Heartless City (Moojung Doshi) - Episode 3 (A SqueeCap)

JoAnne: Hold on to your hats, kids - this is going to be a bumpy ride!
kakashi: Or a bouncy-bouncy ride?
JoAnne: Wait, this happens la-oh, I see what you did, there...
JoAnne: There's no roof in sight for a change, but the Han River IS in the background as Safari and the Deputy Commissioner of Police sit in a car talking about Baksa's imminent demise. No biggie. We also get to see the rest of Hyung Min's 'interrogation' of Kim Eun Soo. I'm slightly distracted wondering how come he doesn't get to wear guyliner, too. Too big to pass for an Idol, I guess.
kakashi: I am constantly distracted by his enormous, angular head. And the terrible, terrible hair. It is possible that I will grow fond of him later - but it is not very likely. I'm just saying this in case I do suddenly grow fond of him and people will go, ts, that kakashi-woman! She really is all over the place. 

JoAnne: Next thing we know, here's Deputy Commissioner in the interrogation room slapping the silly right out of Hyung Min. Just because he can, he also tells him that he can't have a special forces cop go undercover to meet with Meth Kim: it has to be one of his own task force agents. Of course that will be Kyung Mi, already dressed in an outfit that she supposes broadcasts that necessary 'I like my men gangster-y' vibe.
kakashi: Now that the evil guy in the police force has been revealed, the whole police subplot just went from 'bleh, move on with it' to 'so-bleh-I-want-to-ff'. But I guess he is the equivalent of the second lead woman, constantly throwing stones in the path of our OTP. Which, in Cruel City, would be ... uhm ... Baksa and Cutie-Soo?! Maybe not.
kinda feel like doing this myself, so .. enjoyed giffing this. I'm such a saddist...
JoAnne: A buttload of cops and SWAT dudes take off for the meeting site. The VBC ride together and I notice that they both have on more make-up than they did inside the building. The world's biggest Idol wannabe looks good with a little liner, and Kyung Mi even gets a super special secret spy lipstick equipped with GPS from a suspiciously pink-lipped Hyung Min. He promises to find her no matter what, wherever she is, and drama-watchers everywhere hear that death beetle clicking away. At this point, I don't really mind.
kakashi: Okay, the GPS lipstick made me lol. But not because I thought it was funny but because I have never seen anything more ridiculous. Okay, not true: I actually watched several episodes of Level 7 Civil Servant. Kinda on the same level of awesome with regards to the spy/police trade.
JoAnne: Tooth is all excited because Jin Sook is on board with the drug deal but Safari is a bit more cautious. He's quite certain that Baksa is on to them, and explains to Tooth that this is exactly WHY he'll show up to the deal: because he'll want to rescue his auntie. Oh, this Safari dude is smaaaaart.
kakashi: Exactly. He is a bit TOO smart for my taste. Bad, bad man. Leave Baksa-baby alone!
JoAnne: Meanwhile Baksa sits alone in his sad office, looking worried and really thin as he toys thoughtfully with his cell phone. Do I feed him first, or hug him first?
kakashi: About that. We are one heart, one mind, sista. I've been worrying about his slenderness ever since I started watching this show. He is such a fragile hero, I'm afraid for him.
JoAnne: The club appointed as the meeting location for the drug deal is crawling with cops. The VBC share a tender moment, and then we get one final long, lingering look between the two lovers as she heads off to her doom. I think about starting up a pool for how many more minutes this poor girl has left to live.
kakashi: You are mean, JoAnne. I also don't like her but you don't have to kill her off right away!
JoAnne: Inside, the club is jumping. The world's most obnoxious waiter grabs Kyung Mi and takes her to a private room. It's a moment before any of the cops realize that the room has a hidden exit leading to a maze of interior hallways. Anxious Oppa chases after just as fast as he can, but first we get several really great shots of his fantastic thighs. (Where's Jules? I want to play my drinking game while resting on those thighs, I think.)
kakashi: At this point, I'm just cursing, rudely. WTF. Seriously, how stupid is this guy?! How unprofessional!
JoAnne: Kyung Mi comes face to face with Meth Kim, and guess what? He's not going to follow Safari's plan. I bet Safari is ready for that, though. Hyung Min stops around the corner from the room and is soon joined by Detective Shin, hereinafter referred to as DumbAss because of what he does next. Hyung Min doesn't kill him, although he should. Meth Kim and Kyung Mi are on the move, and Hyung Min gives chase. He gets thiiiiiiiiiiis close, but Meth Kim has left the building, folks. Team Leader follows by GPS, and in Kim's car we see that the obnoxious waiter is both driving AND texting. Oh look, it's a truck. DOOOOOM.
kakashi: I am still cursing. How fucking stupid and inept can you get??! Unless DumbAss is a snitch for the bad guys (he might very well be). And Mr Neanderthal seems to have lost his brain somewhere. Pathetic chase after his damsel. Seriously. And the truck? Again, the truck! And people survive this? Oh well ... I guess it's a bit like in WAML-land (people survive a car accident that catapults them 20 meters into the air) or IRIS2 (people survive a head shot and brain-matter coming out)
DumbAss and DumberAss
JoAnne: Hyung Min hears the accident over the wire but when he gets to the location, there's nothing. Dude, I feel just as confused as you look. He does see the broken lipstick/GPS thingie on the ground and picks it up, realizing that now they'll have to track Kyung Mi by her cellphone. Unfortunately, Safari has that phone and an unconscious, bloody Kyung Mi. No tracking for YOU, Task Force. 
kakashi: this may be getting old, but I'm still cursing. And laughing because of the GPS lipstick and how it OF COURSE is now on the street and useless. 

JoAnne: All the baddies arrive somewhere, and Kyung Mi doesn't look too bad, but her thighs are covered in blood. We all know that means miscarriage, right? I begin to feel sad about what's coming.
kakashi: Oh, interesting. You think so? I thought it was rather strange that the camera lingered on that blood there for that long...

JoAnne: Safari has a bone to pick with Meth Kim, and that beating looks pretty painful. And oh by the way - Safari totally knows that Kyung Mi is a cop. As they leave, we learn that Safari has recruited Obnoxious Waiter to fill the role that Meth Kim bailed on, and makes him the same promise: eventually Scale's chair will be his. Seriously? Are these men really that gullible?
kakashi: Another very brutal beat-up. Not sure that was needed. I flinched a little. And that means a lot, from me. I watch Tarantino movies and all that stuff, mostly without flinching. 
JoAnne: *SHOWER SCENE SHOWER SCENE SHOWER SCENE*...through the foggy glass, it almost looks like Baksa's back is one entire raw wound...but no, it's a tattoo of a wolf. The bad guy I somehow adore looks pretty darn good, especially with his hair all messy fluffy from the towel. I do wish he had more of an upper lip, but whatever. I lose a lot of time here. You probably will, too.
kakashi: I certainly did. I had to decide how many gifs to make. It turned out to be MANY. Uri Baksa Adeul is a slender one, as we already knew. The tattoo is hawt. And then some. I also notice the hair in a mess and how hawt that is. And not for the first time, I feel a strong urge to protect him. Oh jeez, seriously. I have motherly feelings towards him?! Okay, FINE. I'll go back to lusting over Joo Sang-wook then.
JoAnne: If these are motherly feelings then I should be in jail wearing my bad mother of the year tee-shirt. I think I'm nesting, because honestly just watching this makes me feel fertile.
The Tattoo when it's not blurred out! And who would like to be the woman that inked him?!
JoAnne: Back in a suit now, hair perfect and cold face in place, Baksa tells his really cute driver that he's going to go on his own, thank you. Has he recruited ALL the flower boy gangsters? He's briefly stopped by Cutie-Soo in almost my favorite outfit ever, wanting to know who killed his girl. He also wants Baksa NOT to go to this deal, and he wants Baksa to know he doesn't trust Jin Sook. But that's why he has to go, Baksa argues. To find out. Cutie-Soo thinks everything is an excuse and it's just hyungnim's blind love for his auntie and I wonder if he's right. Flashback: basically just serves to show that there was a time when Jin Sook, Safari, and Baksa were actually a very happy little family unit, so we understand why he might be holding out hope now.
kakashi: Interesting stuff happening here. First, Baksa not telling Cutie-Soo what happened. Does he feel (a bit) guilty? He left her to die, after all. I hope this does not become an issue between these two. Second, the flashbacks are intriguing. What happened between Safari and Baksa to make them enemies? Safari seems like a decent guy in the past. And they all seemed quite happy, in a sad, but sweet way.
JoAnne: Everyone's arriving for the big deal, but Baksa decides to leave. Safari notices and tries to run him over. Baksa then hijacks Tooth's car with Kim Eun Soo in it and gives chase. Hyung Min notices all the commotion as he arrives but he's focused elsewhere and it really doesn't register. Inside, Obnoxious Waiter is making moves to have a little fun with Jin Sook whether she wants to or not.
kakashi: Hyung Min = Neanderthal-Frankenstein-Dumb. No pic and no gif for him. That's how I punish KDrama actors. 
JoAnne: The cops expect to break up a big drug deal, but what they find is Jin Sook sitting on top of a shirtless Obnoxious Waiter and beating him bloody with her high heel. I start laughing when I see the multitude of tiny round wounds all over Obnoxious Waiter's face and torso. The detectives are all saying how this was too easy, and Hyung Min finally clicks on the fact that he saw Eun Soo in that car. Why isn't she still at the police station? Because Commissioner Kang had her released. Is that the Deputy Commissioner from earlier, or someone else?
kakashi: Yeah, it's the mean-guy from the police. I already hate him. The scene with Jin-sook and her heel-weapon was great. I hated when he started to rape her and she seemed so defenseless. 
JoAnne: Me too because right now we still like her.
kakashi: Yeah, we do. Good character. Have a gif, woman!
JoAnne: There's an unintentionally funny chase scene with Baksa and Safari, one in which the men express their deep displeasure by frowning heavily every time the cars pull up along side each other.
kakashi: Right?! This was quite hilarious. But I'm sure it wasn't intentional.

JoAnne: Eun Soo STABS OUR BABY SEVERAL TIMES. Baksa has this look on his face like 'What is THIS shit?' and grabs the knife away but then Kim Eun Soo just CLOCKS Baksa. They seem pretty evenly matched in tight quarters and he's not that big of a guy so I worry for a second. I shouldn't have, though. There's a moment of glorious reflection on his face when he gets out of the car and then he just calmly walks away. If you didn't see the massive amounts of blood covering his dress shirt, you'd never know anything was wrong with this guy. He is just THAT in control. Squee with me. You know you wanna.
kakashi: Bitch! Not uri Baksa!!! The fight in the car was lame on the one hand (because you really can't swing in a car, can you) - on the other hand, I thought it was quite good, because both worked really hard to get the other down/dead/more generally out of the way. Still, Baksa was a bit careless there. I do not understand how he did not think for one minute that this woman could be dangerous to him? 
JoAnne: I am once again surprised to discover that Nam Gyu Ri is in this, and watch as she is held up at gunpoint while working at her drugstore job. Baksa walks in, sizes up the situation cool as cucumber and figures out a way to disarm the robber, then finishes buying soju and what looks like a toothbrush, but that can't be right. She tries to help him when he almost collapses and he leaves her with the advice to never rush in from the side like that without permission. We all immediately look for permission slips, of course. Is she in love? I would be.
kakashi: Hm, I liked this scene. And I'm thinking at this point that I don't mind Nam Gyu-ri if she continues acting like this. Her character is alright. I am seriously creeped out by her eyes, but I guess I can get over that. If I try. 
JoAnne: Hyung Min arrives at the accident scene and yells at an unconscious Eun Soo to tell him where Kyung Mi is. He is big and sweaty and panicking and late on the scene and I am somehow just not as enthralled as I was before. What comes next doesn't help. Sit down, people. Prepare yourselves. A car is parked somewhere overlooking the city. Ok, so the equivalent of a rooftop, but for cars. Good. I've been missing the rooftops. Cutie-Soo is pacing anxiously outside. Inside. Inside... I can't even bring myself to say it my heart is racing so fast.
kakashi: Oh my gawd ...
JoAnne: A SHIRTLESS AND SWEATY Baksa is sewing up his wounds. It's both disturbing and intensely sexy. His skin is smoother than a baby's butt. He's not a big guy but he's got definition...and clearly a high pain threshold, plus he's cool-headed in a crisis, handy with a needle and thread and doesn't believe in spending money unnecessarily. Yet he likes fine things - witness the good suits and nice car. Not much of a drinker, either - that was just one bottle of soju he bought. And we know that he's loyal. If this were a gender-bender I'm the guy in love and this is the moment when I decide I don't care if he's another guy, I LUFF him and that's enough. I don't care that Baksa is a drug dealing gangster. I LUFF him, and if anyone tries to remind me that I came here for someone else, I will stare them dead in the face and deny it.
kakashi: You don't know me well, JoAnne. Learn something about me: I am a very generous woman. I forgive you your small misstep over Frankenstein's thighs. And I embrace you, sister, for coming to the dark side with me. If this is the devil, I want to have a villa in hell. 
JoAnne: I love you to pieces. And you too, Kakashi.
JoAnne: Seriously, this scene is a problem for me. If it weren't for the blood, the combination of smooth, sweat-glistened skin and heavy breathing would have me ALL kinds of turned on. Ok, the reason it's a problem is because even WITH the blood...sigh. Well, shit. He's making NOISES, too. This is just wrong. How am I supposed to NOT...I mean, come on. Oh Good Lord, what is this stuff? He pours some kind of powder on the wound and then sets himself on fire. I shit you not. What is this? Is it gunpowder? Maybe tea. I've heard both can be used as antiseptics, I think.  I need a drink.
kakashi: He is so incredibly sexy. I'm dead. Ever since I'm 13, I love it when men suffer. Oups ... tmi? But I mean in fiction, obviously!
JoAnne: Back on the move, Baksa's all calm and cool again but when he rubs his face with his blood-stained hand he catches sight of the bandaid Soo Min gave him. I think it's SpongeBob. Oh, good Lord. She saw all that blood, and handed him a big package - I assumed it was gauze pads or something. She gave him a little Sponge Bob bandaid? He kind of smiles, I think, maybe. Also, his shirt is new. I can't decide which I love more: Him calling Cutie-Soo for a pick-up 'cause he's been stabbed and saying to swing by the house and pick up a shirt, or Cutie-Soo doing it just because he knows hyungnim is gonna wanna look good.
kakashi: I am not fully okay with the OTP pairing beyond Cutie-Soo + Baksa (I kinda wish THAT were the OTP), but I am thinking it may work after all. The kind of smile here is so very cute ... and it makes him look even more vulnerable. And he tries to hide it from his friend, because I think it surprises him a lot, his own smile. 
JoAnne: I like this thing they do where you just see the feet entering the room. We get a nice long view of that and I giggle because I think about the F4 pimp walk and how Cutie-Soo and Baksa are so awesome that we can squee just watching their FEET. Take THAT, Lee Min Ho.
kakashi: Oh, I loved this. And Cutie-Soo's shoes. Me wants! 
 
JoAnne: Baksa seriously doesn't look like anything at all happened to him. They easily overpower the police guard outside Eun Soo's room and offer her a choice. Give up Safari, or die. Is she really that scared of them or is she still acting her part? What would be the point of that? Anyway, Hyung Min shows up late again and she's gone. Dude, seriously.
kakashi: (insert random swear word)

JoAnne: Back in the interrogation room with Obnoxious Waiter. I laugh again at his ridiculous wounds. Do Hoon has him at gun point demanding to know where Kyung Mi is, but OW calls his bluff. And then Hyung Min walks in. Hyung Min does not bluff. I sort of remember how hot he can be, and OW gives up Kyung Mi's location.
kakashi: Any people knowledgeable about gun wounds among our readers? Or where is Shukie? I just don't think you can shoot somebody in the leg at close range like that and that person hardly screams and doesn't bleed to death immediately.
Shuk: Based on what little we see of Munster's actions, I'm guessing he fired into the right lateral muscle groups. Picture a ham slice with a single bone in it. Most of the area is meat, and the major blood vessels normally lie along the inner side of the femur. Now think when you sit down and all those muscles relax and spread out.  Assuming it's a real gun with real bullets (not rubber ones), then he would just fire through the outer muscles of the thigh, which would be really really painful, but not necessarily lethal.  If the idiot was thinking, anyway.
JoAnne: We're someplace, I don't know where. Kyung Mi makes a foolish attempt to get away from Meth Kim and as she runs down the road the coolest thing happens. I mean, not for her of course. If this were West Side Story, it'd be Maria standing in the middle of the playground between the Jets and the Sharks just as they're about to throw down. (Side note: Totally for the Sharks)
kakashi: Totally like West Side Story. And I know about at least one Malaysian woman who takes issue with the lack of guns in this show. Hm. I don't mind at all, cause these kind of fistfights? Hot. And Baksa standing there, coolly watching? HOT. On another astral plane hot. And I don't mind that Cutie-Soo is already fighting like a champ again after being stabbed in the stomach. I seriously don't mind cause he's so hot when he beats up people.
Shuk:  I did enjoy her WTF head-whipping.

JoAnne: Kyung Mi looks very confused and not a little scared as the two groups rush each other. I love how Baksa and Kim stand there and observe the melee, but that only lasts for a minute: Kim runs like the wuss that he is. And of COURSE Kyung Mi is going to follow after. She's a cop, after all, and she's brave and stuff. Never mind that a lone male cop in that situation would also have been advised to stand down. Some one has to die, folks, and this is how it starts.
kakashi: Bleh, fine, good riddance. She is too stupid to live.
JoAnne: Oh look, the good guys are here now too - but actually, it must be a bit after because the cars are all gone and when the police enter the building there's a bunch of trussed up gangsters waiting for rescue. Cops are like, dudes, WTF? and keep going. Somewhere in the building, Kyung Mi is sneaking after a bunch of guys in suits in her extremely loud heels, and of course Meth Kim grabs her again. This is painful in the extreme because there's cops literally everywhere but here in this building, but who stumbles on them is actually Baksa.
kakashi: I would also like to stumble on Baksa. 

JoAnne: Kim fires off a shot which Baksa calmly dodges because he's awesome like that. We have some great accidental team work between Baksa and Kyung Mi and just as Baksa's about to beat Kim, stupid idiot Kyung Mi pulls a GUN on our boy and tells him to halt. He just saved you, Kyung Mi. What are you DOING? At least Hyung Min heard that shot a minute ago, so we know he'll arrive just too late to save you. Serves you right.
kakashi: Seriously. They are in the wrong building?! hahaha, awesome.
JoAnne: Baksa straightens up and looks at Kyung Mi while Kim scurries away out of the light like the cockroach that he is. She identifies herself and Baksa just...changes. In less than a microsecond, his whole body shifts and his face is a mask of disbelief and concern. Kyung Mi looks she can't believe her eyes, either. Shi Hyun Oppa? WTF? THEY KNOW EACH OTHER?
kakashi: WTF? THEY KNOW EACH OTHER??

Final Thoughts: 

JoAnne: This show. Seriously. Yes, we can laugh at Thighs, who actually is a smart guy but always shows up just too late. We can make fun of the gangsters and we can squee over pretty, but here's the thing. This show does not lack for the emotional grippingness or the ability to do something, every episode, that is just that much 'more' than what's out there in drama-land. Nothing is particularly original, or even original at all. These are stock characters and stock conflicts and stock locations and stock themes. And none of that matters, because how they bring it to us is exciting and great to look at and well acted, and Baksa is..well. He's the Gumihot of this show, and it's NOT just for the hair. Jung Kyung Ho is kicking ass and taking names - a real standout in a group of very capable and seasoned actors. I sincerely hope with all my heart that this show f***s with me in only acceptable, this is the kind of pain I WANT ways.
kakashi: This episode hooked me (and not only because I'm on my second Hugo right now) and I know I'm going to cry, cry, cry my eyes out over it. It is very, very dark and it does not hold back on the darkness. That said, the police-bits still annoy the living hell out of me and I do hope this is going to change soon. And I have another wish: Show, please do not make Baska die. Thank you.
Shuk: I second kakashi's analysis that the police in this are crappy.  I second JoAnne's wish to burn us only in good ways.  And I third both of them that nothing lethal happens to uri Baksa.