I already mentioned in @kdramaswimmer and @coffeprince4eva 's fanwall that I refuse to believe Hae Joon's dad is the murderer. Many pieces don't fit well in the timeline of the original murder as well as the changed events for Yeon Woo to be the killer. So, I am assuming that Chung Ah misunderstood about her lover or that Baek Yoo Seob is one hell of a actor.

Either way if one of these two become confirmed culprit, it is going to be devastating on Yoon Young or Hae Joon, which makes me question the message that writer is trying to send out. Trust your family, but not too much? 🙄🙄

I have two different theories about the next two episodes.
a) Yoon Yeon-woo is not really the culprit, the last scenes are just a red herring.
b) Yoon Yeon-woo is the culprit, but not Yoon Hae-joon's biological father. I'm thinking of the blood test (I almost wrote DNA test until I remembered that it didn't exist at the time), the result of which is still pending.

i dont even know what to think abt this show anymore... everyone i had my eyes on turned out to be safe in next episode... but now we have Yeon Woon in question and am not sure if should accept it as it is or still overthink of other options of suspect.
But all i can say is i dont see any motivation for Yeon Woo to kill women who read, 2nd can it be the owner of Bong Bong Tea house, crossdressing as man to do the killing, abt to leave the village upon knowing the investigation is getting serious, coming to house when she gets to know Hae Jun has seen the killer, and blaming it al on Yeon Woo upon knowing it might be a trap.
rest i can only wait for next week to come and to help me sort out this mess.

So Chung-ah knows Hae-joon is her son. Well, she's smart. I'm not surprised she pieced things together.

Good thing they forced the hands of the police with the press. Those guys are unashamedly incompetent.

I don't know what Yoon-young did there with respect to Mi-sook, but I salute that a lot. Mi-sook does not have a good track record but I'm going to hope this act of kindness will break the cynical wall she built to protect herself. She truly needs help. She urgently needs to get far away from Min-soo and I hope Yoon-young helps her achieve that.

Though shocked, I believe Yeon-woo is the killer. The murders stopped around the time he went abroad. But why target Soon-ae, a typical housewife in 2021 but leave out Mi-sook? Did Hae-kyung see him in the original timeline instead of Mi-sook?

So anybody else suddenly suspicious of Baek Yoo-seob again? Or maybe I'm just projecting because Yeon-woo being the murderer would be so hurtful to Hae-joon otherwise.

It was interesting that Chung-ah didn't name Yeon-woo but only kept saying the "baby's father". If she knows she's pregnant wouldn't the child have been conceived a while back? Wasn't Yeon-woo abroad for that duration?

Or maybe there are two Yeon-woos - one from the present day and one who's a time-traveler! Basically anything is possible and this drama is bonkers. Don't know why I like it so much 😅.

Waow, the end was pretty shocking.

But I can't really help to think the father he's not the killer. His silhouette didn't really remind me the one who attacked Soon-Ae. The father is very smart and I would imagine more elaborate murders. He doesn't seem close to Soon-Ae neither, so I can imagine him to visit her at the hospital.

But I can imagine how smart guy like him would be very interested by this car and steal it.

So there is still Yoo-Seob's weird reaction to the reportage. Was he angry against the Police or the fact there will be an investigation?

Yoon-Young learned her lesson and doesn't let her feelings against someone take over anymore. She helped Mi-Sook because she needed it. She became like this because of her brother's abuse and her mother's lack of caring.

The reaction of the Grandfather and Dong-Sik's hug was funny :P

Well, that was a surprise. I have no idea. But I'm loving all the theories y'all posted, plausible or out there. Fun!

"Not even time crunches to catch serial killers can get in the way of the all-powerful romantic trip to the ocean." Yeah, even by dramaland standards that felt so random. Such a botched romance IMHO. Because actually, they are sweet together.

Oh well, at least the mystery is good.

It is interesting because I always assumed it was the tea shop lady/mother because she was the only one whose story wasn't consistent. So the fact that it might be his father is random to me, why would he do it. I do believe his dad is also a time traveler, but I'm not sure I believe he is the doer. His mother was there for all the murders, we don't know much about her, she has access to the boxes, and after she left there were no more murders. At the same time his father could have killed his mother, but that doesn't explain why he would kill his own son in 2025. His mother may not recognize him and so kill him in 2025, especially because she hasn't seen him since he was a baby. This is all very convoluted and a lot to wrap up in 2 episodes.

My husband’s theory almost this whole time is actually that it’s the grandfather! It works on the motivational level as far as him being the most invested in keeping their town reputation up. He possibly perceives these women as disruptive elements that need to be removed. However his age in the 2020 timeline would be a real problem and he would have had to be in really good shape for those running scenes etc. but if it was the grandpa then the estrangement between father and son would also make sense and I would think it’s likely that the grandpa actually killed the mom and just told Hae joon that she abandoned him.

I’m still really curious about all Misook’s comments about women being serial killers too in the first episode. Why throw that in there unless we are going to end up with a female killer?

I think Yeon-woo is the murder, it's close enough to the end of the drama that they don't need to red herring us anymore (even Crash Course in Romance stopped doing that around this time).

Really enjoying reading all the theories out there--they all make some kind of sense. I want to pay tribute to the writer(s) of this show in keeping a number of suspects plausible until the last 2 episodes. In that way its one of the better murder mysteries I've seen lately. Of course, its always possible that the murderer will be someone totally out of left field, say one of the policemen, and everyone will be outraged because of the contrivance. But for now I'll give the show credit.

As @emsel points out, though, there is a strong message throughout forgiving one's parents, and understanding that their present day behavior has past, hidden roots. So in thinking about that, I can't go with the Dad (or Grandfather) as the killer. That would leave Yoo-Seob, because, even though he is family, I don't think the message extends to all family.

But then there is the "beware women who read" misogyny that still has to be explained, and does Yoo-Seob have a rationale for that, having to do with the protests? (I am of course assuming that the view of the man from the back means that the killer is a man, which could be incorrect.)

One thing I always wondered about in terms of the show's plausibility is Hae-joon's total lack of curiosity about his mother in his life before the time traveling. He never did any investigation about who she was before time traveling, because he assumed she coldly packed up and left, believing his grandfather? And even after time traveling, one obvious thing he could have thought is that she too was a victim of the serial killer after she gave birth. It didn't turn out that way, of course, but why it would never occur to him (because that was the first thing that occurred to me) just seems a gap in his detecting. But maybe that fits with the theme of being blind to what motivates your parents.

Anyway, as I said, if next week this show reveals a plausible killer, or killers--I'm still holding out the possibility of Mi-sook's direct involvement--I'll give it credit, time travel and all, for being really smartly written throughout.

OK. I didn't see that coming. I thought there had to be a better reason for Chung-ah to leave her tea house, but not for the reason she gave.

Wow!

I'm loving this show.

I can't believe next week is the end.

A strong pair of episodes before the finale. Had the light humor back with the mystery. I like that Hae Joon made use of his journalism connections again. It was nice when he got to see his sunbae in the past and encourage him. It was also funny when he joked with him in the future.

I don't think Yeon Woo is the culprit. He seems pretty smart so I doubt he would fall for Hae Joon's bait. Storywise, it could be interesting if he was. Maybe if he is punished and locked up then Hae Joon can have a better, close relationship with his mother and grandfather. On the other hand, his father being the culprit would be a huge, traumatic blow.

It sorta feels like Hae Joon teaming up with Dong Shik is late, but then again, the cops haven't been competent in their investigations. And Dong Shik's coworkers have actively covered up their mistakes and withheld evidence.

Yoo Seob is a little suspicious. I feel bad for Hee Seob if his brother is the culprit though.

I wonder if the culprit will be someone totally new and unexpected. But then will the impact be strong enough?

My problem with this show is that I actually can't think of *anyone* who would be satisfying narratively if revealed to be the murderer. Not for me anyway.
I certainly don't find his father satisfying enough.

And I highly doubt they would try to double switch back to Yoo Seob because ... making the student protester, with the family murdered in a real life massacre, and who's torture scene was designed to deliberately reflect the real life torture and murder of a real student in 1987, a serial killer who doesn't like women who read... would be... Tasteless at best. And that's putting it outrageously mildly.
They tried to cancel Snowdrop for less. Can you imagine the backlash.
So they definitely also shouldn't do that.

Personally, I don't buy Chung Ah's accusation against her lover. I am banking on Mi Sook's note that serial killers can be women too. Also, I strongly believe that the reason she knows that Hae Joon does not recognize the killer is because he might have an inkling that the killer wasn't a male as he had strongly lead the public to believe.
Also, to me, Yeon Woo taking the car for a spin isn't weird. After all, he repaired it. It is only fair that he takes it for a spin regardless of the journey it takes him, whether it is the future or present.

Keeping my fingers crossed for the final episodes though.

Exactly. I won't fall for this. I've been waiting when will Yeon-woo steal the car for a test ride, but never for once think of him as the killer.

I like this new development. That was one bold move from Hae-joon to just share everything with Dong-shik and Chairman Yoon. It was clever of him to include the chairman, knowing his soft spot for both Hae-joon and Dong-shik. I was afraid that Hae-joon wold be in too much shock or guilt over Bum-ryeong's death, but I apparently underestimated his ability to put aside his feelings to do the important things first.

It was exhilarating to see him capable of turning this potential crisis into an opportunity to end this serial murders once and for all. I also enjoyed the way he got to use his journalist knowledge to deftly navigate his way through the restriction around broadcast and news report during that era. It was satisfying to see him in his element, being sure about the news' ability to actually move the police from their reluctance to investigate the murders properly.

As always, this drama is the best at drawing its emotional moment.
There was Yoon-young, who as the recapper said, has too deep empathy to abandon Mi-sook to her brother's wrath. It was sch a Yoon-young move that she couldn't help helping Mi-sook despite everything she just did to her and her family. Though I bet it's harder to ignore a distress teenager with practically no support system than it would be to ignore an older lady with all the power and fame of a well-known novelist. I'm not sure if this progression of events (Min-soo being released and being around her while she grew up later on) would be enough to change Mi-sook from the hateful woman we've came to know in Yoon-young's present timeline. But for better or worse, even a small change is a chance for the future to roll slightly differently, I guess.

Hae-joon's meeting with Chung-ah was always full of tension, but aughh... That supposed last meeting at the bus stop felt oddly momentous despite them still not saying much to one another. It was fraught with repressed emotion, unidentifiable longing and regret and everything else that they haven't managed to say to one another. I could feel the odd urge between them to do the unthinkable, to let something important slip (or maybe that's just me and my wistful thinking), but then the moment end and nothing different happened.

That was, until the last unexpected revelation about Yeon-woo (if this was true, I guess we are heading towards a Romeo-Juliet type of romance for our leading duo). He made sense, somewhat, what with his suspiciously perfect timing of arrival back in Korea (a day after the first 2 murders), the fact that while he was always around our duo we didn't know much about his story, the way our leads and we easily assumed his innocent based on his easy going nature. I'm okay with him being the culprit, I just desperately need for the drama to explain the motive behind it clearly (please don't let this come down to another "he was simply a psychopath" excuse). I do have high hope though, because so far the writer managed to delve...