Vagabond – Season 1 Episode 11 Recap & Review

As we roar ever-closer toward the epic conclusion to this Korean drama, Vagabond continues to deliver the goods with another dramatic episode here. Although some of the illogical plot beats and shaky-cam action continues to hold this series back from being more enjoyable, there’s enough drama here to make for a high-octane thrill-ride nonetheless.

With the civil trial for the bereaved on the horizon, the episode begins with Min informing Han-Ki that he’s quietly keeping an eye on every one of the family members as we then cut back one week earlier.

Edward Park phoned Tae-Ung and begged him for help. In reply, he told Park to be careful as his phone may well be tapped soon by the rogue NIS agents. This then sees us catch up with the events leading up to Joo-Cheol faking his death. After relaying the information about the cargo ship to him, Cha takes to the screens which catches us up to the current events where the NIS agents quickly cut communications and try to track his location.

While Joo-Cheol hangs at the chicken shop, he phones through to Cha and tells him Tae-Ung is being watched and won’t be able to help them. However, both Hae-Ri and Cha take to the screens to buy more time for them while using the hackers to scramble their location and triangulate it out to 43 different locations.

Edward Park is interrogated by Han-Ki for answers, which he refuses to give, while on the ship Kim Woo-Ki tries to escape, holding Hae-Ri up at knife-point in the cargo-hold. However, Hae-Ri and Cha manage to get the upper-hand and knock him out cold. After sharing a tender moment together patching up her neck, Kim Woo-Ki regains consciousness and finds himself handcuffed.

Back in Korea, the Blue House passes the aforementioned motion for the budget, prompting Jessica and the others to celebrate their success. Han-Ki arrives soon after and gives Jessica instructions on the account to send the money to as their diabolical plan continues to unfold.

Meanwhile, Kim Woo-Ki reveals a bombshell announcement to the others on the ship and claims to have video footage of it too. Unsure whether to believe him or not, Hae-Ri phones through to Joo-Cheol and tells him what happened. This inevitably prompts him, with the help of cryptic code, to send a text message to Tae-Ung disguised as a spam message. While Min watches the CCTV footage suspiciously, opening Tae-Ung’s text messages for good measure, Tae-Ung heads out and decodes the message about where Cha and Hae-Ri really are. After flushing the evidence, he’s approached by Min in the bathroom who asks him about Hae-Ri and admits he doesn’t trust him.

However, they don’t get long to talk this over as Hae-Ri takes to the screens and tells the NIS she’s turning herself in. She tells them she’s in India and Kim is badly shot. However, studying the footage Min figures out from her watch that she’s not in India but actually in Shanghai. Gathering the troops, he heads out to ambush the merchant ship they’re actually on. However, en-route Min finds out his phone has been hacked and his GPS location tracked all this time. Tracing this back to Tae-Ung, Min rushes to the scene while Joo-Cheol meets them and discusses the plan.

On the boat, Hae-Ri and Cha find themselves face to face in an uncomfortable position as the container is picked up from the ship and transported to dock. Tae-Ung wishes them luck and tells them they need to get a move on if they’re going to get to court on time. However, the NIS agents approach and fire a barrage of bullets at the container. Hiding inside, the driver races off as the various agents inside the container drop to the deck. With the truck surrounded and everything seemingly lost, the episode ends on a big cliffhanger ready for tomorrow.

Will Cha and the others get out of this one alive? Who will save them if they do? Will Lilly actually get any meaningful lines or hand-to-hand combat with our protagonists? There are so many questions left unanswered here but Vagabond is doing a good job keeping everything at arm’s length in favour of the action. While the romance between Cha and Hae-Ri feels unnecessary, the gun-fights and tension keeps this one moving at a steady pace. With all eyes turning to tomorrow’s episode, who knows what Vagabond has in store for us. One thing’s for sure though – it’s going to be one heck of a ride.