East of Eden

i always wanted to try recapping a drama. and this one is REALLY GOOD♥.
it starts straight out with a car chase scene. In macao. In 1981.
screen caps credit to me ^^
Motorcyclists are following the car, with shin tae hwan and his employee (?). tae hwan seems a bit worried but his employee says gangs are common in macao. eventually they get cornered down some street and the motorcycle guys throw torches at the car.
a couple of the motorcycle guys start attacking tae hwan until lee dong chul (song seung heon- his first scene of the drama and he does not disappoint.. so hot♥) makes them stop.

So that he can start.
After letting tae hwan know that this is revenge for his fathers death. He gets to the point where he can totally kill tae hwan, but stops himself after a flashback to his dad’s advice
“a good person is someone who is able to accomadate everyone, no matter if they are a good or bad person.”
Taw hwans guys are coming so the motorcyclists all start to leave. But Dong Chul’s bike doesn’t start! A big giant yellow truck rams into him and he is like stuck to the front of it as it shoves him along.
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FLASH BACK (which lasts for the rest of the episode..)

Dong chul is a little kid, maybe 10 years old? It is 1961 in a small coal minig town in korea. Dong chul is at the train station, waiting for his dad to arrive. He is adorably excited when his dad arrives♥

His dad on the other hand, looks a bit preoccupied on the train. When he gets off, they greet each other happily. So cute♥ I almost got teary and its only the first episode..
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we then flash over to a church where a woman (Nurse Yoo Mi Ae) is clearly distraught over something and is confessing to the priest.
——
Flash back over to dong chul and his dad (lee ki chul). As they leave the train station, we see some lady standing there.

She is clearly happy to see them, but does not call out to them and thye do not see her. She, however, does see two strange men following them…
——–

Back to the church woman. She leaves the church only to be kidnapped by two guys in a black car. The priest sees this, and hurries off on his bicycle. In the rain.
He happens to bike past dong chul and his dad. At that same time, the woman from the station catches up to dong chul and his dad and pulls them into her house. Dong chul’s aunt sees this and is annoyed for her sister.
However, we clearly see that she was just saving them from the two bad guys who arrive a second too late and have no idea where they went.
——-

Flash over to the priest. He has arrived at some boxing gym. And who is boxing? Shin tae hwan! (the bad guy from the opening sequence.) he speaks mockingly to the priest until finally the priest stops him with “Where did you send her to? Nurse Yoo Mi Ae.” Blurting out “isn’t she pregnant with your child?”
Tae hwan, cocky bastard that he is, laughs at the priests warnings about his sinning. And basically it is not looking good for nurse yoo.
——–

Ok and I can not do screen caps for this part because.. I fast forwarded. Basically, the doctor gives nurse yoo an abortion. Although she looks a little too pregnant for that? Its too grusome for me. Some flashbacks to her and a nice tae hwan. Jerk.

And you may think it cant get worse for her, but they freaking dump her in a field. And its raining. And she just had an abortion. Seriously NOT LOOKING GOOD here.
——–
Over to dong chul’s mom. Eating alone. Her younger sister (who we saw before; ok hee) runs over to tell her that “that woman” is snatching away her husband. Both women then go to “that woman’s” house. Where dong chul’s mom is a bit harsh, even slaps her.
And throws water on her face.

personally I’m on dong chul’s mom’s side. It is her husband.. even if that woman is his first love.
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Now to a meeting of the coal miners. They seem to be organizing a strike. They look to dong chul’s father, “union head Lee” to make sure he will go along with the plans and he agrees.

But with a foreboding “you must be mentally prepared to die.” Hmm.
——-

Over to shin tae hwan who has lee ki chul’s (dong chul’s dad) arrest warrant.
The two stalker guys who followed him from the train station are reporting on the strike plans.
——-

Dong chul puts medicine on his dads shoulders. Dad says that shoulders are made for carrying. One man can carry the world. Mom doesn’t quite agree and they end up in an argument over “that woman” (even dong chul seems to prefer her to his mom) and breakfast is ruined.
——–
Over to shin tae hwan and his wife. Who is pregnant. Like nurse yoo mi ae was. Tsk tsk.
——–
dong chul walks his dad to work. Past “that woman’s” store. Dong chul runs over to hug her.

His dad stays away. But am I seeing some feelings in the eyes there? Dong chul and his dad do the cute thing again..
“As much as the heaven and the earth, I love you, Dad!
My dad is the best in the world!” so sweet♥
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On a train, we see the priest with nurse yoo. HOW DID SHE SURVIVE? She sees a pregnant woman on the train and cries. ; ___ ;

———
hospital!! Dong chul’s mom (Yang Chun Hee) has gone in to labor!! And guess who the nurse is. Nurse Yoo Mi Ae. That makes me want to cry. Chun Hee mentions how Nurse Yoo is the one who stopped her from getting an abortion. Which makes nurse yoo’s forced abortion that much sadder.
———
at the mine. tae hwan spying.

Basically, being a coal miner is a HARD job. Lee ki chul is struggling.
shower time afterward. Shin tae hwan comes. Dong chul comes.
Tae hwan and Ki Chul end up fighting. Tae Hwan has his foot on Ki chul’s head when dong chul rushes in and bites his leg.
walking home, dong chul and his dad talk. This is where the quote from the opening sequence comes from. Good people have to accomadate bad people.
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dong chul and his dad arrive at the hospital where yang chun hee is already sitting up eating. They rush over to see the baby.

oh nurse yoo, why does your life suck so badly ; __ ;
—-
shin tae hwan arrives to see his baby. And omg the emotion when guess who walks out carrying his son? Nurse yoo. that’s right.

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Nurse yoo meets shin tae hwan up on the hospital roof. And she has a knife with her. She cuts him a few times but doesn’t do much damage. But she is basically insane. And vows to do whatever it takes to ruin his life.

——-
Nurse yoo. alone in the room with the babies. She tries to strangly tae hwan’s son but can not bring herself to do it. (thank goodness). Instead, she switches the babies. Lame. I hate dramas that resort to baby switching. And how does that even get revenge??

Tae hwan in his wifes hospital room suddenly thinks of nurse yoo being in the same room with the babies and runs straight there to check on his son.
end.

———
I guess I shouldn’t get too attatched to the characters since this is all a flashback.
But.. nurse yoo ; ___ ;
and lee ki chul.. hes obviously going to die. Since dong chul said that in the opening sequence. But hes such a nice guy ; ___ ;
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*episode 2