Alice: Episode 10

by selena

With another death comes more evidence that points to a suspect that’s really close to home. As our stoic cop struggles with coming to terms with the information being presented to him, the others are using their own methods to dig deeper into the investigation. Our hero’s death day looms over the horizon, so the professor works hard to ensure he’s living his life to its fullest while trying to prevent the inevitable.

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

“With Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth” – Francois Rabelais

Min-hyuk arrives at the safehouse just as Tae-yi faints. He rushes to help her without any hesitation when he spots the rashes on her arm. Jin-gyum’s understandably wary of his presence, but accepts the help. Things will get bad for her unless she takes the pill that Min-hyuk carries around.

When she’s safe and sound in her bed, Min-hyuk assures Jin-gyum that Tae-yi will wake up soon. The lieutenant demands to know why he’s helping, so Min-hyuk explains that he went on a mission with his mother in 1992. She stayed behind to give birth to him.

Speaking as his mother’s “friend,” Min-hyuk advises Jin-gyum to stop doing dangerous things for her sake – she gave everything up for him. He sincerely apologizes for not knowing that she died or had a son. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her.”

Min-hyuk steadies his voice and vows to catch the killer, but Jin-gyum pulls out his gun and reminds him that he’s a suspect. However, because his arrest will alert the other agents and make things difficult for Tae-yi, Min-hyuk gets to walk away unscathed.

After the emotional encounter, he shares a drink with Cheol-am at the Alice bar later that night. The director apologizes for not thoroughly checking Jin-gyum’s background. It’s hard for Cheol-am to believe that Shi-young withheld information, but the fact is that she lied about meeting Tae-yi in 2011 when she already died in 2010.

Wanting to look into Shi-young more, Min-hyuk requests a break from missions. He assures Cheol-am that he isn’t seeking revenge. He doesn’t believe he has the right to do anything like that because he didn’t look for Tae-yi. Unable to forgive her for leaving him, Min-hyuk ended up abandoning her in a strange time where she raised a child and died alone.

Cheol-am promises to keep Jin-gyum safe or even bring him to Alice, if that’s what Min-hyuk wants. However, Min-hyuk can’t bring himself to tell Jin-gyum about their relationship until he figures out who killed Tae-yi, at the very least.

When Tae-yi wakes up the next morning, she can tell that Jin-gyum took care of her all night long. Realizing that there are only a few days left until Jin-gyum’s supposed to die, she tells herself that she can change things. When Jin-gyum wakes up, she’s gone.

He finds Do-yeon in the living room lost in thought, staring at the cake that was left out. While Jin-gyum’s busy making calls, she calmly asks if it was Tae-yi’s birthday yesterday. Despite Jin-gyum labeling it as a mere coincidence, Do-yeon’s unconvinced.

She lists off all the weird things that have been happening and says she could be convinced that those were just strange coincidences. However, she’s unable to wrap her head around the fact that Tae-yi looks exactly like his mother and has the same birthday.

Used to Jin-gyum’s silence, Do-yeon knows that he won’t tell her anything. She’s determined to find out what’s happening by herself. Do-yeon ends up meeting up with Tae-yi later under the guise of wanting to write about Oh-won’s disappearance.

She’s unable to keep up with the charade and brings up the Spain trip that Tae-yi mentioned. Do-yeon has figured it out – there are parallel worlds and that another version of her decided to travel with Tae-yi. She remains stubborn and says it’s the only way she’d ever go on a trip with her.

As Jin-gyum’s friend, Do-yeon is truly worried for him. Tears well up as she explains that he has changed a lot in the past decade and understands how poorly he treated his mother before she passed. He’s reminded of Mom whenever he sees Tae-yi and, filled with self-blame, will throw himself into dangerous situations for her sake.

Tae-yi fully understands why Do-yeon’s asking her to stay away and even calls her a great friend. This conversation makes her believe that it’s possible for them to travel together. However, she still can’t leave Jin-gyum’s side because she needs to do everything she can to help him out.

At Jin-gyum’s apartment, Dong-ho reports his findings: Tae-yi is Dr. Jang’s daughter, her biological mother is confirmed dead, and somebody else took her to the orphanage. Jin-gyum is reminded of the female accomplice that the retired detective was looking for.

Dong-ho’s miffed that he wasn’t given a heads up about her relationship with Dr. Jang, but Jin-gyum didn’t want to say anything since Tae-yi is still in the dark. Jin-gyum decides that he’ll let her know when the time is right.

That night, Tae-yi prepares samgyupsal and soju to make up for her ruined birthday meal. Jin-gyum can tell she’s taking extra good care of him. When she declares that she’ll cook breakfast from now on, he asks, “Did something happen?”

Tae-yi just changes the topic and learns that Jin-gyum doesn’t have a bucket list. She gives him some examples as inspiration, but Tae-yi gives up when he chooses things that aren’t possible to accomplish within a few days.

Jin-gyum admits that there are many things he hasn’t tried, which makes it hard to choose a bucket list item. He asks if Tae-yi doesn’t like the necklace since she’s not wearing it. She claims to be saving it for a special day and suddenly brings up going to an amusement park..

Hee, they end up going together and while Tae-yi is having a great time, our stoic cop grimaces as he tries to hide the fact that he’s scared. He even goes weak in the knees after the ride, aw! Tae-yi shows him that she’s wearing the necklace while they sit down to rest.

After a couple asks Jin-gyum to take a photo of them, he suggests to Tae-yi that they should take one, too, for the memories. Tae-yi checks to see whether the photo came out well. Realizing that this is the photo she used as her laptop’s wallpaper in 2021, Tae-yi’s entire demeanor changes and she deletes the photo.

This time, Jin-gyum insists to know if something happened when she traveled through time. Tae-yi knows that she’s overstepping her boundaries, but asks if he can just give up on finding his mother’s killer. She finally blurts out that he’ll die while searching for the culprit.

Jin-gyum barely reacts to finding out that his end is near. Instead, he’s focused on figuring out whether Tae-yi knew the killer’s identity. Frustrated, she yells that it’s not important when he’s about to die. Jin-gyum brings up the bucket list and says that apprehending the murderer is the only thing he has ever wished for.

After hearing what Tae-yi learned from Oh-won in the future, Jin-gyum sets off to investigate. He hesitates for a moment when Tae-yi calls after him informally and accuses him of not caring about those who worry about him. But, he’s a man on a mission.
He calls his partner and tells him that Oh-won should still be alive, according to Tae-yi. They need to find the final page of the Book of Prophecy, and he knows Oh-won had the book last.

Min-hyuk learns that the text that Tae-yi received the morning that she died was sent by Shi-young: “This is something you brought upon yourself.” Cheol-am warns that this isn’t hard evidence that she killed Tae-yi.

Shi-young watches from the control room with a stony expression as Lee Se-hoon is released from prison. Se-hoon enters a dingy-looking inn – it’s where Captain Go was seen acting suspiciously in the footage that Tae-yi found in the USB. Se-hoon notices that he’s being tailed so he quickly locks the room to his door and dials Jin-gyum’s number.

Jin-gyum picks up while searching through Oh-won’s office. Se-hoon wants protection in exchange for information regarding his mother’s death. However, before anything can be said, someone opens Se-hoon’s door and the line is cut.

Jin-gyum traces the number to the inn, and Min-hyuk arrives just moments before he does. He finds Se-hoon dead and unfortunately, Jin-gyum gets the wrong idea when he walks in. He assumes that Min-hyuk meant to silence the prisoner.

He doesn’t believe Min-hyuk’s claims that he was looking for the person who killed his mother. Convinced that he’s the culprit, Jin-gyum attacks the agent. Min-hyuk manages to get away with just a bruised eye.

When Min-hyuk returns to Alice and learns that all security footage near the inn was deleted, he storms into Shi-young’s meeting and orders the others to leave. A tear escapes as he tries to compose himself. He reveals that he knows about the text, and demands to know what happened.

Shi-young raises her voice, upset that he lied about the Book of Prophecy. Back then, she learned that Tae-yi was in possession of it and went ot meet her. She’d refused to give it up, so Shi-young sent her the text. Tae-yi needed to know that her actions were dangerous and selfish.

Although she didn’t kill Tae-yi, Shi-young did wish that she’d die. Ah…as suspected, she has feelings for Min-hyuk and chose to keep everything a secret because she knew he’d do anything to find the killer once he knew.

Shi-young bitterly says that while the “tiresome” Yoon Tae-yi of the past disappeared, another one has surfaced just when she thought they were getting closer. Tears flow down his face as he takes this in. She slides Min-hyuk the footage of Se-hoon leaving the prison as proof that she didn’t do anything.

While the others inspect the crime scene, Dong-ho tells Jin-gyum that Se-hoon died two hours ago. He finds it strange that Min-hyuk would stay in the room for so long if he did kill him. Jin-gyum takes a moment to re-consider Min-hyuk’s words. Meanwhile, Captain Go observes from a distance.

The captain puts the Book of Prophecy away in his room and fiddles with a burner phone. During dinner, his wife In-soo lovingly reminisces about their first date. Captain Go scratches behind his ear, which seems to be a nervous tick.

In-sook has a newfound appreciation for simply spending time with him because her friend’s husband was recently diagnosed with cancer. She just wants to live a long, happy life together.

Tae-yi visits the orphanage to ask her mother there whether she arrived with anything – like a book or a piece of paper. The nun says she didn’t, but wonders if something is going on because the suspicious man who came by last time asked about a book, too.

She mentions that a buff detective stopped by earlier today as well and Tae-yi pulls up a group photo of the police squad to confirm that it was Dong-ho. To Tae-yi’s surprise, the nun identifies Captain Go as the suspicious man who asked about her birth father.

The captain hands his resignation letter to the police chief, but Chief Yoon doesn’t want to accept it. However, Captain Go seems to be tired of this lifestyle and wishes to live a peaceful life by his wife’s side starting next month.

Tae-yi visits the precinct and pulls Captain Go aside for a private conversation. She wants to learn more about his relationship with Jin-gyum. When he says that the reason he took care of Jin-gyum was because he felt bad for wrongly accusing him, Tae-yi bluntly says, “That’s really weird.” It’s not a big enough reason to take in a teenager.

After confirming that the captain never intended to adopt a child, Tae-yi’s smile drops and she asks, “Then, why did you go to Hope Orphanage?” The captain denies this drops his notebook as he leaves, bending down to pick it up. Tae-yi catches sight of the scar behind his ear.

She reports this to Jin-gyum immediately, not quite sure where she’s seen the symbol before. Jin-gyum isn’t inclined to believe that there’s anything suspicious about Captain Go even though Tae-yi tells him that he was asking about her biological father at the orphanage.

Jin-gyum visits the morgue where Se-hoon’s body is. The coroner reports that he seems to have swallowed a mysterious capsule filled with poisonous substances. When Jin-gyum notices the scar behind his ear, he learns that Hae-min also had the same mark.

Dong-ho manages to gather some black box footage from parked cars near the inn. Jin-gyum takes the USB and sifts through it all until he finds the moment when Se-hoon limps inside. Min-hyuk watches the same clip and both men see that Captain Go entered shortly after.

After looking into the captain, Min-hyuk reports to Cheol-am that he illegally traveled to 2010 to visit Se-hoon and was the lead investigator in charge of Tae-yi’s case. They suspect that he approached Jin-gyum intentionally. Cheol-am wants to report this to HQ, but Min-hyuk asks for a bit more time to figure it out himself.

Jin-gyum shows up at the captain’s place that night with a fruit basket to thank In-sook for preparing Mom’s memorial. He asks to speak to the captain alone and looks at him with an unreadable expression.

In 2014, Jin-gyum went to the bathhouse for the first time with the captain. It’s traditionally a father-son activity, and Captain Go really took on the role of Jin-gyum’s father by scrubbing his back. He told Jin-gyum to speak up when things get tough.

They saw a little boy splashing around with his father, so Captain Go teased in-gyum and asks him to call him “Dad.” Jin-gyum refused, but it was obvious that he already considered him as family.

Jin-gyum is contemplative as he sits across from Captain Go at a restaurant. He uncharacteristically decides to drink with the captain, who smiles in relief because he seems to be getting better. However, he can tell that something’s on Jin-gyum’s mind.

Fiddling with the USB underneath the table, Captain Go seems to know that he’s here about the Lee Se-hoon case. As he’s about to explain his actions, Jin-gyum interrupts that it’s not about the case. He tells Captain Go that he got better because of him, and asks him to stay by his side like he always has, for a long time.

Do-yeon’s parents want to set her up with a friend’s son, but she’s not interested. They’re worried she’ll die alone but she just chirps that she has Jin-gyum. Do-yeon gets a call from the captain and is tasked with driving Jin-gyum home. She’s full of excitement at the sight them bonding like father and son.

When Do-yeon asks why Jin-gyum decided to drink, he answers that he just felt like it. He decides to toss the USB out the window, destroying the evidence.

The captain sighs before he answers a call from Teacher and receives a set of instructions. He thinks back to 2010 when he visited Se-hoon. He’d told the prisoner that he was here to kill Yoon Tae-yi. When Captain Go entered her home, he’d seen a photo of her and Jin-gyum.

Do-yeon’s pleasantly surprised when Jin-gyum actually agrees to grab a drink with her. However, the excitement is cut short when he’s called back to the precinct – there’s a lead on Oh-won.

Tae-yi watches the news that night and they’re reporting on Se-hoon’s case. They show the inn that he stayed at which looks super familiar. Tae-yi plugs in the USB and gasps when she checks the footage, realizing that Captain Go was there. All the evidence pointing towards Captain Go being suspicious fills her mind.

Dong-ho updates Jin-gyum at the precinct. The Hae-min that time traveled from the future rented a car, and it was found at an abandoned amusement park. Inside, they found traces of Oh-won’s DNA.

Together, they drive towards the site. Captain Go is also making his way there and rejects a call from Jin-gyum. He reports to Teacher and promises to take care of Oh-won. When Jin-gyum arrives, he and Dong-ho split up from the others to cover more ground.

He spots the captain’s car and sends Dong-ho away before he discovers it. Searching in the vicinity, Jin-gyum comes across a door that leads underground. It’s unlocked, so Jin-gyum braces himself, cocking his gun before peering inside.

 
COMMENTS

I feel like there must be some tragic backstory behind Captain Go that’s forcing him to act like this. He has definitely been doing shady things, that’s for sure – but he just seems so genuine whenever he’s around In-sook and Jin-gyum. It’s now confirmed that he traveled from the future to kill Tae-yi back in 2010, but when he saw the photo of her and Jin-gyum, it seemed to affect him somehow. I believe that he truly does care about Jin-gyum, otherwise the unfeeling detective wouldn’t be so torn up about the possibility of Captain Go being the bad guy. The bond they built over the years was definitely based off of sincerity. His sigh before taking the call from Teacher made it clear to me that Captain Go is pretty tired of all of this. So…what kind of person is this Teacher that has such a strong hold on him, that he can’t escape even a decade later?

I’m finding myself kind of at a loss as to what I’m supposed to expect from the show. Finding out who killed Tae-yi is definitely a huge thing, but…besides that, there doesn’t seem to be much else driving the story. I’m unsure why Tae-yi’s still being kept in the dark about important things like the identity of her biological father, or that there’s a huge chance that she’s actually Jin-gyum’s mother. Can’t we just get a DNA test done to prove their relationship? I’ve been pretty easy on the show so far regarding the hints of romantic interest, but we’re already this far into its run and it’s getting ridiculous. Literally nobody wants to see them get involved in any way, and it’s confusing why the show is trying to push this angle so strongly. I just want more interactions between Tae-yi/Min-hyuk and Jin-gyum/Min-hyuk. Is that too much to ask for?!

Min-hyuk continues to be the one person I consistently care about throughout everything. Keep in mind, it’s only been one year since Tae-yi left him, even though he has a full-grown son now. I can’t imagine how it feels to discover that all of this happened while he was working hard for what he believes to be the greater good. It’s also so disappointing that the reason behind Shi-young’s actions are due to her love for Min-hyuk. It’s something I suspected earlier on, but didn’t want to be true because it’s just so…predictable. I don’t care about her at all as a character, and hate that she’s trying to benefit off of the absence of her “friend.”

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