Our genius engineer discovers a secret that defies all conventional wisdom and shakes his world. As he tries to figure out what happened to his dead brother, his search leads to more questions than answers. While certain forces attempt to stop him at all cost, not everyone wants to see him die. Breaking the law and kicking some butts, our mysterious woman won’t stop until she finds our hero and keeps him safe.
EPISODE 2 RECAP
Tae-sool tenses up as he opens the mysterious suitcase, but inside, he only finds an odd assortment of objects. A key grabs his attention, and Tae-sool wonders why it feels so familiar. Continuing his search, he notices the camera and reads his brother’s name written on the bottom. So this really is Tae-san?
Back when Tae-sool was working in his first lab, he teased his older brother for struggling with his old camera. While Tae-san told him about the beauties of film, Tae-sool tinkered with his latest project and jumped in joy when it finally worked. Tae-san cheered for his little brother’s success, and Tae-sool promised to buy him a new camera.
Among the outdated items is a flip phone, so Tae-sool returns to his car to charge it. As soon as it powers on, he notices the hundred missed calls from an unknown number, who happens to call again. Tae-sool answers the phone, and the man on the other end asks for Tae-san.
He introduces himself as Mr. PARK (Sung Dong-il) and talks about strange things like faulty downloads and the Control Bureau. Tae-sool pretends to know what’s going on, and Mr. Park mentions meeting in person to retrieve the key.
He offers to pick him up, but Tae-sool lies about staying with an acquaintance. His last comment gives him away, and Mr. Park asks about the number on his shoulder. Tae-sool realizes his mistake, and Mr. Park chuckles as he hangs up.
Sun (whose full name is Choi Jae-sun) talks over the phone about money again and promises to send his family some as soon as he gets his paycheck. As he returns to his apartment with more bananas, his landlord stops him on the stairs and scolds him for inviting a woman to his place.
Surprised to see Seo-hae roaming around, he runs to the roof where she’s waiting for him. She needs to get to Busan since Tae-sool is in danger, but Sun won’t let her leave without filling out his lottery ticket. He threatens to report her if she fails to uphold her end of the bargain and accidentally tears her sleeve when she tries to leave.
Sun believes they will spare his life if he surrenders, but Seo-hae knows better than that and chucks him to the next building as their enemies continue shooting at them. They jump across the connecting roofs, but reach a dead end.
Officer Hwang emerges from the doorway and applauds Seo-hae for her flagrant violation of the law. He draws his gun as the rest of his men join him and threatens to kill her. Seo-hae tells him that she won’t die today and pushes Sun off the roof.
The officers rush to the edge and look down at Seo-hae safely sitting in a garbage truck. She gives them the finger, and Officer Hwang stops their pursuit since she’ll die on her own anyways. Officer Choi informs him of a recording they found and plays the message she left for Tae-sool.
Tae-sool stops by the columbarium to retrieve his brother’s ashes, much to the horror of a nearby mourning family. He brings the ashes to a lab, and as he waits for the results, Seung-bok and Seo-jin barge into the room. Seun-bok can’t believe he’s doing a DNA test, and Tae-sool corrects him since it’s actually a paternity test. Heh.
The results come out as not a match, but Tae-sool shows no reaction to the news. Instead, he teases the two for dating, but once he leaves, his expression darkens. At the same time, his friends exchange shifty glances, and in the back, a very suspicious looking janitor mops the floor.
Tae-san suddenly appears in the room, and Tae-sool forgoes his pills in order to talk with him. He screams at him for answers, but the flip phone rings, interrupting their conversation. It’s Mr. Park again, but this time, he addresses Tae-sool.
He tells him that he has the safe but needs the key since forcing it open will destroy the contents. Tae-sool wonders how he knows his brother and asks why Tae-san is alive. Mr. Park simply says that he never died and refuses to answer any more questions.
However, since they are partners now, he needs him alive and tells him to look out the window for the Control Bureau. Tae-sool sees the vans driving up to the lab and remembers the name from his conversation with the copilot. Mr. Park warns him not to get caught and gives him one last advice: run.
They transport Tae-sool to their base, and Officer Choi points his gun at their guest to keep him from poking around too much. Though they’re part of the Immigration Office, Tae-sool wonders who exactly they are chasing with such fervor and eyes his surroundings with distrust.
He spies the shadows from the locked cells as the officers escort him to a white-walled room with just one chair. With neither signal nor pills to ease him through this ordeal, Tae-sool asks Officer Hwang where they are and why they captured him.
After checking to make sure Tae-sool hasn’t been exposed, Officer Hwang shows him a picture of Seo-hae and asks if he met her. Though he recognizes her from the wedding photo, he tells him that he doesn’t know her.
Changing subjects, Sun mentions the Control Bureau and reminds Seo-hae of his breadwinner status. He asks why she’s so intent on finding Tae-sool, mentioning the possibility of an affair, but he shuts up when she shoots him a withering look.
Since she refuses to answer his questions, Sun gets up to use the restroom and leaves his jacket behind. After watching him go, Seo-hae takes the lottery ticket out and fills in the rest of the numbers. Before he comes back, she takes the train tickets and heads out.
Tae-sool walks to his seat with Bong-sun and across the tracks is Seo-hae. As if drawn to each other, the two of them turn their heads at the same time and lock eyes for a brief moment. However, before either side can register what they saw, a train passes between them, blocking their view. Once it leaves, only Seo-hae is standing there, and she stares at the empty platform before finding her seat.
Returning from the restroom, Sun spots his abandoned jacket and runs around the station looking for Seo-hae. Losing track of time, he sees the train depart and chases after it to no avail. He grimaces while watching the train leave, and Seo-hae rides away without him.
COMMENTS
As a good rule of thumb for this show, I refuse to trust anyone. There are the more obvious shady characters like the Control Bureau and Tae-sool’s “friends” (not to mention that random janitor), but I wouldn’t cross off Bong-sun or even Sun from that list, either. While the two Suns have not done anything noticeably suspicious, Bong-sun’s rather calm response to the absurd situations comes across as unusual, and Sun’s final reaction seemed more aggravated than need be if he was only accompanying her for the lottery ticket. Though it was less apparent in the first episode, the second made it clear that no one should be trusted. The shifty glances and cryptic phrases weren’t the most subtle, but the big mystery isn’t necessarily about who is behind all this but what. Tae-sool hasn’t even figured out the time travelling aspect of this whole puzzle, and for now, the biggest questions aren’t about who these people are but what they’re doing and why they’re after the Han brothers. Besides the conspiracy surrounding Tae-san, Tae-sool’s position as CEO might be in jeopardy as well, but how exactly that storyline will play into the larger narrative is yet to be seen. Hopefully as the show progresses and the plot thickens, the characters will become more ambiguous as well and the tension will rise.
Surprisingly, one of the aspects that I enjoy the most in this show is its humor—and hopefully, I’m laughing with it and not at it for the majority of the time. There are some unmistakable funny moments that the creators put in for a laugh such as when Tae-sool dumped the fake-brother ashes into a bag, pretending his actions were completely normal to the horrified family nearby. There are also other moments that I’m pretty sure are meant to be funny but am not completely sure because of the tone of the scene. For example, during the interrogation at the Control Bureau base, Officer Choi repeats his superior’s words and gets reprimanded for it. In what was supposed to be a serious moment, the show cracks a joke, making one of the villains try to act cool (Officer Hwang’s cheesy words must have impressed him back at the restaurant), and it made me chuckle since the Control Bureau is already so over-the-top and ridiculous. Scenes like these make it seem like the show doesn’t take itself too seriously, and in a slightly unexpected twist, there’s a sense of levity despite all the intrigue.