The Escape of the Seven: War for Survival (2023) Episode 11

Episode 11 of The Escape of the Seven starts where we left off, with the revelation that Mathew Lee is Lee Hwi-so. Suddenly, Kang Ki-tak and his men enter and stand behind Mathew. Mathew Lee tells them everything he has done to spy on them and discover the truth about Da-mi’s death through TIKITAKA.

Jin-mo goes to attack Ki-tak, but Do-hyuk stops him. They realise that the spy among them is Do-hyuk, and Mathew knows everything they have been up to. Do-hyuk furiously beats up Jin-mo, asking him to reveal the truth behind the death of his mother and brother. He almost kills him, but Mathew Lee stops him. 

Mathew tells them about K killing Uhm Ji-man and gives them a  choice to either work with him to bring down K or die in his hands. He shows them the information he has collected on them, including their deepest, most corrupt weaknesses. They ask for some time to think about it.

After Mathew leaves, the six vote to either agree to Mathew’s terms or ask for help from K. La-hui, Ju-ran, Myoung-ji, and Chul-woo bank on Mathew’s humane nature, while Jin-mo and Mo-ne vote for K. The majority wins, and they decide to follow Mathew. 

Myoung-ji rushes home and finds Erica and Phillip asleep. She also realises that her nanny is one of Mathew’s people. Elsewhere, Kang Ki-tak drops Do-hyuk off at his house and goes in for a drink.

He asks Do-hyuk for help, looking into whether Paeng-hee is Jin-mo’s woman and Ha-na is her biological daughter. Ju-ran and Chul-woo are in a relationship, while Mo-ne’s brothers continue to exploit Yu-jin’s feelings for Kyung-soo. 

Mathew Lee’s pawns start their mission. The first move is for Ju-ran to get a job as Chairman Sim’s nurse and mess up his heart health. Ju-ran goes for an interview at Sungchan Group.

Next, Chul-woo is to become the Chairman’s most trusted servant and completely take over his mind. He is to use Chairman Sim’s grief over the murder of his wife and take over his mind by digging into his pain. Chul-woo pretends to be a monk and jumps in front of Chairman Sim’s car as he drives from the temple and says he is trying to push a woman out of the way.

No one else can see the crying woman with a knife stab in her chest, bleeding profusely. Chul-woo claims to push out of the way, but Chairman Sim gets curious. The other monks tell him that Monk Nam can see the future. 

Myoung-ji’s task is to target the Sungchan Group Gallery, which they use to create their slush fund. Her mission Is to steal the slush fund. She is to focus on stealing the key Director Sim carries around all the time, entering the VIP room, and switching out all the artworks with fake pieces. To succeed, she needs to gain Director Sim’s trust. 

Meanwhile, Director Michel arrives in the country and, during a press conference, reveals the title of the next TIKITAKA Studios project she is directing. The title is Dear D. She explains that the movie will tell the story of Bang Da-mi, who was sacrificed by large corporations and fake news five years ago.

The audience is shocked, especially Jin-mo, La-hui, Mo-ne, Yu-jin, and So-yeon, who are directly involved in the incident. Amidst the confusion, Mathew Lee announces he is getting engaged to La-hui. 

After the press conference, Mo-en goes after Do-hyuk and tries to seduce him to be on her side. Do-hyuk calls her a traitor who betrayed her best friend, leading to her death. He hates her because she made him give Da-mi the humiliating nickname “Bobble.”

Meanwhile, Kang Ki-tak confronts Mathew for announcing the engagement with La-hui. Mathew says the news will increase their stock prices, earning them enough money to go against Sungchan Group.

Ki-tak thinks he is going too far, and Mathew wonders if Ki-tak still has feelings for La-hui. After the confrontation, they apologise to each other. Outside, Ki-tak sees La-hui, and in a flashback, the scene reveals he had something to do with her parents’ murder. 

Mo-ne’s mother comes to Tikitaka to clear the air about the rumours about her. She tells the press that she is not Mo-ne’s mother but one of the people she helps through her donations. She apologises to the press for causing the misunderstanding and tells Mo-ne to cut them off. She will no longer depend on her and will take care of herself.

Mo-ne’s brothers are waiting outside TIKITAKA Studios, and they witness their mother standing up for Mo-ne. They run after her, and she tells them she will no longer allow them to harass their sister. Kyung-soo calls Yu-jin and asks for a role in Mo-ne’s next project. 

Jin-mo arrives in his office and finds it trashed by Ki-tak. He tells Jin-mo that he owns Cherry Entertainment and is taking back his business. Jin-mo is to do as Ki-tak says. Ki-tak also mentions that he knows Jin-mo is involved in Uhm Ji-man’s death because he told him something. K can only kill his righthand man if he knows his weakness. Ki-tak tells him to protect Paeng-hee with his life. 

Afterwards, Jin-mo heads to his car, and K waits in the backseat. K chocks Jin-mo and tells him to follow Kang Ki-tak and report everything he does to him. The experience terrifies Jin-mo, and he drives to Paeng-hee’s, ready to tell her the truth.

Ha-na is Mo-ne’s daughter, and her father is the only heir of Sungchan Group, Sim Ju-seok.

Later, when Do-hyuk comes to check on Paeng-hee per Ki-tak’s order, he finds the house abandoned as she leaves in a hurry. Do-hyuk tells Ki-tak it looks like no child lives in the house, making Ki-tak curious about Ha-na. 

Meanwhile, Mo-ne gets invited to K’s party, and La-hui secretly follows her. K comes to her, and she tells him about being in danger. She asks K to protect her from Lee Hwi-so. Nam Chul-soo visits Chairman Sim and tells him that the woman he sees is his dead wife.

He also says that the Chairman knows who killed her, and in a flashback, she tries to say someone’s name before she dies. Chairman Sim angrily sends him. Before he leaves, Chul-soo mentions that a single flea will destroy the future of Sungchan Group.

The official reading for Dear D starts with Director Mitchel. Elsewhere, Do-hyuk decides to go through the money received during his mother and brother’s funeral. Among the envelopes is a check for 100 million won from Sungchan Group.

Do-hyuk remembers bumping into possibly K during the funeral. Do-hyuk angrily storms into Sungchan Goup and confronts Chairman Sim about his family’s death.

The Chairman’s assistant calls K to tell him Do-hyuk has made his move. He then apprehends Do-hyuk by dragging him and takes him to K. 

K tells the story of the relationship between him and Do-hyuk. They were born on the same day, but Do-hyuk is the Chairman’s son while he is the butler’s son. K was sickly as an infant and kept drifting in and out of consciousness. The doctors did not want to help him but concentrated on the Chairman’s son when all he had was a cold. The butler got furious and decided to switch the babies. 

On the day Ju-seok was admitted to the university, he got into an accident and needed a blood transfusion. The secret that he is not the Chairman’s son was revealed that day.

The Chairman reverted his will and took back the shares of Sungchan Group he was to give to Hu-seok, then started the search for his son. The buttle reports that his son is already dead. Seeing that his father does not want him anymore, Ju-seok becomes a monster, amassing power to taunt the people around Do-hyuk.

On the day Chairman Sim’s wife gave up on him and called him a fake, he killed her. Ju-Seok says he is looking forward to a fight between Dong-hyuk, the real one, and him, the fake one. At the end of the episode, La-hui arrives at the hideout and screams at seeing Do-hyuk lying on the floor. 

The Episode Review

The episode solves two mysteries. Ha-na is Mo-ne’s daughter, and Do-hyuk is the real son of Chairman Sim. The attack was chill from the beginning, with Mathew Lee starting to lay down his plans for revenge.

However, it began to get intense towards the end with the revelation that Ju-seok is the butler’s son, and they have been working together.

The episode is also engulfed in a heavy air of pending betrayal, with Ki-tak angry about Mathew’s move of engagement with La-hui, Mo-ne going to K for help, and  La-hui following in her footsteps. Mathew should not rest assured that his plan is bulletproof since K seems to have been planning longer than him.

He has all the cards and can easily topple his plans. What happens to Do-hyuk? Will Mathew’s pawns betray him? What else does K has up his sleeves? K is a ruthless monster, and Mathew’s moves are too soft to counteract him. How far is Mathew willing to go to get his revenge?