TRIANGLE EPISODE 18

Recap:
Man Bong's words echo in Young Dal's head, that Myung Jae would harm someone close to him. Then he gets the report that Jang Soo was kidnapped by a Macau gang. Yang Ha follows up with Chairman Go on Jung Hee's abduction; Go denies involvement. Young Dal talks with Shin Hye about Myung Jae, and her advice is to not show any weakness to the kidnappers. Dong Soo plans an assault on the place where they are likely holding Jung Hee. Myung Jae calls our young tough, and Young Dal denies that there's anything between him and Jin Hee, trying to convince them they're wasting their time, rather than admitting to how frustrating and hurtful the situation really is. This, of course, throws them off and tears Jung Hee's heart to pieces.

Yang Ha threatens Chairman Go over Jung Hee's abduction, saying that he can revoke Go's shares in Daejung, but if the chairman cooperates, Yang Ha can give him more shares in the Macau deal. Go caves and gives the order to release Jung Hee.  Man Bong stages a siege on the hideout and dispatches the guards with ease. It is Yang Ha who finds the captive girl and releases her from her bonds. Myung Jae visits Man Bong and Boss Min; the Busan boss tells them to stop protecting Young Dal. They refuse, and Man Bong flashes him a mirthless smile. Jung Hee invites Yang Ha to dinner -- we see a rare smile cross his face as he reads the text. Young Dal and Jung Hee encounter each other, lock gazes, and then walk silently on. Shin Hye reveals to Dong Soo what her investigations have uncovered: Yang Ha is the youngest brother.


Jung Hee implores Young Dal to save her

My take:
Man Bong to the rescue! Well, sort of. I thought the hero was going to be Man Bong, plowing his way through an endless assortment of goons and sending the bad guys running. Or Dong Soo, bursting in with his squad and arresting the boss from Busan. Instead, we have a rather tender scene in which Yang Ha unties Jung Hee and is gentle with her, asking if she's hurt. It was a bit sad as I felt the martial arts scenes were extraneous considering the orders to let the girl go. Oh well, at least they were fun, what there was of them.

Now the Jung Hee pendulum has swung back to Yang Ha. In a completely unexpected turn of events (at least for me), Young Dal rebuffs her in an attempt to turn the tables on the kidnappers. It works, but he couldn't let her in on his plan. So it appears that she is now with Yang Ha and Young Dal is completely out of the picture. Wow. If you read my last review, I laid out a plan about how this was going to go -- I was completely wrong. Well played, writers...well played.


"I'll kill you with my bare hands!"

So this episode they paint Yang Ha as a reflective man of action. This young man has so many faces maybe they should have cast him in 'Gabdongi' instead. ;)  Here he is quietly confident, composed as a counterpoint to Young Dal's bluster, and completely unafraid when Young Dal threatens him. He handles Go masterfully, using him to get Jung Hee back. And the great thing is, it worked. He didn't rescue her only to have her run into Young Dal's arms. This time, it seems like he might have a chance with her.

The focus is now on Myung Jae, who has the stones to threaten Man Bong and Boss Min, evidently ignorant of the forces they are marshaling. He may well be bluffing. If he is serious, I'd be curious to see what else he can do. So he can scare a lackey and kidnap a girl. Big deal. The other bosses there can do that in their sleep. I'm waiting, Busan boy. How vicious can you really get?


Yang Ha, smiling for once

As an amusing aside, Macau's gaming stocks have experienced a sharp drop in share prices recently. Hardly the gold mine they paint it to be in this show.

I love this show. It's like a pot boiling over, occasionally spilling its precious contents on the burner and sizzling. Its reveal is slow, one piece at a time, but now the series has really picked up steam. Every episode now ends on a cliffhanger, daring you to miss the next episode and exciting you when you sit down to figure out how they will get out of the messes they find themselves in. And now, I have to wait a week...

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