'Spooky In Love' Episodes 3-4 Recap: Is Gang-Uk Dead? 

The latest two episodes of Spooky In Love remind us that it’s a romance above all else, then a comedy, and then a supernatural show. The show is making every excuse to bring the leading couple together, and I’m honestly not mad about it. Yang Se-Jong has always been great at the man in love, and I can see him turning into exactly that soon on this show. Episodes 3 and 4 see the duo get close after Yeo-Ri gets drunk and goes a bit wild. But instead of meeting her with scepticism, Gang-Uk is open-minded and even tries his best to understand, actually understand her abilities and her emotional state after enduring all of that. The episodes are both fun and give us a sneak peek at what’s coming next on the show with these two characters. They set the tone for the kind of episodes we can expect moving forward. Also, is it just me who feels very nostalgia-baited by this show? The way the story plays out and the romantic bits too- the scenes are reminiscent of the stuff I used to enjoy when I first got into K-dramas. I suppose this is mainly because the show is based on the film Spellbound from 2011.

Spoiler Alert

What Happens To Hae-Na? 

Episode 3 begins with the main couple in the ocean after they fell in together by accident. As we know, they found Da-Mi’s body in there and were able to catch the culprit, Hae-Na, for the murder. We also find out that the reason Hae-Na pushed Da-Mi into the sea was that Da-Mi was mad at her for stealing her haenyo outfit. Haenyo are the female seadivers in Korea who are nearly extinct now, as we’ve seen in K-dramas recently. The dress was sentimental to Da-Mi, whose grandmother used to be a diver herself, but Hae-Na calls her a nobody and immediately pushes her into the sea, knowing Da-Mi is right and if word got out, she’d be finished for good. Hae-Na is arrested, and Yeo-Ri goes her own way believing she’ll never run into Prosecutor Ma again. There’s evidence on the phone she gives him before heading out. On the way out of Jeju Island, Gang-Uk feels like he’s seen his grandmother, but she denies it, saying she’s at home. She does tell him to avoid the sea, but she’s a bit too late. 

Why Did Yeo-Ri Have To Meet Min-Hwan? 

Back home, when Yeo-Ri meets her grandmother, her true intentions for sending her granddaughter to the island are revealed. Turns out she wants Yeo-Ri to marry Min-Hwan, and considering they used to be close anyway, she doesn’t think it should be a problem. This is all because she wants Yeo-Ri to inherit her business. I don’t see why she needs to be married for this, but okay. On the other hand, Ha-Ri and her mum make their own plans. Well, no, technically it’s Ha-Ri’s mum who wants her to marry Min-Hwan instead and take the business for herself. Min-Hwan and Yeo-Ri’s relationship isn’t an ordinary one. They used to be friends back in high school, when Min-Hwan had found out that he’s adopted. Yeo-Ri had seen him overhearing this conversation and covered his ears up, protecting him from what seemed to be the worst part of the conversation. Now Min-Hwan was adopted because his mum was supposed to be infertile, but she was able to have a second child when she went to the US later. 

How Can Gang-Uk See Ghosts Now? 

The major chunk of these two episodes is Gang-Uk and Yeo-Ri getting close for one reason: Gang-Uk being able to see ghosts. It all starts with a flashback where it’s revealed that Yeo-Ri’s grandmother tried to get a shaman to do a ritual for Yeo-Ri not to see ghosts anymore, but it didn’t work. However, Yeo-Ri told her grandmother it did so she wouldn’t worry about her any longer. Feeling bad about her lonely life because she can’t even hang out with anyone, Yeo-Ri ends up drinking a lot, and Gang-Uk just happens to be at the same barbecue restaurant with his colleagues at the time. Seeing how drunk she is, he decides to help her out a little bit, and they join her. By the end of the night, Gang-Uk drops Yeo-Ri home, but what she doesn’t know is that he held her bare hands to save her from crashing into a car. 

Ironically, Yeo-Ri was so out of it that she even tore Gang-Uk’s shirt, buying him a luxury product the next day because of how guilty she is. He comes to return the present to her, and everyone at Reina sees him. Her assistant tells him that she can’t accept the return on her favor, so he ends up dropping by her house after work that night. Yeo-Ri is shocked to see him there, but that’s when she remembers that she was the one who told him her address when she was drunk. Now’s when all the fun begins, since they held hands. Gang-Uk is cursed now and will soon be able to see ghosts. The first ghost he sees is a young boy, and he thinks it’s a prank of some sort. But when he goes back home, the boy is there too, and this freaks him out. This is when she tells him that he’s going to be able to see ghosts for some time. 

Instead of meeting her with crap, he believes her and panics. They then start looking for the ghost of the boy, only for them to finally find him on Gang-Uk’s shoulders. Gang-Uk freaks out for real, but this is when the serious stuff happens. This is when Yeo-Ri shows him that they have to help the boy in some way. She puts her hand out, and the ghost boy grabs it, leading the way. He leads them to the site of an accident where a car has turned upside down after falling off a cliff. The boy is dead, yes, but he wanted someone to help his father and sister, who are alive. It’s a very devastating scene because the boy’s dad had told him a little before the accident to look after his sister. This is why he wanted to help one last time before being gone for good.

What Happened In Yeo-Ri’s Past? 

Yeo-Ri then tells Gang-Uk about the accident where she fell off a yacht and nearly drowned back in the day. She says the guy who fell with her haunted her soon after she recovered from the incident. Ever since, she’s been able to see ghosts, but then she lied to her grandmother that she didn’t see them anymore. Instead of making fun of her or throwing her under the bus, Gang-Uk tells her that she’s been through a lot and tries to comfort her. He even grabs her hands again, knowing that they’re what caused him to see ghosts in the first place, and she’s touched by the gesture. He sympathizes with her and promises to handle this thing on his own for now because he’s an adult and much more of one than when she was cursed. But the struggle is real. Gang-Uk can’t sleep because he goes into paralysis half the time, and it’s all a bit messy. So, Yeo-Ri decides to give him some tips, including salt, eating smelly foods and pretending to not be afraid even if you are. That one works pretty well. But then, Yeo-Ri tells Gang-Uk that they shouldn’t meet any longer and if they do see each other again, they should pretend like they don’t know each other. I guess she’s just trying to be cautious. On the other hand, Ha-Ri learns that Min-Hwan is obsessed with Yeo-Ri but also tells him that she’s been seeing Gang-Uk. Ha-Ri puts two and two together, realizing that she might still be seeing ghosts. She goes to her lover Seung-Jae with this information immediately. 

What Happens With Seung-Jae? 

It’s then revealed that Gang-Uk is off of Seung-Jae’s case altogether and that he’s being released. Gang-Uk is furious about this, but there’s really nothing he can do. On the other hand, on the day Seung-Jae is released, not only does he threaten Gang-Uk by using Yeo-Ri’s name, but he also gets some people to kidnap her at night. His plan is to make it look like she’s taken drugs, and Reina would then be Ha-Ri’s, no? At this time, Gang-Uk contemplates calling Yeo-Ri because Seung-Jae took her name, but he doesn’t do it because she asked him not to. His grandmother then visits him and makes him some food. She tells him not to leave the house at night because it’ll be dangerous for him. He doesn’t listen because he’s too worried about Yeo-Ri, who also happens to be born in the year that is not compatible with his own chart. 

In the ending of episode 4, Gang-Uk saves Yeo-Ri from getting drugged by Seung-Jae’s men and tries to get her out of there as quickly as possible. However, when he’s trying to get into the driver’s seat, Seung-Jae drives straight into him, tossing him in the air. By this time, more help has arrived, but it’s already too late for Gang-Uk. Yeo-Ri sees that they’re not able to resurrect him in the hospital, and it makes her cry loads. This is all her fault after all. But suddenly someone shows up in front of her, and it’s Gang-Uk. Of course the first instinct, not just for her, but for us also, is that he’s a ghost because he died already. But I don’t think it’s true, considering Yeo-Ri hugs him while asking if he had to die to meet her again. The preview very carefully avoids showing Gang-Uk in the next episode, but of course he’s going to be okay. Will he become a ghost detective? Do you think that’s what’s happening here? Let us know in the comments down below. 

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