Revenant, literally translated to The Demon, is the new Korean drama with mystery, thrills, and long-haired shadow spirits that are here to occupy your nightmares. The show stars Kim Tae-Ri and Oh Jung-Se in pivotal roles, and we love the detective work done by these two already! Last week, they solved the mystery of a vengeful spirit who had some unfinished business in the earthly realm, specifically to save his young sister from their terrible parents. This week, a new mystery with high heels and a purple coat unfolds, and simultaneously, we continue to learn about the spirit that’s taken over San-Yeong’s body too.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In Episode 3?
Hong-Sae is on a mission to prove to his senior, Mun-Chun, that he is a great detective and isn’t working just for a promotion. Mun-Chun had told him that he was looking for a connection between suicide cases. Mun-Chun’s first case was that of Hae-Song’s mother, who had marks on her wrists when she committed suicide; additionally, a lot of things didn’t add up when she died. Similarly, many years later, San-Yeong’s father and her grandmother had similar marks on their wrists, making Mun-Chun return to his old cases to figure out what the deal was. Through his research, Hong-Sae found a case of some college students who had committed suicide consecutively, and they all had one friend in common. Strangely, that friend had disappeared after her friends had committed suicide suspiciously. At the same time, San-Yeong and Hae-Sang head out to find the village of Jangjin-ri, the location where they should be able to find the origin of their evil spirit. What used to be a forest-like area now looks like a regular Seoul neighborhood, filled with convenience stores and residential buildings. San-Yeong and Hae-Sang go on a mission to find old people who may have lived there for generations. San-Yeong has also decided to skip her exam because she’s still reeling from watching her grandmother die. Finally, they find an old man whose younger brother used to live in Jangjin-ri. He tells the two of them that the spot they’re looking for is where a large pine tree used to be.
A long time ago, when children died, they would not be buried with their families but hung up on trees in drums, nameless and abandoned. The pine tree that San-Yeong and Hae-Sang are looking for used to be a tree used for this process. These trees used to be called “dukdali” trees. But later, the tree got renamed a “suicide tree,” and soon enough, many people committed suicide by hanging themselves on its branches. He also mentions that San-Yeong’s father used to be a friend of his younger brother’s. His brother’s granddaughter lives nearby, so San-Yeong and Hae-Sang ask for her details so they can find her next. It turns out that the person they’re looking for is the same girl, Lee Tae-Young, that Hong-Sae found to be friends with all the people who committed suicide. Another thing that Mun-Chun found was that they all had the same-looking fish bowl in their rooms. When they find Lee Tae-Yong’s room, Hae-Sang stops in his tracks because he can see something over the building. When San-Yeong looks through a mirror, she sees it too. A shadow of the pine tree, with multiple bodies hanging from it. Hae-Sang notices an empty rope, meaning another person will die soon enough. When they head to the 3rd floor, they can’t find anything except Hong-Sae and Mun-Chun.
Mun-Chun doesn’t understand why Hae-Sang would continue hanging with the girl who might’ve murdered her own father and grandmother for insurance money. Hae-Sang ignores him and tells him about the last empty rope. Mun-Chun is obviously skeptical about Hae-Sang’s words and leaves. In the meantime, San-Yeong eavesdrops on Hong-Sae’s conversation with the building owner, who tells him about Tae-Young’s whereabouts. Hong-Sae reminds San-Yeong that anyone she’s close to ends up dead, and she’s really hurt by this. He tells her to be careful and keep away from trouble.
San-Yeong figures out where Tae-Young works and ends up finding a shady aquarium where a young man tells her that he used to know Tae-Young. He is also looking for her to give her some things she left behind. Everyone that San-Yeong has met tells her that she’s been missing for the last two weeks. While talking to him, she gets a call from her landlady, and the man overhears. He tells her to wait for his boss, who might know more about Tae-Young, but in reality, he wants her to take a loan from him. On the other hand, Hong-Sae and Mun-Chun find out that all the people who have committed suicide had previously encountered a person wearing high heels who knocked loudly on their doors. This person shows up in a purple coat in the CCTV footage at all of these spots, but the interesting part is that there’s never footage of them leaving the place, only heading in.
San-Yeong leaves the aquarium to meet Hae-Sang, but before she goes, the men give her the same fish bowl that the kids who committed suicide had in their rooms. Hong-Sae and Mun-Chun think the woman in the high heels is Tae-Young. In the meantime, Hae-Sang believes there is a spirit in the photo that Tae-Young has of the pine tree. San-Yeong goes home because her mother tells her she is at the police station. She knows about her grandmother’s death now and asks San-Yeong why she didn’t tell her about it. San-Yeong says that she was there just to speak to her grandmother. It turns out that there’s some inheritance money left for San-Yeong, and her mother wants to accept it, but the evil spirit tells San-Yeong to accept it too, and this really freaks her out. She’s really shocked by how clear the sound of the voice is, and she tells her mother she will not accept it.
The detectives visit the old man and his wife to find out what is really happening with Tae-Young. At the same time, San-Yeong decides to visit the aquarium to borrow the money her mother needs to pay the landlady so they don’t have to accept the inheritance. On the other hand, Tae-Young’s grandmother lets it slip that Tae-Young’s been in danger, so she’s been hiding. In the aquarium, San-Yeong comes across the papers of many young students who have borrowed money from the boss, and it’s a big scam. She had previously given them Tae-Young’s grandfather’s address and suddenly realized they were in danger. Before she can leave, though, the boss comes in and realizes she’s seen the papers. He tells her she needs to sign a paper and take money from him if she wants to live; she can’t just walk out of there now and tell the police everything.
San-Yeong escapes somehow and calls Hae-Sang to tell him to go look for Tae-Young’s grandparents. He’s already at the house because of the photo and rushes in when he hears some noise. Hae-Sang hears knocking on a door and rushes to open it, just like he did when he was young and his mother was away. Fortunately, this time it leads him to the place where the real threat is.
What Is Happening To San-Yeong?
It turns out that the man who tried to get San-Yeong to take money from his boss was threatening the college students in the disguise of a woman in heels to avoid being caught by the police. Hae-Sang finds him hitting Tae-Young to return their money. Hae-Sang tries to threaten the man but gets afraid because he picks up a weapon. Hae-Sang tries to call Mun-Chun, but they’ve also just arrived with Tae-Young’s grandparents, knowing that she’s in trouble. The detectives get the guy and send a team to capture the boss. San-Yeong arrives just in time to make sure that the grandparents are safe. She asks Tae-Young if she remembers San-Yeong’s father, but Tae-Young is completely devastated by everything that’s happened. She was the one who took her friends to meet the scammers because that was the only way she could push paying them back later. All her friends ended up dying because of her.
So, what happened with that photo of the pine tree? Tae-Young had torn it up and thrown it into one of the fish tanks at the store. These were the fish that the boss was giving all the people taking loans from him as a gift. So, through the fish, the spirit reached all those kids and made them commit suicide. The last loop still remained, though, and that meant San-Yeong was in danger. But, when the detectives arrive at the store, they find the boss with the same marks on his wrists and a video of San-Yeong laughing at the man when he breaks the tank, letting out all the contents, meaning killing the fish that may have eaten the photograph. Hae-Sang rushes to find San-Yeong. She’s on the bridge, looking like she’s about to jump, but instead, she throws out the fish and laughs again. The shadow has grown larger, and it’s easier for the evil spirit to take over San-Yeong now. It seems she’s completely possessed. San-Yeong tells Hae-Sang it’s been a while since they met, and Hae-Sang replies that, indeed it has. This means Hae-Sang and San-Yeong have less time to find out about the evil spirit and save San-Yeong.
