Delivery Man: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

12 April 7, 2023April 7, 2023

Delivery Man: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

by quirkycase

Our taxi driver and ghost detective’s story concludes in a finale with no big surprises. Most of our time is spent wrapping up the serial murder case as everyone bands together to catch the murderous medical duo. The remaining time is spent on our leads who finally learn the truth of our ghost detective’s situation and how that impacts them moving forward.

EPISODES 11-12

Delivery Man: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

I guess Kyu-jin is going to be our cartoonish villain behind all the deaths so far because even Byung-cheol (the ghost with the pregnant wife and the fake mom drama) died after drinking something Kyu-jin gave him. And because everything is connected, Ji-hyun was investigating Byung-cheol’s death before she herself died.

Kyu-jin ticks all the standard serial killer boxes: traumatic childhood, prone to maniacal laughter, fetish for watching people mourn, dead eyes, and penchant for exposition. Before trying to light Young-min on fire, he helpfully shows the videos he took of all his victims as they died and shares his plan to pin all his crimes on Jung-woo and Mi-kyung.

He then lights the fire that rages toward Young-min. It takes Ji-hyun a concerning amount of time to think to try to undo Young-min’s ropes, and although that doesn’t work, she does manage to manifest some protective shield around him that leaves him intact until the cops and Hyun-soo arrive to save him. Young-min’s contingency plan was to share his location with Hyun-soo and get him to lead a rescue mission in case of danger.

Delivery Man: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

With the immediate danger out of the way, now they just need to catch Kyu-jin (and Hee-yeon), which is easier said than done. Young-min and Ji-hyun get some help from ghost Jung-woo who passes along a voice recording he took of Kyu-jin attacking him. Jung-woo is so angered by both his and Mi-kyung’s murders that he almost turns into an malevolent spirit, but thankfully, Mi-kyung is able to convince him to move on with her, so they leave the rest to Young-min and Ji-hyun.

Meanwhile, Kyu-jin and Hee-yeon are doing their own investigating. They’re both suspicious of Young-min who has way too much info on them, so Kyu-jin installs a spy cam in Young-min’s taxi and hears when he plays Jung-woo’s voice recording. He also sees Young-min seemingly talking to thin air he’s addressing as Ji-hyun.

After discovering the spy cam, Young-min and Ji-hyun once again rile up Hee-yeon, this time to get her to lead them to Kyu-jin who’s gone into hiding. It works like a charm, and they follow Hee-yeon to Kyu-jin. Young-min tries to hold (and fight) Kyu-jin off until the cops can get there, but Kyu-jin manages to get Ji-hyun’s phone from Young-min. The battery is knocked out in the scuffle, and when Kyu-jin turns the phone back on, he then gets the ability to see Ji-hyun, too.

Kyu-jin is naturally freaked out but still doesn’t miss an opportunity for emotional torture. When he realizes Young-min loves Ji-hyun, Kyu-jin toys with him before cruelly throwing the phone into a nearby fire, causing Ji-hyun to disappear. Then, the cops burst in and arrest Kyu-jin.

You’d think that’d be the end of the serial murder saga, but we’re not done yet. Kyu-jin has been careful to leave little evidence, and the minimal evidence there is becomes moot when ever-loyal Hee-yeon turns herself in, naming Jung-woo as her accomplice. She gives detailed accounts of the victims as well as physical evidence like phones and spy cams that forces the cops to release Kyu-jin. In a final blow, Hee-yeon leaves a confession note and kills herself in jail, ensuring that the case gets closed.

Elsewhere, Hyun-soo finally takes a devastated Young-min to see Ji-hyun who soon after wakes from her coma, memories intact. In a last bid effort to catch Kyu-jin, Ji-hyun offers herself as bait. They have her transferred to Kyu-jin’s hospital and catch him trying to off her a second time, which leads to a brief standoff in the hospital and a long car chase. Young-min’s taxi driving skills come in handy, and he’s able to help the cops capture Kyu-jin once and for all.

Delivery Man: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

Now that the case is concluded, we get to focus on Young-min and the newly-living Ji-hyun. With a little help from their shaman friend – who is shocked to see Ji-hyun alive and well – Young-min is finally able to meet his mom. It turns out she’s been waiting for him at the restaurant they’d promised to meet at the day she died.

I wondered if the ghost-seeing ability would disappear once Ji-hyun woke up, but Young-min continues to see ghosts, although Ji-hyun no longer has that ability. When they meet his mom, Young-min plays go-between to convey Ji-hyun’s apology for her role in his mom’s death. But Young-min’s mom doesn’t blame her and is just relieved that Young-min has someone who loves him by his side. After Young-min has the final promised meal with his mom, they say their emotional goodbyes, and Young-min lets her go.

Delivery Man: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

With everything settled, Young-min and Ji-hyun are living their best lives. We get some romance now that Young-min and Ji-hyun are finally able to hold hands and go on dates that don’t make Young-min look like he’s hallucinating in public. Ji-hyun is thrilled to have two-sided conversations with Young-min’s taxi family and Boon-ja, becoming a part of his life for real.

Ji-hyun returns to work, transferring to the team with the cops on the serial murder case. Young-min continues running his ghost taxi and helping Ji-hyun solve tough cases. The series ends with Young-min and Ji-hyun picking up a cold case murder victim, embarking on their next wish-granting, crime-solving quest.

We didn’t get any explanation for why the phone granted people the ability to see ghosts, but I guess we can just assume that’s what happens when someone touches a possessed object. Or maybe that only happens to people who are connected to the ghost somehow? Either way, I do like that Young-min got to keep his ability and continued on with his ghost taxi.

Everything wrapped up fine, but I was left feeling cold. So much time was spent on Kyu-jin and the serial murders that all the character beats were secondary, limiting the emotional impact. If the crime/mystery aspect had been done better, I might not have minded as much. But the drama was stronger as a zany ghost adventure than a murder mystery; everything about the “mystery” was predictable, which zapped it of tension. The drama had its moments with some of the touching ghost stories and side characters like Eun-soo and Boon-ja, but I’m disappointed Delivery Man didn’t realize its potential as a fun, heartwarming drama – perhaps with a side of mystery – that didn’t involve the seemingly-inescapable drama serial killer.

Delivery Man: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

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1 miso

April 7, 2023 at 8:02 PM

Thanks for the recaps @quirkycase. "Didn't realise its potential" is probably the most accurate summary of this drama. It could have been fun and quirky with interesting ghost hijinks but just became a boring serial-killer (non)mystery. The fact that the cops were absolutely useless certainly didn't help. The leads were cute though and I hope to see them again in better shows.

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Diana Hansen

April 8, 2023 at 7:35 AM

Yeah, a lot of it was too transparent as far as story line but the leads were what kept me watching. I thought they both did a great job portraying their roles with what was given them. I hope they can show their potential in a better show soon. I know we'll see Yoon Chan-young again soon and hoping for her to get another offer too.

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2 geminirat

April 7, 2023 at 9:36 PM

Thank you, @quirkycase, for the weecap. I agree, the ability to see ghosts wasn't explained at all. But still, thank goodness, the last ghost woman will tell them where to get a lot of money so Young-min can maybe finish paying for their house. One confusing question for me is that Ji-hyun couldn't remember any of her life before she was in a coma but could remember Young-min (who she has never met before) when she woke up?! Oh well, I still enjoyed the show, just don't think too much!

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3 Unaspirated

April 8, 2023 at 5:03 AM

After ep 11, I was honestly pretty exasperated at Yeong-min. Sir, if the police were on their way anyway, what on earth was the point of going in to confront the murderer by yourself? At least when this happened last time, you were hit in the head and dragged off, but this time you just went right in to have a chat. As far as I’m concerned, the loss of that phone is on you. (But as it turns out, it doesn’t actually matter at all.)

Detectives in this show have absolutely no power to hold anyone they suspect of a crime. Psycho Doctor had syringes ready to go in his desk drawer when Ji-hyun showed back up at the hospital for the trap, but they couldn’t do a search of his house and workplace or anything? And what about the voice recording of him killing the nurse? That doesn’t matter anymore after his noona confessed?

All of that aside, I actually did enjoy this drama when I wasn’t picking the investigation apart. I’m really glad we were spared her losing her memory (and I guess in some ways this makes the most sense, since it was also her consciousness galavanting around with Yeong-min the whole time), and I like that they ended up investigating together in the end and kept the ghost taxi going. It’s funny that once you can see ghosts, you must be able to see them forever, since Yeong-min and Psycho Doctor both seem to have retained that ability.

All in all, this was decently cute and fun, and I certainly don’t regret sticking around for the end. I think overall my favorite character was the shaman, followed by the taxi family.

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Islander north

April 8, 2023 at 1:41 PM

Doesn't Korea have a 24 or 48 hold they can put on to investigate? Psycho Doc should have been held along with his "noona" and a good interviewed could have broken one of them.

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4 ceca

April 8, 2023 at 4:10 PM

The pair was cute enough in the beginning. But who was the audience for this? As the story developed, the drama was too naive for grown ups, while some ghosts and a serial killer were too scary for young children. The childish mistakes, the lack of ideas and common sense and as @unaspirated said, why on earth go in when police is on their way?
I fell in the trap with this drama, as I occasionally do when watching live, as two episodes a week were not too much. However, looking back, I wish I spent that time watching something actually good.

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hacja

April 8, 2023 at 6:12 PM

I am exactly with you, and in fact haven't yet finished the show, reading the recap and comments just to see whether I will. (I might only because of @jls943 summary of the end, and I'm a sucker for happy endings.) BUT looking up some of the cast, to see what else they had been in, I was shocked to see this story: https://mydramalist.com/article/delivery-man-emerges-as-an-international-hit-despite-getting-single-digit-ratings-back-home

An international hit! If I do watch the last episodes, it will be with new respect!

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5 Toodlepip

April 9, 2023 at 4:42 PM

Powered through for the bean. Way too predictable, and the lead couple was just not believable enough.

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6 sakuradaydream

April 9, 2023 at 5:35 PM

it seems that the running trend with kdramas recently is "not realizing its full potential" :/

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7 MikeyD signed up

April 10, 2023 at 12:10 AM

K-drama tropes go in cycles, and so does 'trope fatigue' among the viewers. A few years back everyone was getting bit sick of the 'face blindness' storyline (though we did get a couple good series from that trope). Today we're seeing trope fatigue over serial killer subplots (though, again, we managed to get a couple good series out of it). And let's not forget the tried-and-true 'ghost of person in a coma' trope, too

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8 vienibenmio

April 10, 2023 at 8:05 AM

The place that the drama ended at is what I would have liked to have seen more of! Show me "ghost of the week" with romantic hijinks and I would have been happy.

So, like, did the show just forget about the house being up for foreclosure? And why did the cops always forget about other charges they could have kept people arrested with (like, you still know he committed arson)?