Mouse

Presentation

Korean Title: 마우스

Aired in: 2021 (20 episodes + 3 Specials)

Channel: tvN

Grade: 10/10

Actors: Lee Seung Gi, Lee Hee Jun, Park Ju Hyun and Kyung Soo Jin

For more…

Lee Seung Gi:
– Shining Inheritance
– My Girlfriend is a Gumiho
– Vagabond
– The King 2 Hearts

Lee Hee Jun:
– Legend of the Blue Sea
– The Queen of Office
– Mistress
– Steal Heart

Park Ju Hyun:
– Extracurricular
– Zombie Detective
– A Piece of your Mind

Kyung Soo Jin:
– Meloholic
– Train
– House of Bluebird
– Plus Nine Boys

Analysis

Synopsis

Jung Ba Reum is a kind and helpful police officer. After the murder of his best friend, he chases after the killer. They end up face-to-face and Ba Reum almost dies. He is barely saved but realizes afterwards that something is wrong with his head. This event changes his life.

My Opinion (No Spoiler)

An excellent thriller that definitely deserves to be watched! I was really impressed by the scenario. The intricate plot, the suspense and mystery really added value to an-already amazing drama. I really loved how all characters had a role to play, though it was not explained from the beginning.

If you like thrillers, you won’t be disappointed with this one! Trust me.

Analysis (Spoiler Alert)

Characters’ storyline:

Jung Ba Reum (Lee Seung Gi) is a kind and honest police officer. He is incapable of hurting anyone, rescues wounded animals and feels nauseous at the sight of a crime scene. He is well-known in the neighborhood for his helpfulness. Therefore, he got close to some elders. He takes care of them and tries to protect them as much as he can. At the very beginning, Jung Ba Reum is presented as a sweet man, whose parents are dead. So he lives with his aunt. He doesn’t have anything special and rapidly strikes friendship with people.

Since high school, he has been friends with Koo Dong Koo (Woo Ji Hyun) and Na Chi Kook (Lee Seo Jun), who works as a prison guard. Jung Ba Reum’s life radically changes, when Chi Kook is found stabbed and at the brink of death during a show organized for prisoners.

Ba Reum decides to team up with the detective Ko Moo Chi (Lee Hee Jun) in order to find the serial killer, responsible for Chi Kook’s attack and a series of other murders. Little by little, both men accumulate proof against a cold doctor called Sung Yo Han (Kwon Hwa Woon), whom they suspect to be the killer. While fighting with him, Ba Reum is struck at the head and lies between life and death. He is miraculously saved, but at soon as he wakes up, he suddenly feels that something is wrong with his head.

As he doesn’t remember anything nor anyone, two years go by, during which he tries to put his life back on “normal” trails. However, he rapidly has flashes of memories, which don’t seem to belong to him. In them he sees himself murdering others. Moreover, he experiences violent urges and gets rapidly annoyed, a behavior in total opposition with his previous one. After a time, Ba Reum understands what happened to him while he was in a coma. To confirm his hypothesis, he visits Han Seo Joon (Ahn Jae Wook) also known as the Head Hunter. 20 years ago, he killed many people by decapitating them. Among them were Ko Moo Chi’s parents. Moo Chi unfortunately witnessed the murders, but also pointed Han Seo Joon as the murderer, leading to his arrest.

As if things were not complicated enough, Han Seo Joon happened to be married at that time and his wife Sung Ji Eun (Kim Jung Nan) pregnant. She kept the baby, whom we later discover to be Sung Yo Han (or should I say Ba Reum! Wait for the twist).

Ba Reum’s talk with Han Seo Joon makes him understand that the Head Hunter, who was also a brilliant doctor, found a way to transplant Yo Han’s brain into Ba Reum’s. That’s the reason why Ba Reum has these strange memories. He fights the urges, but events happening around him don’t make the task easy. Indeed, Lee Bong Yi (Park Ju Hyun), a young woman he has feelings for, is being haunted by past ghosts. A terrible sexual predator comes back in her neighborhood and harasses her.

In order to protect her and with the help of a renowned scientist presumed dead Daniel Lee (Jo Jae Yun), he decides to use his murderous impulses for the right cause: to eliminate predators (psychopaths) and to protect innocent victims.

If Ba Reum’s struggle to keep a sane mind was not enough to make the drama very interesting and captivating, the twist in Episode 14 gave a breath of fresh air to it! Amazing twist by the way! Right from Episode 1, viewers are introduced to a young boy, who has what is called a “psychopath gene” and is thus doomed to kill people in the future. Despite his many prayers to God, he becomes a bloodthirsty killer. The identity of that boy is not revealed right away and the drama oscillates constantly between Sung Yo Han and Jung Ba Reum. Though it seems like Yo Han is indeed that boy, the drama changes direction mid-way and portrays Ba Reum as the serial killer.

To resume: Jung Ba Reum was a serial killer before the brain transplant. He was simulating his kind behavior in order to hide his identity. He stabbed his best friend Chi Kook in prison, and killed others as well. Sung Yo Han discovered his identity and decided to take him on alone. He ended up bursting Ba Reum’s head with a hammer. Before the final blow, Moo Chi arrived and shot Yo Han, thinking he was the real killer. Both ended up at the hospital and Ba Reum’s received Yo Han’s brain. So Ba Reum’s violent urges were his to begin with and Yo Han’s presence in his brain only enabled him to have emotions. Because of that, Ba Reum became conflicted between guilt/resentment and violence. After discovering that he was responsible for the killings and Yo Han had been unfairly accused, Ba Reum decides to right the wrong. Indeed, his real past is not the only revelation he has uncovered. He also knows that someone, or a group of people going by the name of OZ, have been protecting him and cleaning up after his murders. Moreover, he discovers that OZ “triggered” him as a kid through the murder of his entire family. The mysterious boy is thus Ba Reum. Finally, Daniel confesses that Han Seo Joon’s brain transplant procedure is in fact not perfect and that Ba Reum will die soon. Therefore, Ba Reum chooses to do justice, take down OZ and clean Yo Han’s name. Then he intends to turn himself to the police and die in prison. This is what happens in the last episode, putting a final point to Ba Reum’s suffering.

Ko Moo Chi has been, like all other characters, through a lot. The first episode opens up on the murder of his parents by Han Seo Joon, quickly followed by the Head Hunter’s arrest thanks to his testimony. From that incident, only Moo Chi and his older brother Moo Won (Kim Young Jae) survive. Still, his brother ends up paralyzed. All his life, Moo Chi has only nurtured one purpose: avenging his family. Opposite to him, his brother chose religion and more importantly forgiveness. This choice made both brothers estranged.
I have to say that Moo Chi is really quite violent. He is a very complex character, who drowns in guilts but also stands on his feet thanks to his rage and anger. He is often blinded by his emotions, which definitely prevents him from deciphering the signs (especially regarding Ba Reum’s identity). What actually saves him is the fact that he is strong-willed, stubborn and determined. He is a brilliant detective, who never lets go of a lead, when he smells something fishy. Even if that means turning his back on the entire police force. The problem is that he stayed stuck in the past and built his entire life with one fixated idea: to kill a killer, go to prison and execute Han Seo Joon for good. Luckily for him, Ba Reum will become his sword in prison. As promised, Ba Reum decapitates his own father (that is another twist!) and puts an end to Moo Chi’s suffering.

However, Moo Chi still experiences one last painful moment: his older brother Moo Won is killed during a live broadcast. He suspects Yo Han, which adds to his anger. He ends up shooting Yo Han during his altercation with Ba Reum. Unfortunately for Moo Chi, he shot the wrong killer.

Lee Bong Yi lives with her grandmother in the neighborhood, where Ba Reum is stationed. As a kid, she was kidnapped and assaulted by a pedophile. She was left for dead but a little boy rescued her and carried her to the hospital. Even though his identity is not revealed directly, we discover later on that the little boy was actually Yo Han. This revelation casts doubt on Yo Han’s involvement in the killings for Bong Yi. This doubt will be confirmed after, when she finds out the real killer (who also killed her grandmother) is Ba Reum. The news shock Bong Yi, because she loves Ba Reum and even wanted to marry him.

Bong Yi’s parents also died when she was little, that’s why she was raised by her grandmother. A twist of fate brought her grandmother to Yo Han’s house. There, the doctor was accumulating proof on OZ. In his basement, he kept photos of Ba Reum’s murders, which had been taken by the organization and retrieved by his friend by hacking into the system. Bong Yi’s grandmother took one of the pictures and called Ba Reum for help. Meanwhile, Yo Han followed her to protect her from the actual killer. Unfortunately for the grandmother, Ba Reum arrived first and stabbed her to cover his tracks. Yo Han witnessed it and ran away. Both their presence on the crime participates in the mystery and suspense, but also indirectly incriminates Yo Han even more.

Thus, Lee Bong Yi is convinced Yo Han killed her grandmother. She seeks revenge and sees in the live broadcast (in which Moo Chi’s brother being killed), an excellent opportunity for it. She recognizes the murder scene (church) and goes there in order to kill the murderer. She fights with him and wounds him but can’t capture him. She ends up at the hospital, leaving Moo Chi and Ba Reum very worried. This fight in the church left a scar on the murderer’s arm, which will be a decisive element in the next episodes. That’s how Bong Yi realizes that Ba Reum is the real killer. Naturally, she wants to kill him and tries several times without success.

I have to say that Bong Yi is a very strong character. She has been through so much already (she has been assaulted a second time by the predator from her past, whom Ba Reum kills by the way). Still, she is stubborn and determined. Actually, I think that Moo Chi and Bong Yi are quite alike. Bong Yi is just a bit more reasonable. But both know what they want and don’t stop until they have fulfilled their wishes, even if that means taking down a killer alone.

Cha Hong Ju (Kyung Soo Jin) is probably the most mysterious character of the drama. She is very discreet and we know very little about her past and her family. She has many secrets, but she also knows a lot more than others. She is in fact Park Du Seok‘s (Ahn Na Sang) daughter. He is a detective, who became obsessed with Han Seo Joon. He provoked him during a broadcast, which led to the abduction of his twin children Hyun Soo and Hyun Seok. Transported in the truck of the Head Hunter’s car, the twins managed to escape and hide in the forest. Hyun Soo (future Cha Hong Ju) left her brother in the woods in order to get help. However, he was taken away by another psychopath and killed, while Hyun Soo was taken by the Head Hunter again. Then, Hyun Soo was forced to take part in Han Seo Joon’s murders, luring victims. Therefore, she felt guilty and resented herself. Thanks to a young woman, also kidnapped by Han Seo Joon, Hyun Soo ran away. However, she never revealed her identity to anyone, didn’t go back to her parents (she didn’t know how to face them after losing her brother) and grew up, letting everyone (even her parents) believe she had died.

Years later, she fell in love with Yo Han and discovered she was pregnant with his son, exactly at the same time he died. She wanted to get an abortion, but gave up. Indeed, Yo Han had rescued Daniel Lee from OZ. He told Hong Ju that Yo Han had been framed. So she decided to clear her lover’s name and to have his child. Naturally, she was stigmatized for that, as most people thought she had given birth to a murderer’s child. Yet, she didn’t give up and definitely acted in the shadow in order to make things right. Hong Ju, like most characters of the drama, is a force of nature. Despite the hatred, the mean criticisms and discrimination she suffers from others, she is not swayed one second from her main goal. She hangs on until the end. Moreover, she is also a woman of integrity. She knows some of her actions are reprehensible and accepts the punishment. At the end of the drama, she goes to jail for a time, after admitting she had abetted murders through Ba Reum.

The storylines of these 4 characters are only a fragment of the global plot. Each story is cleverly intertwined with the others. Secrets are given away little by little and viewers can only anticipate the end.

The twists: It would definitely take too much time to explain all the twists of the drama. That’s why I have decided to focus on three main ones, which I believe to be the main pillars of the plot.

Ba Reum’s struggle: As said previously, Ba Reum is first presented as a sweet and honest character. However, he hides a very dark side, that he himself discovers little by little. The fact that he has been “given emotions” after the surgery plays an important role in Ba Reum’s self-reassessement. Indeed, he is now able to see how horrible his true nature was, how dangerous he can be and the need for him to be stopped.

The drama did an excellent job at illustrating Ba Reum’s inner fight against himself. I agree with the fact that he is a terrible killer and what he did was terrifying. Yet, I couldn’t help but empathize with the man. The fact that he can reflect on his actions and feel pain, made me feel sorry for him. Plus, he also turned quite alright. Indeed, he could’ve decided to just go away and never tell anyone about OZ, his past and kept on killing. Instead, he makes a bold and risky decision by going after all of those who wronged him. To be honest, I think he probably has a 50% responsibility in that story, because he brutally killed others and didn’t repent at first. But his mother and the organization OZ are equally responsibility in all that.

Mother’s decision: When she was pregnant with Han Seo Joon’s baby, Ji Eun did a DNA test to see if her fetus had the psychopath gene. Daniel broke the terrible news to her. Around the same time, Ji Eun met another pregnant woman, whose fetus also happened to have the same gene. They didn’t want to abort, so they chose another “crazy” way to contain the future psychopaths. After birth, they exchanged their babies, promising each other to kill the child if he was becoming too dangerous. Yo Han became Ji Eun’s son and had to bear the infamous reputation of being Han Seo Joon’s son. However, he didn’t have the psychopath gene but the genius one, which are actually quite similar. Meanwhile, Ba Reum killed animals and threatened his family’s well-being. His adoptive mother decided to take action and tried to assassinate him but OZ arrived. They rescued Ba Reum and killed his entire family, triggering his psychopath instinct.

To be very honest, I think Ba Reum’s biological mother’s behavior and reasoning is in part responsible for this mess. If she had decided to raise him with love and care, while taming his instincts or teaching him right from wrong, she could’ve at least controlled a bit his environment. This would’ve probably protected Ba Reum from OZ and its devious schemes. Instead both mothers chose to focus on the future potential risk Ba Reum represented and left a developing child on his own. This decision was quite radical and probably the most dangerous one. Neither of them surrounded herself with the necessary help in order to make sure Ba Reum won’t become a risk. I mean there are certainly doctors (starting with Daniel Lee), specialists and communities I guess, who can be handy when dealing with a special kid. Reaching out to them and communicating with Ba Reum on his actions could’ve been of use. Of course, this is only an idea and what is done is done. Let’s just say that the mothers didn’t handle that situation very well. Ba Reum confesses to his mother at the end that her behavior is as bad as Han Seo Joon’s. I can’t disapprove that.

Worse, they also made an innocent child (Yo Han) suffer from a reputation he didn’t deserve. If he had stayed with his own mother, he would’ve lead a sheltered life without the criticisms related to his presumed murderous father. He didn’t deserve such a punishment, when he was more than a good person!

OZ: Though this organization led by Choi Young Shin (Jung Ae Ri) is evil, at least it is consistent in its goals. Choi Young Shin has been wanting to pass a bill for years now, which would force the abortion of fetus with a psychopath gene. It was rejected of course, but she didn’t let go of her intent. Instead, she created OZ. The organization had to follow both children identified with the gene, report on their behavior and assist Ba Reum (as Yo Han was no murderer) in his killings, without him knowing. They have contacts at all levels of the hierarchy (in politics, in the police force, in the legal system…). The idea was to have Ba Reum kill as many people as possible in order to create horror and instigate fear within the population. Thus, people would naturally decide to pass the bill so to avoid having another serial killer on the loose.
Though the bill is eventually passed at the end, it doesn’t finish the way Young Shin expected (she is arrested and sent to prison).

The mysterious organization was a very good element of mystery and surprise. I really loved how they introduced it progressively, showing first its members and then its actions. It really added to the incredibly intricate plot a creepy atmosphere. Indeed, Ba Reum was manipulated like a puppet, had been followed since childhood and couldn’t seem to escape from the organization’s claws.

The direction: The shots, the direction and the music were simply amazing. The drama managed to convey fear, thrill, but also a whole lot of other (really humane) emotions. I think the most beautiful shot of the drama is that of the last scene in Episode 20. Ba Reum has died and been buried in a cemetery next to the prison. The graveyard faces a wall in front of which Ko Moo Chi stands. As the camera gets further away from the actor, who discover a giant maze. It reminds viewers of a maze, in which mice play. This creates a bridge (very clever one!) between the content (title, plot) of the drama and its representation on screen (direction). Beautiful!

Moreover, there is a certain tension throughout the entire drama. From the get go, I sincerely hoped that Ba Reum would clear Yo Han’s name and stop OZ. Yet, I didn’t see another ending for him apart from being arrested. Actually, the real question was more: Will he be killed by Bong Yi or Moo Chi, or will he be able to turn himself to the police?

The tension was really at its peak (at least for me) during Moo Chi and Hong Ju’s live broadcast at the beginning of the drama. It really made my blood pressure go up! For more than an hour, my eyes were stuck on the screen, hoping the nightmare would come to an end. It did of course, but not how I had expected. Once again Mouse amazed me by its capacity of developing their narrative progressively and uncovering one small piece of the puzzle at a time. It made think a bit of Memorist in the way the intrigue was written, though themes differ.

What are the themes tackled?

Mouse really confronts viewers with a series of existential questions that don’t really have an answer. The only thing you can do is actually ask them and debate on their outcome afterwards. Naturally, many opinions will emerge, without necessarily matching yours. Yet, I think it is important to wonder what one would do, were they in Ba Reum’s or other characters’ shoes. That’s exactly what the drama implicitly pushes us to do as viewers. We are bound to see the world through very complex glasses and to question our own possible behavior.

For example: Would you be for or against the bill regarding fetus with psychopath gene? Would you keep your baby, if he had that gene (like Ba Reum’s mother)? Would you exchange your baby with someone else’s and agree to kill your child if he was a liability? Would you forgive your family’s killer? (Like Moo Won). Would you empathize with a murderer who repents? Would you want to avenge your murdered loved ones, even if it meant becoming a criminal yourself (like Bong Yi and Moo Chi)? Would you take part in an organization that helps killers, if you were acting for the greater good (like Ba Reum’s aunt for example, who joined OZ)? Can we create a world without murderers? And the list goes on. Though I don’t have definite answers to these questions, at least now I have an idea of how I would act (hopefully, I will never end up in such a situation).

On top of that, some more scientific questions are also part of the global debate: What makes a killer: the genes, the environment, something else? What makes you the person you are: your memory (your past), your current behavior? What happens if you don’t know who you are anymore, are you still you (technically, Ba Reum went from being a killer to becoming a good person)? Are you still responsible if someone else triggered your psychopath instinct against your will? Are you 100% a killer, if you kill bad people (like the sexual predator who attacked Bong Yi)? Is killing for the greater good still reprehensible? And once again, the list goes on.

Divine punishment?: There is one last theme that deserves some attention. As a kid, Ba Reum prayed to God to let him be a normal kid (or to help not to turn into a monster). Yet, He didn’t answer and Ba Reum became a murderer. Then, he defied God by staging his murder scenes as offensive for the Almighty. Worse, he killed a man of God (Moo Won had become a priest).
The fact that Ba Reum was “gifted” with emotions forces him to admit his sins, to repent for what he has done and to atone for his crimes. Implicitly, the drama portrays Ba Reum’s new personality as a divine intervention, an answer sent by God. Even at the end, Ba Reum dies in a church (the realm of the Almighty on Earth) and forgives his younger self. The real question here I think, is not whether religion is implicated or not, but more whether this was a punishment for Ba Reum or an act of mercy. I would personally be more inclined to think it is an act of mercy, but there is no real answer to that question either.

The title: When I started the drama, I kept wondering why it was named Mouse. It is quite an unusual name and refers to nothing in particular. Then, I watched the first scenes of the drama and understood that it was related to the little boy’s action in Episode 1. Indeed, he seems quite weird and during a visit to the zoo, he puts a mouse in a serpent’s cage. Both creatures fight until the mouse jumps on the screen.

After that, I kind of accepted the title and didn’t try to know more about it. Until that scene, which showed Han Seo Joon holding a mouse in prison. At that moment, I found it odd to reintroduce the animal, but once again thought it was aimed at creating the uncomfortable atmosphere. But it is actually more than that! The drama actually reveals the explanation of the title mid-way. Jung Ba Reum realizes that he is in fact a lab mouse (with Yo Han) and that someone (OZ) has been running an experiment on them all this time. Whether it’d be for the character or the viewers, the title seemed so crystal clear at that precise moment. I was actually really shocked, but also amazed by the way the drama had hidden that meaning, while giving away clues. I am pretty sure that if I watch the drama a second time, so many details are going to make sense!

The ending: I doubt there could’ve been a better ending than this one actually! Ba Reum died “human” (he didn’t entirely become a monster), Han Seo Joon was killed by Ba Reum, freeing Ko Moo Chi from his past. Ba Reum asked for forgiveness to Bong Yi and Moo Chi, who I think kind of forgave him. Moo Chi and Bong Yi remained close and moved on with their lives. Bong Yi overcame her past trauma. Hong Ju was released from prison after paying for her crimes. She also reconnected with her family (parents). Sung Yo Han’s name and reputation were cleaned. Ji Eun (Ba Reum’s mother) killed herself in order to put an end to her suffering. OZ was dismantled and Young Shin arrested. Though she was granted forgiveness (presidential pardon), she was killed in her taxi right after her release. All is well I guess. Or should I say it couldn’t have finished better.

P.S.: Does anyone know who the mysterious girl from Ba Reum’s past is (the one he met when he was around 3-4 outside the zoo and who crushed his mouse)?

Trailer, Viu Singapore

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