The Escape of the Seven: War for Survival (2023) Episode 12

Episode 12 of The Escape of the Seven starts with La-hui and Ki-tak at K’s hideout. The ambulance arrives a while later to take Do-hyuk to the hospital. Kang Ki-tak tells Mathew that K called him using Do-hyuk’s phone and told him where to find Do-hyuk if he wanted to save him. Do-hyuk is taken to surgery.

Mathew learns that La-hui was at K’s hideout, and he thinks she sold out Do-hyuk and confronts her. Ki-tak defends her, leading to an argument between Mathew and Kang Ki-tak. 

Later, La-hui arrives home and finds Mo-ne hysterical about the movie. She tears up the script since it details everything she did to Da-mi. She says she is tired of living in the nightmare and threatens to harm herself so as not to star in the movie. La-hui tells Mo-ne about Do-hyuk and asks if Mo-ne betrayed them to K. Mo-ne vows she is not responsible for K attacking Do-hyuk.

La-hui tells her they should bank more on Lee Hwi-so since he is also Mathew Lee. Even if he is determined to get his revenge, money changes people, and Mathew Lee might give up his revenge for the sake of his company. 

La-hui tells Mo-ne to make sure she never loses Mathew’s trust. In a flashback, K tells Mo-ne during the party that he hates her being clingy by bringing up the past. He also tells her off, saying she should be for her life somewhere else. Mo-ne’s face changes to anger and hate as she calls K a piece of trash. Meanwhile, Do-hyuk wakes up at the hospital after his surgery. 

Mathew Lee insists on taking Do-hyuk to recuperate at his house. He is afraid that the hospital is not safe and K might attack again. He hires his doctor to take care of Do-hyuk. Meanwhile, Chairman Shim confronts his butler about Jun-seok being K. The butler denies any knowledge about it and says he thought it was a rumour made up by TIKITAKA to ruin Sungchan Group. Chairman Shim remembers Ji-a telling him about Jun-seok and Mo-ne and how he did not believe her allegations. He wonders why TIKITAKA is going after Sungchan Group and about Mathew Lee’s identity. 

Do-hyuk has a nightmare about K stabbing him again, but at the house. He wakes up petrified and runs out of the room, waking up Mathew, who runs downstairs to check on him. Do-hyuk feels Mathew is toying with him like he did at his mother’s funeral. He had the chance to kill him, but he did not. Why did he do that? Mathew feels the same. He is confused and not sure who is on his side and who is his enemy. He feels like he cannot trust anyone anymore. 

Do-hyuk notices Mathew’s concern. Mathew wants to hide it from him when he asks, but Do-hyuk reminds him of their vow to always tell each other the truth. Mathew opens up about his doubts about Kang Ki-tak. He feels like he is wavering because of La-hui. He saw her at K’s hideout and did not question her.

Ki-tak and La-hui have known each other for 20 years, and La-hui might manage to use Kang Ki-tak. Do-hyuk is confident that Kang Ki-tak will not betray them. Mathew says his decision to get engaged to La-hui was so that Kang Ki-tak would not get other ideas. 

Do-hyuk still believes that Ki-tak and La-hui were done years ago, but Mathew reminds him that she is why Ki-tak left his gang and started an entertainment company. He wanted to help La-hui in every way. Mathew asks Luka to show them Kang Ki-tak, and Do-hyuk sees him with La-hui. Mathew says he planted a tracking device on him since he has no idea who Chairman Shim might use.

Kang Ki-tak may join hands with Chairman Shim, and he had nothing to do with Da-mi but had Chairman Bang’s entire fortune in his hands. Mathew Lee reminds Do-hyuk not to trust anyone, including himself. The only thing they can trust is what they see. 

Mathew and Kang Ki-tak call the pawns for a meeting and give them new missions. They have 32 hours to complete their missions or risk facing a freaky death they have never seen before. Meanwhile, the security guard at Do-hyuk’s apartment building calls him. He receives a noise complaint from his apartment and asks if Do-hyuk is renovating.

Do-hyuk rushes over and finds his house trashed. K calls and tells him that his family was the target of the fire and not Da-mi’s. He wanted to make Do-hyuk feel miserable. He did not kill him because someone else will. 

Myoung-ji trips the Director’s assistant and gets a painting ruined. The painting is the central piece at the upcoming show, and the Director is frustrated. Myoung-ji suggests offering a solution by painting a replica. She succeeds in convincing the gallery Director to agree to her suggestion. Meanwhile, Mo-ne gives an interview after the day shooting of Dear D, the movie. During the interview, La-hui calls out the Sungchan Group and dares them to reveal who killed Da-mi.

Jin-mo gets the news to go viral and reports camp at Sungchan Group’s lobby. The reporters surround Chairman Shim on his way out, asking questions about Da-mi’s death. Once outside, Chairman Shim tells the butler to call Monk Nam immediately. 

Ha-na and Mo-ne’s mother get into an accident. Paeng-hee has no one else to call, so she calls Jin-mo, who rushes to the hospital. Unknowingly, K follows him and watches from a distance as Jin-mo hugs Paeng-hee. Meanwhile, Chul-woo meets with Chairman Shim. He manages to provoke the Chairman to go to war with TIKITAKA Studios. Ha-na and Mo-ne’s mother get close to the hospital and meet Ju-Seok while looking for Paeng-hee. 

Kang Ki-tak texts La-hui elsewhere, asking if she thought about what he said. He asks her to text him once she has made a decision. Do-hyuk asks Mathew about Ki-tak. Mathew is too scared to look into the tracking device and see what he has been up to, and Do-hyuk does not want to. Mathew decides to agree with Do-hyuk’s idea that Ki-tak would not side with K since he is the one who saved him. When Mathew gets their coffee, Do-hyuk looks into the footage and sees Kang Ki-tak kissing La-hui. He deletes the footage so Mathew will not see it. 

Director Michelle provokes Mo-ne and gets into a fight with her. Mo-ne tries to show her superiority and attacks her without knowing that people are filming her. The Director then saves her by acting like they were rehearsing. Mo-ne is scared by the turn of events and runs out crying. She bumps into Do-hyuk. 

Meanwhile, Myoung-ji helps the Director at the gallery with the replica art piece since the customers do not notice it is fake. The Director tells her to ask for anything, and she says she wants to see the VIP room. The Director tells her that the only person with access is Chairman Shim, and the key she carries around is for her bathroom. She fails her mission.

Sungchan Group starts to fight back, and the shooting of Dear D is in chaos. The staff starts to quit, and the location manager asks them to leave. The movie sponsors also quit for fear of going against Sungchan Group. Do-hyuk tells La-hui she has five hours to get everything back running again, or she is out. La-hui calls Ki-tak and agrees to his deal. She will do anything he says. 

Ju-ran, La-hui, and Myoung-ji fail their missions, and Mathew Lee takes them to a cliff, planning to kill them. Do-hyuk secretly searches Ki-tak’s vehicle and conveniently finds the shoes worn by the person who stabbed him. Kang Ki-tak and his men arrive just when Mathew forces Chul-woo, Mo-ne, and Jin-mo to kill Ju-ran, La-hui, and Myoung-ji. However, his plan fails because someone has cut the chain. Mathew goes berserk and tries to pull them down, but they gang up against him and get free. Do-hyuk tries to save Mathew Lee from Ki-tak, but Baek Ik-ho stops him. 

Suddenly, Kang Ki-tak jumps into the water with Mathew Lee. The scene momentarily shifts to a man locked in a secluded location, then to Mathew Lee and Kang Ki-tak swimming out of the water. The episode ends with Kang Ki-tak pointing his gun at Mathew Lee, asking him to reveal who he is.

The Episode Review

What just happened? For a minute, we think we have the plot figured out, and just like that, this episode throws us off. It is impossible to imagine what is going on in this series. Mathew might not be Lee Hwi-so. If not, who is he, and why does he want to kill the seven? Is Lee Hwi-so the man locked up in a secret place? How did Kang Ki-tak figure out that Mathew Lee might not be Lee Hwi-so? 

Also, who is Director Michelle, and how does she know everything that happened to Da-mi, including the conversations? The episode seems predictable from the beginning, but then it throws us off at the end. For the next episode, we must forget everything we know about Da-mi’s incident and Lee Hwi-so’s revenge. Who do you think Mathew Lee is, and what is his purpose?