Dementia
Episode 10 of Graceful Friends eases up a little on the Professor Han situation. Instead, we see more characterisation for most of our main cast, with one shocking hammer blow at the end. Alongside that, drama continues to bubble up between the different characters as we’re left wondering quite who’s responsible for the murders. In the past, Hyung-Woo confronts Kang-San about the pictures, just like we saw before. Only this time there’s more context with that scene. He dropped his wallet and within that is a keycard to his apartment. As Hyung-Woo heads over, he sneaks inside. Back in the present we find out what really happened. Hyung-Woo had his drinks spiked and woke up with underage girls around him. This unfortunately was captured on film by Kang-San. He broke into the apartment to find the pictures. Unfortunately, this also means it matches the times for the murder and makes him a suspect. After the incident last episode, Goong-Cheol takes Jung-Hae home but she refuses to engage and talk. Instead, she heads to bed after popping some pills. Jae-Hoon also heads home, frustrated and ripping the plaster off his head. Goong-Cheol meanwhile, still doesn’t know who left the invitation at his door but he suspects that it’s Hae-Sook. As he thinks back to that evening, he finds out that Jung-Hae spread pictures of Hae-Sook and Professor Han heading into the hotel together. Kyung-Ja rings Hyung-Woo, who switches his phone off and continues to talk. It turns out Ji-Wook was full of rage when he spoke to the detectives and could potentially be a suspect. However, he doesn’t outright say he killed Kang-San but Hyung-Woo jumps to that conclusion. After answering all the questions for the detective, he heads home while the police deliberate over whether he’s telling the truth or not. Meanwhile, Jae-Hoon receives a call from Jae-Seok who asks him to have dinner with their father whom he hasn’t seen since he became hospital director. Things don’t go to plan though, as his Father tells him to quit his job and transfer over. Only, Jae-Hoon doesn’t want to and vehemently refuses to listen to his Father. This inevitably causes him to lash out and receive a bowl full of noodles to the face for his troubles. At work, Goong-Cheol receives a message that CEO Yang is going to message him with a date and time to meet. While he prepares for the worst, Jung-Hae receives good news when she’s promoted to role of Professor at work. However, yellow flowers on her desk immediately prompts her to be suspicious. Checking the writing on the card, she looks through the drawer and sees similar writing, igniting memories for who it could be. Back home, Mo-Ran starts cleaning Jae-Hoon’s apartment until she finds his study and immediately casts suspicions. Things between Kyung-Ja and Hyung-Woo continue to escalate while Choon-Bok’s dementia starts to progress. As it does, he buys a load of nuts from the shop and starts to gouge himself; a desperate bid to stifle the pain he’s feeling. Only, Eun-Sil is unable to get through to him. He’s not at the bar either but instead she makes herself useful and makes food for the patrons there. While working, she sees Jung-Hae and hides behind the counter. Hae-Sook and Jung-Hae talk about what happened in the past and Jung-Hae receives a swift slap across the face for her troubles. Eun-Sil watches all of this unfold while peeping over the worktop. Goong-Chul meets Yang at the bar, where Mr Kang also shows up and the pair get blind drunk. Goong-Cheol struggles to keep his composure and keeps his wits about him. When Mr Kang leaves, Goong-Cheol receives the real reason Yang called him there. He wants Goong-Cheol to resign given the murder investigation. As he mentions Kang-San and the affair, it’s one step too far for Goong-Cheol who threatens to strike the CEO. Thankfully, he does think better of it and walks away. That evening, our four troubled friends meet in a playground and start playing around. As a police officer arrives and tells them to be careful, they instead decide to go to the ocean. There, truths are revealed. Jae-Hoon admits that Mo-Ran is back. Hyung-Woo has decided not to go ahead with the film while Goong-Cheol has been fired. Choon-Bok however has the saddest story of all. With no money to pay for his child’s future, he then goes on and admits he has dementia. It’s a massive hammer blow for them and a big juxtaposition to their triumphant cries at the top of the mountain for Man-Sik. As the trio rush up the beach together, screaming at the heavens, Jae-Hoon approaches the water and dives in. Graceful Friends’ latest episode really drives home the poignancy felt by our characters. All four friends have a bond together and regardless of the issues between them, find solace in each other. Of course, Jae-Hoon continues to feign his friendship with Goong-Cheol and I’d imagine this will spill over in a pretty big way going forward. Alongside that, Choon-Bok’s dementia is a really sad and poignant affair, one that culminates in a really well-acted and sad scene toward the end. With lots of bubbling emotions and plenty of questions still to be answered, Graceful Friends bows out this week’s double bill of episodes with an intriguing set-up for the future.
