I was wondering why only one episode of Made In Korea came out today, and then found out that the show has only 6 episodes. To be fair, it definitely feels like a lot has gone down since the show started, and it did have me wondering how I’d watched only 4 episodes when it felt like so much was going on. There are a couple of things that stand out to me with this show. For one, the female characters are actually important, and there are 3 major roles, and none of them are that of a mother or someone domestic. I know, Korean dramas have never been shy about representing their women in the action-drama genre; however, when a show is so male-centric, women often get neglected. While I can’t say this show has impacted me in any way (most Disney shows don’t), I do appreciate that at least I find the female characters interesting. With only one episode left in the show, the ending of this one had to be quite a shocker, so let’s dive in.
Spoiler Alert
Why Is Baek Kitae So Money Hungry?
Made In Korea episode 5 begins with a war flashback to Vietnam, 1965, where Kitae is a soldier. It appears Kitae was basically an assassin, so he had to have no emotions, “cannon fodder for someone else’s rise,” as he calls it. It appears Kitae’s always been power hungry, but having done the dirty work himself, Kitae now wants it all for himself. I think this flashback just tells us about Kitae’s personality and his fierce envy towards anybody who is powerful. He’s done working for others and wants to be the man at the top of the pyramid.
Is Geonyeong Able To Prove Kitae Killed Hwang?
Soon after watching the fire burn everything down, by the time the rest of the people at the prosecutor’s office show up, Geonyeong arrests Haksu on suspicion of murdering Hwang. This is obviously a way for Geonyeong to get Haksu to tell him the truth about Kitae and how he killed Hwang. This would basically be the end of Kitae’s drug ordeal, but Haksu is somehow loyal to Kitae, probably because he’s going to get his own share of whatever he’s doing. One of the KCIA officers spots blood on Kitae’s shirt when he’s trying to tell him about Hwang’s death and Haksu’s arrest. Kitae quietly changes the subject, but he’s definitely a little bit worried about this situation.
However, Geonyeong knows the whole story about Haksu and Kitae going to Osaka to sell drugs. Geonyeong further goes on to say that Haksu and Kitae were probably tired of doing the dirty work for Hwang to be taking all the money, so they decided to kill him. But the interrogation is interrupted when the chief prosecutor interrupts. Geonyeong tells the chief prosecutor his story and promises to get a confession, but the man’s definitely not going to get it. The chief prosecutor worries that if this doesn’t go right, they’re all going to be in trouble, but Geonyeong wants to issue an arrest warrant against Kitae. Geonyeong tries to get Haksu to write the truth about what happened, but that’s when Haksu has to be released. Geonyeong might have the story right, but he’s got no proof for anything, so he has to let Haksu go.
He immediately makes a call to his sister, Soyeong, to find out where Daeil is, but she says she doesn’t know. However, the man’s right there, and it seems they’ve been sleeping together. Meanwhile, he meets with Cheon Seok-Jung from the President’s office and shows him all the money that Hwang’s been stealing. Kitae basically makes a confession and asks to work for Cheon, promising to help the president get reelected. He even gets on his knees. This might be why Haksu got let out. On the other hand, there’s a rivalry between Na and Cheon. Na basically threatens Cheon, and the latter threatens him back with the same confidence, despite Na being the president’s secretary.
What Happens Between Daeil and Kitae?
Now, Daeil has been working with Geonyeong for a while, and Kitae connects the dots when he learns from Haksu that someone has given Geonyeong all the information. Kitae comes to the lab, i.e., the pigsty, and almost catches Soyeong and Daeil together. It appears even she doesn’t really respect her older brother. However, he tells her to get out of the room, because he needs to speak to Daeil alone. Kitae threatens Daeil with a gun, like a game of Russian roulette, and we can assume Daeil immediately confesses, because the next thing we know, Daeil and Soyeong are nowhere near the lab when Geonyeong prepares to catch Soyeong and Kitae red-handed. At the same time, we see Kitae paying Daeil, and the latter admitting he will never cross him again. I suppose Geonyeong’s spy is not his spy anymore. This also leaves the man in huge trouble, because his plan of catching Kitae didn’t work. A little later, we see the chief deputy prosecutor tell Na that Cheon is backing Kitae, a meth peddler. He’s definitely going to try to use this against Cheon.
What Happens in Osaka?
On the other hand, back in Osaka, Yuji tries to convince her father that meth is still in demand in Japan, despite other clans claiming there’s no business left. The regulations are really harsh now, and they barely have any factories left, but Yuji is convinced that starting a factory in Korea is the perfect way to meet the demand with cheap ingredients from HK and Taiwan. The other Yakuza members are obviously against her, because she’s a Korean Zionishi, but finally, her father simply says he hopes she’s not being foolish, because if she is, it makes him a fool too. On the other hand, Yuji meets with Cheon and reveals that Kitae killed Hwang. Yuji is concerned about keeping Kitae in his place and tells Cheon that his weakness is his siblings, specifically his brother, Kihyun, who’s in the military.
What Does Kihyun Tell Kitae?
Back in the military, it appears Kihyun is kind to his underlings. Suddenly, at night, a young man named Jihwan ends up killing a bunch of soldiers out of rage. Earlier, we saw Kihyun helping Jihwan while he was being bullied, so now he feels guilty for the deaths of the other soldiers. Anyway, Kihyun doesn’t plan on taking the hit for anybody for everything that’s gone down. That means his commander has to deal with the consequences himself. But later, Geonyeong shows up and tells Kihyun what his brother is up to. Kihyun doesn’t fall for Geonyeong’s act, because he’s righteous, but the latter promises that he will not back down. Meanwhile, Kitae learns of what’s happening and shows up at the military academy, kicking down Kihyun’s commander and showing him who’s boss.
In Made In Korea episode 5’s ending, Kihyun is furious at his brother for interfering. Kihyun says he can handle it on his own, but Kitae knows for sure he can’t because Kihyun is powerless. Kihyun tells Kitae he’s going to take care of himself and gives Kitae Geonyeong’s card. But what happens next is the real big shocker of the episode: Geonyeong heads out to buy some ramyeon while Ye-Ji is at their meeting spot. It’s been long enough that the water starts boiling, but there’s no sign of Geonyeong when his colleague arrives because the episode closes with his bike fallen in the rain and a single shoe lying in front of it. Now, I don’t think Geonyeong is dead just yet. I think Kitae has kidnapped him, but I really don’t know how things are going to pan out. Kitae is not even remotely a good guy, so I really don’t see why we should side with him, but do we worry for Geonyong? Or is it too late? Guess we’ll have to wait for the finale to find out.
