Possessed: Episode 12

by LollyPip

To stop a killer, you have to know what makes him tick, and nothing teaches you more about a person than a glimpse into their childhood. Unfortunately, it’s not the best idea to mess with a supernatural killer’s psyche — it only makes them angry. And the problem with making supernatural killers angry is that you don’t know what they’re capable of, or from which direction they’ll attack next.

 
EPISODE 12

Detective Kim begs Seo-jung to put his soul inside Dae-doo’s so that he can learn what Dae-doo did with Ji-hang, his daughter. She does, against her better judgment, although she warns Detective Kim that his soul will be tainted and he’ll be forever barred from Heaven. He goes inside and finds Dae-doo’s soul tree, but Dae-doo himself is nowhere to be seen.

Seo-jung can see everything Detective Kim sees, and she tells him to concentrate and find Dae-doo’s soul in whatever time and place he’s hiding, and get rid of it before he wakes up. All Detective Kim cares about is finding out where Ji-hang is, but Seo-jung says that to do that, he’ll have to fight Dae-doo’s soul.

Detective Kim decides to go back to Dae-doo’s childhood, because Dae-doo has OCD and would have hidden Ji-hang somewhere familiar. Seo-jung tells Detective Kim that as soon as he learns where Ji-hang is, he must kill Dae-doo’s soul immediately, and all the souls he’s absorbed will be freed.

Detective Kim closes his eyes and concentrates, and when he opens them, he’s standing outside a dilapidated old house. He can hear noises and sees a shadow in the window, but he’s distracted by someone behind him. He goes into a small barn where some chicks in a pen are peeping loudly, and in the corner is a small boy, holding a chick in his hands.

In the physical world, Seo-jung tells Pil-sung, who woke up when Detective Kim left his body, that the little boy is terrified. Pil-sung notices Dae-doo’s fingers twitching and pulls his gun, afraid that he’s waking up. But Seo-jung warns that if they harm him now, the world in his soul will become chaos.

She says that Detective Kim found young Dae-doo, and that Detective Kim needs to treat him warmly. Inside, Detective Kim hears this and reaches out to little Dae-doo, who puts down the chick and takes his hand. Detective Kim leads him outside, and little Dae-doo hides behind him when a man emerges from the house, drunk and angry.

Detective Kim stands firm when the man snarls at Dae-doo to come with him, but the man just reaches right through him, grabs Dae-doo, and pulls him into the house. A moment later, Detective Kim can hear the sounds of Dae-doo’s father beating him viciously.

Detective Kim closes his eyes and the scene resets itself. He goes back into the barn, and this time there are dead chicks on the floor. Dae-doo, his face bloody and bruised, is preparing to stab another chick with an icepick, but Detective Kim calls out for Dae-doo to stop. Seo-jung’s voice warns Detective Kim not to scare Dae-doo, and to make him think he’s on his side or he won’t trust him.

Detective Kim gently promises to protect Dae-doo so he isn’t hit again. Little Dae-doo looks at him, then at the chick… then hands Detective Kim the icepick. He slowly steps forward, then wraps his arms around Detective Kim’s waist. Detective Kim leads him away from the house and this time, nobody stops them.

Little Dae-doo leads Detective Kim to one of the abandoned mines. He takes Detective Kim inside to where he’s stored the kinds of things that are important only to little boys. He proudly shows Detective Kim a jar of marbles, and Detective Kim realizes that this must be where he hid Ji-hang.

Little Dae-doo takes out a baseball and tosses it to Detective Kim. He lets it bounce past him, and stops Dae-doo when he goes to pick it up. Detective Kim throttles him, determined to kill him now that he knows where to find his daughter. Seo-jung watches with difficulty, gasping, “I’m sorry, little one…”

But suddenly, Dae-doo’s eyes open, and he grabs Seo-jung by the throat. Pil-sung tries to stop him but Dae-doo just tosses him through a wall. He politely asks Seo-jung to wait a moment then goes back inside, and instead of squeezing the life from young Dae-doo’s soul, Detective Kim finds himself back in front of the house, which is now on fire.

Dae-doo steps out of the burning house, appearing as his adult self. He tells Detective Kim that he always exceeds his expectations, and Detective Kim grabs a mining pick and swings it at him. But he freezes mid-swing, stopped by Dae-doo’s mind control as Dae-doo chuckles that he can’t believe Detective Kim used his childhood to get to him. (Also, I just now realized that Dae-doo speaks so oddly because he was hung to death… ~shudder~)

Dae-doo admits that it was a brilliant move and it almost worked. He lifts Detective Kim into the air by the neck and growls that they can finally end their relationship, in the world and in the afterlife.

Detective Kim croaks that Dae-doo’s end is also near, but Dae-doo says that he’ll end only when the world ends. Detective Kim hears Seo-jung’s voice sobbing that she’s sorry, and he nods, accepting his fate — then he dissipates in a burst of fire and ash.

In the real world, Dae-doo tosses Seo-jung aside and stands, but he finds his leg injured from being hit by the car. He purrs that if Pil-sung had just killed Seo-jung, none of this would have happened. He asks if Seo-jung can feel Pil-sung slowly becoming more evil because of his love for her — if he had just killed her when he was told, many people wouldn’t have died.

Seo-jung slams her ceremonial sword into the ground at Dae-doo’s feet. He screams, and power rushes from his body towards Seo-jung. But he’s still in Oh Soo-hyuk’s body, and he grins that now that he’s seen how strong Seo-jung is, he wants her soul for his collection.

He limps towards Seo-jung but a gunshot rings out as Pil-sung fire into the ceiling. Dae-doo laughs that if he kills him, he’ll only find a new host body and they’ll be back to square one. He tells Pil-sung that he’s taking Seo-jung, but that he won’t kill him so that he can watch him suffer.

Pil-sung reminds Dae-doo that he promised not to kill Seo-jung and he prides himself on always keeping his word. Dae-doo counters that he won’t kill her — Pil-sung will. He takes control of Pil-sung and makes him point the gun at Seo-jung, crowing that Pil-sung will fall in love with him because he’ll have Seo-jung’s soul.

Just as Dae-doo directs Pil-sung to pull the trigger, Pil-sung somehow moves the gun and shoots Dae-doo in the leg instead. It breaks Dae-doo’s hold on him, and he pulls Seo-jung to her feet. Dae-doo lunges and pins them both to the wall.

Just when it looks like Pil-sung and Seo-jung are going to die, shaman Do-ryung bursts in wearing his Ghostbusters getup and announces, “You evil spirit, I shall punish you in the name of love and justice!” He sprays Dae-doo with his holy water, but Dae-doo just stares at him incredulously.

He lets go of Pil-sung and Seo-jung to turn on Do-ryung, and when he does, Pil-sung tackles him to the floor. They grab Do-ryung and run, jumping into Pil-sung’s car and speeding away. Dae-doo watches them go, murmuring that this game is no fun anymore, and from now on it will be a bloodbath.

Seo-jung leads Pil-sung to the mine where Detective Kim told her Ji-hang must be hidden, and awww, he gives her his jacket. They go inside, calling for Ji-hang, but there’s no answer. They start to wonder if they got the place wrong, but then they see a large box with the lid weighed down with stones, and Seo-jung says she’s in there.

The guys open the box, and ohthankgoodness, Ji-hang is unconscious but alive. They drive her to the hospital, and Pil-sung hangs around long enough to see her stabilized. He whispers an apology for failing to protect her father, then leaves.

In the car, Pil-sung bandages Seo-jung’s hand where she cut it for the ceremony. She asks if Dae-doo will hurt Ji-hang again, but Pil-sung says no, because he only did that to hurt Detective Kim, and now Detective Kim is gone. Seo-jung says that Dae-doo will probably go crazy now, and that he’s too strong for her to fight.

Pil-sung says that he doesn’t want her involved anymore, but Seo-jung argues that he’ll die if he goes up against Dae-doo. She admits that she’s scared, so Pil-sung takes her hand and says that Dae-doo wants him, not her.

Seo-jung tells Pil-sung that it would solve all their problems if he would just kill her. He says firmly that even if the world ends tomorrow, that’s never going to happen. He sighs that he’s really missed her, and Seo-jung looks at him for a long time, neither of them speaking.

Do-ryung closes his business for good, then sizes up Pil-sung, saying that he really seems to be back. He shows Pil-sung his system of CCTV cameras recording all around the building, but Pil-sung ignores him and says to Seo-jung that they should check out Oh Soo-hyuk’s vacation home. But she says that since they know how he is, Dae-doo will just find another body to possess.

Pil-sung goes home to find his apartment neat as a pin, and complains about Detective Kim’s clean freak tendencies. Ha.

Soo-kyung still believes that Do-ryung is having an affair with Seo-jung, and she stabs a voodoo doll repeatedly in her upset. Do-ryung shows up and is told to go away, but he says dramatically that he came to tell her the truth. Soo-kyung snaps that she doesn’t want to hear his excuses, but then she gets a look at what he’s wearing and forgets to be mad, hee.

Do-ryung tells her that he was chosen by the Heavens to help Seo-jung save the world, and that there’s nothing romantic between them. She refuses to believe him and be made a fool, and declares that she’s on a mission, too — to destroy him.

To prove he’s telling the truth, Do-ryung says he’ll snuff out her candle with his mind… but nothing happens. LOL, did he seriously just do the Karate Kid crane pose at the candle?? Soo-kyung screams at him to scram, and the candle goes out.

The next day, Pil-sung falls asleep at his desk, exhausted, only waking up in time to stumble out for lunch. The team agree that whatever was going on with him, he’s back to normal — for certain values of “normal,” anyway.

Nearby, Dae-doo limps into the middle of a busy intersection, holding up traffic. A driver yells at him to move, but Dae-doo just stands there laughing. The driver gets out and aims a punch at Dae-doo, but Dae-doo grabs his wrist and tosses him to the ground.

The driver goes to his drunk for a baseball bat, and after confirming that several bystanders are taking pictures and videos, Dae-doo pulls out his gun and shoots the man. Dae-doo wanders down the street, lazily shooting the people trying to escape. He walks into a nearby cafe and orders a cup of coffee, and when one man tries to run, Dae-doo shoots him, too.

The team watch Pil-sung eat, still curious about why he’s been acting so weird, but glad that he’s acting like himself again. They ask him what’s been going on, and lean in close for his confession. “A ghost temporarily took over my body,” he says. “While I was possessed, I fought evil spirits that were trying to destroy the world. Satisfied?” LOL, now they really think he’s nuts.

On the television, they see a breaking news report about Oh Soo-hyuk, who just killed four people and is holding more hostages at gunpoint. Pil-sung runs out of the restaurant as Special Forces and snipers swarm the area around the cafe.

Dae-doo enjoys his coffee as he makes the hostages stand between him and the windows. Pil-sung arrives, yelling that they can’t kill the suspect, while inside, Dae-doo spots him and smiles. He thanks the barista for the coffee and asks if she wants to be on TV.

As Pil-sung is dragged out of the way, Dae-doo emerges from the cafe holding his gun to the barista’s head. Suddenly he shoves her to one side and aims at her again, and a sniper takes the shot, shooting Dae-doo several times. Dae-doo laughs and makes eye contact with Pil-sung, and just before Soo-hyuk’s body dies, he gasps, “Catch me if you can.”

Seo-jung and Do-ryung watch the story unfold on television, and Seo-jung’s first thought is to wonder who Dae-doo’s soul will jump into next.

One month later.

Pil-sung and Seo-jung are eating at their convenience store when it starts to snow. Seo-jung asks Pil-sung to go see the ocean with her, but he just grumbles that she usually doesn’t want to do anything with him. She says that she’s given up on the dream of living in a house by the ocean with the man she loves, so it seems unfair to give up her feelings for someone she’s come to care for.

Pil-sung wonders if Dae-doo died after all, because it’s been quiet — too quiet — for a month. Seo-jung says it makes her nervous, like the calm before the storm.

Late at night, several men meet and each of them takes a gun from the trunk of a car.

Chief Yoo is at home watching the news about how violent crimes are on the rise recently, sometimes hundreds of incidents daily, as if people can no longer control their anger. When Seung-hee gets home from school he asks to see her test results, and he freaks out to see that she scored in the top seven percent.

Seung-hee tells him that she wants to go to the Police University, which isn’t the most welcome news. Chief Yoo reminds her of all the things she hates about his job, but Seung-hee just says that being a cop is cool and flounces off to her room.

Yeon-hee, meanwhile, waits for Joon-hyung at a restaurant, looking pale and sick. When he arrives, she says nervously that she took a pregnancy test, and it came up positive. A little shocked, Joon-hyung stares blankly, processing this information.

Yeon-hee looks like she’s about to burst into tears, scared of his reaction. But Joon-hyung whoops with joy and screams to the entire restaurant that he’s a daddy, then promises Yeon-hee that he’ll give her the most beautiful marriage proposal ever. Awww, so cute!

Do-ryung is a nervous wreck these days, camping out in front of his CCTV feeds and waving weapons around at the slightest noise. One day So-hee, Seo-jung’s business partner, shows up at his door wanting to see him. She claims that she knew he was the man for her as soon as she saw him and barges in, ignoring his protests.

She’s surprised to see Seo-jung there, who she hasn’t seen or heard from in ages. She asks Seo-jung about Pil-sung, assuming that she’s dating Do-ryung now. Do-ryung says that Seo-jung only lives here for business reasons, and Seo-jung gives him a Not helping!! side-eye.

So-hee seems even more enamored of Do-ryung when he refuses to discuss Soo-kyung, calling him a playboy. Soo-kyung shows up unexpectedly, saying that she’s here to officially break up as Do-ryung frantically tries to keep her from getting in. She shoves past him anyway then freezes, realizing that he was with not one, but two other women.

Seo-jung swears that it’s not what it looks like, but she is living with Do-ryung, and it definitely looks bad. Soo-kyung and Seo-jung bicker until So-hee snaps for Soo-kyung to leave since she’s figured out what’s going on. HAHA, Do-ryung doesn’t look entirely unhappy to have three beautiful women arguing over him.

He texts Pil-sung saying that three people scarier than Dae-doo are at his place. By the time Pil-sung gets there, Soo-kyung and So-hee are wrestling while Seo-jung mopes in a corner. Pil-sung rushes in brandishing his gun, and all four of them raise their hands guiltily (LOL, So-hee literally snatched Soo-kyung’s wig).

Seo-jung follows Pil-sung out when he leaves, happily latching onto his arm. She chirps that she can walk him home, then he can walk her home, and she boops his belly when he pretends to complain. It starts to snow again, and Pil-sung can’t take his eyes off Seo-jung as she dances under the snowflakes.

Eventually they get to Pil-sung’s apartment, and he offers Seo-jung coffee then realizes he’s out. He suggests ramyun instead (rawr?), but he’s out of that, too. He steps out to pick something up, leaving Seo-jung alone at his place. While he’s gone, she heats up some water, but the whistling of the pot resonates oddly.

Sensing something, Seo-jung looks around and whispers, “It’s you, right?”

Epilogue.

After getting shot in the leg and losing Seo-jung and Pil-sung, Dae-doo limps back to Soo-hyuk’s home. Drug dealers Chun-seob and Yeong-gil are tied up in the basement — he didn’t make them kill each other after all. Dae-doo grabs Yeong-gil and pours a soul from his mouth into Yeong-gil’s body, then moves to Chun-seob and injects something into his neck that renders him unconscious.

Later, when Soo-hyuk’s body dies, Dae-doo’s soul travels to a car parked nearby where his new host body is waiting, and a few seconds later, he wakes in Chun-seob’s body.

 
COMMENTS

What. The. Heck. Okay, so Soo-hyuk’s body is dead (awww, we’ll miss you Yeon Jung-hoon, you were incredible) and he’s in Chun-seob’s body now. Smart move, because Chun-seob has a lot of underground contacts but doesn’t seem to be thought of as much of a threat by his peers, so Dae-doo can get a lot accomplished before he has to change hosts again. Plus, Pil-sung and Seo-jung think that Chun-seob wants Dae-doo gone, too, so if he plays it right, Dae-doo can get really close to them before they figure him out.

I wonder what happened to all the “I’m God’s servant forever and can’t fall in love” business that Seo-jung was so adamant about? Dae-doo isn’t even vanquished and yet she seems to have forgotten all about her vows and reasons for pushing Pil-sung away. I’m certainly not complaining that the cute couple-y moments are back (for now), but part of me wants to be mad on Pil-sung’s behalf that Seo-jung is sending out mixed messages. He’s only going to get hurt when Dae-doo reveals himself, because there’s a good chance Seo-jung will be suddenly unavailable again.

I was so sad to see Detective Kim go, especially knowing what awaited him on the other side. Like Sunny, I’d gotten attached to him, and I wish he’d had more time to reconnect with his wife and daughter before he went. But you could see in his last moment that all he felt was acceptance — he’d done what he needed to do. He found the body Dae-doo was inhabiting, learned some about Dae-doo’s past and what made him into a monster, and saved his daughter. He left willingly and peacefully.

Speaking of Dae-doo’s past, I find myself wondering if there’s more to it than what we saw. Not that being viciously beaten isn’t horrific enough to drive an impressionable child’s mind to insanity — it very much is — but Dae-doo has said things that make me think that we haven’t seen everything. In Pil-sung’s dream, Dae-doo told Pil-sung that the world had abandoned him, which seems extreme if “all” he suffered was abuse at his father’s hands. I suspect that, after Dae-doo killed his father, he found himself in an even worse situation that twisted him even further, and made him feel that not just his father, but all of society had turned their backs on him. It’s possible that we have seen everything, and that this theory is just me feeling that Dae-doo was much scarier when his past was a mystery, but something tells me that there’s more.

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