Blind: Episodes 11-12

by mistyisles

Another murder hits painfully close to home for our investigative team, driving a new wedge of distrust between them even as it draws them closer to each other — and to the killer’s true identity.

 
EPISODES 11-12 WEECAP

While Sung-joon reels from learning that Sung-hoon is #11, Sung-hoon ambushes Eun-ki outside the children’s center. Sung-joon is so blindsided that he forgets about the potential danger until blood splatters are found at the center — and no sign of Sung-hoon or Eun-ki. When he finally locates Sung-hoon, he’s throwing the last few shovelfuls of dirt onto what looks like a fresh grave.

Thankfully, it’s all a big fakeout. What Sung-hoon just buried was roadkill, and Eun-ki is safe and sound inside the house. Sung-hoon simply helped her evade the killer.

But then the real blow lands: Yoo-na, the teenage girl in Eun-ki’s charge, was still at the center when the killer arrived. Thwarted from getting Eun-ki, the killer murdered Yoo-na instead, leaving her to bleed out in a cabinet.

Eun-ki, of course, is gutted. And though he doesn’t show it quite as plainly, so is Sung-hoon. What little time he spent with Yoo-na had reminded him of both his lost childhood and his resolve to live well despite the hell that was his youth. Now that Eun-ki is again displaced, Sung-hoon invites her to stay with him and Sung-joon.

Sung-joon, meanwhile, is hurt and angry in his own way, especially because he can’t shake his suspicions about Sung-hoon. As soon as he can, he brings Sung-hoon in for questioning about his time at Hope Welfare. Sung-hoon obliges, his voice thick with emotion as he describes the horrific conditions he and the others endured and how society at large betrayed them. Though Sung-joon is moved by the story, his suspicions linger.

It’s an interesting reversal of the early episodes: now, Sung-joon is the one convinced that his brother is not to be trusted. But this time, instead of wondering along with him, we can be fairly confident that he’s mistaken — so the tension comes more from worrying over what the killer will do next while Sung-joon pursues the wrong leads.

But that’s not to say Sung-joon doesn’t have good reason to be suspicious. There’s a lot that Sung-hoon has kept secret or outright lied about — like how and when he got the footage of Moon-kang murdering Man-chun — and he continues to evade Sung-joon’s pointed questions. Plus, all the CCTV footage shows the killer dressed just like Sung-hoon was when Sung-joon saw him at the wedding-turned-murder-scene.

One night, Sung-joon tails Sung-hoon to a remote location. There, a familiar black-cloaked figure walks out of the trees to meet Sung-hoon… and stabs him. Sung-joon rushes Sung-hoon to the hospital, but though the doctors stabilize him in surgery, there’s no guarantee he’ll wake up.

The incident is enough to convince Sung-joon he was wrong about Sung-hoon, so back to the drawing board he goes. Thus far, two of the five Hope Welfare escapees have remained unidentified: #24, who was killed in the attempt, and #12, who stepped in the bear trap. But now the latter steps forward to identify himself.

Photos confirm that the restaurant ajumma’s missing son became #12, and after hesitating outside her door, juror In-sung sits down with her to reveal he’s the missing son. He doesn’t remember much of his childhood, but he remembers details about their last day together, and the boy in the photo is him. He even has a horrible-looking scar on his ankle, attesting to the bear trap injury.

Overjoyed, the ajumma throws a party for all their friends. But despite all the smiles and tears, something feels a bit off. Before Sung-joon can investigate much, however, new evidence comes out: the tip of the killer’s knife broke off in Sung-hoon’s wound — and it’s a sashimi knife.

So Sung-joon drops by Charles’s restaurant to inspect his knives. While he and Charles try to psych each other out, Eun-ki calls. She’s been working with another severely traumatized Hope Welfare victim, and she’s finally hit a breakthrough: #24 was Charles’s brother. Right about then, Sung-joon catches Charles trying to hide something behind the counter. There it is: the broken knife, still coated in Sung-hoon’s blood.

But something’s still not right. Charles seems all too eager to confess now that the knife has been found, and Sung-joon quickly deduces he’s covering for someone. What’s more, according to the knife’s maker, it was purchased by a Jung Yoon-jae.

The final clue comes from a heartbreaking place. In Yoo-na’s dying moments, she’d written a message in her own blood: “Jo Eun” and an unfinished character (that’s not “ki”). When Sung-joon asks, Eun-ki can’t think of anyone Yoo-na knew whose name begins that way, but after she processes another wave of grief, it hits her. Yoo-na had seen In-sung leaving the center, and the phrase Eun-ki had used to describe him as a “nice person” sounds the same as the characters Yoo-na wrote.

And sure enough — In-sung’s adoption papers reveal he’s not the missing In-sung after all. He’s Yoon-jae. At the same moment, In-sung himself creeps into Sung-hoon’s hospital room. As Sung-hoon regains consciousness, In-sung grins down at him, either delighted or annoyed (or both) that Sung-hoon survived.

This week took quite the emotional turn. The dread of “What if it really is Sung-hoon?” giving way to relief, only for them to find Yoo-na too late, made me feel just as angry and betrayed and saddened as our trio, because Yoo-na’s death was so unfair and cruel. I did appreciate that Yoo-na was able to contribute that last vital clue, but I still wish she could have lived.

But In-sung has shown us plenty of times over that he doesn’t care who he hurts or how much cruelty he inflicts in the process of getting his revenge. Which is likely why he’s giving the ajumma so much happiness before (presumably) attacking her, too, for abandoning the real In-sung back then.

I do wonder, though, if he would have killed Eun-ki had he gotten to her that night at the children’s center, or if he had something else in mind. From their first meeting at Man-chun’s trial, he took a marked interest in her because of her hesitation to pass premature judgment. And ever since, he’s been working hard to make her like and trust him. Which, yes, could be to protect his cover. But also, there have been plenty of times they were alone together that he could have kidnapped and/or killed her had he chosen to.

Speaking of Eun-ki, I don’t think I’ve said enough about her. As a character, she strikes a great balance between vulnerability and strength. She has fantastic emotional intelligence and empathy, and I love when we get to see her in action as a competent and caring social worker. But I also love that we see her vulnerable side, that she has to work through her own traumas and weaknesses just as she helps others overcome theirs. And while I don’t know at this point if romance is ultimately in the cards for her and Sung-joon, I’m glad they have each other to turn to when everything else is uncertain.

 
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