Thunder & Lightning
Episode 9 of All of Us Are Dead starts on the roof with all the kids fighting off Gwi-Nam who has some freakish strength. Not only does he brush off wood blocks to the back of the head, he also contorts his body in such a way that he doesn’t even fall to several stiff punches. Nam-Ra’s strange infection kicks in again though and using the same strength she wielded on the stairwell all those episodes ago, she throws Gwi-Nam to his doom. Again. And just like before, he picks himself back up, one bone-crunching limb at a time. Honestly, what will it take to kill this guy? Jae-Jun is kept in surveillance at the quarantine center. Seon-Moo and the other officers try to discover the origin of the virus but aren’t having much luck. According to this scientist, the RNA structure changes all the time meaning the virus appears to be sentient and changing. However, they’re interrupted by news that they’ve found a detective on the road. That is, of course, Jae-Ik. He reveals the news about Hyosan High and, more importantly, the laptop. Realizing this could hold the clues to the entire infection, the soldiers formulate a plan to bring the laptop back. On ground zero, Eun-Ji is saved and is there alongside Cheol-Soo. She’s obviously not herself and looks at him with murderous intent, revealing that she wants to eat him. And unfortunately this bit of casual murder has widespread ramifications. Back on the roof of Hyosan High, the gang receive more visitors. It’s not Gwi-Nam this time though but instead the helicopter showing up on the laptop retrieval mission. The kids think they’re being saved but instead, they’re surrounded by gun-toting soldiers. Everyone has their temperature taken, including Nam-Ra who literally just told everyone she hopes to be around them all for more campfire sessions. Gulp. Thankfully the soldiers just think she has hypothermia and give her a blanket instead. As the soldiers start airlifting the various different kids to safety, Eun-Ji’s murder causes Seon-Moo to have doubts over this plan. He realizes the virus has mutated and now there’s no way of differentiating between those infected and those who aren’t. So Seon-Moo gives the order to have them all shot dead. Jesus, that escalated quickly. The soldier refuses to shoot them but does apologize before being airlifted away from the survivors. With the laptop en-tow, the soldiers leave with their prize while the kids are left on their own again. That’s particularly bad news for Ha-Ni and the group, who miss their chance to escape and are forced to hide. Back at base, Assemblywoman Kim and U-Sin come under fire for So-Ju escaping. I mean, the soldiers and their terrible aim is as much to blame surely. Anyway, she’s interrogated, retelling her story about how So-Ju saved her life and how she’ll always stand by the side of the civilians, especially if it means saving your own blood. With the soldiers no longer willing to help, it falls to one man and his shotgun to help. That man being On-Jo’s father, So-Ju. When a civilian asks him for help with his wife, So-Ju tries to do the right thing and hands over his gun and bullets. So-ju heads off alone, charging through the streets to try and find his daughter (negating that struggle and entire plotline of him heading into the store to grab a gun last chapter in the process!) Back at the quarantine base, Eun-Ji is held captive. Seon-Moo and the others are desperate to work out what’s going on with her. The virus has definitely mutated and changed into something different – at least in her. In order to figure ou who actually is infected or not, the soldiers take drastic measures. Those Hyosan citizens are separated from the others, with the Assemblywoman and the rabble of survives given stricter quarantine rules. This includes Jae-Ik and Ho-Cheol too. Right on cue, lightning crackles across the sky as the heavens open and soak the town. For those on the roof of the school, they let their emotions flow, having been through quite the helacious ordeal. In the middle of this storm, Cheong-San comes up with another idea. They want to use the thunder as a way of disguising their movement. Specifically, they want to head for the mountains, getting away from the urban area completely. The plan is set into action and the group pair up too, holding hands in order to keep pace. Poor Dae-Su is the odd one out but he holds his own hand and seems to be okay with that. As they make it out the front, everything seems to be going okay… but there’s a problem. As Cheong-San leads his group around the school, he runs straight into his zombified mum.
The Episode Review
All Of Us Are Dead returns with a much better episode this time around, managing to show some solid plot progression and a lot more regarding this mutating virus. It seems that the virus is working on kids that exhibit fear and turning that into rage. Whereas for those desperately hopeless or horrible enough not to feel any fear, it’s turning them into super zombies with sentient abilities. I guess? It doesn’t really explain Nam-Ra though, who’s somewhat of an enigma right now. Hopefully that’s explained a bit more going forward. The Joon-Yeong group have also been a bit dull if I’m honest and haven’t added very much to this K-drama at all. The other adults have certainly contributed to showing the wider world and what’s happening though, but they haven’t been fleshed out as much as they perhaps could be. These later episodes haven’t quite fired on all cylinders like the early chapters did, but there’s enough here – especially with that ending – to keep tuning in to find out what happens next.
