Child’s Play
Episode 12 of Sisyphus: The Myth begins with Seo-Hae in the future, falling down a hill and landing in the middle of an abandoned building. With a map in hand, she wanders on, through the urban landscape to the desert. Alone, she consults her map, trying to find Achasan Ecological Park. With a dust storm blowing in, Seo-Hae dons her balaclava (rather than her gas mask) and soon finds herself consumed by sand. Thankfully, her Father is there to help and he manages to hoist her free. As the dust storm passes, he and Seo-hae sit together around a camp fire. Under the light of the dancing flames, he warns her not to go after the Uploader. He hands over his weapon and tells her if she wants to go then she’ll need to kill him first. Well, Seo-Hae refuses to do this and instead asks for his help getting back to the past so she can find Tae-Sul. They both return to the city but find themselves hiding quickly when that familiar gang from before show up. As the threat passes, they both head into the open but find themselves caught at gunpoint again. A strange man holding a sniper rifle comes at them. It’s Bong-Seon! We then cut back to see Seo-Hae and Tae-Sul awakening from the machine. Seo-Hae sees her Father up on the rooftop and shows him a map to the abandoned bunker. According to Seo-Hae, no one can leave the country around the time of the missiles because the Control Bureau were controlling the borders. Meanwhile, Park reveals that he made a deal with Sigma to protect Tae-Sul in exchange for him giving the key. It turns out that first call to Park actually had Tae-San sitting right next to him. Sigma caught Tae-San and Agnes injected the serum into him, desperate to make sure he didn’t get away again. Anyway, Park soon receives the USB drive and the password to access its contents too. On the back of this, Park manages to get the machine working again. Just as he does, he shoots the wall and tells Seo-Hae and Tae-Sul that they both owe him a debt now. Well, Seo-Hae breaks some bombshell reveals that the future has already being changed. Seo-Hae dodging a bullet has rewritten parts of the timeline while stem cells to regrow Seon-Ho’s brother’s limbs (courtesy of Seo-Hae throwing this over) allow for it to be changed further. Alone with Seo-Hae in his apartment, Tae-Sul asks about the Uploader. Specifically, he asks what will happen to her if he doesn’t make it. Seo-Hae dodges the question and instead heads out to see Sun. He mentions the Uploader and how simple it will be to take out the one responsible (Tae-Sul) but Seo-Hae is conflicted thanks to her growing feelings for him. The pair soon begin to investigate the paintings though, with Tae-Sul using a weird device that scans and uploads it onto his computer. Well, they soon learn that this painting mirrors one Tae-Sul has actually seen before. Specifically, this mirrors one from Nanjeong Elementary School where a child called Won-Ju seemed to have the gift of foresight. This is the place where everything started. When he shows up, flashbacks reveal Tae-Sul growing close to this child, who saves him from being bullied. After a fire breaks out, Tae-Sul told him to leave him alone. A nasty grin crosses his face though, promising Tae-Sul he’s going to kill everyone. It turns out a girl is being kept hidden in the closet by a teacher, who sends a picture of Tae-Sul and Seo-Hae straight across to the Control Bureau. After, she begins fighting against Seo-Hae, who easily dispatches her. Realizing this was a trap all along, the pair find themselves off on the run again. Only, this time Sigma happens to be waiting for them out in the playground. This hints that Sigma is actually Won-Ju from the past.
The Episode Review
Sisyphus: The Myth continues to chug along, throwing in more twists and turns and giving everyone whiplash in the process. The entire show has gone completely off the rails but it’s undeniably an engrossing watch. The post apocalyptic scenes are absolutely gorgeous and seeing this ravaged world really does give off an eerie feeling. It was also great to see Tae-Sul’s bodyguard still alive, and the show at least goes some way to explain some of the niggling little plot holes. However, it’s the bigger gaping chasms in this that are the real problem here and no amount of plotting is likely to close this messy Pandora’s Box. I won’t bore everyone with all the individuals issues with this but Sisyphus is best to go into with your brain firmly switched off. If you think about illogical scenarios or the timeline for too long, you’ll almost certainly give yourself a headache. Compared to other time travel shows, this makes last year’s Alice look coherent. Still, we’ve got some new paintings, a couple of clues surrounding Sigma and a tantalizing cliffhanger hanging over this one ready for next week. The opening scene featuring Tae-Sul tumbling down a hill and landing in an abandoned building perfectly sums up this drama.
