The episode opens with Yoon Jung getting loaded into an ambulance. Yay, at least she’s not dead! Phew! And Stalker got caught by Sa Kyung! Way to go, woman! He doesn’t look upset at all. Psycho. Stalker spots Dae Goo, who looks really upset and freaked, and obnoxiously bows to him. Eung Do approaches them and asks them how they knew where to go. The Missing Persons Unit just happened to be on patrol and caught the stalker trying to escape. What kind of unit is the Missing Persons Unit, since they were on patrol? I thought Missing Persons looked for Missing People… Eung Do mentions that they got to Yoon Jung early, but her wound is deep. Sa Kyung is staring at them.
Sa Kyung approaches and asks Eung Do about the tape recorder and hidden camera they found in Yoon Jung’s bag. They realize that Soo Sun and Dae Goo didn’t just happen there on accident.
[Episode 4: It's okay... It's not okay.]
Pan Suk arrives at the precinct. He looks pissed and concerned. Gook reports that Yoon Jung has been moved to ICU after surgery. Tae Il adds that they can't guarantee she'll live, because of how deep her injury is. Pan Suk does *not* like this news and throws down his tie in frustration. He asks where Dae Goo and Soo Sun are. Gook stutters that they're in the statement recording room with Eung Do and Sa Kyung.
Sa Kyung and Eung Do emerge. She’s angry too. She lays into him, asking him if this is how he’s managing his team? He should have at least checked in, if he was going to assign them a case and then leave town! Pan Suk’s bluster crumples and he can’t meet her eyes. She asks him how he could you let this happen and then stomps off.
In the statement room, Dae Goo is freaking out. Soo Sun looks broken. She wants Dae Goo to tell her that Yoon Jung will be okay. He doesn’t look at her, even as Soo Sun begs him to say something. Finally he snaps and tells her to shut up and stay still. He wants to sew her mouth shut as it is! He told her not to overdo it. They just needed to do their jobs by the book and not to get unnecessarily involved! She replies that he made mistakes, too. He said the stalker wouldn't come after midnight. If he wasn’t so confident, she wouldn't have been on her cell phone. Yoon Jung would never have met him alone and become a victim to such a horrible crime. She’s starting to cry in spite of herself. Dae Goo smacks the table in frustration. I’m sure he’s thinking about his Oma right now. All that blood.
Pan Suk bursts in the room. Soo Sun immediately stands at attention and Dae Goo gets up to stand beside her. Pan Suk kicks Dae Goo to the floor, landing his foot in Dae Goo’s stomach. Eung Do immediately grabs Pan Suk to restrain him. Pan Suk starts to lay into Dae Goo for provoking the stalker. He left without checking in and then had the nerve to ignore the call after the incident occurred? Pan Suk tells at him that a detective can't bring the dead back to life. But they can sure kill a living person. One moment's mistake, one second of misjudgment can ruin a person's life. And Pan Suk knows that lesson all too well. Dae Goo’s starting to get pissed as Pan Suk yells at him that he was told never to act on his own, right?
Dae Goo jumps to his feet and spits back that Pan Suk should have told them this nicely to begin with. He’s ready for whatever Pan Suk’s going to throw at him now. Pan Suk can’t believe Dae Goo’s sassing him. Dae Goo yells that Pan Suk never explained, really, and he just told them to ask questions, if it was difficult to know what to do. Eung Do tries to get him to stop. Dae Goo doesn’t. He asks Pan Suk why he assigned a case to kids who would never become detectives? If Pan Suk assigned a case, he should have taught them how to handle it with clear instructions. Pan Suk doesn’t say anything.
The others yell at Dae Goo to stop, but he’s on a roll. He yells that a person should be consistent! A three-year-old would be better than Pan Suk. And, you can't kick a team member just because you're the Team Leader. This is all being recorded. Dae Goo says that he’s going to report him. Eung Do and Pan Suk both are reacting like Dae Goo’s gone crazy. Dae Goo declares that he can ruin Pan Suk. Pan Suk’s nodding and changes his stance, like he’s preparing for Dae Goo to hit him hard. He tells Dae Goo to go ahead and do it. A very intense fight happens next.
Pan Suk lunges for Dae Goo, but Dae Goo’s faster and shoves Pan Suk on the table and starts to choke him.
They roll to the floor and Dae Goo’s still trying to choke the life out of Pan Suk.
It takes all the rest of them to pull him off and Pan Suk can’t believe it. There’s more struggling as they try to go back at it, with Dae Goo yelling at Pan Suk, “What right do you have to do this?” but Eung Do tells the kids to pull Dae Goo out of there. They do with Dae Goo declaring that he’s going to ruin Pan Suk. Outside, he wrenches free of Gook and Tae Il and stalks off.
Back in the interrogation room, Pan Suk slams the table with his fist and then flips it, kicking at it. He walks out and Eung Do can’t believe what’s happened.
The others are reeling over what’s happened. But Soo Sun declares that she’s going to go see Yoon Jung. I wonder if that’s where Dae Goo went? Tae Il mutters to Gook it's no fun there. He came there to avoid table death, but it's a straight attack here. Gook has no idea what he means by table death. Tae Il turns to him and leans in familiarly, telling him to ask 10 questions. Gook mutters that he doesn't want to. He told Tae Il that he likes straight answers to questions. And Gook is a little weirded out by how Tae Il’s acting. This makes Tae Il laugh and ask him if he’s always so cute. Then he starts chasing him, because he knows it makes Gook uncomfortable. Why is it so ambiguous?!
Soo Sun’s at the hospital. She tries not to cry as she sees Yoon Jung with her Oma.
Dae Goo’s at the railway station, considering going back to Masan. He thinks about what Soo Sun said about how he made mistakes, too. He thinks about his Oma, how it’s his fault that it happened to this girl, and puts his face in his hands.
Next day, Soo Sun’s waiting for Pan Suk. She stops him in the hall and apologizes. He replies that this is why a person shouldn't change their mind. He should have listened to his intuition and not have accepted a person with long hair on the team. He walks away but she follows him. He stops and tells her she has no right to come into the precinct.
Eung Do is looking at something on his laptop with Gook and Tae Il watching. It’s a news article about the rookies on the Detective Force. When they see Pan Suk, they stand up, Eung Do concerned about Pan Suk’s state of mind. Captain Cha arrives. Pan Suk starts to not comment about the article when Cha interrupts him, telling him to just go and die. Ever since Pan Suk and those kids arrived, there hasn't been a peaceful day at the Gangnam Station. Cha can’t believe they call Pan Suk legendary, since he can't even manage his team! Pan Suk looks defeated.
An ajumma arrives. Soo Sun recognizes her, calling her ‘Mother’ and asks why she’s there. Mother slaps Soo Sun and spits that she’s the most responsible for putting Yoon Jung in that state. How dare Soo Sun come to see Yoon Jung at the hospital!
Dae Goo gets off the train. It’s raining. He doesn’t bother covering his head. He walks back down the road that he left town on, remembering walking with Oma after that fight. He returns back to his house and stands outside the gate, remembering the events, Oma dying. He covers his face, trying not to lose it.
He heads out to the beach and runs for the ocean’s edge. He screams in frustration. More than once.
Later, he’s sitting there and the phone rings. Oma tells him to answer it. He can’t believe Oma’s there. She asks him why he’s avoiding his calls. Did he make a mistake and run away? What did he do this time? Dae Goo’s shocked that she’s there and declares that he didn’t. Oma tells him not to lie; it’s written all over his face. He admits it, he made a huge mistake and nearly got someone killed again. He declares that he’s so angry with himself that he wants to beat himself to death. How could he have been so sure?! He’s a bird brain, too.
Oma nods and says, “Is that what happened?” Dae Goo says that even if he never wanted to be a detective… and his goal was to be near Pan Suk... even if it was like that… how could he do that, because of what happened to her? Oma asks if he just can’t do better now. Dae Goo sputters that he nearly got someone killed because he was careless and arrogant. Oma died because of him, and he almost did it again! Wow, that’s some survivor’s guilt. It makes me feel sad. Oma replies, “My poor son.” He has such a good memory, he never forgets anything. Then she tells him, calling him Ji Yong, that what happened didn’t happen because of him. Dae Goo looks down at the sand. And my eyes are getting misty.
Oma tells him that he’s right, he did mess up. But that’s why he can't run away in shame. She smiles at him and tells him that he’s not good at running away. Only those who are sure they can forget can run away. He's too smart. He can't forget. Dae Goo asks Oma if she’s sure, really sure? She replies that she’s as sure as the earth goes around the sun.
Dae Goo looks down again. Probably feeling really bad because that’s what he said right before he made his mistake. Then he asks the question that’s been haunting him: Does Oma hate him? He can barely get the words out as he cries. He’s sure she resented him a lot. And as I cry… Dae Goo covers his face with his hand. Oma just smiles at him. He sobs. A soccer ball hits his foot and a boy asks him to throw it back. He throws the ball back and Oma’s gone. Again. Dae Goo cries some more. And every time I think about this scene, it makes me cry.
Chief is reading the news article entitled: “Extreme enthusiasm leads a stalker to attempt murder” Cha arrives. She greets him with a smile as he bows. He invites her to lunch, his treat. And I wonder what’s on Cha’s mind? She shoots down all his suggestions and declares that this line of work brings out her paranoia, especially when times are tough like this. Who could have leaked the news, especially since the reports are so detailed. As if she doesn’t have an idea… and Cha didn’t do it… He innocently suggests that it might have been from "hitting the wall." (Hitting the Wall - Illegal method of gathering information by eavesdropping on a conversation.) Chief wonders if it might be someone who was against hiring them in the first place. She decides one of his suggestions sounds good and they go to lunch, but not before Cha makes a face like he knows he’s been busted.
Soo Sun’s sitting at her desk, totally discouraged. Gook comes over to make sure she’s okay. Pan Suk completely ignores her as he enters. It comes over the radio that there’s been a pet shop robbery in Chungdamdong. Pan Suk yells at them to go, but when Soo Sun tries to enter the van, he tells Gook to shut the door (and leave her behind). Eung Do just looks at him and Soo Sun tries not to cry.
Soo Sun goes back to the hospital to check on Yoon Jung. Sa Kyung is there. She tells Soo Sun that she’s lucky; Yoon Jung woke up. Soo Sun sits and cries. Later, she’s at her desk. She looks at the picture of her dad and writes: When Dad died, she learned one thing. Even in a world without Dad, life goes on. Now she’s in the police station, putting her letter of resignation on Pan Suk’s desk. She writes that she gave up on two things when Appa died: Getting into college and my dream. It's okay. Being a detective wasn't my dream. It's okay.
Dae Goo’s out by the water. He thinks of Soo Sun. Them as kids and the rumble. He declares that Bird brain hasn't changed at all. And who should ride by? Soo Sun’s brother. He notices Dae Goo and stops, looking at Dae Goo walking away, thinking that Dae Goo looks familiar.
Back at the precinct, Tae Il approaches Sa Kyung and, with a smile, asks her if she remembers him. She says no and walks on. He looks at her. Is that a touch of longing? Is that why he’s there? Because of her? Gook arrives and asks Tae Il why Sa Kyung divorced Pan Suk. They were married? Tae Il’s surprised, too and declares that at one time, they were the Jang Dong Gun and Go So Young of the police. And what that seems to mean – when I did a little research – is that they are the Posh and Becks of South Korea. Tae Il doesn’t like that news at all.
Outside, Soo Sun’s told the pair that she’s submitted her resignation. Didn’t you forget that means they get fired, too? Gook can’t understand why, after all, Yoon Jung woke up and everything is fine. She declares that she never wanted to become a detective. He sputters that *none* of them did. She says that she’s afraid. It could happen again. Tae Il starts to try to reason with her, but Gook interrupts, saying that Soo Sun was just unlucky. It’s like a new driver getting in an accident with a drunk driver. Tae Il agrees that she shouldn’t blame yourself. Gook’s hopeful that she didn’t really submit and then freaks out that she didn’t even talk to them about quitting.
Dae Goo arrives, asking who’s quitting. Gook says Soo Sun and then calls Dae Goo a jerk. Dae Goo looks over at Soo Sun and she glares at him and asks him if he really did finally show up. She was wondering if she should submit his resignation along with hers. He can’t believe she did it. She can’t believe that’s the first thing he says to her. He’s not human. And just when I thought Dae Goo had learned his lesson about being arrogant…
Dae Goo tells Soo Sun that it's good that she realizes that enthusiasm doesn't make her qualified. She tells him to apologize. He tells her that she should have resigned a long time ago. She screams at him to apologize first! Apologize for running away without any contact, stupid idiot! He tells her to go get her resignation letter back. If she quits, he might have to! Then he adds “You stupid idiot.”
Gook tries to get in between them, to stop the fight. Soo Sun responds that this is what she’s thinking, too, that he’ll get fired if she quits. Dae Goo deserves to be fired! He has no desire to work hard. He physically assaulted their Team Leader and go through his desk. Soo Sun remembers about that one and pulls out her phone to rat Dae Goo out. He grabs it out of her hand and won’t give it back. She grabs his hair. He shoves at her face. I get flashbacks of their brawl. Gook tries to stop them and gets shoved aside.
Tae Il walks over and handcuffs them together and takes the phone. Dae Goo asks Tae Il what he’s doing. Tae Il asks what *they’re* doing. It's annoying. Soo Sun agrees and asks him to unlock them. Tae Il replies that he will… after he goes and eats. He and Gook leave to go eat, with Tae Il telling them to make up first and then he’ll release them.
Dae Goo and Soo Sun are forced to follow Tae Il and Gook to the restaurant. And work together because of the cuffs. A kid at the café is avoiding answering his phone but another customer pesters him to answer it. You could always just turn off the ringer… It’s someone calling him to pay up on his student loan. And Kid is having a really bad day. Soo Sun is pestering Tae Il to set them loose. Gook replies that they just have to make up! She doesn’t see why she has to, when she’s going to quit anyway. They ignore her, watching APink. Gook asks Tae Il to pick out which one is the prettiest and Tae Il tossles Gook’s hair and says him. I totally now think he uses this gay thing as a way to avoid talking about girls and the fact that he’s in love with Sa Kyung. Need to find a new girl, because she’s going to get back together with Pan Suk.
Gook turns off the TV – when did he get the remote? Kid mutters that Gook should turn it back on. Not loud enough to be heard, though. More demanding to be uncuffed. Dae Goo tells Soo Sun to stop since they’ll be released eventually. She answers that she needs her hand to eat! Gook suggests they do a love shot and feed each other to make up. And Kid has found a hair in his food. Ajumma just reaches in, with her fingers, and pulls it out. Wow. That is so nasty. Report the place to the health department. Kid fumes. Ajumma kicks his box of hairspray. Kid mutters, asking why everyone is doing this to me. And the creepy, meaningful music plays.
One of the girls from the next table trips on the hairspray cans and shoves Kid into his food. She doesn’t even apologize but kicks the cans and complains about how annoying it is. Kid slowly sits up, seething, and wipes off his face. He gets up and goes into the kitchen. Then he goes over and locks the door.
He grabs the girl who shoved him into the food… and he has a knife. A big butcher’s knife. He tells them all to be quiet if they don’t want to die. And a part of me wishes that he would stab the snot to teach her a lesson on being polite. It's just a small part, a niggling, but it's there. Ajumma comes back from a delivery and discovers that she’s been locked out. She peers inside and sees the situation.
Back at the precinct, the call comes in. Samsungdong hostage situation at a restaurant. Pan Suk responds and then starts to yell at his kids. Only then does he realize that they’re not there.
Back at the restaurant, Kid has collected all their cell phones. They ring – presumably it’s Pan Suk calling Tae Il and Gook to ask where they are. Silently Dae Goo tells Tae Il to let them loose. But Tae Il doesn’t have his key. Oops. Silent muttering back and forth, which Kid notices and causes him to be more cagey. Dae Goo and Soo Sun end up holding hands. Aw. A little foreshadowing, maybe?
Suddenly, Soo Sun declares that they love each other! Quick thinking! Not so much a birdbrain! Dae Goo cries 'what!', but then does with it. He declares that it’s their 100-day anniversary. And I have to stop the episode to roll on the floor as Dae Goo and Soo Sun use their arms to make a heart and ask Kid to congratulate them. Soo Sun then acts like she’s in pain and Dae Goo declares that his baby’s heart is weak. He asks Kid if he can hold Soo Sun’s hand. Soo Sun calls him ‘Oppa.’ Dae Goo kicks Tae Il and he and Gook start clapping and singing, “Congratulations, congratulations. Congratulations on your 100-day anniversary.” Wow, there’s a song for it? The other teen girls sort of join in.
Gook declares that he can't even remember his last 100-day anniversary. Then Gook tells Kid that he’s really good-looking and asks if he has a girlfriend. Kid declares that all he has is a tiny dorm room, credit card debt and a negative bank account. He asks Gook if Gook means that bitch who married a lawyer? So he was dumped, too. One of the teens jumps up and calls Kid a loser, declaring that she didn't want to come to this crappy place. Dae Goo and Soo Sun jump up, asking her if her foot’s asleep. They’ll massage it. As they sit back down, Soo Sun whispers to stupid girl to shut up and listen. Don't aggravate the perpetrator.
Stupid girl doesn’t listen. She stands up, saying *she’ll* handle it, and tells Kid that her dad will bring Kid however much money he needs. $100,000? $200,000? A million? Kid laughs. He can’t believe this girl. He mutters that for every hundred dollars he sells, he only makes a few dollars of profit. He can’t believe how easily a life is bought. Hostage girl whimpers that her dad has money too.
Kid is really insulted, because they think he’s a beggar! He reaches over and cuts the gas line, declaring that his life is over anyway. They should all die together! They all beg him not to flick his Bic lighter.
Outside, ajumma is crying that Kid always came in and ate. She doesn't know what's wrong with him today! Pan Suk and Eung Do arrive. They know that the gas line has been cut. And the police know who Kid is: Clear Cosmetics intern. Choi Woo Shik. Twenty-eight years old. Pan Suk calls over one of the other detectives, Jae Min, and tells him to do more research at Clear Cosmetics. He tells another detective to get the gas turned off and and find out how long the gas has been leaking and how much has actually accumulated. The cop on the scene says that there are three high school girls and four citizens.
Pan Suk looks through binoculars and sees Soo Sun and Dae Goo. Then he’s able to see Tae Il and Gook. So three high schoolers and four policemen. Pan Suk sighs, like he can’t believe his luck. He tells cop on scene to evacuate the building. Eung Do arrives with the blueprints of the building and asks how it’s going inside. Pan Suk just hands him the binoculars. Eung Do can’t believe it either.
Captain Cha arrives and declares that the Violent Crime Unit shouldn’t be involved in a hostage situation! He looks through the binoculars and sees the four. He can’t believe it either and asks why those idiots are in there? Jaw clench from Pan Suk.
Inside the gas is getting thicker. The four are trying to figure out a way out. Dae Goo declares that they need to calm down the perpetrator and initiate negotiations. Next, they need to create a sense of empathy and find a solution. Dae Goo closes his eyes and thinks back to when they walked into the restaurant. On the calendar, circled in red, is Mom's memorial day. Aw, the kid lost his mom. Dae Goo has an in, then. One of the girls is really coughing. Tae Il thinks that she has asthma.
Pan Suk’s now on a megaphone. He starts off wrong, but Sa Kyung tells him to try to get Kid on the phone. She also tells Pan Suk not to provoke him but speak nicely. He needs to make Kid feel like they empathize with him. Pan Suk starts over, saying that Clear Cosmetics was supposed to hire him after a year but they fired him, instead, so today must have been really hard. Cha starts sticking stuff up in front of Pan Suk’s face. But he ignore Cha and asks that Kid answer the phone.
Inside, Kid just laughs and asks when has the world ever listened to him. The phone aggravates him. Dae Goo asks Kid for what he wants, there’s no need for discussion. Kid asks Dae Goo who told him that he could talk! Dae Goo continues. Like he said, when has the world ever listened to Kid? Kid says he’s not kidding. But Dae Goo’s got a plan now. He says to Kid, on May 31st, on his mother’s memorial day, he wanted to visit her with a job, right? Kid asks how Dae Goo knew that. Dae Goo says that he saw it on his calendar. Dae Goo tells Kid that his Oma died, too, when he was 15.
Kid asks Dae Goo if he’s lying and Dae Goo replies, “Who would lie about stuff like this?” Dae Goo tells Kid that he doesn't think Kid would do this for no reason. There has to be a reason. Outside, Pan Suk declares that they'll give Kid whatever he wants, using Kid’s full name: Choi Woo Shik. Dae Goo tells Kid that everyone is waiting on his words. Kids scratching his head, trying to think. Dae Goo tells Kid to tell the world that never listened exactly what he wants. Kids thinking.
Outside, Chief arrives. Cha starts ranting about why four detectives couldn’t capture one perpetrator! But Kid has answered the phone. Kid demands that the Clear Cosmetics President come and apologize within three hours. Pan Suk asks about the hostages and suddenly he's bombarded with upset parents.
Inside, asthma girl collapses to the floor. Tae Il rushes to her and asks where her inhaler is. It’s in her bag, which Gook quickly brings. Tae Il administers the inhaler and then asks Kid to let her go to the hospital, saying that her life might be in danger if it gets any worse. Kid thinks it’s a game. Her mother freaks out. Pan Suk tries to start talking again when Soo Sun announces “I’ll do it.” Everyone stops.
Soo Sun declares that she’ll do it. And then she tells Kid that she and Dae Goo are police officers. Soo Sun declares that they’re helpless – showing the handcuffs – and says that she’ll be his hostage. He just needs to let the others go. Kid tells her not to play games. Soo Sun declares that it’s not a game. They’re just young girls! She’ll be his hostage until the end. Kid is freaking because they lied. Dae Goo pulls out his handcuffs. He locks himself to a pipe. He asks Kid if he believe now that they’re serious.
Gook sighs and pulls out his cuffs, declaring that he’s also a detective and he’ll be Kid’s hostage. Soo Sun protests to Gook that she said she’d do it. Gook replies that she doesn't have the keys anyway. Besides, he’s been a hostage before. He knows how it feels. Gook points to his neck and tells Kid to put his knife there. Wow, so helpful. Kid is getting more confused. Tae Il cuffs himself to Soo Sun. Where did he get another set of cuffs? He asks Kid if Kid believes them now and asks that Kid lets the kids go.
And, dang! Am I glad that it’s not the end of the hour! What a cliff hanger!
After a long pause, Kid declares that he’s letting the girls go. Relief from the crowd. Pan Suk thanks Kid. Kid replies that the detectives are all tied up and if anyone tries to come in, he’ll blow them all up! Cha looks like he’s thinking about how to make this go sour… Pan Suk sends Jae Min to hunt down the Cosmetics President. The girls emerge, bawling. Lots of crying from the girls and their parents. Chief remarks to Cha that their rookies did one thing right. He has to smile and agree.
News coverage. Pan Suk’s crawling through air vents. I'm glad they had the foresight to make them big enough and sturdy enough for someone to be able to crawl through instead of using the thin aluminum ones that most other buildings use. He tests the air and isn’t encouraged by what he sees. Dae Goo looks up and sees Pan Suk. And Pan Suk’s almost seen by the Kid, but luckily a minute significant glance by Dae Goo alerted Pan Suk. Outside, Pan Suk announces that the gas level inside is way over the combustion limit. Eung Do tells him there’s worse news: the president of Clear Cosmetics is currently in Japan.
Outside, they’re debating what to do. One guy wants them to go in, even if there’s the threat of an explosion. Sa Kyung is against it. She declares that 80% of all hostage injuries and fatalities happen during rescue attempts. That’s a statistic. Cha agrees with charging in. Pan Suk wants them to wait a little longer. No matter how quickly they can move, if Kid flicks his lighter, it will be the worst-case scenario. And the four are still detectives. They might have a chance. What’s that? Pan Suk believing in his kids? Charge-in guy asks how that’s possible, since they’re tied up. Pan Suk points out that the reason the hostages were release were because of those kids.
Inside, Kid mutters that he supposes that the President isn’t showing up. Soo Sun responds that the person Kid talked to was their boss, the legendary Seo Pan Suk and if Pan Suk says that someone will come, that someone will be there. Kid is sure that President wouldn’t come for a temporary employee like him. And he puts down the lighter to take a drink. Kid starts talking about what happened, while Dae Goo trying to figure out how to get the lighter. A month left to go and they fired all the temps. Soo Sun asks why he asked for the President to come if he thought the President wouldn’t. Kid replies that he couldn’t ask for reinstatement first. And that’s what he really wants: his job back.
Kid decides that they couldn’t possibly understand how he feels since he’s a temp and they work for the government. Soo Sun says that she studied for the government exam for three and a half years and only passed it on the 7th try. Dae Goo looks at her and tells her that she really is a bird brain. Kid whines that he just wants to end it all. He can’t stand the thought of having to do resumes again. He starts to light the lighter when Soo Sun asks him if he ever learned judo. And the first thing that you learn is how to fall so that you can get up and attack again. She tells Kid that he’s learning how to fall. Then they all look at her.
Soo Sun asks why they’re doing that. Dae Goo asks her if she really doesn't know why. She shakes her head and he asks her what she submitted that morning. She responds that it’s because of Dae Goo. If he hadn't have run away... Does he know how scary it was by herself for those two days? Every time the phone rang...she thought...something bad happened to Yoon Jung and her heart sank. All she could think was... “It's my fault. It's my fault. It's my fault. Why did I do that? Why did I act like such a stupid idiot?”
She’s starting to cry now as she says that she wished Team Leader would just get angry or punished her instead of completely ignoring her. She has no idea how to beg for forgiveness or talk to Team Leader or how to to apologize to Yoon Jung's mother. And even though it ended up that way... all she really wanted to do was help Yoon Jung and she knows he felt the same way, because they're partners. She yells at him to apologize! Apologize for running away by himself! Dae Goo squirms.
Kid puts down the lighter again and says that he doesn't know what they're talking about, but Dae Goo… it was his fault. Apologize. Kid repeats himself: Apologize. Doesn’t he know how it feels to be looked down on and ignored? Soo Sun yells at Dae Goo to apologize again and then slips on one of the cans.
The box with the lighter on it falls over. Kid dives for the lighter and catches it. All Tae Il ends up catching is an open hairspray can. Tae Il sprays Kid in the eyes.
Gook and Kid start struggling. Dae Goo is able to get out of his cuffs. The three (Dae Goo, Soo Sun and Tae Il) jump on Kid. Gook wriggles free and body slams him. They wrestle Kid and subdue him.
Eung Do has watched the entire thing. Shocked. Pan Suk and Eung Do and the rest finally come in. Pan Suk cringes at their humiliating state.
Outside they all get oxygen. Eung Do comes over, proud and beaming. He tells Soo Sun that it’s good to see her smile again. Then he asks stupid (Dae Goo) if he’s back. Dae Goo bows and apologizes. Eung Do asks how they ended up at the restaurant. Gook starts to explain and then they realize that Soo Sun’s resignation is still on Pan Suk’s desk. So they all take off running to get it back. Pan Suk sees them running and slightly smiles to himself.
The four hurry in into the precinct and it’s still there. Dae Goo breathes a visible sigh of relief. Soo Sun starts jumping up and down in celebration. Gook and Tae Il high five and… Dae Goo walks off. They decide to follow him.
Outside, the cherry blossoms are falling and Gook is crowing over how great they did. Soo Sun things that even though becoming a detective wasn't her dream, she wasn't okay at all. She didn't want to give up. She didn't want to run away. Even though she’s been learning falling techniques for twenty-seven years... that's okay. She’s with the guys who are helping her figure that out. Plus, she’s young. I love how she's wrapped her arms around the shoulders of Tae Il - who definitely is her friend - and Dae Goo - who is her friend even if he won't admit it, and how Dae Goo doesn't shove her off. Then how Gook gets pulled into the moment. It makes me feel all squish on the inside.
Dae Goo stops briefly because his cloned phone is ringing. Pan Suk’s getting a call. At the airport, it’s those familiar black military boots. He says that it's been a long time, Detective Seo. He hasn't forgotten his voice, have Pan Suk? And just in case we didn’t realize who it is, they show the acid burn on his neck. Episode ends.
Thoughts
Arg! This show is so good! I stayed up way past my bedtime because I had to find out what happened next.
So big episode. The kids redeem themselves, but only after a major confrontation 11 years in the making between Pan Suk and Dae Goo. Dae Goo might just have really killed Pan Suk if the others hadn’t been there… And now he has to apologize. I hope Pan Suk doesn’t make him really grovel.
We learn some interesting stuff: Dae Goo has some serious survivor’s guilt going on. Gook was once held hostage. And Tae Il and Sa Kyung seem to maybe have had a fling. So maybe Pan Suk’s not the one who cheated, but she did, and her guilt lead to rage and the divorce. An interesting reason for joining the police force, though… And this confirms that Tae Il is not gay, even though he keeps acting like it. I think poor Gook’s going to end up with a crush on Soo Sun. And, true to the harsh nickname tradition, Birdbrain is going to fall in love with Jerkface. She is really going to wig when she figures out he’s Ji Yong.
The fight between Dae Goo and Pan Suk was intense. We definitely know where Dae Goo's rage is coming from: eleven years worth of pent up emotions over Oma's murder. I think Pan Suk's reactions toward Dae Goo ironically because of the incident, too. Both are angry at the other because of Oma's murder. But for Pan Suk, it's because he sees himself in Dae Goo: arrogant, flip and not taking victims' lives seriously. His reaction to the truth is going to be interesting, too; I can see him weeping over the discovery, because Ji Yong is alive and okay. I can also see him not letting Dae Goo know that he knows the truth, but it will come out when Dae Goo's life is in danger. I have to add that I really appreciate Cha Seung Won, though, because of how nuanced he is in his portrayal of Seo Pan Suk. He communicates a lot with his face twitches.
That scene on the beach just broke my heart. Wow, that was sad. And Lee Seung Gi didn’t overact it, which I appreciate. It’s interesting to see that when you get right down to it, all that rage actually is directed at himself: he blames himself, thinks his mother feels about him the way he feels about himself: that she hates him for getting her killed. It’s interesting that in his hallucination of Oma, she didn’t deny his question about this, as if, even when he knows that he’s hallucinating, he can’t bring himself to forgive himself for what he’s done. We all know that Oma sacrificed herself gladly for him, so that he could live, because she loved him, but he can’t accept that, still reacting to it as a child, rather than as an adult.
I actually think that Soo Sun’s going to help Dae Goo get over this, once he lets her in and they start that relationship. You can see the potential in how he reacts to when she’s upset and ticked at him. He tries to keep up the wall, but can’t quite do it. (After all, he did like her back in the day.) I like that she’s still the same, just more mature and a little more beaten up by the world. I also like that she stands up to Dae Goo when he’s being a jerk instead of just meekly taking his crap. It’s why they’re going to be good for each other (and I actually trust the writer(s) that they won’t make her a doormat once the two are together).
My prediction for next week: good press for the four rookies. Toad is extra grouchy because they aren’t failing. Pan Suk’s going to spew venom and promise Thug that he’s going to catch him and Dae Goo might just realize that Pan Suk didn’t try to kill him all those years ago. Probably not, though, because that would remove that mystery from things and they need to drag this out for about 5-6 more episodes until Dae Goo’s secret is revealed to Pan Suk. But maybe not.
Dae Goo’s definitely starting to crack. (Who is S, btw?) I think this is the first time in 11 years that he’s had any real relationships and/or friends. And he was really popular before everything happened with his mom. So, even though he's continuing to push people away, he's definitely wanting that connection, which is why he couldn't let birdbrain resign (regardless of what it meant for him; I don't think he actually believes that Pan Suk will fire them if one of them quits.)
I also predict that Soo Sun is going to go home at some point and Bro is going to mention seeing Ji Yong. Or something to that effect…
One thing, as I reflect on the episode, I wonder: what is Cha's agenda? It's obvious that Toad doesn't like Pan Suk. But what is his end game with making the rookies look bad? Trying to get Pan Suk out? Get the Chief's job? What is his deal?
It’s so good! Darn you, Wednesday! You need to hurry up so I can see how the whole phone call pans out and how Pan Suk makes Dae Goo grovel.
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