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City Hunter: Episode 11

This drama’s going to be the death of me. If my head doesn’t explode, my heart will first. The tension in this episode nearly put me six feet under from the stress of it all, but I fought to stay in the land of the living. Because otherwise, how will I find out what happens next??

 
EPISODE 11 RECAP

Nana rescues Yoon-sung in the medico-legal lab, just seconds before being discovered by Young-ju, post-blood-sample-switcheroo. And the Most Suspenseful Use of Staircase Award goes to…

Instinctively, Yoon-sung pulls out a knife and holds it at his assailant’s throat, only to come eye to eye with Nana. It’s both scary and hot.

Without a word he sneaks her out carefully amidst the ruckus outside, and they hitch a short ride on one of the outbound ambulances. He wrist-drags her for a while before finally whipping around to ask how long she’s known.

Niiice. I was afraid you were going to pussyfoot about and try to deny it, which would’ve been not only unbelievable, but laaaame.

She tells him that she’s known since the time he rescued her, when she saw his eyes. Yoon-sung: “And you pretended not to know?!” Seriously, you’re going to fault her for lying? About your lies? Bah.

She says she couldn’t say anything because she knew that he would just avoid her even more. Aw. He warns her not to butt into his business anymore. Nana: “How can I? The person I shot is the same person who rescued me twice!”

He whirls around and pushes her up against the wall in the most threatening way he can muster. (Though what’s with the super-speed, Show? This ain’t Smallville.)

Yoon-sung: Just how many lives do you think you have? I told you not to butt in anymore. This is my true face. Cutting off your last breath is nothing to someone like me. If you don’t want to die, erase everything you know about me. Go back to the time before you knew or even met me.

He stalks off without her, leaving her trembling and confused in his wake. I think she’s smart enough to at least suspect that this is his way of protecting her, but it’s not unscary to have your life threatened. And she really doesn’t know yet if the City Hunter is a killer or not.

Young-ju gets the unhappy news that Yoon-sung’s blood sample does not match the City Hunter’s. He manages to offend the lab tech while he’s at it, implying incompetence while she regrets ever giving the “Flower Prosecutor” (HA) special treatment.

I do love this comical aspect of the character dichotomy between Yoon-sung and Young-ju – that one guy knows how to wield his pretty boy looks to get what he wants in life, and the other can only manage to offend others with his cluelessness.

Yoon-sung comes home from that day… to find Dad sitting in his living room. Aw, can’t the guy catch a break? Dad growls at him for getting the blood test done anyway against orders, but Yoon-sung reassures him that he switched the samples.

Dad isn’t convinced that Young-ju is off his trail, and adds that living with Nana has put him in danger of being found out. Dad: “If she ever discovers who you are, she has to die.”

Oh. Shit.

This is something we tacitly knew, but to have Dad just say it like that? I hate feeling so stressed for Yoon-sung, but man, do I love me a drama that just mercilessly piles on the conflicts for the hero.

Nana looks at herself in the mirror and handles the bullet around her neck. She puts it to her shoulder, thinking of the moment she shot him, and then the blood running down his arm when he saved her. Nana: “It must’ve hurt so much…”

Yoon-sung looks into the mirror with determination and heartbreak. “Lee Yoon-sung. Erase Kim Nana. For Nana.”

But working together makes that harder than he’d like, and when she jumps in to try and awkwardly cover for his skipping a work presentation yesterday, he calls her out to the bench for a talking to.

He asks if his warnings were amusing to her, but she refuses to be scared off by him. She tells him that knowing his secret makes no difference to her – he’s still the same person, the one who rescued her. He tells her that he would’ve rescued her had she been her partner Eun-ah too.

She asks hesitantly, “That means you didn’t kill Lee Kyung-wan, right? The man I know… Lee Yoon-sung’s eyes… I can trust them, right?” Yoon-sung just grits his teeth and throws back: “Don’t make me regret letting you live.”

He tells her that she meant nothing to him, and that he no longer needs her or her house for a cover, so she can pack up and move out. Eeek, no need to make her homeless to get her to stop loving you!

And then he goes straight into his office and hands in his resignation.

At the prosecutor’s office, Young-ju’s assistant tells him that if it weren’t for Nana, he would’ve been able to stay on Yoon-sung’s tail yesterday. And then he adds that the blood test he took was for a Lee Kyung-hee.

He looked into her, and she’s the wife of a man in special forces… who disappeared in October 1983… Oh man. Young-ju is THISCLOSE

He goes straightaway to question Kyung-hee about her husband, and she tells them that she’d like to know what happened to him as well. Young-ju asks what his job was before he disappeared, and she tells them that he was a secret service agent on the president’s detail.

Just as she says that, she looks past Young-ju and sees Jin-pyo lurking behind them, with a look on his face that says it all. She clams up quickly and excuses herself. She finds Jin-pyo waiting for her in her room.

She pleads with him to let her see her son just once before she dies. Jin-pyo: “Your child is dead.” She refuses to believe him but he produces a newspaper from five years ago with a young man killed in a plane crash. He tells her that it was no accident, and the men who killed her husband also killed her son.

He tells her that there’s no end to whom they’ll harm, and if they find that he’s been here, she’s next. He suggests they move her to another hospital. He shakes her and tells her that she has to get it together and live a good life, and leave all this behind her.

It strikes me that Jin-pyo cares a lot for Kyung-hee, beyond the guilt he might have felt for taking her son. Despite his coldness to almost everyone else, he wants to see her live well. Perhaps way back when he had a heart, he loved her, and it doesn’t even have to be in the romantic sense, but like family.

He leaves and she clutches the paper, weeping at the thought that she’s lost her only reason for having lived thus far. Jin-pyo leaves Sang-gook to guard her and move her safely to another hospital.

But Kyung-hee isn’t about to just follow Jin-pyo’s orders blindly, and thank goodness because who trusts a kidnapper’s word anyway? So she sends her sentry for a soda and slips out undetected.

Yoon-sung enters just as she leaves, missing her by half a second. Aaaaack! He finds her room empty, and is told that her last visitor was a man with a cane.

He runs over to Dad’s, and I never tire of Yoon-sung’s dramatic I-will-kick-your-ass-if-you-stand-in-my-way entrances when he’s angry. He demands to know what he did to his mother, imagining the worst.

Dad says that she’s safe… for now. He warns Yoon-sung that the prosecutor is onto him, even having dug up his parents’ past. He asks what the Council of Five will do to her once they find out who she is (specifically his mom, not just Mu-yeol’s wife). Er… I hate to say it, but Dad’s not wrong about that. Dad: “I will entrust Kim Jong-shik to you. Kill him by your own hand. Or your mother dies.”

Frack. Seriously? Gah, why is Evil Daddy so smart? Now he’s got Nana AND Kyung-hee on ice, and Yoon-sung by the balls. I trust that he’ll find a way out of this, but I love that Jin-pyo goes this far to try and force his hand—either kill or let his mother die.

He gets the call from Sang-gook that Kyung-hee’s disappeared, but he plays it off coolly in front of Yoon-sung. He spells out the terms plainly – that if he doesn’t follow Dad’s will, Mom and Nana die. The choice is his.

Target No. 3 Kim Jong-shik arrives in country and goes to see his son Young-ju first thing. He may have come to try and mend bridges, but he’s not very good at it, what with simply wanting Young-ju to go his own way and not regretting any of his own actions in driving a wedge between them over the years. Way to meet him halfway, Dad. Young-ju coldly tells him that they’re different down to the bone, and walks out.

Holy crackers, the Daddy Drama in this show just went flying through the roof with this episode. I love that we’re finally getting down to the nitty gritty Young-ju / Yoon-sung parallels, by bringing him into the main conflict with his own messed up father-son relationship. The drama in this foursome alone is enough to make a whole separate drama. There’s so much conflict of interest going ten thousand ways that I am ridiculously excited to see how totally screwed up everything is about to get.

And that’s not even factoring his totally other messed up conflict of interest between Nana and his father. I mean, I don’t even know what he’s supposed to do in that situation. Either way he’s screwed.

On Jin-pyo’s orders, Sang-gook sneaks into Yoon-sung’s house and plants a bug, while Ajusshi is none the wiser, happily engaged in his home shopping obsession. I just love character details like that. It amuses me to no end, his housewifey tendencies, and Yoon-sung’s you-maxed-out-the-credit-card angry husband reactions.

The now Council of Three gathers at the Blue House. President Choi shows them the classified file on October 1983 that Young-ju requested to see. Why is it like handwritten parchment? It’s not 1483.

Chun Jae-man and Kim Jong-shik both oppose telling the truth, Kim particularly concerned with what Young-ju may have already pieced together. He doesn’t want his son finding out about this, for good reason. But they realize that President Choi is starting to let his conscience weigh on him.

He thinks it’s time that they reveal the truth and get punished for the wrong that they did. Chun is quick to remind him that the repercussions—the sitting President landing in jail—isn’t as ‘for the people’ as he’d like to think. And having a sitting Liar Liar President on Fire is?

They make their stances clear: they are firmly on the side of taking this secret to their graves. Chun adds that the President can do as he likes, except: “You shouldn’t forget that I know the one weakness that will leave a stain your presidency.”

Ooooooo. Another secret? Worse than their shared one? Yes, please.

Yoon-sung packs up his stuff and leaves the office, disregarding his boss’s pleas for him to reconsider. He pauses when he empties out his drawer with Nana’s wallet in it, and gives it to Ki-joon since he’s got no girl to give it to anymore.

Ki-joon happily takes it and gives it to Eun-ah, who comes running to show Nana her hand-me-down gift. Why Ki-joon told her where it came from is beyond me, but he’s not exactly a social swan. Nana jumps up at the mention of Yoon-sung quitting.

She chases him down as he walks out of the building, and asks if he’s really going to give up on his job so easily, just because of her. He says nothing and walks around her. With their backs to each other, she calls out:

Nana:I’ll forget you. I’ll go back to the time before I met you. I’ll disappear from your life. That’s what I came to say.

Ooof. How can something be exactly what he wanted to hear her say, and yet… be the one thing he never wanted to hear her say? Aaaauuuuughhh. It’s soul-crushing.

He turns back to watch her walk away.

Nana comes back to the office and receives a package. The sender simply reads: Bae Man-duk. She opens it frantically and finds Shik-joong’s written and signed confession inside, along with a copy of his bank statement, showing the payout ten years ago.

He had shown the confession to Yoon-sung just the day before, adorably asking if bad spelling would negate its validity. He wanted to do it for Nana, so that she’d be able to clear her father’s name if anything should happen to Shik-joong to prevent him from doing so himself.

She heads straight to Young-ju’s office to ask her aunt about reopening the case with this evidence. As she waits for Young-ju, Nana sees a quote taped to his computer screen: “Don’t be afraid of a shadow. It means that light is nearby.”

She recognizes it immediately as the same quote Daddy Long Legs had written to her in a letter. As soon as she sits down with Young-ju, she confronts him with it, just sweetly thanking him for being such a constant source of encouragement for her over the last ten years. So apparently I’m the only one who would also ask why the hell he pretended not to know her all this time? Young-ju tries to play it off at first but just sheepishly cops to it, apologizing for keeping her in the dark. Well, at least you apologized.

She thinks it’s fate, especially now that he’s going to help her reinvestigate the case. Uh-oh… here we go…

She hands him the confession from Bae Man-duk that identifies Kim Jong-shik as the culprit and the source of the bribe to get him to change his witness account. Oh, you’ve really stepped in it now. I actually feel terrible for Young-ju. I think this is the definition of ‘between a rock and a hard place,’ that’s for sure.

He looks stricken, and then starts to say, “I have something to tell you…” But can’t actually manage to tell her the truth about his father. Aw, you’re just making it worse. You should’ve said it now. Now was the only time before you become the stuck-in-the-middle bad guy.

She thanks him for being Daddy Long Legs, and for helping her with the case. She vows to bring Kim Jong-shik to justice, “Because that’s the power of the law, right?” Young-ju hasn’t the courage or the heart to tell her otherwise.

Yoon-sung continues to investigate Kim Jong-shik, but can’t figure out where he’s siphoning university money to (and we’re talking public government education funds, not private university fatcat money). Though it’s clear that he’s pocketing it, he can’t figure out how or where.

Ajusshi makes a dish for his own mother’s memorial, happy to be able to do so for the first time since he left Korea. Yoon-sung asks him to take a plate over to Dad’s, adding that at the same time he can plant a tracer on Dad’s cane.

What? On Dad’s cane? Are you not remembering the last time you sent Ajusshi on a Dad-related errand? You had to Donkey Kong your way in just to rescue him, remember?

Ajusshi’s on my bus because he freaks out too, stuttering that Dad’s gonna kill him this time. But Yoon-sung and his stupid balls of steel insist that it’ll be fine ’cause Dad’s guard is down with Ajusshi. True, yes. But!

He adds that if things ever get hairy, he can just send him this code: XYZ. “It’s the end of the alphabet. It says you have nowhere else to go.” While I appreciate the symbolism, I’m more worried about how he’s going to text you if he’s say, getting his head bashed in via cane. Right?

Nana packs a bag and heads out with her doggy, with nowhere to go. She comes to Sae-hee’s clinic and asks to stay here for a few days. Sae-hee offers for her to stay at her house, but Nana insists that the clinic’s couch is perfectly fine.

She asks brightly if Sae-hee knew that Young-ju was her Daddy Long Legs, “since you two have been friends for ten years.” Sae-hee lies that she didn’t know, and also opts not to mention the fact that he happens to be her ex-husband. Oy, the secrets with these people.

Ajusshi makes an attempt at Mission: Chicken-Cane, except of course Dad’s already onto him because they’ve been listening in on Yoon-sung’s every move. He fumbles with Dad’s cane nervously, but ends up caving to nerves. Jin-pyo laughs at their silly little boy games and asks if Sang-gook sent the letter to Young-ju…

Young-ju receives the letter in question, and opens it to find the typewritten statement: “The next target is Kim Jong-shik. –City Hunter”

Oh, bloody hell.

Young-ju storms into his father’s office at the university, demanding to know why the City Hunter is pointing at him as his next target. He cites Targets 1 and 2 as committing grave crimes against the public—is Dad just like them?

He insists that he’s clean with a confident smile. Young-ju offers that he’d be more willing to trust him if it weren’t for the accident ten years ago. Suddenly Dad starts to tremble as Young-ju recounts that he overheard Dad bribing the witness to change his story, turning the victim into the culprit, even pinning his drunk driving onto Nana’s father.

Dad realizes that Young-ju’s known all this time. “Is this why you hated me? Why you suddenly turned away from me?” Young-ju: “Because as much as I respected you, my disappointment was big.”

God, I love how the timing of it all fits, the accident being the big reason for the young and idealistic Young-ju to have his trust in Dad crushed. The higher the pedestal, the harder he fell. And that was the turning point in their relationship, which is a fact that only he knew until now.

He tells Dad about the witness coming forth with a confession. Dad steels himself, comforted by the fact that his case has passed its statute of limitations long ago. Young-ju reminds him that time does not wash away his sins. If he’s guilty of other things, they’ll come to light. Dad doesn’t budge, and refuses to play by the rules, even when Young-ju pleads so earnestly that he’d like to meet the father he once respected.

But Dad’s not about to back down now. He digs his heels in. And Young-ju does the same in turn.

Young-ju: I will show you the strength of the law that I protect.

Damn, now I’m impressed again.

Kim Jong-shik decides it’s time to meet with Bae Man-duk and Nana. I hope she judo-chops your ass, just for kicks.

Meanwhile Ajusshi goes to visit his mother’s memorial, and tells Yoon-sung over the phone that he didn’t manage to lowjack Dad ’cause he felt like he was already savvy to the plan. He offers up the food that he’s prepared for his mother’s birthday and cries as he tells her that he’s doing good things now, proudly telling her, “I help catch bad guys.” Omg, so cute.

But it’s the perfect opportunity for Kim Jong-shik’s men to find him, since it’s a connection to his real identity as Bae Man-duk. He gets attacked and carried off…

Yoon-sung gets a text from Ajusshi’s phone: XYZ.

He immediately turns on the tracker that Ajusshi failed to place on Dad. So! Smart! I LOVE this show!

At the same time, Nana gets attacked. She flips over one guy, but the other chloroforms her…

She wakes up in a basement, hands and feet tied. Ajusshi is unconscious on the ground a few feet away. (How’d he send the text? Telekinesis?) She kicks him awake, shouting his name “Bae Man-duk-sshi!” until he finally comes to.

She quickly guesses that this has to do with Kim Jong-shik, and angrily asks where he’s been hiding for ten years, and why he’s only appeared now. Ajusshi apologizes, knowing he’s a terrible person for what he did. He freaks out that they’re going to die like this, but Nana’s having none of that. Love her.

She gets him to stop whimpering long enough to untie her ropes so they can find a way out…

Yoon-sung speeds over, watching the tracer that leads him straight to… Kim Jong-shik’s house. Really? Did you not go to Bad Guy Basic Training? This is what abandoned warehouses are for. I mean, it’s great for the good guys, you incriminating yourself and all. But just sayin’.

He arrives and batmans his way in, scaling walls and gadgets galore, and stops when he finds Kim Jong-shik’s office. He finds a keypad under the desk and dusts it for prints, finding that it’s a four-number code. 4! = 24, so he figures it’s worth going through the possible combinations. But! Ajusshi!

Thankfully Nana’s not one to be damsel-in-distressy, and stages her own breakout with Ajusshi’s help. Awesome.

Yoon-sung gets through a few tries on the keypad, but then overhears all the guards running and shouting that their captors escaped. So he runs out…

Nana and Ajusshi are almost clear when another henchman spots them. He’s about to attack when Yoon-sung comes flying in with a swift kick. Oh, NOW you’re the hero? Heh.

They stare agape, and he looks at her in shock, “Kim Nana, what are you doing here?” He and Ajusshi are too gushy to remember to hide the fact that they know each other (which is so adorable) and tell Nana that they’ll explain later.

He leads them out and tells them to go wait in the car. He asks for the tracker and then runs back inside. He tries a few more keypad combinations, until one finally works, and a secret room opens up behind a wall.

He steps inside to find a mound of cash that can only be described as a jaw-droppingly Scrooge-McDuck-sized vault o’ money. It’s ridonkulous. And so cool.

He steps inside and then begins to size it up, calculating in his head the width, depth, and height of the pile to determine how much is there.

So. Utterly. BADASS.

That’s maybe the first time I’ve ever thought math was hot.

He steps out of the room, not noticing that a guard’s got a gun trained right at him. He shoots, and lands a tranq dart in Yoon-sung’s shoulder, and he goes down.

Outside, Nana worries that it’s been too long, and turns to go back inside. Ajusshi grabs her, shouting at her that her liver’s so big for someone her size (meaning that she’s disproportionately brave), and tries to stop her.

But just as she’s about to run back in, they see the henchmen carry an unconscious Yoon-sung out and load him into a car. They run to his car to try and catch up. And now they can track HIM because he took the lowjack from Ajusshi.

Yoon-sung wakes up tied to a chair and surrounded by the guards. Oh, NOW we’re in an abandoned warehouse—because they intend on killing him. One guy grabs him by the scruff and yanks his head back, and Yoon-sung drawls, “Let go. I said, let go. I’m someone who really values his hairstyle.” Pwahahaha.

That goads him just enough, and Yoon-sung head butts him viciously in the chin. It’s exactly the kind of thing to injure the petty henchman’s pride… and he totally falls for it, ordering the others to back off and untie him.

Yoon-sung gets up to fight, only what would’ve been an awesome plan is now backfiring on him because he’s too woozy from the tranquilizer to actually take on Fight Club, who just viciously knocks him around.

Nana and Ajusshi have tracked him here, only to find Yoon-sung getting beaten to a bloody pulp. Ajusshi runs off to call Dad or the cops to try and stop it, and Nana watches until Yoon-sung falls to the ground, spitting up blood.

She finally can’t take it anymore and bursts through the doors, fighting her way in. Why so awesome, Nana? She impressively manages to knock down all the other guys, but one has a chance to reach for his gun…

She sees him aim at Yoon-sung…

She darts in front of him, taking the bullet in the back and collapsing into Yoon-sung’s arms. Her blood splatters on his face she goes down, and he holds her, lingering for a moment in shock.

He runs after the gunman in a bloody rage, beating him to a pulp with ferocious, uncontrollable anger. Wow, just… wow.

He snaps out of it and walks over to Nana in a daze, as she lies there, bleeding out. Oh god, the look in his eyes.

Yoon-sung: Kim Nana. Kim Nana… Wh–Why?
Nana: [in banmal] You rescued me. Twice. Did you hurt this much too?
Yoon-sung: Don’t talk. Don’t say anything.
Nana: Did… you hate me? Can’t you tell me you didn’t? That’d be nice. I wanted to say Thank You.
Yoon-sung: Why did you run in and get shot?! Why did you run in and get shot?!
Nana: It’s a relief that it wasn’t you.
Yoon-sung: Kim Nana. Kim Nana. Kim NANA! KIM NANA!!

She closes her eyes. Her hand falls to the ground.

He shouts her name again and again, clutching her to his chest and crying.

 
COMMENTS

OH. MY. GOD.

She’s not gonna die, right? She can’t die. She’s not gonna die. She’s not gonna die. *rocking back and forth in a catatonic stupor*

The crazy thing is, she COULD actually die at this point in the story. It would officially be the ballsiest move ever, but it’s totally within the realm of the story’s trajectory. Her death could be his turning point. It could make him become the City Hunter in a real way, not just motivated by his revenge. She’s served her major narrative purposes and this would be dying to save him and the hero that he’ll become.

Okay, but she can’t die. Not like this, right? Gah, I think the chances are slim, but there’s enough motivation to do it—to off her. I would simultaneously give Show a standing ovation and hurl vitriol at it for weeks, for the emotional wreckage. Why do you toy with me so?

I’m consistently impressed with Lee Min-ho‘s acting, but the last ten minutes of this episode just blew me away. He went from animalistic rage to the most vulnerable heartbreak in just one scene, which totally floored me. He owes a lot to the director, of course, who is now officially my favorite k-drama PD ever, because I can feel the character beats viscerally in every scene. The action, the emotion, the narrative twists—everything is packaged for maximum impact, which only heightens every performance and every turn in the story.

I love directing as storytelling – when the PD and writer are not separate entities, but part and parcel of the same thing, with the same goals. It’s probably why I respond so frenetically to this drama. Because when one or even two aspects of a drama are good (acting, writing, directing), it’s great, but when you get the trifecta, well, you can see why I’ve lost my mind.

I can’t believe how quickly Yoon-sung is living his nightmare, every time ending in Nana’s bloody death, at times accompanied by his own. How many times can they survive shooting each other and taking bullets to save the other? Yoon-sung’s question at the beginning now rings eerily: “Kim Nana, just how many lives do you think you have?”

 
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Love you, JB! Recaps are great! Love CH!

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Love you GF! Love this site! Love the recaps! Gosh!

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I hate that creepy eye ajusshi the most. he supposed to take care of his bf's family. Instead, to satisfied his own need of revenge he separated poor baby and mom. Aaargh.. evil evil devil.

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I hate him too. He is the most selfish character I've seen in a long time. Personally I think he was in love with his dead friend. And he seems super impatient for having waited 28 years for this vengeance.

His friend asked him to take care of his wife and son and instead he ruins both their lives. He should've been a man and taken care of the vengeance himself if he was going to be so anal in it's implementation. Or remain in Thailand or wherever and manage his drug empire and let his more level-headed 'son' do the vengeance.

All-in-all I think the evil bastard just needs some fun and loosen the he'll up.

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he'll = hell.
damn autocorrect

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I hope kim na na doesn't die @ s end _dis is really crazy I really hate li min ho's uncle his meant to act like a father but all he cares about is his selfish self ewwww so annoying

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this drama is full of Ssssssuperscene.
Nana turn off the water! Please punished both of them for wasting the water by taking bath/shower together at the end of the drama.!!! Amen!

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hahahahah I'll Amen to that too!

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watch City Hunter Episode 11 English Subbed here: http://www.kimchidramas.net/2011/06/city-hunter-episode-11.html

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SUCH A GREAT EPISODE. THANK YOU.

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Another great episode. ;)

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So did she die? I dont think she did right? They would kill off the main character would they? Hm.

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I'm following your thoughts because I really hope that they didn't kill her off.

I would die along with her lol

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even if i hope they killed her, i KNOW for sure it won't happen.... I mean...
1. think about the ACTOR not the character (she would never accept the role if her death is in the middle of the series,every actors wants as much screen time as possible so...!).
2. think about the way korean dramas are written (they don't have enough balls to write a script with a twist this big).
3.think about the audience (if she will die,there are only a few like me who would actually appreciate the twist , the others will hate the twist and they don't want that)

We have all those factors, so it's 100% sure : she won't die,relax.........

...some spoilers ...... :
we rarely get to see this kind of twist in kdramas, only when something happens to one of the the main actors in the middle of filming (an accident for example... or when the actor wants to quit just because, like the girl in crime squad).
in 'time between dog and wolf', lee jun ki's father was killed in the middle of the series. usually is not a big deal because fathers often die in kdramas. But this case was different because the character was played by a veteran-one of the biggest actors in korea so it really surprised me to see that he accepted the role...

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very correct~~ if Nana died here she might relive somehow in the later ep. just like hwang mi jen in runaway planb

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i want them to kill her off so badly. it would really separate city hunter from every other korea drama. but as 321 said. no way. once nana's gone. yoon sung only becomes a cold-hearted machine. no more comedy at all from the main character. somehow city hunter doesn't seem full out melo like iris. so sadly... no >.<

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4. Think about the fact that's it's a shoulder wound and the fact that ppl rarely if ever die of a shoulder wound.

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This drama is SOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!! Love it!!!!!!!!!

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GF - it won't just be the death of you.
Move over. We'll all be falling like dominoes.

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And how is it that I'm totally horrified by this episode and yet laughing my head off reading your recap?!

Scrooge McDuck! OMG, I haven't thought of him in over 30 years!

A plea to all that's holy in the CH scriptwriting room- PLEASE don't let our Nana die. Ever. Or Ajusshi. I don't want to see the rise of a dark City Hunter. I don't want YS to be motivated by revenge for losing his Nana. She needs to live to love him, and that lost boy needs all the love he can get.
I don't want him to turn into driven killer, because that would make him Daddy's boy, in the worst sense, ever.

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Just watched ep.12.

BEST EPISODE, EVER!!

How this drama keeps upping the ante week-by-week is beyond me - all I know is that I've just watched the raw twice and am still amazed at the twists and turns - and the best thing?

Mr. Flamingo Dream makes his triumphant return!

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Forgot to add - at the last 10 seconds of this ep12, my mouth dropped open in shock.

SHOW has gone from needing to TAKE a class on How To Do Cliffhangers, to TEACHING a PHD-level Cliffhangers course!
Well done, Show. Well done.

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LoL. Haven't seen ep 12 yet (and I really hope that by reading these comments there won't be any spoilers). But that's just what I was thinking regarding the cliff hangers. So crap. That was basically a confirmation that ep 12 is similarly going to have a frustratingly amazing ending.

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Biting nails. Trying to be patient. At this time Viki has only 60% translation done. I don't like to watch a raw video. I'd rather know what the characters are saying. But it's soooooooo hard not to look! Ack!

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you're so quick!!!!! thanks gf
i wont' read the recap yet, as I don't want to be spoiled..
but yeahhh I'm so excited with this drama and where the story is heading..
this and RT are the only dramas that I really enjoy now...so loving wed-thurs!!!

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"That’s maybe the first time I’ve ever thought math was hot. "

--funniest line ever. i felt the same way.

they really can't kill her...right SHOW?
this episode blew me away.

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OMG!!! Addicting as always!!!! Lee Minho is becoming one of my favorite actor!!!

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Love him. but then again. Everything can't be too far from Go Jun Pyo. Specially the last scene where Nana took the bullet for him. almost like where Jandi took the chair smashed for him. Aaaah.... what a dejavu.

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oh m y gosh! thank u gf!

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Oh my effing gawddd!

I can't even type properly
I'm too excited

She cannot die
SHE MUST NOT DIE

I love you show
I absolutely adore you

And I haven't watched with subs yet!

Girlfriday, u are soooo awesome

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Woo hoo thanks for the recap.
I've watched the ending like 10 times and I love the preview.

I can't wait.The best part it's already 100% subbed on viki :-)

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Yay!! Thanks GF!!

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Nooo!!! Cliffhanger!! Gahh I won't be able to sleep until tomorrow's episode.

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oho plothole (a bit?): HOW did he send the text? :O

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you know you can pre-write your message, insert number, save in draft, then sent it later with one or two click (depend on your phone type)..

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I wonder if perhaps his dad sent it. If so that would be an interesting twist.

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how would his dad know the guy needed saving? That sounds like it would be a twist for the sake of a twist.

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Oooh, interesting. I was also wondering how he was able to send the text. (I was also wondering how Kim Jong-shik’s goons knew he would be visiting his mother's ashes, but that's another story.) But this show has taught me that questions will be answered.

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Only watch ep11 now.... The coded message is meant to protect against JP so it need to those apps that if you do not respond every interval it will auto sent a message. For a MIT Phd it should be easy to write such an app, right :)

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Niklaus - you are genius, how do you know that! make sense!

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OMG! This drama doesn't fail! Best of 2011! Thanks Girlfriday!

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AGREE TO THAT! CLIFFHANGER, NERVE-WRACKING DRAMA EVER! THANKS GIRLFRIDAY FOR THE RECAP!

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yay!!

thank you girlfriday!

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WHAT THE--

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thank youuuuu; i want to say best episode yet, but i feel like i'll keep saying that until the finale lol. oh, and how much do i love that they make nana so badass in the fighting scenes, finally a heroine that can kick butt ^^

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Love love love this CH. This is one drama that is making me sit on the edge of my seat every time and don't want to blink my eyes in case I will miss something.

So thrilling tomorrow...and I am 100% hopeful that Nana will not die or else...or else..........can't think of a threat right now but they better not kill Nana.

Thanks GF..you are awesome.

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WOAH! I wasn't expecting a recap up tonight. YAY, thank you thank you!

My heart was in my throat at the end, but because it's only midway through the drama I don't feel any real tension because it's too early for her to die. (Right?!)

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It would be ballsy if she dies, but it would definitely work.

It was so sudden, despite all the foreshadowing. I would have thought it would happen later on -- if at all -- not now.

The unexpectedness would be part of the beauty. Her death would be the emotional trigger spurring him into becoming the City Hunter rallying for justice instead of being propelled solely for personal revenge.

But.

But.

I don't want her to die. D:

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I'm not sure how Na Na's death would spur Yoon-sung into fighting for justice rather than revenge. Isn't justice what he's actively seeking now, as he refuses to follow Jin-Pyo's path and instead works with Young-ju to turn the bad guys over to the law? Whereas the possibility of losing Na Na seemed to send him as revenge-crazy as his surrogate mother's death in Episode 1--which might be what Jin-pyo wants, but definitely isn't the path to stability, sanity, and eventual happiness!

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I agree.

I think that she'll make it through also because they need her so that her parents story can make it into court. I hardly doubt they'll drop that storyline seeing as they've invested so much time for it

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The bullet looked like it went right upper back. there are no vital organs there so she shouldn't die. Many a punctured lung? -- which shouldn't kill her. (i hope)

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Cannot breathe. Too good. Too heartbreaking. Lee Min-ho is too hot...never thought he was hot before this, but oh. em. gee.

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OH MY HOLY FUCK.

^ this was pretty much my reaction watching that ending. I just... ahhhhhh D:

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ahaha My sister heard me watching this and just gave me the best look ever. When Nana bursts in and downs like 5~6 guys I screamed "F*ck yes!!!", then, two minutes later, with equal enthusiasm, I screamed "F*ck no!!!" when she got shot (At the same time I love this plot point to no end). I had been wearing headphones. My sister's expression was priceless.

And then the whole time she was watching the episode she kept asking me, "Is this the part you meant?" ahahahaha

Also, Girlfriday,

regarding the tracking device, Yun Seong actually placed the tracker in the massive Scrooge pile of money. I don't think he had it on him when he was knocked out - I think we may have to suspend belief just slightly on the fact that Nana was able to follow him. Which I have no problem doing since this drama is my favorite thing since sliced bread right now.

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exactly what i was going to say. i remember him putting the device there so when they move that pile of money, he'll be able to find it.

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Damn...it is so hard resisting the urge to read the recao.

Must...

resist.......

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*recap* -_-' CH's awsomeness is messing with my brain.

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I even forgot my previous username...hahahaha..that's how thrilled I am right now...wa!!!!!!!

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OMFG !!!! Thank god this is an odd number episode, could you imagine the trauma of waiting another week to see if she lived or died.
Once again I'm jumping up and down in joy that I decided to watch this drama,, from the beginning to now it has kept me entertained, intrigued and invested in what will happen to each character.
I love the parallel between YS/YJ and their father's, goes to show how similar the two are.
Thanks for the re-cap ^^

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katherine, i so totally agree..after that ending with "WHAAAAT?!" after getting my head back, I'm thankful that the next episode will only be after 24 hours...Imagine if it would take us 7 more days to know?!!!That would totally send a lot of angst-ranting comments here in DB?! *LOL*

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Ahaha I know exactly what you mean. When the episode ended my first thought was * overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness and thus unable to do anything beyond love the show to bits*, followed immediately by the more coherent thought of "Thank GOD it's Wednesday!!!!!!" ;D

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Katherine, you are so right! I would have died under the "six feet stress" if the next episode was airing 7 days later (and what with my exams (high school is coming to an end, yay!)and applications to med school).

I am already jumbled up with my week days, hallucinating that everyday is Wednesday and Thursday and then getting utterly disappointed that it is only Sunday.

God! I am dreading the day City Hunter would finish.

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Oh no please don't even remind me of the ending of City Hunter in a month's time. I CANNOT IMAGINE A LIFE WITHOUT LEE MIN HO!

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gaahhhh! i'm so hooked on this drama >.< can't wait for tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Park Minyoung.. sign me into your fanclub!!!

She's such a kickass!!!!

This drama has to win major awards for the awesome

Lee Minho!!!! Badass acting!!!

You could have killed me with that crying scene..

and PD-nim !!! DAEBAK ... you have to do this everyday!!

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Love your recaps, I came here hunting for clues the Actress's (NANA) whereabouts word on the web is, she is promoting a movie hence the shooting scene. That would be a stupid move on their part if that is the reason.. Man oh Man this drama is addicting.

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This is the best show ever. Never fails to surprise the hell out of me. Nana is sooo cool.

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absolutely loved this episode...watched it twice without subs and three times with...this is sooooooo exciting loved the recap you are the best!!!

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It's official! This is my drama of the year!!!

But please don't kill Nana... The show has been giving hints the past episode about how Nana would die, be it facing Yoon-sung or Yoon-sung trying to save Nana but this time it's Nana being Yoon-sung's hero...

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ARGH! WTF man? All I have to say is that Nana better not be dead, because these past few episodes have really turned me around on her character. For the first time Nana seemed like not just a one-dimensional love interest but a real PERSON, who can... well... do things. Gah!

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I LOVE YOU, CITY HUNTER!!! Until the day I die, you will be one of my top dramas of all time!!!

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This was so intense!!! Even reading it!

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Why is Nana so awesome? LMAO "ommaaa /cries"
She is my all time favorite heroine as of NOW. Srsly even when she cries or tears up there's a legit reason. She's isn't immature about how she feels owns up to it and moves on I LOVE HER. Girl crush tbqhwy

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I was weak. I told myself that I would wait until tomorrow to watch 11. But here it is 11 pm my time and I'm up watching CH. Thanks for the recap.

Mommy, so sad.

(spoiler for the movie Serenity coming. If you haven't seen it don't read next, then go and watch as soon as possible)

Nana dying here would the the equivalent of Walsh dying near the end of Serenity. It could give us the belief that ANYTHING could happen next. I remember thinking at that point in the movie, "they're all going to die." It would be beautiful writing but I hope that's not it.

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dis epis0de was s00000 g00d!!!!da 2 main act0rs are awes0me!!lee min h0 had impr0ved s0 much since BBF!!I h0pe she just fainted n0t die because I need m0re ep wit them 2!!

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Best drama of 2011. Believe it.

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The ending blew my friggin' mind! At first I was excited to see that Kim Nana wasn't a damsel in distress but throughout most of the drama, her ass was always saved by YS and the girl only had that ONE move despite all her judo training. Now I am just hella impressed by her badassery. You've earned my respect! Kim Nana, I relinquish any claims on Yoon Sung/Lee Min Ho. You can have all of him (you don't even have to share) so please just stay alive for my hero's sake ok?

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P.S. Wed/Thurs > Friday officially. Rebecca Black you can shut up now.

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IKR!!! HAHA!

And here we were whining about CH not knowing how to manage cliffhangers. =__= Yeah.
LOL!

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WHOA. i have been a silent reader since forever, but this episode had way too much to keep me from commenting. thanks so much jb and gf!!!! i was clutching my heart the whole time fearing something would happen to ajusshi but BAM nana gets shot? oh gosh... this drama is way too good... with all that father-son conflict and sacrificing galore... o.o

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i have been a silent reader since forever, but this episode had way too much to keep me from commenting.
Me too. Ever since they recapped city hunter I just cannot contain myself. I had to voice out my concurrence with how effing glorious this show is.

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SHE CAN'T DIEEEEEEEE!!!

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OH MY GOD. OH. MY. GOD.

They killed her off?!?!!?! THEY KILLED OFF NANA!!!! ;A;
I should have seen this coming……………. /still crying

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I JUST finished this ep like minutes ago and came here in a daze not expecting the recap to be up so fast, just because, like, I'm still reeling from the ending and everything, and I needed something to do, and and I need comfort and assurance and... I.HAVE.NO.WORDS. *whimpers*

THIS EPISODE AND IT'S PACE WERE BEYOND MY EXPECTATIONS

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My favourite quote today (oh so many to choose from):

"He steps inside to find a mound of cash that can only be described as a jaw-droppingly Scrooge-McDuck-sized vault o’ money. It’s ridonkulous. And so cool. "

Story trajectory: All the reveals, coming so fast one after another - they are setting up for Team City Hunter. I haven't read the manga, so that may be the expected case already. Even so, the make up of Team City Hunter is not so clear yet. Clearly, Yoon-Sung, Ahjussi and Kim Nana. But I am not sure if Young-ju is going to be part of the team. He's shown himself to be loyal to the law above his father. If he joins, he will be the 'least trustworthy member' of Team City Hunter, but the dramatic tension for the remaining episodes will be awesome. If he doesn't join, he will just be a toy caught in the Old Bad Guys vs Team City Hunter war. I vote he joins.
:)

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Seconding that vote on Young-ju joining Team City Hunter. I'm such a sucker for heroes reluctantly working together, especially when there's so much tension (but also the possibility of respect?) between them. It's like Javert and Valjean teaming up, only young, hot, and loaded with daddy issues and sexual tension!

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My thoughts exactly! Now that Kim Nana has released all her kick-ass potencial and of course, she knows he is City Hunter, she is going to help him. That's my first reason to believe that she is not going to die. How is she going to convince him and what are they going to do with Daddy, Im not sure yet. But if you add the Love, of course she will be worried, he will be worried so one way or another they are going to end helping each other.
About Young-ju, who knows. I dont think he will officially join them but he will help on his way as he has been doing it.
I havent read the manga either, but the little i know about it seems logical with the theory.
Or they could just do nothing haha.

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Hahaha! That's true. Young-ju may just angst out there in nowhere land for the rest of series. I think Yoon-sung will have no choice but to keep her close to keep her safe.
But I hope the scriptwriters won't resolve the problem by removing the sexual tension too. Fighting attraction is way more fun to watch.

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Ahhh it hurts so much to watch! SO GOOD.

I don't think he still had the tracker on him when he got shot by the dart-gun. I thought he placed it on the money so he could keep track of it if they ever move it. Nana and Ajusshi probably just followed the car to the warehouse.

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That's what I think he did too... he put something between one of the stacks on top and then put another stack over it.

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Yea I think GF missed that part. JS clearly put the tracking thing on the money. Nana and ajussi just followed the car.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure he asked for the tracking device so he could keep track of where the dirty money went when the bad guy tried to cover his tracks.

He puts it in with the bills after he calculates how much money he's looking at.

Nana and Ajussi see him get hauled into the car and follow him by sight... and psychic signals. :P

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amazing can't wait for tomorrow...

mm just something technical..but i believe he put the tracking device on the money in kim jong shik's vault.

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OH MY GOD. OH. MY. GOD.

pls she has to be ok. i so love the drama an the love action she did i hope mom sees hem so she can be good and they can be happy :)

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I JUST finished this ep like minutes ago and came here in a daze not expecting a recap this fast and like, because I'm still reeling from the ending and I needed something to do, and I need comfort and I need assurance and and.....I HAVE NO WORDS *whimpers*

THIS EPISODE WAS BEYOND MY EXPECTATIONS AND ANY SORT OF IMAGINATION

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omg, OMG, OMG!!!!!!!
I'm laughing/whining/almost crying at the same time!

I'm with you GF!! Show is making me lose my mind! Gaah! And I haven't even seen it yet! (waiting for darksmurf^^), but...just...omo...WOW!

I'm on the fence about killing off Nana too. Gaaaah....good thing I don't have to wait another week for the next ep! Because if I did, I'd go CRAZY! omgsun! lol

Thank you, thank you GF!!

City Hunter is now Shitty Hunter for sure. Ehehehe.
Best. Show. Ever!
SO looking forward to rewatching this.

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PFFT. I can't type write...right. *facepalm*

I meant "City Hunter is NO Shitty Hunter now for sure."
*sigh*

Show, you owe me my sanity! ^^

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This just CAN'T be good for my heart at this rate. I mean, first Miss Ripley and now City Hunter? I'm afraid my arm will start going numb will be next as I'm dangerously close to a heart attack at moments like these. GAH!

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You're not the only one!! From Ripley on Mon/Tues to City Hunter on Wed/Thurs -- I'm going crazy! Major whiplash! Gah! Why so good?!!

T_T ... XD ... O_O ... ^^

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Awesome! Seriously City Hunter I LOVE YOU!! This show is in my top 3 K-dramas of all time.
All I want for the end is for Yoon-Sung and NaNa to have lots of cute babies and kick ass together.

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They can't possibly kill her off because her storyline isnt finished! I mean she needs to live in order to validate dearest daddy's threat of killing her - a morbid albeit effective way of fueling Yoon Sung's revenge plan. Also, she needs to play a bigger part in the take down of Kim Jong Shik! It would be a pity to think that this would be the end of her when she didn't even play a significant role in avenging her parents deaths. Therefore, we shall see Kim Nana alive and well for tomorrow's episode because the bullet to her back only serves as a metaphorical correlation to her shooting Yoon Sung in a familiar fashion previously and as a wake-up call to Yoon Sung in regards to how much she means to him. Nothing more. She is NOT dead.

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Nana actually isn't needed to fuel Yoon-sung's revenge plan.

Dad threatened to kill his mother if Yoon-sung doesn't comply. (And Yoon-sung thinks his mother was kidnapped by dad.)

The more I think about it, Nana's death now would not be a detriment to the main plot trajectory. If the drama goes that route, I would tearfully applaud it.

If she doesn't die now it would just be a major fakeout, which is what I took it for, until I read other opinions thinking there is a real possibility that Show would off her halfway through.

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If Show really cut her off halfway, I'm going to boycott show!

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That's what I thought!! That the bullet to her back serves as some kind of symbolism! and it looked like it was around the same area when she shot yoonsung and he survived so..maybe..she will. OMG SHE CAN'T DIE OK!?!?

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If Nana dies...wouldn't this echo her words earlier on in the show towards YS?
"I’ll forget you. I’ll go back to the time before I met you. I’ll disappear from your life."
OOoo...now that would be cryptic. Apart of me does hope that she'll die. Imagine the impact it'll make? But that never happens in kdramaland coz 1) she's the lead actress and 2) this is not the finale.

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I would say she not dead though I pretty sure the same case is not true about his mother, who I am guessing has gone off..perhaps to her husband empty grave to die, now she thinks her son is dead. I say this because he really has to break off ties with his 'father' and if she say found with that newspaper on her he going to put two and two together and that should be enough to get him to make the choice, i think he already knows he going to have to make. It also allows him to step away from the drug dealer taint he has for me right now.

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Intense! madness! Show are you really going to kill off nana?

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