Red Moon Blue Sun: Episodes 5-6

by odilettante

When is suicide not a suicide? When it’s murder. At least, that’s what our new favorite detective duo seems to think — but first they have to find the evidence to back up their theory. Meanwhile, the little girl in the green dress continues to haunt Woo-kyung, who tries to ascertain if the little girl is real or not.

 
EPISODES 5-6 RECAP

As she grabs a kitchen knife, Woo-kyung wonders where her inner fury comes from, since it’s not merely a reaction due to discovering her husband is cheating on her. She drops the knife when she sees the little girl in the green dress slowly walk towards her. As Woo-kyung slides to the floor, the little girl puts her hands on Woo-kyung’s face. Woo-kyung doesn’t know when or where her rage started — just that it’s deep within and started long ago.

Her voiceover is actually her side of a conversation with her psychologist, and Woo-kyung muses that her rage is because she’s a murderer who hasn’t paid for her sins.

The dead man’s wife is delighted to realize how much money they’ll get from his life insurance, and even her daughter, So-ra, seems pleased since it means she can wear nice clothes and eat yummy food. When So-ra takes her mother’s phone to play with it, the woman snatches it back, fearful that she’ll see a message from someone named “Red Cry.”

Soo-young shows Ji-heon the overwhelming evidence that the man committed suicide, but neither detectives seems willing to accept that verdict. Ji-heon seems even more difficult to please than usual as Soo-young tells him she’ll look into it further. In doing so, she discovers that the man, who she had been informed was too poor to own a phone, actually has a phone registered in his name.

She paws through the evidence box, but there’s no sign of the phone. So she returns to the vehicle the man died in, going over it even more carefully, until she finds the phone wedged between the seats.

Ji-heon’s convinced the man was murdered, despite the medical examiner insisting that his investigation shows clear signs of suicide. Ji-heon still thinks it’s strange that the man would have been so drunk so as not to care that his face and hair were burnt from the coal, and pleads for an official autopsy.

Woo-kyung visits the police officer who was in charge of her hit-and-run case. She’s curious if they’ve found anything out about the boy’s family, and the officer says they haven’t found anything, and they have a lot of other cases that demand their attention. She tells Woo-kyung to just let it go, especially now that Woo-kyung has been cleared of any charges.

But, of course, Woo-kyung can’t let it go, and begs the officer to help her. The police officer manages to find some CCTV footage of the boy near a daycare, which is when she loses the trail. The daycare workers don’t recognize the boy, and his family is still unknown.

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A dead end?

Woo-kyung takes some of the “missing child” posters and walks all around the neighborhood where the boy was last seen on CCTV, asking if anyone recognizes him or recognize the stamp from his drawing. But she, as well, has no luck in figuring out where the boy came from.

Ji-heon and Soo-young try to find a car that was parked in the same lot the night the man died, hoping that the blackbox camera would show them more about what really happened. As they ask around, they stop for lunch, and Ji-heon wonders why Soo-young was so determined to search the car again for the phone.

She says it’s because the forensics team did a lazy and inefficient job due to their assumption it was suicide. Ha! She receives a report showing the last three numbers from the man’s phone, calls that were all made near the time of his death. One of those phone numbers, much to Ji-heon’s surprise, is Woo-kyung’s.

At the children’s center, Shi-wan carefully builds a doll house while Woo-kyung and her boss look on. Woo-kyung’s official verdict is that Shi-wan needs specialized and regular counseling. But her boss is swayed by Shi-wan’s rich and influential parents who disagree with Woo-kyung’s assessment and are demanding he get a new consultation with a different counselor.

Her boss dismisses Woo-kyung’s protests by patronizingly telling her that she should just focus on smaller, more routine cases until she’s fully recovered from her own trauma of losing her unborn son.

Ji-heon and Soo-young stop by Woo-kyung’s office, following up on the lead from the dead man’s phone. As they wait, Soo-young reveals that Woo-kyung used to counsel So-ra — which means there’s another connection between Woo-kyung and the dead man. Ji-heon notes the water stain from the leak on the ceiling, but his attention is also distracted when he sees the child’s drawing on the table that has the quote about the moon rising above the barley.

Woo-kyung is surprised to find them there, wondering if the man was murdered, since the police wouldn’t visit her if it was really just suicide. Ji-heon reveals that she was the last one to speak the man before he died, and Woo-kyung says that she had tried calling So-ra’s mother, but no one answered, so she called So-ra’s father instead.

She was concerned about So-ra’s welfare, since So-ra’s father regularly beat her ever since she was a baby. Woo-kyung simply called to ask if he was still abusing his child. Ji-heon scoffs at her brazenness, but Woo-kyung explains that telling a violent abuser that someone is aware of his actions, and is watching, can sometimes be enough to keep his violence in check.

The detectives ask her what she was doing the night the man died, and Woo-kyung says it was a memorable day since it was the last night before she returned to work. When Ji-heon asks why she hadn’t been working, Woo-kyung vaguely tells him she was on maternity leave. She describes that evening at home with her family in painful detail, which Ji-heon also finds suspicious, but Woo-kyung says she can’t forget that night, since it’s when she first began to realize that her husband was cheating on her. Ooooh.

Back at the police station, Ji-heon can’t stop thinking about the “moonrise above the barley fields,” and Soo-young tells him it’s from Seo Jeong-ju’s poem, “The Leper.” She also adds that there was an old wives’ tale that if someone with leprosy ate a child’s liver, they could be cured.

Ji-heon says it’s creepy, but Soo-young matter-of-factly says it’s child abuse (eating a child, y’know). That makes Ji-heon remember Ji-hye’s case, since she was accused of killing her son and had the same snippet of poetry on the photo. He digs out the old case file.

Woo-kyung picks Eun-seo at school, and she exchanges an awkward silent greeting with the Handsome Truck Driver Ajusshi that she had slapped the day Eun-seo disappeared. But he’s popular with the kids, who are thrilled when he makes them little pinwheels to play with.

On the drive home, Eun-seo asks when her father is coming back from his “business trip.” It’s obviously a lie Woo-kyung told her daughter in order to cover up the fact that she and Min-seok are no longer together, but as Eun-seo throws a temper tantrum about wanting to see her father, Woo-kyung turns around to snap at her to be quiet.

When Woo-kyung turns back to face the road, she slams on the brakes just in time for a red light. She reaches down to pick up her fallen purse and finds a keychain that was wedged on the car’s floor — a photo of Ji-heon and Yeon-soo, posing happily.

Woo-kyung and Min-seok officially file for divorce, although it won’t be finalized for another three months. They have dinner together one last time, and Min-seok says he’s happy and relieved that Woo-kyung seems to be taking everything so well. Woo-kyung simply tells him that she hopes he’ll be miserable and unhappy. Ha!

She gets a call and as she hurries out of the restaurant, her purse falls, scattering the missing child photos. Min-seok is annoyed that Woo-kyung hasn’t given up on trying to find out who the boy was, pointing out that it’s all in the past and doesn’t matter any more.

But Woo-kyung believes that all the bad things that have happened to her — losing her unborn child and her husband in one fell swoop — are somehow cosmic penance for hitting the boy. She’s determined to redeem herself by saving the little girl in the green dress, but Min-seok begs her to come to her senses, worried she’s had another breakdown and gone insane.

Woo-kyung shakes him off, insisting she’s not crazy. As she gets in her car, she sees flashes of the little green girl in her review mirrors. Eventually, the little girl in the green dress stops running and turns to stare at Woo-kyung.

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I wish you unhappiness

Woo-kyung follows the little girl, who takes her all the way to the rooftop of the parking garage. When Woo-kyung steps out of the car to look for the girl, the little girl in the green dress is standing on the opposite rooftop, staring at her.

Woo-kyung tells her psychologist about what she saw. Woo-kyung’s still convinced the little girl must be the dead boy’s sister — after all, who else could she be? Her doctor insists that the girl doesn’t exist — she’s only a delusion inside Woo-kyung’s mind.

Soo-young and Ji-heon are on a stakeout, and he kills time by asking if she remembers Ji-hye’s case. Not like Soo-young could forget it, since Ji-heon accused her of being a suspect. But Ji-heon can’t figure out how Doctor Park convinced Ji-hye to meet him at the amusement park.

Soo-young deadpan snarks that he told her they were detectives, not novelists, so it’s pointless to think about it — therefore she hasn’t. Ji-heon stares at her in disbelief before attempting to pinch her ear, trying to find out if his partner is human or a robot.

The person they’ve been waiting for suddenly arrives and they hurry after him. But when Soo-young asks him an innocent question, he punches her in the stomach and runs away. The chase is on, as the two detectives race after the fleeing suspect. Ji-heon catches him and flips him to the ground, leaving Soo-young to handcuff and arrest him.

But as she does, the suspect violently pushes her away, so she starts to kick him and brutally beat him up. She doesn’t stop until Ji-heon intervenes and drags her away. He has to shake her to snap her out of her rage.

It turns out this suspect — who thought he was being arrested for robbing a karaoke bar, which is why he ran from them — is actually the third person So-ra’s father called right before he died. The suspect is surprised to hear that So-ra’s father is dead, especially since it doesn’t make sense for him to have committed suicide when he had come into some money recently.

Soo-young studies endless CCTV footage of nearby convenience stores, looking for the one where So-ra’s father purchased charcoal. Sensing her partner’s suspicious mood, Soo-young apologizes for her violent actions. Ji-heon says he doesn’t care if she’s a robot or not, but she can’t go around acting like a crazy detective, beating up suspects. If he sees her lose her mind like that one more time, she’s out.

Woo-kyung arrives at her office to find the dollhouse Shi-wan made. He actually made it for her, and Woo-kyung looks it over, impressed by all the little details. She finds a note tucked under the tiny bed, telling her that his sister is in the house, too. Woo-kyung sees a small figure hidden under the staircase, and remembers Shi-wan telling her that his sister died.

When she looks up from the dollhouse, Woo-kyung sees the little girl in the green dress standing in her office. Woo-kyung cautiously approaches the little girl, asking her to prove that she’s real — if she’s real, then Woo-kyung promises to do all in her power to save her. The little girl in the green dress points up at the ceiling at the water stain, which grows larger and larger until the ceiling breaks and a waterfall crashes down.

Woo-kyung wakes up with a start, at home in bed. It was only a dream.

Soo-young and Ji-heon visit the dead man’s wife. She asks about the autopsy, and they tell her that the results aren’t out yet. But that’s not why they’re there — Ji-heon wants to know why she told him that her husband didn’t have a phone.

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Prove that you’re real and I’ll save you

The woman’s surprised to hear that her husband had a phone, and that he hadn’t gone away on a construction job and had stayed in the neighborhood. Ji-heon continues to press the issue, demanding to know why she didn’t tell him that her husband was addicted to gambling. Then he leans in, noting that the woman looks prettier with her hair done and with some makeup.

He starts to muse over the large amount of money that she must have received from her husband’s life insurance, enough money that she wouldn’t have to worry about working horrible jobs anymore. Ji-heon points out that the wife is always the primary suspect when a husband dies. He reveals that they know she didn’t go to work the day her husband died, and confidently declares that she must have been too busy killing him.

The woman desperately protests that she didn’t kill him. When Ji-heon asks what she did that day, a flashback reveals that the night before, she had tried to protect So-ra from being beaten by her father, which resulted in the woman being beaten instead. Her husband abused her so much that she could barely move the next day — she couldn’t even leave the house.

Ji-heon asks why she lied that her husband was out of town, and the woman begins to sob, confessing that her husband told her to say that if anyone asked, since she assumed anyone looking for him was a debt collector. She repeats that she didn’t kill her husband.

When they get back to the station, Ji-heon compares the woman’s handwriting to the poetry handwriting — but it’s not a match. Ji-heon muses that he’s reading more poetry now than he did in school, and Soo-young agrees that it’s odd both poems are from the same poet.

The dead man’s autopsy is officially completed, and it confirms that the man was drunk, had taken sleeping pills, and died due to carbon monoxide poisoning. That definitely indicates suicide. Ji-heon’s still convinced the man was murdered, despite there being no evidence to prove this theory.

Handsome Truck Driver Ajusshi is also apparently a handyman, because he fixes the ceiling leak in Woo-kyung’s office. As he turns to leave, Woo-kyung calls out, apologizing for how she treated him that day. He politely tells her that it’s nothing, and then leaves the children’s center.

When he sees Ji-heon hurrying towards the building, Handsome Truck Driver Ajusshi suddenly swerves and heads the other direction, making sure Ji-heon doesn’t see him. Because that’s not suspicious.

Ji-heon’s there to meet with Woo-kyung, of course. He’s curious about the child’s drawing he saw with the poetry quote, wanting to know which of Woo-kyung’s patients drew it. He shows her Ji-hye’s photo with the same quote, and also reveals that another line of Seo Jeong-ju poetry was found with So-ra’s father’s body.

It might all be a coincidence, but he finds it odd that the poetry keeps appearing near dead bodies. Which is why he wants to know which of Woo-kyung’s patients drew that picture. Woo-kyung simply tells him that the child is dead.

So-ra’s mother sends a message to “Red Cry,” telling the anonymous person she’s worried the police suspect her. Red Cry reassures her there’s no reason to worry when there’s no evidence she killed her husband, and to keep her mouth shut.

But So-ra’s mother calls Woo-kyung, wanting to know what she and her husband talked about before her husband died. Then she confesses that she’s terrified the police think that she killed her husband. Woo-kyung, seemingly bewildered by the woman’s call, reassuringly tells So-ra’s mother that it will all be fine.

As Woo-kyung turns to leave her office, she accidentally knocks over Shi-wan’s dollhouse. Picking up the pieces, she sees the cut-out of his little sister. Remembering her dream of the little girl in the green dress and the flooding ceiling, Woo-kyung cautiously goes upstairs to investigate. She discovers an old, dusty storage room. Based on the cobwebs, no one has been in this room in a long time.

Meanwhile, Soo-young finds footage of So-ra’s father buying charcoal briquets. Also at the same time, So-ra’s distressed mother starts to cross the road but stands frozen in the crosswalk, only to narrowly avoid being hit by a car.

Woo-kyung explores the forgotten storage room, and an odd light catches her eye from behind a rack of clothing. She peers behind the garments and steps into a hidden room, where she finds a poem spray-painted on the wall — and a mummified dead woman.

 
COMMENTS

Well, this story just gets stranger and stranger. Of all the things I was expecting Woo-kyung to find in the closet, it definitely wasn’t a mummy. The entrance to a fantasy world, maybe — but a mummy? And more poetry? Something is afoot, and apparently this mythical girl in the green dress is the only one who knows what’s really going on.

The anonymous “Red Cry” person is also obviously important, since that name first popped up on Doctor Park’s news article (telling him that he fulfilled his purpose and can rest in peace). Red Cry also is apparently the genius behind the plot to kill So-ra’s father and make it look like a suicide. My instinct is to assume Red Cry is someone we should root against, but the people who have died so far were not always the, uh, best people. I don’t know if Ji-hye was unfairly accused or not (and I definitely don’t think she deserved to die), but for someone on the outside looking in, and who believes that a child-killer essentially got away with murder, I suppose spurring on Doctor Park’s vigilantism would be considered just another way to make sure a killer got their just rewards.

There also seems to be no tears lost for So-ra’s father, who was a violent abuser, compulsive gambler, and just an all-around terrible person, so killing him off for insurance money almost seems like the most humane thing to do, if it means making So-ra’s life better. I say almost because I’m not completely devoid of decency (Killing is bad! Don’t do it, kids!). But I am more intrigued by this “Red Cry” than I am anything else (er, except for the mummy, and the random poetry, and the little girl in the green dress… okay, maybe I’m intrigued by this whole show). I have a feeling the person behind it will be revealed to be more complex than a mere black-and-white villain.

I do have the vague thought that Red Cry might also be Handsome Truck Driver Ajusshi, especially since it was definitely suspicious the way he not only recognized Ji-heon, but made sure Ji-heon didn’t see him. Avoiding the cops is never a good sign. But he’s so good with the kids! I trust Eun-seo! If she likes him, he can’t be all that bad, right? Plus he’s sweet and helpful and didn’t blame Woo-kyung for slapping him even though she was totally in the wrong. He can’t be our supposed villain, can he? Ahhhhhh, I don’t know! Everyone is still too mysterious for me to know what’s really going on (I mean, Soo-young clearly has some rage issues that seemingly come from nowhere — although the faint reactions she had when So-ra’s mother was describing how her husband beat her up, makes me think Soo-young grew up watching her own mother being similarly abused, which might explain a lot).

So I’m almost as confused as I was a week ago… I think I’m okay with that, despite longing for some answers as the mystery grows deeper and deeper. I get the feeling that speculation is all part of the fun for this drama. What is becoming clear, however, is that all these cases revolve around abused and forgotten children — and poetry.

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