Mouse K-Drama Episode 17 was unbelievable. It changed our whole perception of Jae Hoon and Sung Yo Han. And brought out a frightening truth to light.
The reason Officer Jung killed the boxer was for revenge. He remembered the guy from his childhood when his mother was killed. Knowing this shakes you a bit. As we were led to believe that Jae Hoon killed his family when he was a child. But now we get to see more parts of the past that tell us a different story. In the past, Jae Hoon promises his mother that he did not try to kill his brother. He only wanted to teach him a lesson.
Before dying his mother asks him to be a kind person and to be honorable. We know he was able to achieve both of these through Jung Ba Reum’s persona. To know that he made sure to follow what his mother asked him of makes you see Officer Jung from the past in a different light. Also, this means that his first kill was the boxer and it was purely for revenge. The whole story about the Seven Sins is maybe something he found along the way when his need for killing got out of hand.
With the help of the boxer’s mother, Detective Ko finds information that takes him to Jae Hoon’s neighborhood. We see the Head Hunter’s wife coming across the boxer’s picture. And she remembers he was the man who saved her. She also says if only he had killed her she would not have given birth to a monster. I think most likely the babies were switched when they were born. Only the Head Hunter’s wife is aware of it. It could be that she was the one who did it because she was too scared to raise her son.
We know that Sung Yo Han was aware of this. Because when Officer Jung comes out of his childhood house a lady tells him that she saw Sung Yo Han outside the house staring at it on the day he was shot. He knew he was putting himself at risk by confronting Officer Jung. So maybe he got emotional and that led him to his real house he missed a chance on living in. Also in one of the previous episodes, we see an interesting character, a disabled woman waiting for her brother. It could be that Sung Yo Han found his sister and got in touch with her.
Detective Ko finds out that the kid’s picture he has is of someone called Jae Hoon and not Sung Yo Han. This makes him go to the police station where he comes across Officer Jung. Officer Jung is nervous about the truth getting revealed. But looks like the hidden team has already taken care of it. There’s no information on the files which could lead Detective Ko to Officer Jung.
Officer Jung confronts Daniel Lee about his new findings. Daniel acts surprised to know that Officer Jung is the kid of the scientist who worked with him on the psychopath gene test. It is suspicious though and it’s better not to believe him. Detective Ko feels confused about the jumbled pieces of the puzzle in front of him that does not seem to fit like he wants them to. The one thing that makes Sung Yo Han surely a bad person is that he tried to kill Officer Jung. This one point ends up as a dead-end for any theories swirling around about Sung Yo Han not being the killer.
As a last-ditch effort, he corners Detective Lee and tries to get the truth out of him. Even though it does not work but there is one thing that is interesting to note. When Detective Ko makes a comment about doing all this for money and leaves Detective Lee, Lee scoffs and says it is not for money but rather for a sense of duty. This statement puts certain things into perspective. Some people seem to be working together under an OZ organization. Most likely they have suffered because of Head Hunter’s crimes or similar ones to it. It would have been easy to think that this is some kind of righteous group if not for them killing Jae Hoon’s family in the past and now killing Chi Kook. This makes their motive a mystery to us.
Even Officer Jung can’t help but point out to Daniel about his younger self’s affection towards his mother and family. As it is the reason he killed for the first time. But Daniel disregards it and points out that more than revenge for his loved ones it was revenge for taking what was his. It was purely selfish. Officer Jung thinks back to the time how looking for the guy who saw him killing Bong Yi’s grandmother led him to another man’s house where he saw pictures of his victims. Those pictures were also something he found at Sung Yo Han’s house.
As Officer Jung deliberates over all the information he comes to a realization. Even though Sung Yo Han had pictures of the victims after they died but he was the one who wanted to hurt Officer Jung to save Han Kook. In contrast to the people with the OZ tattoos trying to save Officer Jung by any means necessary. He tries to recall the memory when Sung Yo Han says something right before they both lose consciousness. It seems important but we know by now how Mouse K-Drama does not give us answers easily.
With every step, Detective Ko keeps getting suspicious of Officer Jung. Officer Jung is barely holding himself together with all these new revelations. His body is getting affected in a bad way and it almost feels like a foreshadowing. Bong Yi and Officer Jung’s interactions break my heart. Seeing his emotional and caring side now surely does not absolve his past sins. It is a tragedy. No doubt when Bong Yi gets to know the truth it will be a highly emotional episode.
Surprisingly it looks like Daniel is not working with this OZ organization. A fact Officer Jung realizes and uses to lure the people who keep following him. When you almost feel like this time you will get the answers things don’t work out the way Officer Jung plans. On the other hand, we see the boxer’s mother talking about how Sung Yo Han is the reason she has the will to live after losing her children. Also, a chance encounter happens between Bong Yi and the Head Hunter’s wife.
Another surprising story comes to light concerning Sung Yo Han. The reason Head Hunter’s wife had an injured dog at the house was that Sung Yo Han had brought it home as a child when he rescued Bong Yi from dying. The scene where we see Sung Yo Han as a kid being emotional and helping Bong Yi in the past is completely in contrast to the scene where we saw Jae Hoon leaving Bong Yi. This brings forth a lot of weird feelings inside you.
Does the end justify the means? Well, looks like this question caught up to the man who killed Chi Kook. When he tries to choose a better path he ends up losing his life. Bong Yi finds out that it was indeed Sung Yo Han who helped her as a kid and she struggles with this notion. Again the biggest dead end comes when she wonders why did he try to hurt Officer Jung? Every train of thought stops at this, it looks like Officer Jung’s truth will not be hidden for long.
We know we are close to the finale because finally, Detective Ko sees damning evidence against Officer Jung that makes him the killer who killed the predators. But what is more shocking is the ending realization Officer Jung has when he tries to find out more about Sung Yo Han as a kid. Jae Hoon was aware of Sung Yo Han and he also realized someone kept following the kid much like how Officer Jung realizes he was observed by someone as a kid too. The title reference comes into play – Mouse used for experiments by testing them in different conditions. My heart breaks when we finally learn what Sung Yo Han was saying before falling unconscious.
‘We are lab mice.’ This is a terrifying statement. To think that these two people or maybe even more kids with psychopath genes were followed and kept safe not with good intentions makes you wary of everything. It is heart-wrenching because of the two futures that were shaped because of this agenda. One has already lost his life and the other feels like is on the same path.
Mouse K-Drama Episode 17 changed our perspective by finally bringing the complete picture of the past in front of our eyes. With the way Mouse K-Drama Episode 17 ended, I can assume maybe finding the truth will put Detective Ko in danger when it comes to the OZ organization. The only person who could save him is Officer Jung. The next set of episodes will be nerve-racking because we still do not know the scope of the organization and who is the mastermind behind it. Well, by next week we will have these answers!
New Episodes come every Wednesday and Thursday!
You can watch Mouse K-Drama Episode 17 on Rakuten Viki.
Read all our review/rant on Mouse series.
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