South Korea · Drama · 2020
Hi Bye, Mama!
Binge Brief
- The series ran for 16 episodes, airing every Saturday and Sunday on tvN from February 22 to April 19, 2020.
- Cha Yu-ri's ghost is given exactly 49 days in human form to resolve her unfinished life before she must leave for good.
- Director Yoo Je-won, who later directed Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, worked from an original screenplay by Kwon Hye-joo.
- The show carries a 15+ content rating (Teens 15 or older).
- It is also known internationally as "Goodbye Mom," alongside its Korean title 하이바이, 마마!.
Synopsis
Cha Yu-ri, a thoracic surgeon, has spent five years as an invisible ghost since dying in a car accident, watching her husband Cho Gang-hwa and their young daughter Seo-woo move on without her. When her spirit is unexpectedly restored to a living body, she is told she has only 49 days to settle her unfinished business before she must leave the world of the living for good.
Yu-ri returns to find Gang-hwa remarried to Oh Min-jeong, a warm, exhausted mother juggling a stepdaughter, a demanding job, and a husband still haunted by grief. Unable to reveal who she really is, Yu-ri takes a position at Seo-woo's kindergarten so she can stay close to the daughter she never got to raise, while navigating an increasingly tangled web of secrets with Gang-hwa and Min-jeong.
Built around Yoo Je-won's direction and Kwon Hye-joo's screenplay, the series mixes comedy, ghost-story mechanics, and family drama to ask what a mother owes a family that has already learned to live without her. As Yu-ri's 49 days run down, the show follows her toward a choice between reclaiming the life she lost and letting Gang-hwa, Min-jeong, and Seo-woo keep the one they built in her absence.
The story unfolds across tvN's weekend slot, tracking Yu-ri's shifting bond with Min-jeong from wary rivalry toward reluctant understanding as both women are forced to define what it means to raise Seo-woo together.
Hi Bye, Mama! cast
Filming locations
Scenes set at Seo-woo's kindergarten were filmed at New Seoul Kindergarten in Sinjeong 1(il)-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. The restaurant where Yu-ri, Min-jeong and Dong-mi frequently gather was filmed at Dotori Brothers, a real restaurant in Sajik-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Themes and messages
The series is built around a mother's grief and love for a child she can no longer openly parent, following Cha Yu-ri's 49-day chance, as a ghost, to return to her husband and daughter before she must move on for good. It weighs holding on against letting go: Yu-ri has to decide whether reclaiming her old life is fair to the husband and daughter who have since built a new one without her. The blended-family situation between Yu-ri, her husband Cho Gang-hwa, and his second wife Oh Min-jeong is used to explore jealousy, guilt and eventual acceptance rather than simple rivalry.
Interesting facts
- Hi Bye, Mama! marked Kim Tae-hee's return to television after a five-year acting hiatus.
- The daughter character, Seo-woo, was played by a boy, actor Seo Woo-jin. The production team said he was cast because he "looks identical to Kim Tae Hee" and for his "stable acting skills"; some crew members reportedly were not aware he was a boy until after he was cast.
Episodes
| Ep | Title | Air date | Status | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Life is Full of Unpredictable Surprises Yu-ri discovers her daughter can see her, and just as she prepares to move on, her spirit is unexpectedly restored to a living body. | 2020-02-22 | Aired | |
| 2 | Forgotten Season Gang-hwa is stunned to see the returned Yu-ri, who has only 49 days to reclaim her place, while Seo-woo goes missing. | 2020-02-23 | Aired | |
| 3 | Realizing the Beauty of Life is Only Possible After Death Gang-hwa struggles to tell Yu-ri he has remarried, so she takes a job at Seo-woo's preschool to shield her from other ghosts. | 2020-02-29 | Aired | |
| 4 | There is Nothing that Won't Happen to Me Min-jeong grows suspicious of how familiar Yu-ri looks, while Yu-ri uncovers a child ghost's secret at the preschool. | 2020-03-01 | Aired | |
| 5 | Every Moment When Chance Turns into Fate Yu-ri's return to human form unsettles the ghosts at the columbarium, and she nearly gives herself away to Gang-hwa and Min-jeong. | 2020-03-07 | Aired | |
| 6 | Even in the Face of Death, Family is Still My Number One Min-jeong wakes with an unexplained facial wound and weighs a major decision as Gang-hwa faces discipline at the hospital. | 2020-03-08 | Aired | |
| 7 | Where Flowers Bloom and Fall Yu-ri meets Min-jeong over a possible job and finds herself in an awkward spot while granting a dying man's wish. | 2020-03-14 | Aired | |
| 8 | People Who Can't Say Goodbye Yu-ri notices a ghost and his daughter's painful situation, and crosses paths with someone who should not be able to see her. | 2020-03-15 | Aired | |
| 9 | Goodbye and Hello to Your Light Yu-ri begins babysitting Seo-woo to drive out an unwanted ghost from the house, while Gang-hwa makes a painful mistake. | 2020-03-21 | Aired | |
| 10 | Your Place Where I Cannot Reach With half of her 49 days gone, Yu-ri focuses on Seo-woo and Min-jeong as Gang-hwa runs into Jeon Eun-suk again. | 2020-03-22 | Aired | |
| 11 | The Share Of Life Given To Me An unwelcome visitor unsettles Ms. Mi-dong, while Yu-ri, Min-jeong and Go Hyeon-jeong confront bullying mothers at the preschool. | 2020-03-28 | Aired | |
| 12 | The Days I Was Forgotten Gang-hwa is shocked when Seo-woo says Yu-ri's name aloud, and Yu-ri faces a threat from the exorcist. | 2020-03-29 | Aired | |
| 13 | A Story I Could Not See Once Gang-hwa learns Yu-ri had been by his side all along, he prepares to come clean to Min-jeong as neighbors gossip about the three of them. | 2020-04-11 | Aired | |
| 14 | It's Not Your Fault Returning to the operating room is difficult for Gang-hwa, and a day spent with Hyeon-jeong's family brings Yu-ri to tears. | 2020-04-12 | Aired | |
| 15 | My Life's Tomorrow Yu-ri must return to her rightful place if she wants to keep living, so Gang-hwa resolves to make that happen as Min-jeong decides to leave. | 2020-04-18 | Aired | |
| 16 | Petals Fall, But the Flower Endures The truth behind why Yu-ri was brought back is revealed, and as her 49 days run out, she must make her final choice. | 2020-04-19 | Aired |
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