The list of victims increases at an alarming pace as the poncho killer gets closer to our heroes and threatens to upend everything. As our detective and psychic vet start to question everyone around them, it becomes harder to discern the truths from the lies. Even psychometric powers have a limit, and things that once seemed clear to our heroes have become opaque.
EPISODES 13-14
The death of her grandpa leaves a deep wound in Ye-boon’s heart, and as she sends him off, she wallows in regret for never having the courage to try and understand him. Watching her cry, Jang-yeol renews his resolve to catch the killer, and he goes above and beyond his role as a detective to clear her grandpa’s name and make sure Ye-boon is taken care of.
While nearly everyone in town attends Grandpa’s funeral, Sun-woo is noticeably absent, which raises Jang-yeol’s suspicions. As he begins to worry about his top suspect running away, Sun-woo returns and apologizes to Ye-boon for being late (he was out looking for his mom). Though he should be the one to comfort her, instead he receives solace from Ye-boon who assures him that things will get better.
Meanwhile, Gwang-shik investigates the case on his own and discovers that Shaman Park tried to kill Assemblyman Cha. He passes this information to Jang-yeol, but the new detective on the case overhears his statement and immediately arrests Shaman Park. When Ye-boon hears what happened, she rushes to the shaman’s defense, and to convince the rest of Jang-yeol’s team, she reveals her powers to them.
Though it takes a few butt touches to convince them, the other detectives eventually believe Ye-boon, and with Detective Na’s practically superhuman skills, the team sneaks Ye-boon into the interrogation room to see Shaman Park. After a hasty explanation of her powers, she gets permission to read the shaman’s memories and finds out his alibi: he went to Sun-woo’s workshop that night and met up with him.
Jang-yeol finds it odd that Sun-woo popped up again in the case and confronts him about his whereabouts the night of the murders. Fed up with his targeted investigation, Sun-woo offers his butt for them to check — he put the clues together about Ye-boon and figured out her secret a while ago. Thus, Ye-boon touches his rear and corroborates his story: he is neither the poncho killer nor the third psychic.
With Sun-woo removed from the list of suspects, Jang-yeol hits a wall and wonders where he went wrong. While he goes over the case in his head, Ye-boon heads to Gwang-shik’s farm for a house call and gets a ride from Sun-woo. No longer having to worry about his true identity, she enjoys the peaceful moment together.
At Gwang-shik’s house, Ye-boon notices him acting strange, and after discussing it with Ok-hee, something clicks. She rushes to Jang-yeol’s place and tells him that maybe they were being played from the start. The only one who actually “saw” the third psychic is Gwang-shik, and once Jang-yeol takes away his statement, all the clues point towards him.
However, just as the others begin to suspect him, Gwang-shik becomes the poncho killer’s next target. Despite a life-threatening stab wound, he drags his body to Ye-boon’s hospital and leaves her a dying message: “Black…” (I was not expecting that!)
In the meantime, Jang-yeol continues searching for Gwang-shik, unaware of the turn of events, and as fate would have it, he runs into the poncho killer. As he gives chase, he manages to corner the killer, but loses him again after a little scuffle. He ends up outside the shaman’s home, and right then, Sun-woo walks out, carrying a garbage bag with blood on his hand.
Before Jang-yeol can do anything to Sun-woo, he receives news about Gwang-shik and runs over to Ye-boon. The sight of Gwang-shik lying dead on the floor sends him into a rage, and Jang-yeol barges into Sun-woo’s room, desperate to find the murder weapon. Though Sun-woo argues that he proved his innocence, Jang-yeol remains unconvinced and vows to catch him.
From Gwang-shik’s dying message, Jang-yeol deduces that he must have learned something about the blackouts and knew the killer’s identity. After some experimentation (poor Jong-muk gets imaginary stabbed thrice), Jang-yeol comes to the conclusion that the serial killer could not have committed these crimes with their eyes closed, which means a trick exists concerning these psychometric powers.
Jang-yeol isn’t the only one doubting Sun-woo, though, since the detectives on the case call him in for questions as well and search his place to no avail. Knowing his precarious situation, Sun-woo asks Ye-boon to accompany him to his workshop as his alibi, and she agrees to tag along when he says that she is the only person who trusts him.
Tailing Sun-woo, Jang-yeol sighs when he spots Ye-boon recklessly follow him, and calls her outside to get her away. He asks if she really likes Sun-woo or if she just wants someone to date. If it is the latter, he offers to date her, but his backwards confession only upsets her and she calls him trash.
At the station, Jong-muk’s boss learns of their team’s side project, which goes directly against his orders to stay out of the case, so in retaliation, he sends them as backup to another town. Despite Jang-yeol’s refusal to leave at such a crucial moment, Jong-muk will not risk his team members’ livelihoods and convinces him to retreat for now.
Before they head out, the detectives assign Shaman Park with a mission — find the murder weapon — and Jang-yeol throws Ye-boon in a holding cell for her own safety. She is rightfully annoyed by his abuse of power, and once he leaves, she manages to free herself by coming across as an unhinged lady who touches butts and believes in psychic powers.
The first thing Ye-boon does with her newfound freedom is head over to Sun-woo’s workshop after receiving a call, and Ok-hee’s notifies Jang-yeol of her location. Coming to terms with his feelings, Jang-yeol admits to Jong-muk that he is worried about Ye-boon as a man, and with his captain’s blessings, he rushes to her side.
While Jang-yeol races back like a maniac, Ye-boon arrives at the workshop, but to Sun-woo’s disappointment, she brought Shaman Park with her. In order to get Ye-boon alone, Sun-woo spills coffee on their uninvited guest, but instead of leaving as he hoped, Shaman Park asks Sun-woo to escort him to the restroom.
Left alone in the workshop, Ye-boon eyes the toolbox Sun-woo pushed aside and opens it. She finds the murder weapon inside, and by the time Sun-woo returns, Ye-boon is gone. He finds her walking away, so he grabs the knife and chases after her… wait, what?
As Ye-boon runs for her life, she suddenly stops in her tracks as the poncho killer blocks her path. (Wait, what?!) Sun-woo jumps in, knocking the killer off their feet, and he yells at Ye-boon to run. She escapes, finding a hiding spot not too far away, and calls for help.
However, while she waits for the police to arrive, she remembers Sun-woo’s words and gathers the courage to go and save him. Wielding a shovel, she returns to the crossroads where the killer attacked, but the only person there is Sun-woo, lying on the ground unmoving.
That cliffhanger! For the last ten to fifteen minutes, I was glued to the screen and completely caught off guard by all the twists. While I was distracted by who the poncho killer was, what I should have been paying attention to is who the next victim would be. Ever since the assemblyman’s death (as well as Ye-boon’s grandpa), I’ve been shocked by who the show is killing, and this episode raised the stakes. At first, it seemed like anyone could be the culprit, but now it feels like anyone could be the next target. Especially since I’ve come to love these goofy characters, I’m worried for everybody’s safety.
The show is doing an excellent job unveiling the mystery bit by bit, and the twists feel surprising yet straightforward. As a result, each revelation adds to the story, and the show isn’t actively trying to trick its audience. Rather, the story follows its main characters closely, so we see the case unfold from their viewpoint, including all their biases. Thus, even when the show chases after a red herring, it’s not done to hide the truth, and the show makes it clear that certain “truths” aren’t necessarily based on facts but from people’s memories which can be faulty. It ties back to the overall premise of the show with Ye-boon’s psychometric powers and how people don’t always remember details fully or accurately. Even memories can be misleading, and the same event could look vastly different depending on the perspective.
With all the murders in the show and subsequent tension, I’m happy the humor is still present and kicking. The restroom scene where Jong-muk and Deok-hee bought the others time was hilarious as was Jang-yeol’s failed experiments. Every time the lights came back on and revealed Jang-yeol stabbing Jong-muk furiously was a riot, and Kim Hee-won’s deadpan expression and delivery are perfection. His range as a performer is top notch, and he blends so well into every project he is in that I can’t complain that he’s practically everywhere right now.
As for the romance, I loved the quiet moments between Ye-boon and Jang-yeol during the funeral scenes, and it highlighted why their relationship feels so much deeper than Ye-boon’s, arguably superficial, crush on Sun-woo. While I think Sun-woo may have been romantically interested in our psychic vet before his sad end this week, their relationship felt unbalanced. She’s always the one comforting him, and even in a situation where he should have been the one to offer his condolences, he can only put his emotions first. That isn’t to say I think Sun-woo was selfish, but it did portray why these two wouldn’t have worked well together.
In contrast, Jang-yeol acts as Ye-boon’s pillar and goes out of his way to set up arrangements, buy her food, and encourage her. He does all this because he wants to, and though he did put his foot in his mouth like a huge idiot and threw her in holding cell (really, Jang-yeol?), he clearly cherishes her. Ye-boon, also, is becoming more aware of Jang-yeol, and I think she’s been unconsciously leaning on him for quite some time. Despite her interest in Sun-woo, she always ends up by Jang-yeol’s side and turns to him when she needs help. In addition, she notices Jang-yeol’s pain when he, himself, becomes too absorbed in the things around him, and just as he takes care of her, she takes care of him. Whether or not they end up together as a couple officially at the end is still up in the air, but regardless, I hope both of them make it out of this ordeal alive and well because after all this madness, they deserve a break.