Thanks, @nrllee, for taking one for the team! Four more episodes and this drama is over.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Choi has a deadline to “kill” IJ. Mr P wants her dead by midnight tomorrow or it will be Choi’s life on the line. Choi tells Mr P he intends to get rid of IJ in Singapore where it will be easier to make her “disappear” and harder for her sister to find. Both he and IJ leave the next day for Singapore.

I like that Choi Do-il is quick to think on his feet. He has a strategy to convince InJoo to leave the country voluntarily: show her a press release with Unnie conveniently photographed at the Orchid auction in Seoul.

But Choi knows that he’s walking a fine line between Mr. Park and InJoo. Neither of them should know that he’s using them to achieve his ultimate agenda: exonerate his mother and turn his life around.

If he fails to make IJ “disappear” (a handy euphemism for killing her) by midnight the following day, then Mr. Park will kill him. And if he fails to convince IJ to appear with him in Singapore, then his means of escaping Mr. Park’s control is gone anyway.

Mrs P is still alive but resorting to self harm (cutting) in her room. Her arms also have bruises on them – probably from being manhandled by Mr P. Mr P enters and speaks soothingly to her. Apologizing. Reminding her of their common goal to stand in the “highest place” together. Tells her to take her meds, wait till tomorrow and she will be “free”. She will be on live TV tomorrow. She is delighted and ponders over what to wear. She asks Mr P to protect her tomorrow which he agrees to do. He has “protected her” since middle school. I agree with @SnowFlower. This pair is psycho. They’re like Mr and Mrs Smith. Without the artillery.

This scene reminded me of the last scene in Ibsen’s “The Doll House” when the wife Nora realized that first, her father, and then. husband had treated her like a doll. She accused the men in her life of treating her like a doll that they could manipulate and control any which way they wanted.

Nora: I mean that I was simply transferred from papa’s hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as you—or else I pretended to, I am really not quite sure which—I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. When I look back on it, it seems to me as if I had been living here like a poor woman—just from hand to mouth. I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you would have it so. You and papa have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life.

Here in this drama, Mr. Park doesn’t apologize for locking up his wife. He orders her to take her meds and “behave” for just one more night so she’ll be set free the following day. He bribes her with the adult version of a lollipop: a TV appearance.

Park: Tomorrow, you’ll stand before the public at your most extravagant. You love being live on TV.
Mrs. Park: Live?
Park: (nodding and smiling)
Mrs. Park: (sighing) What should I wear? I shouldn’t look too sexy, right?
Park: It would be nice for people to know how sexy the woman I’m married to is.
Mrs. Park: (putting a hand on his) You must promise that you’ll protect me no matter what happens.
Park: That’s a promise that we’ve had since I was in middle school.

Don’t you think she has a dissociative identity disorder stemming from her witnessing her mother’s suicide, @nrllee? She has so many different personalities: a helpless woman, a scheming villain, a generous employee, a loving mother, and so on.

Back to IK talking to the Vietnam veteran who was telling her about CHJ. Shows her a video on his phone of an incident not long ago during a protest march. He’s special forces. A lone wolf. Man says these men returned changed. As if possessed by the orchid ghost. 🙄😑. IK gets a call from IJ who tells her she’s leaving for Singapore now. And for IK to follow suit tomorrow. IK wants to stay to cover the case. IJ tells her to be packed ready to leave with IH if necessary.

What I found weird about this video is that Choi’s dad, Choi HeeJae, was allowed to walk away from the van he just detonated. What? The riot police didn’t go after him?

Also to have a kill ratio of 100:1 is not something to be bragged about. It could also mean that those men were killing indiscriminately, killing enemy soldiers who already had laid down their arms and surrendered, or killing civilians.

IH and HR sneak into a room in the house and HR opens a safe and takes out all her bank books (Panama. Virgin Islands. Singapore). HR tells her she is free to access these funds after her birthday this year. IH opens one up and sees that the balance has dwindled from $1m USD to $20K?

This scene is lazy and unrealistic writing, too. When did HyoRin suddenly become an expert hacker and security expert? But she doesn’t even bother to glance at the numbers on her bank books or even check her funds on internet banking? Yeah, right.

I don’t know about Korean chaebols, but here in the US, the rich (and not-so-rich) kids are taught money management beginning high school. It starts with managing their debit cards and credit cards, then their college funds and trust funds. I don’t know of a single parent who hands over a million dollars without first ascertaining that the teenager has achieved financial literacy. It’s as stupid as handing keys to a Porsche to a teenager who hasn’t yet passed his/her driver’s exams.

IJ and Choi check into the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. Choi leaves her with a check in card and passport and tells her he will see her before the orchid auction tomorrow. He needs to do some work. IJ checks in at the reception and the man seems flustered when he sees her passport. Manager arrives and invites her to go on a tour. She’s a VIP on their list. He takes her to the Orchid Room where the auction is held. And tells her she’s the person who has bought the Gold Medalist Orchid for the past 3 years. Manager Calvin (very posh English accent) hands her over to another lady who ushers her to her VIP room.

IH and HR use a ladder to get into Mrs P’s bedroom. HR tells Mrs P she read the note she passed to IJ and she’s all prepped and ready to go to Singapore. Mrs P reveals she’s made up with Mr P. Huh? Then she whispers something in HR’s ear.

Didn’t you find it weird when IH eavesdropped on her friend? She looked pensive when she overheard Mrs. Park saying that she made up with her husband. But I couldn’t tell whether IH was happy or sad about that. (Ugh! The actress’ facial expressions are often impossible to understand!)

IJ is shown to the Presidential suite. And the lady attendant is happy to provide all the services for her to purchase an outfit for tomorrow. IJ declines the offer attendant leaves to let her rest.

IK wakes up in the middle of the night. Hears a noise downstairs. Finds CHJ downstairs looking through all her notes/pics pinned on the wall/window. CHJ tells her that Great Aunt was never part of the JR society. She only cared for the bunch of them after the war. He says IK has no credibility and if he were to go to the Press he would go to someone who would create waves. IK rings her Department Head (the older man who is sweet on her). Let’s just refer to him as Prof Bhaer. He gives her the go ahead to personally do the newstory.

Yes, @nrllee, I was reminded of your “Professor Bhaer” comment when IK called up her chief at the news bureau. IK really wanted CHJ know that she still had clout despite being a freelancer and her chief came through when he picked up her call right away.

CHJ takes her outside to show her the guns and grenades in his truck. He wants to take PJS out and have IK run the story. All to protect his son. IK refuses and tells him about the ledgers. Her plan is to expose PJS on the 9pm news with the ledgers reveal and then have CHJ finish off with an interview about the murders around the JRS. CHJ says if her plan fails, plan B would be for him to take out PJS himself.

Here, it struck me that both Choi Do-il’s parents would do anything for their precious son.

The mother: Since then, I’ve seen my son just once. It was while I was in custody. He kept asking me the same question. But I couldn’t give him an answer because I couldn’t lie to him. I’ve wondered for over 20 years whether he never came to see me because I didn’t give him an answer to his question. Please tell Do-il this. My answer to his question is “no.”

The father: I went into the mountains 20 years ago for one reason. I couldn’t make my son become the son of a murderer. I also returned for one reason. My son. I will not let him become a murderer or get murdered.

It’s nice to see that there’s at least one family in this drama who still values allegiance and loyalty, and is willing to shoulder the blame for the other family members. The Oh sisters can learn from the Choi family. They’re just beginning to realize that blood is thicker than water.

One more thing: if Do-il hasn’t killed anybody yet according to his father, then I’m assuming that he wasn’t involved in tampering the cars of Director Shin (the one with the shoe fetish), and IJ’s bank informant in Episode 2.

IJ in Singapore. Meets up with Choi for lunch at the same restaurant that Unnie posing as IJ is supposed to have dined. They ask the waiter in the photo if he knows the woman in the photo. He says she’s IJ and points at seated IJ. Waiter says IJ came by to drink coffee every day for the past week. Waiter does say that IJ does sound different today. And asks if she’s a twin? They return to the Fullerton Hotel to get changed. Choi scrubs up fine. He has a dress prepared for IJ and jewelry too. They walk into the Auction room and heads turn for IJ. The Gold Medalist Orchid this year is the Princess of Thieves. Bidding starts. IJ is the highest bidder at US$600K. As everyone applauds, a lady in yellow is seen walking out the back (we can’t see her face. Her hair is much longer than IJ’s. And her ankle has the orchid tattoo). IJ is sitting amongst some ladies chatting. A lady walks back to the table and is surprised to see IJ there in a different dress. She claims to have just seen IJ in the bathroom but in a yellow dress. IJ runs to the bathroom to try to catch fake IJ. Then runs outside when she doesn’t see her. Choi intercepts her and reminds her that she is the real OIJ. A lady interrupts them and tells them the mystery phone bidder who was bidding against IJ has a message for her (Choi interprets for her) – Congratulations. You were a real princess today. I was always curious how much you would shine when you bloom. IJ recognizes all the innuendos and mutters, “it’s HwaYoung Unnie.”

Two things:

1. I’m stunned and repulsed by the extreme lengths Mrs. Park was willing to go through to gaslight InJoo just for her entertainment and titillation. What a psychopath!

2. But note what they were wearing here. She was in a teal dress, and he was in a tux.

HR is interrogated by Mr P. He knows HR went to see Mrs P last night. And asks if IH put her up to it. IH covers her story by saying HR was distressed last night and showed him the scratches on her arm. She says she was only able to prevent a mental breakdown by letting her see her mom. Mr P says he has people in Singapore too so they can never run away. IH warns him that HR could die if her keeps pushing her to the edge with his behaviour. Then walks out by telling him to just stay in his lane and do his adult things and leave them alone to do their teenage things. After this conversation with PJS, IH rings IK to contact IJ and warn her that Choi is dangerous.

PJS in the Tv studio. Presenter says they have invited his most loved person to the set. I guess PJS is expecting his wife but who should show up but HR.

IJ in car with Choi driving.

They actually had time to change clothes before going to the banks.

She insists only Unnie would know to send her a message like that. He asks what if it’s Won SangWoo (guy in mental facility). Choi still doubts HwaYoung is alive and thinks someone else has stolen IJ’s identity and is posing as her. He says they have to withdraw the 70bil before fake IJ beats them o it…err fake IJ has been in Singapore for at least a week now according to the waiter. Why would she wait to withdraw the funds? 🤷🏻‍♀️. They head to the bank to withdraw it all in cash? Choi had already prepped the bank 2 weeks earlier about the account closure. Because of the sizable amount, funds had to come from 7 banks and it would take a total of 2hrs to get all the funds. Then they would have to head across the border to Malaysia with the cash. Choi tells her never to leave his side through the whole process. IJ gets a text from IK to be careful of Choi because PJS is “up to something in Singapore”.

PJS storms out of the studio with HR and asks her where Mrs P is. So this is what Mrs P whispered to HR in her room. That she (HR) was to surprise daddy on the show. Poor HR is terrified as her father seethes and she has an anxiety attack. PJS walks out and talks to Mean Lady and tells her to find Mrs P. Mrs P is at InCheon airport.

IJ confronts Choi in the car. And asks if she can trust him. He takes out a revolver and starts to fill it with bullets. He tells her it’s easy to shoot a gun. Just pull the trigger. He hands her the gun and says to stay by his side and shoot him in the back if she feels the need to.

HR in hospital with IH by her side. HR asks how her mom could leave by herself and abandon her. IH wonders how PJS found out about HR visiting her mother that night. IH somehow hacks into PJS’s laptop and sees the CCTV footage within Mrs P’s bedroom. So that’s how he knew HR broke into Mrs P’s room. She watches more footage and then gasps. We are not shown what she saw.

IJ follows behind Choi into a building. An old lady runs into her and hands her a note. A lady in yellow is seen running away outside. Note reads in Korean – “I never knew you would make it this far. Choi Do-il is dangerous. You have to get away from him. Right now. After you sign the document at the last bank, a manager will come to get Choi to return because of some missing documents. That’s when you come out through the side door. A car will be waiting for you outside and take you to my apartment. The address is…You can open the apartment with your fingerprint. We will talk then.” IJ falls for it. She gets into a car. Choi is seen to give chase in his car.

Two things:

1.  When IJ was reading the instructions in the cab, she reminded me of Choi Do-il’s mom who also read written instructions on the night of the murder.

The instructions were, “When you get to the top floor of the parking lot, make sure there isn’t anyone around. Then call the office and see if anyone answers.”

So…if the instructions for IJ came from Mrs. Park, then the instructions for Choi Do-il’s mom came from Mrs. Park, too.

2. Which car do you think Choi Do-il was driving? The black car that was weaving in and out of traffic to chase after them?

Or the white car which accelerated at the last moment, and took the direct hit from the truck?

I say he was in the white car.

IH is desperate to contact IJ. IJ doesn’t pick up. She rings IK instead and spills her worries.

Truck of doom. In Singapore. Now I’ve seen everything. 😂. IJ’s car is hit from the side. She’s in hospital. Unnie shows up and tells her to get up and run for it with the luggage full of cash. Is this a dream? I can’t tell. IJ tells Unnie she never wanted the money. All she wanted was to see Unnie one more time and to spend time together with her. Lights. IJ walking through a light filled room. She hears Unnie tell her she has to do it alone, not with Unnie. To run as far away as she can. IJ wakes up and sees her old sneakers on the floor next to her bed. The same ones she gave to Unnie in exchange for the sparkly designer stilettos. Choi arrives at the hospital. IJ is gone. IJ walks through streets of Singapore (takes public transport too) with the luggage. Looks like it’s her lot in life to carry large wads of cash. She muses about Unnie and all that’s happened. Why me she asks? She arrives at the apartment (address was on the note). Gets in with her fingerprint. Sees a glass on the table with blue water (blue orchid of death – I can clearly see some petals floating on top 🙄?)… and proceeds to gulp it down. Why anyone would choose to down a glass full of blue liquid without a second thought is beyond me. 😑🤷🏻‍♀️

Sloppy writing again, @nrllee. I’m going to blacklist this writer Jung Seo Kyung after this drama.

I get that the writer wants to show a domino effect: IJ was given a note which led her to suspect Choi Do-il of double-crossing her which led her to flee from him which led to the truck accident which led to the hospital which led her to hallucinate about Unnie which led her to escape to the apartment which led her to drink the Blue Poison.

What I don’t get however is how a screenwriter who’s supposedly a pro like Ms. Jung could write such an unbelievable and absurd character as InJoo.

This girl has a concussion from the crash; she doesn’t understand a word of English, and has no Singapore dollar on her. Yet she travels cross-city on the metro, with a big suitcase, and safely arrives to the apartment without once asking for directions. Then, once she enters the strange apartment, she chugs an unknown blue liquid with a Blue Orchid swimming in it.

Is she this stupid? Is she blind? Doesn’t she have an ounce of self-preservation? Did she think somebody would randomly prepare a blue cocktail for her? Is she the type to drink something that says, “Drink me. NOT Poison”?

IJ waits at the apartment. It’s night. The door sounds. IJ leaps up and cries Unnie. We finally see the face of the lady in yellow with the designer stilettos. It’s Mrs P. 😑 who is delighted to see IJ. “I am right on time right?”, she asks.

HR and IH in bed. Viewing something on IH’s phone. IH narrates. On the night HwaYoung died, Mrs P went out in a fur coat. But when she returned, she wasn’t wearing it. IH takes out the doll (wearing a fur coat) from the art display “the closed room” and continues. HwaYoung was wearing a fur coat. HR sobs.

Why aren’t we surprised?

We knew when we saw the dashcam of Mr. Park going to Unnie’s apartment that he wasn’t the one who killed her. It was a red herring or false information clumsily written by this writer. Mrs. Park did it. I also commented that Mr. Park most likely hung Unnie to make it look like suicide. Mrs. Park wouldn’t have the upper body strength to lift the dead weight up herself.

Mrs P asks IJ why the room is so dark. IJ falls back into the chair realizing that HwaYoung is really dead. Mrs P laughs maniacally.

She should have been laughing like this:

Did you really think she was alive? IJ asks her why this was all necessary. Mrs P says she likes playing with dolls in this boring world. Turns out the manager of the Fullerton was in on it too. He was filming IJ with a secret camera hidden in the button of his shirt. Mrs P views footage on the room TV. IJ was the “main lead” of Mrs P’s elaborate play. And the waiter at the restaurant too. All additional cast by Mrs P in her elaborate play. IJ asks her when she became the main lead of the play.

Mrs Park is the master puppeteer.

We had inkling since Episode 3 when I was analyzing the meaning of “Ariadne.” The link: Little Women: Ep 3 On Ariadne

Mrs P shows her when they first met…at the interview of her old accounting job. She liked her because she was a hopeful poor girl. Footage of HwaYoung and IJ shows up on the TV. HwaYoung was employed to “develop” IJ’s character. IJ asks her why she killed HwaYoung. Mrs P says she could see “death” in her so she was perfect for the part. IJ screams that she’s not like that. Mrs P then tells her she should be worried about herself more because she would be front page news tomorrow. IJ would take a leap off the building and there would be people downstairs ready to film her. IJ is gasping and not looking particularly well. Wonder why? 🙄. IJ asks about IH. Mrs P says she will be fine because they need her to be HR’s friend. IJ takes another swig of the blue water (with the orchid petals clearly in view 🙄). IJ wonders why she’s so sleepy.

I wondered why it took so long for the blue Orchid to take effect on her, though. Mrs. Park said that three drops would be enough to put a horse to sleep in just half an hour. Surely more than 30 minutes have passed since she downed half the glass.

Mrs P explains about the blue orchid water. Mrs P assures her she will push her off whilst she’s still conscious. So she can see the thrilling world she wanted to see on her way down. IJ asks to see her 70bil won one last time before she dies. Mrs P is delighted to oblige and opens the suitcase. It’s full of bricks. Her face falls. She turns to see IJ stagger up and cock the revolver that Choi gave her before and points the gun at her. Cliffhanger end.

This is a good moment, @nrllee, when IJ taunts Mrs. Park with, “I love it when you make that face. You’re like a little child who lost her toy.”

I doubt she’ll shoot her, though. Death is too easy an escape for Mrs. Park when she has to be punished for the crimes that she committed. She must pay her debt to society when she toyed with the lives of her victims.

I hope IJ has recorded everything.