Here are my notes.

I. Administration Bureau

A. Function

The bureau has a dual function: keep the Grid running and re-establish contact with founder/creator of Grid. But there’s an inter-office rivalry between the two teams in charge of running the Grid and locating the Grid founder.

B. Creation

The Grid was activated in 2005 to protect planet from solar winds and has been operational ever since.

The creation of the Grid was developed with advanced technology, made available to the Korean government by an individual (aka Ghost) from the future.

Contact with the Ghost ended prior to Grid’s activation.

C. Organization

One directive from the Bureau’s manual: “We do not see, hear, or speak.”

II. The Characters

A. Kim Saeha

1. Young Kim Saeha

I think he called up Mom and hid under the blanket when he was kid because he was afraid of the Ghost. Has he seen the Ghost in person? Or does he blame the Ghost for the death of his death?

But he also witnessed the activation of the Grid.

2. To him, the Ghost can kill with impunity because she can disappear. Hence his flashback while watching the news on the convenience store murderer.

It got his attention that murder suspect escaped the police, particularly the report that the police lost the suspect “right in front of their eyes.”

The image of the woman crying reminded him of the time his mother also cried.

He was ready to confront the Ghost in the abandoned dental office. He again had the flashback of his mother crying.

That’s why he couldn’t immediately see that the woman in front of him wasn’t the Ghost.

Saeha: This is easy for you, isn’t it? Because you can just disappear. Like you did before.

He just had to get it off his chest.

Saebyeok: (puts hands in pocket, nonchalantly)
Saeha: (realizing she wasn’t trying to escape) Who are you?
Saebyeok: So, it’s because of the woman, huh? Not the suspect.

She meant that Saeha was more interested in the female accomplice, than the male suspect. This is Saeha’s primary motive for searching for the Ghost. He wants to bring her to justice for killing his father.

2. He can read lips.

He was reluctant to let the police at the crime scene know that he could read lips because he didn’t want this bit of info reaching his Director. He doesn’t trust her.

3. He doesn’t own a gun.

That’s why he practiced loading it by looking it up on the video. If he sees the Ghost, he intends to kill it.

4. He can access any CCTV.

I think that’s the reason he asked if there wasn’t a camera in the backroom of the convenience store. He could investigate it on his own.

5. He hacked the Administration Bureau’s CCTV system.

He wants to know where all the files on the Ghost are kept. But to access the room, he’ll need Director Choi’s handprint.

6. He was fascinated with trash….

Not because he was a pervert or an environmentalist.

He rummages through the trash because he was looking for fingerprints to access the different floors in the building, especially the room with the Ghost records.

That’s also the reason he held her hands while she was holding the steel coffee tumbler. He wanted to get her handprint directly on the tumbler so he could retrieve it later.

Of course, his supervisor EoJin thought he witnessed Saeha bootlicking the boss.

EJ: I should be embarrassed, right? I wasn’t supposed to see you kissing up to her, right?
Saeha: (giving him the look)

🙂 I understand that. Some opinions, some comments are too absurd for a rebuttal. They’re best ignored.

B. The Director, Ms. Choi

1. Her office has glass walls.

Personally, I hate glass offices because there’s no privacy. I’d feel like a Barbie doll on display.

But the director has such an office space specifically in case the Ghost visits. The ghost can be spotted.

2. Her team was downsized.

She only has a three-person team to look for the Ghost. But back in time (1997?), she must have a full complement of staff working on the project which the Ghost had left for the scientists for the Grid.

I thought her office looked ghostly too.

3. She seems to be the Ghost’s original contact, but I wonder if she’s the only one left in the agency who can recognize her. If so, she’s indispensable to the Administration Bureau (AB).

4. She must be frustrated that her job is stymied, but she has no choice but to comply.

Director: The Special Investigation Bureau will take the convenience store murder case. And we’re…
EJ: We’re excluded? But our bureau found her.
Director: Finding people is our job. And that’s where our bureau’s job ends.
EJ: So are we supposed to just click on a mouse at our desks as always? I can put up with other teams looking down on us. But the one we’ve been looking for every day, the one we started to call the Ghost because we weren’t even sure if she really existed, we’ve finally found her. But we’re excluded?

I understand his frustration. It would have been professionally satisfying for them to see the end result, too, of their years of searching. A disgruntled employee like him could go rogue.

Director: It was so hard to find her, so we should leave it to the experts from here. Mr. Song Eojin. Have you ever carried out an investigation?
EJ: No, because you never let me.
Director: You were hired to click on a mouse to search the web at your desk. As an office worker. Not to act like a police officer.

Ouch. It means they’re just “gophers.”

Saeha: (speaking up) Then why did you share all that with us?
Director: Share what?
Saeha: You knew that we’d be excluded and that another team would take it. You knew it before they told you. If we were going to take it, we would’ve been busy since yesterday on a stakeout or investigating. But even yesterday we…
Director: Got off work on time.
Saeha: Yes.
Director: You’ll continue to do so. Don’t worry.

Here, it’s clear that she didn’t have a high opinion of her staff. She viewed Saeha as a “salaryman.” All he ever did was to watch the clock and collect a paycheck. But the Director was facing a mini-revolt from her staff.

Saeha: As you said, we’ve never investigated a case. And I’m not saying we should lead the investigation team alone. But if you really think of us as your team members, I think you should tell us what this is all about, how you recognized the Ghost just by looking at the composite sketch, and what exactly our job is. We’re not search engines, but your people.
Director: The Ghost is somewhere out there right now. She might disappear again any moment. If you have time for this, go find more traces of her. Dig up the murderer’s past. Find out why the Ghost is helping him and if there’s any connection between them. His house, hometown, and school. We need to go to all those places. We have a lot of work to do. Get back to work.

I think she was appeasing them when she allowed them to go on a field work. She told them that she’d be back by one in the afternoon. But she was barely out of the office when her phone buzzed that her office had been breached twice.

So she returned to her office and found Saeha.

My theory: I already suggested that Saeha entered her office to get her handprint off the tumblr. I’m also going to add that the Ghost entered the room. She was the second illegal trespasser. She must have whisked away Saeha’s fingerprinting equipment…just like she returned the cash envelope that Kim Manok snatched, and stole the briefcase from the assemblyman.

I think rescuing Saeha was the appointed task that Ghost had to do.

C. Ditzy Colleague

1. Wants the ghost to appear.
2. Can lipread.
3. Also spies on their Director.
4. I thought she intentionally distracted Saeha when she called his attention to the uniforms of the military paying their Director a visit.

D. Team leader, Song EoJin

1. Of all three employees in Ms. Choi’s staff, he seems to be the most clueless.

2. He dated Jung Saebyeok

He knew who Investigator Jung Saebyeok was when her name was brought up in the police precinct, but he didn’t say anything. (Camera conveniently didn’t show his face).

He was the first one to dash out of the room when the police said that Saebyeok went to check on the DNA report at the NFS (National Forensic Service).

3. He asked to be transferred from the Grid Control Team to Director Choi’s team.

EJ: I guess all you care about is going home no matter what happens.
Saeha: We need to go home to come to work the next day, Sir.

He derided Saeha for being a nine-to-five worker, but he too must have liked the regular hours since he requested the transfer. Or did he have another motivation for requesting the transfer? Saebyeok was definitely surprised.

4. He seems to resent the Other Team that manages the Grid. Whether it’s professional rivalry or something else, I don’t know.

EJ: I saw the Grid breaking again on my way back. And the Grid Control Team always acts like they’re the center of the world? But they won’t be able to do that anymore because we finally found her. Right, Ms. Choi?
Director: What about the NFS? Did you keep them quiet?
EJ: Yes, we told them to erase the analysis results from their memory. Our team finally produced actual results after almost 30 years, Ms. Choi.

He’s eager to be praised, but he’s getting ahead of himself. If his team does manage to find the Ghost, then his team has no purpose to exist. Meanwhile, the Grid Control Team will take control (duh) of the whole operations of the Grid, and be more important in the AB.

I must say though that the Other Team’s office looks more futuristic and hectic than Director Choi’s office.

E. Jung Saebyeok

1. As a teen, she was left outside the school when the solar wind threatened the school. Like Saeha, she witnessed the activation of the Grid.

I’m surprised that she’s working for the police instead of the Administrative Bureau. Usually, a major event like that would have inspired an impressionable youth to join the agency that handled the crisis.

2. She’s an investigator from Songje Station.

3. She has a forearm injury as a result of her contact with the Ghost’s traveling device or transponder.

4. She’s still mad at EoJin.

EJ: …Please cooperate.
Saebyeok: You’re not asking me to cooperate. You’re forcing me.
EJ: You must’ve heard everything. Why are you doing this?
Saebyeok: Yes. I’ve heard everything. But I don’t feel like cooperating.

She refused Saeha’s request, too.

Saebyeok: Since when did the Administration Bureau order the police around outside of their jurisdiction? You have no authority.
EJ: Yes, we do. It is under our jurisdiction. You know that.

I like how quickly Saeha sensed that EJ and Saebyeok weren’t strangers to each other. He probably wondered what EJ meant by “You know that.” If I were Saeha, I’d check to see whether Saebyeok previously worked at the AB before becoming a police investigator.

Saebyeok: How would I know? All I know is that you are no different from the Administration Bureau. Showing up after years and telling me to just do as you say?

She was getting personal here. It’s noteworthy that Saebyeok was familiar with the AB and their standard operating procedures. Unlike her supervisor at the precinct.

EJ: It’s not like I wanted to show up. Let’s just get this over with.

Saeha interrupted their quarrel and convinced her to hand over the hat and NFS report. Saebyeok pointedly surrendered the items to Saeha, not to EJ’s outstretched hand. The fact that she was still being petty meant that she hadn’t gotten over their past.

Saeha walked back to their car then remembered to ask something.

Saeha: Did you take a look at this?
Saebyeok: What if I did?

EJ approached her. With his back turned to Saeha, he spoke to her in a low voice. He obviously intended to coach her to protect her. He may or may not have feelings for her, but I like that he shielded her.

EJ: Say you didn’t. You must say no.
Saebyeok: I regret that I didn’t.

EJ turned to face and Saeha walked to the car. Inside the car, EJ began to explain about his relationship with Saebyeok but Saeha cut him off.

EJ: (sighing) Well, that investigator is…
Saeha: (interrupting him) No need.

Yes. The less said, the better. This way, they could claim ignorance. If they were being taped, they’d given nothing away.

5. She revealed her truth to Saeha anyway.

Saeha: Can I also have your business card?
Saebyeok: If you gave me yours first, we’d be exchanging cards, nicely and naturally.
Saeha: I thought you knew we don’t have business cards.
Saebyeok: Is it still like that over there?
Saeha: So you do know.

Saebyeok: From what I remember, Eojin used to work in a department that handles the Grid. Why is he looking for people now?
Saeha: Because he transferred.
Saebyeok: I’m asking why he transferred. Well…it’s none of my business though.
Saeha: If so, why don’t you ask him yourself?
Saebyeok: That’s never going to happen.

That night, he googled her to find more info about her. I know I would. 🙂 I wouldn’t be interested in her relationship with EJ, but I would like to know how they knew each other since the Administration Bureau would be their likely point of connection.

He saw that she was born on April 25, 1989.  She was 16 years old when the Grid was activated 2005.

Then, in 2014, when she was 25 years old, she began working as crime scene investigator at Ilcheon Police Station. The record shows that she was working in biopsy evidence. She transferred to the Songje Police Station in 2019.

If I were Saeha, I’d be curious to know where she was working prior to 2014. If she was done with university by 21, then she must have been working for 4 years at another place (or two).

6. She seems to have great deductive skills.

a. She guessed that the Ghost was the one who took down the bathroom window.

Saeha: You said you got the accomplice’s fingerprints from her cap.
Saebyeok: When did I?
Saeha: In the report that you wrote. Were they not enough?

No. Saebyeok mentioned nothing about finding her fingerprints on the cap. She wrote that, “…After that the woman suddenly disappeared into thin air. She’s presumed to be the murderer suspect Kim Manok’s accomplice. Therefore, I’m now trying to identify her and track her whereabouts.” She found the hair and she made a composite sketch of the Ghost, but she mentioned nothing about the fingerprints from the cap.

Saebyeok: The window frames were gently placed on the floor yesterday. If the suspect tore them out to escape, they would’ve been broken or damaged.
Saeha: If his accomplice had torn them out for him…that makes sense. She even prepared a rope beforehand.
Saebyeok: How’s investigation going? (studies him) You don’t know anything.
Saeha: You must know more than I do, seeing how you said I don’t know anything.

b. She guessed that Saeha saw the Ghost.

Saebyeok: (sighing) I should’ve checked the rope first yesterday. Darn it. (spotting Saeha standing close to the edge) Get down from there.

This is funny coming from her. She was scaling the wall last night and almost fell to her death, but she was worried about Saeha falling off the roof. I hope there’s no noona-donsaeng romance brewing here.

Saeha: She disappears into thin air. DNA or fingerprints. Would these be of any help?
Saebyeok: Get down now.
Saeha: Do you think she’s really an accomplice?
Saebyeok: You know her, right? The woman I saw. You know her, don’t you?
Saeha: No.
Saebyeok: “This is easy for you, isn’t it? Because you can just disappear. Like you did before.” You said this to me earlier, mistaking me for her. She disappeared into thin air before like this time, and you saw it, didn’t you?
Saeha: No.

I don’t think he was lying. My theory is he hasn’t technically seen the Ghost since he hasn’t seen her in the flesh. But he knows of the Ghost because she killed his father.

c. She didn’t fight Saeha and EJ over the NFS DNA report. She didn’t need more information because she had the scarring on her forearm. She was carrying enough info on her own skin.

Overall, I think I’m going to like this Saebyeok’s character better than I did that female cop in “L.U.C.A.”

F. Ghost

1. She’s dying. Most likely from exposure to radiation due to her time-travel. (This is a common trope in time travel. See “Alice” and “Sisyphus”)

2. According to the forensic scientist, her DNA is a “little” off. Lol. What an understatement.

Scientist: Comparing it to bones, it’s like they are all dislocated.
Saebyeok: Is that even possible? Can she still live like that?
Scientist: No, she can’t.
Saebyeok: Are you saying it’s a dead person’s DNA?
Scientist: Well, I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like this before, so I’d like to do further analysis. Do you have any other DNA samples of the cap owner?
Saebyeok: I’ll look for more. Thank you.

Her DNA is “dislocated” because she’s been traveling through both time and space.

3. She has some weird moral code.

She knew beforehand that the murderer Kim Manok was going to apprehended by the police. She even carefully removed the bathroom shutter beforehand to give him an escape window (literally, lol).

But if she already had this vision, then why didn’t she prevent Kim Manok from stabbing the store worker in the first place? If she had, then the police wouldn’t be after Kim Manok.

Also, she had no foreknowledge that Kim Manok was going to pickpocket the store owner, but she took the trouble of rewinding time to undo his petty crime. Why couldn’t she have done the same thing for the store clerk. Couldn’t she have turned back time and intercepted Kim Manok from committing a bigger crime?

I don’t get why she would prevent Kim Manok from pickpocketing, but not from killing the store clerk.

As for intercepting the bribery, I’m not clear about her motive here, too.

She didn’t want Kim Manok stealing a pay envelope containing a few thousand won (perhaps because it was an honest day wage?) but she stole a briefcase of full of money (perhaps because it was a bribe). However, by stealing the briefcase, then there’s no corruption case against the Assemblyman, right? Did she or did she not want the Assemblyman charged?

4. Her time-traveling causes glitches on the Grid.

EJ reported that he saw the Grid breaking again on his way back to the office. He meant this:

My theory is the Ghost temporarily breaks up the Grid (or pauses its functioning) in order to time/space travel.

5. She binges on cakes and soda

This makes sense. People who are receiving chemo are known to crave sweets. Because the Ghost’s cells are dying from radiation, she craves – and depends on – sugar (i.e., glucose) to boost her energy.

G. Kim Manok

1. Has no family. That’s probably the reason he was triggered to kill the store clerk. He was insulted when the clerk muttered, “What an ill-bred punk. Did he grow up without parents?”

2. Has prior police case: Animal abuse
3. Was his first sighting of the Ghost was on the night that he fled from the police?
4. He occupied the dental clinic because he learned from the restaurant owner that it was vacant. He’s been living in there “a couple of months.”

H. Last, the Security Personnel

1. The previous Security guy who collected the trash has been promoted to a four-button (lol) ranking officer in the Bureau.

2. This dialogue could be foreshadowing or a red herring.

EJ: A person like him is definitely overpaid. Jeez.
Ditzy Colleague: In movies, a person like him usually turns out to be an alien or an emperor of a star that’s perished.
EJ: He could be an Oscar Winner then.

EJ meant that he seriously doubted that the man could be anybody treacherous or dangerous. If the man turned out to be actually depraved, then he did a great job acting like an ordinary fellow.

While the Ditzy Colleague’s observations do sound shallow, EJ isn’t a good judge of character himself.

Anyway, it’ll be funny if the Security Personnel/Trash Guy turns out to be the mastermind behind all this.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

That’s it for me now.