In the gripping climax of “The Killing Vote” Season 1, Episode 8, the team suspects that the next target will be a death row inmate. Assemblywoman Min extends an enigmatic offer to Chae Do-hee. The revelation that there is more than one Gaetal sends shockwaves through the narrative, and the deadly plan to poison death row inmates unfolds with unsettling precision. More secrets are revealed about Ji-hoon and his grandmother, and something weird is happening with Jo-dan.
This article contains spoilers.
The Killing Vote (Season 1), Episode 8 Recap:
The episode begins with Joo Hyun and Jo-dan going through online comments about the Killing Vote. Joo Hyun explains to Mu-chan that one person makes all the comments to instigate conversation. Joo Hyun goes through the letters from the number one fan and tells the team that she suspects the next target would be someone on death row.
The police are tailing Min-soo, and his car has a tracker. Jo-dan keeps a tab on Min-soo and Seok-joo. The team reviews the CCTV footage of Bae Gi-chul’s funeral, where his wife was murdered. The footage shows a man spraying the CCTV camera and also changing attire. Meanwhile, the public is protesting, asking the government to reinstate the death penalty.
Assemblywoman Min calls Chae Do-hee and makes her an offer to restart her program about the Killing Vote. Do-hee suspects Assemblywoman Min to be Gaetal. But she asks her to only ask questions that the audience would want to know. Everything about the deal is vague. The team set up camp in Seok-joo’s house to keep an eye on Min-soo. Jo-dan notices that Min-soo’s house is using a high load of electricity.
He receives a message from someone named Gaetal No 1; he immediately walks away to respond. Seok-Joo and Chul-min arrive, and Joo Hyun tells Mu-chan that she does not think Min-soo is Gaetal. Joo Min tried to reach Ji-hoon all day. However, he wasn’t responding to her. Min-soo also asks Joo Min about Ji-hoon, but she tells them he couldn’t reach him.
On his drive back home, Min-soo notices people wearing Gaetal masks, and he is thrilled. He also sees a truck following him, but the detective gets away with it by disguising himself as a delivery person. A person wearing a Gaetal mask enters an isolated building and the room. We see two other people in the room with Gaetal masks and one on a projector screen.
The Gaetals discuss that it was unfortunate that the fourth Gaetal was caught, but he had not ratted them out. They debated continuing the plan to kill the death row inmates, and one of those inmates was Gaetal No. 2’s mortal enemy. The death row inmates would receive a bottle of water and have their health check-ups, and the doctor was none other than Ji-hoon’s grandmother. She would give them vitamin pills, which would be substituted with poison, which would react with water and kill all the inmates.
Gaetal No.1 says goodbye but one of the Gaetals starts questioning the main Gaetal. He gets into the elevator and removes his mask. It’s Ko Dong-gyu, the cab driver from Bae Gi-chul’s murder. He tries to follow one of the Gaetal’s cars but can’t catch up. Meanwhile, water bottles are distributed in prison, and Chul-min drinks from them as Yang Hye-jin, Ji-hoon’s grandmother, watches.
Joo Min’s friend joined the Gaetal army when Gaetal responded to her and had similar situations with other people. Mu-chan and the team arrive at the assemblywoman’s house and arrest Min-soo. They show the evidence as a video from Elena’s murder day. Min-soo is brought to the station and is brought face-to-face with Seok-joo. Ji-hoon is not responding to Joo Min, but he is frantically working on his laptop in a library.
Seok-joo tells Min-soo he was his number one fan and always wanted to meet him. Min-soo is in tears yet laughing and tells Seok-joo that he had assumed he would hate him, but after his replies, he is thrilled. Seok-joo asks him if he is Gaetal, and Min-soo intimidates him and asks if he were Gaetal, who would be his next target. Seok-joo attacks him, but Mu-chan stops him. Jo-dan calls Joo Hyun and tells her there was high electricity usage in Min-soo’s house, and they needed to check.
A still from The Killing Vote (Season 1), Episode 8.The Killing Vote begins, and the target this time is Mu-chan. Mu-chan wants to continue the investigation and visit Min-soo’s house despite it being dangerous for him. Gaetal reveals a video of an older man saying bad things about Mu-chan, and the police officers in the station seem to be swaying towards Gaetal’s opinion.
Ji-hoon watches Dong-gyu smashing up screens in Gateal’s hideout. He immediately rushes out, calls his grandmother Gaetal No. 2 and asks her to abort the mission since they had been betrayed. He then reaches the central server and makes sure the video stops. While this happens, Joo Hyun loses her temper and points the gun at Min-soo. Assemblywoman Min arrives at the station, and Joo Hyun shoots in the air.
Assemblywoman Min consoles Min-soo and is about to hit Joo Hyun, but Mu-chan gets in the way. Min-soo is enjoying the show and is laughing hysterically. After the video stops, Joo Hyun drops her gun. We see a flashback to when Mu-chan’s mother was murdered, but her mother turns into Joo Hyun, and he wakes up from the dream. He calls Jin-soo while on the run, and he is informed that he is to take leave for the time being.
Jo-dan visits Seok-joo with food and shows the rest of the video of Gaetal to him. In the video, it was told that there was more than one Gaetal and everyone could be a Gaetal. Seok-joo asks Jo-dan to tell Chul-min to bring his book to him called Discovery of Justice. Joo Hyun visits Mu-chan and helps him perfect his working space. Mu-chan tells her that when a police officer understands the criminal’s motive, he also becomes a criminal.
The Killing Vote (Season 1), Episode 8 Ending, Explained:
Are There Multiple Gaetals?
Joo Hyun also tells him that she has yet to find a record of any replies from Seok-joo to Min-soo. Joo Hyun goes through the letters sent to Seok-joo and realizes something. Mu-chan admits that the response to Min-soo’s letters was the Killing Vote. He leaves home and rushes to the station. Meanwhile, Joo Hyun visits Seok-joo and asks him where the first letter is.
She also mentions that he was a good prisoner until five years ago, after which he was transferred to solitary confinement. Moreover, she asks him where the first letter is and what it contains. Subsequently. she receives a call from Mu-chan telling her that Seok-joo is Gaetal. Seok-joo saves her as the water bottle truck breaks the prison walls. While Joo Hyun struggles, Seok-joo escapes.
In this episode, some things become clear. There is more than one Gaetal, and somehow, Ji-hoon and his grandmother are involved. Could Ji-hoon’s involvement have anything to do with his past and his parents? The way we see everyone who seems to be Gaetal has a connection to the first death eight years ago, that is, the death of Seok-joo’s daughter. Was Seok-joo’s daughter’s death part of the plan?
After all this time, it was finally confirmed that Seok-Joo was involved in the Killing Vote. But it is unclear why he was helping the police, especially if he was Gaetal No. 1. It could also be an easy way to escape prison if he decided to help Mu-chan and Joo Hyun.
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