Heartless City (Moojung Doshi) - Episode 20 FINAL (A SobCap)
Episode 20 (Final)
Shuk: Jin-sook slowly caresses the gold silk of Safari's urn as Team Safari waits with her. She then meets Baksa at the Bak Cave, and they comfort each other with a few words, and a touch.
kakashi: Hello everyone. In expectation of what is to come, I got very drunk. It numbs the pain. *hicks*
JoAnne: I don't even want to do this. Can we just not?
kakashi: Suck it up, JoAnne unni! Be like Jin-sook! Brave!
Shuk: At Thigh's place, Soo-min shows him the photobook with the childhood pictures of him and Kyung-mi. She reveals her discovery that Jung Shi-hyun was an officer, which surprises Hyung-min. She wonders out loud about his pain of being known as her unni's killer, and finally, with tears in her eyes, says that she likes him, and is determined to restore him back to his position.
kakashi: Yeah. We all know that's NOT going to happen, do we? But Soo-min always was a naive one. Or maybe she just hasn't heard the "once you're in, you cannot get out" often enough!
JoAnne: An officer AND A GENTLEMAN, Soo Min. AND A GENTLEMAN.
Shuk: Hyung-min agrees, but research by the Gimpy Detective reveals nothing. Chief Yang scoffs that he must be undercover then.
kakashi: Oooookay, yes, jackpot! I found this awesome soundtrack just for you, Ineptness Squad!
JoAnne: Didn't she date the Beibs? How can we have anything connected to the Biebs anywhere near the awesomeness of Baksa Adeul?
Shuk: At the Cliff of Covert Conversations, the two talk. Thighs points out that all the cops that associated with Baksa are now dead: Kyung-mi, Safari, and Shim Ah Joo, who must have been the flyer in episode one (kakashi: I think he's the sniper from last episode). He demands Baksa tell him who sent him under cover, using the fact that Soo-min was the last target.
SH: What will you do if I tell you?Shuk: You just know that Baksa is now going to protect Hyung-min and prevent him from going rogue. As if there's not enough on his plate. But keeping Thighs on the straight and narrow is the best way to protect Soo-min, too.
HM: I'm going to kill him myself.
SH: Ji Hyung-min. You just stay where you are. Don't come over here. I will do this.
kakashi: I shudder a little, cause, you know .... Bromance!!! I imagine how the two kiss ..... uhm .... well. The hair. It would get in the way.
JoAnne: Mental note to brush the hair out of his eyes when I wedge myself between the two of them.
Shuk: At the precinct, he pulls Chief Yang and Gimpy into the conference room, and ask them for a bigtime favor: start investigating Superintendent Min Hong-ki.
kakashi: Get da Fucker! Get him!
JoAnne: Why are your teeth not falling out from the bitterness of saying That Fuck's actual name?
Shuk: Meanwhile, Baksa is meeting up with Cutie-soo, who is understandably upset that Baksa is attempting to shut their operation down. Baksa begs his Battle Brother to leave for Japan or China, but Cutie is convinced they can win this, and warns that he will do it on his own. Dammit, boy can't even stop the train gunning for his friends.
kakashi: Cutie was always a bit dim. But that makes him all the more sexy. Yum. He should undress so that we can see his tattoo. Right now.
JoAnne: All I can think about is did that hurt Jung Kyung Ho for him to be shaken like that. But if I could think of anything else... goddamn but that Cutie is cute.
Shuk: At the Gallery of Asshats, Jo and Min meet. Psycho scoffs that The Police Prick is allowing the Task Force and Baksa to walk all over him, but he counters that Chairman has let Baksa slip through time and again. Besides, Police Prick has a plan that will expose Baksa and make him vulnerable. Damn, I don't like the sound of that.
JoAnne: That's because his mouth is open and Mama don't like ugly.
Only difference is one jerk has a badge. |
kakashi: Haha, I LIKED that he got so scared and ran and messed up his office while searching for the hard drive. A lol moment in an otherwise suuuuuper bleak hour of tears and snot.
JoAnne: You LIED (about not including a pic of Min here, kakanote). That's his HAND. We're looking at his hand!
By request of JoAnne, I have removed the offending hand. ~ Shuk |
kakashi: Yeah, I expected that as soon as he said "plan". Gaaaaaah! How many synonyms for "awful shithead asshole" does the English language know?
JoAnne: Not fucking enough. That Fuck. That shithead fucktard fuck.
kakashi: Jin-sook! My loooooooove! Marrry me!!!!!!
JoAnne: It was only the second time watching (because, you know, subs) that I realized she was TESTING her. Jin Sook loves her, but she's not dumb. Well ok she was dumb. But she wasn't wrong to love her, all the same. Jin Sook rules.
Shuk: Jin-sook takes a disbelieving breath, and asks her one final thing: Leave, and never come under her view again. She throws money at her and leaves, ending up crying in hallway.
kakashi: Cooooome to meeeeeeeee, my awesome kitten, I'll hug you! I'll be your sister! I'll drink endlessly with you!
JoAnne: Can you imagine how awful she feels? Her heart must be in tiny, tiny pieces.
Shuk: Next, the bastard homes in on Kim Do-hoon, and oh-so-casually asks him how Kim Hyun-soo is doing. Shit, he even knows Cutie-soo's contacts. He orders him to arrange a meeting... at the Japanese Restaurant. Run away, Cutie-soo! Run away!!
kakashi: A small interlude on Do-hoon. Who was falsely accused by many to be the sniper that killed the DeadBoringGirlfriend. Poor chap. And he was killed so suddenly in TEN2, too. Anyway, like everybody else at the Special Ineptness Team, his character was almost entirely redundant but at least he isn't killed in this show. Oups, spoiler. Oups, I don't care.
A photo of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, which is the size of the hurting I wanna put on Min. |
kakashi: Cutie? Hello?! You will not do anything stupid, will you?!
JoAnne: That look. He's kinda dumb, our Cutie... but he picks up fast when he needs to.
Shuk: He goes on to describe Cutie's mother, stating that only Shi-hyun would have that information, and that he passed it on to Min because a wish to protect his pitiable friend, and that Shi-hyun hates drug organizations and plan to bring down Jin-sook and Hyun-soo. His logic is as twisted as his soul, but it strikes a cord with Cutie.
kakashi: Cutie!! Brain! Remember! You - have - a - brain!!
JoAnne: yessss, take off that shirt, there you go.. JJINJEONG.. why didn't they undress Cutie more when Baksa got hurt and stopped?
Shuk: The exterior of the Restaurant of the Yakuza Blossom is being haunted by Hyung-min, who watches Min leave the property. He stops short when he sees a clearly-agitated Cutie-soo leave, too.
kakashi: Well, at least he is sexy when agitated.
JoAnne: yeah that pose would be good for... other stuff... just sayin'
Shuk: Is that why he's looking down?
Shuk: The Toad hies back to Jin-sook's place, to see how his plan bore fruit, and stabs a few more facts into Jin-sook. She finally finds out about his police past, and he warns her to stay away from Shi-hyun, or he will destroy her, too. I never thought the "I love you" line really worked with Jin-sook, but to see her mind racing with your words just brings home how loathsome you really are, Hong-ki.
kakashi: Min isn't a very good liar, thankfully.
JoAnne: Except that he was, for 20 years. And now suddenly he's like that kid swearing he didn't eat the decorations, with decorations stuck on his face. This kid: 'Oh no. No. I did not eat spinkles.'
Shuk: Cutie-soo is drinking his amber liquid from a bottle like a champ, with no spilled droplets on his shirt when Baksa arrives at his place. He greets his buddy with great cheer, and Baksa asks if something is wrong. Cutie replies that maybe Baksa was there to handcuff him. Baksa flinches as Cutie repeats all of Min's crap back at his friend, finally leaving when Baksa refuses, and tells him to never darken his doorstep again.
kakashi: Ahhhhh .... tears. And I wanted them to kiss. More tears.
JoAnne: Look at their baby FACES. No boys! No! Hug it out! Take off your shirts and hug it out! Also, Cutie...ummm...the hand cuffs. Let's talk about that k hmmm?
Shuk: Baksa leaves the bright light of Cutie's Cave to brood and think at his own dark abode. (The Bak Cave! The Bak Cave! Say it! We aren't going to have many more chances!) His phone rings, and he meets Thighs for another Cop Coffee Klatch. Thighs expositionally adds the meeting of Min and Cutie with the information we already have. Min is recruiting Hyun-soo and abandoning Baksa. Baksa reiterates to Thighs to continue as a detective and stay out of the final battle.
kakashi: Roooooooftop! Rooof.Top! Top! And more bromance! Oh my goodness, so much bromance in this episode. This is killing me.
JoAnne: My two tall handsome men.
Shuk: Jin-sook goes to the Bak-cave and hugs him. He is puzzled, until she congratulates him for becoming a police officer, and his eyes go wide. She strokes his face, crying, and apologizes for making his life difficult. She breaks him when she whispers that she would have loved to see him in his uniform. Wow, there is still someone who will stand by him no matter what - would she have gone legit if he had told her? I'm betting yes. [Pause for commercial break and another box of tissues]
kakashi: Iiiiiiiih, I know what JoAnne will say about the crying. It really scared me. My goodness, he cries like a 4 year old boy!!
JoAnne: I died of embarrassment for him with those faces. She's so awesome, though. And he knows it. They really love each other. It's just not the same kind of love.
kakashi: Uhm ..... not really. But, hey, details.
JoAnne: I thought I was crazy. Did they just meet at some random cemetary? Is it a hint that EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE?
Shuk: Cutie-soo pow-wows with a power-pink Jin-sook. She pleads with him to cut Shi-hyun some slack; he's chosen them over Min, which is why Min is passing along the information. She tells him with absolute certainty that Baksa will never abandon them, but Cutie-soo can't agree and leaves.
kakashi: Oh no .... Cutie .... :-( and no sex scene between the two. Double :-(
JoAnne: I join you in sadness. :-( :-(
Shuk: Thighs has a monstrous brain failure when he decides to review the jump drive at work, rather than at home, and with barely any effort at all, Internal Affairs neatly plucks it right out of his hands and gives it to Min. Soo-min immediately calls Baksa as Hyung-min is sent away for questioning.
kakashi: Sigh.
JoAnne: One night. ONE NIGHT. They couldn't give us ONE NIGHT. Is this police force the Korean equivalent of the Amish Mistake?
Shuk: Baksa has a heart to heart with Neanderthal's old man, and asks him to help his son. After all, at least the two of them can see each other, which Baksa can never do with his unknown sire. Wow, he's got counseling skills too. Is there anything this man can't do, besides keep his back intact?
kakashi: They have a deep conversation about fathers and sons and sons wanting to be proud of their fathers. I have heard the same conversation at least 100 times in different contexts. But I'm sure it'll work.
JoAnne: It has to have worked for somebody or else it would have died out, right?
Shuk: At the precinct, Team Thighs is gloomy in the conference room when Reporter Cha bursts in. They discuss the current investigation of Team Leader Ji and decide on searching for that jump drive. Soo-min rifles his office as Reporter Cha leads Min off for coffee, but they can't find it.
kakashi: Oh, the Cha woman is still alive?! Most redundant character, fare thee well! By the way, is nobody missing Prosecutor Ahn?! I am! I think he went into rehab.
JoAnne: He's looking for Halibut. I search for his face in every crowd scene, you know? And not just in this drama.
kakashi: JoAnne, now is probably a good time to tell you that Halibut has been in prison all this time. I am pretty sure they mention it somewhere in episodes 4 or 5. Just go back and watch it! I know I could have told you earlier, but ... it was kinda fun to see you suffer.
Shuk: And I wasted a perfectly good milk carton on him and everything.
Shuk: Psycho Jo is having his own interrogation of Hyun-soo, and offers 'his boys' to assist him in getting rid of Baksa. Oh noes, you're not really going THAT far over to the Dark Side?! He sends the goons in a van, but pauses outside his car as the driver looks on worriedly.
kakashi: Hm ..... I am not buying this. Cutie wouldn't. No. Or would he?!
JoAnne: He couldn't. He couldn't. Wouldn't the entire set have rioted when the writer gave them that page, if so? It's just not possible.
Shuk: At the Bak Cave (and doesn't Min know where it is? How safe can it be?) Baksa receives a phone call that alarms him. "Alone?" he barks out, before running out the door.
kakashi: *readying tissue*
JoAnne: My stomach hurts.
Shuk: OMG. Cutie-soo is marching with a few guys back towards Jo. It looks like he sent the van on a wild-goose chase and headed back to take of Chairman Jo himself. Too bad Psycho predicted it, and meets him with another passel of goons.
kakashi: I am now watching with my eyes closed. I also do that when watching horror movies. Alternatively, I hide my face behind pillows.
JoAnne: I LOVED that they mirrored that earlier scene, but I won't lie: I spent a lot of time wondering how Cutie was able to convince Jo's men to fight Jo so quickly. You are clearly more devious than I.
Shuk: They are not Jo's thugs (no Gryffyndor ties). One of them was with Jin-sook at the beginning of the episode at Safari's place, so I assume they are his men.
kakashi: Thank GOD for the ties.
Shuk: Jo asks him why, and Cutie replies he means to kill him so Jin-sook and Baksa can live in peace. Oh, Cutie, you never were the brains of the operation, but your heart is as big as Mount Fuji. About this time, a second group of goons arrives behind him, and pins him against the building. He does his damnedest, but the numbers are way stacked against him, and he goes down with a pipe on his back and a knife in his gut.
kakashi: It would have been much more epic had the knife not been blurred. Sorry to spoil the moment. I always go into snark-mode in very emotional moments. It's my way of coping.
JoAnne: I made ugly, ugly noises here. The dog was quite alarmed. I pretty much never stopped making those noises for the rest of the drama. She still hasn't really forgiven me, but I can't bring myself to focus on her pain. What about MY pain? Cutie. You were no Baksa. But I loved you, all the same.
Shuk: As he goes down, Baksa arrives with a handgun and starts shooting. Jo quickly hustles away as Baksa deals with the rest of the thugs and drops down next to Cutie-soo, now propped up against the glass wall and gasping.
kakashi: Thanks to the herniated back, guns have had so much more screentime in the last few episodes.
Shuk: Cutie-soo ruefully says he's always been a burden to Baksa. As he looks on helplessly, Cutie's breath gets more and more labored as he tells his buddy that being with him was his best time. Shi-hyun begs him not to talk, but he has to get it out - kill Jo and end this. Like Safari, his final request is simple: "Let's go home." And they hug as Cutie's arm drops.
kakashi: Snark-mode isn't working. Oh no. No, no, no....
JoAnne: My crying kept interrupting my watching. This took a long time. I'll let you in on a secret. I say I cry all the time... and I do get teary eyed at lots of things with maybe a trickle or two. But THIS... oh, this. I cried huge ugly gulping sobs for a long, long, time.
Shuk: Psycho eats more on this show than anyone I've seen, as he lets Min know over the phone that Hyun-soo is dead. The alarm in Hong-Ki's voice doesn't faze him in the least.
kakashi: Psycho is also one of the more corpulent Korean actors, one might add. He needs his calories.
Shuk: Then our Dark Avenging Angel arrives with the sound of a single gunshot.
kakashi: Bang Bang.
Shuk: And Min knows he's boned. He hurries out of his office. Soo-min calls it in, and the Ineptness Squad is activated. Too late to save Cutie, dammit, or really do anything.
kakashi: Let's fire them already. Useless bunch of fools!
JoAnne: 'Fashionably late' just does not cut it in police work, gentlemen. oh! JoNote for Shuk: too bad you don't watch DF anymore. There's a new drama called Police 24H. I can't bring myself to click on that icon.
Shuk: I've already started "Scandal". Please don't make me get out my SKS-47 7.62mm with the built-in bayonet.
Shuk: Pyscho Jo just smiles as Baksa levels the pistol at his head. He calmly tells him nothing will change if he dies. Baksa replies with a single sentence. "I will end it all." And, one bullet later, father and son get reunited in hell. He walks out robotically, with dead eyes.
kakashi: "I will end it all" ... I know what this means. There is no out. Never.
JoAnne: Sure there is. Damn it.
Shuk: Hong-ki is on the lotus pond walkway when Baksa calls out to him to halt. He stands there, hands at his side, weapon down, as Min turns and looks. He reaches to his back, but, at a wave from Baksa's gun, stops. Okay, Baksa, police training would have helped here - make him remove whatever he's got back there!
kakashi: He DOES motion him, but doesn't insist! Baksa! BAKSA!
JoAnne: He's moved from optimism to romantic fatalism. NEVER a good move.
Shuk: Baksa asks why; Min replies with bullshit. Baksa advances, but Min stops him with the mention of Jin-sook. The Police Prick piles on the histrionics to the point of ridiculousness; the only ones he didn't use were "The check is in the mail" and "I'll respect you in the morning."
kakashi: Min, I have reserved lot 458 in hell for you. It is one of the worst spots, I've been told.
Shuk: Make that 669, so he can be the neighbor of the Beast.
JoAnne: I want that beast to mount him every night, dry.
Shuk: Baksa's eyes fill with tears, but his gun never wavers. Yeah, you know your awesome noona would never behave like that. His hand tightens on the trigger, but Thighs and his woman arrive. Hyung-min tells him it's over. Right away Min calls out that he's caught Baksa Adeul, but Detective Ji just tells him to shut the he** up.
kakashi: Too many guns ... there are too many guns!!!! Ah, I wish we were back to pipes and sticks!
JoAnne: I stopped here. I suddenly really NEEDED to wash out my teacup. But I made myself come back. And I just realized that every time I reach for that teacup now, I change my mind and grab a different one.
Shuk: Hyung-min talks directly to Shi-hyun and tells him that he can become an officer again, but Baksa knows he can never return to the man he wanted to be, and says so out loud. He focuses on the ahjussi in front of him, only acknowledging him as 'that man', and tells him it is ended.
kakashi: Shoot already! Baksa! Shooooooot! Send him to hell! His lot has been prepared, EXTRA hot!
JoAnne: He can't. You know he can't. He wouldn't be his awesome self if he could.
kakashi: Told you he should have been more evil!!
Shuk: The ahjussi nods and kneels, agreeing it is the end, and Shi-hyun finally lowers his gun. Suddenly, he reaches behind, pulls out a pistol, and shoots Shi-hyun twice in the chest, before a single shot from Detective Ji ends the toad's life. Still the damage has been done, and Soo-min runs to her lover as he crumples to the ground. She cries as his body slowly relaxes.
kakashi: Okay, I knew he was going to die. But I wished he had died a bit more epicly. And with a death-speech.
JoAnne: It was a bit quiet.
Shuk: We see a picture of the Eiffel Tower as Jin-sook voiceovers to Shi-hyun. "That it's the place I always wanted to go. I really wanted to go there with you someday. Shi Hyun, I love you." As Jin-sook cries, Soo-min, complete in a police officer's uniform, hands her a handkerchief. Jin-sook asks her to help her with her hair style, before leaving. It turns out they are in the Bak Cave.
kakashi: At least these two can make babies!!!!
JoAnne: With each other? What do you know that I don't?
Shuk: Alone, we see Soo-min turn in front of the grimy blue window, and suddenly Shi-hyun is there. She repeats the name litany and ends with "Shi-yun oppa, did I do well to become an officer." Without saying anything, he reaches out and cups her cheek. She savors it for a moment, then we pan back and see it was all her imagination.
kakashi: Or wasn't it?
JoAnne: *sobbing* Is she remembering a conversation, or imagining one?
Shuk: Detective Ji goes to the Prosecutor's office and asks his dad if he did something to get him off the Internal Affairs black list. He says yes, he has turned over all the information and is prepared to talk to the investigator about his part in all this. Hyung-min asks, not without pain, why is he doing this? Daddy Ji replies that he wants to be someone his son can respect again. He follows his dad into the situation room where he shakes hands and compliments everyone on the Ineptness Squad for their ineptness. Hyung-min watches him go.
kakashi: Interesting. That was kind of awesome. Isn't he one of the bad guys? Or is this about the 3Ds again? Doughnuts, Dumplings, and Drycleaning?
JoAnne: He said something about going to far, and needing to get back again. I think of the bad guys, Daddy Ji was the one who really was in it because it's how business gets done, and corruption is part of it. Not particularly because he got off on the badness, but because it was the only way to have a career and get anything done, good OR bad...and then he kind of forgot that. Which I'm sure That Fuck also told himself was the reason he was in it, but he was EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL through and through so it was a lie.
Shuk: At the orphanage, Soo-min is passing out presents to some of the kids, when the younger doppelgangers of her sister and lover yell that the uniform looks great, and she waves as they disappear.
kakashi: I have been marveling about the symbolic meaning of this but I have not come to any conclusion.
JoAnne: Since they actually do disappear, not run out of the picture frame, it was never a question for me: she imagines them. And since she was imagining them together, in a happier time, I accepted unquestioningly that Baksa was dead. But maybe that's just how she deals with not being with him. I dunno.
Shuk: We see a final montage of the city, as Baksa voiceovers:
"The world is a mirror. If you spit and curse at it, it will spit and curse back at you. If you smile at it, it will smile back at you."
Shuk: As the credits roll, we see a series of scenes chronicling the story. And in the last second of the credits, this:
kakashi: Readers of Mr. GangsterCat's Blog (read this post) will also know by now that the writer did intend a different ending. Let me quote: "the original script by Yoo Seong-Yeol had written in an insert which made this ending a lot less open to interpretation – showing our leading man walking back into the dark after a not-so-fatal-after-all shootout, with a new identity ... and a new beige jacket (hurrah for colors), leaving the two women who loved him behind, blissfully unaware that the man they just buried was still out there somewhere, looking at the city lights in the endless night". Like in so many dramas, we are left with the possibility that somewhere, out there, Baksa lives on. Baksa forever.
JoAnne: I was TOTALLY convinced he wouldn't do it. But now I'm not. It doesn't help that there's a deleted scene that makes it explicitly clear he was meant to still be alive. Because it wasn't included. Was that because she changed her mind about him living, or because she changed her mind about reassuring us?
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE FINAL EPISODE
Shuk: I looked back at my clock, and was shocked to find that this final recap took over six hours to type and gif. But I think this episode needed the extra effort. Although not all the threads were tied up, and I still hate the police portrayal with the heat of a thousand suns, this drama nevertheless kept me entertained and wanting more. I don't know how I would feel about a less ambiguous ending. Science fiction ahjummas like me may remember the two alternate endings to Director Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner"; I preferred by far the darker, disturbing director's cut ending to the rainbows and ice cream theatrical one.
kakashi: We have survived! Thank you, ladies! Thank you, readers! Baksa forever!
JoAnne: I'm really not ready for this.
Shuk: Baksa fought long and hard, but in the end, I don't think he received justice. After all, Min and Jo was never really punished, the Corrupt Congressman is still out there, and Pyscho Jo was right; nothing really changed. But he did know that people loved and believed in him through everything he did and all the deception he had to go through, and I guess that's enough for any human.
kakashi: Wait for Season 2. Or Baksa: The Movie. Including the return of all the dead ones (Cutie Soo! Safari!!) ... as zombies!! Yes, it is going to be called "Zombie City".
JoAnne: It would unrealistic to think that one man could bring down such an entrenched syndicate. If nothing else, we know there's always some else out there in the wings waiting to take over, and it's built into every level of society. He managed to uncover the most dangerous bad guy at the moment - That Fuck - and that will be enough for me. God, I'm going to miss these people.