May I Help You (Season 1), Episodes 5 & 6: The K-drama ‘May I Help You’ is gradually becoming a rage owing to its magic realism genre and its heartwarming narrative. The romantic storyline heroes Baek Dong Ju and Kim Jip Sa opposite each other, who meet as a matter of chance and are eventually expected to fall in love. Dong Ju possesses the supernatural ability to communicate with the dead and Jip Sa runs an errand business ‘A Dime A Job’ with his uncle Vincent. In the previous episodes, we see the storyline develop as to how Dong Ju discovers her extraordinary ability and starts to grant the last wishes of the deceased.
MAY I HELP YOU (SEASON 1), EPISODES 5 & 6 RECAP:
Episode 5:
Episode 5 opens with Dong Ju trying to set up her new house (she had moved out in the last episode after a fight with Kim Jip Sa), and she comes across the ring that has appeared on screen in previous episodes as well. Through flashbacks, we get to know that this ring was associated with Joon Ho- the first client of Dong Ju. When Dong Ju touched him and the funeral parlor had converted into a powder room for the first time, she was naturally scared and pushed the boy aside. But before running out of the room, Joon Ho had told her about the ring and to find it at Byongsu Market.
She did find the ring and tried to return it to the family but she discovered that they had moved to the countryside and had also changed their contact numbers. Ever since she had kept the ring with herself. On the other hand, Jip Sa also thinks about Joon Ho and he envisions a hospital where he is trying to pump life back into a dead Joon Ho through CPR. He is also dressed in doctor scrubs. Over time, Jip Sa also comes to believe that Dong Ju was speaking the truth about seeing ghosts. He apologizes to her and convinces her to move back into the house that his uncle was subletting (old place).
Dong Ju gets another client at the funeral house- an elderly lady, who did not really have a last wish except she wanted flowers. Her alive daughter-in-law is ridiculously sweet to Dong Ju but as it turns out later, she was putting up a facade and was actually repulsed by Dong Ju’s hands. The daughter-in-law believed that Dong Ju’s hands were ‘dirty’ from touching all the corpses. Jip Sa arrives just in time when Dong Ju was feeling insulted and not only does he comfort her but also takes her home. The next morning, they end up waking up to each other and were themselves shocked to find that out.
Episode 6:
The beginning of Episode 6 explains how Dong Ju and Jip Sa went drinking last night and hence end up sleeping together. Literally, sleeping! Not a lot of relevant things happen in Episode 6 and a lot of focus is directed toward building the romance and relationship between Kim Jip Sa and Dong Ju. Jip Sa also teaches Dong Ju to stand up for herself by leaving her a cute note on not to ‘chicken-out’. In another scene, Dong Ju’s father decides to surprise her by visiting the hostel that she said she was living in. Jip Sa helps keep the secret and then later all three go out for dinner.
The theme of rain is prevalent in this episode. Dong Ju tells Jip Sa that she has always been scared of rain and she always prays to her dead mother to end the rain ever since she was a child. Dong Ju’s friend So-ra’s grandmother is also introduced as a recurring character and the familial bond that exists between the grandmother and Dong Ju is explored in great detail, so as to make her death a more impactful event in the storyline.
When the grandmother dies, the case naturally comes to Dong Ju to attend as she is a close friend. Dong Ju meets the grandmother in her final moments and tells her how much she means to her. The grandmother (who was suffering from dementia while alive) informs Dong Ju about a gift that she had preserved for her granddaughter but had forgotten to tell her. She also talks about finding ‘the one’ and tells Dong Ju that she will know when it’s ‘the one’. So-ra spends a lot of time in the funeral house because of the funeral rites of the grandmother and she starts finding Dong Ju’s team leader- Il Seob, attractive.
MAY I HELP YOU (SEASON 1), EPISODE 6 ENDING EXPLAINED:
As previously pointed out, Kim Jip Sa and Dong Ju spend a lot of time together and the audience can see the heartwarming romance brewing between them. Through flashes in the narrative, we find out that Kim Jip Sa was a doctor some time back. After he could not save Joon Ho’s life, he was devastated and left his job. He joined the military services later before coming back to start the business- A Dime A Job, with his uncle Vincent. His doctor colleagues discuss how Joon Ho’s death happened on the same day when Jip Sa was about to propose to his girlfriend and colleague- Chung Ha.
So when So-ra’s grandmother died, Dong Ju had to visit the hospital to see her. Accidentally, it turned out to be the same hospital that Kim Jip Sa used to work at. Kim Jip Sa had followed Dong Ju to the hospital for moral support and was briefly waiting outside for her to come back when he was spotted by two of his old colleagues (one of them being Chung Ha). Chung Ha could not help but wonder at their relationship- how she begged him to stay with her in the past but he couldn’t. He said he wasn’t himself after Joon Ho’s death and couldn’t imagine starting a life with someone. That was the end of their relationship. Chung Ha contemplates calling him when she sees him in the present but decides against it.