The Killing Vote (2023) Episode 10

The Killing Vote Episode 10 picks back up with Hyun in Min-soo’s secret room. She’s looking for a way to transfer videos from his computer when she realises that the door to the secret room has closed. She’s locked inside. While looking for a key on the computer, she ends up coming across a video of Na-rae, taken by Min-soo and Woo-taek when they kidnapped her.

At the same time, Min-soo is on his way home. A motorcyclist stops by his car and seems to follow him. Meanwhile, Joo Min follows Ji-hoon to a cybercafé. From there she follows him on the street. She calls him and asks him if he can meet but he straight up lies to her.

Hyun sends Mu-chan the video she found and tells him about the other evidence of him targeting B as Gaetal. When she tells him she’s trapped inside, Mu-chan gathers his team to conduct a search of the house.

Min catches Ji-hoon outside Kwon Seok-joo’s house and confronts him about his lies. She then gets a notification on her phone that tells her Hyun is nearby. She and Ji-hoon give Hyun a call to ask her about it. They then see Min-soo’s car roll up at the gates and warn Hyun. Just as Min-soo is about to enter, he gets a call from Ji-young who has somehow gotten her hands on the video of Na-rae.

She tells Min-soo to go and he gets back in his car and leaves. We then see that the person who showed her the video is none other than Jin-soo! Jin-soo tells Ji-young that Seok-joo started the Killing Vote to get to Min-soo. He will definitely be the next target.

Meanwhile, the motorcyclist keeps following Min-soo. In a turn of events, Min-soo turns up at the police station and gives himself up as Na-rae’s murderer. As evidence, he plays an audio file on his phone.

Hyun is worried about nobody turning up to get her. Then the computers suddenly start formatting themselves. We see that this is happening through a connection from Min-soo’s laptop, in his car. Just then, Mu-chan bursts in the door but everything from the computers is already gone.

The police seize things from Min-soo’s house. Hyun comes out and tells Min and Ji-hoon off for not going home already. When Min is unable to believe Min-soo could do anything bad, Hyun reveals that he’s a murderer. When the police can’t find Min-soo’s laptop, Ji-hoon messages Gaetal Number 3 to look for his laptop. Min, shaken by the news, asks Ji-hoon if he has been lying to her as well. She asks him if he is Gaetal.

Mu-chan and his team head to the murder site based on the video. Mu-chan figures that Ji-young knew about her son’s actions all along. He then surmises that the timing is too much of a coincidence and Min-soo must have known they found the video. Jin-soo puts it down to a criminal’s instinct but Mu-chan looks at him with suspicion.

Seok-joo arrives home and Ji-hoon enters not long after, out of breath. He tells Seok-joo that Min-soo turned himself in to the police and wonders if they failed. Meanwhile, the motorcyclist takes Min-soo’s laptop from his car and leaves.

Yoon-ji gets into an argument with Min-soo’s secretary regarding his long list of medications. Apparently, he can’t even be near loudspeakers due to his illness. Jin-soo interrupts and tells them not to make a fuss and gives Min-soo the food and medicine he needs. Meanwhile, Ji-young speaks with the police commissioner and makes her case for Min-soo. Mu-chan enters and is given orders to focus on catching Seok-joo instead.

Hyun and Jo-dan look for Min-soo’s laptop but can’t find it in his car. Hyun knows that Min-soo would have kept the files on a cloud storage, particularly the video of Na-rae.

At school, Ji-hoon sneaks into the staff room at lunch break and puts Min-soo’s laptop on his desk. Hyun enters at the same time and mistakenly assumes Ji-hoon is trying to take Min-soo’s laptop. Afterwards, Ji-hoon admits he wanted to spy on Min-soo because of his suspicious behaviour. Before she leaves, Ji-hoon tells Hyun that he’s happy he got to know her.

Jo-dan gives the rest of the team a summary of the events so far. He’s figured out that Dong-gyu stole the software and joined hands with Min-soo. They must have met at Elena’s funeral. Mu-chan suggests they look closer at Yang Hye-jin, since Gaetal seemed to have help from a medical expert. Jo-dan also points out an unknown person named X, a tech-savvy person who created and spread the Killing Vote.

Hyun gives Mu-chan the laptop but tells him she couldn’t find anything. Her behaviour is cold towards him but he still berates her for investigating independently. Hyun apologises for her actions but says they should go their separate ways after the case. Mu-chan agrees and then tells her to look into Hye-jin and Ji-hoon.

Chae Do-hee is having a drink at a bar when Seok-joo enters and sits next to her. She tries to run out but finds the door locked. Seok-joo then confesses that he is Gaetal and gives her an offer to work on her show together.

At her next show, Do-hee surprises everyone by featuring Gaetal, the creator of the Killing Vote, as her guest. Gaetal apologises for installing the app on people’s phones without their consent but promises the audience that their data is not being stolen. As everyone watches at the police station, the officer who once met Seok-joo is shown receiving a message from Gaetal Number 1, who is asking for help.

Gaetal requests his viewers to update the app and continue fighting for justice. He describes the target of the next vote and it’s clearly Min-soo, although he doesn’t take his name. Dong-gyu, who is watching, rushes out of his house presumably to warn Min-soo.

The network’s staff realises that the show isn’t live and Do-hee had recorded it earlier. Sang-jae informs Mu-chan about the same but he already knows. Min realises from the reactions of people around her that Min-soo is the next target.

Hyun visits Min-soo in his cell and gives him a watch for emergencies since he is officially a target. When he taunts her about her sister, she taunts him back about being scared of dying.

Mu-chan is studying Hye-jin and Ji-hoon’s files when he notices that Ji-hoon was adopted. He then recalls seeing a pink umbrella at Ji-hoon’s house and realises it’s Na-rae’s umbrella. He also recalls seeing it on the night that Seok-joo murdered Woo-taek. He tells Hyun that the Killing Vote always started at 10 PM because that’s when school academies end. Ji-hoon is person X that Jo-dan was talking about.

At Ji-hoon’s house, we see that Hye-jin has made food for him even though she claims to not cook much. We learn that she was assigned to look after him but she says it was like having a family. She then reveals she will be turning herself in soon since she killed a person. She suggests that Ji-hoon go to Germany where he can live a full life. The suggestion brings Ji-hoon to tears.

Turns out, Hyun is sitting outside Ji-hoon’s house in a car. Jin-soo enters the car and they discuss how things would have been different if Min-soo had been caught all those years ago. When Jin-soo leaves, Hyun sees him send a text. He’s messaging Ji-young about information on Ji-hoon.

In his prison cell, Min-soo asks the officers for his medicine. The officer contacted by Gaetal enters and gives him a green cup, which Min-soo takes and heartily drinks from. Mu-chan comes by as well. Suddenly, Min-soo is unable to breathe and he notices Gaetal’s symbol on the bottom of the cup. He is rushed to the hospital.

Ji-young and her secretary rush out of their house. Outside, Dong-gyu is standing, apparently waiting for such an opportunity. He follows Ji-young at the hospital. Ji-young is told that Min-soo ingested nicotine through the drink and the police are interrogating the officer who gave it to him.

At the hospital, Jung Jin-wook overpowers a doctor and steals his clothes. Jin-wook approaches Min-soo, who is stable but wearing an oxygen mask. He then injects a white liquid into the IV drip. By the time Ji-young enters the room, the bed is empty.

Don-gyu happens to enter the same lift as Jin-wook and Min-soo, who is covered with a sheet. He tries to leave but Jin-wook grabs Dong-gyu and forces him to help. Together, they lift Min-soo into an ambulance and get away from the hospital. Hye-jin leaves her house and Jin-soo and Sang-jae follow her, in turn missing Ji-hoon’s stealthy escape from the house.

Jo-dan tells Mu-chan that he is tracking Min-soo’s watch. Mu-chan and Jin-soo approach Hye-jin at the supermarket. She doesn’t offer more information and Jin-soo arrests her. Mu-chan tells her off, saying that Seok-joo will face the death penalty because of this. Hye-jin says that Seok-joo already died eight years ago.

Min-soo wakes up to find himself faced with Seok-joo and the other Gaetals. Seok-joo tells him that he’s the next target but if he gives a sincere confession and repents his actions, he might live. When Seok-joo asks why Min-soo did what he did, he claims that he did it because Seok-joo wouldn’t pay attention to him because of Na-rae.

The Killing Vote begins and Gaetal introduces Min-soo, a.k.a Yun-seong. Jin-wook destroys Min-soo’s watch so the police can’t track him anymore. They reach the general area and Mu-chan tells them to look for power surges in the area.

Meanwhile, Seok-joo starts playing music on the loudspeakers set around Min-soo and it seems to bother him. Min-soo raves at the camera set up in front of him, accusing the people voting of simply being Seok-joo’s accomplices. He hurls insults at people and the world. Gaetal Number 1, on-screen, tells Min-soo that bloodshed is required to change the world. Min-soo recalls Ji-hoon saying the same thing and can’t believe that he’s Gaetal.

Meanwhile, Dong-gyu has been tied up inside the ambulance. But he manages to tear the duct tape around him and escape. He ends up bumping into Jin-soo and Sang-jae. Jo-dan tells Hyun that there is a power surge coming from a nearby internet café and she enters without waiting for backup.

A host of police cars enter the building and Jin-wook tells Seok-joo he should leave. Mu-chan drags Dong-gyu out and makes him reveal the hideout. Hyun searches the internet café and finds a nondescript-looking door.

As Dong-gyu, Mu-chan and the others enter the lift, another person in a Gaetal mask watches them from afar. Meanwhile, Hyun enters the room, which seems to be a standard server room, and finds a thick bunch of wires. She follows them to a hidden door.

Min-soo finally seems to collapse from the loud noise. Seok-joo smiles. Just as the police enter, Seok-joo tries to choke Min-soo to death but Mu-chan pulls him away. They set about trying to revive Min-soo.

Hyun stands outside the door and talks to the Gaetal inside, who she assumes is Ji-hoon. She tells him to come out, promising to not hurt him. The man opens the door and it really turns out to be Ji-hoon.

As Mu-chan tries to revive Min-soo, Seok-joo shouts at him to let him die. He even reminds Mu-chan that he once wanted to kill Min-soo. Even after putting the defibrillator on, Mu-chan hesitates, thinking about the video of Na-rae. He reaches a hand out and The Killing Vote episode 10 comes to a close.

The Episode Review

The Killing Vote Episode 10 was a thriller from start to finish, all the way from Hyun being trapped in Min-soo’s room to the nail-biting Killing Vote at the end. Now that the show is quite close to the finish line, it’s clearly leaning harder into the elements of thrill and action. There were several twists and turns, from the reveal of Jin-soo’s betrayal to Min-soo turning himself in to the police.

This episode is 75 minutes long but the constant plot development and increase in tension doesn’t leave a chance for viewers to get bored. All the various characters and different plot lines are also coming together, in a way that makes sense. Seok-joo is inches away from his years-in-the-making vengeance and one can truly feel his anguish in the last few seconds of the episode where he pleads with Mu-chan.  

There are only two more episodes left and the show is effectively keeping us on the edge of our seats. That cliffhanger will definitely have viewers tuning in to the next episode. Now, they just need to stick the landing.