Summary
Weak Hero Class 2 finally slows down and eases up on the fights in Episode 5, instead delivering some strong character work.
Weak Hero Class 2 has had no shortage of fights, but it has had a shortage of meaningful character moments, and Episode 5 is designed to address that. Both Si-eun and Baku reach very significant crossroads moments in their personal arcs, and even Baek-jin is in a bit of a pickle with the Union’s CEO breathing down his neck. This all makes for a less exciting chapter than usual, especially after the all-action previous episode, but it does make for a really interesting and valuable one.
Of primary importance are two big decisions — whether Baku will join the Union at Baek-jin’s urging, and whether Si-eun will leave Korea to study abroad at his mother’s. Yes and no are the tl;dr answers, but there’s much more to discuss in relation to both subplots.
We’ll start with Baku. In a mirror of Si-eun’s internal struggle, he’s harboring a lot of guilt. As he explains to Si-eun early in the episode, in what I think is a flashback, Hyun-tak had a promising taekwondo career that was waylaid by the knee injury Seong-je caused. Now, with Baek-jin continuing to torment his family and friends, Baku feels like the only chance he has of saving them is by joining the Union.
This feeling is compounded when his father, who seems like a bit of an abuser himself, is arrested after assaulting some minors. It’s obviously a set-up by the Union, but Baku plays into their hands by violently beating down all the kids who reported him. After a disagreement with his father, he walks himself right into Baek-jin’s arms, figuratively speaking, although you can tell he’d rather be doing anything else.
Baek-jin’s obsession with Baku is becoming a problem. We still don’t know what their relationship really is beyond them being friends as children, but Baku holding out for so long has driven him to distraction. Seong-je being arrested after the rooftop fight attracted the attention of CEO Choi, who seems to be in charge of the Union, but when he sends a couple of goons to pick Baek-jin up, he beats them both up, and Choi is forced to visit him at the bowling alley. He isn’t happy. Baek-jin seems to be losing control at the expense of getting one over on Baku.
Meanwhile, Si-eun heads home to be told by his worried mother that he’s going to be studying abroad for his own safety. In Class 1, part of Si-eun’s character was his emotional distance from his parents, and he was rarely seen with either of them, let alone both. That distance continues here in Weak Hero Class 2, Episode 5. Si-eun’s mother means well, but her overprotectiveness is an outgrowth of her guilt about the first season’s events, since she believes herself to be at fault for what happened. Guilt is a key theme here, as we’ve seen with Baku, but it’s most effectively expressed through Si-eun.
As things roll on and Si-eun, Hyun-tak, and Jun-tae become closer, Si-eun has to consider what’s best for his future and the safety of his friends, and leaving seems to be it. But Si-eun can also see what’s happening with Baku, which is playing on his mind. He has seen the same arc play out in his own life. There doesn’t seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel for anyone.
But there’s a key moment that occurs right at the end of the episode that is a major turning point and is also pretty effectively moving. While he’s at the airport, about to leave for Singapore, Si-eun gets a call from Jun-tae. He explains that he, Baku, and Hyun-tak all know what happened to Su-ho, and that it isn’t his fault. This long-awaited absolution moves Si-eun to tears, and he decides to remain in Korea.
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