The Explosives
With time changed but Ae-Ri still dead, episode 14 of Kairos begins with Gun-Wook and Seo-Jin scrambling to work out exactly what’s happened to lead up to this point. With all eyes turning toward Chairman Yu, the real wildcard here may well be Do-Kyun. Back in September, Soo-Jung receives a call from Seo-Jin from October. Given Seo-Jin is outside in the waiting room, Soo-Jung finally starts to understand what’s going on. In the morning, Seo-Jin approaches Detective Park and asks about Taek-Kyu, who’s close to being taken away and prosecuted given they have enough evidence. In October, Seo-Jin starts getting ready. Dressed in a suit, he heads to work and calls Do-Kyun in for his report. After signing, Seo-Jin suggests they should stop working together. Finally the pair drop their façade as Seo-Jin and Do-Kyun talk about what they both know. It’s an icy conversation, to say the least, as Do-Kyun leaves his office and struggles to compose himself. Ae-Ri awakens from her ordeal in September and rings Seo-Jin at the scheduled time. She finds out Taek-Kyu wasn’t the one who killed her meaning Ae-Ri’s future is still set for her to die. After apologizing, Seo-Jin remains determined to try and stop this from occurring. As he mentions Do-Kyun and Hyun-Chae, the conversation suddenly ends. Ae-Ri heads back inside and speaks to Song-Ja, who finally opens up and reveals what she knows. She hands over a phone number for Jin-Ho and tells her that he’s constantly on the move. Determined to try and find him, Soo-Jung teams up with Gun-Wook and Ae-Ri to track him down. Soo-Jung reveals that she knows what’s going on, asking them both to include her in on the plan. In the police station, Taek-Kyu is grilled by the police until his attorney shows up. When he hands over his business card, Taek-Kyu immediately perks up. In October, Seo-Jin packs up his things and decides to leave his wife. He tells Hyun-Chae not to provoke Chairman Yu before parting ways. As he does, Do-Kyun shows up and learns the truth about Hyun-Chae; the truth we’ve been waiting for most of the season. It turns out Hyun-Chae isn’t her real name, isn’t actually an alias. Her real name is Lee Yoo-Na and in the past, she used to be beaten badly by her Father. After burning him alive, Hyun-Chae’s father came back and threatened to expose everything. She didn’t tell Do-Kyun because she didn’t think he’d love the woman she originally was. Do-Kyun decides to “take care” of her Father. Before he does though, he meets Seo-Jin and the two come to blows over what’s best for Hyun-Chae. Given Seo-Jin wants Song-Ja’s evidence, Do-Kyun is willing to hand it over – but for a steep price to pay. He wants money and to leave with Hyun-Chae. Seo-Jin agrees to think it over as the two look set to explode at any moment. Afterwards, Do-Kyun rings Hyun-Chae’s father and warns that if he goes near her again he’ll kill him. This only makes things worse though, as Hyun-Chae receives a call from her father threatening to burn down her house if she doesn’t hand over the money. He even claims to kill Do-Kyun too. The fateful time arrives and Do-Kyun immediately rings through to Ae-Ri and lets her know Do-Kyun has the evidence needed to incriminate the Chairman. While she continues on the hunt for this, Song-Ja rings Jin-Ho and tells him to hand over the documents to her daughter when she arrives. Jin-Ho rings Ae-Ri to let her know what’s happening but unfortunately she’s being watched from afar by a masked man. That man finds out where Jin-Ho is hiding and arrives in the middle of the night, eventually critically injuring him. Ae-Ri is unaware of this as she rocks up in the neighbourhood with Gun-Wook. Passing said masked man, Ae-Ri eventually finds Jin-Ho at home in a rough way. In October, Hyun-Chae hands over the money to her Father but her attempts to try and kill him are in vain as he figures out what she’s up to. He smashes a glass across the back of her head and ties her up in the bathroom. With Hyun-Chae indisposed for now, Seo-Jin heads home and learns Hyun-Chae is missing. Wghile Do-Kyung makes it there to try and save her, Seo-Jin instead is preoccupied with Song-Ja, who’s just woken up in hospital. When he arrives, Song-Ja tells Seo-Jin that she’s certain Detective Park was the one responsible for what happened to his Father. It turns out Seo-Jin’s Father was the one who suspected something afoul at the construction site. As we cut back to the day before the collapse, we see what. Mr Lee arrived late in a truck armed with explosives. Unfortunately, the truth is this wasn’t just an accident; this was a premeditated attack to kill those inside. Unfortunately things take a turn for the worst after Jin-Ho’s attack. Thanks to the documents being taken, Song-Ja and Jin-Ho’s meeting in October doesn’t take place and the future is rewritten again. As Ae-Ri rings Seo-Jin, she receives details surrounding Detective Park. This, as it turns out, happens to be the same man who attacked and critically injured Jin-Ho. Realizing that he’s the real culprit they’re after, the future is set into motion as Do-Kyun checks for his documents under the bed…and of course finds nothing given time has been altered. Hyun-Chae awakens from her ordeal and manages to ring Do-Kyun, texting him the address just in time. Hyun-Chae’s father returns home and looks set to really hurt her until Do-Kyun races to the scene and beats the man down to the ground. He starts choking him out but it’s too much, Do-Kyun is stabbed in the back. As the two wrestle in the house, Hyun-Chae sneaks away and phones the police. When Seo-Jin rocks up on the scene, he learns that both Do-Kyun and Hyun-Chae’s father have died. With Jin-Ho awake and able to move his fingers, Chairman Yu appears and tells him to hand over the documents, threatening Ji-A’s life in the process. With everything looking bleak, a race against time looks set to ensue.
The Episode Review
With all roads now leading to stopping Chairman Yu before it’s too late, Kairos delivers another thrilling episode full of suspenseful and tense moments. It seems Do-Kyun has died at the hands of Hyun-Chae’s father and perhaps this is a fitting end for this character. Of course, given the way Kairos is set up with time constantly altering, this may not actually be the end for him. Still, the documents remain the most important part of this puzzle and learning about the explosives, and how the building collapse was a premeditated attack, reinforces exactly how shocking this accident was and how heinous Chairman Yu is. Kairos has been one of the best Korean dramas this year and it’s a shame the ratings haven’t been bigger. Hopefully Netflix snatch up the rights to this one as this sci-fi thriller has been an enthralling watch from start to finish.
