[Drama Review] 'Missing 9' - Episode 10

AKP STAFF

Chanyeol, Yang Dong Geun, Jung Kyung Ho, Baek Jin Hee, Choi Tae Joon, Lee Sun Bin

That flying pink blur is Bong Hee, btw, because apparently she's Wonder Woman or something.

Episode 10 of 'Missing 9' did attempt to prove that it is in fact a drama addressing societal and human issues. This rich, the privileged, and the titled use all means necessary to get what they want. They kill people when they do not get what they want. They do not feel guilty about the crimes they committed, but rather feel satisfaction in that they were able to crush those lesser than them under their feet. The poor, the underprivileged, and the unimportant, are defenseless against the ploys of the rich and privileged. The poor must do as they're told by the rich, the underprivileged must not try to put everyone as equals, even before the law, the unimportant must live trapped in their small, closed-in holes all their lives, not interfering in the lives of those with titles.

That's the gist of some of the themes that I realized the drama might have wanted to deal with through this story and it's characters. It's just that, the drama's production staff just didn't do it right. The themes mentioned above do fall into place in perspective when you look at the big picture of the plane crash, the survivors becoming stranded on the deserted island, escaping and returning one by one, and the battle over the truth behind a murder case. But zoom in, examine the characters and the way they were used to illustrate these themes, examine the believability of the series of events occurring in the present, and I personally don't think that those themes line up with this storyline well. For example, when those goons showed up dressed in hospital gowns hiding lethal weapons on their bodies, who else thought the whole hospital scene was going to be one big comic relief moment? Axes, hammers, wrenches? What is this, ancient Joseon?

No way am I buying the 'Chinese gangs use medieval weapons' excuse.

Please tell me that someone other me thought the entire hospital lockdown sequence looked like a big fat joke. Ra Bong Hee (played by Baek Jin Hee) suddenly flying everywhere and fist fighting all the bad guys? The gang men actually punching and kicking women? (This drama is supposed to be rated 15+!) And they conveniently up and removed all of the security cameras too, huh? The aim to mix comedy into a very serious and dramatic plot failed badly on this episode.

But wait, since when can outnumbered lawyers beat up a gang.

A lot of themes touched on this episode, but ultimately, it comes down to the fact that Choi Tae Ho (played by Choi Tae Joon) and Jang Do Pal were able to continue their evil exploits, threatening Jung Ki Joon over killing Ha Ji Ah (played by Lee Sun Bin) and getting the two to lie in favor of Tae Ho. The government investigation team has officially closed this case, with Seo Jun Oh (played by Jung Kyung Ho) as the murderer.

Tae Ho seeks Bong Hee out at her home, showing up just so he can look down on her with contempt and warn her to just live quietly, if she doesn't want to get killed. Bong Hee is about to return Yoon So Hee's necklace to prosecutor Yoon Tae Young (played by Yang Dong Geun), and move on with her life when...

I ate all yours, too... >.<

Big surprise to literally no one, Seo Jun Oh comes back alive! The next episode better have some good explanations about where that rocky beach where Bong Hee reunited with Jun Oh is, how he managed to get her phone number and call her, what happened to the rescue boat's owner, and a lot of other stuff.

The root of the problem that I'm growing to have with this story is that by trying to convey such large themes, the more literal concepts of the drama like becoming stranded on a deserted island, what happened with Dreamers and Shin Jae Hyun, and the individual characters' goals and views as people, become insignificant shadows. When the smaller details become fuzzy, it's hard to understand the big picture, let alone empathize with it. All in all, the deeper plot that I'd hoped this drama would have in the second half of it's story is nowhere to be found. We're left with a plot that's loosely tying itself together, but without the impact of making viewers excited. Next week, we'll have to see if Jun Oh can turn this around, and I mean both the truth in the story and the empathy of the audience.

Jung Kyung Ho definitely deserved a major eye roll for this.