Recap Korean Drama The Heavenly Idol 2023 Episode 10

Episode 10 of The Heavenly Idol starts with a crowd outside the LLL Entertainment dorm calling for Yeon-woo to be punished after reports said he is responsible for damage caused by Super Vitamos.

The media is hot on his heels, claiming he played an active role and reporting the demonstrations. Kim Dal watches the protests from afar and is determined to save Pontifex.

She heads to the dorm to find a depressed Ponifex lying in bed after Gam-jae picked him up from Shin Jo’s company. Gam-jae is curious why Pontifex went there. Pontifex believes the Evil One was right and he lost his powers after falling for Kim Dal. He asks Gam-jae about suicides as he plans to kill himself as the Evil One ordered so he can save the people, especially Kim Dal. Gam-jae is startled by his question.

Kim Dal arrives and checks his phone for the messages he allegedly sent to Hong Rin’s CEO. She notices that the tone of the message is unlike Pontifex’s and asks him who used his phone. She feels the people involved did a shabby job to implicate him and wants to help him prove his innocence. However, Pontifex tells her that the Evil One is behind the scandal and she should be afraid. Instead, Kim Dal says he is ready to face the Evil One and take him down.  He warns her to stay away lest she gets hurt.

Kim Dal calls Gam-jae aside and asks him what is going on with Pontifex as he looks weak. Gam-jae tells her that Pontifex is under a lot of mental stress and is contemplating suicide. Kim Dal becomes more determined to stop the Evil One. Pontifex hears their conversation and asks her to stay away.  He acts cold towards her and she tries to cheer him up and assure him that things will get better. Sadly, Pontifex is worried about what the Evil One said he will do if he seeks help. He is certain that the Evil One will kill his loved ones.

He pushes her away and she is shocked. He asks her to go away and leave the matter to him. He points out that she pushed him away first and says she has no reason to interfere or help him. As he walks away, he continues to worry about what will happen to her if the Evil One finds out that she is helping him. He is more concerned that he has no powers to protect her.  Nonetheless, Kim Dal is not deterred by his hurtful words, she recruits Gam-jae to help her trace the CEO of Hong Rin. She admits that she knows that he is the angel of death so he can help her. Gam-jae is startled but she refuses to tell him how she found out.

Elsewhere, the Evil One gets an update that the reporters have been getting tips that Yeon-woo is innocent. He decides to suffocate Yeon-woo and makes more people come forward with fake evidence and cases to destroy Yeon-woo’s character further. Even Jung-shin comes out and accuses Yeon-woo of pushing Kwon Jung-hyun down the stairs.

The situation stresses Sun-ja who says that bombs keep erupting and the scandal keeps on growing. Woo-sil tries to reach out to her but she ignores him. Kim Dal comes back from her retirement and recruits Sun-ja to help her find Hong-rin’s CEO.

On the other hand, the victims form an association and word reaches them that Yeon-woo knows of an antidote but he is refusing to share it. This is part of the Evil One’s plan to add pressure on Pontifex.

In the meantime, Pontifex heads to the library to research how he can fight the Evil One. Gam-jae disrupts him and Pontifex says he hopes that the people can manage to fight the Evil One on their own. Gam-jae suggests he finds a way to get his powers back because the Evil One won’t reveal his identity so easily.  Pontifex is doubtful he can get his powers back as he can’t undo his feelings.

Gam-jae remembers his encounter with the Evil One when collecting Pontifex. The Evil One had told him that Pontifex is in love with a woman and that is how he lost his powers. He scoffed that their only hope was Pontifex and said he is unstoppable now. The conversation made Gam-jae believe that the Evil One has a secret goal and he suggests they find out what he is after.

Back at LLL Entertainment, Kim Dal, Sun-ja and another colleague work hard to trace the CEO of Hong Rin. Sun-ja tells them that she found the victims’ association. Kim Dal is surprised to see the rumour about the antidote.

At home, Pontifex has another panic attack but remembers Kim Dal’s words and is able to overcome it. Gam-jae approaches him and asks if it is true he lost his powers because of his feelings for Kim Dal. He offers to help Pontifex regain his powers by giving him the water from the Well of Oblivion in the Afterlife. It will erase all his memories from this realm. Gam-jae says he will take care of the rest which includes killing Kim Dal so they never meet in this lifetime again.  He even went ahead and brought the water in a little gourd and got permission to move ahead with the plan from the master of the Afterlife.

Pontifex refuses to go along with the plan and says he won’t kill Kim Dal just to get his powers. Gam-jae insists that there is no other way but Pontifex warns him not to lay a finger on Kim Dal.  Gam-jae tells him to think carefully if he wants to save the people or protect only one person.

The next day, Yeon-woo reports to the police station to answer questions about his involvement in the Hong Rin case. Once is done, the media bombards him with questions. The victims’ families approach him, begging him to give them the antidote. The Evil One appears as a victim and pushes his agenda further. He enjoys watching Pontifex feeling helpless as the people plead for his help. He starts having a panic attack and Kim Dal rescues him and takes him away.

She leads him away from the chaos and tries to comfort him. She tells him that it is not his fault and he shouldn’t give the Evil One the satisfaction of seeing him suffering. She suggests they look for the CEO together and he gets angry because he had already asked her to do nothing.  He says that he is guilty because he could have saved the people if he had his powers. Kim Dal tells him that the one hurting and killing people is the Evil One.  She says that he doesn’t need his divine powers to save people.

He asks her to stop interfering and she says she is frustrated and can’t sit and watch. He asks her to focus on her life as he will take care of the situation. She says that it is too painful to watch the world accuse him falsely and he asks if it is because she likes him. He responds that she is simply a bother, a nuisance and a distraction. He asks her to bear the pain as he can’t bear her interfering.  He claims he doesn’t like her enough to have the patience to deal with her meddling and that he never wants to see her again. Damn! That gotta hurt!

Kim Dal decides to drink away the pain and gets a call from Sun-ja that she found Hong-rin’s factory. She leaves right away to head there.  They get there to find the factory workers dead and that leaves them back to square one.  The situation gets worse when one of the victims in a coma dies at the hospital. Kim Dal begins to feel stressed and goes home.

At the boy’s dorm, the crowd protests outside making everyone uncomfortable. Jung-seo feels bad but asks Yeon-woo to try and do something to save the rest of them.  Later, Yeon-woo sees on the news that one woman who was in a coma died and he has a panic attack. He starts thinking about what Gam-jae proposed.

The next morning, Pontifex visits  Kim Dal carrying the knife and the water from the Well of Oblivion. He plans to ask for a favour but she vanishes from his sight the minute he drinks the water.  He finds her planning to leave after making a well-detailed plan to take the fall. She takes his phone and sends the money he got from the advertisement to herself. Last night, after coming home, she had sent emails to the reporters that she was the one who set up everything and  Yeon-woo was an innocent man who followed his former manager’s orders.

Pontifex is surprised and asks her not to do it. Kim Dal insists that there is no other way to solve the scandal. She believes this is the fastest remedy until they find the parties behind the scandal and she can be proven innocent. She is already parked and on her way out. Pontifex tells her that she will be heavily criticized and it will break his heart.

He asks her to reconsider and go back to living her life.  She tells him that she is okay because he healed her when he taught her to love and forgive herself.  She adds that his presence and support when she hit rock bottom is what helped her and not his divine powers. She has faith that he will do the same for other people.

As they talk, the victims’ families find them and get on their knees, begging Yeon-woo to give the doctors the antidote. Among them is the Evil One in disguise. Pontifex takes the knife and tries to stab him. This forces the Evil One to reveal his true identity and Pontifex addresses the crowd telling them the Evil One is responsible for everything.

He asks the people to trust him and join him in the fight. Unfortunately, the Evil One has already influenced the people and their eyes are red. The people try to attack Pontifex and Kim Dal starts protecting him. Suddenly, Pontifex regains his powers and manages to fight off the crowd before passing out.

Kim Dal takes him inside and calls Gam-jae. Once Pontifex wakes up, Gam-jae explains that he has realized that Pontifex’s powers don’t come from the deity.  His powers come from th trust of the people. By Kim Dal believing in him, he was able to get his powers back and only a deity can possess such powers. He argues that the Evil One must have found out and tried to destroy him by making people lose trust in him.

Gam-jae who has no filters, continue to talk about how wrong he was to suggest they kill Kim Dal to get his powers back. Kim Dal is shell-shocked and once Gam-jae excuses himself she questions Pontifex. She wonders how he could have been plotting her murder when she was devoting herself to saving him. She even thought of taking the blame but he showed up with a knife .

Pontifex explains that he never thought of killing her even though Gam-jae suggested he does.  She starts to leave and he grabs her by her wrist and pulls her close to sit with her on the bed. He earnestly tells her that he would never endanger her life even if it is to protect himself or his powers.  He says that he will always choose her because she is the woman he loves and he has given her everything he has. He always thinks of her and puts her first.

Kim Dal is unsure if he is trying to use sweet words to soften her heart and he silences her with a kiss. They kiss again, more deeply this time. Later, Pontifex goes to the hospital to heal the victims who were in a coma. The victims report to the media that they saw Yeon-woo when they woke up.

On the other side, the Evil One meets with the master of Hongwoodaedae who is set on killing him. They get into a fight but the Evil One loses and is forced to flee.

The next day at LLL Entertainment, Kim Dal gets a lead on the whereabouts of the Hongrin CEO. She takes Gam-jae and  Pontifex along to help her convince the CEO to say the truth. They threaten the CEO with being dragged to the Afterlife and offer him protection against the Evil One. The CEO holds a press conference and admits the truth about who was behind the mass production of the poisonous vitamin candies. He also mentions the role Maeng Woo-sin played in everything. This leads to Maeng Woo-sin’s arrest.

Later in the day, Jung-see visits his mom and is surprised to find a lady there. The lady turns out to be the master of Hongwoodaedae.

At LLL Entertainment, they get busy working to restore Yeon-woo’s public image as reporters call asking for an interview. Sun-ja and the team are worried about the future of Wild Animal and which issues to tackle first.

At the dorm, Pontifex thinks about his conversation with the youngest member of Evil Boys and calls Kim Dal. He asks if there is a way he can go back to being part of Wild Animal as he made a promise to someone.  Kim Dal tells him that even if he makes a comeback, he won’t win the Artist of the Year Award but she promises to look into it. He also complains that they have not seen each other for a while and says he is happy in this realm because of her.

The next morning, there are reports on how Yeon-woo has overcome his scandals and Kim Dal is pleased. She sets off to work on getting Wild Animal into Music Music for their comeback. Sun-ja is pleased she secured a slot for Wild Animal on the show and moves to get them ready.

At the live show, Yeon-woo stops the performance again and speaks to the crowd assuring them that he is innocent of all rumours and promises to work hard as part of Wild Animal.

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The Episode Review

It finally happened, and they confessed their feelings for each other! That scene gave me butterflies.

At this point, Pontifex might as well change his name to phoenix given the way he is rising from the ashes of this scandals. The Evil One underestimated him and that was where he went wrong.

I gotta say, Gam-jae should be scary but he is just cute and unknowingly funny, he definitely makes a good sidekick!