There’s a lot going on in this episode. The good news is Jung-woo prevents Oh Kyung-min’s murder. Recounting how will be one of my yeses, because his plan is brilliant. The bad news is Jae-woong and Jamie meet again, and it’s not exactly a happy family reunion. Jae-woong is really giving me spoiled youngest sibling vibes, while Jamie lives up to the confused/messed up middle child stereotype. Last is Jung-woo trying to shoulder everything alone as the “responsible” oldest sibling. It’s pretty funny to think of them in those terms.
We’re also shown more details about how the sibling beef began the night they escaped White Night.
What we learned this episode
- Jae-woong used the notice of Oh Kyung-min’s murder to distract Jung-woo and every body else, so he could go after Jamie.
- The pills Oh Jung-hwan take keep him young, and they are no doubt made with Jung-woo’s formula. Once Jung-hwan swallowed them, the wrinkled, pock-marked skin on the back of his neck smoothed. (This is probably what Jo Hyun-hee and some of the other foundation members are taking).
- Jung-woo’s infamous black glasses are essentially VR goggles.
- The night of the tragedy, Jung-woo did tell Jae-woong to wait, and that he’d come back for him. But something obviously prevented him from keeping his word.
Yes to Jung-woo’s plan to save Oh Kyung-min
Having Ji-wan dress like him to stop Kyung-min from hanging himself is killing two birds with one stone. Jung-woo’s able to prevent the forewarned murder, avoid being caught by Son Min-ho, and race to the island to protect Jamie from Jae-woong. In this situation, he doesn’t try to handle everything alone and it pays off.
On the other hand, the fact that Jae-woong lies to Jang Yong-sik about his whereabouts means he knows Yong-sik is out to betray him.
Yes to Jung-woo’s…virtual reality goggles?
I don’t even know what to classify them as. Are they hi-tech VR goggles or a new invention the drama will explain later? Whatever the case may be, as soon as Hye-won puts the glasses on, she sees pictures of all the major players in the White Night Foundation and the people closest to them. This includes the forewarned murder victims, and her and her dad.
The next thing Hye-won does is open up a virtual drawer, and sees more files breaking down the members’ familial relationships. That’s when we find out Ji-wan is Dr. Lee Byung-sun’s illegitimate son, therefore making him Lee Tae-soo’s half brother! What a bomb to drop on the audience. Does Ji-wan already know? It doesn’t seem like it from the way he acted in episode 10. Maybe he’ll find out soon.
Yes to finding out more info about what happened the night Jung-woo and the gang escaped White Night
I’m glad the timeline is getting clearer and clearer. When Jae-woong forces one of his yellow pills down Jamie’s throat, it makes her recall a young Jung-woo cooking some kind of veggie soup in White Night’s kitchen. She and Jae-woong watch. He takes them into another room and tells them to wait while he finds someone who can row a boat. By that point all the adults are running around killing themselves, so it’s dangerous. Instead of listening, Jamie leaves the room with Jae-woong and wanders into another one to find Jang Yong-sik having a meltdown in front of Jung-woo. This is when Jung-woo claims he’s responsible for the mayhem and shows off his “powers”.
Something about all of this feels off. Jamie’s expression is strange when she leads Jae-woong out of the safety of the room. It makes me suspicious, and it makes me wonder why she didn’t listen to Jung-woo?
No to Oh Kyung-min making it out of his room to go and hang himself
How did a delirious teenager make it out of the house with all that security? Jung-woo even spotted the military guarding it in the previous episode. I know Jung-hwan’s wife told him Kyung-min was doing better, but unless I missed him sending most of the security guards and military away, it makes no sense that Kyung-min would be able to leave the house undetected.
It’s a small detail, but it is kind of pertinent to the plot, because without Kyung-min leaving the house to hang himself, a whole bunch of other stuff wouldn’t have happened. I guess the drama just needed us to suspend our disbelief, so I won’t dissect it too much.
This episode had me on the edge of my seat. Especially the second half! I’m looking forward to finding out what prevented Jung-woo from keeping his word and going back for Jae-woong when they were little, and what’s in the drawer Hye-won couldn’t open when she had Jung-woo’s glasses on.
Adri,
Thanks for the review again.
I think this was an excellent episode, not only move the story forward, revealing more on what happened at the Village, but also a lot of character development.
I am puzzled with the location of the village. Jamie took a bus to town and took a couple days to get on a boat to the island. Yet, Jae-woong, Jung-woo seem to be able to get there in no time.
I was puzzled by Hye-won has a gun with her. Wouldn’t she return her weapon since she resigned? I assume that’s not her gun but it’s Ji-wan’s and he didn’t have a gun the whole fight scene.
Doe anyone guess who the mysterious leader of White Light Foundation is? Do you think we have seen the person (hidden in plain sight)? Or it is someone that has yet shown the face? I don’t think the old man and old lady at the research lab are the leaders. What do you think?
Author
I also assumed it was Ji-wan’s gun. Either that or she didn’t return hers yet? There are lax police stations who may not follow all the rules, and this one is pretty corrupt (and there’s a lot going on) so they may not have realized Hye-won hadn’t returned her gun.
I’m starting to think Oh Jung-hwan is leading White Night, because the president is the older guy in bed at the lab (Yoo Kwon). But he doesn’t want to tell the rest of the foundation members. If the drama wants to hit us with another twist, maybe everything was Jo Hyun-hee’s idea.
I’m still hung up on the fact that Lee Byung-sun is Ji-wan’s dad. It makes sense since Jung-woo is “using” the foundation’s family members, but I hope the drama won’t introduce that plot point and completely glaze over it.
The easy explanation is Hye-won still keeping her gun. But she returned her badge. If it’s someone else, I would be OK if she is temporarily keeping her gun but she has shown to be someone who tries to right the wrong. I have to go with the assumption that’s Ji-wan’s gun. 🙂 I agree that’s corrupt and poorly guarded police station. reporter Lee can go in and out as he wants and Hye-won is doing that, too. That’s why I am not sure if she decided to go back to be a police officer or just sneaks in.
Jo Hyun-hee could definitely a suspect. I don’t know if there has been a scene Oh Jung-hwan and her together at this point. I would love to see if their interaction would give us a hint.
I must have missed the story about Lee Byung-sun. I saw him the first time in the video when he killed himself in his own office.
Author
“I agree that’s corrupt and poorly guarded police station. reporter Lee can go in and out as he wants and Hye-won is doing that, too.” That’s true! They treat the police station like it’s their friend’s house hahaha.
Lee Byung-sun was part of White Night, and the director of Seoul Hangang Hospital. He also funds the foster homes White Night gets the kids from. Lee Tae-soo (the guy that jumped off his office building) was his son. It’s shocking to think Ji-wan is related to them. This whole time the drama didn’t tell us much about his background. It doesn’t seem like he knows Lee Byung-sun was his father or Lee Tae-soo was his brother, so it’d be weird if the drama doesn’t explain that.
Lee Byung-sun doesn’t have good genes pass to his sons. Tai-soo was a party animal and Ji-wan’s brain has been shown 2-step slower than everyone else. LOL
The drama is heading to its climax and will be wrapping up soon. I doubt there is any back story they planted in Ji-wan.
Author
At least Ji-wan is a good person hahaha. And he did help the team figure a few things out. I just think it’s weird to mention such a dark family dynamic for a character, and then not return to it. Especially if the character himself doesn’t know about the family. So far Awaken has had tight writing, so I think they’ll mention it again, but not delve too deep into it since the show’s about to end.
I don’t want to be a spoiler. but I feel sad for Jamie and Jung woo after I watch ep 13, (am I the only one here?✋) As I watch the entire episode of the series i feel the natural chemistry between them and we can’t deny it either. I hope they do another drama together. 😊❤️🙏 Thanks for your reviews that related to kdrama just keep it up. 👍 actually I am looking for this discussion/thread to express my feelings and thoughts about kdramas. 🤭🤗
Author
I know exactly how you feel, and I talk about that in the episode 13 review. It’ll be posted today, so we can discuss it further there. I hope Namgoong Min and Lee Chung-ah do another drama together too!
Daebak. 🙂
I think Jung woo should not overuse his power so that his life is not at risk.
NGM usually portrays serious characters (in most dramas I watched with him as main lead) so the other leads and supporting usually have to be on the same performance level as NGM to perform the story well.
Yes I’m with you and hoping for another drama with both of them. Cant let their chemistry go to waste. I ship them so bad.