Seoul Busters: Episodes 9-10

by lovepark

It is time for our youngest detective to shine, and after weeks of incompetence, he finally proves his worth. Though his skill sets are more unusual than most, his captain believes in him, and for our youngest, that is enough motivation to keep trying. Plus, with the right case, our youngest may actually live up to the expectations of those around him and show that he can be a good detective, too.

 
EPISODES 9-10

The show continues to highlight a character a week, and the main focus this time is youngest detective Tan-shik. Despite his seeming inaptitude for the field, even he has certain talents, and while most people would overlook these skills, not Yoo-bin. Our awkward, chocolate-obsessed captain recognizes Tan-shik’s bloodhound nose, and though most people would find this compliment off-putting, our smooth-brain youngest beams with pride.

The newest case for our unit is the death of a traveling socks salesman who happens to be someone Tan-shik helped in the past. Given the nature of the crime, Yoo-bin suspects it was homicide and not an unfortunate encounter with a mugger. As our team investigates the victim’s background, they learn about his infamous reputation around town as the “mad dog,” and the list of possible suspects grows long.

Despite his eagerness to help, Tan-shik feels frustrated over his constant fumbles and seeks Yoo-bin’s advice. However, as the youngest airs out his worries, Yoo-bin gets distracted with a call from their chief and ignores everything he said. Though he might not have listened, Yoo-bin already knows what Tan-shik needs to hear and tells him that everyone on the team doesn’t need to be the fourth batter. He believes Tan-shik has his part to play, and the two of them rock back and forth on their spring rides.

With a renewed enthusiasm, Tan-shik displays an uncharacteristic competence for once. He dissects the previous testimonies about the victim as incomplete and analyzes a photo down to the angle of the shadows to pinpoint the exact location of the sock seller the day of his murder. Though his investigative skills amaze most of his teammates who are more accustomed to him knocking over water and causing power outages, Yoo-bin barely acknowledges his contributions and walks out of the meeting like a zombie.

Apparently, Yoo-bin’s powers of observation stem from his chocolate consumption but his usual supply of Swiss goodies has run dry. To make matters worse, his order was mishandled, and they won’t be able to replace it for a while. While Yoo-bin spends his nights trying to find a temporary replacement, none of them hit quite right, which means (I can’t believe I’m saying this) Tan-shik is their ace.

Thanks to their youngest’s efforts, the team gets an important breakthrough when a witness comes forward about the seller helping her that night from a man harassing her at a club. Alas, the CCTV footage only captured the assailant’s back, but even without his chocolate-powered skills, Yoo-bin proves why he’s the captain when he recognizes the car of the stalker ex-boyfriend from the chicken shop case. However, without a warrant, the team can’t enter the premises to obtain more footage, so Tan-shik suggests going in undercover.

Using Tan-shik’s connection, the two youngest members enter the club with ease, but Jung-hwan gets stopped at the doors for his “Reply 1990s” getup. Luckily, even without the others’ help, Min-seo and Tan-shik manage to secure the data with a string of dumb luck (Tan-shik literally hides in plain sight but gets missed every time), and they find a new method to get a warrant: there’s a famous drug dealer operating within the club.

Unlike his first attempt to enter in the morning, Joong-ryuk muscles his way past the bouncers and takes down a room full of glow stick men to arrest their target. The dealer eventually rats out the stalker, which gives them a reason to arrest him. After the world’s slowest golf cart chase — the detectives have to drive backwards after breaking the switch — their captain swoops in and places the stalker in cuffs.

Though they have the stalker in custody, they don’t have enough evidence to link him to the murder, so Yoo-bin pauses the interrogation to clear his head. Outside, he runs into the resident ex-daycare student who is in possession of his favored Swiss chocolates and offers him ten times the market price for the sweets. The little boy refuses to sell, but Min-seo happened to witness the exchange and uses her pickpocketing skills to swipe the box. Realizing why her captain has been off lately, she secretly leaves the chocolates at his desk, and Yoo-bin returns to his normal self.

Round two of interrogations goes even worse than the first as Joong-ryuk and the stalker both lose their cool, but before the detective can grab the culprit, Jung-hwan stops him with a simple warning: “That coat costs ten million won!” As the stalker realizes that he has the upper hand, he goads them to touch him, and to his shock, Tan-shik does exactly that. He screams into the culprit’s face, but instead of stopping their youngest, Yoo-bin orders him to shake the stalker two more times.

Afterwards, Yoo-bin covers and cuffs Tan-shik’s hands because they’re now evidence and tasks Joong-ryuk with taking him to the NFS. A simple errand turns into a harrowing experience for Joong-ryuk, though, as he has to open doors, put on seat belts, and even help Tan-shik use the bathroom because of his bagged hands.

While they wait for the results, the violent crimes unit collaborate with the drug squad to raid the stalker’s home for any illicit substances, but the detection dogs run into some difficulties. Yoo-bin suggests to Tan-shik to try sniffing out the drugs as well, and the show literally has a man go up against a dog in a battle of noses.

As expected, Tan-shik can’t find anything either, but as he hears the whispers of doubts from the others, Yoo-bin’s voice of support cuts through the noise to reinvigorate him. Tan-shik focuses all his energy on smelling and finally uncovers the eeeevil drugs in a container of fragrance beads. As the team heads out to arrest the stalker, the NFS notifies them that the suspect’s coat fibers were found on the victim’s body and the murder weapon which means he is their culprit.

Just when things were looking up for our group, they get a flat tire and are stranded on the side of the road. Tan-shik offers to get them a ride from a person he knows and then reappears in a sports car. With his team squished in the back, Tan-shik swerves through traffic to catch up with the stalker before he reaches the airport and manages to cut him off. Once the stalker realizes who stopped him, he escapes, and only Tan-shik can get out of the car in time to reach him.

While the others get the roof down on the convertible, they worry about their youngest who thinks “Santa” is a skill set, but Yoo-bin corrects them: Tan-shik is actually an expert in Sanda, the martial arts. Returning to the fight between Tan-shik and the stalker, our nonviolent youngest hears the voices of support telling him to get up, and he finally shows off his skills with a headstand — sans hands. After getting in some punches, he sends the stalker flying with a kick, and his team members cheer for him from the sidelines.

With the culprit behind bars, Tan-shik helps the victim’s son move, and the younger man asks his role model why he decided to become a cop. Tan-shik tells him that his father was one, too, and the show reveals a little about our youngest detective’s family. However, this isn’t the only secret surrounding his birth since Tan-shik might also be the grandson of a famous restaurant owner. These rumors make Jung-hwan question everything he thought about him, but while he ultimately deems the claims doubtful, the show reveals that Tan-shik is, in fact, the heir.

As the weeks go by, the world deepens and so does my interest. While the actual mechanics of solving these violent crimes cases oftentimes borders nonsensical, the show’s humor stems more from character moments than situational comedy. It’s not the setting that makes the jokes but how these silly individuals interact with their environment and each other. Thus, as we get to know the characters better, more jokes land because a certain rapport is being built between the show and its audience, allowing more things left unsaid and adding a layer of subtly to the more overt jokes.

In general, the show’s approach to a character a week works well for its storytelling and keeps the direction focused. Rather than try to juggle all their personalities at once and get nowhere, the decision to concentrate on one individual at a time gives the creators room to explore ideas in more depth and showcase their charms. While this could feel worn out because of its repetitive nature, I think the characters have been different enough each time to be entertaining, and since there are only five main people and twenty episodes total, it doesn’t feel like this will be the show’s only arsenal going forward.

 
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