At long last, our tender-hearted kidnapper is reunited with his unconventional charge, sharing a few precious moments of calm before the storm. Two alliances form on the pretext of common goals, but both are tentative and temporary — while one hits a snag due to distrust, the other may end up being torn apart by circumstance.
EPISODES 10-11
This show just keeps getting better and better, and it’s no doubt firing on all cylinders now as befitting of its penultimate week. We finally get the cop-kidnapper partnership we’ve all been wishing for, and boy is it glorious. When Sang-yoon finally catches up to Myung-joon at the pier, our despairing kidnapper confesses the entire situation, and Sang-yoon decides Ro-hee’s safety is worth joining hands with Myung-joon for the time being.
Elsewhere, Ro-hee’s escape plan launches into full swing when her shrimp fried rice knocks her out with an allergic reaction, leaving Ho-young with no choice but to take her to the emergency room. While he’s dealing with the paperwork, Ro-hee steals syringes and bottles of morphine, then sneaks out via a disposal truck.
With that, both our heroes, our heroine, and our formidable villain all converge at the disposal site. Sang-yoon tackles Ho-young, while Myung-joon pulls Ro-hee into a relieved hug (earning himself a scolding from the startled Ro-hee, ha). Everyone disperses when police cars arrive at the scene, and when Sang-yoon regroups with our kidnapping duo, Myung-joon grabs him in an awkward bear hug. Except it’s not out of gratitude, it’s a diversion so Ro-hee can inject morphine into Sang-yoon’s leg.
When Sang-yoon wakes, he finds himself tied up and at the mercy of our tiny terror. Ro-hee makes him promise not to arrest Myung-joon until everything is settled for good, and he acquiesces, because really, how can you say no to Ro-hee? Hahaha, I love that Ro-hee has gained another uncle to bully in banmal and extort meals out of. That’s also how we get the hilarious scene of Sang-yoon’s teammate CHAE JUNG-MAN (Jung Soon-won, who’s great at comedy as always) delivering burgers, frantically pointing his gun at Myung-joon, and eventually sitting down at the dinner table with our bickering duo and a very weary Sang-yoon.
The next day, our newly-formed uncle trio brings Ro-hee back to the Choi residence, where Myung-joon mops up every last trace of her parents’ murders before letting her in. Ro-hee adjusts to the new hideout, like she always has, but it’s obvious the house and its memories carry too much weight.
Meanwhile, we catch up with Jaden, who’s just had a first meeting sprung on him by Hye-eun. Deliberately introducing herself with the Choi surname, Hye-eun piques his interest even further with a video filmed by Professor Choi, personally documenting his experiments on Ro-hee. Adding on a video of his wife opening the pendant on Ro-hee’s necklace with a key, Hye-eun barters a deal with Jaden — she’ll give him the key in exchange for ten million dollars.
Jaden bites the bait and lugs a suitcase of bills to the meeting point, but once Hye-eun hands him the key, he turns belligerent, manhandling Hye-eun and demanding that he has to verify the key first. Except Hye-eun’s schemed one step ahead, as usual. The fire alarm breaks out, and the ensuing chaos allows Hye-eun to escape with the cash, thanks to a quick bait-and-switch by the men she’s hired.
Remember how I described Jaden as more bark than bite? Well, he’s determined to prove me wrong, because he straight-up murders Hye-eun’s undercover hires in cold blood. As if that’s not enough, he also summons Ho-young to an abandoned swimming pool, which we all know can’t bode well. After drugging him, Jaden mocks Ho-young for his unwavering loyalty to the higher-ups — now they want him dead for losing Ro-hee. Without a single shred of mercy, Jaden shoots Ho-young, then fires several more bullets into his dead body for good measure.
Nooooo. I was hoping the show would do more with Ho-young’s character — and the brief glimpses of humanity that have slipped through — but alas. As much as I like Jaden, I can’t deny that Ho-young could have been a more intriguing antagonist — if only the show had cared to develop him further beyond his terminator physicality. I wanted to know what made him so committed to the cause, and why he values loyalty over his own agency. There was clearly a hint of internal turmoil when Myung-joon approached him with compassion, and it’s a pity that we’ll never get to explore it.
In any case, it’s time to shift focus back to our ragtag squad. Myung-joon asks Sang-yoon for one last day of freedom, which he uses to meet Hye-eun in the church they once attended as kids. He finally asks her the question that’s been weighing on him — why did she go to Professor Choi’s house that day? Hye-eun remains guarded, and when Myung-joon realizes she won’t be forthcoming with her answers, all he can do is admit that he’s hoping she isn’t the murderer. He doesn’t press her for the truth, and if Hye-eun recognizes the depth of the trust and love he still holds for her, she doesn’t let on.
Later, Jaden tracks down Hye-eun at Hee-ae’s hospital. She’s alarmed, but he’s not out for revenge. See, he’s gotten the necklace USB and key checked by a tech professional (in a cute cameo by Joo Hyun-young), and apparently the USB can only be viewed on the single specific laptop it’s programmed to. Jaden offers another deal — or rather, a threat — Hye-eun has to make good on her end of the deal by procuring Professor Choi’s laptop for him. Their goals still align for now, Jaden points out. Why not mutually benefit by working together?
Back at the Choi residence, Myung-joon attempts to show the Choi CCTV recording to Ro-hee, hoping it’ll jog her memory. Except she immediately slams the laptop shut, and we see that Ro-hee had accidentally discovered the hard drive among Myung-joon’s belongings, and watched it in secret. Still, she insists that she doesn’t remember a single thing — he promised to stay by her side until her memories return, didn’t he? Oh, Ro-hee…
Their poignant moment is interrupted by police sirens — it seems Hye-eun has reported their whereabouts. Sang-yoon returns just in time to get handcuffed, while Ro-hee frantically stuffs a backpack to run away with. When Myung-joon stops her, Ro-hee finally cracks. Bursting into tears, Ro-hee admits that she likes being with Myung-joon. She doesn’t want him to go to jail — he’s the first person who’s sincerely cared for her. Can’t he just stay with her?
Affectionately calling her a fool, Myung-joon reminds Ro-hee that he has to serve his sentence quickly in order to reunite with her properly. They can’t be on the run forever. He hugs her tight, and then the police break down the door. Myung-joon is pinned to the floor. Ro-hee is yanked away. And amidst their tears, both the kidnapper and the kidnapped are desperately, despairingly, calling out for each other.
Who’s cutting onions in here? I most certainly was bawling my eyes out alongside Ro-hee in that final scene (someone give this kid all the acting awards, stat). Ro-hee’s actions have always spoken louder than her words, and for all that she’s a little spitfire, it’s been clear as day that she’s grown attached to Myung-joon. Like she said, he’s the only person who’s been kind to her without expecting anything in return, and despite her intelligence beyond her years, Ro-hee is ultimately still a child — a young soul who craves affection, even if she turns her nose up at it.
That’s what makes the scene where Myung-joon visits Hee-ae in hospital doubly sad. He invites Ro-hee along, knowing that she’s lacked friendship all her life, while Ro-hee gives Hee-ae her stuffed bunny doll, knowing how much Myung-joon agonized over having to go empty-handed before. It’s a tearfully emotional moment for Myung-joon, who’s glad to witness Hee-ae making a new friend, while also knowing it’s likely his last visit for a while. And when Ro-hee returns to the Choi residence and immediately starts listing renovation plans for Myung-joon and Hee-ae to move in? Cue the waterworks.
Next, to dry my tears and address the (very flamboyantly dressed) elephant in the room — what is Hye-eun up to? It’s growing increasingly irrefutable that she was the main instigator behind all the Choi incidents, pulling the marionette strings of Cheol-won and Myung-joon, but it’s still not entirely clear what she craves, and what drives her. Is it envy, that Professor Choi stole what she thinks is her rightful place and the riches she deserves? Or is it resentment, that the Choi family ruined her life and left her with nothing but an incurable disease? Hye-eun’s glee over obtaining Jaden’s cash was perhaps her most euphoric moment, and she barely seems to care about Hee-ae. Yet Hye-eun is far too complex to be boiled down to mere avarice, so I suspect there’s still more to learn about her in the final episode.
As for our heroic ajusshis, I’m loving their grudging camaraderie, which will hopefully develop into a lasting bond with Ro-hee as the glue. I mean, two dads are more fun than one, right? Sang-yoon continues to impress me with his willingness to listen, compromise, and empathize; he may be tenacious and strong-willed, but he’s far from obstinate. As for Myung-joon, he may bumble his way through life with clumsy feet and a bleeding heart, but he has a sensible head on his shoulders and a clear set of values that guide his moral compass. All that’s left is for him to display the wit he supposedly had as a child — he’s going to have to pull out every trick up his sleeve to outsmart our baddies and save Ro-hee once and for all.