The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch (2023) Episode 1

Episode 1 of The Uncanny Counter season 2 starts in Jungjin, deep in the heart of the Republic of Korea. A whole bunch of kids get onboard a bus, but the driver, sporting a pink love heart sticker on his knuckle, is not what he seems. With glowing red eyes, he’s actually a demon. Dasel Kindergarten are heading off on a trip, and this evil spirit is about to take them on an unforgettable ride.

As they pass into Counter territory, Ha-na immediately senses his presence, and she alerts the others over what’s going on. She tries to get there on foot, while the rest of the Counters work together to try and thwart the evil spirit. Of course, they can’t just destroy the bus, given the kids onboard, so it falls to everyone chipping in and playing their part to stop this safely without casualties.

Naturally, Mae-ok uses her regenerative powers on any passersby that have been hurt, and eventually they avoid certain catastrophe at an incomplete bridge crossing. Mo-tak and Ha-na are the ones who stop the bus.

However, our demon is not through yet. He snatches up one of the kids, Na-yul, and holds her hostage. Despite everyone being there, he doesn’t account for So-mun, who makes short work of the demon, taking a shard of glass from his hand and even levitating the spirit high in the air, freeing the kid called Na-yul in the process.

After a job well done, the group head off to the Spirits Immigration Office, where they’re reunited with Wi-gen, U-sik and Su-ho for a debriefing. Mo-tak is not there though, given he’s actually in the bathroom reconvening with Gi-ran.

The Counter’s real plight comes from how hard they’ve all been working without respite. They’ve been promised a new member for their team but the Spirits Immigration Office are dragging their heels over this, struggling to fin the right candidate.

So for now, it falls to Mun to help teach the other Counters different powers, including levitating a baseball. Ha-na already has the hang of it, juggling two at once and making it looks easy. Apparently, this isn’t her first rodeo doing this. But what of Mo-tak? He manages to move an ant on top of the ball but it requires a lot of effort from him, so much in fact that he ends up bleeding from the nose.

On their rounds helping elders, Mun and Ha-na find a kid called Jun-hui, who’s clearly not in a good way, beating a stuffed animal and sporting a nasty cut on his forehead. He comes from a broken home, and when he heads back to his house, his father is there demanding his mother’s life insurance money. Just before beating Jun-hui, Mun and Ha-na show up.

This man is not possessed by an evil spirit but he’s an insanely bad person. Illegal gambling and domestic violence are his forte, but instead of beating him to a pulp, Ha-na decides to bring Jun-hui and his mum to the noodle bar to recover, and get Mo-tak to take care of the father at the police station.

In the middle of this drama, there’s a subplot involving a couple called Joo-Seok and Min-Ji. They’re hard-working, sweet people and they both announce their pregnancy to the group, much to the delight of our Counters.

The pair go for a baby scan and learn their child is healthy and strong. However, they have financial hardships which have been caused by a huge scandal across Korea. This comes from the Baekdu Dynasty housing sale, an event that saw the company swindle over 120 billion won from 800 different victims several years back. The trial is set to go ahead from the 27th, and the CEO of the company is set to be there.

Min-ji starts to stress over this, but Joo-seok reminds her that they chose to move on and forget about losing their 10 years worth of savings. As he hugs his partner, he looks over at the TV with a menacing glance.

We then cut to the outskirts of China, and get our first look at a shady Evil Spirits gang. There’s a Counter group here too, intent on taking these spirits out once and for all. They storm the mansion but they soon realize these guys aren’t ordinary bad huys. There are bodies everywhere and it doesn’t take long for the evil ones to show. They make swift work of this family of Counters, sucking in their lifeforce to grow even stronger.

Unfortunately, they also take on the Counter powers too, including regenerative abilities like Mae-Ok, and even mind reading. These guys are going to be formidable foes, and their leader, Pil-gwang, can control the elements.

These deaths reverberate across to Korea, where Mun and the others learn that the Evil Spirits now have the same abilities they have and are going to be tough to stop. Mo-tak is not happy, pointing out to the Spirits Immigration Office that they need a new member before it’s too late. As for Mun, he can’t help but think of the final message that evil spirit promised before being banished in season 1.

The evil spirits are heading back to Korea, knowing that they’re more powerful than before and with a promise to change the world forever. All three of them are going to cause chaos, and it’s only a matter of time before they hit mainland Korea.

That night, Ha-na and the others are distracted from their banter by Jun-hui and his mother in big trouble. The loan sharks show up and demand money from the pair. With the funds lost to these guys.

With everything looking bleak, the Counters show up at the warehouse just in time to save the day. Mun has Jun-hui listen to some music to calm down, encouraging him to count in his head to 100 while the others make short work of the goons outside.

Mo-tak manages to use his levitation powers to stop a knife from hitting Jun-hui at the last second. And as for Mae-ok, she uses her healing powers to bring his mum back.

The Episode Review

Uncanny Counter is back with a kickass episode chock full of action, lovely pay-offs and some surprisingly good cinematography. The humour is a bit hit or miss at times, and the subplot involving Joo-Seok and Min-ji feels a bit ill-placed at the moment. However, it would seem like that’s going to play a bigger part going forward so it’s easy to overlook. 

There’s also the notion of adding a new Counter member to the group, and this evil spirit gang too which look like excellent long-running narratives to include in this season and should help balance out the power dynamics.

The end fight in that warehouse, complete with the shots of Jun-hui counting and the Counter silhouettes fighting was a lovely inclusion, while the opening 15 minute fight sequence is a smart and clever way of reintroducing all the characters in a subtle but worthwhile manner  without big exposition dumps.