Bad Guys - Episode 3 (A SqueeCap)
Take a bunch of killing criminals and make us like them? Yes, of course. The best way to do that? Show us scumbags so low even the mere thought of them makes you sick. The crimes in this episode are once again utterly, utterly disgusting (it's borderline for me, to be honest), but they do serve a purpose: show us that our Bad Guys have morals. And there is no denying it anymore ... there's the first blossoming of bromance. It's very slight still, but it's definitely there.
JoAnne: I love the smell of bromance in the morning! (Yes, I watch this in the daylight. It's full of really scary people.)
JoAnne: She was smart, though, to lock the door.
Police Commissioner is peeling an apple for another police dude. But what seems to be a friendly gesture is not at all: police dude gets a violent scolding for wasting time, being useless and letting the killer get away after killing that woman. Commissioner screams at dude to get the fuck out and then calls Goo-tak: time to release the crazy dogs again. YAY!
JoAnne: So I guess we know the answer to that age-old question...
You mean this?
Ahahaha, Goo-tak is such an asshole. He is at the prison, visiting Tae-soo (who has his arm in a sling) ... who can't believe his eyes when he sees him. Oh, yes, his shoulder is quite alright, says Tae-soo sardonically. Him, resent Goo-tak for what he has done? Ah, no. He is not the type to hold a grudge. He just kills people he resents. Oups. But here comes a warning from Papa Goo-tak: don't misstep, Tae-soo. No falling back into old habits - or all will be lost. Also, the reason he's here: to tell Tae-soo to keep his promise.
JoAnne: Tae Soo makes me laugh: I can lift a spoon, he says. No, Tae Soo, I will feed you, it's okay. *checks nervously for Kashi* (yeah, you should)
Promise?! echoes Woong-chul, whom Goo-tak visits next. Is he a bank book that you deposit and withdraw whenever you want to? Goo-tak tells him to shut up and follow orders. Woah! Woong-chul almost bashes in the glass with his mighty fist. And here comes Papa Goo-tak's lesson: save as many people with those fists as he has killed with them and be a free man.
JoAnne: I wonder if he has killed people? Maybe he just beats them up.
Would he get 28 years for that? I doubt it.
It's everybody but you :)
That brings on a flashback into Goo-tak's old life with his beautiful daughter who urges him to re-marry (where's the wife? Dead? Divorced?). It's heartbreaking to see him so happy and carefree with her. TT_TT Who's the bastard that killed that beautiful sunshine?!
JoAnne: Awww, Bad Dad as Good Dad :(
He drives to the church ... and hesitates. He told Mi-young that he was 100% sure that the guys would come. Because he gave them a drug: hope. And of course, he is right: when he opens the church doors, there they are! Is he happy to see them? Well, at least he smiles triumphantly. It's a start.
JoAnne: Well *I* am happy to see them!
They now all work officially for the Police, the Special Crime Investigation Unit. They even get handcuffs! (OMG, Tae-soo's ABS! (seriously. just to touch one.)) They take over when the police fail (no, I don't mind at all that this is just like TEN!). All is top secret. I like top secret things. Oh, those abs... (well that particular secret is out, now) They'll go back to prison after solving a case and will be brought out again if a new case presents itself. What a life ... but the deal still stands: reduce your sentence through every successful capture. As soon as their prison time is reduced to zero, they'll gain freedom.
JoAnne: I figure it's better than being in there ALL the time...
Freedom, lectures Goo-tak when they're in the area where the murder happened, is so much harder to keep than obtain. Blablabla. In moments like these, Goo-tak comes across as mean and gloating. (You think so? Huh. It never struck me that way - I find his lectures a bit ... over the top. But I guess he means well. Sort of.) Anyway, he tells them to go look at the crime scene first. Mi-young leads the way. Tae-soo stays behind though and demands to know where that woman is. At the hospital, says Goo-tak, without looking at him. He'll tell him which one after he solves this case (is anybody keeping track of how many years they all still have?). Tae-soo also wants to know how she is. How does he think she would be after suffering something like this? asks Goo-tak back (which is just mean - he is not answering, just posing another question) (Not to mention, she experienced it as a direct result of HIS decision.) If she dies, Goo-tak will die, is Tae-soo's conclusion.
JoAnne: One I support, quite frankly.
Look at how Goo-tak looks at him! He is testing him, I think. Remember, nobody knows anything about Tae-soo's past ... unless Goo-tak is the only one that does.
The others are walking towards the crime scene and Mi-young fills them in on the details. It's a 24-year-old student. It happened two nights ago, around 2am - the woman was returning from her part time job. And then, she was kidnapped. It happened very fast. That means, first, the perpetrator had been waiting for her to pass by. And second, he has done it before (meaning he is good at that kind of thing).
JoAnne: Or just got lucky. I love the show, but seriously, they make some big deductive leaps sometimes.
I think they've had many similar cases in this neighborhood.
When they walk into the small and dirty apartment, Tae-soo discovers a phone lying hidden on the floor. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket. Most likely the victim's phone that fell out of her pocket? (Hm, no - since she had her phone when she called the police). So his! Mi-young continues talking: this is the room the woman was locked into. She was beaten until she lost consciousness. Then the criminal went away to prepare for the rest of the crime. However in the meantime, she had awoken and called the police. The assailant busted in the door, beat her again until she fainted, dragged her to the bathroom, and brutally murdered her. Yes, this drama is rated 19. Not because of the sex scenes, one should add.
JoAnne: And they have those abs to take advantage of, too. What a waste.
The criminal is well-known through his rental records (which is better, rental records or dental records?): name Yang Si-cheol, 37 years old. He cut the woman into 300 something pieces - and then fled the scene. Their mission? Catch the guy.
JoAnne: Yes, because a person planning to butcher humans in his apartment would naturally give his own name to the rental agent. *laughing, but quietly... don't want to disturb the general love*
It's kinda explained in episode 4 though. *tiny spoiler*: the police is highly corrupt. I think they just feel safe.
Since the name is already known, will they get 5 years off? is Woong-chul's question. Yes, that's the deal. But something's wrong, says Jung-moon. He must have known she called the police. Yes, agrees Tae-soo: and given that, would he have leisurely cut her up and then run away? Things don't match up. A third person agrees: Goo-tak. He got a call from Forensics and they told him that the body that was found was not from the suspected victim (Sin Su-jeong). So why did Yang Si-cheol go into the bathroom? To dismember a second, still unidentified victim. So it's quite possible that Su-jeong is still alive! And now, the mission just got a little bit more complicated.
JoAnne: I just realized that they devoted not one second at all to ever explaining who that second body was, even to say gee, too bad we couldn't figure out who all those pieces used to be.
Well, it's doesn't really matter for them right now - they need to save the missing woman! (It's a task for Forensics anyway) Also, I find this explained in this and the next episode as well: this particular gang abducts all kinds of people, including homeless ones and illegal immigrants. That makes things quite difficult, when it comes to the idientification of victims.
Their lead: the method of cutting a body up into 356 pieces. Plus, the internal organs are missing. And her face was damaged with chemicals to a degree that made the body completely unrecognizable - which led the police in charge surmise that Su-jeong was dead. At that, Goo-tak sees some scratch marks on the floor. Something has recently be moved! Bang, away comes the empty fridge in front of another fridge deep in the wall ... I'm closing my eyes, alright?!
JoAnne: So something they never said: there's apparently a body in the bathroom in 356 pieces, but there's ANOTHER body in pieces in the fridge? So that's at least 3 people, one of whom is possibly alive. Right? Safe to assume he makes a habit of doing the butchering there? Once was a whim, twice was pushing his luck.. but three? Three is a routine. All the more reason it wouldn't have been his name on the lease. And who would do that where they lived, anyway? That's disgusting. (he doesn't live there though - scene coming up, where he is lying on a bed. Plus the phone call to his family) Ok, don't let me think about this too deeply. I love our dogs. I love our dogs.
So this is what we're dealing with: Criminal Yang Si-cheol sells organs and bones on the black market. Oh my fucking god. In any case, they need to hurry!!! It's already been two days - they must find that woman! Will they finally work together, is my question?!
JoAnne: My question is different. Who buys bones? Why? You transplant organs, sure. Maybe you have a market for the meat, too. *gagging* But bones? What would you do with bones?
I don't want to know!!!!!!!
Disgusting human trafficker is on his bed, being disgusting. On the phone, he talks about setting up the workshop, about selling all the parts at the same time and about how "the goods" are still fresh. She is alive! Though gagged and tied within a truck.
JoAnne: How can a human look at another human and think that human is not exactly the same as them? This is my question for cold-blooded murderers, rapists, people like this guy here. Would he think it was wrong and unfair for him, or his family or friends to be used in this way? So what is it that makes it ok to do it to others? I am missing the depraved gene, I guess. Because I do not understand.
Elsewhere, Psycho Kid is being useful. He watches surveillance videos of the crime area and discovers a person that just stands around for over 20 minutes. That's suspicious behavior even if NOT around a crime scene, I'd say! Could it be an accomplice?
JoAnne: I think they even said he could see what happened and just stayed there, regardless... so he must have been.
This is getting worse and worse.
We're left wondering, because next, we're with Goo-tak and a slimy-disgusting prosecutor. He is so gross I almost feel a need to just NOT recap him. He's all "you came too late for the good young girls, all that's left is old material". And then, the dick starts talking about Goo-tak's daughter. FUCK YOU! First, he thinks Goo-tak may feel uncomfortable about the young girls because they're the same age as her - until he realizes what he has just said.
JoAnne: There's no way you forget something like that. Right?
No, you friggin don't!!!
Woong-chul is paying his chubby gangsta friend another visit (lol at the entrance). He complains that the new people in the corridor didn't know him (meaning: they tried to stop him again). He then grabs Chubby by the neck and drags him along ... to a kidney consultation. Uh-oh.
JoAnne: The thought of people selling pieces of themselves makes my skin crawl.
No 4 (my Tae-soooooo) is sexily strolling along a corridor. I'm not sure, is he looking better in a suit or in this very casual look? What led him here seems to be the phone he picked up in the kidnapper's apartment. It's a company that provides illegal (wrongly registered) phones. Hahaha at the guy going "what do you take us for? We're not selling burner phones" and the young dude coming in, saying "they took 8 burner phones" right at this moment. And lol again at Tae-soo who goes: fine, you don't seem to be ready to talk, so come at me. He grabs his favorite tool (a hammer!) and beats them up within seconds.
JoAnne: He looks good fighting. I think I'm a little bloodthirsty that way.
Now burner phone guy is ready to talk: there's big business over in that area of the crime for fake identity phones - it's linked to human trafficking. There's no address, but the terrified crook writes down a phone number for Tae-soo.
Asshole prosecutor is drunk by now, singing out of tune at the noraebang. Goo-tak isn't drunk at all, maybe because he has such a high alcohol tolerance or maybe because he is burning with rage. Party is over, dickhead! You were right, bcook ... Goo-tak bitchslaps people and never has it been more satisfying. He also beats him with the microphone, until there's blood. Ah, so this Slimebag takes bribes from human traffickers! Slime is very much afraid of these people ... but will he talk?
JoAnne: He should be afraid of the guy in the room WITH him.
I think he very much is.
Kidney consultation is not happening because Little Lockpick is too nervous. Hahaha, of course, he doesn't want to do it, the poor sod! But then, a guy approaches him and all his babbling about how unhealthy he is doesn't get him anywhere. Hahaha, he is hilarious. And Woong-chul is so mean!
JoAnne: They handle the humor really really well in this, don't you think?
It's perfect.
Psycho is going to the exact spot where that shady figure waited for 20 minutes. He does his tick-thing, where his fingers twitch and then, the crime plays in his head. He then puts on a baseball hat, just like the shady figure, and tells Mi-young to start. Start the video, that is. She is instructing him to do exactly what the shady figure did and he starts walking. Thank goodness for CCTV? They are able to identify where the accomplice lives (or at least whereabouts he went to that night).
JoAnne: He did a lot of twisting and turning during that, and I wasn't clear on how he knew - was it CCTV footage all along the way? Because initially I thought he was counting how long it took, but it can't really be that.
No, I think she got all the CCTV coverage from that area and that way, they were able to track his movements.
Tae-soo is with a human trafficker guy now. And that's really human trafficker ... he also seems to be into the sex trade. He sells women. He doesn't care whom to, if they're lucky, well, they end up somewhere locally or maybe on a nice island. If they're unlucky ... well, it may just be an organ harvester. WTF. Ah, my Tae-soo has morals. He looks so disgusted. Come here, I'll give you a kiss! We'll make it go away. The Trafficker has info in an envelope on Yang Si-cheol, which Tae-soo gratefully takes - before he breaks his arms and smashes the guy's head on the table repeatedly. He'll be back, he says ... right after getting rid of Yang Si-cheol. You can be sure I'll be here to watch!!
JoAnne: You and me both. What a pig.
Tae-soo now has Yang Si-cheol's phone number and tells Mi-young to help him track them.
At the Kidney consultation meet-up, things are not going too well, I'd say, because Woong-chul and one of the Fatso-Gangsters are just too obvious when following poor Lockpick and his guide. At one stage, it seems they might have lost them, but suddenly, they spot them again and see how Lockpick is dragged into a Kebab shop. Apparently, it's a place even the police are afraid to go into, which doesn't bother Woong-chul in the least, since he is "not the police" as he says. He lectures the big meaty tower of a sidekick he has about gangster values and wants to go in, when Goo-tak appears. Now that's a surprise!
JoAnne: And just how did he know about this particular little kebab shop, hmmm? They never say. But if it was common knowledge, why not all just GO there? Why make them go through all the other bullshit?
... for us to enjoy Woong-chul?
They're both not afraid to die and have nothing to lose, as they assure each other, and there's a tiny little moment of bonding between the two. I squeeeed! Did you, JoAnne? They walk in slo-mo and I squee some more, because this show is awesome.
JoAnne: Oh yes, I squeed. There are many moments of squee in this show, and every week just ramps up the squee factor exponentially. EVEN WITHOUT ABS.
Downstairs, the organ harvesters are eating. Why not make me throw up, show? Thank you ... not! They lay it out for Lockpick: the stomach is worth $7000 - the organs and the stomach $19.000. I am somewhat doubtful he is really talking about the stomach because I've never heard of human stomachs being sold before? Kidney $50.000, Liver $100.000. Wow. And fuck, they're now holding him down, undressing him. It's all kinds of wrong, since he clearly doesn't want to and there is nothing sterile about this environment.
JoAnne: Why would you transplant a stomach? Ulcers? But no I don't think it's been done.
Thank god for Woong-chul who comes in. Organ gang leader sets his cronies on our Bear, but he is too strong for them. Unseen by anybody, Lockpick goes and ... hides in the pool that's in the middle of the room. At least as long as he can hold his breath. Still, there's so many! Woong-chul is in danger!! But Goo-tak knows a pretty efficient way to end this little skirmish - the drags in a gas bottle, turns the gas on and gets ready to light his lighter. Wanna tell him where Yang Si-cheol is now?
JoAnne: Okay, our guy doing the dead man's float in the pool was pretty funny! I wouldn't have thought of that. Would you? I'd have tried to hid behind something or just generally stay out of the way. Also, I LOVED how incredulous the guy was to realize that Goo Tak would risk his own life, too.
He was totally believable, too. I think he meant it. Or was he just bluffing? We'll never know.
Yang Si-cheol is in a room, eating chicken, being disgusting. He gets a call from his buddy - it's the one that stood guard and was caught on CCTV, right? They're getting ready to "operate". On the woman who is still in the truck. Watching him from behind: Jung-moon. But not only watching, but also throttling! And whispering (creeeeepy) to tell him where Yang Si-cheol is.
JoAnne: I'll just be alone in my willingness to give the poor guy the benefit of the doubt I guess. Doesn't the law of plot averages demand that at least one of our three be innocent of all charges?
A passer-by on the street hears Sin Su-jeong's struggles in the van and frees her (haha, he has all the right tools in his large bag), but rejoice we cannot, because Yang Si-cheol is right behind him ... and kills him. Just like that.
JoAnne: Bad guy go SMASH! Possibly good guy go BOOM. I say possibly because he pretty much had the burgler's handkit in his bag.
Mi-young calls Tae-soo, who is in a car and tells him the location of the cell-phone she was tracking. It seems the others are also going there? Since everybody now has the information about where to find Yang Si-cheol. Indeed! Here they are! They don't even wonder about the synchronicity. All of them get stopped by a barrier in the road. Continue on foot it is!
JoAnne: At this point I will assume that the reason they all always independently end up at the same place is because they call each other. I know that flies in the face of 'don't share' but I don't care.
Inside a warehouse, Yang Si-cheol and four other guys get ready to operate on the captured woman. Yang Si-cheol seems to be on the phone with his kid. So terrible. Outside, our Bad Guys seem to have split up - when they hear her terrified screams. Yang Si-cheol beats her brutally again ... she lies still.
Here they are!! Tae-soo and Woong-chul get there at the same time and start beating up the assholes.
JoAnne: They seem REALLY pissed at these guys. I love it.
They are too late. Sin Su-jeong lies lifeless ... and Goo-tak is overwhelmed by memories of his dead daughter. He pulls out his gun, snarls ... and makes his way over to Yang Si-cheol, who is barely alive after the beating he received from Woong-chul.
JoAnne: Poor guy. I can't imagine. I refuse to imagine.
But what is that??!! Sun-jeong is moving her fingers ... she is alive! She is breathing! (oh come on, how? He hit her hard enough, enough times, that her skull should be caved in.) She opens her eyes. Now THAT's what you call a successful mission. Not surprisingly, nobody is in the mood for celebrations though. Does it feel good to have saved a life? Goo-tak asks his guys after the scumbags have been taken away and the woman put into an ambulance. That feeling they're having right now (happiness), he continues: they should remember it. It's what makes them human.
JoAnne: I do love that it worked out for them. One of them gets time reduction (Yes, but who?!), but they all get be proud that they saved someone's daughter. Even criminals have people that they love... they would have to understand how it feels to have a loved one returned to safety?
Yes. But what about a psychopath? Jung-moon might be innocent, that I admit - but he IS a psychopath. And psychopaths don't function normally.
JoAnne: I don't follow you - how do arrive at psychopath if he is innocent? He received that label because he was identified as a serial killer; if he is not a serial killer there's not much to go on to label him as a pyschopath. Black-outs and being hyper-intelligent don't necessarily suffice. Oh right. He took that test. Ok. Maybe.
And he then hands Tae-soo the name of the hospital where "his" woman is. And tells him to go see her. He doesn't have to be told twice! Woong-chul walks after him but is called back by Goo-tak - so he claims he just wants to go pee. Jung-moon, now alone with Goo-tak, asks whether they're headed back to prison now. Oh no, says Goo-tak ...... this is just the beginning.
JoAnne: Uhhhh, but you SAID....
A bit away, Woong-chul is calculating his remaining years ... so far, he got 9 off (so nobody got any years off for this case, is that it?), so 19 remain. Damn. He positions himself to do his business when a van stops behind him and ... somebody kidnaps him. WTF!
JoAnne: Not the teddy bear!!!!!
JoAnne: Got me right in my parent core. I'm practically making offerings to the gods at this point.
Saving the woman in this episode gave him a temporary peace, I think - when he talks to the guys about savoring that feeling they're having after saving her, he is also talking about himself. I must admit that his frequent lectures about what's right and wrong makes me a bit angry: who is he to judge these people so harshly? What moral high ground can he legitimately claim? I guess it's this: he is someone who DOES know the difference between man and beast. And in a crooked way, he cares for his guys - and for Mi-young too. He seems to know that they are NOT beasts - if trained correctly.
JoAnne: Sometimes I think he's reminding himself more than teaching them... but I think he does know that these men have a moral core, in addition to their other skills. At least, he's gambling on them having one.
What's interesting is that Goo-tak now knows for certain that Tae-soo is savable (because of that woman he wants to protect, probably with his life). He must also have a pretty good idea about Woong-chul's great sense of loyalty. The only one that's puzzling him is Jung-moon, as he himself says. What does Jung-moon care about? Himself, mainly, or rather, the mystery that he himself is to himself. But is he capable of caring for others? It seems so. He did extend his hand to help Woong-chul in episode 2. So he is feeling something. There is hope.
I love that all four of them get to the scene at the same time, once again using their different methods. It's just a matter of time, I'm sure, until they realize that they could work together - and be 3-4 times more efficient. I loved that Woong-chul and Goo-tak kinda did work together, at least briefly. I love that Woong-chul constantly makes Mi-young fume in anger. I love that Tae-soo's "romance" was carried through into this episode and will also be in the next. I love that we still know absolutely nothing about Jung-moon and how he ticks. And I love Jo Dong-hyuk. Yes, I love the others too.
JoAnne: Oh me TOO. They all have redeeming qualities for me. Yes, even Jung Moon. Remember that he doesn't even know if he is a murderer - with the DISTINCT impression that he hopes to God he's NOT one. The only thing about this experience that I'm struggling with is we spend so much time with the episodes getting them ready that by the time we do the squeecap I really feel like we're doing it over by mistake, that we've already recapped it once. Do you feel that way? I kept going back to check, because I really thought we did this one, but of course we didn't.
Yes, it's weird to work on the subs and watch parts over and over and then watch it again and recap. But since this show is so good, I don't mind at all.
JoAnne: I love the smell of bromance in the morning! (Yes, I watch this in the daylight. It's full of really scary people.)
Episode 3: Human Market
Oh dear. This is starting off scary! There's a woman, dead afraid ... in a dark room. She switches on the torch on her phone and illuminates her surroundings. There's a door now ... she peers outside. The door cannot be fully opened, there's a chain. Is she a prisoner? She closes the door again, quietly ... and locks the door with the push-button. Then, she calls the police. She's been kidnapped! she exclaims, but the poor woman cannot say where she is exactly, and while the policeman asks her to repeat what she said, the assailant starts rattling the door ... and busts it open! The woman screams, the phone falls to the floor.JoAnne: She was smart, though, to lock the door.
JoAnne: So I guess we know the answer to that age-old question...
You mean this?
JoAnne: Tae Soo makes me laugh: I can lift a spoon, he says. No, Tae Soo, I will feed you, it's okay. *checks nervously for Kashi* (yeah, you should)
Promise?! echoes Woong-chul, whom Goo-tak visits next. Is he a bank book that you deposit and withdraw whenever you want to? Goo-tak tells him to shut up and follow orders. Woah! Woong-chul almost bashes in the glass with his mighty fist. And here comes Papa Goo-tak's lesson: save as many people with those fists as he has killed with them and be a free man.
JoAnne: I wonder if he has killed people? Maybe he just beats them up.
Would he get 28 years for that? I doubt it.
And to round it off, a visit to Jung-moon's prison. Goo-tak confesses to having difficulties reading Psycho. What is he thinking? Anyway, is he in or out? Well, he doesn't really have a choice, says Jung-moon. The choice has never been theirs. And know what's funny? He feels the exact same way about Goo-tak: he never knows what he is thinking.
JoAnne: Still think he looks more sad and reflective and observant than creepy, Cookie. Wait, no, it's Mary who's thinking he's too creepy.It's everybody but you :)
JoAnne: Awww, Bad Dad as Good Dad :(
As we assumed, Goo-tak went off the rails right after his daughter's murder. What exactly he did is not revealed though ... but we learn that he resigned right in front of the disciplining committee, rather than being suspended. Criminals being beasts and men turning into them ... it's been an obsession for a while, it seems.
JoAnne: Seriously, do they practice these faces in the mirror?
At home after visiting his Dogs in prison, Goo-tak stares at his badge, remembering his beautiful daughter. The apartment is oh so bleak ... there is no light anymore. Oh man. I feel sorry for him. ...
JoAnne: Not a place I want to go.*shivers* *wards off evil with a gesture* *knocks on wood* *makes a futile promise* *empties brain of bad thoughts*JoAnne: Well *I* am happy to see them!
JoAnne: I figure it's better than being in there ALL the time...
JoAnne: One I support, quite frankly.
Look at how Goo-tak looks at him! He is testing him, I think. Remember, nobody knows anything about Tae-soo's past ... unless Goo-tak is the only one that does.
JoAnne: Or just got lucky. I love the show, but seriously, they make some big deductive leaps sometimes.
I think they've had many similar cases in this neighborhood.
JoAnne: And they have those abs to take advantage of, too. What a waste.
JoAnne: Yes, because a person planning to butcher humans in his apartment would naturally give his own name to the rental agent. *laughing, but quietly... don't want to disturb the general love*
It's kinda explained in episode 4 though. *tiny spoiler*: the police is highly corrupt. I think they just feel safe.
Since the name is already known, will they get 5 years off? is Woong-chul's question. Yes, that's the deal. But something's wrong, says Jung-moon. He must have known she called the police. Yes, agrees Tae-soo: and given that, would he have leisurely cut her up and then run away? Things don't match up. A third person agrees: Goo-tak. He got a call from Forensics and they told him that the body that was found was not from the suspected victim (Sin Su-jeong). So why did Yang Si-cheol go into the bathroom? To dismember a second, still unidentified victim. So it's quite possible that Su-jeong is still alive! And now, the mission just got a little bit more complicated.
JoAnne: I just realized that they devoted not one second at all to ever explaining who that second body was, even to say gee, too bad we couldn't figure out who all those pieces used to be.
Well, it's doesn't really matter for them right now - they need to save the missing woman! (It's a task for Forensics anyway) Also, I find this explained in this and the next episode as well: this particular gang abducts all kinds of people, including homeless ones and illegal immigrants. That makes things quite difficult, when it comes to the idientification of victims.
JoAnne: So something they never said: there's apparently a body in the bathroom in 356 pieces, but there's ANOTHER body in pieces in the fridge? So that's at least 3 people, one of whom is possibly alive. Right? Safe to assume he makes a habit of doing the butchering there? Once was a whim, twice was pushing his luck.. but three? Three is a routine. All the more reason it wouldn't have been his name on the lease. And who would do that where they lived, anyway? That's disgusting. (he doesn't live there though - scene coming up, where he is lying on a bed. Plus the phone call to his family) Ok, don't let me think about this too deeply. I love our dogs. I love our dogs.
JoAnne: My question is different. Who buys bones? Why? You transplant organs, sure. Maybe you have a market for the meat, too. *gagging* But bones? What would you do with bones?
I don't want to know!!!!!!!
JoAnne: How can a human look at another human and think that human is not exactly the same as them? This is my question for cold-blooded murderers, rapists, people like this guy here. Would he think it was wrong and unfair for him, or his family or friends to be used in this way? So what is it that makes it ok to do it to others? I am missing the depraved gene, I guess. Because I do not understand.
JoAnne: I think they even said he could see what happened and just stayed there, regardless... so he must have been.
This is getting worse and worse.
JoAnne: There's no way you forget something like that. Right?
No, you friggin don't!!!
JoAnne: The thought of people selling pieces of themselves makes my skin crawl.
JoAnne: He looks good fighting. I think I'm a little bloodthirsty that way.
Asshole prosecutor is drunk by now, singing out of tune at the noraebang. Goo-tak isn't drunk at all, maybe because he has such a high alcohol tolerance or maybe because he is burning with rage. Party is over, dickhead! You were right, bcook ... Goo-tak bitchslaps people and never has it been more satisfying. He also beats him with the microphone, until there's blood. Ah, so this Slimebag takes bribes from human traffickers! Slime is very much afraid of these people ... but will he talk?
JoAnne: He should be afraid of the guy in the room WITH him.
I think he very much is.
JoAnne: They handle the humor really really well in this, don't you think?
It's perfect.
Psycho is going to the exact spot where that shady figure waited for 20 minutes. He does his tick-thing, where his fingers twitch and then, the crime plays in his head. He then puts on a baseball hat, just like the shady figure, and tells Mi-young to start. Start the video, that is. She is instructing him to do exactly what the shady figure did and he starts walking. Thank goodness for CCTV? They are able to identify where the accomplice lives (or at least whereabouts he went to that night).
JoAnne: He did a lot of twisting and turning during that, and I wasn't clear on how he knew - was it CCTV footage all along the way? Because initially I thought he was counting how long it took, but it can't really be that.
No, I think she got all the CCTV coverage from that area and that way, they were able to track his movements.
JoAnne: You and me both. What a pig.
At the Kidney consultation meet-up, things are not going too well, I'd say, because Woong-chul and one of the Fatso-Gangsters are just too obvious when following poor Lockpick and his guide. At one stage, it seems they might have lost them, but suddenly, they spot them again and see how Lockpick is dragged into a Kebab shop. Apparently, it's a place even the police are afraid to go into, which doesn't bother Woong-chul in the least, since he is "not the police" as he says. He lectures the big meaty tower of a sidekick he has about gangster values and wants to go in, when Goo-tak appears. Now that's a surprise!
JoAnne: And just how did he know about this particular little kebab shop, hmmm? They never say. But if it was common knowledge, why not all just GO there? Why make them go through all the other bullshit?
... for us to enjoy Woong-chul?
JoAnne: Oh yes, I squeed. There are many moments of squee in this show, and every week just ramps up the squee factor exponentially. EVEN WITHOUT ABS.
JoAnne: Why would you transplant a stomach? Ulcers? But no I don't think it's been done.
JoAnne: Okay, our guy doing the dead man's float in the pool was pretty funny! I wouldn't have thought of that. Would you? I'd have tried to hid behind something or just generally stay out of the way. Also, I LOVED how incredulous the guy was to realize that Goo Tak would risk his own life, too.
He was totally believable, too. I think he meant it. Or was he just bluffing? We'll never know.
JoAnne: I'll just be alone in my willingness to give the poor guy the benefit of the doubt I guess. Doesn't the law of plot averages demand that at least one of our three be innocent of all charges?
JoAnne: Bad guy go SMASH! Possibly good guy go BOOM. I say possibly because he pretty much had the burgler's handkit in his bag.
Mi-young calls Tae-soo, who is in a car and tells him the location of the cell-phone she was tracking. It seems the others are also going there? Since everybody now has the information about where to find Yang Si-cheol. Indeed! Here they are! They don't even wonder about the synchronicity. All of them get stopped by a barrier in the road. Continue on foot it is!
JoAnne: At this point I will assume that the reason they all always independently end up at the same place is because they call each other. I know that flies in the face of 'don't share' but I don't care.
Here they are!! Tae-soo and Woong-chul get there at the same time and start beating up the assholes.
JoAnne: They seem REALLY pissed at these guys. I love it.
JoAnne: Poor guy. I can't imagine. I refuse to imagine.
JoAnne: I do love that it worked out for them. One of them gets time reduction (Yes, but who?!), but they all get be proud that they saved someone's daughter. Even criminals have people that they love... they would have to understand how it feels to have a loved one returned to safety?
Yes. But what about a psychopath? Jung-moon might be innocent, that I admit - but he IS a psychopath. And psychopaths don't function normally.
JoAnne: I don't follow you - how do arrive at psychopath if he is innocent? He received that label because he was identified as a serial killer; if he is not a serial killer there's not much to go on to label him as a pyschopath. Black-outs and being hyper-intelligent don't necessarily suffice. Oh right. He took that test. Ok. Maybe.
JoAnne: Uhhhh, but you SAID....
JoAnne: Not the teddy bear!!!!!
Comments
A new episode, a new case - and one that doesn't seem to be finished at all, if we are to believe Goo-tak (and we should). If this episode was about anyone, it was about him - him and his pain. We still don't know what he did to get suspended and we still don't know how he is connected to the three Bad Guys, but this episode gave him a heart ... and it's heartbreaking to see it. The scenes with his daughter, his beautiful smile, his happiness ... gone in a heartbeat after he cries over his daughter's dead body. Among all the terrible stuff we got to see in this episode, that bit was probably the most emotional. Yup.JoAnne: Got me right in my parent core. I'm practically making offerings to the gods at this point.
Saving the woman in this episode gave him a temporary peace, I think - when he talks to the guys about savoring that feeling they're having after saving her, he is also talking about himself. I must admit that his frequent lectures about what's right and wrong makes me a bit angry: who is he to judge these people so harshly? What moral high ground can he legitimately claim? I guess it's this: he is someone who DOES know the difference between man and beast. And in a crooked way, he cares for his guys - and for Mi-young too. He seems to know that they are NOT beasts - if trained correctly.
JoAnne: Sometimes I think he's reminding himself more than teaching them... but I think he does know that these men have a moral core, in addition to their other skills. At least, he's gambling on them having one.
What's interesting is that Goo-tak now knows for certain that Tae-soo is savable (because of that woman he wants to protect, probably with his life). He must also have a pretty good idea about Woong-chul's great sense of loyalty. The only one that's puzzling him is Jung-moon, as he himself says. What does Jung-moon care about? Himself, mainly, or rather, the mystery that he himself is to himself. But is he capable of caring for others? It seems so. He did extend his hand to help Woong-chul in episode 2. So he is feeling something. There is hope.
I love that all four of them get to the scene at the same time, once again using their different methods. It's just a matter of time, I'm sure, until they realize that they could work together - and be 3-4 times more efficient. I loved that Woong-chul and Goo-tak kinda did work together, at least briefly. I love that Woong-chul constantly makes Mi-young fume in anger. I love that Tae-soo's "romance" was carried through into this episode and will also be in the next. I love that we still know absolutely nothing about Jung-moon and how he ticks. And I love Jo Dong-hyuk. Yes, I love the others too.
JoAnne: Oh me TOO. They all have redeeming qualities for me. Yes, even Jung Moon. Remember that he doesn't even know if he is a murderer - with the DISTINCT impression that he hopes to God he's NOT one. The only thing about this experience that I'm struggling with is we spend so much time with the episodes getting them ready that by the time we do the squeecap I really feel like we're doing it over by mistake, that we've already recapped it once. Do you feel that way? I kept going back to check, because I really thought we did this one, but of course we didn't.
Yes, it's weird to work on the subs and watch parts over and over and then watch it again and recap. But since this show is so good, I don't mind at all.