Recap Korean Drama "Café Minamdang" Episode 18 (Final Episode)

Cafe Minamdang episode 18 starts with Han-jun and Do-won coming face to face as the latter reveals himself to be Gopuri for the first time. Han-jun asks him why he killed Jae-jeong and he puts the blame on Han-jun – if Han-jun didn’t go around telling people that he would catch him, then none of them would’ve died.

 

Still acting as if he’s really hurt, Han-jun asks him whether blaming others helps him sleep at night after committing such heinous crimes. Do-won, however, is quite delusional and refuses to believe that he’s in the wrong in any way. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Han the Ghost makes an appearance and kicks ass for hurting her colleague.

Still From Cafe Minamdang Episode 18

 

Back to Han-jun and Do-won, the former starts to laugh and lets the plot loose – that the manipulator has been successfully manipulated and that he should be on his knees apologising instead of throwing threats around. As everyone starts to get from their positions, a gunshot rings out – Tae-su has come with a shotgun to protect Do-won.

Obviously, a real gun changes the game and Han-jun, Su-cheol and Du-jin stand there shocked as Do-won tells his sidekick to get rid of Han-jun first. Just as Tae-su is about to shoot Han-jun, Jae-hui runs and kicks Tae-su to the ground and then runs after Do-won. Unfortunately, she gets shot by Tae-su and in the commotion, Do-won runs away.

As Han-jun looks after an injured Jae-hui, Du-jin runs after Do-won, but he eventually gets away. Later after Jae-hui gets treated, Han-jun feels rather heartbroken for not being able to catch Do-won as well as for Jae-hui getting hurt. Although she reminds him that she’s fine and that she’s also a cop, he still feels guilty for his failure.

 

Still From Cafe Minamdang Episode 18

After some light romance between our protagonists, Han-jun and Jae-hui go to Jakdu-dong where an injured Do-won was last seen. They check around in local pharmacies to know whether he went to any of them and, after searching around for a bit, get into the correct store but miss him by a sliver.

Sadly, the public puts him on a pedestal – the prosecutor who murdered those whom the law failed. Although officials mention that vigilantism, no matter what the reason, is never ok, common people have other ideas about the issue. Anyway, while clearing out Do-won’s office, Jae-hui finds a locked hard drive that she sends off to Hye-jun to decrypt and finds Hye-yoon’s diary, which also has the hypnosis CD.

 

The group watch the CD and realise that the clicker that Jae-hui found was used to control Do-won’s urges. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way and instead, he used the clicker to calm himself after murdering people. Han-jun surmises that he must’ve used the clicker previously to stop his urges and make Tae-su carry out the murders but after Jae-jeong, that got flipped over.

Still From Cafe Minamdang Episode 18

 

Regardless, Han-jun surmises that they need to catch him before he kills more people and whatever the reason he uses to carry out his deeds, he won’t be able to stop himself. At the police station, Jae-hui and the team are confused to find out that Do-won has been spotted in Sinmyeong Electronics Market and a host of other places. It’s weird that he’s going to really public spots in spite of having an APB out on him – it’s almost like he’s plotting something.

Meanwhile, Hye-jun is able to decrypt the hard drive and finds a bunch of similar names with both Do-won and Tae-su. It’s a list of people to execute, and, coincidentally, Do-won has been making the rounds in the areas where the names of those who aren’t dead are located. Do-won is stalking his victims, but who will he kill?

 

Not taking any more chances, they all decide to split up and keep an eye on all three people in order to catch Do-won. Sang-hyub and Gwang-tae’s efforts are a bust, and so are Du-jin and Jae-hui’s. But as Han-jun and Su-cheol go out to investigate on their own, Hye-jun and Na-dan and attacked when they try to fix the CCTVs in order to find Oh Sin-pyeong. As Su-cheol goes off to find the other two, Do-won attacks Sin-pyeong. Su-cheol finds him dying on the floor of his store and gets locked inside. Su-cheol warns Han-jun that he’s probably trying to find him, and after a bit of running, they again come face to face.

Still From Cafe Minamdang Episode 18

 

A fight ensues between the two on the terrace, and Han-jun uses the clicker to stop Do-won. It seemingly works, but Do-won tells him that the clicker doesn’t have an effect on him. Han-jun agrees that it shouldn’t, but he shouldn’t wallow in self-pity – regardless of whether or not he was brainwashed, he would still have become a murderer because he was a psychopath since he was young.

Anyway, after egging him on, Han-jun and Do-won get into another fight as it starts to rain. Meanwhile, Su-cheol desperately tries to get out of the locked store as Jae-hui and Du-jin bust a drug ring. Back at the bridge, the fight gets intense as Do-won tells Han-jun that he isn’t as clever as he makes himself out to be; rather, he’s just lucky. Refuting that claim, Han-jun beats Do-won right across the face.

 

Things, however, get really hot and heavy in Cafe Minamdang finale when Do-won says that Jae-jeong begged him not to kill him before he died. Han-jun, in a moment of fury, picks up a rock to beat Do-won over the head with, but can’t go through with it. Do-won ridicules him for stopping to get the deed done, but Han-jun doesn’t get swayed and eventually doesn’t hit him over the head with it.

Still From Cafe Minamdang Episode 18

Things get better right after that – Su-cheol finds Hye-jin and Na-dan and is ecstatic to find them safe, while Jae-hui finds Han-jun and kicks Do-won right as he is about to hit her boyfriend with the brick. She arrests Do-won then are there, and as they take him away, Han-jun gets swarmed by the press, and he proudly calls himself the famed shaman of Yonghae-dong!

 

A week later, Du-jin meets Tae-su and informs him that his mother’s there to meet him. Tae-su looks like he has seen a ghost as she apologises to him. Meanwhile, Jae-hui talks to Do-won and wishes him all the worst. However, Do-won doesn’t think he did anything wrong. The ones he killed deserved to die. Jae-hui points out that Jae-jeong didn’t do anything wrong, but he makes it clear that he has no guilt about that either.

He does feel bad for her and mentions that Jae-jeong linked the two and is the reason why he liked her. This strikes a nerve with Jae-hui, who shoots this wild idea down. He looks rather disappointed and mentions that he did sincerely like her. Jae-hui isn’t taking any of that, however, and she leaves after saying that he is the reason why she will catch killers like him faster.

Still From Cafe Minamdang Episode 18

On another note, Minamdang is making waves as Han-jun has become even more popular. He, however, is taking a 6-month break. As he goes off, he learns that Min-gyeong and Jin-sang are about to have a baby and asks them to do what they feel will make them happy in the long run. He calls to ask Jae-hui out on a date, but she’s busy, which makes our famed shaman pout like a child.

 

Cafe Minamdang Episode 18 Ending

Anyway, things keep going wrong as Han-jun and Jae-hui eventually do go out on a date. Obviously, Hye-jun, Su-cheol and Na-dan are unable to keep Mindamdang afloat without Han-jun. As the two love birds try to have some romantic time, they find a body in the park, which immediately gets them out of their holiday mood.

It’s work as usual for Han-jun and Jae-hui, and that’s what keeps them going!