Sisyphus: Ep 4 Review

Please move to other sites if you don’t like to read my theories. Thank you.

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1. BTS “Bring the Soul” poster

Thanks, Janey, for doing the research. You wrote:

“Bring the Soul the movie”, a documentary on BTS, was released in august 7, 2019 and SH was playing “Spring Day”. Uploader was created in 2021, after which there was a war and a lot of people perished.

This info goes well with my theory…no, my character analysis of TaeSul as Sisyphus.

He reminded me of Sisyphus for his tenacity and obstinacy. Yes, he’s tenacious. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to correct mistakes. But he’s also stubborn to a fault. He doesn’t see when he’s stuck in a self-defeating cycle. He doesn’t know when to stop. He’ll end up inventing a time machine so he can be reunited with his loved ones and won’t care if his time machine will have disastrous consequences.

He’s been consistent that he’ll do anything to anything to fix the past. For instance, aboard the plane, he demonstrated that was Mr. Fixit.

To his therapist, he said, “Had I known that would be the last time, if I knew, I’d do anything to go back to that day, even just once.”

To Mr. Park’s question, “Let’s say there’s something you regret doing in the past, and you want to change it. How much would you be willing to pay for it?” he answered, “Everything I got.”

After hearing the facts from Mr. Park that success rate of returning is only about 5 percent, he didn’t want his brother taking the uploader to return to the year 2020.

Taesul: Then if my brother got into that accident after arriving here on an uploader, he really is alive right now.
SeoHae: That’s right.
Taesul: He won’t die if he doesn’t come back. (He and SH exchanged looks.) Then I should find him and tell him to never come.

The alien Hyunki looked away. I thought he looked away because he was hiding a secret.

Aug 7 2019: BTS concert; everything looks upbeat
Aug 12, 2020: SeoHae eats at restaurant, Taesul released from hospital
Aug 13, 2020: Seohae opens suitcase; Taesul opens hyung’s suitcase
Aug 15, 2020: Train to Busan; Taesul’s kidnapping
Aug 19, 2020: TV reporting that 72 hours have passed since Taesul’s kidnapping
Aug 20, 2020: Alien Hyunki arrives for his mother’s death; shoot-out
Aug 27, 2020: Party at Chairman’s house

Sometime in 2020, TS and SH marry each other, she’s shot on her wedding day.
-we don’t know whether she survives the shot or not

Sometime in 2020, on or before Seohae’s birthday, she dies.
-it’s written so in her diary

Sometime in 2021, Taesul creates uploader…probably to get her back.
-it’s interesting that he created the code for the downloader in 2001

but it took him 20 years to finish the uploader.

Note: During his opening speech, Eddie Kim quoted a science-fiction writer. “Writer William Gibson once said, the future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” What Mr. Gibson meant was that the advanced technology, scientific innovations, and medical discoveries of the future were already available to those who could afford them. They’re unevenly distributed because not everybody can acquire or utilize them.

Now, Mr. Park also quoted the same line when he was watching the download of HyunKi. I think what he meant was, despite the fact that quantum teleportation is available to everybody, not all would have access to the same kind of quality service that would guarantee that all their limbs would arrive intact at their final destination. There were risks to quantum teleportation.

2. SeoHae’s birthday mystery

Thanks, GB, for writing her diary entry down. It saved me the trouble.

Dear Seo Hae, Happy Birthday.
By the time you read this, I’ll be dead. Don’t be surprised. What you’re looking at is from yourself.
Listen carefully. There is something we must do. Take the uploader and go to the past. Save Han Tae Sul. If he lives, the war can be stopped. Only you can do this.

My notes:

First, she didn’t want Mr. Park to read it out loud. She didn’t want TaeSul to know that:

a. she was on a suicide mission to save him, and
b. she died and failed her mission.

The fact that war occurred meant that Taesul died despite Seohae’s efforts.

However, just like what I said in my First Impressions, she’s also Sisyphus because she won’t accept defeat. Her father made her promise not to meet Han Taesul, but she contacted him about the suitcase and went to Busan. If he had been shot and killed back then, then the uploader wouldn’t have been created. When the Assassin told her, “there’s no point running, you know how it’s going to end,” she got mad.

Like Mr. Park, she believed that the future was the mirror of the present and couldn’t be changed. But by keeping Taesul ignorant of the inevitable doom, I think she was holding on to hope that they could somehow change their fate.

Second, when’s her birthday? Some theories:

A. She was born before the uploader was created.

For instance, she could have been born on Sept 30, 2012. That’s the passcode on her suitcase, 120930. I agree with nrllee, however. That would make her 8 years old in 2020, so why doesn’t she know that bananas needed to be peeled before eating?

B. She was born after the uploader was created.

For example, August 11, 2025. That’s the number tattooed on her, 250811.

C. All I say is that when her father (here, I’m assuming HyunKi’s police partner was her father) was filling out the lotto ticket, he wasn’t married yet to her mother. He had no wedding ring. 😊

No rings, not even a wedding band.

3. The suitcases

Thanks, nrllee, for writing this conversation down.

TS: What is that (the guy is about to inject a hypodermic into the neck of the new guy who was just downloaded)
Henchman1: Atropine. They are taught to run as soon as they arrive.
TS: Why do they come only in their underwear?
H1: They need to transfer the least amount of information to prevent errors.
TS: What’s in that suitcase?
H1: Stuff they want to bring. Stuff like money.
TS: You said they need the least bit of information…
H1: They can’t come emptyhanded. They need to survive.
TS: Right…but what if someone’s future self comes here? Won’t there be issues if there’s a same identity and information?
H1: Time paradox. Their bodies and memories get mixed. And eventually one side disappears.

Aside from the suitcases of the assassins which contained rifles, the other four suitcases we’ve seen contained nothing that was worth a lot of money to the brokers. Instead, the suitcases of Taesan, Seohae, the one with the baseball book 2020, and HyunKi, contained something that they regretted.

Taesan: the key and a camera with the undeveloped film of significant events in Taesul’s which he missed.
Seohae: her diary containing instructions about TaeSul: she regrets not being to save Taesul.
Anonymous Alien: baseball 2020 and a tool set for picking a lock
HyunKi: different ramen to satisfy his mom’s taste: he regrets not being kinder to his mom, getting mad because she ate ramen, and avoiding her call.

4. The lotto

For Janey, lol. 🙂

At the restaurant, she guessed the last five numbers:

5, 21… (she guessed the following) 22, 8, 18, 38, 10

At the train station, she picked these numbers:

1, 7, 16, 21, 27, ?

Her dad was going to write in the same numbers on ten tickets because that was how his friend won the lottery.

These were his lucky numbers:

2, 5, 9, 18, 23, 24

However, please note that, shortly before they received a dispatch call, he totally CHANGED the numbers he was writing down. That’s very peculiar. He must have had a brain freeze or a “glitch” that coincided with the arrival of the alien with the incomplete arm.

These were the numbers he filled out on that one ticket.

First Column: 7, 8, 18, 23, 26, 31
Second Column: 4, 16, 26, 29, 39, 44
Third Column: 3, 9, 18, 23, 24

As I said previously, I doubt that she memorized the winning numbers. If she had to write in her diary a reminder to “call Han Taesul” on August 13, 2020 – and that was an important date — then she would NOT remember some random numbers on the off-chance that she was going to encounter Jaesun.

5. Gaslighting of Eddie Kim

It’s disconcerting when the Control Bureau chief paid a visit to Eddie, and insisted that Taesul’s phone call never happened. He made Eddie doubt what really happened that morning, and question his sanity. The chief must have ordered the record of the call deleted from Eddie’s phone.

Chief: I heard Mr. Han contacted you this morning.
Eddie: Yes.
Chief: Did you report it to the police.
Eddie: No, I can’t trust them.
Chief: Good thinking. And you spoke to him on the phone?
Eddie: No, just a text. He sent his location.
Chief: If you didn’t talk to himself, how can you be sure that it was him who sent it?
Eddie: No one except Taesul can turn on that phone. (the chairman and the chief looked at each other) Whether I talked to him or got a text from him, it doesn’t change the fact that he was there. We have to send someone —
Chief: Mr. Kim. I know that you’re feeling impatient right now. I’m sure you’re anxious. Could you show me that text?
Eddie: Of course, just a minute. (Message couldn’t be found) Wait. But I got a message. I definitely got —
Chief: When you’re feeling anxious, you may believe you got a message when you didn’t.
Eddie: No, that’s impossible.
Chief: (takes his leave)

And since Eddie wasn’t the type to be defiant and confrontational, it didn’t take him long to accept this version of reality, even though he knew something was wrong. Inasmuch I’d like to accuse him of disloyalty, Eddie’s major flaw is that he’s spineless.

I think the Chairman is also in cahoots with the CB chief on this.

6. The Alien Jung HyunKi

I suspect that, since he was working for the Control Bureau, he mistook Seohae to be an enemy. When he was inside the car waiting for Taesul to get the car started, he saw Seohae running towards them and he looked worried. The viewers’ general impression was he was worried for HER because the Control Bureau was ganging up on her.

However, I think he was really worried about his and Taesul’s safety because the Control Bureau couldn’t stop Seohae on her tracks. He was trying to get Taesul’s attention because he feared that Seohae would reach them soon.

HyunKi: Mr. Han.
Taesul: What?
HyunKi: That woman.
Taesul: What?

My impression here was that he was more frightened of SeoHae reaching their vehicle than the Control Bureau. But he soon realized that she was on their side, when Taesul shouted, “Hey, stop fighting and come over here!”

That’s how his apology later made sense to me. He was apologizing for misunderstanding Seohae’s allegiance and motives. She wasn’t an enemy. She wasn’t one of the Sigma assassins.

HyunKi: You won’t like what you’ll see there.
Taesul: Just give me the address.
HyunKi: Promise me one thing. Don’t go to the second floor. The study. And you. (looking at Seohae) Don’t go outside. There’s a sniper. My first mission was to kill you.
Seohae: Who were you working with?
Hyunki: The Control Bureau. I’m really sorry. I did things that I shouldn’t have done to you. I’m sorry. (then looking at Taesul) It was August 27. There was some kind of party. (writing down an address)
Seohae: (looking warily behind her and then at the clock on the wall)

NOTE: I believe she was looking at the clock.

The clock was to her left — as seen here.

Note the time: 9:00 am.

HyunKi: (handing the address to Taesul)
Taesul: That’s the chairman’s house. What happened?

Seohae was still looking at the clock worriedly. Taesul noticed her staring at the wall.

Seohae: Wait!

Then they all looked at the clock.

And then Seohae looked at the door. The men were coming.

Remember: this is MY theory of the two clocks: take it or leave it…or make up your own theory. I think they saw the wall clock speeding up because the Control Bureau was outside. Seohae’s delayed/slower time inside Hyunki’s house was catching up to the Control Bureau’s faster time.

What does the time look up here? 9:00 am? 9:15 am?

After all that shooting was done, HyunKi came out hiding. He showed them the key to his car, and he grabbed Seohae’s hand for his final words.

HyunKi: No matter what I do from now on, forgive me. That’s the only way you can win.

In the end, HyunKi was rooting for Seohae to achieve her mission, too. He probably realized that he’d be manipulated by the Control Bureau to think that Seohae was the biggest enemy.

7. The drones

Seohae: It’s a drone.
Taesul: What? A drone? Here they go again. But how did they know our location?

Seohae: They know everything. This happened in their past.
Taesul: My cellphone! My GPS was on!

lol. I’ll have to side with Taesul on this one. They knew because his GPS was on. To me, Seohae was sounding a bit fatalistic, e.g., “We’re doomed! We’re not going to make it.” On the other hand, Taesul wanted a practical answer.

But I would love to have their faces as a screensaver. lol.

8. Taesul

I think he explains too much, but I get it. It’s the writer’s way of informing the audience what Taesul is about to do. And whether the director planned it or not, their bickering gives the audience an amusing diversion during the never-ending chase scenes.

Taesul: If you just jump, you’ll die. You need to think.
Seohae: Think about what?
Taesul: The water won’t be cold this time of the year, so you have to stretch out your legs and fall vertically. How much do you weigh.
Seohae: Why are you asking?
Taesul: I need to calculate.
Seohae: No way.
Taesul: Okay, let’s say you weight about 55kg.
Seohae: It’s 50kg.
Taesul: What? 50kg? Why are you so skinny? You need to eat more.

Did he say that she wasn’t his type? So what’s it to him if she’s skinny?

Taesul: (continuing) If you drop from this height, you’ll go six to seven meters underwater. The current will be fast, and you won’t see anything. You won’t know which way is up. So what I mean is, (grabbing her hand) don’t let go of my hand.

If this drama was a romcom like “Start-Up,” I’d say that he liked to hold her hands and was looking for an excuse to do so. But since romance in this drama takes a backseat to the mystery of time travel, I don’t think he was flirting with her. It’s more a sign of his letting his guard down around her.

Nevertheless, I see this gesture as a big improvement from when he ordered her to stay away from him in case she exposed him to radiation.

He might still think that getting married to her was a preposterous idea but at least, he didn’t shun taking responsibility for her wellbeing. He certainly came through for her at the most unexpected times.

And here.

18 Comments On “Sisyphus: Ep 4 Review”

  1. Same Same Couple😂

    Thanks for your explanation pm3 😊 I wasn’t able to do a rewatch and gotta skip this week’s ep until friday night. I will come back again after all things settled! 😘

  2. Thanks for this. 😊

    I’m up to date with the episodes and I’m actually liking their bickering or the MacGyver solutions/information that TS does. 😄

  3. My last theory about this drama: Sisyphys is not related to one character, but to the whole of the characters, or even the general process.
    Pushing the rock every day for all eternity, this is the time loop that the drama will describe entirely. A terrible curse where nothing can be changed. The characters of our time age and then go back in time. Some give information to others, such as Seo Hae who will write the diary of her younger self. This younger Seo Hae will grow old and then do exactly the same thing. It is a story where there is no hope of changing destiny, because it is the story of the eternal curse of Sysiphus.
    At the same time, it does not create any temporal paradox. The loop only exists for these characters. Seen in a linear fashion, time passes before this loop, during, and then after. Nothing is stopped and nothing is rewritten in the temporal frame. The Sisyphus loop seems to be an anomaly. But an anomaly that does not fundamentally violate certain quantum rules, if we admit that all this is similar to the delayed choice experiment. And we must see all this as if it had already happened, from a more distant future.
    The drama deceives this more general view of things, by plunging us into the heart of the loop. As if it were happening in real time, when everything has already been played out. The characters’ decisions have been made, but along an additional time axis.
    If that’s it, it’s really a terrifying drama!
    If not, I would still be happy to find a little more hope.
    Maybe the theme won’t be to change things, just to have no regrets and find peace despite the harshness of the facts.

    ———————————————–

    About the article.
    The number 250811 is rather relative to her upload ID, a simple incremental number. Not a date of birth. According what we learn from Park, at ep4 beginning into the warehouse.

    No wedding ring on Seo Hae’s father’s finger. Now you’ve killed me! How can you think to go looking for such a detail?! And even… “an absence of detail”. Well done! I hope the director was meticulous about this, and that it’s not just a coincidence.

    The lotto numbers changed because of the glitch: There again, you kill me!
    Do you have the eyes of a fly?!
    Did you have a failed experiment with a teleporter? ^^

    About Eddie.
    The character knows that he is not the right man to replace Tae Sul when Kim Han Yong asks him. I consider this character to be a good manager, but not a leader. Besides, we see him rehearsing his lines for the conference. He gets almost no applause (I guess you noticed that, ah ah). On the other hand, Tae Sul arrives unexpectedly, and improvises a very funny speech, with tons of applause.

    Seo Hae looking at the clock. How could you kill me one more times, as you already do it two times ? It’s too late, I’m already dead, don’t insist, please. 🙂
    You’re not going to go after my corpse, are you ?

    46:28: already, we can hear here one of the many very good background music of the drama, with several additional and disturbing sound effects.
    Then, indeed, there is no doubt that something important is happening with the fact that Seo Hae confirms the time regularly.

    47:41: I did a freeze frame, in very high definition (1080p but on a raw, not a stream). There is NO DOUBTS: the time on the clock is 09:15.
    Between the moment when the ICB team spies inside the room (09:00) and the moment when they enter, there is an abnormal differential of 15 minutes.

    47:47: We see the clock again at 09:15.
    However: shooting the scene necessarily took much longer, I can’t see any other solution than the fact that the technical team has voluntarily set this clock.
    But wait… for once, I have some news…
    Let me get into the skin of Packmule3 for a short while (I won’t stay long, lol).

    47:57: at the moment the smoke grenade arrives on the ground, this time the clock reads 09:13 … Time has gone back on the clock !!!

    48:10 : the smoke grenade explodes, this time what the clock shows is incoherent and impossible: the hour hand shows 9:30, while the minute hand shows 5 minutes after the hour.

    Then, an important detail: the head of the CBE declares “master your shot, take them alive”. This confirms that ICB does not want to kill them.
    We even see the soldiers firing in the air, preventive fire to frighten.
    It is therefore logical in this scene that they are not more aggressive, and therefore that Tae Sul has time to play the MacGiver.
    Later, a soldier shoots into the fridge but no impact is seen. Is it special neutralizing ammunition? It then, why we don’t see them change the magazine ? Weird. Maybe a mistake?

    50:39: Tae Sul shoots a bottle of Coke.
    This time… the clock has disappeared !
    It was supposed to be on the left side of the window with the green curtains.
    Maybe a shotgun blast took it down?
    In any case, someone on the technical set has thought to unhook this ^ù$*%ù clock!

    50:42: The soldier collapses. We see in the background a round object that looks like the clock, on the floor, near the window with green curtains. But impossible to read the time on it.

  4. @packmule3 good catch on the Lotto numbers. And the clock. I didn’t notice it. I thought it was odd about the time difference between the downloaders (coded in 2001) and uploaders as well. And the lack of wedding ring (I just hope it’s not one of those oops moments with props).

    I have a theory about SH’s birthdate. I think she was born in the future. And sent back to the past so there is no other SH in the present. Because if she died in 2020 on her birthday, she won’t live past that date? In theory that would’ve been her end and she would not have been able to come back in time because she never made it to the future post Holocaust. If on the other hand, she’s born in the future, she can still be conceived by her still alive dad and her mom and then grow up in the future to loop back? Does that make sense? 🤔

    So you can only loop back if you live past the Holocaust date or were born then? TSan lived which is why he can loop back. In theory, so can Officer Jung. Presumably TSul dies (the Holocaust occurs) so he can never loop back.

  5. @packmule3 Thank you for the review! I do hope you are okay!

    So far I really enjoy what you guys have come up with.
    I have to rewatch the first episodes to notice more.

    @WEnchanteur, I don’t believe that we see the terrifying case scenario.

    Also, the logic that they cannot change the future is fresh, since in all the other Sci-Fi series (check Fringe, the Travelers, etc) the future can be changed.

    If they are on a time loop that makes sense. It is like they are recreating the whole x days of their lives for x times over and over again.

    P.S. The email notifications are not working @Packmule3

  6. I hope the props guy didn’t mess up on the wedding ring just like he messed up the SeoJin’s diploma. Or 🤔 maybe the diploma is a glitch just like the lotto numbers?!

    I get why uploading of a person is “technologically impossible” as TS said. That’s why he was working with a sugar cube. It’s non-living thing without never-ending cell reproduction and brain synapses like humans. If you were to take a snapshot of a human body to copy, upload, and teleport it, it would be impossible to freeze-frame every single cellular and neural activity. But whatever you couldn’t copy or upload, would be downloaded on the other side.

    But a sugar cube would be easy enough.

    Yes, I agree with you. I also think that SH wasn’t born yet in 2020. That’s why it’s ironic that TaeSul scoffed at marrying a kindergartner (in Episode 1) when he was going to marry someone who wasn’t even born yet.

    Dad and mom would conceive her post-Holocaust so she has no idea what the old world was. Even if she died within the time loop (by 2020 or 2021) because of the war, her parents would still meet and give birth to her in the future.

  7. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    Thanks @pkml3. I’m glad to keep seeing theories, new, old, variants of theories, anything goes theories. I find myself constantly changing my mind as well, about what’s really going on. That’s the fun, before show puts down the ‘logic’ (if it ever does) and erases our doubts. Still, show may have logic with all sizes of holes, so it will be fun to nitpick even after we are told what’s going on, as well!!

  8. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    LOL @WEnchanteur, reading you is so entertaining. I only managed to get time to read properly. Thank you for entertaining us!

    Now I have to re-watch at slow speed to look for the clock!!!

  9. Good theory, WEnchanteur. I’m sure it isn’t going to be your last. There are still 12 episodes left.

    I like seeing your enthusiasm for the drama. It’s contagious.

    Yes. The clock 🕰 is odd. The three of them all looked at the wall.

    Hyunki was only writing the address so it should have taken him only a minute. Tops. And the men weren’t dithering outside either. Speed is essential esp when planning a surprise breach.

  10. What sharp eyes you have @PM3! Love the theories and the amount of details you catch. I am so fixated on the subtitles, I have to rewatch to catch these. And take note of @WEnchanteur’s time stamps on the clock!

    Thanks for the lotto details on SH’s dad! He has not come across the time traveler (without the arm) yet in the lotto ticket scene so not sure how he got affected by the anomaly? I don’t think he even got his tickets generated since they were called to the incident with alien.

    I also believe that SH was born in post apocalyptic SK. Now I am trying to think what would have prompted her to start this seemingly never ending loop? She is trained for combat, is she part of some kind of a group with her dad? she was given this mission, but she fell in love, died and then unraveled TSul to create the uploader to save her. I am also waiting for her to discuss the suitcase and why she noted down that TSul should not open it in her diary. It seemed important.

    I believe there will be an end to this loop.
    Like any Groundhog Day type of movie or story, there’s this one thing that has to be discovered or done differently to stop the loop. Ah… does that mean the lovers are doomed? The forgiveness comment of Hyunki, is that a change in the loop? It seemed like it was his first time as traveler.

    I have more questions than answers. And Tsan is a total mystery. I hope we get to see some glimpse to that in the next eps.

  11. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    Hi @pkml3, please open the next thread for Sisyphus Episodes 5 & 6. Thanks!

  12. Thanks for the reminder! 🙂

  13. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    @pkml3, you’re most welcome! If the emojis would render nicely, I’d send you ice-cream and cookies!!!

  14. Alas. I gave up ice cream, cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, and pastries and for Lent. I bought Girl Scout cookies but I hid them where I’d need a stepstool just to reach them. That’s why I’ve been cranky and getting migraines these days. 🙁

  15. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 LOL. I’ve done the opposite … I’ve bought a whole bunch of snacks and they are in plain sight and I’m honing my skills to deal with temptation. ◝(๑⁺д⁺๑)◞՞

    I actually like the way of giving up bad habits, anger, impatience etc … and showing more love (especially towards the hard-to-love folks) as the kind of ‘giving up for Lent’ action. My problem is that I need to pair this up with proper prayer … or end up like a Pharisee!!
    (^_・)

  16. Thank you for your review @PM3! Also thanks for sharing your theory, @WEnchanteur – it’s really interesting and I enjoy reading it a lot!

  17. Annyeong,

    @packmule3, i would also like to have Tsul and SH’s faces as screensaver haha. i do love their bickering and Tsul’s nagging also. like he’s schooling her and US. haha. opposites do attract and SH’s presence in his life became a catalyst for a character change in TSul. He was selfish… and being with SH is changing that. He’s becoming a better version of TSul.

    Thanks for catching all the details regarding lotto and clock although it still goes over me. haha i love how you’re killing @WEnchanteur with your eye for the minute details haha

    @janey how did SH start the time loop? good question. is this answered anywhere here?

    @GB, i like the idea of giving up bad habits for Lent. For Fasting, i’ve given up Phone and TV. I like the idea of exercising virtue. i think we’re always in danger of the pharisee syndrome. Humility is the key. and Prayer 🙂

  18. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    Thanks for this @HK_Lady!!! I laughed loud and long at what you wrote. Thanks for adding entertainment to the thread. Did we indeed kill @WE with our meticulousness? He’s a very meticulous person himself!! If anything, he also ‘drowns’ us in details LOL.

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