Episodes 1 & 2

Finally, I get to do a recap on this blog. I usually binge a show after all the episodes have aired, but I wanted to keep up with The Uncanny Counter: Counter Punch. I mean, I’m already behind because four episodes have aired already, but it’s better late than never, so let’s begin!

HEADS UP….SPOILER ALERT…SPOILER ALERT

Episode 1

We see our Counters have found their stride with their latest addition, So Mun. They are combating a particularly gnarly evil spirit that has hijacked a kindergarten school bus and is determined to kill everyone onboard. Our Counters are having difficulty subduing the spirit until So Moon arrives. If you don’t remember, So Mun has great strength, telekinesis, and the ability to call the Territory needed to strengthen the Counter’s powers and sense evil spirits. But So Mun is particularly strong, and without him, the rest of the Counters would not have been able to deal with this evil spirit. 

The Counters are stretched thin. Evil is ticking up, and they need assistance. In Yung, there is another spirit partner that hasn’t been assigned a human Counter. Despite the Counters advocating for a new addition, this spirit Jong-Guk is being particularly picky about which human he wants to be paired with. 

We are introduced to some new Counters in China. Who knew there were Counters all over the world? Maybe? Or just East Asia? I don’t know, but the fighting evil game is international. These Counters, who have the same powers as our Counters in Korea, are hunting out some particularly evil spirits, so evil they mention that they’ve never sensed this level of evil before.

These Counters don’t make it out alive. The evil spirits, there are three of them, kill the Counters and eat their souls, absorbing their powers. Oh S***. With their new powers, the three evil spirits head back to Korea. It turns out they weren’t Chinese at all. 

We are also introduced to  Ma Joo-Seok. Ma Joo-Seok is a firefighter with a spirit of gold. He is beloved in his community and is close to Eonni’s Gang. He also has a wife, Min-Ji, who is expecting their first child. The couple has been through a lot. They lost their money in a housing scam and have been working ever since to build their finances back up. His wife is the most torn up about it, but Ma Joo Seok has decided to move on. The culprit Park Seong-Uk is supposed to stand trial and sentencing. Min-Ji wants to ensure justice is served, but Joo-Seok advises her to let it go. Their life is flourishing, especially with their new baby on the way, whom they have nicknamed Treasure. 

We are also introduced to two other characters, a struggling mother and son. I don’t know how important they will be as the show continues.  So Mun and Han-Na come across the poor boy and his mother and learned that the father/husband was abusing the two. Mun and Han-Na fight off the drunken father and help the mother and child out, but it doesn’t end. Because the man owed so much money, the goons come and kidnap the kid and his mother with the plan to harvest their organs. Of course, there is a great scene of our Counters beating up these guys because the head of the organ transport operation is an evil spirit. 

Episode 2

This episode focuses on the new Counter Na Jeok-Bong. Jeok-Bong is a country bumpkin who works on his father’s cow farm. The only thing Jeok-Bong wants is a girlfriend. He goes on a date with a girl who is quite disappointed to see that Jeok-Bong does not look like his pictures. After humoring him for a bit, she leaves but forgets her phone. While chasing his date down to return her phone, Jeok-Bong saves her life and ends up in a coma after being hit by a truck. Mo-Tak, who has been the number one advocate for a new Counter, sends word that he has found the perfect host for the reluctant Jong-Guk. Jong-Guk is still reluctant, but when threatened with the risk of not being one of the elite Yung members, he accepts Jeok-Bong with the stipulation that Jeok-Bong should do nothing and value his safety above all else. 

Training begins with the new member, but it seems like the new member will be a lot more work than Eonii’s gang ever imagined.

Meanwhile, the man accused of being responsible for the housing scam, Seong-Uk is only being sentenced to two years in prison and three years on parole. The victims are flabbergasted at the injustice. Min-Ji, despite her husband’s warnings to let it go, goes to the courthouse only to be disappointed. She initially was going to join the crowd of angry victims accosting the accused as he left the courtroom, but upon seeing that the man that was being beaten was a body double and feeling the pangs of stress in her body that could threaten Treasure’s little life, she decides that it isn’t worth it and finds another exit to leave the courthouse.

Her husband told her not to go.

Upon getting on the elevator, she bumps into the Hwang Pil-Gwang gang beating up Seong-Uk. It turns out Hwang Pil-Gwang was behind the whole scam from the get-go and is looking for his money. Because they are evil spirits, when Min-Ji comes across the scene, they have Seong-Uk brutally attack Min-ji. It should be noted here what the powers are for the Evil Trio:

Hwang Pil-Gwang absorbed two counters’ powers and has incredible strength, telekinesis, and he can see the Territory. His sometimes boo-thang Gelly, ate the soul of the counter who can read people’s memories like Han-Na, and the skittery Wong has the ability to heal. 

After the attack Pil-Gwang forces Seong-Uk to cut his own throat, but only enough to knock him unconscious. When the police arrive, it looks like Seong-Uk had attacked a victim of the housing scam and then tried to take his own life. While saving a man from setting himself on fire, another victim of this housing scam, Mr. Ma, learns that his wife is fighting for her life. Upon arriving at the hospital, he sees her die. Everyone in Eonii’s gang is heartbroken, for Min-Ji was beloved.

In other news, our Counters have their first run-in with one of the Evil Trio, Wong. And Wong is besting them until Mun shows up. Beaten, Wong runs away, avoiding the reckoning he should receive, but through Han-na, the gang learns that Wong was responsible for the death of Ms. So, the Chinese Counter.

Han-Na also reveals that she saw Min-Ji in Wong’s memories, and she, Mun, and Mo-tak decide to investigate. They sneak into Seong-Uk’s hospital room, and Han-Na gets to work. She sees Seong-Uk’s memory has been erased, and Han-Na has to work hard to unscramble it. There she sees the faces of the other two of the Evil Trio and learns that they were responsible for Min-Ji’s death and not Seong-uk. 

Back at the noodle shop, Han-Na has Mun sketch the Evil Trio. As he is wrapping up the sketch, the kindergartners come into the shop for noodles. The boy and the mother who were rescued in episode one are there eating noodles as well, while Mun’s best friends from season one (who are dating now) help the young boy with Korean so he can get ready for school in a few months. Everything is happy and wonderful. 

Then Hwang Pil-Gwang shows up and takes a seat in the noodle shop.

I’ll leave that here. 

First Thoughts

These first two episodes were fun. All of our Counters seem to have found their stride. Ms. Chu is still running her noodle shop. Mo-tak is actively on the police force. The head of his department is confused about how Mo-tak can locate all these criminals that they have looked for, for years, with the running joke that he has a hunch about where the criminals are while on the toilet. 

But the most exciting setup in this show is the villains. While most evil spirits are rated as level 1-3, the evil spirits, led by Hwang Pil-Gwang, are off the scale, and most of all, they are walking around with the powers of Counters. But more than that, Hwang Pil-Gwang is played by Kang Ki-Young. He has been in many super-popular shows, including Bring It on Ghost, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, and Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Everyone fell in love with him in Extraordinary Attorney Woo. His character was so kind that Kang Ki-Young was thrown into the spotlight, gardening him a fan base that thinks Ki-Young is the hottest thing since sliced bread. But the newly minted heartthrob has taken a detour from his usual roles as the funny, friendly sidekick to playing the slick back villain Hwang Pil-Gwang and I am here for it. Shout out to the director, who gives the ladies what they want with a shirtless and very buff Kang Ki-Young coming out of a pool.

The second season of The Uncanny Counter promises to be interesting. If all twelve episodes keep the same pace and thoroughness of storytelling, we should end this season with a bang.