The Killing Vote – K-Drama Episode 11 Recap & Review

Death and Consequences

The Killing Vote Episode 11 starts with Seok-joo begging Mu-chan to let Min-soo die. Mu-chan revives him with a defibrillator anyway.

In a flashback to eight years ago, we see Jin-soo reading a file about Lee Yun-seong aka Min-soo. The boss turns up and they discuss Yun-seong being the accomplice. We realise that Jin-soo received a bribe and in turn, helped Ji-young protect Min-soo. Later on, Mu-chan was sent to Jeju because of his impertinence. Jin-soo decided to accompany him.

At present, the taxi guys, Seok-joo and the others are arrested. Jin-soo insists on taking Min-soo to the hospital himself. The prison guard, Chul-min gets in the car with Seok-joo and Mu-chan.

Meanwhile, Hyun is still holding Ji-hoon at gunpoint. She escorts him outside the building but a group of youngsters suddenly crowd around her and Ji-hoon gets away. We see that Min is helping Ji-hoon.

Jin-soo tells Ji-young that he’s on the way to the hospital with Min-soo. She spots two police cars and asks Jin-soo which car Min-soo is riding in. She claims to want to get rid of anything that can harm her son. Jin-soo lies and says that he and Min-soo are in the second car. When the cars cross an intersection, a truck rams into Jin-soo’s car. Elsewhere, Min helps Ji-hoon hide from Hyun.

Mu-chan rushes out of his car to help Jin-soo. He realises the car is about to explode due to the leaking gasoline. Chul-min lets Seok-joo out of the handcuffs and he immediately goes to the other car and attacks Min-soo. When Sang-jae tries to stop Seok-joo, Chul-min knocks him out.

Min-soo taunts Seok-joo with details about Na-rae’s death and Seok-joo approaches him with a piece of broken glass. But he’s stopped by Mu-chan, who shoots a warning shot. Chul-min stabs Mu-chan with a shard of glass from behind. The distraction allows Seok-joo to stab Min-soo once and for all.

The car catches fire and Min-soo, still inside, just grins at Seok-joo before the entire thing explodes. Chul-min and Seok-joo get into the other car and drive away, while an injured Mu-chan shoots at the car pointlessly.

Jo-dan calls Hyun and tells her everything, urging her to go and help Mu-chan and the others. Once she leaves, Ji-hoon and Min go the other way.

The paramedics take Jin-soo away. Hyun arrives and forces Mu-chan to receive treatment himself. Ji-young’s car rolls up. When she realises her son is dead, she becomes distraught. The next day, Chae Do-hee reports on the situation but openly supports Gaetal. Her boss makes a call to someone and tells them to get rid of her.

While talking with the commissioner, Mu-chan wonders if Min Ji-young was behind the attack since she found them so quickly. The commissioner questions Jin-soo’s loyalty but Mu-chan trusts him.

While clearing out the Gateal hideout, Hyun sees Na-rae’s drawings of her and Ji-hoon. When Jo-dan wonders if Min knew anything about Ji-hoon, Hyun is confident that Ji-hoon didn’t tell her anything.

From an empty apartment, Ji-hoon calls Seok-joo and says he will stick to the plan. Min gets supplies for him. When he tries to make her leave, she says she won’t leave his side until the public is ready to understand why he became Gaetal. Ji-hoon reveals that a robber killed his parents and nobody believed his accusations because he was only six. That, and everything with Na-rae, led him to become Gaetal.

Mu-chan investigates Park Chul-min at the prison. He learns that Chul-min hated most prisoners. Other clips show us Chul-min’s involvement as Gaetal and was also present in court when Seok-joo was convicted. Sang-jae enters the room and shows Mu-chan a book with a list of inmate numbers that Chul-min kept.

Back at work, Mu-chan tells Sang-jae and Yoon-ji to look into the inmates and see if they have any empty properties. Hyun shows Mu-chan a recording of Jin-soo’s phone call with Ji-young, revealing his involvement with her. Turns out, Mu-chan had already figured it out. Hyun then plays the phone call where Ji-young asks Jin-soo which car her son is in.

Mu-chan hears Jin-soo lie and realises he saved his life. He also must have saved these call recordings on purpose, to implicate Ji-young. Mu-chan is shaken and runs out of the room. Jo-dan enters and tells Hyun that the commissioner has put out an APB on Seok-joo and Ji-hoon as well.

Mu-chan barges into Min Ji-young’s house. She blames him for her son’s death and Mu-chan accuses her of killing her own son. He threatens her then, to make sure she doesn’t mess with Jin-soo again.

Hyun meets Yang Hye-jin and tries to convince her to cooperate with the investigation. But she’s lost faith in the system a long time ago. Hyun confesses she lost her parents at a young age and understands Ji-hoon and Hye-jin. She persuades the older woman to trust the police this time.

When Hyun returns to the office, Jo-dan tells her that Ji-young is suing the police for Min-soo’s death. Afterwards, Hyun tells Mu-chan that something about Min’s behaviour is bothering her. She shows him a map tracing Min’s movements through the day.

Min leaves from school and gets a text from Hyun saying that Ji-hoon is on the wanted list. Min rushes to the empty apartment but he isn’t there. What’s more, Hyun and Mu-chan followed her there. They tell Min off and forcefully take Ji-hoon’s number from her phone.

Ji-hoon is actually with Seok-joo near the seaside. Chul-min is there too. Now that they’ve completed what they set out to do, Seok-joo tells Ji-hoon to leave and make a new family. Seok-joo promises to find him once he’s released. Chul-min, who was Gaet Number Three, gives Ji-hoon a fake ID and flight tickets.

Before leaving, Ji-hoon asks Seok-joo if he resents him for being late to meet Na-rae on the day she died. He says no. After he leaves, Chul-min hints that Seok-joo has kept something secret from Ji-hoon.

By going through the inmates’ owned properties, Yoon-ji finds out where Seok-joo could be hiding. It’s an apartment that was once owned by Chul-min’s father. Hyun tells Mu-chan that Chul-min’s parents committed suicide after they made some bad investments.

Min gets a call from Ji-hoon, who is standing across the road from her house.

Do-hee gets kidnapped by Ji-young’s secretary. She gets a call from Mu-chan and Ji-young tells her to answer. Do-hee tries leaving clues about her kidnapping in the conversation but the secretary cuts the call short. Ji-young claims that she will let Do-hee go but she plans to make her son’s murderers pay first.

Ji-hoon and Min sit inside her house. Ji-hoon tells her he is leaving while his father will expose Ji-young and Min-soo’s crimes. Just then, The Killing Vote begins on the television.

The masked man turns out to be Seok-joo and he’s putting himself on the vote. Ji-hoon frantically tries to call his father and then Chul-min. Chul-min admits he’s helping Seok-joo carry this out and that there needs to be bloodshed to change the world.

Min texts Hyun, telling her that Ji-hoon is at their house. She tells Ji-hoon and begs him to turn himself in but he insists on going to save his father. Min says she will come along. Hyun gets a text from her promising that Ji-hoon will give himself up afterwards.

Mu-chan and his team surround the apartment where they believe Chul-min and Seok-joo are hiding. At that moment, Ji-hoon begins a live stream as Gaetal and asks the public to vote no for Seok-joo. Hyun leaves to follow him. Jo-dan then realises that Ji-hoon is using Min-soo’s laptop to stream.

Seok-joo sees Ji-hoon’s livestream and realises he’s in danger. Mu-chan uses a loudspeaker to tell Seok-joo that he is surrounded. Ji-hoon then reveals his identity on the stream and Ji-young, who is monitoring online forums, gets an idea of his location. She’s also put a bounty on Ji-hoon’s head.

Hyun and Jo-dan rush to Ji-hoon’s location, but when they get there a group of people are beating Ji-hoon up while Min is held to the side. One of them hits Ji-hoon on the head before Hyun can do anything.

Mu-chan approaches the apartment as well but he’s also too late as Seok-joo has already hung himself.

The scene suddenly shifts to a team dinner at a restaurant where Hyun, Jo-dan, a recovered Jin-soo and the rest of the entire team are enjoying drinks and food. Mu-chan arrives to find everyone drunk. Min and Ji-hoon are there too. The youngsters watch the team pour more drinks and Ji-hoon smiles. The Killing Vote Episode 11 comes to a close as they all indulge in revelry.

The Episode Review

The first half of Episode 11 was engaging and attention-grabbing but the second half devolves into chaos. This seems like the classic trend of K-dramas not knowing how to wrap up a story. Multiple things are happening together but there is no clarity for viewers.

We simply jump from one character to another and the shoddy editing does not help. If the aim was to confuse the audience, then the show has succeeded. But it’s a disappointment after what has largely been a gripping tale.

The end of The Killing Vote Episode 11 leaves no room for logic either. Mu-chan goes from negotiation to simply entering the house within seconds. Ji-young’s master plan is not quite as masterful as she makes it sound. All of the tech stuff is very easily explained away. And the final scene is either a dream sequence or just a taste of a happy ending to entice viewers to keep watching. Overall, quite a dip in quality after the last few episodes.