One Minute To Talk
Episode 2 of Kairos begins with Ae-Ri finishing her phone call with a bombshell reveal – it’s actually August not September and he’s got the dates wrong on the missing poster. As she hangs up Seo-Jin looks on in confusion, visibly confused at her words. Ae-Ri heads to the diner and sits by the window waiting for Seo-Jin. As she does, Seo-Jin shows up in the same booth but obviously they’re a month apart and aren’t able to see one another. Eventually Seo-Jin gives up when he receives a call from Detective Park, telling him to go to the station. Once there, he learns that they weren’t able to find the license plate for the bike and they have very little to go on. Not long after, he heads to the kindergarten intending to try and cling to scraps of information that could help with Da-Bin’s disappearance. Specifically, he wants to check any photos or CCTV footage they have. Despite sifting through a stack of photos, he fails to get anywhere. Meanwhile, police show up at Jung Hye-Kyeong’s apartment with a search warrant. They’re intent on trying to find if Da-Bin is there. Although they don’t find the girl, they do find a whole wardrobe full of clothes for a little girl. This is enough to bring the woman down to the station but her alibi is solid. Ae-Ri leaves the diner too but makes a point of putting her missing poster up again, changing the date to August. She heads to the hospital with her sister intending to visit Song-Ja. Only, for some reason she’s not there and all of her stuff is gone. She’s been discharged and no one seems to have seen her in the local area. While Ae-Ri panics, looking around for her Mother, she receives another message from Seo-Jin. This message turns into a frantic call as they talk about the dates and why they didn’t see each other. Eventually things turn heated and they both hang up. Not long after, Detective Park rings and confirms they have a suspect; the man who dropped off the package containing Da-Bin’s finger. He feigns ignorance, telling them he ran away because he was scared. While he’s questioned, Seo-Jin walks purposefully into the station and immediately up to the man, enraged and threatening to kill him. Only, it turns out the driver too has a solid alibi so they’re back to sqaure one again. We then return to that scene with the falling rubble last episode. This time the whole ceiling collapses and out the dust and concrete, a hand reaches out. Seo-Jin awakens, breathing heavily, as he realizes this is all a dream… or is it? As he checks his voicemail, Seo-Jin overhears the news report regarding the typhoon. Realizing he may be onto something, Seo-Jin heads out and checks the bulletin board near the cafe. There, he finds the missing child poster Ae-Ri put up, including the date being changed. He then tries to get through to Ae-Ri, realizing that the dates may be the reason they aren’t catching each other. That evening, thugs show up at Geon-Wook’s house. After breaking his door down, they start beating him with baseball bats. After knocking him down to a pulp, they berate him for ignoring their calls and remind the boy he owes them money. Meanwhile, Ae-Ri receives another call from Seo-Jin who immediately asks what the date is. Upon finding out she’s in August, he asks for help in finding Da-Bin. She’s the only one who can save her. Unfortunately Ae-Ri is having none of it and calls him a lunatic, hanging up. It seems like there’s a 1 minute window where the two can communicate which happens to be at 10.33. Intending to try and prove he’s a month ahead, Seo-Jin sends a whole stack of messages across with news headlines – including winning lottery numbers too. As it hits 10.33 again, the messages come through but Ae-Ri ignores them and continues phoning her contacts to try and find her Mum. Seo-Jin’s investigation eventually leads him to Ae-Ri’s address but she’s obviously a month behind and not staying there anymore. Thanks to a slick camera shot, we see Ae-Ri leaving her house a month prior. While Seo-Jin finds Ae-Ri’s contact details (eventually phoning Soo-Jung who claims not to know her) Ae-Ri receives a call from Geon-Wook claiming to have a contact that can help find her Mother. With cuts across his face, he phones his contact and tells Ae-Ri to stick around. Only, this is all a big scam to get Geon-Wook out of trouble. 30,000 dollars have been taken from her account and Geon-Wook is nowhere to be found. Ae-Ri heads to the police station but the officer there confirms the worst – there’s no guarantee that she’ll be able to get the money back. As she weeps outside, Ae-Ri glances over at the poster and finds a list of the lottery numbers matching the text message sent. As the time hits the familiar 10.33, she receives a whole stack of messages surrounding Geon-Wook, her missing mother and stolen funds. He quickly rings and promises her that he’ll do his best to find the money. Only, midway through talking the call disconnects. Ae-Ri arrives at the jail brandishing a yellow tag which means she killed someone. Silently, she sits in the corner and hangs her head until she receives a visitor – Ae-Ri. There, he admits that the flashes to the building collapse we’ve been seeing are actually glimpses of the past where he nearly died. Back home, Seo-Jin rings and confirms to Ae-Ri that she’s found Geon-Wook. Before he hands over the information, he asks her to promise something. It turns out August 17th is when Ae-Ri meets Geon-Wook and kills the man – explaining exactly why she is in jail. Lo and behold, Ae-Ri finds him and the two run through the streets until they come to a dead end. Ae-Ri thinks twice about stabbing him though, remembering Seo-Jin’s words. She drops the knife to the ground as Geon-Wook drops the rock in his hand and tells her he had no other choice. On the back of this, time seems to have suddenly rewritten as Seo-Jin learns Ae-Ri’s name isn’t on the discharge list at the prison. Realizing he can probably save his family, this thin sliver of hope is enough for Seo-Jin to hold onto. Back home, Seo-Jin rings Ae-Ri and congratulates her for holding back. He sends her a text with the winning lottery numbers – a ploy to get back the money she’s lost. It works too and she comes in second place, winning 40,000 dollars. Realizing what he’s saying is true, Seo-Jin has worked out they only have 1 minute to talk. They need to meet up first, bringing her to his office building. Now that time seems to have changed, the police receive a visit at the station from a man with a strange limp. Looking on in shock, he screams at everyone telling them he kidnapped Da-Bin. Apparently Seo-Jin killed his son which is why he took her.
The Episode Review
Alas, the plot thickens! So it appears as if time rewrites itself every time a change is made in the past. That’s quite interesting although it remains to be seen whether the writers will write themselves into a hole with this twist. At the moment, my prediction is that Ae-Ri is the one who’s kidnapped Da-Bin but in a cruel sense of irony, did this because she knows the girl was kidnapped around that date setting up a bit of a paradox. Perhaps something happened with those thugs we saw with Geon-Wook and that’s why Da-Bin’s finger is missing? But then again that doesn’t explain what happened to Ae-Ri’s mother… nevertheless, this has been a really intriguing and strong opener for this Korean drama and the first two episodes leave the door wide open for where this one may go next. This Monday/Tuesday drama is shaping up to be a must-watch series! Let’s hope it continues in that way.
