Summary
Episode 9 has more momentum and stakes than the previous episode, though there is still a worrying amount left to explain and conclude in the finale.
Despite suggesting that the finale will have a frankly overwhelming amount of stuff to get through, which is always a worrying proposition, Episode 9 of Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 nonetheless feels a step up from Episode 8 with its superior momentum, stakes, and action. The show is still suffering a little from the tight, claustrophobic setting of Ongseong Hospital’s interior, which is when it was at its best, but there are still enough solid set pieces and character moments for these unnecessarily long episodes to feel worth the investment.
The penultimate episode begins with a reminder that, fundamentally, this whole thing is a metaphor for how the Japanese treated Koreans while they were under occupation. Unethical human experimentation might be a more TV-drama way of depicting oppression, but this is a story about oppression nonetheless.
Anyway, in the present day, Maeda wants to make Seishin obey her, though it’s unclear why. Kato can help facilitate that, and in exchange, he can have Ichiro’s leadership position. Seems fair.
Myeong-ja also seems to be heading back to the hospital after she’s apprehended – though not without incident – by a disgusted Ishikawa and stuffed inside a cage. Chae-ok’s father is also heading back there, which she discovers when she finds a note he left for her explaining that he’s going to find his wife. Kato lets him in and lets him see Seishin, but it’s Chae-ok that the creature is really interested in.
How does Ishikawa die?
Ishikawa bites the bullet in this episode after being poisoned by Ichiro on the instruction of Maeda. However, this is covered up so that people think he simply died of his injuries. He’s given an honorable send-off, with nobody any the wiser.
Meanwhile, Tae-sang tries to come up with a plan for what to do about the hospital. He takes Chae-ok to his vault, where they share a kiss, and from which Chae-ok takes a gun that she subsequently uses to shoot Ichiro. After she seems to disappear, only to wake up in a cell elsewhere, where Maeda goes to see her.
Who betrayed Tae-sang?
Tae-sang enlists the help of Jun-taek and his comrades to blow up Ongseong Hospital entirely. He later receives a visit from Maeda himself, who tells him that Chae-ok is dead, though he won’t believe it without proof. Maeda is full of personal reveals for Tae-sang, including that Mrs. Nawol sold out his mother, and both Ga-pyeong and Beom-o have betrayed him, the latter to find his mother in Japan.
Tae-sang takes this news pretty well, all things considered, though he always knew about Mrs. Nawol. He’s adamant that he’s going to find Chae-ok no matter what. He blames the Japanese for putting his friends in a position where they had no choice but to turn on him.
How does Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 Episode 9 end?
All roads do seem to be converging on Ongseong Hospital, where Seishin has broken out of her prison cell much to the chagrin of Kato, and Joong-won has managed to do the same.
At the end of the episode, Chae-ok is brought before Kato. On the floor below, where Seishin is, the creature senses the presence of her daughter and bursts through the floor.
What did you think of Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 Episode 9? Let us know in the comments.
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