Summary
Gyeongseong Creature continues to deliver the thrills while juggling multiple genres and elements. The end of Part 1 is looming closer now, and that’s coming across in the narrative.
It takes an effort to remember sometimes, but Gyeongseong Creature is occurring against the backdrop of Korea’s fight for independence from Japan. It’s not uncommon for stories about monsters to be hidden reflections on specific ideas, events, or periods in history – see, you know, Godzilla – but often that subtext becomes overwhelming. “Desperation”, which is Episode 5 of Season 1, is a nice reminder that the murderous, tentacled monster isn’t the real opposition here, without letting that notion overwhelm the murderous, tentacled monster business.
Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 Episode 5 Recap
It’s through Jun-taek’s backstory that a lot of these deeper ideas are explored. Things start with a resistance meeting wherein he tells other Korean freedom fighters about an upcoming fundraiser where Japanese officials will be vulnerable – a fact he learned from his father. The plan is to detonate the event using dynamite.
Lee In-hyeok is the comrade he mentioned who was captured and taken to Ongseong on charges of sedition. In the present day, Jun-taek finds him after having snuck off towards the end of Episode 4. But “Desperation” upends expectations here by revealing that this isn’t exactly a rescue mission. He just wants to know where he hid the dynamite.
This raises some interesting questions about priorities. When your entire country is at stake, the fate of one of its citizens seems a trifling affair. But if you lose your individual humanity to fight a more nebulous idea of nation, can you consider yourself a real citizen even if you get your country back?
Heroes in Captivity
Also continuing on from the previous episode, Tae-sang and Chae-ok are under attack from the rampaging creature, which chases them around, eating bullets for fun, until some quick-thinking by Joong-won traps it behind a barrier of fire. But it’s out of the fire and back into the frying pan, as Tae-sang and Chae-ok are promptly taken captive by the group of soldiers they bump right into.
Jun-taek is also surrounded by soldiers and arrested, and taken to Ichiro, who recognises him. He’s taken to a cell and bound, while Tae-sang and Chao-ok are taken to separate cells and individually interrogated. As in Episode 1, Tae-sang is given another torture pitch, but he refuses to play ball unless he gets to leave with Chae-ok and Myeong-ja, reflecting his character growth throughout the season thus far.
How does Tae-sang escape?
Ichiro recognized Jun-taek as the son of a man who is summoned to the hospital for a meeting. In the meanwhile, Jun-taek is injected with something no doubt unpleasant and told to write down the names of his resistance comrades. In another flashback, we see his longstanding relationship with Tae-sang develop, though the latter has always steadfastly refused to devote himself to the cause of independence (sentiments he expressed earlier, given how, before all this, he was one of the few people who flourished under occupation.)
Now, Tae-sang finds himself imprisoned with Jun-taek’s fellow resistance fighters. Luckily, he did indeed make that deal with his interrogator, so he has a way out for himself and, ideally, for them. He uses the key he was left with to unlock his cell and leaves it with the other fighters, instructing them to wait 30 minutes before making their own escape.
Did Chae-ok drink the water?!
Meanwhile, Kato has taken a particular interest in Chae-ok, especially after he deduces that her mother is the rampaging monster. He also potentially drugs her with a glass of water containing the contents of a now-empty vial, but this is a matter for later.
In the meantime, Chae-ok is returned to her cell but sneakily handed back her knife from the undercover Korean soldier who snatched it up when she was apprehended earlier. In her cell, she spots a message from her mother written on the wall in blood, confirming her mother is somewhere inside the facility. Even when Tae-sang springs her from captivity, she insists on continuing the search rather than let the previous decade be in vain.
The hug is nice, though.
How does Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 Episode 5 end?
“Desperation” ends with Tae-sang once again coming face to face with the monster, and a shot rings out in its direction to cap things off.
But there are some other things to consider here too. Nawol and Gu have a pitch for Jun-taek’s father to help save his son, since begging and bribing proved unsuccessful. Though, Jun-taek remains in captivity, having written down several names of his co-conspirators.
Finally, Chae-ok returns to Kato to demand to know where her mother is. But knowing what we know, does she really want to find out?
What did you think of Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 Episode 5? Let us know in the comments.
