The Mysterious Village
Missing: The Other Side starts with a strong first episode with plenty of mystery and suspense to keep you sticking around for the long haul. The story and its characters are definitely engaging and I am already looking forward to find out more about them. Episode 1 of Missing: The Other Side starts with students leaving a school for the day as a news bulletin talks about the disappearance of Kim So Hee. Within that, it reveals that over the last 5 years over 7000 people have now gone missing. A dark figure follows a young girl walking home before we cut forward to the same figure seemingly carrying the body of the girl into a trash yard. The next day we meet Kim Wook, who scams con artists for a living. He almost gets caught by one of his clients when his identity comes to light. However, he manages to narrowly escape. He then heads to the woman his client scammed to give her money back, minus his fee. Elsewhere, we cut to the police who have found the dead body of Kim Mi Ok, who has been missing for a year. As they look at the body, they notice signs of strangulation. Detective Shin Joon-Ho clashes with another detective from the missing person squad over the investigation. It’s here we learn that he is on tender hook at the moment as he had an argument with his fiancee. At the same time, Kim Wook happens to see a group of men kidnapping a young woman. He confronts them but as they give chase, he runs away but gets hit by Joon-Ho’s car and falls unconscious. He is rushed to hospital but thankfully manages to survive. In the police station, a couple bursts in the MIS detective’s office. Incredulous and afraid, it turns out their son, Ha-Neul, is missing. We then cut to see a strange man, Pan-Seok, walking to an old house with the little missing boy. In the evening, Joon-Ho returns to the scene of the crime to investigate some more while Kim Wook walks home. Suddenly, he gets kidnapped by the men who took the young woman. They stop in the middle of nowhere to dig a hole and Kim Wook manages to run away. Unfortunately, he falls down a cliff into the abyss. He is later found hanging from a tree by the strange Pan-Seok who snatches him up. The next day, Kim Wook wakes up in Pan-Seok’s house and wonders where he is. With no signal, he heads outside to look for his wallet. Only, he’s almost caught by the thugs looking for him. He walks away and inadvertently goes through an invisible portal, reaching a strange village. In the local inn, we see the missing boy Ha-Neul. As the camera pans out, we see a woman and a young man contemplating what to do with him. Kim Wook walks in and gets a drink but is unable to ring anyone from there either. He leaves but misses the only bus, forcing him to stay in the strange village. During the night, he hears Ha-Neul crying in the hallway. As he speaks to the boy, he learns that he has been there for two days already. He tries to comfort the child and promises to help him find his mother. Looking closely at the boy, he remembers seeing his picture on the bus stop. However, the owner of the inn, Thomas Cha, comes to take Ha-Neul away. Later on outside, Pan-Seok has an argument with Byeong-Eun after he made him accuse an innocent person. He’s also not happy that he made to make his wife wait for him for 10 years. The next morning, Kim Wook goes looking for Ha-Neil before leaving the village. He finds him with another boy and a woman, Kim Hyun-Mi. Suddenly an old woman, Choi Mi-Ja, arrives and warns him against talking to the woman. She takes him inside and mentions that she knew his mother. Kim Wook doesn’t believe her though as his mother left when he was 7 years old. Kim leaves and manages to take Ha-Neul with him but is soon stopped by the other villagers. They don’t find Ha-Neul with him though as he is hiding in the tall grass. When the coast is clear, Kim Wook puts him in his trolley. After walking for a while, he opens it up but finds the child gone. He runs back in the village and is shocked to find the little boy playing there. He tries running with Ha-Neul but the old woman waves at him to come in her house. As he rushes in with Ha-Neul, he finds the house empty and deserted. We then cut to Pan Seok watching the news where it is revealed that the body of Choi Mi-Ja has been found after being missing. Determined to leave once and for all, Kim Wook tries leaving with Ha-Neul again. He walks by a house where Pan Seok is speaking with Byeong-Eun. The two discuss a highway construction site and the latter insists that his wife killed him. Kim Wook overhears and wants to know the meaning behind their conversation. Byeong-Eun is confused by his questions and reveals that everyone in the village is dead. Kim Wook is shocked and even more so when Byeong and all his belongings start to disappear. He then leaves the place with Pan-Seok following him, asking Ha-Neul if he is dead which ends the episode.
The Episode Review
The first chapter of Missing: The Other Side already has me intrigued with its original and mysterious premise. The idea of a place where missing people go is interesting and reminds me a little of the novel by Cecelia Ahern “A Place Called Here”. This village seems to act as a transitional place for those people until their bodies have been found. There are definitely a lot of interesting characters in the drama, both in the living world and the village. I do wonder just what role Kim Wook and Joon Ho will have in the upcoming episodes. Will this take a similar route to Mystic Pop-Up Bar with helping those missing people with unresolved grief or issues? I am sure we will find out soon but for now, the drama opens with a great first installment.
