The Fake Dating Plan
Episode 5 of Siren's Kiss picks back up after Seung-jae's memorial, where Seol-ah tries to kill herself and Woo-seok stops her. After this, Woo-seok follows Seol-ah and makes sure she gets home.
Elsewhere, Director Song tries to offer Jun-beom a deal for the Stiller. But Jun-beom reveals that he's gone with Seol-ah instead, since she's agreed to advise him on a new fintech project named Your Artwork. He offers her the role of CEO but she refuses.
Woo-seok tries to call Eun-hyuk but he refuses to speak to him. He then heads to Seol-ah's parents' house and asks the neighbours about the fire. Eun-hyuk turns up anyway and agrees to tell Woo-seok the truth. He says that Seol-ah's father, Mr Han, was a very poor artist who ended up going to loan sharks. But he wasn't able to pay them back and the loan sharks came calling, branding little Seol-ah with an iron as punishment.
Eun-hyuk says he watched the whole thing and Seol-ah didn't scream even once. Soon after this, Mr Han set the fire, hoping for the whole family to die together. Woo-seok visits Sook-ji next, who also insists that Seol-ah is innocent.
At the auction house, Seol-ah gives Chairwoman Kim the good news about the Stiller. Sometime later, Woo-seok goes to Yun-ji's secret apartment and listens to her recordings of Seol-ah. He sees Seol-ah on her balcony and the latter seems to spot him as well. When she goes inside, she has a small smile on her face.
The auction house then starts preparing for an exhibition by an artist named Kim Joon-young. Eun-hye breaks one of the glass pieces on purpose, although everyone thinks it's by accident. She likens this to the way Seung-jae and Yun-ji are dead but there's no evidence to prove it. Seol-ah tells her to report her if she must but to respect the art she works for.
They put in an insurance claim, which means Woo-seok arrives on the scene and takes pictures. He insists on driving Seol-ah, who wants to go to the artist's house. At the office, we see that Eun-hye was working on Director Song's orders. Turns out, he told her to mess with Seol-ah in exchange for a permanent position at the company.
In the car, Seol-ah reveals that she knows Woo-seok has been spying on her from Yun-ji's secret apartment and tells him not to cross the line. When they reach Kim Joon-young's studio, Seol-ah begs him not to cancel the exhibition. She even assists him in remaking the piece (with Woo-seok's help), even though the flames from the furnace seem to scare her. Afterwards, Woo-seok talks to her about all the misfortune and she says she does find her situation a bit odd, suspecting that someone close to her is committing these murders. Woo-seok says he wants to believe her.
Detective Pyo continues to suspect Seol-ah, though. Joo-young goes to Woo-seok's house but finds it empty. However, she does find Yun-ji's burner phone. When Woo-seok comes home, she confronts him about it, accusing him of being too sympathetic towards Seol-ah. She returns to the police station, where her colleague sees a man filming the rooftop from the CCTV footage of Yun-ji's death. They decide to find the man and get the footage.
Kim Joon-young's exhibition is back on, with a new piece to replace the old one. Seol-ah tells Woo-seok that the artist isn't filing for the insurance claim. He then proposes an idea — he will be her new man and together, they can find the culprit. Seol-ah agrees, saying she's curious to see the look on his face when he learns the truth. Now, that seems like an odd things to say, doesn't it?
The next day, Seol-ah and Woo-seok go to Park Jun-beom's place to oversee the transport of the Stiller painting. Jun-beom offers them a glass of wine and in the process, Woo-seok notices a few bottles of Seung-jae's wine. Before they leave, Jun-beom tells Seol-ah that he has feelings for her.
As they're leaving, Woo-seok and Seol-ah discuss their suspicions about Jun-beom. They notice him watching and decide to test him — by kissing! Back in the house, Jun-beom is clearly angry and throws his glass of wine on the floor. Meanwhile, Joo-young and her colleagues get the footage from the person who was recording the rooftop. The footage shows someone on the rooftop, looking down at Yun-ji's body.
At work, Woo-seok asks his boss to find the records of a company named GW Life Insurance. Something in those papers shocks Woo-seok and he rushes to see Seol-ah. He shows her documents that prove Seol-ah's parents had insurance policies and the payout went to Seol-ah. A flashback shows Seol-ah's mother, still alive, holding Mr Han's unconscious body. Young Seol-ah then drops a lighter onto the floor. At present, she tells Woo-seok that he's right. She started the fire.
The Episode Review
Episode 5 is a bit of a slow one. Particularly during the first half which continues to trace Woo-seok's changing feelings towards Seol-ah, as he goes from suspecting her to feeling bad for her. While it makes sense for him to see her as a victim, it's not exactly exciting and thrilling for us to see her as one.
While a logical development for the story, treating Seol-ah as a victim does put a damper on the drama. Of course, there are one or two moments that suggest otherwise. Like when Seol-ah smiles after seeing Woo-seok in Yun-ji's apartment or the way she tells him she's curious to see his face when he learns the truth. The more the show plays on the ambiguity around Seol-ah's innocence, the more engaging the show is.
The second half of the episode takes things up a notch. Woo-seok hatching a plan to pretend to be Seol-ah's new boyfriend to smoke out the culprit is an exciting move. Fake dating is one of the most delicious tropes out there and the way the leads "test" Jun-beom proves that the trope is working its magic here already. The episode also ends with a nice twist! While Woo-seok's new discovery definitely turns the heat on Seol-ah up again, the real twist is the fact that she straight-up admits it. She hasn't done that before and that final scene leaves us wanting more.
Episode Rating
3.5
Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
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