The Bequeathed is a K-drama that resembles many a thriller Korean film such as Umma or The Wailing in the way it is presented– terror in the background of a beautiful gray landscape that sucks you in. I suppose, even in movie form, this could lead to a drab viewing experience because of the slow burn. The Bequeathed is only 6 episodes, which is extremely short, even for a K-drama; however, it feels somewhat draggy in bits. In the last episode, it’s finally time for Seo-Ha to learn who is behind all the killings and why. What I found most interesting about the last two episodes of the show is the conundrum in Seo-Ha’s mind regarding her brother, Young-Ho. Throughout the series, she’s a little bit unlikeable, always questioning herself about whether she should be good or not. At the end of the show, we finally get an answer, and there’s some satisfaction in it. Let’s quickly get into what happened in the episode to know more.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Final Episode?
When Myung-Hee kidnaps Seo-Ha and Mool-Joo kidnaps Young-Ho, detectives Sang-Min and Sung-Jun head to the imprisoned village chief to find out about the old lady who lived in the village. According to him, the woman was a shaman and lived somewhere on a hill near the village. He gives them an address, and they head there immediately. According to him, some people living in the village would even go to her for help. When Seo-Ha comes to, she fears for her life, noticing Myung-Hee. She’s in for a treat because she finally learns who the woman is. Myung-Hee tells Seo-Ha that she is her aunt and that she brought her here so that she could send her off to heaven completely “healed.” Ritualistic killing would be better than just a gunshot in the middle of nowhere, you know? She deserves some honor. Seo-Ha completely flips out and asks her aunt why she would kill her husband and Kang. Myung-Hee finally reveals to her that she did it all for Young-Ho, her son. In frustration, Seo-Ha blurts out that she’s had a terrible life because of the sins of her family in the past. Her father and aunt specifically having a child together would take the cake for that. She insults them and Myung-Hee finally strikes her in the head with the rifle. Myung-Hee believes the love her brother and she had was divine (Oldboy much?).
The only way Seo-Ha can save herself is by telling her aunt that her son is in danger. Seo-Ha dials up Mool-Joo in front of Myung-Hee and tells him that she will call the police if he harms even a single hair on Young-Ho’s body. Mool-Joo, on the other hand, has prepared to cremate Young-Ho alive in a kiln (sheesh); however, the man who owns the place says there needs to be two corpses for the work to happen faster. It doesn’t make sense, but Mook-Joo decides to put Seo-Ha inside the kiln, too. He thinks she’s on her way to get her brother anyway, but he doesn’t know that she’s bringing angry company with a rifle. In the meantime, the detectives try to contact her after visiting the house, but Seo-Ha doesn’t pick up. Naturally, her phone is with Myung-Hee, while Seo-Ha is in the boot of the car. The detective messages the number and says that he will kill Young-Ho if Seo-Ha doesn’t call him back. The detectives know that Young-Ho has been kidnapped, and since Myung-Hee has done all of this for his sake, she’ll definitely call back. They get the address from her and head there, where the goons are preparing to cremate Young-Ho.
By the time Myung-Hee gets there, they’ve already put Young-Ho in the kiln and bricked it up halfway. The goons find an unconscious Seo-Ha with her hands tied up and just pick her up and take her to Mool-Joo. He suddenly fears for whoever is waiting for them outside because the foolish goons didn’t check properly. He’s right, because Myung-Hee picks this moment to start firing at them. She manages to get inside and starts to scratch at the bricks to save her son. The owner of the kiln shows up and hits her on the head. She tries to reach for her rifle, but Mool-Joo is back and grabs it first. He shoots her in the leg, but when he hears the sirens approach, he runs away. She drags herself to the brick wall.
Inside, Young-Ho has managed to free Seo-Ha’s hands before losing consciousness himself. Seo-Ha, who has been unconscious all this time, finally wakes up and tries to remove the bricks from the inside while simultaneously trying to wake Young-Ho up. One of the goons has set the whole place on fire in the meantime. On the other hand, Sang-Min gets shot in the leg by Mool-Joo—the same leg that was wounded by Sung-Jun’s son those years ago. Myung-Hee manages to remove a single brick, and together, she and Seo-Ha remove enough for Seo-Ha to escape from the kiln. Young-Ho is still unconscious, and it takes Seo-Ha some minutes to realize she wants to help her half-brother and aunt. Sang-Min tells Sung-Jae that his limp will now be a mark of this gunshot wound. Essentially, he’s telling him that they’re good again, like before. Sang-Min tells Sung-Jae to make a break for it as soon as the rest of the police arrive.
Does It Have A Happy Ending?
Myung-Hee tries desperately to wake Young-Ho up. When he does wake up, she’s overjoyed, but they hear the sirens, and she begins to wail. Young-Ho begs for her to escape with him so that she doesn’t get arrested for everything that’s happened so far, but instead, Myung-Hee walks into the burning building just as Sung-Jae reaches them. He and Seo-Ha try to pull her back, but it’s too late. Seo-Ha holds onto her brother as he cries for her mother. A few months later (we assume), Seo-Ha is teaching art to a bunch of women in a quaint countryside studio. Sung-Jae arrives there and hands her a picture the police found in the remains of the building. She’s concerned when she first sees him, but he tells her there’s nothing to worry about because he’s not with the police anymore. The photograph is of Myung-Hee, Myung-Ho, and Young-Ho as a family. Seo-Ha tells Sung-Jae that she isn’t in contact with Young-Ho because there isn’t really anything for them to say to each other, but they are on pleasant terms. Regarding the burial ground, Seo-Ha has decided to keep it within the family for the time being since it’s been in their generation for so long. On the other hand, Sung-Jae finally goes to meet his son in prison. It seems he finally has the closure to be there for his son again.
In The Bequeathed‘s ending, Seo-Ha puts the burnt family portrait in the ground where Myong-Hee is buried with Myung-Ho. The workers filling up the grave ask who is in the picture, and she says they were simply a family. The Bequeathed technically has a sad ending. In another life, maybe Seo-Ha and Young-Ho could’ve been close. We learn in the last episode that despite being afraid of him and feeling the ick when she realizes whose son he is, she decides to protect him from the fire. She sees the love between mother and son, something she never had. I suppose Seo-Ha finally realizes that there’s no need to judge Myung-Hee or her own father because they do everything they do out of love. We can imagine that Young-Ho would eventually get buried there too, given the truth about his lineage being buried with his parents. Ultimately, it’s not really happy; however, it’s a positive thing for Seo-Ha and Young-Ho.
