Summary
Episode 9 intensifies the Counters fight against the politicians, which leads to grave decisions. This was a fun, energetic mid-season episode, that suggests that the second half will be way stronger.
This recap of Netflix K-drama series The Uncanny Counter Season 1 Episode 9 contains significant spoilers.
We will be recapping this weekly — check out the archive.
The opening
Episode 9 begins with So Mun’s ceremonial for his birthday. Meanwhile, Kim Jeong-yeong is tracking down suspect Cheong-sin. So Mun finds Cheong-sin and Wi-gen feels he is in trouble. She warns him to leave as he isn’t with the other Counters. But he ignores her, and the fight between So Mun and Cheong-sin begins. So Mun brings Cheong-min into the territories. Yung warns the Counters and tells them to find So Mun. Episode 9 shows how So Mun’s thirst for revenge makes him overestimate his strength — his emotions have gotten to him.
So Mun is very close to being killed
Kim Jeong-yeong finds Cheong-sin as he’s about to kill So Mun and points a gun at him. Cheong-sin uses his powers to take the gun off her but then Mo-tak shows up to help. Ms Chu and Ha-na kneel next to So Mun, and he’s badly injured with severed arteries in his wrist.
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It was a close shave with the evil spirit. Ms Chu has to heal So Mun using her powers. As she uses her powers, her hair goes greyer. So Mun is healed, but the powers overwhelm Ms Chu, and she collapses. The Counters return to the cafe, and Ms Chu continues to aid So Mun. Ha-na tells Ms Chu she has lost a year of her life.
So Mun wakes up, and he is healed. He apologises to Ms Chu. She understands he is in a hurry for his parents. So Mun gets upset, as he notices Ms Chu’s hair; the sacrifice she made to save him. So Mun’s actions are frequently leading to undesirable consequences, which come back to hurt him later in the episode.
A victim of the waste poisoning the city
Mo-tak and So Mun do a late-night skirmish near the dried-up lake. They find a man acting as a waste disposal truck, but he’s really trying to put the place on fire. He wants the police to check on the fire so that the whole country knows that this place is full of poisonous waste. The man explains that the waste killed his brother and how So Mun’s father investigated this. In the house, the man’s daughter So-eun is laid in bed and very sick from lymphoma. It’s a sad state of affairs, and while this is a fantasy series, it reflects the reality for what has happened to large populations.
Let’s show the world
Kim Jeong-yeong rings Mo-tak and tells her the blood sample of Kim Yeong-nim’s murder suspect is gone. Mo-tak is furious. In his anger, he has a plan — to show the world mayor Shin Myeong-hwi’s corruption.
Taking over the conference
The Counters act as staff at a conference event where the mayor plans to announce his presidential candidacy. At the event, Mo-tak bumps into Noh Chang-yu, knocks him unconscious and puts him into a cupboard. At the conference, the mayor is asked if he plans to run for president.
When the event starts playing a video, it’s not what they expected — it’s comedic video calling the mayor and his acquaintances a murderer due to the poisonous waste they have covered up. Mo-tak then gets on stage with a microphone and announces the mayor as a murderer, and then a black gooey substance lands on the man. The other Counters then join the stage and cause chaos. This was a fun and light moment of the episode — it’s good to see the characters enjoying themselves.
Confronting the boss
At the police station, Kim Jeong-yeong asks the chief Choi if he took the blood sample. Choi raises how he knows Mo-tak is back and links it to how bold she is acting. Kim Jeong-yeong then raises that the murder suspect is Shin Myeong-hwi and that she will not give up until the very end. Kim Jeong-yeong is becoming a useful asset for the Counters.
Kill Mo-tak
Shin Myeong-hwi is told that they need to hold off the announcement of the eco-friendly park following the chaotic conference. Noh Hang-gyu tells him to not worry about Kim Yeong-nim’s body and then talk about the Counters. There’s frustration in the team, and then Shin Myeong-hwi tells them to kill Mo-tak. Cheong-sin joins the meeting after fighting off the security guards.
The ending
During dinner, Wi-gen asks So Mun and the Counters to visit Yung immediately. They show them the conference footage and raise how they cannot use powers for non-evil spirit purposes and keep breaking the rules. They are then reminded that they have a limit of five warnings. Ga Mo-tak has four warnings, but then he is defended — he used his powers to receive help to summon a level-three evil spirit. Ha-na also has four warnings. So-mun has three while Ms Chu has two.
As the hearing is wrapped up, Wi-gen tells the floor that she believes that So Mun should be dismissed regardless of warnings. There’s shock amongst the Counters.
Does this mean that So Mun will lose his powers? How will the other Counters defend him? We all know So Mun is desperate to save his parents, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to this bombshell.
The Uncanny Counter episode 9 intensifies the Counters fight against the politicians, which leads to grave decisions. This was a fun, energetic mid-season episode, that suggests that the second half will be way stronger.
Additional points
- Mo-tak tells Kim Jeong-yeong that they usually erase memories of people who see their true identities, and he explains everything to her. He explains that the police cannot arrest Cheong-sin. Kim Jeong-yeong believes it’s all nonsense.
- When the chaos at the conference is over, Mo-tak confronts the chief of police Choi and tells him that once he’s caught all these criminals, he will be going for him. Choi looks shocked.
- Ha-na covers for So Mun and brings the food to his grandparents that they were expecting while he was like out; they assume Ha-na is his girlfriend. They invite her in for dinner, and she has to go along with the story that she’s the girlfriend in So Mun’s life.
