[Drama Review] 'Missing 9' - Episode 6

AKP STAFF

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

I don't recall their band's name being Crayon Pop...

To be completely honest, 'Missing 9' has veered quite a ways from what my expectations of this drama were, as I began watching. The change was the most noticeable in episode 6, after subtle hints of it last episode. When I first began writing about 'Missing 9' as an upcoming drama through allkpop, the summary said something along the lines of '9 people become stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash, the story of how the people survive, and the story of humanity brought to the surface on the island'. Something along those lines. But contrary to my expectations, it turns out, 'Missing 9' is actually a drama heavily in the mystery/thriller genre. The summary of the drama has changed, since it first began production, too. Now, the summary briefly says, 'Discovering the hidden truth behind the missing 9 survivors of a plane crash'. You have to sympathize with me here, when I say, I didn't realize what I was signing up for. Mystery, thriller, and scary things (as I mentioned in episode 5's review), and I, don't mix well. But a review is a review, so let me get on to that part.

The transition from this story being about the survivors of the plane crash, to that of solving a serial murder case, occurred very quickly in this episode. Although I had half had expectations that Lee Yeol (played by EXO's Chanyeol) would be popping up from somewhere miraculously alive throughout this episode, that did not happen. Instead, in the first half of the episode, Choi Tae Ho (played by Choi Tae Joon), who sent Chanyeol to his death by floating his body off into the ocean, suffers from the guilt of having killed his former band member. And then, in the latter half of the episode, as all of the remaining survivors finally manage to gather back together at their shelter, greed, selfishness, anger, and a mix of malicious emotions triumph over guilt in Choi Tae Ho's character. He's egged on by Yoon So Hee (played by Ryu Won), who threatens him even after Seo Jun Oh (played by Jung Kyung Ho) went through a lot to bring him back to the shelter. Choi Tae Ho then commits his 3rd murder on the island, this time with more purpose than he has with his previous victims.

Tae Ho (Tae Joon)! What would Bomi think, seeing you becoming a serial killer?

There is a bit of exploring the human mind here through Tae Ho's character, as we observe that Tae Ho wasn't someone who was born a cold-blooded killer, someone different from the rest of society. What drove him to this point was the situation he unexpectedly fell in, and the inability to deal with the fear and the pressure of the people around him. In other words, the people on the island did play a part in driving Tae Ho to make the decisions that he did. He first killed the injured man because he wanted the food for himself, and to not share with a bleeding man who didn't have much life in him left to begin with, in his eyes. What drove him to go overboard with his violence on Yeol was that the person he possibly trusted the most on the island, turned against him, "making him the bad guy". And while he was trying to deal with the guilt of killing Yeol, the others' hate toward him got to the evil residing inside him.

Saying all that, though, I do have some hope left still, that Yeol may return in the drama. I'm able to argue this point because CEO Hwang Jae Kook, whom a freaking metal bar fell on, turned out to be alive, despite being in critical condition. But it does seem pretty hard to believe that someone who got dumped in the ocean face down after being knocked unconscious or dead(?), can magically come back alive. What do you guys think?

Question... everything this guy does just looks so lame, even when he started turning more heroic this episode. Why..?

Also, I would like to pose the question of, do the producers have a good, solid explanation of how the hell these people managed to wash up in China in one piece from a freaking deserted island in the middle of the ocean? One after another, the 'Missing 9' have been showing up in China, and the only one dead has been So Hee, whom we confirmed was murdered. Yes, I am a little salty because Tae Ho showed up alive in China in the present, despite not having worn any form of yellow on the island. But I just can't help but feel that the survivors being found one by one, is a little too convenient to tell a slowly-buidling mystery murder story, while a viewer like me has issues with the believability of it. If they're going to tell a mystery/thriller murder case story, then things should at least be planned strategically as to not make viewers pull back from the story, going, 'That doesn't seem realistic?'

Not to mention, the romantic relationships beginning to bud in this episode, felt a little forced for me. That really long talk that Jun Oh had with Ra Bong Hee (played by Baek Jin Hee)... I understood where he was coming from, because this was his moment to go from lazy butt to leader in this episode, but I still can't see them as more than reliable companions on a deserted island. As for manager Jung Ki Joon and Ha Ji Ah (played by Lee Sun Bin) all of a sudden going out, that was definitely placed in there by an obvious hand belonging to a scriptwriter, and we could practically see that hand in the scene... so... a murder mystery drama dealing with extremely heavy topics like human morality, survival, trust, and the likes... now I can understand why some of you found the comedy aspects of the drama unfitting. Because I'm feeling that way now about the romance.

This guy approves romance, tho.

So all in all, now we have a more fundamental plot driving this story forward. It's the classic, omnipresent, Good vs. Evil concept. Because there is one antagonist that has been very clearly established, and he has returned to the present, very alive, ready to fight the protagonist Bong Hee in order to hide his secret identity as a serial killer. From this point on is where some of the characters who've been iffy in the present, including prosecutor Yoon Tae Young (played by Yang Dong Geun), investigator Jo Hee Kyung, the new CEO of Legend Entertainment Jang Do Pal, and such will play more important roles by choosing the side of Good, or the side of Evil. Yes, Good and Evil, capitalized. To wrap up, I'll be leaving here the best quote of the day, courtesy of Seo Jun Oh.

"No matter how nervous you are, don't eat poop."