I’m limiting myself to three points because we have to drive down to the beach house this morning. I’ll start from the ending.

1. On TaeSeong’s buddy, Lee DongJin

Ah! We finally know TaeSeong and DongJin’s current ages. They’re 36 years old. DongJin was 17 when his parents were murdered in 2007 (19 years ago).

DongJin’s parents were shopkeepers and they were essentially killed for a paltry 100 won. Their killer was short of a coin to pay for his soju. In a drunken state, he assaulted the couple and killed them. He then fled the scene and wasn’t caught till four years later.

He got the lighter sentence – just 16 years – because he argued in court that he killed the parents unintentionally. He killed them in the “heat of the moment.” He was drunk; he was provoked; he was shamed; his judgment was impaired; he didn’t intend to kill them, and so on. It was ruled manslaughter instead of murder. And because of good conduct, he didn’t even serve his full sentence. He was released a  year early, without a single notification sent out to the victims’ family aka DongJin.

If the killer plans to use the same defense for stabbing the furniture owner this time around, it won’t work. Since his prior conviction is an alcohol-related crime, his parole would have imposed sobriety rules and an alcohol ban. He violated his parole the second he bought soju.

Also, he couldn’t claim that he stabbed his employer in the heat of the moment as his resentment and grudge had been brewing long before the attack. In fact, he was overheard by DongJin muttering under his breath, “Jeez, that punk is really on my case. Darn it.”

It could be argued that the stabbing was premeditated and he knowingly imbibed alcohol to reduce his fear and/or inhibition to retaliate. He openly declared when he held the chisel to the woman’s throat that he intended to kill every punk who looked down him.

So, whatever. Not my case.

The crucial element in this development is DongJin. He cannot shoot the killer. If he does, DongJin will face accusation that he premeditated the whole thing. The media will have a field day since he knew the killer had been released early from jail. He also tracked down the killer’s whereabouts. Then, he unexpectedly gave his sidekick a day off. It would appear as if he did this so he could do his personal business on his own. Then, he stalked the killer all day and night.

But most importantly, he’s got the weapon.

That’s why his buddy TaeSeong comes running to stop him. The media and general population will pre-judge him guilty and frame this affair as a vigilante cop out for personal vengeance.

Note: I doubt his Smith & Wesson could hit his running target. That model (or prop) is only good for close quarters. Given that a) DongJin had a gash on his forehead, b) blood was trickling down his eye, c) his head got bashed multiple times, d) his vision was impaired, and d) how often do cops like him practice target shooting at the range, anyway?, it would be a shocker if his bullet even hit a lamppost.

Obviously, our heroine BoNa will take the shot.

2. Orphans

Though the mother-in-law is rage-baiting the audience because of her stance on orphans, BoNa isn’t the only orphan in TaeSeong’s life. There’s also DongJin. He was orphaned at the age of 17.

The new guy, the fake Kingfisher, Seulgi, is most likely an orphan, too.

And yeahhhh, The Poisoner, BoNa’s coworker, is also an orphan.

But for me, the bombshell isn’t the insensitive comments of the mother-in-law but the remark made by Seulgi in the flashback.

SG: Your name, in death, only ends up on your tombstone. But your sins, even in death, are passed down to your children. That’s what Mama always said.

Two things:

a. Who’s Mama? Are BoNa and SeulGi siblings? Or is Mama just a mother figure, perhaps the matron at the orphanage or teacher in school?

b. If the crimes of the parents are carried over to their innocent children, then how does that impact orphans? On one hand, it’s unfortunate that they were raised without a family. But on the other hand, they’re spared from suffering the consequences of their parents’ crimes and they’re free to make their own choices going forward. They don’t have to learn and emulate their parents’ bad choices and actions in life.

Note what BoNa told The Poisoner during the Ep 3 confrontation.

BN: The reason I came back. The reason I do this. Hoping to save even just one person. Hoping that because of this work, someone might be safe.
Poisoner: You knew all along. You knew everything from the start, but why…
BN: Because I was disappointed. I just wanted that child to be happy and live a normal life like everyone else, but that wasn’t how things turned out. I didn’t like your choice.

BoNa’s wish for the child to live a normal life is the corollary – or logical consequence – of SeulGi’s belief that parental sins are passed down to children. When evil parents are erased from this world, discreetly, privately, then the children can begin all over with a clean slate. BoNa wanted this for The Poisoner. She wanted her to have a fresh start, unburdened by the sins of her father, untethered to her sad origins.

3. How did SeulGi know that she was pregnant?

Only two people were in the know: her oby-gyn and her boss.

Did SeulGi make a lucky guess because of the tracker in BoNa’s coat? He must have been tracking her movement when she visited her doctor, and from there, he deduced that she was pregnant.

Or did SeulGi know because her boss gave him heads-up? With BoNa’s pregnancy, somebody had to take over while she was away. Was SeulGi intended to be her temporary replacement/substitute? But as it turned out, the Kingfisher was totally inactivated and there was no reported activity by Kingfisher during her maternity leave.

I’ll stop here. Answers will surely come today after Episode 10.