Wild Boar Hunting: Episode 4 (Final)
by mistyisles
This dark, sad story comes to a haunting conclusion as truth and lies intermingle. But the questions it prompts our characters – and us – to ponder are sure to linger for a very long time.
EPISODE 4 WEECAP
Backing up long before the fateful boar hunt, we see the whole story from In-sung’s perspective. Hyun-min’s favorite bullying tactics included holding a magnifying glass over In-sung’s face to try and set fire to it (!) and forcing In-sung to vandalize a local greenhouse by slashing open its plastic exterior. Every time he did, In-sung’s eyes got a little darker and harder.
As we already know, Hyun-min presented as the picture-perfect golden boy, so even In-sung’s attempts to transfer classes got brushed aside. And with Hyun-min threatening to burn In-sung’s house down and kill his parents (believing Ok-soon’s claim that that’s what the villagers did to his own parents), In-sung was too terrified to explicitly ask for help.
The day of the hunt, Hyun-min had taken In-sung out to the woods for another beating, this time to vent his anger at In-sung’s family winning the lottery. They were interrupted by the hunt itself, and while Hyun-min held In-sung down to keep him from crying out, Young-soo’s bullet missed In-sung by inches and hit Hyun-min.
But the bullet wasn’t what killed him. In-sung, seeing this as his one chance at deliverance, strangled him with his bare hands. Then, after everyone had gone, he fled in tears.
As In-sung relates the story to Young-soo in the present, he says brokenly that he knew Hyun-min would kill him later if he didn’t do it. But then he amends his words: actually, he feels like he already died a long time ago. But the point he wants to express most is that he killed Hyun-min – and Young-soo didn’t.
In-sung’s confession devastates Young-soo and Chae-jung, both because of what they’ve done and because they never realized how deeply In-sung was suffering. Neither blames In-sung for what he did; instead, they let him know he has their full support and protection, no matter what.
Now that In-sung is back at home, his parents can no longer deny the detective’s request to question him without drawing more suspicion on themselves. So, in preparation, Chae-jung coaches In-sung on what to say: the two boys played hooky and took a nap in the woods. When In-sung woke up, Hyun-min was nowhere to be found. While searching for his friend, he’d gotten lost and wandered for a week before finding his way back home. Chae-jung’s tone is gentle, and it’s for his own protection, but this feels eerily like In-sung being pressured to lie about Hyun-min’s bullying.
In-sung dutifully repeats the lie to the detective, and then takes it a step further by adding the crucial detail that Hyun-min confided to him about being abused by Ok-soon and planning to run away. It’s also a lie, but it’s impossible to prove false and gives a plausible motive for Hyun-min to have vanished. The case is closed, and Hyun-min is officially documented as a runaway.
As everyone tries to move on with their lives, the blackmailers spend the money they extorted from Young-soo. Jin-kook’s wife gets her surgery, but too late – not long after the operation, Jin-kook comes home to find she’s passed while he was away.
At the funeral, Young-soo sits with Jin-kook, Man-seok, and the village chief long after the other attendees have left. He still has no idea they’re the ones who blackmailed him… that is, until he claps Jin-kook on the shoulder. Jin-kook winces in pain, the others freeze, and Young-soo knows immediately what this means.
In a rage, he seizes a knife from the kitchen and comes at Jin-kook. Jin-kook makes no move to stop him, but he does ask Young-soo to listen to his reason first. He reminds Young-soo about all the ways he was there for Young-soo throughout their lives, sobbing that his wife could have lived if she’d only gotten her surgery sooner.
Young-soo does listen. Breaking down in tears, he slowly drops the knife and wraps his arms around Jin-kook. Their friendship is restored, and everyone resolves to put the terrible past behind them. To start, they haul Hyun-min’s body out to the river and sink it into the water, never to be found again. In-sung returns to school, where he’s finally free from the torment of Hyun-min’s presence.
Young-soo and his friends go after that boar again, and this time Young-soo shoots and doesn’t miss. But the victory is bittersweet, bringing up flashbacks from the last hunt and its repercussions. Still, the four friends celebrate killing the boar by going back to Jin-kook’s house to eat, drink, and sleep in the living room like old times. Just before they all fall asleep, Jin-kook asks outright if Young-soo killed Joo-hyub, and Young-soo answers honestly that he did. It’s more for the sake of getting that unspoken question out into the open than anything else, and they all agree once more to leave the past in the past.
Late that night, while the four sleep soundly, Ok-soon creeps into the house, douses it in gasoline, and sets it on fire. As she walks away from the resulting explosions and flames, she meets a wild boar on the road. They look into each other’s eyes as a tear rolls down her face.
Wow. I wasn’t sure what kind of resolution this show could have, and satisfying feels like the wrong word to use, but I do think it was fitting. By which I mean, once it had happened, I felt as though there was no other way it could – or should – have ended.
I found the reconciliation between Young-soo and his friends particularly moving, because 1) I honestly didn’t think it would be possible and 2) it emphasized a huge theme of this show, which is that where Young-soo – and almost everyone else – went wrong was not taking the time to understand their circumstances or each other.
No one listened when In-sung tried to subtly ask for help. Young-soo hid his mistakes and let them snowball into even worse ones. The villagers simply brushed grievances under the rug instead of addressing them openly, creating an illusion of harmony that provided the perfect breeding ground for resentment and revenge.
That’s why it’s such a powerful turning point when Young-soo drops the knife and listens to Jin-kook’s story with empathy. I wouldn’t call this tragic story hopeful by any means, but there is a glimmer of hope in that fact that he wasn’t too far gone to change, even after crossing the self-declared point of no return.
Even so, it would have felt wrong if Young-soo especially had gotten off scot-free. And for Ok-soon – the one who arguably couldn’t understand the full circumstances, the one whom no one but Hyun-min and the detective ever really listened to – to proverbially strike the final blow brought everything to a sense of completion. Because their community’s real threat wasn’t a wild boar eating their crops, but deep-rooted resentment eating away at them all. And when it finally caught up to them, they were too focused on their own perceived problems to even see it coming.
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Tags: Kim Soo-jin, Park Ho-san, Wild Boar Hunting, Yeh Soo-jung
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1 jerrykuvira
August 24, 2022 at 11:59 PM
Let me start with the fun part.
mistyisles I'm surprised you couldn't bring yourself to laugh at the helium voice change last week, with good reason though. I had my full dose of laughter please. It was an trickle of laughter in a desert of slow and heavy. I wasn't even expecting it at all. If anything, adorable Jin-kook on the line wasn't comfortable with it so it softened the landing for me. Were it Joo-hyob or Man-seok, I wouldn't have laughed so much as I did.
Watching Wild Boar Hunting is a harrowing experience. I wasn’t able to watch from the premiere week because I was engaged with activities and I didn’t want to read through what’s going on with the recaps. Having binge watched all four episodes and read all 3 recaps plus this one now, I must say that I’m delighted I had this on my radar right from it’s announcement. WBH happens to serve slow and heavy at the same time.
Even before I began I never for once doubted Kim Young-soo. When he murdered Joo-hyob I faltered a bit but was right back on track. While he really went unhinged the person who impressed me the most with handling the situation was Chae-jung. This woman basically kept them from jail.
It took your comments to see things for Ok-soon's POV and make peace with the fate that befell the four men and yes, you're right. It wasn't the four men vs Hyun-min, it was the four men vs Ok-soon. The four men wouldn't have been burnt if the community had addressed Ok-soon's heavy statements years ago.
In-sung wouldn't have suffered such brutal bullying if the community had hashed out Ok-soon's description of events with her.
I know that it's murder, but was I thankful that it happened? In-sung's part in it I mean?Capital YES. Hyun-min took everything from In-sung - His grades, his sweet nature, approval from the community and the school. What would I have done in that situation? Raise an alarm for help to come. And using the window I have since Hyun-min is now incapacitated tell my parents everything that's going on and force them to relocate to another environment(with the situation at hand I'm sure Young-soo and Chae-jung were now open to being reasonable parents who will listen to their kid), withholding the information from the small community. I don't blame In-sung for doing what provided itself to him as the best thing he could do to free himself of this shackles his parents and community put him into.
The funeral parlour scene broke me too. Jin-kook not trying to run from the knife and Young-soo's actions thereafter broke me more. I was equally expecting Young-soo to talk about footing his wife's surgery so I completely understand him. I know it's not Jin-kook's money nor sweat but I can't fault his reasons at all - they were brothers. This scene was Wild Boar Hunting being raw and human to the very basic core.
Wild Boar Hunting is a harrowing satisfying watch. It was hard to sit through but equally compelling. It was another reminder...
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jerrykuvira
August 25, 2022 at 12:05 AM
... never to settle for false unity.
All in all, WBH is and was a satisfying watch for me. A rewatch? I'm not sure I can. Watching the cycle of living of this community once is enough for me. Recommendable? Yes. If you have a knack for slow and heavy themes.
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2 emsel
August 25, 2022 at 12:11 AM
Well, I do not understand the message this drama tried to convey because at the end no one was ever truely innocent even though they were all victims in some way. Everyone was messed up and their actions though understandable is not justifiable. I can't say if they had all communicated openly, the entire event could have been avoided because each one in the community was selfish to the bone. The only good thing about this drama was it kept the thriller element going until the last moment. 7/10
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3 ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae
August 25, 2022 at 4:34 PM
Just finished the show and wow, what a ride. I know it’s never going to get the attention and accolades it deserves due to its short length and lack of a-listers, but I think it’s up there as one of the best of 2022. Gems like these are why I try to keep track of everything that’s being released (to a reasonable extent). Park Ho-san and Kim Soo-jin were incredible here, along with the rest of the villagers. That funeral parlour scene is up there as some of the best-acted and most cathartic scenes in any drama this year. I really didn’t think reconciliation and openness was possible either. That said, the men absolutely deserved what was coming for them. If only they extended that same solidarity and empathy to Ok-soon’s harrowing situation. If only they had listened to In-sung’s cries for help before it had to escalate to murder. Oh, this is so immaculately written. I am so glad I decided to give it a chance.
Thanks for taking the time to recap this underrated gem, @mistyisles. I know there are other more popular shows you could’ve focused on, but I’m happy to see DB give some attention to smaller shows like these.
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emsel
August 26, 2022 at 7:22 AM
The granma had Alzheimer, so how can the villagers, especially the three men, work on resolving her belief that the fire incident was not true? Maybe, they set the fire or have been bystanders. The villagers already held Min Hyun of high standard and gave him money and In Sung's mom prepared her food when both kids went missing. So, I don't know if there is anything else they could have done to provide her more support which could have avoided the bullying.
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emsel
August 26, 2022 at 7:24 AM
Bullying or the arson at the end.
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jerrykuvira
August 26, 2022 at 9:11 AM
Traumas including the death of a spouse, sibling or child have also been known to cause acute onset of Alzheimer's and other dementias, although it's likely the person was already prone to developing the disease in the first place.
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This talk about 'Can emotional trauma cause Alzheimer's disease?'. I've also seen a number of kdramas where characters develop illnesses of this nature due to such trauma, and a few life examples.
Based on this, I believe Ok-soon wouldn't have developed Alzheimer's if she didn't have it before the fire incident that took the lives of her son and daughter-in-law if the villagers explained whatever actions it was take they took in the fire. For her to blame them, it means that they definitely had a finger(not necessarily in the intentional sense) in the fire so they should have been open about what they knew, did or saw, and explained themselves to her. But clearly they had selfish interests to protect or didn't want to end in jail. They shut her off, left her to the scenario that came upon her and carried on with thier lives. Never did they envisage that they'd die by burning.
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jerrykuvira
August 26, 2022 at 9:15 AM
So no matter how they sweet they treat or how good they praise and regard Hyun-min, it's not going to make a difference to a woman carrying a 15+ years old grudge who is now living with Alzheimer's.
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Ksharp34
February 5, 2023 at 9:47 PM
We actually saw the missing boys father in that week become the grandma. Everyone around him was guilty of the blackmail or maybe the real cause of his son’s disappearance. I’m not sure if accident, the gram or the son responsible for the fire. We have basically seen everyone become capable of anything and too many lies to get at the truth. I enjoyed the series. Better than parasite.
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Ksharp34
February 5, 2023 at 9:57 PM
I don’t know his friends blackmailing him lent support chasing him down the road and handing out flyers. The elder is the most important person. She had a duty. It’s also a small town.
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4 rainbowdash
August 25, 2022 at 5:14 PM
My interpretation of this story is that the alleged fire that killed Hyun-min's parents was the "original sin." When In-sung asked his father about the fire, Young-soo just ignored the question. Based on everything we've learned about the people in this rural village, that looked like acknowledgement to me.
- The two men buried Hyun-min's body after they found it in the forest. Instead of reporting the dead body, they chose to use it to extort their friend out of money.
- When his friends asked Young-soo if he killed Joo-hyub, Young-soo casually admitted that he did, and they simply agreed to move past it.
- The policeman concluding in his report that Hyun-min simply left home, despite knowing that Hyun-min and In-sung's relationship was not the way In-sung described it, and despite having found Hyun-min's student ID with blood on it.
- And of course, Young-soo and his wife just covering up both these murders and going about their lives. Which, if you think about it, is not that different from them ignoring their son being viciously tortured on a daily basis by a boy they believed was his best friend. It certainly doesn't help that their own teacher chooses to ignore Hyun-min beating In-sung and writing that he wants to kill In-sung.
This is a very small rural village, and two people go missing, and everyone just ignores it and moves on with their lives, or try to use it to their advantage. They do not have a close relationship with morality or normal codes of conduct.
So to me, it makes sense that the villagers killed Hyun-min's parents due to envy as the grandma alleged, and chose to move on with their lives as if nothing happened. And during this period of stasis, Hyun-min became embittered and In-sung was tortured. Young-soo's lottery win figuratively lit a fire in this mess, and ended in a literal fire.
And my belief is that the wild boar mauled grandma to death in the end. The remaining people in this village wake up to a bunch of dead people.
Anyway, I thought this was great, albeit *very* bleak. It reminds me of something like the movie "Greed" by Erich von Stroheim or "Of Mice and Men," perhaps? The thesis seems to be: the human condition is grotesque.
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Scottie
August 26, 2022 at 1:51 AM
Yes, it is the most likely interpretation, but the sting in the drama is that there is no proof that the fire, the original sin, was not an accident, we cannot be sure that it is not just in grandma's mind and that she brought up a grandson full of hate with terrible consequences. This doubt alone is very chilling.
I don't think that the boar killed grandma. It was more a meeting of the victors. Grandma got her revenge and the boar who did all the damage to the field was never shot and is now free to roam the fields at his pleasure.
Grotesque is a very good description of this drama. On the surface there is a lovely village where everybody is close and caring, but in reality it is full of mean, hard and brutal people. Why is this such a good watch!
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Ksharp34
February 5, 2023 at 9:56 PM
The boar I think was to illustrate it was not the real problem in the community. Neither the dad nor the gram cared about it meeting it those nights. And they didn’t care about their own safety. Why not just try to shoot it at night? Just wait in field? Save running.
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Ksharp34
February 5, 2023 at 9:53 PM
Basically gram was a longer living dad of the missing boy. In that week everyone and anyone could have been the blackmailer or real culprit, yet he also likely had a hand in it. Maybe it was to get himself off the hook. Yet he still stabbed a person who was innocent and shot a man intended to kill him after he thought he shot a boy. First he thought he killed his son and then he thought it was the other boy. Grandma seemed to know her way around a match. Great actress. Was the gram the arsonist, the grandson or an accident? Who knows. The point is just like the guy decided his friend was guilty gran decided who was responsible for her grandson and son and daughter-in-law. And she acted.
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Ksharp34
February 5, 2023 at 9:59 PM
I think they knew all along. No one asked about him the entire time. They all knew the answer and felt guilt cause they were the blackmailing people.
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5 john
August 26, 2022 at 5:09 PM
Halmeoni !!! 😧🔥🔥🔥🔥🐷
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6 Ksharp34
February 5, 2023 at 7:11 PM
Was the fire killing the parents really accidental? Was it the kid or the grandma? How many houses did she burn down? It seemed more structures on fire when she walked away. Why didn’t anyone look for the innocent man stabbed to death? I really enjoyed the drama. So many twists. Felt sorry for the detective. And the teacher actually seemed really suspicious. I didn’t feel bad when the bully got shot making me feel terrible as a human being yet I was really glad for the victim. It was very well acted.
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