Who Are You - Episode 9 (A SqueeCap)

Shuk:  The kiss has finally happened, and it’s awkward times at the precinct. It recently struck me, though, that even though she is physically the older person in this couple, her personal growth has been stunted after six years of coma. So I guess it makes sense they are about the same emotional level. We also get some story movement, but it still feels like the pacing is too slow.  At least we have more Ghost Oppa!
bcook: That kiss scene and the multiple replays just made my fingers curl and not in a good way. yuck yuck yelch yelch. eww.

EPISODE NINE

Shuk:  Our couple retires to their own respective places, reliving the kiss scene over and over again.  It’s amusing that they both touch their lips when they think about it; Detective Puppy seems most affected.
bcook:  sneer. This frantic back and forth may have seemed cool when they were storyboarding but .... *crosses arms in an x* andwe

Shuk:  Uh oh, we see our ghost to be.  At least we see a man limping down a road with a gut wound trying to outrun some black-on-black suited bad guys.  He drops a phone that inadvertently gets damaged by a passing ramyun scooter, but runs back to pick it up anyway.  He throws the phone in a postal box and keeps running.

bcook: Pretty random scene jump.

Shuk:  The next morning Shi-on leaves her house, but no big eared carpooler is there.  She remembers his previous explanation, but I think our boy is running scared.  She shrugs and takes public transportation.  When she arrives, Gun-woo sees her first and darts around the corridor.  Sung-chan is amused that the two are looking for each other.  She glances through that morning’s haul, and picks up a battered cellphone.  It immediately gives her ghost vibes and she throws it back in the basket.

bcook:  Ghost vibes but no ghost? They must be trying something new. I'm just going to ignore anything to do with this 'relationship' that they keep pushing on us.

Shuk:  Detective Cha walks in, sees her, and grabs the basket to run away, to store them.  Except they haven’t been vouchered yet.  Hee.  He seems like the schoolgirl whose first kiss was stolen by the town bad boy.

bcook: ....

Shuk:  Team Leader Yang confronts him in the storage room.  Is he going to keep running away every time he sees her?  She demonstrates; every time she takes a step towards him, he sidles away.  She tells him to snap out of it and go back to work.  He heads back upstairs, as she collapses and clutches her chest.

bcook: Seriously?! There was no lead in to this! TC isn't good enough to do eye-loving and she was too busy with WEoF to pay much attention to showing a relationship. And we're supposed to believe that they like each other? That they're so flustered by a kiss that they act like idiots. pfft.

Shuk:  Gun-woo gets a phone call from Detective Lying Jerk and leaves the office.  While he’s gone, a bright-shirted guy comes in looking for a lost cell phone.  He zooms right in on the broken one and tries to grab it, saying that it’s his even though he has no identification.  He finally leaves without it, but he gets the idea to hide in the toilet.

bcook: Shirted guy needs his passport to get the phone but says he can't get his passport without the phone. Sidekick#2 thinks that's irony. No dude I think not. Unless writer-nim is being meta again. (I think i'm giving the writer way too much credit)

Shuk:  Outside, the two officers talk, and the liar's lips are moving.  He tells Gun-woo to meet up with him later, and bring along Team Leader Yang.  Well, that was a waste of a walk.

bcook: *sigh* what's he up to now. We're almost 10 episodes in...and we still don't know WHY he's the bad guy. I actually can't believe we've come this far with no answers.

Shuk:  The boys are done with their documentation, but by a fortuitous bit of lazy writing, leave the cell phones on the desk instead of securing them while they leave the office.  Our suspiciously suspect suspect creeps out of the men’s room, and heads to the Lost and Found Department.

bcook: Yeah, way to assert your authority now Sidekick#1. Just when it's needed.

Shuk: At a p’macha, Cha and Choi are waiting for Team Leader Yang. The older man tells Gun-woo that his early transfer back to Investigations has been approved. He “pulled a few strings” to reduce his probation sentence. Gun-woo isn't as happy as he thought and Choi leaves before Shi-on arrives.bcook: Trying to isolate TLYang are we? Why'd Choi say invited TLYang if he's not going to stick around to see her? Holes! Holes everywhere!

Shuk:  He tells her about his transfer, and they are both quiet for a moment.  She recovers first, and tells him it’s good he’s going back to where he wants to be.   He doesn’t sound convinced as they share a congratulatory soju shot.  Later, they are waiting at a crosswalk when she starts seeing drops of blood falling from the sky.  They become a specific blood trail that she starts to follow.  A puzzled Gun-woo follows behind. The trail ends at the still-warm body of our previous runner, whose ghost is staring at her in mute plea.

bcook: "Rain drops keep falling on my head, they keep falling". I learnt that song in elementary school. Who'd have thought it would be appropriate now. Look at GW looking around like he can see them too.

Shuk:  At the crime scene, Shi-on glances at a face in the crowd: it’s the phone thief, but he quickly fades back.  She gets the phone call at the scene that the Lost and Found Department was robbed.  Even Director Monkeyface and Team Leader KissAss  show up to browbeat Team L&F.  Once everyone leaves, the Director pulls Yang aside and tells her to keep it under wraps and find the missing items without publicizing it to the rest of the department.

bcook: How is that possible? So that's why she got a tingle but no ghost showed up. He wasn't dead yet. I guess her powers are getting stronger?

Shuk:  They go through the CCTV feeds, and she recognizes the man as the one at the scene.  The boys recognize him as the phone guy. For some completely questionable reason, they give a copy of the CCTV photo to Detective Choi.
bcook: *facepalm*. Yeah ask the guy you don't trust to help you out.

Shuk:  The Liar receives a phone call, and tells the caller that he’ll take care of everything. Crap, is the phone call somehow related to Dead Phone Guy and the alive phone thief?  Ghost Oppa thinks so, since he’s following him.

bcook: Ghost oppa shows up! OK! now to see some real acting.

Shuk:  Hee-bin is at her Desk Of BS, when Ghost Oppa shows up and asks her to take a stroll to the Police Department.  She’s smarting a little that Sung-chan hasn’t contacted her, and uses the chance to dress up.
bcook: What do you expect? You brushed him aside so callously.  He has pride too.


Shuk:  Gun-woo and Shi-on are canvassing an area of Seoul, looking for the phone thief with no luck. Hee-bin shows up at the Lost and Found Department, and Sung-chan springs out of his seat to see her. Hee-bin conduits some intel for Team Leader Unni:  Go to a certain person in Chinatown and tell him a passcode. The information is given to Gun-woo, who collects Shi-on. The passcode gets them to a cook in a Chinatown restaurant. He identifies the man as Lee Young-gul, stating he and his friend quit there last week. He shows them a photo of both men, and asks that they get him home safely.  He hands them the address.

bcook: We should have our own phrase. How about..."I hear that in october, everybody will be watching heirs"?  or "Lee Min Ho's hair is soft and fluffy" and the reply will be "But not in City Hunter" .... also isn't it so convenient how he had the address already written on a piece of paper in his pocket.

Shuk:  As they are leaving, the cook (really the person in charge) asks how Detective Lee Hyung-joon is doing.  This startles her; he notices, and warns her to never return to the restaurant.  In the car, she wonders how he knew the dead detective.
bcook: ??? WTF? You know what. whatevs. "I don't care eh eh eh eh eh. I don't care eh eh eh eh eh."

Shuk: Young-gul finally shows up at the residence, and is quickly subdued.  Shi-on gathers up the cellphones  as the man repeats over and over again that it’s his phone. The ghost sadly stands by his friend. We get a flashback where the Now-Dead Phone Guy plans to use the information inside the phone to broker a deal that would give them both enough money for their families. We see him get stabbed after the swap, and the escape, all witnessed by Young-gul.

Shuk:  Back in the present, he explains that they were smugglers working through a paper construction business and laundering money, along with their handlers, who are South Korean government officials and corrupt policemen.  Hah!  There’s the link!

bcook: Woow. Wait what about the boat and the silver?

Shuk: But wait!  There’s more!  For the past six years, the smuggling operation has been at Incheon Harbor with a boat called Chong-do Ho.   Annnnd there’s a flashback to the Y6I, which is a complete reversal of Detective Liar’s previous conversation (he lied in a church, he’s going to burn.  Just sayin’).  Hyung-joon saw the signal light, Cha tried to brush it off, but the detective decided to investigate.
bcook: Is she remembering? or is this like a general playback?

Shuk:  In present time, Ghost Oppa is hovering over Detective Liar, who is clearly frazzled over a phone call he’s received.  Apparently they are on the hunt for the phone too.   Hyung-joon says in his mind: “Things won’t go the way you want; I’m going to expose everything.”  And I say YESS!  Wait, he’s talking about the corruption isn't he.  [pout].

bcook: LoL!! Wait a min. How come Ghost Oppa is just watching him??

How Ghost Oppa should look

Shuk:  Outside the residence, our pair gets chased by the same guys that killed the Dead Phone Guy.  Gun-woo holds them off as they dog pile him, yelling at her to call for backup.   She runs up a flight of stairs, but can’t find any help.  Eventually she reaches the rooftop, with several goons in tow.  Gun-woo gets there with his thug entourage, and the fight is on. She manages to hold her own for a while using a hunk of wood as a weapon, but eventually she goes down.  Gun-woo takes one across the back to protect her as the po-po finally show up and the goons scatter.

bcook: Wow. So many  goons to go after two people? And don't they get hot in those black suits? I know I would. Also...when did she find the time to call for backup? And And...she's finally showing some skills. Now she looks like she might have graduated from the police academy.

Shuk:  He’s still leaning over her when she asks if he is okay, and his sarcastic comment reassures her that he is fine.  Detective Liar shows up, but of course didn’t catch anyone.  He sees the phone, and now knows that it’s in Team Leader Yang’s possession.
bcook:Wah such a covetous look.

Shuk:  They make it back to her house, and he wonders why things are more exciting in Lost and Found than in Special Investigations.  She plans to investigate in the information in the phone before handing it back over to anyone at the Police Department.

bcook: Finally! Acting with suspicion! You shouldn't have told DChoi about it to begin with. The flashes of common sense are so few and far between.h

Shuk:  She tells him to do well when he gets transferred next week; he mumbles that he’s still under probation.  And he still hasn't finished his investigation of the phone theft.  And he still needs to train the two boys…  She interrupts him that they will do fine without him, smiles, and heads in.  He is still clearly ambivalent.
bcook:.... This was supposed to be sweet right? And make us miss him? Coz it failed.

Shuk:  Back at the office, he grills Sung-chan regarding the Chinatown tip.  He says Hee-bin gave it to them as the cook is a regular customer of hers.   That seems to satisfy him, until he finds out Team Leader Yang went home early. She didn't go home, but met up with a sunbae to ask about Detective Lee.  He was in the same academy with the Ghost Oppa, but doesn't mention anything about their relationship.  I guess no one in the department ever knew they were dating .  Which is ridiculous because, in Real Life, police officers have an internal gossip grapevine that rivals the NSA.

bcook: Haha

What a police muster meeting is like.

Shuk:   Detective Pants On Fire bumps into Ears in the hall, and teases him about his lack of enthusiasm for his transfer.  After all, he will still be in the same building; even if he switches to a new department, he can still see Team Leader Yang.
bcook:

Shuk:  In the bathroom, Gun-woo splashes some water on his face, and finally comes to the realization that he wants to stay in Lost and Found.  He walks out of the bathroom with a spring in his step and a big ol’ grin.
bcook:..... *sneer*

Shuk:  Shi-on looks for a store that her sunbae said Detective Lee used to frequent.   There, she finds a couple of surprises:  the manager recognizes her and welcomes her back, and a series of Polaroid shots of couples, including one of her and Detective Lee, entwined in each other’s arms and peace-signing.

bcook: Aww. They was in love! I would like to find that cafe. They should put the address at the end of the show. And Ghost Oppa is sooo cuuteee!!!!  That flashback was too short.

Shuk:  And we have the final flashback; she was running late and he tried to sneak up on her. When they faced each other, Hyung-joon gently adjusted her collar and asked her how her first day went.  Oh the hugs are so real and lovely, and the manager took the picture. Wow, on her first day as an officer. 

bcook: That was pretty cute. Ok. I've come up with an explanation for her paltry policing reaction. She'd only been on the job a couple of months when Ghost Oppa ...well became Ghost Oppa. That explains her reaction to seeing people hurt/murdered and her wimpy reaction to bad psychologist.

Shuk: Back in the present, all of her memories are back now, and she turns around again to see Ghost Oppa standing behind her.  He walks slowly, almost disjointedly, until he is in her personal space, as she looks up with tears and calls him “Oppa”.  She reaches out to touch his cheek, apologizing for forgetting him.

bcook: Remember me?! She's quite an ugly crier. Is Ghost Oppa looking paler than normal?

FINAL THOUGHTS

Shuk:  So, the day the new guy gives in to his feelings is the day the old guy gets his place in her heart again.  The relationship is doomed, of course, as death has a nasty way of ending even the most passionate of bonds.  But hopefully Ghost Oppa doesn’t hold a grudge for what might have been, and focuses on keeping her safe, and getting rid of Detective Choi and his corrupt little organization for good.
bcook: Well he said he's not back for a hopeless love. I'm so against GW and TLYang couple. It does not exist to me. Eopsseoyo!!

Shuk:  Choi still seems like an underling, despite clearly being high up this Axis of Evil.  My money is still on the Director, (1) Because casting Park Young-ji for just a couple of scenes seems pretty silly; and (2) Subtlety isn’t Writer-nim Moon Ji-young’s strong suit (her previous work is I Love Lee Tae Ri).   We still have quite a few episodes, so plenty of time to see Gun-woo run some more, and Hyung-joon to look unscrutable, and Moon-sik to look guilty.
bcook: Just give Ghost Oppa more screen time! Jeesh! He's got the looks, he's got the bod and you know he can act. *sigh*

Shuk:  One note, though: has Ghost Oppa ever tried to speak in front of Shi-on?  If it turns out he could have talked to her all this time, I’m busting something.  Okay, rant over.
bcook: hahahaha. That would be so funny! But it looks like he's tried really hard a couple of times.