"Vampire Detective" Episode 5 recap

While the vampire side of things remains benched, we have some welcome forward movement in character development in episode five, sparked by what is probably the most interesting guest character yet. The case itself is very entertaining and nicely presented, giving us plenty of suspects and inviting us to a guessing game. Worry not, Yo-na is still around and she is very eager to have a piece of San, figuratively and very literally so.
Yoon Seol-ah (Goo Jae-yee) is really the core of this episode and one half of what sets it apart from the rest. "Vampire Detective" has been using its guest characters to reveal more about our leads and especially San (Lee Joon), but it goes deeper this time. Seol-ah's life as an actress might be worlds apart from the life of a detective, a girl with a secret and a vampire, but she shares the common pain of responsibilities she did not ask for and the consequences of she has to live with.

We already knew San still carries a deep wound from what happened in his past, but I personally did not think it went as far as suicidal thoughts. Perhaps he was trying to be intimidating, but I can also believe he has lost the will to rediscover the joy in life. Gyeo-wool (Lee Se-yeong) becomes more interesting every time and I look forward to her story as well as Goo-hyeong's (Oh Jeong-se), who is the least developed lead.
The second reason why this episode marks a fresh take on things is because we are presented with a case unrelated to our main story and which offers more character development than most previous episodes combined. I am not going to bore you by repeating my complaints over how the vampire element is underdeveloped and feels unnecessary, but at least the series is beginning to address its character issues. My hope is that the creators plan more seasons and that this why the main plot is stretched so thin.

Another element which appeals to me is that our culprits' misguided hate ties into the main story despite their case being unrelated to it. The reason why things got this bad is because the two criminals chose to ruin their lives by placing blame where blame did not belong. One because he was hurt, the other because she was jealous. San blames Yoo-jin (Kim Yoon-hye) for his refusal to move on and Yo-na (Lee Cheong-ah) envies humans, so she hurts them.
I am not sure whether the creators intended to mirror the hero's and villain's conflicts through these guest characters or whether I am just reading too much into it and finding meaning where it does not exist, but this is one element I wish we get more of in "Vampire Detective". Now give Goo-hyeong some love too, creators. He has waited long enough.
"Vampire Detective" is directed by Kim Ga-ram and Lee Seung-hoon-IV, written by Yoo Youngseon and features Lee Joon, Oh Jeong-se, Lee Se-yeong and Lee Cheong-ah.
Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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