The Pilot
The latest episode of Hi Bye Mama gives us more background about Pil-Seung’s family as we finally learn what happened to them. While this episode didn’t move the story forward a lot, it was still quite the enjoyable and emotional segment as we start to understand the characters around Yu-Ri. Episode 7 of Hi Bye Mama starts in 2013 as we see both couples camping. They discuss where they would like to go on holiday then end up having a fight with Geun-Sang when they realise he didn’t bring enough food. We then see a montage of Yu-Ri’s happy memories with her family and friends before cutting to her funeral where we see her three friends grieving. As we pick up where we left off, Seo-Woo runs into her mother’s arms before Min-Jeong takes her back and walks away as Yu-Ri asks if she can do it. Hyeon-Jong thinks about her previous conversation with Yu-Ri and wonders what she is hiding. In a coffee shop, Yu-Ri speaks to Min-Jong and suggests being Seo-Woo’s pick-up -helper. Min-Jong isn’t sure she can trust her as she keeps avoiding any eye contact. After laughing about their identical injuries, Min-Jeong leaves with Seo-Woo with whom she has a touching moment. The next morning, Min-Jeong tries to speak to her husband about the test Seo-Woo took, which shows that she’s a little under-developed. He brushes it off though, telling her that kids learn at different speeds. She then changes the conversation and mentions that the kitchen lady from the school has asked to be the pick up helper of Seo-Woo. Meanwhile, Yu-Ri finds out from the Pil-Seung family that the other ghosts have been quiet since they told her she will only grant them one wish each. They then ask her to go into their son’s flat to clean it. However when she sees what state it is in, she refuses to, which send them into a crying frenzy. Back in Pil-Seung’s flat, his mum explains to Yu-Ri that she wishes she could just have one day with him so she could cook him a home cooked meal as he hasn’t had one in 20 years. We then flashback to the day all three died as the mother, father and sister were happy and on their way to pick-up a very young Pil-Seung from school. Just as they saw him cross the road, a big truck came out of nowhere and plowed into them in front of the boy. Cutting back to the present, the mother tells her she would actually rather watch her son grow old then be resurrected for 49 days. In the hospital, Gang-Hwa relays to Geun-Sang that Yu-Ri wants to be the pick up helper for their daughter. Geun-Sang doesn’t think it is a good idea as it would mean that Yu-Ri will stay in their house while she waits for them to return. We then find out that Yu-Ri actually wants to get access to the house to chase a ghost who keeps lingering there. In the charnel House, Pan-Seok gets a lot of visitors again which angers his old boss Sam-Dong, blaming him for his death as he was his driver and claims to having left more money than him behind. This get the attention of Gwi-Soon and Mi-Ja who berate him for acting the way he is and telling him that the amount of money he has earned doesn’t mean anything anymore. We then see a notice on Sam-Dong’s urn showing that no one has been paying for his placement. Pil-Seung returns to his flat and is surprised to see it clean and with a home cooked meal on the table while his ghost family watches on. After eating the food, he decides to have a shower. The ghosts warn Yu-Ri, who’s forced to hide in his closet when he comes back early. Unfortunately, he notices a hairband on the floor and grabs a wooden stick before opening his closet. She later tells him that she is the new housekeeper and before leaving, mentions that he should start cleaning after himself. As Yu-Ri walks home, she remembers the conversation she had when she asks the Pil-Seung family why they don’t follow him at work. They explain that because he is a pilot, they’re worried that they would go up for good. Yu-Ri later picks up a magazine about Pil-Seung, who once said in an interview that since his family passed away, he will be flying to them. Yu-Ri arrives in her hotel and sees Gang-Hwa waiting for her. They share some food in a restaurant where he tells her that he should tell the truth to everyone around them. She tells him she wants to be the pickup helper, to which he eventually agrees while Hyeon-Jong speaks to her husband about the situation. Geun-Sang then decides to call his aunt to talk about his meeting with the Shaman, Mi-Dong. As the sky opens and rain start to fall, Min-Jeong comes face to face with Yu-Ri who offers to share her umbrella with her. They talk about what the other women have been saying about her and both seem to start getting friendly with each other. Suddenly they are startled when they see Gang-Hwa in front of them, also sharing an umbrella. The episode ends with a flashback to their camping trip as Yu-Ri and Gang-Hwa have an argument but fall asleep in each other’s arms before we cut forward as we see the day that Gang-Hwa took Seo-Woo camping. Hi Bye, Mama carries on with its emotional tale as we find out more about some of its secondary characters, while still following the struggles Yu-Ri has to face. Knowing that her days are numbered, she tries her best to do what she can for her daughter before she has to go. This must be quite difficult for her to not be able to tell her daughter who she is, especially when she has to watch another woman be a mother to her. The story behind Pil-Seung’s family was really harrowing and this episode really helps us understand the family a little better. While this segment felt a little slower, finding out about the ghosts’ past does add more depth to the show and offers up more emotional moments too. So far Hi Bye, Mama has been quite the enjoyable drama to watch on the weekend and while it may not be as strong as the excellent Crash Landing on You, it is still worth watching nonetheless.
