Recap Korean Drama "Blind (2022)" Episode 12

Episode 12 of Blind starts with Sung-Joon at the hospital, pacing and hoping for the best. Sung-Hoon is not in a good way and as his parents show up, they learn from the doctor that the doctors have done the best they can but there’s no guarantee that Sung-Hoon will awaken again. He’s still alive though, which is at least something.

Eun-Ki shows up while Sung-Joon is by his side and learns that Sung-Hoon was closing in on the killer and seemed to figure out their identity, hence the meeting. This could well prove to be a crucial clue and Sung-Joon heads back to the scene of the crime to look for clues.

Along with the blood spatters on the floor, he also finds a wildlife observation camera that could well be a crucial clue. However, the killer doesn’t reveal himself on camera, at least not their face anyway, and seem to move around the camera. They seem to be aware of where they are.

Sung-Joon and the team realize that they need to try and find the identity of Number 12 and Number 24 in order to solve this case. Although Tae-Ho claims the latter was killed, without a body they can’t confirm anything. And if that wasn’t enough Mr Baek is moved to the psychiatric ward following his “psychotic break” last episode. Sung-Joon is not happy, especially when he speaks to Yeom about it. However, Yeom deflects any attention and turns it to Sung-Joon’s mother, who’s now a minister.

Now, Minister Na seems to know all about what actually happens at Hope Welfare Center and shrugs off a protestor outside the building, turning the other cheek. When Sung-Joon shows up, he doesn’t show the same disrespect and decides to help.

Over at this poor mother’s place, she finds a young man clearly in distress and scribbling up the wall. He doesn’t like being called by his actual name (Jin-Gu), and instead is referred to as “Number 45.” Sung-Joon tries to get through to him, as it turns out he knows who Number 24 is. “I didn’t do it!” Jin-gu screams, but the context of this is left unclear for now.

Sung-Joon decides to bring Eun-Ki in to help, given her background for helping troubled kids. After offering some orange juice, she remains patient as Jin-Gu continues to scribble a whole bunch of numbers down.

Meanwhile, Jung In-Seong finds his birth mother and reveals the truth – that he’s the one from the missing poster. She’s overwhelmed with emotion, while Charles watches from outside. In-Seong’s mother shows up at the station to reveal the good news, happy that she’s finally found her son. The thing is, it seems like she could have actually been part of the whole Hope Orphanage situation, especially if the brief flashbacks are anything to go on.

Everyone gathers for the big celebrations for In-Seong’s return… but there’s another twist in the tale to come. Sung-Joon notices a scar across In-Seong’s ankle, which seems to indicate that he’s Number 12. During the escape attempt, one of the kids got their ankle stuck in a trap, and that kid appears to be In-Seong. When Sung-Joon questions it, it would seem that In-Seong can’t remember much, as this story about amnesia continues to circle him.

So with In-Seong potentially targeted as Number 12, this just leaves Number 24. Thanks to Jin-Gu’s confession, Sung-Joon figures out that he’s Lee Hyun-Soo, the chef’s brother. Not only that, but they also find a bloody knife stashed under the counter.

Jung-Soo is brought in for questioning, where he implicates himself as the murderer. Despite his confession, Sung-Joon knows he’s not the real killer and seems to be hiding the truth. Is he protecting his brother?

Sung-Joon snaps a picture of the knife and takes it to a workshop, where the owner confirms that the number on the side links it back to… Jung Yoon-Jae. It would appear that Hyun-Soo was using Yoon-Jae’s identity as a cover and now Jung-Soo is protecting the real culprit. But who could it be?

That night, Sung-Joon begins poring over the evidence, writing down the names of all the different kids from Hope Orphanage Center in a bid to find out who the real culprit is. In doing so though, he realizes Yu-Na’s final message could be a crucial clue. It could be that she was writing down the name of the killer, but she never got a chance to finish it.

Sung-Joon asks Eun-Ki for help, who suddenly realizes that the message wasn’t a name but something else entirely. Could it be linked to In-Seong?

It turns out Jung Yoon-Jae is actually In-Seong! And it was In-Seong who stabbed Sung-Hoon out in the woods. As the episode comes to a close, In-Seong confirms his murderous intent by showing up to see Sung-Hoon in the hospital, having snuck in, as the identity of our Joker killer seems to have been revealed!

The Episode Review

So it would appear that In-Seong was the mastermind behind all of this, and perhaps that may have been obvious, given he’s been hiding in plain sight from the very beginning. It’s certainly quite the shocker and now it would appear that everything is moving into the end-game, with the preview for next week moving from a mystery into an outright thriller.

Blind has been one of the best thrillers this year and it’s a shame that it’s so restricted in terms of viewing as it’s one of those shows that would have done really well as a weekend binge on Netflix.

Either way though, the end reveal with In-Seong actually being Yoon-Jae is a lovely way to tie the past and present together, and this week’s double bill has been a really solid watch, setting things up nicely for what shold be a very dramatic conclusion to this show. Roll on next week!