Grid: Episode 5 Open Thread

by solstices

The chase is on! Adopting more proactive methods to draw the Ghost out of hiding, the Bureau is determined to obtain answers once and for all. Our protagonists seem to have slightly different plans in mind, though, and it seems they might wind up taking things into their own hands.

 
EPISODE 5 WEECAP

Over a phone call, Sae-byuk informs Sae-ha about the irregularities in the Ghost’s DNA. She theorizes that the unusual enzyme bond may be a result of her teleportation, which means doing so might exhaust her or cause her great pain. However, Sae-ha points out that the Ghost disappeared in front of Sae-byuk when she could’ve simply run away, suggesting that teleporting may not be that physically taxing after all.

The Administrative Bureau discusses alternative action plans, since their current strategy of combing through CCTV footage is time-consuming and seemingly futile. Eo-jin proposes putting out an APB and making use of the whole country’s eyes and ears, but Sae-ha refuses to involve citizens.

Instead, he suggests that they announce the Grid is broken — it could lure the Ghost to the Grid control headquarters, since she’d want to fix what she created. Instead of searching for her, they could make her go to them.

A meeting is called with a minister, several high-ranking officials, and the Administrative Bureau. Many raise concerns that making a fuss about the Grid could hurt South Korea’s international image, but Eo-jin counters that if they solve the mystery of the ghost, they’ll be lauded to no end. The debate continues with no consensus reached, and they eventually send our administrative trio out of the room.

Sun-wool briefs the rest on the similar web-like injuries found on the agent from the recent stakeout and a researcher from 1997. The wounds were caused by electrical stimulation through a superconductor, and this technology comes from the future. It proves that the Ghost is the founder of the Grid, and that’s enough for the minister to decide that they need to escalate this to the president.

In a run-down alley, Sae-ha purchases a gun from a shady dealer. The man makes him pay extra for a pack of bullets via a bank transfer, despite the transaction potentially leaving a trail. Ack, Sae-ha, don’t do anything rash!

His desperation to catch the Ghost is understandable and sympathetic, though. In a flashback, we see that young Sae-ha had witnessed his mother’s breakdown in the bathroom, having just barely decided not to end her own life. It’s clear that the Ghost’s murder of his father had caused his family to fall apart, scarring Sae-ha for life. Whether he wants revenge, or simply just answers, I can’t blame him.

At the Bureau, agents get into position to await the arrival of the ghost, hiding in crevices and masquerading as staff. They’re armed with tranquilizer guns, but Ji-yoo gives one agent a real gun and instructs him to shoot the Ghost in the hand the moment she shows up. “Disarm her,” Ji-yoo commands, “and if that fails, kill her.” Whoa.

That’s yet another person added to the list of those who want the Ghost’s head. They’ve clearly been instructed to capture the Ghost alive, so Ji-yoo is knowingly going against direct orders. His rationale is that they’ve waited far too long for the Ghost to reappear, so they need to get her body and her weapons if nothing else.

It looks like the higher-ups have decided to go with both strategies after all — wanted posters of both Ma-nok and the Ghost are displayed on electronic billboards, promising hefty cash rewards. Sae-byuk sees the news, and calls Eo-jin to confirm.

She’s disappointed when she learns the decisions that are causing mass panic and putting innocent civilians at risk came from Eo-jin and Sae-ha. Eo-jin stands by his decision, saying that they ought to make use of the population, though he picks up on the familiarity with which Sae-byuk refers to Sae-ha.

Returning to the police station, Sae-byuk takes a gun and several bullets from the firearms storage room. Oh no, I know you badly want to catch the Ghost, but you’re already on thin ice… Her modus operandi is clearly act first, think later, but that’s not sustainable, especially not with her unemployed younger brother living with her.

At a subway station, the Ghost is confronted by two men who note her resemblance to the wanted poster. They start to get handsy, until a janitor intervenes by whacking their legs with her broom, ha. That makes them switch their target to her instead, but Sae-byuk jumps in just in time, swiftly incapacitating them and scaring them off. She turns to ask the janitor about possible hiding spots in the station, and completely misses the Ghost as she walks off.

A distance away, the Ghost reappears in front of the two escaping men. They’re smug to see her, thinking they can claim the cash reward, but she teleports them away in the blink of an eye. When she returns, she’s shivering, and her shoes leave frosty condensation prints on the ground. Ha, did she whisk them away to an icy tundra or something?

The janitor belatedly remembers the odd sounds she’d heard through the walls in the toilet, but Sae-byuk is long gone, so she heads down to the abandoned railway passageway herself. She stumbles upon Ma-nok’s cell, and promptly runs away screaming when Ma-nok starts aggressively yelling and hurling things at the grate.

She runs straight into Sae-byuk, who heads down to investigate. Finding the empty hideout, Sae-byuk flips the switch to raise the grate, gun drawn — only for Ma-nok to suddenly jump down from a ledge and tackle her. She manages to kick her gun away in time, but Ma-nok simply starts strangling her. Sae-byuk’s a fighter, though, and she strangles him right back, locking them in a chokehold.

Yet again, we end on a cliffhanger, which I’m really hoping the next episode follows up on (unlike last week’s ending). I can’t be the only one who’s impatient to find out why the Ghost infiltrated Sae-ha’s home, right?

In any case, Sae-ha’s likely going to join the fray, since Sae-byuk was on a phone call with him and he heard the janitor’s panicked screaming. It would be interesting to see the pair take Ma-nok down, since I highly doubt either of them are going to hand him over to the authorities before they pry some answers out of him.

I wish the side characters were utilized more, though maybe that’s just my curiosity about Eo-jin speaking. I get that the other characters are mostly playing it by the book, but I’d like to see them play a bigger role in the investigation rather than just be mouthpieces for alternative viewpoints to Sae-ha’s. (Shoutout to Jong-yi, who’s so earnest and endearing — I’m rooting for you, fellow liberal arts major! Go fulfil your time-machine-construction dreams!)

 
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