Highlights: "Modern Farmer," Episode 3

Episode 3 of “Modern Farmer” gets off to a dramatic start! After the villagers discover that Mr. Flower isn’t the real Mr. Flower, Lee Min Ki blames Kang Yoon Hee for running over the deer with a tractor. He rationalizes that if he blames her then he won’t get kicked out, and he can keep farming.

That lie doesn’t last long, of course, and soon Hwang Man Goo puts together a council vote on whether to kick Excellent Souls out of the village.

In their defense, Lee Min Ki actually brings up a couple reasonable points:

1.  If Mr. Flower had been properly tied in his pen, he wouldn’t have gotten out and gotten hit.
2. Are drivers kicked out of the country for hitting wildlife on the freeway?

However, even with the villagers accepting the rationale, nearly all of them vote against the group.

In a last-ditch effort to save the group, Lee Min Ki refuses to leave, saying that he will farm his land and that they will have to go through the law to get him out. He then proceeds to stomp out.

After the group leaves, the villagers are put to another vote—to remove Kang Yoon Hee as head of the village. Almost everyone is against it, thinking of all she’s done for them, but an argument ensues. Finally, one of the village elders gives an ultimatum. If Kang Yoon Hee can bring home the Myeon Olympiad trophy (one they’ve lost to another village for the last nine years), then she will remain as village head. However, if she does not then she will have to step down.

Having enough of the constant trouble they get in, Yoo Han Chul decides to go back to Seoul by himself. That plan, however, is put to an abrupt stop. Why?

As Yoo Han Chul is about to step onto the bus, a beautiful girl steps out—cue cheesy I-just-fell-in-love music—and asks him if this village is Hadurok Ri. When he nods, speechless, she smiles and thanks him before heading towards the village. Yoo Han Chul has fallen in love at first sight, could this be too good to be true?

Well, based on the mysterious music that accompanied her on her walk, I’d say yes, it is too good to be true.

After finding out more about the girl that stopped Yoo Han Chul from leaving, the group gets ready to sleep. Han Ki Joon begs Kang Hyuk to open the door to let in the breeze, but the rest refuse, due to the mosquitoes.

But of course, our bright Han Ki Joon decides to not listen, and at some point during night chose to sleep halfway out the door. When he woke up around noon, his face had not only been bitten up by mosquitoes, but also sunburnt.

Hwang Man Goo is dead-set on doing anything he can to run the group out of the village. When the group catches him cutting their electricity, he simply laughs. Hwang Man Goo tells them that since Lee Min Ki’s grandmother, who had asked him to extend electricity and water to her house, is now gone, there is no need for the services—so he’s cutting them off.

On their way to the bus stop to go to town, the group encounters Bul Ja, an illegal immigrant worker from China. She works in the village’s greenhouse and collects snakes to sell to a snake soup place so she can send money back to her family.

Once in town, Han Ki Joon immediately discovers the hotteok stand and begs Lee Min Ki to let him get one. However, Lee Min Ki refuses, knowing they need to save their money for the cabbage seeds.

What Lee Min Ki didn’t anticipate was how costly it would really be: $4,000 for everything they would need to farm the cabbages.

The group soon stumbles upon a protest made up of the illegal immigrant workers (including Bul Ja) demanding their pay. When they are refused, the police are called.

The group stumbles upon a man selling puppies, but they are quick to notice one off to the side and not being fed. The man says he won’t feed it because it’s dying and it would be a loss on his part. Being that Yoo Han Chul is still secretly dying from cancer, he becomes angry and yells at the man. In the end, he decides to buy the puppy.

Having wandered off from the others, Han Ki Joon finally gets his hotteok. However, seconds after the police speed by him, Bul Ja suddenly crashes into him and sends his precious hotteok flying. When it hits the ground, Bul Ja’s foot comes down on it as she falls.

Han Ki Joon yells at her for it, but with the police whistles blasting nearby, Bul Ja breaks her silence and begs him to save her.

Because she injured her ankle in the fall, Han Ki Joon carries her on his back as he runs. They manage to evade the police for a while until Han Ki Joon trips and they fall to the ground. He screams at her to keep running as the police near, and after she flees, the police arrest him under the assumption that he is one of the illegal immigrant workers.

When Han Ki Joon tries to prove his citizenship with his ID, the vast difference between his picture and his current face provokes the officer to add a charge for ID forgery.

It’s not until the rest of the group comes running in that he is able to leave.

On their way back to the village, Bul Ja suddenly appears again. Upset, Han Ki Joon tries to continue past her, but she stops him and gives him a bag before running off. When they look in the bag, they discover several hotteok. Embarrassed, Han Ki Joon tries to play it off pretending he doesn’t know why she gave them.

With the Myeon Olympiad almost upon them, Kang Yoon Hee gets the villagers together to prepare. However, she soon realizes that none of them are really very good at any of the events.

Realizing she has no other choice, she begs the group to help. However, Lee Min Ki’s taunting attitude lands them in a fight as he refuses.

Yeah, something is definitely up with this new girl, but of course we still don’t know what she’s looking for and why.

In a flashback to their band days, we finally get a glimpse as to what Kang Hyuk did to betray the group. Something happened between him and their company president and Kang Hyuk attacked him.

What more could possibly go wrong? Fire.

Being that they had their electricity cut, they used candles to light the house and left them lit as they went to sleep. Who taught these guys fire safety?

Now! For my top three favorite scenes of Episode 3!

1. Lee Min Ki having a dream about Kang Yoon Hee and kissing Yoo Han Chul’s butt just as he farts.

Bless the writer of this show.

2. This reference to “My Love from the Stars.”

As the group coached Yoo Han Chul on facial expressions, they used Kim Soo Hyun as an example. I may or may not have cried a little bit inside. #favoriteshow

3. The pixelation of Yoon Han Chul pooping in the field… and the nasty sound effects.

If you’re immature and you know it, clap your hands! *clap clap*

SO! Have you been keeping up with the show? Discuss it below!

[tv]Catch “Modern Farmer” every Saturday and Sunday on SoompiTV!

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