Goblin Fire
Dae-jin and Gye-hee escort Geun-tak to Black Bridge Valley in 1991. They seek permission to build the cable car where the village currently stands. The village’s mayor, Kim Jae-gyeong, outright refuses.
That night, Jae-gyeong’s young son saw a floating light in the distance. Meanwhile, someone wearing black gloves dumped an animal carcass into the village well, polluting the water source. ..
In 2019, Yi-gang and Hyun-jo head to Black Bridge Village to check on the live streamer without permission from Dae-jin. Yi-gang sends Il-hae and Gu-yeong a message to let them know.
Woong-soon found the live streamer passed out by the side of the road. After Woong-soon shook him awake, the live streamer hysterically ranted about having seen goblin fire. ..
Il-hae and Gu-yeong are both at the restaurant Yi-gang’s grandma runs when Woong-soon arrives and tells them about the live streamer. They are both excited to see what is happening, but Il-hae has a sore leg and can’t participate in the live stream. ..
Yi-gang and Hyun-jo stumble upon a live streaming phone while hiking on a mountain. They are alarmed when they see strange lights appearing between the trees. ..
The group of hikers were walking through the foggy village when they realized that their GPS devices didn’t work. Hyun-jo then saw the lights and Yi-gang smelled something that made them run towards the lights. ..
Yang-sun and Dae-jin call Gu-yeong at Black Bridge Village, letting him know that Hyun-jo and Yi-gang are at the village. They also tell him about the supposed goblin fire.
Dae-jin tries to contact Yi-gang’s radio, but it falls out of her hand as the lights move into their path. Hyun-jo decides they can’t stop to grab it as the lights move out of their way. They take shelter in a cave left by the Partisans with a gate fitted at its entrance.
The villagers are surprised to see a stranger in their midst and they ask who he is. The person replies that he is a water collector and asks the villagers if they want to help him. They all agree and take off their clothes so that they can be baptized with the water.
Dae-jin and Gye-hee are called to the village the next day after Seong-suk is reported missing. Another villager found bloodstains and her bucket by the stream, but Seong-suk herself is unaccounted for. Dae-jin and Gye-hee are called to the village after another villager found bloodstains and her bucket by the stream, but Seong-suk herself is unaccounted for. ..
Dae-jin begins his search for his family after they are reported missing in Black Bridge Village. The village is difficult to navigate, and the fog makes it difficult to keep your bearings. Dae-jin passes the same large tree with five-coloured ribbons, which he believes may be his family’s location.
Dae-jin is horrified when he finds out that his little brother, Seong-suk, barely survived under the same tree on the night of his mother’s funeral. He blames himself for not being more careful and vows to never let anything happen to him again.
Yi-gang and Hyun-jo are still in the cave with the lights hovering beyond the gate. Yi-gang mentions goblin fire myths but is also quick to dismiss them. She can smell dog odour and ammonia – bear scent. She reasons that the lights are their reflective eyes. Even so, they are confused by the bears’ uncharacteristically aggressive behaviour.
The Hyun-jo’s radio is dead and they can’t get a signal. They settle in, stuck for now.
Dae-jin is told by his father that he and Jae-gyeong have been seeing goblin fire.
In 2019, a live streamer makes a call to Haedong Station about a woman who they left stranded on the trail to Black Bridge Valley. Yang-sun, having taken the call, alerts all the rangers on and off duty.
In the cave, Hyun-jo tries to get a closer look at something when he stumbles upon the stranded woman lying further within the cave, unconscious and displaying severe signs of hypothermia. Yi-gang decides that the need to get the woman to a hospital is worth leaving the safety of the cave. Hyun-jo carries her on his back, and they make a run for it but end up back in the same place.
Hyun-jo trips as the bears get closer. Gu-yeong and Il-hae appear out of the fog, responding to Yang-sun’s warning. Il-hae quickly carries the woman onto his back and they hurry back to the cave. ..
Back in the cave, Gu-yeong and Il-hae are both frustrated that they are stuck in the cave and should have been studying for their promotion test so they can impress Yang-sun’s mother. Yang-sun is also frustrated, revealing that she could suffer paralysis if she keeps climbing the mountain. ..
Dae-jin’s instructions to Yi-gang on how to navigate Black Bridge Valley are important, as they will help the group move more efficiently and avoid confusion. He warns them not to confuse animal paths with manmade ones, and teaches them how to move efficiently as a group. Dae-jin is important in this situation as he has knowledge that can help the group move safely and effectively.
Dae-jin watches as more rangers descend the mountain, and he has a flashback to 1991 when he went to Black Bridge Village and found the young boy crying before Jae-gyeong’s lifeless body hanging from a tree.
The stranded woman they saved prayed for Jae-gyeong at a mountain temple on the day of the mountain spirit ritual.
Yi-gang and Hyun-jo meet Soo-jin at the ritual, informing her that they found one of their tagged bears with its cubs in the Black Bridge Valley area. They are also puzzled by her aggressive behaviour.
All the rangers on and off duty receive an SOS alert after a major rockfall event. Il-hae, who has been trying to placate his worried wife, must cut his conversation short. Gu-yeong, who has been meeting with Yang-sun’s mother, does the same.
Hyun-jo and Sol return to the cave, where they are surprised to find Black Bridge Valley was their childhood hideaway. They also find out that the villagers all left because of goblin fire, which always preceded unfortunate events. Hyun-jo suggests that they must have also seen bears, but Sol says there were no bears on the mountain during his childhood.
Sol leaves the cave and puts on black gloves. Hyun-jo searches for the item that caught his attention while they were trapped when he has another vision. This time he sees a waterfall and a gloved hand pointing. ..
The Episode Review
Episode 10 throws the 1991 timeline into the mix, giving us another set of deaths to ponder. According to the live streamer, three people died before Black Bridge Village was abandoned. We’ve counted two with the passing of Jae-gyeong and Seong-suk. That leaves us with one death shrouded in mystery and a killer that could be linked to the new round of murders. According to Episode 10 of “Stranger Things,” three people died before Black Bridge Village was abandoned - two with the passing of Jae-gyeong and Seong-suk. This leaves us with one death shrouded in mystery and a killer that could be linked to the new round of murders. ..
Sol, the only ranger with any obvious links to the supernatural side of the mountain, now has an added motive. His comments to Hyun-jo hint that he was the young boy from 1991. Considering that Geun-tak was one of the 2020 victims, we could easily be led into Sol’s revenge plot. ..
In the midst of all this chaos, we got a very powerful moment when the rangers had to trust in each other as a team to escape Black Bridge Village. This was made especially poignant by Dae-jin’s narration, baring his absolute trust in them.
The biggest problem with the story was that it felt like the author was lazy in their writing. For example, why did Hyun-jo and Yi-gang go to Black Bridge Village, intending to investigate a possible threat, with only one working radio? And when that radio fell it landed only a few paces away, so it made no sense to leave it behind when Yi-gang could have swiped it up in the time it took Hyun-jo to convince her not to. ..
