Vagabond: Episode 14 Recap

Just when we think that everything has been solved, the show throws more clues at us to make us question everything that we have believed to have happened so far. The enemy might just be closer than we realize, and in sheep's clothing to boot. This episode is surprisingly devoid of the action that we have all come to expect of this show, but still manages to maintain the same level of intrigue and energy, which is a feat that this show deserves applause for.

EPISODE 6

It is time for sweet revenge on Chief Gang's part as he interrogates Jae-shik. He orders him to write down everything he knows about Director An and Secretary Yun. Jae-shik tries to defend himself by saying that he was just following orders, all in the name of patriotism, but Chief Gang cuts off his nonsense by revealing that he knows Jae-shik had asked for the Director General position in return. It surprises Jae-shik and, after Chief Gang leaves the room, he starts writing down his confessional after some deliberation.

Outside, Tae-ung asks Chief Gang how he knew about Jae-shik's deal with Secretary Yun. Well, he didn't. It had just been a guess. Heh.


Hae-ri finally returns for work and everyone welcomes her with applause. But before doing anything, Hae-ri goes to the NIS memorial tower to pay her respects to the fellow agents who died in Morocco. She is also joined by Tae-ung, Chief Gang, Se-hun and Hwa-sook. As Hae-ri starts to cry, her memories with them running through her head, Chief Gang pats her reassuringly on the back and says that the hardest order to follow for agents is to come back safely. He tells her that they would have been proud of her.

At the gathering of the bereaved families, Dal-geon receives a call from a restricted number. It is Lily, and she tells him that the video is from Jessica, informing him that Jessica wants to meet him. Dal-geon, in turn, calls Hae-ri and tells her that they need to meet.


It is some PPL time as we see Hae-ri pretty herself up with an array of Lancôme products, NOT AT ALL FOR Dal-geon, of course. Hwa-sook teases her about it and wonders what would happen if Dal-geon were to fall for her. Hae-ri just cavalierly replies that it's ok.....she is used to those kind of situations. Me thinks that she barely restrained herself from adding a hair flip at the end there.

Unfortunately for her, Dal-geon is more weirded out than enamored at seeing her uncharacteristically dolled up. Pfft.


It's time to get back to the doom and gloom though, and Dal-geon and Hae-ri are already in his car as he tells her about Jessica's message and Hoon's video. Hae-ri immediately lets the NIS know about it, forwarding them the video and asking for a background check on Jerome.

At the jail, Jessica tells them that she had not orchestrated the crash of the B-357. All of her schemes afterwards had been just to secure the F-X plan. Despite their scoffs of disbelief, she continues that neither had she called the hit on Michael. It's also why she had kept Hoon's video all this while - to find out who killed Michael. She suggests that there's a third party involved and tells them to find the man caught on the video - Jerome.


They ask her about Michael's girlfriend but, having never met her, all she can provide them with is that she was a photography major and was Japanese. She finishes by telling them that Sang-mi has been released, which finally puts them into thought.

Lily has Do-soo search Sang-mi's house but it's completely devoid of any traces of her (heh. He is working under her now, having nowhere else to go). They bicker as usual and then hide upon spotting NIS agents who have also come to search through the house.


Sang-mi, covered from head to toe, checks her bank account to find it empty. She opens her bag which is filled with cell phones and calls someone in anger, threatening to expose them if they don't transfer 20 billion won to her within three days. She disposes of her cell phone immediately after the call.

NIS is having a hard time finding Sang-mi and inform Hae-ri that, for now, everyone's plan of action is to find out three things - who got Sang-mi released from prison, who Michael's girlfriend was, and who Jerome works for. Hae-ri and Dal-geon volunteer to go meet with Woo-gi, who is not in a prison but a mental hospital due to his drug addiction.


At the hospital, Woo-gi appears to go missing but is found by the staff soon enough and they sedate him. Hae-ri and Dal-geon are informed as much by the guard and are told that it might take a long time for him to wake up. Undeterred, they decide to wait.

Watching them via CCTV is none other than Jerome. The guard goes to him and asks him what he should do about the two and Jerome tells him to wake Woo-gi up using a stimulant. He goes to Woo-gi, now in a strait-jacket and chained to his bed, threatening to kill him if he tells anything to Hae-ri and Dal-geon.


Upon meeting him, our duo is surprised by how his condition seems to have worsened by a lot when he had gotten so much better with them. They try to question him about Michael and Jerome but Woo-gi knows that Jerome is monitoring them through the CCTV and can only scream that he doesn't know anything.

His screams bring the guards over and they tell Hae-ri and Dal-geon to leave. As they do, Woo-gi grabs onto Hae-ri's arm in a moment of clarity and asks her to save him. The guards drag him away for treatment but Woo-gi manages to scream that Jerome is here, at the hospital, before he goes out of sight. Jerome's lackey guard explains his words away as just hysterics. As they leave, Hae-ri and Dal-geon wonder at Woo-gi's condition and the worn down state of the hospital.


Jerome watches them and flashes back to the day he had supposedly "died". The gun shot had just been a warning shot. He had been told by the man that Samael had decided to give him a last chance.

In the present, the NIS manages to find some background on him. His Korean name is Park Su-chan and he had been left at an orphanage upon his birth, subsequently getting adopted to France when he was 5 years old. He had been disowned at the age of 12 however and had been in jail for assault, drugs, and burglary. There is no record of him following his release from jail at the age of 22.


With nothing else to go on, the team decides that they will have to operate Vagabond again and Chief Gang tells everyone to find out which high-profile politicians the judge who released Sang-mi associates with.

Secretary Yun wakes up at the hospital to find Prime Minister Hong in his room. Prime Minister Hong compares him with the President, both having been raised by single mothers, saying how it's always the ones with a poor and lonely childhood that turn brutal when they develop desire. He quotes the President's wish for a powerful and rich Korea, calling it a masquerade.

Secretary Yun asks him what he's trying to say and Prime Minister Hong cuts to the chase - he wants all the evidence that Secretary Yun had collected against the President on his tablet PC, having found nothing on it himself. Secretary Yun asks him why he's interested in it. "To get rid of the masquerade, to weed out the self-interests, and to finally make Korea a truly powerful nation", he replies.


Secretary Yun asks him about the charcoal briquettes, correctly guessing that he's only alive because they found nothing on his tablet. We see that it had been Secretary Seo, working under Prime Minister Hong's orders, who had placed the charcoal briquettes in his car and had taken his tablet. Prime Minister Hong evades his questions and just says that he is giving him the opportunity to become the hero of a new history. All they need is evidence of the President's slush fund account and his under-the-table dealings with John & Mark.

He informs Secretary Yun that there won't be any further investigations on him for now and tells him to call him when he's done thinking about his offer. Secretary Yun angrily demands to know who he really is. "A patriot", answers Prime Minister Hong.


Dal-geon gets a call from Prime Minister Hong who asks him to come to a hotel later, saying that it's for a very important matter. When Hae-ri and Dal-geon get there, they find out that it is actually the venue for a press conference being held by Prime Minister Hong. All the other bereaved families are also present at the event, having been personally invited by the Prime Minister as well.

Secretary Seo informs the President about the press conference. Confused, he calls Prime Minister Hong, but gets his call rejected.


The press conference starts and Prime Minister Hong plays a voice recording of a conversation that happened between Jessica and Lawyer Hong, where the former talks about the huge amount of money she gave to the President as a bribe. After that, Prime Minister Hong tells everyone about the President's method of moving the slush fund - through a shell trading company in Singapore and then to an Arabian bank account.

Everyone is shocked and the media jumps over themselves trying to ask him questions. They ask for further proof and he tells them that it's with Secretary Yun, revealing that the President used him as a shield and put all the blame on him, leading to his attempt at suicide. It portrays a more sympathetic picture of Secretary Yun and we see him watching this from the hospital as Prime Minister Hong says that he wishes for Secretary Yun to wake up from his coma so that he can present the proof in front of everybody.


Prime Minister Hong declares the President as the real mastermind behind the B-357 crash and makes a promise to the citizens that he will never give up. One media reporter challenges his intention behind doing this when he's known to be as close as brothers with the President. In answer, Prime Minister Hong asks the bereaved families to stand up.

He brings up their bravery at trying to bring Woo-gi to the court alive despite surely having wanted to kill him themselves. He says that it was all because they trusted the government, and so they are bound to respond to their belief in them. He goes up to the families and bows to each one of them in apology, shaking their hands and thanking them for their trust. Through this all, Dal-geon can only look at the Prime Minister with doubt in his eyes.


The President, having watched the whole thing, almost has a heart attack. He orders Secretary Seo to arrange an emergency meeting with the chief secretaries and tells her that he needs to see Secretary Yun. Secretary Seo immediately informs Prime Minister Hong about it.

At the hospital, Secretary Yun pretends to still be in a coma when the President comes to meet him. Confirming with his own eyes that he really is in a coma, the President grabs his hand and tells him to remain in a coma for at least a decade, promising to give him a big gift when he wakes up then. He leaves after that and Secretary Yun opens his eyes, a single tear escaping from them.


Dal-geon, Hae-ri and Tae-ung converge over drinks and discuss how the press conference felt more like a show. Tae-ung informs them that the judge who released Sang-mi is a close friend of Prime Minister Hong. They wonder if the crash was a political move, since the impeachment of the President would make Prime Minister Hong the acting President.

At the Vagabond headquarters, Jang-su starts hacking through intelligence services all over the world in an effort to find Jerome, leaving Hwa-sook shocked at his almost supernatural expertise in this.


On their way home after the drinks, Dal-geon gives Hae-ri a piggy-back ride when her waist starts to hurt. He tells her about having seen Jo Bu-yeong alive and they plan to look into it the next day, despite Dal-geon's protests that he can do it alone, not wanting to put too much stress on Hae-ri. Once their bickering gives way to a moment of silence, Hae-ri says that this reminds her of her father who used to give her piggy-back rides all the time. "Just ask me. I'll carry you whenever you want", Dal-geon says in his usual blunt manner. And so they walk into the night.

At Bu-yeong's office the next day, Hae-ri and Dal-geon realize that the real Jo Bu-yeong had been someone else who had died in a car accident abroad. The man who had claimed to be a reporter to them had approached them with a false identity.


We see the man in question meet Prime Minister Hong in a secluded area, along with Lawyer Hong. He is leaving for the US that very night and Prime Minister Hong gives him some extra cash in reward for his work. The man comments that Samael holds Prime Minister Hong in high regard. Prime Minister Hong has heard that Samael is going to visit Seoul soon and asks the man if he's met him, but he hasn't. Prime Minster Hong tells the man that he did a good job and tells him to be in touch.

After the man's gone, Lawyer Hong gets into Prime Minister Hong's car. Ah. He is his nephew and had been helping him this whole time. He comments about how Dynamic hit the jackpot this time since they will be taking the F-X plan for themselves now, but Prime Minister Hong states that he won't let them get it easily. He plans on getting a rebate from Dynamic. When Lawyer Hong says that Edward isn't that easy to manipulate, Prime Minister Hong just says that he isn't like the President. Just then, he is informed about the President holding a meeting with reporters.


It is a more casual meeting held over food and the President just laughs off all the claims made by Prime Minister Hong. He is interrupted by Secretary Seo, who informs him about Prime Minister Hong's arrival in his office. Once there, the President tells him that he is fired but Prime Minister Hong counters that firing him will just make everyone believe him even more. The President plans to use the National Assembly to get him dismissed however, instead of getting his own hands dirty. Unfazed, Prime Minister Hong says that they will also move to impeach him once the citizens demand for it.

Getting personal now, the President asks him what problem he has with him. "Your incompetence, irresponsibility, lies, and greed. I can't let you deceive the nation any more, so I've decided to step up", Prime Minister Hong replies. The President says that he didn't do any of those things alone, Hong had been an accomplice through it all. Getting close to him now, Prime Minister Hong says that the President's biggest mistake is being too old and worn-out for the role.


The President yells for Secretary Seo and orders her to arrange a meeting with the other party leaders. After receiving a surreptitious nod from Prime Minister Hong, she calls out an affirmation and leaves. The President tells Prime Minister Hong that his actions are treason. "Let's wait and see who dies first", he menacingly says.

Outside the room, Prime Minister Hong tells Secretary Seo to plan the meeting with the party leaders such that he gets to meet them before the President. He then leaves for a private dinner with the bereaved families.


We see Edward also present at the restaurant in a different room as he is informed by his secretary about Prime Minister Hong's arrival.

In their room, Dal-geon doesn't lose time in confronting Prime Minister Hong about Bu-yeong and Sang-mi when he joins them. Prime Minister Hong acts like he is hearing about it for the first time and starts to deny everything but Dal-geon cuts him off by bringing up how he benefits by the President's impeachment. Prime Minister Hong says that it's a constitutional procedure and Dal-geon doesn't push any further, the topic dropped for now.


After the dinner, Edward tries to talk with Prime Minister Hong but he firmly, and curtly, refuses to. Dal-geon and Edward meet each other then and Dal-geon shares his suspicions about the Prime Minister with him. Elsewhere, we see Sang-mi being chased by someone on a subway train, barely managing to evade him.

While still with Edward, Dal-geon gets a call from a frightened Sang-mi. She tells him that "they" want to kill her and gives him her location so that he can come get her. She says that her husband threatened "them", which is why "they" are after her now. Because she has evidence against them. Dal-geon asks her who is the "they" she is talking about but Sang-mi sees someone and has to run before she can answer his question.


Sang-mi enters a nearby empty showroom and we see that the man chasing her is Jerome. He searches through the store for her as she hides herself. Right before she can be found however, Dal-geon's voice rings through the place as he calls for Sang-mi, making Jerome turn away from her hiding place.

Jerome and Dal-geon finally come face to face once again. "Long time no see, Dal-geon", Jerome says threateningly. Both of them start to charge at each other and the screen goes black.

COMMENTS:

I finally realized why all the evil political scheming in not just this, but any kdrama, happens over Japanese food. It is due to their horrible history with Japan during the war, a history that has the Korean citizens still harbor negative feelings towards the country. It is interesting to see the manifestation of this in kdramas across the board, even now, especially when paired with the highly critical view of the class divide in Korea which is also another common theme running through them all (which kdrama doesn't have the leads' misfortune tied back to some rich & powerful person's deed?). It puts them on an equal footing, creating a very compelling analogy.

Ok, now let's get cracking on the whodunnit. Who do you all think the mastermind of this whole thing is? I say Edward. Right from the first day when he narrated the sob story about his family dying in a plane crash, I had found something very fake about his seeming empathy for the bereaved families. For a show that explores corruption amongst the rich, his character has been way too soft-spoken and righteous for me to not be suspicious of him. Also, for someone who has a lot of power and connections himself, he has remained a bit too much in the background under the guise of helplessness.

He could have clearly outed Jessica's misdeeds himself. He has the means, he has the people, he has the power, he has the brains. But he kept putting that responsibility on Dal-geon & co., coming in only at moments when it seemed like they had no other way out. Think about it, Edward bombed the Korean embassy in Morocco. You cannot tell me that he wasn't capable of tearing down someone else's conspiracy all by himself, especially when said conspiracy puts him in trouble. Most importantly, if even Jessica says you are trash, then man, you are trash. And that is something that the show has had Jessica and Lawyer Hong continuously point out from the start - how they learned all their evil machinations from him, how he is the best in the field for just such a reason (he was also shown having Japanese good in this ep, 'nuff said).


I believe that Edward's secretary had been Michael's girlfriend, and she was probably the one who killed him. Because the assassin at the start had been hinted at being a woman. It was what had made us all doubt Hae-ri at first. I don't think Prime Minister Hong had anything to do with the crash itself, but that he took advantage of the situation to finally put into action his plans against the President. Much the same way that Jessica took advantage of the situation to ensure her victory in the F-X battle.

The flip side of this theory is that Edward didn't need to go this far to ensure their victory. Dynamic had been the obviously preferred option over John & Mark at the start. So I do not get the point of him doing all this when the deal had practically been in their bag, unless he was afraid about John & Mark bribing their way through and therefore needed to take extra measures to ensure his victory at the end. However, if they had to do shady business anyways, he could have just tried bribing the President instead of crashing a whole damn plane and killing innocent people.

All this just means that I am really anticipating the finale week episodes to see what the show has in store for us. I was really surprised by Dal-geon in this episode regarding his behavior towards the Prime Minister after he started doubting him. The Dal-geon of the past would have charged at him in rage right then and there, but this Dal-geon actually controlled himself and tried to sound him out instead. Of course, I don't believe my dear brash boy is gone yet, and I hope to see him in his full steel body glory *wink wink nudge nudge* one last time in the finale that is bound to be a rollercoaster. Oh! And I would also love if Lily and Do-soo got together. Because, come on, how can you not ship these two?!