Why’s up with the title? Why are these people called the “counters” instead of “The Red Tracksuits” after their uniform?
I can only think of four reasons:
1. The obvious one: the team fights evil. To counter means to oppose or to defend against something. The team counters the evil found in the city of Jungjin.
2. Another obvious reason: the team works at a noodle bar. The ahjumma MaeOk and the ahjussi Motak prepare the noodle dishes at the kitchen counter, while Hana serves the dishes at the tables, or counters.
3. And the non-so-obvious one: it’s their job. As Grim Reapers in red tracksuits, the team catches evil spirits prowling around the city and brings them to justice in the afterworld. In this sense, they’re counters because they keep COUNT of how many souls these evil spirits captured and hold them ACCOUNTABLE for their crimes.
So those are the three tops reasons I could think of. The last two are specific to Sumun, the Uncanny Counter of the drama.
4. He’s a token. In board games, there are moving pieces that represent the players. For example, in Monopoly, I liked to use the thimble and dog. However, when I look at Sumun, I see him as a pawn in the chess game of the afterworld deities. The other three counters, MaeOk, Motak, and Hana, may care for Sumun, since he’s one of their own, but I don’t think the Old Lady Wigen will give him a fair shake.
5. To me, he’s Geiger counter.
The Geiger counter is an instrument that detects radiation.
Look: There’s always a creation myth when a superhero is born.
We know about the creation myth of Spiderman. He was bitten by a radioactive spider. In Superman’s creation myth, he was the last surviving citizen of the planet Krypton. His parents had sent him to Earth to save him. And according to Batman’s creation myth, when his rich parents were killed, he swore to get rid of the criminals in Gotham City and chose his Batman disguise to intimidate them.
A creation myth is the story of how something or someone began.
In Sumun the Uncanny Counter’s creation myth, he acquired his special power when a flying orb zapped into his body. He had just finished eating noodles to celebrate his birthday with his close friends when this flying orb made a beeline for him and entered his body. He was lifted in the air then dumped back to the ground. His hair began sprouting curls as if some energy was frying his straight hair into wavelets (Think of bacon strips, lol).
This flying orb had been looking for a host body because its previous host was just murdered. It was uncannily, mysteriously, and inexplicably drawn to Sumun’s body.
Like a metal to a magnet.
Later on, this flying orb would be revealed as Wigen, a female spirit from the afterwold. Thanks to Sumun, she “dramatically survived” the loss of her host body. But what’s uncanny about Sumun is that he wasn’t in a coma. It was unheard-of for someone alive to become a counter.
According to Wigen, Sumun was filled with energy. Once she slipped in his body, she couldn’t even take all the energy he had in him. He had anger and passion all piled up. Moreover, she said that no one would be able to take him once he blew up.
An image of a nuclear explosion easily came into my mind when Sumun’s power was described.
To me, Sumun is a ticking timebomb. He needs to learn how to control not only his power, but also the “anger and passion” building up inside of him.
That’s why I say that he’s a Geiger counter. Like how a Geiger counter detects and monitors the radiation and energy level, he needs to detect and monitor his own negative emotions and his use of his extraordinary powers so he doesn’t step out of bounds and become a villain himself.
Now, that’s the creation myth of Sumun.
I think there’s another creation myth being told in Episode 1. This creation myth involves the beginnings of the city of Jungjin. To me, this creation myth is the hidden backstory of the drama.
As far as I can tell, the killing of Sumun’s parents, and the attempted murder of the ahjussi Motak are connected to the construction of the city. It was hinted in the story. Sumun’s parents worked in the police force. Motak appeared to be his father’s colleague. They were working on the same case. They must have uncovered an anomaly because somebody powerful enough – I suspect it was the construction developer — hired gangsters to kill them both at the same time. It was synchronized hit on the two men.
Motak had to fight a gang on the rooftop.
Behind him in the background was an underdeveloped skyline. You could tell that it wasn’t a bustling city because there weren’t many lights coming from high-rises and tall structures.
Motak lost his fight against the gangsters; he was pushed off the rooftop and he landed on top of a car.
Meanwhile, in another part of town, a truck mowed into Sumun’s car. The Truck-of-Doom instantly killed his parents. He survived it but he was left permanently crippled. The crash happened in front of an empty field. In seven short years, that empty landscape was transformed into an urban zone.
You don’t need to be a genius to connect the visual clues here. The removal of Motak and Sumun’s dad from their active investigation allowed the development of this city Jungjin to progress without hitches.
But there were hints that things weren’t alright in the city. There was a foreshadowing when Sumun took a picture of the city from the distance.
Do you see what I see? A gleaming white city in the background should always send warning bells. It’s a common trope, like the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz, that a city with a monochromatic color or similar architectural design would have shady leaders.
1. The banner posted at the construction site said, “Halt unconsented redevelopment.” This indicated that there’s a citizen movement against the developer and the construction company.
2. As Sumun and his friends passed the construction sight, Sumun said, “The hideout for the last villain.”
He could have been referring to building complex as a whole or just the last tower being built.
The sign on the wall touted the tower as “Taesin Vision.” According to Sumun, it was going to be so tall it could be seen in North Korean.
3. Then, there was a banner saying, “Taesin Construction will keep Mayor Shin Myeong-Hwi’s promise and create JungJin’s new town.”
This sign would portend corruption, influence peddling, and political campaigning.
4. A young woman was handing out flyers about a missing couple. Nobody seemed to care. In fact, Sumun picked a flyer out of the goodness of his heart.
5. Hana saw a vision of man being murdered. The police would cover it up as a suicide.
6. The police force was corrupt.
7. As it turns out, this murdered man was a father protesting the death of his daughter.
He was CEO Kwon of Love Jungjin. He was petitioning the local government to look into the radiation level of the city.
8. The Mayor seemed to be a puppet. His aide destroyed the radiation report.
9. Last but not least, there was rampant bullying at school, and the Mayor’s son was the ringleader.
Clearly, rot is growing in the city but nobody seems to care. That’s why I say that Sumun is a Geiger counter. Again, just like how a Geiger counter monitors the radiation level, Sumun is meant to detect the level of toxicity and apathy in the city.
To me, the death of Sumun’s parents is not unlike the death of Batman’s parents. The memory and the mystery surrounding the death of his parents will push him to either become an angry street vigilante or a more compassionate superhero like he and his friends were creating in their imagination.
Only time will tell. For now, I’m interesting to see how the evolution of this superhero.
The first episode reminds me a bit of “Mystic Pop-Up Bar”, where the spiritual realm interacts with the mundane world, and I imagine this theme will continue through the series.
In this first episode the protagonist/antagonist relationships are well established, together with the suggestion that the spiritual realm is perhaps looking at a paradigm shift in its patterns, and will it be able to cope?
The fact that Wi-gen, urgently seeking a comatose body to transfer to and finding an acceptable but non-comatose alternative, suggests that her new partner possesses characteristics which will profoundly influence the development of the storyline.
Although on the surface So-mun seems to be taking normal steps through his post-pubescent years, it is not so, and I think one of the strongest points in this episode is not only does he have his first violent encounter with the real enemy (the Mayor’s son) but also he must do battle with his best friend’s terrible acceptance of the bully-victim’s reality.
After all this, I’m beginning to see So-mun as perhaps a type of incipient archangel Michael. And I see that @packmule identifies him as a container of energy, with which I thoroughly agree.
I’m already half-way through Episode 2, and I’m pretty well hooked, although I wish they’d lose the red track-suits.
Thanks @pkml3! Let me try and apply my much depleted brain power to recall what I’ve watched so far. Besides the overt message that So Mun is given a role to counter the evil in spirits bent on staying in the earthly realm, is the one that there is a parallel evil in both the secular and spiritual realms, and that both need to be battled against.
I agree with Juriel, that the attitude of subservience, in the face of evil and bullying, is also under attack in this show. A question that might be raised: which is worse – the evil enabled by a wrong application of humble subservience and fear or the evil itself? Should the enablers of evil behaviour be exempt when the bullies are punished? Do they do nothing wrong by not fighting back. Which is more insidious? This might be one of show’s themes.
The other will be the coming of age of So Mun (and his friends?) as they grapple with normalized, accepted ‘unacceptable’ biased treatment in their normal school life, while bringing soul sucking demons to justice. I felt that it was a most telling remark that it was said, unlike on earth, in the spiritual realm, evil would be punished.
The first episodes gave great cathartic satisfaction that indeed, evil was being punished, but unlike the spiritual world, the earthly evil had a bad habit of rebounding to cause greater harm. Would that it would be true as well, for earth that all evil gets punished, but that, we know, is not yet possible.
It’s interesting that So Mun behaves and sounds like the most mild-tempered, reasonable, even most humble of boys, but he’s said to have an energy and anger that cannot be contained. That hearkens to a mild-mannered Clark Kent, with untold power? (So too Mayor Shin who looks respectable, but who might be one of the worst of villains.)
We see that So Mun can reach murderous heights in a flash, and that he has the uncanny ability to form a Counter Territory around him, which gives him an added boost of power. That’s scary stuff for a young fellow to have to manage and control.
I like that for some as yet unknown reason, it was this quiet, unobtrusive, lame, young man, who gets to be a Counter. Not only does he have to counter evil in humans, and in spirits, but also in himself. I look forward to the ups and downs in the lives of the Team Counter that will revolve around So Mun and the Team School Friends who will learn much together.
He can form a “Counter Territory”? I’ve got to see that. What episode?
Hi! It’s in episode 4, where So Mun faces all the bullies, the Mayor’s son, the other bully leader. They’ve beaten his best friends again. 😢
So Mun was able to call/harness the rainbow 🌈 looking counter territory around them. It’s true what @GB said about his extra energy.
I’m really liking the show except for the violence/evil stuff. I’ve had to close my eyes to it a couple of times like the one in episode 3? There’s a hammering scene. 😩
Yes, @pkml3, @agdr03 is right. I think I noticed it too in Ep 3 but I have a bad memory. The territory seems to spring up around him when he’s angry or stressed or has to fight.
So far he supercedes the rest in terms of strength ie he can jump higher than any of them, and he may be faster too as a result. We will hopefully be getting to see more and more of his powers being revealed over time.
There has to be a reason why he can contain Wigen, when he’s alert and active and not in a coma.
Okay. Will keep an eye out. I’ll TRY to catch up since we’re getting new episodes tomorrow. I’ll open a thread for you for Eps 5 to 6.
Spoiler! My memory is a bit faint as well. I need to focus more on the show when I watch it.
Do you think the reason why he’s able to contain Wigen is connected to his parents death and the missing file of the year they died. I can tell their death and Mo Tak is connected to the earthly stuff like the construction like Packmule mentioned but it seems there’s more going on from heaven’s side in episode 4. So I wonder if there’s more to it than just humans being evil and corruption.
Also our villain in the hood, he’s possessed by an evil spirit right? He’s the number 4 demon that they were talking about? Seems like his father uses him for his dirty work. He’s very scary and he makes me so grossed out especially the ending of episode 4. I don’t deal with these stuff well.
Packmule your analysis of episode 1 was brilliant as always, I didn’t even notice or remembered the foreshadowing/observation with the girl looking for her parents, and I didn’t even think about why they’re called counters. Excited to watch this drama with you all, it’s sure to be an interesting ride (hope it replaces my emptiness from Start Up)
Thanks in advance for the next open thread @pkml3.
I was thinking that I like that Show ties in the fictional superhero story developing in the minds Team School Friends, with the real superhero So Mun will be. They have attributed to their fictional hero, the ability to grow stronger each time he defeats a villain (as we see from the last 3 screenshots above). And in truth, we see that this is truly happening, however, not for the good guys as yet, but instead for the evil spirit who sucks the life and energy from each murdered victim. Bad guy spirit Ji Cheong Shin in the hood, has reached Level 3 or 4 by absorbing the energy of his victims. We need So Mun to also keep growing in strength and ability, to keep up with Bad Spirit Ji.
What I’m anticipating is more and authentic family bonding with Team Counter. Already when So Mun got into trouble with the school, Ga Mo Tak and Chu Mae Ok thought of pretending to be his parents, to help him. And Choi Jang Mul suddenly became his guardian to bail him out. I found it cute that one trait of belonging to the same family ie whether one has curly hair or not, is made to be adopted by all the Counters. That’s a cute sign, on a human level, that they are related or of the same family, while the dots on their hand, at a spirit realm level, connects them to their ‘spirit tenants’.
In Ep 1, while waiting in line at the restaurant, one of the friends (the boy, I believe) said that he thought the staff at “Eonni’s noodles” were all family. When I saw the Counters’ hair, I snorted. They all had bad perms.
LOL. Well the Ga Mo Tak’s hair is a right mess but Do Ha Na and Chu Mae Ok were ok by standards over here.
The other thing about Ep 1 is that it has So Mun drawing his family, first sans parents, and then before he could fill in their faces, the ToD struck. It’s a family of 5 with SM in the centre.
Now he’s gaining a new Counter family and it will also be a family of 5. Unlike his parents (without faces) who were mostly absent, and a grandmother who has dementia, SM’s new family are more likely to be spending a lot of time together with SM.
The good joke is that the Counters can’t draw faces realistically at all. So it will be up to SM to fill in all the faces that the Counters will need to identify spirits with.
First off, for whatever reason for the past 2 weeks I’ve been calling the show “The uncanny ENcounter”, only just noticed the title now *facepalm*. Tbh we could do analysis on encounter too, So Mun being selected as a counter without being in a coma e.t.c
Great analysis of ep1! I did wonder why they were called counters and thought about the keeping count of spirits idea but not everything else you mentioned, good theory! Kdramas have given me a phobia of seeing a family/character in a car or on the road, so when I saw the family picture young SM drew with the faceless parents, pretty much figured they’ll pass away. And I guess it’s symbolic of the fact that he is raised by his grandparents and as time goes on, his memories of what his parents look like will fade till they become faceless. I think it will come full circle if he got to meet them once more and then drew a detailed picture.
I like the dynamics between the counters so far! Ep4 when they were defending him before the council was quite emotional. It’s definitely no coincidence that he was chosen, for some reason I thought maybe one of his parents may have been a counter too- will need to go back to ep1 to see if there are any hints of that.
Another thing prickling at the back of my mind is Ahjumma’s family backstory, she mentioned something about a son (honestly can’t remember what episode now) and I felt like that could be important.
P.S I wonder what Hana’s backstory is
Another interesting thing about Hana is her name, “Hana.”
It means “number one” in Korean. I wonder why she’s number one.
If ever I have a Korean-American granddaughter, I wouldn’t mind the name “Hana.” It sounds like “Hannah.”
Yes I was thinking about her name being Hana; often times dramas give characters meaningful names, so I wonder if thats the case here and what is she the first of? 🤔
@packmule3 You’re right about the name Hana, it is beautiful. A similar name I like is Ha Neul (means sky) although it’s admittedly more masculine. Tbh there are many names I’ve heard that I find myself thinking ‘that name is so pretty’ but the first step would be to marry a Korean, lol.
I feel like I’ve read you mention one of your son’s dating a Korean, never know might just happen!
Hello everyone!
I am kinda late, but we finished Sweet Home on Thursday and I binge watched Chocolate this weekend, which I highly recommend for the messages it portrays!
I just watched Episode 1 of the Uncanny Counter and it is really promising so far. I got the feeling of reading a comic story about a new Super Hero.
From what I’ve read above you all enjoyed it and it gets better in the next episodes…!
The Uncanny Counter certainly builds up as it goes along. In my opinion, it’s one of the better comedic productions around, but the comedy is balanced by a rather nasty brand of evil which is handled particularly well by the screenwriter and director. Plenty of goodies to come.
Hey @Juriel!
Thank you for the info! I will definitely watch more to discuss it with you guys!