In a thriller, we rarely get to see the perspective of every side involved. Mask Girl connects the dots of an investigation through the many perspectives of the people involved. Episode 1 introduced us to the main character; episode 2 took us to the guy who was obsessed with her; and episode 3 was about his mother, who was desperate to find him. This doesn’t stop the story from progressing, though, and although some incidents overlap for us to understand the timeline of things, it conveniently moves forward in such a way that it keeps us engaged and wanting more. The end of episode 3 is a huge cliffhanger, and we can’t wait to move on to the next episode to learn more.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Episode?
In 1974, Kyung-Ja found a husband through a matchmaker. She didn’t really care about his looks, but he had a well-paid job, which was all she needed to get by. Kyung-Ja was wrong about the man, though, because he cheated on her and left her alone with her son, Oh-Nam. For her son, Kyung-Ja worked tremendously hard to raise him right and make sure he got to go to school. She worked odd jobs, became a taxi driver, and finally started her own eating joint. In the middle of all this, Kyung-Ja would find her son returning home with things missing from his bag and bruises on his body. Maybe she didn’t realize he was being bullied, but she ended up having a prayer circle for him. This clearly didn’t help because her son ended up in jail. As a child, Oh-Nam would pretend to study while reading inappropriate adult comic books. Her dream was to make him a doctor, but instead, he became an accountant. Even after all she did, the ungrateful child decided to move out as an adult to create his fantasy land with all the dolls and comic books he could keep. He never let her in the house, and when she came by to give him banchan (Korean side dishes) that she made herself, he would tell her that he didn’t have any time to cook for himself and send her back.
In 2009, Kyung-Ja finally got mad and told her son she would cut ties with him. On her birthday (the only time the shameless man would call his mother), she didn’t answer his call, and later, when she called him back, she badgered him for not calling again. Two weeks later, Kyung-Ja finds her son not answering her calls or reaching out at all. In fear, she gets the police to break open his unit, and as they enter, they find a rotten smell in the house. Kyung-Ja finds his sex doll and thinks it’s a real person, only to be reassured by the police that it’s a life-size doll. The police then accidentally stumble upon a chopped-up body in the room, and Kyung-Ja faints at the sight, thinking it’s Oh-Nam. Oh-Nam’s lair is displayed all over the news, and he’s called a murderer by the time Kyung-Ja wakes up and answers questions from the police. The police discover at the office that Oh-Nam and Mo-Mi disappeared around the same time. This makes everyone assume they were having an affair. Kyung-Ja finds out about the mask girl and, to figure out more about her son, learns to use a computer. She even learns young people’s slang so she can chat with the other people in the group chat for Mask Girl. The internet is now filled with the news that Mo-Mi is the mask girl, and her pictures are everywhere.
Until now, Kyung-Ja thought Oh-Nam was still alive, but one night she had a terrifying dream where his head fell off his body, and the next day his body was discovered in a forest area. Kyung-Ja is absolutely devastated, and now she has more reason to find Mo-Mi. She even finds Mo-Mi’s mother’s home, but they’ve cut ties so long ago that it doesn’t matter. Through the chat, she finds a woman who has a chest like Mo-Mi’s and a brand new face. She finds out where the girl works and chases her down. At the same time, Kyung-Ja also withdraws all her savings (which is a lot) and purchases a gun.
Does Kyung-Ja Kill The Girl?
Since Mo-Mi has had facial surgery, everybody knows she’s going to look like a completely different person. Kyung-Ja gets a taxi to pretend she’s a taxi driver. The girl she thinks is Mo-Mi enters the cab, and Kyung-Ja takes her a little away from where they start their drive. She takes her to an isolated location and beats her up to get answers. The girl, who even wears the same necklace as Mo-Mi, doesn’t seem to know anything about Oh-Nam, though. Kyung-Ja doesn’t care about what she’s saying at all and aims the gun at her head. At the end of the episode, she points out that she’s wearing the moon necklace seen on Mask Girl, and the girl starts cackling hysterically. She claims she knows the girl Kyung-Ja is looking for.
We don’t know anything about where Mo-Mi is because this episode is entirely based on Kyung-Ja’s point of view. What does Mo-Mi look like now? Has she moved to a new country, or is she going after everyone who hurts her feelings? We went from two episodes that revolved completely around Mo-Mi to an episode that switched gears to Kyung Ja’s point of view. Mask Girl leaves us extremely curious after episode 3. At the same time, we are left wondering if the girl Kyung-Ja has kidnapped is actually Mo-Mi herself and is lying to her.
