Mouse Episode 12-13 had a lot to give. Somehow it feels we could be closer to the truth that is kept hidden from us.
Episode 12 – Everyone Has Their Motives
In Mouse Episode 12, we get a glimpse into the past where the kid believed to be Sung Yo Han comes across an injured child who is asking for help and we also see a white puppy. This feels like Kang Duk Soo’s MO. But the kid ignores the child and carries on. Here it shows how indifferent he is to things that don’t matter to him. In the current timeline, we see Officer Jung left the body of Kang Duk Soo in a similar manner. He clearly created the scene from the memory.
The writer takes us back and shows us everything that happened which led to the ending scene of the previous episode. Looks like the cat saves the day but only to be killed in the end. Honestly, someone needs to stop Officer Jung from bringing pets to his house. But it looks like animals give a chance for humans to not end up as the victims of Psycho Officer Jung. This shows even though we love Officer Jung as a Vigilante now, we can’t forget the fact that his urge to kill strikes irrespective of who’s in front of him. I love how Kang Duk Soo was killed. Giving him a taste of his own medicine made me feel glad about the fact that we have a Psycho Officer Jung with us.
As the episode goes on we see, every character has their reasons which propel them to take certain actions. Bong Yi believes that Detective Ko is the killer. She wants to save Detective Ko at all costs. So she keeps quiet even when the police treats her as a suspect. But Detective Ko figures out the killer is a psychopath. He starts investigating so that Bong Yi is not incriminated. We also have Choi Hong Joo who is the one to find Bong Yi with bloody clothes and a knife. She tries to hide all the traces believing that Bong Yi is the killer but later seems to have an idea of who it really could be.
Most importantly Officer Jung has a lot to lose here, the actions he takes to save himself make me feel anxious. It is easy to kill but making sure you are not caught is where the real struggle lies. When Detective Ko profiles the killer of Kang Duk Soo accurately, it agitates Officer Jung. During this scene, the Chief Presidential Secretary keeps an eye on him continuously. This makes me think she could be working with Daniel Lee. The brain transplant and Daniel Lee making Officer Jung kill the bad guys has to be some kind of plan that the people in the government itself set in motion. Maybe as an experiment to see if they can get ahead of the bad guys.
We see Officer Jung floundering around trying to not get caught. Even going as far as making Bong Yi the suspect and thinking of killing the young girl he saves from Kang Duk Soo. Still, I get a feeling that the writer might not let him kill anyone innocent. Maybe not until the last episode. With every episode, we see Officer Jung almost harming the innocent. I worry that eventually, it won’t be almost anymore and we are onto a tragic end.
The drama is so wrapped up in the idea of psychopathic DNA that every time there is a mention of a baby it makes me wary. Case in point, Choi Hong Joo’s baby and Detective Shin’s unborn kid. Also, the interactions between Choi Hong Joo and Officer Jung make me think she knows for her to feel weird around him. We get two flashbacks of Sung Yo Han when he talks about being sad and scared. It makes us wonder maybe he is not the psychopath we need to be wary of.
At the end Mouse Episode 12, we see Detective Ko bringing Officer Jung to the crime place telling him about the DNA he found on the murder weapon. He most likely found Officer Jung’s DNA. But it’s not something to worry about as this can be spun into the act of doing it for Bong Yi. This episode makes me feel like Officer Jung didn’t do the killing for anybody else but himself to control his urges.
Episode 13 – Another Thrilling End
Mouse Episode 12 ends and episode 13 starts with a false alarm. Looks like Officer Jung is good at what he does. He has covered his tracks well for now at least. This episode starts with a past clip that reveals a strange connection. A unknown person comes to rescue when the Head Hunter’s wife’s life is in danger. This unknown person is the boxer who was the victim of seven sins killer. Is it merely a tragic coincidence or there’s something more to it?
What I like about this episode is, In contrast to the previous one we have Officer Jung here feeling emotions. At least to the extent he can feel. We see him talking with Daniel about how he stopped from killing the kid who knew about his identity because she promised to not tell anyone. Daniel states that this reasoning is merely an excuse. He wouldn’t have killed her either way because Officer Jung’s kind instincts won against Sung Yo Han’s killer instincts. I feel this statement comes with a heavy implication.
How can Daniel be sure of Officer Jung not killing innocent people? When the frontal lobe in Officer Jung’s brain which belongs to Sung Yo Han is responsible for voluntary actions and high-level executive functions. It’s also important to note when Officer Jung talks about the bible verses, he says it must have been Sung Yo Han’s influence. While Officer Jung wonders what could have led Sung Yo Han to brutally torture his victims, the camera pans to Daniel Lee. Daniel Lee’s movements and his controlled expression while listening to Officer Jung feel monumental. It’s a clue that could be pointing to something sinister.
My guess? Officer Jung is originally the Seven Sins Killer. People in power knew about it somehow. When an opportunity arose they did the brain transplant to have the bad guy on their side. To know if all it took was a brain transplant to subdue the real killer instincts, maybe like a scientific experiment. Does this sound crazy to you? Well, this drama is doing a terrific job in making you draw out crazy conclusions and keeping you invested in the story.
We get a glimpse into Choi Hong Joo’s past when she was a victim of Head Hunter. It makes us emotional. Her character is intriguing as her motives are always unclear. She sees the proof of Officer Jung being the one who killed Kang Duk Soo but she doesn’t confront him. She talks with a guy who tells her he has important evidence related to Kang Duk Soo’s murder. Then we see the mystery O2 guy causing an accident.
We also know she is the one who sent the tape that revealed Head Hunter’s brain transplant experiments. So she’s clearly in the know. I wonder if that was her play for setting the brain transplant plan in motion. Is she Daniel Lee’s accomplice? There is a bigger picture at play. It feels like it’s already in our grasp but we still have a lot of puzzle pieces to uncover to complete the picture.
Detective Ko and Officer Jung are stuck playing a game of Cat and mouse. Detective Ko is relentless in trying to find the culprit behind Kang Duk Soo’s murder. He says the killer is confident and is mocking the police. He also figured out the MO of the killer how the killer left hints at the crime scene to indicate the next victim through DNA. This is exciting because it brings back memories of Detective Ko trying to catch the Seven Sins Killer. The only change is here the victims are someone who deserve to die. The episode yet again ends on a shocking note.
Bong Yi knows now Officer Jung killed Kang Duk Soo. But it’s not something to worry about. It looks like Officer Jung is very fond of her. So Bong Yi can easily think of this as an act of love. On the other end, the ending makes us feel like Detective Ko caught Officer Jung red-handed. Well, I am going to assume this is another false alarm. As now that Detective Ko has figured out the killer’s MO. It would be interesting to see if he will catch on to Officer Jung or yet again lose to him.
Now that we are almost closer to the end it feels like the writer is not shy about giving us clues that could lead us to the reveal. I love how the whole story is woven in such an intricate manner that all characters are somehow connected. Every character has a purpose in this story and it’s exciting to see what more secrets would be revealed ahead!
New Episodes come every Wednesday and Thursday! You can watch Mouse Episode 12-13 on Rakuten Viki.
Read our review/rant on episode 1-6, episode 7-8, episode 9-10, and episode 11.
Should you binge-watch the drama later or join the weekly hype train? Read here.
