'100 Days Of Deception' Episode 5 Recap: Why Does Ga-Kyung Want To Quit?

I just realized 100 Days Of Deception doesn’t have any actual OST, but the one song it does have, I like very much. The show had a really good streak for some time, and I’m expecting it to remain one of the better shows set in the particular time period that it is set in (of course, nothing can be Pachinko). This episode sees the Japanese use a lot of slurs against the Koreans, and I don’t know if this is a subtitle problem, or if the actual slur against the Japanese was used too. I think using the wrong term or doing something problematic in media isn’t something the Koreans care about as much as some other countries do. But this specifically in terms of representing other countries. But they do end up having their own controversies which don’t always make sense, especially to the outside world (Doctor X is a recent example). But I won’t go any further into that, because we have a lot to discuss about episode 5.

Spoiler Alert

100 Days Of Deception episode 5 begins right where the previous episode ended, with us wondering if Hideo heard everything Ga-Kyung was saying to herself. But Hideo is there to invite her on a special date. Well, it’s not really a date, but he wants to spend time with her, so he wants her to come get her picture taken, as she told him she’s never had one before. Ga-Kyung goes along with him, but when the camera flashes, a memory from many years ago flashes through her mind. Something about her parents. But it goes away soon, when she and Hideo are asked to look through the shutter to see if the lens is focused. Hideo’s too distracted by Ga-Kyung’s beauty and gets flustered under the black cloth on his head. At the same time, Ga-Kyung sees her friend, No-Ma, there, and needs somewhere to hide so that he doesn’t notice her and blow her cover. He believes she’s moved to America after leaving a bunch of things for him and his sister. Her best option is joining Hideo under the black cloth, which would cover her face. She shuts the guy up because he’s more flustered being so close to the girl. But when she gets out of there after hearing No-Ma and Kkot-Nim leave, he notices tears in her eyes. This makes him think that No-Ma might’ve been an ex-lover, and even accuses her of cheating on the guy. Hilarious of him to think she was rich enough to be a cheat of that kind. Ga-Kyung gets upset and runs out of there, leaving Hideo with no photograph.

But what she doesn’t know is that the house she returns to is empty, because the whole mission was a failure and two people have died while she was trying to reminisce about old times. Han Cheol-Yeong’s last words are in the form of a letter, in which he basically says it’s okay if he dies fighting for the country as long as he’s known as someone from Joseon. So-Ran almost gets caught when the chief of police shows up at the Joil Textile building. Myung-Nam is there, and she covers for So-Ran by pretending to be undressed, but Young-Book gets shot and loses consciousness as soon as the Japanese police leave. Ga-Kyung doesn’t know any of this, and when she runs from Hideo, she finds the house empty because everyone is busy mourning. Hideo, in the meantime, ends up finding Kkot-Nim on the side of the street with her constipation medicine. No-Ma gets taken in by the cops, who decide he doesn’t match the age profile of the cake delivery man at all. Hideo takes Kkot-Nim to her home and tells her what the medicine is for. On the way, she tells him a lot of things before they arrive, and talks a lot about her sister, i.e. Ga-Kyung (just the word “unnie”; they’re not actually related). Hideo then makes her some food and promises to teach her how to read and write before No-Ma returns, crying and worried.

When it comes to the Japanese, everyone is trying to impress someone else, so they’re all trying to do their best to be recognized as good Japanese citizens. This means loads of oppression of the Joseon people. Sato is the general in Joseon, but he also has to answer to higher-ups, and they tell him that the Gugukdan have been acting up ever since he took over. So his direct junior is the chief, who also believes Sato is not Japanese enough, because he’s spent his entire life in Joseon. So despite the power, Sato is not respected by the Japanese, and Hideo even less so because he’s actually Korean. This dynamic makes everyone want to hurt the Koreans more, except for Hideo, of course. Hideo’s just in love with Ga-Kyung, and he’ll do anything to protect her. Yes, already, and his suspicion’s already worn away.

At work, Ga-Kyung accidentally bumps into the chief of police, who recognizes her as the live-in maid at Philip’s house. He decides he wants to take her to a surprise spot as his interpreter. Ga-Kyung is immediately skeptical when she sees him in the car, but tags along anyway. I mean, she doesn’t have a choice, really. When she gets to the prison, she’s shocked to see that they’ve caught cake delivery man, i.e. So-Ran’s husband, in the torture chair. The chief uses all sorts of insults and wants answers from the guy, but he gets nothing out of him. This makes him increasingly upset, and though the man is on the floor, writhing in pain, the chief’s attention turns to Ga-Kyung, who starts to have a panic attack from all the pressure of translating while watching one of her own people getting tortured. While she does say that she doesn’t care about the independence movement, of course she’s going to feel hurt watching a man get beaten up. She’s just human.

But before things can get even more out of hand, Hideo shows up, and tells the chief that he wants to know what he’s found out from the cake delivery guy so far to be yelling at Ga-Kyung that way. The chief gets mad that a lowly Korean guy is trying to talk to him, and ends up slapping him in the face, telling him he’s not even Sato’s real son. Ironically, Sato is standing right behind the door and walks in at that moment. He tells Hideo to make sure that “Seo-Hee” is taken home safe, and then asks the chief to finish what he was saying. It’s not a good look for the chief, and he gets slapped too. Told you, it’s just internal punches at this point. But outside, Hideo’s first request for Ga-Kyung is to ask her not to let Philip know about what she’s seen today, because it would get the Japanese in trouble. Specifically, since he’s an American journalist. She walks away quietly, knowing too well that she’s done with this spy thing. She gets home drenched in the rain, gets changed, packs her bags, and decides to leave.

At the end of episode 5, Ga-Kyung is ready to run away, when So-Ran finds her. Ga-Kyung furiously tells her what she’s been through that day, and how she doesn’t want to die in vain. She tells her that she doesn’t care about independence because, eventually, she’ll end up being caught like a cake delivery man and end up dead after being tortured. She only accepted the job to go to America. When So-Ran hears about the man, Ga-Kyung also talks about how he reacted when he heard the name Seo-Hee. She puts two and two together, then realizing the man being tortured is none other than So-Ran’s husband. She calls them all crazy and runs out of the house. But Philip follows her, knowing too well this time that he can’t let her go. He has the gun in his hand while So-Ran watches from the window. But obviously he’s not going to shoot. Maybe Hideo will show up? Maybe she’ll change her mind. We’ll have to find out.