The Mole
We begin episode 4 of Kairos with Geon-Wook learning that Ae-Ri has left work, heading off on his moped to try and find her. Meanwhile, Seo-Jin leaves a voicemail for Ae-Ri warning her not to go inside the house…while a month earlier Ae-Ri creeps through Jin-Ho’s front garden, unaware of what’s going to happen to her. What ensues from here is a slick back and forth as Seo-Jin begins investigating inside the house while Ae-Ri meets and greets Jin-Ho. It’s a really well-shot segment, one that confirms Jin-Ho had a guest over that night. As Seo-Jin looks over the room, everything changes before his very eyes which seems to hint that the past has been changed. The catalyst for that change? Geon-Wook. He grabs Ae-Ri’s hand and takes her away before she can head inside Jin-Ho’s house. As they get to safety, Seo-Jin (in September) phones the police and tries to learn more about the Ae-Ri case they were dealing with. Getting nowhere, he instead heads online and there he sees that the murder has been pushed back by one day. For now, Ae-Ri survives long enough to receive some questions from Geon-Wook asking what she’s doing. Crucially, she left without her phone which confirms the messages from Seo-Jin about Jin-Ho killing her. This actually prompted Geon-Wook to check out the property. Demanding to know what’s going on, Ae-Ri eventually spills all to Geon-Wook, including how she believes he’s involved with her Mother’s disappearance. In order to do that, Geon-Wook repays his debt to her by following Jin-Ho. In September, Seo-Jin heads inside the police station intending to find details surrounding the case. Detective Park isn’t there but the other officers are apathetic enough to let him work undisturbed. While he does, Ae-Ri leaves a voicemail for him confirming she too has been through tough times in the past. In the morning, Seo-Jin heads back to the police station and speaks plainly to Jin-Ho. He apologizes for what happened in the past and now understands how he feels. Throwing a curve-ball, he then turns the questioning to Ae-Ri but claims that he didn’t kill her. Could it be that time has changed again? Or is he lying? As our two protagonists start communicating bit by bit over time, they both try to work out if Jin-Ho is really involved in killing Ae-Ri or not. From the looks of it, it doesn’t look like he was. However, before he can continue on the prosecution suddenly burst into his apartment and start sifting through all of Seo-Jin’s belongings, even going so far as to redirect Seo-Jin’s calls to Yujung Construction. A civic group has filed a complaint and the illegal materials mentioned before appear to fall directly on Seo-Jin’s lap. Seo-Jin is understandably agitated, and even more so given his phone is in for digital forensics so Ae-Ri can’t reach him. Back in August, Ae-Ri returns to visit Seo-Jin. He once again mentions the story about Da-Bin being kidnapped but he refuses to listen, calling it all nonsense. She pleads with him to meet Jin-Ho but, straight-faced, Seo-Jin ignores her completely and walks away. Meanwhile, Ae-Ri heads out to a restaurant with Do-Kyun where she repeats the same message once more, this time asking for his help. Eventually he agrees to do just that, taking her number and agreeing to ring if anything comes up. Ae-Ri’s pleas seem to work slightly, as Seo-Jin in September feels excruciating pain in his head as past glimmers appear to change the timeline slightly. After the incident with Ae-Ri in August, Seo-Jin head back to the office again and asked to run additional tests on the illegal materials used with the constructions. With the interviews going on long into the night, Seo-Jin worries that he’ll miss the crucial time-frame to speak to Ae-Ri and guide her in her investigation. The rest of Yujung Construction catch wind of what’s happening, with Do-Kyun feeding back what’s happening to the Director. The latter tells him that they’re Seo-Jin’s only friends and people they trust. Back in August, Ae-Ri tails Hyun-Chae as she leaves her house with Seo0-Jin and heads to a room in a motel complex. There, she warmly embraces another man and heads inside. That man? None other than Do-Kyun himself! Just before Ae-Ri knocks on the door, she receives another message and this time it confirms she’ll be killed at apartment 609…the exact place she happens to be standing. Unfortunately Do-Kyun disrupts the call from Ae-Ri and hangs up on her, much to Seo-Jin’s disgust. As the pair stare one another down, in the past Chun-Hyun and Do-Kyun start kissing, leaving the door wide open for the future.
The Episode Review
There’s definitely more here than first meets the eye. With Hyun-Chae having an affair and lots of entangled drama, the bigger question remains – has the past changed thanks to Ae-Ri and Seo-Jin, essentially acting as the catalyst for this affair to begin? It seems to hint this way, especially given Ae-Ri’s prophesied death date at that very motel room. If that’s the case then it may well be that every deviation to the time line is making things worse. If Jin-Ho really is responsible for taking Da-Bin and killing her, the lack of a body is a bit disconcerting and seems to hint that this may actually be a lie. It still seems incredibly suspicious that Jin-Ho just wandered into the police station and shouted out the truth. Could it be that Hyun-Chae and Do-Kyun actually have Da-Bin hidden away and are making Seo-Jin’s life a misery? We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime though, this series has done a great job building an intriguing mystery around its sci-fi elements and although this episode is a little slower, it sets the scene nicely for next week’s double bill.
