Curse of Asphalt
Episode 5 of “The Sound of Magic” begins with Ah-Yi and Il-Deung shocked by what they’ve discovered. With Ri-Eul rasping that he’s a real magician and pressing a knife up to that guy’s throat, the teens realize that everything they’ve known about this man up until now has been false. ..
When Ah-Yi walks away, Ha-Na follows and assumes that she too is a victim. Ah-Yi calls out her falsity, seeing through her façade of care. She also demands Ha-Na stop running her mouth. “From what I see, he’s just a crazy guy.” Ha-Na says matter-of-factly. Ah-Yi squares up to her. “He is a real magician.” ..
Ah-Yi heads back to the theme park that night, where she finds Ri-Eul standing with a knife, performing a show for a bunch of kids. She’s certainly conflicted. Interestingly, as she leaves the theme park, she passes a pregnant woman - the same one from earlier. She asks for Ah-Yi’s phone number and wants her to ring if “something happens later on.” Ah-Yi takes her number and stewes on her words that night. ..
Ha-Na is desperate to find out the truth and sneaks into the theme park that night. She finds strange blood stains on the floor and the parrot, naturally, gives away her position. ..
Ha-Na reveals that she filmed Ri-Eul attacking her with a knife and calls him a psycho for doing so. Ri-Eul insists that his magic is real, which Ha-Na believes. They both agree to keep the footage secret and Ha-Na thanks Ri-Eul for helping her out.
Ha-Na is running from the theme park when she comes across Il-Deung, a tourist. Il-Deung helps her get away from the park and they end up getting into a fight. Ha-Na hurts Il-Deung’s parrot, Bella, and Il-Deung saves Bella. This gives Ha-Na enough time to run away.
Il-Deung, a high school student, struggles to focus at school the next day. He claims he has a headache and clutches his chest. ..
Ha-Na tells Ah-Yi about the abuse she suffered at the theme park. She doesn’t think it’s a good idea going there, but Ah-Yi seems to be in denial. ..
Il-Deung, a high school student in South Korea, is faced with the decision of following in his parents’ footsteps and becoming successful, or following his dreams and doing what makes him happy. ..
Il-Deung’s father loses his temper and calls Il-Deung pathetic, slapping him across the face. Il-Deung’s mother decides to take him to school and tutor the boy, making sure he doesn’t get a single moment alone to pursue what he wants. ..
Il-Deung wakes up in a strange world where he is taught magic by Ri-Eul while driving a sports car. He sees images of an alternate reality where Ah-Yi is taught magic by his friend, the wizard, Ri-Eul. Il-Deung realizes that he has seen this alternate reality before, but he can’t remember how or why.
There’s no Ri-Eul though, who appears to be off in the middle of the night. He approaches an old woman, asks if she believes in magic, and then mugges her.
The victim in question makes a statement to the police about what she knows about the crime. The thing is, there’s also a reference witness too… which happens to be her old boss who tried to abuse her. ..
This time, we learn what happened from the man’s perspective. It turns out Ri-Eul actually pushed her off the top of the railing. He didn’t disappear after all. As Ah-Yi is painted to being the accomplice here, Il-Deung steps up and claims he was with Ri-Eul that night so it can’t be him. Could there have been two different magicians? ..
Ri-Eul put on a cloak and seemingly drew all those butterflies over the ground as well.
Il-Deung and Ah-Yi are two young men who are in a difficult situation. Their fathers refuse to respect them, and they’re under a lot of stress. They both want to escape this situation, but they don’t know how.
Il-Deung sees the same butterflies again after smashing the window and clutching his head.
The Episode Review
The penultimate episode to The Sound of Magic continues to unravel the mysteries we’ve been led to believe all season long. It’s a crime thriller that takes a dark and surreal dive into crime thriller territory. I think it’s brilliant and a great way of juxtaposing one’s innocent whims against the harsh reality of life.
Ah-Yi and Il-Deung have both been singled out to believe in this magic, given they are vulnerable members of the school and both suffering from a lot of stress. They would, seemingly, be more susceptible to believing this magic is real.
The finale of “Sherlock” is coming up and it’s shaping up to be quite the dramatic event. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the end.
