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Kairos: Episode 6 Open Thread

This is the worst type of show to suffer preemptions, because how are we to survive this suspense with our nerves intact?! But once again, Kairos serves up an intense, satisfying hour of revelations and barely averted disaster. As one of our protagonists desperately tries to find our heroine’s mother before the worst can happen, and our heroine does her best to decode what clues she has with only a blurry outline of the changing future.

 
EPISODE 6 WEECAP

Seo-jin doesn’t immediately recognize the dead body as Song-ja, Ae-ri’s mother, and he loses Taek-kyu, who’s caught on to being followed. (How many people has this evil assistant killed now?) Taek-kyu lies low, and waits for Do-kyun’s orders. We see now how Do-kyun and Hyun-chae planned this whole thing out: figuring out that Kim Jin-ho’s weak spot is his surviving daughter, and using her as leverage to rope him into their plan.

Seo-jin can’t bring himself to tell Ae-ri it was her mother’s body he saw, but furiously tracks Song-ja’s movements. Ae-ri, not knowing Hyun-chae is watching her, visits Da-bin while she plays (to put a tracker on her teddy?).

Ae-ri figures out that Taek-kyu is the one who sent her mother 100 million won. She connects the dots about Song-ja’s murder when Seo-jin warns her to find her mother by Sept. 26, and devastated and desperate, travels to where she knows Song-ja will be in two weeks.

Kim Jin-ho decides he can’t trust Do-kyun after all and contacts Seo-jin to come see him—only for him to be pushed off a building by Taek-kyu before they can meet.

The police find Seo-jin’s tie pin in Song-ja’s mouth, and track his phone signal at the murder scene, so they run him to ground and arrest him.

Ae-ri runs into her mother.

In Seo-jin’s timeline, the police dissolve, Infinity War-style, and Seo-jin is alone and free.

This episode once again has our main characters desperate to save the life of someone close to them, and it struck me that this time it may feel even more personal to Seo-jin, because while of course he wants to save her life, he viscerally knows the pain of losing his closest loved ones. They’re also becoming closer as the days pass. The fact that Seo-jin survived the accident that killed Ae-ri’s father—after a horrifying 31 days, how is that even possible?—has given her hope to see the light at the end of the “dark tunnel” she finds herself in. They’ve become true partners by this point.

It was chilling to see Do-kyun and Hyun-chae smilingly plan to fake Da-bin’s death and forge her DNA by stealing and mutilating an orphan’s body, as though they’re planning a vacation. And the flashback of Hyun-chae killing her alcoholic dad proves what we’ve already suspected, that there’s something seriously misaligned about her moral compass, whether because of childhood abuse or some other reason.

She claims to both Da-bin and Do-kyun that it’s her daughter’s happiness that will make her happy, but I’d bet the truth is in her murmured desire to escape her current identity. It’s hard to tell if she loves these two, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she discards Do-kyun once they all escape the country.

While the protagonists are still desperately trying to prevent murder every week, we did get some great forward movement in this episode that clarifies a few questions about who is behind all this, and how they managed to kidnap Da-bin and fool the police. (Although I’m still convinced there are other accomplices we don’t know about.) I’m very glad Seo-jin found a connection between Taek-kyu and Do-kyun. And poor Ae-ri finally found Mom, what a relief! And saved Seo-jin at the same time. I could watch these two saving each other over and over again for the next six episodes and not get tired of it.

But the question I’m left with at the end of this episode is Why? Couldn’t Hyun-chae have just gotten a divorce? Why go to these extreme lengths to destroy Seo-jin? At this point they’ve bumped off his wife and daughter, framed him for using illegal materials, pinned a murder on him, and now it seems Do-kyun is stealing his project at work. It seems like overkill (no pun intended). The man already suffers from PTSD so severe he can’t sleep. There has to be something we don’t know yet in Seo-jin’s past that explains all this.

I wonder if Kim Jin-ho was also saved in this new future after Ae-ri met her mother, or if he’s still dead. I hope he’s alive, because Seo-jin is in grave need of some help in his own time. All I know is, there had better not be any more sports-related preemptions, because getting one episode per week is killing me slowly. These cliffhangers are bad for my health!

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This drama is what I am living for currently. Extremely thrilling in the best way possible. I guess I loved it more because there is some kind of reveal at the end of ep 6 and I was so glad that they did not leave that to cliff hanger.

I am just loving every moment of it.

I am also fascinated that his wife may be the most evil of all. I can't wait to find out how she orchestrated some of this and why.

At the core, this may end up to be just one of the corrupt corporation finding a scape goat kinda thing and our heroes figure out and send all the bad guys to hell. But It is done so masterfully right now that I am clenching my jaw and biting my nails and getting goosebumps all over when I watch it.

Also, I am developing new love for Shin Sung rok.

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> Also, I am developing new love for Shin Sung rok

👀

Welcome to the other side hahahaah 😆

I agree with all your other points too. It's not an uncommon story, most likely the core is a corrupt company wanting a scapegoat...but it's executed in a refreshing way and I am so excited to see how they will unravel all the mystery while saving each other. Seojin and Aeri have my full support. I'm rooting for them to win! I don't know how I want the bad guys to suffer yet. They need to suffer as much as Seojin did 😠.

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Totally agree with you two.
I don’t trust nice CEO. There are not nice CEO in drama land.

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You don't have to qualify your statement with "in drama land". ;)

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I don't trust him, either. He is enigmatic, the questions he asks and the things he says are always layered, and I feel that he is manipulating everyone behind the scene. Maybe he is the evil wife's grandfather. Maybe he disowned his daughter after she ran off and married a man from the wrong side of town. Maybe his daughter died from abuse and neglect. Maybe the daughter grew up, discovered her grandfather is a rich man, blames her mother's death on the grandfather. Maybe getting revenge on her grandfather is what this is all about. Destroying Seo jin is just part of it.

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Maybe Hyunchae's father was killed in the crash too, she then had to be adopted by her relative who abused her. Maybe she latched onto SEO-jin as the sole survivor to get destroy him and the company he represents.

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smart move! shin sung rok is awesome and it is fun to watch him in Masters in the House and in this!

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Thanks for the recap and comments! I do agree I could see these two saving each other until the end of the drama and I would be ok. I really, really love SSK and LSY acting. Really top notch, both have the ability to transmit that utterly desperation of someone running against time. Hats off.

I particularly want to praise SSK, the nightmare scene in which he remembers the collapse is particularly touching. The way he stares at his image in the mirror as he tries to stay calm while the building cracks and you can feel the panic not only in his eyes but in his whole body. Oh, my. What has Seojin done to suffer this way??

I know I’m alone on this, but I still think Taek Kyu is not the evil guy. As I commented before, he is the one who gave AeRi’s number to SeoJin (so he’s the one who made it possible for them to communicate) and also, he lied to DoKyun by telling him SeoJin had found nothing in the house. It’s too obvious he’s the killer in a drama where we still need so many answers.

You can all tell me “I told you” when he proves to be the real killer.

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Also... why do I feel DoKyun has his own agenda? I mean, apart from the fact that he can casually talk about disposing of a child’s body and faking DNA results, when Kyun Chae said she wanted to get rid of her name and live abroad, his expression wasn’t exactly happy. I think he wants to take over the corporation more than he wants to be with KyunChae.

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Right, for a guy who seems so accomplished at work, he is pretty stupid to trust hyunchae. I think he does plan to take advantage of the Jin-ho scandal to take over Seojin's work and move up the ranks.

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His wife is suuuuuuuper messed up.

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You are being really kind ti her... messed up, you said...

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Oh don't worry, behind my silent screaming eyes, I am calling her much, much worse...

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Cussed her out in three languages while I was watching her scene with Do Kyun 😂

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Hyun-chae is scary. She doesn't seem really to love people but use them. Even her love for her daughter looks weird and the way she's using emotional blackmail is really wrong.

I'm curious what was her plan? Did she give the idea and Do-Kyun chose the way? Or did she plan everything and Do-Kyun is her handyman?

I was afraid when Seo-jin said nothing about Ae-Ri's mother death, because he didn't give the adresses. I didn't want him to betray Ae-Ri so I was happy when he gave her the adresses. But he didn't tell her that Taek-kyu killed her mother, who really shouldn't trust him in the future.

One episode by week is not enough >_<

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> But he didn't tell her that Taek-kyu killed her mother, who really shouldn't trust him in the future.

Aeri already knew Lee Taek Gyu is the killer. Because they talked the night before, Seojin told her he followed Taek Gyu and found a body but he didn't recognize who it is. Then Aeri got the money message, and traced the number to Taek Gyu while Seojin traced the number he found on the dead body and it traced back to Aeri mum. So in their next conversation, Aeri already sensed the body he found when he tracked down Taekgyu was her mum. Seojin gave her info for her mum's whereabouts on 14th September. The current date in Aeri's time is 29th August. Aeri decided to just go to the address and backtrack from there while Seojin was also backtracking and found mum stayed at the motel. Luckily for both of them, Aeri accidently or miraculously met her mum at the location Seojin shared.

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Hyun-chae's scenes with Da-bin were unsettling. I fear what Hyun-chae might do to Da-bin if Da-bin disappoints her. Da-bin could feel it too, the way she tried to appease Hyun-chae after mentioning her dad.

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That was super creepy. Another reason for Seo-jin to find Da-bin ASAP and get her away from Hyun-chae.

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There was a brief scene in ep 1 where Da-bin cut her hand or maybe was playing in her room. I just dismissed it but looking back now, there was a strange vibe when Hyunchae talked to Da-bin. I hope Seojin saves her soon!

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I bring good news....next week both ep7-8 will air on Tuesday!!!! The Monday slot is canceled for baseball but we get 2 eps back to back on the next day. Yesssss!

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Thanks so much for this!!
It’s an agony just ti have one episode a week!!!

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what a relief! it has been torture longing for another epi and wondering if you somehow missed one so i will definitely free up next Tuesday! thanks for that really good news!

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Ahhh thank you @katakwasabi for the good news! I couldn't take another week like this :'(

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I just got caught up to night. KAIROS had been on the back burner for a couple of weeks. I rewatched episode 4 and then episodes 5 and 6. The ending of episode 6 was totally unexpected. It was great.

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Why do I feel like the child they want to use as Dan-bi's "corpse" is Kim Jin-ho's daughter? Not sure, but when Do-kyun visited them and out of nowhere wanted to see the kid I got super uncomfortable for some reason.

They got him in jail to get rid of him (then got rid of him for real) and leave the little, ill girl completely alone and... Damn.

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Noooooo...that's so evil of them. Seojin and Aeri needs to save Kim Jin Ho next!

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I hadn’t thought about this but you are so right 😱

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@ladykrueger I had the same thought when Do-Kyun went to visit the father of the sick girl.

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I was convinced the medicine he brought was something that could kill her... poor kid

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This episode was incredibly thrilling. I'm curious though if they put the necktie in her mouth before or after they caught him snooping. Shin Sung Rok is perfection in this role though, I believe every second of his exhaustion, trauma, courage, and hope. Lee Se Young is also really great here, she cries like a child though so sometimes it comes off a little over the top for me, but she is top notch with everything else.

As for Kyung Chae, it seems she was abused as a child and fought back. I know the idea was to show that she is a psychopath, but I think they fell short here. Her father was an alcoholic. I hope they delve more into her backstory in order to flesh out that she is a monster because I will not fault a child for fighting back against her abuser even if it was a horrible death. That being said she is clearly a master manipulator. Do Kyung doesn't seem to know what he has gotten himself into. I believe as @eazal said that he wants the company more than he wants to leave Korea, but I also think he wants to beat Seo jin too.

At the end of the day though, the question is why? Clearly Do Kyung is being manipulated by Kyung Chae, but is someone else manipulating him too. If so, why? Kyung Chae says she wanted rid of her or a her former self, so that kind of hints at why she isn't just divorcing him, but we still don't know why.

Finally, I hope they save Kim Jin Ho, his poor daughter.

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I think someone is behind all this, not Dokyung, Kyunchae or Taek-kyu. Someone else. Right now I can only think about CEO, but even so... why????

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I definitely think it was added by the new police officer who was investigating the mothers death.

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i dont know about Kyunchae, as much as you hate your husband, as much as you want to set free everything that happens to Seojin is too cruel and not... humane? Sure Seojin has mistakes, not perfect but he is still a very decent man?
or maybe Kyunchae is a psychopath? i get goosebumps when she said that Dabin is going to be happy if she is happy too (yikes). i really wish Aeri tell Seojin about Kyunchae's affair so he can start suspecting his wife too

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"She claims to both Da-bin and Do-kyun that it’s her daughter’s happiness that will make her happy"/////

I think she said, only if she is happy that Dabin will also happy. So it's actually the opposite.

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“She claims to both Da-bin and Do-kyun that it’s her daughter’s happiness that will make her happy, but I’d bet the truth is in her murmured desire to escape her current identity. It’s hard to tell if she loves these two, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she discards Do-kyun once they all escape the country.” - I wouldn’t be surprised either! I think she is just using Do Kyun.
By the way, where did she get her money to live in a nice getaway house like that? Was that Do Kyun’s house? How are they going to fund their ‘escape’ ?

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Do Kyung said he got them the house, presumably he has money or his sponsor for these shenanigans has money. Who knows though?

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I agree that she is merely using Do-Kyun.

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I really don’t know who is using who at this point.

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Thank you @laica for the weecap. I do hope that the show explains why Hyun-chae decided to marry Seo-jin and have a child with him. Also, I am not too convinced that she loves Do-kyun. I honestly believe that she is using him to furthur her own goals (whatever those may be). Even Hyun-chae's interactions with her daughter seemed off.

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My stomach was in knots during this episode, poor jin-ho and his daughters. I hope there is still time to save him and his daughter.
Although we got more insight into how Hyunchae became like this, she is absolutely terrifying. I feel like do-kyun is disposable to her and she will leave him with no regrets if things don't go to plan.

I think that there are two main evil teams, Do-kyun and Hyun-chae who want to ruin Seojin and are making use of Jin-ho. They are also using Tae-kyu to keep track of Seo-jin's movements and hide their affair.
The other evil team is Chairman and his lackey Tae-kyu. I believe Do-kyun is unaware about Tae-kyu's actions towards Ae-ri or the mother. In ep 5, Tae-kyu mentions the tracker but not the dead body. Anyway Tae-kyu must be getting orders from the Chairman who is trying to keep the 2005 incident from surfacing again.
I also think Chairman must know about the affair because he mentioned that special relationship Do-kyun has with Seojin.

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Thank you for the recap!!!

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Can't help but think Seojin should go get an another prescription from the doctor or find a new place for his pills. It would be so easy for our villains to replace them for something more deadly.

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So Seo-jin was in the rubble for 31 days? Does this have any relationship to the time that he and Ae-ri talk to each other? And was Seo-jin buried with her father?

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Ooh interesting theory about the 31 days. I do suspect that the man who was with Seo-jin when the collapse happened was her father.

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