The Game: Towards Zero Episodes 7 & 8 Recap and Review

Cat And Mouse

When it comes to the crime drama genre, there’s a whole wealth of content out there. From detective noirs and murder mysteries, through to thrillers and whodunnits, it’s very difficult for a show to break into this territory and stand out. The Game: Towards Zero then is a show that seems to be growing from strength to strength. Taking advantage of Tae-Pyeong’s special powers and weaving that around a smartly written episode that uses flashbacks to intentionally confuse and heighten tension in equal measure, The Game: Towards Zero may just turn out to be one of the bigger surprises this year.

The episodes begin at the police station as the officers phone through to make sure Mi-Jin is okay. Only, as we cut to that room flashes of blood stained up on the walls and bed hint at the worst. Thankfully Mi-Jin is alive, having passed out on the floor earlier, but it may well be that Tae-Pyeong’s vision has changed again. After this dramatic opener, Tae-Pyeong is called in for questioning.

We then learn about Tae-Pyeong’s past, including him being at Hope Orphanage 20 years ago. With Woo-Hyun desperate to know if his gift is real or not, he decides to test him as Joon-Young hurries back to the station, speaking to Dong-Woo who’s preparing pictures for him to explain their cause of death. With Jong-Young present in the room and sitting across the table from him, she hands over the pictures and Tae-Pyeong experiences the deaths for these various victims in order to prove his gift.

It turns out one of the pictures was actually of Joon-Young’s Mother too. After a touching conversation, Joon-Young asks the Chief of Police if she can take Tae-Pyeong on as an advisor but he refuses and remains defiantly against it. As Chief Nam sits in his office, we cut back 20 years to see the incidents surrounding Jo Pil-Goo. As he drives into work, he remembers an anonymous phone call he received 3 years prior, with a man telling him he knows who the real killer is, which the man claims is Hyun-Soo. Only, it appears like this name is actually an alias. The phone call clearly rattled him, given he may have potentially arrested the wrong person all those years ago.

7pm strikes at the hospital and Do-Kyung bides his time before reaching Mi-Jin. Tae-Pyeong receives a call from Joon-Young, who tells him that Mi-Jin is safe for now. Only, Tae-Pyeong receives a damning call from Do-Kyung soon after, antagonizing him. To make matters worse, Pil-Goo’s DNA has been found inside the coffin at the crime scene. Given this man is in prison, it seems like another red herring to throw off Do-Kyung’s scent. While the police rush to the penitentiary to find out what’s really going on, Do-Kyung begins his cunning plan, including dressing as a doctor to be able to get into Mi-Jin’s room, especially after causing a distraction and knocking a patient down.

After a particularly tense encounter with Pil Goo in prison, Tae-Pyeong sees his face and realizes he’s not the real murderer. The actual killer is still out there. As Tae-Pyeong leaves the prison he realizes he may have got the days mixed up with his vision and phones through to the hospital to make sure Mi-Jin is still alive. Only, her Mother finds Mi-Jin collapsed on the floor and reported dead. He’s too late.

As Tae-Pyeong and Joon-Young race back to the hospital, the police keep everyone on lock-down inside. The duo make it back but unfortunately Tae-Pyeong’s composite sketch of the killer, which is of Do-Kyung, arrives too late as Mi-Jin is officially reported as dead. Do-Kyung receives a call from Joon-Young while he watches Mi Jin’s Father’s anguish with a smirk on his face. As Tae-Pyeong and Joon-Young race up in the elevator, Tae-Pyeong curses his predictions as we leave things wide open for next week.

Well that was dramatic! Going into The Game: Towards Zero there was always a danger that Tae-Pyeong’s powers would be used as a deus ex machina – a way of getting out of tricky situations without too much of an explanation. Thankfully, these visions have been used much more as a curse rather than a gift and it certainly adds another layer of depth to this one.

So far this crime drama has continued to impress and going into next week, the door is left wide open for where the story may go. Will Do Kyung be caught? Will Tae-Pyeong have another vision? And will we find out the reason Do-Kyung is doing all this? There’s a lot left unresolved here but The Game: Towards Zero is quickly becoming a really formidable entry in the crime genre. Let’s hope that continues going forward.