Lookout: Episodes 13-14

by TeriYaki

In Lookout, trust is hard to come by. Alignments are fuzzy and intentions are murky. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some solid connections, just very few. What does that mean for our team of justice seekers when they find themselves spread thin? It means that help just might come from an unlikely, and certainly suspicious, source.

 
EPISODE 13 RECAP

Kyung-soo runs for his life from the knife-wielding attacker who murdered Bomi’s uncle and disappears from sight. He hides in the car that he broke into earlier, the owner still asleep in the back seat. When Kyung-soo finally exits the car, he leaves behind his jacket as a token of gratitude.

Suji figures out the location of Bomi’s apartment, but can’t get in. She rings the doorbell of a next door neighbor and flashes her badge as she rushes in. Suji explains that she’s on a case that she can’t discuss the details of and climbs out the back window. With only the narrowest of ledges to stand on, Suji slips and nearly falls before she reaches Bomi’s apartment, where she finds Bomi in the throes of a panic attack and has her breathe into a bag until she calms down.

Suji reassures Bomi that Kyung-soo is tracking the killer. Bomi utters the killer’s name, Kang Jin-gu, the missing deliveryman, and explains that he killed her uncle in order to find her, but she doesn’t know why.

Kyung-soo reports on Kang from a PC room. He explains that Kang Jin-gu lives on the street, something Kyung-soo experienced once. Kang Jin-gu has no phone or address, and Kyung-soo explains that and a PC room is where you go when you can’t even afford a sauna.

What Suji wants to know is why Kang Jin-gu emerged after five years, and Kyung-soo questions why he killed Bomi’s uncle and made it look like a suicide. Suji quietly suggests to Kyung-soo that what happened to Bomi’s family wasn’t a robbery/murder after all.

Suji takes in Bomi’s room and asks if she’s lived alone all this time. Bomi answers that it’s the only place that she’s safe. Suji notices the shelves full of packaged food and asks herself, “Eating things like this?” Suji encourages Bomi to sleep and throws a blanket over her while she explains that she needs to keep up her strength to catch Kang Jin-gu.

Suji sees a photo of Bomi’s family nearby and becomes thoughtful, “Sometimes I wish I could forget everything, but then I feel guilty for having those thoughts.” Bomi whispers that she wants to forget, but she can’t. Because she’s the only one who survived, Bomi believes she has work that she needs to do.

Soon-ae enters the Joint Investigation headquarters and comments on Do-han’s pointed glare. Jin-ki confides that Do-han has been like that for some time. What they don’t know is that Do-han is trying to figure out which of the team members is Chief Prosecutor Yoon’s informant.

Do-han recalls a suspicious phone conversation of Eun-joong’s and considers him the top contender. Meanwhile, Jin-ki answers a call from Bomi’s next door neighbor. When the team hears that someone (aka Suji) impersonated a police officer, everyone jumps into action.

Disguised by silly glasses, Kyung-soo passes out promotional items, enabling him to pass a tracking device to Kang Jin-gu. When he follows him to Bomi’s uncle’s funeral, Kyung-soo asks Suji why Kang Jin-gu would mourn the man that he killed, and she suggests that Kang Jin-gu is looking for Bomi. Kyung-soo asks Suji if she thinks it’s a coincidence that Kang Jin-gu appeared once they started their investigation.

Bomi startles them both when she announces that the police are headed for her place. Suji instructs Bomi to destroy everything that points to her identity, but Bomi sits motionless as she becomes lost in the memories of her family’s murders and the gossip that followed.

Bomi remembers running across the street in traffic to escape everyone’s hushed and accusatory whispers about her being the only survivor. When she got home, she retreated to her bedroom. (Was that the last time she was outside?) In the present, Suji packs Bomi’s personal effects, but Bomi tells Suji that she can’t go with her, admitting that she’s tormented by the memories of that night and that she’s too scared to leave her room.

With the joint team en route to Bomi’s apartment, Suji makes her way to the parking garage. She reveals her face on purpose and steals a car in front of witnesses who immediately report her to the police.

Eun-joong learns that Seo Bomi is the name of the owner of the apartment that Suji broke into. He’s told that she’s been missing since her family’s murder, but before he finds out anything more, Eun-joong hears that Suji just stole a car.

Suji makes sure to get caught on a traffic camera, and Soon-ae directs the police team to her last known location. Do-han welcomes the opportunity to continue to Bomi’s apartment alone so he can destroy any evidence she left behind.

Soon-ae’s team finds the stolen vehicle, but they find it empty. Suji’s already back at Bomi’s apartment and calls to let her know that the diversion bought them some time. The thought of leaving the apartment plunges Bomi back into the memories of that horrible night, but she’s roused when her monitors show Suji headed straight for the detectives now stationed in front of her door.

Eun-joong greets Suji when she approaches Bomi’s door, “It’s been a long time, Detective Jo.” He tells her that he knew her actions were a distraction and that she’d return for the person in that apartment. Suji tells Eun-joong, “You’re still the same,” and he replies, “Please stop carrying a gun and going after criminals.” Eun-joong explains that he intends to reopen Yoo-na’s case, but Suji thinks it’s useless with Yoon in power.

Eun-joong insists that things will be different, but Suji believes if the law fails again, Yoon will become attorney general, and Yoo-na’s case will be buried forever. Eun-joong concedes that Suji’s methods might succeed, but he can’t let her spend the rest of her life in prison.

Suji scans the courtyard as Eun-joong moves closer. She suddenly yanks him out of the way and launches herself over the wall and onto the clotheslines below. The detectives look on in shock as Suji falls from one line to another before hitting the ground with a thud. Eun-joong looks on sadly as Suji wildly resists the detectives once they catch up to her, and when she’s finally subdued with her face in the concrete, her screams tear at him.

At Bomi’s uncle’s funeral, Kang Jin-gu tries to find information about Bomi, but leaves in disgust when he has no success. Before Kyung-soo can follow him, Bomi calls to tell him that Suji was caught by the police.

Bomi blames herself for Suji’s capture, sorry that she couldn’t escape when she had the chance. Kyung-soo promises to come for her, but Bomi warns that her place is under guard. Do-han runs up just as the detectives lead Suji away.

Do-han turns around and takes a few seconds to collect himself and get into character. By the time he approaches Suji, he’s as snarky as ever. When he taunts her, “You’re finished,” she defiantly spits in his face and answers, “It’s not over yet.”

Do-han wipes his face and concurs, “I hope so too.” When the detectives lead Suji away, he asks Eun-joong if the apartment was searched yet and is surprised to hear that the resident is still inside.

Byung-jae pulls up in a police van and handcuffs Suji. Eun-joong hides the handcuffs with his suit jacket and promises, “It will be different this time. I will make sure of it.” After Byung-jae drives away, Do-han offers to take over so that Eun-joong can follow Suji to the station, but he’s ignored.

Bomi informs Kyung-soo that Suji was taken away, so he decides to rescue Suji first and then come for Bomi. When he doesn’t see Kang Jin-gu in the funeral hall, Kyung-soo checks his location on the tracking app and discovers that the tracking device was left behind. He has to tell Bomi that he lost Kang, and then freaks out when he wonders how he’s supposed to take care of everything by himself.

Eun-joong stares at his badge and recalls how disillusioned Suji became with the law after Chief Prosecutor Yoon closed Yoo-na’s case. It’s then that Do-han knocks on his car window and boasts that he knew Eun-joong was worried about Suji.

When Do-han again encourages him to follow Suji, Eun-joong becomes suspicious, “When you want to do something, you usually have an ulterior motive.” Do-han acts offended and agrees to handle Suji’s interrogation. Who cares if she can’t stand him, Do-han asks —
to him, that’s Suji’s problem. The tactic works, and Do-han is left in charge of the search.

Soon-ae’s van pulls up, and she jumps out to confirm that Suji returned to the apartment. Eun-joong explains that he couldn’t reach her, so he called Byung-jae.

Do-han blurts out that Suji was arrested, but it’s news to Soon-ae. She yells at the other officers to ask if anyone has seen Byung-jae, and Jin-ki tells her that Byung-jae left him behind and won’t answer his phone. Do-han recalls Chief Prosecutor Yoon’s plan to use Suji’s capture to his advantage and realizes that Byung-jae was Yoon’s inside man all along.

Suji corrects Byung-jae when he turns down the wrong street, but he ignores her. It’s then that she realizes that Byung-jae was the one who helped Woo-sung get away, which means that he works for Yoon.

 
EPISODE 14 RECAP

Byung-jae parks the van and wordlessly passes the key for his handcuffs to Suji. She notes that he never liked her enough to risk his career, and he agrees as he pulls out his gun. When Suji asks if he was the one who helped Woo-sung, he answers, “It’s a long story.”

After he’s accused of being Yoon’s informant, Byung-jae responds, “There are always people like you who get in the way of the boss. Some headaches can’t be resolved with words.” Byung-jae encourages Suji to cooperate so the team can stop working nights, since he doesn’t remember what his wife and son look like after all the hard hours he’s been pulling.

When Suji asks if his family knows this side of him, Byung-jae cocks the gun and tells her to unlock the handcuffs. In the meantime, Do-han drives through the neighborhood in search of the van. Once Suji removes the handcuffs, she’s told, “Run away. So that I have a reason to shoot you.” Instead, Suji attacks Byung-jae in an attempt to disarm him, and Do-han hears a gunshot.

Do-han locates the van but when he looks inside, it’s empty. What he does find is blood, a lot of it, on the passenger’s seat and floor. (Noooo!) Holding her side, Suji weaves down a street while Byung-jae searches for her.

Jin-ki reports to Eun-joong that Byung-jae still won’t answer his phone. Soon-ae tries to use CCTV footage to locate him, but he’s disappeared, which is when Jin-ki informs the team that a gunshot was reported.

Kyung-soo tries to figure out if he should find Kang Jin-gu or go after Suji, but after a glance at the backpack Suji packed for her, Bomi tells him to come for her first. She is suddenly very calm as she explains that they need to reach Suji before she gets to the police station.

Bomi sees that the van is parked near her apartment, and when Kyung-soo hears that it’s empty, he happily assumes that Suji got away. That’s so not the case as Suji staggers and falls. She’s in really bad shape, but somehow, she stands up. It’s short-lived, since everything starts to spin as Suji sways before slumping to the ground.

When Bomi locates Suji on camera, she murmurs, “I think she’s dead.” Kyung-soo refuses to believe her, so Bomi zooms in and realizes that Suji is alive, but she’s bleeding heavily from her abdomen.

Bomi grabs her backpack and unlocks her front door, but stops to rummage in her backpack when she hears voices outside. All but one of the detectives is called away before Bomi emerges, and she sprays something in the lone detective’s eyes before making her getaway.

Byung-jae discovers fresh blood and follows Suji’s trail. Do-han finds her first and approaches, but it’s Yoo-na that Suji sees. Yoo-na urges her mother to wake up, but Suji smiles when she sees her daughter and tells her that she missed her.

Do-han holds a barely conscious Suji in his arms and insists that she can’t die like this. He hears someone behind him and turns to see Byung-jae’s gun pointed at them.

Meanwhile, Eun-joong and Soon-ae inspect the missing van and note that the blood is proof that either Suji or Byung-jae was shot.

Bomi runs through her building and makes it to the street. She pauses briefly and then recites directions as she heads for Suji. When Bomi can’t hear Kyung-soo on the phone, he can tell from the background noises that she’s outside.

When Bomi reaches the high school, the students remind her of her sister, and she immediately turns around. She escapes to a quiet street and announces to Kyung-soo that she can’t go on. Bomi insists that she’s a coward and regrets that she didn’t do things differently the night of her family’s attack. Her inability to leave with Suji when she had the chance makes her feel the same way.

Kyung-soo argues that his faults are worse — he was ashamed of his mother in front of his friends, and he believes that that’s why he lost her. Kyung-soo figures if a guy like him can carry on, why can’t Bomi?

Kyung-soo asks Bomi to be his avatar and find Suji in time to save her. He counsels, “Lift up your head. Open your eyes. Look straight ahead.” Bomi tells herself, “I can do it. You can do it, Seo Bomi.”


Do-han runs up to Eun-joong when he shows up at the spot where Suji collapsed. He feigns that he’s upset that Suji got away after all of Eun-joong’s hard work. Eun-joong suspiciously examines Do-han’s shirt cuff when he notices blood, and Do-han admits that the blood is Suji’s, but that it was transferred when he looked inside the van.

Eun-joong moves to search the building, but Do-han claims he’s already done that. Eun-joong stops to answer his phone and runs off when he hears that Suji was found. Bomi watches Eun-joong and Do-han from a distance and reports to Kyung-soo that Suji is no longer there, and Kyung-soo guesses that she’s not badly hurt and hid herself away because, “That’s our Suji.” Kyung-soo asks about Bomi, but they’re interrupted by a call from their leader.

Eun-joong runs up to Byung-jae, who apologizes for losing Suji. Do-han comes down hard on Byung-jae and promises disciplinary action in as showy a way as possible. Byung-jae apologizes again, but when Soon-ae clucks that he has much to be sorry for, he lashes out at her.

Do-han intervenes and orders the team to focus on Suji. He points them in one direction, but Byung-jae runs the opposite way, and Do-han looks worried. Taking a cue, Eun-joong follows Byung-jae, curious to know why he’s by himself.

When Byung-jae claims that he’s rechecking certain areas, Eun-joong runs to check the spot that Do-han steered him away from earlier, both of them unaware that Do-han has his eyes on them. That’s when Eun-joong gets a call and learns that the apartment resident got away.

Bomi strains to support Suji as they make their way to the street. She sits her down to try to wake her when some patrol officers enter the alley. Bomi thinks fast and pats Suji on the back as she asks, “Why did you drink so much?” Once they pass, Bomi moves Suji away, and a car pulls up just when she wonders when Kyung-soo will show up.

Kyung-soo drives by Bomi’s building just as the investigative team enters. He suddenly remembers that Bomi’s monitors are still connected and pulls over to shut them down just as the police find Bomi’s setup.

Soon-ae thinks Suji hid in that apartment, and the camera feeds explain how she evaded the police for a year. She’s handed an envelope that was found in one of the drawers, but we don’t know what’s inside.

Byung-jae apologizes to Prosector Park at headquarters and explains away Suji’s escape as well as his failure to stay in touch with his team. Do-han argues that Byung-jae can be disciplined later, but they need to find Suji first.

Prosecutor Park asks if Suji was admitted to any hospitals, but Eun-joong admits that she hasn’t turned up. Soon-ae and Jin-ki join the team and share what they found at the apartment. Eun-joong recognizes Chief Prosecutor Yoon’s house from photos on a tablet, because Shi-wan is in one of the photos.

Do-han tries not to react when Soon-ae produces an envelope that contains the latest mission and the photos of the suspects in the Miseo-dong murder case. Soon-ae shares that the apartment was the site of the murder. Do-han is surprised that the team knows so much about the case — it’s almost as if they were already working on it.

Soon-ae believes someone sent the information to Suji, and CCTV footage proves that the envelope was delivered a few days earlier. Prosector Park orders her to question the delivery service.

In a phone call, Chief Prosecutor Yoon tells Byung-jae, “You should’ve finished it off.” But Byung-jae explains that Do-han interfered and messed up his plan.

Jin-ki stands guard as Eun-joong and Soon-ae talk privately outside the station. Soon-ae insists that no news about Suji is good news, but Jin-ki asks Eun-joong how long he has to work on the secret project. He wants to help Suji, but Byung-jae already suspects him.

Soon-ae mentions that the Miseo-dong case was in the file that Eun-joong gave her. Eun-joong explains that he hoped to reveal Yoon’s corruption and catch Suji at the same time, but he knows that they need to focus on Suji for now. Jin-ki asks if can stop pretending to be a mama’s boy, but Soon-ae wants him to keep up his ruse so he can continue to track Byung-jae’s movements.

Eun-joong speaks privately with Soon-ae and asks her for the CCTV footage in the area where Suji disappeared. He wants to check Do-han’s movements and suggests that he can eliminate Yoon and Do-han at the same time.

Do-han shows Yoon the Miseo-dong file found in Bomi’s apartment, and Yoon notes that Suji found cases he doesn’t even remember. He admits that there shouldn’t be any files on the case and wonders how Suji discovered it.

Yoon asks Do-han to find the detectives who worked on the case and determine if they spoke about it with anyone. Do-han then shows Yoon the surveillance photos of his house and informs him that the camera has yet to be located.

Yoon admits that Do-han’s theory that Suji had an accomplice was correct. He thanks him for his hard work and invites him to his house for dinner soon. But after Do-han leaves, Yoon recalls that Byung-jae explained that Do-han stopped him from killing Suji.

Suji sleeps in a hospital room, and in her dream, she sees that Do-han was the one who came to her rescue. Her eyes fly open and she remembers that he carried her away and told her, “You can’t die here.”

 
COMMENTS

Bomi left her apartment! What a terrifying and triumphant moment for her, but painful too, because it was Suji’s emergency that forced Bomi to walk out that door. Bomi must have felt acutely responsible for Suji because she was caught by the police when she tried to help her. With Kyung-soo too far to help (seriously, where was he that he didn’t make it back to Bomi’s apartment until after nightfall?), Bomi managed to step up and help her friend, and I do think that she and Suji can be considered friends now.

There were some very touching Suji/Bomi moments throughout the episode, but Bomi walking out her door to help Suji was the finest. These two women have certainly been at odds (just ask Kyung-soo), but I think it’s powerful that they are forever connected by such an important event. Bomi isn’t in the clear yet, since Kang Jin-gu is still out there and she has no idea why he wants to find her. Still, it’s freeing to know that she can go outside if she needs to, or wants to. I’m looking forward to more great Bomi moments.

Do-han and Suji both risked their covers to help a member of the team this episode, which I liked. Suji used herself to draw the police away from Bomi, and Do-han somehow prevented Byung-jae from killing Suji. As much as Do-han wanted to gain the attention of Chief Prosecutor Yoon, I don’t think being caught interfering with his plans was what he had in mind.

Do-han’s interference meant that his meeting with Yoon was all kinds of ominous, even though they both acted as if nothing had changed between them. In reality, everything just shifted. Chief Prosecutor Yoon is now suspicious of Do-han, and he knows it.

Do-han has hidden his motives so well that I wonder who will come to his aid should he find himself in Yoon’s crosshairs. His is a lonely position, which is helpful as he steadily weaves his web, but deadly if he gets caught in it. The fact that Suji woke up in the hospital and realized that Do-han was the one who rescued her introduces a thread that may make all the difference to his success and survival. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Suji finds herself in a position to save Do-han. If I had to be rescued by someone, Suji has my vote. That woman doesn’t quit.

We know definitively that Yoon is a murderer, and just like his son, he doesn’t seem bothered by his moral bankruptcy. All his time and attention is focused on catching Suji while Yoon, Shi-wan, and Byung-jae arrogantly ignore the law at their pleasure. No wonder Suji is disillusioned and at odds with Eun-joong, since their reunion showed just how far they have drifted apart. Eun-joong, ever the idealist, was faced with an older, wiser, and painfully honest Suji. They have diverged because Suji can’t afford the luxury of ideals when faced with a system so poisoned by corruption. What makes their impasse so difficult is that they are both right in their reasoning, they just came to different conclusions.

There’s lots of distrust among all the different characters. I think I can count on one hand which characters truly trust each other. It’s almost funny how suspicious everyone is and a surprise to discover who is on someone else’s radar. Byung-jae has been under suspicion for some time, but Do-han and Suji didn’t consider him until his duplicity was glaringly obvious. Do-han and Eun-joong are equally suspicious of each other and know each other really well. They push each other’s buttons with such expertise that I hang on every word just to fully appreciate each exchange. Do-han knew how to play to Eun-joong’s fears about Suji to get him to give up responsibility for the search of Bomi’s apartment, and Eun-joong knows Do-han well enough to understand that he has an ulterior motive. If these two ever manage to get along, they’ll be quite a formidable pair.

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