Perfect Family – K-drama Episode 9 Recap & Review

Episode 9

Episode 9 of Perfect Family starts with Hyun-min telling Sun-hui how Jin-hyeok and Eun-joo had adopted her to force him to take the fall for their son’s murder. Meanwhile, Jin-hyeok and Eun-joo share a completely different version of the story with Dong-ho. They tell the cop that Hyun-min is the one who stabbed Sang-woo to death and was the man who killed their son, 12 years ago.

Jin-hyeok states that Hyun-min was recently released from prison and was trying to extort money from them. The couple shares that Hyun-min had kidnapped Sun-hui with the hope of extorting more money from them. Jin-hyeok tells Dong-ho that Hyun-min was trying to extort money from him in exchange for keeping the fact that he is Sun-hui’s biological father from her.

Eun-joo reveals that Hyun-min had offered to clean up the scene of Kyeong-ho’s murder in exchange for cash after Sun-hui accidentally killed her friend. She states that while she was leaving Kyeong-ho’s house with Sun-hui’s phone and textbook, Kyeong-ho’s parents returned home. She states that she tried to call the cops but held back when she thought about Sun-hui getting arrested.

The couple tells Dong-ho that Hyun-min had shown up at their house the day after the incident to extort money for covering up Sun-hui’s crime. However, after learning that Soo-yeon was an accomplice of Sun-hui, Hyun-min offered to take care of her as well. Jin-hyeok claims that Hyun-min borrowed his car and went after Soo-yeon while Jin-hyeok had no chance but to let him go as he wanted to save Sun-hui’s life.

He tells the cop that he had decided to pay Hyun-min to protect Sun-hui and was willing to send her to Canada so she could get away from the mess. Eun-joo states that knowing that Hyun-min too had a peanut allergy, she had planned to poison his food to keep him from telling the truth to Sun-hui. The two tell Dong-ho that they can no longer keep the secrets and ask the cop to help them.

Meanwhile, Hyun-min gets desperate waiting for Jin-hyeok to show up with the money while he has kidnapped Sun-hui in an abandoned building. He calls Jin-hyeok asking him to refrain from pulling any tricks. The police are alerted and they stand on guard outside the building where Hyun-min had placed Sun-hi.

The cops trap Hyun-min’s friend but claim that they can’t kill Hyun-min without knowing how many more kidnappers are inside. Jin-hyeok offers to go inside the building to save Sun-hui. Inside the abandoned building, Sun-hui tells Hyun-min that she trusts the people who adopted her. Jin-hyeok shows up there with the money and asks him to let Sun-hui go.

Hyun-min holds the gun at Sun-hui’s head and threatens to kill her to exact revenge on Jin-hyeok. Just as he is about to fire a shot at Jin-hyeok, the cops shoot Hyun-min and injure him. Sun-hui runs to Jin-hyeok but stops midway and turns to check on Hyun-min. Hyun-min gets a hold of Sun-hi again and moves to a secure spot. Sun-hui does not leave Hyun-min’s side and tries to stop him from bleeding out.

Hyun-min is shocked by Sun-hui’s behaviour and recalls all his fond memories with her when she was younger. Just as Hyun-min thinks about what went wrong, Jin-hyeok attacks him and tries to snatch his gun. There are more gunshots which leave Eun-joo and the cops shocked. Jin-hyeok tries to stop Hyun-min from taking the gun and both men fall off the building and into the ocean.

The cops come in to rescue Sun-hui as she cries for her father in Eun-joo’s arms. Another flashback from when Sun-hui was younger shows Hyun-min taking Sun-hui to his mother’s house. He asks the elderly woman to take care of her while he is away and leaves her there with a promise to return soon.

Hyun-min loses all his money on his gambling addiction. He is arrested for attacking a drunk man and trying to rob his money. He meets Prosecutor Choi Hyun-min, who is none other than Jin-hyeok. Hyun-min tries to get Jin-hyeok to empathise with him because they have similar names.

Jin-hyeok takes pity on Hyun-min and drops the case due to a lack of evidence against him. However, Hyun-min tries to take advantage of his kindness and attacks him one night. He knocks Jin-hyeok out and robs him.

An epilogue shows Dong-ho returning home that night when he talks to his son on a video call. He asks Dong-ho about his pet cat – Princess. Dong-ho’s ex-wife asks Dong-ho to stop contacting their son as they are moving on with their lives as the episode comes to an end.

The Episode Review

The show is trying its best to gaslight viewers and is succeeding at it. I am so keen to find out what is happening here because I do not believe Jin-hyeok’s story nor do I trust Hyun-min. We know that Sun-hui too is an unreliable narrator so we are left with some hope that the final three episodes will do us a favour to explain whatever that is happening in this show. 

Just like every other episode, we know nothing new about what has transpired over the last 8 episodes and we are still stuck in the same loop. While the last episode gave us Hyun-min’s side of the story, we see Jin-hyeok and Eun-joo’s side in this episode. After so many weeks of confusion, every episode seems to weave another web that makes me wonder if the makers will be able to solve the mystery behind Kyeong-ho’s murder in the season finale that releases next week.