With the days dwindling down until the end of the world, our heroes change the future bit by bit in hopes of rewriting history. While they might have failed in the past, they believe this time will be different. However, their foe disagrees since no matter what they do, the outcome will never change: the world will be destroyed.
EPISODE 13 RECAP
Sigma calls Tae-sool’s phone and is delighted to hear his old buddy say his name. He was starting to feel a bit sad about being forgotten since they were quite close, but Tae-sool mocks him for misremembering their relationship: they were not friends; Sigma followed him around.
No longer hiding their connection to Sigma, the Control Bureau fires a warning shot at the window, and Officer Hwang gives their boss an overview of today’s predetermined plans. Armed with the knowledge of what will transpire, Sigma walks into the building with his finger puppet and tells Tae-sool to hide.
Tae-sool turns to Seo-hae for today’s predicted outcome, but she does not know, either. For now, they need to escape, so they wait by the door for Sigma. As Seo-hae aims her gun at their target, Sigma stops moving, and on cue, the Control Bureau shoots at them.
Hiding inside the classroom, Seo-hae scolds Tae-sool for not remembering Sigma earlier, and he reminds her that this was a very long time ago. They huddle together and run through the hallway as the Control Bureau destroys everything in sight. They take cover in the record room, and though they get away from the snipers, they inadvertently corner themselves.
Going back to the future when Bong-sun met Seo-hae, the bodyguard takes his guests to his hideout and asks why she saved Tae-sool in Busan. She tells him about the letter as well as the time loops, and admits to finding it in her grave. He wonders why the war happened again if what she says is true, and she promises to succeed this time.
The next morning, Bong-sun drives them to the tunnel entrance and gives them instructions to the uploader. He tells them that Sigma controls the city, which means the convenience store gang is also working for him.
Dad asks why he is helping them, and Bong-sun says that she saved Tae-sool. As he sends them off, Seo-hae wonders why he is not coming, and Bong-sun points out that he already failed to protect Tae-sool the first time.
Despite Bong-sun’s help, the convenience store gang finds them, so Seo-hae and her dad flee the tunnel. They reach the entrance from the outside, but a handful of guards block the door. Not long after, the gang arrives as well, and both sides start shooting indiscriminately.
Splitting up, Seo-hae takes cover in a building, but a guard shoots a rocket in her direction and blows it up. The explosion knocks her off her feet, and in the chaos, a burning man swings his weapon at her. A stray bullet hits him, and Seo-hae regains her composure in time to escape.
Seo-hae and her dad enter the building, but instead of a decrepit bunker, they find an extravagant pool party filled with people dancing and laughing. Their dirty clothes and weapons stick out against the pristine and bare bodies around them, and Seo-hae looks sickened by their opulence.
Among the crowd are a few familiar faces—Control Bureau cronies—as well as a particular voice that floats above the rest: Sigma. He brags about making Tae-sool cry, and Seo-hae overhears him and bristles.
She marches towards Sigma, and the guards who block her path quickly find themselves thrown into the pool. Sweeping back her hair, Seo-hae glares at Sigma, and he stares back, recognizing her. As more guards arrive, Dad shoots the lights and drags her away before another fight breaks out.
Seo-jin meets Seung-bok at a restaurant, and he is already tipsy when she arrives. He reminisces about the time he first met Tae-sool and says that the best thing he did in his life was believe in his friend when everyone was jealous of his accomplishments.
Still holding onto her ring, Seung-bok mentions how she almost married Tae-sool and tells her that he wants to quit. Looking at the defeated man in front of her, Seo-jin asks if he wants to beat Tae-sool and offers to show him the truth. However, if he chooses to come, then there is no turning back.
While out to deliver the package, Mr. Park tells Bingbing that people call all politicians thieves. While she waits for the rest of his comment, he says that there is no twist: they are thieves, quite literally. He claims that all the top politicians are time travelers who came with him as part of the advance team, which means they are all inmates.
Back at the party, Sigma orders the show to begin, and they watch Tae-sool in present-time. Seo-jin stops Seung-bok from getting up, and Sigma laughs as he sees his present self cower before Tae-sool. Treating all of this as a joke, Sigma calls Tae-sool right before he shoots and cackles over the phone.
Sigma asks how Tae-sool found him since he didn’t hear the first time, and Tae-sool tells him that he bought his painting, though it wasn’t because he liked it. In fact, he had some art critics look at his work and reads the scathing reviews to him.
Tae-sool asks what will happen if he shoots, but Sigma tells him that he cannot pull the trigger. Tae-sool threatens to test his statement, but Sigma stops him by mentioning his brother. He tells him that Tae-san’s body still exists somewhere, but his guards are with him as they speak.
The brokers toss the package to Seo-hae, and she drops it as soon as she opens it. Her dad’s gun and hand fall to the floor, and Seo-hae kneels down to pick up the photo of them. Shaking, she grabs her dad’s gun and whips around to shoot present Sigma.
Tae-sool steps in between them and pleads with her to reconsider. She orders him to move and screams at present Sigma to explain what happened to her dad. Watching everything from the sidelines, Mr. Park warns them that they are playing into Sigma’s hand and aims his gun at Seo-hae. Tae-sool pulls out his gun as well, but Seo-hae yells at him to step aside.
COMMENTS
Now that the leads have figured out Sigma’s identity, they decide to meet his present self and stop everything from happening in the first place. The entire last sequence was dedicated to this dilemma, but the show took a strange turn near the end. Tae-sool and Seo-hae went to Sigma’s studio to kill him, but then Tae-sool backs out of the plan because of Sigma’s threats, which wasn’t very convincing. If Tae-sool kills present-day Sigma, then Tae-san would have never been captured and tortured. Theoretically, killing Sigma should save his brother automatically since his guards should not exist either, and thus, it makes his threat null. The other and more likely reason Tae-sool didn’t shoot was because he feared Seo-hae’s disappearance. However, I have my qualms about this threat as well.
Tae-sool already knew Seo-hae would most likely disappear if they succeeded, so I don’t understand why he acted so shocked when Sigma told him that Seo-hae would be gone forever if he died. The show constantly makes Tae-sool choose between the world or the girl, and this isn’t the first time Tae-sool has thought about the consequences of stopping the war. His struggle, in itself, has potential to be compelling, but the timing of it is strange and makes the writing come across as weak. If Tae-sool was so afraid of losing Seo-hae, why did he go to the studio in the first place? The show portrays him as a brilliant scientist who creates intricate plans, but in this scenario, Tae-sool felt uncharacteristically helpless and flustered. With so little time left on the clock, it doesn’t make sense for Tae-sool to suddenly leave the studio and tell Seo-hae that they have more chances after today because that’s patently false. Again, the show puts its characters in precarious situations, but it all feels contrived. Rather than allow tension to naturally occur and build it up, the show twists its plot and forces its characters into corners.
On the same token, the show doesn’t present a compelling reason for Tae-sool and Seo-hae to find present Sigma and kill him. Her mission was always to protect him and stop him from building the uploader. In the very beginning, Seo-hae suggests to Tae-sool that he hide, but he refused in order to find his brother. Now that the Tae-san plotline was wrapped up for the most part, it would make more sense for Tae-sool and Seo-hae to return to her first plan rather than suddenly go on the offensive. Granted, getting rid of Sigma before he has a chance to cause mayhem sounds like a good plan, but if they survive past d-day, then they have undeniably changed the future and bought themselves more time. This would also mean that the other time travelers know the future is not predetermined, and maybe they could actually convince some of them to help take down Sigma. For the most part, everyone listens to Sigma because he has something they want, but if the war never happens, then he should have no power over them (except Seo-jin, but I don’t understand why she doesn’t create the cure and help her mom directly).
Overall, the introduction of present Sigma brings up a lot of questions, and in some ways, parallels Tae-sool’s story. People are trying to kill him for something he does in the future, and in a twist of fate, maybe Tae-sool and Seo-hae’s attempt to kill him was the final straw that pushed him over the edge. There is potential for some interesting storytelling with Sigma, but so far, the show hasn’t done a good job fleshing out its characters, especially the villains. I still don’t know why Sigma is so powerful and controls everything in the future. Nothing really makes sense with him, and it gets cumbersome to wait for the show to answer even the most basic questions. There are definitely elements that work for the show, and I can see the appeal for fans even if I disagree. The acting is good, and if you have an emotional connection with the characters, I can see how the plot might be compelling rather than meandering. Unfortunately for me, my interest wanes with each passing episode, and even the pretty sets and actors can only cover for so much.