[Drama Review] 'Missing 9' - Episode 12

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Posted by Susan-Han Saturday, February 25, 2017

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

Hey Bong Hee, check out my new VR headset.

'Missing 9' has, and I kid you not, begun to resemble something slightly more dramatic and higher rated than 'Home Alone'. The home that the characters are trying to protect/rob is Yoon So Hee's phone. The phone makes it into investigator Jo Hee Kyung's hands, even though her duties as an investigator for the missing plane crash case has come to an end, and she's busy running for government office. The good guys are trying to get to it before the bad guys, and the bad guys are trying to get to it before the good guys.

Here's one thing I'm curious about. It was revealed by reporter Kim that So Hee and composer Shin Jae Hyun had been dating around the time the composer murdered. So then, in the last episode, we saw So Hee holding her phone in her hand, threatening the new Legend Entertainment CEO Jang Do Pal with supposed evidence she has against Choi Tae Ho (played by Choi Tae Joon), to get him to hurry up and schedule a meeting with a movie director. So then... how can So Hee use evidence about her deceased boyfriend to threaten people for her own career gains..? Am I the only one who thinks that would be sick..? Of course, it's not a confirmed fact, so we'll have to see if So Hee really did do something like that or not. (Just imagine if that phone had literally nothing worthwhile in it...)

Jun Oh and Bong Hee's priorities #1: eat snacks in a car.

Jun Oh and Bong Hee's priorities #2: put on some lipstick without smearing it on Bong Hee's face.

A good advancement I did notice in this episode was that more and more, the tides are turning (slowly, but yes they are going) so that the divide between the protagonists and the antagonists of this story is more defined. The other survivors from the island who had to lie and side with Tae Ho in order to survive - Ha Ji Ah (played by Lee Sun Bin), Jung Ki Joon, and Tae Hang Ho - are starting to liven back up now that Seo Jun Oh (played by Jung Kyung Ho) is back in action, and are edging toward the protagonist team. Prosecutor Yoon Tae Young (played by Yang Dong Geun) is now undoubtedly a key player in the protagonist team, headed by Seo Jun Oh and Ra Bong Hee (played by Baek Jin Hee) of course. The former CEO Hwang Jae Kook, despite his comatose state, can be indentified as a player in the protagonist team, in addition to Jun Oh's old manager, Byung Joo. In the antagonist team, we have two notable figures - Choi Tae Ho and Jang Do Pal. More or less, the only two characters still uncertain about which team they belong in are investigator Joo Hee Kyung and her assistant investigator Oh. This clearly defined divide between the protagonists and the antagonists is necessary at this point in the story, now that the main mysteries and issues which need resolving are out in the open. Alongside the definition of the two sides in this episode, we also get a glimpse into potential conflict between the two antagonist team players, an element of the plot which should not be overlooked.

Oh yes, don't we all do this exact same thing in the mirror every morning?

The top secret search for So Hee's phone in Joo Hee Kyung's hotel room proved to be unfruitful for both the protagonist and antagonist side, by the end of episode 12. The phone is revealed to be in the possession of another of Joo Hee Kyung's minions, being fixed in order to retrieve it's contents. But from what episodes 11 and 12 have made it seem like, this plot will not be able to move forward without that phone acting as the central catalyst... Which may mean even more 'Home Alone' style cat-and-mouse chasing between Seo Jun Oh and Choi Tae Ho.

It wouldn't be absurd to mistake this drama for a sitcom, with the purposefully slow and exaggerated sequence the plot has taken on, plus the unnecessarily good comedy chemistry between Jun Oh, Bong Hee, Ki Joon, Byung Joo, and more. 4 more episodes to go until 'Missing 9' comes to a wrap, folks. What do we want to see happen in those 4 episodes? More mini comedy skits? A firmer love line? More of Ji Ah cursing at Tae Ho?

Personally, I'd appreciate some unknown elements of the ongoing plot here and there to add intensity to the mild resolution the drama is currently headed toward. I'd appreciate deeper involvement of the characters in this battle for the truth. I'd also appreciate, Lee Yeol (played by EXO's Chanyeol) returning alive somehow. That is all for today.

The amount of nothing happening in this drama is giving me a headache...