Goodbye to Duon Village
Missing: The Other Side ends its runtime with a very good finale, boasting a resolution for all its stories and characters. Despite a couple of slow episodes, this mystery has been an intriguing and enjoyable ride worth taking. Episode 12 of Missing: The Other Side starts with Wook getting ready to enter Dong-Min’s room in the hospital. He sets a recording on his phone and heads inside. After the killer admits all his crimes, it becomes too much for Wook, who tries to suffocate him with a pillow. Jun-Ho rushes inside to stop him but ends up shaking Dong-Min into giving up Yeo-Na’s whereabouts. Later on in the village, Wook apologises to his mum for the day before. She tells him she understands as she would have felt the same way. She’s proud of the man he has become and tells him it’s her fault as she took him to the house and didn’t keep her promise. Meanwhile, Pan-Seok has managed to get Myung-Jin to accept seeing him. He asks the killer again where his daughter is but all he can say is: “You haven’t changed”. In a flashback, we see that Myung worked as a rabbit character in the amusement park and approached Hyun-Ji. We then jump forward to him burying someone, which we assume to be the little girl. Unfortunately, the visit ends before Myung-Jin can say anything else. Wook and Jun-Ho head to the harbour to interrogate Captain Kang on where the body of Yeo-Na was dumped. Jun-Ho then heads back to the station to interrogate Dong-Min now that they have his confession. He doesn’t deny it any more but also reveals that he was behind the fire at the orphanage. In the evening, Wook tells Yeo-Na that Jun Ho is questioning her killer. She then asks him for his help as she wants to meet Jun-Ho one last time. Later in the cafe, Thomas reveals his real name to Wook – Cha Gwon Muk from 34th generation of the Guryong Cha family. He died during the Korean war while crossing the Amnok River. He explains how he got there and that he also believes there might be other places like Duon. The next day, Pan Seok is devastated and falls to the floor when he learns that Myung-Jin has killed himself in his cell. Unfortunately he did so before he could reveal what he did with Hyun-Jin. Wook takes Jun-Ho to Yeo-Na at the edge of the village and relays to him what she is saying. She explains that she was there when he came on their wedding day and wants him to promise he will find her body. Jun-Ho is not ready to give up and starts crying so Wook tells him that it is what Yeo-Na wants. Later that day, Jun-Ho and the police start searching for Yeo-Na’s body in the sea. In the Hawaii cafe, Yeo-Na arrives for work. After sitting down with a drink in front of Thomas, she slowly fades away and says goodbye as we see that the divers have found the body. On the day of the funeral, Jong-A, Wook and Pan-Seok come to pay their respects to Jun-Ho. Wook relays that Thomas was there when Yeo-Na left and that she was smiling. The chairwoman comes too and when she looks at the picture of Yeo-Na, recognizes her necklace as being the same one her daughter used to have. Il-Doo takes Pan-Seok aside and updates him on their investigation regarding his daughter. Pan-Seok also has information for him for another missing person from the village, Beom Soo. Il-Doo is wondering how he is always involved in many missing cases, which Pan-Seok brushes off as a simple coincidence. In the village, Wook and his mother talk about what has been happening. Suddenly, Beom arrives and tells them he is off to see his family. He says goodbye to them and fades away. Wook promises he will find Joon-Soo’s body to his mother. Meanwhile, Jun-Ho meets with the chairwoman who asks him about the necklace Yeo-Na was wearing. Jun-Ho tells her that he gave it to her when he proposed. The chairwoman then reveals that it was the same one as her daughter which therefore would make him her grandson. Jun-Ho has trouble believing that as he has a mother and leaves the room. Jun-Ho heads to see his mother next, who finally admits that she adopted him when he was a baby. Jun-Ho is angry and devastated as he thinks the others died because of him. She explains that she didn’t want other kids to make fun of him and later on was worried about his safety when people started dying. After investigating more, the police start searches near Pan-Seok’s house. Pan-Seok and Wook rush over there just as Il-Doo uncovers multiple skeletons buried in the woods. He tells them he will get the results of DNA testing in a few days and leaves the two men. Walking to the village, Pan Seok falls to the ground crying. He tells Wook that Hyun-Jin has been found as he is unable to see the village anymore. Wook relays the news to the villagers who are sad they weren’t able to say goodbye. Back in the pawn shop, Jong-A realizes that if Hyun-Mi’s body is found, Wook will not see the village anymore. She tells them they should try finding the bodies as quickly as possible while Jun Ho meets with the chairwoman, finally happy to have found his grandmother. Jun-Ho heads to the edge of the village next and tells Wook that they may have found the place Hyun-Mi and Park are buried. It’s in a building complex which will be torn down next week. When the day finally arrives, Wook asks Thomas to look after Joon-Soo while he thanks him for everything. He spends the day with his mum, who later fades away. As expected, the village disappears for him and he joins Pan-Seok overlooking the forest. A few days later, Pan-Seok, Wook and Jong-A are back in the pawn shop investigating Joon-Soo’s case. Jong-A gives Pan-Seok one of the bracelets and calls him a musketeer. He tries to protest at first, but the two quickly give him no choice. At the police station, Jun-Ho announces that he has officially been moved to the missing person squad and seems quite content with this move. Before heading out on a mission, Wook and Pan Seok see on the news that bodies of Korean war fighters were found in the river. We then cut to the café where we see Thomas smiling and walking slowly inside a room. The episode ends with Wook and Pan Seok walking after solving Joon-Soo’s case. They see a little girl playing with a football who looks very familiar to Pan Seok. The little girl then walks under the road towards other kids, including Hyun-Ji. She tells them she saw Hyun-Ji’s father and the group of kids run through a portal towards the two men.
The Episode Review
What a great ending! Every story has been wrapped up and each character given a satisfying conclusion. While Jun-Ho was not able to say goodbye to Yeo-Na, Wook helped them by being the middle man for the two. It was heartbreaking to see Jun-Ho having a hard time when they found the body, but thanks to Wook and Thomas he knows that Yeo-Na was content when she left. Wook was also able to put his past behind and bid farewell to his mother. Their last moment was very touching but also sad too, especially when the village disappeared for him. The last few minutes of the finale was easily my favourite part when we saw that there are indeed other places like Duon. It leaves us guessing but I can imagine that the children went to see Pan-Seok. I’m hoping he will be able to see his daughter and say goodbye. This ending definitely makes up for the couple of slow episodes earlier on and thanks to this great conclusion, Missing: The Other Side is definitely a great mystery drama worth checking out!
