Heartless City (Moojung Doshi) - Episode 4 (A SqueeCap)

This is Shukmeister, finally feeling healthy and healed enough to join in the squeefest that is Heartless City. My full thanks to my fellow Squee Cappers who not only did a marvelous job for the last three episodes but were willing let me sneak back in! And just in time for some scary, hairy, wary stuff!
Shuk: He's happy I'm back!
Shuk: This episode's drinking game is brought to you by the show-inspired videogame "HallucinoCity". One shot for every time a character sees someone who isn't really there, and two shots if they start talking to it.
JoAnne: Look at that baby face up there! Look at it!
kakashi: And here we go ... on the road straight to alcoholism hell! And looksie: I'm back to orange and being last. Haha, awesome. 

EPISODE 4

Shuk: So, our little Miss Detective’s younger self has had a walk on the wild side with our slender hottie. They have a moment of shocked recognition as we fade into flashback. Baksa was sent to a Catholic orphanage and little Lee Kyung-mi was his first friend. He runs away back to Auntie Yisul, but over the years, he left her little gifts as they grew older but apart. In the intervening years he showed up to beat the snot out of school bullies, and even gave her the first soju bomb of her life. Aw, Guardian Angel Oppa.
JoAnne: He was so skinny and cute with his fluffy hair and his smile and his black leather jacket! At this point it had been three years since she saw him, I remember that. What was he doing? I assumed jail, based on what we know of him. But he's so CUTE.
Shuk: And she peeks back to make sure he was following her! So cute.
kakashi: Huh. This thing really surprised me. Her knowing him. And knowing him WELL at that. And it also made me sad ... there is so much warmth there, and caring. And look at him now. Poor baby.
Shuk: We get some Baksa backstory; his mother was a prostitute that did her best to care for him before succumbing to a drug overdose. We also find that Kyung-mi was abandoned at the orphanage by her parents. His young self tells her, “The world is like a mirror. If you spit and curse at it, it will spit and curse at you. If you laugh, it will laugh at you. So don't take it too seriously.” He wipes an errant tear off her cheek in a very familiar gesture.
JoAnne: I want to drink with Baksa tooooooooooo.
kakashi: I'll give him hot chocolate and cake! And many fatty things to make him fatty! 
Shuk: And he buys her a house, at the same time she’s tells him she is going to be a cop. That was a blow to his solar plexus. He watches her graduate at a distance, wishes her luck, and throws away their only means of communication.
JoAnne: What WAS that? He bought her a house. Was that a proposal or some immensely grand gesture with no romantic meaning? Did they LUFF EACH OTHER? She's not living in that house now, either. So many questions. 
kakashi: I don't sense luff. I think it's big-brother protector all the way. And her becoming a cop? Man, the guy has already chosen the darkest dark side. So how could they ever meet again in the future? Sad. Poor baby. 
This stuff never works out when you grow up.
Shuk: Now back in the real world, she wonderingly stares at him, as from outside, a muffled sniper prepares to fire into the warehouse. Who is it? On what side of the fight is this gunman? He communicates that he has Baksa in his sights, and a single shot rings out.
Shuk: Lee Kyung-mi falls over, a bullet through her brain.
JoAnne: Son of a beeeeeeeeeeeeetch. Just when I was thinking she might be interesting.
kakashi: Ohhhhhhhh shiiiiiiiit, wtf?! She is dead! Unless this is an IRIS2 stunt. And I feel a bit sorry for hating her that much... that was before I knew she was kinda Baksa's girl/little sister. And I feel very, very sorry for him. Poor guy... 
Shuk: Baksa, thunderstruck, stares at the crumpled heap on the floor. The sniper starts firing at him, and he ducks behind some boxes as Hyung-min charges, conspicuous for his complete lack of body armor or SWAT-level equipment. He does the dive-and-cry, begging her to wake up, as Baksa watches with a pained expression.
JoAnne: Think how torn he's feeling. How worried he is. My poor baby bad guy.
kakashi: The hate between the two? It is going to be epic. And what do you think ... half-brothers? That's what they usually are in such dramas.
Shuk: The sniper gets Hyung-min in the arm as the SWAT team finally takes defensive positions, and pull the injured officer away. I guess these police don't live in the WAML world, as they abandon Kyung-mi without even checking for vitals.JoAnne: I noticed that too, as she just kind of slid off those fabulous thighs. He got me with his crying, too. Dude really loved her. And uri Baksa, poor baby, he did too. He's really hurting and he can't even make a sound.
kakashi: True all that. But I'm a bit puzzled by the sniper. He is obviously a very good shot (hence the immaculate head shot). He then shoots somewhere near Baksa's leg and only gets Herman Munster in the arm. That is deliberate, for sure. So why was he after the poor woman? 
Shuk: I'm guessing maximum painage. Plus, cop killers are more hated by cops than other criminals.
Shuk: The rest of the team are watching in horror through remote cameras in the comfort of their headquarters, and Superintendent Mi calls out "Hyung-min-a!!"
JoAnne: Even the Superintendent doesn't care about her. Completely disposable cop. That's just shameful.
kakashi: I think this is bad writing. Or good writing? She is dead, we need to move on, what good would it do to cry over her for too long (hm, what a mean thing to say. I am sorry!)

Shuk: In a whiplash moment, Soo-min is leaving her convenience store job as her roommate shows up in a little red car. They share coffee and snacks, and laugh about how her big sister would bail them out of jail, as we flash back to Kyung-mi being zipped up in a body bag.
JoAnne: It's more sad than I expected it to be.
kakashi: But I realize/know for sure now that I will not mind having Nam Gyu-ri.
Shuk: Later, Soo-min finds out she’s been accepted into the next class at the police academy, and she and her friend do a happy dance as her phone rings from Chief Yang. Wow, getting the news over the phone without even a police chaplain present? That’s pretty harsh, South Korea. She identifies the body and breaks down.
JoAnne: Seriously, you little badly permed idiot. You're supposed to GO to them and break the news. Also: I don't really know Nam Gyu Ri but I hear stuff and people talk about her acting skills or lack thereof, but she seemed pretty on her game in these emotional scenes.
kakashi: Yes, she's much better than Mr. Bird's Nest on the Head.

Shuk: Second funeral scene of the show, this time in sun, as various uniformed officers look on. Detective Kim appears drunk as he paws at the grave but is pulled away by other team members. Did he have a crush on her, too? Was that why he was pissed when Hyung-min became the lead on the task force?
JoAnne: Didn't I SAY that? You never pay attention.
kakashi: Wow, it's not raining. I'm most surprised by that. And yes, Shuk: we've established a while ago (well, a few days that is) that the Kim guy had a crush on her. Let's see how this is important in the future, but I'm guessing it has to be because we do spend quite some time with his character.
Shuk:  Huh?  What?  Okay, I'm blaming my slow reaction to the pain meds.
Shuk: Deputy Commissioner Kang and Superintendent Mi have a powwow above the ceremony. With some fake sympathy, he pulls out the trump card. He is now in charge of the task force. Ugh, and they thought the trail to Baksa was paved, lit, and GPS’d before. Mi says he will only hear that from the Commissioner himself, and leaves.
JoAnne: This guy is a dirt bag, but I also get the feeling he's not our ultimate bad guy, so I look forward to stepping on his lifeless body and moving on to more interesting things. Mi, I like.
kakashi: You do? I guess we are supposed to like him ... but he comes across as lukewarm. He seems to have a very low energy level somehow? I advise him to go do some Chakra Yoga. Or maybe some bodyattack classes?

Shuk: At the hospital, Hyung-min listlessly stares at the ceiling when the nurse comes in only to dress and check himself out of the hospital. He calls Chief Yang to arrange a meeting with the team, but the Chief tells him not only that the group is at Detective Lee’s funeral, but that Kyung-mi was pregnant. So Boss trumps boyfriend in SK HIPAA rules. He’s left to grieve alone on the hospital grounds.
JoAnne: I knew it. That really is sad. What a blow for him. This kind of thing could really fire a guy up full of revenge and hate, you know? Good thing this isn't that kind of show or anything.
kakashi: Hm, your a really mean show, are you. Having her killed is one thing - but making it a double kill? Mean. And dark.
Shuk: Hyung-min comes to the grave with her funeral picture and the engagement ring, and tells her picture about his proposal. He begins to cry in great sobs.
JoAnne: Kakashi, you must like him a little bit NOW, right? Big sad puppy :(
kakashi: I think I have a heart of stone. Maybe if he had a different haircut. At least he could show that he can act a little bit here.
Shuk: At her house, Soo-min receives a package. Opening it up, she finds a new cell phone. PPL says Samsung Galaxy, and we get backstory where Soo-min was in trouble for attacking some kids who were taunting her for not owning a phone. Kyung-mi gives her the same speech we heard from our young Asian James Dean; the world is your mirror, and reflects your attitude towards it. She finds a video from her unni wishing her a happy birthday, and touches the screen. Oof, that caught me unawares.
JoAnne: Remember when she was at the bar in that dressing room and Kyung Mi got the situation very wrong? Soo Min was there to return the phone she'd borrowed. Double oof, because all the bad stuff between these girls recently has been over a phone, and now Unni is dead, and died thinking Soo Min was just a trouble-maker. This kind of thing could really fire a girl up with revenge and hate, you know? Good thing...
kakashi: The show continues to be mean. Really oof-oof-oof.
 
Shuk: Baksa is at the cemetery with flowers, only to come up short when he sees Hyung-min. Quietly, he places them on another grave farther down as they both have inner monologues. Baksa directs thoughts to Hyung-min; he thought that her boyfriend would protect her instead of putting her into the fire. He apologizes to Kyung-mi for now having to fight against the man she loved. Hyung-min vows to capture Baksa at all costs, and kill him.
JoAnne: This is a good conflict. I love this. Good guy fights bad guy, both thinking the other is responsible for killing the woman they love. I think the only thing that's actually going to turn out accurate in that sentence is that Kyung Mi is dead. But I could even be wrong about that.
kakashi: Oh dear, this is not going to end well ...
Shuk: Lee Jin-sook is still at the police station, and Superintendent Mi is watching her through the one-way window. Holy schmoly, they have a past too. He finally sits down in front of her, and she snidely remarks he looks older. A detective walks in, and immediately Mi stands up and brusquely tells the officer to do a thorough interrogation.
JoAnne: Twist upon twist. This is going to be awesome. The final scene is just going to be a stadium-sized area littered with the dead bodies of cops and gangsters. And Baksa standing there looking awesome.
kakashi: This is the show in which everybody has a past with everybody else. Let's add that to the drinking game, alright?

Shuk: The Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent share a bottle of alcohol, and discuss the Doctor’s Son case. There’s pressure from the Prosecutor’s office to send Jin-sook over to them for a chat. He stresses that they must be faster than the Prosecutor’s office when it comes to capturing Baksa Adeul. She gets transported as Mi comes back from his tete-a-tete with Kang.
JoAnne: Remember how Obnoxious Waiter was saying just turn him over to the Prosecutor's Office? Just how high up does that corruption go? If Baksa turns out to be his son and Hyung-Min's brother I'm going to laugh.
kakashi: If they are brothers I'll drink a bottle of soju in one go.

Shuk: Soo-min is trying on her sister's Class A uniform, and her eyes are even crazier than usual as she tells her reflection how great it is that she looks like her big sister. Hyung-min shows up at the house, and Soo-min wastes no time in telling him of her commission. She wants to be the one to take down Baksa Adeul for killing her sister, and she blames hyung for not protecting her unni.
JoAnne: That's just unfair. He tried - she refused. If he caveman carried into a locked cell to keep her safe, everyone would scream at him for that, too.
kakashi: Her eyes really are strange, right?! I keep looking at them, wondering how they can be that dark? Is it contacts? She looks like an alien to me. I mean, if this were The X-Files, I'd be sure she is one.
Shuk: The task force is debriefing when Do-hoon charges in and gets all up in Hyung-min’s grill, demanding answers why Kyung-mi participated in this situation. From a shouting match to a drawn weapon to a take down, the situation degenerates until there is a flash of a camera, and a perky voice asks if they want to redo the scene. Serendipitous reporter? Or staged fight for Do-hoon to become the next mole?
JoAnne: Hmmmm. Nah. He just had a thing for her.
Team Deer-In-The-Headlights
Shuk: The reporter and Chief Yang go for food, and he gives her a brief overview of the team’s findings. Why is he spilling the beans? And who is she?
kakashi: That's the second time we see this reporter. I guess we'll see more of her in the future, too. Maybe she's another orphan?  

Shuk: Hyung-min is interrogating Jin-sook. I guess she was just transferred to a holding facility and not the prosecutor’s office. He tells her she can go free if she names the person behind her; she verbally and physically gives him the finger. He tells her he is sure she is protecting Doctor’s Son, and she will have a lonely life behind bars, since her only visitor will be caught and killed by him. He curls his lip like Elvis when he says this, but she is not impressed. He will never be able to do it, because you can't learn about that world from reading.
kakashi: I love her. I'm adopting her right now. 
Shuk: Our lead dope is wandering around the warehouse when Detective Dumbass brings the forensic report on the bullet casings from the sniper. Using the ballistics test, the weapon is identified as a Heckler and Koch MSG90, and is a weapon also used by their own Special Forces. Hyung-min leaves Shin at the site, and re-tracks the sniper by envisioning himself in the sniper's footsteps, going so far as to bring his own rifle along for the ride, and shooting the evidence out of Detective Shin’s hand. He wonders why he was deliberately left alive. In his car, he goes over his convos with Jin-sook and Soo-min, and rubs away a headache. I headdesk thinking of how many regulations of my department he has not only broken, but actually sprained...
JoAnne: I laughed my ASS off. Dumbass deserved this for that stupid stunt he pulled before. Plus, it's the kind of thing Baksa would have done. WWBD? What would Baksa do? Oh God, now I'm thinking about Warrior Baek Dong Soo and terrible horrible unwanted deaths. Oh God. Not Baksa, please.
kakashi: How many episodes does this drama have? Cause we can be sure of one thing ... he will not die until the end. If he does. 
Shuk: At the convenience store, Soo-min is going through the motions of her job, her mind elsewhere, when her manager offers her a roofie Red Bull. Too soon she wakes up while he is in the process of disrobing and begins fighting him. She hits him over the head with a wine bottle and escapes after clearing the till.
JoAnne: This was like a WTF from left field, wasn't it? How does this guy think he can possibly get away with this? Why is this here?
kakashi: Cause it would be boring if she just entered the police academy, obviously. And I guess it goes with her character: she seems to be really unlucky.

Shuk: She is at the police station when Hyung-min arrives. Since the CCTV was turned off, and her fingerprints were found on the bottle, she will be charged and will lose her spot in the academy. However, if she agrees to go undercover into Baksa’s organization, he will make sure all the charges are dropped. All she has to do is befriend Lee Jin-sook. Great, no formal defensive or weapons training, and a victim of sexual assault, but she can still be a police officer with a jail record after spending time in seedy underworld. This guy is either delusional or a magician.
JoAnne: So our writer had a sick day and the writer for WAML stepped in, right?
kakashi: bleh. But let's just forget this is more stupid than Dumbass and wait for the next scene with Baksa Adeul.
This is how I feel about this plan.
Shuk: As Soo-min contemplates her future, a vision of Kyung-mi shows up and argues with Hyung-min that he planned to use her younger sister all along. Yeah, delusional and seeing hallucinations. I'm sure this guy has her best interests at heart.
JoAnne: That would mean that Hyung Min convinced the store manager to attempt rape. I'm not buying it. If he had just 'happened' to enter or be near the store coincidentally at the time she was being raped just in case things went horribly wrong, maybe... but not this way. However, the hallucination is in Hyung Min's head, so HIS guilty conscience is saying 'whateverrrr, it's the truth.' I dunno.
kakashi: Are you all drinking people?
Shuk: Bending the elbow of the arm holding the Corona.

Shuk: The decision is made. The convenience store manager is forced to drop charges, and the plan is cleared by Superintendent Mi. They make jokes. I sneer. The operation is approved by the Commissioner with the caveat that Soo-min will not be accepted into an academy unless she is successful in bringing down Doctor’s Son.
JoAnne: We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming right after this WAML break.
kakashi: I guess this is one of these moments where I need to tell you to leave your brain at the door, JoAnne. I'm sure the writer thinks this was very clever.  

Shuk: Soo-min gets transferred to the detention center. I’m guessing she will be in Detention Block AA-23 with Princess Leia, since all things are possible here. We see the standard disrobe-and-delouse, and then she is sent into a block of women; she is clearly the maknae and perfectly placed for bullying.
kakashi: You guessed right, oh wise one. 
Shuk: At the Kring Building, Kim Hyun-soo is trying to track Baksa, but his assistants are unable to find his whereabouts. One of them comments negatively, and Hyun-soo makes him stand on his head and reflect. LOL
JoAnne: I like how he rolls over when Cutie-Soo kicks him. His legs fly up like a turtle.
kakashi: More of this, please. 
Shuk: Baksa is casually dressed, sitting outside the orphanage and fingering the paper necklace he got from Kyung-mi all those years ago. He hears a noise, and levers the gun….at himself. His younger doppelganger asks him what is he doing now? His response, “I don't know” as tears fall from his face. It appears he is finally at the end of his rope.
JoAnne: Please stop using the word 'fingering' near Baksa.
kakashi: Drink, people, drink! And BTW, this is the exact same hat I always wear! Baksa and I ... soulmates!
Shuk: Mi is driving when he receives a restricted phone call; without any preamble answers it. Clearly he knows who is it even without Caller ID. He ends up at the same abandoned amusement park from the previous episode, carting a black leather satchel.
JoAnne: This is that park from earlier where I thought it was weird with the camera stuff, remember.
kakashi: So what's with that park? Do we know? I think I need to pay better attention to this stuff. It's not like WAML. Things actually matter in CCity.

Shuk: Baksa is at the same park, assembling a duplicate of the sniper rifle. Oh snap, is he gonna kill Mi?
kakashi: I guess not, or they'll run out of characters soon. 

Shuk: Superintendent Mi gets another phone call, and we find Baksa is the caller. He demands to know who sent Kyung-mi into the warehouse. Hong-gi doesn't know, but Baksa is the prime suspect. Baksa's response is to shoot a bullet through the satchel. Good lord, superintendent, don't you know this boy is on the edge? The conversation continues:
BA: "I can kill you here now and finish everything."
MHG: "Okay, I know how you feel but keep this in mind. The fact that you are police... The fact that you are an undercover agent... No one knows that other than me. If you kill me now, you'll forever be the murderer who killed two police officers. Forever."
Shuk: HOLY CRAP, BATMAN! So Jung Shi-hyun has been undercover as Baksa Adeul for eight years, without any backup besides an aging pencil pusher? As an officer?? [fans self, drinks a shot of soju to calm down]
JoAnne: I feel that use of the phrase HOLY FLYING FUCKBALLS, BATMAN is again appropriate. HOLY FLYING FUCKBALLS, BATMAN. 
kakashi: Right. Well. Let's NOT think about how this doesn not make ANY sense at all and just go with it. So he is actually one of the good guys? Hm. 
courtesy of OMG
Shuk: Tears fall from Baksa's eyes as he screams out loud but lowers the weapon.JoAnne: His upper lip COMPLETELY disappears when he cries. So does mine, which means we are fated to be together someday.
kakashi: Or you're his mother and you don't know it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Shuk: Well, this episode certainly became an order of spaghetti. Good guys know bad guys, good guys are bad guys, bad guys are hot and good, and good people are buried in dung with only a vague promise of escape. Is this one proof of the lengths people will go for love? We know that the young criminal Shi-hyun loved a female cop enough to become bait against the very people who raised him. We know, with the love of a dongsaeng for her big sister, Soo-min will follow that same path of madness. We know two men who are Battle Brothers will protect each other, but who is on what side of the law? The possibilities are endless, and I look forward to the next episode.
JoAnne: I will not be leaving this dance with the guy who brought me. It's official. My bad guy is a good guy who does bad things for good reason. Awwwwwwwwwww. I mean, I should have seen this coming. I watched Serpico. I watched Internal Affairs. I've seen plenty of cop movies. But I was so engrossed in this that I never even CONSIDERED what might come next and now I'm just on the floor dying. Hyung Min, I guess your only advantage at this moment is your thighs. Their worth is fading fast in my eyes, though. I leave you with this final thought: If Superintendant Mi knows about Baksa, then he knows about Scale because Baksa is working with him. If that's true, then why would he have a special task force appointed to hunt down Scale, since that would RISK Baksa? Is Baksa's attempt to take over Scale's domain really an effort to shut down the drug ring, or just the beginning move in exposing rampant corruption in the police force and the prosecutor's office? Hmmmm.
kakashi: I do hope the writer has it all figured out, JoAnne. Because it does not make an awful lot of sense to me! And as for him being one of the "good" guys ... I am not sure I like this move. It takes some of his awesomeness away, I think. He can never be truly bad - because he is doing this for the greater good. Making us fall in love with a truly bad character ... that would have been the true feat in my opinion. Yes, that would have been highly immoral ... but it would also have been much more awesome.