9: Nine Times Time Travel (2013 series) [Super-long]

[It's quite the tongue twister if you say it real fast.]

This show is about a reporter who discovers magic joss-sticks that, when burnt, brings a person 20 years into the past for a duration of 30 minutes (that is, when the joss-stick burns out completely). I skipped the earlier episodes, but tuned in from the time he started investigating his father’s death. By then, his elder brother (dead at the start of the series) is now living (possibly by our hero’s meddling hand) and by his living, our hero’s junior colleague cum girlfriend wannabe is now the hero’s step-niece, because the brother had married the girl’s mother. Our hero then decides to appreciates the girl after she becomes family.

Aside from this semi-mess, he also has a brain tumour (not really caused by the time travel but worsens with each jump into the past), and in trying to prevent / investigate his father’s death, he has to deal with the antagonist of the show, who (though a devious bastard) didn’t murder his father but manipulated events so that he can ascend to the father’s position as director/chairman/head of a hospital.

[Complicated storylines and time travel seem to be the stuff of Korean shows, but they tend to be able to do them justice.]

The thing about this show is its interesting take on time travel: changes in the past affect the future organically instead of immediately (unlike other shows, where you come back to a completely different future), which means that people in the present suddenly gain new memories as the events resulting from the change occur in the past. So there’s plenty of split-screen scenes: 20 years ago versus present time; and a scene where our hero sees a message appear stroke-by-stroke on his guitar, as written by himself at that point in time 20 years ago.

One of the most thrilling sequences in the show (that makes use of the split-screen) is when our hero dies in the operation to relieve swelling on his tumour; at the same time 20 years back, his past self finds tumour medication dropped by his future self in a previous visit, and after consulting his doctor on what that medication is, the tumour was detected at an early stage (instead of 10-20 years later, when it’s too late). So, as recollected by his best friend in the present (who gains these 20-year-old memories in real time), one minute our hero’s body is heading to the morgue, the next thing: the corpse is of another person, and our hero is alive and well and delivering the news.

Also, that girlfriend/step-niece? Her now fiance discovers a love-note from her to our hero, confronts the niece, who at first doesn’t know what’s going on, but slowly regains her memories from the past timeline. Now she has memories of being a step-niece, AND majorly crushing on this guy. And at first, our hero vehemently denies this (because only he and his best friend knows about the time travelling) and even scolded her for thinking such a thing (read: incest), but as the girl spirals into madness, he finally acknowledges her original memories by showing up at “the place I kissed my senior for the first time” (something he wouldn't have known if he actually was her step-uncle), and with this exchange:

"You know the word I hate most in the world?"

"What?" says her.

" 'Uncle'."

THEN HE FRIGGIN' KISSES HER!!!

[The closet romantic approves this scene, which she cannot find with English subs on YouTube.]

Don’t worry, the show isn’t entirely about two people who want to be together but can’t anymore. It’s about our hero’s efforts in trying to right the future by remedying the past, but with each time-jump, he has to contend not just with the changes happening in real-time as a result, but with the unexpected repercussions that keeps on unexpectedly happening whenever he returns to the present.

And how completely left-of-field they are!

Currently, the series is nearing its end (either today or tomorrow, depending on Christmas specials if any), and since this show airs five days a week, the episodes this week are packing a wallop of a cliff-hanger at each end. Spoilers below:

On Monday: The frequent changes to the past lead the antagonist to have been in possession of the joss-sticks for 20 years (in his office drawer!) – and he uses a stick to travel back to order a hit on our hero in his past teenaged self. Hero finds joss-stick, stops it from burning (therefore pulling the antagonist back to the future), and uses the very last one to go back and finally make things right. Episode ends with hero getting a long scar on his arm, and growing weaker by the minute as his past self is threatened (and subsequently chased) by the hitman.

Tuesday: Hero has jumped to the past. He stops the hitman (this part is totally filler), provides his younger self with evidence on his (their?) father’s death, and tells him to reach his boss – who 20 years ago is a journalist investigating corruption in the police force. With the evidence, the changes to the future are immediate: the antagonist loses everything (literally – as he is trying to break into our hero’s car to get at the joss-stick, his golf clubs, lackeys, big car all vanish), the best friend’s memories get a 20-year update, and the step-niece gets transported from funeral parlour (step-dad committed suicide – burdened with the knowledge of being a weak douche and having caused everyone a lot of hardship by not dying in the first place) to church: it’s her wedding day with our hero!!

[SQUEE!!]

Wednesday: Timeline having righted, this episode explores where and how everyone is; those already aware still remain aware of what has occurred. The antagonist is now a lowly pharmacist owner, and tries to find the hero’s car so that he can get at the last joss-stick (which would still be burning); we get a flashback as to how the now-girlfriend got engaged with our hero (adorable, but still filler); hero counts down his final minutes before he returns to the present, but (and that is a HUGE ‘but’) hero doesn’t jump back to the future.

Like, in his car 20 years in the future, the wedding ring box first appears on the seat, and then, joss-stick and joss-stick holder disappears from the car.

And then (yes, there is still more!), 20 years back, past-antagonist stumbles onto present-hero (who is leaving a voicemail to his best friend 20 years on – ikr right?), and rams his car into him!

THE EPISODE ENDS WITH OUR HERO BLOODIED AND MORTALLY WOUNDED!!

AND TONIGHT IS THE (PEN?)ULTIMATE EPISODE!! ARGGHHHH!!

It will either end with:

a) him dying, which would make things predictable, since you can’t get away unscathed when you mess with time, OR

b) him dying, and then him undying (by some time-travel magicking) and everyone lives happily ever after except for the antagonist.

Tonight's episode has already started on 8TV! Korean shows have never gripped me so; I've been rushing in and out to complete this post as I don't have Wi-fi.

P.S. My recaps mightn’t be very accurate, because so much happens in one episode that it’s discover-a-minute exciting and I only got a chance to put this to post right now.

Thursday update!: Confirmed today was penultimate episode (meaning there's one more tomorrow) and they do show him dying! In the past! And the last person he sees is his girlfriend as a child and he gives her a final message and she remembers it all 20 years later!!

But then final episode preview shows everything as back to normal(?)! I'm confused and emotional about all this!!