"Master - God of Noodles" Episode 14 recap

If my brain had a mouth it would scream, because episode fourteen of "Master - God of Noodles" is so heavy on new, resurfacing and conflicting information that it becomes borderline messy. The fight over Goongrakwon is ongoing, but new challenges arise. Gil-do's wickedness escalates and Da-hae is his new victim. Myeong, Tae-ha and Yeo-gyeong need to communicate better and perhaps take lessons for it from Congressman So, who stops beating around the bush and faces Gil-do head on.
As manipulative as Kang-sook (Lee Il-hwa) is with Da-hae (Gong Seung-yeon), she is a tragic character. She has lived with liars abusing her status and using her, so why would she consider Da-hae as any different? This makes me more curious about Mi-ja (Seo I-sook). Are her tears and worry over Kang-sook real or just part of her manipulation? Could they be both? The characters in this drama have a great duality about them, which makes the series exciting despite its standard revenge premise.

When it comes to manipulation, however, Gil-do (Jo Jae-hyeon) is still the king. His daughter is the same age as Myeong (Cheon Jeong-myeong), but he gladly killed Myeong's family, and it turns out that even his own blood does not escape this cold indifference. Using Da-hae's emotions and her mother's memory to get her shares is a new low. I can understand why Da-hae believes some of his lies, but I do find her acceptance of Dae-Cheon's (Choi Jong-won) guilt contrived.
The reason is that Da-hae's certainty is inconsistent with her olfactory skills. If she only recognizes the smell of the beads and Gil-do put them on Dae-cheon, why does she not consider Gil-do a suspect? If her certainty comes from the fact that Dae-cheon's body odor combined with the beads is the smell of her mother's killer, why did she not recognize his odor as a component of it all these years? His apology before his death is not conclusive evidence either.

The episode has other such inconsistencies. Myeong allows Da-hae to use his restaurant, but keeps important documents in a book she could very well browse. Kang-sook openly discussing Gil-do's fatherhood of Da-hae with her without them having talked about such an important topic before feels abrupt. Gil-do being so forthright with Tae-ha (Lee Sang-yeob) is baffling. I am not sure whether these issues stem from the writing or the editing, but I will trust the creators for now.
I certainly trust them to pile on the pain. Da-hae is being used by everyone, including our misguided lead, while his, Tae-ha's and Yeo-gyeong's (Jeong Yoo-mi) dishonesty with one another will only put them in danger. For now, I will enjoy Congressman So's (Kim Byeong-gi) direct confrontation, as well as the meta humor regarding television ratings and Jo Jae-hyeon's height while hoping for a more coherent next episode.
"Master - God of Noodles" is directed by Kim Jong-yeon and Lim Se-joon, written by Chae Seung-dae and features Cheon Jeong-myeong, Jo Jae-hyeon, Jeong Yoo-mi and Lee Sang-yeob.
Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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