The best thing about So Mun getting stripped of his Counter privileges is seeing how much Mae-ok and the rest miss him and feel their loss acutely. On an occasion Go-tak and Mae-ok watch him leave the school gate from across the road wondering if he's okay. In their eyes, he wasn't just a fellow team member, he was family. Losing him from the roster hurt them emotionally as much it hurt him. Mae-ok seemed especially crushed by recent events despite having sacrificed a year of her strength to ensure his survival after his near-death altercation with Ji Cheong-sin. Her empathetic nature sees her heading to the Yung immigration office to seek other avenues of having him reinstated. In her mind, he did everything for family and as someone who cares deeply about family, it's good enough of a reason for her to have more gray hairs.
This is one of the reasons why this drama is gaining widespread adoration. It knows exactly how to make you like characters.
I was wondering how they were going to handle Mun losing his abilities and memories but thanks to some good sense on the part of Chairman Choi, Mun retained his memories. Logically speaking, there could be no other way. Especially with the school bullies still nipping at his heels. What's surprising though is that he seems to have kept his physical strength to some degree. Though not yet explained, that could be the unintended benefit of the rigorous training or perhaps there's something else going on with Mun that's not yet revealed. That's entirely possible considering how he wasn't recruited in the usual way and he has the ability to manipulate Yung territory. Well, he is supposed to be the Uncanny Counter after all. :D
Speaking of recruitment, it seemed that the spirit guides were trying to co-opt the services of an ex-firefighter who is in a coma. He seemed to be a ripe candidate for the vacancy but he turned it down immediately. For some people death is a relief and release. I've seen it first hand. Even though the people around them would prefer that they remain, they're exhausted, the body's had enough and they know better than most that their time is up. Death isn't always to be avoided. Sometimes it's a welcomed prospect particularly when there's been much suffering.
Even though divesting Mun of his abilities was the right thing to do because he was on a slippery slope to the dark side, it was never ideal. There were never any good or easy choices to begin with. I had an inkling a while back that it would leave him and the rest of the team rather vulnerable. It was never a good solution even if on some level it was a necessary one. As I had feared, this change of status quo played into the hands of the demons. I suppose one could argue that it was Mun's fault for creating this scenario but there's a war looming and he's the raw recruit who hasn't been given a lot of time to make mistakes and learn from them. He was thrown into the deep end. To his credit he acknowledges his shortcomings to the high school bully, the mayor's son. But I'm also convinced that there are extenuating circumstances also at play. Mae-ok seems to understand the urgency on his part and the recklessness that goes with it. Ultimately he's a kid with a lot on his shoulders who has had very little time to process everything. The ramifications of being a Counter has only just sunk in. It was always a double-edge sword bestowing superhuman abilities to a teenage boy who is working against the clock to save his parents from complete oblivion. On top of that, the window for his training and on the job experience has been limited. The circumstances surrounding his selection as Counter was extraordinary from the first.
The other thing that bothers me about the Counters Code of Conduct is this odd delineation between "human affairs" and demon expunging work. How is that supposed to work? It seems to me nearly impossible to compartmentalize in that way. How can anyone who has any sense of responsibility and convictions about justice be able to look on and turn a blind eye to things? (Considering that it's a criteria for Counters) But the other problem too is that the "human affairs" and demon-hunting seems to be inextricably tied. For instance, Mayor Shin seems to be giggling rather too much for anybody's comfort levels. It's creepy teetering on maniacal. (I'm getting Ghostbusters feels) It's true that we haven't seen his eyes turn glowy red but there's something not quite right with him. The man appears to be off his rocker but it's more likely that he's a host to an evil spirit or an evil spirit that has found a way to take on human form. Looking at how Ji Cheong-sin and him interact, I feel we might be on the cusp of some kind of apocalypse.
Jeong-yeong is now sensibly working with the rest of the Counters. Now that she has got the full picture of what she's been up against, she takes the Counters into her confidence. Yeah, more gruesome stuff is happening as the demons go on a rampage for some kind of apocalypse. But it's not so clear why Ha-na isn't picking up on the most recent attacks. Is it distance? Is there something jamming the "signal"?
As Jeong-yeong gets re-acquainted with Mo-tak in his new context, I wonder if they will rekindle their lost love. It isn't necessary for the plot presently but it seems to me that she hasn't really moved on from him. But there's the sticky thing about him not remembering.
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