I Remember You episode 6 recap

Side dish: Apropos of nothing, here’s a recipe for two ingredient banana pancakes from the Kitchn. I’ll try them soon, and let you know how they taste.

Episode Recap

Police detective Cha Ji Ahn (Jang Na Ra) goes over her investigative team’s last murder case in her apartment. To recap: when Park Yeong Chul’s wife and daughter were killed, the police mistakenly laid the blame on Yeong Chul. His son, Park Dae Yeong’s (Shin Jae Ha) recent killing spree netted the likely real culprit, mob member, Jo Hyeok Joo, and the two detectives in charge of his father’s case.

Meanwhile, genius criminal profiler and possible psychopath, Lee Hyun (Seo In Guk) meets with the one target Dae Yeong didn’t manage to kill, the prosecutor, Shin Jang Ho. Hyun bluntly asks whether Jang Ho made a mistake in prosecuting Yeong Chul, or whether he deliberately deflected blame from Jo Hyeok Joo, but Jang Ho avoids the question. Hyun tries another tack, asking if Jang Ho has the item which one of the victims, Yang Jin Suk intended to give to Hyun, but Jang Ho’s surprise is obvious. Instead, a smiling Hyun accuses Jang Ho of protecting Jo Hyeok Joo from the murder rap, since Jo Hyeok Joo was his informant in the mob trials.

Jang Ho is unfazed, pointing out that many people benefited from the mob being put away, versus one man’s sacrifice. Hyun is equally unfazed, likening Jang Ho’s response to that of a psychopath coldly choosing to kill one man to save five. Jang Ho chooses this moment to drop a bomb: he tells Hyun that he was the prosecutor who put away psychopath, Lee Joon Young (Do Kyung Soo or EXO’s DO). He describes how Joon Young never left bodies behind, but in the end was prosecuted for a simple robbery murder. Jang Ho implies, but doesn’t confirm that that case was the result of Hyun’s father, police psychologist Lee Joong Min fabricating evidence. As he speaks, a mysterious figure sneaks into Jang Ho’s house.

But, Jang Ho isn’t done yet; he reminds Hyun that he not only lost his memory when his father died, but once previous to that as well. Jang Ho asks Hyun if he remembers his mother’s death, but before he can finish his sentence, Hyun is knocked unconscious from behind. In his memories, Hyun sees his mother laughing, then telling him to run away as blood sprays over a bouquet of hyacinths.

Back at her apartment, Ji Ahn wakes up from a nap at her kitchen table, and tries to convince herself that she’s happy with her empty apartment, despite imagining Hyun in it. She thinks of her father, and remembers that she put his picture face down. When she goes to right it, she finds a note from Hyun, saying that he remembers her now.

Back at Shin Jang Ho’s house, Hyun is woken by the ringing of his phone. He wakes up to find blood pouring from the back of his head, a bloodstained drawing of hyacinths sitting on the couch, and no Jang Ho. In fact, says Hyun in voiceover as he leaves the house, Jang Ho disappeared completely from that day.

Back at the police station, investigations team leader, Kang Eun Hyeok (Lee Chun Hee) meets with planning manager, Hyun Ji Soo (Im Ji Eun) and Deputy Commissioner Kang (Nam Kyoung Eub) to complete Ji Ahn reinstatement to the investigations team. Eun Hyeok is distracted by his own coolness for a moment, but when he comes back down to earth, he asks the Deputy Commissioner for an increase in budget in order to have a special advisor. Deputy Commissioner Kang shoots the idea down.

At a youth centre, a mysterious person hands a book to a young man, with a schedule for Hyun’s upcoming lectures at the university. The same young man shows up to Hyun’s lecture at the university, as do Eun Hyeok and Ji Ahn. When Eun Hyeok and Ji Ahn approach Hyun after the lecture, he tells them that he will deal with them second and third, and brushes them aside to speak with the young man first.

It turns out that the young man is there for a personal question, wanting to know whether being the child of a murderer who grew up in a harsh environment will likely also grow up to be a murderer. He asks Hyun to tell him what he sees when he looks at him.

Waiting on a park bench, Eun Hyeok and Ji Ahn discuss the disappearance of Jang Ho, but as the young man leaves, Eun Hyeok jumps up to chase after Hyun, with Ji Ahn following reluctantly behind. Eun Hyeok skips straight to the point of his visit, and asks Hyun to join the investigations team. Hyun asks what he stands to gain from it, but the only thing Eun Hyeok can offer is camaraderie and a small amount of financial compensation. Hyun refuses, instead offering to help for free when he’s interested in the case. Eun Hyeok tries to argue, but Hyun cuts him off by moving on to Ji Ahn. Ji Ahn bids Eun Hyeok farewell as she and Hyun walk away.

When they’re alone, Ji Ahn shows Hyun the note he left for her that he finally remembered her, but he teases her, and pretends not to know what it is. When Hyun finally admits that he does, she flashes back to her childhood, where she overheard some policemen discussing Hyun’s case, that he lost his whole family to Lee Joon Young. Hyun also overheard the same thing while standing behind Ji Ahn, but she didn’t realize who he was until they were spotted by the policemen who called out to him.

In the present, Hyun guesses that he erased her from his memories, because she was such an annoyance. Ji Ahn fires back that he was just as big a jerk back then as now. Hyun laughs at her outrage, pointing out that she’s still just as fun to tease.

Ji Ahn theorizes that he must have remembered who she was before he broke in to her apartment, since her door code is the date Joon Young escaped. He flashes back to entering her apartment, and finding the photo of her and her father, and the case file for his father’s murder. It’s Inception all over again, as he flashes back within the flashback to Ji Soo telling him that a case file did not exist for his father’s murder. In the present, Hyun asks Ji Ahn whether she stole the file from Ji Soo.

Ji Ahn guesses that if he was able to figure out her code, he must have known that she was also after Joon Young. The two of them argue over who lied to each other first, but Ji Ahn lies and tells him that she followed him around, because they were after the same thing. In fact, Ji Ahn reveals in voiceover that she followed him around because she believed he was connected to Joon Young. As Hyun leaves, Ji Ahn pushes her way into getting a ride back to headquarters.

Back at his house, Hyun examines the hyacinth drawing, and thinks back to his conversation with the young man who wondered if being the son of a murderer meant becoming a murderer. Hyun takes a children’s book called Wolf Story out of a box, and smiles. In a convenience store, a courier delivers a package to the young man, whose name we learn is Lee Jeong Ha. Jeong Ha opens the package to discover Wolf Story inside.

Back at home, Hyun is making dinner for his neighbour, medical examiner Lee Joon Ho (Choi Won Young). When Joon Ho insists on helping out, the two men quickly finish preparing the food. At the same time, the police respond to an emergency call to find a dead man on the floor of an apartment, with an injured Jeong Ha close by. Jeong Ha wakes up long enough to confess to killing the man, then passes out.

Meanwhile, back at dinner, Hyun and Joon Ho make small talk until they’re interrupted by a phone call for Hyun. It turns out to be geeky cop, Choi Eun Bok (Son Seung Won), who is calling to report on the first people to enter the Yang Jin Suk crime scene. After the paramedics and the initial police response, the first person to enter was in fact, Joon Ho. Hyun’s face barely registers this news as he thanks Eun Bok and hangs up. Hyun casually asks Joon Ho if he spotted anything at the crime scene, but Joon Ho refers him to his report. Meanwhile, at the police station, cheerful rookie cop, Min Seung Joo (Kim Jae Young) asks Eun Bok why he didn’t include himself on the list of the first people to that crime scene, since he got there before the rest. Eun Bok ducks the question, then changes the subject.

In the ambulance, the paramedics find a piece of paper with Hyun’s phone number clutched in Jeong Ha’s hand, and moments later, dinner is interrupted again as Hyun gets a call to go see Jeong Ha. Hyun and Joon Ho leave their dinner lying on the table as they go to the hospital. There, they find the policemen that called them, and discover that Jeong Ha will likely recover after surgery. The two of them split up, Joon Ho to look at the body of the victim, and Hyun to examine the crime scene. But, first, Hyun calls cold-blooded lawyer, Jung Sun Ho (Park Bo Gum) to hire him as Jeong Ha’s attorney.

Back at the police station, Ji Ahn’s musings as to why Hyun would want to know who was at Yang Jin Suk’s crime scene first are interrupted by a call from Hyun, telling her to be outside in 10 minutes. Ji Ahn goes outside to find another woman waiting by the curb. When that woman’s boyfriend arrives, it turns out to be a surprise date. Ji Ahn speculates whether Hyun has similar intentions, but of course, he’s only there to take her to another crime scene.

When they arrive, it turns out that Hyun has asked Eun Hyeok to step in, since the crime doesn’t come under the jurisdiction of their team. Eun Hyeok has arranged for himself and Ji Ahn to view the scene, though all credit for solving it will go to the original team. When Hyun makes to follow, Eun Hyeok uses the opportunity to play hardball with Hyun, and get him to agree to the advisory position before he can enter the crime scene. Ji Ahn has to step in when the discussion gets heated, but she’s pleased to see that Eun Hyeok is not a pushover.

Inside the crime scene apartment, Ji Ahn and Hyun note at the same time that the pattern of the blood spatter indicates a right-handed assailant. Hyun adds that Jeong Ha is left-handed, and they confirm with Joon Ho that the wounds on both the body and on Jeong Ha were caused by a right-handed person. Eun Hyeok theorizes that a third person must have been present, but they can’t figure out whether the third person was the assailant or simply Jeong Ha’s accomplice.

Back at the hospital, the policemen are waiting to take Jeong Ha’s statement, post-surgery, but they’re prevented by the arrival of Sun Ho, Jeong Ha’s newly appointed lawyer. Sun Ho dismisses Jeong Ha’s confession as a product of blood loss, and tells the policemen to get evidence before attempting to take a witness statement from Jeong Ha. Ominous music plays as Sun Ho enters Jeong Ha’s hospital room to find Joon Ho sitting at his bedside. Sun Ho says it’s been a while since they’ve seen each other, but we don’t hear Joon Ho’s response. Creeeeeeepy.

Back at the police station, the investigation team is listening to Eun Hyeok’s theory of the case, but veteran cop Son Myung Woo (Min Sung Wook) can’t understand why they’re investigating someone else’s case at night. Eun Hyeok mentions that Hyun will be joining their team as a consultant, and the suspect has a personal relationship to him. Myung Woo is appalled at this news, while Seung Joo is ecstatic and Eun Bok is neutral. When Eun Hyeok tries to explain, Myung Woo points out that in all of their recent cases, Hyun has somehow been personally involved. Myung Woo is convinced that Hyun is either instigating the murders, or somehow manipulating them from behind the scenes. Eun Hyeok is even more convinced that hiring Hyun is a great idea, so that they can use his superior criminal knowledge.

Back at the crime scene, Hyun has built his theory of the case, one that exonerates Jeong Ha completely. The mystery third person arrives at the scene and stabs the victim. Jeong Ha arrives shortly after, and gets stabbed while trying to stop the guy. Hyun theorizes that Jeong Ha must be protecting this person, but Ji Ahn is not convinced of the scenario, believing that Jeong Ha could still be at least an accomplice.

Back at the hospital, Ji Ahn is surprised to find Sun Ho by Jeong Ha’s bedside, and equally surprised that both Sun Ho and Hyun know Joon Ho. Hyun sends Sun Ho and Ji Ahn home, so that he can watch over Jeong Ha by himself. Together, the two walk out, but Ji Ahn refuses to take a ride from Sun Ho, since she can’t forget his actions in the Yang Seung Hoon case. Sun Ho explains that his job as a lawyer precludes him from judging his clients, but Ji Ahn doesn’t buy it. She walks away as Sun Ho’s smile fades again.

In the hospital room, Hyun wakes up to find Jeong Ha sitting up. Hyun asks if Jeong He is lying to protect someone, but Jeong Ha doesn’t answer. Instead, he asks to see the Wolf Story book again. Hyun promises to find out whatever it is Jeong Ha won’t tell him.

Back at the police station, Eun Hyeok adds another picture to the case, Jeong Ha’s father, Lee Han Cheol. It turns out that the victim in the current attack was a witness in the murder that Han Cheol is currently serving time for. Since this gives Jeong Ha a clear motive for the murder, the team theorizes that Jeong Ha must have received his wounds from arguing with his own accomplice.

Meanwhile, in a prison, Han Cheol gets a visit from his son, who turns out to be someone other than Jeong Ha.

Back at the police station, Ji Ahn tries to convince Hyun that he’s wrong, that maybe Hyun just wants Jeong Ha to be innocent. Hyun looks hesitant, but leaves anyway, to go to Jeong Ha’s apartment. He finds the book Jeong Ha wanted almost immediately, but continues looking through his things. He turns up a pile of unopened letters from a prison, and a diary with a photo of Jeong Ha and his brother. Inside a copy of his own book, he finds a note in handwriting that is different from Jeong Ha’s. Hyun wonders if someone had deliberately sent Jeong Ha to him.

Meanwhile, back in his own home, Joon Ho reads Hyun’s book. At the hospital, Sun Ho arrives to find Jeong Ha is sick again, from septic shock.

When Hyun emerges from the apartment building, he runs straight into Ji Ahn, who wonders why he’s so obsessed with Jeong Ha. Hyun explains that Jeong Ha doubts himself, adding “like me” in voiceover. Instead of explaining himself further, Hyun asks Ji Ahn why she hid her identity from him, and made up the story of being a stalking fan. Ji Ahn explains unconvincingly that her pride was hurt since he didn’t recognize her, but Hyun denies it. He tells her that it’s because she doubts him, and thinks that he’s a monster like Joon Young. He asks her how he looks in her eyes, as the episode ends.

Comments

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the show has basically cast suspicion on every character at this point, up to and including the entire investigation team. And, surprisingly, while I have my suspicions as to who’s who, I am enjoying not knowing for sure.

But, let’s back up and talk a bit about Joon Ho. Is it me, or do the interactions between Hyun and Joon Ho kind of seem like a weird flirtation? I mean, I’m pretty sure Hyun is at least aware of the possibility that Joon Ho could be Joon Young, so their conversations feel like minefields; I keep wondering if there’s a double meaning hiding in every phrase.

By comparison, Hyun’s interactions with Ji Ahn are much more straightforward, though her feelings for him aren’t. It’s obvious that there’s some kind of meeting of minds happening, as they echo each other at the crime scene, and it’s clear that she has some feelings for him. But, as Hyun pointed out in the last scene, she sees Joon Young when she looks at him, just like everyone else does.

I enjoyed this episode, but I am confused about one thing: is Jeong Ha dead? Or is he just sick with septic shock? Any guesses?

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I Remember You / Hello Monster (너를 기억해)

 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 || series review