This K-drama on Prime Video, which airs only one episode per week, is exceptionally captivating and leaves us with many questions every Thursday. Episode 2 of The Killing Vote was rather confusing, but at least we have a new nickname for the masked vigilante that is not Korea’s Batman. The special investigation team is now determined to catch the killer because their jobs depend on this discovery. On one hand, we have Kwon Seok-Joo in prison, and on the other, Joo Hyun believes he may be behind the mask because of a few words said by the masked man. Is she right about her suspicion, or is this just a coincidence? Let’s find out in the latest episode of The Killing Vote.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Episode?
The Killing Vote Episode 2 begins back in the day, during Kwon Seok-Joo’s final trial. The judge gives him the chance to speak for himself, and it is when Seok-Joo accepts all the charges made against him in response. He goes on to talk about the flawed judicial system that took the side of the adult man who kidnapped, murdered, and did much worse to Seok-Joo’s 8-year-old daughter. This is when he uses the phrase “monsters who are considered innocent” in court and then gets taken away by the police. In the present day, Joo Hyun stands in front of Moo-Chan and tells him that this is the reason she believes Seok-Joo has something to do with The Killing Vote. Moo-Chan says the trial was not for public viewing, and he remembers everyone who was present during the trial, but Joo Hyun was definitely not there. So, how could she know about the words he used? She tells him she discovered a video during another case and asks to be taken on by the special investigative team. Moo-Chan tells her that Seok-Joo is in prison, so there’s no way he could create such an elaborate plan without any contact or visitors from the outside. Joo-Hyun returns to her unit dissatisfied.
On the other hand, when Moo-Chan returns to his team, they tell him that Gi-Chul’s money was all sent to an NGO that works with children who have been affected by sexual violence. At the same time, we see that even in prison, Seok-Joo retains his professor status. A young inmate tells him he passed an exam and appreciates Seok-Joo’s help. Seok-Joo is all smiles until the young man questions him about Gi-Chul’s death. He feels somehow responsible because Gi-Chul had threatened him in prison, and soon after he had died. Seok-Joo’s sidekicks make it very clear that the man should not talk about “unnecessary” things, and they move on. Elsewhere, Moo-Chan discovers that Joo-Hyun was actually present outside during the trials, protesting the system herself. He invites her over to his team because he sees some potential in her.
Moo-Chan tries to visit Seok-Joo in prison, but he refuses any visitors. The police officer in charge asks for Moo-Chan’s card so he can “hand him information about inmate 0512”. It’s not quite clear what this interaction is supposed to be about, but it’s possible the man may know something on the inside and is willing to share it with Moo-Chan. We don’t see him respond, and the next time, he sends Joo-Hyun, who is eager to talk to all the inmates regarding The Killing Vote. In the meantime, he visits the bar where Gi-Chul was last seen before his death and interrogates the waiter there. Moo-Chan is aggressive in his ways, as we know, and the waiter, who is initially not compliant, quickly has to spill his secrets when Moo-Chan threatens to burn up his illegal cash. Gi-Chul had asked the waiter specifically for help because they seemed to be on good terms. The man even called Gi-Chul “hyung,” an endearing term translating to “older brother.” It turns out that the cab that Gi-Chul got in had already been waiting for Gi-Chul to arrive. The waiter had installed CCTVs in the women’s toilets and was just as filthy, so Moo-Chan ends up burning his money anyway and leaving him to rot.
The cyber ops team discovers the IP address from which the malware had been spreading and creating “zombie” computers like Joo Hyun’s sister’s. Elsewhere, Moo-Chan speaks with the cab driver, who says he had been called as a driver for the night by Gi-Chul. The car he had to drive had been a cab, which is illegal to do, but he did it for the money anyway. The cab driver had driven Gi-Chul back to where he had picked up the car and taken money from the glove compartment, as he was asked to do. The cab driver shows Moo-Chan a text message received from Gi-Chul, but Gi-Chul had fallen asleep in the car when he had left, so it was clear that someone else had set up the cab operation. They try to find out if the messages came from a burner phone and head to the junkyard, where the car is now. Unfortunately, by the time the team arrives, the car is already crushed, and the dash cam can’t help them anymore.
Joo-Hyun and Jo-Dan discover the IP address of the source after searching through the computers in a compromised PC shop. But when they arrive at the scene of the crime, it is where Gi-Chul had been operating before he was killed. The whole team arrives there, and they realize that it was a month before Gi-Chul’s release that the computer network was used. Joo-Hyun takes all the data she needs from the place to work on later.
She then visits the Cheongnang prison, where she’s set to interview all the inmates. As expected, Seok-Joo isn’t even on her list until he hears the detective who asked for Moo-Chan’s card tell the warden (who allows Seok-Joo to sit with him in his office) that she keeps repeating the one phrase about “monsters and innocence.” This piques Seok-Joo’s interest, and he finally goes to see her. Seok-Joo doesn’t waste much time with Joo Hyun; he tells her that she should look for the next victim, and she wonders if he can figure it out without any clues. Joo Hyun is not shy, and she had directly asked him about his relationship with the masked man, but Seok-Joo had only told her to focus on the next victim instead. It had been Moo-Chan’s idea to use the phrase that Joo Hyun had caught because that would’ve brought the lion out of his den. But Moo-Chan is more unsure of Seok-Joo’s connection with the killer now, while Joo Hyun thinks some of his words are important data for her next move.
Joo Hyun creates a database of all potential victims, which includes a woman named Eun-Gyeong. Jo-Dan had nicknamed the masked killer “Gaetal” or “Dog Mask,” and Moo-Chan thought it had a nice ring to it. Gaetal’s next victim is Eun-Gyeong, who was arrested for insurance fraud but then let go because of a lack of evidence. We see her try to poison her next victim and take his kids to school. She then pushes the kids in front of a speeding car, almost getting them killed. Later, she threatens them and hurts them physically, but before she can hit them, they flinch in fear, and she’s kidnapped. In Joo-Min’s school, we realize her teacher is the man who was messaging the “executioner.” Back at home, when the operation is taking place, he has what looks like an asthmatic attack, and his mother comes in with a nurse to help him.
Is Moo-Chan Dead?
The country has to vote on killing Eun-Gyeong, who has previously killed three of her husbands for insurance money, but the reason Gaetal is extremely angry is that she used the children in her plans too. The special units team has all the support they need to save Eun-Gyeong before Gaetal can kill her. Joo Hyun and Jo-Dan work hard to find her location, and ultimately she’s discovered in a car with a bomb in it. Moo-Chan realizes that Gaetal is on call with Eun-Gyeong and hearing everything that is happening around her. He speaks to her through text because there’s no video surveillance. Time is running out, and Moo-Chan wonders if there’s anywhere they can take the car in case the bomb goes off, so civilians are safe. This area is close to Joo Hyun’s sister’s school. Joo Hyun tells Moo-Chan that that is the best place to take the car because there’s a field where the bomb can go off without harming anyone. She makes a plan to evacuate the school, as there are only 10 minutes until the bomb goes off. Jo-Dan tells Joo Hyun to go there herself to make sure her sister is safe. In the meantime, Moo-Chan himself gets inside the car and forces Eun-Gyeong to drive fast.
Eun-Gyeong has already admitted to her crimes, as seen in a video sent by Gaetal. Joo Hyun arrives at the school and finds Joo-Min with the help of one of her classmates. He himself looks a little bit suspicious, but we don’t have enough information just yet to figure out which side he’s on. They reach the schoolyard, and Moo-Chan disconnects from everyone after telling them to stay behind. Moo-Chan tells Gaetal that he knows he can hear him. Moo-Chan promises that there will be another trial and that Eun-Gyeong will be arrested for her crimes and given proper punishment. He asks Gaetal what people would think if he, too, as an innocent person, died in the car with Eun-Gyeong. At the end of the episode, Moo-Chan says he won’t move an inch, and Gaetal should stop the bomb. At the same time, Joo Hyun is seen rushing to the car, but before she can reach it, it blows up.
Joo Hyun is getting teary-eyed as she watches the blown-up car. In the preview of episode 3, we can see that Moo-Chan may be badly burned but still alive. Joo Hyun will probably get to the bottom of this, but it wouldn’t make sense if the character in the middle of all this and who has connections with everything would die out of the blue. We’ll know more only in episode 3 of The Killing Vote.
