Voice: Episode 14

by odilettante

Now that they know for sure who the killer is, Kwon-joo and Jin-hyuk throw all their effort into tracking down any evidence against him. Instead of being worried that his identity has been made known, Tae-gu is delighted to now focus his attention on the detectives, or rather, his new “toys,” completely unconcerned that they’re determined to make him face the consequences for his actions.

 
Chapter 14: “The Birth of the Devil Part 2”

Kwon-joo and Jin-hyuk finally come face-to-face with Tae-gu, and Kwon-joo freezes when she recognizes his voice as the exact same as the killer’s voice. After Commissioner Bae escorts Tae-gu out of his office, Kwon-joo shakily tells Jin-hyuk that Tae-gu is the killer.

Jin-hyuk gets that “mad dog” look in his eyes as he starts to charge after Tae-gu, but Kwon-joo stops him, reminding him that Tae-gu is just toying with them right now — that’s why he made a point with framing Ji-hye. But Jin-hyuk doesn’t care and breaks out of her grasp.

He catches up to Tae-gu in the station hallway, yelling after him that he’s a “crazy bastard” as he shoves his way past Tae-gu’s security team. He grabs Tae-gu by the lapels, demanding to know if it was really him.

Unfazed by Jin-hyuk’s angry grasp on him, Tae-gu calmly reminds him that he’s assaulting an innocent civilian, which could get him trouble as a police officer. Jin-hyuk doesn’t care, and he promises to collect all the evidence he can and tear Tae-gu to pieces.

Tae-gu just smiles and says that it seems like Jin-hyuk is more of a talker than a doer, since it’s clear he hasn’t ripped anyone to pieces. Jin-hyuk grits his teeth and swears that he’s torn lots of people apart before, and he’ll do it right now if he needs to. He taunts Tae-gu, asking if killing people weaker than him excites him.

Tae-gu’s smug expression flickers around the edges as Jin-hyuk calls him a perverted, psychopathic bastard, and Jin-hyuk knows he’s starting to get a rise out of the other man. Pulling out his gun, he continues to taunt Tae-gu, then presses it against one of Tae-gu’s men when they finally try to intervene.

Commissioner Bae orders him to put down the gun and let the man go, which Jin-hyuk does. But Tae-gu tells Commissioner Bae that there’s no need for an apology — he actually enjoyed meeting the infamous “Mad Dog” detective. With one last smirk, he saunters away with the rest of his men, but Kwon-joo calls after him, letting him know that she’ll see him again. And next time he won’t be allowed to freely leave the police station.

Annoyed by their antics, Commissioner Bae reminds Jin-hyuk and Kwon-joo that the Golden Time Team is being disbanded. Kwon-joo warns him that he’ll regret it.

Meanwhile, Tae-gu smiles to himself as he heads to meet with the Violent Crimes detectives so they can take his statement about what happened at the club. Watching from the other side of the glass, Jin-hyuk and Kwon-joo are disgusted at the shameless confidence Tae-gu has about not being caught for his crimes. She knows that this is proof he’s under the protection of someone powerful.

As the Violent Crimes detectives interview Tae-gu for his statement, he calmly and easily tells them that he was too focused on the 100 billion dollar project the men were discussing to really notice when Gyu-ah left the room after serving them drinks, or any other unusual things that might have happened that night.

When the detectives mention Sang-tae, Tae-gu plays dumb until pretending to vaguely recall that name as someone who’s helped them hire bus drivers before.

From the other side of the glass, Jin-hyuk angrily spits out that if it weren’t for Sang-tae and CEO Mo’s protection, Tae-gu would have been caught before now. Tae-gu seems to know that they’re behind the mirror, watching him, because he looks straight at it with a smile on his face.

Kwon-joo believes that all the little games are proof Tae-gu has been playing with them, such as leaving behind the Bible verses and arranging the bodies has been to purposefully toy with them. She declares him to be a “power orientated” killer, being particularly ruthless to those who try to stop him from murdering. “Mad Dog” Jin-hyuk doesn’t care — he vows to tear that bastard’s head off, no matter what.

After giving his statement, Tae-gu is free to leave. As he gets into his car, he tells his men that he actually enjoyed it because he finally got to see faces he’s been wanting to see. CEO Mo calls Tae-gu’s assistant, who reports back that he’s confirmed that Kwon-joo and Jin-hyuk are still looking into who killed their family members that night. He also reassures CEO Mo that only Commissioner Bae heard Jin-hyuk accuse Tae-gu of being the killer.

On the drive home, Tae-gu relives meeting Kwon-joo and Jin-hyuk, wondering which of the two he should go after first. He recalls the night he killed Kwon-joo’s father and his utter delight that she could hear the crackling in his voice. Kwon-joo it is, then. But first he gets a message from Director Kwon, asking to postpone signing the contract. I’m getting a bad feeling as Tae-gu calls the director.

Jin-hyuk is still furious that Tae-gu walked out a free man, but Kwon-joo reminds him that they need to be calm and careful right now, since if they do anything rash, Tae-gu will just use his money and connections to get out of it, anyway.

Speaking of which, some prosecutors arrive with their blue bins and a search-and-seizure warrant to confiscate the Golden Time Team’s records and documents. Oooh, and the excuse they’re using is Jin-hyuk’s violence against potential suspects, notably the child-abuser security guard ‘way back when (or a week or two ago in Golden Time Team, uh, time), so that case does somehow tie back to the main one!

Dae-shik defends his partner, insisting that victims were dying and they needed to get information ASAP, and the suspect was also acting violent towards them. Jin-hyuk demands to know who’s behind the warrant, and Prosecutor Park swaggers into the room, making a big deal over how corrupt the cops are.

Jin-hyuk doesn’t take kindly to the smug prosecutor, who informs him that the Golden Time Team is dismantled as of today. He sneeringly tells Kwon-joo that she should have just focused on answering the phone instead of sticking her nose into things that are none of her business. Ugh, what a jerk.

Hyun-ho and Eun-soo get word about the search-and-seizure and run to the detectives, but they can only stand around helplessly as the prosecutors take out their blue bins that are now full of the Golden Time Team’s files. Prosecutor Park cheerfully walks out, stopping to warning Commissioner Bae that CEO Mo isn’t happy that he’s had to send the prosecutor in to clean up after his mess.

Kwon-joo pleads with Commissioner Bae to stop the prosecutors. Even though she knows the Golden Time Team isn’t the commissioner’s favorite unit, they still work for him. He tells her that she should have listened to him when he told her to stop investigating her father’s killer. Angry, Kwon-joo asks if it’s wrong for the police to capture criminals.

Meanwhile, Dae-shik finds it hard to believe that CEO Mo would send the prosecutors just to stop them from looking into his son’s supposed criminal activities — and that even if Tae-gu was guilty, he’d still be allowed to go free. But Jin-hyuk vows he’ll catch Tae-gu and whomever has been helping them and make them spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

Chief Jang asks to speak to Jin-hyuk in private, and he promises that he’ll do all he can to protect Jin-hyuk. He knows that Commissioner Bae is connected to Sungwun Express, and this was purposefully planned to get rid of Jin-hyuk. He also tells Jin-hyuk that the phone call that Dae-shik overheard never happened. He knows that he didn’t speak to his informant that day, and he was never in the stairwell at the time Dae-shik supposedly overheard him.

He also finds it suspicious that Dae-shik originally offered to take Sang-tae’s bag to the evidence room, which would have given him a chance to tamper with it. As for motive, Dae-shik’s father used to be a bus driver — maybe he drove a bus for Sungwun Express?

Dae-shik returns to the room and Chief Jang leaves him alone with Jin-hyuk, who looks exhausted as he reveals that Chief Jang didn’t talk to his informant two days ago. Dae-shik is surprised, wondering if he confused the dates. After all, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks for the Golden Time Team.

Jin-hyuk just grabs his hand, asking him to keep an eye on Sungwun Express. Aw, it’s notable that Jin-hyuk doesn’t look at him during this exchange or as he leaves the room.

Tae-gu gets a call from Jin-hyuk, who tells him about the prosecutors CEO Mo sent. Tae-gu plays innocent, but apologizes on his father’s behalf. Jin-hyuk scoffs as he says that psychopaths like him are always so polite. Tae-gu tries to stifle his laughter, but Jin-hyuk is definitely not joking when he wawrns Tae-gu that he’ll do whatever it takes to get evidence against him and lock up him up forever. He’ll also find the informant that Tae-gu’s placed in the police station and punish him, too.

Tae-gu muses that it must be true what they say, “like husband, like wife,” since Ji-hye was an expert at finding people, too. He asks if Jin-hyuk liked the little nostalgia event he prepared (at the guesthouse). He smiles wide as Jin-hyuk continues his threats that he’ll tear Tae-gu to pieces.

Amused, Tae-gu admits he wishes he could play with Jin-hyuk right now, but instead he has to return a photo and leave a present. Before he hangs up, he warns Jin-hyuk not to go after the “rat” because Jin-hyuk will be the one who ends up hurt.

Dae-shik stops by his father’s nursing home to pay him a visit. Aw, Dad seems sweet as he sets aside his Bible and happily greets his son. He’s probably the only one on this show who would actually be comforted by a Bible verse. Dae-shik apologizes for not visiting that often, and Dad notes how tired his son looks, worried that he’s working too hard.

Dad says that he wishes he could see Jin-hyuk, since he feels guilty that he never gave him a proper thanks for all the help he’s given. Dae-shik seems on edge at this suggestion, and promises that once this case is wrapped up, he’ll visit more often. He leaves behind an envelope of money to pay for expenses and then steps outside.

He bangs his head against the wall as he remembers the way Jin-hyuk mentioned that Dae-shik couldn’t have overheard Chief Jang’s nonexistent phone conversation. Just then his phone rings, and he yells at whomever is on the other end, reminding them that he said he’d call when Jin-hyuk found evidence. He also reminds them that they promised not to hurt Jin-hyuk. Sigh. Oh, Dae-shik, I knew it was gonna be you, but I’m still sad to realize you’re the mole.

Prosecutor Park may have taken all the files from Golden Time Team, but Kwon-joo still has her personal files at home, and she goes through them as she tries to figure out how to get to get evidence against Tae-gu. She deduces that if she can figure out where Tae-gu murdered all his victims, then she’d be able to find the evidence she needs.

She calls Hyun-ho, asking him to look into transactions between Sungwun Express and GP Development. As a favor, of course, since the Golden Time Team has been disbanded, although Hyun-ho believes that the team will be back in action soon. Aw, what a sweet, loyal pup.

Jin-hyuk thinks over Tae-gu’s statement that he had to take care of something else, and remembers Kwon-joo telling him that someone broke into her pace and stole the photo of her father. He realizes that means Tae-gu is headed to Kwon-joo’s, and Jin-hyuk calls her, urgently insisting that she get out of there because a psychopath killer is headed her way.

Tae-gu, in his murder jacket, carries a box and his trusty kettlebell, clanging it against the iron railings as he walks along. Kwon-joo, with her soundproofed apartment, can’t hear him at first until she creeps closer to her door. Only then can she hear the footsteps slowly creep towards her. Tae-gu grins as he playfully tiptoes towards her door.

Grabbing a knife from the kitchen, Kwon-joo cautiously goes to her door. When she peers out her peephole, she sees an eye staring back at her. Okay, that’s terrifying! Tae-gu muffles his laughter and then plays the recording of Kwon-joo the night her father died, when he spoke to her over the radio — it’s the recording that originally went missing from the police evidence.

His tormenting deed done, Tae-gu walks away. Still on the phone with Jin-hyuk, who’s driving as fast as he can, she tells him that she’ll try to buy more time so they can catch Tae-gu in action. Jin-hyuk is very much against this idea as he yells at her over the phone, but Kwon-joo is determined as she carefully opens her door and steps outside. At least she still has her knife.

Tae-gu is nowhere to be seen, but Kwon-joo spots the box he left behind. Hiding behind the door of the emergency exit, Tae-gu watches her approach the box. Perhaps sensing something down the hallway, she cautiously turns towards the emergency exit as Tae-gu slowly opens the door. Nooooooooooo!

But the sound of Jin-hyuk getting off the elevator and yelling for her causes her to turn back. With a smile, Tae-gu disappears into the darkness and the stairwell.

After confirming that Kwon-joo is okay, Jin-hyuk turns his attention to the box left in the middle of the hallway. He carefully opens the elaborately wrapped box to reveal a huge chunk of hair in a plastic bag. Ughhhhhhhh. It looks like there’s other bags of hair, as well as the photo of Kwon-joo’s father. Did Tae-gu just give her all of his trophies from his victims? Or is this a specific person’s hair?

Jin-hyuk is amazed by Kwon-joo’s soundproofed room, although it makes sense that due to outside noises, she can’t really sleep anywhere else. Kwon-joo shows him all the potential theories she has about the murders. She believes that Tae-gu must have been killing people for many years, and that if they find out where he’s been doing it, then they should be able to find evidence against Tae-gu.

He wonders if his wife was killed because she found out where that place was, and gets the idea that Kwon-joo could listen to Ji-hye’s recording for any clue where she was when she made it. It’s not the best quality recording, but Kwon-joo isolates everything except the background noise.

She’s able to determine the sound of seagulls, and that it must be an enclosed metal container from the way Ji-hye’s voice echoes. Jin-hyuk knows that GP Development has records of renting transport containers, and promises to track them down in the morning.

Meanwhile, Tae-gu returns home. He carries his carefully folded murder jacket and places it into a briefcase, along with his kettlebell. He leaves his murder briefcase in the trunk of his car, grinning to himself as he no doubt ponders the next time he’ll use it.

The next day, Tae-gu prepares to go to the contract signing for the big bus depot deal. CEO Mo is grumpy that Director Kwon is causing such a hindrance, but he also wants to know where Tae-gu disappeared to yesterday. He reassures his son that he’s taking care of everything, so he shouldn’t need to leave work again. Yeah, uh-huh. Like that will work on Tae-gu.

Driver Park reports to his supervisor, letting him know his concerns about his bus’s faulty breaks. He’s worried that he might cause an accident, but his supervisor just yells at him for his wasting his time, since the bus recently passed its maintenance inspection. Besides, Driver Park should just be grateful to have a job at all.

He orders Driver Park to sign a new safety insurance document, getting angry when Driver Park starts to read it first instead of signing. Nooooo, don’t just sign it! Read it! But Driver Park obeys his boss and signs it without question or reading the document.

CEO Mo and Tae-gu arrive at the press conference for their own contract signing. CEO Mo is thrilled to see so much support, and tells everyone how happy he is to be able to help improve the town.

Jin-hyuk searches through all the containers listed under GP Development’s name, but so far he hasn’t found anything that looks unusual.

Hyun-ho and Eun-soo have another cute moment that’s really just an excuse for a phone PPL. Maybe next week they’ll have a conversation that actually serves a purpose to the plot.

Driver Park sets out on his route, but he has to take a detour along an unpaved country road since his regular route is blocked due to road surveying. The passengers aren’t exactly thrilled to be on this bumpy road, especially since one of them is very, very pregnant. One of the young kids gets motion sick and vomits into a shopping bag, much to everyone else’s disgust.

CEO Mo makes his speech about how the roads he’ll be creating will benefit the town. Just because he’ll have the management rights to them, he’s not interested in making money, but making the country a better place. Suuuuuuuure.

Meanwhile, Driver Park tries to navigate his alternate route, but the breaks on his bus give way and he struggles to keep the bus on the unpaved road. The tires pop as he drives over sharp rocks, and losing control of the bus, it hits a larger rock and tips over on its side. The pregnant woman’s husband goes flying through the window and ends up half crushed under the bus, while everyone one is tossed to-and-fro until they all land against the shattered windows as the bus settles on its side. Blood and glass are everywhere.

I’m not sure who’s all alve, but the pregnant woman calls the emergency center, letting them know about the crash. Hyun-ho diverts the call to Kwon-joo (because even though the Golden Time Team is no more, the call center still goes on). Kwon-joo tries to get information about the bus and the route, and Hyun-ho tracks down the GPS.

Kwon-joo hits the “code zero” button and tells the woman that they have someone on the way. She tries to help calm the woman down, who’s beginning to panic because her stomach hurts (noooooo, not the baby!), and she’s also worried for her husband who’s unconscious. The mother of the young children also screams for help, since her son is barely responsive.

After looking at many cargo containers, Jin-hyuk finally finds one that has proof that something terrible went on inside it. Blood on the walls, and bloody cloth and plastic on the floor. He requests a forensics team to be dispatched immediately as he returns to town.

The contract has been signed for Sungwun Express to establish their roads and bus depot when CEO Mo’s assistant gets word about one of the buses being overturned. CEO Mo orders him to keep it quiet so the day won’t be ruined.

Good luck with that, because Jin-hyuk walks into the room just then, shoving security guards out his way. He flashes his badge as he calls for Tae-gu, wanting to ask him some questions.

Tae-gu politely reminds him that it’s rude to crash a party he wasn’t invited to, but Jin-hyuk off-handedly asks if Tae-gu is going to bash in the skulls of everyone who displeases him. That’s enough for Tae-gu to agree to meet with him in private, and they step outside to the rooftop to continue their conversation.

Jin-hyuk asks where Tae-gu keeps his little “toy,” but Tae-gu plays dumb. He admires Jin-hyuk’s spirit, although he tells the detective his life would be much easier if he just allowed himself to look the other way and accept a bribe or two. He dismisses Jin-hyuk and walks away to return to the contract signing, but Jin-hyuk jingles a set of keys, revealing that he’s found Tae-gu’s murder container.

Kwon-joo confirms that the emergency response vehicles are on their way, but she’s worried by what sounds like a leak in the the gas line. The bus could catch on fire and the victims are trapped with no way to escape. She realizes that Jin-hyuk is in the area and calls him, letting him know the situation and that he’s the closest.

That leaves Jin-hyuk stuck with the choice to go and save innocent people, or capture the man who’s brutally killed so many people, including his wife.

COMMENTS

Director Kwon is dead, isn’t he? Because he originally wanted the contract signing postponed, but now the agreement has been made and he’s nowhere to be seen. I’m just assuming that his hair must be in that gift box because it’s the only explanation. We’re already way too familiar with how Tae-gu removes any hurdles in his path.

I’m also concerned for Dae-shik. It pains me to admit that he’s been the informant all along, since he’s also been Jin-hyuk’s closest friend — but at least he did it to make sure Jin-hyuk wouldn’t get hurt. It also makes sense, if the informant was there to make sure there was no way the real killer would be found, since only Jin-hyuk was originally the one so desperate and determined to track the killer down. It does make me wonder if Kwon-joo was the one who selected Dae-shik for the Golden Time Team, or if Dae-shik managed to somehow get himself selected just so he could stay close and keep an eye on things.

But I’m still sad, either way. Jin-hyuk’s quiet encouragement for Dae-shik to go see his father certainly felt like a warning for him to tie up any loose ends while he still can, before Jin-hyuk reveals that he’s the leak. Jin-hyuk’s quiet reaction to the betrayal was heart-breaking, although right now I’m more worried about Tae-gu getting to Dae-shik before Jin-hyuk does.

It does make me wonder how the final showdown will actually happen. Of course Jin-hyuk will make the “right” choice and leave Tae-gu to help save the bus passengers, which will give a chance for Tae-gu to slip away and get up to who knows what kind of horrors in the meantime. He can do a lot of damage in just one day, as we well know. Heck, he can do a lot of damage in just ten minutes, apparently. I wonder if that’s why he’s got so many security guys — he needs help carrying the body. Or he has secret super strength in addition to the ability to bend time and magically clean up murder scenes.

As fun as it is to quibble about all the plot holes and errors in logic, I do love that the show manages to consistently keep me fully engaged and in suspense. I’m willing to overlook a lot provided a show can keep me this entertained, and I’m thankful for the editing and directing for keeping me focused on the flow of the show and not so much the issues with plot. The cast has been consistently great, too. I know Jang Hyuk is the main draw for most people, but I’ve been impressed with the way Lee Ha-na has managed to work with material where she just has to express the ability to hear sounds. I’ve grown to really love this pairing and, even though I’m generally against extensions, I almost wish the show could go a little longer just so I could watch these characters continue to work together.

Then again, I might wish the show was longer just so I could get more of those killer cheekbones. This may be my bias speaking, but I think the show gave itself an incredible gift by casting Kim Jae-wook as the crazy killer. He’s so mesmerizingly creepy that even though you’re horrified, you still want to see more. But, alas, there’s only one week left.

 
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