Summary
Agent Kim Reactivated complicates things further in another solid episode, which adds some clarity but also more potential jeopardy.
There are loads of idioms that spring to mind when it comes to Agent Kim Reactivated, especially after Episode 5. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire” is one; “So close yet so far” is another. Both apply to Manager Kim’s endless pursuit of Min-ji, which seems to be going from bad to worse, but that’s probably a good thing given we’re only halfway through Season 1.
But there’s also a bit of clarity here, emotional and otherwise. Part of the reason this show works so well is that we totally buy into Kim’s relationship with his daughter, and the reason we’re buying in is that it’s complicated. In another flashback, we see more of their difficulties; in 2014, she ran away and hid while they were moving house, causing Kim no end of upset and teeing up the present-day scenario of a proper disappearance that he has to contend with.
By the time we pick up from the ending of the previous episode, we understand even more intuitively what Kim is thinking. He’s desperate. And with the idea that Min-ji might be dead still floating around, he’s close to the edge. But simply following her trail is constantly beset by obstacles, leaving Min-ji at the mercy of Gold Tooth while Kim tries to fight off a relentless 66.
Here’s more clarity. The new 66 is under the misapprehension that Manager Kim killed his brother, but flashbacks reveal that not to be the case. Instead, Kim attempted to save 66 and almost took his own life when he failed, with 66 imploring him to survive no matter what. His efforts to convince this new 66 of that, though, don’t go entirely smoothly. But the truth eventually emerges and recontextualises everything. As it turns out, you can’t really trust national intelligence agencies, least of all ones out of North Korea. Who’d have thought it?
This is the big individual moment of Agent Kim Reactivated Episode 5, the thing that stands out as potentially status-quo-shaking in the grand scheme of things. The rest is largely a familiar medley of crunching action and, perhaps more importantly, Kim getting closer and closer to Min-ji just as she constantly slips out of his grasp. But the overall effect of that is the primary thing motivating the audience, since by this point we’re so firmly in the headspace of Kim, and so eager for him to reunite with Min-ji, that it’s screamingly frustrating – in a good way! – every time they almooooost cross paths. There’s going to be a metric ton of catharsis to be had when these two finally catch up with one another, something only exacerbated by little details like Kim finding the message she left him.
This, though, is assuming that Min-ji survives that long. She’s doing a decent job of that so far, since she’s very much her father’s daughter, but the fact that the episode ends with her in Mr. Ju’s car doesn’t bode especially well. There are still other dynamics to be paying attention to, since Han-su and Jin-cheol, the newly aware-of-the-truth 66, and Gold Tooth, but the simple dad and daughter dynamic at the show’s car remains the audience’s primary motivating factor.
