My Liberation Notes Ep 9 review: Gu reveals his dark secret from the past and the cruelty will send chills down your spine

3/5

Story:

Episode 9 of the Korean series shares glimpses of how Mr Gu ended up in Sanpo and reveals his deep dark secret. Meanwhile, Tae-hun expresses interest in Gi-jeong and asks her out again, apologising for leading her on the previous time. Chang-hee can't stand his colleague Jeong A-reum and hopes that he gets a promotion so that he does not have to see her or face her every day at work.

Review:

The new episode opens with the hoarding that Gu finds, 'Something good will happen today'. He realises that it is the same hoarding outside of Seoul that Mi-jeong mentions to him. But unfortunately, he does not have a good day. He runs into someone from his past who talks about the horrid incidents, which he believes forced Gu to move to Sanpo and stay in hiding. Gu was dating his sister who killed herself. Her brother blames him for her death and he does not deny it. He smirks and says that he waited for her brother to come to find him and avenge her death but he himself didn't care enough as he had taken over Gu's business. Gu, though speaks confidently in front of him, is then seen shaken and walking mindlessly on the road on his way back home. He walks 10 kms and drinks more than he usually does to hide his feelings but ends up opening up to Mi-jeong about it.

Gu finds out that Mi-jeong has told her parents that the two are dating. He tells her about his ex-girlfriend with whom he shared a story of a cliff. He said he had watched on TV about a cliff where people go and jump off to kill themselves. It talked further about the survivors and when asked how did they survive, they say when they reach 2/3rd of its height, they realise suicide is pointless. He intended to tell this story to his girlfriend so that she would seek help from a therapist but she ends up jumping off the cliff and killing herself. But Gu still seems to blame himself as if he wanted her to kill herself and provoked her. He offers her to cease their relationship but she goes back home, totally speechless.

Meanwhile, Chang-hee and Gi-jeong's lives also take a turn. Chang-hee is seen cribbing to his friends about his senior Jeong A-reum. He later admits that he is jealous of her because she is rich and wouldn't feel this way if he were rich. He realises he is no different than her. Like her, he too is greedy. He hopes to get promoted and get a new office so that he does not have to see her every day. But unfortunately, neither he nor does she gets promoted and they are stuck with each other at the desk for another year.

Gi-jeong, who broke her arm trying to impress Tae-hun, isn't as embarrassed as she thought she would be. She is seen opening up with her boss and shows him the message he sent her later. Tae-hun expressed his concern for her and hoped that this incident would not end the relationship between them. His sister finds out that he is interested in someone and out of guilt, he is seen deleting their chat. It looks like the two will get into a relationship.

The episode ends with a glimpse from the past showing the first meeting of Gu and Mi-jeong. They had met Gu accidentally came to Sanpo and they did see each other. The story is yet to explore if it was love at first sight for them and is that why Mi-jeong went to him specifically asking him to worship her. She is now more confident and is seen speaking her mind until she learns about Gu's past.

Verdict:

A slow burner, it makes for an engaging watch. The episode ends with a cliffhanger moment, making you wonder if Gu and Mi-jeong's was love at first sight. And will Mi-jeong cease her relationship with Gu after finding out the secret is what needs to be seen.