Episode 7 of Dark Hole begins with Hwa-Sun experiencing happy memories of the past, where she was due to be engaged. However, this soon shatters when the piercing cries and laughter from before consume her.
She sees Soo-Yeon in front of her wearing the bag over her head. Hwa-Sun raises her gun and prepares to fire. However, it’s Do-Yoon that manages to help her see sense, pleading with the woman not to change. Thankfully she doesn’t and the group race away from the school, thwarting the threat of the zombies that jump atop the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the hospital is consumed by a fascination with Sunnyeo, worshiping her. However, she’s still hung up over the past where a group of angry residents berated her and questioned the girl’s beliefs.
Either way, she seems to be in charge now and convinces the others that she’s not a fraud, running circles at the window and somehow controlling a flicker of the smoke outside. It’s enough for her to control the mob and tell them they need a sacrifice. That man happens to be the one tied up in the kitchen.
Soon-Il sees what’s going on and tries to stop it. However, the mob are too enraged and they knock him out. Sunnyeo controls them to her will, allowing this man to be thrown off the rooftop to the ground below.
Meanwhile, Hwa-Sun decides to head up to Muji Hospital. As thy drive, the group discuss the possibility of someone controlling all these mutants. Dong-Rim believes it could be a deity or a God of some description, but Hwa-Sun is not so sure.
With the road ahead blocked off, the group decide to use a small road to the side in a bid to make it into the hospital. Obviously everything goes to hell, as the bus grinds to a halt and a rock is thrown into the bus. With gas masks at the ready, everyone scrambles off and the crowd scatter. Realizing they need to hide, the group run as the infected Jin-Seok smirks evilly from afar.
Although the group manage to seek refuge inside, it soon becomes apparent that the tentacled monster is on the hunt. It’s letting Hwa-Sun live for now, but whatever this thing is, it proves a point by killing one of the men with her.
The group finally reconvene together though but it becomes increasingly clear that Dong-Rim has gone missing and no one seems to know where she is.
Elsewhere, Hee-Tae heads into the supermarket, intent on finding the nurse and stopping Jin-Woo, who’s obviously now infected. The threat is thwarted but there’s problem. Soo-Yeon is this very nurse we’ve been following and she comes at Hee-Tae with a needle.
He manages to stop her and feeds the news back to Hwa-Sun. She’s desperate to get to the supermarket and confront her enemy, leaving Seung-Tae to care of the students.
Unfortunately Soo-Yeon breaks free from her binds and soon shows herself to be infected too, awaiting Hwa-Sun’s presence eagerly. Hwa-Sun walks right into her trap, listening as she encourages her to head out to the parking lot. Once there, Hwa-Sun is overcome with rage, pointing a gun at the murderer’s head and contemplating shooting.
Unfortunately in the ensuing carnage, Hwa-Sun is left alone given Hee-Tae is picked up by the school group. Realizing she’s back at the supermarket, Hee-Tae scrambles back. Hwa-Sun manages to use her mental strength to fight off the infection though, stopping herself from killing Soo-Yeon. Unfortunately, the tentacled monster shows and kills the girl for her.
As we cross the halfway point of OCN’s latest original, Dark Hole sees the characters slowly start to come together now. It’s apparent that there’s a higher power of some description involved, but whether it’s really a deity or not remains to be seen.
It’s very obvious that Sunnyeo is the one that seems to be the closest connection to this tentacled monster too, but quite what her end goal is remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, this episode sees the group moving around, with the high school obviously breached and the group all deciding that the hospital is the safest place to be. But is it too late? It’s clear Sunnyeo has managed to entrance and convince all these different people to follow her rule so it’ll be interesting to see what direction the show takes with that going forward.
Either way, the episode bows out with a pretty good chapter, one layered with action and leaving lots of questions for tomorrow’s inevitable follow-up.