The Trap Of Samsara
We begin episode 7 of Tale of the Nine Tailed with Ji-A awakening with a start to find the strange scales clinging to the back of her neck. Just like that though, it suddenly disappears. Taluipa confirms what we’ve all feared to Lee Yeon, the dragon king has awoken within her. Feeling betrayed, Yeon comes at her with shattered glass fragments shivering in the air as he contemplates hurting Granny. Thankfully Ui-Ong manages to calm them both down, sending Yeon back over to Ji-A’s place where he decides to stay there for the night. In order to keep her safe, he asks her not to let him risk his life for her. As the duo talk, she mentions the strange dream she had about the little boy. The little boy who – as we soon find out – is actually a spirit known as an Imoogi. Rang drowns his sorrows in alcohol, showing Yu-Ri the eyeglasses he uncovered last episode which happens to let the wearer see someone’s past life. As they talk, she mentions how she wants to know what it feels like to be loved. This statement sees us jump back in time and see more of Rang’s past, including a specific moment involving his Mother leaving him to go off alone. The result of this sees a maniacal, enraged person charging and lunging at him. As we jump back to the present Rang scoffs, “love can get you killed.” Meanwhile, Yeon stands at the doorway creepily watching Ji-A try to fall asleep. She spies him doing so and tells the fox to sleep on the couch. Instead, he jumps into bed with her and the two play a game of reciting different words one after another. When she mentions red umbrella in her groggy, sleepy manner, Yeon can’t help but look longingly at her. In the morning, Yeon teams up with Shin-Joo to make a delicious breakfast for her. When Ji-A awakens and sits down to eat, Shin-Joo arrives and greets them both. Only, Yeon is obviously not the best of cooks and it turns out he’s burnt the pans from his efforts. Woops! Still, after breakfast our dashing fox gets dressed up ready to visit Ji-A at her office. Given he’s in a lavish suit, he feigns being a director and decides to wait in the main lobby for her to come back. As he says goodbye, he remembers the moments from the past where Oi-Ung gave him the ominous prophecy; if he gets involved with her then one of them will die. Upstairs Ji-A continues to research, looking into the words Yeon’s friend mentioned about the branding scorched across the accused’s forehead. This also relates back to Pyongyang and how traitors there were branded for defying the law. Could this be who they’re after? This sets Ji-A on the path of investigating as she tries to figure out if any of her colleagues could be suspicious or not. Eventually they head out for food but Yeon happens to be watching from afar. Her work colleagues notice and invite him across to dine with them. He’s happy to join and mentions how it wasn’t a coincidence he’s there. What follows is a hilarious conversation as Yeon plays it straight with the questions he’s given while Ji-A does her best to cover for him. However, he receives a text from Rang and is forced to leave. Here we find out why. Shin-Joo tails Rang and overhears his conversation about the glasses thanks to his super hearing. From afar, Shin-Joo listens intently as he sees Yu-Ri get in the car with Rang where they talk openly about the glasses. It turns out the boy who Rang found in the streets is the one who’s taken them from him. As she leaves, Shin-Joo bemoans his luck that she’s working with Rang. When he hangs his head momentarily, it’s enough of a distraction for Rang to spot him; he knew he was following all this time. Shin-Joo is beaten for intel but keeps his mouth shut, refusing to reveal exactly why Yeon is after him. Yeon eventually shows up and realizes that Shin-Joo has clearly uncovered something about Rang. Yeon threatens his brother but he more than matches him blow for blow. Yu-Ri rings and confirms that she’s found the kid, prompting Rang to take his leave. As he does, Yeon manages to get Shin-Joo back who plays up his injuries for attention, guilt-tripping Yeon into feeding him. Rang meanwhile, finds the child and uncovers the glasses from him. Holding the boy up by the scruff of his neck, he takes the glasses back but spies what he looked like in a former life. It’s his puppy, would you believe it! Rang bemoans the child’s new face and life, but eventually takes him out for ice-cream because of it. Meanwhile, the TV crew head over to the President’s house, who greets them warmly but warns against touching his cherries. When Ji-A heads in to use the bathroom, she bites off more than she can chew. Earlier in the episode we saw the young child upstairs being fed another meal, this time in the form of a new babysitter that caused him to grow from a child into a man. The Imoogi entices Ji-A up, knocking the distorted, shrunken corpse it devoured earlier against the floor in a rhythmic knocking sound. Just before Ji-A opens the door, she receives a call from Yeon who encourages her to head home. On the way, Ji-A deliberates over an artificial nail she found on the ground upstairs at the house. Fingering it, she wonders just who it belonged to and why it was on the floor. Still, there’s no time for that now as Ji-A arrives home to find Yeon waiting for her. After spending the evening together, the next day Yeon heads out to find Ji-A some new shoes. Ji-A meanwhile, receives a package at the front door. This happens to be the glasses given by Rang so she can see her true self. Ji-A puts the glasses on and sees A-Eum staring back. Yeon charges toward her and slits her throat in this vision. Yeon races back to the house and sees Ji-A silently crying. She knows that he killed her in their past life in a bid to draw out the Imoogi. As she continues to cry, she feels betrayed known that she was used as a sacrifice.
The Episode Review
With the latest episode of Tale Of The Nine-Tailed, each of our characters are given more depth while the supernatural elements continue to bleed through. Rang’s continued back-story is one of the most interesting parts of this series and seeing the puppy reincarnated in the form of the young boy is a nice touch that helps deepen his arc. At the end of the day Rang still has some form of conscience – albeit a very thin sliver of one. He also has a bit of a soft spot toward his brother given he’s the person “most precious” to him even if he hides it behind bitterness and pain. Meanwhile, Yeon and Ji-A have more banter and interactions this time, allowing them both to share a deeper connection which helps warm to them both. Obviously a lot of this is to make for a larger blow at the end when we find out Yeon betrayed A-Eum in the past. As the Imoogi saga continues, this fantasy series continues to balance its various plot threads nicely, leaving the door wide open for the future episodes. In the meantime though, this was definitely one of the better episodes from this series.
