Switching Cups
The Game: Towards Zero returns this week with another slow set of episodes, letting the investigation stew over before some dramatic moments late on. For the most part though, The Game is still an enjoyable crime drama but its slower pace may start to see some people lose some patience with this. Nevertheless, there’s enough here to keep you coming back for more. We begin the episode by cutting back in time and seeing Teacher Baek’s anguish over his lost love, learning from Tae-Pyeong that this is the reason he tried to commit suicide. As he talks to his teacher, he feeds back the gruesome scene he saw upon looking in the eyes of the officers at the station; the exact moment three of the officers died looks suspiciously similar to that of the bomb blast Woo-Hyun experienced during the previous episodes. Meanwhile the officers scramble to find evidence linking Do-Kyung to the crime scene, eventually bringing the idea back to Hope Orphanage which prompts Joon-Young to hurry off and speak to the reporter,who shows photos from the orphanage and she realizes Do-Kyung is Hyun-Woo. Back at the station, Joon-Young sits opposite Hyun Woo and interviews him. The killer remains calm and collected until she brings up Hope Orphanage and a picture showing him there. It’s at this point she tries to catch him out, telling him Hyun-Woo committed suicide and gauging his reaction to this news. He decides it’s too much and takes a break while Woo-Hyun sneaks into the room and takes the cup as DNA. Joon-Young spots him leave though but thinks nothing of it. Things go from bad to worse as the prosecutor denies their request, forcing Joon-Young to free Do-Kyung. The DNA results also come back as inconclusive given traces of Pil-Doo are somehow at the scene too. This leads Joon-Young directly into Woo-Hyun’s office to question him over what happened. Unfortunately Mi-Jin’s parents catch wind of this news too, prompting Ji-Won to go on a crusade to find those responsible. Meanwhile, Tae-Pyeong heads back to Do-Kyung’s house with the knowledge that he’s Pil Doo’s son. As they talk, he threatens Joon-Young, prompting our protagonist to threaten him before heading out and speaking to Joon-Young, where they go for noodles together and he admits he’s been unable to see her death all this time. Back at the office, Joon-Young checks the CCTV footage from the room and notices Woo-Hyun switched the cups, prompting her to question him over what he’s doing. It’s here we learn more about the past from Woo-Hyun as flashbacks help us piece together his woes. At the hospital, Tae-Pyeong arrives with Joon-Young and asks where Pil Doo is. Only, he’s been stabbed by Ji-Son, believing of course that he’s the one responsible. Unfortunately the stabbing is fatal and Ji-Son is arrested, which is where the episode ends. With a nice contrast in colour and some nicely placed flashbacks, The Game: Towards Zero continues to impress here but the series itself has really slowed down this week. It was inevitable of course, especially with the frenetic energy this one began with, but hopefully we’ll see this increase over time and deliver some more excitement to come, especially as Do-Kyung plots his next move. For now though, the show continues to impress but quite what this one has in store for us next, remains to be seen.
