Two Emotional Reunions
Crash Landing On You has definitely managed to nail its story so far and the latest episode is no exception. With plenty of humour, romance and suspense, the drama blends it all skillfully to give us one of its strongest installments so far with some very emotional scenes, which I must admit have reduced me to tears. Episode 12 of Crash Landing On You begins where we left off, with Se-Ri trying to escape Cho. She creates a diversion by turning off the lights just as Jeong-Hyeok arrives. This also causes security guards to arrive which makes Cho run off for now. Se-Ri decides to visit some gangsters and proposes a deal with them. She tells them that the first one to find out anything about Cho will be rewarded generously. She then decides to find Su-Chan and tells him that after everything he has done for her, she’ll offer him a job with three times his current salary. As she heads back home, Se-Ri sees that Jeong-Hyeok has been playing an online MMO all day. Jeong is also unaware that he was playing against Eun-Dong and got a little out of hand as she finds out that he has bought a lot of microtransactions. As she finds out that he had plans to meet and fight with his opponent, she punishes him by putting child settings on her computer. In North Korea, Seung-Jung calls Dan complaining about not having electricity and being ill. While eating porridge, Seung-Jung recalls his difficult childhood and reveals that Se-Ri’s family is the one responsible for conning his father. This is why he became close to their family and managed to get money out of Se-Ri’s brother. In the evening, Se-Ri and Jeong-Hyeok drink together. Jeong admits that he doesn’t want to leave and wants to stay with her forever. She tells him he can stay but makes him promise to only drink with her as she doesn’t want anyone else seeing him drunk. In North Korea, Myeong-Eun is shocked when she discovers that her daughter didn’t sleep in her bed. She then asks her brother to find out everything he can about Seung-Jung. We then see the latter waking up next to Dan with an empty bottle of alcohol in her arms. In the north Korean village, the women worry about Ms Ma who hasn’t come out of her house since her husband has been arrested. Wol-Suk tells them that the state security department is watching the family like a hawk and warns them against visiting her. Meanwhile, Jeong-Hyeok gets dressed and Se-Ri notices his watch. She tells him this was the one she bought for him which prompts him to realise that she saved him too. They get ready to head to a ceremony celebrating her new home line while we see the four soldiers discussing their plan to also attend the event. She gives a speech and thanks everyone for their hard work, giving them a special bonus. After dressing for the part, the four soldiers enter the department store determined to find Se-Ri. After failing once again, they are chased out by the security and as Eun-Dong falls to the floor, Jeong-Hyeok catches a glimpse of him running away without shoes. The four boys finally stop by a bench and as Pyo offers to lend Eu-Dong his trainers. they’re all surprised to see their captain join them. They then have an emotional reunion hugging each other.
Se-Jun and his wife come to the shop with flowers and lie to her about just finding out she was in North Korea and hearing that Se-Hyeong tried to stop her from coming back. She finds out that manager Oh managed to buy a flat outright so she instructs her brother to find out how he got the money. After they leave, she receives a phone call from Jeong-Hyeok and rushes over to him. Another emotional reunion happens between her and the boys, even Pyo gives in and hugs her. She takes them to her house where the boys are in awe when they see all the luxuries. They sit around the table, cooking meat and joking around about food and Captain Ri being called a lover-boy. Later on, Se-Ri overhears Man-Bok telling Jeong-Hyeok that his father has sent them to bring him back and that he has until the end of the games before they have to go. In North Korea, Young-Ae is touched when each of her friends brave the night to bring her food and supplies, while Jeong-Yeon confronts her husband as she thinks he knew Se-Ri was in North Korea. He doesn’t deny it though so she reveals that Se-Hyeong knew too and stopped her from coming back. The next morning, Se-Ri gets ready to leave for work and puts on a brave face as she meets with her mum. It’s here we find out just how strained their relationship is as we see a flashback of a day in her childhood where she abandoned Se-Ri on a beach one evening. Se-Hyeong and his wife meet with Cho who tells him they want the same thing, which is to get rid of Se-Ri. Se-Hyeong doesn’t agree with the deal as the man can’t guarantee her safety. After he leaves her room, his wife stays behind and offers her help to carry out his plan. Se-Ri returns home to an empty house and, thinking they have left her, collapses on the floor crying. However, they all appear with gifts as a surprise given it’s her birthday. She storms out and carries on crying. Jeong runs after her but she tells him that from now, she will always sadly remember this day every birthday. Jeong-Hyeok walks towards her and promises that all the years to come will be good as he’ll be thinking of her and be grateful that she was born. In the epilogue, Jeong-Hyeok plays the online game and then finds the recording Se-Ri made the day she tried to jump off the bridge in Switzerland. He’s then shocked when he overhears his voice asking to take a picture, realizing that it was fate. What an emotional episode! Both reunions between our protagonists and the boys were really touching and the show has been building up to that scene so well; even Pyo wasn’t able to resist after trying to pretend he didn’t care. These four soldiers are the perfect addition to this drama and have so far produced some fun and touching scenes throughout. It’s just a shame they can’t all live in the same country. There was a nice little nod to Memories of The Alhambra too, as we hear the music of the game Jeong-Hyeok and Eun-Dong were playing. This certainly brought back some memories to his other Korean drama with Hyun-Bin. The show doesn’t forget what is happening in North Korea either as we see another touching scene with the women of the village. Se-Ri and Jeong-Hyeok have great chemistry too and the epilogue proves once again that fate has brought them together. She had to face quite a few challenges in her life and it is not over yet as the threat of Cho is still very much present. With just four episodes remaining, Crash Landing On You will almost certainly give us more emotional and tense moments as we get ready for the finale. I just wish there would be more than four episodes left as I will certainly miss these characters!
