Yes, I already wrote about my sniper theories, so I’ll wrap this episode up. (If you don’t have time to read my sniper theories, I’ll summarize it now. Contrary to popular belief that it must be SeulGi, I propose that there’s a new sniper in town. It’s the “mysterious individual(s)” whom SeulGi went back to South Korea for to seek out. Lol.)

1. Mama

As I mentioned earlier, she isn’t Ms. Bae, the flower shop owner.

But she’s no Master Po, either. Hmph! If you didn’t grow up in the 70s, you wouldn’t know him. Master Po was the blind but wise mentor of that Asian-American boy Kwai Chang Caine in my favorite western adaptation of martial arts, “Kung Fu.” (Not the “Kung Fu Panda”!! 😂)

Master Po is the ideal mentor. This Korean Carmen-Sandiego-wanna-be whom SeulGi calls Mama isn’t.

Not only did Mama shape (or should I say, WARP) BoNa’s core values and ethical compass, but I think she trained BoNa to become a sharpshooter and elite fighter.

It’s interesting to note that whenever SeulGi had been subdued by BoNa, he would tap out, like in wrestling. He would tap her body with his hand, and say, “Oh, BoNa, calm down” in Russian. My guess is he had been BoNa’s sparring partner when they were young, and this was the pre-assigned signal to concede defeat.

She chose BoNa because she saw:

a) her physical potential after she fought back against the abuser in the orphanage. I have a sneaking suspicion that she was the one who locked the door from the outside so BoNa couldn’t go out and had to pound hard on the door. She was testing BoNa. Note: this is their second meeting; she saw BoNa practicing outdoors with the slingshot on a different day.

b) her trustfulness. When she asked for the inhaler back from BoNa, BoNa handed it to her without hesitation. She realized that BoNa was malleable, trainable, and gullible. To me, BoNa’s compliance indicated that, despite having been abused in the orphanage, she still recognized and respected authority. Thus, she could be taught to obey if she was treated right. Note: the abuser wasn’t surprised to see Mama enter the room. My guess is Mama was connected with the orphanage.

2. Reverse harem

So far, there are four men who like BoNa and want to protect her:

Her husband, TaeSeong
The Hacker
Taemin, the Weapons Specialist
and SeulGi.

They care for her in different ways. I don’t have time to analyze what BoNa represented for these four men. They definitely saw a different side of her.

3. Her mother-in-law

😂 I warned you, didn’t I? Don’t be rage-baited by the mother-in-law’s antics in the early episodes. It’s silly to be agitated when she serves a useful function in the plot. Her function is revealed in this episode.

You see, of all people, she’s the one who ends up encouraging BoNa to keep her career if it gives her life meaning. This is their conversation in the chicken restaurant.

Sister-in-law: That’s why I quit working when HJ was five. My husband made such a fuss about me putting work before our child and him….
MIL: Then quit your job, too. You’re not exactly saving the world.

By this logic, she shouldn’t quit her job because she is saving the world, one criminal at a time.

MIL: (continuing) What could possible be more important to a woman that her husband and child?
Sister-in-law: (trying to soften her mom’s words) Oh BoNa don’t take it to heart.
MIL: There’s one thing. (placing her hand on her heart) My own life.

Meaning, her personal life is just as important, too, as her husband and child.

MIL: I got married at 24 and lived only for my husband and kids. Then when TaeSeong’s dad suddenly passed away, I felt so lost. I needed to make a living, but I didn’t know how to do anything. So I scraped together what I had and opened this place. At first, I was embarrassed to be frying chicken. Oil splashed everywhere, my skin got burned, and I had to deal with drunk customers. Good grief. I cried a lot too. But I came back to the shop the next day. I had to open the doors. No matter how hard it was, I kept showing up. And you know what? I came to like it. I was the owner of this shop. Frying chicken was my job. I realized, “Oh this is my life.”

Though she didn’t like her work at first, it gave her meaning and purpose. It eventually became important to her, too, so she wouldn’t close the restaurant just for anybody, except for her granddaughter.

MIL: Working while raising a child isn’t easy. But what can you do? Unless you absolutely hate what you do, if it’s something you love, you have to see it through.
BoNa: (nodding her head)

And there we have it: the mother-in-law’s utility in the narrative. She gave her imprimatur, or her stamp of approval on BoNa’s decision to be a working mom.

Let’s remember now that BoNa has been saying about her job. Rewatch Episodes 3 and 4, and the beginning of this episode, if her words escape you. She repeated said that she found her job worthwhile if she could save a single person from suffering the same fate as her.

From Episode 3: She told the Poisoner, “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.”

From Episode 12: After hearing The Poisoner’s gratitude for being freed from violence, she reflected on her journey from the orphanage into the company of Mama, saying “I hope at least one person can be saved, and someone can be safe because of it.”

Then, from Episode 4: After they rounded up the organ-trafficking ring, she explained the team’s responsibility to The Poisoner.

Poisoner: Isn’t handing them over to the police just a waste of time? They won’t be properly punished anyway?
BoNa: How do you know that? Whether they’ll be punished or not. Do you distrust and resent the police, the law, and the courts by default?
Poisoner: No, well, not exactly like that but…
BoNa: A pre-meeting means we let the law handle it first. It’s about respecting its role and responsibility. Of course, the system has its limits. Sometimes verdicts result in only minimal punishment. And sometimes, those who have no business interfering end up obstructing rightful justice. But that doesn’t mean we should dismiss the system entirely, right? We’re not trying to create a lawless world, are we? I think they do their job, and we do ours. Sometimes we simply do what they cannot. (sighing) But then again, who knows? Someday, today’s premeeting might become an official one. If they forget about us. If they forget that there are forces more terrifying than the law.

In other words, she’s telling their newest team member about the rationale of their organization. Justice is their ultimate goal. And the law, with its police and courts, are just the tools (or systems) to achieve justice. If justice can’t be obtained or achieved through the law, then The Team steps in.

All her statements tell me that if DongJin and the Kingfisher Task Force don’t discover their operations, AND if her husband doesn’t object, then she’ll most likely want to continue with her job.

Hearing her mother-in-law’s story about her inner conflict and her struggles to become a chicken restaurant owner validates her future decision.

4. The strawberry milkshake

It’s become a symbol of their love in this episode.

TS: We’re married, right?
BN: Of course, we are. Drink this and sober up a little.
TS: You’re my wife, and I’m your husband. You’re Yul’s mom, and I’m Yul’s dad.
BN: (nodding to humor him)
TS: That’s what it is. Right?
BN: Honey, did something happen today? You haven’t answered your phone all day. What’s wrong?

She reaches out to fix his hair, but he turns away.

TS: I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious. Please give me an honest answer.
BN: Okay. What do you want to know?
TS: Do you…do you really like strawberry shakes? Is that really true?
BN: (confused)

Let’s see now. How do I explain this?

He’s heartsick because all this time, a strawberry shake is his tacit way of saying “I love you.” For instance, on the day he was depressed because a rapist got away because of his connection, he got drunk then wandered over to her place to give her strawberry milkshake. It was his shorthand for “no matter what you give me hope to keep going.” When she had bad morning sickness, he made her strawberry shakes after work. He was telling showing her that he was sorry she was going through all that but he was with her all the way.

Thus, it sickens him to think that she could have been pretending to like the dessert. She didn’t really lilke his “love offering.”

TS: Are you really Yoo BoNa? You are, right? You’re really Yoo BoNa, right?

She’s still confused. He doesn’t make sense. And she probably recalls that other time, when they were stuck in the cabin during the snowstorm, he also wondered if her name was truly Yoo BoNa.

So now, she thinks he’s just drunk-talking.

But of course, this is the crux of his despair. After discovering that she’s been hiding her Kingfisher identity from him, he’s convinced that he doesn’t really know anything about her. He doubts even her name now; it can easily be just another alias like “Kingfisher.” He can’t trust a single thing about her anymore.

BN: You seem really drunk. Let’s go to bed.

She touches his arm; he pulls away.

TS: What am I to you?
BN: Are you angry with me about something, honey? Is this because I came home late without calling yesterday?
TS: Why did you marry me? Did you really love me? (crying)

Awww. Is this the third time he’s cried? She wants to touch him but this time she holds back.

Later she confesses to him. His back is facing her and he’s pretending to sleep.

BN: I actually don’t really like strawberry shakes. They’re too cold. But when I fell in love, I really wanted to do that. Sitting across from each other and drinking strawberry shakes. So I just pretended to like them. Because I wanted to keep doing that with you. I just loved those moments so much. Because that’s the kind of person you are to me.

In short, she had an epiphany similar to her mother-in-law who didn’t like the chicken business until she did. Lol. She didn’t like the strawberry shake until she realized that it was enabling her to see things as he saw them, love things that he loves, and experience his life – which was different from hers – and make it her own as well. She was transforming herself because she loved him.

Thus, he shouldn’t view her initial pretense negatively. It’s actually indicative of – this is cheesy, but it’s what kdramas are selling after all, lol – the transformative power of love.

Gotta run.