Sirius: Episode 3

by gummimochi

More revelations spill out in this episode as the brothers face new challenges ahead. A baddie like Boss Go is none to be trifled with as the show sets itself up for a final showdown. We learn even more about Eun-chang and Shin-woo now that their strings are somewhat cut from the smiling devil, giving them ammunition and armor for what’s to come.

Ratings fell for Episode 3 to 2.7% but it doesn’t detract from the awesome kickass that is this series.

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No Respect for Beauty – “I Am a Shadow” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 3 RECAP

On a chilly winter day, a young Eun-chang waits outside and sees Mom step out into the cold with another child. He watches Mom bundle up the little boy “Shin-woo,” and tell him that he’s coming home with them.

The boys exchange curious looks as if seeing their own reflection in the other. Timid Shin-woo hides behind their mother.

We fastforward to the day after the bully’s accident in Episode 1. Teenage Eun-chang gets up to turn himself in but naturally, Mom protests to this.

Eun-chang says that he won’t let Shin-woo take the fall for his own actions. He’s well aware of how rough little bro has had it and how easily it could have been him who spent seven years in an orphanage. He reminds Mom: “It took him three years to call me ‘hyung.'”

Mom latches onto him, convinced that the police will let Shin-woo off. Eun-chang reassures her that everything will be fine and not to abandon Shin-woo again. If he doesn’t turn himself in, he won’t be able to face Shin-woo nor look at his own face anymore.

We know what happens next and some time later, Mom visits Eun-chang in prison by herself. Eun-chang keeps a smile on his face despite sporting some obvious bruises. Mom leans in towards the glass and gently blows at his wounds.

Back to the twins’ standoff and Shin-woo fires the gun at his older brother. Eun-chang nervously convinces Shin-woo to lower the gun before inspecting himself for any wounds. He’s clean.

Shin-woo hisses, “You don’t have the right to die. You don’t have the right to die and be with Mom.” He finds the “I-did-this-to-save-you” excuse a poor one – hyung used it when he killed someone and again with this drug deal.

Eun-chang tries to defend himself but Shin-woo cuts in that he was fine on his own. “Without you. Without Mom! At the orphanage! I endured just fine.” He bites that everything ended up this way because Eun-chang was trying to show off.

Eun-chang tells his brother that a part of him died the day that bully met his unfortunate fate. Using this as kindling for his raging anger, Shin-woo lashes out that Eun-chang tried to kill everyone – including So-ri and himself. He adds that he saw his brother hobble out of the other car that night. Ah, so you think Eun-chang was the crazy driver that night.

Eun-chang asks why he would do such a thing and Shin-woo barks, “Because you’re a murderer! Because you always were one!”

Hurt at the unjust claims made against him, tears well up in Eun-chang’s eyes. He hates that he lost his life when he went to prison and swore to himself that he’d live a decent life once he was out. Because if he ever went back, “I was afraid I’d lose you too.”

Shin-woo gives a sarcastic smirk.

Eun-chang comments that this Shin-woo isn’t the brother he once knew and Shin-woo confirms it. “The Shin-woo you knew died a long time ago. The person who killed him… was you.”

In a sad voice, Eun-chang says that he should have stopped Mom the day they picked Shin-woo up from the orphanage. When Shin-woo admits that there was never a happy day he spent at home, Eun-chang finally bursts with anger, “Then why didn’t you leave?! Mom and I… were happier without you.”

Hyung’s sudden outburst shakes Shin-woo’s resolve and he fires a few more shots in Eun-chang’s direction. Eun-chang drops Shin-woo’s badge and wallet on the ground and leaves.

Shin-woo returns to the police station – furious – and he asks his men why they didn’t follow orders. His men are left more in shock at his bloodied state and Detective Lee asks why Shin-woo returned without Madame Choi or the confiscated drugs in tow.

Neither of those subjects rings a bell to Shin-woo and he bites that he’s starting his workday now. He rips a new one into his men, seething, “Who have you been working for up to now?” – a question that puzzles the rest of the team.

Shin-woo berates Detective Lee further in his office and tells him to take a good look at his face. He warns the detective never to mistake him for Eun-chang again.

Detective Lee points out that they could have avoided the issue altogether if Shin-woo simply mentioned that he was a twin. Shin-woo sends him out without another word.

Boss Go happily leads Madame Choi to the back of Club Mao. He assures her that she’ll have some company and opens the door in a grand gesture… to find it empty. He lashes out to his right-hand man – Shin-woo is a cop and the Chief Detective at that. What if he waltzes back to the police station?

Madame Choi laughs, clearly amused by Boss Go’s blunder. In a patronizing tone, she cackles, “Didn’t I tell you? You’re supposed to become friends with cops, not cuff them.”

She teases that it looks like wittle Boss Go has much to learn; perhaps Boss Go will face capital punishment for pulling that kind of stunt on an officer. However, Madame Choi instantly grows cold when Boss Go uses the same threat on her.

She warns Boss Go not to mess with her lest her boys take care of him before he’s thrown to the police. Boss Go doesn’t blink an eye at this; by that time, the police will think that she‘s been killed off by someone else.

Shin-woo trudges back to his apartment and Ahn-na tends to his injuries. He initially ignores an anonymous call but picks up when it rings again. It’s Boss Go who cheerily asks for Eun-chang.

When he gets no answer, he carefully asks, “Hello?” Shin-woo promptly hangs up and sighs, “Today’s a long day.”

The strange exchange pings Boss Go’s suspicion radar and he wonders if the twins have returned to their rightful places again. He fumes at yet another wrinkle in his plans.

In the car, Eun-chang stares out of the window and informs the waiter (Tong-il) in a dreary tone that So-ri is dead. Though Boss Go was the one who killed her, Shin-woo thinks that it was Eun-chang’s doing.

Tong-il can barely stutter a response, shocked at the news of So-ri’s death and to learn that the man he saved from Club Mao earlier that night was Shin-woo. Eun-chang turns to him and asks, “Why did you save him?”

Eun-chang closes his eyes as a tear streams down his cheek. “Who do I have to live for from now on?” He wonders aloud if Shin-woo’s words that he should never have been born are true.

The following morning, Ahn-na worries that Shin-woo isn’t fully recovered to return to work. She figures that Eun-chang didn’t bother to have seaweed soup yesterday since it was technically Shin-woo’s birthday, not his.

Ahn-na continues that she expected the twins to be polar opposites but was surprised to discover how similar they actually are. “He looked lonely, like you. Like there was no one by his side.” Shin-woo tells her to drop the subject.

Taking Shin-woo’s hand, Ahn-na urges him to meet Eun-chang again – his older brother seems genuine about protecting Shin-woo. “He seemed hurt.”

“Hurt?” Shin-woo asks. “What does it mean to be hurt? Lonely? That’s something only someone who was abandoned can say.”

Ahn-na presses that Eun-chang is his brother, but Shin-woo dismisses her, adding that when he’s with her, he wants to forget about his twin. She astutely points out, “That means you haven’t once forgotten about Eun-chang. You’re the only one who hasn’t realized that yet.”

Detective Park asks Shin-woo what they’ll do about Boss Go but a bustling noise catches their attention. Speak of the devil, it’s Boss Go who’s here with his ladies to give his New Year’s greetings to the police force. Look who took Madame’s advice to heart.

Detective Park immediately steps forward to arrest him on the spot but Shin-woo orders his man to back off. Boss Go greets Shin-woo with a smile and explains that it’s a friendly courtesy visit. In fact, he’s brought refreshments and raises a bag full of energy drinks.

Shin-woo glares at him.

The men sit in the meeting room and Shin-woo asks if Boss Go is here to turn himself in. Boss Go feigns innocence, “Did I commit a crime?”

Shin-woo nods and tells Boss Go not to do so, since he can be arrested without a warrant. He asks after the confiscated drugs and then slyly warns Boss Go that if he kills Madame Choi, homicide will be added to his list of crimes.

Boss Go munches on his rice cake and muses that Shin-woo must not have been impressed by their recent trip to the seashore. He knows how the system works and that Shin-woo can only detain him for 48 hours without an official warrant.

Shin-woo doesn’t seem deterred at all, assured that the amount of drugs is enough to put Boss Go behind bars for life. Boss Go throws back if there will ever be a chance for Shin-woo to see it for himself, to which Shin-woo answers, “We’ll just have to see.”

Boss Go rises from his seat and walks over to Shin-woo’s side of the table. He leans in and gives a little flick to Shin-woo’s bandage. “You haven’t been hurt enough yet. I’ll prepare your way to Hades myself.”

Shin-woo leans in, “Or we can go together.”

Boss Go declines and advises Shin-woo to at least appear strong in front of his own men. He tosses the rice cakes in Shin-woo’s direction before he steps out. Shin-woo angrily throws them to the ground.

Detective Lee arrives late to the party, asking about updates on Eun-chang, and runs into Boss Go on his way out. Boss Go expresses his amused surprise that the police would drop by his humble club. He slyly asks about who the police is searching for but Detective Lee tells him it’s classified information.

In his car, Boss Go orders his assistant to find out if the police are truly looking for Eun-chang. If it’s true, they’ll have to track him down before the police does.

The officers wonder why Shin-woo let Boss Go walk right out of their police station and Shin-woo informs them that Boss Go must be using his older brother to complete a job. Detective Lee is quick to notice that this means they’re casting their net wider to catch a bigger fish.

Ha, I love the collective sigh Shin-woo gets from the officers when he assigns the team on stakeout. He tells them to do their job properly or else it’s their jobs.

Later that day, Detective Lee informs Shin-woo that someone has gone to collect So-ri’s corpse. Shin-woo’s eyes widen, “S-so-ri’s corpse?” Oh, that’s right – I forgot that you didn’t know that yet.

We see Eun-chang spread So-ri’s ashes into the wind by the seashore as Shin-woo approaches. He relays to Eun-chang that it was So-ri’s wish to see the twins side-by-side.

When Eun-chang asks why Shin-woo was hanging out with his late girlfriend, Shin-woo truthfully admits that he needed an informant inside Club Mao to tail Boss Go. He explains that she initially mistook him for Eun-chang, but he never deceived her by hiding his true identity from her.

Eun-chang says that Shin-woo knew that taking Boss Go on would be a dangerous endeavor and that So-ri died because of it. He doesn’t say it maliciously and Shin-woo reflects that same matter-of-fact tone: “I know.”

Eun-chang asks why his brother didn’t seek him out for help instead. Shin-woo comes clean that he didn’t want to see his older brother.

Eun-chang accepts this answer and then shares that his wish was to set up Mom’s memorial together, as brothers. He tells Shin-woo that they won’t be seeing each other anymore because he’ll be leaving soon.

Shin-woo corrects him, saying that the police are looking for him. Eun-chang asks why Shin-woo doesn’t just take him to the station now, but Shin-woo turns his back to his brother and walks away.

We learn of Boss Go’s true motive through Detective Lee who briefs Shin-woo that the club owner hopes to do away with Madame Choi and establish himself as the main drug dealer in Korea.

Speaking of whom, Madame Choi informs Boss Go where and when the new shipment will come in. I wonder if her nervousness is an act or out of genuine fear of Boss Go. But that quick flash of his eyes towards his right-hand man is certainly unsettling.

Madame Choi quickly says that completing the exchange without her will be difficult but Boss Go doesn’t bat an eyelash. He thanks her in a voice that sounds more like a goodbye.

The officers update Shin-woo on the latest developments and he deduces that the confiscated drugs aren’t at Club Mao. They wonder how they’ll be able to catch Boss Go in the act then, and Shin-woo orders his men to tail Boss Go.

Their search turns up nothing but a headache for Boss Go. He has waiter Tong-il brought before him who panics that he doesn’t know where Eun-chang is. They’re interrupted by a call and a nervous voice says, “This is Do Eun-chang.”

But on the other end, we see that it’s Shin-woo pretending to be his brother. Boss Go wonders how (who he thinks is) Eun-chang got his number and mentally slaps himself on the forehead when he’s reminded that he ordered a delivery before.

This is a smart move on Shin-woo’s part and he pulls off a believable Eun-chang impersonation, even down to his mannerisms. He asks for Boss Go’s help.

Boss Go readily complies on one condition: that “Eun-chang” pick up the drugs he’s temporarily stowed away. They agree to meet and Tong-il is sent out, unscathed.

The officers ask cautiously whether Boss Go will believe Shin-woo to be his brother and Shin-woo reminds them, “You did.”

Detective Lee finds Shin-woo in his office and he expresses his concern for the Chief Detective. Pretending to be his brother might work for someone who’s unaware that the siblings are twins, but Boss Go knows the distinction between the two.

Shin-woo tells him, “It’s not my first time acting as my brother.” He briefs the team to make sure they memorize his face and promises them that once this case is complete, it also means the end to his contract.

As for Eun-chang, we see him contemplate over where to leave to before reconsidering his decision. He heads back to their old home up the hill and sits alone in the now abandoned house.

Boss Go is both impressed and suspicious when he hears that “Eun-chang” has already picked up the package. They meet at their designated meeting spot in a warehouse and Boss Go tells him to stick around for the drug deal.

He doesn’t doubt “Eun-chang” to be someone else and hints that he heard that there’s a drug addict in his family. Shin-woo feigns knowledge of this information and Boss Go lets the matter drop.

The drug deal begins and Boss Go explains away Madame Choi’s absence to their Japanese guests. Once the deal is complete, Shin-woo makes the call and the police bursts in to arrest everyone on sight.

Detective Park goes to cuff Boss Go but Shin-woo interrupts him. Walking towards him, he looks Boss Go directly in the eyes and asks, “Do you know who I am?” Boss Go answers: “Do Eun-chang.” Shin-woo corrects him before cuffing Boss Go himself.

All of the criminals are dragged away and Shin-woo confesses to Detective Lee that he waited years for this moment – a moment that passed by so quickly. He asks for a minute alone and stands in the empty space by himself.

Around the same time, Eun-chang wakes on the floor of their old house and turns over a mirror that once hung in their room. Behind it, he finds it riddled with Shin-woo’s random scrawlings.

As he starts to read them, we hear teenage Shin-woo’s voice narrate them like diary entries: how Mom favored her drugs more than her son, how she smiled at him for the first time when he wore Eun-chang’s school uniform, and lastly how Mom finally kicked her drug habit… because she died.

Tears fall from Eun-chang’s eyes as he repeats “Drugs….” into the darkness. Overcome with disbelief and grief, Eun-chang throws the mirror to the floor and screams that Shin-woo should have stopped her.

He reads more of the scrawlings, “If it was hyung, he could have stopped her. If it was hyung, he could have saved her. I’m sorry, hyung. I killed Mom.”

Eun-chang murmurs that it’s not true. He flips over the mirror to look at his own reflection before hugging it as if it were Shin-woo himself.

Shin-woo stands in the silence until his eyes fall upon the ground. He bends down and rubs the remnants of the drugs between his fingers when a sudden realization dawns on him.

He calls his men just as they bring Boss Go into the station. Shin-woo asks if they’ve performed a drug test yet because what was on Boss Go’s person wasn’t drugs. He orders his men to detain Boss Go for as long as possible.

Boss Go has this smug expression on his face while he listens in on this conversation and gloats when the drug test comes out negative. “How can the police not tell the difference between drugs and flour?”

It’s bad news bears for Shin-woo who finds himself quickly surrounded by thugs at the warehouse. He makes a run for it but they quickly catch up to him and fights long enough until he slips into a room.

Eun-chang calls Tong-il, telling him that he intends to turn himself in. He can’t bear to call Shin-woo and asks for the waiter’s help. Tong-il is left confused at this request – wasn’t Eun-chang running an errand for Boss Go tonight?

Eun-chang stutters that it wasn’t him and as he drops the phone, he repeats dazedly, “This time, it wasn’t me.”

The officers have no choice but to let Boss Go walk out the station. Detective Lee ponders over the situation for a moment before asking if any of their men stayed behind. When Detective Park answers no, Detective Lee orders the officers to head back to the warehouse.

Meanwhile Boss Go laughs devilishly at how he knows Eun-chang better than Shin-woo does. He gives a nod to the other car and heads towards the location of the real drug deal.

Back to Shin-woo who tries to keep the door locked. Just then a mysterious figure walks up behind him and tips his hat up – it’s Eun-chang.

Eun-chang silently removes his cap and places it on little bro’s head. He gently pats his younger brother’s head before moving him away from the door with his hand. Eun-chang closes the door behind him and steps outside to face the thugs himself.

COMMENTS

Is it too much to wish for a triumphant return of the badass teenage Eun-chang we met in Episode 1? I mean, just look at that smirk – it scccreeaammms, I’m going to kick your ass. The final silent exchange between the twins was a great way to bookend the episode as we approach the finale.

I love that we start off each episode in a flashback, telling us a little more about the brothers’ pasts and explain why they’re not joined at the hip at present. At first, you might pity Eun-chang’s character because he’s just trying to protect his brother and now we’re told that he’s fully aware of his younger brother’s hatred and fear towards abandonment. We’re not told exactly why Mom left Shin-woo at the orphanage for seven years (SEVEN years!!) but her reasoning doesn’t make me like her any better. I initially wondered if Mom might have known what kind of person Shin-woo would later become, but Eun-chang’s response that he knows that it easily could have been him in his brother’s place makes me think otherwise. Then at the end of the day, do the twins’ polar opposite personalities rest upon Mom’s choice when they were infants?

As for villains, I’m so intrigued by Boss Go. It’s interesting that he’s not top dog (it appears that Madame Choi is… or was) among the drug dealers and that he plays the game in a smart way. He really gives our protagonists a run for their money and reminds you that if you think that you’ve caught him too easily – you did. He’s both frightening and hilarious (he gets a migraine when he learns the police is on his tail again, ha), controlled and yet, unpredictable. It’s such a volatile combination in a character, and so well-played by Ryu Seung-soo.

I was greatly relieved and impressed to see how the show handled the story once the twins returned to their rightful places. Like how the twins themselves and the characters around them acknowledged the switch and how they couldn’t tell the siblings apart. Which then sends a chill down my spine to know that Boss Go is able to tell the twins apart right away. If the brothers intend to stick it to Boss Go, they’re going to have to up their game and work together.

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• Sirius: Episode 2
• Sirius: Episode 1
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