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Netflix’s new Korean Drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines, premiered on March 7, 2025, with the release of its Volume 1: Spring, which consists of 4 episodes.
It stars popular South Korean singer and actress IU as Ae-soon, a bold and rebellious young girl who wants to change her current circumstances and help her mother by becoming a poet. It also stars Park Bo-gum as Gwan-sik, who has always loved Ae-soon and provides support whenever she falters.
When Life Gives You Tangerine takes us back to the 1950s and 60s in Jeju Island and follows the lives of Ae-soon and Gwan-sik as they navigate through many challenges. The first four episodes of the Netflix show depict the love story of Ae-soon and Gwan-sik.
Here’s the recap of When Life Gives You Tangerines, Episodes 1-4.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for When Life Gives You Tangerines Episodes 1-4. Reader’s Discretion is advised.
Ae-soon loses her mother in When Life Gives You Tangerines Episodes 1-4
The episode starts with Ae-soon, who is now 70 years old, taking part in a poetry-writing activity for the elderly. While participating, she recalls her mother, which takes us to a flashback where Ae-soon is a child and is disheartened as her mother doesn’t have time to read her poem, which got her a runner-up position in a poetry writing competition.
Ae-soon's mother is a Haenyeo (female diver) who remarried after losing her husband. As she cannot afford to send Ae-soon to school, she sends her to live with her father’s family, who burden her with household chores, making it difficult to study. Ae-soon wants to live with her mother, but her mother always pushes her away due to not being able to help Ae-soon accomplish her big dreams.
However, their relationship takes a turn when Jeon Gwang-rye, Ae-soon’s mother, reads her poem. In the heartfelt poem, Ae-soon promises to give her mother 100 won every day so she doesn’t have to work so hard. Gwang-rye, in a fit of emotion, goes to Ae-soon’s father’s house and brings her back to stay with her.
As their mother-daughter relationship starts to improve, Ae-soon encounters a challenge in her school where, even after winning an election, she is not appointed as the class President. Gwan-rye then bribes the teacher to treat her daughter better.
But tragedy strikes again as Ae-soon loses her mother, which leaves her devastated. In all these challenges, Gwan-sik stays and silently supports Ae-soon. After her mother’s death, she lives with her stepfather, contrary to her mother’s wish. She transforms their small plot of land into a cabbage farm with the help of local women and Gwan-sik.
Gwan-sik and Ae-soon’s bond deepens in When Life Gives You Tangerines Episodes 1-4
Ae-soon decides to stay with her stepfather after he asks her to, even after her mother tells her not to become a housekeeper for her stepfather and go live with her uncle after her death. She begins to live a life of a housekeeper as she takes care of the house and her two stepsiblings while also working at the cabbage field.
In all of her struggles, Gwan-sik becomes her constant supporter. He was by her side when she lost her mother, and he helps her in the cabbage field, and then even in the market to sell the cabbage while she tries to study.
Spending so much time together and being there for each other in facing challenges deepens their bond and transforms it into a youthful love.
Ae-soon and Gwan-sik profess their love for each other in When Life Gives You Tangerines Episodes 1-4
As Ae-soon’s life becomes more miserable at her stepfather’s house, she goes back to her Uncle’s house, who tries to convince her to work in a factory rather than going to college. Discouraged by her circumstances, she opens up to Gwan-sik, and later, they run away from Jeju Island and go to Busan to change their lives.
However, Gwan-sik’s mother finds them and brings them back to Jeju. Arriving back to Jeju, they encounter another challenge with the society that treats the women harshly than men: Ae-soon gets expelled from school while Gwan-sik is only suspended.
From almost getting married to a 30-year-old man to leaving Gwan-sik forever, the young couple in When Life Gives you Tangerines overcame every challenge that came their way and got married at last.
Ae-soon and Gwan-sik’s married life and more challenges ahead in When Life Gives You Tangerines Episodes 1-4
Ae-soon and Gwan-sik get married and have a daughter named Yang Geum-myeong (IU). In these later years of life, we see Ae-soon struggling with her in-laws and trying her best to provide all the opportunities she missed due to her circumstances and society’s outlook.
We also jump back to the present day, 1996, and see Ae-soon's daughter Geum-myeong refusing to marry her fiancee whose mother wants her to leave her job after marriage. She remembers her mother’s struggles to make her capable of achieving her dreams, which she couldn’t.
In When Life Gives you Tangerines, the episode also shows us how Gwan-sik and Ae-soon still try to support and be there for each other, even standing up to their own family to protect each other.
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