Nine: Nine Times Time Travel ep 16 [Dramatic Review]

I decided that today's header needed to focus on our dynamic Dr Evil.  This guy really caught my attention in this episode with his extra special over-the-top facial expressions.  This is a sample of some of the favorites.  It was difficult to choose - there were just so many.  Have you ever watched a drama with the sound off, relying on just the subtitles?  That's how I watched the last half of this episode (The Husband was sleeping next to me and I couldn't find earbuds) and it made this guy quite the comedic antagonist.  So, here we go - Dr Evil's own personal tribute.

Nine's Nine of Episode 16 

1.  A Farewell to Brother and Incense

Jeong Woo has passed away.  Dr Han comes to deliver this news to Seon Woo as he sits and prays in a nearby church.  Bent on revenge and fueled with anger, Seon Woo runs off with the intent to use the last incense stick, go back 20 years and kill the sonofagun.  Dr Han stops him by grabbing the incense stick and running back into the church.  When he gets to the altar, he kneels before it and asks God to destroy this devil's instrument.  And poof, it vanishes.  It's gone.  The last remaining incense stick mysteriously disappears.

2.  Playing Detective

Jin Cheol is on the hunt, trying to figure out Seon Woo's secret.  His lackey has been sifting through phone and text records, looking for any hint.  The only mention of Dr Evil in these texts are in a message relating to the incense sticks and whether or not he knows about them.  Jin Cheol is trying to piece all of this together - specifically Seon Woo's maybe-not-so flippant remarks about his time machine.  And Jin Cheol is scared.  Terrified.  Seon Woo threatened to go back in time and kill him after all, so he's afraid that he could die at any moment.

Meanwhile, Seon Woo is forming his own theories on what happened to the final stick.  Whether he's remembering or just hypothesizing, I'm unsure exactly, but he doesn't believe like his buddy that it was God that destroyed the stick - he believes that if it disappeared in 2013, it was because it was taken from him in 1993.  So just who has it?

3.  Min Young Regrets

There at her father's funeral, Min Young remembers back to the final phone call she had with him.  It was just prior to his suicide, letters were already written, and he was calling to say goodbye.  He says that he is sorry and thanks her for choosing him as her father even when he wasn't qualified.  He asks her to tell her mother to be well and then they hang up.  For the last time.

Seon Woo then enters the room and she emotionally tells him that she regrets her decision.  She wants him to try and fix everything now.  It's all just a huge mess and she is hoping that he can make it all better again with his last incense stick.  But it appears that that is not to be as he gently informs her that it is gone - her last shred of hope has disappeared.  Poor Min Young.  This whole thing is just one big crazy mess.

4.  Dirty Cop Rides Again

So, where'd the stick go?  Enter Dirty Cop.  He's had it removed from Seon Woo's room as he sleeps and brings it to Jin Cheol as the one item of evidence that is suspicious.  It has Seon Woo's fingerprints on it and they don't understand why it was at the scene of the fire.  Jin Cheol opens it up and sees that there are two sticks that remain.

crud.

5.  Trial and Error

Sure enough, back in 2013, Jin Cheol is facing his day in court, but his mind certainly isn't on what is going on there.  As the detective is handing over the incense to him in 1993, his present-day self is getting the memory.  And we get the best facial expressions ever.  It was hard to take this part seriously because the over-acting was humorously distracting.  Anyway, past-self gets the incense and questions it while future-self suddenly puts it all together.  Just as he is about to be sentenced to ten years in prison, he passes out.  Real?  Fake?  Well, I wonder...

6.  Don't Let the Bad Guy... Oh No, Too Late

It's fake.  Duh.  No sooner is he in the ambulance and alone with his lackey (um, hello? where are the paramedics?) then he bolts up and orders his assistant to go find the black bag containing the canister of incense.  He's pulls the same thing in the hospital when the assistant brings in the bag he found and retrieved from deep in the archives.  Meanwhile, Seon Woo has figured that Dr Evil's got to be pretty close to getting all of this, and so he's rushing to the hospital to stop him.  But he's too late.  Jin Cheol has the sticks and takes one out and goes to light it.  The excitement I had in knowing that there were now TWO sticks left instead of just the one quickly vanishes as he lights that first stick and it immediately falls to ash.  It's already been used and so its magic is gone.

crud.

7.  Dr Evil Goes Back for 5 Minutes and Does Evil

Unfortunately, Jin Cheol is not waylaid for long by the first stick and immediately pulls out the very last one.  No!!!  Don't light it!!!  It's the last one!!!  The very last one!!!  How is Seon Woo going to be able to fix everything aright if Dr Nasty Creep E Evil gets it first?  Run Seon Woo, run!  Stop him!!!

But he doesn't get there in enough time.  Dr Evil does indeed light up the last stick and goes back to 1993.  After the initial shock of jumping back 20 years, he gets busy going about his evil ways.  He calls up the hit man and orders him to take out Seon Woo.

8.  Stopping Dr Evil

Seon Woo finally arrives at the hospital and has to force his way through guards at the door.  He breaks into the room, runs over to the burning stick lying on the table and snuffs it out.  Jin Cheol comes flying back.  But it's too late.  He had five minutes in 1993 and accomplished what he had set out to do - order Seon Woo to be killed.

So, this day is significant for other reasons.  Not only is it the day that his brother died, he lost his last time traveling stick, and his arch enemy figured out his secret and used it against him, it's also the day that his brother got married 20 years ago.  See.  Did I or did I not tell you back in episode 15 that this would prove to be significant?  Seon Woo is looking for any clues as to what Jin Cheol did when he went back and is pouring through the diary.  He finds April 24th, wedding day.  The wedding was at noon.  His 1993 self had been busy all that morning and then had to run an errand for the groom, causing him to miss a good part of the wedding.  What could he possibly have done that morning?  What was the errand?  He doesn't remember.  His buddy doesn't remember.  But time is running out.  It's already after 11AM.  And he's lost 5 minutes on the stick.  How in the world is he going to pull this one off???

9.  I Think I'm About to Die

As he is driving in the car, things are getting dangerous back in 1993.  The hit man has found young Seon Woo.  Old Seon Woo suddenly has a long nasty scar run down his hand and arm.  Flashback to 1993 and we see the fresh blood running down his hand and arm and the guy wielding the knife.  Uh oh.  2013 Seon Woo tells Young Hoon ominously that he thinks he is about to die.

DUHN
DUHN
DUHHHHNNNN.


Yeah, you try watching this at 1:00AM and then trying to fall asleep.  That was me last night.  There was no way! My heart was racing and I was freaking out.  Four more episodes to go!  And only 25 minutes of time travel left!  And one giant, huge pile of mess to clean up.  How ever will the writers pull this one off???  Schnikees!  This whole thing is amazing!

I've gotta go watch 17 now and see what happens next.  I can't stand the suspense any longer!  How did you all do it when you couldn't marathon it?  Maybe you were lucky like me and waited until you could marathon it?  Thank goodness I'm so late on these reviews because I don't know if my poor little ahjumma heart could have endured all this suspense while it was currently airing.  I am just so curious to see how this one wraps up.  I love dramas like this, where you just aren't sure where they're going to go next, but instead of starting to resolve things, they just complicate them more and you're sitting there watching it, "GAHHH"ing all the way.  Golly gosh geewhiz, this is why I love Kdramas so!

See you in 17!