Recap Korean Drama "Mouse" Episode 11

Episode 11 of Mouse begins in the past as Jae-Hoon sports a cut hand while holding a knife. Another boy shows up to check on him though, eventually leading to him patching up Jae-Hoon’s wrist. Jae-Hoon looks at the boy and questions just why he can’t be more like him.

Now we cut back to the present as Ba-Reum struggles to retain his sanity. He’s seeing Yo-Han everywhere, trying to rationalize what he’s done. Yo-Han antagonizes him, telling Ba-Reum that he enjoyed killing and should embrace it.

Well, this eventually sees Ba-Reum show up at the police station and break the bad news. He was the one responsible for killing Hyun-Chool. Moo-Chi and the others watch on in dumbfounded shock, eventually heading in to the abandoned warehouse to investigate. Only… there’s nothing there.

The officers chalk this up to a side effect from Ba-Reum’s brain surgery, with Moo-Chi refusing to hear his colleague’s pleas. CCTV footage also confirms Hyun-Chool got on a small boat and fled.

As news breaks that Hyun-Chool is the knot killer they’ve been looking for, Du-Seok arrives and tells Moo-Chi that that Ba-Reum has been transferred to administrative tasks for the time being.

Ba-Reum finds out from a phone call courtesy of Moo-Chi, eventually sitting on his sofa and closing his eyes. Only, in doing so he starts hallucinating again.

Ba-Reum decides to head off and investigate on his own, leading him right back to the warehouse. As he checks under a barrel, he notices burn marks- which correlate to the flaming barrel he knocked over the previous night. It seems he didn’t imagine it after all.

As Ba-Reum leaves the scene, he accidentally bumps into someone while stepping off the bus. As they both tumble to the ground, this old man switches phones with Ba-Reum. Ringing him while he’s at the police station, this mystery man tells him they should discuss details surrounding his brain surgery and what happened to Hyun-Chool.

Desperate for answers, Ba-Reum shows up at the designated spot. Only, he lets his guard down and finds himself drugged. When he awakens, he finds that same man from the bus stop before. Removing his wig and disguise, this man reveals himself to be Daniel Lee! He’s not dead and clearly still alive.

He brushes aside Ba-Reum’s shock and brings more his way with a telling question – what if someone staged the camera incident? What if Hyun-Chool didn’t actually get on the boat after all?

Through all of this, Daniel Lee turns around and questions Ba-Reum about Hyun-Chool and how he felt choking the man out. He circles Ba-Reum, telling him that Yo-Han’s brain is encroaching on his own and turning him into a addict. It’s like a switch, and as time passes his urges to kill will become greater.

Daniel suggests he redirect his murderous intent to other psychopaths instead, going after those who deserve justice.

Passing back his phone, Daniel tells him to listen to his advice. Not following it could lead him to more murder, including his own family members if he’s not careful.

Ba-Reum returns to work and starts doing his administrative tasks. Afterwards, Ba-Reum heads over to the restaurant and picks up Bong-Yi from work. She’s drunk too, thanks in part to a bunch of girls reminding her of the incident that befell her in the past.

After taking her back home, Ba-Reum gets more murderous thoughts, wrapping his fingers lightly round Bong-Yi’s neck and contemplating whether to squeeze. Only, Ba-Reum stops himself just before he does and bolts out into the street. Only, he leaves his phone behind.

When Bong-Yi awakens, thanks in part to the slammed down, she races out to find him. Duk-Soo corners her on the street though and whispers something in her ear. Whatever he’s said, it causes Bong-Yi to double over in shock in the road.

Ba-Reum, remembering Daniel Lee’s words, contemplates whether to go after Duk-Soo or not given he’s a killer.

Well, instead of that he shows up back with Daniel Lee, armed with numerous different toothbrushes from the office and the killer’s saliva from the street.  He intends to test Lee’s theory and see if he’s really telling the truth.

We then cut to Ba-Reum back at the station, where he checks the interview footage from the past. Specifically, the footage involving Bong-Yi where it’s revealed she was a victim of rape and assault.

While Ba-Reum decides against directly confronting Duk-Soo at his house, Moo-Chi is not so forgiving. He shows up not long after and grabs the man, asking exactly what he said to Bong-Yi.

He whispers something inaudible in Moo-Chi’s ear, eventually leading him to put a gun in his face. Eventually though he’s stopped by Duk-Soo’s Mother, who corroborates her son’s story about assault. This causes Moo-Chi to be thrown behind bars for the time being.

With Bong-Yi’s life hanging in the balance, Ba-Reum heads over to check on Duk-Soo. Only, he finds the man face down with a note claiming that he’s repenting for his actions and attempted to commit suicide.

Ba-Reum believes he’s no longer a psychopath, having seemingly reformed now and not able to kill again. Moo-Chi though, is not so sure. As the weather forecasts rain, Moo-Chi remembers part of what Duk-Soo told him regarding the rain and finds himself desperate to break free.

Ba-Reum remains determined to prove Daniel Lee wrong, living a good and wholesome life. He buys a taser for Bong-Yi, dropping it off, before speaking to little Hoon-Suk on the phone. The boy shows his address but this causes confusion for Ba-Reum as he believed his aunt was staying somewhere else.

Well, Ba-Reum invites Hoon-Suk over to stay with him for the night. Ba-Reum continues to see visions though, with Yo-Han standing behind the young child. Eventually, Ba-Reum decides to play a game of hide and seek, as he Ba-Reum goes hunting for Hoon-Suk across the apartment.

With rain pouring outside and Bong-Yi prepared for the worst, Duk-Soo stalks Bong-Yi through the streets. Or so it seems anyway. We then cut to Moo-Chi, who’s freed from his cell and immediately races off to help Bong-Yi. Only, Bong-Yi apparently isn’t Duk-Soo’s target. He’s actually going after Yu-Na.

Moo-Chi races off but would you believe it, the white truck of doom arrives and causes him to swerve to avoid hitting it. With the car at a standstill, Moo-Chi steps out and finds himself immediately blindsided by a man holding a plank of wood.

Ba-Reum opens up the closet and holds a spanner over his head. A series of different shots then ensue, intentionally used to confuse and obfuscate what’s happening. Ba-Reum thumps the spanner down repeatedly, seemingly hitting Hoon-Suk. Then we cut to the field where Bong-Yi lies in a pool of her own blood. Ba-Reum is standing over her with a murderous look on his face. What’s happening? Is it a time jump? A vision? We’ll have to wait and see.

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The Episode Review

Mouse returns after a special recap episode with more plot twists and lots to unpack here. Daniel Lee is back and it seems like he’s going to set Ba-Reum up as some sort of psychopath killer. However, I still suspect that this could be another vision.

After all, it would make sense for Ba-Reum to rationalize what he’s going through by trying to explain it away with this new noble mission of killing killers.

The ending here is pretty confusing too and there’s been a lot of visions and flashes that completely obfuscate the picture. Then again, I think that may actually be the idea.

Either way, the focus shifts here to Ba-Reum rather than Moo-Chi, who spends most of his time this episode behind bars. It is interesting to see his reaction to Duk-Soo compared to Ba-Reum, with the latter determined to try and take a more noble approach. Then again, it’s clear he has a “switch” that – if Daniel Lee’s words are anything to go by – turn him into a serial killer.

There’s a lot to unpack here and the subject of Chi-Kook’s whereabouts is still a mystery. What did happen to him anyway? The children in the past is another big topic of debate, with this show intentionally hiding the truth about Jae-Hoon for as long as possible to confuse people.

Well, there’s 9 episodes to go and plenty of screen-time to try and straighten everything out. Whether Mouse will do that or not, remains to be seen. For now, this drama continues to deliver compelling thrills.