Our detectives make significant headway regarding the case, and it begins to unsettle our baddies, who find themselves the targets of the investigation. Some of them are starting to crack under the pressure, turning them against the people who were once their allies — will this be a boon or a bane for our protagonists?
EPISODES 7-8 WEECAP
Na-na calls Ji-hyuk to her hotel room again, where she pretends to pour her heart out on the pretext of being drunk. She claims that the two of them are very similar, drawling that she sees a sadness in his eyes — one that she knows all too well, since her mother died because of her.
While there may be some truth to her words, Na-na is deliberately playing up her grief to earn sympathy from Ji-hyuk, in line with Jong-tae’s advice. Unfortunately, Jong-tae indeed knows his cousin all too well, and Ji-hyuk is deeply affected by Na-na’s words.
Later that day, Tae-ho obtains Na-na’s car keys from her secretary, making an excuse that he needs to borrow her car. Checking the car’s GPS, Tae-ho notices that one address in particular stands out.
Tae-ho drives there, and it turns out to be the old estate of Na-na’s mother. He calls Na-na, insisting that she has to come meet him there immediately. She does, and when she arrives, Tae-ho asks her why she was there on the night of Hee-joo’s murder. Oh??
We don’t hear the rest of their conversation; in the next scene, they’re outside the house. Tae-ho calls Ji-hyuk to inform him that he’ll be going to the police station to give them information about Hee-joo’s death, and then he drives off with Na-na in the passenger seat.
However, Na-na isn’t fully onboard with his plan, saying that it’s too rushed. Abruptly, she apologizes, admitting that she can’t believe him. Then she reaches over to unbuckle his seatbelt, grabs the steering wheel, and veers them right into the path of an oncoming truck.
Ohmygod. It’s a harrowing scene, made even more devastating by the way Tae-ho just gazes placidly at Na-na, as if silently accepting her decision. He doesn’t attempt to fight back or regain control of the steering wheel, and when the two vehicles collide, the impact sends him careening headfirst into the windshield.
In the aftermath of the crash, Na-na stumbles out of the vehicle. The airbag saved her life, but Tae-ho’s not so lucky, since his airbag didn’t deploy. Slumped over the steering wheel, Tae-ho’s bloody and unconscious — while Na-na gasps and trembles by the side of the road, seemingly in shock and terrified by her own actions.
Well, that’s an ending I didn’t see coming. Tae-ho’s actions this week did set off some death flags, but I figured it might be a convenient Truck of Doom, not a deliberate act by Na-na.
In my defense, some events feel too contrived for the sake of the plot, so I thought that Tae-ho’s death might follow in their footsteps. I mean, the conveniently open CCTV video and conveniently accessible crime scene files? Bo-kyung confirming her suspicions about Tae-ho and Hee-joo directly to her boss’s face, just so Na-na could overhear? Na-na’s secretary handing over her car keys to Tae-ho without a second thought?
Honestly, the incompetence of the villains makes the eureka moments and the subsequent takedowns by our protagonists feel much less satisfying then they ought to be, and I think that’s quite a shame.
Still, the drama does a good job of making its characters compelling. I think it balances its moments of levity with its darker themes well, which gives our characters and their relationships a lot of dimension. I’m especially intrigued by Na-na, who reveals more layers to herself with every scene she’s in.
For example, Na-na claims that her divorce announcement was simply to deflect suspicion away from herself. It’s so that she won’t be accused of sending her father to prison and convicting her brother of murder, in order to take over TJ group. By pulling strings with McQueen to get Tae-ho appointed as the next CEO, then cutting ties with him, Na-na can blame it all on him and then take his place.
It’s a cold and calculating plan, but I think Na-na feels more emotion than she’d like to admit. Her decision to divorce Tae-ho may have been a scheme to save her own hide, but it also felt like an emotional response to the confirmation that Tae-ho loved Hee-joo.
Na-na struggles a lot with loneliness, and we’ve seen how time and time again, her closest ones have forsaken her. Her father belittles her, her mother left her behind, and her brother resents her to the core. I don’t know if she ever truly loved Tae-ho, but she depended on him as the one person who stayed by her side, and it must have felt devastating when she realized that even he chose someone else over her.
On a happier note, I’m liking how the show portrays the nuances of found family. When Do-chang finds out about Eun-hye not taking the high school equivalency test like she’d promised to, he’s upset, but he doesn’t press her for the reason, and she doesn’t volunteer it.
Eun-hye confides in Hee-joo’s grandpa the next day, admitting that she wishes she could just disappear. She clearly thinks lowly of herself, but Gramps tells her to come visit him anytime she needs a listening ear, because her presence makes him happy. Aww.
It’s not that Eun-hye doesn’t like Do-chang; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. However, the guilt between them inevitably drives a wedge into their relationship. Do-chang still feels responsible for not being able to stop the wrongful conviction of Eun-hye’s father in time, and Eun-hye can’t help but feel like a burden to Do-chang.
It’s why Eun-hye feels more comfortable confiding in Ji-hyuk or Gramps, but this ends up making Do-chang feel like she’s avoiding him and shutting him out of her life. The two care deeply for each other, to the point that they walk on eggshells around each other in an effort to be considerate. It’s heartbreakingly realistic, and I hope they get to have a sincere, candid heart-to-heart eventually.
I’ll admit I’m still not entirely sold on the show’s central mystery, but I’m certainly liking the nuance with which the show handles its character relationships. While I’m sad to see Tae-ho go so soon, I’m definitely looking forward to a deeper exploration into Na-na and Sang-woo’s psyches.
