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Mystery Queen: Episode 8

Although Ho-soon appears to be innocuously eloping with her boyfriend, Seol-ok’s senses are telling her a very different story, and it’s up to our heroine to rescue her sister-in-law from a potential abduction. Luckily, Seol-ok is not alone in all of this, and she has a trustworthy (albeit somewhat annoying) veteran detective who’s got her back.

 
EPISODE 8 RECAP

Filming in the studio, expert profiler Inspector Woo discusses the serial killer No Doo-gil and the way he baits his unsuspecting victims: First, he plays the role of a doting boyfriend, promising to elope with his “girlfriend” to the U.S., and then at the airport, he pretends to switch plans and lures her to an island — after that, the “girlfriend” is never heard from again.

In the present, Seol-ok explains to Wan-seung that this is No Doo-gil’s modus operandi. She frets over losing her phone, recalling that she had a picture of the criminal on it, but Wan-seung just whips out his phone and easily finds No Doo-gil’s wanted poster, bragging that this is one of the perks of being a veteran detective. He reminds Seol-ok again that he’s helping her while not-so-subtly asking that she return the favor some day, but Seol-ok just comments sarcastically that it must be really nice to be a veteran detective.

After discovering that Ho-soon boarded the ferry with a man named Cha Min-woo, Seol-ok and Wan-seung realize that they can check the ferry’s surveillance cameras to see if he’s No Doo-gil. Unfortunately, not a single CCTV camera catches the man’s face, leading Seol-ok to conclude that Ho-soon’s boyfriend knows exactly where the CCTV cameras are.

During the filming of Inspector Woo’s episode on No Doo-gil, a mysterious man had been standing behind the staff, eerily watching the expert profiler from afar. At a brief commercial break, the man had approached Inspector Woo, asking for an autograph — strange for even the most devoted of fans, considering that the show was in the middle of a live broadcast.

On Oido Island, Wan-seung reassures Seol-ok that due to the recent violence in the area, secret CCTV cameras have been newly installed, so there’s no way that Ho-soon’s boyfriend would know about them. Wan-seung spots one of the new CCTV cameras at a café, and lo and behold, Ho-soon and her boyfriend did indeed pass by this very café.

Wan-seung points out that the boyfriend’s face is different from No Doo-gil’s, but Seol-ok is unconvinced — a modus operandi is like a culprit’s fingerprints, she says. Looking at how lovey-dovey Ho-soon is with her boyfriend, Wan-seung suggests that they’re just another eloping couple, since he believes that Seol-ok is overreacting.

The scene cuts back to Inspector Woo’s episode on No Doo-gil, which was filmed three years ago. As Inspector Woo had been explaining that the way a person walks is like the fingerprint of the body, he had noticed the mysterious “fan” walking away — in the exact splay-footed, circular motion that was characteristic of No Doo-gil.

Leaving the café, Seol-ok wonders aloud if No Doo-gil had gotten plastic surgery, and Wan-seung scoffs at the idea. Suddenly, Seol-ok recalls Inspector Woo’s description of No Doo-gil’s walking mannerisms and demands that Wan-seung give her his phone.

Wan-seung hands it to her and heads back to the café, only to make a sharp U-turn as soon as he spots Ji-won. It seems like she’s tracked him down all the way to the island, and she calls out to him sharply: “Ha Wan-seung!”

At the lunchbox store, a tipsy Kyung-suk can’t stop bragging about her son Ho-chul, and Kyung-mi can barely resist rolling her eyes at her friend’s ridiculous mother-in-law. Kyung-mi finally gets a chance to step away when Seol-ok calls her using Wan-seung’s phone to ask her to send the clip of No Doo-gil’s walking style.

Seol-ok hangs up and frets, thinking that there must be something else that could help her determine whether or not Ho-soon’s boyfriend is No Doo-gil. Suddenly, an idea pops into her head, and she rushes to the café to look for Wan-seung.

Unfortunately, Wan-seung is currently occupied with other matters — he’s relocated to another part of the island with Ji-won, and he asks her why she followed him all the way here. Ji-won wonders if she actually likes Wan-seung, and he smirks at that before pointing out that she’s not the kind of woman who lives for a man’s affection.

Wan-seung adds that he’s not going to marry her, and Ji-won agrees, offering to just date instead. Wan-seung sighs, and she gets the point, saying that she understands now why she followed him all the way here. She walks away briskly and brushes Wan-seung off when he calls after her, telling him that she doesn’t want to hear it.

At the café, Seol-ok zooms in on No Doo-gil’s ear on the picture in Wan-seung’s phone, and then zooms in on Cha Min-woo’s ear on the surveillance footage. Seol-ok gasps when she realizes that they’re exactly the same, and she hurriedly asks the café’s owner if there’s another island nearby.

We see Ho-soon and Cha Min-woo walking to that very island via a narrow strip of land, with Ho-soon still thinking that she’s on a romantic date. Min-woo asks Ho-soon if she can really detect lies just by looking at someone’s expression, and when Ho-soon affirms it, he tells her that he loves her. She giggles but tells him that she won’t be able to tell if he’s lying or not — even an expert like her can’t detect lies when she’s blinded by love.

At the beginning of the path to the smaller island, Seol-ok notes the sign that warns visitors about the short tide duration. Suddenly, she spots the couple from afar and sprints through the mud, doing her best to catch up to the oblivious Ho-soon. Seol-ok slips and gets caked in mud as she desperately yells to Ho-soon that her boyfriend is the notorious No Doo-gil, but to no avail.

Only now does Wan-seung realize that Seol-ok’s gone off on her own, and he quickly places a call to Team Leader Kwang-tae using the café’s phone. Kwang-tae tells Wan-seung that there’s no information on Cha Min-woo — he’s a dead person. Shocked, Wan-seung tells Kwang-tae to locate his phone immediately and hangs up before Kwang-tae can even muster in a complaint.

On the smaller island, Min-woo pours Ho-soon a glass of wine as she talks about her first love. One night, she says, her crush had approached her with a bouquet of flowers and trembled as he asked her: “When is Seol-ok coming?” (Ouch.) When Ho-soon had come home crying, Ho-chul had then asked her worriedly, “Where’s Seol-ok?” Ho-soon recalls how much she had hated Seol-ok then before she asks Min-woo about his first love.

Gently brushing her hair aside, Min-woo tells Ho-soon that his first love is dead. Taken aback, Ho-soon apologizes for bringing up a painful memory, but Min-woo just reassures her that he’s fine because he has her now. At that, Ho-soon rests her head on Min-woo’s shoulder, thanking him for only loving her.

Slowly, Ho-soon’s vision grows fuzzy and her head begins to spin, but she’s none the wiser about her precarious situation. The moment Ho-soon falls completely unconscious, Min-woo smirks evilly before slinging her body across his back. Meanwhile, Wan-seung is still running around the big island to look for Seol-ok while Seol-ok herself is running around the small island looking for Ho-soon.

Min-woo brings Ho-soon down to his hideout, where he’s apparently buried all the other women he kidnapped before. He begins digging a shallow hole for Ho-soon’s grave, when suddenly, he stops and peers over the shrubbery as if he’s seen something unusual.

Seol-ok makes her way to Min-woo’s hideout and notes that no one’s around. She calls out frantically to Ho-soon while trying to avoid alerting Min-woo of her presence, but it’s no use — Ho-soon is out cold. That leaves Seol-ok with no choice but to physically drag Ho-soon away; but before Seol-ok even manages to take two steps, a shovel hits her across the back, knocking her out too.

On the big island, Wan-seung makes a call to Kwang-tae using a fisherman’s cellphone and realizes that Seol-ok’s on the small island. He peers closely at the signboard that Seol-ok had looked at before and sees that Seol-ok had left him a note: “No Doo-gil is on Mong Island.”

On Mong Island, No Doo-gil/Min-woo talks to an unconscious Seol-ok, commenting that he hopes she’s not a screamer or anything. He creepily explains that he’s hated the sound of girls crying ever since he was young, and then notes that it’s not like it matters even if she does scream — no one ever comes around here anyway.

Min-woo proceeds to lift a wooden board off the ground, revealing a hidden hole below. Peering at the skeleton inside, he tells the unconscious Seol-ok that ideally, he would’ve dug another hole for her, but since she was an unexpected interruption in his plans, she’ll just have to share. He tosses her into the hole, and Seol-ok lies there, senseless.

Meanwhile, Wan-seung has managed to convince a local fisherman to bring him to Mong Island, making sure to remind the fisherman to call the police as soon as he gets back. Wan-seung makes his way into the island and shouts for Seol-ok, not knowing that Min-woo is burying her alive at that very moment.

After wandering around for a bit, Wan-seung collapses on the ground, tired from his trek. Suddenly, he realizes that there’s something strange about the ground he’s been lying on — it’s not real ground, but tarp. He lifts the tarp up and begins frantically digging, unveiling the skeletal remains of another victim.

Suddenly, Wan-seung is hit across the head with a shovel, and he falls to the ground, groaning in pain. Min-woo prepares to strike again, but Wan-seung kicks him and knocks him over, complaining that the blow opened up his old head wound again.

Grabbing the shovel from Min-woo, Wan-seung easily takes him down and demands to know where Seol-ok is, describing her as the short-haired, super fast, cute-looking ajumma. (Aww.) Grinning evilly, Min-woo tells Wan-seung that he just finished burying her, and taking advantage of Wan-seung’s panicked reaction, Min-woo grabs a nearby rock and clocks him in the head with it.

Wan-seung reels in pain as Min-woo runs away, and though Wan-seung tries to give chase, he ultimately loses the killer. Wan-seung does stumble across Min-woo’s hideout though, and upon seeing the partially covered hole, Wan-seung jumps in and starts digging desperately with his bare hands, screaming for Seol-ok.

He frantically brushes the dirt away when he gets to her downward-facing body and flips her over — and Seol-ok wheezes for oxygen (thank goodness!). Wan-seung pulls her up and pats her back as she coughs, both of them exclaiming that they thought she’d die.

Seol-ok asks after Ho-soon, and they climb out of the hole only to see Min-woo holding a knife at the throat of Ho-soon’s unconscious body. Seol-ok pleads with Min-woo to calm down, and Wan-seung addresses him as No Doo-gil, telling him that he’s finished.

Enraged, Min-woo yells that he’s not No Doo-gil anymore and tries to stab Ho-soon, but Wan-seung jumps in and diverts the attack, forcing Min-woo to land on his back and lose the knife. The two men tussle for a bit, but Wan-seung easily gains the upper hand and throws in a few gratifying punches before knocking Min-woo out cold.

Wan-seung and Seol-ok slowly make their way back via the path that’s opened up again after the tides have settled, both of them dragging wheelbarrows behind them — a bounded Min-woo in Wan-seung’s, and a still unconscious Ho-soon in Seol-ok’s. Wan-seung tells Seol-ok that there’s no need to thank him since he just did what he had to as a detective, and Seol-ok just says that she’s not particularly thankful, ha.

Wan-seung snaps that he brought her back to life (so much for not needing to thank him), and Seol-ok retorts that Wan-seung’s only caused trouble for her, arguing that if Wan-seung hadn’t knocked Min-woo out, then Wan-seung could be the one carrying Ho-soon instead.

While on the topic of Min-woo, Wan-seung remembers to ask Seol-ok how she realized that Min-woo was No Doo-gil, and she points out that even though he got plastic surgery, his ear stayed the same — it’s long and droopy. Wan-seung turns around to confirm it and remarks that she’s right.

On the big island, Ji-won sits by her car, holding Seol-ok’s phone in her hand as she sighs. Checking the phone’s call history, she notices several missed calls from Ho-chul and impulsively decides to call his number. The call connects, and Ho-chul, thinking it’s Seol-ok, immediately asks where she is, but Ji-won just listens on with an unreadable expression on her face.

Wan-seung and Seol-ok are still bickering about whether he saved her life, so when Seol-ok trips and falls, Wan-seung just laughs and pettily tells her that it’s karma for refusing to admit that he’s her lifesaver. Suddenly, Wan-seung turns earnest and sincerely asks Seol-ok to grant him a favor: He wants her to give a testimony on the Jang Do-jang case by tomorrow. She nods, and they continue making their way towards the big island.

As soon as they get there though, the media swarms around Wan-seung and barrages him with questions. It turns out that, after Wan-seung had told the fisherman to report No Doo-gil’s location to the cops, Inspector Woo’s TV crew had found out about the report immediately. That means that Wan-seung has to film a live interview for the show — a crew member urges him not to be nervous, but Wan-seung can only stammer in response.

Interviewing from the studio, Inspector Woo asks Wan-seung how he was able to recognize No Doo-gil when he got plastic surgery. Wan-seung starts to credit Seol-ok for her discovery and turns around to her, but she firmly shakes her head no, not wanting to be captured on TV.

That leaves Wan-seung to rattle off the lines he remembers Seol-ok reciting from the show, and in his nervousness, he mixes the logic up a bit: “A person’s way of walking is like a fingerprint. So no matter how much plastic surgery he had done, he still had short earlobes, which led me to conclude that he was No Doo-gil,” Wan-seung says. Ha.

At the substation, Earnest Cop and Slacker Cop are amazed that Wan-seung’s on TV. Joon-oh comments that the woman behind Wan-seung looks awfully similar to Seol-ok, and Earnest Cop denies it, pointing out that she has no reason to be with Wan-seung — and on an island, at that.

Still in the midst of the interview, Inspector Woo asks Wan-seung if he’s a fan of the show, and Wan-seung stutters that he truly respects Inspector Woo as a police officer. Inspector Woo then asks if there’s anything more that Wan-seung wants to say, and Wan-seung hesitates a bit before cornily breaking out Inspector Woo’s signature finger-gun move, replete with his signature phrase: “I’ll arrest you.”

Also watching this on TV is Wan-seung’s father, CEO Ha, who seems equal parts confused and embarrassed by his son’s actions. CEO Ha’s secretary reports that he’s taken care of “it” in a way that means that the district office won’t say anything, and CEO Ha just puts on his glasses to get back to work.

In the ambulance, Seol-ok teases Wan-seung for his cheesy comments on TV, and Wan-seung complains that he wasn’t given enough time to prepare for the interview. Seol-ok wonders why Ho-soon is sleeping for so long, but Wan-seung just says that the paramedics said she’d be fine, so it’s best to just leave her be for now.

When Ho-soon comes to at the hospital, she immediately asks for Min-woo. Seol-ok candidly begins to tells Ho-soon that he’s at the police station right now, but Wan-seung stops her from telling Ho-soon the truth, lying that Min-woo is being chased by creditors. Seol-ok goes along with it.

Ho-soon reminds Seol-ok that she’s an expert at detecting lies, and before Seol-ok can say much, the TV behind them starts airing the news about No Doo-gil. Seol-ok rushes to turn the TV off, but it’s too late — Ho-soon has already found out that her boyfriend is a serial killer.

Later, Ho-soon stares despondently into space as Seol-ok frets, wondering why Ho-soon had to fall in love with a murderer of all people. Wan-seung tells Seol-ok that love is just like that, and Seol-ok argues that love is just a feeling created by hormones. Seol-ok believes that love is something that can be controlled with a strong enough will, and Wan-seung responds that people only live like this because they can’t help it.

He steps aside to pick up a call from Kwang-tae, who ribs him for his interview with Inspector Woo, and it looks like Wan-seung’s never going to hear the end of it from his colleagues. Kwang-tae tells Wan-seung excitedly that after the interview, the section chief is now desperately asking after Wan-seung.

Wanting to keep the good momentum going, Kwang-tae asks about Seol-ok’s testimony, and Wan-seung reassures him that they’re definitely going to have it by tomorrow morning. Later, Seol-ok approaches Wan-seung to ask about Jang Do-jang, and Wan-seung reminds her again that he saved her life — in fact, it’s happened twice now, he adds.

Meanwhile, Ji-won finally gets home and looks into the vanity mirror as she heaves a sigh, pityingly asking herself, “How did you end up like this?”

Now leaving the hospital, Seol-ok readily agrees to testify for Wan-seung tomorrow, commenting that a bad guy like Jang Do-jang shouldn’t be given the chance to get away. Wan-seung thanks her gratefully for her dedication to justice and even agrees to stop calling her “ajumma” all the time; he immediately switches to “Seol-ok-ssi,” which thoroughly weirds Seol-ok out, enough for her to ask to be called “ajumma” again, ha.

Outside, as Seol-ok tries to catch a cab for the trio, Wan-seung takes a seat next to Ho-soon to give her some advice. He reminds her that she’s lucky to be alive — and in fact, she wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for Seol-ok risking her own life to save Ho-soon’s. Though Ho-soon scoffs at first, Wan-seung’s words resonate with her, and she glances over at Seol-ok.

At the police station, Wan-seung is greeted by all his colleagues for a job well done, and even the section chief comes out to personally compliment Wan-seung. Wan-seung says he’ll be late to the team dinner since he has more important matters to attend to, and he drags Dong-ki off.

He forces Dong-ki to change outfits with him, saying that there’s no way he could go see Jang Do-jang in his muddied tux. Wan-seung rushes off, and the scene cuts to him sitting by Jang’s holding cell, practicing Inspector Woo’s signature “I’ll arrest you” move, as he comments that it’s getting pretty addicting.

Purposefully pushing Jang’s buttons, Wan-seung says that he’ll make sure that Jang rots in that cell forever, adding that they have a lot to discuss. Jang laughs menacingly, but as soon as Wan-seung turns around, that menacing laugh turns into a cold, hard stare.

When Seol-ok and Ho-soon arrive home, Ho-chul immediately tells Ho-soon off for asking Seol-ok to help with her thesis (the cover-up lie). Ho-soon scoffs in disbelief and stalks off, leaving Seol-ok to explain that Ho-soon is having a hard time lately.

As Seol-ok tells Ho-chul that she must’ve misplaced her phone somewhere, she notices his eyes staring at her muddied clothes, and she nervously hides her jacket. Luckily for her, Ho-chul doesn’t ask any more questions and just offers to buy her a new phone, but he’s definitely suspicious about what she’s been up to.

Dong-ki and Kwang-tae toast to Wan-seung’s reinstatement at the team dinner, as well as to Wan-seung’s reassurance that Seol-ok will testify against Jang. At the end of the night, a tipsy Wan-seung makes his way home, only to find out that his house has been boarded up and scheduled for demolition.

He knows exactly who’s done this though, and he marches straight to CEO Ha’s house, stopping right in front of his father’s car. Staring his father down, Wan-seung demands to know why CEO Ha ordered the demolition of his house.

CEO Ha just gives a vague answer and adds that it’s time for Wan-seung to return to his rightful place, explaining that he wants Wan-seung to inherit Ha & Jung because nothing is better than blood. Wan-seung spits back that for him, blood is worse than being a stranger. He threatens to show CEO Ha what he’s really made of from now on, and CEO Ha just comments that there’s nothing a person like Wan-seung could do.

At night, Ho-chul has rummaged through Seol-ok’s items while she was sleeping and discovered the ferry ticket for two adults. He recalls her muddy clothes, and his suspicions deepen.

 
COMMENTS

I’m really loving the platonic bond that’s developed between Seol-ok and Wan-seung — it’s not obvious when we always see them bickering, but their concern and respect for one another come out in the important moments, like when Wan-seung was frantically trying to dig Seol-ok out, or when Seol-ok’s immediate thought was to look for Wan-seung for help, even though she had just complained about him following her around all day. Wan-seung might be a bit gruff on the outside, but he clearly has a soft side to him, especially when Seol-ok’s in danger.

One thing that has me a bit concerned for their blossoming friendship is the inevitable future misunderstandings that are constantly being hinted at — from Earnest Cop and Slacker Cop’s light comments about why Seol-ok and Wan-seung shouldn’t be together on an island alone, to Ji-won finding Seol-ok’s cellphone in her car, to Ho-chul finding the ferry ticket. I do wonder if Ji-won had said anything to Ho-chul when she had placed the call; while I can’t tell if Ji-won’s going to be the evil second lead or just a sad second lead, it makes me wonder if she’s told Ho-chul something, which is why he keeps pressing the question about why Seol-ok wasn’t picking up her calls.

Honestly, I don’t sense anything romantic between Seol-ok and Wan-seung, but it did occur to me that perhaps Seol-ok and Wan-seung are bonding because they’re more similar than they think: both are stubborn and proud to a fault. These are characteristics that I’ve come to expect from Wan-seung, but it was hilarious how reluctant Seol-ok was to thank Wan-seung for saving her, going the extra mile to explain why she had most certainly not asked for him to come to the small island.

Interestingly enough, despite Wan-seung’s tough exterior, he gave some pretty insightful advice to both Seol-ok and Ho-soon today. I was a little surprised by Seol-ok’s take on falling in love — while it’s clear that a major part of her reason for marrying Ho-chul was to join the family, she had also seemed to be pretty in love with her husband. If Seol-ok doesn’t believe in falling in love, or she believes that you can control who you can fall in love with, then what does that mean about her relationship with Ho-chul? Did she force herself to love him because he was a part of the family that took her in? Or is there more to their love story than just that?

Wan-seung’s advice to Ho-soon was quite thoughtful too — you could see her dismissing his point at first, but then she actually reflected on the truth of it. Despite having met a serial killer for a boyfriend, Ho-soon’s actually quite lucky, because at the very least, she has Seol-ok on her side. Sometimes, we don’t see the fortunate things we have because we’re so focused on all of our misfortunes, and perhaps that’s why Ho-soon ended up developing that inferiority complex toward Seol-ok. If Ho-soon had known this earlier, perhaps she would’ve realized that the love she thinks she’s been deprived of because of Seol-ok was returned ten times more in the form of the love that Seol-ok has given her.

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Loving this drama. These 2 should do some seasonal drama having seasons an ajumma and her detective although it would be nicer if she becomes a policewoman herself.

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I don't mind having a second season where she becomes a detective in her own right. Heh. But this drama is definitely suitable for a second season.

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My only complaint about this episode is...what in the world Seol Ok was thinking to approach the bad guy's hide out by herself? She did the same thing with Do Jang in the beginning episode too. I mean for a woman who spent a very, very long time watching detective shows, shouldn't she know these basics of calling 911? Or calling a back up? That complaint aside, I do find this episode especially insightful in defining our hero/heroine's characters. Seol Ok's comment on love was interesting. I wanna know...does her husband love her? It almost seems like he loves her more than she does. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Does she love him at all? Or he's just someone she's just used to have beside her?

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Seol Ok I believe has lost her respect for the police since her parents death was declared as suicide by the investigators. I mean, look at Lt (police/ cutie at the station), he has been relying on her opinions and directions of the investigation when he is really the police. lol

About Ho Chul, I have no doubt that Seol Ok respects his family more than anything else. I think what she feels for that family is immense gratefulness for taking her in when she was left with nothing. She may have started to like Ho Chul in the beginning but what she feels for him right now are respect and gratefulness. I do not understand that honestly, but maybe Seol Ok is one selfless person. She always seems to put others before herself.

Let's wait til she finds out that the husband she respects the most is a corrupt prosecutor and behind the release of criminal Jang Do Jang.

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Yess that was sooo frustrating! I mean u would have thought she learnt her lesson from Do Jang encounter.. she just bumbled her way into his guy's lair too! Being driven to figure out mysteries is one thing... but when ur so smart as to figure out everything, how can u not be smart enough to be more careful going into a serial murderer's lair - even after seeing Ho-soon lying unconscious there?!?!

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I don't think she cares very much about her safety whenever she goes after the perp. It's like she is too engrossed in getting the perp or rescuing someone to care about her safety. The part with Jang was a bit too unbelievable to be true, but I can understand this episode with her sister-in-law. After all, HS is in danger, and every second counts. She can't possibly wait for WS to catch up before she heads for the island. However, that said, I still think it's foolish of her not to wait for back up.

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I'm going to make a Sherlock comparison here: at least in the BBC version, Sherlock is reluctant to use the police because of their incompetence, but he has the physical skills to apprehend suspects. Seol-ok may share that view of the police, but let's not kid ourselves, she has no combat skills. Her only advantage is her ability to move quickly, but she's also not as smart as BBC Sherlock to anticipate certain events before they happen. For the Jang do-Jang case it might have been forgiven, but she should have had more common sense in going out to the island. As we saw, it made 0 difference if she had been there at that time or come with Wan-seung because he was the one who ended up rescuing Ho-soon and Seol-ok. Why couldn't she have called the police after seeing them go to the island when she couldn't find Wan-seung? Later we see Wan-seung convince the old man without even showing his badge or identifying himself. That part was all a bit silly.

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I'm really loving this drama!! such a perfect mix of humour & depth !
Although it seems like there is only platonic love b/w our Det & ajumma (how cute was her freaking out on being called Seol-ok ssi?!?!).. my internal fan girl can't help but hope for a slow romance to blossom! These two totally are for each other!! #BickeringCouplesFortheWin !!

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I like how WS keeps referring to SO as pretty or cute whenever he is describing her to someone else. This is one romance I am rooting for, but I am not sure how it will play out in the end, or what the writer has in store for them.

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YESSS pleasee! I just couldn't get over that scene of Seol-ok talking about spring bringing out dead bodies & WS being so giddy like a school boy about how the sea is the best for disposing bodies!! Hahaha! They are made for each other!! Which other couple can such similar enthusiasm for the morbid?!

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I honestly feel that Wan-seung was merely riffing on Seol-ok's words during that scene about bodies. He was just trying to make loud conversation. However, around the 35 minute mark, they have a conversation on the lighthouse near another couple, and that struck me as sincere.

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But on the other hand, Seol-ok always disagrees when somebody describes WS handsome... LoL. Her bickering with Kyung-mi whether WS is handsome or not is hilarious.

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I feel like the show keeps foreshadowing that these two will eventually have feelings for each other. I don't think that Seol Ok will ever do anything to hurt her family, so if a romance does develop I think it will be in a way where she realizes that romantic love does exist and that sometimes it really can't be helped, but at the same time she's already made a life for herself and I don't see her giving that up for Wan Seung. As for Wan Seung, I think he's already becoming very dependent on Seol Ok and he just seems to have more fun when she's around. I can definitely foresee him falling for her, but again, I just don't see him pursuing her. I am hoping for a sweet, quiet romance for them that never quite gets realized but is still very much there. But, you know, if the show really wants to go all the way with them, I am totally for it.

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This episode was better than the previous episode.

I noticed that some folks are questioning on SO’s choice of clothes. Now, I can’t say my theory will be correct later on as more things are revealed, but I think that since SO knows HS pretty well, that maybe SO is aware of HS complex and thus, did not bother to dress herself or immerse in beauty related items. This way, SO is letting HS stand out in that aspect in comparison to herself. Of course this can be reading in too much and the show probably wants to depict SO’s quirkiness.

Another thing is the lack of “sense” SO seem to have with various things, making pretty not-so-bright choices. I was pondering this quite a bit and I remembered some viewers mentioned that SO was very orientated in terms of book wise and movie watching. Yet, she lacks the actual experience of chasing down criminals or confronting dangerous ones (she obviously didn’t react in time for Jang Do-jang’s stab and was fortunately saved by WS). She still is orientated or fixated in her own wavelength of thinking that she doesn’t seem to realize the practicality of some things or that there is someone to help her along. I do think her father’s death obviously made her less inclined to seek out help and perhaps this is why she didm’ t consider the possibility of using WS’s transportation method until WS had to point it out the obvious. I can get in depth on how the brain “decides” what info. to utilize, but that would be a bit too much ? Coupled her less inclination to seek out help and her lack of experience of various crime catching made some of her choices very, well, not smart.

And as HappilyEverAfter said, her pride is evident through episode 8 that she isn’t going to admit her faults and that she needed help.

P.S. This show iterate to me that it’s important to seek out volunteer, internship, shadowing, or any other form of observation and experience before heading out toward a job, or some sort of pathway… I often see folks who said they were going to do something then backtrack when it turns out quite differently, but hey, that’s life. As long as we keep moving forward like how SO’s love for HS persists and eventually save HS.

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Agree a bit with u on the clothes thing - although i think it's also part of her need not to draw attention to herself combined with not caring enough about appearances.

Which brings me to another question - even WanSeung said she was cute today .. along with Officer Hong & Earnest Cop.. which has me confused..I mean she is super cute as in her behaviour but I though she was quite plain looking by Korean beauty standards...wasn't that the set up? plain boring ajumma solves crimes? am I wrong? Or do they find her cute cuz of her behaviour too?

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Yeah, she probably doesn't want to make herself noticeable as much. She claims many times she is a prosecutor wife and as a wife, she "shouldn't" be so flashy or make herself showy. It just draws attention she doesn't want nor does her family want.

Anyhow, the show premise isn't plain looking or boring adjumma, it's mostly a lady who married and gave up her dreams, yet was given a chance once again and took up the chance.
As for super cute, it's her appearance. Maybe to some viewers her way of dressing isn't cute, but her demeanor and her face (it's been mentioned before that she is pretty, or has some sort of beauty) that charms people. So to your question, it's both her behavior and appearance that are cute. Maybe not clothes wise (to some folks, I find her clothes okay... not too awful), but her outward charm.

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There's a difference between flashy and elegant. Ji-won doesn't wear revealing clothes like Ho-soon, she's not flashy, but she certainly turns heads and her dress style is impeccable. If anything I would expect a prosecutor's wife to look something like her.

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I don't think WS is referring to her as cute by Korean standards. He probably thinks she is cute, by his standards. Hahaha.

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Hahahahaha! WS standards... just like Seol-Ok's friend's standards!

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I don't think she is letting HS stand out in terms of the clothes department, but more of she is already a married ahjumma, so there is no need for her to dress so well. She also seems pretty traditional, which might also account for her choice of clothes. And besides, nobody has commented on her dreary choice of clothes, so she sees no need to change them.

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I think you're on to something: in an earlier episode, SO explains to WS that she wants to keep the peace and not make waves in her family, and it makes sense that she would take care not to compete with HS (I don't know if she is actually aware of HS's inferiority complex, but she is a student of human nature...) even clothing-wise.

I suspect her casual dress (which, like WS, I think looks good on her--it's not like she's wearing sweatpants) is also an indication of how she's a nerd, really obsessed with crime and not so much other things like fashion, but maybe also a slightly sad statement on how she's settled and resigned herself to her circumstances, having given up on college, thinking of taking the police exam but not actually contemplating a career, and her statements to her pal and WS that love comes after marriage and it's just hormones anyway indicates she's never experienced romance nor even believes in it.

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To be honest, I was a bit worried about the testimony of Jang Do Jang case. If follows Seol Ok character that holds the truth, she should have done it. But in the preview, it seems he isn’t in the jail...
I love the atmosphere or coloring in these one, I don't know how to describe it. lol. Not too dark probably and the background music is nice too, its a pleasure to watch it on my screen.
Kwon Sang Woo should be doing more comedy in the future. Is this the first time he acted like this? I think he always acts in melodrama all this time.
Profiler Woo finally appeared! I wonder what his role because he isn’t appear until the first 5 episodes. I didn’t expect to have a profiler in a tv show who tries to find the bad guys. I’m looking forward to another case that brings Sel Ok, Wan Seung and Profiler Woo together again.
And it seems underwear thief leading us to the bigger case, I think it was only comedic relief purpose.
LOL at everyone who make fun of “You are under arrest” Wan Seung.
Oh! We have arrived in the first half of the drama TT.

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I think KSW should do more comedy too. He has great comedic timing, and can do subtle comedy and slapstick ones very well. I hope to see him in another comedy thriller or anything comedy soon.

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It looks like Ho-chul is going to do something to prevent Seol-ok from testifying. Also, Ha & Jung seems to have pictures of Seol-ok and Wan-seung or something like that which would make it seem like she is compromised. Possibly they got hold of her interrogating the grandpa? Or just the pictures from the sea. I think having the bubbly girl with the underwear case was a red herring because we weren't meant to take it seriously, but it was a real case all along.

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Agreed about the coloring of the scenes. I think out of the currently airing ones, Mystery Queen has the most beautiful cinematography. Props to the crew for the details in production.

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I burst out laughing when Wan-Seung did that dorky "I ll arrest you" gesture :D It was so unexpected.. He was already bumbling through the interview and to top it off with that was pure gold XD.. Love his character <3... Such a big goofy adorable teddy bear :D

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Did he watch that show? How did he know what gesture to make? When he did that gesture, it did make him look like a fan. Haha.

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I think he sort of knows that show, it seems popular enough, and they were talking about it in the airport because the profiler was the model for perfume billboard and WS said to SO that he brings shame to the police squad.

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Wan-Seung saw an advertisement featuring Inspector Woo at the airport. Even mock him right there.

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Isn't that last screencap beautiful?! Love the visual emphasis on Wan Seung's and Ho Soon's scene. Wan Seung is good at his tough cop persona, but it's nice seeing his quieter, thoughtful moments.

The crime today was creepy, but the show still balanced the humorous moments well. The image of WS and SO dragging those wheelbarrows with the quirky, upbeat BGM was funny. And then she knelt down in the mud! = WS joked that she was being punished for ignoring him. LOL

HappilyEverAfter, thanks for the recap! I'm glad you mentioned the similarity between WS and SO. I didn't realize that until now.

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I love his quieter moments with HS too, as with his singing session near the waters. Maybe the angst is going to come soon, after all, we still have his back story to uncover.

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I was laughing so much during the wheelbarrows scene?? Such a contrast compared to the previous villain scene. It caught me off guard lol

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I love this show very much now so thanks for the recap

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This is the only episode where I feel a bit disappointed with the way Seol Ok acts towards Wan Seung - she could be dead if WS didn't find her just quick enough but she seems so dismissive of his effort. I also watched the episode in Voice where Jang Hyuk saved Lee Hana from the same thing and her acting was excellent there, like she was gasping for breath, ugly-crying from suffocating and near death experience and all that. Choi Kang Hee on the other hand doesn't seem like a person who was almost burried to death, she woke up just fine and run to find agasshi like nothing has happened.

Just a minor thing really, other than that, this drama is the only one I am waiting impatiently every week, chaebal Thursday come faster!

Their bickering doesn't seem romantic for now but I like their chemistry (is it just me or Kwon Sang Woo is quite handsy?), their relationship reminds me of the leads in The Mentalist - you can sense their burning chemistry from the start but they don't become romantic until the very end. I don't know how the writer is going to make WS - SO as a romantic couple with her being married and I also don't know if I want the writer to take that route, but bring on more ( platonic) skinship and I am happy enough.

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Yes! I kept thinking that this drama reminds me of something similar. Of course, it's the Mentalist. I love that show! A pity it's ended.

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I've seen this before in other shows, but...
...awfully convenient that bad guys who hit someone with a shovel always hit them with the flat part instead of the side.

And why were there 2 wheelbarrows on the island? Even if the killer needed one to move bodies around, why the 2nd? And we saw him carrying Ho-soon over his shoulder. Or who else would leave even one there?

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I was very confused with the wheelbarrow as well. The island was mostly abandoned but possibly the wheelbarrows were used when building the shed. I don't think there is a good reason other than that to have multiple wheelbarrows there. I'm kind of questioning how they can be hit in the head with the shovel and not be hospitalized.

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Maybe they had to work with what was there on the island. Despite what the drama says, that island is actually a pretty popular tourist destination, party due to the high/low tide access.

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I also haven't sensed any romantic directly from them so far, but man, when he describes her as 'cute'-Squee!!!!!!

Half-way into the series and I feel like I didnt know a thing. What's with Jang Do-Jang?, What's with Ho-Chul?, What's with Ji-Won? and most importantly, what's with Wan-Seung's dad and his beloved noona??????????????? Having a hunch that it's all connected in some way.

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Actually, we know a bit of JW. She likes WS, and probably thinks to be able to get the law firm while marrying someone she likes is a bonus. However, we still don't know about the rest. I hope the writer will focus more on their backstory after this episode.

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I sense there will be a twist happening later on... WS' missing girlfriend will somehow tied to the murder/suicide of SO's parents.

I love WS and SO partnership in crime as well, they both know they need to depend on each other to get the job done. Even if they are not admitting to that fact yet ;) I hope they develop to be close friends, no romance necessary :)

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Yeah, that looks like the Big overarching story that will tie WS and SO together in the end. Maybe that's how SO's husband is linked to the baddies as well (though I hope he doesn't betray SO - he seems to care for her even though is mostly negligent).

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I think so too especially since the drama is taking a long time towards uncovering the whole truth behind those mysteries and the official formation of the WS+SO crime-fighting duo.

I agree. I really like that they grudgingly help each other in the end. xD

The show has not revealed the careers of SO’s parents yet so I’m curious if they had any connection to WS’s father. There will be some misery if it turns out that his father caused her parents' death though.

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There is one thing that really confuses me about this episode: why is No Doo Gil so angry when Wan-seung calls him that? When I first saw the episode I thought that meant he was the protegeé of the original No Doo Gil or something.

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He hated to be associated with the old name. He had a plastic surgery for a fresh start.

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Who is the guy who asked Inspector Woo's signature when he's about to have a live show? From the way he walks, I guess Inspector Woo suspected it as the same way No Doo-gil's...

Is this guy related to the upcoming cases? I don't think that guy is there without any reasons.

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It's No Doo Gil who asked for the signature. I don't think he is related to the upcoming cases. He is only there for HS's case.

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I love this show, it's the only one I'm looking forward to every week at the moment!
It's so quirky and lovely and the chemistry (romantic or not) is so wonderful that it makes me overlook any weaknesses plot-wise that may sometimes pop up.
It's just so engaging and I love love Seol Ok and hope she finds her happiness at the end of the show, whatever form that may take!

I also find it refreshing how her relationship with her family is maybe not always the easiest but it's not the usual case where she's like being almost abused. You can see that everyone does after all care for Seol Ok, even though she may be taken for granted.

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Its a simple but worth watching drama.this ep proves this

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Ho Chuls pale blue Pajamas with the bunny rabbits just killed me. I know the scene was meant to be serious and tense but I just could not stop laughing. This drama and it's little details ?

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This might just be me, but I found Ho-chul's white shirt to be a bit odd-looking. I think the seams are in a different place than a normal T-shirt. He looks better in his suits.

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I love those two together!!!!
And I don't care if their relationship will turn romantic or not... (or how absurd some situations are...)...

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I was curious if they put this detail in, so I checked episode 2 and they did: Noo Do-Gil is kissing Ho-soon in the car. So if Seol-ok had noticed her then, this whole incident could have been prevented...

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I was wondering about that. What seemed like a random scene at first actually turned out to be a hint at what's to come ..

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They did the same thing with the case at the end of episode 9, which really hit me hard, without any spoilers (though you know what I'm referring to from the end of Episode 8.

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One of the things that bothered me the most about this drama is Seol-ok and Ho Chul's relationship which seems to be based on avoidance. I know that if my spouse came home caked in dirt and I had received an earlier phone call from a stranger on his cell phone, we will have some serious discussions before we go to bed that night.

It seems that Seol-ok is not the only one who avoids making waves in that family. Her husband, Ho chul seems to have a lot of questions which he withholds from discussing with his wife, for whatever reasons. I can clearly see that they are fond of each other if not madly in love and I hope that one of the things that would be addressed before this drama series runs its course are all the elephants in the room that no one ever seems to want to talk about.

I suspect that Ho chul knows his wife's passion for investigating and doesn't want to encourage her, but doesn't want to discourage her either, so he's taking an extremely passive attitude about it. So long as Seol-ok doesn't rock the boat, he can continue being the golden breadwinning prosecutor husband, and she the stay at home wife.

But there are other issues that lurk. He appears to have received a scholarship from Wan Seung's father's law firm but at the same time Seol-ok's best friend made a comment that his wife had to work her ass off to support her husband's and her sister in law's education. So, which one is it? If Ho-chul is responsible for defrauding his wife, and subverting her ambitions to be a police woman, then he has a lot to make up to her for.

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Yeah, I had a feeling in earlier episodes that Ho Chul feels some kind of guilty obligation to Seol Ok, and there's that weird thing where he hasn't told anyone he's married. And his handling of Jang's case hints at some corruption, which I think would be devastating considering Seol OK's obsession with justice. So the foundations of the marriage look shaky.

On the other hand, Ho Chul just discovered Seol Ok was nearly killed by Jang. So while WS assumes Ho Chul will try to block Seol Ok's testimony, it'll be interesting to see what he will really do. The show so far has done a nice job of setting up what looked like a simplistic housewise-unhappily-trapped-with-mean-in-laws-and-indifferent-husband situation and then peeled away layers to show it's more complicated than that, and while it's not a perfect family and marriage, it's not a terrible one, either (like real life).

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I thought the conversation Seol-ok and Ho-chul had, where she started saying that she was involved, but he wasn't paying attention, suggested that he knows a bit about her activities. But you're really onto something with that making waves comment, I thought they played it brilliantly in the beginning of episode 9. So far they're doing a good job dropping hints of things to come. Maybe Ho-chul did get a scholarship, but not a full one. Besides, the main difficulty with the Korean bar system is preparing for the exam, which takes years and lots of money would be spent on extracurricular prep classes. I think the answer it both, he got some scholarship money but needed Seol-ok's financial support to pass the exam since he wouldn't have been able to work as a professional without that.

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I'm so happy SO saved her sister in law!! that murderer was so creepy, and i was scared the plot might drag on to next episode.
Also, by the way WS has it with his dad, SO and her husband, and that drug business; some big obstacles maybe coming up for our duo. I'm expecting them to shine as a team even more as the hurdles get higher.
I'm really loving this show. And I love your recaps too HappilyEverAfter. Thank you so much!!

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