Bad-Memory Eraser – K-drama Episode 11 Recap & Review

Episode 11

Episode 11 of Bad-Memory Eraser begins with Ju-yeon and Gun kissing on the bridge. A local tells them to move their car and embarrassed, they drive off. It is too late and Gun decides to crash at his grandmother’s place. She’s staying with her eldest son and the house is empty. 

Ju-yeon makes dinner out of the instant noodles in their bags and Gun keeps flirting with her. As they bond, she shares that her wish is to make her patients happy and cure mental illnesses with her brain research.

He tells her to look out for herself and to deflect, she chugs some tea. It turns out to be a stamina-boosting drink that Mrs. Lee made for Shin. That night, Ju-yeon is hot and flustered as she keeps thinking about her kiss with Gun. However, Gun has other problems as there are mice in the abandoned house and he gets scared. They end up sleeping outside while gazing at the stars. 

At the Athlete’s Village, Sae-yan keeps cursing Shin and claims he is the source of her bad luck. Meanwhile, Shi-on hopes to find love by hooking up with some of the other national athletes. The lovestruck Shin is busy texting Ju-yeon. At breakfast, Sae-yan and Shin bicker and he ends up serving her breakfast to stop her from revealing his embarrassing “snake bite” incident.

As for our couple, both separately get ready and try to look their best for the other. Gun gets Ju-yeon flowers and she tries to play it cool but is excited. Elsewhere, Tae-oh is trying to figure out Gun’s side effects so he can steal Ju-yeon’s research. He even goes through Han’s computer and is almost caught by a nurse. He seemingly hits the jackpot as she is to pass on a message to Han that Dr. Kim has a thesis on the side effects.

Meanwhile, Sae-yan warmly greets Ju-yeon and Gun as they finally reach the Athlete’s Village and Shin watches the trio. He doesn’t attend the press conference and Shi-on is left fielding all the questions. We later see that he has anxiety and he refuses all interviews even if it means losing a commercial.

Sae-yan’s career as an interpreter seems short-lived as her mother finally shows up to drag her home. She reveals that Sae-yan’s biological father is a horrible, short-tempered man who left them penniless. However, Sae-yan still insists on looking for him which angers her mother.

Gun overhears and comes to Sae-yan’s rescue by claiming that she has a contract with him. If she were to leave, he would have to sue her. Stumped, the mother walks off while Sae-yan profusely thanks Gun for standing up to her mafia family. On hearing that her stepfather is a gangster, he pretends to regret defending her.

Meanwhile, Ju-yeon pulls her weight as the team doctor by counselling the athletes. Shi-on is jealous of Sae-yan as she cannot find any love while Sae-yan already has Shin wrapped around her fingers. Ju-yeon advises her to express her emotions. Next, Hong enlists her to help Shin get over his fear of interviews.

Shin explains that all his life he has been a placeholder for Gun and worries he may be exposed as a fraud if someone looks too deep. Ju-yeon tells him about imposter syndrome and advises him to acknowledge his own feelings. She too is not perfect and they agree to move on together. He agrees to the interview and she draws a talisman on his hand as good luck.

As for our first love duo, Sae-yan enlists Gun’s help in finding her biological father and they head back to their village. They run into the local from the bridge who gives Sae-yan a roster of young men who used to live there. He then recognises Gun as the child athlete and starts reminiscing about his time in the village. He comments that Gun was a quiet kid and there were rumours that a child died because of him. 

This triggers some memories as Gun remembers running after his family when they abandoned him, falling into the river and a young girl saving him. He recalls another memory – the young girl goes back into the water to find his medal and never resurfaces. At present, Gun runs and almost falls on the same bridge and Sae-yan saves him. He looks at her and is confused as her face is similar to his first love and he wonders why he cannot see Ju-yeon.

Meanwhile, Ju-yeon introspects about her feelings for Gun. She comes to terms that even if she is pretending to be his first love, her feelings for him are real. At that moment, Gun rushes to her and hugs her as he shares that he was afraid she had died when she had gone searching for his medal. She hugs him back and declares that she is not going anywhere. Shin watches them from afar and looks angry. 

In the room, Shi-on decides to act on her jealousy by slipping laxatives to Sae-yan. She then drags her to the swimming pool and once they are in the uniform, Shi-on breaks Sae-yan’s zipper. Sae-yan’s stomach starts hurting but she cannot unzip the uniform and she crawls out, looking for help. She runs into an angry Shin who is busy scrubbing out the talisman Ju-yeon drew on his palm. He wants to ignore Sae-yan but as she cries, he unzips her uniform and walks off.

Back in the room, a mortified Sae-yan cries while Ju-yeon scolds Shi-on and makes her apologise. Once Shi-on leaves, Sae-yan is confused by all the events so far and rants to Ju-yeon. She tells her how Shin is cold while Gun is so sweet that he drove her to their childhood village.

She also doesn’t understand why Shin keeps trying to get her fired and thinks she is looking for her first love when she is actually looking for her father. All of this confuses Ju-yeon who cannot put her finger on what’s wrong.

At that moment, Gun calls Ju-yeon out for stargazing but she is interrupted by Sae-yan’s mother. She tells Ju-yeon that both for her and Sae-yan’s sake, she shouldn’t find her biological father. She also lets it slip that Sae-yan and Shin hooked up in Italy. 

As Ju-yeon heads back, she puts all the pieces together and realises that Sae-yan is Gun’s first love. She storms over to Shin who is by the pool and asks why he lied about not knowing Sae-yan. He tells her to keep pushing Gun away and kisses her. Gun happens upon them and tries to pull Shin away. An angry Shin lashes out and pushes Gun into the water.

At the end of Bad-Memory Episode 11, Gun recalls the night of the reunion accident. It is hazy but we can see Shin choking Gun who then falls in the river while a wrist band floats in the water.

The Episode Review

Every week we wonder if we want to keep watching this drama and every week Kim Jaejoong proves his worth as an all-rounder and keeps us hooked. If you are not a fan already, you will be after learning that he is not only a pretty cool rom-com lead but also a talented singer. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the weirdly toxic characterization of Ju-yeon at the beginning of the show, this K-drama would be perfect. No, cause hear us out.

If we disregard the romance aspect of the first 8 episodes, this show is a pretty cool take on mental health, manipulation, family angst and self-love. Bad-Memory Episode 11 itself is a solid chapter as we get Gun finally being in love and being loved, befriending his real first love and being his charming, goofy self despite regaining some of the most traumatic memories. Guess, the only way to go on with this show and still enjoy it is to pretend that the first half did not happen. 

We do have some questions like why doesn’t Sae-yan seem to have any recollection of saving a boy when she saves Gun at the bridge? Shouldn’t she get some deja vu? And what does her mom mean that the real father should stay uncontacted for Sae-yan AND Ju-yeon’s sake? Is he the man who killed Ju-yeon’s father?

Or is it somehow related to Gun? The writers better not create some convoluted plot twist which “reveals” that it was Ju-yeon who was the real first love all along… Now that we have typed it out, it seems like that is what’s going to happen, isn’t it?