Summary
Agent Kim Reactivated wraps up about how everyone expected it would. Most of the finale risks feeling like a bit of an epilogue, but a Season 2 tease should whet some appetites.
It probably won’t come as a surprise to many that Agent Kim Reactivated has a happy ending, but it might be a bit surprising — at least for those unfamiliar with the webtoon — that it so openly sets up Season 2. That aside, though, the point is that the main narrative arc is satisfyingly resolved, the villains get their deserved comeuppance, and the ahjussi trio gets their big moments. A lot of Episode 10 unavoidably feels like a bit of an epilogue, but that’s unavoidable in a show like this, and the broad sweep of Season 1 was definitely enjoyable enough that the obvious sequel tease feels like a welcome idea instead of a threat.
Let’s round up all the key talking points.
The Manager Kim Death Fake-Out
After the penultimate episode ended in relatively dire straits and the finale’s preview implied that Manager Kim might not make it, many were worried that Kim would have to sacrifice himself to guarantee Min-ji’s safety. And while this is implied for a little while, it ends up being a fake-out, naturally.
This being an espionage story, it was kind of obvious that Kim’s “death” would be the death of his identity, which is more or less the case. Both North and South Korea agree to declare him officially dead so that he and Min-ji can start anew with fresh identities. Of course, Kim chooses to let Min-ji believe he’s dead and surprise her at the columbarium where his “remains” are being stored, just for maximum dramatic impact. But ultimately he got what he wanted — they’re safe and able to live relatively normal lives together.
Promises Kept
A lot of Agent Kim Reactivated, at least when it wasn’t about near-constant action, was about the evolution of Manager Kim’s mindset from a man of action to a doting family man. And that means letting go of notions like revenge, complicated pasts, and loyalty to amorphous, ever-changing governments, and instead focusing on what really matters — himself, Min-ji, and his brothers, Han-su and Jin-cheol.
This sentiment is best expressed by Kim keeping his promise to Codename 66 by going out of his way to recapture General Ri Eung-ryung, who was hiding out in Macau, and hand him over to 66.
Brotherhood Wins
Mr. Ju thought that he could turn Han-su and Jin-cheol against Manager Kim through their love for their respective children, whom he had had kidnapped in the previous episode. And he’s right, to an extent, but the bonds of brotherhood can’t be broken that easily, and naturally, the tables eventually end up being turned on Mr. Ju himself.
Kim pulls in a few favours to ensure that Mr. Ju and his company are utterly ruined, as are all the officials who helped him and/or looked the other way. Even Hye-ri gets her comeuppance in a nice moment of full-circle payoff. And we mustn’t forget about Gold Tooth either, who finally pops up to get his much-anticipated revenge.
The lesson is pretty clear — do not mess with middle-aged dads and their kids, certainly not the ones who used to be elite intelligence agents. Never works out.
Baekho Recruitment Agency and Season 2?
With Kim having saved the day and earned a new life, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to be out of work. The final scenes of Episode 10 find him proving a point to Lee Do-gyu, the director of Baekho Recruitment Agency.
I’m not especially well-versed in the lore of the Agent Kim Reactivated webtoon, but to the best of my knowledge, Baekho is a pretty integral part of it, and the fact that Season 1 ends here is pretty explicitly a setup for Season 2.
Given the show has had a pretty unprecedented amount of success, I would imagine that we’ll be seeing more of it sooner rather than later. And this is a great way to set that up without sacrificing the short-term payoff.
