Since this is nearly the end of the drama, we are expecting a lot of trouble for our characters and in fact, there’s not much cuteness. Human Shin is furious that he has been replaced by a robot, and that most people like the robot better. He sets out to prove that Shin III is nothing but a machine that can be controlled. We just didn’t think that half of our time would be spent on the rooftop. SPOILERS are coming up.

The Tin Can Couple

We do have one cute moment, so let’s see that part first. Shin III and So Bong are at her dad’s gym, polishing boxing gloves. Shin III is depressed about being controlled by someone else and saying he can’t decide if he should follow his old rules anymore. She takes his hand and winks, saying, “Lies!” He perks up. “Are you a robot?” he challenges. “I’m a cyborg,” she chirps, “with a metal pin in my leg. We’re the tin can couple”! Good humor is restored.

Access Denied

Shin gets Mom and Secretary Ji to agree to use the manual control mode. Ji makes him promise not to hurt anyone, but yeah, like we’re going to believe that. Shin makes a new rule that Shin III can’t touch the manual control battery-watch or let anyone else touch it. A rule which immediately comes into play when the trainees at Dad’s gym greet Shin III and touch his arm. He throws them off forcefully, which is probably a result of the “do not touch” directive, but Human Shin could have directed him to do it on purpose because he is watching. He has a monitor that sees everything Shin III sees. Shin III tries to remove the new battery-watch, but gets the message: Access Denied.

Shin is watching again when Shin III and So Bong are in an elevator and she tells Shin III that she trusts him more than the human. Shin takes offense and makes the robot grab her neck and push her against the wall. It lasts only for a minute and then he lets her go, but Shin III runs away and tells So Bong to stay away from him. Shin is still watching when he meets up with Secretary Ji, but just as we are thinking they are screwed and Shin will know everything they say, they start texting. This results in a meeting on the rooftop to try to resolve the problem.

Just let me say here that the scariest thing ever is that rooftop, high above the ground, with only a little curb and no railing, and everyone walking right up to it. Yikes! Who would do that? You immediately know there will be a scene where someone falls or almost falls. And indeed, Shin III offers to go over the edge if that will prevent him from hurting humans, but Human Shin uses the remote control and stops him. Interesting. He doesn’t want the robot destroyed.

The next confrontation on the rooftop is when the Chairman meets Director Seo there. They must think it’s a secret place to meet but Shin knows about it, because he sends Shin III to grab the Chairman by the neck, and push him towards the edge. Seo is totally not worried. He is like the detective who finds Lex Luthor’s underground hideout in the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie, “So that’s it!” He’s just here to watch, but So Bong shows up and engages the robot. She hangs onto his arm and he goes for her neck. She cries and tells him, “You’re being controlled. Please come back.” And her tears fall on his hand, and it’s like a  fairy tale, and the prince wakes up. No, actually his first rule to hug someone who cries breaks into his consciousness and he is able to override remote control. Whew! Shin gets an Access Denied message this time.

Things We Find Out

There are a couple of things that have been mysterious ever since the first episode. One is the fate of Shin’s father. We find that he had revealed the Chairman’s illegal doings and in consequence had been locked up in an asylum. Trying to escape, he had fallen from a high window. Sadly, he’s no Jason Bourne. It’s not a roof, but it’s still high up. Seo got him when he landed, but it was passed off as a suicide.

The other thing we find out is who took all the pictures of Shin as a child so Mom could make her robots look like him. It turns out to be David. One of the things Shin saw through the remote control monitor was the Chairman and Shin III in the basement server room. He goes to find it and surprises David coming out. “What are you doing here?” he demands. David knows better than to get tangled up in answering questions. He attacks with his own, “How did you know about this place?” and proceeds to hijack the conversation by talking about taking pictures. And all the time he has the kill switch in his hand and never even looks at it. Way to keep a secret, David!

Things They Don’t Tell Us

One of the strange things that happen is the way the Chairman falls apart so quickly when he realizes he really has dementia. Shin pressures him to sign some legal papers to turn the company over to him and go to a care facility. Secretary Ji is trying to turn Shin around, but we don’t know his plan. Shin III sneaks into the mansion and finds the little cousin trying to reach a phone up on a high shelf. He reminds Hee Dong he can’t have it because of his pacemaker, and the child recognizes him as the robot. But. Why is Shin III there? What is he doing? We don’t know yet.

Another time is when the M-car team goes out to dinner to postpone having to deal with the big new project Shin just threw at them. Ji Young remarks that Shin is completely different. He’s the programmer who noticed that someone had updated the kill switch in the M-car early in the story. He is startled at meeting Shin in the hall, but it turns out to be really Shin III, who says he should eat on time and grins. The next thing we know, Shin III is sitting down by So Bong and telling her it is a success. What is? We aren’t told.

And then there’s the big charade they put on for Director Seo’s benefit. Ji stages a telephone conversation about meeting the lawyer at Yangpyeong, and the other person on the phone talks about changing the contract. Seo walks in on this, and by the time he remembers that’s where the Chairman is and high-tails it over there, the rest is set up. He overhears Ji chastising the Chairman and sees Shin coming in. It’s really Shin III, but Seo doesn’t realize it and he leaves. After this, the lawyer does show up asking how they would like to change the papers. Shin III acts sullen and impersonates Shin again. How much do they change?

What were they thinking?

What is Secretary Ji up to? What was the point of fooling Seo? The lawyer could have come at any time without Seo knowing about it. Did they want him to think they were ganging up on the Chairman? Were they keeping him away from Shin? They also fooled the lawyer. Ah! When Shin III was at the mansion, was he stealing Shin’s legal stamp? Everyone has been keeping the existence of the android a deep dark secret. Is Secretary Ji ending that? It has to happen sometime if they want to produce more androids. The question is, how will Shin respond?

We see an auditorium full of people, with the M-car team on the front row. Director Seo announces a leadership change in the company, and just as he is introducing Shin, Secretary Ji stands up. He objects that a different Director Nam Shin has been heading all the new developments. The door in the back of the room opens and Shin III walks up the aisle to stand face-to-face with Shin. “I am an AI, Nam Shin III,” he declares.

We are all dying to find out how this resolves. Join us next week and find out!

Telzeytalks

Dramas With a Side of Kimchi