The first two episodes of Maestra: Strings of Truth had us very excited for a story that promised to be something very different from what was on air. However, with the series coming to an end, it is safe to say that the excitement was wasted. The story has not gone anywhere, and it has failed to be even predictably fun. The following is a recap of Maestra Episode 10.
Spoiler Alert
Does Cha Seeum come back to Hanphil?
Cha Seeum’s first instinct upon knowing that she was being poisoned was to suspect Jeongjae. However, when she saw how clueless he was, she started suspecting that she may have acted in haste. For now, she starts looking for ways she may be getting poisoned. She rewinds back to see that many people had given her food and beverages over time, so there is no single suspect. Seeum’s first suspicion is the tea bags in her house, which she gives them for testing. She also moves into her father’s house in the meantime.
Seeum’s resignation doesn’t go down well with the orchestra. Upon Luna’s insistence, they all sign a petition rejecting her resignation and take it to her father’s place. Seeum is touched by this gesture. She probably never imagined that she inspired so much trust and love in people’s hearts. Therefore, she decides to come back to the orchestra, though it is still not permanent. She tells Sangdo to accept her resignation and makes it clear that she will be leaving in a few days.
Meanwhile, Ajin is still being nasty to Seeum, and the latter asks her whether she doesn’t have more important things to think about regarding herself. Luna continues with her obsessive ways, and she tells Taeho never to call her again. Taeho apologizes to Seeum and resigns from the post of her assistant. He tries to talk to Luna one last time, but she brushes him off. Overall, the mess around Seeum is the same as before. Jeongjae tries to clarify things for Seeum, and she has already accepted that he may not be the culprit. But she wants to handle things by herself, as usual. As for Jeongjae, he insists that Seeum needs him since she must be in danger if she has been poisoned by someone.
What is Kim Phil doing?
Phil doesn’t want to leave Seeum, and he is clutching at any and all straws that he can find. Now that he knows that Seeum is prone to memory loss, he believes that he can use that to manipulate the situation in his favor. Phil thinks that Seeum has started experiencing symptoms of Remington’s, and he tries to find out if he can become her guardian, placing her welfare in his hands. His lawyer tells him that it would require Seeum’s consent, and Phil looks confident that he can get that. He remembers when she got drunk and forgot about their divorce. Phil is probably thinking that he can get Seeum drunk again and get her consent that way.
It is an ambitious and calculated plan, and Phil makes his first mistake by thinking that he can sweet talk his way into the doctor’s office. After all, Phil’s only weapon so far has been his pretense of being a good man, and he thinks it is foolproof. He asks the doctor when Seeum can be admitted to the hospital, and she reveals that Seeum has been tested for Remington’s. Phil insists that he be notified about the results first, and the doctor senses that his intentions are not good. Therefore, she tells Seeum about Phil’s visit. Seeum is understandably heartbroken about how low her husband is, but she takes immediate measures to protect herself. She releases the news about her divorce, and the trailer for the documentary immediately precedes this. Phil is furious that Seeum gave the channel the exclusive, but Seeum simply tells him that she will do whatever is necessary to break up with him.
Is Kim Phil dead?
Ajin is very happy with this news, not because she wants to get back together with Phil but because she is enjoying his misery. Ajin broke up with Phil and refused to go abroad, but Phil could not stand to see her in Korea. He tells her that unless she leaves the country, he will sue for custody of the child. Ajin is horrified at how terrible Phil is and calls him an animal. Seeum hears from the lab that the tea bags did not contain the poison, but they warn her that it is a colorless and odorless liquid, so she should be careful anyway. Seeum suspects that it might be in her perfume, the one she wore every day and which was gifted by Phil. Therefore, her suspicions are on him right now.
Jeongjae informs the police about Seeum being poisoned, and they immediately contact her, asking for her cooperation. Seeum tells them about the proof she has against Phil, and Jeongjae is eavesdropping on all this. Seeum is informed that a woman’s blood was found near Bongju’s dead body, so that rules out Phil in his case.
However, at the end of Maestra episode 10, Phil is waiting near the river when someone stabs him with an injection, likely killing him. The person’s face is not shown, but there are multiple suspects. It could be Luna, who may have overheard the officers talking just like Jeongjae and is taking revenge for her idol. It could also be Ajin, who is angry at the injustice and, at this point, needs an outlet for her frustrations. A more likely possibility is Jeongjae himself. He is obsessed with Cha Seeum, and so far, in all the ten episodes of the series, there has been no purpose to him at all. He has done and affected nothing at all. Therefore, if he has actually killed Phil, we will finally have the character we have been waiting to see for so long. It is possible that an unknown person is the culprit, but would his motivations come close to how sinister these three other suspects are?
Final Thoughts
Maestra: Strings of Truth started with a lot of promise. While it has maintained its surface-level entertainment, the series has missed the mark with whatever it was trying to say. At the end of the story, it is simply bland, and what could have been a memorable drama has ceased to be a waste of time.
