Episode 5 of The Killing Vote (Season 1), takes us deeper into the mind of the elusive serial killer, Gaetal, as our team races against time to prevent yet another tragic crime. As Seok-joo is released from prison under close surveillance, suspicions and tensions run high. With Elena’s phone providing a crucial lead about blackmail, the team begins to piece together the puzzle of the elusive killer’s identity. However, Gaetal’s cunning tactics make their task even more challenging, leading to a cat-and-mouse game that keeps viewers guessing.
This article contains spoilers.
The Killing Vote (Season 1), Episode 5 Recap:
The episode begins with Seok-Joo being released from prison while Joo Hyun waits for him. Chul-min was accompanying him to keep a watch on Seok-joo at all times since he was a criminal. Chul-min puts a tracker on Seok-joo, and they leave the prison premises. Meanwhile, Mu-chan and Jin-soo prepare the cell in which Seok-joo would stay. The cell has security cameras without a blind spot. Jo-dan finds a lead in Elena’s phone about her being blackmailed by someone on the day her husband died. But despite the lead, they were unable to find the killer. They also see the delivery man as common in all of Gatetal’s victims. Another evidence shows that the man who probably attacked the victim was into martial arts, probably the same one who had attacked Mu-chan and Joo-hyun in Seok-joo’s house.
Mu-chan tells Seok-joo that if he remembers anything about Gaetal, he needs to inform him. He asks him to go over all the letters his fan had sent. Seok-joo tells Mu-chan that he would communicate only through Joo-hyun, but Mu-chan refuses, and Seok-joo says he would want to go back to prison if this condition is not met. In any case, Seok-joo suspects Mu-chan to be Gaetal as Gaetal had said something similar to what Mu-chan had said eight years earlier. Mu-chan leaves the cell infuriated. Joo-hyun is working hard to find who the next victim might be. She narrows down to culprits who were sexual offenders in the military. She sends the list to Jo-dan and asks him to find their contact number and location so they can be warned. She also keeps an eye on Seok-joo while finding the victim. The next day, Joo-hyun tells the team of the plan and her analysis.
The number of released offenders or not given a proper sentence list is high. She analyzed Gaetal’s procedure of finding the victim. She told the group that people who had gotten out of prison and regretted their actions were never targeted, and within a time frame of Seok-joo getting the letters, they narrowed the list further. Once the list was finalized, they tried contacting every one of them and gave them trackers and watches to press if they felt they were in danger. At the hospital, Oh Jung-ho (the perverted doctor) wanted to sell perverted videos of his female patients on the internet. He receives a message asking him if he thought he would get away with it, and Oh Jung-ho responds with ‘Sue me.’ He gets a call to treat a patient and leaves the laptop on. Someone hacks into his account and deletes all the videos permanently.
The Killing Vote announcement begins, and Gaetal tells the public who the next victim would be. He tells them what the person’s crime was. Gaetal calls this person Captain Oh, who had committed the crime when he was in the military, and his colleagues in court gave false testimonies, and he was not punished by the law. The victim had committed suicide in the hospital washroom. Gateal tells the public that this man was living a fantastic life and his friends were extorting money from him as they had done him a favor. Gaetal refuses to reveal the person’s name as it would be a hassle for him, the police, and the public. The voting commences. After this announcement, a man calls the police, saying Gaetal is after him, and everyone gets ready to go and save the man. Joo-hyun is to take Seok-joo to the location as well. But on the way, she checks the keywords and realizes that the next victim could be a doctor in the hospital and changes her direction. At the same time, Oh Jung-ho had locked himself in his room and called the police, saying that Gaetal was after him. Mu-chan is now confused about who the real person is.
They send one team to the first caller’s location, and Mu-chan eventually realizes that the victim is in the hospital. It was a trap set by Gaetal inside a church, and the police were fooled. Mu-chan asks them to reach the hospital. Mu-chan asks Joo-hyun to handle the situation while he arrives. At the hospital, Joo-Hyun realizes Oh Jung-ho has locked himself in his room and calls out to him. He asks to check her ID, and she does, but he is still skeptical about getting out. Ji-hoon walks inside Oh Jung-ho’s room and he is paranoid. Ji-hoon uses his phone, and Oh Jung-ho hits him as he tries to escape. They are both stuck in the room. Gaetal announces the result of the Killing Vote, and the public votes to execute Oh Jung-ho.
The Killing Vote (Season 1), Episode 5 Ending, Explained:
The Hospital Trap – Who Will Survive Gaetal’s Game?
Seok-joo sees a delivery man and tells Joo-hyun to check him out. Joo-hyun tries to go near him, and he runs, and she chases after him. Chul-min finds a package under the chair and is about to open it, but Seok-joo asks him to get away from it, and there is a blast. The people in the hospital are in a state of panic and start going haywire. The doors are sealed and the security cannot open them from outside. Seok-joo takes this chance and walks away into the crowd, leaving Chul-min staring. Joo-hyun drops her walkie-talkie, and Mu-chan is unable to contact her. The deliveryman tries to hit Joo-hyun. Mu-chan reaches the hospital, takes a car, and tries to break open the gate. We see Joo-min sitting outside the hospital, listening to things happening inside the hospital and wondering what Seok-joo was up to. Seok-joo cuts his ankle monitor and walks free but is still handcuffed.
It is evident that Seok-Joo is involved with Gaetal, but his intention is only to get revenge for what happened to his daughter if he has an ulterior motive yet to be determined. The Assemblywoman and Joo-min are vicious, and the police also talk about a similar situation involving the same people that had taken place eight years ago. Despite being cunning, how Joo-min is connected to Seok-joo with the same mission is yet to be revealed. The cops are all separated, but Joo-hyun’s life is in danger. Ji-hoon does not seem to be an ordinary student, and it is still unclear whose side he is on: the police or Gaetal.
