Sweet Home – Season 1 Episode 10 (Finale/Ending) Recap & Review

One Winged Angel

Hyun-Soo shows up with the hooded figure from the elevator as episode 10 of Sweet Home begins. To their surprise, they meet a medley of weapons in their wake. Hyun-Soo tells them all to drop their weapons as he confirms the criminal is the same as him.

With hostilities quelled for now, Hyun-Soo looks over the body of Sun-Young and comments how he was the one to fire the killing bullet. Afterwards though, he sits with the leader who talks about his ordeal. He went to the authorities looking for a cure but they conducted every experiment they could think of on him to try and remove the infection. After all that, they weren’t able to come up with a solution.

As we later find out, the military have one more trick up their sleeve – Operation Golden Hour. Although they haven’t used it yet, if the military give up hope of ever finding salvation, they’re able to shoot everyone on sight – human and monster alike.

While they talk, Eun-Hyeok and Eun-Yu contemplate what to do with the military leaflet, specifically whether to sell out Hyun-Soo to save their own skin. Only, Eun-Hyeok is pretty sure it’s a trap and tries in vain to talk to Hyun-Soo about this.

Getting nowhere, he instead turns to Yi-Kyung who shows him the tracker she’s got and has been contemplating whether to use it or not. At the same time, Sang-Wook grabs Yu-Ri and rushes her to the main atrium after collapsing on the floor. In doing so though, the hooded thug knocks him down and prepares to leave. With the girl on his back, he heads out into the wilderness as a barrage of bullets ring out all around.

Yu-Ri and Sang-Wook catch the brunt of it but they’re not alone. Byeong-Il takes a life threatening shot while Ji-Kyung’s attempts to pelt him with machine gun fire does little to stop the threat. Hyun-Soo has seen enough though and snaps, knocking him down. Only, he gets back up and starts a fire outside.

Hyun-Soo lets the infection take over, suddenly sprouting a wing where his arm used to be. Orchestral music picks up and honestly, I half expected Final Fantasy VII’s One Winged Angel to start!

Anyway, the two fight but Doo-Sik winds up caught in the cross-fire and sacrifices himself to try and save Hyun-Soo from his dark fate. It seems to work too, as the wings sink back and he returns to his human form. Sobbing uncontrollably, they collapse in one another’s arms. It’s a big moment, especially given Hyun-Soo’s lack of a father figure in his later years and in a way, Doo-Sik has filled in that spot.

Now that he’s gone, something inside Hyun-Soo changes and he seems to forget his memories. Ah, it’s the amnesia trope!

Outside, Ji-Su and Sang-Wook both say goodbye to one another as they fade from this world. Meanwhile, Gil-Seob remembers a gift left by Du-Sik and brings it to Su-Yeong and Yeong-Su. After this act of kindness, Yu-Ri heads back and finds Gil-Seob has passed away in his sleep. As he’s taken down to the makeshift grave-site, they find an underground bunker as snow begins falling outside.

That snow becomes a blizzard as the army surrounds the apartment complex and threatens to swarm on them. Only, now we’ve got more context to what’s going on at the start of episode 1. All the survivors huddle around a fire and try to work out what to do next. They ask Hyun-Soo to stay but he seems adamant to head outside.

Down in the bunker, grenades are set off which sees the army open fire on their position. All the residents scramble into the basement and begin trying to find a way out. Only, Hyun-Soo doesn’t follow them.

Eun-Hyeok does his best to stop Hyun-Soo, walking away from the group but it’s too late. Hyun-Soo is too far gone. As Eun-Yoo realizes time has run out, the gate is shut tight as Eun-Hyeok sacrifices himself for the cause; a last fleeting act of defiance to try and help his friend.

As tears stream down his face, eventually mixed with blood as the building collapses, he opens Eun-Yoo’s Walkman and sees a photo of his family patched back up again; a symbolic act to show that he and his half-sister are back on the same terms again.

Underground, Bom returns to the group and barks excitedly, leading the group to safety. They open the vents and head back out again, looking upon the changed, desolate world before them.

With everyone joined together, they face an army of soldiers pointing guns at them. Ji-Kyung steps up as their leader reveals she didn’t press the button and their deal isn’t over yet. Without much of a choice, everyone is put on a truck presumably bound for the “survival camp” mentioned in the leaflet. Unfortunately Ji-Kyung doesn’t go with them but does tell them all to survive.

As the episode closes out, a battered and bloodied Hyun-Soo recovers from his wounds enough for him to open his eyes. Staring back at him in the car is none other than Sang-Wook who happens to be driving the truck. But is it really Sang-Wook or is there something else going on here?

The Episode Review

Ah, the dreaded Netflix cliffhanger! This one ends things on quite the dramatic note too, as all our characters’ fates are left hanging in the balance. For the most part, this finale does well to answer some questions but leaves lots unresolved too. What is this infection? Is it really a curse? What happened to all the monsters at the end?

For something that began with so many out in the streets, I guess we’re to assume that the army has been killing them off one by one.

With more deaths this time around (albeit mostly to supporting characters), there’s a distinct feel to this being a final fight and the episode is all the stronger for it.

Seeing Eun-Hyeok and Eun-Yoo back on the same page again is nice but again it’s another example of why these episodes could have done with being a bit longer. The show is in desperate need of these characters gaining a sense of comradeship and spending more time together than they actually do.

Still, Director Lee Eung-Bok (also responsible for Mr. Sunshine) does a great job bringing this webtoon to life. I hope this one is renewed for a second season. Whether it will or not – given the extended cast onboard with this – remains to be seen. For now, Sweet Home finishes on a high despite its cliffhanger.