Recap Korean Drama "Big Mouth 2022" Episode 13 with Lee Jong Suk and Im Yoon Ah

Episode 13 of Big Mouth starts with a bang — literally — as Noh Park’s restaurant blows up with him in it. In Chairman Kang’s office, the stately man watches a news report of the blast and Big Mouse’s death. Mayor Choi arrives and says that Park Chang-ho survived but Kang tells him to not get his hands dirtier than necessary as he is going to go further in his political career.

On the way back, his right-hand man asks Mayor Choi what he’s going to do. He insinuates that he can’t let Chang-ho live. They reach a bar, where Choi’s man enters and asks for someone by the name of Waterfowl. He enters a room where a man is lying on a bed and tells him to finish the job.

Chang-ho sits by Noh Park’s covered corpse and remembers how the man told him that he can fail but he must never give up. When he gets to Park’s blown-up restaurant, he gets attacked by Waterfowl. Jerry arrives in time to save him. He tells Chang-ho that his duty is to protect Chang-ho and Mi-ho.

He has also sent some people to Mi-ho and her father. They escort the two to a fancy hotel, where they will be safe.

Chang-ho asks Jerry who requested Big Mouse to save him and Jerry says only one of the Big Three could have done so. He takes Chang-ho to a church where Big Mouse’s funeral is taking place and the organization’s core members are seated, including Park Yoon-gab. Suddenly, a video of Noh Park plays in front of everyone. In it, he declares that in the case of his death he will be succeeded by Park Chang-ho. As Yoon-gab and Chang-ho argue about the video, someone loudly claims to be the person who filmed it. That person is none other than Chang-ho’s lawyer friend, Soon-tae. He asks Chang-ho if he will accept the position of leader or not.

Mayor Choi receives news that his hired assassin was found at Noh Park’s restaurant having apparently committed suicide.

Now alone in the church, Soon-tae and Chang-ho talk. Chang-ho feels betrayed but Soon-tae says he did everything because he wanted to save his friend. Chang-ho claims that even appointing him as Big Mouse was a trap. If he said no, he would have been killed. Soon-tae tells him to think and let him know the next day.

Back at the hotel, Chang-ho asks Mi-ho and her father whether they should still pursue Big Mouse’s request or not. Her father says no but Mi-ho says they should, for the sake of the victims. Chang-ho agrees.

The next morning, Chang-ho tells Soon-tae he will establish the justice that Noh Park wanted and will leave after that. Soon-tae then tells him about Park’s daughter, Noh Soo-jin. She was a reporter looking into NK Chemicals when she went missing. Her body was found three years later with a notebook that had the words ‘Seo Jae-young’ and ‘paper’. This was how Seo Jae-young was interrogated and eventually killed. Big Mouse’s organisation then hired Peter Hong to find the girl but instead, he ran away with the money he had come into. The 100 billion won wasn’t found even after he was killed. Soon-tae even explains that they had a bug on Gong Ji-hoon’s phone which was how they buried the single gold bar for him to find when Chang-ho was in the mental hospital. Chang-ho tells him to send out an order for all the employees to look into Chairman Kang and the NR Forum.

Jerry presents information on the NR Forum members to Chang-ho and his family. Mi-ho points out that the number of cancer cases in the city has risen by a lot and it could have something to do with NK Chemicals. She recalls the pipes in the underground location where the prisoners were sent to work. Her father says that he looked into it and those belong to fish farms that need underground water and don’t seem to be connected to NK Chemicals.

At the hospital, Joo-hee sees reports on toxic chemical waste. At a dinner with Chairman Kang, she protests against his support of NF9 and says it is dangerous. They argue and the old man leaves. Mayor Choi then confesses to Seo Jae-young’s murder to her. He reveals that when he married her, he agreed to do anything Chairman Kang wanted.

The next day at the hospital, Joo-hee instructs the head nurse to destroy the secret lab. They do so and the news reaches MI-ho as well.

When Chairman Kang asks for an explanation, Joo-hee says it was dangerous to him and she will build a better one in place. As a favour, she asks for the old man’s shares in Ji-hoon’s company. Chairman Kang agrees.

When the mayor is showering after a swimming session, he gets attacked by assassins and fights them off, though getting injured in the process.

Meanwhile, Chairman Yang has been released from prison and Chang-ho gives him a restaurant to run, as he had promised him a lavish lifestyle. He then learns that Yoon-gab attacked Mayor Choi. Soon-tae reminds Chang-ho that he needs to be accepted as a leader or the organisation will fall apart.

Soon-tae and Jerry meet Yoon-gab, who says he is standing up against the man who killed his boss. They knock him out, tie him up in a car and nearly blow it up but stop when Chang-ho gives them a call. Yoon-gab is dragged in front of Chang-ho who berates him for ruining his plan. Chang-ho says he has planned a slow revenge, after which he will leave.

While doing research on NK Chemical and the NF9 substance, Mi-ho comes across a news article about Cho Hae-soo — a head of department in the company who committed suicide. She learns that his son had a dye factory and was put in prison for dumping toxic waste, where he died. Hae-soo’s grandson drowned in a river. The only living relative is his brother-in-law.

Mi-ho goes to visit him in a nursing home. While the old man is incoherent, she sees him hold a photograph of two young boys. He cries for his grandson who died in a river. A grandson named Do-ha. When Mi-ho’s father tells her the old man’s listed guardian is the mayor, she finally connects the dots.

Meanwhile, the mayor announces to the press that he is going to run for the national assembly.

As Ji-hoon gets distraught over his reducing influence, he gets a phone call from Chang-ho, inviting him to attend a press conference.

At the conference, Chang-ho declares that Mayor Choi has connections with corrupt organizations and so Chang-ho is going to be running for mayor to replace him. Later, he speaks with Ji-hoon and tells him to help him become the mayor, since whoever the NR Forum supported was eventually elected. In return, Chang-ho will help him become as powerful as Chairman Kang. They agree that each person is using the other to get something valuable. Chang-ho tells him to set up a meeting with Chairman Kang.

Choi Do-ha is talking with Chairman Kang when Ji-hoon and Chang-ho arrive. The old man agrees to see them. They enter and wait as Chairman Kang writes on a piece of paper. The quote reads “Ride the wing and cut through the water”. The episode ends as Chang-ho introduces himself.

The Episode Review

Let me start by saying, I expected Big Mouse to play a much bigger role even after his reveal. It’s a shame that such an intriguing character was killed after only an episode of truly having him on screen.

That said, the show is moving on quickly and splendidly. There are a lot of moving pieces and Chang-ho and Mi-ho seem to be surrounded by pots and kettles on all sides of them. The setting continues to be a great change. It’s refreshing to see all the players from the prison, now on the outside, including Jerry and Chairman Yang.

The reveal about Soon-tae was a shocker indeed! It explained a lot, but I do hope the following episodes give us a little background about how he got to this position.

A pleasant surprise was how Joo-hee really stepped up in this episode. It’s great to see her take charge and go after power, particularly since she seems to be a person with a conscience. Seeing her play the game should be a fun ride. Mayor Choi on the other hand gets more sinister with every episode and his objectives seem as shrouded as ever. Overall, a very captivating episode!