Happy Friday the 13th!

I’m making a list of movie references because I know this will be needed later. I’m not a fan of  thriller/horror films so most of the connection and significance of the movies are lost on me.

This is a work in progress.

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Episode 1:

It hasn’t been revealed yet but I think he’s playing a character here too from one of the movies.

Episode 2:

edited to add this: “The Usual Suspects” (at 3:50)

Dongsik: That is…I came in here to do my business. It was broken. I thought someone might get hurt. I picked it up to clean up and when I brought it out, suddenly the team manager saw me and started screaming so loud.
Bad boss: Hey, are you a psychopath? How can everything you say be a lie? You had this, and you tried to kill me, you son of a bitch.
Police sidekick: Dongshik, sir. Be honest.
Dongsik: Yes?
Police sidekick: Did the team leader break the lid of the toilet tank? I think he’s very drunk. He’s very agitated. He drank a lot, didn’t he?
Bad boss: You asshole! Hey, you asshole, this is really…
Police sidekick: Keep your voice down.
Bad boss: This son of a bitch’s eyes were glaring and he was going to hit me—

I didn’t watch this film but from what I read, the ultimate plot twist here was that hotshot from FBI  had the real culprit right under his nose. But he let him go because he didn’t believe that a cripple could have done it. He didn’t know that the cripple was faking it and he let the guy go. When the FBI man found out that he’d been deceived, the man had vanished into thin air. The clues had been right there all along and one of them was from the broken ceramic mug…just like the broken porcelain lid of the toilet tank.

Here’s the broken lid.

Here’s the famous quote from that movie about the greatest trick of a psychopath devil.

After that, my guess is that you will never hear from him again. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that… he is gone. – Verbal Kint

“Silence of the Lambs” (at 15:04)

Dongshik: How did you kill them?
Neighborhood Thug: Huh?
Dongshik: I asked how you killed that person.

The thug described the sashimi style of killing.

Dongshik: (smirking) You can’t kill people by doing that.
Thug: Did you just drop formalities with me?
Dongshik: Usually our bones are protecting our vital organs. The cranium for the brain, and the ribs for the lungs and hearts. Then in order to kill someone in one go, where do you have to aim? Here. (pointing to the neck) The blood pumped by the heart and sent to the brain is gushing out through here. Completely.

Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs” was known for cannibalizing his victims. He was very discriminating in his choice of prey. He picked those he considered rude or lowlifes. But he would also protect those he considered weak. However, as I noted elsewhere in this blog, there’s always danger in considering oneself to be the final arbiter of who’s deserving or not deserving to live. I know some viewers would like to romanticize psychopaths like Hannibal Lecter and, in the case of this kdrama, Seo Inwoo. But I do wish they’d remember that understanding a psychopath’s mindset does not mean defending, endorsing, or sympathizing with a psychopath’s heinous acts.

“The Merciless” (at 1:07:04)

The “Merciless” is a Korean drama starring Siwan. A gangster took him under his wing and trained him to take down another gang.

Dongshik: A while back, there was a gang leader who controlled the underworld. Of all places, that old man happened to die in a restaurant. Do you know how he died? I poured steaming hot oil down his throat. Then what do you think happens? His throat gets fried in hot oil. Just like gopchang.
Mobster: This bastard. It seems he’s seen a few movies.
Dongshik: I did see a few movies.
Mobster boss: This isn’t a movie, you idiots. This guy killed someone. I know it.
Dongshik: Why are you saying that so loudly? Ahjussi, did you see  me killing a person?
Mobster boss: No. Please save me.

Episode 3:

“Second Degree Murder” and “Suspect” (at 25:26)

I don’t know how these Korean thrillers relate to the episode but they might have something to do with his planning a murder.

First, he drew a map.

Then, he imagined taking out the incapacitated body of Seo JiHoon in a duffel bag.  He foresaw the bag breaking apart with the weight of JiHoon so he ditched his plan.

Episode 4:

“Saw” (at 05:05)

I thought it was brilliant how Dongshik copied Jigsaw, the serial killer Jigsaw, and frightened Seo Jihoon out of his wits. His elaborate scheme to kill JiHoon also managed to impress the real psychopath Seo Inwoo.

Note: one of the famous quote from this movie was “he doesn’t want us to cut through our chains. He wants us to cut through our feet!”

Well, Dongshik exchanged “feet” for “legs.” For every wrong answer that JiHoon made to his question, he sawed off the leg of the stool.

“American Psycho” (at 1:04:04)

Inwoo invited Dongshik to his very exclusive, “members-only” club and introduced him to his crowd. One rich kid was particularly annoying. When he harassed a waiter, Dongshik stepped in.

Dongshik: You said you were curious about what happened to Seo JiHoon. I did it. I was going to play with him a bit, and then kill him but he begged me crying to spare his life. Why did I do it? I can’t stand it when bastards think they’re tough and act up. Bastards like you and Seo Ji Hoon.
Rich kid: What are you talking about, you crazy bastard?
Dongshik: Sorry, but I’m not crazy at all. I think you’re not understanding so let me explain so you can understand.

Dongshik: Me? When I see guys like you, I think two things. One is “Wow! This guy must have it all. How much are his clothes? And his watch? I wonder what car he drives. How much more is his salary compared to mine?” And you know what the other one is? If I stab this into your head, how would you feel?”

I think the rich kid’s obnoxious behavior reminded Dongshik of another obnoxious rich kid named Paul Allen in the movie “American Psycho.” Christian Bale starred in this movie as a preppy serial killer. He hacked Paul Allen to death.

I didn’t watch it but google is my friend. Here’s an interesting conversation:

Patrick Bateman: When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things. One part wants me to take her out, talk to her, be real nice and sweet and treat her right.
David Van Patten: And what did the other part think?
Patrick Bateman: What her head would look like on a stick…

source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_psycho/quotes/

This sounded like Dongshik’s conversation with the rich kid, right?

Anyway, Dongshik only intimidated the rich kid with scary words. It was Inwoo who killed his own friend when he became annoyed by his supercilious attitude toward him and his imperious demands to fire Dongshik. Inwoo bludgeoned him to death and blood splattered all over him just like in “American Psycho.” Inwoo was like Christian Bale/Patrick Bateman in the “American Psycho.”

Episode 5:

“No Country for Old Men”  (at 19:00)

Dongshik: What’s the most you ever lost on a coin toss?
Bullies: What are you saying?
Dongshik: Heads. Tails. Choose.
Bullies: Did he go crazy, really?
Dongshik: What a coincidence. This is a coin from 2002. That means it’s the same age as you guys. It’s perfect for choosing your fate. Choose, quick. Heads or tails?
Bullies: We need to bet something on it, though. What about one million won?
Dongshik: Actually the bet is already made. I did.
Bullies: What did you bet on?
Dongshik: You guys’ lives.

Dongshik was reenacting this scene. Javier Bardem was scary.

The bullies realized he was merely spouting a line from a movie and weren’t intimidated by him. They pummeled him.

Little did the bullies know that Dongshik was right. He was betting on their lives. After the police arrested them, their parents went to the station to protest the police treatment. The female lead, Shim Bokyung, told the parents some home truths. She said, “The kids, what they did was wrong. What kind of punishment they’ll receive if they do something wrong? If you don’t teach them at the appropriate time, they become monsters when they get older. It seems like all of you who are parents don’t have any intention of teaching them, so I will instead them them for certain.”

Note on DongShik’s diary:

Just as the real psychopath Seo InWoo’s diary entries show us that there are sick and twisted people, DongShik’s entries show that “pure” evil does not exist as an independent force. Although his memories were expunged after the car accident, and replaced with those of a psychopath because of the diary, he nonetheless decides that he isn’t someone who’s capable of harming weak and defenseless people.  To me, he’s become a far nobler person than he was prior to his memory loss because he consciously decides to “turn the other cheek” rather than seek revenge. It means he’s fighting his predilection — or what he erroneously thought as his predilection — for evil deeds.

However, there’s a caveat here: I will disavow DongShik’s actions should he resort to some sort of vigilante justice to kill the predators in order to defend the weak.

Episode 6:

“Memories of a Murder” (at 34:36)

Dongshik: So…do you remember the last shot in the movie
BoKyung: What was it?
Dongshik: An older ex-detective Park Doo man, at the location where an incident took place, stares into the camera directly. As if, among the people sitting in the audience at that very moment, he’s looking for a criminal. The Director Bong Joon Ho said this, “The culprit of the the Hwaseong serial murders case will come see the movie no matter what. So it means that at the end, what the protagonist was looking at was the real culprit’s face.”
BoKyung: Did he really watch it?
Dongshik: Not only once. But he must have watched it several times. While watching the movie, he reminisced about those times and felt the pleasure of having not been caught.
BoKyung: Just then, you quite looked like a profiler.
Dongshik: Well…I’m just a thriller freak.
BoKyung: Then perhaps you must be really interested in criminal psychology or that kind of thing?

Unwittingly, he would copy the detective in the movie and address the real serial killer Seo Inwoo, too.

Edited to add this piece of info from @nrllee. She read it from either soompi or dramabeans. Thanks, @nrllee.

For ep 6. Memories of a Murder, Jung InSun was in that. As a child actress. So when DS asked BK, “Do you remember the last scene of the movie?” she should’ve because she was in that last scene 😂. The whole premise of that movie is that the killer is amongst us. Just your everyday Joe. The killer was never really found out in that movie.

https://youtu.be/yJc9O8ogyuM (in 1:39 onwards)

Then “Memories of a Murder” again (at 50:48)

Dongshik: I told you before about “Memories of Murder,” right? Did you see that movie?
BoKyung: Yes.
Dongshik: There, on rainy days where Yoo Jae Ha’s song “Gloomy Letter” was broadcast per request, the murder occurred. With these dates as well, there surely… (he thought to himself) Wait. These dates. It somehow isn’t unfamiliar.”

He would recognize the pattern to the murders and deduce that another murder (still undiscovered by BoKyung) was committed on July 8.

Episode 6:

“The Shining” (at 43:58)

Dongshik: Nehrukkui really ended up dying while working like crazy without any time to play. Nekrukki didn’t even get to play and only worked like crazy so why should he die?

Dongshik was borrowing  a line used in “The Shining.” I didn’t watch this film (because I’m a scaredy-cat) but there was scene when the heroine saw that Jack Nicholson’s character had been typing “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” a million times. He’d been homicidal for ages.

Here’s a clip.

 

Then Dongshik jumped out of nowhere to say, “I’m here.”

He was supposed to be copying Jack Nicholson after he axed the door down and taunted the female lead, “Heerrre’s Johnny!”

Here’s a clip.

Of course, Yoon Shiyoon is no Jack Nicholson. He couldn’t be scary even if he tried.

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I’ll keep this updated.