The Chase
Crash Landing On You returns with an explosive and tense episode as Se-Ri’s latest desperate attempt to leave is thwarted by Cho and ends quite tragically for some of the characters. So far, the show has definitely managed to keep me hooked with plenty of humour, romance, tense moments and some great chemistry between the cast. Could this be one of the shows to beat going into 2020? We begin where we left off with Seung-Jung recognizing Se-Ri and taking her aside. Jeong-Hyeok follows and quickly separates them, demanding to know who he is. Se-Ri replies that he’s an acquaintance and also explains to Seung that Jeong-Hyeok is her bodyguard. However, Seung-Jung has to quickly leave as he’s still being chased. Later on, Se-Ri explains that Seung-Jung was a man that her family tried to marry her off to. Her brothers chose him because he works oversea and wanted to get rid of her. As they talk, a friend of Seo-Dan sees them and calls the latter, warning her about what she’s seeing. We then cut back to Seung-Jung being threatened while speaking on the phone to Se-Hyeong, who’s after his money. However, he reveals that his sister is still alive and tries to make a deal which is to offer him back half the money in exchange for the location of Se-Ri. After checking Se-Ri’s room for bugs, Jeong-Hyeok heads out to see Seo-Dan waiting behind the door. Se-Ri also comes out and when she sees how annoyed Seo-Dan is, she decides to leave them alone. Seo confronts him and tells him that they’re having dinner with both their parents that same evening. On the rooftop, Seo-Dan and Seung-Jun meet properly as they talk about the man who has upset her. Later, he meets with Se-Ri and lies about his reasons for being in North Korea. She then asks him, when he goes back to Seoul, to tell his dad to go ahead with their agreement. Unbeknownst to her, Seung-Jung had her on speaker-phone for her brother to hear. During the dinner, Jeong-Hyeok’s father suggests having the wedding the next month which surprises and please Seo-Dan’s mother. Jeong-Hyeok also agrees to it as it has been an arrangement planned for quite some time. Heading to the bathroom, Seo-Dan comes face to face with Se-Ri and tells her that she’s getting married next month. Se-Ri and Jeong-Hyeok finish the evening together and head to eat in a restaurant. After a short blackout, snow starts to fall outside prompting Se-Ri to explain that if a couple watches the first snow of the year together, their love will be fulfilled. However, she jokes saying it would be a mess if they were together. In Seoul, Se-Hyeong and his wife speak to Mr Oh about Se-Ri being in North Korea. Mr Oh panics and promises to get her back home safely but is surprised when Sang-Ah offers him money to make sure she stays there forever. Meanwhile, Cho is interrogated by Director Hwang as his phone records show that he has been calling the engineering brigade multiple times. However, Cho holds many of the higher-ups in his pocket, as they unknowingly took bribes from him in the past. He later meets with Seung-Jung who shows him a picture of Se-Ri and asks him to make sure she doesn’t leave the country. He relays all this to Man-Bok and tells him that, thanks to him, he knows exactly how and when she’s planning to leave. The next day, Se-Ri has dinner with Jeong-Hyeok and the four soldiers explain that she will be leaving soon. After more joking about the differences between both countries, Jeong gives the soldiers a day off to do a farewell picnic for Se-Ri. During this time, the boys fish and Pyo surprises them by reading a poem with some nice words for Se-Ri. Later that night, as she prepares to leave and say goodbye to Jeong-Hyeok, she tells him she’ll miss him. In reply, he tells her that she should forget everything and everyone she saw in the village. We then cut to Man-Bok who’s still tearfully listening, eventually ringing his boss to tell him they’ve left. The next day, Hwang drives her away when they’re suddenly followed by one of the armoured trucks. A chase between the two gets underway and just as they’re about to crash into them, a motorbike arrives and starts shooting at the truck. Se-Ri’s car gets stuck on the road so the biker (who turns out to be Jeong-Hyeok) sends his bike flying into the truck wheels and manages to stop him by shooting at it. Unfortunately, one of the drivers shoots Jeong-Hyeok in the back and Hwang in the leg during the ensuing chaos. During the epilogue, we see a flashback of Jeong getting his bike and weapons ready to protect Se-Ri on her journey to the airport. Well that was dramatic! This latest episode was definitely an emotional one, especially during Se-Ri’s picnic with the soldiers which was really fun, especially when Pyo read his poem. It showed that he actually cared about Se-Ri too, despite his constant negative comments about her. However, her departure was quickly stopped and resulted in a dramatic show off, causing some life-threatening injuries for Jeong-Hyeong. The drama also has a few interesting sub-plots around corrupted soldiers involved in Jeong brother’s death, but also with shady Seung-Jung involved and connected to various characters. All these storylines combine really nicely and the great performances from the actors have so far made this series well worth watching and helped end the year on a high note.
