Who Are You - Episode 5 (A SqueeCap)

Shuk:  We finally get another peek at our ghostly fiance, but the focus was more on the living in this episode.  And we finally get a tiny bit of understanding between our couple.



EPISODE FIVE

Shuk:  Shi-on disregards the figure and walks away.  The ghost of her fiancé looks back at her sadly. I guess he had hoped she would recognize him.
bcook: Has he been following her this whole time? And the only reason he's visible now is coz she touched the box? hmm

Shuk:  Gun-woo is finishing up in the Property Room when he gets good news from a phone call and bounds up the stairs, the mysterious puzzlebox left on top of a safe.
bcook: Run Gun-woo! Run!

Shuk:  A short time later he bumps into Detective Choi, who is all smiles as the younger officer hides a white envelope.  Gun-woo got a bonus for helping with the Prosecutor Park case.  Choi tries to wangle a drink, but Gun-woo plans to fete Team Leader Yang instead.
bcook: The little suck-up.

Shuk:  He announces a team dinner, on him.  She thinks he should just spend it on himself.  The other boys want to go though, and bodily force her to come with them. Beef and soju makes the world go ‘round and the team stick together.  Aja aja hwaiting!
bcook: The use of soju is strong in this show. I approve! *thumbs up*

Shuk:  Gun-woo tries a little wink-wink-nudge-nudge action, and eventually the boys get the idea and leave our two alone at the restaurant.  Now that both are pleasantly buzzed, Gun-woo dusts off his same question – how did you know about Yang  Yeon-hee? She owlishly stares at him and asks that if she told him the truth, would he believe her?  He says yes, he would believe anything from his team leader.
bcook: TC.....is not a very good drunk actor. Didn't he get the memo? You're not supposed to act drunk, you're supposed to act like you're trying act sober. *sigh*
Shuk:  She finally says it out loud:  I see dead people, for about 3 months.  His head flops down onto the table.  Oh man, did you just pass out?? Pabo.
bcook: I was totally distracted during this scene coz of the bad drunk acting...and he didn't even flop properly! If you look his arms are still proping him up. eeeish!

Shuk:  In the Property Room, our hottie ghost sees the puzzlebox. Upstairs, Sung-chan pops onto desk for a little Skype skinship with his “dancer” chippy.  She invites herself to the precinct, but he comes up  with an avoidance excuse.
bcook: They're so cute lying to each other. I hope they don't get forgotten in later episodes. I'd like to see what happens when they get caught.
Shuk:  In a taxi, our idiot young man is passed out on his team leader’s shoulder.  She drives him to his place (based on his driver’s license), and props him up against the door.  After repeated attempts to get the code, she finally tries his birthday.  Whaddaya know, right on the first try! Hee.
bcook: Shaking my head.
Shuk:  She drags him across his clearly-a-bachelor-pad house, dislodging several items. She knocks over a box of mementos, including a badly damaged cassette player and toddler pictures. When she touches them, her headache makes a brief appearance. The pictures are cute – are they Taec’s?  I look at the ears, but it’s hard to tell.
bcook: The shape of his head and his eyes give him away (his eyes are placed rather high on his head). He's the one on the toy bike. I'm guessing the other kid is connected to the cassette player and so is probably dead.

Shuk:  She props a pillow under his head, throws a blanket on top of him and leaves. Outside his apartment building she picks up another ghost, this time a smiling older man in a brown plaid shirt and a red carnation boutonniere.  At home, some of her memories of her injury night surface in nightmare form and wake her up. It looks like it won’t be long until she gets them all back.
bcook: That was very quick. Too quick I think. If she remembers all in episode 6, sees the fiance in episode 7 and he leads her to his killer in episode 8....

Shuk:  Our floor-sleeping hero finally awakens, and realizes he doesn't remember anything she said last night. Serves you right, lightweight.
bcook: How much did he drink? If she was matching him drink for drink he really is a lightweight. Not good for his beast idol image (yes yes, they are not the same person etc etc but not everybody knows that).

Shuk:  At work, he tries to bluff her, saying he got home with his strong homing instinct, but she just smiles and calls him out on his lie and his door code.  Team Leader 2, Barney 0.
bcook: Isn't it 3? Episode 1 "follow or be pushed", episode 2/3 "I'll give you your transfer" and now this?
Shuk:  He goes ahead and admits it, but wonders if she should be more cautious entering a man's home. He offers her breakfast, which surprises her, but he wants to continue their conversation from last night. She already answered his question, though, and isn't about to reopen that sensitive subject. At least, until the Happy Plaid shows up.  She yanks him close as the ghost puffs away where Gun-woo was standing.  Misinterpreting her movement, he's ready for her to whisper it in his ear. She pushes him away and they go to breakfast.
bcook: He's so oblivious. I mean...her eyes widened (but not enough for a shot) that's a sign that something weird is about to happen.
Shuk:  She's quiet as he finishes his hangover soup, and she asks him if anyone has a grudge against him or did he cause a death during his employment as a police officer.  Oh, so the ghost is actually there for Barney and not for her?  I guess he was in front of Detective Cha's house when it first started following her.
bcook: That guy is a little too happy to have a grudge against GW though. Oh! *claps hands* that's what the cassette player is all about.

Shuk:  She's ready to tell him everything again, when a persistent tapping catches her attention.  It's Happy Plaid at another table, rapping iambic pentameter with his knuckles.  She confirms that Gun-woo can't hear it or see the man in the corner, and her distraction causes him to give up and leave the table.
Shuk:  Our perky psychic shows up at the precinct as Gun-woo is heading in, taking what sounds like a typical mother check-in call: yes I have enough banchan, yes I will visit soon, and I can just picture this feisty ahjumma half his size.  Hee-bin asks for directions to Lost and Found, and he leads her to the office. Sung-chan recognizes her, and both boys duck under the desk.
bcook: Smooth boys. Really smooth.
Shuk:  She asks the location of Detective Cha Gun-woo, and he identifies himself. She insists he's wrong, until he flashes his credentials.  She looks around and sees an employee board with the team's photos.  Sung-chan FAIL.  He does the "Oh Crap" headroll behind his desk.  They finally pop out after she leaves, and Barney wonders what two grown men were doing under the desk.
bcook: hehehe. Busted! Though she can't be too angry, she lied too.

Shuk:  Shi-on is studiously ignoring Happy Plaid when she bumps into Hee-bin.  She asks the psychic if she sees anything weird, and she replies she definitely saw something she shouldn't have. Hee. Anyway, she asks her unni to keep what she does a secret from the other officers.

Shuk:  After promising, Shi-on asks Hee-bin a question.  If a ghost keeps making a noise repeatedly, is it trying to communicate. Also, do ghosts only show up out of negative feelings?  The psychic brightly asks her to make an appointment and pops up to leave.  In the precinct bathroom, she mumbles, was the officer trying to get a free consultation?  Leaving the bathroom, she bumps into the ghost of Lee Hyung-joon, recognizing the late officer for what he is.  He is surprised she can see him.
bcook: Must be something in the korean water.
Shuk:  She stares at him a moment, then stops him from trying to communicate.  She offers a business card, but realizes the silliness of that, and tells him to come find her later.  Sung-chan sees this exchange, but the corner of the wall figleafs Oppa, so he doesn't see who she was talking to. Hmm, is she going to be our ghost whisperer backup?
bcook: oh! She's a genuine psychic? I thought she was just playing. Iiinteresting. Is this going to be like Arang? So if Team Leader Yang is the magistrate, and GW is the guy that follows the magistrate around, then psychic ends up with GW?! I actually like the thought of that.

Shuk:  Gun-woo is pouring over Team Leader Yang's Curriculum vitae, when she walks in.  He quickly clears his screen.  Happy Plaid is there, too, and starts knuckling an arrhythmic beat.  He nods when she starts repeating it with her pen. Gun-woo recognizes it as his name in Morse Code; it's something his dad taught him.  Oh, so Happy Plaid is his father?
bcook: I wish I knew morse code. It seems like an interesting skill to have. It's half way through the show....and i'm not caring as much as I should.

Shuk:  Gun-woo drags Detective Choi outside to tell him his suspicions of Team Leader Yang; he's convinced she has a direct line "upstairs" (and he hilariously keeps pointing up) because of her knowledge.  Maybe she's undercover?
bcook: Another meta moment. GW doesn't know how close he is to the truth.

Shuk:  Shi-n looks at her worker's files, and confirms that the ghost is his father, dead since 2002. As Gun-woo enters the office, she makes a decision.  The arrival of Sung-chan stops the conversation, and the pair heads into the storage room.
bcook: bam chika... forget it.

Shuk:  He is all smiles, expecting a big revelation, but Shi-on quietly says she's seen his father.  He finds that puzzling since his father has been gone over a decade.  She finally says it out loud to a sober Gun-woo. "I see ghosts."  She fills in the ensuing silence by explaining she solved the two murders with the help of the victims.
Gun-woo excited...
Shuk:  Gun-woo's face grows hard, and it's clear he doesn't believe her. Her valedictorian mind might be willing to use facts about his father to hide her intelligence network, but she had better not ever bring up his father again.  Ouch, that's more than just a touchy subject there.
...Gun-woo angry.
Shuk:  His father is waiting for Shi-on when she leaves the building, and it's another round of Follow-The-Ghost.  She probably ought to get roller-skates to speed the process up.
bcook: Or a car....why isn't she driving again? I guess it'll be harder to follow a ghost when you have to pay attention to traffic lights and stuff.

Shuk:  We get a flashback from Gun-woo as he drives home.  His father suffered a brain injury while working on a boat, and was reduced to passing out fliers.  One day, Gun-woo saw him outside his school where the kids were bullying 'the retard'.  Four to one odds, and he pummels them all, but when he gets home, his frustration bubbles over and he starts yelling at his dad.  The carnation was from Parent's Day, which his father refused to remove off his shirt, and Gun-woo rips it off and throws it down.  Erp, and his dad is wearing his deathclothes.
bcook: poor kid. Perfectly understandable his feelings of guilt. That had to suck for both of them.

Shuk:  Ghost Dad brings Shi-on to a recycling electronics store, and we suddenly see that someone is taking surveillance photos of her.  They drive off in a gray sedan, and we find out that Dead Boyfriend was tailing the coverts who were tailing the overt who was tailing the ghost.
bcook: duh duh. Why they following her? Coz they're waiting for her memory to comeback. Finally! Signs of a big conspiracy that'll help drive the story past episode 10.
Shuk:  At her home, she goes about her domestic chores, while Happy Dad keeps tap tap tapping on her table top.  Nevermore!!  He doesn't enter her bedroom but taps all night long.  The next morning a clearly exhausted Shi-on gets led to Detective Grumpypant's apartment, where Dad happily points out the damaged cassette player that she previous saw.  She pockets it just as he arrives. He is understandably angry that she has invaded his privacy, and brushes off her explanation that his dad led her there.
bcook: Jeesh! All that tapping. I haven't had to take a shot yet this episode. I think i'll take one for the annoying ghost.

Shuk:  The cassette player is broken, so she finds a working one at the office, and listens to the cassette that was inside the old one.  Gun-woo is at his desk, moodily looking at his computer, when the old detective stops by.  He offers to buy the younger man a birthday meal - ah, so there's another reason for the grumpiness.  He drags him out of the office, but they bump into Shi-on in the hallway. She asks for five minutes of his time, and Detective Choi heads off to the restaurant without him.
bcook: Why didn't he tell somebody it was his birthday? I always advertise, you never know when somebody'll buy you a free drink.
Shuk:  Without preamble, she hands him a cassette player and tells him to listen. He don't wanna, but she gives him the stinger: the broken player was a birthday present from his dad.  On the day of his birthday.  Oh, no, writer-nim, you just did NOT make them both lose parents on important milestones. Couldn't you pick a different trope out of that lampshade? Well besides amnesia since you are still using that one.
bcook: Cancer? Long-lost brother? It's already campy-ish right now. More fiancee please!!!! TC is loosing his looks.
Shuk:  Gun-woo snatches the broken one out of her hand and heads for the stairs, and she gives him stinger #2 - the cassette inside.  He sits back down and listens to his father as the story unwinds; his father bought the player with his paycheck that day, and was recording a birthday message when he walked into a Truck of Doom. Lying there, broken on the pavement, he kept repeating the same sentence. "It's okay.  It's okay."  All of this captured on celluloid.
bcook: oh man! poor GW. :(  I don't wanna snark coz it's such a sad moment but erm, TC...TC missed the 'advanced emoting' class.
Shuk:  He takes the earpieces out and tells her she must be lying about his father. She sits and looks him in the eye and describes his appearance, specifically the red carnation. He clutches the player to his chest and starts bawling. After his crying jag was over, he talked about how hard it was to have a memorial day and a birthday at the same time. She tells him his dad's purpose in finding her was to help him let go of the guilt from that day.
Shuk:  She starts talking about her 'gift' and the feeling of being drawn to something.  Suddenly the lights flicker out, then on, and Dead Boyfriend is on the top of the stairs.
bcook: bum bum! Finally! She can see him! *Mixes up a screwdriver* time to celebrate!
Imagine the head of your choice
FINAL THOUGHTS

Still not enough Jae-wook to make me happy, and we are already a quarter of the way through the series.  However, we do have some plot development: Cha Gun-woo is now a believer of the ghostly skills of his team mate, and Shi-on continues expanding her knowledge of the motivations of these spirits.  It's a snails pace from my recent squeecapped show, and I'm feeling a little antsy with the need to get to the heart of the story, which, by the way, is not the tender moments but the guts of what happened six years ago.
bcook: Amen! I'm in agreement. It would be ok if the ghost stories were interesting but I'm not invested in them so what I was really doing was waiting for Jae-wook to show up.  Now that he's here (and hopefully can talk) maybe the pace'll pic up? What other shows has Jae-wook been in? Maybe I can get my fix then.
Shuk:  Bad Guy.  He was surprisingly good in an incredibly bad show.