3 Times Lives Were Saved In Episodes 7-8 Of “My Perfect Stranger” And 2 Times They Couldn’t Be

Features

May 29, 2023

by shalini

We’re already at the halfway mark of “My Perfect Stranger,” and matters have begun to go from bad to worse. With the first murder of the Woo Jung town’s killer thwarted, Yoon Hae Joon (Kim Dong Wook) turns his focus to the next murder on the list. The victim is someone whom Baek Yoon Young (Jin Ki Joo) is all too familiar with, and they may not be able to change as much as they first believed.

Warning: spoilers for episodes 7-8 below.

1. Safe: When they save Yoon Young’s aunt from Min Soo

Hae Joon and Yoon Young have a new lead in the form of Baek Yoo Seob (Hong Seung An). His younger self is a far cry from the hollow shell of a man Yoon Young knows as an adult. The adult Yoo Seob seems to have suffered some sort of neurological break, resulting in him not being aware of his actions and prone to shredding Yoon Young’s books (perhaps hinting that he could be behind the matchboxes placed at the murders saying that “woman who read are dangerous”?). Yoon Young despised him and her father for foisting him on her and her long-suffering mother, Lee Soon Ae (2021 self played by Lee Ji Hyun). But it turns out he isn’t the one they have to worry about because the next victim in line after Lee Joo Young (Jung Ga Hee) is Lee Kyung Ae (Hong Na Hyun): Yoon Young’s aunt.

Yoon Young is surprised to hear that she had an aunt – she was told that Kyung Ae died as a child. As she and Hae Joon spy on Kyung Ae’s movements, she wonders why her mother never mentioned her aunt or the rest of her family. Kyung Ae has a few very close calls with scammers, but it’s Min Soo (Kim Yeon Woo) who ends up being the real issue. He corners her after her shift at a bar and tries to get her to give him a private performance. Hae Joon is furious that Hee Seob’s incompetent uncle, cop Baek Dong Shik (Choi Young Woo), continues to allow Min Soo to run free and pushes Min Soo off a bridge. The drop is short, and Min Soo’s arm breaks. Given that the first murder involved the victim being tied with red ropes, Hae Joon hopes this’ll put a halt to his activities if he’s the killer. But is he?

2. Safe: When they rescue Yoon Young’s mother from Yoo Bum Ryeong

In the meantime, Yoon Young’s busy rescuing another member of her family: her mother. Young Lee Soon Ae (Seo Ji Hye) actually used to go out with Yoo Bum Ryeong (Jo Yeon Woo). We get a dark glimpse at how the relationship must have gone in the original timeline because Yoon Young spots Bum Ryeong dragging her mother toward a hotel for nonconsensual activities. She whacks Bum Ryeong on the head when he tries to force Soon Ae to go inside and rescues her mother.

Baek Hee Seob (Lee Won Jung) also comes to the rescue and helps both of them. Soon Ae is immediately done with Bum Ryeong, but Yoon Young reports it all to Hae Joon and wonders if Bum Ryeong could be the predator they’re looking for. But it turns out they’re both wrong.

3. Dead: When Joo Young is still killed

Hae Joon and Yoon Young retire for the night, certain that they’ve foiled two potentially horrific attacks. Only, they’re wakened by a call from Bum Ryeong. He’s just found Joo Young’s corpse by the water, tied up in red rope like in the original timeline, just two days later. It’s the same Joo Young that Hae Joon and Yoon Young packed away on a bus and thought left town. She came back for some reason, and now she’s dead. They haven’t changed anything.

4. Dead: When Kyung Ae is found murdered

Things get worse when Kyung Ae is found murdered the next day in an abandoned house miles from town. No one knows why she was there or what could have happened to her, including Hae Joon, because this wasn’t how Kyung Ae died in the original timeline. Things are changing but they’re staying the same. The town is in shock at two sudden unexplained deaths, and Soon Ae’s family is devastated. They were as dysfunctional as the average family but they were tight and cared about each other. Soon Ae’s lost an older sister, and Soon Ae’s mother can’t forgive herself for not caring more about Kyung Ae’s dreams. In the original timeline, Soon Ae would have been assaulted and lost her sister on the same night. It’s a miracle she remained the reclusive but deeply loving mother Yoon Young knew. But there’s one last tragedy coming for Yoon Young’s maternal family, and Hae Joon has the power to stop it. The trouble is… he’s given up.

5. Safe: When they stop Soon Ae’s mother from taking her life

To say that Hae Joon has devoted his life to saving his own is an understatement. He left his job and researched the Woo Jung village murders so much so that he has the lives of its inhabitants memorized. He even bought a house opposite of one of the murder victims, Kyung Ae, so that he could save her. And none of it has worked out. Things have only changed for the worse. Dong Shik’s children nearly died in a fire because Hae Joon was trying to get Joo Young out of town. And she still died. He’s no closer to finding the killer, and Dong Shik is getting increasingly suspicious of him. He’s done. He tells Yoon Young that they’re heading back to 2021 once he fixes this car and that he’s stopping here. If he can’t prevent his own death, he might as well enjoy life.

Yoon Young gets upset, calling him a coward for giving up when there are lives at stake. He ignores her, locking himself up in his garage, until Soon Ae’s mother (Yoon Young’s grandmother) Ok Ja (Kim Jung Young) goes missing. Yoon Young and Soon Ae are frantic and have no idea where to look, but Hae Joon springs out of fatalism and into action, racing to the mountains just in time to stop Ok Ja from jumping off a cliff. Soon Ae’s family reunites in tears, and Hae Joon realizes that there’s at least something he can do here. It’s no longer clear how much they can change here, but they should try.

They start with the upcoming arrest of Yoon Young’s dad. Hee Seob was originally arrested for concealment of a bloodstained rag that matched one of the victims. But when Hae Joon and Yoon Young corner Hee Seob over the rag, he looks petrified but insists that the rag is his. As Hae Joon and Yoon Young try to get him to admit the truth, Dong Shik barges in and realizes that his nephew is now the prime suspect in the murders.

It feels like the mystery’s going one step forward and 10 steps back. Hae Joon and Yoon Young are still stuck on the same list of suspects. Meanwhile, Ko Mi Sook (Ji Hye Won) remains a dangerous wildcard that no one’s examining. Perhaps, it’s like she said, female killers are often overlooked. Or perhaps there are multiple people with multiple agendas, hunting down the same women. Hae Joon and Yoon Young remain hampered in the sense that they’re only two people tasked with covering an entire village. But the arrival of a new figure – Hae Joon’s dad – could change things. Will we finally learn why Hae Joon’s so closed off to the world or find out who left the car for Hae Joon in the first place? With eight more episodes to go, here’s hoping we find out soon!

 

Source: Soompi