And down the deep, dark rabbit hole we go!
Umm, drama, I didn't really need to relive Omoni's death - once was enough, thank you! I can't help but blame KS - this is the logical conclusion of placing cause above family (in an inverse to KT who placed family above cause - I confess I find that position more sympathetic). If he spoke up earlier to his family, this could all have been averted (and I am not even talking about confessing to Jr).
Hmm, the helper's beard and mustache makes him look like a musketeer.
KS, stop making me cry :( It's interesting that he tells her he was going to tell KT he was normal so KT could quit working for the Japanese. That's new. But he was going to wait after he finished vengeance? Why on earth? Also, I find it interesting that he isn't just a pure-for-justice hero, a lot of it is for vengeance for his father for him.
How interesting, that moment when KS looks at the mask almost with loathing...because that is what led to this.
Oh God, Kang San's self-loathing awareness that he put his role above everything - breaks my heart. But it was to protect KT in part! OK, how about I just magically teleport the siblings to some tropical island far away from Korea? We can ship in Dan too...
God, Jr and flunkie's delight in the whole 'his Mom is dead, that is going to piss KT off' is making me sick. Also, they are stupid as hell - what do they think he is going to do to them once he finds out? And so is their cold-blooded plan to kill KS so as not to have witnesses. I hate them I hate them I hate them.
Rie is going down on my liking scale because hello - offing innocents to blacken Gaksital's reputation - beyond the pale, girl. Even if I do enjoy her bossing Chief around.
Love that KT is smart enough to realize the murders aren't done by Gaksital. Is he the only one with brains on the police force? No wonder they have such a dismal success rate.
Ugh, psycho, die! Jr is all 'after we killed his Mom and kill his brother, let's see if he is still loyal to the Empire.' Ummm, one word answer - no! He was only loyal for them. But even the most loyal person would still go a little nuts after all this. Jr really has **** for brains - do you really think it's a great idea to unleash someone as deadly, reckless and loose-cannon as KT and make him have nothing to lose and go for your blood?
Dammit, KT, why did you stop KS from offing Jr? If you only knew!
HOLY FUCK OMFG OMF OMFG OMFG KANG TO JUST SHOT KANG SAN UNKNOWING, TO PROTECT JR FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! It's official - Kang To should never be allowed near firearms ever, with his track record!
I both can't wait and dread to see the moment KT's trademark glib 'Bingo' is going to turn into horror once he finds out who Gaksital is.
Kang San takes off his mask and Kang To's utter breakdown is horrifying. And KS telling him he wanted to keep all the burden to himself (except that resulted KT in being a Japanese flunkie so not the greatest plan) and reaching for KT's face and OMFG HE DIED I AM NOT CRYING I AM NOT FUCK.
I had to pause for a bit there.
Also, any slim chance of KT emerging out of this alive has now gone down to zero. He's killed his own brother (even if unknowingly) - there is no happy ending for him ever. Also, we all knew KS was toast, but we all thought the Japanese would kill him and KT would go to avenge. But for KT to kill him! He wasn't the healthiest sanity-vise before and now we are heading straight into insanity-ville. And the bitter irony of him doing all this to protect his family only to end up destroying it. Also, it killed me that KS looked at his little brother with so much love, through to the end, even if he was dying because of him. Who knew that little breakfast in ep 4 was the last happy time Lee family was ever going to have?
When KT weeps "Mother" and I realize he doesn't know she is dead - oh God. This is officially the most depressing drama ever.
And then he sees her dead. I wouldn't be surprised if he just snapped and started gibbering.
When he keens over her, I want to die. I am impressed by how Joo Won throws himself into this role - this is the opposite of pretty crying. (Side note - I can see why they initially supposedly offered it to Jang Hyuk. This is more and more Chuno-like in its portrayal of the main character. Though I think it makes sense to have someone younger, i.e., Joo Won because the character is a lot more understandable and sympathetic this way).
Yelling at the corpse of your brother - not a benchmark of sanity.
KT realizes it was Jr (the man he shot KS to protect!) who killed his Mom. Uh-oh.
And now some Koreans burn KT's house down, seemingly not caring about any collateral damage. I hate everyone in this drama except Kang To, Dan, Musketeer Dude, and possibly (but not for long, it seems) Shunji. Also, does that mean KT now has not even a photo or a memento of his family? Oh, God.
KT goes berserk seeing the house, with his mother and brother inside, burning. This is now officially less chirpy than a funeral.
Awww, Shunji cooks, too! Realistically, he is 1000 better match than KT, even discounting KT's recent descent into insanity, but I am sorry, I am still KT/Dan 4evah.
Dan thinks Gaksital is 'young master.' Oh, honey. Not yet, but soon!
KT is at his family's graves - huh? Did they dig the corpses out of the ashes? That must have been gruesome.
It's interesting - by having KS die, and in such a manner, it's a great narrative choice because now KT cannot feel bitter about KS' deception, as he would otherwise (also, during the flashbacks, the line that got me was KS' "I missed you" to KT - because he never could interact with his little brother genuinely when he was pretending to be mentally deficient).
Awww, big chief is worried for KT!
Uh-oh, now Jr (who clearly feels no gratitude to KT for saving his worthless life) is in charge of Gaksital investigation and he's just showed up at the hospital and I am getting a baaaaad feeling about this as far as Dan is concerned.
Ahahahaha, Dan escaped! Hooray!
Dan is hardcore awesome. ILY, Dan!
Fuuuck, she got caught! I hate you, spy girl!
Jeez, this show sure loves its torturing and whipping. TPTB must moonlight in a BDSM club!
Jr is poking Dan in her wound. As if KT needed any more reasons to kill him.
And again, Shunji hurries on his bicycle. This will never be not funny.
KANG TO IS GAKSITAL!!!!!!! And he crashed the police station, which is bugfuck insane and I love it! And is now beating Jr to death with me cheering him on (how fitting that for KT it's not for liberation or great justice but for vengeance and love of family. He always did put that first. It makes his transformation into Gaksital make sense).
I think he just crushed Jr's throat!!!!! With his bare hands!!! Just in time for Shunji to see. The look on KT's face as he realizes one more thread to normalcy is gone forever. Hmm, I think this friendship is over. I bet Shunji is now going to join bad guys because awful though he was, Jr was Shunji's brother.
Yeah, Shunji goes after KT with a sword. I think it's official - they are not besties any more.
Ooooh, preview indicates that Kang To is police officer by day and Gaksital by night? EEEEE!
Loved this ep, even though there was no Dan/KT interaction.
This was an amazong ep, which reemphasized that there is no safety in that world - rebel hero, Japanese flunkie, innocent bystander - they are all fodder for cruel and capricious society and universe. If ep 3 was the nadir for how far KT had fallen, this is the nadir for him emotionally - the fact that he is still functioning is impressive. I think he is utterly broken now (how do you come back in any way from the events in 6? You cannot!), and seeing that he's always been reckless and his impetus for going on, his family, has been taken away, might make him a more effective Gaksital but also drastically reduces his chances of survival. It also looks like the earlier theories of Dan loving KT-as-Gaksital and hating him as himself is going to come true - the preview indicates that he stays in the forces as a cover. I loved that the reason for KT becoming Gaksital is not some improbable political conversion but deeply personal. That rings true for his character. In conclusion - Joo Won owned this episode. He is incredible. His grieving scenes, the way he switches his emotions on a dime, everything. What stuck with me is how utterly childlike KT looks when his shields are taken away.