Monster Mash
Episode 3 of Sweet Home starts with a repeat of the family trip from before but this time Hyun-Soo is in the car, telling his parents they should die. All of this is a bad dream of course, and as the shadow version of himself stares back menacingly in a mirror, Hyun-Soo awakens with a start. However, he still has blackened eyes. This is only made worse by another monster showing up at the apartment, smashing the walls to bits and trying to get the kids. Ji-Su and Jae-Hun overhear the commotion and rock up behind Hyun-Soo to try and take out the behemoth. Together, they drag Hyun-Soo to safety but see his blackened eyes which suddenly fade. He asks them both for help as blood stains his mouth. Unfortunately the blind Gremlin monster from before returns but the two kids manage to make it to safety before he gets them. Both monsters start attacking one another and with them both distracted, the kids hurry up to Room 1408. Unfortunately they’re not alone though as the giant beast chases after them, stalking ever closer. However, an unlikely source of help comes in the form of Myung-Sook who shows up with her empty pram. She quickly receives a swift punch to the face for her troubles. With Myung-Sook on the ground, a sweet moment of acceptance washes over her as she sees her smiling baby on the floor next to her. As she smiles weakly, this monster smashes a fist down into her body. The group work together and manage to distract the monster long enough for them to make it to Doo-Sik’s apartment. A seemingly recovered Myung-Sook makes it too and also recovers from the same black-eyed infection Hyun-Soo had. Jae-Hun manages to lead the large monster to the window where it lunges at him and falls out to its doom. Presumably anyway! Sang-Wook patches his shoulder up as he checks the news and sees a broadcast about the current monster pandemic. Bleeding from the mouth, the president tries to keep order but when he stumbles over and begins incoherently rambling, gunshots end the broadcast. Of course, this just causes more panic. That panic materializes itself in Suk-Hyun locking himself inside the convenience store and refusing to let anyone else in. Well, the resident from Room 802 (the one beaten down by Sang-Wook) shows up with a suitcase packed full of food. He shares it out to everyone but blood staining the lining rings alarm bells for some of those he hands food to. In Room 1408, the team have a brief respite and think over their time together, wondering exactly what they’ll do next. Eventually Hyun-Soo admits that he’s infected and makes a pact with Ji-Su that if either of them turn they’ll kill the other. They all survive the night as Eun-Hyeok gets on the tannoy in the morning and tells them to head up to the first floor where it’s safe. Only Jin-Ok sees her daughter running for the apartment block which sends all the residents into a tail-spin over what to do by the front doors. Su-Ung rushes outside but unfortunately a whipping tentacle protrudes forth and impales both him and Jin-Ok’s daughter, sucking the lifeforce from them as they’re left in a bloody heap n the group.
The Episode Review
What a dramatic end to the episode! With lots of action this time around, episode 3 manages to balance this slightly with some crucial respites to catch up with the various residents. Seeing a fed up Eun-Yoo take a knife to her ballet dress is certainly symbolic to how she’s feeling about her life choices while Myung-Sook’s emotional reunion with her daughter (albeit a short-lived one) is a nice touch too. Personally though I would have liked the episodes to be a bit longer, really leaning into that conventional 75-85 minute K-drama feel and building up each of these characters. Even OCN manage to throw in a couple of 65 minute segments but here, with some episodes at around 45-50 minutes, it just doesn’t quite feel long enough to get to know these characters properly. It’s also interesting to see both monsters start to attack one another though. It’s good to see they’re not all teaming up together and it at least levels the playing field slightly. For now, we don’t have any answers over exactly how Hyun-Soo and Myung-Sook are able to survive their infections but I’m sure answers will be coming in the upcoming episodes!
