Stand-Off In The Woods
Hwal and Sang-Un continue their conversation, and Sang-Un reveals that she is pregnant. Hwal is not sure what to say, but he is happy for her.
Hwal tells her to stop trying to evoke sympathy from him. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.” Sang-Un soon says. She knows it doesn’t make amends for what happened in her past lives but it’s at least something – and that seems to be gratefully received by Hwal. Even if he doesn’t outwardly show it.
Back home, Hwal looks at his house and notices that Hye-Suk is not acting herself. He is concerned for her safety and asks everyone in the house if they are okay. When she doesn’t respond, he realizes she may have gone into labor. He’s relieved when she comes back to herself and tells him everything will be okay.
Detective Kwon stops by with some beef. He also has a photo, which he shows Sang-Un and Hwal in confidence. This photo is of Eul-Tae, who Detective Kwon says used to go by a different name (Ok Sang-Yeong) back then. ..
As he continues on, mentioning his ties with influential men, Hwal is furious and calls him out for being reckless. “No human can catch Bulgasal!” He warns. Sang-un though, reassures him that they’re going to try and kill Bulgasal.
Detective Kwon leaves, and Hwal follows. The two sit and drink together, with Hwal opening up about his father and how good he was to him. In return, Kwon opens up about his past. Specifically, he talks about the past case 15 years ago involving Bulgasal. ..
The man who initially thought he was responsible for the murders committed suicide, which closed the case. The thing is, Kwon couldn’t let it go. So in his place one day, Lee Su-Gyeong, a junior, investigated and arrived at the deceased’s house. She was found hanged, chalked up as a suicide with a message to her husband to confirm as much.
Kwon though is convinced that Eul-Tae is behind this, which is partly why he’s so fixated on finding him. This is only compounded further by the fact Su-Gyeong killed herself three days before her birthday. When Hwal sees a picture of the family, he recognizes her husband and immediately questions who he is.
Si-Ho returns to her sister’s house and tells her about the strange things that have been happening while she’s been away. Specifically, she saw Hye-Suk’s past memories and realized that she had seen echoes of her life in the Joseon period. She believes that she may have a gift, and wants to use it on Sang-Un, but her sister convinces her not to. ..
That night, when Hwal returns, he discusses Si-Ho’s gift and the prophecy, that involving Bulgasal which has led them all the way here. It seems Hye-Suk’s prophetic message about them all dying may actually be referencing Sang-Un, especially if she retrieves her memories from her past lives.
That night, Hwal tracks down Se-Gyeung’s husband and decides to take him home. He’s a drunken mess and clearly still grief-stricken over his deceased wife. Unfortunately this is only made worse when Hwal learns his son is there, head down and succumbing to his father’s wishes.
When Hwal witnesses this child being berated and abused by his dad, it brings back all sorts of memories from his past, given he shoved Hwal away. Hwal’s impassioned speech says as much, eventually looking at the man with disdain and calling him out for being a complete mess.
Hwal, angered by the situation, smashes a soju bottle with one hand. In doing so, he ends up bleeding his knuckles. ..
When Hwal returns home, he is angry and takes out his anger on Sang-Un. He calls out her old form and threatens her. The thing is, he does all of this in view of Si-Ho, who shows up and questions what’s going on. Sang-Un opens up and admits that she used to be Bulgasal in a past life. Si-Ho questions her resolve though, causing Hwal to leave in the middle of the night, determined to find out the truth. ..
Detective Kwon decides to tail Eul-Tae. He goes against Hwal’s wishes and begins searching for Bulgasal, who eventually finds him.
Kwon and Eul-Tae are having a conversation when Eul-Tae admits that he didn’t kill his partner all those years ago. Kwon cuts through the deception and points out the traumatic experience his family suffered from, including how his daughter and his family were killed by Bulgasal.
When Eul-Tae’s eyes turn red, he remembers flashes from his past and immediately regrets showing up alone, knowing this is the enemy he’s been looking for. Eul-Tae doesn’t kill him but does tell Kwon to relay a message on to Hwal instead. He’s not killed, but Eul-Tae’s associate smashes into from behind in her car. ..
Sang-Un’s search brings her to the hospital where she sits with her grandmother, Go-Bun. She wants to know wanting to know exactly who Hwa-yeon is and what she did in the past. Pretending to be her, go-Bun opens up and reveals that Hwa-Yeon actually saved everyone. She warned that Bulgasal would be coming and encouraged everyone to run. Dark Hole was the one originally behind everything, using a man with a scar on his hand as the instigator.
Sang-Un receives a call from an unknown caller asking to meet. The caller is also someone from Hwal’s past, a monster by the name of Dueoksini. As Hwal heads out into the woods to find Kwon, he’s the first to find him tied up to a tree. ..
Hwal walks into this trap, and he’s injected with a syringe of poison; an amount that would normally kill dozens of people. Of course, it won’t kill him but it will incapacitate the man enough to make sure he feels an unbearable amount of pain.
Eul-Tae tells the detective that Hwal is Bulgasal, and that Kwon was the only one who could save him. Just as things seem bleak, Eul-Tae suddenly shows up and bites Dueoksini’s neck, warning her that Hwal is all his. With Kwon watching, he’s shocked to see Hwal recover from his wounds. Eul-Tae admits that Hwal is also Bulgasal, leaving the detective devastated and shocked. He scrambles into the woods to safety, reflecting back on what’s happened.
In private, Eul-Tae warns Hwal not to get too close and attached to Sang-Un. He warns that she’s not what she seems and tells him not to be fooled. Only, Sang-Un appears and calls out Eul-Tae’s lies. She knows he was the one who killed everyone in the village and started the fire. As all three stare one another down, the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
This is a really solid K-drama that features a parallel timelines, which are weaved together so effortlessly. The drama definitely has echoes of Goblin throughout its story but it’s different enough to stand out on its own and not feel like a shadow of that highly popular series.
The showrunners have done a great job of creating a rich and complex mythology that is easy to follow. The characters are well-drawn and the story is compelling.
The Kwon drama is suitably dramatic and it’s a nice way of keeping the theme going of adding a different monster for our heroes to tackle each week.
The Bulgasal watch has been great so far and the second half of this drama promises to be just as dramatic and action packed. Could this be the k-drama to brat this year? It certainly looks like it based on this showing!
