Burn The House Down – J-drama Episode 7 Recap & Review

Episode 7

Episode 7 of Burn The House Down starts with Anzu finally revealing her true identity after exposing Mikako’s lies. Makiko continues to lie, claiming that she went back home after the fan meeting but Anzu plays a voice note of Mujina claiming to have followed Makiko to the Mitarai family house on the night of the fire.

Makiko is shocked about the revelation and tries to run away, claiming that she’s not responsible for the fire. Just then, Kiichi shows up and Makiko finally confesses her guilt in the crime. Anzu is overwhelmed and asks Makiko to apologise to Satsuki to release her from the guilt.

Instead of taking action immediately, Mr Mitarai calls it a night and asks his daughters to go back to their house. That night, Mr Mitarai tells Makiko that he’s going to file for divorce and that Shinji will not be taking over the Mitarai Hospital anymore.

The next morning, Makiko holds a press conference, aggressively claiming that she’s going to continue representing the Mitarai family for as long as she lives. Anzu and Yuzu watch the press conference and call their father as the trio try to crash the conference.

However, Makiko calls Mr Mitarai and asks him to come see her in a hotel room first. There, Makiko tries to gaslight Mr Mitarai into thinking that he was not capable of doing anything on his own. She forces herself on him and manages to convince Mr Mitarai to stay married to her.

Outside the Mitarai House, Anzu and Yuzu are shocked to hear Mr Mitarai make a public statement about Makiko being a perfect wife. The girls feel further betrayed by their father and Makiko puts up a show about being wronged due to the fake controversies about her.

That night, Makiko is shocked when she learns that her Instagram account had been hacked. The hacker posts photos of the Mitarai House being a mess and photos of a housemaid cleaning the house while Makiko rests. Fans and commenters talk about Makiko’s lies and how she had made this “perfect wife” image of herself but was far from being one in reality.

Anzu, Yuzu and Claire are all shocked about the hacking as well because they are not sure who did it. Makiko threatens Nurse Ichihara, asking her who did the hacking after all. The next day, Makiko pays a visit to Satsuki in the hospital. There, Satsuki treats Makiko well and the two women chat.

Satsuki shows Makiko the hairpin, the earrings and the heels Anzu had procured from the Mitarai House which Makiko had stolen years ago. Makiko is shocked to know that Satsuki was aware of her actions. Satsuki claims that she hacked Makiko’s account and calls her out for breaking her family when she’s still in love with her ex-husband.

Satsuki claims that she’s okay dealing with Mr Mitarai’s family because she loves him. She also adds that Makiko doesn’t really love Mr Mitarai and is only with him for his money. Satsuki decides that instead of apologising for the fire, Makiko was making an even bigger deal on social media.

She confesses how they exchanged lives over the last 13 years and how Satsuki lived as a single mother for so many years. The Mitarai House is mobbed by cameras and angry outbursts who are looking for answers from Makiko as she comes back from visiting Satsuki at the hospital.

Two weeks pass by and Makiko has left the house in a mess while Mr Mitarai drinks away his feelings. He blames Makiko and her sons for ruining his life and asks them to leave him alone. Kiichi comes downstairs but Makiko tries to force him to go back to his room. Mr Mitarai talks badly about Kiichi, prompting him to go back to his room.

However, Shinji goes to Kiichi’s room, bringing him something to eat. The two brothers talk for the first time in years and the younger of the two brothers claims that he will be working hard on himself and on getting the family back on its feet.

That night Makiko loses her mind reading the negative comments against her and her family. She drinks her feelings away and smokes cigarettes one after the other when she sees a post from a bystander who was waiting outside the Mitarai House. The fan had posted a photo of Kiichi who was standing by the balcony of the house.

Makiko barges into the room and makes a scene about Kiichi being found out. She yells at him for being out in the open and goes paranoid about people seeing him. Makiko forces Kiichi to go hide in the basement so that the world would not be able to see him, asking him to hide away for eternity.

Kiichi pulls away from Makiko and tells her that she can’t keep protecting him for life. Kiichi asks his mother to take care of herself and asks her to give up on trying to protect him from the world. He jumps off the balcony and runs outside, leaving Makiko, Shinji and Mr Mitarai shocked.

The spectators standing outside the Mitarai House are also shocked to see Kiichi limp as he runs free for the first time in more than a decade. Kiichi finally gets to the same park that he was at with Anzu 14 years ago.

Just then, Anzu comes rushing there to see Kiichi. He is shocked to see her there but she claims that she came running as soon as she saw the post online. Anzu sees the wound o Kiichi’s foot and runs to get him first aid but Kiichi stops her and hugs Anzu.

The next morning, Kiichi wakes up at Anzu’s house with his foot bandaged. Anzu tells him it was her pleasure to host him and tells Kiichi he can stay for as long as he likes. At the same time, Mr Mitarai calls the cops on Makiko and has her arrested for arson. Shinji texts Kiichi that their mother was taken in for questioning.

In the interrogation room, Makiko tries to take the blame for causing the fire but the cops claim that Kiichi, who was part of a notorious group of boys could be the person behind the fire. Makiko takes full blame for the accident and tells the police that it was her who caused the fire out of jealousy over Satsuki.

At the same time, Kiichi asks Anzu to go out in the woods with him because he wants to show her something. The episode ends with Kiichi asking Anzu if she’ll consider running away with him.

The Episode Review

We can assume that Makiko is hiding the truth to save Kiichi. It is possible Makiko may have asked Kiichi to set the house on fire because of her jealousy. However, it seems like both Makiko and Kiichi are not the arsonists but it is Shinji who set the house on fire. The makers have completely sidelined him whenever there is any conversation about the fire and it is certainly suspicious.

It is clear that Kiichi won’t help Anzu when he’s the arsonist. There is also a possibility that Satsuki herself was the person who set the house on fire and hopefully that’s not the case because Anzu would be shattered. Makiko is more than just messed up and I pity the people around her. I can’t wait for the show to end so that we can finally get to the truth!