Summary
Sisyphus: The Myth episode 2 continues to build the foundations of the story as “The Control Bureau” shows their true face, which means some juicy action set-pieces and an increased sense of danger. This series is not doing anything in halves.
This recap of Netflix K-Drama series Sisyphus: The Myth episode 2 contains significant spoilers.
After a cinematic opening, the hype for Sisyphus: The Myth has already taken social media by storm; let’s hope it doesn’t let us down.
Episode 2 starts where the premiere left it. When Tae-sul opens the suitcase, he finds an old camera that belongs to his brother. Flashbacks show Tae-sul working on his latest science project while Tae-san meddles with his camera — the brothers celebrate with each other when Tae-sul’s project works. Inside the case is Tae-san’s phone, and it suddenly rings. A man named Mr Park wants to talk to Tae-san; he asks him if he arrived well. Tae-sul pretends to be his brother and tells Mr Park his location.
“Are your limbs intact?”
It’s a strange conversation where Mr Park asks him if he’s got a key and if his limbs are all intact; he requests a meeting. Mr Park catches Tae-sul out by asking for his number on his arm. After a confusing conversation, Seung-bok rings him, and he’s furious for not attending a meeting. When Tae-sul gets to his place, police are investigating if someone has broken into his house. He notices that a painting is upside down. Behind it, there’s red paint on the wall that says, “Don’t look for your brother. If you do, you’ll die”.
As warned in episode 1, opening the suitcase means grave danger for Tae-sul.
Producing the photos
In a red room, Tae-sul hangs loads of photos up from Tae-san’s camera to see what is on them. Bong-seon is confused as the photos look like they were after Tae-san died. One of the photos show Tae-sul with a bride, but he doesn’t even know the woman, and he isn’t married. There’s then a vision of his bride (Seo-hae) wounded by a gunshot.
Sisyphus: The Myth episode 2 hints at a potential romance between both lead characters that I’m sure will be fleshed out.
They are looking for Gang Seo-hae
In the present, when Gang Seo-hae wakes up, she takes in the city and the fresh air. She remembers the future that looks dystopian and broken, and she has to wear a protective mask wherever she goes. Meanwhile, Hwang Hyun-seung, “an immigration officer”, visits a restaurant, and the owner insists he’s not holding any illegal immigrants. He received a report about a “strange woman”. On a recording, Choi Jae-sun reported it. They tell the restaurant owner that he will need to be quarantined because he was near “them”. Outside the restaurant, there are loads of people in hazmat suits on “government duty”.
Gang Seo-hae’s presence has clearly set off many alarms.
As for Choi Jae-sun, he confronts Gang Seo-hae, and she grabs him. As she does, she begins to glitch as she did in the previous episode, which scares him. She offers Choi Jae-sun the next lottery numbers in exchange for help. The first objective: giving Gang Seo-hae new clothes.
Gang Seo-hae has to fight and escape from The Control Bureau
I was waiting for this scene as I saw it in the trailers, and it was way more effective in episode 2.
Gang Seo-hae is in immediate danger; The Control Bureau find her location and breach the house. When they enter, they see Choi Jae-sun crouched in the corner. Gang Seo-hae tells them not to use their guns in a crowded place and what follows is a stimulating and high-octane action sequence where she fights all of the men. The camera control and choreography are impressive and shows the seriousness of this production. Gang Seo-hae easily beats them all, but at this stage, there are more men outside; she fights them as well, with Choi Jae-sun walking slowly behind her. She’s also a good marksman, using a silencer to take out multiple men.
Getting away
Choi Jae-sun freaks out and tells the men that he isn’t part of this, so Gang Seo-hae has to throw him safely a floor down while evading a flurry of bullets. Hwang Hyun-seung and his men eventually corner them, all guns pointing at Gang Seo-hae and Choi Jae-sun, but she throws them both off a roof and timely hits a garbage truck for a soft landing.
Investigating an old lab
Tae-sul has to revisit the past in Sisyphus: The Myth episode 2 as he is determined to delve into the suitcase and find out what the key he found inside unlocks.
Tae-sul heads to the first lab that he and his brother built. He enters the old building and slowly looks around; it has a half nostalgic, half investigative feeling about it. Tae-sul sees some newspaper articles that look to be ahead of time and placed in the lab in the past. In his head, Tae-san speaks to him. Tae-sul asks about the key to the safe and gets slowly angry, wondering why his brother pretended to be dead. Suddenly, Mr Park rings him and asks him if he’s the famous Tae-sul and enquires about the key to the safe. He has the safe and wants to talk to him. Mr Park tells him that Tae-san is alive and asks Tae-sul to look outside; as he does, a flurry of cars head his way with men from The Control Bureau. Tae-sul remembers the co-pilot from the last episode referencing “The Control Bureau”. Mr Park tells him to run. He’s clearly toying him.
Tae-sul is captured
But like on the falling plane, Tae-sul uses his brain to find a way to escape. As the men enter, there’s an explosion at the door — Tae-sul had quickly created a bomb for when the door opened. He then leaves the lab and heads into Bong-seon’s car. However, his driver had been tasered by Hwang Hyun-seung. Tae-sul is surrounded.
They want the suitcase
This suitcase is turning into an increasingly important plot device, the more the drama escalates.
The Control Bureau takes Tae-sul to a place for interrogation. Hwang Hyun-seung tells him that they are the “Immigration Control Bureau”. Someone uses what looks like a radiation device on Tae-sul, and then Hwang Hyun-seung asks him about the suitcase as part of “government business” and that they don’t want to hurt someone with a status like him. Hwang Hyun-seung threatens to release a story on him regarding his drug issues. Tae-sul gets frustrated, and as one of the men points a gun at his head, he wakes up in his bed at home.
The ending
Gang Seo-hae tends to one of her wounds in a train station bathroom — a bullet had hit her. She’s readying to get on a train with Choi Jae-sun. Tae-sul is in the same station, and he wonders if he’s losing his mind.
Choi Jae-sun wants to know why The Control Bureau is looking for Tae-sul, but she doesn’t give him an answer. As Choi Jae-sun goes to the bathroom, she notes down the lottery numbers and leaves him; she feels he has helped enough and takes the train tickets. As Tae-sul and Gang Seo-hae are about to get on different trains, they see each other, but Tae-sul disappears as a train moves past. It’s not clear if this was part of Gang Seo-hae’s imagination or not, but it suggests that they will finally cross paths in the next chapter.
Sisyphus: The Myth episode 2 continues to build the foundations to the story as “The Control Bureau” show their true face, which means some juicy action sets and an increased sense of danger. This series is not doing anything in halves.
The main question is at this point is – who are The Control Bureau? And what is their purpose? They clearly have an agenda from people from the future, or different worlds, referring them to immigrants… there are still more questions than answers.
