Fifties Professionals: Episodes 9-10
by lovepark
The truth is out, which means our heroes must make a choice: do they continue to lie about their past or tell their loved ones who they truly are? As each of our ajusshis decide how to move forward, they must act quickly since their foes have caught wind of their identities and will not hesitate to attack first.
EPISODES 9-10
Secrets are revealed one by one this week as each of our heroes are forced to confront their past. First up is Jae-soon, or should I say Bulgae? After getting run over by In-gu, the impact caused his memories to return, and our sweet amnesiac is now his cold killer self. As soon as he gets the opportunity, he flees the hospital to find Black Pearl’s package which Nam-il’s grandpa buried in their field. However, that was the only clue he got about its whereabouts, and even for a skilled spy such as himself, it would take too long to locate it without help.
Next on the list is Ho-myung. Presented with a choice to preserve his own pride or protect his family, our agent chooses the latter and comes clean to Oh-ran. He tells her that he lied about his identity and planned to tell her about his past once he cleared his name. However, now that his enemy poses a threat to them all, she needs to know the truth. He begs her to leave the island or at least hide in the dance club for a while, but Oh-ran asks for some time to think because she no longer trusts him.
Finally, Bum-ryong learns of Officer Park’s involvement in the case and wants her to stop. In order to convince her of the danger, he reveals his past to her, but it only riles her up. Not only did he sour all the pleasant memories she had about him, but he also thinks he is better equipped to handle this case as a gangster than she is as a cop. While I understand the intention behind giving Bum-ryong a love interest, this scene really captured why their relationship never convinced me. He doesn’t actually respect her as a police officer — he only sees her as a woman — which is why his warning feels pretentious rather than genuine. Unless he completely rejects his old way of thinking, these two will never work.
With the truth out in the open, our three ajusshis come face-to-face for the first time since the ferry incident. Bulgae, though, continues his act as the affable Jae-soon, and the only one who sees through the ruse is Ho-myung. Granted, the paranoid agent thought Bulgae was faking it for ten years, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. To prove his theory, Ho-myung chucks a can at Jae-soon, but the spy allows it to hit him, making the agent look like a deranged bully.
While Prosecutor Kang returns to the mainland for work, the rest of the group head over to the dance club where they are greeted by Oh-ran and her son. Despite her misgivings, she decided to follow Ho-myung’s advice if it meant protecting their family, but unfortunately, her father did not agree. In hopes of convincing him in person, Ho-myung drops by the restaurant that evening, but an unexpected visitor enters instead: Kyung-wook.
After Ho-myung’s identity was exposed when he rushed in to save Oh-ran, Chairman Do hired some hit men to tail him and discovered his hideout. Then to gauge Kyung-wook’s reaction, the chairman informed him about the “mysterious three,” and as expected, our big bad made his move. The reunion between teacher and student is filled with thinly veiled threats, and it becomes increasingly obvious that an altercation is inevitable. However, Kyung-wook needs a few more allies on his side before the final showdown, which is why he gets Boss Hwang released from jail and made the new president of Heaven Capital.
Our heroes only have until the election to stop Kyung-wook, so Ho-myung takes a more proactive approach to their problem. The first (and best) course of action is finding the package by making Bulgae talk, but as long as he keeps his ruse as Jae-soon, they remain at a standstill. In order to crack the spy, Ho-myung throws another item at his head — this time a knife — and unlike the can, Bulgae is forced to dodge. Having fast reflexes, though, does not provide much information, so Ho-myung plays his ultimate hand: the faulty truth serum.
Once Bulgae is tied up, Ho-myung gives him one last chance to confess, but the spy continues the act, begging them to see reason. As Ho-myung threatens to inject the serum into him, the gangsters intervene and say that he has gone too far. However, as the others fight, Bulgae shouts at Ho-myung to just do it if it will make him believe, and his bluff works since the agent relents and reveals the truth serum was just an electrolyte drink. As Bum-ryong and Gong-bok sigh in relief, their attempts at supporting Jae-soon might come closer to cracking Bulgae’s mask as they keep calling him a pathetic man who could no way be a super cool spy. Pfft.
Since his first plan failed, Ho-myung moves on to plan B and sets out to find new evidence to link Kyung-wook to Heaven Capital. Meanwhile, he puts Bum-ryong and Gong-bok in charge of helping Jae-soon find the package using his receiver, and Bulgae’s eyes light up when he finally sees the item he desperately needs. However, he has to get rid of his guards first, so he makes them totally-not-suspicious chicken soup in the middle of nowhere. While the gangsters gobble it up without a second thought, Bulgae drops his act and watches them pass out before grabbing the receiver.
Back in the field, Bulgae tries to turn on the receiver, but to his shock, Ho-myung arrives with the real one in his hand. This was all a trap, and Bulgae’s feeble attempts to act as Jae-soon fall flat, especially since Bum-ryong and Gong-bok are awake and seething. While Ho-myung may be rusty, he isn’t rusty enough to invite an enemy to his hideout without precautions and reveals all the hidden cameras he planted beforehand that caught Bulgae digging around for the receiver.
Ho-myung knows that Bulgae has no need for the USB containing evidence to bring down Kyung-wook and guesses his real aim must be the slush funds Black Pearl stole. He promises to give all of that to Bulgae if he agrees to cooperate, but the spy has no reason to trust the agent’s deal. Ho-myung points out that everyone will be in danger, including Nam-il, and then proves it by calling out to the hit men. No longer needing to hide, the hit men threaten to kill them if they do not hand over the receiver, which leaves Bulgae with two choices: he can either fight against Ho-myung’s group or team up with them and take down these interlopers.
The action is ramping up, and though the show took its time to get there (arguably a bit too long), we finally get to watch our three protagonists work together. I’m especially happy to see Jae-soon regain his memories, and though I was a bit shocked at how quickly he turned into Bulgae with no signs of internal conflict, Oh Jung-se is doing such a standout job in the role. His portrayal of “fake Jae-soon” really feels like an uncanny version of the man we’ve come to know. The little details in his actions — the way he flinches when Nam-il tries to touch him, or the way he pretends to be nice but his words are a bit more scathing — really sell the fact that Bulgae is back and Jae-soon really was his own person. It was also hilarious to see the little cracks in the spy’s mask whenever the others were a little too enthusiastic about Jae-soon being the real version, and I chuckled at the end when Bulgae genuinely thought the gangsters were dumb enough to fall for his act again even after he poisoned them. While seeing their dynamic makes me wish we got to this part sooner, at least this means the final week will probably be fast-paced and hopefully not rushed.
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