ATHENA: Episode 13

by kaedejun

Ack! Jung Woo knows! He knows! I’m so proud – our Jung Woo is not as dumb as we think he is!

Or is he? I felt that this episode was a step back from the build-up of the previous three. When you have so much plot and excitement going into this episode, the writers decided to pause, and add some side stories. Really, drama? Really?

Jung Woo confronts Hye In/Yu Jin for being the mole within NTS, for kidnapping the doctor to save Son Hyuk, and for being the little girl in the picture. He wants the TRUTH, girl! But she remains silent (perhaps thinking “You can’t HANDLE the truth!”), frustrating him even more. He knows that she just might kill herself if he arrests her, and he wants to believe that she’s capable of good. Therefore he gives her the chance to run and never come back. If he finds her, he’ll treat her as the terrorist that she is. Hye In takes it to heart and leaves.

Good ole’ boy – still a sap, but at least this makes you let go of your puppy love. He opts for some boxing; he and Jae Hee are a perfect couple – at least they release their stresses the same way.

Chul Hwan receives ‘official’ word of Son Hyuk’s escape and calls for an emergency meeting. Of course Hye In is notified, but she’s in the middle of ‘disappearing’. Chul Hwan puts Jung Woo on the investigation team with Joon Ho and Jae Hee, but they’re not given access to the crime scene because of DIS. Jae Hee, ever the voice of Obviousness, wonders why Hye In isn’t around, and Jung Woo uncomfortably stays silent. She picks up on it – she knows him too well.

The Athenians start prepping for their next plan of action, and Son Hyuk finds himself unable to reach Hye In too. He worries that they might have already figured out that she’s Yu Jin, which is confirmed when two of his agents report that Jung Woo was seen outside her apartment building (no doubt wondering if she truly left). Son Hyuk opens up the emergency network communications, but it’s futile. She’s ignoring all of his calls and has gone to a remote seaside town.

Hye In is approached by a young teenager who immediately pegs her as a tourist and recommends that she stay in a nearby home for a low rate – her home. The girl’s aggressive, proudly telling her grandmother that she’s brought a paying guest and that Hye In would love to have just some of grandma’s old cooking. Hye In is amused by the bright and cheerful (but I say pushy and talkative) girl.

Secretary Choi informs the President that North Korea has agreed to publicize the new nuclear technology. The President is pleased and sets up a date to give the North Korean envoys a tour of the nuclear plant. Kwon asks him to reconsider that plan, but the President is always stubborn and wants to go forth – even if NTS can’t provide the necessary security and Son Hyuk is still roaming free. For the President, this tour is a way to show North Korea that the South is just as capable – if not more – in terms of nuclear technology.

Director Han Jeong Pil overhears all this, having bugged the President’s office. He meets with Son Hyuk and expresses his worry about being discovered soon. He hands off information about the finalized itinerary for the President’s tour with the North Koreans, as well as Kim Myung Guk’s last bit of information about North Korea’s massive collection of nuclear weapons.

Chul Hwan has the whole team assigned to the President’s security detail for the tour. Jung Woo, Jae Hee, and Joon Ho (the Three J’s) are told to keep investigating Son Hyuk’s whereabouts while the rest of the team can prep on the security detail. In his office, Chul Hwan tells the Three J’s that Internal Investigations is looking into Hye In. Joon Ho suggests she was kidnapped, but Jae Hee thinks otherwise – that Hye In is working with Son Hyuk. Jung Woo’s only suggestion is to tread carefully with the investigation, which tips off Jae Hee. She knows he knows why Hye In is gone, but Jung Woo keeps his mouth shut and leaves, causing Jae Hee to shed a tear. (Man, so many ladies cry around him.) I won’t call him dumb for not telling her, since he’d be in big trouble if others found out he let go of a criminal, buuuuuuuuut…. he’s dumb.

Hye In is enjoying the brisk weather and chats with the young girl. She bonds with her since both lost their parents at a young age. Pushy Girl becomes Nosy Girl when she notices Hye In’s smartphone and wishes to look at it. Is speed dial number 1 her boyfriend’s number? ‘Cause number 1 is usually saved for the person you like. Hye In doesn’t answer, and Nosy Girl shares that she has a boyfriend, but no cellphone to put him as speed dial number 1.

Ki Soo reports to Chul Young that South Korea now has the details on North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. This is bad news for the North. Meanwhile the Athenians are hard at work, planning to prevent a smooth meeting between the North and South at the nuclear plant.

Just as Son Hyuk and his agents are prepping for their attack, they receive word from Hye In. Jung Woo receives a voice mail as well from her. She somberly tells him about having heard a story about jumping off a cliff so that one’s soul may return to his/her hometown in peace. She thanks him for the memories and apologizes for betraying his faith in her, because now she’s going to “jump off” her cliff. To Son Hyuk, she apologizes for making him dwell on the past, and reminds him that if they continue on their path, they’ll never be able to escape their crimes. With that being Hye In’s last message, Son Hyuk puts a hold on their mission.

Pushy Girl visits Hye In in her room and notices her sleeping…with a bunch of pills scattered on the floor. She tries to wake up an overdosed Hye In, and then presses speed dial number 1 on Hye In’s phone. It connects her to Jung Woo, and she desperately calls for his help.

Now both Jung Woo and Son Hyuk are racing to the same seaside town where Hye In is, and Jung Woo arrives first. Son Hyuk arrives in time to see Jung Woo take Hye In to the hospital.

The tour set up, the President leads Kim Ho Gyun and the North Korean envoys through the plant, showing off the powerful reactor improved upon by Kim Myung Guk, and reminding North Korea how lucky they are to be able to see this super secretive plant. Kim Ho Gyun has no choice but to be impressed by the scale and scope of the project, and Chul Young acknowledges that the energy produced by the plant will help their citizens.

Jung Woo sits by Hye In’s hospital bed, where he witnesses her suffering from nightmares. She awakens, shocked to find Jung Woo there. He scolds her for trying to kill herself – when he told her to leave, he meant for her to go back to Athena and be his enemy. Hye In: “Oh sorry Jung Woo – I kinda missed that part of the message. I didn’t know you’d be more hurt by my death than by my betrayal. As an Athenian, I only know one way out: suicide.”

(I SO wish she said that!)

Hye In tells Jung Woo that Son Hyuk is her savior; he saved her from a fire and raised her when she was orphaned. She would do anything for him, but Jung Woo misinterprets that to mean she was forced to work for Athena.

When Jung Woo goes to talk to her doctor, Son Hyuk arrives at the hospital with two of his agents. Hye In is actually scared to see him there, and when he orders her to get up and leave, she refuses. Son Hyuk opts for force: one of his agents drugs her with chloroform and they wheel the entire bed out of the hospital. Really guys? Wheeling a gurney out of the hospital? You’re so not conspicuous at all, uh-uh.

Jung Woo comes back to an empty room and immediately races to the CCTV room. He scans through all the cameras and finally sees Son Hyuk – who looks up at the camera for just a moment, making eye contact, and then walking away.

Son Hyuk pretty much puts Hye In in house arrest at the Athena headquarters. He excuses her actions before by blaming it on exhaustion, but she begs him to leave Athena behind with her. He refuses – he doesn’t want his life’s work to become absolutely meaningless, although he regrets involving her at all.

Jung Woo comes clean to Kwon about Hye In’s true identity and letting her go. He admits that he wanted to give her the chance to leave Athena on her own, and that he loved her. Kwon’s a little displeased but merely says, “I hope you made the right decision.” He agrees to keep this matter a secret, although what’s the point? Jae Hee already has an idea.

Son Hyuk calls Director Han for some help – he wants a meeting with the North Koreans. That’s an immensely risky move that could reveal Director Han’s affiliation with Athena, but Son Hyuk doesn’t care – he just wants it done. Director Han takes Kim Ho Gyun and Chul Young out for a private drink, and then invites Son Hyuk in. Chul Young’s not too happy to see him at all and is suspicious as to why he’s here. Apparently, Son Hyuk’s got THE information that might lead US to wage war against the North Koreans. Chul Young wonders if he’s threatening them, but Son Hyuk says he no longer works for DIS. Rather, he wants to make sure North Korea is not swayed by the South.

Since South Korea has detailed information about North Korea’s nuclear weapons, they decided to share information about the nuclear reactors. They will use Dr. Kim’s information as a sort of blackmail to get North Korea to do whatever they want. Son Hyuk is here to offer them a solution that will reveal what the South’s true, ulterior motives are. Kim Ho Gyun is interested, which actually alarms Chul Young.

Chul Young thinks Son Hyuk’s plans (of which we aren’t told) are risky, but Kim Ho Gyun does not want to risk losing their nuclear weapons. Chul Young is rightfully suspicious though; Son Hyuk’s only intention is to instigate a fight between the North and the South, nothing more.

Meanwhile, Secretary Choi mentions that a partnership with Saudi Arabia in sharing the nuclear technology is going well, and so the President arranges for time to meet with them. Director Han takes that information to Son Hyuk and says that it will be his last favor for a while. He doesn’t want to see Son Hyuk for some time, to which he agrees to.

The Three J’s have a meeting with Kwon; they’ve narrowed down the number of suspects who could be moles for Athena within Blue House. Joon Ho had discovered that there was some wiretapping within the Blue House and he can trace where the device is located. Kwon orders them to go, and the Three J’s dispatch with a small team of agents.

As Jae Hee crosses the grounds between buildings, she bumps into her father. He’s surprised to find that she’s here for work, but she’s too busy to explain what work she’s doing. The Three J’s regroup when Joon Ho has located the wiretapping device. The call in the other agents and convene outside of Director Han’s building.

Director Han turns on the wiretapping device, in hopes of catching another private meeting. Joon Ho narrows it down to the West Wing, room 201 – which Jae Hee recognizes as her father’s office. She approaches Jung Woo slowly, and he immediately understands that this might be her father they are arresting. He orders everyone to stop, and gently prevents Jae Hee from going in.

Jung Woo slowly enters the room to find Director Han working on his laptop, wiretapping device gone, and announces that he’s there to arrest him for treason. Director Han is quiet and resigned. He asks if Jae Hee’s outside, and then slowly gets up to grab his coat. But as he does so, he reaches for the poison in his pocket.

Jung Woo runs up to Director Han and grabs the suicide pills from him. Jae Hee hears the ruckus inside and bursts into the room, yelling “Dad!” That’s enough to stop Director Han from doing anything and he drops the pills.

Son Hyuk is informed that Director Han has just been arrested, so he has one of his agents Cheol Gi to “take care of it.” Hye In overhears Cheol Gi say that he’ll take care of Lee Jung Woo, and that immediately raises her concern.

Jae Hee sits in the car next to her handcuffed father as they take him to NTS. “You were selfish to the end,” she says. “What do you expect me to do now? It’s not too late to tell me what you’ve done, so that I wouldn’t be in pain thinking about you, but that I can hate you for the rest of my life.” Director Han has no words but, “I’m sorry.”

Cheol Gi sets up on the overpass and aims his gun at the NTS vans passing by below. He aims for Jung Woo, but his gun is pushed out of the way and accidentally hits Director Han instead. It’s Hye In, and she tells Cheol Gi that finishing Jung Woo is her matter to deal with.

The vans all come to a halt and the NTS agents come out in search of the sniper. Another bullet is fired, from another sniper, and it hits Director Han right in the chest. As Hye In locates the other sniper with her scope, Jung Woo spots her figure from afar. He dashes up to the overpass, thinking that that sniper is the one who killed Director Han. Jae Hee drags her father’s lifeless body out of the car and sobs.

Jung Woo runs and aims his gun at the sniper. Hye In turns to look at him, the rifle in her hand. He stands there, shell-shocked, and Hye In realizes just how incriminating it looks to be standing there with the gun. Cheol Gi pulls her into their getaway car, and they race off, melting in to the traffic. Jung Woo is frozen. He can’t shoot. He watches as he lets her get away again, but this time, there is an icy resolve in his eyes.

Comments:

And just when it was getting so good! I’m usually more optimistic about this drama, but this episode was a bit of a step back for me. It delved more into Hye In’s personal issues, and frankly, I don’t really give a crap about her. I know she’s all guilty and conflicted, but she doesn’t try very hard to run away. She just goes to a seaside town. If I were her and were given the opportunity to escape, I would run away to Europe or Australia, or join Kim So Yeon in New Zealand and raise sheep with her. That was the only moment of pure what-the-hell for me. It was as if Jung Woo’s Pathetic Syndrome rubbed off on her, and me no likey.

Also – I have decided that Jae Hee and Jung Woo have the weirdest relationship ever. They’re exes that don’t hate each other but can’t get along with each other; they know each other too well and yet refuse to tell each other anything; they love each other and that’s why they hurt each other. Like really – how much more does this girl have to suffer?! Plus, I have now expected every other line out of her mouth to be, “Where’s Hye In? You know, Hye In’s kinda suspicious…” And then Jung Woo’s comeback is, “You’re looking at things the wrong way!”

There’s not much else to say about this episode – it felt like it was all build-up for what’s coming ahead. More pieces are being put into play because now North Korea is getting involved in the whole nuclear game, enabled by Son Hyuk. We now know Hye In would rather save Jung Woo than listen to Son Hyuk, and we now know that Son Hyuk is becoming more desperate by the hour. And now, Jae Hee has added fuel to hate on Hye In, or Athena in general, because of her father’s death.

Move it, Plot, because you better tie up the storyline well in your last seven episodes! There’s plenty of revenge, misunderstandings, and issues that need to be cleared up.

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