Recap Korean Drama "Beyond Evil" Episode 2

Episode 2 of Beyond Evil starts us off back at the crime scene again as forensics arrive. With no security cameras in the reed fields, it’s a blind spot and still unknown exactly who’s responsible for this.

Senior Officer Lin starts to guide the different officers, discussing exactly which part of the mud they need to look at and begin excavating. As they start, the group notice pink ribbon tied around the legs, which links to the murders in the past too.

Predictably, this cuts us back to the 15th October 2000 as Dong-Sik is arrested. Apparently officers found evidence at the crime scene linked to him. Despite telling his Father he’s innocent, Dong-Sik is taken away. Only, it turns out the fingers found before actually didn’t belong to Yu-Yeon as they didn’t have the same nails.

Back in the present, Dong-Sik plays Joo-Won at his own game and decides to allow a background check on himself. In fact, while he’s sat in the interview room he tells his colleague that he’s going to be investigated – and cooperate with the search. Dong-Sik too is suspicious of his colleague, calling out Joo-Won for his reaction toward seeing the dead body.

Oh Ji-Hwa shows up and immediately starts questioning them both, especially as they were the pair who first found with the body. First up, she reads Joo-Won’s statement, which includes Ji-Hun screaming and being the one to call them over. She’s pretty nonchalant about the whole affair, not asking many probing questions, and promising to write up this report shortly.

Chief Nam arrives to reprimand them both though as they leave the place. He confronts Dong-Sik but stops mid-sentence. This only fuels Joo-Won’s suspicion as they head out for food together. He begrudgingly sticks with his partner, especially as Dong-Sik slurps the meat broth hungrily.

The next day, Dong-Sik visits the nursing home where his Mother happens to be. She’s asleep though, but sitting on the seat next to her is Jin-Mook who thanks him while stuttering and struggling with his mental condition.

Meanwhile, the autopsy report for the body comes back. Apparently it’s about 8 months old and the shoes are a big talking point. Given the bodies were wrapped in a black bag with a pink ribbon, the way it was wrapped indicates a very deliberate killer who used this as a form of present.

As we cut across to Dong-Sik and Joo-Won, the plot thickens. The former helps change Seok-Gi’s shoes carefully while out in the rain. Dong-Sik promises to phone his Mother, but while Joo-Won is away making the call, he catches Dong-Sik grinning maniacally again while Seok-Gu dances under his umbrella.

That evening, Dong-Sik attends another team meeting where they discuss the case. Given its similarities to what happened 20 years ago, it seems like the same killer is on the loose.

While they talk about the implication of this over drinks, Joo-Won instead speaks to his Father about the same case and believes they could even be dealing with a copycat killer. He questions just why the superintendent closed the case before, but instead is met with a frosty reply and a warning to stop prying into this. Joo-Won is told to keep quiet about the victim as we’re left with more questions than answers.

These questions manifest with Joo-Won heading in to the station to find the case files. Only the archives are missing. Given the police moved buildings and a fire broke out previously (deliberately perhaps?) some of these files may have been completely lost.

Joo-Won is not happy, especially with the nonchalant attitude toward these files, and instead decides to change his approach slightly. This time, he goes after the officer in charge at the time – assistant Inspector Nam Sang-Bae. He just so happens to be the Chief in charge of Manyang Police Substation.

Joo-Won approaches Nam and mentions how he’s connected to the cases in the past and asks him outright about Dong-Sik. Joo-Won is curious, especially over why he silenced the restaurant owner before. Nam tells Joo-Won that Dong-Sik is erratic and clearly grief-stricken. Following the incident with his sister, he’s not of sane mind.

To make matters worse, Dong-Sik’s Father died too and Dong-Sik was nowhere to be found at the time. Given the grief and trauma surrounding him, Nam warns Joo-Won not to go after him.

Interestingly, Dong-Sik too is doing some investigate work of his own. Specifically, he looks into Joo-Won’s transfer across to their substation and the reasons behind it.

After, he rings Ji-Hwa and requests she phone his informant to try and get more information. While she’s not particularly thrilled at the idea, Dong-Sik next heads off to see Min-Jung at the club, making a big scene and calling out the man with her in front of everyone.

Given the VIP room booked, and the vulnerable way Min-Jung is passed out on the sofa, Dong-Sik threatens him and takes the girl back to the station.

In the morning, Min-Jung wakes up drunk and makes a big scene at the station. That is, until Dong-Sik shows and immediately tells her to sober up or she won’t go anywhere. Joo-Won isn’t comfortable with this treatment but keeps quiet.

While out on patrol though, he learns more about Jin-Mook, and specifically his role in all this. Jin-Mook was taken in as family by Dong-Sik and his parents. Now that they’re gone, Dong-Sik essentially plays the role of Mother and Father to this man.

Back at the station, Min-Jung sneaks out and starts heading home. That is, of course, the absolute worst thing she could do. A smile crosses her face as if she knows the assailant, as the next scene shows her tied up on the ground.

The police team though remain unaware of this, waiting for her while at the Butcher shop having another team meal. Chief Nam leads the charge and toasts them all toward finding the man (or woman) responsible and bringing them to justice.

While they drink, Dong-Sik is deep in thought. Specifically, he’s thinking about the missing files from work. Well, these files weren’t burnt after all. As Dong-Sik heads into his basement, he happens to have them all up across the wall in a tapestry of questions that remain unanswered.

In the morning, Joo-Won shows up at Dong-Sik’s house, ready to investigate the local area. Specifically, he wants to get a better understanding of the area.

Dong-Sik sees through this though and eventually the two end up in a stand-off. Dong-Sik suddenly changes his cool and calm demeanour and starts sobbing. On the table nearby are 10 fingers, all cut off and severed. These belong to Min-Jung, as we soon see, as Joo-Won watches his colleague sob incredulously at what’s happened.

Only, the final scene of the episode cuts back in time to show the identity of the man in a black hooded jacket. It’s Dong-Sik. What could this mean?

---

The Episode Review

The second episode of Beyond Evil starts to tighten the screw, allowing for much stronger characterization to bleed through. The idea of both Dong-Sik and Joo-Won suspicious of one another is a nice play to add some intensity to their budding relationship at work. At the same time though, the list of suspects continues to grow.

The ending with Dong-Sik seems way too convenient to be true, could he have multiple personality disorder? Could this be a dream sequence? Or maybe it’s him acting out as a copycat killer. Either way, it’s too early to chalk this up to him being the killer.

In fact, this unknown factor is probably the strongest element of this Korean drama. With multiple suspects and lots of people acting suspiciously, the team meal and the toast toward the end is a great inclusion to showcase this.

The shifty eyes Dong-Sik gives to all of his colleagues seems to imply he too is pretty suspicious of all these men and women in the room. Could it be that Dong-Sik has narrowed the list of suspects down to someone in the force? We’ll have to wait and see.