My Perfect Stranger (2023) Episode 11

Episode 11 of My Perfect Stranger picks up right where we left off. Hae-joon is in a state of shock over the hairbands. Mi-sook leaves the scene though, as it becomes clear that Chung-A, the waitress from the teashop, is his mother.

When Hae-joon leaves too, Yeon-woo speaks to Chun-a, who’s more than a little freaked out to learn his name. This is the same name that the pair have discussed calling their baby, which we know is exactly what happens in the future. Anyway, Hae-joon reflects on how he never liked Chun-a from the start, with a rather amusing scene of her trying to help him eat an egg and mothering him in the cafe… and the yolk breaking and staining his shirt.

Hae-joon reassures himself, reciting that she’s “just a stranger” and trying to abide by that mantra. And as we have it, two weeks pass without incident. We’re up to June 1st, and Yoon-young has been having recurring nightmares all this time. Hae-joon though, has been checking in on Yoo-seop, to make sure he’s okay – and broach for details.

It turns out Joo-young actually returned to town because of Yoo-seop. The pair wanted to leave together. He’s actually the reason she came there in the first place, as it was the anniversary of her parents passing. Should they leave, the pair had no idea when they’d be able to return, given the police being after them. Yoo-seop wanted to wait it out, intent on spending the day with his younger brother, Hee-seop. That’s why there were hiding in the same abandoned house that Kyeong-ae was found in.

Hae-joon deduces that she followed them and then they became friends. Kyeong-ae wanted to help them and showed up that night. So it seems like this may be a connection, but similarly the matchbox, with the phrase “A Woman Who Reads is Dangerous”, which is another big takeaway here. Why write this? Well, things get even stranger when Hae-joon tells Yoon-young that Kyeong-ae showed up that night at the house because she had something to give Joo-young… that something being a book. All the victims had a book with them which means the culprit may have taken it with him.

Over at Soon-ae’s place, she reflects on moments spent with Kyeong-ae but she seems to have misplaced some of her gear – including the notebook she was writing in. And this is, of course, the time where Mi-sook takes the work and hijacks it for herself. There are reporters all over school and everyone believes her to truly be gifted.

When Soon-ae confronts her about it, promising not to stay silent, Mi-sook threatens her. In fact, Mi-sook goes so far as to warn that she may end up just like Kyeong-ae if she carries on. As she cries silently, Mi-sook leaves the room and runs into Yoon-young, antagonizing her too.

Yoon-young encourages Soon-ae though, going so far as to tell everyone about her mum’s talent and confronting the publishers. Mi-sook is there too, and Soon-ae shows off the manuscripts she’s been poring over, including an entire chapter she left out. She also knows everything about the story and encourages the publisher to ask her loads of questions – because Mi-sook certainly won’t be able to.

The publisher starts looking through the documents and as a result, Soon-ae comes out on top. The author’s name is going to be switched and he’s now aware that Mi-sook messed up and plagiarized her work. So how does this affect the present? We’ll have to wait and see. For now though, this is truly a happy day for all involved. All except Mi-sook, whose mum goes absolutely ballistic back home, lashing out at her daughter and blaming her for messing up.

As Mi-sook heads out into the street, she sees all the posters and books being taken down. Elsewhere, Yoon-young has another nightmare and wakes up breathing heavily. She meets up with Hae-joon out in the garage and reflects on her dream. Despite dealing with Mi-sook’s tyrannical grip over publishing and her mother’s misery, she’s still not sure why she’s experiencing these night terrors.

Over with Mi-sook, it turns out she was there that night when Min-soo fell off the bridge. She helped him up but he actually beat her down given she hurt his arm. And her reaction? To laugh hysterically while sitting under the bridge. Now, in the present, Min-soo passes out in the alleyway, as it seems like he’s been drugged. Mi-sook shows up at the police station and tells Baek that she could die. She claims to have seen the culprit… and points the finger at Min-soo.

As the episode closes out, Yeon-woo speaks to Hae-joon and points out that he knows about the matchbox and the murders, and he actually found the matchbox in the living room. Yeon-woo seems to think that Hae-joon could well be the killer. As Hae-joon tries to explain himself, Yeon-woo backs up.

The Episode Review

Well, this just got very interesting. There’s undoubtedly going to be some major ripple effects in the present over what Yoon-young and Hae-joon have done this episode. Yeon-woo suspecting Hae-joon is an interesting twist and he needs to be careful here not to incriminate himself or spook Yeon-woo so he runs to the police.

As for Yoon-young, helping Soon-ae become the writer she was always supposed to be is massively heartwarming… but what does that mean for the present? We’ve seen those random clips of Mi-sook at home but surely the present has been rewritten now.

It’s really difficult to predict who the killer is and hats off to My Perfect Stranger for managing to keep that going for a good while. And what of Yoon-young’s nightmares? Could she be dreaming that one of our lead protagonists no longer exists in the present? We’ll have to wait and see!