This drama just keeps getting better. Last episode I thought the man who drop-kicked the purse snatcher was a detective, but it turns out he’s a retired baseball player named Choi Jeong Ho (Kim Ji Hoon). Ah Jin immediately applies to work at his cafe, and in that moment the sparkle in her eye at the end of episode two made sense. She found the perfect person to take out an abusive dad: a good man.
If I thought the first two episodes were dark, this one can only be considered bleak. On top of everything else going on, Ah Jin gets a stalker, her dad demands more money (and literally keeps trying to human traffick her), and the cracks in her relationship with Jun Seo start showing.
YES to Ah Jin and Jun Seo’s relationship getting even darker
Well…not yes because I feel bad for Jun Seo, but their relationship dynamic is twisted and fascinating. It’s built on trauma, loneliness, guilt and fear. All things that don’t make a solid foundation for any relationship whether familial, platonic, or romantic. Episode three reveals just how shaky that foundation is under the weight of Ah Jin’s manipulation and grandiose plans. She was kind of “gentle” with Jun Seo in the previous episodes, so it was jarring to see her snap on him because he didn’t come on time to save her when the stalker attacks (oh, please), and draws the line at killing for her.
Every time I see Jun Seo’s hurt puppy dog face, my heart clenches. He genuinely cares for Ah Jin, but she’s putting him in an impossible position. She’s trying to guilt him into giving up his humanity for her safety, and it’s kind of working. He’s disposing incriminating things for her (example: the rock she used to bash the stalker’s head in with) and tailing and filming her disgusting dad Baek Seon Gyu to put him in jail. Baek Seon Gyu ends up seeing him, and they get into a physical altercation where Jun Seo picks up a huge rock and contemplates bouncing it off Seon Gyu’s skull. Why is every body swinging rocks around? Jun Seo soon gets picked up by the cops he called. At the police station, Ah Jin says Jun Seo’s been stalking her so Seon Gyu can go free. This made me livid, but little did I know it was all part of a bigger plan…
YES to Ah Jin’s brilliant scheming
There is no such thing as a perfect murder, and I’m certainly glad that’s the case, but Ah Jin’s plan to kill her dad is pretty ingenious. By getting a job at Choi Jeong Ho’s cafe, they’d naturally grow closer and he’d feel protective if she was in danger. It’s said the most believable lies are mixed in with a little truth, so Ah Jin using the truth of getting stalked to trick Jeong Ho into killing her dad is a smart move. Although, now I’m wondering if she really had a stalker. Did she hire the guy? Man, I wish she used her big brain for good.
Initially, I was furious when Ah Jin got Jun Seo thrown in a holding cell earlier in the episode. She had just told him she didn’t want to be the one to hurt him. But my fury quickly became astonishment. I wasn’t thinking ahead. Ah Jin needed Jun Seo locked away, so she could lure her dad to her apartment with the promise of payment, trick him into wearing the same beanie as her real stalker, then call Choi Jeong Ho to save her in the middle of getting beat up. She even put the bat Choi Jeong Ho gave her right outside the door. The perfect weapon for the Home Run King.
I don’t condone anything Ah Jin is doing, but this episode also highlights how the justice system often fails victims. Like Jun Seo, I wanted Ah Jin to report Seon Gyu to the authorities. Jun Seo could be her witness, he has evidence of Seon Gyu’s nasty hidden cam business on his phone, and the man has already been to jail for child abuse/endangerment. Surely all of that would land him in prison a second time. But for how long? Sadly, this is what victims must consider.
YES to that chilling last scene of a bloody Ah Jin laughing through a thunderstorm
Baek Ah Jin lets her dad hit her, throw her around, and step on her for at least ten minutes before Choi Jeong Ho arrives. Ten minutes doesn’t sound like a long time, but I’m sure it feels like it when you’re getting beat up. The abuse was hard to watch, and made me think Baek Seon Gyu was a sociopath as well. A person would have to be to beat their own daughter bloody then smile in her face and ask her to cry. It was eerie but masterful acting from Bae Soo Bin, who is no stranger to playing bad guys. I’m still lowkey mad at him for his role in Secret.
After Choi Jeong Ho bursts into Ah Jin’s apartment, mistakes Seon Gyu for her stalker and knocks him upside the head with the baseball bat, things shift. She reveals the fact that Seon Gyu is her dad, and begs a stunned Jeong Ho to leave, claiming she’ll take care of everything. She stumbles outside into the thunderstorm and calls the authorities, whimpering and crying for them to save her dad’s life. This is when the sound in the drama fades except for the rain and thunder. Everything is slowed down and Ah Jin’s anguished face contorts into an ear-splitting smile. She stands there getting drenched by the rain, laughing silently as blood runs down her face and between her teeth. I’m not even exaggerating when I say I got goosebumps. The mania and relief Ah Jin feels due to her dad’s death is palpable thanks to Kim Yoo Jung’s acting. I don’t remember the last time a drama gave me chills like this.
The director or screenwriter made Ah Jin’s newfound freedom look like a religious experience. This is further illustrated when we see that she’s looking at the church across from her apartment building. The scene is a visceral representation of the character’s psyche and circumstances.
NO to Jun Seo’s declining mental health
He’s starting to unravel, guys. Jun Seo really considered bashing Baek Seon Gyu’s head in with that rock. In the moment you could see him rationalizing that murdering Seon Gyu might be okay since he puts hidden cams in the women’s bathroom, and terrorizes Ah Jin. But his morals (which are hanging on for dear life) win out in the end. My concern is he’s already come close to taking a life—something he was vehemently against at the beginning of the episode. What if he can’t stop himself next time?
Final Thoughts
This is my favorite episode so far. The acting and the way the plot’s unfolding are perfect. We don’t often get female sociopaths/psychopaths as protagonists, so it’s interesting we got Dear X and Mantis this year.
Did any scenes give you goosebumps?
