ATHENA: Episode 14

by kaedejun

Hi all! Many apologies – but let’s get right on with the story, eh?

It’s kinda funny how I just started watching 9 End 2 Outs (thanks to girlfriday’s review, and on dramafever no less), so I think I can better appreciate Su Ae as an actress now… not that I ever thought she was terrible to begin with. It’s definitely fun to see her all girly and then all badass at once.

Hye In is escorted back to headquarters before Son Hyuk, who can’t help but show just how desperately he needs Hye In’s love: he absolutely abhors the fact that she’s willing to betray Athena for Jung Woo, and refuses to acknowledge aloud that she loves the good guy.

One more compassionate, traitorous move, and it’s over for her. Hye In calls out, “Oppa,” which freezes him in his tracks. She wants him to let her go, and we get that flashback of the two of them in Hawaii, with her asking Son Hyuk to take her in to Athena. Even though it’s dangerous, she wants to be with him. He had initially refused, but she had pleaded, and gotten her way.

Now she’s pleading again – but this time, for the two of them to leave Athena. They have too much blood on their hands and they can’t live with such guilt forever. But Son Hyuk is all, “I gotta make this worth it!” and rejects her offer.

Director Kwon reports the death of Han Jeong Pil to the President, and I laugh at the fact that the President can’t seem to pick a Cabinet clear of traitors. Kwon must investigate, but all they know so far is that there were two snipers at two different locations. He then goes to visit Jae Hee to comfort her, and to tell her that in the old days, her father wanted to be a field agent to protect his young daughter.

Those sentimental words don’t really work on Jae Hee – she just wants to know why the hell her dad joined Athena. She goes to the examination room, where his body is being prepped for autopsy, with the intent of “asking” her father what his excuse is, but instead she cries.

Round two of comforting: this time, it’s by Jung Woo. He’s terribly sorry for her father’s death – more out of guilt than sympathy – because the sniper was none other than Hye In. He feels responsible for not having arrested her in the first place. Yeah – that doesn’t make her feel much better.

Son Hyuk is already on to the next plan of attack: they will target the President as he heads to a meeting with the Saudi Arabians over nuclear technology. They will split up into four teams and have five minutes in total to get the President. Meanwhile, NTS is a few steps behind, having only concluded that Son Hyuk must still be in the country and with armed support.

Kim Ho Gyun meets with Secretary Choi to agree on working together with the nuclear technology. While Choi expresses her gratefulness, she calls up the President and informs him that Kim Ho Gyun is acting quite suspiciously. True that, sista! ‘Cause Kim is also calling Son Hyuk to tell him where his troops will be at during the day of the operation.

Chul Young is doing his own thing too, meeting with Ki Soo. He promises to take care of his mother, but in return, Ki Soo must do something very risky…

With his sniper rifle, Ki Soo murders Kim Ho Gyun as the general exits a building and heads for his car.

Though Ki Soo completes the task, he does need a few drinks to settle his nerves. Chul Young’s reasoning had been that Kim Ho Gyun was becoming more power-hungry, and that would not be good for North Korea. Good to know that Chul Young is still patriotic…despite his seeming lack of loyalty. When Son Hyuk receives word, he’s surprised but chooses to proceed with his operation as planned. It’s more grim when the President hears of the death, because now a North Korean official has died on South Korean soil.

OK – honestly, Sean Richard and Son Hyuk are the oddest coupling in this drama; they’re perfect for each other and in some ways I wonder if Sean Richard is in love with Son Hyuk. The character, not the actor.

Sean Richard sees that Son Hyuk is all broody and moody, and he knows that it’s all because of Hye In. So he visits her to report to her about Son Hyuk’s mood status. He says: “I’ve served with you two for so long but never encountered something like this. So I don’t know what to do.” (AHA! He’s the mediator in the relationship, the child going back and forth between his bickering parents.) He tells her that their last operation will soon be done. Hye In: “What last operation?”

Oooh – someone forgot to tell Mommy that Daddy was going to plan a murder without her.

Son Hyuk sends Cheol Gi on an urgent mission: as Jung Woo parks his car in an underground garage, Cheol Gi and another Athenian assault him with bullets. Hiding behind cars, Jung Woo waits for one of them to approach, and then he pins the guy against the car and steals his gun. He kills the Athenian and then fires after Cheol Gi, who makes his escape in his van. Yeah…Son Hyuk’s not gonna be pleased to find out that Jung Woo hasn’t died. Again.

Jung Woo brings the dead Athenian in to Sook Kyung for her autopsy, and then gives Joon Ho a phone memory card that belonged to the dead guy. It had a map on it, and he wants it analyzed. The map is of a part of a building, but it still needs to be narrowed down as to which building it is. Joon Ho also found an app on the phone that was last accessed at Incheon port, so he and Jung Woo head over.

Meanwhile the President must head out for his meeting with the Saudis. Since their cooperation with the North Koreans is now on precarious ground, he needs to make sure that his meeting with the Saudis goes well – even if it means going in with minimal security to instill trust. (God this President is ridiculously stubborn!) This is good news for Son Hyuk, and he commences the operation.

Jae Hee goes through her father’s belongings and finds in his planner GPS coordinates. She and another agent head over to the location.

Son Hyuk’s four teams arrive separately and meet up at Incheon Bridge. Guards? Son Hyuk shoots them down. Chief operator of the bridge? He’s shot too. The Athenians take over – the ambush team takes its place under the bridge, and the communications team sets up in the control center to jam any satellites. They all watch as the presidential convoy approaches the bridge.

At Incheon port, Joon Ho and Jung Woo wander around the rows of cargo. They have a clear view of Incheon Bridge, which sparks an idea within Jung Woo. He calls up NTS and asks for the tech lackeys to cross-reference the map with buildings in the Incheon Bridge area. It’s a match – and so the two J’s head to the bridge. That’s when they notice that the opposite lane has been blocked off (cleared for the president’s convoy). Now they have a clear idea of what Athena might be planning…

Back at headquarters, Hye In is literally in room arrest, as another agent brings her a meal. She attacks him, knocks him out, grabs her phone, and then does a running kick right into another agent heading her way. All the while barefoot, by the way.

Using the stolen phone, she sends a text (as “Yu Jin”) to Jung Woo about the planned assassination of President Jo. That’s enough of a confirmation, and he quickly informs NTS, who then informs the President’s secret service. But just as Hye In makes her way out of the headquarters, Jae Hee and her partner also arrive – and they arrest her.

The secret service agents want to get off the bridge, so they inform the cars up ahead to change track. However, it’s a bit too late, and Son Hyuk has all communication lines jammed. With no way of communicating with the people on the bridge, NTS and Secretary Choi send out all the troops.

The ambush team prepares to attack when Joon Ho speeds the car right onto the opposite lane, heading right for the president. Imagine Son Hyuk’s shock when he sees that it’s Jung Woo! again! thwarting his plan! (He really shouldn’t be surprised anymore…) Son Hyuk puts another agent in charge and chooses to go after Jung Woo himself.

A missile flies over and past Jung Woo’s car, and then hits the first black presidential car. The explosion creates a pile-up of all the cars behind it. Back at NTS, everyone’s eyes are glued onto the screen and they gasp at the sight.

The path blocked, the secret service agents rush out of their cars to protect the President as the ambush team approaches from behind and guns each one down. The ambush team slowly advance, checking each car for the President.

That’s when Jung Woo and Joon Ho finally arrive, and they start shooting at the Athenians. Son Hyuk and his men are also fast approaching the scene, and he orders for the command center to fire a missile into vehicle 1 – where the President is.

Jung Woo and Joon Ho spot the second missile launcher fly past them. Jung Woo advances to one of the cars and grabs a machine gun from an open trunk. He starts firing at the rocket in the distance, and though it’s not entirely accurate, his random bullets have managed to destroy the missile launcher’s controller and make the missile go off-track. Another car explodes instead. Jung Woo fires more bullets into the launcher, and it crashes into the dark waters.

Unfortunately, as this was all unfolding, the ambush team finally made it to vehicle 1. They set up a bomb on the window of the car and prepare to detonate. Jung Woo and Joon Ho catch up and shoot those Athenians down. But just when they think they’re good – Son Hyuk and his men arrive. More fighting!

It becomes personal though, with Son Hyuk and Jung Woo primarily shooting at each other (and missing). Then the Presidential helicopter arrives right next to the bridge and guns all of Son Hyuk’s men down. (I really had to laugh in awe at the grandiose and cheesiness of it all.)

Son Hyuk and Jung Woo shoot until they run out of bullets. They then reload while running towards each other, and get to each other at the same time, guns pointing at the other’s chest.

Son Hyuk: I can’t help but think we’ll hate each other for the rest of our lives. We have the worst fate possible.
Jung Woo: I don’t even care enough to hate you. It just hurts me to see that you ruined Yoon Hye In and her life.
Son Hyuk: Shut up. You’re not even worthy enough to pity her. She’s my responsibility. She’s my everything – and my heart.
Kaedejun: Ooh, so is this how tragic badass agents confess their deep love?
Jung Woo: Your heart…without a soul!
Kaedejun: What kind of comeback is that?!

BAM! They shoot each other in the chest. Both stumble at the impact, but they now have a choice on what to do next. Instead of shooting Jung Woo, Son Hyuk chooses to throw himself over the bridge. He falls a gazillion stories into the dark waters as Jung Woo futilely shoots into the water.

And Son Hyuk is unconscious and underwater.

Comments:

For an episode that was delayed due to Jung Woo Sung and Jung Chan Woo’s (Cheol Gi) injuries, it sure as hell was action packed. And worth the wait. In fact, it moved kind of quickly. I’m disappointed that NTS spends so much time not knowing what to look for when hunting down Athena. Usually they seem to need a physical clue or an encounter with an Athenian to figure out what the organization is planning next. Boo, NTS, boo. What would you do if you didn’t have phones? Hye In would never be able to text you, and you’d never find out what apps the baddies were using.

Otherwise, I’m really happy with the action (’cause if you don’t know it already, I’m an action-thriller-junkie). I wish there were more Ki Soo though – and a better reason to kill Kim Ho Gyun. That plot line came out of left field, and Chul Young hasn’t been developed well enough on ATHENA to be able to use such a flimsy excuse of, “Oh, he was greedy so I decided to off him” and make it work.

RELATED POSTS

• ATHENA: Episode 13
• ATHENA: Episode 12
• ATHENA: Episode 11
• ATHENA: Episode 10
• Kim So-yeon makes her appearance in Athena
• Athena accident puts broadcast at risk
• ATHENA: Episode 9
• ATHENA: Episode 8
• ATHENA: Episode 7
• ATHENA: Episode 6
• Behind the scenes on the set of Athena
• ATHENA: Episode 5
• ATHENA: Episode 4
• ATHENA: Episode 3
• ATHENA: Episode 2
• ATHENA: Episode 1