The Trunk – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Episode 5

Episode 5 of The Trunk begins with In-ji and Jeong-won having sex. Later, she dreams of running after Do-ha in her wedding gown. He turns and it is Jeong-won. In reality, he is awake and tries to comfort her as she cries in her sleep. He also spots Si-jeong’s warning texts about Tae-song.

In-ji wakes up and he tries to distract her. But curiosity gets the better of him and he asks about Tae-song. He wants to help on learning that Tae-song is a stalker but she refuses as it is against protocol.

At the same time, we see said stalker pretending to be a client. When Seo-yeon meets Tae-song, he gets menacing and warns her not to mess with In-ji. As he leaves, we see Ji-o following him. 

Meanwhile, In-ji finds more pills and the 3 blue ones taped to the sonogram. She meets with Si-jeong to look into Seo-yeon’s dealer. The girl is indignant about Tae-song on In-ji’s behalf and keeps warning her. In-ji wonders why they are still friends after Hye-yeong died. Si-jeong simply claims she doesn’t have many friends.

A flashforward shows Yun-a’s interrogation. She doesn’t know much about Tae-song but shares that Seo-yeon and In-ji seemingly knew each other. At present, she runs into Seo-yeon and drives her as the latter has cramps. She rambles about Tae-song and her family which annoys Seo-yeon. It is her IUD that’s causing problems and she faints.

She wakes up in the hospital and sees In-ji is present as everyone else is busy. As usual, Seo-yeon goads her but In-ji simply fixes her tubes and leaves.

Jeong-won imagines In-ji dancing when he is told about Seo-yeon. He rushes to her and she sees the judgment in his eyes. She is adamant about staying childless and claims he should never have a kid. A flashback to the accident shows him begging the doctors to save the kid first and she tears up on hearing it.

On his way home, Jeong-won finds Tae-song loitering and brings him in. He tells a confused In-ji that they need to face their problems head-on. The confrontation is futile as Tae-song rambles about food till Jeong-won suggests a smoke break. In-ji uses the chance to take the gun from his study.

Alone, Jeong-won threatens Tae-song but the stalker mocks him. He wonders if Jeong-won will kill him like he did his mother. This shocks Jeong-won and he chokes Tae-song before kicking him out. A flashforward shows that the stab wound is old and appeared when Tae-song was alive.

At present, In-ji hugs Jeong-won out of gratitude. They have a heart-to-heart as she tells him about Tae-song and he tells her about Seo-yeon. She never wanted kids but he pushed her to get pregnant. On the day of the “accident,” he was present when she walked into traffic on purpose.

He and In-ji come to the realisation that he prioritised the child as he wanted Seo-yeon dead as punishment. He now regrets it and tells her about the blue pill-red pill metaphor. By taking blue pills, he was living in delusion. The red pill aka not taking any pill is him facing the harsh reality. 

At the hospital, Lee Seon and Ji-o too tell Seo-yeon about Tae-song. Turns out, he killed a security guard in front of In-ji and Ji-o to mock her and show who is in control. However, Lee Seon refuses to go to the cops as it will hurt their company’s confidentiality. 

Frustrated, Seo-yeon visits Jeong-won’s father who is next door. He always hated her and she slaps him. His eyes open and she is in shock. Jeong-won races over and the doctor shares it is a final reflex. 

Mr. Han dies and preparations for the funeral begins. In-ji sends him the suit but stays on the sidelines. Yun-a and Hyeon-cheol are shocked as Seo-yeon arrives in the chief mourner’s garb. She doesn’t know how to tie Jeong-won’s tie and just gives him more pills. He is loitering and runs into In-ji who ties his tie. He wants her with him but she can’t as it is protocol. 

Back inside, Seo-yeon goes on about how everyone will judge him if he is alone. He should have the right person beside him and In-ji isn’t the one. She heads to the washroom and spots In-ji. As usual, she goads her and tells her to leave.

For once, In-ji takes a stand and tells her not to mess with Jeong-won anymore. She is furious that Seo-yeon has been letting Jeong-won take the blame for their child’s death. But she is done and if she doesn’t back down, In-ji threatens to reveal her worst secret.

Seo-yeon leaves but she is upset. She rants to Ji-o that like him, she was always the popular one. She made the rules, picked her teachers, her friends, her seat. Similarly, she just wanted In-ji to play second fiddle for a year. However, she hates that things are not going her way. 

As for In-ji, she shows up as the chief mourner’s spouse. Jeong-won is pleasantly surprised and she explains she is taking the day off. Even after everyone leaves, he doesn’t want her day off to end and they go out. They have fun, driving, watching a movie and shopping.

He feels a little guilty but she assures him that some people don’t deserve to be grieved. He asks about Do-ha and she tells him the whole truth and how somewhere, she wishes for him to return. He wonders if time changes feelings and if he too would not want to be with her in the future.

At the end of The Trunk Episode 5, Mr. Han’s ashes are dispersed. Seo-yeon shows up right when In-ji learns of her drug dealer. After the service is over, Seo-yeon tells Jeong-won that he is done and it is time for In-ji to divorce him.

The Episode Review

Ice princess In-ji is finally letting her feelings be known! Her funeral date with Jeong-won is super cute and we wish we got more. Oh, and how cool is that Goblin easter egg with Gong Yoo giving Seo Hyun-jin a red scarf like the one Kim Go-eun wears in the 2016 show?

Seo-yeon’s bullying past is making a cameo as well in The Trunk Episode 5. It seems like Si-jeong, In-ji, and the victim, Hye-yeong were classmates with Seo-yeon. But it is so wild that Seo-yeon doesn’t realise that In-ji is lashing out due to all the bullying, especially with that little rant to Ji-o which makes it seem that Seo-yeon wished she could step on In-ji forever.  

But motivations are getting a little hazy now which happens to be the first weak link in this otherwise great Netflix K-drama. Why is In-ji angry that Jeong-won blames himself for the accident? It is clear that Seo-yeon was going through perinatal depression since she never even wanted a kid in the first place.

This whole argument falls in an ethical grey area as both are in the wrong – Seo-yeon knowingly jumped in traffic while Jeong-won wanted to kill her as punishment for killing their child. And with In-ji even understanding his thought process, how can she use it as ammunition against Seo-yeon even if she is a bully? It doesn’t make sense. But well, if this happens to be the only blip in this show, we can definitely overlook it.