It’s the first time we see Team Haedong branch literally all together in action in Jirisan!
Definitely one of the best episodes in the entire series, the 10th chapter of Jirisan presented a solid story of teamwork without swerving to the climactic mystery peeking on the horizon.
abbyinhallyuland watched Jirisan on iQiyi
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04 | 05| 06 | 07 | 08| 09| 10| 11 | 12 | 13 & 14 | Finale Week + Review |
Jirisan Episode 10 Key Moments
“Do you think this is about money? This place is our home and where we stem from.”
In the year 1991, plans for establishing cable car at the national park through Black Bridge village was first conceived. The then head of Jirisan park development team, Mr. Yang, deems the village to be the perfect hub for the cable car feature. However, the village head, Mr. Kim, strongly refuses to be relocated.
Warning the village people they will regret their choice, troubles like soiling the village well which pushed them to get water from the stream. Unfortunately, Mr. Kim’s wife went missing. She was last seen getting water but a stranger stops her track.
Back in the 2019 timeline, Yi-gang and Hyun-jo present the video streamer’s last captured moment. However, Chief Do disregards worrying about the video since no missing person was reported. He instead reminds the two to focus on the mountain spirit ritual event.
Feeling unsettled at the possibility of the video streamer to have been in danger, the two decide against what their chief told them. They pass on the task to Il-hae and Goo-young.
“Some slack all day long and some make a big deal out of everything.”
Supporting her ranger-partner, Yi-gang even gives a talisman while mumbling she’s doing a big thing since she was advised not to head to the north. Unknown to them, the man they want to search for found his way to escape and was found by the police. In fear, he keeps mumbling seeing ghost lights.
Il-hae and Goo-young find each other at Yi-gang’s grandmother’s place and learn from Detective Kim that the video streamer was found. Hearing her granddaughter go up north which she strongly advised her not to do, Grandma Moon-ok panicked.
At the Black Bridge village, the two find nothing suspicious, but as they check keenly, they discover the cellphone of the video streamer. They rush to comb the village not noticing strange lights seemingly tracking them. Realizing the presence of the lights, they run aimlessly.
Chief Do learns his juniors stubbornly go against his order and worries about them. He knows very well how dangerous the valley is since when he was a young ranger, he had a first-hand experience of its tricky nature. Even experienced rangers get lost in that valley which seemingly makes a person lose his sense of direction.
Back in 1991, when they found Mr. Kim’s wife, her pulse was already weak, unfortunately, she failed to make it. The young Do Jae-jin blamed himself since he passed by the tree where she was found but was not able to see her there. Later, Mr. Kim committed suicide leaving his son an orphan.
“People say they see ghost lights on dark and foggy nights like this on the mountain.”
Finding a place to hide from the “ghost lights”, Yi-gang and Hyun-jo smell moon bears in the vicinity, adding concern to their already troubled situation.
Remembering the woman he encountered on the trail, he called to notify the rangers’ station. That same woman was actually in the hiding space where Yi-gang and Hyun-jo settled. Sensing the unconscious ajumma succumbed to hypothermia, they rush to go outside despite the ghost lights – which turned out to be the eyes of moon bears.
With his bad knee, Hyun-jo struggles to carry the ajumma, thankfully, Il-hae and Goo-young come to their aid albeit all of them are trapped in the hiding place. They realize how they keep going in circles without luck in finding the correct direction.
“I’m meeting Yang-sun’s mother soon. I should have at least a team leader title since I don’t have anything else.”
Running out of ideas as to how they can escape their baffling situation, Goo-young bicker about Yi-gang’s stubbornness. He whines about how his plan on acing the promotion exam is ruined. He blabs how it’s important for him to pass it so he can proudly meet Yang-sun’s mom.
Just then, they receive a radio call from Chief Do and report their bleak situation as well as finding a woman who needs emergency care. Chief Do requests to speak with Yi-gang and orders her to lead the way. However, Yi-gang responds how she keeps getting lost.
Telling them how he also lost his way before in that valley, and it caused the death of the person they were looking for. He tells them to follow the human trail and not the animal trail.
“Trust each other. Don’t worry about anything, just run. Your fellow rangers will watch your back.”
Following the instructions of Chief Do, the team run in unison as a backup team was also mobilized. Remembering the events in 1991, Chief Do reminisces the lives he was not able to save back then. But he is confident that his team will save a life.
The missing ajumma is rescued well and was able to do her annual prayer at a Buddhist temple. Curiously, her prayer is for the deceased Mr. Kim.
Goo-young also meets Yang-sun’s mom as Yi-gang and Hyun-jo help the “meet the parent” date by flaunting how good he is as a ranger.
Meanwhile, Il-hae who has been suffering a bad knee gets a visit from his wife who proposes looking for a job at the headquarters.
Just then, the rangers are alerted of a severe accident, and they all rush to the designated place. Hyun-jo also foresees another vision that leads to the culprit.
Jirisan Episode 10 Musings
Episode 10 of Jirisan would probably linger on me the most for how it felt like a short film. Notably, we also saw how the team was one in escaping a tricky place.
Challenging their familiarity on the mountain, they rely on the experience of their chief. Thereby, saving a precious life.
Tears even welled in my eyes in the dying minutes, when during important meetings, the rangers still choose to rush to an accident site.
It’s hard not to have an inkling that the unfortunate tragic death of the Kim couple, who were survived by their child, can be linked to Jirisan’s series of murders and terror incidents between 2018 to 2020.
Episode 11 preview feels like preparing all of us for the culminating assault to the story’s peak. We saw a glimpse of Hyun-jo opening his eyes. Dear Jirisan, let’s make this happen. He’s been in bed for a long time. Bravery won’t make Yi-gang endure her plans.
Seemingly resting on rolling out the mystery clues, we can sense a vague introduction and connection of who the real culprit or culprits in this episode.
From here onwards, it’s going to be a thrilling climb.
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