Chimera – K-Drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Two Killers

Episode 8 of Chimera begins off the back of that massive bombshell reveal from Joong-Yeop. The latter believes his father is innocent and is determined to try and clear his name. A flashback to the past reveals that Joong-Yeop’s dad actually told him behind bars that he’s innocent. “Choose what’s right, never lose your dignity.” He implores his son.

With no records left and the body cremated, Jae-Hwan realizes this is going to be a difficult case to figure out. However, the arresting officers were Yong-Bok, Ju-Seok and Seung-Kwan. As he mulls over this, Jae-Hwan is brought back into the station for an emergency meeting.

The new headquarters being blown up is the central focus here. The department have recorded footage from the incident along with an audio recording of the killer. However, the TV department also have the footage too, as Hyo-Kyung contemplates whether this is really the killer or just a prank call.

Obviously the lighter is a big play and the killer’s signature but Hyo-Kyung is suspicious over the choice of target. Instead of just letting the attack speak for itself, Hyo-Kyung likens this attack to the killer showing off with a big branded T-shirt. Something doesn’t add up and she knows it.

Jae-Hwan continues to investigate the cause of explosion too, as it seems there was no ignition source. At least not upon first inspection anyway. With the lighter found at the scene, it appears that adhesive tape and cellophane paper are part of the equation. The detonation was definitely delayed (which Eugene figures out too when she sees the fragments Jae-Hwan has) but more suspicious is the inclusion of Chief Bae. He actually stopped by the lab after the parcel bomb and looked very shook up.

Interestingly, Pil-Sung continues to serve as the liaison between Gwang-Soo’s operation and Chief Bae’s intent. He feeds back information about Joong-Yeop and how he’s investigating independently into the Macheon police department. Bae immediately tenses up, but quickly snaps out of it and tells him to continue prying, being sure not to be spotted.

Speaking of alliances, Joon-Yeop decides to offer his own expertise and support for this case. He wants to prove his father is innocent and in order to do that, it means bridging this gap, checking the details for both the 1984 and 2019 case.

The duo are joined by Eugene too and together, they look deeper into the TH-5 compound. Alongside Professor Park are a number of familiar names that show up. Three of the staff have died but the team was wracked with issues. There are rumours that Sung-Hee died in a housefire, while Eun-Cheol went abroad to study right after the incident.

Seo Hyun-Tae is another face involved with them. Of course, we know he’s a big chairman in the present and heavily invested in this case so it reinforces how connected everything is becoming.

Jae-Hwan heads back to the team and feeds back the news to Gwang-Soo and the others. It seems Seoryun Group could be a target, especially if the research team is the main target for the original killings. Jae-Hwan feeds the news back to the chairman and implores him to stay away from public events for the time being.

Seo doesn’t exactly take kindly to the news and throws shade at the officers, telling them they should probably do their job to prevent him needing to do that. Ouch.

This episode seems to be all about alliances and Hyo-Kyung shows up at Eugene’s office and suggests one of her own. She knows the two cases are similar and suggests they team up and find who the Chimera killer was back in 1984.

She wants Eugene to do a radio broadcast  but our investigator isn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. However, Hyo-Kyung does agree to send along a transcript so she can look over the details.

In the wake of all this, Yong-Bok passes away in hospital. When Bae finds out, he agrees to cover the costs and begins weeping, apologizing for what happened and blaming himself.

Eugene agrees to do the broadcast and with the host, Se-Jeong, in charge, she begins firing questions over at Eugene and Hyo-Kyung.

One of the listeners happens to be Sang-Goo, who grabs some headphones at work and listens with intent to what they have to say. The explosion he was involved in is brought up, leading Eugene to speak personally and admit it was conducted by a copycat.

Of course, when Sang-Goo hears this, his face immediately drops. Hyo-Kyung goes one step further and begins provoking the culprit (Sang-Goo) pointing out how he’s a loner and presumably never had a relationship.

Eugene warns her against pressing this line of enquiry but she continues all the same. That’s a dangerous game to play, especially as Sang-Goo rings into the station and calls out Chairman Seo as his next target.

The Episode Review

Chimera returns with another intriguing episode but one that paints Sang-Goo as the copycat we presumed he was from the erratic act in the previous episode. The headquarters bombing was just way too flashy and showy to be the real Chimera and it seems everyone has caught on to this line of thinking. However, it doesn’t stop the fact Sang-Goo is dangerous and calling out Chairman Seo is just another part of his much-larger plan.

Interestingly though, Eugene’s comments last episode about being thrilled for the chase and a few of her mannerisms (let alone knowledge in science and the case) actually paints her in a pretty shady light.

I’m putting my money on Eugene being the killer and Joon-Yeop being the scapegoat in all this. We’ve already received one scene early on of him asking Jae-Hwan to shoot but I can’t help but feel this is another red herring designed to throw us off the scent.

Either way, the series has left lots of intriguing questions on the table. Who is the chimera killer?