Much Ado About Nothing

Goodbye Earth episode 6 starts with Sung-jae praying for strength as he prepares for the City Hall mass later that day. He is conflicted with different emotions and simply wants all the burdens taken from his shoulders. 

As Sister Chae-hwan prepares for the day, Young-ji approaches her and offers to help. Sister Chae-hwan is grateful and asks her to tag along.   At the military, Hyeon-sik antagonises Hyun-tae, and a fight ensues. 

As the day progresses, we see the world from the perspective of Yoon-sang’s camera. Everyone is doing their best to hang on and have hope. Those who have lost loved ones are trying to heal. An accident threatens to ruin the City Hall mass. The liturgist and the lectors won’t make it in time for the mass. Father Sung-jae asks Myung-Ok to help find a solution and suggests they ask for Mi-ryeong’s help.

More residents, including Soo-geum and In-tae’s dad, get ready for the mass. It seems In-tae’s dad is making big plans to leave the country. He is in contact with some foreigners and is talking about a big project. He mentions that they need to bring Yoon-sang, and Father Baek will handle the talk. In-tae spots his dad before he leaves, and he runs away. Upon getting to the mass, Young-ji recognises In-tae’s dad and hides her face.

Simultaneously, some people are protesting at the memorial mass. The Deputy Mayor calls In-ah to ask for security, but she politely explains she can’t. A lot is happening in the military camp, and she can only show up for a few minutes to help. The deputy Mayor is quick to understand the situation.

The mass starts on a good note, with Sung-jae discussing loss and the possibility of forgiveness and peace. However, Ottoki takes over the sound system and makes an earth-shattering announcement. According to Oktokki, Father Baek ran away with all the church donations and is one of the elites seeking to flee the country. 

As expected, everyone is shaken and demands answers. Sung-jae tries to calm the crowd, but they turn on him. The JIU arrives and demands to break up the meeting, which only causes more confusion. The crowd led by Soo-geum decides to head to the church and find the answers. JIU takes this opportunity to mock In-ah’s soldiers, and Gi-pyo reminds Yoon-sang that time is running out.

The parents allow the kids to head to the park to take their minds off the fire. Se-kyung and the other kids try to get close to Young-ji. As for Jin-seo, he heads home to find empty cabinets. This annoys him as he feels his dad and followers should chip in on the expenses. Jin-seo confronts his dad and demands his followers start contributing to the house expenses, mainly food.

Unfortunately, they don’t find any answers; instead, they find the church on fire with firefighters working to salvage the holy house. Afterwards, the firefighters deduce a faulty wire had caused the fire. Gye-tang and Mi-ryeong worry that they might be blamed for the church fire because they asked about the donation money during their confession.

In a shocking twist, we learn that Sister Chae-hwan colluded with Oktokki to burn down the church so they could open Father Baek’s office. Once the firefighters open the room, Sister Cahe-hwan beelines to the safe and is shocked to find it empty.

News of the empty safe hits the streets, and soon, it is everything everyone is talking about. Sung-jae struggles more than everyone to deal with Father Baek’s betrayal. It is too much that he faints. Gye-hyang is also unable to sleep, thinking about Father Baek’s betrayal.

On the other hand, Yoon-sang stays behind at the City Hall. While there, he finds the church speakers that Oktokki used to take over the sound system. He brings the speakers back to the church, and  Sister Chae-hwan confesses to working with Oktokki to set the fire. Everyone is shocked, but she insists she only wants to find the truth about the money. Sung-jae is overwhelmed by how everyone is betraying him. He expresses his disappointment with her. However, she is not ready to give up until she finds Father Baek and learns the truth. As Sung-jae deals with his world falling apart, his friends stay by his side. Silently comforting him as he prays for guidance. 

Elsewhere, In-tae’s father calls Jeong-ah and asks her to push D-day forward. Given the state of things, it would be better if they could move up their plans. Jeong-ah agrees, and in the background, we see Father Baek giving a sermon at the training centre.

The following morning, people wake up to the destruction of the memorial by the church being ruined. A few church members meet with Sun-jae and ask him to explain what he knows. Sung-jae lies the fire was caused by the faulty breaker and that he has no idea who the announcer was. They agree they need to confirm the information.

Surprisingly, Soo-geum is among the people in the meeting. As expected, he only cares about the money and wants the church audited. Gye-hyang suggest they fix the church first even with the world ending. Later, Soo-geum’s wife gives him a piece of her mind for having the audacity to demand money from the church. He never attended the mass. Soo-geum says that his wife’s donation to the church is also his, and they need to get that money back.

As the days go by, Mi-ryeong gets more depressed. At the military camp, Joo-yeon’s eggs hatch. Hae-Chan continues to hope for her mom’s return and writes daily letters to update her. Hyeon-sik and Hyun-tae are punished because of their fight. Thankfully, Hyun-tae is ordered to guard the hens while Hyeon-sik is given labour. The community gets together and helps restore the church. Yoon-sang tries to be there for Sung-jae as he deals with the new church crisis. The two find it hard to believe Father Baek abandoned them.

After restoring the church, the group ends the day by sharing a meal. However, Mi-ryeong claims to have a stomach-ache and leaves. In a flashback, we see that she confessed to having thoughts of killing those responsible for Min-jo’s death. At the time, Father Sung-jae had encouraged her to leave vengeance to the Lord. Sadly, she is still depressed and on the verge of committing suicide. Se-kyung drops by and sees what Mi-ryeong is planning. She breaks in and acts like she came to collect the alcohol Mi-reyong promised to give her. Se-kyung promises to stay by Mi-ryoeng’s side until the end. 

It rains later that night and we see many people struggling in their way. Sung-jae desperately cries at the altar, and Yoon-sang seeks answers by staring into the dark rainy night while In-ah runs in the field. It is as if she is trying to outrun her demons.

The Episode Review

The world might end in 189 days, but for some of these characters, their world has already ended. Mi-ryeong’s world ended when her son was brutally killed in a senseless action caused by greedy men. Understandably, she wants to scour the earth in search of these men and kill them. She is struggling with living because she is dead inside. The pain is probably too much to bear, and we feel it. However, we are grateful that Se-kyung stopped her from pulling the trigger.

It is sad to watch Sung-jae struggle with Father Baek’s betrayal. It must feel like the world beneath his feet gave in, and he is surrounded by darkness. The burden on his shoulder feels heavy, and he has no one but God to whom he can turn and ask for help. As he cries on the altar, he seeks wisdom and guidance to lead the church that Father Baek betrayed and failed to protect. 

We also have characters like Soo-geum, who will do anything to survive. Now, he is after the church money his wife donated from her trust. The audacity and shamelessness this man has to work into the church and make demands is baffling, to say the least!