Crash Landing On You – Episode 9 Recap and Review

Playing The Piano Together

The latest episode of Crash Landing on You is quite the emotional roller coaster as we see both our protagonists getting closer to each other, only to be inevitably separated as soon as they both know they’re not able to stay together. With some tense and touching scenes throughout, the drama gives us another strong episode with some great acting and chemistry from the cast.

We pick up where we left off with Se-Ri calling Jeong-Hyeok and telling him she’s leaving with Seung-Jun. After telling him she loves him, we then see a struggle between her and her captors, resulting in a shot being fired into the roof of the truck. Unable to call her back, Jeong-Hyeok returns home to find Cho and his soldiers ransacking his house. The Lieutenant threatens to torture Se-Ri to get information which angers Jeong-Hyeok, who then starts fighting with the soldiers. Unfortunately, there are too many of them and they manage to arrest him.

In the detention centre, Jeong-Hyeok requests to see Seo-Dan to whom he asks if she’s responsible for the disappearance of Se-Ri and if she went to see his father. She tells him that Se-Ri is dead and that he should forget about her. Before she leaves, he tells her to give a message to his father; if Se-Ri gets hurt, he will lose the only son he has left. Jeong-Hyeok asks the four soldiers to spread a rumour that he’s the son of the Director of the General Political Bureau, which they’re of course surprised to learn. We later see that the rumour worked too, as the Senior Colonel manages to free him after being berated by his wife about it.

In the village, U-Pil meets with his dad to reveal that Se-Ri has been taken away, but also that she dropped something; he gives him the present which he recognises to be Seok-Jin’s watch.  Meanwhile, Se-Ri meets her kidnapper which turns out to be Jeong-Hyeok’s dad, Chung-Ryeol. She thinks he’s Seo-Dan’s father and starts explaining everything that has been happening to her, insisting that Jeong-Hyeok had nothing to do with it. She begs him for some help to get back home but he ignores her and sends her back upstairs. His wife, Kim Yun-Hui, later comes up to help and takes her to a warmer room, which is where she realizes whose house she’s in.
Jeong-Hyeok rushes to his house and confronts his dad about Se-Ri. He demands to know where she is, explaining that he couldn’t breathe on his way over, thinking something might have happened to her. Se-Ri wants to hide to protect him but Yun-Hui decides to end her son’s suffering and brings Se-Ri over. They then have an emotional reunion apologizing to each other and as they all sit together, Jeong-Hyeok admits that he hid her because he didn’t want her to be hurt, which surprises everyone.

Back in the house, Se-Ri speaks to Jeong-Hyeok about music and plays him the mysterious tune, asking if he knows what she heard playing in Switzerland many years ago. Shocked to hear his music, he gets up and starts playing it too. He then reveals that it was a song he wrote for his brother and that it was him who played that day by the lake. This is an emotional scene as we see both of them realize that they were in the same place and Se-Ri finally finds out who played that song on that fateful day. She reveals that she was in Switzerland because she was planning to die and even there he saved her life. He ends the conversation by promising to get her back home the next day.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Cho continues his plot to catch Jeong-Hyeok as he relays to the General Director that he could find what he wanted if he went to Director of the General Political Bureau’s house. Both men arrive in the house with a warrant to search the place. Fortunately, Cho and his men don’t find anyone and as Chung-Ryeol remains tight-lipped, the General Director berates Cho and gets him arrested.

We then find out that Jeong-Hyeok has asked the Senior Colonel for an emergency switch for him and his company and to send them to the front line, which surprise sthem. However, they soon realise that this is a way to bring Se-Ri back home.

The next day, Jeong-Hyeok and his men take Se-Ri to the DMZ. They stop at an abandoned house where they share an emotional moment as they all talk about their Mothers. Se-Ri finds out that it will be a while before Eun-Dong sees his mum again as he still has 9 year before he can be discharged. She then tells them to make sure they stay healthy while hoping to meet them again if both countries ever reunite.

In Seoul, Jeong-Yeon heads into Se-Ri’s apartment with both her daughter-in-laws where she remembers an argument she had with Se-Ri about the success of her business, blaming her for life being difficult. As they walk through the field, Jeong-Heyok tells Se-Ri to live her life as if nothing has happened but to make sure she stays happy. We then see that he purposely keeps taking the wrong path to spend more time with her.

Finally though, he takes her to the border and tells her to walk by herself to a specific tree, which will signify she’s arrived in South Korea. After telling him not to forget her, she starts walking but he follows her by taking a steps to the other side in order to kiss her goodbye. In the epilogue, we see Jeong-Hyeok looking at his books and realizing that Se-Ri has rearranged them to spell the words: “I love you Ri Jeong-Heyok”.

What an emotional episode this was! While it clocks in at a little under an hour and a half (hence the lengthy recap!), it never feels over long and is full of touching and fun moments for the characters. The best scene is definitely the one when Se-Ri and Jeong-Hyeok find out they have previously met as she plays him his song. This was really nicely edited too, as they both sit at the piano while the room fades to reveal the scenery of Switzerland, followed by each of them standing by the lake while looking at each other.

Let’s not forget our four favourite soldiers either, who carry on having some great chemistry with each other, as well as Se-Ri who realises again how difficult life is for these young men. I can just imagine that if she could, she would take them all back home with her – even Pyo! The ending shows us Se-Ri finally making her way back in South Korea but with an emotional goodbye from Jeong-Hyeok, it’ll be interesting to see what will happen next and how Se-Ri will adjust to her old life. Will she eventually be reunited with Jeong-Hyeok? We should find out soon but in the meantime, Crash Landing On You remains one of the strongest dramas currently airing this year.

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