Our show has explained the past this week, and the picture is becoming clearer as to why these horrible things have been happening around our protagonist. As we learn some of our characters are laced with entitlement and desire for revenge, we’re left with one important question: will there be a good outcome to our story next week?
EPISODES 9-10
The opening scene this week continues the conversation between Mum, Dad, and Detective Shin. The parents have decided to come clean about everything and ask for help. In a series of flashbacks, we see their perspective of previous events we’ve already seen (through Sun-hee’s eyes) and gain a little context. Dad explains how Hyun-min got out of jail and started turning up unexpectedly, threatening that he will tell Sun-hee about the past if they don’t pay him. They also explain that Mum went to Kyung-ho’s house the night of the fire and Kyung-ho was already dead. (Note that Mum had told Sun-hee previously that Kyung-ho was still alive when she got there and that he didn’t blame Sun-hee. But I imagine that was her way of trying to negate Sun-hee’s guilt.)
Our evil bio-dad (Hyun-min) had gone inside Kyung-ho’s house that night — because he was stalking watching them — only to find Mum in shock next to Kyung-ho’s lifeless body. Hyun-min shouted at Mum to leave saying he’d take care of everything if they paid him: all to protect Sun-hee from becoming a murderer, of course. Wow this dude is really shameless. As Mum was leaving, she had seen Kyung-ho’s parents arrive and was going to call emergency services, but thought better of it to protect Sun-hee. When our Perfect Family are sitting around the breakfast table the next day and the news comes on about the fire, we see Mum’s real reaction. Mum’s face looks just as shocked as Sun-hee’s, but she puts on her creepy mask and smiles thinking this will help keep Sun-hee stay calm. Of course this had the opposite effect!
The show continues to explain what happened in previous episodes from Mum and Dad’s perspective, and Dad talks about when Soo-yeon came over to the house. When Soo-yeon was in Sun-hee’s room threatening her, Hyun-min turned up to threaten Mum and Dad. Hyun-min told Dad that Sun-hee stabbed Kyung-ho and he will cover it up — for a price. (Just wow.) Dad wanted to go to the police, but Hyun-min said he had black box footage of Sun-hee leaving the residence covered in blood, and Mum entering and leaving the scene. He asks who the police will suspect…? (Does he though?) When Soo-yeon left, Hyun-min took Dad’s car and said it would be a headache if they didn’t deal with the accomplice now.
Dad explains to Detective Shin that he was going to send Sun-hee and Mum abroad to get away from Hyun-min. Mum had said Hyun-min would just follow them to torture them more; this is why she bought the peanut powder. (Mum believed that Hyun-min has the same deathly allergy to peanuts as Sun-hee.) Mum wanted to get rid of Hyun-min because she couldn’t cope with this situation anymore, and this is when Sun-hee heard her talk about “killing quickly” in a previous episode and had misunderstood thinking they were talking about her.
Shooting over to Hyun-min and Sun-hee in this building by the sea, we’re back in present day. Hyun-min has a gun and is getting more agitated, calling Dad for the ransom money for Sun-hee. Little does Hyun-min know the police are outside already. On trying to figure out the best way to approach crazy Hyun-min, the police are talking strategy when Dad volunteers to go in. Dad pleads with Detective Shin to allow him to go in for Sun-hee’s sake, and against Detective Shin’s better judgement he allows it.
Unaware of all of this happening outside, Hyun-min is spitting his poison again telling Sun-hee she was just a doll to rich people like them. Mum and Dad just used, abused, and discarded her carelessly at the end. To Sun-hee’s credit she defends her parents saying that they aren’t like that. It is very tense when Dad goes into the building — of course Hyun-min decides he doesn’t want the money: he wants revenge instead. (For what exactly, getting the worst bio-dad of the year award?) Luckily, a police sniper gets Hyun-min in his crosshairs and shoots, hitting Hyun-min in the side. As Hyun-min staggers off, Sun-hee starts making her way to Dad but then stops to turn around. What are you doing?! Don’t go back there, Sun-hee!
Sun-hee applies pressure to Hyun-min’s wound even though he’s still got the gun pointed at her. Dad decides to approach, and he and Hyun-min get into a struggle. There are a few punches thrown and the gun is knocked out of Hyun-min’s hand. Just as Dad tries to stop Hyun-min from picking the gun up, Dad and Hyun-min end up careening out of the side of the building into the ocean. It would be nice if Hyun-min (and of course Dad) could survive and repent for his sins, but I’m almost positive that his twisted mindset is permanent by this point. The police and Mum rush in, and all Sun-hee will say is “appa.” Talk about being traumatized.
In the past, we see Hyun-min leaving a very young Sun-hee with her grandmother so he can go and gamble. What we witness here shows Hyun-min’s disregard for everyone but himself. Case in point: when he runs out of money, he mugs someone and beats them quite viciously. After using the victim’s credit card, Hyun-min ends up being questioned at the prosecutor’s office by none other than Dad. This build-up and meeting with Dad (who incidentally shared Hyun-min’s name at the time) shows us how this ill-fated relationship started and then progressed into something grotesque.
Hyun-min pleads innocent with Dad, saying he just found the credit card and used it. With no proof to the contrary, and Hyun-min going for the pity vote saying he has his elderly mother and Sun-hee to look after, Dad lets him off. But Hyun-min soon makes Dad his target; he follows him and ambushes him from behind when he’s alone and intoxicated. When Dad is unconscious on the floor (after being hit over the head by Hyun-min), Hyun-min steals some of his business cards. What a lovely way to treat someone who gave you the benefit of the doubt. *Side-eyes Hyun-min*
Now the entanglement really begins, and more fragments of the past are shown to us — and none of it is pretty. As Hyun-min knows Dad is in the hospital after the assault, he decides to take Sun-hee there pretending he has an appointment. Then Hyun-min accidentally on purpose runs into Dad and his family. Mum and their son are taking care of Dad, and Hyun-min asks the son if he will watch Sun-hee while he goes to his “appointment.” However, Hyun-min goes to a convenience store to pick up some snacks that… contain a peanut warning. Hyun-min hands the snacks to the kids and walks away with a big smile on his face while Sun-hee quickly falls into anaphylactic shock. That is so beyond despicable to do to a small child, let alone YOUR OWN CHILD.
As subtle as ever — as this poor kid is hooked up to machines and unconscious — Hyun-min is talking to Dad about how Sun-hee has no insurance for her hospital stay. Hyun-min thinks to himself it’s more impactful to start with trust than gratitude. (Hold on while I go and grab some holy water to throw at my screen.) Dad has all of his staff sign life insurance policies with Hyun-min to help him out — he claimed this was his job but it was just sooo hard to get people to sign up. (Dad is always getting ribbed about being too kind at work and this really takes the biscuit.) Dad has also asked Mum if she will treat Hyun-min (probably free of charge) as she’s a psychiatrist, and she does. Meanwhile, all of Mum’s staff are asking if they aren’t getting a little too friendly with Hyun-min, and that he scares them. Me too, sister.
There is another unsettling exchange when Hyun-min and Sun-hee go to Mum and Dad’s for dinner. Hyun-min plays the sympathy card about Sun-hee’s mum dying and Dad gets the whole family to sign up for Hyun-min’s life insurance (aka, scam). Hyun-min starts calling Dad “hyungnim” and I swear I just got the ick. In another show of thoughtfulness *coughs* Hyun-min goes to collect Sun-hee from his mother. Even though his mother is sick she asks him: What on earth is he scheming? How can Hyun-min pick up a perfectly healthy child for her to end up in hospital? Why did he make a child sign life insurance? All valid questions, but Hyun-min’s response is to tell her she has no right pretending to care. It seems his mother didn’t protect him from a violent father and this is his excuse for his behavior.
It turns out that Hyun-min is in debt to a group of gangsters for his horse race betting addiction. The gang have threatened Hyun-min a couple of times with a bowling ball to the face as well as a few beatings here and there. When the gang discovers his life insurance scam, they tell him to kill his mother and Sun-hee so he can pay them back what he owes. (That’s just wrong!) Hyun-min, only thinking about saving his own skin, decides Sun-hee is first. Hyun-min nearly pushes Sun-hee into the ocean, but backs out at the last minute. Another opportunity presents itself when Mum, Dad, and their son turn up and they take a boat out to a fishing spot. (Turns out Hyun-min had asked them there to be witnesses so it would be easier to get the life insurance — aka, get away with murder.) Hyun-min decides to walk Sun-hee away from the family and is very close to pushing her into the sea when the son interrupts them.
Dad notices that Hyun-min is looking downcast and goes to sit with him. They have a heart to heart about what they live for, and Dad asks Hyun-min what his dream was as a child. Hyun-min replies that he doesn’t remember, and Dad says he doesn’t either, but now he lives for his son, and Hyun-min has Sun-hee. Dad tells Hyun-min he reminds him of someone — I’m not sure who that is yet, but it seems to be why Dad is gravitating towards him. Seeing the family and Sun-hee looking so happy seems to be a trigger for Hyun-min. They are somehow calling up the jealousy, selfishness, and ruthlessness in Hyun-min, but it’s hard to tell if this is all categorically a result of circumstance, or if he is just his own worst enemy. Maybe a bit of both?
Back at the prosecutor’s office, Dad has been told by his staff that the insurance policies are a scam, but Dad still wants to believe in Hyun-min and accepts his offer to go and see his new office for becoming a paint supplier. Even though Hyun-min is told by an electrician the electrics are dodgy and he needs to fix them immediately — and flipping a light switch could start a fire — he ignores him. When Dad arrives, Hyun-min is hitting him up for money again which is laughable! But Dad is blunt about Hyun-min committing fraud with the insurance policies and tells Hyun-min he will give him a chance to pay all the money back or he will investigate him. Hyun-min tries to plead ignorant but it’s not working — finally!
When Dad arrives home, he tells his wife about Hyun-min not being who they thought he was. Dad explains how Hyun-min reminds him of his brother. When Dad was younger his brother was always in trouble for fighting to the point where Granny wouldn’t speak to him. It turns out Dad’s brother was being bullied and he was just fighting back, but sadly one day Dad and Granny were informed by police that he had accidentally died at school after a fight. Dad has always felt guilty because he knew about the bullying and he turned a blind eye; he resented Granny, but he was the worst one. Dad didn’t want to believe that people don’t change — which is what Granny had always said to him. This is why he put so much faith in Hyun-min: he wanted to believe he would turn his life around.
After the altercation with Dad, and another beating from the thugs, Hyun-min decides to sneak off with Sun-hee in the middle of the night. The two of them pick up Mum and Dad’s son from school because Hyun-min wants him to watch Sun-hee while he goes to do some business. (This is making me feel uneasy.) Hyun-min takes them to the death trap his office and gives them a drink before he leaves, and this is where things are left till next week.
Well, here we are. My final thoughts on this week’s episodes are conflicting. It was very necessary for the show to fill in the blanks, because there have been so many question marks surrounding what’s been happening — and why — for weeks now. In saying that, the present-day plot didn’t move forward very much at all. For me, it would have been preferable to have the explanations scattered throughout the story, instead of being hit with nearly two whole episodes of backstory. I know the drama used this storytelling to build tension all along, but now that we have everything filled in, I’m hoping there are no more nasty surprises, and that there is some closure for our family in the final week.