Korean horror drama "Possessed": Episode four recap

 Air Dates: August 5th to September 3, 2009  Wednesday and Thursday nights at 10:00 pm on MBC

Also goes by the titles 'Hon' and 'Soul'.... Ten one hour episodes, subs done by HaruHaru
Ratings- 9.4% nationwide, 10.4% Seoul

Main Cast:

Lim Ju-Eun as Yun Ha-Na.... High school student who is 'possessed' by spirits

Lee Seo-Jin as Shin Ryu.... Expert criminal psychologist and profiler

Keon Ii as Jeong Si-Woo.... High student who is bullied and befriended by Ha-Na

Yoo Yeon-Seok as Baek Jong-Chan.... Ruthless high school bully

Lee Jin as Lee Hye-Won.... Psychologist and part time girl friend of Ryu

Park Ji-Yeon as Yun Doo-Na..... Ha-Na's twin sister who died early on, member of T-ara

Kim Sung-Ryoung as Mrs. Yun.... Mother of Ha-Na and Doo-Na
Kyung Joon as Detective Jang

Kim Kap-Soo as Baek Do-Sik.... Cold-blooded lawyer and father of Jong-Chan
Chu Hun-Yub as Kim Yoon-Oh.... new character we met this episode

 No video for this episode, going to be a hit or miss if there are any on YT for an episode. In the previous recap for episode three we began to slowly watch the world of the devilish school bully Jong-Chan start to crumble. First the police had him and his two henchmen in for questioning, some were for the burning death of Doo-Na while the trio are also minor suspects in the suicide of Park. Also one of Jong-Chan's cronies, Hae, was brutally murdered one night on the streets and the following day his battered body had been dumped in a tree on the school grounds.
 Jong-Chan will need to find a new pair of henchman as his remaining one, Jo, has also met his demise and do have to say it was deserved. In the final minute of the previous episode we had seen Jo get on a train but he was never to get off it alive. As he was moving from one car to another Jo had been trapped in between as both doors mysteriously locked. While caught in the narrow space Jo had been beaten savagely by a person in that space though we never saw the person clearly.
 That person exited the space with Jo barely alive, he grasped his murderer's arm leaving a mark but was pushed back into the space where he quickly died. A few moments later the train stopped and a figure and got off it, they then began to ascend the stairs and that person also had the blood of Jo on them. We soon see that the figure was.... Ha-Na, could she have been the killer of Jo and also of
 Jong-Chan's other crony Hae? Seemed as though Ha-Na had been followed as trailing her was
Si-Woo who scooped Ha-Na up when she fainted at the station.
 Si-Woo brought her to his place where he let her rest in bed, soon after he transported Ha-Na to the office of Ryu. Ryu's hypnosis of Ha-Na back in episode two didn't cure her of having nightmares or seeing ghosts but Ryu has discovered something more unbelievable about her during this mini session. When the pair began talking Ha-Na had been her real self but soon her personality switched over to her dead sister Doo-Na. Don't think it was a guilt reaction of Ha-Na's but instead it truly was Doo-Na who has taken over the soul of Ha-Na. The sister's spirit had told Ryu that she's not an evil person as she just came back to use Ha-Na's body to enact revenge on those that killed her. Two are down which just leaves Jong-Chan though he didn't meet his end during this episode.

 For now it appeared to Ryu that Ha-Na was safe and wasn't being possessed by her sister or Park, she's the girl who committed suicide in the first episode and may have also inhabited Ha-Na's body. Also in that previous episode Ryu had been sent a small package with no return address though we knew it was sent by Si-Woo. In that package was a lighter and some strands of hair, to Ryu both could be from Jong-Chan and he had his buddy at the lab do some quick tests on them for DNA. What the examiner found was what Ryu was hoping for though that person wouldn't discuss it over the phone with Ryu so the two set up a meeting at a local cafe.
 As Ryu was waiting in the cafe he saw his buddy at the intersection and waved to him, his friend did the same which was the last act he ever did in his life. That's because a sniper(!) brought him down with one shot as he was crossing the street holding the evidence he was to give to Ryu. When Ryu realized what had happened he dashed to the scene but was too late to save his unnamed friend. But while Ryu had been dashing there a figure had walked by the fallen man and took the away the envelope containing the damning evidence against Jong-Chan. Talk about intrigue as these murders seem to have been taken to a higher level and this latest killing was never solved by episode's end.
 Shortly after Ryu had been at the morgue to identify his friend when he met a man while he was waiting for an elevator. Ryu couldn't place the face but the other man knew who Ryu was, this new character's name is Kim Yoon-Oh. That's him in the above bottom screenshot, when he told Ryu his name the tragic memories of Ryu's past were revealed and why he hated the lawyer Do-Sik so much.

 When Ryu had been in his mid teens his mother, brother and sister had all been brutally murdered in their small apartment, Ryu hadn't been there when it took place. It was a trio of teens who had done the dastardly deed and it was all for fun as theft or rape weren't why they killed the family. At court Yoon-Oh had been represented by Do-Sik who had recently got the serial killer Joon-Hee off from four murder charges. Back when Do-Sik represented the teen Yoon-Oh he had convinced the court that while Yoon-Oh and his two mares had committed the murders they weren't bad people(?) and could be rehabilitated into upstanding citizens.
 Outside the court the young Ryu had stood in fury as his family's murderer was allowed to walk away with no penalty, he had vowed to avenge their deaths but to date hadn't taken any action. Once Ryu knew who the man was in the elevator revenge was the only thing on his mind, that Yoon-Oh also rubbed it in how he was allowed to walk away free from the murders didn't help matters. Ryu just couldn't take it any more and began to pummel Yoon-Oh senselessly and may have killed him but the elevator eventually made it to it's destination. There the detective Jang was able to restrain Ryu but it's not the last time the pair meet up.
 Two days later Ryu was making another visit to the police station when he noticed Yoon-Oh walking to his vehicle. Ryu had been in his car at the time, he gunned his SUV straight at Yoon-Oh and could have easily flattened him to a pulp but stopped at the last moment. It's the last we saw of Yoon-Oh in this show but we'll be seeing him again as he threatened to use the law the next time Ryu attempted to hurt him.
 Hadn't seen much of Ha-Na since those opening two scenes but her 'killer instincts' are about to be put to good use shortly. Ryu had brought Ha-Na to his office to see how she was doing, in the synopsis it said the pair were to become a team to capture certain criminals. They were to become a team but it was a one sided affair, least for now, as Ryu once again attempted hypnosis on Ha-Na. This time it worked as he was able to use a coin to put her under a spell, with that Ryu gave Ha-Na instructions on what to do the next time she heard the noise of a coin. This top screenshot does show that Ha-Na can see and talk with ghosts as for some reason the store clerk who was Joon-Hee's final victim met up with Ha-Na one day though not sure if that short scene had any significance.

 On to the final segment which all has to do with the serial killer Joon-Hee. He's been enrolled in
Hye-Won's rehab program instead of spending his life in prison for four murders. Hye-Won is 100% sure her program works but to her boyfriend Ryu you can't change an evil person like Joon-Hee. After a grueling session one day with Joon-Hee Hye-Won is beginning to have doubts too if every criminal can be 'cured', this Joon-Hee is one sick person. Hye-Won had another session scheduled with him and was very uncomfortable with being with Joon-Hee again but Ryu had convinced her to let him sit in at the meeting.
 Before the pair had gone to the hospital together Ryu had slipped in earlier, he used hypnosis on a nurse to have her page Hye-Won at a specific time. Also before Ryu had gone to the hospital with Hye-Won he had secretly been watching Ha-Na from a distance. His previous spell had told her to fall asleep at a certain time which is what happened, when she awoke Ha-Na was back under Ryu's spell as he also had her hear the sound of a coin which was the key to have her follow Ryu's orders.
 It's time for the appointment with Joon-Hee, as the pair were heading to the meeting room a page came over the intercom for Hye-Won, just as Ryu had planned. The two headed back to the main desk which allowed Ha-Na time to slip into Joon-Hee's room, she's completely under Ryu's hypnotic spell and doesn't have a clue on what she's really doing. Somehow Ha-Na managed to elude all of the hospital personal and enter Joon-Hee's room. He was quite surprised to see Ha-Na, Joon-Hee had no clue who she was and he never did learn her name.
 That's because Ha-Na did very little talking and was there for just one reason.... to end the life of Joon-Hee! Ha-Na quickly pounced on the demon with a knife and began to slash him while
Joon-Hee kept backing away wondering what was going on. During this scene Ha-Na's face had turned into the one of the murdered store clerk, perhaps that's what the significance of the two meeting up was about. Eventually the stabbing became even more furious as Joon-Hee crumbled to the ground unable to move but was somehow still alive.
 Though he was still breathing the body of Ha-Na took it's leave, she'll have no memory she was even in that room. Before she departed Ha-Na had left a spoon which we didn't know of until a few moments later. Less than a minute after Ha-Na had escaped from the room four people entered the room, two doctors along with Ryu and Hye-Won. They all noticed Joon-Hee barely hanging on to life as he was sitting bloodied against a wall, this is when he pulled out the spoon. As Joon-Hee did that he noticed the face of his fourth victim behind Ryu, that face was too much to take and Joon-Hee violently thrust the spoon into his neck thus ending his life, On that gruesome scene this episode came to it's close, not as much action but what a violent conclusion.

 Bit of a longer recap but much more did happen in this episode, the gruesomeness has slowed down save for that final scene but the storyline is getting much more interesting. The ratings for this series were quite solid through five shows as it averaged close to 11%. But the final five episodes all got less than 10%, hope that's not a bad omen for those shows. Will be back about this same time next week with the next pair of recaps and as is my norm have plenty of screenshots to help you follow the story a bit better.