I loved this weeks' episodes; they gave me Dexter vibes. I cannot understand why some parents or adults abuse children; I doubt I ever will. However, I love that this season focuses and raises awareness and the impact and the irreversible damage of bullying, abuse, and neglect cases. If this drama does one thing, if anything at all, I hope it's to raise even further awareness and encourage the push back on a culture of endurance that provides the many silently suffering escape acceptable social norms that leave them always struggling to do the right thing.
Park Eun Soo out in the field suits her. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, but I liked seeing her with the team. It felt natural. I wonder if she joined the field to be closer to Dae Shik. That said, Saet Byeol (Kim Shi Eun) and her teacher Jang Hyo Joon's case (Kim Young Hoon) puzzled me. It did sort of fit Circus Man's IMO of using a third party to do his psychotic work, and Saet Byeol matched his abused teenager victim-type, but involving the teacher didn't make much sense. What made even less sense was the teacher's willingness to take a bat to Saet Byeol rather than have her nude pictures go viral unless he was the target somehow.
As skeptical as I was, I assumed the Circus Man Dong Bang Min was punishing the teacher for maybe manipulating his student. What I didn't foresee was that the culprit was a deluded paranoia, prone female stalker. Nor did I expect for the Circus Man to reveal himself to Kang already. Lee Kyu Hyung is a superb actor. Agent Han's behavior seemed off, but maybe it wasn't him I should've worried about but Bu Gwi-Nam (Hong Sang-Pyo) from the Vimo Island Provincial Police Agency. It makes sense that it would be him. I still feel that someone from the golden team may be a spy or will become one. And as much as the drama wants us to believe, it may be Shim Dae Shik given his history, but I highly doubt he would do that again, not after what happened with Jin Hyuk. He absolutely regretted giving in to the pressure that he allowed himself to be caught by Voice One's serial murdering culprit Mo Tae Goo (Kim Jae Wook). I can't see Dae Shik making the same mistake again.
Is it weird that I appreciate how Lee Ha Na is in the female personality of the deluded Circus Man; she does so well. The village is not just a cult; it's a cesspool of one old decrypt man's disgusting need to control and mercilessly take advantage of the powerless, abusing them physically, emotionally, and even sexually. I can see why Dong Bang Min (Lee Kyu Hyung) would develop the worst type of dissociative identity disorder; who wouldn't after living with a grandfather like his. But if the golden time team thought it would be easy to get the Circus Man, they have something else coming.
I reckoned Dong Bang Min would disassociate himself from Circus Man's actions, and like Detective Jo, I thought he was faking it and that Detective Jo was falling straight into Bang Min's trap, but the fear in his eyes when Detective Jo grabbed him seemed too real to be fake. I agree with Kwon Joo that the personalities are distinct and separate individuals that some or all of them may be totally unaware of the existence of the others and have different memories or perceptions, which had me wondering about the female personality's hearing abilities; the special hearing aid Kwon Joo mentioned makes total sense.
I imagined Dong Bang Min would eventually turn on his own. In the beginning, I questioned why he hadn't turned on his grandfather and the people who help him commit the atrocities that he commits yet. I mean, if he or one of his personalities is all about eradicating corrupt social structure, shouldn't he have started with the ones that hurt him the most. I assumed it was because of Dong Bang Min and I understand why as the original personality, but I cannot imagine the type of trauma he endured as a child to create as many personalities as possible to dilute the impact. It's difficult not to empathize with Dong Bang Min. It's evident that his violent personality has taken over completely and is the one that remembers the abuse the most and is the Circus Man. And now that the grandfather knows how delusional his grandson is, it makes sense that rather than get his grandson the help he needs, he would cover up his horrific wrongdoings by having Kwak Man Taek claim to be the Circus Man. I bet the Circus Man knew his grandfather would do exactly that. He is good, very good at keeping the personality system under control and intact. Watch episodes 9 & 10 here. Elaine - Hear For You