Recap Korean Drama "Melancholia" Episode 11

Jul 17, 2022

Episode 11 of Melancholia picks up with an encounter between Seung-yoo and Yoon-soo. As Seung-yoo holds her face in his hands, they hear a clatter.

It’s a cameraman, and Seung-yoo chases after him but is unable to catch him. Going unnoticed however, is another cameraman, who takes pictures of Seung-yoo and Yoon-soo walking together in the rain.

It turns out that not only is Yeon-woo spying on them; so is Ms. Noh. When Ms. Noh sees the pictures, she puts together that Yoon-soo is the Sammu Academy’s clinic instructor.

The Noh sisters meet with their father, who informs them that one of them will fill a vacancy in the Ahseong Foundation’s Board. The board will decide which sister gets the position at the next meeting.

Min-joon encourages Ms. Noh to fire Seung-yoo. He claims that he and Yoon-soo together are a terrifying force. But Ms. Noh insists she still needs Seung-yoo’s help in order to acquire the board position.

Meanwhile, Mr. Han visits Ye-rin. He blames her for having all of Ahseong’s corruption pinned on him and threatens to confess the whole story. Ye-rin warns him that he will only face more charges if he does. Her higher class protects her; his does not.

Regarding Mr. Han, a former teacher meets with Seung-yoo. She says Mr. Han had her fired because he was afraid she knew something of him giving test answers to Ye-rin.

Mr. Han is not the only one in trouble. With Professor Ji’s help, she was able to answer Seung-yoo’s difficult problem for her class. She posts the answer in an online maths community.

She didn’t realize that a lot of the maths she used came straight from Professor Ji’s famous paper. Several people online accuse her of plagiarism, which comes to Ms. Noh’s attention.

Yoon-soo comes to the school to see Ms. Noh about the matter. While Ms. Noh threatens her with how she could ruin Si-an and Seung-yoo, Yoon-soo threatens Ms. Noh’s school.

Determined to bring Ms. Noh down, Yoon-soo meets with Yeon-woo. (Yeon-woo obtained her number from Yoon-soo’s ex-fiance, whom Yeon-woo is now dating.)

Yeon-woo tries to convince her that they can work together to unseat Ms. Noh from her position. The ticket, she says, is to obtain proof that she stole from or tricked their father. Yoon-soo says she will think about it.

Si-an is meanwhile banned from the Sammu Academy by its director, who has fallen prey to Ms. Noh’s lies. Yoon-soo realizes that Ms. Noh has probably spoken to him about her as well. Before she gets fired, she tells to director to think carefully about what he’s doing. She assures him that Ms. Noh will only end up using him as a scapegoat.

Seung-yoo again insists on working with Yoon-soo against Ms. Noh. He’s hurt when she chooses to collaborate with Seong-jae and Yeon-woo instead.

Yoon-soo tells Seung-yoo he’s driving her crazy with his persistence. He says she should evaluate why. After all, she used to make him crazy, and he turned out to have feelings for her.

This apparently affects Yoon-soo deeply. She thinks back on all of their time together, and a realization dawns in her eyes.

Seung-yoo, in the meantime, has his own plan. When Ms. Noh introduces him at the opening ceremony to his museum, his speech takes a turn.

He brings up the school incident from four years ago, explaining how one teacher was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

When he says he was that student, cameras descend on him.

The Episode Review

This episode is pretty integral to the progression of romance and suspense! Ms. Noh has a lot to contend with, from Yoon-soo’s blatant threats to Yeon-woo’s bid for the board vacancy. I think I foresee another breakdown in her future…

Seung-yoo’s plan (whatever it may be) feels sloppy, especially since he’s acting even as he’s ignorant of Yoon-soo’s plan. Of course, love tends to conquer all, so things will likely work out for him regardless.

Whatever Seung-yoo’s plans, Ms. Noh’s eventual downfall has to be tied to her alliance with the Sammu Academy director. If her father finds out she created a fake foundation to accept donations for the school—only to turn around and give that money to parents—she’s toast. Yeon-woo and Yoon-soo may just make sure of that.

Of course, I still think Ye-rin is going to come into the picture last minute to betray Ms. Noh. This episode created some compelling and emotional moments of doubt for the former student.