May I Help You (Season 1) Episodes 7 & 8: ‘May I Help You’ reaches its halfway mark this week, and we are here with more updates and insights on how the story is proceeding? The last few episodes are spent trying to set the stage for the story to follow- they introduce us to the funeral director Dong Ju and business owner Kim Jip Sa who come together by fate and are doomed to fall in love. Dong Ju possesses the ability to talk to the dead, and Jip Sa (who is aware of her gifts) helps her carry out the last wishes of the deceased.
The show is a remarkable marriage of romance and magical realism. The stage setting is so erudite, and each element is woven-in so naturally that any significant event or reveal fits in. The romance brews in the background, and it is heartwarming to see the whole ‘I am falling for you’ arc instead of the regular on-the-face love-story dramas. As the show progresses, more interesting revelations come to the front, sure to keep you hooked. Let’s dig in to find out what happened last week.
May I Help You (Season 1) Episodes 7 & 8 Recap
Episode 7 “A Girl Showed Up” Recap
The last episode of ‘May I Help You ended with Dong Ju and Jip Sa’s small date being hijacked by Chung Ha. Jip Sa, also endearingly known as Tae Hee, is not amused to see her at all and only reluctantly agrees to speak to her in private. The audience gets a sneak peek into their relationship as part of a flashback, where both worked in the hospital and were perfectly happy together. Although Tae Hee is visibly over the relationship, it could also mean that he is escaping to deal with it as he is doing with Joon-Ho’s memory.
In the real world, Dong Ju is dealing with a new case of a bereaved grandmother whose grandson Chung Wan is a misunderstood teenager. She asks Dong Ju to replace her picture with a happy memory with Chung Wan. To fulfill the same, Dong Ju and Tae Hee drive to their native place, which gives them enough time with each other. Upon returning, they met with an accident and had to spend the night together. In a conversation, Dong Ju figures that Jip Sa is a doctor, but she doesn’t interrogate him as she doesn’t like telling people why she had to quit ping pong.
Tae Hee thinks aloud about what it would be like to depend on someone, and the very next day, Dong Ju extends her shoulder and tells Tae Hee that he can rely on her. Dong Ju is beginning to fall for Tae Hee and is even starting to acknowledge her feelings for him. But she is unsure about his relationship with Chung Ha as she learns she was his first love. While she is dealing with all the information, she visits Tae Hee in his office for a macaroon date, and he lights up to see her. But their happiness is short-lived as Chung-Ha intervenes again and asks Tae Hee – ‘Should I kill?’. She implies she will go to any length to get Tae Hee again.
Episode 8 “The Broken Promise”
The eighth episode’s prologue is a blast from the past where we see Vincent, Tae Hee, his family, and his kid brother Joon-Ho who share a heartwarming bond. Tae Hee promises his brother to take him to see the stars and that he wouldn’t break the promise. The conversation triggers Tae Hee’s memories from the past, where we see Joon Ho getting hit by a truck on a rainy night. The episode begins with the last scene of Episode 7, where Chung Ha barges into Tae Hee’s office and demands to kill a person.
The episode also introduces Joseph- a young boy who visits the church and who has recently lost his father. Dong Ju and Jip Sa can relate to Joseph and his despair since Dong Ju did not have a mother and Tae Hee had lost his younger brother. On the other hand, Dong Ju admits her rosy romantic feelings for Tae Hee to Father in the church, and he indirectly plays cupid to the pair. Together, they take Joseph on a camping trip on Father’s instructions. The trip turns out to be a romantic getaway for the leading pair. And Tae Hee trusts Dong Ju enough to tell her why he holds himself responsible for his brother’s death. The scene ends in an adorable, can-feel-butterflies-in-the-stomach hug.
Aside from our star couple, So-ra is head over heels for Il-Seob (Dong Ku’s senior from the workplace), and she is trying to get him to warm up to her. However, Il Seob is stuck in a family conflict and dealing with his father’s hatred towards him while also providing medical help for his sister’s ailing daughter. Chung Ha accidentally meets Dong Ju and subtly signals her to stay away from Jip Sa. Also, Tae Hee and Vincent’s tenant, the police-officer Hae-an, is unaware of the romance between Tae Hee and Dong Ju as he quickly falls for Dong Ju himself.
May I Help You (Season 1) Episode 8 Ending, Explained:
Tae Hee’s brother, Joon-Ho’s story is told to the audience through multiple flashbacks and instances across all episodes. The audience is aware that Joon Ho was Dong Ju’s first client she deserted as she was too shocked to realize her gift of touch. However, later, she returns to Bongsu Market to find the ring Joon Ho had talked about before she frantically left the powder room.
When she found the ring, she tried returning it to the bereaved family, but she learned they had vacated and moved to the countryside. Ever since she had safeguarded the ring on her own, when Kim Jip Sa mentioned Joon Ho’s story to Dong Ju, she couldn’t trace it back since she hadn’t met Tae Hee’s brother while he was alive or even seen any pictures of him. But the dots are connected for the audience, reminding them of the ring Dong Ju found and owns. The loop will most likely be explored in the following episodes.
Later in the epilogue, we see the memory of the past from when the truck hit Joon Ho. Secondly, the episode shows Hae-an visiting someone in the hospital and looking at the patient from afar. Minutes later, when Joon Ho struggles to help, Hae-an walks by. He looks at the bloodied kid in pain. Then, he looks at the crashed truck and the wounded driver.
What does he do? Who does he choose to help? My theory is that he supported the driver. Maybe because they had some history themselves, this person is still alive, and that’s why he still visits him in the hospital. There is also a possibility that this is the same person Chung Ha was talking about (to kill). Maybe she thinks killing the killer of Joon Ho would bring peace to Jip Sa.
Well, these are just theories. Come back here again for accurate updates next week.