The Guest: Episode 9

by odilettante

It seems like every week I say that each episode is the scariest episode yet, but… this is the scariest episode yet (no, really!). Saving innocent souls means paying a painful price. The powers of darkness put up a difficult fight, especially when one’s “inner demons” of guilt and grief are just as destructive as the demons controlled by Park Il-do.

 
EPISODE 9 RECAP

In a creepy montage of CCTV footage, Seo-yoon is seen in the elevator of her apartment building, facing the wall — but the reflection in the elevator mirror shows her turning around and exiting. She walks alone in the neighborhood, street lights turning off when she passes. Now possessed by all the spirits she allowed into her home, Seo-yoon grins in the darkness.

The trio arrive at Seo-yoon’s apartment, but of course it’s too late. Convinced Seo-yoon is already possessed, they search the neighborhood. Yoon asks who Seo-yoon hated most, since that’s most likely where she’s headed. Hye-kyung insists there’s no reason for her daughter to be possessed, but she’s shocked when the trio informs her that her husband was possessed.

Hye-kyung begins to sob, blaming herself for everything that’s happened. She reveals that Seo-yoon told her two months ago about seeing the people with knives. Hye-kyung had dismissed it then, but now realizes that Seo-yoon killed her father because she could only see the scary spirits possessing him.

As they head outside to watch for Seo-yoon’s return, Kil-young starts to call the police to let them know Seo-yoon was the one who killed her father, but Hwa-pyung snatches the phone from her. He argues that the girl is innocent because she didn’t know what she was doing, and that to make her take the blame for her father’s death will destroy her.

Kil-young points out that Seo-yoon killed her father — a crime is still a crime. Hwa-pyung passionately insists that even though Seo-yoon didn’t know who he was when she thought she was killing a spirit, she knows now, and living with the pain of that knowledge is punishment enough.

But Kil-young’s fed up with Hwa-pyung and walks away, warning him that she’s still a detective and can’t keep turning a blind eye when a crime is committed just because Hwa-pyung asks her to.

Yoon, who’s been watching the other two argue, hurries after Kil-young. She’s still angry, pointing out that she doesn’t want to arrest Seo-yoon, but she still has to follow the law. However, Yoon tells her about Hwa-pyung’s childhood possession, gently suggesting that Seo-yoon reminds Hwa-pyung of himself when he was a child and was blamed for his mother and grandmother’s deaths.

Kil-young doesn’t call the police. Instead, the trio keep an eye on the building’s entrances. Seo-yoon calls her mother, and then Hye-kyung calls the trio, telling them to hurry upstairs. They do so, but Grandma answers the door in surprise, since Hye-kyung said she was going out to meet them.

They quickly realize that Hye-kyung has fallen for Seo-yoon’s tricks to get her away from the trio. They drive around the neighborhood, fruitlessly searching for the woman. Kil-young insists they call the police, since the three of them will never find Hye-kyung in time.

Hwa-pyung protests, but before he and Kil-young can start arguing again, Yoon reassures Hwa-pyung he won’t let Seo-yoon go through what Hwa-pyung did. The two guys start searching the neighborhood on foot as Kil-young continues in the car.

Yoon runs through all the streets and alleys, and then sees Hwa-pyung standing in the middle of the road. Hwa-pyung’s lost in a trance, connected to Seo-yoon, who stands on the rooftop of a building. She watches her mother run around on the street below, desperately calling Seo-yoon’s name.

Seo-yoon picks up a brick and drops it on her mother, knocking her down. Hwa-pyung comes out of his trance and, after telling Yoon what he saw, the trio race to find Hye-kyung. She’s lying unconscious on the street — but still alive!

Staying with the injured woman until the paramedics arrive, Kil-young orders the two men to keep searching for Seo-yoon. Hwa-pyung is dazed, though, as he remembers when, as a child, he saw his mother’s body floating in the ocean. Recognizing the look on Hwa-pyung’s face, Yoon says that he’ll search for Seo-yoon alone and hurries away.

Kil-young orders Hwa-pyung to go with Yoon. Shaking himself out of his reverie, Hwa-pyung runs to the rooftop he saw in his vision. There’s no one there.

Inside, Yoon cautiously walks through the hallways of the abandoned building. The door creaks ominously as he slowly enters a room. As he carefully continues forward, Seo-yoon emerges from the shadows. In her possessed voice, she laughs and says she knew he’d come.

Yoon calls Hwa-pyung, letting him know he’s found Seo-yoon and that he’s in the basement of the building. Just then, the door slams shut. Yoon tries to open it, but the spirits have locked him in.

Hwa-pyung runs down to the basement and pounds on the door, unable to open it with force. Kil-young also joins him (after making sure the paramedics came for Hye-kyung) and they throw themselves against the door, calling out Yoon’s name, but the spirits have locked it tight.

Resigning himself to what he must do, Yoon prepares an impromptu exorcism by tying Seo-yoon’s hands with his crucifix-embroidered handkerchief, apologizing to the girl that it might hurt. Using his rosary as another crucifix, he begins to pray as he places his hand on Seo-yoon’s head.

Seo-yoon writhes and cries for her mother as Yoon prays, ordering the spirits to leave her. She coughs until she passes out, and Yoon catches her. Her eyes open, and, still possessed, she asks him about the people she sees standing behind him.

It’s his parents, covered in blood — along with his brother, Priest Choi. Yoon’s totally shaken as Seo-yoon continues, in her sweet child voice, to tell him that they all resent him for surviving. Suddenly Seo-yoon screams out in her demon voice that he betrayed them all.

Startled, Yoon backs up, dropping his rosary. He slowly bends down to pick it up, studying the crucifix, but as he stands back up, there’s a scary look in his eye.

Kil-young continues to pound on the door, but Hwa-pyung stops, lost in a vision. He sees all the spirits slowly surround Yoon.

Seo-yoon tells Yoon that he’s no longer an exorcist priest and will be kicked out for breaking his vows, thereby losing the protection of his faith. He’ll also die soon, just like his brother did. Seo-yoon warns him that, starting today and continuing every night from now on, it’ll feel like he’s being brutally stabbed.

Seo-yoon continues to explain that the second time he meets the spirits, he’ll get stab wounds all over him, and his flesh, blood, and soul will rot. The third time they meet, he’ll die.

Meanwhile, Hwa-pyung’s trance shows Yoon being surrounded and attacked by all the spirits as they repeatedly use their knives to stab him. Just then, the door opens, and Yoon emerges, only to immediately collapse as the door locks shut after him.

Unconscious, Yoon is rushed to the hospital. Kil-young waits while Yoon is in the ER. Hwa-pyung, still in the basement to keep an eye on Seo-yoon, blames himself for whatever has befallen Yoon. After all, he was the one who kept pushing Yoon into this mess despite all of Yoon’s reservations and desire to follow protocol.

A knock on the basement door gets his attention, and Seo-yoon whispers that Yoon, Hye-kyung, and Seo-yoon will die soon because of Hwa-pyung. In fact, everyone around Hwa-pyung will die.

Hwa-pyung calls Yook Kwang, begging for help. Yook Kwang hurries to the hospital and finds Kil-young waiting outside the ER. He can’t exactly perform an exorcism in the hospital, so a worried Yook Kwang joins Kil-young in the waiting area.

Yoon wakes up in a hospital bed. He seems a little bewildered by his surroundings, then looks down at his hands, which are covered in blood. He unbuttons his shirt to reveal gashes all over his chest. Gasping in pain as blood pours from his chest, he stares at his bloody hands.

But it’s only a dream (or a terrible nightmare), and Yoon actually wakes up in a panic, clutching his non-bloody chest that shows no sign of being wounded. Kil-young and Yook Kwang rush into the room, explaining that he fainted. But Yoon can’t remember what happened and worriedly asks about Seo-yoon.

Kil-young reassures him that Hwa-pyung is keeping an eye on her and orders Yoon to stay put until he feels better. Despite looking like he’s in excruciating pain, Yoon insists that he has to go or else Hwa-pyung and Seo-yoon will be in danger.

In the basement, Hwa-pyung patiently sits outside the door, which suddenly opens. Seo-yoon whispers that Yoon and Hye-kyung just died, and Hwa-pyung starts to walk to the door — but Kil-young grabs him by the shoulder, narrowly keeping him from falling into the spirits’ trap.

Yook Kwang is also there, helping to prop up Yoon. Hwa-pyung is furious that they’ve brought Yoon back to the basement, but Yoon insisted. Despite looking shaky on his feet, Yoon says that he’ll perform the exorcism. If they don’t do something now, Seo-yoon might die.

However, the spirits are too powerful, and he asks for Hwa-pyung’s help. Remembering that killing the hidden crow in Young-soo’s house took away the spirit’s power, Hwa-pyung and Yook Kwang search Seo-yoon’s father’s car for a similar hidden item.

Hwa-pyung finds a huge knife under the seat, and Hwa-pyung wraps it up in paper, spiritually sealing it with one of his shaman rituals. As soon as he does, the basement door creaks open.

Kil-young and Yoon enter the room, and Seo-yoon, in a terrified voice, says that Hwa-pyung has found the item. Without hesitation, Yoon runs to her and once again binds her hands with his handkerchief — but this time there’s no apology. The spirits inside her scream in agony and rage.

As best she can with a gag in mouth, Seo-yoon yells at the top of lungs while Yoon and Kil-young forcibly carry her to the hospital. One of the nurses stops them, suspicious about the jacket-covered child kicking and screaming, but Kil-young flashes her badge and says it’s police business.

Since Seo-yoon was possessed when she thought her mother hated her, they need to show her that her mother still loves her, which is why they’ve brought her to her mother’s hospital room. Kil-young worries if Yoon can do the exorcism, and when Seo-yoon turns her gaze to him, he suddenly clutches his chest and kneels in pain.

Even so, he prepares for the exorcism, this time complete with the proper holy items. But he looks awfully shaky as he puts on his stole and dabs at the vial of holy water. He officially begins the exorcism, fighting against his own pain to pray over Seo-yoon.

In an abandoned area, Hwa-pyung starts to pound the possessed knife with a sledgehammer. With each swing of the hammer against the knife, Seo-yoon coughs as though she can’t breathe. Kil-young looks distressed as she watches the girl struggle.

Realizing that Hwa-pyung can’t break the knife, Yook Kwang pushes him aside and, with a shaman prayer for the evil spirit to leave, he swings the hammer — and the knife breaks!

The moment the knife breaks, Seo-yoon vomits salt water. Kil-young tries to run interference with the concerned nurses, who are worried about the screaming girl, so that Yoon can finish the exorcism. Yoon tells Seo-yoon to look at her mother who risked her life to try and save her.

Hye-kyung wakes up and sees Seo-yoon. She weakly calls out her daughter’s name, and Seo-yoon’s screams turn to sobs as Yoon finishes his prayer. The hospital lights flicker and go out.

Kil-young is joined by Hwa-pyung and Yook Kwang, who want to know if destroying the knife worked. They enter the hospital room, where mother and child cling to each other, sobbing as they each take the blame for what happened. Yoon sits in a chair, sweaty and exhausted. The lights turn back on.

In the morning, Kil-young drives the boys home. Well, she drives Yoon home while Hwa-pyung sleeps in the passenger seat. She’s worried about Yoon and says he should have the hospital make sure he’s really okay, but Yoon insists he’s fine and tells her to let Hwa-pyung sleep since it must have been a long, tiring day for him.

Hwa-pyung wakes up when she gets back in the car, though. He’s surprised that Yoon’s already gone, and sighs that he didn’t have a chance to apologize for making him go through the exorcism. However, Kil-young gruffly apologizes to Hwa-pyung, explaining she heard about what happened to him when he was a kid.

Hwa-pyung grumbles that Yoon’s got a big mouth, and Kil-young continues to apologize for all the cruel things she said to him during the other cases. When Hwa-pyung says it’s weird to have her say such nice things, Kil-young growls at him to just forget she said anything.

Yoon and Hwa-pyung once again visit Seo-yoon to see how she’s doing. She says she can no longer see the spirits, and Yoon decides that she’s fine now. He asks if she still hates her mother, and Seo-yoon quietly says that she feels sorry for being responsible for everything that happened.

Hwa-pyung gently tells her that she has nothing to feel sorry for, since it wasn’t her fault. Seo-yoon points out that if she were a normal kid, then none of this would have happened. Hwa-pyung reminds her that he used to be just like her, and that his family passed away while he was possessed by the same spirit that possessed her father.

At the mention of Park Il-do, Seo-yoon says he’s scary and only has one eye. Hwa-pyung and Yoon look at each other in surprise and eagerly lean in as they ask if Seo-yoon has seen Park Il-do.

Seo-yoon says she can’t really remember, since she only saw him once, back when her father went to visit him. She had fallen asleep in the car and woke up to get a glimpse of her father in a small tunnel, standing before Park Il-do. But the brief glimpse was enough to make the girl hide in fear.

The guys are stunned to realize that someone’s actually seen Park Il-do, and Hwa-pyung suggests they take her to meet Hong-joo, since she can confirm if Hong-joo is really possessed by Park Il-do. Yoon protests, pointing out it would be too much for Seo-yoon who’s gone through so much and is still in shock.

But Seo-yoon, overhearing them, offers to do it. Hwa-pyung, properly chastised by Yoon, says she doesn’t need to. Seo-yoon insists, though, since she wants to help them catch the spirit who possessed her father. As they wait at the church for Hong-joo, Yoon tells Seo-yoon that she can still back out. But Seo-yoon is determined.

Hong-joo arrives and pleasantly greets Yoon, then asks about the girl who hides behind him. As Seo-yoon clings to Yoon, she stares in terror at Hong-joo. Later, Seo-yoon tells him that she didn’t see Park Il-do, but there was a high school student with a bloody head following Hong-joo.

Hwa-pyung’s disappointed that Hong-joo isn’t possessed by Park Il-do and instead is only being followed by Hyun-joo’s spirit. The trio are still convinced Hong-joo must be connected to Park Il-do in some way.

Late at night, Hong-joo arrives at a long tunnel. A crow falls dead at her feet, but she cautiously continues walking. She sees something at the end of the tunnel and runs towards it. The lights flicker as a figure emerges, and Hong-joo beatifically smiles as Park Il-do reveals himself.

She tells him that she wanted to thank him in person for all he’s done for her, but that there’s still something bothering her — namely, that pesky trio.

Hwa-pyung asks Yook Kwang to perform an exorcism on Seo-yoon to remove her ability to see spirits. Even though an exorcism means Seo-yoon won’t be able to help them track down Park Il-do, she’ll at least have the chance to live a normal life — something Hwa-pyung never got to experience.

Later, Kil-young tells him that Seo-yoon will be indicted in her father’s death. She asks if Hwa-pyung is disappointed, but he just shrugs and says the police have to do what they have to do. She reassures him that Seo-yoon will get over it eventually, but he tells her no one can overcome that kind of thing, no matter how much time passes.

Alone in his room, Yoon falls to the floor in agony, as his body once again feels like he’s being stabbed. A knock on the door causes him to stagger to his feet. Hwa-pyung grumbles that Yoon took too long to answer, then says he looks terrible. Yoon says he just has a cold.

Hwa-pyung tries shoving a talisman into Yoon’s pocket, and the two men wrestle over it as Yoon points out that he’s a Catholic priest and Hwa-pyung is trying to make him wear a shaman’s talisman. Hwa-pyung retorts that Yoon was attacked by spirits, and he was only trying to help.

He then grumpily adds that he feels guilty since Yoon got hurt because Hwa-pyung kept insisting Yoon perform the exorcism.

Yoon says he didn’t do the exorcism just for Hwa-pyung, then gulps down the beer Hwa-pyung offers him. At Hwa-pyung’s surprise (since he knows Yoon as a teetotal priest), Yoon explains that he was thirsty. Uh-oh, that’s not a good sign.

Hwa-pyung informs him that Seo-yoon will no longer see spirits, saying it’s better to help her than use her to track down Park Il-do. After all, he knows how difficult it is to live as a child psychic. Then he confesses he used her ability one last time to see if his family was around him, but she told him that she couldn’t see anything.

He laughs to himself, since he used to apologize to his mother and grandmother’s spirits all the time. Hwa-pyung wonders if they’ve kept away from him, or if Seo-yoon just couldn’t see anything because he was once possessed, too.

Hwa-pyung starts to bring up the real reason he’s there, but Yoon’s one step ahead of them, already assuming it’s about his brother, Priest Choi.

He shows Yoon the belongings that were found with Priest Choi’s body, and Hwa-pyung’s eyes widen in surprise when he sees a ring. He shows Yoon a photo of his mother on his cell phone and zooms in to show her wedding ring…then demands to know why the ring was in Priest Choi’s possession.

Elsewhere, a man in dirty, tattered clothes limps down an alleyway. He stops when he hears someone following him and clutches a knife that’s hidden in his jacket. But it’s just a drunk businessman, and the tattered man lets the drunk man stagger away without harm.

The tattered man slips into a run-down inn and sneaks into his room, making sure no one is following him. He locks the door and begins to light candles, revealing every inch of his small room is covered in various religious paraphernalia.

He kneels to pray, but the only discernible words are “Park Il-do.” A photo on the man’s table is of Hwa-pyung as a boy with the rest of his family — but Hwa-pyung’s face is ripped out.

 
COMMENTS

Ooooh, this was such a hard episode to watch, especially if you’re a horror wimp like I am. The beginning with the CCTV of Seo-yoon acting spooky was enough to make me want to hide under my blankets, but I was definitely not ready to come face-to-face with Park Il-do. I knew having a possessed little girl would be disturbing, and I was right, but as horrifying as it was, I have to admit that the whole scene where Yoon went into the basement was just beautifully filmed. I loved that the music was stripped out so we were left with only our impending dread of what would happen based on Yoon’s footsteps (and that creaking door! Gah! It’s a horror staple, but it’s so effective!). The lighting, the staging, the editing — all of it was gorgeous, and felt like a love-letter to more suspenseful horror than the gore-fest from the first episode.

Actually, I think the basement scene, as terrifying as it was, was perhaps my favorite scene (well, second favorite, after Yoon and Hwa-pyung wrestling over the talisman). I have so much respect for such a young actress to be able to skillfully portray the various emotions of a possessed person, since that’s a dynamic range that even some adult actors can’t always achieve. I actually have a lot of respect for all the guest actors who’ve had to portray being possessed, because I don’t think I’ve once thought, ‘Oh, this person looks ridiculous as they pretend to have a half-dozen spirits inhabiting them!” Of course, I know they’re pretending, but they’re so good at expressing the possession that I’m completely caught up in the story (and worried about what will come next). As much as I focus on the trio, I love that even the minor supporting cast is so skilled and talented — they’re genuinely a major reason why this show is so chilling.

But, of course, I do love the trio, and now that they’re working together, I’m happy we get to focus more on the cases and less on the “I’m going to do this alone because no one else should handle the burden” nonsense. Now there’s no question that they’re a team, so there’s less time spent bickering (well, less than usual) and more time spent getting stuff done. I especially love that the Hwa-pyung/Yoon bromance keeps growing stronger, and that part of their motivation for what they do and the dangers they put themselves in (whether they would actually admit it) is out of the desire to protect each other.

However, the real MVP of this episode is Yook Kwang. As much grief he gives Hwa-pyung, the fact he’d drop whatever he was doing to run to help, even knowing the dangerous spirits Hwa-pyung is dealing with, says a lot about Yook Kwang’s loyalty. Despite being fully aware that this could ultimately kill him (as he’s seen twice in his visions), he was the one who took charge with the possessed knife. This presumably means he’s now on Park Il-do’s radar, since I’m sure an evil spirit doesn’t forget when someone interferes with his ability to possess people. Not that I’m completely convinced about Park Il-do’s eagerness to possess, since we’ve now discovered that people seem to come to Park Il-do, rather than he to them.

Maybe Park Il-do is not actually possessing Hong-joo, but instead is guiding weaker spirits to possess her — or possess others for Hong-joo’s benefit. Does it really matter if someone is actually possessed when they’ve already sold their soul to the devil?

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