3 Revelations That Expose Ha Ji Won & Ju Ji Hoon In Episodes 3-4 Of "Climax"
In the latest episodes of “Climax,” tensions are rife and the stakes even higher, as both Bang Tae Seop (Ju Ji Hoon) and Chu Sang Ah (Ha Ji Won) face the consequences of their actions.
Warning: mentions of assault and eating disorder
Tae Seop has resigned from the prosecutor’s office and has his eyes firmly set on a career in politics. After having blown the cover on Mayor Nam Hye Hoon’s philandering ways, he is unstoppable. But he took on the wrong person, in this case Lee Yang Mi (Cha Joo Young), who had been sponsoring the Mayor’s campaign.
Yang Mi warns him that politicians and celebrities both live and die by their image. She threatens him with an exposé that will destroy him and his wife, Sang Ah, and also blow the cover on their so-called perfect marriage.
Sang Ah, on the other hand, worried over the release of her bodyguard, Park Jae Sang (Lee Ga Seop), meets with Chairman Kwon Se Gyeong (Kim Hong Pa), much to Tae Seop’s ire.
And Hwang Jeong Won (Nana), who is pursuing the hidden clues and following up on the YouTuber set up by Yang Mi, is in for a shock herself. Jeong Won realizes that between Tae Seop and Sang Ah, it is not clear who is playing whom.
Here are the three key revelations which expose the couple as they confront their past actions.
Sang Ah’s deeper relationship with Ji Soo
Sang Ah has been in turmoil ever since Tae Seop blew the lid on the Mayor, and his action has a direct impact on her agency. With her comeback film hanging in limbo, the release of Park Jae Sang, the man who had killed CEO Oh Kwang Jae (Seo Hyun Woo), her former agent, is adding to her stress.
Sang Ah does not fear Jae Sang but is growing anxious about him making her past public, especially her relationship with Ji Soo (Han Dong Hee).
Rejected by Chairman Kwon, an investor in Kwang Jae’s company, he also was sort of instrumental in her rise to fame. He tells her it is best that she consults her husband since he was the prosecutor on the case.
Meanwhile, Jeong Won, who has accessed the YouTuber’s and Jae Sang’s recordings, is shocked with the candid revelations. Currently filming and playing Sang Ah’s body double in her comeback film, she has been told about her resemblance to Ji Soo, a name closely associated with Sang Ah.
Jae Sang reveals to the YouTuber that Ji Soo and Sang Ah were more than just friends—they were rumored to be in a relationship. We are taken into a series of flashbacks and introduced to Ji Soo, a young actor in Kwang Jae’s agency, who is mercilessly exploited by him. From being coerced to film intimate scenes and being bound by a strict non-negotiable contract, Ji Soo is constantly manipulated and pushed into morally compromising arrangements with the rich and powerful. Ji Soo, as we are clearly shown, is a nervous wreck and in a poor mental space.
When Ji Soo is once again forced to film an explicit scene, which she refuses to do so, she counter questions Kwang Jae, saying it is not in her contract. She is assaulted by Kwang Jae, who tells her that he decides what is in and what is not in the contract.
This is when we meet Sang Ah, an established and influential star. When she learns what is happening on Ji Soo’s set, Sang Ah steps in.
As she rescues Ji Soo, Sang Ah clearly tells Kwang Jae to stay away from her. Back at home, Sang Ah consoles Ji Soo and tells her that she doesn’t want her returning to the set and that she will pay the penalty on her walking out of the contract. At this point, the nature of their relationship is not obvious, but it is clear that Sang Ah deeply cares for her. Ji Soo tells her she will finish the film and end her stint with Kwang Jae’s agency.
We are taken back to the present, with the YouTuber probing Jae Sang to divulge more about the nature of Sang Ah and Ji Soo’s relationship, as well as Kwang Jae’s death.
We get a flashback that shows that Ji Soo has been summoned by Kwang Jae for shooting, and as she enters it is clear that it is not a set but a set-up. Ji Soo is pushed into a dark room, and we see two men in silhouette. Kwang Jae pushes her in and tells the men crudely that Ji Soo is a young actor and extremely talented. As she tries to escape, she is brought in and the screen goes dark, and we are told that Ji Soo was found dead after the incident.
As we move back to the present, Jae Sang narrates that Ji Soo’s passing destroyed Sang Ah, who was on a downward spiral, as she cancelled all engagements and appearances. He reveals that this was the time he was appointed as her bodyguard by Kwang Jae.
We once again revisit the past, where a disheveled and distraught Sang Ah is scrolling down her phone, which has pictures of her and Ji Soo as well as their message exchanges. Based on this, it is clear the two were more than just friends. Jae Sang’s voiceover narrates that Sang Ah had developed an eating problem as well and was on the path of self-destruction.
The next scene shows us that Sang Ah discovered that Kwang Jae had put her under surveillance with cameras all around her house. Shaken and shocked, Sang Ah is hysterical and hears the bell ring. Opening the door, she meets Jae Sang for the first time, who tells her that he is her bodyguard and that Kwang Jae has asked him to drive her to Ji Soo’s funeral. At the funeral home, Sang Ah has a complete meltdown, and her grief, helplessness, and rage are visible as she sits across from Kwang Jae.
We also witness a conversation between Sang Ah and Jae Sang as she asks him if he has ever wanted to eradicate someone’s existence. Sang Ah confesses brokenly that she stands on the very ground created by the sacrifices of many young women. It is clear she too had been exploited and no longer wants anyone else to go through a similar fate like Ji Soo’s.
The show cuts to Sang Ah walking down a hotel corridor. She stops by a door, inserts the keycard, and walks into the room. We see the sleeping figure of a man, and Sang Ah plunges a knife deep into him. The face is revealed to be that of Kwang Jae’s. It appears as if Sang Ah was the one who killed him, and as the thought sinks in, we hear the word “CUT!” Sang Ah is shooting a film scene, and the ferocity and anguish on her face is proof that she has neither forgotten Kwang Jae nor what he did to the person she loved most.
As she walks away from the set, Jeong Won looks at her as if finally understanding what has been going through her mind. Even though Sang Ah appears cold and distant, she is a broken soul. Her past continues to shroud her present. And Jae Sang’s return as well as her relationship with Ji Soo being made public is not something Sang Ah wants. The act of being calm and collected is finally falling apart.
As we go back to Jae Sang’s recording, the YouTuber tells him that he has made Sang Ah sound more like the victim than the instigator, and you cannot help but wonder, is this what she is?
Tae Seop and Sang Ah’s arrangement
There has been a lot of speculation about the nature of Tae Seop and Sang Ah’s marriage. It has been common knowledge that the two had met when Sang Ah appeared as a witness and Tae Seop as the prosecutor in charge of Kwang Jae’s murder.
But their background is far more complicated. A flashback reveals that Tae Seop was well aware of what had taken place the night before Ji Soo’s death. He was the one who had driven the Chief Prosecutor and Chairman Kwon to the venue. He had also encountered Ji Soo as she tried to escape her captors. Well aware about what was about to happen in the room, he had turned his face away.
Tae Seop is a calculating sort who prefers to turn a blind eye when his interests are not being served. This was not an incident that concerned him nor was he going to bother with it, especially when it involved powerful players.
The narrative returns to Ji Soo’s funeral. As Tae Seop walks into the funeral parlor, he witnesses the face-off between an inebriated Sang Ah and a visibly irritated Kwang Jae. He steps in to shield Sang Ah as Kwang Jae tries getting violent. But the question is: why is Tae Seop even there? Is he trying to cover his boss’s tracks, or is he anticipating a potential scandal?
We return to the recording in the present. Jae Sang recalls how a distraught Sang Ah had pleaded with him to help her kill Kwang Jae. He narrates their conversation, which has also been recorded, saying “kill him and I will be your woman after.” He also tells the YouTuber that he had been in love with Sang Ah but had no idea what she could be capable of.
It isn’t clear whether Sang Ah is putting up an act on someone’s behalf to provoke Jae Sang, or is tormented by Kwang Jae still being alive. Jae Sang narrates the incident of the murder and Tae Seop as prosecutor on the case changed everyone’s lives. Jae Sang calls out that Tae Seop and Sang Ah’s marriage is nothing but a sham.
In the present, Tae Seop is hassled with his political ambitions hitting a road block and Lee Yang Mi threatening to destroy Sang Ah. His past reveals that during the course of the investigation, he had discovered damning evidence which could destroy Sang Ah, which concerns her relationship with Ji Soo as well as being sponsored by some influential candidates. And Sang Ah was being questioned regarding Kwang Jae’s murder.
Tae Seop makes his move and makes Sang Ah an offer she cannot refuse. He tells her he has access to several files concerning her and will ensure that the evidence is never made public. In return, he asks Sang Ah to marry him. According to him, people like them—the ones who are constantly trampled—need each other to survive and succeed. The two could be a couple that could curate the public narrative in their favor.
In the end, Tae Seop ended up accusing Jae Sang of the murder in court, announcing that the crime was done without any provocation from Sang Ah.
But now, hassled with Jae Sang’s release and the recordings being made public, Tae Seop realizes the skeletons in their cupboard are about to tumble out. Someone has to take the fall, and for the sake of his political aspirations, it certainly won’t be him, or so it seems.
The truth which destroys Sang Ah
Tae Seop is unscrupulously ambitious. While on one hand he puts up the facade of a self-righteous man fighting for justice, he is also someone who manipulates the truth to serve his purpose.
We shift back to Jae Sang’s arrest. As he is being taken into prison, he sees his distraught mother and says that he wasn’t the one who murdered Kwang Jae. We see another figure with a cap holding his mother, and it is revealed that it is Sang Ah. She signals to him to say no more.
In the present, Tae Seop, who is having a moment being interviewed by the press, returns home and confronts his wife. He tells her that this entire drama wouldn’t have taken the turn it has if she had not instigated Jae Sang and been in touch with him without telling Tae Seop.
Tae Seop reveals Kwang Jae would have been killed anyway. Chairman Kwon had hired a hitman to kill the man, since Chairman Kwon was the prime investor in the agency. He had hired an assassin to avoid any scandal. We once again shift to the past, to the day of Kwang Jae’s murder. We see Jae Sang attack him with a knife. The two men wrestle a bit, with Jae Sang escaping when he hears someone at the door. Soon after we see another man walk in who actually kills Kwang Jae. Tae Seop had known this all along but chose not to tell Sang Ah.
Besides herself, Sang Ah accuses Tae Seop of manipulating her into marrying him, and more so, of making her send an innocent man to jail. She looks visibly shattered. But Tae Seop is unfazed and tells her he did not intentionally manipulate her, but rather he is the one at fault for marrying a murderer. You get the sense that Tae Seop is not only a calculating man, but one that has been gaslighting Sang Ah all along.
A distraught Sang Ah drives out of the house, only to crash into a busy street. As she gets out, she sees the billboards flashing with the news, accusing her of murdering Kwang Jae. Is Sang Ah a mere a pawn caught between Tae Seop and Lee Yang Mi’s power struggle? We cannot wait to find out what happens next on “Climax.”
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Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram.