Oasis – K-drama Episode 9 Recap & Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwms9WUgyl4

The Calm Before The Storm

Episode 9 of Oasis begins with Jung-shin and Du-hak visiting her theatre in Yeosu and them remembering their adolescence together. She wants them to live peacefully and not have too many interesting things happen to them and he agrees. Meanwhile, Yeo-jin gives Mrs. Lee 3% of the redevelopment shares which is 300 million won. In exchange, she must never tell anyone about Yeo-jin’s plans.

Elsewhere, Hyung-joo is worried as Du-hak doesn’t have 20% of the capital funds. Hwang suggests loans from banks where he has connections but Du-hak rejects it as he knows it can turn into a trap any day. Instead, he goes to Chairman Goo Pan-shik who is the best in the fight club business.

With his influence, they create the union, Loyal Brotherhood with every gang and use the union money as the capital for construction. Hyung-joo also suggests buying the land around the redevelopment sites as the prices will increase 100-fold. But to make sure they are above the law, Du-hak tells the gang only to compensate tenants and not get involved in evacuation and demolition. 

During a meeting, Yeon-joo, the former actress barges in and confronts Hyung-joo for not calling her or paying for the drinks after their last date. She calls him out for drinks and everyone is amused. They make him go after her and cheer for them. With everything going swimmingly for the gang, the real estate scammers join them in convincing the tenants to take the compensation.

Yeon-joo also accompanies and helps Hyung-joo buy out all the land. At one point, Yeo-jin tries to do the same and is shocked that all the land is sold out. She spots Du-hak and realising that he is responsible, complains to Captain Oh and tells him to fix it. Hwang is not worried as it is through criminal funding so buyers will only be interested in the redevelopment site.

Oh adds that Du-hak is telling the real estate agencies that the NSA is supporting him which finally angers Hwang. Oh confronts Du-hak who says it’s not true. He then asks why Du-hak rejected the bank loan in favour of gang money. He says he is handling it and Oh is annoyed. Du-hak then meets with Cheol-woong to ask if he leaked the rumour about the NSA and him.

Cheol-woong deflects and says everyone knows about the gang union. He adds that his debt is repaid so he doesn’t owe him anymore and can even arrest him. He further goads Du-hak by saying he won’t be invited to his mother’s marriage. However, Du-hak responds that Cheol-woong should come to his wedding with Jung-shin and he is shocked.

Du-hak then takes his father, mother and Kyeong-ja out to have a meal. He asks about his sister who is on the run but calls often to tell Mrs. Lee that she is fine. Du-hak finally reveals that he is getting married and has stopped being a thug which makes his parents emotional. He tells his father he didn’t do it for him but Lee is grateful.

He leaves and Kyeong-ja goes after him to give him his cigarettes which he left behind. She suddenly asks about Cheol-woong’s real father and he is shocked. It is then revealed that when she saw Yeo-jin kiss Hwang, they mentioned Cheol-woong being his son. Lee tells her it isn’t true and to keep quiet.

Inside, Du-hak gives his mother an apartment with her name on the deed and she tells him that it is a good day to patch up with his father. He goes out and sees Lee looking upset while walking aimlessly and decides not to go to him. Lee then meets up with Cheol-woong who is happy to see him.

As for Du-hak, while completing a transaction with Captain Oh, the latter says he has a request from someone. They want to buy Du-hak’s land outside Gongjang-dong at a higher rate but Du-hak refuses.

Meanwhile, Lee has a drink with Cheol-woong and says that the Choi’s were legendary and he should be proud to come from such a family. The boy takes it all in stride but then brings up Du-hak. He asks if Lee can postpone his marriage as the prosecution is still after him. This upsets Lee as he says they have no right to target Du-hak who was sent to jail against his will.

All he wants to do is live his life and as his younger brother, Cheol-woong should stop going after him. Cheol-woong says he used to see Du-hak as a brother but blood is thicker than water. This triggers Lee who hugs him and says despite everything he is proud of him and doesn’t regret anything.

He then leaves a confused Cheol-woong and calls Yeo-jin. He says she has no right to change Cheol-woong’s roots as it was his grandfather’s dying wish to have someone continue the Choi legacy. Yeo-jin says it is up to her to decide Cheol-woong’s family and Lee is furious. If she doesn’t agree, he will tell everyone that Cheol-woong is his son. He cuts the call as she panics.

While Du-hak, Yang-ja and Jung-shin have a meal and play games, Yeo-jin tells Hwang that she is being blackmailed by Lee. She finally reveals that his son, Du-hak went to jail for Cheol-woong’s murderous act and now he wants half of what she owns. Hwang realises he can kill two birds with one stone.

Meanwhile, the union have a ceremony for their first complex presale launch. Jung-shin joins them and they take pictures together. Elsewhere, Cheol-woong gets a wedding invite and looks upset. 

The next day, Lee finds Yeo-jin waiting for him at his Yeosu home. She tries to make him understand that the only way for Cheol-woong to be a prosecutor is to be Hwang’s son. She then tries to change his loyalty from the Chois to her with money but it just angers him further and he walks away.

She goes home dejected and fires Kyeong-ja as she realises that as the only servant in the house, she is the only one who could have overheard her conversations and told Lee. Mrs. Lee heads home early that day and Lee is worried that she is fired. She says she won’t since she best knows how to serve Yeo-jin. However, he spots Kyeong-ja coming home and crying that because of him, she got fired and he is upset.

Yeo-jin then calls Cheol-woong and acts sick when he turns up. She tells him that Hwang is his father and starts crying hysterically when he gets angry and tries to leave. He goes back to her and hugs her as she apologises. Meanwhile, Jung-ok is chased by some cops while Lee writes a letter.

The next day Oh meets Lee. He offers him his favourite wine and says it is from Cheol-woong. He wants to know about some ancestral burial mound and to meet him immediately at the local restaurant. However, Cheol-woong is in Seoul where he meets a colleague and gives him evidence to make a case against Du-hak. He then goes to Hwang to talk about their new relationship.

He notices that Oh is not present and Hwang says he has personal business. Oh is seen standing near his car in Yeosu and a truck comes his way at full speed. 

At the same time, Hyung-joo gets married to Yeon-joo and the gang celebrates. They wish him farewell for his honeymoon and joke as they leave. After the wedding, Du-hak gets a call from his mother who is worried as she hasn’t heard from Lee. With Du-hak being distracted by the festivities he assures her that his father must be in Yeosu and cuts the call.

As he jokes around with Jung-shin while planning their wedding, he sees the news channel reporting a hit-and-run in Yeosu. He recognises his father’s cigarette pack and rushes to the hospital. On seeing Lee’s dead body he recalls the last time they had a conversation and it was the argument when he said he became a thug because of Lee. 

It then cuts to what really went down in Yeosu. The drink that Oh gives Lee is laced and slows down his movements. As he heads towards the restaurant down a narrow pathway, the truck heads for him at full speed giving him no chance to get out of the way.

The Episode Review

Oasis episode 9’s beginning truly felt like the calm before the storm. With the K-drama nowhere near the end, for everything to go so smoothly, especially for a melodrama, it felt pretty suspicious. But as we waited for the other shoe to drop, it was nice for a change, to see Jung-shin and Du-hak not being at odds with each other. We finally get to enjoy their chemistry as they hang out, joke and have fun with their friends.

But when that shoe dropped, oh boy did it go down a black hole. Yeo-jin really should give a masterclass on manipulation because she has everyone in the palm of her hands. The one she couldn’t control ended up dead. With Lee giving up his own son because of the bond he has with the Chois, the least she could have done was respect his decision.

Instead, she not only tries to bribe him but as backup, brings in Hwang despite knowing full well that it can end in tragedy. But with Lee getting his redemption arc and making fans wary of his increased screen time, his death was pretty much confirmed in this episode.