Gap Dong Episode 3 - A Match of Wits

THE HIATUS IS OVER!!!!!!!!!  Gap Dong, how I missed you last week, even though you have just started I am highly invested in your stylish cinematography and charismatic bad guy.  If you had not guessed, I was seriously craving this kdrama during the last week.  Who wouldn't when you have your protagonist and antagonist about to meet, and then you are stuck in cliffhanger hell.  This episode was about everyone trying their hardest to outwit their opponents before time runs out and the second death is due.  Of course like any good bad guy, our hottie psycho Tae Oh, seems to be in the lead.  But a lot of that is because the "good" guys are too busy being counterproductive and working at cross purposes.  It is enough for one to almost start rooting for the bad guy.  

Just for fun I decided to give the characters points every time they do something clever. Then take them away again when letting emotions or stupidity lead them down a wrong path.  Who will end up being the most clever character to date?  Be sure to read and find out!

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If you recall, we left off with Moo Yeom investigating the next snatch site and finding a suspicious motorcycle abandoned.  While calling it in we see Tae Oh walk up behind him (with that awesome psychotic look in his eyes) and bash in the back of Moo Yeom's head with his motorcycle helmet.  Then our scary hottie steps over his body to the phone booth where he calls in a tip to a reporter, while pretending to be Detective Moo Yeom.  I love that he is already starting his cat and mouse game with the police and while I don't think he is purposefully framing our mad monk for the murders, he is causing extra havoc.  

We then see an ambulance transporting a still unconscious, hero to the hospital.  How did the ambulance know to arrive?  Did Tae Oh report it into 119?  Did his partner go searching for him (since he was in the ambulance with him)? 

Whatever the reason, Tae Oh decides that he is not quiet done with the detective and rides his motorcycle in front of the ambulance, driving erratically and forcing the emergency vehicle to swerve repeatedly.  You have to love a killer with a sense of humor.

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Our Mad Monk catches on to what happened rather quickly (especially considering he knows that he was passed out when the call was made) and heads over to the reporters to find out what the fake "him" let slip.  Pretending to have been drunk when he called the previous night,  Moo Yeom brazenly interrogates the clueless report until he is satisfied that he learned everything he could.  His fast thinking puts him onto the trail of the killer.  

But just as he is leaving the office he is distracted from his quest by a familiar face.  It seems our overly friendly Doctor Nancy Drew wannabe is also investigating the call from Gap Dong. 

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Curious about her behavior Moo Yeom follows Maria as she leaves the offices (after being denied any information) and watches as she buys multiple newspapers about the serial killings.  She leads him straight to her house, but catches on to his tail just before turning towards her trailer.  She hides behind a blind corner and pulls out her heavy duty taser (tasing.....always funny.) but he anticipates the attack and grabs her hand at which point she either tases herself or passes out from fear.  I am going to go with the tasing herself concept, since as I said, tasing is always funny.  And needless to say, she loses points for putting herself in a possibly harmful situation.   

             10                    5                    0                   20                  0

Our heroic mad monk flops the tased damsel in distress over his shoulders and tries to figure out how to enter her house (she has keys and the house has a card access code).  A few seconds later he notices the old trailer on the side of the building and has a hunch that he has found her house.  After she regains consciousness and the two have a veiled discussion about Gap Dong and her interest in the killer, he makes her hold out her hands.  And into her hands he drops a whistle and the advice that this would be more useful to blow this than use the taser.  Hmmmmmmm judging by her lack of taser skills I have to agree.  On a side note, what is up with whistles being the romantic accessory/gift of the season.  They were also given as love tokens in "Beyond the Clouds" and "Angel Eyes". 

Back at the station Yang Chul Gon continues to be a total jerk of a character (seriously the guy just pisses me off even though he is supposedly a "good guy") as he gathers evidence against Moo Yeom.  OK OK I will admit that if you look at it objectively Moo Yeom does have a lot of coincidences working against him.  He was out of the hospital at the time of the first murder and he supposedly leaked the information to the press.  Add to that the fact that he knows about the distinctive serial killers signatures (thanks to the profiler/professor) right before the killings began again and you could create a circumstantial case against him.  Of course it is not as if actual facts and evidence matter when you are a bigoted egocentric jerk, but still he gets points for at least finding some facts to support his theory.

           10                   5                     30                   20                  0

Its finally time to discuss the ditsy future serial killer victim of the drama, also known as Ma Ji Wool the web artist. I swear this girl is really, really dense. Not in an unlikeable way, but, more as a "How are you still alive?" way.  She goes into our killers coffee shop and is instantly recognized by Tae Oh, he plays cute hottie and strikes up a conversation with her.  

She of course blathers on about how hot he is and then shows him her webtoon sketches in which the "Mad Monk" is a predominate character.  Recognizing him as his very own nemesis, he asks about his personality.  She blithely replies that he is a great guy even though he himself is a little crazy.  Tae Oh smiles and tells her that he would be happy to be her muse for the psycho killer, especially if there is a psycho cop involved.  "I don't mind being the psycho if I am not the only one" he tells Ji Wool.  Hmmmm  I wonder if this is some type of foreshadowing?  But for being clueless and an airhead Ji Wool loses points, and Tae Oh gains, since he gathered information about his adversary.

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The D-Day comes closer as Chul Gon instigates measures to keep the people safe from the possible serial killer.  (the 2nd murder happened on the January 7th so if the copycat is replaying the original crimes it will happen then to a woman wearing red.  The body will also be found under straw bales and picked up at the bus stop that had been introduced in the start of the episode)  He attempts to take away all the aspects of the first murder (burning all the hay bales, stopping the bus services, and having the police going around cautioning all women wearing red).  All of this is very commendable with the exception of his dogged determination to pin it all on our Moo Yeom, who is busy himself frantically searching for clues in a one man race against time.  Both men earn points for trying their best to keep people safe.  However Tae Oh also earns points for preplanning and preparing the murder scene so he could remain safe on D-Day.  

But what about the women in our little drama.  What are they doing on the day that a murder is supposed to occur.  Well our resident ditz is walking around the streets in a bright red coat.  Yes that's right folks, she is a walking billboard sign screaming out "Kill me now" in bright red letters.  And she is not even doing it to try and catch Gap Dong (unlike another twit of a heroine).  Nope she is truly just that dense.  So farther into the negative she goes.

Maria is not acting any smarter, but unlike our clueless student, she is purposefully baiting the hook to catch herself a serial killer.  She dresses up in a red outfit, complete with her red wig and come hither sex kitten outfit.  Then goes and stands in the bus stop where the original victim had been taken from.  So, let me see if I have this straight. You want to catch Gap Dong (not sure if it is for justice, or survivors guilt) and you are using yourself as bait.  Thats all well and good but what are you going to do when you get your sociopath within your grasp?  In her case she brings him home.  SERIOUSLY SHE BRINGS HIM TO HER HOUSE!  Tae Oh decides to hang out at the bus stop for whatever reason his crazy mind gives him and of course he is thrilled to see his therapist there waiting like a sacrificial lamb.  He even goes up to her because you know, seeing a crazy patient out in the middle of nowhere on D-Day is not at all odd.  When he shows up, she just mutters that he must not be coming and goes home, closely followed by Tae Oh.  

Then after getting him in her trailer and making him tea, she admits that she had been waiting specifically for Gap Dong (which surprised even our killer) and then asks him straight out if he is Gap Dong?  

Why?  Why are you doing this Maria?  I could understand if maybe you were some judo, black belt, kung fu master or something.  But you tased yourself in broad daylight.  A secret assassin, you are not, so why are you putting yourself in these insane situations?  It seriously boggles my mind and wipes out her points, knocking her into the negative. 

           30                 -75                  40                 50                 -220

We see the episode end with Moo Yeom figuring out who the murdered girl was and going on a wild chase to hunt her down.  So for finding out the identity of the victim he earns points.  Of course he loses them again when he goes off by himself to find the girl rather than calling for backup.  This of course puts him at the crime scene, with a dead body, and his fingerprints on the recorder she had been holding (that was one of my favorite parts.  The whistling on the recorder set to go off on D-Day was a genius move by the writers) when the police arrive.  Chul Gon is also able to figure out the victim (although we don't know how..........sloppy writing right there) and finds our Mad Monk looking pretty guilty.  So even though he is a total bleck face (I'm trying to keep it a PG blog post people.  Feel free to insert whatever curse word you think best fits his character) he still gets points for not being totally stupid, just hardheaded.  

It has been a close match at times (at least between the men).

                40           -75                  50                 80                 -220  

But the prize go's to our hottie psycho who not only plans the perfect murder, but has fun running intellectual rings around the police.  It makes me sad that Moo Yeom's character is so reactionary and lacks the ability to look at the long term reaches of his actions.  He has such great instincts when it comes to finding the bad guys.  But then it bites him in the butt when he goes off on his own half cocked and unable to provide valid alibis.  I am hoping that as we get further into the show we will see a bit more equality between our hero and our villain because if the bad guy is the only one with any intelligence it gets a bit boring, no matter how well the character is played.  

Thanks for joining me for yet another recap!  I hope you are all enjoying this drama as much as I am.  If you have not already liked us on FB then click on this link https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-crazy-ahjummas/336988683021748?fref=ts  to get updates on our blog posts, daily Music Breaks, and kdrama discussions.  We will be having some giveaways over the next several months so be sure to get updates for those.

Sincerely, 
Kmuse