Summary
Episode 11 is a thrilling episode; with the police under pressure for answers brings an exciting pace.
This recap of K-drama Netflix series Stranger season 2, episode 11 (Secret Forest) contains spoilers.
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The opening
Episode 11 starts with dramatic music as Detective Jang is in a rush. It’s almost James Bond-esque. They are trying to meet Jeon Gi-hyeok as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Jeon Seung-pyo is joined by Kim Su-hang and a couple of officers from Segok Station and they are placed in a boardroom. The police have placed a serious emphasis on the investigation since the reveal of the “police watch” and it makes for exciting, thrilling viewing.
Following the highly suspicious Captain Baek
The thriller vibe continues as Detective Jang follows Captain Baek to a hotel. When Baek leaves the hotel, there’s a need to understand what he was doing in a specific room. An old lady is found under a blanket who is really sleepy. Captain Baek evidently sensed he was being followed as he attacks the detective. The old lady gives the weapon to Baek. Episode 11 is not a great chapter for Baek — he’s under a lot of scrutiny.
Hard questioning
And then the episode flits back to the boardroom with the Segok Station officers after they’ve been summoned. They are asked a range of questions and then Si-mok arrives which irks a couple of the police in the room — the Police/Prosecution tension continues to be the overriding theme. Chief Choi’s boss is clearly on a mission to get answers and he interrogates the group, slowly getting angrier. Jeon Seung-pyo admits about his fake overtime. Si-mok questions why the prosecution wasn’t informed about this evidence.
Back to the bribes
Episode 11 does well to give the viewers slithers of answers that have been kept at bay for 10 episodes. Caption Baek is then brought to the room who gave himself up. The old woman in the hotel is Sergeant Lee’s mother who is very ill and she needed money for rent and meds. Captain Baek was helping her and he asked his unit to accept bribes so they could cover the insurance — Baek claims he has an alibi for the disappearance of Dong-jae.
And there’s a suicide note now?
There’s another reveal which may also be a diversion. Su-hang takes out Song’s suicide note that claims they bullied him because he knew about the bribes. Kim Su-hang kept it for all these years. The Segok Station officers believe that with this suicide note it proves they had no involvement with Dong-jae. The mood changes in the room as they learn the police now have the witness Jeon Gi-hyeok.
It’s time for a good old-fashioned witness line-up
Stranger season 2, episode 11 sees Baek’s position in this investigation get worse as all eyes are on him.
The police do a line-up of all the station officers for the witness to see if he can identify who he saw on the night of Dong-jae’s disappearance. He picks Captain Baek and they arrest him for the kidnapping. Si-mok asks Jeon Gi-hyeok what he saw that night, including at what distance he saw the crime. He claims to have good eyesight despite the fact it was dark. Of course, episode 11 is going with the theory that the gambler is lying about who he saw that night.
Absolute denial
Captain Baek aggressively denies any involvement and starts crying as they continue questioning him. Yeo-jin reminds Jeon Gi-hyeok that scamming the police is different from illegal gambling. Jeon Gi-hyeok believes they are questioning him because they don’t want to give him the reward money — this puts a lot of doubt on his eyewitness account as he is a gambler and he would clearly be interested in the cash. As this period of episode 11 ends, Yeo-jin shows Si-mok the police watch in the bloody tie photo — she doesn’t want to hide anything from the prosecutors. Despite all the politics, Yeo-jin and Si-mok always want to play the game fairly — they try and do what’s best for the investigation.
Verification of the eyewitness account
Yeo-jin and Si-mok both head to the gambling house. They test out if Jeon Gi-hyeok’s vision would have been legitimate from the house when he apparently saw the crime. While Yeo-jin and Si-mok continue investigating and verifying the eye witness accounts, the media are sharing the news of the possibility that the culprit is a police officer.
Lapping up the media
Woo wants to take over the investigation and have all the files — the issue of investigative rights is well in his mind. He then talks to the media himself on behalf of the prosecution. He’s being diplomatic but it’s clear that he has a strategy in his approach. The police continue to be put in a precarious position. It seems the prosecution is happy that the focus is not on them, despite Dong-jae still being missing. Politics over a person’s life it seems.
Captain Baek continues to deny
In perhaps a strange scene because the episode is approached in a way that makes Captain Baek look innocent, Dong-jae’s wife begs the captain to reveal where her husband is. Captain Baek insists this is not him at all and he is equally frustrated. The wife is broken, begging for an answer. Yeo-jin tells the wife to go home and wait for news while the prosecution does their job.
The ending
Yeo-jin goes to the crime scene with Jeon Gi-hyeok again and they replay the crime scene. She asks about the car, plate, and color. He keeps asking if he can have his money but Yeo-jin coyly asks it he’s color blind. Si-mok rips the fake license plate off the car to show a green and white one and Yeo-jin states it would have been impossible to miss that. Jeon Gi-hyeok feels set up as he’s surrounded by a group of police. They grab his phone and it is revealed that he used an app that changes his GPS location so he could claim that he was near the location of the crime. So… we are back to square 1 when episode 11 ends. The series is really going to drag this out but it somehow works.
Stranger season 2, episode 11 is a thrilling episode; with the police under pressure for answers brings an exciting pace.
Additional points
- Detective Jang notes that there is no ransom yet for Dong-jae despite the culprit’s message.
