Man-hole Episode 3 recap

Bong Pil may be a lazy son-of-a-gun in his original life, but he's clever enough to quickly figure out how the manhole affects his life. It's not always for the better as episode 3 proves. Rather than a lazy neighborhood bum, time travel through the manhole has changed him into a dangerous thug, feared by his friends, disowned by his family, and estranged from the woman he loves.

What this show has done well is establish a mechanism of action for time travel and maintain it. The manhole works in twelve hour increments that then wildly affect ten years of change on not only Bong Pil's life, but the lives of his friends and family. And despite all the knowledge we've gathered on this manhole, it still surprises. Where will episode 4 reveal about Bong Pil's new whereabouts?

Until then we can only review what we do know. When he jumps forward in time his body, mannerisms, and habits have all changed to accomodate his new lifestyle, but his memory remains unchanged. He has no idea who he is in the new reality and it's fun to watch him literally run around trying to make sense of things. While he does so we get insight into his friends who don't have much screen time at all. It's mostly about Bong Pil running around like a nut. But now we see that Seok-tae is a cowardly snitch, Jin-sook is a headstrong and loyal friend, Dal-soo and Jung-ae were always meant to be, and Soo-jin is still a creative photographer with consistent feelings for Pil. We also get to see into Jae-hyeon who is not all Soo-jin believes him to be. In fact, he appears to be a cheater of the nastiest degree.

In the coming episodes it would be nice to balance Bong Pil's desperate search for answers with some character development and other plot threads. He is in nearly every scene and that could weaken the drama if that continues. It's not a one man show, but the story of how this man's decisions and traveling affect the world around him. So...we need to see that world.

Let's hop on over to episode 4 and see what else this drama has in store for us.
Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Man-Hole" is directed by Park Man-yeong, written by Lee Jae-gon and features Kim Jae-joong, UEE, Jung Hye-sung and Baro.