The Lion’s Jaws
Episode 8 of Extracurricular begins 1 year ago with Ji-Soo continuing to be tormented by bullies. They beat him down and take his money but Mr Lee arrives on a bike and saves him, beating down the bullies and returning to his cardboard box, which happens to hold his phone with the familiar Doggo logo on the front. Back in the present, Gyuri walks away purposefully while Ji-Soo collects up his taser and switches phones before heading into the hospital to visit Mr Lee. He runs into Min-Hee on the way though who exits the bathroom and takes him outside. The duo sit and discuss her compensated dating and just whether she should come out and admit the truth to the police or not. Ji-Soo tells her she needs to lie because otherwise the “one who takes the money” may well do something to her. Meanwhile, Ki-Tae confronts Gyuri about the operation and asks whether she knows anything about the pimping and compensated dating Min-Hee has been involved with. She keeps a level head though and feigns ignorance but as she walks away, she clearly looks concerned. Detective Lee refuses to let this case go and instead asks for two detectives to work with her to get to the bottom of what’s going on and to monitor Mr Lee. At the same time, Ki-Tae calls on the assistance of his lackey to look into the chat rooms and figure out who Min-Hee was working with. Inside the hospital room, Mr Lee wakes up and tells Ji-Soo they were unlucky. This seems to hint that he knows who Ji-Soo is in the sense that he’s Uncle but we’re left with this slightly ambiguous bit of dialogue to chew over instead. A call from Dae-Yeol prompts Ji-Soo to leave, acting confused as Dae-Yeol mentions a meeting has been scheduled with his boss. This happens to be Gyuri’s big plan and she prepares to meet with him, armed with a knife and smart dress-wear. Only, when she arrives in the room at the restaurant, Ji-Soo happens to be there in her place and admits that his boss isn’t able to make it. Gyuri takes the hint and leaves but listens from outside the room where she hears Dae-Yeol tell Ji-Soo he’ll be working with them full time from now on. He tells the stunned kid to drop out of school and, realizing he’s in a lot of trouble, drops to the floor after their meeting in despair. Meanwhile, the two detectives head into Mr Lee’s room and start looking around for clues. Only, Mr Lee is ready for them and knocks out the two officers before sneaking away. Only, the lead Detective sees him in a disguise and rushes after him, narrowly missing the man in the elevator where Min-Hee stands waiting to meet him,. A suspicious Dugi follows Gyuri and feeds back to Dae-Yeol that she’s the one with the money and taking it into the high school. As she walks away, she plays the part of Uncle but unbeknownst to her, Dugi and the others happen to be listening the whole time and they kidnap her, which is where the episode ends. With Gyuri and Ji-Soo both in deep trouble and lots of interesting characterisation dotted throughout, the whole Dae-Yeol saga has really cranked up the stakes in this series. Alongside these teens being in over their heads is the great development made with the various supporting players too, including Min-Hee who has had a really good arc through this first season. The police investigation is really starting to heat up now too and the ending certainly leaves things wide open for the remaining episodes. Will Gyuri manage to survive the wrath of Dae-Yeol? Thankfully we don’t have to wait a full week to find out!
