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Episode 4: Blink
In “Blink,” AI takes over the world in a different way from “The Prayer.” It provides assistance to people such as self-driving cars and assisting the police with criminal cases.
We first meet our heroine, Kim Ji-Woo (Lee Si-Young), who wakes up to the nightmare of her parents dying in a car accident when she is just a young girl. Now all grown-up, Ji-Woo is a policewoman who uses AI contact lenses to help her arrest criminals. You’ll be having flashbacks to Tom Cruise in ‘Minority Report.’
Ji-Woo tries using this AI to chase a suspect, but as soon as she tries to apprehend him, he tasers her and leaves her unconscious on the ground. This is enough for her superiors to punish her for failing to arrest the perp. As her punishment, she will be paired with a rookie, which provides temporary relief. Then only to find out she is actually being partnered with a new experimental AI that looks human.
In her car, the AI turns into the appearance of a male and says his name is Seo Nang (Ha Joon). The pair arrive at a crime scene where Ji-Woo refuses to listen to Seo Nang’s analysis . She goes to the victim’s home, and attempts to force open the door until Seo Nang tells her that he can figure out the passcode within 2.7 seconds.
Inside, she finds bottles of suppressants and Seo Nang explains what they could be used for. She returns to the crime scene and confronts a bunch of high schoolers who are mixing drugs into their AI contacts and putting them on. Feeling intimidated, the high schoolers prepare to fight her. Seo Nang runs 75 stimulations and determines the best one. He shares it with her, but she doesn’t use it. Instead, she pulls out her gun and fires towards the sky.
Ji-Woo acquires video surveillance of a fight involving the victim from one of the teenagers via his AI contacts. Back at the station, she plays the video for her superiors, suggesting that the people in the footage seem to have enhanced abilities. They conclude classified military information is needed to crack the case. Seo Nang recommends they start digging into the data cables.
Ji-Woo follows Seo Nang’s advice and finds a device. She connects Seo Nang to the device and lets him investigate it. Seo Nang discovers Chiwoo Industries invented cybernetic technology in secret for military purposes. They create organic weapons that look like humans, and the victim is one of them. Seo Nang brings another subject involved in the experiment to Captain Baek Jung’s attention. He had medical procedures to enhance his physical strength, but lost his mind as soon as his physical and intellectual abilities reached their maximum levels.
While driving home, the pair run into Baek Jung. Seo Nang regrets having their location compromised. To make up for it, Seo Nang offers to drive, and Ji Woo at first refuses recalling the death of her parents but eventually gives in.
Knocked down by the car, Baek Jung loses consciousness. Seo Nang decides to hack into his mind and stop the AI from controlling him. Baek Jung awakens and attacks Ji-Woo. The pair begin fighting Baek Jung in two different worlds, Seo Nang in his mind and Ji-Woo in the real world.
Ji-Woo ends up in a hospital ward. Her superior comes in to tell her about management’s decision to remove her AI partner. The next day after he was removed, Ji-Woo wakes up from a happy memory of her parents before the car crash as a parting gift from Seo Nang.
Later, she manages to find Seo Nang’s AI and begins using him again. She might have changed her mind, and thinks that he’s a reliable partner or perhaps she misses his presence (we leave it up to your interpretation!).
COMMENTS
“Blink” is a bit of a lackluster if we compare it to the first three episodes. It is a lot more lighthearted and it doesn’t really tackle thought-provoking ideas.
However, it has some familiarity to it as it seems to follow similar plot points found in typical Korean dramas. This is what makes it weaker than the rest of the series. It is, however, very action-packed. And the moves are cool to watch nevertheless.
A simple AI story without surprising or memorable plot twists.
Episode 5: Baby it’s Over Outside
“Baby it’s Over Outside” introduces us to another dystopian world, but it includes an interesting twist to it. A huge meteorite is approaching Earth and there’s only one week left until doomsday.
Our protagonist is Kim Nam-Woo (David Lee). After four year of studying, he finally becomes a police officer, but a month into the job he finds out doomsday is near. The strange thing is, he doesn’t remember why he wanted to become a cop and has a seemingly bad memory, although he claims to be clairvoyant.
Nam-Woo watches a video in the police station about a human with a superpower urging others with superpowers to save the world together. Interrupted suddenly by his superior, Nam-Woo jumps out of his seat. His superior inquires if he’s going to continue reporting to work. The rookie hesitates, and his boss continues, “You can stop reporting to work if you don’t want to.”
While Nam-Woo is on patrol, he plays with the idea of not reporting to work, but quickly dismisses it because he hates being at home alone. Nam-Woo continues to experience his deja-vu moments. As he walks past a house with a red flag, he examines the sign, thinking that he has seen it before, but can’t put his finger on to it.
He spots a girl trying to sneak out of the same house suspiciously, and again thinks he has seen her before. But he still can’t remember where. He arrests her anyway, thinking that he might have seen her on a wanted list. He gets to the police station only to discover she is not on the wanted list.
Still handcuffed, Hye-Hwa (Shin Eun-Soo) is questioned by Nam-Woo’s superior for sneaking into someone’s house without permission. She tells them, “The person who lives in that house is a superhuman. We don’t have time, we need to get her help urgently.”
The two officers decide to send her to the owner of the house. Nam-Woo apologizes to her in the car, but she doesn’t seem too interested in listening. They reach a rocky path and Hye-Hwa says that they will have to walk from here on. The police officer has trouble catching up to her pace as he pants and begs her to slow down.
The two sit down to take a short break even though Hye-Hwa doesn’t seem tired at all. Nam-Woo asks her a question, “What kind of abilities does that person have?” She reluctantly explains, “She has the ability to recognize superpowers. There are voluntary and involuntary superhumans. Voluntary superhumans can use their abilities whenever they want to, while involuntary superhumans use their abilities without knowing.”
We learn that Ms. Yang (Hwang Jung-Min), the person they are searching for, had told Hye-Hwa that she has superpowers. Hye-Hwa, however, is embarrassed about her powers and refuses to reveal what they are. When they finally reach Ms. Yang’s house, she isn’t there. Nam-Woo recognizes the red flag and tries to tell Hye-Hwa that this place seems familiar to him. Hye-Hwa cuts him off, suggesting that he spend the night because the sun is setting soon.
The next day, Nam-Woo wakes up from a dream about having a conversation with Hye-Hwa under the orange sky. In his dream, Hye-Hwa says, “Perhaps, I will never get to see you again. Did you sleep well? I didn’t sleep a wink last night. The sky seems like it’s on fire. It’s pretty.” She goes on to ask, “You don’t know what my powers are, do you?”
Nam-Woo gets up and greets Hye-Hwa. She plans to stay there, and says that it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to be there when the world ends. Then, she surprises Nam-Woo by saying the same thing in his dream, “Perhaps, I will never get to see you again.”
On his way home, Nam-Woo wonders why he feels frustrated. He thinks it might be possible that Hye-Hwa has a crush on him. he next moment, we see Nam-Woo coming back to Ms. Yang’s place. He cooks up an excuse, telling her that he has superpowers too and he wants to talk to Ms. Yang about it. He claims he can predict the future, but he starts speaking gibberish when he tries to elaborate more about it.
Hye-Hwa flips a coin and Nam-Woo guesses whether it’s going to be heads or tails. He gets it right, but Hye-Hwa reminds him that this is his third try and the two guesses before were wrong. He asks Hye-Hwa about her superpowers, and she reveals, “I have the ability to make the person I love not forget me.” She admits that her mother suffered from Alzheimer’s, but she didn’t know because her mother appeared to be fine in front of her. Nam-Woo confesses that he doesn’t have a superpower, but Hye-Hwa already knew.
Ms. Yang is back home. Hye-Hwa hurries her to go down the mountain and save the world. But Ms. Yang says that she just came back from the meeting with superhumans, and received news that it was too late because the speed of the meteorite has changed. The collision could occur as early that night .
The three examine the green sky filled with shooting stars. Ms. Yang offers to read his fortune and see if he has any superpowers. It turns out that he has. He has the power to turn back time whenever he dies in an accident but Nam-Woo doesn’t remember a thing, so he is stuck in this never ending cycle.
Ms. Yang comes up with an idea. Hye-Hwa has the ability to make people she loves not forget her. She tells Hye-Hwa to fall in love with Nam-Woo. Ms. Yang pushes Nam-Woo to stand next to Hye-Hwa. The two lock eyes with each other but their romantic moment quickly ends when Hye-Hwa realizes that Ms. Yang is watching them.
They give it another go but soon realize that Ms. Yang is still watching them, breaking another romantic moment. Ms. Yang finally goes into her house and peeps through her door.
Finally, Nam-Woo confesses to liking her. As they are about to kiss, their romantic moment breaks a third time when Hye-Hwa screams and apologizes to Ms. Yang. She shouts, “Sorry, Ms. Yang! I can’t do this!”
The meteorite hits the Earth, and then Nam-Woo is back to those days where he studies for his civil exam. He walks out of his tiny room to get water. The door next to him opens, and it’s Hye-Hwa. They both do what they want in the kitchen and get on with their lives.
COMMENTS
This dystopian-themed episode is bright and colorful. The sky is so beautiful, despite the fact that doomsday is imminent. While most apocalyptic movies are usually all doom and gloom, “Baby it’s Over Outside” has a different take on it. Everywhere seems more peaceful than ever, people quit their jobs and stay with their loved ones. This poses a different question compared to “Joan’s Galaxy.” If everyone were to die at the same time, how would you choose to spend your last days?
This episode has an open-ending which isn’t really well-loved by the viewers. But it seems to imply that Nam-Woo will get to save the Earth eventually. There are hints throughout the episode pointing to how his repetitions are slowly changing for the better. Perhaps, in a few more tries, he will save the Earth. The first clue we have is Nam-Woo acknowledging that everything feels very familiar and he can’t put a finger on it. He has gone through the same thing over and over, which is why he finds everything so familiar. With things becoming more familiar to him, his behavior may change accordingly.
Another one is Nam-Woo’s dream. He is surprised to hear Hye-Hwa saying familiar things in his dream, but there are still some dissimilarities. This insinuates that he has done something different which is leading to new experiences that could change time.
Episode 5 has interesting comedic twists in it, even though it’s a dystopian world. It’s also lighthearted, unlike the dark episodes at the beginning of “SF8.” We love how each episode differs so distinctly from one another!
Episode 6: White Crow
The 6th episode of “SF8” is a little scary with some horror elements in it. It’s definitely not for the faint-hearted. “White Crow” questions advanced VR games that become overly and unnecessarily realistic.
The episode begins with Juno (Hani), who is known as the gaming queen, and she is having a virtual chat with her fans. One of her former high school classmates joins the chat and asks if she is really Jang Jun-Ho, revealing the fact that there were rumors about Jun-Ho committing suicide. Her fans quickly turn against her calling her a pathological liar, and Juno has a mental breakdown.
Juno joins a game show, “Show Me Who You Are,” in an attempt to recover her image. This game is named IOM (Inside of Mind) and the newest version is going to be released. This improved version doesn’t allow the player to get past any stages until the player overcomes his or her trauma. Sounds like a terrible idea!
Mr. Yoon promises her that once any sign of psychological distress or physical harm is detected, Juno will be taken out of the game immediately. However, he begs her not to have any negative thoughts, so that she can recover her image.
When she appears on stage, the audience isn’t excited to see her. She goes into the game and finds herself back in 2018 at school. Student Jun-Ho (Lee Se-Hee) is bullied by her classmates and gets cut by razor blades under her desk. All of a sudden, all the faces in the classroom disappear and Juno receives her first mission to find Baek Ah-Young. As she frantically looks for Ah-Young, she hears someone calling her name. When she turns around, she sees a version of Ah-Young with a crow’s head.
Feeling very afraid, Juno moves backward to avoid her, but gets stabbed by her teacher’s ruler as she is entering the classroom. Juno restarts her search , and looks for Ah-Young as the teacher carries on with the lesson about Apollo. When she finds Ah-Young, Ah-Young gives her a note, telling her to run. Juno freezes when everyone’s heads turn into crow’s and they start attacking her.
Juno wakes up again with her stage restarted. She taps on her watch to get to Mr. Yoon and after a few attempts, she finally gets hold of him. Mr. Yoon tells her to finish her stages quickly because the viewers are turning the channel. She says that this is only her second attempt, but to her surprise, Mr. Yoon tells her that this is her tenth attempt and it has been 3 hours since she first started the game.
Mr. Yoon decides to skip the first stage for her and go to the second one. Her second mission is to find Ah-Young and put her nametag on. But things don’t go smoothly whe Jun-Ho tries to find out what Ah-Young did to her.
When Jun-Ho goes into the computer lab, Ah-Young is angrily typing that Jun-Ho is a liar who stole her boyfriend. To stop her, Juno pushes Ah-Young off the chair.r. Suddenly, all the computer screens in the room turn on and show what Ah-Young was typing.
Ah-Young appears, and as Juno tries to put her nametag on her, Ah-Young stabs her in the chest.
This time, Juno wakes up on the rooftop. An NPC appears and tells her that a fire broke out in the TV station and Juno is in a vegetative state while her mind is still playing the game. The NPC tells her to admit that she’s not Jun-Ho but Ah-Young. She persuades Jun-Ho to tell the truth because that is the only way out of her vegatative state.
Jun-Ho appears sitting on the edge of the rooftop, Ah-Young walks over and talks to her. When Jun-Ho asks if she was the one behind everything, Ah-Young backs out and screams that she never lies. She watches Jun-Ho as she is about to jump off the roof.
Ah-Young recalls her past, when the two girls were best friends. She took Jun-Ho to a rundown motel, telling Jun-Ho a little about herself. Her parents gave birth to her in a motel because they didn’t have time. She puts a baby mouse on her palm and scares Jun-Ho. Ah-Young reveals the jealousy she has towards Jun-Ho. “Your grandpa made money from building the overpass, your dad made money from demolishing it. You don’t even have to lift a finger to earn money.” Gradually, Ah-Young begins screaming louder and louder in Jun-Ho’s face, “It’ll be the same for your daughter, and your daughter’s daughter, and your daughter’s daughter’s daughter…” Jun-Ho begs her to stop it, but Ah-Young continues.
On the rooftop, Jun-Ho is ready to jump. She calls Ah-Young to ask if they are still friends, but Ah-Young denies it. Jun-Ho loses her grip jumps off the roof. Watching that scene, Juno tears up with the NPC beside her.
Juno restarts the stage again, but this time, she jumps out the window and kills herself. As curious students go to see, a white crow is below and the sound of the heart monitor indicating a flatline resounds.
COMMENTS
An awfully, eerie episode that can be scary for people who didn’t see it coming. Not just the faces that disappear, but Ah-Young/Juno’s behavior sends chills to the spine as well. The twist revealing that Juno is Ah-Young herself is also shocking. As Juno grows to become an adult, she becomes delusional and deceives herself that she is Jun-Ho. Could this be guilt?
This sad story also tackles bullying and suicide well.
Being an outcast especially in school is extremely painful. Ah-Young shows some jealousy towards Jun-Ho’s life and that’s probably why she bullies her. Ah-Young’s life may have been tough and may not have anything going for her, but as we can see, that still doesn’t justify her actions.
A plus in this story is that it portrays bullies who bully without a valid reason, and that bullies can have any types of personalities. Our heroine, Juno, is a little eccentric and creepy unlike the other typical portrayals of bullies.
“White Crow” doesn’t justify a bully’s actions, it makes a firm point that bullying is unjustifiable no matter what. Bullies can bully someone over something extremely petty but they don’t realize that bullying stays with the victim for the rest of their lives.
The 6th episode ends with yet another tragedy, but it’s as unique as all the other episodes of “SF8” can get. This one deals with a slight tinge of realistic horror, just enough to keep it memorable for a long time.
What is your favorite “SF8” episode so far? We’d love to know!
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