With Uncle Samsik ending next week, there’s still a lot to unpack in the period drama that fictionalizes a tumultuous period in Korean history. The show follows a man’s journey to create an economically strong and independent nation with the help of the rich and politicians. With three episodes still remaining, I’m still utterly confused about what the ending might entail; however, I’m still quite excited to see what’s to come. The show is rather hard to follow sometimes, and the latest few episodes have very unreliable narratives because we’re hearing it from the perspectives of three different people. Additionally, with the two episodes that have been coming out each week after the first five were released simultaneously, I can say that they kind of reflect each other and show us the same scenario from different perspectives. So, it kind of makes sense why they chose to release them that way. But with that said, here’s me trying to make sense of episodes 12 and 13 of Uncle Samsik.
Spoiler Alert
What Happens to Hanmin?
Uncle Samsik episode 12 is riddled with flashbacks. In it, we see Taemin defend children doing labor back in 1946, a possible sign of why he became the person that he was in the future. He watched as the An family let children die while doing their work, so this is why Kang and Cha created the Sineui Alliance. On the other hand, during the voting period, there are violent protests everywhere. At the same time, Han Soo and his gang steal the ballot boxes but shockingly get caught by Cha Taemin. Now, Taemin did say Kang would be the final victim of the Sineui Alliance a little while ago when Kang had begged him to spare his life. I suppose Cha decided that doing the right thing, according to the Alliance, would be the best way to teach him a lesson. Cha and Han Soo get into a physical fight, but the former apologizes for killing Han Soo’s friend, admitting it was an accident.
On the other hand, we’re still stuck wondering who planned the coup. Was it Hanmin? San? Kichul? Samsik? San and Hanim meet with Jang Doo-Sik to convince him to join their side. I suppose this was their big mistake. Hanmin denies everything that San says about how he started the coup, and San blames Hanmin for everything in the present day. In the meantime, Aemin Daily’s Oh Inwoo finally gets a location for Samsik’s meetings. He overhears Samsik telling his boys to find Cha Taemin because he’s learned about the boxes. On the other hand, Cha calls Yeojin at the newspaper and tells her to meet him because he plans on giving her information about the ballot boxes. Just as Yeojin is returning to the newspaper office, thinking the guy is a no-show, he meets her in the middle of nowhere, so that nobody catches him. He tells her she wants to apologize in person for killing her father. I suppose Yeojin knows he’s not really at fault here.
In the meantime, we learn that Kichul met up with San and told him that he knew everything that Kang and Samsik had been up to together, i.e., that Kang killed his brother. He wants Kang to pay, but legally, and San tells him about the Sineui papers Samsik has in a panic. San returns “trembling” to Samsik and tells him everything Kichul said. He’s worried about the guy and their plans. This is when they hear gunshots and rush out, where Samsik and Yeojin end up face-to-face. It was her first meeting with the man, and as he followed the sound of the bullets, she asked San if that was Uncle Samsik. It’s Samsik’s men trying to get to Taemin; however, Samsik stops them from shooting at Taemin as he and his men escape in a truck.
The next day, President Rhee wins the election again, and Kang begins to celebrate his victory. However, what he doesn’t know is that chaos ensued in the nation, and students began to protest over election fraud. Apparently, Hanmin saw this as the perfect moment for the coup; however, General Choi was the one who said to wait. At the end of episode 12, Hanimin is seen defending himself, asking why he should be the one to die when it was San and Samsik who did everything. San tries to get in a word with the man, and it’s quite evident that he feels some sort of guilt. Samsik too. Hanimin is shot in the head in the field outside, presumably for coming up with the idea of a coup.
Who Was Really Behind The Coup?
Episode 13 of Uncle Samsik begins with more flashbacks. This time, we see how the An family brought Kang into the federation (it was Minchul who forced Kang’s hand every time something was required, allowing him to climb up the ranks slowly). In order to help the Ans, Kang enlisted Samsik to do his dirty work, and that’s how they’ve been working together since. When Minchul got on Kang’s nerves, he was tired of being his lackey and ended up having him killed.
After the election, Samsik meets with Kichul, thanks to San’s fears. Samsik, too, looks quite nervous, and tells the guy he didn’t have anything to do with his brother’s murder; he only brought Yoon Pal-Bong to the scene. Samsik gives Kichul the Sinuei Alliance papers, I suppose, because he has no choice. The guy is technically much more powerful, thanks to his father’s name and money. Samsik tells his friend Mr. Park after the meeting that they need to take out Kichul. He doesn’t want the man to be able to look down on them anymore; however, Mr. Park tells him that the situation is changing and their old ways will not work anymore. This is when Samsik realizes that he never paid attention to Kichul because he was silently scheming as the quiet younger child. He worries San isn’t a good enough match for the guy.
In 1960, Samsik worries about San’s mortality. He asks Jang if Kichul will manage to keep him alive, and it’s implied that he’s working towards it. According to Samsik, the difference between San and Kang was that the former didn’t care about politics, while the latter did. After the protests, the UN interfered to investigate the elections, and the country went into martial law. In Masan, a young boy was found with a tear gas canister lodged in his face. The Democratic Party tries to cover up evidence about the election fraud, and Choi Min-Kyu calls on Kang to clean up the mess again. This time, he tells him to kill Samsik himself, and Kang has had enough of the guy. He reminds Choi that he wasn’t the one who wanted to steal the boxes, and he cuts the phone on him.
Taemin delivers the ballot boxes to Yeojin and apologizes about her father’s death again. He tells her it was a complete accident. She tries to persuade him to admit that Uncle Samsik has been using him all these years, but Taemin simply says this is his last act as a part of the Alliance and that he’ll turn himself in. But there is a pain in his eyes when Yeojin says Samsik’s been exploiting him his whole life. We know for a fact that Samsik saved his life as a child. We then see Hanmin move Choi from his hidden location because, apparently, his location has been compromised. In truth, Hanmin brings Choi to Kichul and Rachel. According to San, Choi planned on waiting for the UN investigators, but Kichul was in a rush to overthrow the government, so San thought Choi was in danger, too.
Finally, it’s San, Seongmin, and Samsik in a room together, discussing everything that’s gone wrong in the last few hours. Kang learns about the ballot boxes, and Taemin and Kichul having an alliance. It becomes a battle between Kang and San then about how Samsik isn’t at fault here. Samsik stops them mere seconds before they’ve grabbed each other’s collars by reminding them that they must find a way to stop Kichul.
At the end of Uncle Samsik episode 13, it is revealed that Samsik was the one who came up with the idea of martial law; this was the only way they could stop Kichul at the time.
