Open Fire
Episode 10 of Youth of May begins with Soo-Ryeon meeting back up with her protestor friends. Boo-Yong is not happy to see her, and it’s clear it’s going to take a lot to turn him to her cause. Meanwhile, drama stirs at the hospital as numerous patients arrive one after another. The latest is an 18 year old that’s been shot in the hand and stomach. Those inside the hospital are outraged, especially given the soldiers are now turning against civilians. This brutality sees the emergency committee meeting turn heated as the pastor there requests the military withdraw troops. Word of this gets back to Ki-Nam too, who tells his superior that he’ll attend meetings in the future. When Ki-Nam heads home, he learns Soo-Chan has been arrested. Given the state he’s in by the brief scene we flash to, it doesn’t look good. Meanwhile, Hyun-Chul heads out with an envelope intended for Myung-Hee. Only, there’s no buses so he decides to walk there instead. While he starts to travel into town, Jung-Tae and Myung-Soo find themselves sneaking out the training camp and straight in the thick of a protest. The soldiers facing them however all aim their weapons and fire. In the ensuing skirmish, Myung-Soo is shot in the foot. Jin-A’s Father is there too and he notices the young boy. Sadly he can’t get to him though, on account of the bullets spraying across the street. When he heads into hospital though, he feeds this back to Myung-Hee, who hurriedly calls the training camp. In doing so, they confirm that the boys are missing. This gives Myung-Hee motivation to head out with Hee-Tae, as they’re tasked with picking up the injured in the street and helping them to the hospital. As soldiers continue to fire, Myung-Hee hears a child crying and – upon seeing Myung-Soo’s shoe – hurries off to help. Soldiers fire at her – thankfully missing – while Kyung-Soo volunteers to give chase. Hee-Tae sees him too and eventually stops him from doing something he’ll regret. Eventually the group make it into the ambulance. Myung-Soo and Jung-Tae, as it turns out, are actually okay and they hurry back into the training camp. Thankfully they manage to phone and let Myung-Hee know. Meanwhile, Soo-Ryeon finds herself disagreeing with the other protestors, especially when they’re all armed with guns ready to fight back. At the same time, Ki-Nam learns that Hee-Tae is no longer is Seoul. After releasing Soo-Chan, he tells the boy to live a quiet life and stay out of trouble. At the hospital, Hyun-Chul arrives and pleads with her to leave town. She refuses though, but the tension is enough for Hee-Tae to get in the ambulance and drive back out again. They’re stopped by a military vehicle though and another looks set to plough into the side of them. We don’t see that take place though, and instead are left with a very frazzled and panicked nurse arriving ready to break the news.
The Episode Review
After the tense episode yesterday, Youth of May continues to keep up the pressure with a more character-driven piece, focusing on players on both sides of this conflict. Kyung-Soo’s inclusion is a good one too, giving a face and human edge to a very conflicted soldier. While the whole Jung-Tae and Myung-Soo situation feels a little contrived, it’s used well to show the horrors of this massacre through their innocent eyes. It also seems like Ki-Nam may have seen his son out in the streets too, if those flashback sequences are anything to go by. Meanwhile, the situation with Hee-Tae remains precarious, with big question marks remaining over whether he’s okay or not. Given the heavy material we’ve received this season already, let’s hope he is! Either way, Youth of May has been a really solid watch, bowing things out with an ominous sign of things to come for next week’s double bill.
