The Guest: Episode 6

by odilettante

Sometimes an episode comes along that gives you a frisson of excitement as you realize all the random elements suddenly perfectly mesh together and make you eager to see what comes next. Happily, this is that episode, where we’ve reached the turning point from a good, compelling show, to a potentially excellent, mind-blowing show — demons, beware!

 
EPISODE 6 RECAP

Paramedics rush the bleeding woman, Kim Yoon-hee, to the hospital, and Hwa-pyung resists being taken down to the police station in order to warn Kil-young that “Sohn” is in Yoon-hee. Kil-young tells him to stay out of police business, but as he’s dragged away to the police station, Hwa-pyung begs her to keep an eye on Yoon-hee.

At the station, the officer is under the impression — based on the testimony of the bystanders — that Hwa-pyung and Yoon attacked Yoon-hee. Hwa-pyung doesn’t even blink as he spins a tale about going to the same church as Yoon-hee. He explains that he’s just a friend concerned about her mental health, so he brought along Yoon, their priest, for counseling.

Yoon looks uncomfortable with Hwa-pyung’s lies, but reluctantly admits he offered some Yoon-hee counseling (which is true). The police officer still doesn’t believe them and orders them to stay put while he does a background check.

Yoon grumpily complains that Hwa-pyung can’t stop lying, and he caused this whole thing in the first place by provoking Yoon-hee. He’s still concerned that something might happen with Yoon-hee while they’re not there to help her, but Hwa-pyung is confident that Kil-young is keeping a careful watch.

He’s right, since Kil-young and Detective Go are at the hospital with Yoon-hee. Kil-young demands to know why she lied about not contacting her boyfriend, Jong-ryul, for the past month, since the phone records show he was in contact with her the day he disappeared.

Yoon-hee insists she doesn’t remember, but Kil-young persists, insisting that Kil-young killed him and dumped the body somewhere. As the detectives start to leave, Yoon-hee sits up and screams that she didn’t kill him.

Detective Go assumes that there’s a mental health issue, but Kil-young disagrees. She doesn’t elaborate, but simply tells Detective Go that she wants to stay and keep an eye on Yoon-hee. However, the nurse relays a message from Yoon-hee that Jong-ryul is waiting for her near her apartment.

The detectives head out to follow this lead, but Kil-young can’t stop thinking about Hwa-pyung’s warning that Yoon-hee might do something dangerous, so she orders Detective Go to investigate on his own while she returns to the hospital. Detective Go grumbles that he’s left on his own as he searches through the apartment parking lot.

He finds one car covered in a sheet. When he lifts off the covering, a body is in the backseat. It’s Jong-ryul.

Kil-young races back to the hospital, but Yoon-hee has already disappeared.

Still waiting at the police station, Hwa-pyung has a vision from Yoon-hee’s perspective. She visits Jong-ryul’s workplace at night, where the only person there is the supervisor she had tried to kill previously. He has no idea who she is, but agrees to loan her his cellphone.

When he gives it to her, she stabs him with a box cutter, telling him he’s the first of the office workers she’ll kill. Then she reapplies her red lipstick and starts whistling a tune.

At the police station, Hwa-pyung also whistles the same tune. Yoon tries to get his attention, but Hwa-pyung’s too lost in his vision. Hwa-pyung grabs Yoon by the throat, and the other officers try to intervene, but his demon strength via psychic vision is too powerful.

Kil-young arrives and manages to get Hwa-pyung to snap out of it. Hwa-pyung tells her what he saw in his vision, warning her that Yoon-hee plans to kill all the office workers when they arrive to work in the morning.

Kil-young tells the other two to go home and let her deal with it, but Hwa-pyung insists that they need to catch Park Il-do together. Kil-young stubbornly insists that this has nothing to do with Park Il-do — she just wants to catch the person who killed Jong-ryul.

Hwa-pyung reminds her that Kil-young is a part of this, whether she likes it or not, since Park Il-do killed her mother. Through gritted teeth, Kil-young warns Hwa-pyung to never mention her mother again, and then she turns and walks away. Yoon thinks it’s all for the best, since Kil-young might be put in danger if they drag her into their hunt for Park Il-do.

Yoon and Hwa-pyung illegally break into Yoon-hee’s apartment, a fact that makes Yoon visibly uncomfortable. But Hwa-pyung says they have to find out more about Yoon-hee before she kills more people, and this is the fastest way. They find a lot of happy photos of Yoon-hee with Jong-ryul, which makes them wonder what darkness was inside her that she would become possessed and kill her boyfriend.

They freeze when they hear someone at the door. It’s one of Yoon-hee’s friends, who’s just as shocked to see them. Hwa-pyung peppers her with questions about Yoon-hee’s mental health, but it’s only when Yoon — in his reassuring priest’s frock — gently reveals that he had spoken to Yoon-hee earlier, that the friend admits Yoon-hee had been having a hard time because Jong-ryul was being bullied at work.

The friend explains that Jong-ryul quit his job right when he and Yoon-hee were planning to get married. Yoon and Hwa-pyung realize that Yoon-hee is bent on revenge for her boyfriend, who actually committed suicide.

The detectives head to the Jong-ryul’s old office and split up to investigate. Kil-young warns Detective Go to be careful since Yoon-hee is dangerous (although she doesn’t elaborate why).

Detective Go cautiously looks through the empty offices, finding no one. The possessed Yoon-hee appears behind him and grabs him by the neck.

Yoon and Hwa-pyung drive to the office building, and when Hwa-pyung starts to whistle, Yoon realizes he’s lost in a trance. Hwa-pyung’s vision shows Detective Go on the ground, his neck bloody. Oh no!

Yoon finally shakes Hwa-pyung out of his trance and they speed to the office with extra urgency. Yoon calls Kil-young, warning her that Detective Go was attacked. Hwa-pyung tells her not to go into the building.

But Kil-young remembers what happened to her mother twenty years ago when the young Hwa-pyung gave her the same warning. Without hesitation, she hurries upstairs to Jong-ryul’s office. She finds the supervisor on the ground, gasping for breath. He’s still alive!

Kil-young calls for backup, but before the call connects, Yoon-hee grabs her and the two women fight. Yoon-hee may have the strength of a demon, but we all know Kil-young can hold her own in a supernatural fight.

Even so, Yoon-hee manages to overpower Kil-young and knock her out. Whistling her eerie tune, Yoon-hee drags the unconscious Kil-young down the hallway.

In an empty room, Yoon-hee ties up Kil-young and the supervisor. Yoon-hee tells them that she’ll kill them in the morning once everyone comes to work. It’s her plan to kill everyone at the company.

Yoon-hee reveals that Jong-ryul was bullied and tormented by his coworkers. Jong-ryul finally couldn’t take all the cruel messages that his coworkers sent him — the same brutal messages that Yoon-hee received from her demon texter. Yoon-hee arrived home one night after Jong-ryul called her, only to find him in the bathtub, his wrists slit.

She tried to commit suicide, too, by jumping off a rooftop, and that’s when the demons came, using the text messages to enter the despairing Yoon-hee. They told her to kill everyone who caused her boyfriend’s death.

Kil-young asks if Park Il-do is making her do this, and the possessed Yoon-hee angrily says that this will be the last time Kil-young says that name. She decides to change her plan and kill everyone immediately instead of waiting for the morning.

She chooses the supervisor first, and as she raises the box cutter to the man’s neck, Kil-young frantically rolls and wriggles across the floor, shoving Yoon-hee away from him. Furious, Yoon-hee kicks and stomps on Kil-young, demonically laughing as she reminds Kil-young that the people who intervene always end up killed in the end, anyway (y’know, like her mother).

But as Yoon-hee raises her knife to slice Kil-young’s throat, she hears Yoon and Hwa-pyung’s voices calling out for Kil-young. Yoon-hee’s eyes grow wide as she realizes that “bastard and the priest” are here.

Dropping the knife, Yoon-hee runs down the hallway and out of the building. Hwa-pyung and Yoon chase after her, Yoon being the slightly faster one as Hwa-pyung breaks off to head in another direction. She’s got that supernatural speed and stamina on her side, though, and Yoon finally has to stop to catch his breath.

Hwa-pyung’s cuts Yoon-hee off with his taxi by essentially running her over. It’s a blow that would seriously harm another human, but the possessed Yoon-hee gets right back up and grabs Hwa-pyung, throwing him against the car’s hood and strangling him.

Yoon catches up with them and presses a crucifix against her neck, which causes Yoon-hee to writhe in pain and pass out. Both men are exhausted, but Yoon says he’ll take care of Yoon-hee so Hwa-pyung can check on Kil-young. Hwa-pyung returns to the office building and frees Kil-young and the terrified supervisor from their bondages. They also find Detective Go, who’s thankfully still alive.

Yoon carries Yoon-hee to an abandoned warehouse which he quickly sets up as his makeshift exorcism room. He ties her to a table and sets out his holy items for the ritual.

Yoon-hee wakes up and tries to get into Yoon’s head, asking if he blames Hwa-pyung for what happened to his brother. She hisses that he’s going to die just like Priest Choi and his parents. She cackles with laughter, but Yoon continues focusing on preparing his holy items.

He’s about to gag her, though, when she suddenly bursts out that everyone near him is going to die — “He’s just like us.” Yoon pauses, since that’s exactly what Young-soo told him during his exorcism.

Yoon demands to know what she means, but suddenly Yoon-hee starts frantically crying — no demon voice this time as she tells him that it hurts. Blood starts to pour from her wrists and Yoon attempts to untie her bonds, but she leaps up and grabs him around the neck to strangle him with her supernatural strength.

Hwa-pyung saves him by shoving him away from Yoon-hee — her strangling him was only in his mind. She’s still tied to the table, but she was close to convincing Yoon to free her. Hwa-pyung chides him for being so confident that he could handle everything on his own, even though the demons are getting in his head.

Yoon insists he’s fine, but Hwa-pyung and Kil-young jump in to help hold Yoon-hee down so Yoon can perform the exorcism. In her demon voice, Yoon-hee laughs that they all hate each other, since they blame each other for what happened to their families. She scoffs that they’re actually going to work together.

Yoon curtly tells Kil-young not to look Yoon-hee in the eyes and quickly begins the exorcism. Hwa-pyung demands to know more about Park Il-do — where he went after Priest Choi died, and the connection to Sharing Hand. But the possessed Yoon-hee angrily screams that she’ll kill his grandfather.

Cut to Grandpa coughing in his home. Oh no!

Yoon-hee continues to smirk as she tells the trio that they’ll all kill each other, but Yoon orders the other two not to listen to the possessed woman. Yoon-hee writhes in pain as Yoon prays and presses a crucifix against her skin, which burns.

Kil-young can’t resist feeling sorry for the way Yoon-hee flails and screams in pain. Finding the weak spot in the trio, Yoon-hee focuses her attention on the other woman, pleading with her to save her. Hwa-pyung yells at Kil-young not to give in as Yoon continues to pray, but Kil-young looks doubtful.

Yoon-hee’s gentle voice grows violent as she screams for Kil-young to release her or else she’ll kill her like she did her mother. Suddenly Yoon-hee’s voice changes again — now she sounds like Kil-young’s mother, telling her that she should have never been born and should have died with her mother died.

Hwa-pyung yells at Kil-young not to fall for the demon’s tricks, and Yoon-hee flails until she passes out. Blood seeps from under her body. Yoon gently asks if Yoon-hee can hear him. The woman turns to face him, as the demon inside that she’s not there — Yoon-hee wanted to die when her boyfriend died, but the demons saved her, so Yoon-hee is theirs.

As the possessed Yoon-hee flails, Yoon yells at her to not give up on herself, to choose to live. “Think of your baby!”

Kil-young’s shocked to discover that Yoon-hee is pregnant, and Hwa-pyung reveals that they found out about that fact from Yoon-hee’s friend. They have to save Yoon-hee so they can also save her unborn baby.

Hwa-pyung shows her a photo of a happy Yoon-hee with Jong-ryul, telling her that she can’t die, to be strong for her child. They resume the exorcism, and Yoon-hee starts to spit up water as she screams Park Il-do’s name. The lights flicker.

Suddenly she sits up and vomits up a current of water. The exorcism is over. They saved Yoon-hee — and her baby.

In the morning, the trio sit outside after everyone else is taken to the hospital. Yoon-hee will likely go to jail for attempted murder, but Hwa-pyung insists that Yoon-hee is innocent. Her actions were caused by Park Il-do.

Kil-young demands to know more about Park Il-do, wondering if he was really responsible for her mother’s death. She decides that they need to catch him, since he turns innocent people into killers. Hwa-pyung warns her that if she goes down this path, there’s no turning back, but Kil-young is determined.

Yoon says it’s too dangerous for her. Park Il-do is a spirit — only an exorcist should deal with him. Kil-young stubbornly tells Yoon that she’ll help him — after all, she’s been a part of this, anyway, whether she likes it or not.

Hwa-pyung can’t believe they have the energy to bicker like this after what they’ve just been through, but Yoon resolutely insists that he’ll handle it on his own and walks away.

Hwa-pyung is all for teaming up and reassures Kil-young he’ll persuade Yoon. He offers to give her a ride home, telling her she should go to the hospital first so she won’t worry her family by showing up with a bunch of injuries. Hwa-pyung sighs that she doesn’t have a family.

Kil-young tells him that she used to wonder why her mother lived such a dangerous life as a detective, barging into dangerous places without thought of what it would mean for her daughter. Kil-young now realizes she does the exact same thing — if she had a family, they probably wouldn’t like her either.

Hwa-pyung quietly apologizes for being the boy in the road twenty years ago, but Kil-young points out if he hadn’t been there, Yoon would have died. What she really regrets is that he stopped her from going into the house, since perhaps she could have done more than helplessly watch her mother die.

Remembering the night his mother his own mother died when he was possessed, Hwa-pyung muses that maybe he should have died back then, too. When he gets home, Hwa-pyung checks on Grandpa, making sure he’s okay. He is. Whew. Then Hwa-pyung studies the Sharing Hand booklet.

Meanwhile, Yoon gets word from his parish that he’s now forbidden from being an exorcist since he hasn’t been following the proper exorcism procedures. Alone in the church, Yoon hears Yoon-hee’s voice, reminding him that everyone near Park Il-do will die.

Yoon tries to center himself on his faith by praying, but just then his phone buzzes. It’s Hwa-pyung, asking for a favor.

Yoon stops by Priest Yang’s — who puts a little whiskey in his coffee. Yoon’s concerned about Priest Yang’s drinking, but the older priest reassures him that it’s only for medicinal purposes. Yoon’s not there to discuss Priest Yang’s hidden alcoholism, but Sharing Hand and the connection it has with the possessed people.

Priest Yang insists that it’s impossible for Sharing Hand — a volunteer church charity — is related to Park Il-do. Yoon hesitates, then asks Priest Yang if he used to hear things when he used to be an exorcist.

The older priest admits that it’s not usual to hear things or have hallucinations as an exorcist, since the soul gets damaged the more it comes in contact with demons, like it’s being slowly eaten away.

He tells Yoon that he should stop chasing a demon that’s so closely connected to him, but Yoon says he has no choice. He asks for Priest Yang’s help.

Hwa-pyung tricks Yook Kwang into going with him to the place where Priest Choi died — something Yook Kwang wouldn’t have done willingly, since he knows how dangerous Park Il-do is.

Reluctant, the shaman follows Hwa-pyung into the forest. He cautiously investigates the site where Priest Choi’s body was found, performing a ritual for the deceased. Yook Kwang freezes when he realizes that the spiritual realm is blocked from him — but he has the same vision he did that night when he tried to exorcise Young-soo, when he saw himself dead, covered in blood, at his home.

Suddenly Yook Kwang starts digging at the ground, and finds another body.

Back to the police station, where Hwa-pyung and Yook Kwang are held on suspicion. Yook Kwang insists that they’re perfectly innocent, a mere shaman and a psychic, and that the spirits led them to the body. Yep, that’s not suspicious.

The body is revealed to be that of a high school student, Song Hyun-joo, who went missing twenty years ago. Ohhh, it’s the same missing girl that Kil-young’s mother was investigating, and the reason she was so late to pick up Kil-young that night.

Kil-young pulls out an old box of memorabilia from her closet. Inside is her mother’s old case notes. Kil-young flips through them, stopping on a name: Park Hong-joo.

Meanwhile, Yoon looks through Priest Yang’s collection of Sharing Hand information, and stops when he sees photos of Hong-joo with Young-soo and the junk yard brothers.

Hong-joo is serving food to homeless people through Sharing Hand’s shelter, giving an interview to the press about how much she cares about the homeless.

When a reporter asks for a photo, requesting Hong-joo hold hands with the homeless people, the councilwoman is a little reluctant until one of her aids poses her. He then whispers something in her ear, and her photo-worthy smile vanishes.

She’s furious to learn that Hyun-joo’s body has been found, and throws a fit in the shelter’s kitchen, knocking down pots and pans until her hands start to bleed.

COMMENTS

I knew Hong-joo was shady! The real question, though, is she possessed? Or just evil? (She is a politician, y’know). Then again, she might just have some anger management issues. Buuuuut I’m gonna say there’s a little Park Il-do in her, somewhere, and that she was involved with Hyun-joo’s death from twenty years ago (based on their names, I’m assuming they were sisters), and that she encountered Priest Choi in the forest the night he killed himself. Plus she’s super involved in Sharing Hand (even if she doesn’t actually want to touch the hands of the people she helps), which means she’s had contact with all the possessed people we’ve encountered so far.

But does that mean she’s also connected to the many other deaths from Hwa-pyung’s collection of news clippings? Maybe Hong-joo is actually a red herring. Her being Park Il-do almost feels too obvious at this point. I’d still believe she’s got some sort of demon in her, though, even if it isn’t the Big Bad. Besides, I’m still wary about Priest Yang. There’s something going on there — he knows more than he’s letting on, I’m sure of it. I don’t think he’s actually Park Il-do, though, because it sounds like Priest Yang was actually a part of Yoon’s early life and helping him become a priest. If he were really Park Il-do, then the demon wouldn’t need to go on this blood-thirsty hunt to find Yoon, since he’d already know where he was. (Which then makes me question Hong-joo’s involvement — but maybe Sharing Hand was started after Yoon left Priest Yang?) So we’ve still got some time before we finally track down Park Il-do — but not before busting a few other demon heads along the way.

Hwa-pyung dragging Yoon into his questionable ways of finding out information is hilarious to me. Say what one will about Yoon’s reasons for becoming a priest, he’s still a man of the cloth, with a moral center that believes in honesty and righteousness. Whereas Hwa-pyung has no shame in lying if it means getting the information he needs. They’re the perfect “Odd Couple” pair of demon hunters. Or trio, now, since they’ve officially started to work together with Kil-young (Yoon may insist on working solo as much as he wants — we all know that the trio are bonded together forever now).

I love that Kil-young is like, “I don’t understand what’s going on, but I do know that we need to work together to destroy this Park Il-do bastard.” Watching the three of them support each other as they defeated the demons inside Yoon-hee was by far my favorite part of the episode, because it made me realize that this is exactly the moment I’ve been waiting for these past six episodes. I want my demon-hunting, crime-solving, life-saving trio to willingly work together side-by-side, trusting each other and supporting each other despite moments of weakness, and we’re finally getting that! Sure, they needed to first work through what happened to them in the past (let’s be real, they’re still working through it), but they also know that wallowing in what happened twenty years ago won’t save people who are dying right now.

Finding Park Il-do in order to seek vengeance for the way their families died is important, but so is saving the innocent people Park Il-do will kill along the way. My Scooby gang trio is officially complete, and I couldn’t be happier — provided we can also drag our much-needed comical sidekicks Yook Kwang and Detective Go along for the hellacious ride.

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