Moving (2023) Episode 18

Moving Episode 18 picks up where we left off, with Mi-hyun determined to find answers about Kim Doo-sik and heading back inside the school. She finds Jae-hak on the verge of shooting Il-hwan and Ki-soo. She immediately opens fire and distracts Jae-hak. After an intense battle, she kills Jae-hak by using her abilities to her advantage. Il-hwan grabs Jae-hak’s gun and asks Ki-soo to leave the school grounds. 

Obviously, Ki-soo is hesitant and worried about the teacher, but Il-hwan insists. It is a good time for the old man to remember he is an NIS agent! On his way out, Ki-soo overhears someone crying and finds Han-byul crying in one of the classrooms. He warns her to keep it down and stays with her. 

At the same time, Deok-yoon and Yong-deuk are on the move after dealing with Ju-won. Mi-hyun corners them on a staircase and uses the mirror reflection to talk with Deok-yoon. She informs him she killed two of his soldiers and wants to know what happened to Doo-sik. 

Elsewhere, our boy Bong-seok is struggling to escape the net he is trapped in. Joon-hwa starts talking about Kim Doo-sik, saying the young lad resembles him. This immediately gets Bong-seok’s attention, and he demands to know what happened to his father. Joon-hwa says he was the man who helped the North capture Doo-sik.

We circle back to 1994 when Yong-jun assigned Mi-hyun to investigate Doo-sik ahead of a secret mission. We all know what transpired and how Doo-sik was later sent to eliminate the leader of the North. In this episode, we see what happened that fateful night and find answers on whether Doo-sik really killed the North’s leader. 

Through a flashback, we see Doo-sik infiltrate the house of the current North leader. He managed to take out all the soldiers, but true to his style, he didn’t shoot to kill. After dealing with all the soldiers, he started heading to the leader’s room and found Deok-yoon at the door. He shot him, but Deok-yoon begged him not to enter the leader’s room. 

In his last effort to save the leader, Deok-yoon drew his secret gun, but Doo-ik was too fast and shot his hand. This is how Deok-yoon lost one of his fingers. Upon entering the room, Doo-sik found the leader on his deathbed, tied to a life-supporting machine. Instead of killing the man, he walked away. 

After this brazen attack, the North started mobilising itself to find gifted people from their region. Under the Security Department Chief’s orders, Deok-yoon did his best to find and train the people with these talents. It was a sad, bloody project that killed hundreds of men. We see how he came to find Joon-hwa and Yong-deuk one cold day in 1995. 

This time, Deok-yoon took ten men suspected to have gifts to Mount Suri’s peak and ordered them to jump. This is how they trained these men, forcing them to awaken their gifts or die. The men were hesitant, and Deok-yeon and his soldiers opened fire. Yong-deuk was hurt and fell off the cliff; the rest jumped because it seemed like the better solution.

Only Yong-deuk and Joon-hwa survived; the other eight men died a senseless death. From Deok-yoon’s tears, we can see this was a challenging project for him. We also notice that Park Chan-Il was among the soldiers at Deok-yoon’s side.

Initially, Deok-yoon thought all the men died and was surprised when Joon-hwa floated above them. Joon-hwa was terrified and admitted he thought he was signing up to join the Supreme Guard Command. He thought he could work and save his family from starvation. This was not what he signed up for.

Deok-yoon believes the country will pay him respects, and if he wants to live and save his family, he should join them. Joon-hwa was left with no choice, and if he flew away, they would hunt him down and kill his whole family. He stayed to save his family.

At the same time, in South Korea, Doo-sik was captured by Yong-jun’s men. Ultimately, Doo-sik surrendered because he wanted to save his family. Ma Sang-gu brought him to Yong-jun, and they threatened to chase his family down if he didn’t do one last mission for them. Yong-jun insisted he needed to go to the North and try to attack the new leader. He said only Doo-sik can complete the mission because he knows the house’s layout. 

Unfortunately, this time the North was ready, and through the help of Joon-hwa, they captured Doo-sik. Deok-yoon then revealed to Doo-sik that it was useless to spare their lives the first time. All the soldiers who survived the first attack were killed along with their families and marked as traitors. 

We return to the present, with Mi-hyun listening to what happened to her husband as Deok-yoon narrates. Deok-yoon slowly reaches for his gun, and there is another gunfight. Mi-hyun’s leg is hurt this time, and she runs away to treat her wound.

In the meantime, Joon-hwa and Bong-seok get into it. Joon-hwa is being elusive with the details of what happened to his dad. Charged with a new anger, Bong-seok frees himself and lunges at him. They struggle for a while as they fight in the air. Bong-seok calls Hui-soo, waking her up, and she realizes he needs her help. Using the strategy Il-hwan taught her, she and Bong-seok team up and give Joon-hwa a knockout.

Back at the school, we catch up with Gang-hoon, whom Park Chan-Il spotted. They are fighting, but Gang-hoon is no match for Park Chan-Il ‘s strength and skill. He tries to get away, but he is unable to. Park Chan-Il keeps coming at him with no mercy. 

On the other hand, Deok-yoon and Yong-deuk decide to separate and cover more ground. Deok-yoon notices that Yong-deuk is limping and remembers what happened the day this giant survived the fall at Mount Suri. Yong-deuk climbed back to the peak, ignoring his pain to survive.

Deok-yoon ignores the limping and orders him to find the other soldiers. On the other hand, he tries to find Mi-hyun, who is hiding in the toilet, to take care of her wound. He finds the cleaning lady dead in the power room and Jae-hyak in the corridors.

Meanwhile, Ju-won is slowly regenerating and thinking about his wife. Mi-hyun calls the phone she left in the bin and tells him they must work together and save their kids. This motivates Ju-won to get up, and he heads out to help.

The episode ends with Deok-yoon calling for backup. He summons the man hiding in the car’s boot, saying he should come in with his sunglasses. The man gets out of the vehicle and determinedly walks towards the school.

The Episode Review

The anxiety is killing us! Things are about to get worse for Team South as Deok-yoon brings in one other soldier. I am curious to see his ability and why they trust him enough to rescue them all.

This episode was intense, and as much as we hate the North soldiers, we are also starting to see their side of the story. We are realising they didn’t choose this path; they were forced into it. Instead of choosing a side, we can’t help but see them as humans as well. Joon-hwa’s story is profoundly moving; he is only in this team to save his family. Just like Frank and all the others like Doo-sik, they were forced to be government assassins.  

The parents tried their best to save their kids from the same fate as them, but Yong-jun’s greed had no bounds. Doo-sik sacrificed himself for his wife and son, and it will be a pity if Bong-seok ends up at the hands of Yong-jun. Speaking of Doo-sik, is he alive or dead?