally think for themselves.

Seok Kyung then turns to Jenny and apologizes for telling her about her father being a murderer. The room gasps. Yoon Hee holds Ma Ri back from charging toward Seok Kyung.

Jenny says Seok Kyung is right that her father was convicted of murder, but he has served his time in prison. “I don’t know why I should be criticized by you, of all people. You’re no different from me, after all.”

But Jenny says Seok Kyung is actually worse because she used this against her. Ma Ri is proud of her daughter standing up for herself.

After deliberation, Su Ryeon announces that Seok Kyung has been expelled. “As director of Cheong Ah Arts High School, and as Joo Seok Kyung’s mother, I sincerely apologize to all the victims.”

Seok Kyung cannot believe it. She says Su Ryeon is no mother and she is absolutely done with her.

As Seok Kyung storms out, Seok Hoon comforts his mother as does Ma Ri to Jenny. Ms. Jin tells Eun Byeol this was a waste of time and they leave.

Outside, Seok Kyung screams, slams her SNU papers on the ground and calls her father to say she will do whatever he asks of her from now on. He is all she’s got.

Dong Pil is in the office when Dan Tae gets the call. Dan Tae confronts Dong Pil about whether he knew about what Seok Kyung did to Jenny. But Dong Pil pretends to be grateful to Dan Tae and says he will remain loyal as long as Dan Tae does the same.

Kyu Jin comes in with Jun Ki who says Seo Jin is preparing a delicious dinner for them. Kyu Jin invites himself and Sang Ah. While Jun Ki and Kyu Jin are already seemingly drunk, Seo Jin whispers to Dan Tae that she knows what he did to Eun Byeol.

They all sit down for dinner and Jun Ki points out that Dan Tae doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it. Kyu Jin says this is his favorite meal course and Sang Ah points out that Dan Tae has such expensive taste that he doesn’t eat anything not prepared by a hotel chef.

Jun Ki is amazed that Dan Tae has changed so much. He used to love beondegi and gizzard and pigskin. Seo Jin acts surprised since Dan Tae hates stuff like that. Jun Ki adds that Dan Tae even wore the same pair of worn-out sneakers, but now wears nice suits and shoes.

The others don’t believe any of it. Kyu Jin asks if Jun Ki has any old photos of Dan Tae. Dan Tae screams that there’s absolutely none, but Jun Ki says he has one right here. He pulls out a folded piece of paper, much to everyone’s excitement. But Dan Tae grabs it and puts it in his back pocket. A drunk Kyu Jin tries to beg Dan Tae to show them, but he just gets shoved to the ground.

Dan Tae smashes a plate at the wall and storms out of the dining room. Kyu Jin thinks Dan Tae got plastic surgery. They all laugh and Jun Ki says Dan Tae was always teased about being small-minded and nasty.

Safely away from the others, Dan Tae takes the photo from his back pocket and sees it is his wanted poster from Japan. Jun Ki pops up behind Dan Tae.

Dan Tae demands Jun Ki stop playing around and just be straight with him. Jun Ki laughs as Dan Tae is making it seem like he’s the aggrieved when it’s the other way around.

Jun Ki grabs Dan Tae’s wallet and takes all the money so he can buy some of Dan Tae’s favorite beondegi to help jog his memory.

drunKyu Jin comes to get them back to dinner. Dan Tae says he will make Jun Ki wish he was dead.

Next morning, Seok Kyong sneaks into Su Ryeon’s room while she’s showering and takes her ID and her seal. She meets her father in the lobby to give him the items. She asks what he’ll do with them, but he just tells her that she’ll get some property in her name. He asks her to trust him and they go have breakfast together.

Later in the day, Dan Tae, Kyu Jin and Yoon Cheol celebrate their fake artifact scheme has worked and their land will now be the site of a major development, making them even richer.

Up in the penthouse, Yoon Hee wonders if Su Ryeon maybe should’ve let Seok Kyung graduate, at least. Su Ryeon remembers how Logan warned her she wouldn’t be able to be mother to the twins once she returned to seek revenge for Seol Ah. But she disagrees and believes the twins will forgive her one day.

Hye In calls Su Ryeon to say she will be able to return to Korea now that her therapy is almost over. Hye In is excited to see both Su Ryeon and Logan. Su Ryeon says she can’t wait to see her.

After they hang up, Yoon Hee asks and Su Ryeon confirms that Hye In does not know what happened to Logan. She hopes to tell Hye In once she arrives in Korea.

Anyway, Yoon Hee decides to ask about the hospital where Dan Tae had Seol Ah and Hye In switched. She wonders if she could find Hye In’s biological mother. Su Ryeon says why would the mother care when she sold the baby to Dan Tae. Yoon Hee says she might regret it now and she’ll be sure to keep it on the downlow.

Su Ryeon tells her the hospital and Yoon Hee speaks with the director who remembers Su Ryeon being brought in from the United States in critical condition. The director refuses to believe babies were switched in her hospital, but Yoon Hee says it has already been confirmed and asks to see the records.

The doctor refuses, but Yoon Hee threatens legal action for the hospital’s negligence. The doctor changes her tune and gives her the biological mother’s phone number. Yoon Hee thanks her and promises to protect the hospital from any blame of the situation. Yoon Hee asks if Su Ryeon had given birth to twins, by any chance. But the records show she only gave birth to one baby girl.

Meanwhile, Seo Jin visits Su Ryeon at the shop to tell her about Baek Jun Ki. Su Ryeon is not impressed. Seo Jin then brings up how Yoon Hee has become a big spender and plants some seeds of doubt in Su Ryeon, even suggesting Yoon Hee is working with Dan Tae.

Back home, Seo Jin searches through Jun Ki’s things and finds the wanted poster. Jun Ki walks in and tells her that this is cheating.

Yoon Hee pays around $30,000 to a private eye to search for the biological mother. But it appears the mother, Kim Mi Sook, died six years ago by murder. Yoon Hee looks through the records and sees the suspect is Yoo Dong Pil.

Dong Pil is at the fountain and uses a sledgehammer to start breaking through a wall by the fountain. Dan Tae walks toward the fountain as Dong Pil finds what looks to be a skeleton.

Episode Thoughts

Well, certainly a much better episode than last week. Nothing as frustrating or WTF-inducing as Episode 2, which is good news. And I also think part of it is this episode saw the underdogs fighting back against the antagonists. And that’s always good to see.

I think my favorite thing about this episode was how the children were the focus of a big chunk of it. The kids drove a lot of the conflict and that is great to see after two episodes of the adults basically rehashing everything we saw in the first two seasons.

Jun Ki making his move is also fun to see. I think Jun Ki being more involved and in-your-face in confronting Dan Tae is exciting and different from anyone else who has tried to go head-to-head with him. And obviously it’s because Jun Ki/realDan Tae knows the one thing that can really bring about fakeDan Tae’s downfall.

The Japan scenes were definitely exposition. Not really too shocking. It felt like they just needed to get it out of the way so they could get on with Jun Ki making his move. That’s kinda disappointing since you’d think the revelation about Dan Tae’s true identity would be a bigger deal than how it was presented here.

That said, there’s still lots more to reveal. We don’t know about Dan Tae’s backstory. In fact, he looked almost sympathetic when that flashback first started. I can actually see them trying to paint Dan Tae as some poor orphan who was always beaten down and stepped on all his life. And that will somehow bring about his redemption story. But I hope they don’t actually redeem him. This isn’t a psychological thriller, after all. It’s a soap opera. So just keep him a cartoon, moustache-twirling villain and deliver the most painful karma at the end of the series. Simple as that!

Speaking of Dan Tae’s evil, I guess we are to assume that the woman he killed (which Dong Pil took the fall far) is this Kim Mi Sook aka Hye In’s biological mother. That might be interesting. But Dan Tae killed her just so she wouldn’t reveal the baby switch? Kind of anticlimactic, to be honest. But who knows.

(One nitpick about this plot in the episode: Dong Pil said the woman was buried under the fountain. Which explains why he tossed the fish into it so they could be forced to dig the fountain up to find the smell. But why did Papa Yoo find the skeleton in the wall? Not under the fountain.)

Anyway, the biggest reveal this episode was Logan saying Su Ryeon’s got family out there somewhere. What could this possibly mean? Yoon Hee obviously thought it might mean there’s another daughter out there. And that would automatically make us think Hye In is actually Su Ryeon’s biological daughter somehow. I’m not sure what kind of story could come out from that, so it’s kind of exciting.

I’ve honestly forgotten about what exactly happened with Seol Ah/Hye In and how Dan Tae’s former assistant Yoon Tae Joo was involved in saving Hye In. It feels so long ago and all of that actually feels tame and sensical compared to what has happened since. Lol But I guess none of that matters anymore.

I know we already had this Yoon Hee-Su Ryeon mistrust plot at the end of season one. But I welcome it here as it spices things up a bit between them. You’re not going to get a healthy relationship between anyone on this show. Lol

With Logan and Yoon Hee, it’s very suspicious that Logan seemed like he knew he’d be gone. So that’s why he entrusted Yoon Hee with his money and the secret that Su Ryeon’s got a “bloodline” somewhere. Of course, we don’t know what else Logan told Yoon Hee during that meeting. But it definitely helps to set up Logan coming back from the dead if he knew he was in danger or something like that.

Back to the kids, I actually liked how that all played out in the end. Seeing Seok Kyung be humiliated and spit on, basically, in this way was awesome. At the same time, the other students shouldn’t be exempted from punishment. They still took part in the bullying of course. None of this excuses them at all. But sadly, this is a more realistic situation than probably most of the things that happen on the show. The bullies rarely get punished in Korea. And it only leads to more physical and mental abuse. It’s just heartbreaking and infuriating that it continues to happen.

But anyway, I liked Jenny confronting her parents. Then Rona stopping her from committing suicide. And finally Jenny standing up for herself against Seok Kyung at the disciplinary hearing. They definitely rushed through this plot. I think they could’ve done more with Jenny’s emotional struggle than just crammed everything into this episode. But the result was still very satisfying.

As for Seok Kyung, I’ll quote some wise words from 86-year old Bernice Starnes:

Speaking of bitch, Ms. Jin is definitely the second coming of Ms. Yang, the housekeeper who was obsessively in love with Dan Tae. Who knows what the hell is going on with Ms. Jin. We don’t know if this part of Logan’s plan or if she’s truly gone rogue and completely wacko and wanted a daughter for herself. Yoon Hee suspects her, so I hope we get some nice fireworks there.

Elsewhere, they’re really making it a running gag to abuse Secretary Jo as much as possible. Which I hope means he will be one of the biggest catalysts to Dan Tae’s final downfall. It would only be right.

And then there’s the property stuff which was the least interesting part of the episode, again. Who really cares about another money-making… or losing scheme. Just focus on the character drama instead of watching them get one upped and lose money again.

So overall, definitely a much better episode than last week. Definitely less crazy and more sensical though still soapy story instead. Let’s keep the positive momentum.