See You in My 19th Life season 1 episode 11 recap & review: No Such Thing as Retreat

Open Go TV / July 23, 2023 / Reviews

In the eleventh episode of See You in My 19th Life, Ji-eum finally remembers what happened in her first life. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

While touching the shaman bells, Ji-eum sees her first life. In that life, Ji-eum was named Su, Cho-won was named Seol, Min-gi was Master Cheon-un, the priest of a shrine, and Seo-ha was Master Han-ya. Seo-ha and Do-yun were Min-gi’s companions.

Seol and Su were sisters, and Seol was sick. One day, Su comes to know that Seol can be saved if she is given a medicine reserved for the royals in Seorabeol Palace. However, to get that medicine, Su must give the Palace a spiritual item.

Su had been asked to dye the cloth that was to be used for the knot of sacred shaman bells. After delivering the cloth to Cheon-un, Su sneaks into the shrine at night and steals the bells, even though she was warned that she might anger the gods.

Su tries to get to the Seorabeol Palace with her sister and the bells, but Cheon-un and his men catch them. She begs them to let her save her sister’s life, but they do not listen, and her sister is killed by Han-ya’s sword.

The men leave her sobbing with her sister’s lifeless body. Su promises to kill the person who took her sister’s life. Ji-eum then remembers stabbing Han-ya as Su. In the present, Ji-eum chokes Seo-ha, seeing him as Han-ya.

When Seo-ha calls out her name, she comes back to her senses and stops hurting him. She seems disoriented and asks Seo-ha to leave, as she needs to be alone. Even though Seo-ha wants to stay, he listens to her.

Min-gi then calls Seo-ha to meet him. He tells him that they both were a part of Ji-eum’s first life, which she has just remembered. His only advice is that Seo-ha should help her become normal, as he is the only one who can convince her.

Ji-eum cries thinking about Ae-gyeong, who earlier told her that she was glad to raise Ji-eum. Meanwhile, Do-jin, Do-yun’s brother, meets Cho-won and tells her that the night his brother asked her to stop pursuing him, he saw Do-yun cry after she left.

Do-jin believes that Do-yun likes Cho-won a lot. This makes everything harder for Cho-won because she had assumed that she liked Do-yun more and was suffering more than him, but she now knows that his suffering is no less.

Director Lee is sent to the prosecution, and Seo-ha goes to apologize to Ju-won’s mother. He gets on his knees, only to find out that she already knew the truth. Years ago, Chairman Mun had apologized to her in the same way.

She never brought the truth to light because she wanted to protect Seo-ha. He then visits Chairman Mun, who also admits that he tried to protect him by hiding the truth. Seo-ha believes that his father did the wrong thing, as the two of them were left with scars.

Chairman Mun found out the truth when Director Lee revealed everything to Ms. Jang. Chairman Mun confronted Director Lee and then did everything that he could to prevent Seo-ha from finding out about it.

Ji-eum runs into Min-gi and confronts him about not telling her that he was a part of her first life. Min-gi claims that he did not tell her anything because she needs to remember it on her own; the bells will only guide her.

Ji-eum must find the person who made her remember all her lives in order to save Ae-gyeong. Min-gi also tells her that it is very rare to meet people from one’s first life in the same form. It took Ji-eum a thousand years to do so.

Min-gi has not had the same chance yet, so he cannot stop remembering his past lives and be normal. He leaves the bells with her and asks her to come to him when she is done seeing her first life. He knows that she will have to come to him.

Ji-eum is relieved to see Cho-won alive and takes her to an art gallery. When Cho-won talks about letting Do-yun go, Ji-eum calls him and tells him that if Cho-won lets him go for the last time, he will not be able to let her go.

She also asks Do-yun to take care of Seo-ha, not knowing that Seo-ha is listening to the conversation. Ji-eum is not meeting Seo-ha because she is scared of harming him again. Seo-ha decides to go to the hospital to see Ji-eum, and Do-yun keeps thinking about Cho-won.

Seo-ha meets Ji-eum, and as he has figured out that he must have hurt Ji-eum in her first life, he apologizes to her. Similarly, Ji-eum apologizes for putting him in danger. Ji-eum has decided to be normal to save Ae-gyeong, and Seo-ha is going to be by her side, no matter what she chooses.

This time, Seo-ha is with her when she tries to remember the last bit of her first life. Ji-eum takes the bells and sees Su running to attack Cheon-un on the bridge, but Han-ya steps in front of him and gets stabbed in his place.

Su asks him to move, but he stands his ground and tries to dissuade her from getting revenge. He asks her to take care of herself instead. Ji-eum sees this and realizes that she is missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

She tries once again, and this time, she sees Seol’s murderer. It is Cheon-un who kills Seol, not Han-ya. He also tries to kill Su, but Han-ya stops him. Later, Su goes to the bridge to kill Cheon-un, but it is Han-ya who gets hurt.

She tries to kill Cheon-un once again, but she is shot in the back. Before dying, Su takes the shaman bells in her hands and swears that she will never forget this day. She tells Cheon-un that she will remember this anger and will get her revenge.

Review

The story of Ji-eum’s first life is finally revealed, and it does not disappoint. The story is told to the audience in parts, and the parts are given out in a way that the mystery becomes intriguing.
Furthermore, the scenes from the first life are visually appealing. The fireworks, the costumes, and the setting all contribute to making the scenes attractive and the story fascinating.
This episode tries to depict Chairman Mun as a father who was just trying to protect his son. However, it is not entirely convincing, as the show first built a certain image of the character and then tried to shatter it within a few minutes in one episode.