Hero: Episode 7

by kaedejun

There’s a throwaway line in episode 6 about the spreading of the flu that ends up being the plotpoint of this episode. It’s kind of awesome because then I feel like the writers are really establishing a world for us rather than just creating circumstances and obstacles out of thin air whenever it’s necessary. Here’s episode 7: The Raiders. Heuk Chul has never been more like Robin Hood than in this episode.

SONG OF THE DAY

“Holic 2012″ by Lee Hyun Woo from Hero OST [download]

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Heuk Chul stealthily breaks in to a research facility belonging to the multinational corporation TX Group. He’s alone… until someone yells, “Don’t move!” Rooted in place, Heuk Chul turns around, but there’s no one there; it was just Dong Min screaming in his ear piece and giving him a scare. Heh – such good buds. Heuk Chul manages to creep around the facility unseen thanks to Dong Min freezing the CCTV cameras so it shows the same image. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s not the only one wanting to steal something from the research facility…

Oh Tu’s team is completely masked in black, as if deadly mercenaries. They break into the security system and freeze the videos as well – something that Dong Min notices since it’s not his hack doing it. It actually works in their favor but it’s quite suspicious on who could have done it. Heuk Chul busies himself with trying to locate the right box of TX medical vaccines, scanning the barcodes through his phone and having Dong Min check if it’s correct or not. It would take forever for him to try to find the right box, so Heuk Chul starts climbing up the boxes, randomly scanning the barcodes.

Meanwhile, Oh Tu’s team has 5 minutes to break in, get what they want, and get out. They break into the Special Chemicals Lab, take down a couple of guards, and then start stealing some of the vaccines that are in development. Oh Tu himself breaks into an office and transfers sensitive files on their research to a USB.

Heuk Chul finally finds the correct box of TX medicine, and he hurries on out, still having time to take advantage of the frozen videos. With less than 1 minute and 30 seconds left, Oh Tu’s team file out. They turn the corner and head straight on against Heuk Chul. Both are wary of each other, yet they walk right past each other nonchalantly. Suddenly, Oh Tu swings a back spin kick and starts fighting Heuk Chul, throwing him backwards. The vaccine box flies out of Heuk Chul’s hands, and the USB flies out of Oh Tu’s pocket. Before Oh Tu can run for it, his team mates grab him – they need to run, NOW!

The emergency alarm is turned on and everyone starts running. Heuk Chul is caught by the security guards, but he fights them back. A roll-down gate inches slowly down, closing Heuk Chul off from freedom. He quickly slides the vaccine box past the gate, dodges the flying bullets, and sneaks right under the gate before it crashes spectacularly to a close. Yay for close shaves! Not so yay because he gets caught on camera.

Yi On and Young Joon investigate the theft, but the Chief Director won’t let them near the crime scene because of all the sensitive research they hold; they’ll have to investigate without a crime scene. Yi On thinks it’s ridiculous, especially since she’s not going to tell the whole world about TX Group’s secrets and future developments. Chief Director reminds them that they’re not on Muyeong ground, but on international ground. Sheesh – stop acting like you’re the UN.

Young Joon is far more accommodating, which only annoys Yi On more. However he’s the one who manages to get more of the information. They discover that the vaccines stolen were for the viral flu that’s spreading throughout the Special District, and the Chief Director hands them a USB video with the CCTV record.

Oh Tu is annoyed as hell that he lost the files, as he can’t go through with his “plan.” Meanwhile the Chief Director assures her boss that the vaccine production will resume as usual and that the recent theft won’t halt the business. Hmm, her expression says otherwise…

Heuk Chul returns to the bat cave, only to meet with Dong Min’s disapproving glare. Beating up random people now, eh? Heuk Chul: “I didn’t do it! He started it!” Heh. He has a “gift” for Dong Min though – a USB that ends up containing files encrypted with one of the most difficult codes out there. Challenge accepted; Dong Min claims to be the best at decoding files like these. Hah – if that were true, then Dong Min would not have unleashed a virus that wipes the entire USB, save for three files, right?

Dong Min refuses to open the remaining files for fear of deleting them mistakenly as well. That just piques Heuk Chul’s interest even more, and I guess we now know who else also wants to break in and steal the files again.

Oh Tu and his team return to their hideout where one of their men is currently suffering from the serum. Black veins creep all over his body, and Oh Tu grabs one of the vaccines they just stole. He injects it into his team member’s arm, and slowly, the veins disappear from his body. Hmmm… this TX Group is seriously experimenting with some weird stuff here…

At the police station, Myung Chul orders everyone to track down the thief who stole from TX Group. As TX Group is an international group, Myung Chul wants to make sure that the name of Muyeong is not associated with that of incompetency internationally. The police need to track down the identity of the thief in order to prove that they are capable. Myung Chul has his own grudge against the thief, as he recognizes him as the one who was shot by the pier, and the one who’s messing up his corrupt plans for the city.

Heuk Chul stops by the station to visit his lovely Yi On, but he nearly chokes on his own spit when he sees that she’s searching for him! She’s running a matching program to see if anyone they have on file has a face that matches the thief’s. She affectionately even nicknamed the vigilante as “The Idiot.” Next thing you know, Heuk Chul’s face comes up, and it scans to see if it’s a match. This time, Heuk Chul literally chokes on Yi On’s glass of water, which he’d been drinking. Yi On stares at him weirdly, and thankfully Young Joon arrives to distract them both. I love how he always teases them for flirting.

Young Joon then grabs Yi On away to crack down on the black market in district 8 over the sale of flu vaccines – according to his sources. They suspect that their Idiot Thief might be there too. Yi On leaves before she can see the results of the scan, but thankfully the program says that Heuk Chul is not a match for the thief. The program’s kinda dumb.

Mayor Kim heads to Special District for a visit to see the citizens, and he sees an old grandmother coughing from the terrible flu. He encourages her to go to the hospital, but she won’t be able to afford the vaccine anyways, so why bother? Mayor Kim is actually disconcerted when he learns of the toll the disease is taking on his citizens, and he confers with Manager Jang in private. TX Group refuses to distribute their vaccines in the Special District unless the city gives them a 10% increase in profit shares. Mayor Kim doesn’t want to do that, even though it’s at the cost of his citizens.

For him, it’s not really that he’s corrupt, but he just doesn’t want to give a greedy multinational company more money now. Since they’re currently in negotiations, I’m not surprised that Mayor Kim doesn’t want to back down just yet.

Young Joon is our trusty exposition-man; on the way to district 8, he explains to Yi On the history of this flu. A month ago, the flu outbreak occurred in the Special District, where coincidentally no vaccine is provided. The vaccine is actually easy to produce, contrary to reports, but they’re all being sold to the rich people. Since they can afford it, they’re taking the vaccine like candy. That’s where TX Group’s business is in. That prompts Yi On to make a sharp U-turn and head over to the special district’s hospitals.

A delivery man disguised under his helmet arrives at one of the hospitals where a lot of the patients are suffering in the hallways. There’s no room for them, and the nurses can only comfort the sick and the dying. The delivery man – who is Heuk Chul of course – gets the attention of one of the nurses and hands over a delivery box. Inside are packets of the vaccine. It’s like Christmas for these nurses, who are relieved to see that they can now help save a lot of lives.

As Heuk Chul goes down the stairs, he bumps into Young Joon and Yi On going up the stairs. Seriously – Heuk Chul is not the smoothest vigilante ever; since when did walking down the stairs like a robot not draw suspicion?! Yi On finds him odd, but she continues on her way to see the nurses administering the vaccines. She and Young Joon thought that the special district didn’t have vaccines, so what happened?

One of the nurses say they received a delivery, and Yi On goes running down the stairs. Too late – Heuk Chul is gone.

Yi On and Young Joon visit every single hospital in the district, hoping to spot Heuk Chul/Robot Delivery Man. Each time, they’re too late, as Heuk Chul’s already delivered the vaccines and left; at one hospital they even nab the wrong delivery guy. Finally they arrive at the last hospital, and for once Yi On knows that they’ll catch him here.

Sure enough, Heuk Chul comes strutting through the front doors. He freezes at the sight of Yi On and Young Joon, and then makes a run for it. He tosses the box of vaccines to a nurse nearby, and a car chase ensues! Yi On ditches Young Joon and speeds up next to Heuk Chul, but since he’s on the motorcycle, he has the advantage of traveling through the woods when she cannot.

Yi On lands in deep shit with Myung Chul, who’s furious that she broke protocol and failed to catch their suspect. She comments that the thief merely stole the vaccines so that he could help the Special District patients, but her note of sympathy earns Myung Chul’s wrath. As a cop, does she know where she is supposed to stand in what is right or wrong? One more mistake, and he’s booting her out.

Heuk Chul returns to the bat cave, where a dismal Dong Min informs him that he managed to decode one file, but it’s severely damaged. The only way to know what the file is about would be to go back in to the facility and steal the files again. The problem is that all the security systems were upgraded since the last break-in. Thankfully Heuk Chul still has an idea: They’ll spread a rumor that “The Thief” will return to the facility and steal from them. This will prompt the Chief Director to increase the number of security guards, as she is not going to take any risks, and allow Heuk Chul to pose as a temporary security agent.

The security chief assigns each temp guard to a post, warning them to keep their eyes peeled at all times. Heuk Chul gets placed right outside of the vaccine room. Since the camera pointed at the door automatically follows whatever is moving, Heuk Chul takes out a wind-up toy robot and makes it walk across the room. The camera swivels away, and Heuk Chul slides out of view. He walks swiftly down the halls, placing a bug (?) on the wall along the way, and stops right at the hall leading to the office.

Heuk Chul releases a gas canister, and the lasers reveal itself to him. Slowly, Heuk Chul bends and steps his way through the lights and reaches the door. He turns on his ear piece to connect with Dong Min and then inserts the USB into the computer. Dong Min starts the download, but it’s not fast enough for Heuk Chul.

The security chief circles around and spies the robot in front of the vaccine room with Heuk Chul nowhere to be found. He grows suspicious, and studies the surveillance camera’s behavior. Dong Min warns Heuk Chul – someone figured it out! Outside the room, Heuk Chul hears the security chief calling the other guards to gather, so he activates the bug – which ends up being a bubble maker.

The bubbles set off the alarms, activating the security shut down system. The USB finishes downloading the files so Heuk Chul grabs it and quickly exits the room. But he gets caught by a couple of guards. Heuk Chul makes a break for it, but another group of guards start coming at him from the opposite side. He runs down the stairwell, ripping off his security guard uniform and quickly changing into his masked vigilante outfit. How he ever managed to whip out his leather trench out of thin air, I’ll never know…

Heuk Chul gets out on the first floor and finds himself facing a group of guards, waiting for him. Get past them, slide out under the roll-down gate, and he’ll be home free. Using his superpower speed to his advantage, Heuk Chul takes a beating stick from one, slams another unconscious, and uses another guard as his armor. The roll-down gate is moving too quickly for him, so Heuk Chul slides a metal trash can underneath it as an obstacle. He kicks and punches his way out of the group of guards and slides out to freedom.

Watching overhead from the rooftop is Oh Tu and his men. They don’t know who Heuk Chul is, but Oh Tu finds him a harmless “heckler,” amused with how unknowingly meddlesome he is. Despite the chaos within the facility, they will continue to carry out their plan.

The Chief Director screams in anger when she sees that her computer was hacked into and the file transfer was completed. It’s a bad day indeed – but nowhere near over; when she leaves work, Jae In is waiting for her by her car. The “Boss” is concerned that the lab facility was robbed twice and a nano sample was missing – and yet she had not reported it at all. She’s scared, but she’s not going to let him get to her. I half-expected her car to blow up from a car bomb when she drives off, but I guess Jae In isn’t that ruthless…

Dong Min looks into the contents of the USB, and finds that the flu virus was found three months ago in the lab. They then discovered a vaccine for it, but because they had the flu inside the lab, TX Group had to find a way to get it out. A month ago, TX Group set up public hand sanitizers throughout the special district for free. Though they encouraged everyone in the special district to use it, the sanitizer was actually contaminated. 97 people have died, but TX Group managed to earn $40 billion in the process.

You know how bad things come in threes? Well, once she arrives home, the Chief Director finds Heuk Chul waiting for her in her bedroom for a talk. He gives her a copy of her flu virus report, and she laughs it off – is he threatening her with it? TX Group won’t go down over something like that. Heuk Chul concedes that TX Group is too important – but she herself would get fired and jailed for being responsible for 97 deaths. That makes her nervous.

In return for his silence, the Chief Director must allow for the flu vaccine be freely distributed throughout special district. Well, this decision also pleases Mayor Kim, who doesn’t have to pay TX Group so much money anymore. Heuk Chul waits for her by her car to cheer and thank her for her “kindness,” but the Chief Director couldn’t be bothered with all that. As she drives off, another car follows close behind. Heuk Chul gets a glance at the driver – it’s Jae In.

Even Yi On is surprised over the turn of events as TX Group would not be making much money by handing out the vaccine in the special district. Young Joon simply believes the Chief Director changed her mind, but Yi On is following a different train of thought. If “The Idiot” had contacted the Chief Director twice, then she might know who he is. Off to see the Chief Director she goes!

Heuk Chul arrives at the Chief Director’s home, only to find that she’s already been shot dead in the head. Hiding behind a wall, Jae In aims his gun towards Heuk Chul’s head.

“Put your hands up!”

Jae In points his gun towards the voice. It’s Yi On, who has her own gun raised at Heuk Chul. Jae In quickly hides from view; he just might be able to get away with this without killing any more people…

Heuk Chul freezes, recognizing the voice and not wanting to turn around…

Comments:

Well isn’t that great? Heuk Chul is going to be framed for murder, unless Yi On abandons the rules of being a good policewoman and adopts Heuk Chul’s sense of justice. I think it’s great that this is how Heuk Chul will get caught; it’s not through gambling, or through fighting, or through getting caught in the middle of his vigilante work. He’ll get caught as a vigilante for something he didn’t do, and thus instill doubt within the people around him.

It’s also about time – Heuk Chul’s had way too many close shaves with Yi On, and he’s the worst at acting innocent.

TX Group is being presented as the big baddie here because they are the ones who developed the weird serum and its vaccine. (Aside from the whole flu fiasco.) From this episode, it appears that they are the ones being held responsible for Jae In’s, Heuk Chul’s, and Oh Tu’s team’s condition. However, it’s the actual person who decided to do the testing on these people that’s truly at fault, and I think it’s Mayor Kim. He could have easily ordered for it to be done on all of these people. Therefore I’m kind of impatiently anticipating for Heuk Chul and Dong Min to close in on Mayor Kim before I develop more sympathy for the dear Mayor. In these last couple of episodes, I’ve been finding myself distrusting Mayor Kim’s sincerity, and then sympathizing with his choices. But all I really want to do is hate him! He needs to get caught by Heuk Chul – as in, caught red-handed with evidence and thrown into jail – and I truly hope it’s not in the last episode.

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