I was getting a little weary of Missing 9 because of the high toll count, so I kinda sped through Episode 9. If you had the same worries as me, fear not, because Missing 10 is probably one of the most lighthearted episodes thus far.

 I find it so heartwarming that Ki Joon is SO excited to see Bong Hee. Bong Hee is likewise happy to see them but asks about Joon Oh. Ki Joon’s and Ji Ah’s prompt leads Bong Hee to finally recall the last piece of her memory, where a raving mad Tae Ho was unleashed unto a terrified crew of survivors and Joon Oh was stabbed in the back (Omg!! Did they do it on purpose? To show that Tae Ho both literally and figuratively stabbed Joon Oh in the back??) before the ship went down in the typhoon.

Bong Hee faints in horror and sadness, and while she’s out, Ki Joon tells Prosecutor Yoon that Bong Hee is a really pure person who had saved So Hee’s life many times. Ji Ah adds that if So Hee was alive, she would be the most thankful to Bong Hee.

While Tae Young leaves the room to answer Hee Kyung’s call and tells her how sucky she is for not being able to protect her survivors and making them so afraid (half his words, half mine), Bong Hee dreams of her promise to Joon Oh that she will be his fence.”Even if no one takes your side, I will take your side. Even if no one believes you, I will believe you.” Aww, Joon Oh was visibly touched  and reminded her not to forget her promise. The two then engaged in a game of hopscotch and Joon Oh was basically a playground bully.

She wakes up and the couple is indignant about how Tae Ho is making himself out as the national hero. Ki Joon says gently that they will go back with Bong Hee so that she has support, “We’ll remove Joon Oh’s false charges. We will punish Tae Ho for what he has done.” Sigh sigh sigh. Watching this a second time, knowing what happened later, makes this a little painful.

Tae Young receives a tip-off about So Hee’s murder case and Bong Hee insists on following him, but Tae Young convinces her to stay behind and speeds off in the car. Unbeknownst to them, Tae Ho and the new CEO have bribed the doctor in the hospital to reveal information on Ki Joon and Ji Ah.  Since Bong Hee’s outside at the main road, she notices the van full of thugs who are dressed up as patients and doctors but are holding photos of Ki Joon and Ji Ah.

What ensues is nonsense, where the thugs barge into the hospital to find Ki Joon and Ji Ah. Honestly, if you are going to lock up all the doors and be so noisy and violent about your search, what’s the point of even dressing up in the first place?? In any case, Bong Hee hurries the couple to run away. Hilariously, they run into one thug who looks closely at Ji Ah and compares to her photo but dismisses her. Ji Ah is furious that he doesn’t recognise her (so funny!!) and punches the thug, “That is me, you idiot!” Ki Joon consoles her as they continue running, “It’s because you are prettier in person!” Hehe, I really like this little jibe at photoshopped/edited photos of celebrities.

Bong Hee also has to run away from the thugs and does so in the cutest and bad-ass way ever. She doesn’t have the coolest moves (unlike Kim Nana in City Hunter, omg that classic) but she squats to dodge any hits and throws things with a great aim. Nevertheless, she gets cornered by Tae Ho but doesn’t back down, “You scum. Joon Oh-sshi trusted you until the end.” This irritates Tae Ho  and he tries to punch her, but Bong Hee does her wonder-dodge again. Tae Ho goes into his frenzy and picks up a crutch to hit her. Bong Hee lands a few blows on Tae Ho but gets hit in the stomach. Omg you jerk Tae Ho!! With her last ounce of strength, she knocks Tae Ho’s head back with hers and punches him a few times, before taking up the crutch to break a window. Oh dear, am I bad for wishing that she had used the crutch just once on Tae Ho?

The couple on the other hand did not have as great luck as Bong Hee. Although Ji Ah is determined not to leave Ki Joon behind (“it is my turn to save you”), they ultimately still get thrashed by the thugs.

Tae Young’s tip-off is actually fake so as to divert him from the hospital. He manages to throw off the bad guys (ooh, not bad!) and rushes back to the hospital, but it is too late. Ki Joon and Ji Ah have disappeared. What’s stranger is that all the thugs have disappeared too and the bribed doctor says no one has barged in, it’s just Bong Hee creating property damage.

Ji Ah and Ki Joon are actually brought to see the new CEO. While Ji Ah is left to munch on the food, the CEO privately requests Ki Joon to say that the murderer is Joon Oh. Besides, Ji Ah needs to start making money again because her mother has been taking money from the company. Ki Joon leaves the room with a serious look but the mood is lightened a bit when Ji Ah cries in remorse…for having eaten Ki Joon’s share of food hahaha.

Things aren’t looking too good for our fighter combi, Bong Hee and Tae Young. While Bong Hee persists in looking for Ji Ah and Ki Joon, Tae Young gets transferred away from the case. He is angry and promises, “Do you think this will stop me? It’ll take more than this to stop me.” YAS. GO GO GO.

(she’s one of my new woman crushes!!)

Ji Ah is back to being a celebrity and Ki Joon is her manager. He asks her to follow his lead and not ask any questions; trust in him and that’s how she can save him. Bong Hee is dejected because she finds out that Ji Ah and Ki Joon are back in Seoul but did not contact her. Deep down, she already knows something is up. She visits Jae Kook and cries, “Please wake up soon.” Indeed, we need people who are “in” power so to speak. While Ji Ah is feisty, her weakness is Ki Joon and vice versa.

At the final announcement by the Special Investigation Committee, Ji Ah is the most affected back stage. Hee Kyung makes a request to some higher-up to exclude Bong Hee because she was the first survivor and helped with the rescue and Investigator Oh smiles gladly at her favour. Honestly though, guys, what is the favour done here?? I really don’t understand, someone please enlighten me.

Bong Hee camps out backstage and runs into Ji Ah and Ki Joon. She immediately asks about their well-being but they only keep apologising to her. She holds on to Ki Joon and begs him to tell the truth, but he walks off silently. The only way in which he can retaliate is by tripping Tae Ho on stage…which is quite funny to be honest hehe.

A flashback shows us that Ki Joon didn’t budge because the CEO said Ji Ah needs money but because the CEO pulled a gun and threatened to kill Ji Ah, “Does she know why you stopped being a doctor? I will only kill her.” Back in the present, Hee Kyung reads out a summary of what has happened thus far and I’m glad for this summary because it answers some ‘loopholes’. There were 47 people on board the jet, of which 35 had been excluded for this investigation (dead/missing). Good info, because it wasn’t exactly clear how many people were on board and the fact that all the central characters were alive on the island gave the illusion that the death rate was super low. Out of the 12 people, they found 3 bodies during their recent search – the pilots and Reporter Kim. Another good piece of info, because some viewers have been wondering why no one has found the dead bodies left on the island. Including So Hee, that’s 4 dead. Yeol is presumed to be missing and it is unclear whether Joon Oh is alive or dead.

The final blow is landed when Hee Kyung reveals that all four survivors have corroborated that So Hee was killed by Joon Oh. Zzzzz. You know, if you have to come up with a list of people you respect in this show, the number comes up awfully short…I don’t think you need more than a hand to count. Nevertheless, I thank Ki Joon for sneakily hitting Tae Ho on the hand, no matter how childish that is.

Ki Joon later apologises to Bong Hee, “That is the reality,” and she walks off after staring at him in hate. A flashback shows that after Jae Hyun’s suicide, Ki Joon trusted Joon Oh and comforted him, “You didn’t kill him.” The memory is bittersweet, because we see that although Ki Joon trusted Joon Oh so much, he has to say something that goes against his principles because of Ji Ah.

Bong Hee is disgusted with Tae Ho for daring to come to her house (and he even compares her plac to the deserted island). He threatens her to stay powerless and clueless; she will never be able to win him. In the day, Bong Hee arranges to meet Tae Young to pass him something (So Hee’s necklace most probably), but receives a phone call and her eyes widen in shock. At the same time, Tae Young notices that he dropped a photo in his office. When he turns it around, it is Joon Oh’s photo back in Dreamers’ days – alluding to the fact that the call came from Joon Oh.

Indeed, Bong Hee rushes to the airport and calls Tae Young on the way, “I want to put my faith in him. Just this once…I got a call. His voice sounded just like Joon Oh’s.”

Where is this mysterious island I don’t know, but Bong Hee finds Joon Oh perched on a rock. He walks past her, much to her shock, and he turns around, saying first in Chinese then in Korean, “Who are you?” Bong Hee tears up for a few seconds…and that’s when Joon Oh’s face melts in happiness and childishness, “I got you!! I always wanted to fool people like this!”

He laughs and grabs Bong Hee in an embrace, “Bong Hee, let’s go back to Seoul.”

-the end-

The way Joon Oh said it and the way Bong Hee smiled, I could almost imagine he was actually proposing. Honestly Joon Oh, just run away with Bong Hee. The world has forsaken you!! Okay no, I will kill you if you do that. You return and you fight your HARDEST to clear your name, get it!! Then run away with Bong Hee, and please don’t go to an island for your honeymoon. Even if you aren’t traumatised by the Survivor-style 4 months, I am.

I think this episode is more lighthearted because no one died. Haha, what have we become when we measure the happiness of each episode by how many people died? Anyway, Tae Ho also isn’t very psychotic here so that’s great. I loved seeing him getting thrashed by Bong Hee and what I loved even more was that she did in her own way. She didn’t suddenly become a Taekwando expert, but wow, I got to learn a thing or two from the way she dodges and squats. I never knew these moves were so powerful. #Bongsquats.

I must admit that with this series, I’ve gotten into the habit of reading comments first before watching, just so I can mentally prep myself for any deaths. Thus, I wasn’t surprised by Joon Oh’s return. Besides, I kinda know he would come back because how else is the show going to go on for another 6 episodes? Speaking of which, I really hope there is something to go on for 6 episodes but my gut feeling tells me they are going to drag it out. We are done with the memories of what happened in the past 4 months – I assume after the ship got wrecked in the typhoon, all of them got washed up on different islands, leading to the present timeline. This means that the last 6 episode are dealing with the fall-out of Tae Ho’s accusations. Maybe 1/2 showing how Joon Oh is an outcast; another 2 on his friends wavering, but that in my opinion is just milking it. This drama has a lot of potential to be a tighter, more coherent show and it’s a pity that it isn’t…but whatever, I’m too far gone to drop the show at this point.

My hypothesis is that we are going to eventually reach a stalemate where people are divided between Joon Oh and Tae Ho. But the trump card is going to lie with Yeol. I know it isn’t going to be realistic – after all, he floated away with a concussion, face DOWN in the waters – but his body hasn’t been found. Besides, I find the fact that Jae Kook didn’t die from the car accident even though there was an explosion of blood from within even more unrealistic. These two should have died in all honesty – but I’m guessing the president would wake up and most importantly, just when Joon Oh is at his lowest or most desperate, Yeol will turn up. Why? Because Yeol has the least to lose out of the rest of them and this is evident already in how Yeol dared to stand up to the Jae Kook in the first episode (he wanted to pay a tribute to Jae Hyun in his album). While Ji Ah and Ki Joon are good people, they are each other’s weakness and thus, this eliminates them. The only people left with no fear of any of the villains here are Yeol and Jae Kook, and Yeol is the only piece of living, solid evidence that Tae Oh is the murderer. He will be the only victim that has survived, and his testimony is going to be the most compelling against Tae Oh. This is why, even though I don’t think it’s realistic for him to survive, I’m guessing the drama is going to go down this route.

What are your thoughts? You can also check out my Episode 8 recap here!

<3thoughtsramble

P.S I just created an instagram account so that I can post more fangirl-content there. Hope you will check it out!^^