Summary
Agent Kim Reactivated uses the long-awaited reunion between Manager Kim and Min-ji to raise the stakes even further.
It was obvious that Manager Kim’s reunion with Min-ji was never going to be the end of Agent Kim Reactivated, and Episode 7 proves that assessment correct, although it also proves that there’s still plenty of meat on the bones of the story for the time being. Instead of feeling like things are dragging on, this hour (and a bit) effectively complicates them by handing Kim directly over to the North Koreans. A case so complex was never going to be solved so easily.
But I like this transition; I like Kim switching modes from “loving father doing what he must to rescue his daughter” to “former elite operative understanding that the mission must be completed”. It’s a nice, sensible evolution of the stakes that doesn’t sacrifice any of the emotional core. In fact, it delivers big on that front too, with us already getting the big fight between Kim and Mr. Ju, and the so-close-yet-so-far dynamic with Min-ji giving us even more investment in the overarching plot.
As ever, flashbacks are doing some heavy lifting. The John Wick-style opening, which shows how Kim forcibly quit the intelligence services following Min-ji’s birth, adds a lot of emotional heft to the story since we can see how much Kim was willing to sacrifice for Min-ji from the very beginning, and how, in the absence of his late wife, their connection was even stronger, even if their present-day relationship had become a little strained. Just like that, the present-day reunion is all the more effective.
By extension, the continuing perils also seem more serious. Min-ji being a part of the core group now adds a new dynamic, and the action sequences have a bit more going on because the fear is that she’ll be separated from Kim and the whole process will begin again. There’s the SMD to consider, not to mention Mr Ju, who is being kept abreast of everything by his secretary. This results in several fine set-pieces as the episode progresses, including the face-off between Kim and Ju.
Agent Kim Reactivated Episode 7 benefits from Min-ji’s presence. I’ve said it already, but the fact that she’s resourceful and proactive prevents her from being annoying, and the extra layer of jeopardy is helpful in building suspense. But she also softens Kim. She’s the reason he doesn’t kill Ju, and there’s a nice moment where he has to sort of sanitize his backstory for her consumption. Linking with the opening flashback, he abandoned his previous life for her sake when she was born, and he’s reluctant to reopen that door even now, despite the fact that he can’t avoid sharing more than he’d like given everything that she has already seen. It’s a cool touch.
It also girds the emotional reality that this isn’t over. Kim has to hand himself over to Mole Cricket and the SMD, since the whole thing won’t end if he doesn’t. This also means Han-su and Jin-cheol being snatched and imprisoned. The threats to Min-ji haven’t gone anywhere. Mr Ju is still out and about, Gold Tooth is alive, and 66 is still in play. The inter-Korea talks have stalled, so there’s a big political shadow hanging over everything, and Manager Kim himself is in potentially his worst predicament yet.
The big cliffhanger finds Kim being handed over to the North Koreans, presumably as a political play, with him waking up in a torture chamber on the wrong end of a nasty-looking implement, a pickle that he’s going to struggle to get himself out of. With only three episodes left, there’s quite a lot still to resolve, but based on what we’ve seen thus far, I have every confidence that this show will be able to do it and ultimately stick the landing.
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