Tree 2
In episode 5 of Tomorrow, Na-Young and Woo-Jin share a passionate kiss. The sequence begins with the two growing closer together and eventually Na-Young presents a set of relationship rings to Woo-Jin. She promises not to waver in her love for him. As they hug it out, they begin their happy romance.
Woo-Jin is determined to make it in music. Unfortunately, a driver of a white truck falls asleep at the wheel and hits their car. This is the root cause of Woo-Jin’s guilt, believing he’s the one who killed his lover.
Woo-Jin’s guilt stems from his childhood, when his birthday was marred by misery. Not only did his mother die during childbirth, but his father resented him for it. Before long, he too committed suicide, leaving Woo-Jin to go and stay with his uncle and aunt. The family is more loving and attend to Woo-Jin’s needs, but that too has its own problems. ..
Woo-Jin is left alone after his aunt and uncle died in a car accident. He blames himself for drinking and thinking about using a Stanley knife on his wrists, but a song on the radio saves him.
Woo-Jin starts guitar lessons to try and channel his emotions. With his hand now injured, his only hope appears to be gone.
Ryeon returns to the team, promising that she can save Woo-Jun from his suicidal state. However, outside Mr Lim and his goons stand ready to take the runaway in custody. Ryung-Gu is there though and through some stylish comic book cutaways, manages to thwart all the reapers and allow the others to slip away.
Na-Young’s parents didn’t approve of her choice in man, and they see it as an embarrassment. They don’t have enough money to support her, so Woo-Jin pushes her away and breaks up with her too.
Na-Young can’t live without him, despite his attempts to push her away. He realizes how much Na-Young truly does care for him and embraces these feelings instead. ..
With Na-Young and Ryeon running away with the ghost, Joong-Gil is hot on their heels. Thankfully Ryung-Gu shows up and manages to stop him, buying Na-Young some time.
Just prior to this, Joong-Gil mentions how he saved Ryeon from back in the Joseon period. This confirms that the opening glimmers of the episode flashback we saw is actually from Ryung-Gu’s past. Could the woman with red eyeshade be Ryeon? Yes, it seems as though we may have found out who she is.
Ryeon quickly enacts the Reapers Guarantee of Responsibility, which happens to be a contract that both she and Joong-Gil sign. This essentially buys them some time but it’s outside the realm of responsibility for the company. All of this rests on the RM team finding Woo-Jin and stopping him before he commits suicide.
Na-Young’s father blames her for the car accident that killed Woo-Jin. Na-Young is still trying to make sense of what happened and why it happened.
Woo-Jin jumps off the balcony, prompting Ryeon to get involved and stop him. As Ryeon holds on, Na-Young inexplicably manages to stop Woo-Jin and pull him into a surreal space where they can both be together again. This meeting is just what Woo-Jin needed, as he re-examines his life again and doubles down on the music. He cleans up his apartment and sings for Na-Young, especially knowing that he’s not to blame for what happened. ..
The resolution of the case is a relief to all involved, but Joong-Gil is still unhappy with how it was handled originally. He calls out the RM team for their actions. ..
Ryeon still hates to see people in pain and torn up, which she tells Jun-Woong in the office later on.
Na-Young sees her show up on stage and revels in her singing as Woo-Jin watches.
The Episode Review
I love the aesthetic, the ideas and the general set-up of shows like Tomorrow, but the execution is so shaky. We’ve established that these reapers aren’t allowed to get involved in human affairs, but then that’s a bit difficult when the RM team are quite literally putting their own bodies and powers on the line to prevent people from committing suicide. ..
The introduction of time travel as a deus ex machina device last episode opens a whole can of worms too. Why can some cases be solved by jumping back through time but not others? couldn’t the Woo-Jin case be solved by, oh I dunno, going back and stopping the car crash like Jun-Woong’s best friend in episode 3/4? After all, this is the catalyst for his misery, just like Jun-Woong’s best friend who lost his father. Why do they get different treatment?
These sorts of questions are immersion breaking, and they destroy the world built up that’s actually quite interesting. I just can’t get invested in this knowing the team could royally mess up a case and just reverse time and solve everything. But then that in itself raises its own set of problems doesn’t it? What happens if the timeline is changed? What happens if they accidentally raise the suicide rate for someone else by stopping someone from dying? What happens if they run into their own past selves by repeating a timeline again? ..
I’m not sure if I’m just thinking too critically here, but given the crazy ideas Tomorrow is pedaling, these really need to be established for the world to work because right now, the execution of this show leaves a lot to be desired.
