Woman of 9.9 Billion – Episodes 9 & 10 Recap and Review

Laundering Money

Back for another tense episode, Woman of 9.9 Billion returns this week as we see Seo-Yeon making progress with the money, just as Jae-Hoon scrambles to find it with an unlikely ally, In Pyo. The story continues to advance at decent speed and remains quite thrilling throughout. All the characters have their own agendas and are committing crimes, making the series all the more exciting.

We begin 3 years ago with Tae-Woo and other policemen ready to raid a building. Insisting on going in, Tae-Woo is followed by his partner. Unfortunately, they’re separated and his partner gets killed. After trying to find those responsible, we see Tae-Woo later being arrested for bribery and fraud, implying that he may have been framed.

Back in the present, Tae-Woo tries to find what the key belongs to while In-Pyo looks at the speeding fine. He then decides to visit Hee-Joo to ask her if she has seen Seo-Yeon. After denying knowing her whereabouts, he asks her if she went back to the villa. Her negative response makes In-Pyo even more suspicious of his wife.

Meanwhile, Jae-Hoon finds out that his warehouse has been broken into while Seo-Yeon offers to pay the creditors off to make sure she keeps the house. In return, she asks to be taught how to launder money. Geum-Ja agrees but tells her to be careful as the owner will be looking for it as well.

Geum-Ja shows Seo her walk-in safe then explains that her creditor is also involved in money laundering. She then calls him and we see that he turns out to be Black Bear, heading out from dinner with Do-Hak, where they talk about the missing money. She tells him she’s going to pay him off and will be sending her foster daughter with money to launder.

Meanwhile, In-Pyo is still trying to get into his wife’s phone by trying different password combinations. Suddenly, Jae-Hoon calls her phone and as In-Pyo picks up without saying anything, Jae-Hoon starts talking, thinking he is speaking to Seo-Yeon. He asks her if she took their money and tells her he didn’t mean to break up with her. As he asks to meet somewhere, In-Pyo answers and asks where, this scares Jae-Hoon who quickly hangs up.

Seo-Yeon meets with Black Bear to pay off Geum-Ja’s debt and to discuss the commission rate for laundering her money. They don’t agree on a rate and just as he starts threatening her, Tae-Woo bursts in to confront Black Bear about sending Detective Park to follow him. He denies it and beats him up in the process. Heading out, he sees Seo and berates her for trying to make a deal with him.

In-Pyo meets with Hae-Joon to confront him about the phone call and wants to know what money he was talking about. Hae-Joon reveals the truth but blames it all on Seo-Yeon. He suggests teaming up and sharing the money but In-Pyo wants to do a 70/30 spliy after what he did with his wife. They then decide to track the car seen when the money was taken, which leads them to Mr Oh.

Tae-Woo asks Seo-Yeon where the other 100 million is as it should have been 10 billion. She tells him she counted and there was only 9.9. He then suggests taking her to someone else to launder the money as Black Bear is trouble. He then calls Min-Gyu to check the amount and after hanging up, we see the latter discussing Tae-Woo with Detective Park, who appears to be a corrupt officer.

Tae-Woo finally finds what the key opens – a locker containing pictures of Min-Gyu and a flash drive. As he rushes back home, he’s stopped by Min-Gyu and his men. Confronting him about the contents of the locker and whether Do-Hak is aware, a fight ensues and Tae-Woo is knocked unconscious.

Seo-Yeon then meets with Mr Oh to discuss money laundering but mid-way through their conversation, he receives a call that Tae-Woo is hurt. Just as they leave the building, they come face to face with In-Pyo holding a taser. Both men start fighting and In-Pyo manages to tase Mr Oh. He then turns his attention to his wife menacingly. The episode ends with Min-Gyu burning the contents of the locker and asking Tae who gave him the key.

Woman of 9.9 Billion is certainly shaping up to be an interesting and unusual drama. Most of the characters are quite shady in their own way and while this could make it difficult to root for them, it’s easy to get behind Seo-Yeon. The show has done a great job with her characterisation, making her empathetic and leaving me hoping she keeps the money.

The mystery surrounding the missing 100 million is still up in the air too and I’m wondering if Tae-Woo’s brother had anything to do with it. Most characters seem to be double-crossing each other, which makes them very untrustworthy and make the show quite tense and intriguing to watch. In-Pyo remains a true psychopath though and now that he has found his wife, things are looking very bleak for her.