Stealer: The Treasure Keeper 2023 Episode 3

Episode 4 of Stealer: The Treasure Keeper is full of entertaining storyline development. We pick up with Skunk standing in the middle of the road, where the bad guy’s car is in front of him.

Men get out of the car, but Skunk fights them, eventually throwing a live wire into a puddle they’re standing in and electrocuting most of them. He gets in the van and finishes off the rest of the guys with his signature knockout gas. Skunk drives the vase and the auction funds to safety.

The next day, the vase is “donated” to the Korean government, but Captain doesn’t buy it. He knows Skunk was behind it.

Mr. Kim talks to what remains of his thugs. He gives them a week to bring back Skunk’s head. He turns to the TV and sees a recording of the show that evaluates people’s antique items. It is the episode where the two young children brought their Joseon tongbo coin. Mr. Kim tells Huin-dal to go after the coin.

Min-woo tells Captain that forensics found iron and copper traces in 5 out of the 7 holes in Chairman Yang’s coin box. Chang-hoon finds similar cases to Chairman Yang’s. All of the victims had small pen wounds and coins missing.

The team arrive at their recovered artifacts room, and the captain shows them a war diary. The captain tells them that in the 1500s, Japan looted 300,000 artifacts from Korea, but only half of them went to Japan. The writer of the diary reports an effort to recover artifacts, but they could only recover seven tongbo coins. The coins are believed to be the only remaining clues that could lead to finding the treasures that were never recovered.

Captain asks Min-woo to arrest Dae-myung (Skunk), much to her surprise. While at the kid’s home, the kids boil potatoes while Huin-dal watches nearby, holding a pen. Min-woo realizes that the kids will be in danger and calls Captain.

By the time Min-woo and the others reach the kids’ house, the kids are gone, leaving only footprints behind.

A nun calls Min-woo and tells her that the kids were taken to her convent. The kids had memorized Min-woo’s number. Min-woo seems to have known the nun since she was young, but it is not clear what their history is.

Min-woo goes to the convent and asks the nun who brought the kids there. She says that it was a Mongolian priest who came from the Vatican three years prior. He used to stay in a cave by the convent. The children tell Min-woo that the priest took their coin after telling them that it was cursed.

Captain and Chang-hoon investigate the cave. Captain opens a Bible and finds a passport. He recognizes the photo. It is an artifact thief named Dr. Ko, nicknamed Chameleon.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ko is in his car. He takes off his disguise and looks at the coin before pocketing it.

In a café, Skunk’s co-workers discuss how handsome he is and how he never does anything, but everything still works out for him. Skunk overhears them and surprises them. All of them suddenly leave except for Ae-ri. Skunk tells her not to crush on him and that she isn’t his type, to her annoyance.

Mr. Baek and his group of VIPs are celebrating their acquisition of a group of traitors. He says that no one knows the treasures exist, and if they hold an auction later, then they’ll be filthy rich. Skunk comes in with a tray of food, dressed in his gear. All of the men except for Mr. Baek think it is a joke, and Mr. Baek calls security, but Skunk has already tied up his entire staff.

Skunk tells the men that they have until the morning to turn themselves in if they want to live. The men try to run away, so Skunk beats each one. Later, Skunk drives away with the valuables.

At Mr. Kim’s, Mr. Kim beats Huin-dal with a whip as punishment for not retrieving the children’s coin.

Huin-dal remembers 18 years prior: Huin-dal, whose real name is actually Cho Hwa-seong, takes down a wanted poster of himself. He sits in an alleyway and reads a text from Mr. Kim asking him to work for him. He makes a phone call and tells Mr. Kim that he killed the person he asked him to kill. He falls to his knees, crying and looking at his blood-stained hands.

He remembers Mr. Kim telling him that because of him, he learned to kill. Mr. Kim hands him a Japan and United States passport. He tells him that if he continues to work for him, then his sister will be treated for her medical issues and taken care of very well. Young Huin-dal agrees to continue working for him.

In the present, Huin-dal says it has been five years since he has seen his sister, Hwan-yeon, whom Mr. Kim calls Yuki. He tells Huin-dal that she is in Japan and is healthy. He throws him some pictures of her as proof, angry that Huin-dal has not trusted him to take care of his sister. Huin-dal picks them up and cries. He asks Mr. Kim for forgiveness.

Min-woo has been staking out Skunk’s apartment all night. He hasn’t shown up. She sneaks her way into his apartment and starts snooping around when he walks out of the shower naked. They both scream, and Min-woo hands him a towel robe that is lying around. She hesitantly tells him that he is under arrest.

Captain and the cultural heritage team confront Skunk. Skunk confesses to having an alter-ego, but no one believes it’s him. They ask him to introduce them to Skunk and he agrees.

Chang-hoon tells Min-woo that things might get dangerous from here on out, and he will protect her no matter what. Huin-dal watches the van footage from the beginning of the auction, where he sees Skunk beating up the thugs.

Meanwhile, the cultural heritage team, or “team Karma” as it is now named, waits for Skunk to meet with them. Skunk walks in slowly and dramatically.

In Mr. Kim’s house, Mr. Kim takes out an ancient war diary. The writer has written that treasures, including the Bead of Eternal Life, have been hidden in an ancient underground shrine that only the 7 tongbo coins can help find.

Mr. Kim gets into a bath, revealing a large scar on his abdomen. It appears as if something has been cut out of him before.

Bonus Epilogue Scene

Captain comes up with their new team name: Karma. Chang-hoon pretends to know what it means but gives up when the team quizzes him. Captain explains that karma means everything will return to its rightful place (meaning the villains get what they deserve and the artifacts return to their rightful places).

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The Episode Review

A villain backstory, a playful hero, and the beginning of a collaboration between a police team and a vigilante. This drama is starting to really shape up and show a lot of promise!

But it does seem like this episode didn’t do the best job of clearing up the Mr. Baek drama. And it is now pretty obvious that Mr. Baek’s role, along with that of his group of VIPs, was only planted to distract Skunk from the real asset predator: Mr. Kim.

It seems like Min-woo is really starting to embrace her role in Team Karma, and it is evident that the idea of working with Skunk, albeit unethically, has the whole team animated and motivated.