Battle for HappinessShe died for someone's happiness.
A suspense drama depicting mothers engaged in a fierce social media battle to destroy each others' happiness for their own, to free themselves from oppression, hurt, and secrets, and regain their true selves.
DirectorKim Yun-cheol
WriterJoo Young-ha
Episode 1
May 31, 2023
While selecting the winners for a social media event, Jang Mi-ho gets in touch with Yu-jin, a bad relationship from her past. Meanwhile, Yu-jin is cornered by other moms who suspect her of lying for the main role in a play. One day, Mi-ho shows up in front of Yu-jin and fearing that her past will be discovered, Yu-jin gives money to Mi-ho to silence her.
Episode 2
Jun 1, 2023
Because of an incident during the play, the event is suspended, and Yu-jin and Ji-ye argue over whose fault it is. Yu-jin accepts Mi-ho's offer to shoot a commercial, but the shoot is canceled when Ha-yul gets hurt on set. The emotional rift between the two deepens. Mi-ho goes to Yu-jin's house to apologize, but is kicked out. The next day, Mi-ho hears shocking news about Yu-jin...
Episode 3
Jun 7, 2023
Rumors spread at work that Mi-ho is directly involved in Yu-jin's death. Meanwhile, Mi-ho goes to the aquarium with Ji-yul and Ha-yul. While returning to work with a complicated mind, she gets a call that the girls have disappeared. It turns out that they got lost while going to see Mi-ho. Mi-ho decides to take time off work to care for Ji-yul and Ha-yul, and moves into ‘High Prestige.’
Episode 4
Jun 8, 2023
Mi-ho is clumsy in everything about childrearing, and she doesn't fit in properly with other moms. Na-young shows hostility towards Mi-ho and Mi-ho learns from Ji-ye that Yu-jin had a grudge against Na-young in her lifetime. After Mi-ho witnesses Na-young's serious delusional jealousy that doubts her husband's conduct, she finds a picture of Tae-ho's affair in Yu-jin's house.
Episode 5
Jun 14, 2023
Mi-ho takes the pictures of Tae-ho’s affair to the police but fails to see the detective in charge. After an argument with Mi-ho, Na-young goes to Jung-ah to kick Mi-ho out, but Jung-ah doesn’t comply. When Mi-ho learns Tae-ho is having an affair with A-ra, she decides to apologize to Na-young. Meanwhile, after being humiliated by the other moms over lunch, Na-young decides to hang herself.
Episode 6
Jun 15, 2023
Mi-ho finds Na-young just in time and saves her life. When words get out about Na-young’s suicide attempt, Jung-ah blames it on Mi-ho and looks into her past. Meanwhile, Mi-ho gives up on finding Yu-jin’s killer and returns to work. But feeling guilty, she decides to look after the kids and find the truth about Yu-jin’s death. One day, she receives an anonymous text about the USB.
Episode 7
Jun 21, 2023
Mi-ho fails to find the USB and to meet the one who sent the text. But she finds Jung-ah’s lipstick on the floor and becomes suspicious. One day, Mi-ho coincidentally finds the USB and discovers the "Pandora’s Box" folder inside. Meanwhile, Na-young sees Tae-ho and A-ra having an affair and decides to seek revenge. Right then, someone sends an anonymous letter to the bank, exposing Mi-ho’s past.
Episode 8
Jun 22, 2023
Mi-ho finds out that the malicious social media post about her past was Jung-ah’s work and that Chang-hyun was at the apartment when Yu-jin was killed. Mi-ho thinks Jung-ah might have hired Chang-hyun to kill Yu-jin. But after Na-young tells Mi-ho that it wasn’t Jung-ah, Mi-ho is back at square one. Right then, the detectives barge in to investigate Mi-ho for attempted murder of Do-jun.
Episode 9
Jun 28, 2023
Do-jun claims that Yu-jin and Mi-ho colluded to kill him and Mi-ho is questioned by the police. Mi-ho learns from the kindergarten teacher that Yu-jin took all of Ji-yul’s drawings before she was killed, and it bothers her. While looking through anonymous posts on the moms’ club, she is shocked to see a post about a woman who thinks her child saw a strange video on her husband’s laptop.
Episode 10
Jun 29, 2023
Mi-ho is certain that the anonymous post was written by Yu-jin. She unlocks the USB with a professional’s help and finds Do-jun’s video in the "Pandora’s Box". She confronts Do-jun, but he claims that Yu-jin started to suffer from anxiety after meeting Mi-ho and committed suicide. In front of Yu-jin’s house, Mi-ho finds a package addressed to Yu-jin with a note and a key.
Episode 11
Jul 5, 2023
Mi-ho goes to see Hye-jung to find out what the key is for. But Hye-jung is hostile to Mi-ho. After pressing Hye-jung, Mi-ho finds out the shocking truth about her mother and Yu-jin's father, and feels even guiltier towards Yu-jin. Meanwhile, Do-jun finds out that Mi-ho met Hye-jung and contacts ‘...’ on his phone. Finally, Mi-ho finds out that the key is for the resident locker in the apartment.
Episode 12
Jul 6, 2023
Mi-ho finds a ripped piece of a drawing in the locker and discovers someone took the package on the day of the incident. She then concludes that Ji-ye was the one who left the package. She confronts Ji-ye, but Ji-ye only admits to looking for the USB and says she thinks Su-bin left the package. Mi-ho confronts Su-bin, but he denies it looking frightenend, which leaves Mi-ho suspicious.
Episode 13
Jul 12, 2023
Mi-ho tries to ask Jung-sik about the relationship between Su-bin and Yu-jin, but Jung-ah shows up and stops him. Later, Jung-ah tells Mi-ho about the heavy loan Ji-ye took out to buy a house and that Ji-ye has a motive. Mi-ho decides to follow Su-bin and Ji-ye and finds out that Ji-ye was at Yu-jin’s house on the night of the murder. Meanwhile, Ji-yul tells Mi-ho that she has an older sister.
Episode 14
Jul 13, 2023
While Mi-ho is headed for Marilyn to meet Ju-a, Yu-jin’s secret daughter, Jin-seop is attacked by Ju-a who thinks Mi-ho is her birth mom. Ju-a is shocked to hear Yu-jin is dead and that Do-jun is her husband. Mi-ho is certain something happened between Ju-a and Do-jun and that it led Do-jun and Yu-jin to fight. Meanwhile, when Ji-ye tries to flee after scamming people, Mi-ho catches her.
Episode 15
Jul 19, 2023
Ji-ye clams up upon Do-jun’s threat. Mi-ho and Do-jun are out to find the black USB before one another. While trying to replay what happened the night Yu-jin died, Mi-ho realizes where the USB might be and finally finds it. The USB contains audio files of Yu-jin hiring a hitman on Do-jun and him doing the same. Mi-ho is sure that Do-jun is the killer, and he kidnaps and takes her to his clinic.
Episode 16
Jul 20, 2023
Do-jun tries to kill Mi-ho. She gets away from him but gets caught and dragged up to the rooftop. Just when he’s about to throw her off the roof, Jin-seop, Jung-ah and Na-young save her. Mi-ho hears the news of her promotion and new post in an overseas branch. She reads the last part of Yu-jin’s complaint letter and lets go of her grudge. She decides to start a new life with Ji-yul and Ha-yul.
ParkMin
@ParkMin
Having a plot around mothers competing on social media over whose life is the happiest is such a dystopian sad present we currently live in. The concept itself was limit testing my cringe-o-meter really hard but luckily the mystery plot took over after 2 episodes. This drama was very similar to Green Mothers' Club (2022), it started with a group of housewives/residents living in their fancy neighborhood until it turns into a mystery plot after a few episodes. The mystery itself here was limited, swinging between who's the killer and digging up the past, however, it wasn't enough to fill 16 episodes and was often stretching each event really thin. Most of the characters were trashy which made it hard to sympathize with when they were given a turn over and a resolution. For a plot around who done it mystery, usually we get a handful of suspects with good motives but in this drama most of the suspects had a weak motivation and their attempt to play innocent was rather unconvincing. One thing that bothered me was how the drama never addressed the big daughter properly after her initial introduction and purpose, which was kinda important for the narrative. In fact, most relationships between the characters were given a half-arsed follow up and resolution, leading to an unacceptable wrap up.
