We recap the Netflix K-Drama series Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area season 1, episode 3, which contains spoilers.
Recaps, reviews, and news for Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area.
If you are familiar with this story, it’s well-known that The Professor (Yoo Ji-tae) is a perfectionist. He devises a perfect plan on paper, but he does not consider the alternatives that may happen. Episode 3 is the first time The Professor and his heist team are truly challenged, making for intoxicating drama between the lead characters. Let’s dive into episode 3:
Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area season 1, episode 3 recap
Episode 3 opens with Moscow leaving a correctional facility after serving his time, and The Professor visits him outside. The Professor insists he needs him as part of his plan, and it does not take a lot of convincing, but he has one condition — to bring in Denver. He wants to provide his son with a decent life. In the present day, Denver seems to shoot Youn Misun dead.
The gunshot reverberates around the Mint, spooking the hostages. They immediately blame Cho Youngmin, and the hostages have to be settled down and split by North and South Korean nationality again. Berlin inspects Youn Misun to check if she’s dead, and he is satisfied. He tells Denver to dispose of the body. Tokyo wants to call The Professor and let him know what has happened, but Berlin stops her and states he will tell him in “due course.” The Professor is concerned by recent disturbances he saw on the CCTV, but Berlin puts it down to a minor disagreement.
And then we receive a critical flashback; Youn Misun tells Denver to create a scenario where it looks like she is killed. He shoots her in the leg. In the present, Youn Misun is hidden in one of the Mint’s vaults. Tokyo knows what Denver has done and is happy to help the pregnant woman with the bullet wound in her leg. She tells Denver to keep an eye on her and provide antibiotics regularly. She warns him about Berlin, believing he needs to be replaced and “dealt with.”
Denver takes care of Youn Misun; she is concerned about whether Cho Youngmin cares if she’s dead or not and cries. Denver offers her words of encouragement and assures her that they have a plan.
With tensions running high on the heist team, Denver and Oslo end up fighting in the stairwell. Meanwhile, Youn Misun leaves her hiding place. She’s caught by Helsinki, but Tokyo arrives at the right time and pulls a gun on him. And then, Tokyo pulls a gun on Berlin as part of a planned coupe with Denver and Rio.
Seon Woojin asks her team to check out old CCTV footage at the Mint, believing the heist team visited before they started their elaborate plan; she knows she has a way of identifying some of the heist team after recent images from the smartwatch from the last episode. Meanwhile, The Professor needs to find out how much the task force police team has found out, so he heads to the tent himself and insists he has to find Seon Woojin because her mother needs her. He passes her a phone, and her mother tells her that her daughter has been taken by the father (and her ex). Seon Woojin rings him, but she’s powerless in this situation — he refuses to hand her back. After this altercation with her ex, Seon Woojin tells The Professor to leave the area. Scenes show that The Professor saw what he needed while in the tent. He consumes information very quickly.
The coup continues to intensify, and Tokyo keeps voicing her reasons why Berlin is incapable of leading. However, as the coup heats up, The Professor calls, and Tokyo tells Berlin to tell him that he executed a hostage. The Professor is furious that someone has been killed, but Berlin reveals that the plan is going perfectly, but the police have potentially identified some of the hostages; The Professor confirms Rio and Nairobi have been identified due to the smartwatch. This changes the coup plan, with Nairobi and Rio believing they need to now side with Berlin — they are feeling desperate now that the world knows they are inside the Mint. At this moment, Moscow learns his son Denver killed a pregnant woman, and he’s devastated and furious with him.
It’s all falling apart as the team continues to argue amongst themselves and break apart, with Berlin looking on, smug. He tells The Professor that they should hide the execution from the outside world.
A distraught Moscow decides he wants to leave the heist and opens the Mint’s front doors, which surprises everyone. Seon Woojin orders the police to move forward and secure the heist team member. Denver puts on a mask and tackles his father to the ground before they do. Moscow tells his son that he will tell the police that he killed the women — he feels guilty for bringing his son on this mission. Denver reveals he did not kill Youn Misun and that she’s alive. Seon Woojin knows that both men are part of the heist team and asks them both to surrender.
The ending
However, the heist team sends out hostages holding weapons; Seon Woojin’s cannot tell them apart between hostages and criminals as they are all in jumpsuits and wearing masks. They ask the police to let them retreat peacefully. Tokyo confirms to Moscow that Youn Misun is still alive during this commotion. However, Cho Youngman overhears Tokyo and Denver’s conversation, reacts emotionally, and tries to take the situation into his own hands and point his gun at them all. Seon Woojin can only assume that Cho Youngmin is a heist team member, and she orders one of her snipers to shoot him. He falls to the ground. This will be a pivotal moment for The Professor — maybe he can get the public on their side after this.
Episode 3 intensifies the situation inside the Mint as things do not go as smoothly as planned.
Additional plot points worthy of noting
- In a flashback, Berlin volunteered to be the group leader because he believed he could establish order amongst chaos. Moscow was designated to create an escape route for the hostages, with one of the routes being fake to fool the police.
- The North Korean hostages threaten Cho Youngmin due to his recent actions. Moscow steps in and tells them to work together. Berlin’s plan to cause rifts between the hostages is working.
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