‘Twelve’ Episode 4 Recap – A Dull Outing Relying On Hints Instead Of Answers

Twelve leaves us with a lot of questions after Episode 4. On some level, this isn’t a terrible thing, since it wouldn’t do for a show to give all of its secrets away out of the gate. But after the previous episode seemed to languish too much on how underpowered the angels already were, it’s a bit annoying that they’re also threatened by their own secrets and mistrust. The deck still feels too heavily stacked against them.

It isn’t immediately clear what was up with Hae-tae and Tae-san, or what the connection between O-gwi and Mir is, for instance. This is a show that is coasting on the intrigue of the margins, but not giving us a great deal to latch onto otherwise. It’s all starters and no main course – we haven’t even seen the angels use their powers yet. The drip-feeding of hints only really works when you can really invest in the main plot, and the glacial progression there is harmful. Ultimately, the show can’t really escape the fact that it’s rather dull.

And the flashbacks! Episode 4 of Twelve opens with one, depicting a young Hae-tae, apparently a creation of the dozen angel powers, following Tae-san and Mal-rok around and quickly winning Tae-san over. In another flashback later, Samin watches Tae-san kill Hae-tae. The missing middle portion is where all the intrigue lives but this is a pretty lazy way of getting that across. The whole episode is a bit like that; it’s a lot of characters telling other characters things the audience already know, and then teasing things we don’t in oblique references, like when Mal-rok reiterates to Tae-san that they have to prevent O-gwi from meeting Mir. Why?

Another continuing problem is the general ease with which the demons seem to be able to do everything. O-gwi, after acquiring the first soul stone, just tracks down the second one using his powers and sends some spirits to retrieve it. Easy. Won-seung is searching for Samin, but it’s taking a while, and when he does find him he loses him again immediately. While nothing gets done, the episode repeatedly pushes the idea of the angels’ vulnerability, with the dark dreams of their deaths – Tae-san and Mir are both having them – and reminders about the absence of their powers, even though Mir’s still kind of work, though she can’t – or won’t – explain why.

I just find all this quite annoyingly dry. We get it, there’s history here, and that history threatens to tear the group apart, so it’s important to beat around the bush and keep Mir out of the way without telling her the whole truth. But there aren’t enough episodes in the season to tease everything out to this extent, and I’m still wholly unconvinced by the angels as a unit in general. They’re powerless, they lie to each other constantly, nobody is on the same page, and all the show seems to want to remind us of is that the demons know all their weaknesses. Somehow – for me, anyway – that feeling is trickling into the overall enjoyment, making it hard to buy in.

Twelve Episode 4 also uses the same trick of the angels getting beaten to pulp all the time to supposedly raise the stakes. They also fall for a really obvious divide-and-conquer tactic to leave Mir isolated. Tae-san is, at least, a bit more capable, physically if nothing else, but it’s clear that his weakness – despite all claims to contrary – is Geum-soon, and this certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. Just to make sure, though, we get a late flashback clarifying the relationship. Is there any real need to reiterate such a simple idea?

Simple ideas are all this show seems to have. Initially, that seemed like one of its strengths. As things progress, though, it’s starting to feel like it has nothing else to offer.