Hunter with a Scalpel: Episodes 13-16 (Final)
by lovepark
The hunt is finally over for our forensic pathologist as she puts her life on the line to catch her murderous father. While the hatred and disgust in her heart may never go away, our emotionally stunted heroine knows that love means cherishing others as well as yourself. The darkness may lurk around forever, but as our heroine has learned, so will the light.
EPISODES 13-16
Ever since Jo-gyun saw Se-hyun on TV, he thought he could recreate the good old days, but like all classic tragedies, his hubris brought upon his own downfall. Never did he once consider that the timid and submissive daughter of his would bare her teeth — dare to refuse their true nature — but Se-hyun proved him wrong. She may have been his daughter by blood, but she showed the world that she was more than that; she was the daughter of a loving nun and a sister to a gentle girl.
Both Se-hyun and Jung-hyun survive the attack, but not without some scars. As they recuperate in the hospital, the detectives on the case discover the crumbs Se-hyun generously dropped for them to follow and uncover Jo-gyun’s real identity as well as a slew of additional murders. However, they still do not know who Se-hyun is, and now that she is in their custody, they push her for answers. Is she another victim or an accomplice?
Se-hyun agrees to reveal everything if they allow her to hold a press conference, and while her request would be ignored under normal circumstances, she manages to convince the detective in charge with one magic word: bait. She knows how to get her dad out of hiding, and in front of the entire nation, she introduces herself as Jo-gyun’s daughter. She lists all his murders — the unsolved as well as the undiscovered — and makes a public plea for the rescue of a little girl in his care.
Falling for Se-hyun’s provocation, Jo-gyun infiltrates the hospital to meet her and manages to get her alone in a stairwell. He threatens to kill Se-eun and her mom if she does not follow him right now, and Se-hyun almost caves in to his demands before an officer cuts their conversation short.
While Jo-gyun flees the scene, a nosy reporter bumps into him, and having zero survival instincts, he chases after the known serial killer for an exclusive scoop. Unsurprisingly, the reporter becomes Jo-gyun’s next victim, but unlike his usual methods, he leaves the body intact, signaling to the police that they have him on the ropes.
At the hospital, Se-hyun receives a basket of flowers from her dad with a cryptic message about where to meet. Causing a distraction, she tricks her guards, disguises herself as a nurse, and then steals medical supplies before sneaking out of the hospital. Her actions are reckless, especially since she is still under suspicion for accessory to murder, but something other than self-preservation drives our heroine forward.
The episodes this week begin with a scene from the past, and through these snippets, the show reveals what exactly happened on Se-hyun’s tenth birthday. After Eun-seo discovered the meaning of Jo-gyun’s “business trips,” she grabbed her sister and ran. However, her step-father quickly caught them and shoved Eun-seo to the ground. However, this little girl with a heart of gold and nerves of steel got up again to face a monster in order to protect her sister.
Biting Jo-gyun, Eun-seo knocked him off-balance enough to push him over a cliff, and both girls assumed he died then and there. Free from their captor, Eun-seo tried to ask a passing car for help, but Se-hyun stopped her — the years of indoctrination from her dad making her wary of outsiders. Alas, without receiving immediate medical attention for her injuries, Eun-seo succumbed to the cold, leaving Se-hyun behind to bury her body.
Because of Jo-gyun’s lies, the truth of that day became murky, but the reality is much more simple and tragic. He caused Eun-seo’s death, and for all these years, Se-hyun carried the guilt of a crime she never committed. She lost her sister — the first person to show her unconditional love — and now, she hopes to rewrite history. While Se-hyun could not save Eun-seo or even her younger self from the pain Jo-gyun inflicted, there is still time for Se-eun to experience a different future; one that isn’t a repeat of the same wounds and mistakes.
While Se-hyun jumps headlong into danger, Jung-hyun also joins the investigation despite his injuries. Having heard Se-hyun’s backstory as well as her “plans” (flimsy and vague but still better than nothing), our valiant detective and his loyal team make it their mission to save Se-eun. Though they find Jo-gyun’s van, he already dumped Se-eun elsewhere, halting their search with no further leads.
Just as all hope seems lost, Jung-hyun receives a message from the emergency watch he gave Se-hyun which is now in Se-eun’s possession. With this, they locate the general area, and Jung-hyun’s keen eyes spot the strange blue container in the middle of the woods. They find Se-eun in time, but rather than call it luck, I’d like to believe it was the efforts of multiple kind acts that finally gave them the edge over Jo-gyun to save a little girl.
In the meantime, Se-hyun meets with Jo-gyun at the mudflats where he buried Eun-seo’s mom, and the father-daughter pair have their final showdown. With his obsession with Se-hyun reaching new heights, Jo-gyun tells her that only he can love her for who she really is and has the audacity to claim that no one will stay by her side (as if he wasn’t the one actively killing anyone who showed her an ounce of love). Immune to his manipulations, Se-hyun says that maybe the others would still be alive if she did this a long time ago and takes out a vial. Giving her last farewell, she drinks it, and Jo-gyun watches in horror as his protege dies.
Unwilling to let go of his twisted love, Jo-gyun carries Se-hyun out, but our heroine isn’t the type to give up her life so easily. The vial was a fake, and once her dad is in position, she plunges a syringe into his neck. As he convulses on the ground, the muscle relaxant spreading quickly through his body, Se-hyun takes out a scalpel and prepares to show him how well he trained her. She wants him to experience the fear and pain he caused so many until his dying breath, but as scalpel meets flesh, sirens blare in the distance.
The detectives notify Se-hyun that Se-eun is alive, and a single tear streaks her face. Realizing that the worst pain she could inflict on him is living a happy life with her new sister, Se-hyun spares Jo-gyun and leaves her scalpel in the mud, no longer the hunter nor the hunted. Even if the world still thinks she is a liar and an accomplice, the people who truly matter in her life — her mom, Jung-hyun, and now Se-eun — know the truth, and for Se-hyun, that is enough.
Sometime in the future, patrol officer Jung-hyun arrests the stalker, upholding the promise he made to him when they first met. He drops off the guilty offender to his old team now led by Chang-jin, and they have a good time teasing their captain until Jung-hyun has to leave for a prior engagement. He meets up with Se-hyun and Se-eun who bicker like sisters over the latter’s new school uniform, and her name tag says Seo rather than Yoon.
As for our villain, Jo-gyun sits alone in jail as a death row inmate and imagines Se-hyun coming to visit him. Unable to distinguish fiction from reality, he locks himself in his own mind while his laughs echo throughout the empty halls. A fitting end for a cruel and violent man who never truly loved anyone besides himself.
With Jo-gyun behind bars, Se-hyun closes this chapter in her life and visits Eun-seo’s grave for the first time since that night. She apologizes for taking so long and thanks her for everything as a genuine smile spreads across her face: not a smirk or a blood-stained grin, but a real smile.
A satisfying conclusion with clear emotional beats, Hunter with a Scalpel finishes off on a strong note that answers the important questions without getting bogged down by the details. While some of the character development felt rushed and the investigation portion of the plot was underdeveloped, the main character’s arc was tightly woven and nuanced. Though I haven’t read the original novel, I’m assuming a lot of details were cut in exchange for suspense which is why some of backstories for the other characters were tangentially mentioned instead of explored. This choice did make the overall world feel flat (in particular, the NFS plotline was meandering at best), but Se-hyun’s characterization and growth made up for the show’s other weaknesses. For a relatively quick watch, I thought the show was surprisingly thoughtful, and rather than focus on death, it was a tale of love and the power it holds to change people’s lives.
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