The Bomb-Maker
Returning this week with more thrills, The Game:Towards Zero continues its march toward the finale as we learn more about the prophetic bomb blast that’s due to explode inside the police station. With the first half tackling the validity of Tae-Pyeong’s statement, the second half ups the ante as Do-Kyung makes his move, all of which ending with another stand-off and and yet more questions hanging over this troubled drama. The episodes begin with Tae-Pyeong interrogated by the police surrounding the blood in the pipes and his part in the bomb he miraculously survived inside the car. He tells the officer he’ll accept any punishment as we cut across to Joon-Young pleading with the officer not to arrest Tae-Pyeong given his gift to see death. It’s no good though and as we soon see, Tae-Pyeong talks to her from behind bars, having been arrested. At the police station, Joon-Young hands over an envelope to Chief Nam from Tae-Pyeong with details on how he and the other officers die. He goes into detail about the bomb and how Do-Kyung is still alive. Tae-Pyeong goes on to say he always felt guilty after telling Do-Kyung about his death, contemplating whether perhaps he’s partly to blame for what could come to pass. He then goes on to tell them the meeting that Do-Kyung detonated the blast was surrounding an officer’s promotion. This promotion comes sooner rather than later as the Commissioner phones through and promotes Dong-Woo. They’ve got a week until the big ceremony but despite the officers pleading against it, Chief Yang allows the party to go ahead. Nam arrives while the officers and organizers are getting the auditorium ready and uncurl a banner to be used. That banner happens to confirm the exact words Tae-Pyeong said would be on it in his letter. It’s enough for Dong-Woo and the others to fully believe what Tae-Pyeong is saying and start working together to try and change the future. Meanwhile, Ye-Ji is held captive by Do-Kyung and spills the details about what her seniors are doing at the newspaper. He goes on to tell her he’s going to use the same bomb to blow up others while she phones her colleague and asks about the bomb blast by the reservoir. He does one better for her – sending across a note with details on the bomb-maker Min-Jae, which Do-Kyung immediately seizes for himself. With Tae-Pyeong released for now, Joon-Young stays over his house and they fall asleep together. However, back at the station Nam tries to encourage Yang to stop the ceremony again and together, they meet the Commissioner and explain the situation. In the morning, Tae-Pyeong learns that Do-Kyung is going after the bomb-maker and races up to try and catch Min-Jae. At the same time, the officers do the same and work together to try and find him. It turns out Min-Jae is a delivery driver and as the police learn this, they start closing in on his location. Sensing them nearby, Min-Jae leaves his bag holding the bomb in a locker, subsequently phoning Do-Kyung and informing as much, as he tries to escape the officers. He pushes past one and grabs a scooter, charging through the station as the officers race after him. Eventually they manage to tackle him to the ground and arrest him before scrambling back and checking the locker for the bomb. Only… the locker is empty. As Tae-Pyeong receives a call, he heads out the station and sees Do-Kyung across the road with the bomb. As the episodes draw to a close, it looks like we’re gearing up for an explosive climax to come inside the police station. Can Tae-Pyeong and the others work together and stop Do-Kyung from detonating the bomb and seeing Tae-Pyeong’s visions come to fruition? I’d imagine the scenes involving Joon-Young will come during the finale of the show while the bomb blast will act as the catalyst needed to strengthen the surprisingly weak police numbers in stopping him. This brings us back to more questions in this drama, including the final chase sequence in the station. Why didn’t any of the officers call for back-up? If they know the bomb-maker is there, wouldn’t they have called more officers to the scene to try and contain him incase he managed to evade them and slip away? These sort of questions have plagued this drama right the way through its run-time and it’s a shame because there’s certainly potential here for an engrossing crime drama but the execution has been lacking.
