Showtime Begins!: Episodes 9-10

by mistyisles

We get lots of development this week, both in learning about the past and in moving our leads’ relationship forward. But the killer is closing in, and the past has already started bleeding into the present.

EPISODES 9-10 WEECAP

The Full Moon Killer – and the spirit who possesses him – has recognized Cha-woong and vows revenge for what happened 2,000 years ago. But before he catches up, our leads get a small respite to focus on another pressing matter. Namely: romance.

Cha-woong has not only figured out his own feelings, but he’s ready to act on them, even going so far as to beg his rival magician to teach him a magic trick involving a ring that the magician boasts has a 100% success rate at winning women’s hearts.

That done, he buys a ring and prepares to confess his feelings to Seul-hae. But, of course, she’s already on a sort-of date with Hee-soo. Spotting the pair entering a bowling alley, the young female shaman YE-JI (whom I confess I’ve avoided mentioning until now because she annoys me to no end) calls Cha-woong there, hoping he’ll decide to give up on Seul-hae as a result.

Being that they’re in a bowling alley, the four end up challenging each other to a game. Hee-soo bowls nothing but strikes, while Cha-woong sends all his shots straight into the gutter. (And the ladies don’t seem to get a turn at all?)

That’s when the ghosts step in. Suddenly, Cha-woong’s gutter balls start jumping back onto the lane and knocking down all the pins, and Hee-soo’s shots take sudden turns into the gutter or come to sudden stops.

Hee-soo’s jaw drops lower and lower by the second, but Seul-hae knows what’s up, and glowers at Cha-woong disapprovingly.

Afterward, Hee-soo steers Seul-hae off to a café so he can confess. She gets giddy as usual when he compliments her, but when he admits he’s known for a while that she likes him, something gives her pause. Suddenly, all she can think of is Cha-woong, and she asks Hee-soo for time to think things over before she agrees to officially date him.

Of course, Cha-woong spots them through a window, and believes he’s lost his chance. That sends him into such a heartbroken slump that he designs a dramatic finale for his magic show featuring real snakes, knives, and a depressing ending that he insists is the pinnacle of artistic expression.

Fortunately for his assistants, that idea gets tabled, because the murderous spirit arrives on the scene. Hee-soo and Seul-hae are called to investigate the site of a triple murder, and Seul-hae recognizes all the signs of the Full Moon Killer’s handiwork.

She brings the General to view the crime scene, and he’s able to see exactly what happened there and to confirm that it was indeed the same killer and the same spirit from ten years ago.

While the search goes on, we learn some important pieces of information. Seul-hae’s past-self was a princess, and both she and Cha-woong experience dreams about their past-life relationship. The evil spirit was at one time in love with the princess, and blames Cha-woong both for “stealing” her from him and for sealing him away the first time.

The General also tells Cha-woong that the spirit could choose to possess a different host at any time, and that it does so through blood – so he can’t get wounded anywhere near the spirit. Yikes, that’s definitely foreshadowing.

Meanwhile, Hee-soo’s father spots the Full Moon Killer by chance, and panics to realize he’s still alive. Pathetically, however, his chief concern is protecting his image. As evidence mounts that this is the same killer, he confesses to a disgusted Hee-soo that he’s terrified of his incompetence coming to light, after he’s put so much effort into building up connections and accolades.

Everything he did related to that case – from “stopping” the killer himself to taking in his deceased partner’s orphan – was to advance his own position. Now, his only goal is to take out the Full Moon Killer quietly, before the news gets out.

Hee-soo’s father reaches out to a contact with a large criminal network to comb the streets for the killer, but when his subordinates corner said killer, they’re easily overpowered. Only one is left standing for Seul-hae to apprehend, and all he can tell her is that the killer mentioned Cha-woong’s name.

In a panic, Seul-hae rushes over to Cha-woong’s house to make sure he’s okay. He is, thanks to the General, who’s bought them some time by facing off against the evil spirit in an epic duel.

Both spirits were left severely weakened and need to replenish their energy. The General does this by retreating into his painting, but the evil spirit will need to feed on more victims who have those special channels to heaven.

Fearing for Cha-woong’s safety, Seul-hae decides she’ll have to stick close to him and keep watch. She calls it a stakeout, but it amounts to moving into his house for the time being. And since he doesn’t have a single guest bedroom in that ginormous house of his, he insists on letting her use his bedroom while he sleeps on the couch.

He also thoughtfully prepares a surprise birthday party for her. But she’s so weirded out by the sight of him carrying a cake and serenading her sweetly that she assumes he must be possessed (having been warned that someone possessed by a spirit will act in very uncharacteristic ways) and attacks him with pepper spray.

Poor Cha-woong has to be rescued by the ghosts, but once they explain everything, the party goes on, and Seul-hae looks very touched by it all.

But the killer is still out there, and he finds Seul-hae while she’s out on patrol. Realizing she’s being tailed, Seul-hae bravely confronts him, knowing exactly who he is. He’s hardly fazed by her nerve or her fellow officer’s taser, but when he gets a good look at Seul-hae’s face, he freezes. The spirit is so stricken to recognize her that he flees to process the discovery elsewhere.

Now it’s Cha-woong’s turn to fear for Seul-hae’s safety. As everyone gears up for the imminent confrontation, Cha-woong tasks his ghosts with detaining Seul-hae in his house while he heads off to face the killer alone.

I find it refreshing the way we’re slowly learning about the past timeline rather than having it all dumped on us at once. Every new flash we get both builds on what we already know and gives us new information that puts everything into greater perspective.

I also love that, more and more, we’re seeing Cha-woong’s dorky side come out (him giving Seul-hae a tour of his room had me in stitches). It broke my heart when he concluded that, both in this life and the previous one, he’d been the cause of all their problems, because it’s another reminder that the arrogant, closed-off, selfish Cha-woong is just an image he uses to protect himself from further hurt – when in reality, he’s a big ol’ softy who totally just wants to love someone who’ll love him back.

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Showtime Begins!: Episodes 9-10