Gu-yeong and Il-hae return to the station after learning that Hak-su’s death is connected to the previous murders. They want to know if Hak-su’s death is related to the other killings.
We cut to them outside the house of Hwang Gil-yong, another ex-resident of Black Bridge Village. He confirms that he’s seen Hyun-jo on the mountain but refuses to talk about Black Bridge Village even after Yi-gang tells him that old residents are being targeted.
Yi-gang also tells Il-hae and Gu-yeong about the various victims that have seen Hyun-jo and shows them the footage of a stick moving by itself in one of his rock formations. He also tells them about the man who was found dead in the park and how he may have been killed by Hyun-jo.
Hyun-jo, a South Korean man, cancels his meeting with Yi-gang, a North Korean man, after hearing the snowfall announcement. Hyun-jo had been researching Black Bridge Valley and ventured into the snow to find him. ..
On July 26, 2018, a group of assailants attempted to kill Yi-gang, a popular singer and actor. The assailants hit him with a rock after he called for help. This time, the perpetrator was caught and is currently being held in custody.
We list all the residents still alive in 2020, five of whom are Yang-sun’s grandfather, Jin-ok, Gil-yong, Woong-soon, and Sol.
Our ranger trio splits up to investigate the five. Gu-yeong goes to the hospital where Jae-geun has been in a state of shock since Yang-sun’s death. Yang-sun’s mother is there and doesn’t know anything about the 1991 incidents since she and her husband were running a restaurant elsewhere at the time.
Yi-gang heads to Jin-ok’s house and learns from her neighbour that she died of cancer. The neighbour remembers a monk from the Mount Jiri temple attending the funeral.
Yi-gang arrives at the temple where the monk shows her the prayer lantern that Jin-ok left for Jae-gyeong. The monk doesn’t know what their relationship was, but overheard Jin-ok expressing her regret. ..
Yi-gang visits Dae-jin, still in jail, but the only help he can offer is his case file on the death of Seong-suk in 1991.
Il-hae returns from the Jirisan Development Committee with files on the 1991 cable car project. While they’ve been under the assumption that the residents were against the cable car, he’s found agreement forms signed by every single resident. The only reason it didn’t go ahead was because the government didn’t permit it.
Yi-gang realizes that the villagers didn’t have a reason to stay since the wildlife protection and national park legislation enforced in the 80s restricted poachers and herb collectors. On the other hand, beekeepers were given financial aid in a government initiative to preserve native species. Jae-gyeong’s agreement form lists him as a beekeeper. They speculate that a rift formed between those who wanted to stay and those who wanted compensation.
According to a retired ranger, Gu-yeong also returns, having discovered how Se-wook’s father, Lee Pil-seok, died. According to the ranger, the death was accidental and the culprit was never identified. However, other villagers were under suspicion because they were killed on a path only he used.
Yi-gang heads to the police station to report an accident. When he leaves, the junior officer locks the doors and begins to search for Pil-seok’s case file. Yi-gang returns and finds that the officer has left through the back door. ..
Meanwhile, Woong-soon waits at Black Bridge Village after sending Sol another message to meet him there at 3pm. Sol shows up and murders Woong-soon. Blood drips onto the screen of Sol’s fallen phone and Woong-soon’s bloody hand lands beside it. Hyun-jo’s spirit realizes that it’s the scene from the vision he had in 2019.
That evening, Yi-gang went to Sol’s house to discuss the cable car project with him. She told him that some villagers made bad choices when it came to voting on the project, and as a result, the decision had to be unanimous. ..
In 1991, Sol saw a goblin fire and ran towards it. When he got there, he found the animal carcass.
Later, the group of five discuss Jae-gyeong’s determination to stay even after the carcass stunt. Il-man doesn’t think Jae-gyeong can be talked out of staying after he received financial aid for his beekeeping and decides to try and convince Seong-suk instead.
Il-man and two others push Seong-suk back until she falls and hits her head on a rock. Then they run away, thinking she’s dead. When they’re gone, she opens her eyes and starts to move.
In the present, Yi-gang tells Sol that she read that Seong-suk was found on the path off the mountain in Dae-jin’s file. Yi-gang guesses that Seong-suk was headed to the police.
Yi-gang steals a file from Pil-seok that reveals he was Jae-gyeong’s beekeeping partner. Seong-guk, the prime suspect listed in the file, was Woong-soon’s father. ..
The second time young Sol saw the goblin fire was when Il-man showed it to be the light from his torch as he convinced Seong-guk to sign the cable car agreement form in exchange for making the evidence that Seong-guk hit Pil-seok with his car disappear. ..
In the present, Yi-gang points out that the date on Seong-guk’s agreement form is the date Pil-seok died. She then calls out Sol on the lie he’s been telling that he doesn’t remember anything from 1991.
Yi-gang tells Sol that he and Se-wook killed their parents together, in revenge for their deaths. A montage of their involvement confirms her statement.
The Episode Review
Just as we learn that Hyun-jo is alive after all, there’s news that he’s scheduled to be taken off life support soon. We knew this was coming any day now, so the urgency wasn’t increased in the way the writer probably intended.
The reveal of Sol’s true identity was a letdown, as the investigations were tedious to sit through.
At least we got some new information about the 1991 situation where the split caused by greed wreaked havoc on the village. This doesn’t explain why Jae-gyeong signed the form even though he stayed in Black Bridge Village until the bitter end. Was this him finally relenting to the will of the other villagers, or was his suicide something more sinister? ..
After learning that Jae-gyeong was a beekeeper, it’s possible that the phone Hyun-jo found after the flood was Sol’s. It could contain evidence the rangers need to take him down.
The 1991 flashbacks gave us the discovery that the goblin fire was only the torchlight by which Jin-ok and Il-man committed their crimes. While this ties up Sol’s sightings and adds to his motive, it doesn’t explain the blue flames the live streamer saw. It’s also just another layer to the mystery that was promised and then retracted. Without a substantial fantasy element, Hyun-jo’s visions and ghost form are out of place in a plot otherwise grounded in reality.
In the final episode, Yi-gang plays the hero and confronts Sol, the murderer, in the most foolish way possible – alone. It looks like Jirisan will be making use of one of the worst tropes – revealing all your cards to the culprit – to create enough conflict to get us through the last episode. ..
