Bittersweet Hell – K-drama Episode 6 Recap & Review

Episode 6

Episode 6 of Bittersweet Hell begins with Lee Se-na being investigated by the police on charges of burning her third partner alive. It’s revealed that she exhibits narcissistic tendencies and has a distorted perception of love. Se-na had pushed her partner into the fire because he’d taken her birthday cake. Her parents and older sister had died in a car accident, but how much of that is true remains uncertain.

Se-na’s connection with Young-won might run deeper than initially suspected. We see her watching one of Young-won’s shows, imagining herself as the participant. In the show, Young-won advises cutting off toxic family ties and tells the participant she was wrong in her actions, which offends Se-na. She wonders, “What kind of family do you live with that makes you act like that?”

From that moment, Se-na devises a plan to prove Young-won wrong. She visits Jae-jin’s clinic as a patient, sympathizes with his situation, and eventually wins him over. During one of their conversations, Jae-jin confesses that his mother has sacrificed everything for him, so he couldn’t refuse the path she’d planned for him—to become a doctor despite his fear of blood. He also feels that Young-won cannot understand him.

In a disturbing act, Se-na fed pigeons only to decapitate one and send its head to Young-won. She also visited Young-won as a patient, spied on, and tracked her family members, gathering their secrets to use later.

On the day of their first anniversary, Dr. Oh followed Jae-jin and was struck by Se-na, who claimed Dr. Oh was stalking Jae-jin and wanted to kill her. Se-na convinced Jae-jin to leave the vacation house and proposed a plan to fake his death so he could be free. Jae-jin agreed. This leads to the scene where Se-na tries to drown Jae-jin at the hotel pool but refrains when she notices the housekeeping staff around.

We return to Young-won and Sa-gang’s conversation where Young-won decides to focus on saving her son and wants nothing to do with Jae-jin. Do-hyeon also discovers his father’s affair and supports his mother. Back on her show, Young-won requests viewers to be kind and not spread malicious rumours about anyone’s families.

At the Soft Hands noodle restaurant, Sa-gang instructs Kang-sung to bring her Se-na’s belongings from the vacation home. They find one of Sa-gang’s mystery thriller novels. Yeong-min visits Sa-gang, revealing that since her father’s death, Yeong-won had devoted herself to Jae-jin’s family, neglecting her own mother and brother.

Back at the Choi household, Go-myu’s secretary hands over a courier box to Yeong-won, which contains another of Sa-gang’s books. Yeong-won believes that Se-na is exposing her family’s lies and visits Sa-gang with this information. Sa-gang dismisses her questions about lying. She believes that Se-na is targeting her family due to the events in her novels. They decide to protect their children. Later, Sa-gang decides to search Se-na’s house for clues.

Yeong-won follows Do-hyun and realizes he’s been lying to her. Instead of attending his private academy, he hangs out with Tae-o and his girlfriend. She becomes even more suspicious of Tae-o.

Yeong-min conducts a background check on Tae-o and confirms he attends a prestigious university and has a good reputation. Meanwhile, Dr. Oh visits the Choi household while Sa-gang is away and meets Tae-o, who deceitfully reassures her of Jae-jin’s affection. When meeting with Sa-gang, Dr. Oh is expelled from the clinic as Sa-gang realizes Dr. Oh wants Young-won to divorce Jae-jin and take her place.

Later that night, Sa-gang takes Young-won and Kang-sung to search Se-na’s house. They find unsettling portraits and artworks in her house. While on their way back home, Se-na is seen burning the Choi family pictures somewhere, and Jae-jin returns home. Instead of welcoming him, Young-won locks the car doors so Sa-gang cannot leave and drives the car straight at Jae-jin.

The Episode Review

The suspense is maintained in the episode as we ponder what Se-na is plotting now that Jae-jin is back home. From the information in the episode, it seems that Go-myu’s death was truly an accident and Se-na’s mission might not be to kill the family but to break them psychologically, revealing the layers of lies that run in the Choi household and discredit Young-won.

Even though the plot maintains its suspense, Young-won’s character isn’t very appealing, as she barely shows any distinct emotion. Apart from Sa-gang’s cringeworthy references to Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, meant to portray her as a stereotypical mystery-thriller author, her character is more colourful. Played by veteran actor Lee Hye-young, Sa-gang’s mysterious nature is conveyed with a natural flair.