Are You Human Too: Episodes 11-12

by LollyPip

As she gets used to Nam Shin-III, So-bong starts to realize that having an android around can be pretty useful. She’s still just as annoyed by him, but at least they’re getting along, most of the time. That’s a good thing, because Shin’s enemies are getting smarter and closer to learning the truth, and they’re going to need to be able to trust each other if Nam Shin-III’s true identity is discovered.

 
EPISODE 11 RECAP

Ye-na calls a surprise meeting to force her marriage to Shin by signing Chairman Nam’s prenuptial agreement. Young-hoon gestures to Nam Shin-III to find a way to refuse, so he scans his database, and finds multiple dramas where a character kissed someone to get out of an unwanted pairing.

He notices So-bong, the woman who knows his secret and agreed to help him, listening at the door. He yanks her into the room and causes a spectacle by kissing her, then pulls her closer and deepens the kiss, but she jumps away. Nam Shin-III turns to the room and says, “I’m sure you all know what I mean,” then leaves, towing So-bong behind him.

Outside, he lets go when So-bong complains, but he tells her his online research says not to apologize after kissing a woman. He does thank her for helping him refuse marriage to Ye-na, but So-bong snaps that she never agreed to help him with her lips, ha.

So-bong kicks Nam Shin-III in the rear, but she only ends up hurting her foot on his metal frame. She throws a punch, but Nam Shin-III easily stops her hand and caresses her face with his palm. He asks why her temperature is elevated, since she couldn’t have experienced any feelings during his kiss.

Curious now, he asks if that was So-bong’s first kiss. She blinks at him before weakly denying it and storming off.

Young-hoon calls Nam Shin-III to ask what he was thinking by kissing So-bong. He orders Nam Shin-III to calm her down and take her home, and waits until he’s gone before going back into the restaurant and reporting to the chairman.

Ye-na pouts that Shin would never like a woman like So-bong, and aunt Ho-yeon nails it: “It’s not that he likes her, he just doesn’t like you.” Chairman Nam is sure that he was putting on a show, but Jong-gil says darkly that he expressed his opinion pretty clearly and suggests they shelf the wedding for now.

Everyone leaves but Young-hoon and the chairman, who demands to know where “Shin” went. Young-hoon just apologizes, and the chairman orders him lift his head. He suddenly softens and asks Young-hoon if he’s been hurt by the way he yells and hits him when Shin causes trouble. Young-hoon says he understood, and Chairman Nam gives him some money for dinner.

Young-hoon remembers another time when Chairman Nam gave him money, when he was in college. The chairman had paid for his schooling, and given him extra money to move out of the orphanage he grew up in. Young-hoon had refused, saying that if he takes it once he might start to depend on it, so the chairman had told him to move into the house instead and be Shin’s shadow.

He’d warned Young-hoon then that every mistake Shin made would be his fault. He’d knowingly offered Young-hoon an unfair life, but said that in exchange, Young-hoon would enjoy the same luxuries as Shin. The chairman had apologized in advance, but Young-hoon had accepted his offer, saying that the unfairness he would experience as Shin’s shadow would be less than he’d face for being an orphan.

Nam Shin-III follows So-bong as she walks home, and when she gets stopped at a crosswalk, he actually moves the numbers backwards to give her time to cross. She figures out that he’s behind her and orders him not to move, then runs across the street and jumps on a bus.

She remembers Nam Shin-III’s kiss and whines loudly, scrubbing at her mouth, then calls Reporter Jo to tell her morosely that she was sexually harassed today. She complains that she can’t report the guy because he’s not even human, then hangs up to get off the random bus she’s riding.

When she does, there’s Nam Shin-III, grinning at her. He reminds her that he can follow her phone’s GPS, but her indignant objections are drowned out by her growling stomach. Nam Shin-III smiles even wider, then commandeers an electronic billboard to show her some meal options nearby.

So-bong frowns that it’s not food that she wants, so he thinks for a second, then turns her back to the billboard to display the nearest pojangmachas. LOL, who says he doesn’t understand humans? So-bong tells him she’s not even tempted, but a few minutes later, she’s stuffing her face with food and soju while Nam Shin-III watches from outside. Awww, let the sad puppy android in!

Her meal is interrupted by a call from Jong-gil, who demands to know what that kiss was about. So-bong says that they aren’t really together, and that “Shin” used her. He takes his phone to Ye-na’s room and drags her out of bed, then asks So-bong to say that again.

She repeats that she was used (while Nam Shin-III cheerily waves at her, so cute), adding that she doesn’t think the wedding will happen because “Shin” doesn’t want it. Jong-gil thanks her and hangs up, asking Ye-na why she wants to marry a guy who kisses someone else. She just says his lips will belong to her soon, so she doesn’t mind lending them out briefly. Ugh.

Nam Shin-III patiently watches So-bong eat and drink, until the ajumma who runs the place chastises So-bong for making him stand outside for hours. She says that no matter what he did wrong, she shouldn’t do that to another person, but So-bong snaps that he’s not a person.

It starts to rain, and So-bong notices that Nam Shin-III isn’t at the window anymore. She pokes her head outside and finds herself under an umbrella, with Nam Shin-III grinning at her. He can tell she’s mad, and says she can use him until she feels better — since she helped him, he’ll help her, too.

So-bong barks that she doesn’t need his help, then she swipes his umbrella and walks off, leaving him standing in the rain. He stays there, getting soaking wet, until she comes back. She drops to banmal and tells Nam Shin-III to hold the umbrella, but she gets annoyed again when he holds it over her head and continues getting rained on.

He steps under the umbrella with her, and she says that when it’s just the two of them, he’s her robot slave. She says he can run errands and do the housework, and that it’s their secret, particularly forbidding him from telling Young-hoon. She orders him to call a cab just as one pulls up, and when he taps his head and says he already did, she chuckles that he’s useful after all.

Young-hoon reports the evening’s events to Ro-ra, and David finds it interesting that Nam Shin-III kissed a woman. Ro-ra says that he’s learning how humans do things and probably calculated it as his best option. They discuss the wedding and the fact Shin is the only one who could dissuade Ye-na, and he’s not waking up.

The doctor says that their best bet is to wake Shin, and he thinks he’s found a way. He has a special ultrasound machine that will stimulate Shin’s brain waves, and hopefully revive him. It’s not been definitively proven to work, but Ro-ra decides to try it, feeling guilty for leaving her son to his grandfather’s mercy and creating a robot son to take his place.

She says that Shin grew up without a mother, but because she had Nam Shin-III for comfort, she sometimes forgot about Shin. She admits to feeling ashamed and guilty, and she begs Shin to wake up and get mad at her, promising to focus only on him if he does.

When Nam Shin-III and So-bong arrive home, they find Ye-na waiting for them with a suitcase. She says she’s here because she wants to get closer to So-bong, who makes an ickyface and tries to pull her arm from Ye-na’s grasp.

She goes inside, ordering Nam Shin-III to bring in her things, and So-bong marvels that the tin can and the girl made of steel are a perfect couple. She’s worried that Nam Shin-III will be caught if Ye-na stays long, but she tells him to take Ye-na’s suitcase inside.

Meanwhile, Ye-na takes the prenuptial agreement to Chairman Nam and promises to disown her father if he keeps opposing her marriage to Shin. Ho-yeon thinks she’s losing it after seeing “Shin” kiss another girl, and the chairman asks her if she’d still marry Shin if he himself were powerless and sick.

Ye-na says she would, so Chairman Nam promises to make So-bong quit. But Ye-na has another idea — to make So-bong her bodyguard after she’s married.

So-bong reports to Jong-gil that Ye-na showed up with a suitcase. After they hang up, Ye-na lets herself into So-bong’s room, and to keep her from staying in Nam Shin-III’s room, So-bong offers Ye-na the bed but tells her not to bother unpacking.

Young-hoon warns Nam Shin-III to be careful since Ye-na is in the house for tonight. Nam Shin-III gets an idea from a commercial and brings Young-hoon a beer, and he tells Young-hoon that So-bong isn’t angry anymore. He says that subtle emotions are difficult to understand, asking Young-hoon to keep helping him.

Taking in Nam Shin-III’s carefree smile, Young-hoon thinks about the kill switch, and Ro-ra’s plan to “make Nam Shin-III disappear” when Shin wakes up. He apologizes to Nam Shin-III for making him pretend to be Shin and getting angry with him sometimes, but Nam Shin-III says he understands that it’s because Young-hoon cares for Shin.

Young-hoon sighs, “I care for him? That may not be all. I get confused sometimes. Do I like Shin, or do I like what he has? I wonder if I’m upset because of the things I can enjoy when I’m with Shin.” He holds out a hand to Nam Shin-III, asking him to use his lie-detecting ability to find out how he really feels.

Nam Shin-III says that conflict can’t be judged that way, but that he recognizes sadness and misery in Young-hoon’s expression. Young-hoon tells him not to trust humans too much, and Nam Shin-III asks if he’s including himself, Ro-ra, and David when he says that, but Young-hoon just looks at him.

Nam Shin-III goes out walking, and he sits to look out at the ocean and stars. He replays his recorded memory of Young-hoon telling him not to trust humans, and asks himself, “If I don’t trust humans, what must I trust?”

 
EPISODE 12 RECAP

In the morning, So-bong rolls her ankle while jogging. Nam Shin-III is still outside, having stayed out to watch the sun rise, and he tells her to stop running since that’s the leg with the steel rod. She informs him that she’s a better runner than most guys and trots on her way.

Nam Shin-III decides to accompany her, and every time So-bong tries to run faster and lose him, he easily catches up. Eventually she’s whining and sweating, while he’s fresh as a daisy, because of course he can’t get tired.

So-bong rolls her ankle again and falls, so Nam Shin-III kneels and tells her to get on his back. She refuses, until he reminds her with a smile that he’s her slave, and So-bong is frozen for a moment.

She looks like she might accept his offer… then she kicks him over and yells at him not to get cheeky. That’s how Chairman Nam and Ye-na find them, and Nam Shin-III quickly drops the smile and hardens his expression.

So-bong explains that she took “Shin” out for exercise, but Ye-na notices that he’s not sweating. Nam Shin-III snaps, “Are you still here? Should I kiss her again?” So-bong claps a hand over her mouth, and Chairman Nam threatens to fire her.

While Jong-gil arrives at the estate, Chairman Nam tells Nam Shin-III that Ye-na signed the prenup and suggests they have a small family wedding. Mimicking Shin’s disgust, Nam Shin-III stands to leave, but the chairman asks if he wants to see his bodyguard get hurt.

Nam Shin-III says he won’t get married even if she’s fired, but the chairman threatens not just So-bong’s job, but her family and future as well. He asks what he has to interfere with in order for “Shin” to listen, but Nam Shin-III retorts, “What of yours must I interfere with for you to listen?”

Chairman Nam raises a hand to strike, but Nam Shin-III grabs his arm. He stops and says he mustn’t harm humans, and he lets go, dropping Chairman Nam back to the couch.

Suddenly, the chairman calls Nam Shin-III “Jung-woo,” Shin’s father’s name. He begs his son not to leave, then turns on So-bong as if she’s Ro-ra and vows that he’ll never let Jung-woo go with her. Nam Shin-III completely drops his Shin persona and says that Ro-ra is his mom.

Ho-yeon runs in screeching, as Jong-gil hears the whole thing unfold from the foyer. Excited, he turns to go and runs into Young-hoon. He tells him that he doesn’t want to embarrass his daughter in front of the chairman so he’ll come back later.

Young-hoon tells Ho-yeon that Jong-gil probably heard everything, and promises to make sure So-bong doesn’t tell anyone about the chairman’s mental break. He glares at Ye-na, who pouts that she’s being treated like a spy, and Ho-yeon is all, “You are a spy!”

She tells Ye-na that if her father finds out, the marriage will never happen. Ye-na says she’ll find out if her father knows, but Ho-yeon doesn’t trust her, so Ye-na insists that she’s like her father in one way — she’s determined to get what she wants.

While she waits outside, So-bong gets a text from Jong-gil asking her to call him, and she wonders if it’s about the chairman’s dementia. Ye-na gets a taxi home, and as she’s going, she thinks about seeing Nam Shin-III offer So-bong a piggyback, which Shin would never do, and hearing So-bong call him “Tin Can” (her nickname for him).

So-bong tells Nam Shin-III and Young-hoon about Jong-gil’s text and asks them what to say if he asks what she saw. Young-hoon says that first they need to learn what Jong-gil knows, and he tells her not to call Jong-gil until they hear back from Ye-na. He warns So-bong and Nam Shin-III to stick together and guard Shin’s secret.

Nam Shin-III sidles up to So-bong until he’s leaning on her, and says innocently that they were told to “stick together.” She elbows him off, but she admits that Nam Shin-III was pretty manly when he stood up to Chairman Nam. She says that most girls would have swooned, and he keeps trying to scoot close to her again, lol.

Meeting with his company cronies, who all believe that Chairman Nam has dementia, but with no concrete proof, they agree that they need to proceed cautiously. Toady says they need someone to get evidence, making Jong-gil think.

At the PK Group building, the team that Shin used to lead notices that someone updated the M-car’s kill switch. The programmer says truthfully that there’s nobody in the country better than him, but they decide to say that Chang-jo did it, hoping that he’ll be given the manager’s position (since their manager quit).

Toady comes to take Chang-jo to Jong-gil. Chang-jo lies that he upgraded the M-car’s kill switch and plans to update the hacking prevention system, and Jong-gil just laughs.

Ye-na looks for her father in his office, and she’s told that he’s in an appointment. She sees that he’s been looking up a dementia medication online, the same medication she once saw Ho-yeon drop, and she guesses that Jong-gil knows about the chairman’s illness.

So-bong asks Nam Shin-III who Jung-woo is, so he uses the TV to show her a photo of Chairman Nam’s only son, who died in 1997. Joint calls So-bong to warn that her dad is on his way to check up on her, but she says she’ll go to the gym instead.

She runs to the car, but Nam Shin-III plucks the keys from her hand and says he’ll drive, since they’re sticking together. He makes her batty following traffic rules exactly, and she threatens to sell him for scraps.

Reporter Jo calls So-bong, dying to know what kind of sexual harassment she suffered and why she called the guy “a hunk of metal.” Nam Shin-III yells, “I”m not metal, I’m made of CNT!” before So-bong can cover his mouth and hang up.

They arrive at the gym just as Dad is shaking off Joint. So-bong confirms that she is indeed working for the Nam family, and Dad, who knows his daughter, wants to know what she has on them, ha. She says she’s just so talented that they had to hire her.

Nam Shin-III walks in, with Joint and Robocop hanging off each arm. Dad is immediately polite and deferential, until Joint wails that he said he kissed So-bong. She tells Dad it’s not true, but Nam Shin-III is all, “It’s true that I kissed you, So-bong.”

Dad screams and flies at Nam Shin-III to jump-kick him, but Nam Shin-III just steps to the side and avoids him. Next, Joint and Robocop go for Nam Shin-III, who pushes them aside easily. Dad tries another kick, and this time Nam Shin-III tosses him in the air. Everyone braces themselves for the crash, but Nam Shin-III catches Dad in his arms: “I must not harm humans.” Phew.

So-bong notices Reporter Jo in the corner, snapping photos, and she races over to stop her. Reporter Jo points to Nam Shin-III, who’s still holding Dad in a princess carry, wondering what that’s about. So-bong says she’s leaving, so Nam Shin-III dumps Dad on the floor to follow her, ha.

Once they’re alone, So-bong asks why Nam Shin-III told them about the kiss. He just says they asked, then grasps her wrist to check her blood pressure. He asks if she’s worked up because his lips feel human, reciting that when humans kiss, it results in increased interest in the other person.

He gets this look on his face like he’s figured it all out, and asks, “Are you interested in me now? Do you like me now?” So-bong grabs his face and plants one on him, then backs up and says, “Get it now? I have no feelings for you. You’re metal and plastic. You’re just an object to me.”

She tells him to stop acting like a person and sends him to the car. Once he’s gone, she fans herself and wonders if she’s gone crazy. She doesn’t notice Reporter Jo watching from a distance.

Meanwhile Young-hoon visits Ro-ra and tells her that Jong-gil almost certainly knows of the chairman’s dementia. David finally tells Ro-ra that there was a man with a gun following Shin on the day of his accident, and that he showed up at the house later, which is why he brought Shin to Korea.

Snake, the man in question, is currently arriving in the country. He finds several increasingly upset messages from Toady, but he doesn’t respond.

Chairman Nam lies in bed, thinking of his confrontation with Nam Shin-III, seeming equally furious and proud that “Shin” stood up to him. Ho-yeon brings her young son Hee-dong in to visit, saying that he insisted on seeing his grandpa, but the little boy frankly looks terrified. The chairman asks why she brought him, and Ho-yeon snaps that Hee-dong is his grandson, too.

She takes him back to their rooms and asks why he’s scared of his grandfather. She makes him repeat, “Don’t tell Grandpa that I’m sick,” reminding him never to say anything about his weak heart because Grandpa hates weak people. She gets a message and suddenly decides to take her son for a drive.

They meet up with Jong-gil, and Ho-yeon asks what he wants. He says he wants to discuss Hee-dong’s future.

The chairman is sitting outside when Nam Shin-III and So-bong return to the estate. He waves Nam Shin-III over to sit with him and apologizes to So-bong for threatening her. He asks her to keep looking after his grandson, then asks Nam Shin-III to bring him to this bench if he ever can’t recognize him, because this is where he watched Shin grow up.

Jong-gil reveals that he knows Hee-dong is sick, but Ho-yeon assures him he’s mistaken. Jong-gil just says it will be bad for both of them if Shin takes over the company, adding that Chairman Nam wouldn’t even look at a sick child as he stares pointedly at Hee-dong.

He warns Ho-yeon that she has to make the right decision for her child to live a long life. He reaches over to zip up Hee-dong’s jacket, deliberately choking the boy. He tells Ho-yeon that he’s not a patient man, and she hugs her son as she admits that the chairman has dementia.

Chairman Nam takes Nam Shin-III’s hand and tells him gently, “I have dementia, Shin-ah.” Nam Shin-III frowns, reading the chairman through his hand, then winks and says, “You don’t have dementia, Grandpa.” He smiles, and Chairman Nam’s expression twists into one of fury.

 
COMMENTS

Whoa, that’s a twist I didn’t see coming at all, though I can’t say I’m surprised that the Chairman is the kind of person who would fake dementia for some nefarious purpose. I can’t imagine what good he thinks will happen from pretending to be losing his memory, but he’s clearly lost none of his keen business sense after all. It makes me scared on a whole other level, that he may detect something different about Nam Shin-III and start to suspect something. The last time he lost an heir, he kidnapped his own grandson, so what else is he capable of?

I would feel bad for Ye-na and the way she was humiliated regarding her marriage to Shin, if the whole thing didn’t feel like something she made up in her head. The real Shin obviously can’t stand her, so I can’t figure out how they got engaged in the first place, unless it was an agreement between Ye-na and Chairman Nam even then. I’ll just never understand these characters (and they’re always young, slightly dim women) who decide that they’re just fine with being married to a guy who hates them so long as they get to “own” him. Who on earth would want to marry a man who is so disgusted by them that he can’t even look at them? And why? I mean, the real Shin is certainly handsome, but he’s not a nice guy (or even minimally polite), and he obviously hates Ye-na’s guts. So I don’t get what it is about him that Ye-na is so determined to be married to him. I just wish the writers of these characters would make an effort to give an explanation for their baffling determination beyond, “I want him, therefore he’s mine.”

We learned a lot about Young-hoon in this episode — some unexpected information about his circumstances and why he stays in a job where he’s abused in multiple ways. It explains a lot (and makes me feel a bit less icky about the way he’s treated) to know that Young-hoon went into the situation knowing exactly what to expect, and that he willingly chose to trade fairness and autonomy for luxury and money. I honestly don’t blame him, and I can’t even say that I’d make a different choice if I were made the same offer. To know that life would often feel unfair, but to enjoy the security that comes with having plenty of money — it’s tempting, and probably doubly so to a young man whose future is already overshadowed by his circumstances.

And it makes sense now, why Young-hoon agreed to this android plan so easily in the first place. After all, it’s Shin’s very existence that allows him to live comfortably. I’ve wondered why he was so willing to help with this insane plan to have a robot impersonate Shin, and why he seemed so emotionally invested in it. Obviously, if it’s discovered that Shin is in a coma, Young-hoon could lose everything because he’d no longer be needed to keep Shin in line. And I do think that he cares for Shin, though his feelings are so tangled up in the choice he made years ago that even he admits that he doesn’t know how much is affection for Shin,and how much is his attachment to the good life.

And I’m sorry, but you won’t convince me that Nam Shin-III doesn’t have some sort of emotions, because he’s much too reactive (especially to So-bong) to not be feeling anything. He shows clear signals that indicate anger, confusion, determination, sorrow, even playfulness, and at all the appropriate times. I would assume that he’s simply imitating human reactions in response to certain cues, but there are times when he displays emotion cues when no reaction is necessary, like when he’s being silly with So-bong. He even does it when he’s alone, such as the night he stayed up looking at pictures of Ro-ra, or when he was confused about who he can trust. I believe that Nam Shin-III is, in fact, experiencing some sort of emotion, though it may not be the same way humans do. But I think that because he’s been told all his life that “robots don’t have emotions,” he doesn’t even recognize them himself. At some point he’s going to realize that he’s closer to “human” than even he knows, and I can’t wait to see what happens then.

 
RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Are You Human Too, Secretary Kim, Life on Mars
• Beating hearts and fiery infernos in Are You Human Too teaser
• Snow, steam, and back-hugs in Seo Kang-joon’s robot drama Are You Human Too
• Lee Jun-hyuk, Park Hwan-hee join Are You Human Too as second leads
• Gong Seung-yeon falls for robot Seo Kang-joon in Are You Human Too
• Seo Kang-joon offered role as swindler robot in KBS’s political drama