Cat and Mouse
Episode 4 of L.U.C.A.: The Beginning returns to the church as Ji-o loses control and sends a shockwave of electric currents right through the room. Approaching Sister Stella, Ji-O screams and illuminates Euicheon Church into an inferno of angry flames. This, unfortunately, acts as a signal for Yi-Son and his goons to show up. Covering their mouths, the trio head inside and remain on the hunt for Ji-O as he hurries away with Goo-Reum. Only, on the way he spies a statue of the Virgin Mary and suddenly regains his memories. Sobbing, Goo-Reum takes him outside and they drive away, thankfully just in time as Yi-Son and the others scramble out and watch them leave. Unfortunately Yi-Son’s mistake causes him to return empty-handed to the lab. Although he’s certain that the pair will turn up soon, he apologizes after being slapped repeatedly for what happened. Well, when Cheol-Soo leaves, Joong-Kwon talks to Yi-Won about his arm, telling him to have faith. Interestingly, he clearly has a dark past as we see glimpses of Yi-Son out in the field as a soldier, hit with a grenade. By comparison, Yoo-Na’s life as a soldier came to a nasty end when her gun happened to have live rounds rather than blanks. After shooting one of her comrades by accident, she turned the gun on herself and shot her leg. She tells Yi-Won that she hopes this isn’t a coincidence, especially since they both have a tragic past. Yi-Won simply remains straight faced and tells her not to dwell on this, reminding her not to lax on her surveillance. Meanwhile, Goo-Reum speaks to Captain Choi and gives him the license plate for the black car. According to the records, this model has been scrapped. But how can that be if it’s right there? Alas, the plot thickens. After feeding this news back to Choi, Goo-Reum remains more determined that ever to figure out who Ji-O really is. Well, that involves seeing Oh Jong-Hwan at the NFS after-hours. He suggests they conduct some tests but Ji-O is not so sure this is a good idea. Eventually Goo-Reum convinces Ji-O to have a biopsy and some blood tests done. When he gets his spinal fluid taken, it brings back painful memories from the past and he hurries away, charging out the lab and into the street. Goo-Reum hurries after him, checking up on Ji-O to make sure he’s okay. She apologizes for what happened, as he starts to show off his brilliant blue eyes and electric power. Goo-Reum manages to calm him down though, which is a recurring theme that Ji-O picks up on. From this, he deduces that he can’t be the one who killed her parents as she’s not a threat to him. Ji-O eventually decides to leave after causing a shockwave to ripple through the bus stop. When Goo-Reum looks back after shielding her eyes, Ji-O is gone. In the morning, Goo-Reum return to the office with coffee for Captain Choi. He immediately suspects something is up though and soon discovers what. The phone she was given is busted, prompting her to apologize and hand it back. As she hurries off, Choi calls after her, annoyed. In fact, he sits with her and asks outright whether she’s okay, especially on the back of how badly fried the phone is. Midway through talking, the phone rings prompting Goo-Reum to pick up and hurry out the station. As she does, Yi-Won and Yoo-Na follow her car, determined to figure out where she’s going. Ji-O wanders the streets until he finds the familiar loan card from before. Ringing the number, he gets through to a man named Won-Yi, who claims to be his friend. He’s not too surprised about Ji-O forgetting the address and encourages him to show up. Well, show up he does and after a quick hug from his eccentric friend, helps himself to some noodles. Won-Yi also knows about his electricity powers. They ‘ve been friends for a long time, having left the orphanage together all those years ago. They used to swindle people out in the streets, with Ji-o using his powers to shock unsuspecting victims into submission. Won-Yi would encourage him to constantly use his powers, including frying the locks off a jewelers. Well, more of the issues at the church come to light too, including how Ji-O and Won-Yi were bullied by the other kids. This explains why he lost control and burnt the place down. Or at least more of the underlying issue alongside Sister Stella throwing holy water on him. While Ji-O is sleeping, Won-Yi creeps through his apartment and phones A-01. This, unfortunately, is a result of Yi-Won getting to him first and torturing the man into submission. Meanwhile, Goo-Reum speaks to Jong-Hwan about the experiment and in particular, the different entities that seem to be mixed together. Given these experiments are forbidden, he admits he’s 99% sure this has been manufactured. Because of that, Goo-Reum is tasked with sticking by Ji-O no matter what. Well, Ji-O has problems of his own when Yi-Son and his goons show up in the apartment. Ji-O fights them off though… until he’s injected with a syringe by Yoo-Na. Collapsing on the floor, Yi-Won tasks his subordinates with finding the witnesses currently snapping photos and videos, while he takes Ji-O away. Meanwhile, Joong-Kwon comes under fire when Ji-O’s physical results are uploaded online. Cheol-Soo is certain that the data must have been leaked, prompting him to question Joong-Kwon’s loyalty. Thankfully, he’s interrupted by a call from Yi-Won telling him that Ji-O has been captured. Despite injecting him with several syringes, Ji-O conjures forth his lightning abilities and blasts the car off the road. After scrambling free from the wreckage, a fireball consumes the car as the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
Episode 4 of L.U.C.A.: The Beginning deepens the mystery as this cat and mouse game continues. As more details are drip-fed out about Ji-O and his past, the inclusion of that final flashback near the end seems to hint that Goo-Reum’s parents weren’t actually killed by Ji-O. If that’s the case then who was it? And what about that soundtrack? The tracks used in this show are epic and although they are a little overused at times, the haunting vocals are perfect for this moody thriller. Let’s just hope it’s not overused like that “Lost” song in Graceful Friends, which played at least twice an episode! Anyway, I digress. L.U.C.A. is shaping up to be one of the better sci-fi dramas out there and the unique storyline is certainly intriguing enough to stick with. Much like Kairos last year, this feels like a drama that’s going to fly under the radar but the ratings are doing pretty well in truth, so we’ll have to wait and see. For now though, L.U.C.A is certainly one to watch.
