As ever, we have a week of running around and sneaking around which precipitates some huge reveals. Our twins might be principled and brave, but they’re both so far in at this point that their lives are hanging in the balance. But going out strong in a tuxedo is definitely the way it’s done.
EPISODES 9-10 WEECAP
Before I jump into the action, it’s worth asking: how can this drama keep on handing us new twists and reveals each week, and how can they be so consistently good?! Mix that with the gorgeous direction (and a lot of interesting camera angles/choices this week) and… I’m just impressed! And enjoying myself.
So, Soo-hyun survives the car bomb thanks to Mr. Baek’s courage, and much like we suspected, the SIH has faked his death for his own safety. He and Seo-hee are once again in an SIH safe house (what a cool underground network they have going on; the SIH feel like actual spies!), and butting heads with them. As usual, the alliance is rickety and Soo-hyun and Seo-hee are soon on their own again.
The two follow a vehicle from Ares and wind up at the top secret location where Jeweler Jang is designing the new setting for the adamas. Annnnnd Team A is also there thanks to Woo-shin. The news of the adamas being re-set is out and buzzing in professional thief world, so Team Leader Lee is there to take it back. And other things.
The editing and acting are so good here; I was shocked by this whole scene. Jeweler Jang is trying to communicate something to Lee, but she hesitates and the scene cuts. We then follow our lovable and reckless Soo-hyun, who runs through the woods, climbs all over the house, and finds a way in. The overlap here is crucial because he happens upon a “suicided” Jeweler Jang hanging from the railing and sees Team Leader Lee there.
But the secret that happened between her dialogue and her death is where the real shocker is: that adamas is not the real adamas. WHAT!! All this time, it hasn’t been the real adamas. It’s a decoy. And crazy as it sounds, it seems like Team Leader Lee is the only one that knows (and that’s why the jeweler had to die)… that is, him and Lee Chang-woo. OMG!
We get eyes on this when Team Leader Lee shows up in prison to see Lee Chang-woo (as per his demands in last week’s episodes) and although Lee tries to intimidate Lee Chang-woo with his knowledge about the twins being his sons, it’s Lee Chang-woo who has the power. The “Where did you hide it?” question says it all (AND I THINK I KNOW WHERE IT IS!) — not only that the two were in cahoots, but it also answers why they’ve let Lee Chang-woo live all this time. I need a moment to collect myself.
Returning to Soo-hyun and Seo-hee on the lam, Team A is chasing them literally through the streets in a way that’s almost hilarious if it wasn’t so dire, and they’re saved — and Soo-hyun nearly hit — by none other than Hye-soo! Another fantastic moment for the drama. She does a double take to see Woo-shin’s twin, and winds up saving the two of them via her fancy vehicle.
In terms of Hye-soo this week, we learn that somehow MR. JUNG (Team Leader Lee’s right-hand man) is in her pocket — at least mostly? — and that creates even more interesting dynamics with how the power shifts, the information travels, and where loyalties lie (or don’t lie). Also, Hye-soo spends some time this week with her strung out husband and gains some more information on Min-jo’s death — which we also glean from a flashback, and a scene with Chairman Kwon and Dragon Lady.
In the former, we see Min-jo giving up his rights to Haesong and wanting to save the father he truly loves from his evil life; he knows his father won’t lay a hand on him, but it’s more than clear that Hyun-jo doesn’t feel that way. Similarly, in the Chairman Kwon scene, he once again beats his faithful servant for suggesting he was behind Min-jo’s accident (this scene was truly hard to watch). The long and the short of it is that it’s looking more and more like Hyun-jo had his little brother killed, which isn’t hard to put past him.
And now back to Woo-shin, who I kinda missed this week. In addition to churning out the chairman’s memoir, he sees two major events this week: Dragon Lady Kwon seeing to it that the tree her son died on is cut down, and a huuuuge confrontation with Tae-sung and Security Guard Kim (a.k.a. Golf Cart Fanboy).
Last week Golf Cart Fanboy uncovered the hidden sat phone — this week, when Tae-sung finds out, he brutally assaults him in a secret trailer in the woods. Gosh, the SIH people are just absolutely ruthless, and both twins are discovering this and equally horrified by it.
But the scene in the secret trailer might epitomize what the drama does so well: a contained and controlled environment with an electric charge running through it, and more twists and turns than you thought they could fit.
We’re led to suspect Security Guard Kim, but Woo-shin defends him from the ruthless Tae-sung… until SECURITY GUARD PARK (Go Yoon) shows up. He’s the real double agent, and he’s not a baddie like they suspect. He’s also from the SIH, and proves it by knowing the code to open the lockbox. In the words of Tae-sung: “Nice job fooling me all this time, bastard.”
But Security Guard Park is willing to do anything to keep his own solo mission safe, and he strangles Security Guard Kim and they cover up the death like all the others. This poor kid. It shakes Woo-shin to his core, and there’s a great small scene where we watch Woo-shin gazing moodily out at a thunderstorm — beautifully shot and captured. I love that the drama takes time for stuff like this.
Anyway, all the chaos being what it is, Woo-shin agrees to the SIH’s Plan B, which is that he will steal the adamas on the night of the 80th anniversary celebration/retirement, and willfully get caught. This, theoretically, will cause the whole thing to blow open, from an investigation of Haesong to the adamas, and the whole string of their crimes.
With the memoir ready, Woo-shin scores an invitation to the event, and that’s where our episode ends: Woo-shin in a tuxedo at the Haesong extravaganza, holding the ever-so-swiftly-published memoir in his hands. And then he gets made by Hye-soo, who knows far more than she should, but seems to offer help…
But one cliffhanger isn’t enough, and our other twin has his own. After surviving a second explosion in his face, Soo-hyun has all but walked out of the SIH’s plan due to their cruel methods (so much bloodshed this week!)
Meanwhile, Seo-hee has been captured and tortured by our resident psychopath. Team Leader Lee changed his mind and wanted Seo-hee alive for his plan with Hyun-jo, which I found a little far-fetched, but I’m rolling with it.
Seo-hee, in suicide bomber getup, is sent into SIH headquarters to blow everything up. She’ll be their scapegoat, and Team A will make her into a terrorist, set off political tensions after the election, and in the end, further their arms legalization plans. This is by far my least favorite part of the plot, so rather than linger here, let’s end on that insane scene with Chairman Kwon and Team Leader Lee!
Chairman Kwon — who knows everything as Lee Chang-woo suggested — finds out that Team Leader Lee has been keeping info from him, and it gets terrifying quickly. Lee denies until he realizes he’s being tested; he hears a car revving its engine in the distance and drops to his knees to beg forgiveness. Even as the car races towards him he doesn’t move, knowing his life depends on staying where he is. The man is sweating bullets and bracing himself so hard, I almost felt sorry for him. It’s a super intense scene that is another great example of how this drama uses tension and restraint so well.
Are this week’s episodes over already?! This drama just goes too fast — and it’s not that it doesn’t take its time to tell its story well — it’s that I think I start holding my breath when I press play and don’t breathe again till its over.