Dr. Han begs Chairman Yang and his gang for protection but they tie him up on a chair instead. One of the gang members is about to knock him out when Chang-ho and his people enter and tell them to hand him over. The two groups fight and Chang-ho retrieves Dr. Han. In the prison hospital, Chang-ho tries getting Dr. Han to tell him what is in Professor Seo’s paper. But Dr. Han is too scared, implying there are people more powerful than Gong Ji-hoon involved. A conversation between Chairman Yang and Chang-ho reveals that their fight was staged in order to provoke Dr. Han. Later, Chang-ho crumples a tarot card and says it is now Big Mouse’s turn. Meanwhile, Dr. Han’s wife Jang Hye-jin seems to have gone into hiding. At the hospital, Mi-ho rushes to help a patient who is collapsing but is stopped by the staff since he is a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ patient. She later finds out that as per the hospital rules, he is to be cremated and not buried. She sneaks into the morgue and collects blood samples from his body. Outside, she is caught by Joo-hee. The head nurse pats her down but can’t find anything. Mayor Choi turns up as this is happening. Him and his wife have dinner afterwards, but he is lost in thought about Mi-ho and Chang-ho. Mi-ho returns to the morgue and takes the blood samples she had stashed there. On her way back down, she is attacked in the elevator. Luckily, the doors open in time and Mayor Choi is there to help her. The assailant gets away. Mi-ho hands over the blood samples to her father’s contact in the National Forensic Service, to get them tested. Back at the prison, someone donates a new statue of Mother Mary, which is installed in the church. Chang-ho later puts a Chariot tarot card in the bible — a bold act to obtain victory and also a trap for Big Mouse. He claims that by this time the next day, he’ll know who Big Mouse is. Someone is shown entering the church but we don’t see a face. As the day goes on, we see Chang-ho walking around with a copy of the novel The Count of Monte Cristo. When he next checks the bible in the church it’s empty. He strides over to the statue of Mother Mary. We then see a flashback of Soon-tae handing him the novel with a phone hidden inside. That was also when Chang-ho instructed him to anonymously donate a Mother Mary statue — with a hidden camera! Back in the present, Chang-ho looks through the video and sees Jerry enter the church. He calls Jerry over and the two go to a quiet place, where Chang-ho gives him three chances to confess. When Jerry finally does so, he says that he was only curious about what was in the Bible, but he never actually took the tarot card. Chang-ho realises he is speaking the truth when he sees a thirty-minute time skip on the video. At the same time, Mi-ho calls him and tells him she received white flowers with a tarot card — The Fool. Big Mouse has warned him. Jerry then calls Chang-ho out as a fake and demands to know who the real Big Mouse is. But Chang-ho tells him to stay away if he doesn’t want his life to be ruined further. Prosecutor Choi meets with the VIPs and Gong Ji-hoon. They talk about the trial strategy till Ji-hoon gets a call saying that the Elder wants them all to gather in the movie theatre. They do so and are joined by the other members of the NR Forum, including Mayor Choi, his wife and the old man in the wheelchair. In the theatre, they watch a video on Gucheon’s history, detailing how it was developed from ruins by a group of people led by Chairman Kang Sung-geun. Afterwards, the Elder talks about those who built the Gucheon of today and have now passed away. He reveals a prosthetic leg and berates the people present for thinking they are masters when all they’ve done is meet good parents. He claims his final wish is to find a worthy successor who can continue the glory of Gucheon. Later, Mayor Choi brings out a photograph of a group of four people, seemingly a family. The photograph was also present in the video they were shown. Gong Ji-hoon is singing at a karaoke bar when a frustrated Prosecutor Choi arrives and tells him to do something to get back in the Elder’s good books. He convinces him to try getting the money back from Big Mouse once more and gestures to a mysterious black bag in his hand. At the prison, Jerry has been keeping his distance from Chang-ho. He gets a visit from his younger sister who reveals someone is sponsoring her education and their grandmother’s healthcare. The sponsor turns out to be none other than Gong Ji-hoon. Jerry arrives back in their cell and claims he is being released. He gives everybody energy drinks as a gift, handing a specific bottle over to Chang-ho. Jerry leaves the prison, assuring himself that Chang-ho won’t die, he’ll just be in pain, as Gong Ji-hoon had said so. But just then an ambulance exits the prison. Mi-ho and her father arrive at the exact moment and Jerry informs them that Chang-ho is in the ambulance and tells them to follow it. They realise the ambulance isn’t going to any of the nearby hospitals. With some speedy driving on Mi-ho’s father’s part, they manage to block the ambulance and take Chang-ho to Mi-ho’s hospital instead. While Chang-ho is unconscious, someone enters and puts his fingerprints on a paper and then hands it over to Gong Ji-hoon. As he recovers, Mi-ho and he talk. Chang-ho asks if they can ever go back to their ordinary life. She tells him to be strong. On the way back from the hospital, Chang-ho realises something is amiss as they are going in the wrong direction. He fights but is overpowered by the guards and sedated. The vehicle heads towards Jiseong Mental Centre and the last shot is of someone carrying Chang-ho in a white-walled passage.
The Episode Review
Considering the previous episode’s cliffhanger, Episode 7 didn’t quite live up to what Chang-ho was meant to have up his sleeve. While Chairman Yang’s double bluff was a good one, the whole deal with Dr. Han didn’t amount to much. The other two VIPs seem happy to be out too, but maybe Chang-ho’s playing a longer game than we know. That said, Big Mouth does a really good job of keeping the chase interesting. While we may not get a lot of answers in each episode, we do get the thrill of Mi-ho’s investigations, the mystery of Chang-ho’s interactions with Big Mouse and the ever-intriguing politics amongst the rich. The stabbing and back-stabbing of characters keep things fresh and exciting and the various twists and turns never seem too far-fetched. It’s commendable how these ups and downs keep us glued to the screen even 7 episodes in. We’ve also seen a different side to Jerry this episode, making him a little more fleshed out than before. With his family and loyalties coming into play, it’s fascinating to dive deeper into this character. Kwak Dong-yeon does a wonderful job of making Jerry a person you can understand and even like. The end of this episode leaves Chang-ho at a mental hospital, which is not a trope I expected to see in this show. But it all depends on how things play out. Hopefully, they won’t stay on it for too long.
