Castaway Diva (2023) K Drama Episode 9

Episode 9 of Castaway Diva starts with Bo-geol arriving to confront his father. He realizes Bo-geol is filming their conversation and he points out that he hasn’t changed. Ki-ho’s father beats his son, telling him that he’s betrayed him and throwing him around the house. Bong-wan beats his son relentlessly, claiming that he’s ruined their happy life.

Bo-geol stands up and tells his dad to leave them alone and move on with his own life. That’s something Bong-wan can’t do and since he’s found Ki-ho, he won’t relent. That is, until Bo-geol shows off a second recording he’s got in his pocket.

Bo-geol has been collecting evidence for the last 15 years of his dad’s physical and mental abuse. If he comes near him, Bo-geol will release all of this to the police and destroy his reputation.

Despite being pleased of his accomplishments, Bo-geol is also overcome with emotion too. He sits in his car and begins weeping over how their family has fallen apart and what this has come to. Bong-wan though, picks up an empty beer can with a towel and decides to use it as evidencwe to find out Ki-ho’s true identity and track him down.

As for Bo-geol, he finds himself confronted by his brother, who questions why he’s got cuts over him. Woo-hak splashes soju over his jacket and pretends to be drunk to avoif suspicions.

Meanwhile, Ran-joo makes her decision and gives up on Mok-ha. She’s decided to stop playing around and go their separate ways. She had an apprentice in the past that bailed on her and she’s not about to do the same thing again with her. So she’s decided to cut ties first. Mok-ha hands over the keys to Ran-joo and, with teary-eyes, bows and leaves the house.

When she does, Mok-ha finds herself with some fans that want to take some pictures of her. When they walk away, they badmouth Mok-ha. She’s confused over this and confronts them, until Woo-hak and Bo-geol shows up in their car, having previously driven past. Bo-geol gets the duo to leave, but there’s still the subject of the pictures, which Woo-hak follows up on and makes them delete.

At home, Bo-geol admits to what he’s done but he doesn’t realize that his dad happens to be listening in from afar. When Woo-hak storms off, Bo-geol admits that he’s afraid because if he sees his father, he doesn’t know what he’ll do to him. The pair hug it out, with Mok-ha giving some words of encouragement.

Meanwhile, Ran-joo returns to her mum who wakes up and asks about the upcoming concert. After, she leaves the nursing home and is dropped off with President Lee. Here, we see more of the past, including the apprentice whom Ran-joo put all her stakes into. He eventually gives up and decides he can’t do it anymore, hurting Ran-joo.

Mok-ha rings President Lee and asks about the offer to sign on with him. He agrees that it is still on the table. When Mok-ha gets herself ready, she remembers fond memories with Ran-joo regarding some face cream she used on her debut. Before she leaves, Bo-geol shows up with dumplings to help her out.

As they eat together, Woo-hak shows up with food of his own he’s made but sees his brother inside already. He brushes it off as a simple thing, but he’s clearly jealous.

Meanwhile, Jung Bong-wan hands over the empty beer can to his contact inside the police station and decides to use him to run fingerprint scans on Ki-ho under the guise that he’s a scammer.

At the same time, Woo-hak continues to follow up on Ki-ho’s father and his part to play in the car crash and the accident. Now, it occurred on the 4th April which is actually the same day that Woo-hak did his stake-out. He checks the footage from the 4th April but it seems to have been deleted. In order to restore the data and potentially catch him in the act with the hornets, he asks his boss to sort this asap.

Back at the Agency, Mo-rae has trouble getting in-tune and hitting those high notes. She wants to work on her weaknesses and that can only come from constant practice. Upstairs in the office, Mok-ha shows and sees Ran-joo already there. She shakes hands with Lee and joins the Agency, while Ran-joo sits nonchalantly listening in. In front of Ran-joo, Mok-ha points out she’s doing this to prove her (Ran-joo) wrong and how amazing she actually is.

That night, Mok-ha listens to a really catchy songs from someone called “Stagnant Water”. She reaches out to message an asks to use their song for the upcoming showcase…but gets shot down with a defiant “no”. Apparently, this guy knows her very well too. And this happens to be Park Yong-gwan! And as fate would have it, this is the failed idol star from the past that found his life turn toward producing.

Mok-ha works hard that night to switch over the lyrics and try to make the best song she possibly can. In fact, she falls asleep on the rooftop with the sheets in her hand. Bo-geol notices and smiles warmly, taking a picture and subsequently visiting Ran-joo. He admits that he’s Ki-ho and thanks her for doing him a favour. Now, he wants another.

The next day, Mok-ha speaks to Park and admits that his lyrics are awful but she’s come up with something better. She hands it over and tells him if he likes the lyrics then she should sing it. As for Park, he bites back and claims that this archive is the “gutter” and she shouldn’t be using it to find a good song from.

Mok-ha points out that not giving up also requires courage, likening it to her struggle to survive from the desert island. If he truly cares, he’ll give the lyrics a look. He’s taken aback by this and eventually concedes and allows her to sing.

In fact, when Mok-ha sings the new lyrics over Park’s song, he’s brought to tears as he listens to the showcase. As for Ran-joo, she comes up with a new term in her resignation form but as they discuss it in the crowd, Ran-joo has a massive smile on her face as she listens to Mok-ha sing. The only person not singing or impressed is Mo-rae. Ran-joo decides she wants to produce Mok-ha’s album after listening to this.

Meanwhile, Woo-hak hears word back from his boss regarding the dashcam footage. He races back to his desk and checks it for himself. There, he notices what looks like Bong-wan breaking into the car and he takes it to the police so they can check it.

It’s hard to see because it’s blurry but Woo-hak immediately bolts out the room once he sees it as he believes it’s their father. Bong-wan speaks to his contact but he refuses to give up the name and the details, as he admits that this is his son and he’s going to find him no matter what.

Remember all the scenes of the water level rising and going down? Well, it appears as if there may be a body floating in the water. Who could it be? Either way, we return to Woo-hak who finds his father leaving a flower shop. He’s shocked, pointing out that his dad has been lying all this time about flower arranging.

Back home though, Mr Jung shows up to confront Mok-ha. Of course, Bo-geol is unaware of all this but he gets a bad feeling. When he checks the CCTV footage back home, he sees his dad and rushes back home.

The Episode Review

Well that took a rather dramatic turn didn’t it? The ending leaves everything wide open for tomorrow’s follow-up, with Jung Bong-wan having found his way back to his family. He’s obsessed but can Bo-geol get back in time and stop him? It certainly poses a rather tantalizing question and the ending is quite the cliff-hanger.

Another big mystery now falls to exactly who that is in the water out by the lake. I’m not sure if this is a flashforward or a segment parallel to what’s happening, or even just an additional dead body in the grand scheme of things, something carried over from the time on the island. Either way, it opens up another can of worms.

The situation with the idol singing and the drama over at RJ Entertainment is certainly interesting and you can tell that this Mo-rae drama is not going to end well. That is especially true when it comes to Park, who serves as a great reminder of what can happen when you don’t follow through with your ambition and let your dreams die.