Revenant – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Broken Line of Probation

Episode 5 of Revenant picks up where we left off in Baekchagol village where wandering ghosts are roaming freely and terrorizing the villagers. Hae-sang is working on what to do next after learning Ms Park destroyed the straw dolls. He recruits the help of the village elder and asks him to loudly play the video of the Baekchagol ritual as he finds a solution.

Hae-sang fears that Ms Park intentionally summoned the wandering ghosts to see her dead daughter but it might cost the lives of all villagers. He has to figure out how she summoned the ghosts and undo the ritual. 

He figures it out after watching the Baekchagol ritual; she used the Jangseungs (Guardian deities of a town, normally located at cardinal points in any town and also served as a compass to travellers). Ms Park used the Jangseungs to create a path for the wandering ghosts.

Hae-sang realizes he is running out of time as the ghosts increase in number. This same thought occurs to San-yeong who sees their reflection in the mirror. As Hae-sang plays the video of the Baekchagol ritual to buy them some time, San-yeong tries to outrun the ghosts. She falls down and when she gets up, she sees her father’s ghost in one of the windows. 

She calls out to his ghost and he replies, “It’s not me.” San-yeong wonders what he means. She tries to ask but he only apologizes and says he had no choice. He then disappears after apologizing. San-yeong is heartbroken and starts crying about how much she has to tell and ask him. This proves to be too much for her and she passes out.

Meanwhile, Hae-sang finds the Northern Jangseungs used in Ms Park’s ritual and starts cutting it down. Ms Park tries to stop him but he continues to work. Hae-sang is determined to keep at it so Ms Park switches her method. She begs him to stop so she can be with her daughter. She acknowledges that she was wrong but she desperately missed her daughter. As the Jangseung starts getting weak, the ghosts begin to disappear in the mist.

The next morning, San-yeong wakes up in the hospital with Hae-sang by her side. She tells him that she saw her dad and what he said. Hae-sang is confused by what Gang-mo’s ghost meant. They are unable to talk more though, since a frantic Gyeong-mun arrives demanding to see her daughter. She scolds Hae-sang for being involved with San-yeong and asks him to keep his distance. 

San-yeong gets angry and insists on being discharged. She has had it with her mom lying and hiding truths about her life. She asks Gyeong-mun about what happened in Baekchagol. Most importantly, she wants to know about February 25th, the date marked in the calendar of her old room. Gyeong-mun tells her that it was the due date of her younger brother who died in Baekchagol

Through a flashback, we go back to 2002 when San-yeong was 5 years. Gyeong-mun was heavily pregnant and excited about the baby. However, Gang-mo didn’t share in her excitement and said that the second child will die. He insisted that he will make sure the child dies and this scared  Gyeong-mun.

She decided to travel back to Baekchagol village to be away from Gang-mo. She was unable to take San-yeong so she came alone and confides in her mom she is scared. Her mom assures her that she probably heard Gang-mo wrong but is happy to look after her until she gives birth and recovers. 

That night, Gang-mo visits the house and we see he is possessed by the same evil spirit now haunting San-yeong. He whispers thrice over Gyeong-mun’s sleeping body that the second child must die.

Gyeong-mun wakes up startled and begins to profusely bleed. She is rushed to the hospital and sadly loses the kid. Her mom tries to cheer her up but she is also worried because that night she saw Gang-mo but he looked different. 

She also finds it strange that Gang-mo has not visited even after learning about Gyeong-mun’s miscarriage. Gyeong-mun gets even more scared and insists that they must save San-yeong. Gyeong-mun’s mom offers to go get her grandchild. Unbeknownst to them, Gang-mo is eavesdropping. 

Later that evening, Gyeong-mun worries after not hearing from her mom. She gets herself discharged and heads home to see what is wrong. She finds her mom standing beside the well at the house. She seems to be struggling with something (or someone) that Gyeong-mun can’t see.

Gyeong-mun’s mom warns her to stay away as she continues to struggle. This quickly comes to an end though when Gyeong-mun’s mom falls into the well and dies. After that, Gyeong-mun took San-yeong and ran for the hill, never to return again. 

Hae-sang decides to visit Gyeong-mun’s old house in the village. It has long been abandoned and time has ravaged it. The village elder who escorts Hae-sang nearly trips on a straw rope buried but they don’t think much of it. Hae-sang and San-yeong realize that Gang-mo was possessed but wonder why and how.

Mun-chun locks himself up at an old government storage looking for clues into the old cases. Hong-sae pays him a visit and Mun-chun asks him to remain behind and go through the documents he is yet to cover. Mun-chun then leaves to chase a lead into Gang-mo that Hong-sae found. It turns out everyone in the old cases they are investigating knew or was related to Gang-mo. There is only one case that Hong-sae has not looked into but he is sure he will find a link to Gang-mo once he does. 

In the meantime, San-yeong and Gyeong-mun get home and she asks more about her dad. Her more is initially reluctant to answer her questions but San-yeong insists it is important. Gyeong-mun tells her that she met Gang-mo when he visited the village to do research into folk stories. She was impressed by how intently he listened to the old people telling their stories. She tried to help him as much as she can and they got close. Gyeong-mun starts to remember and realizes that Gang-mo had once brought up a folk story about how the second child in Jangjin-ri village must die. 

San-yeong gets a clue about Mokdan’s case after hearing what her mom said. She visits Hae-sang who is pondering over how Gang-mo came to be possessed. He wonders if it is how Gang-mo came to know so much about ghosts.  At the same time, Mun-chan is also visiting to discuss the lead Hong-sae found.  Hae-sang skims through the files and sees Gang-mo’s will. 

He notes that he found it strange that Gang-mo wrote the will and the final letter to him in red. It is commonly known among folklorists that writing people’s names in red is a bad omen. Gang-mo obviously knew this but still wrote the will and letter using a red pen. This can only mean that he wrote these documents against his will. Hae-sang finally understand that Gang-mo was under the ghost’s spell. He didn’t want his daughter to inherit the red hair ribbon. He questions why the ghost went to such great lengths to possess San-yeong and get him involved. 

As they talk, San-yeong comes so Mun-chun opts to leave and they keep their discovery a secret. Hae-sang notices  San-yeong’s ghost shadow is present but ignores it. San-yeong tells him about the clue she got from her mom’s stories. She even went ahead and did research on Mokdan’s case and finds it despicable that the villagers were part of the killing. They turned Mokdan into a juvenile ghost for their benefit. She feels like Mokdan had every right o get her revenge because she was used as a sacrificial lamb. 

Hae-sang also finds the situation unfortunate but it has already been done. San-yeong asks what the next step is to identify the ghost. However, Hae-sang is wary not to reveal much because the ghost shadow is present. He promises to look into the next step and sends San-yeong on her way. Before she leaves,  she asks about Mun-chun and Hae-sang replies he stopped by for personal reasons. Woo-jin also notices that San-yeong can’t see him. 

You see, Woo-jin is a ghost but San-yeong can only see him through a reflection. Woo-jin’s eyes suddenly turn blood-shot red and Hae-sang asks if he desires San-yeong’s youth. He points out that even in death, Woo-jin can’t seem to get rid of his hungry ghost habits. Woo-jin responds and says that Hae-sang was the one who turned him into what he is. 

On her way home, San-yeong gets a message from Se-mi that she passed her written exams and asks that they meet to celebrate. Se-mi is at Yoon-jung’s wedding and intends to go to the reception as well. Yoon-jung begged her to take photos. Se-mi wants to drink and make merry. 

The scene then cuts to a young woman sharing photos of herself enjoying a meal at the same hotel Yoon-jung is holding her reception. The woman is dressed in expensive clothes and carrying a one-of-a-kind designer bag. She shares the photos to her adoring followers on social media and heads to the restroom. Se-mi sees her and gives her a coveting look.

The woman retouches her make-up while at the restroom and is surprised to see flies everywhere. She turns around and is scared to see another woman.

Back to Hae-sang, he stays at home trying to find a clue about what happened to Gang-mo. He sees a line in one of the many papers he has hung on his wall about the energy of those killed. He remembers what the village elder said about Gyeong-mun’s house. Gyeong-mun’s mom was killed by an evil spirit and he remembers the straw ropes the village elder tripped over.

He calls the village elder and asks him to check if the straw rope was tied to the left. The elder confirms it was and Hae-sang concludes that someone is trying to stop ghosts. He drives back to the village and misses the credit card alert messages on his phone. He gets to the village and sees something familiar. It looks like the thing his mom buried the night she died.

Concurrently, San-yeong shows up at Yoon-jung’s reception acting and dressed so differently. She even ignores Se-mi and starts drinking while flirting around. At the table, we see the young lady’s designer bag but we don’t see her.

Hong-sae is also present and is surprised by San-yeong’s behaviour. He sits close to her and she seductively whispers in his ears that she killed all those people. Hong-sae is confused about whether she is confessing or toying with him.

Se-mi is not happy about San-yeong’s closeness to Hong-sae. She accidentally spills red wine on her blouse and Yoon-jung starts scolding her for wasting good wine and bragging about passing her exams. San-yeong steps in to defend Se-mi and embarrasses Yoon-jung. Unfortunately, she also says some harsh things to Se-mi and hurts her feelings.

After this, San-yeong comes to her senses and wonders where she is or what she did. She rushes out and Hong-sae grabs the jacket she left behind and follows. San-yeong is confused about what she might have done and heads to the bridge and starts crying, screaming in frustration.

The ghost takes over her again when Hae-sang finds the buried item from his mom’s past. She smiles hauntingly and says, “Found it.”

The Episode Review

This was another interesting episode that managed to captivate throughout. Kim Tae-ri’s duality really shines in this episode and we can’t wait to see what more she has to offer as an actress. 

We can’t help but be curious about the item that Hae-sang found and what it might reveal. Why is the ghost happy that Hae-sang found it? There is also one question at the back of viewers’ minds which stems from wondering why the ghost wants Hae-sang and Sang-yeong involved with her? Does she want to move to the beyond after being set free or does she have more darker desires? We’ll have to wait and see!