Mouse – K-Drama Episode 3 Recap & Review

The Abandoned Fairground

Episode 3 of Mouse begins with Professor Lee leaving the police station and staring up at the neon-lit cross on the church in the distance. This brings back memories of the Head Hunter, which inevitably sees him return to Ji-Eun. It’s a brief conversation, but one that sees Ji-Eun tell Lee that he’s wrong about her son being a psychopath.

Determined to see if that’s true, Lee shows up at the hospital and notices Sung Yo-Han dealing with a gang member. He holds a scalpel up to the man’s neck, thwarting the threat.

This happens to be the calm before the storm, as we cut across to Mu-Chi, who promises his psychopath, the one who called him out last episode, is on his radar now. He begins examining the crime scene, finding a crucial clue on the ground; a used coffee sachet.

Ba-Reum catches up with Mu-Won, letting him know that Chiu-Kook still isn’t doing great. Midway through talking though, Mu-Chi suddenly shows up and berates his brother, annoyed at him trying to make peace and sending him food. Mu-Chi blames Mu-Won for what happened to their parents too, which explains the bad blood between them.

Midway through talking they’re interrupted by Ba-Reum, who confirms that Chi-Kook’s watch was found at the crime scene too. Gu-Chi has his doubts that Seo-Joon’s subordinate in prison is responsible, and organizes the police to begin searching the facility for Chi-Kook’s clothes.

Inside he talks to Ba-Reum about the events of that day, including a timeframe of events. There’s a window of around 50 minutes that could have been used during lunch break to stab Chi-Kook and put him in the box. Only, something doesn’t quite add up. Every victim thus far has had their middle finger up; an F’U toward God. Chi-Kook however, did not.

With the investigation wide open, Ba-Reum asks Mu-Chi if he can join the investigation. Mu-Chi refuses, asking outright whether he’s actually met a psychopath before or not. This cuts short their conversation, as Ba-Reum heads out with Bong-Yi.

She likens it to a date though and asks if he wants to marry her. Unfortunately he rejects her, telling Bong-Yi he likens her to a little sister. The two continue to catch up and talk though, with Bong-Yi heading over to his house. She marvels at the size of it, as we find out both his parents have passed away and the insurance money has helped pay for this.

After handing over some food for him, Bong-Yi cheekily lies and claims that she killed the bird, and that’s what he’s eating. He begins throwing up in the toilets, prompting Bong-Yi to head out and giggle, seeing it as her revenge.

At the police station, Bong-Yi waits outside but thinks twice about going in. It turns out she knows Mu-Chi and was waiting for him all this time.

Mu-Chi however, is deep in thought but immediately finds the evidence he’s collected tarnished when his colleague picks up the sachet and places it in his mouth. Not long after, news breaks of the investigation as Mu-Chi believes Choi Hong-Ju is the one responsible. The reason? Rejecting Mu-Chi at the murder scene when she asked out on a date.

Well, Hong-Ju believes she may have found something, coming in the form of an article regarding a detective known for destroying evidence.

Lee eventually makes his move and organizes a meeting with Yo-Han regarding the murders… alone at a fairground at night. Cooped up in the Ferris wheel, he inevitably ends up killed by a masked man. It’s not initially clear whether it’s Sung Yo-Han though but one can’t help but feel this was a silly move on Lee’s part.

Meanwhile, Mu-Chi hears from Ki-Hyeok that the authorities at the police station are keeping Lee’s murder under wraps. When Mu-Chi finds out about this, he begins to retrace the steps taken by Lee, including heading to his hotel and checking the CCTV. There, he sees that a female visited an hour before he left. With this piece of evidence to go on, he begins searching who it could be.

Bong-Yi’s grandmother checks through her granddaughter’s things, including a journal and a suspicious-looking knife that’s wrapped in newspaper. She promises to be ready in 2 months’ time when Duk-Soo is released from prison.

After being rejected for a cleaning job, Bong-Yi’s grandmother takes her initiative and answers a call to the office, hilariously telling them the lady there is in the toilet. She writes down an address and heads over in person. Only, this happens to be Yo-Han’s place. Oh no…

When she shows up, Yo-Han tells her to stop cleaning and leave. On the way out the door though, she encourages the boy to wear a jacket before he leaves. As he does, Bong-Yi’s grandmother receives a generous amount of money in an envelope. She marvels over it and decides she wants to keep working there a few more times.

Yo-Han meets Mu-Chi. He immediately exhibits concerns over Yo-Han’s alibi and story, asking outright for him to concern inaccuracies in his story. Yo-Han claims he was with a friend at the time, scribbling down the name “Joong-Son” in Mu-Chi’s diary. That’s all he gives though, as he heads off alone.

Back at the station, Ba-Reum’s search for Chi-Kook’s finger brings troubling news. It turns out the finger found isn’t actually his but someone else’s. When Mu-Chi learns about this, he realizes that there’s a church inside the correctional facility and races off. There, they find a blood spattered uniform for Chi-Kook and a knife where his heart would be. This is clearly a message.

Yo-Han returns home and sees Bong-Yi’s grandmother waiting. She’s finished cleaning and hurries out the door without her money. It turns out she was in the basement and uncovered a picture of one of the missing girls.

Believing this could really help out Ba-Reum with his investigation, she gets on a bus and heads for the station. Only, Yo-Han realizes what she’s done and follows in hot pursuit.

Bong-Yi’s grandmother eventually realizes she’s not alone. As rain pours down outside, Ba-Reum checks his phone and notices a missed call from her. Ringing the number back, he follows the ringtone and winds up wresting with Yo-Han in the street.

As he continues to chase the man down the road, Ba-Reum is hit by a car and collapses. Ba-Reum dizzily looks up but eventually passes out.

The Episode Review

Wow, that was an intense way to end the episode! Mouse slows down slightly this week but certainly doesn’t lose its intrigue as more of this case is unveiled.

Dr Lee deciding to meet in an abandoned fairground, inside a Ferris wheel of all places, is pure horror film material and I’m not quite sure what he intended to gain from that. I understand this may have significance for Yo-Han in some way but it still seems like an ill-advised way to get yourself killed.

Meanwhile, Ba-Reum and Mu-Chi start to close in on what’s happening and it appears as if there may be two killers. The first being the man responsible for what happened to Chi-Kook and the incident at the prison and the other being this middle finger/church serial killer.

There’s a lot being kept at arm’s length though, including Ba-Reum’s past. Now, we learned in this episode that his parents both passed away while Bong-Yi inexplicably has a knife wrapped in newspaper – both seem like clues for the upcoming episodes. Watch this space!

Overall though, Mouse continues to deliver enthralling drama and this crime thriller is shaping up to be one of the must watch shows this year. It’s certainly a long one, with episodes almost as long as feature films, but it’s undeniably a gripping watch. Let’s hope it can keep this momentum going!