With a few days until their technology is back up and running, our RM team are forced to head into their next case blindly, with very sparse details available. Specifically, they need to figure out who on the SP Marketing Team is suicidal.
After being rejected by the other two teams, the three Reapers must interview for the team in order to be accepted. Ryung-Gu is upfront and honest, while Jun-Woong is berated for being foolish and arrogant. Ryeon is silent but the three win by default thanks to Ryeon quite literally slapping some sense into the boss and him groggily agreeing to take them on.
Ms Shin shows them around but it’s going to be quite the job to figure out who the crisis member is in all this. They leave it up to Ryung-Gu to break into the system and check the company intranet. Unfortunately, Ryung-Gu is forced to hide under the desk but it’s hell, especially as he almost gets caught by the boss, who just sits at the desk and nonchalantly takes his shoes off.
Ryung-Gu managed to gain valuable intel and has broken their case down into four possible candidates who are suicidal. Yong-Jun, Bo-Ram, Yong-Jun and Shin Ye-Na. It’s something made worse by the fact the boss is constantly berating each of these workers.
The team is forced to split up and each member is given a job in a different department to get closer to the individuals. It seems that Bo-Ram is the candidate, as people in the canteen berate her weight. However, Ms Shin is also there and we’ve seen her in the toilets too.
The reapers reflect on who the suicidal member could be and come up with a few possibilities. One is Shin Ye-Na, who is bulimic and unable to keep anything down. Another is Bo-Ram, who has a hard day at work and ends up taking his own life. Finally, Ye-Na, who is actually a victim of bulimia and has a cut on her hand from trying to vomit.
The next day at work, things take a turn for the worse. The boss encourages everyone to go out for a team meal. It’s compulsory too. When Ms Shin is made fun of by the boss, Jun-Woong thankfully steps in and stops the guy from talking. However, the damage is done.
Shin Ye-Na is the suicidal one, according to Jun-Woong and the others on their phones. They left earlier after dinner, and she’s back at her apartment, turning on gas canisters and about to poison herself from carbon monoxide.
Ye-Na’s story is one of self-discovery and redemption. She was overweight and bullied in school, but through her own efforts she became bulimic and started starving herself. After a period of self-imposed exile, Ye-Na returns to society and begins to heal the wounds she inflicted on herself. She learns that she is not alone in her struggles, and that there are others out there who have gone through similar experiences. This story is a reminder that no matter how bad things seem at first, there is always a way to get better.
Ye-Na has been eating small amounts to avoid starving to death, but every time she feels full, she throws up. The face she sees in the mirror is that from her childhood. Ye-Na feels like she’s in a prison and can’t escape it, and it’s only gotten worse since going through hell all this time. ..
Jun-Woong and Ryung-Gu decide to trust Jun-Woong with this case and leave him to try and help her in any way he seems fit. He admits that his sister actually went through an eating disorder too. Jun-Woong encourages her to go to her prison; the metaphorical place she’s kept her older self locked away for so long – and to embrace her true self. Jun-Woong urges her not to be someone she’s not. It seems to work as Ms Shin sees the error of her ways.
Meanwhile, on the roof, the boss tells Ryeon she should wear a pencil skirt to work. She’s not happy and beats him down. Ryeon also puts a curse on him too, admitting that every time he makes fun of someone, he won’t be able to stop going to the toilet. So much for not interfering with human affairs, eh? Ryeon also promises that the rest of his punishment will come after death. And with that, she walks away. ..
Funnily enough, Ms Shin actually finds comfort in talking to Bo-Ram who admits she loves herself and she’s actually not bothered about being overweight. She hands over a fork to Ye-Na, encouraging the woman to actually taste the food and properly eat this time.
In the afterlife, chaos reigns as there are more files that need to be signed by the King of Heaven. The reaper team delivers them first hand as she bemoans her luck. ..
The Episode Review
Episode 7 features slapstick humor and I’m not sure how I feel about that. The show is so wildly inconsistent with its tone that it makes it hard to know who it’s trying to attract. ..
Shin Ye-Na’s eating disorder is a major issue in this case. After the beautiful episode 6, it’s clear that she has been struggling with it for a long time. However, we don’t know much about what happened before that point. It seems like the reapers didn’t do anything to help her because they were busy with other cases.
The episode “Ye-Na” left many viewers irked with its sloppy writing. It’s not clear why the writers waited so long to reveal that Ye-Na had attempted suicide, when it was clear that she was suicidal back when she tried to hang herself. This lapse in judgment leaves Ye-Na vulnerable to further harm and raises questions about the show’s commitment to preventing suicides. ..
Someone with an eating disorder like that, who has suffered for so many years, should probably be seeing a therapist or gaining help. Eating a cake isn’t going to do anything for her, although I appreciate the emphasis on having a slightly overweight woman there reassuring her. However, when it comes to mental health and handling these cases delicately, this one hits about as subtly as a sledgehammer to the jaw.
The show has some good cases, but it can be hit or miss. The characters themselves are okay, but the show is so hit or miss that it makes it difficult to really recommend it as a must-watch every week. Still, the cases themselves are diverse and interesting, so for that alone it’s worth sticking around to see if this one has any gems like last week’s poignant chapter.
