That night, Gang-mu stumbles upon a room full of secret surveillance equipment at the dorm. The matron herself is using her radio to communicate with someone she calls “VIP.” Gang-mu finds this equipment incriminating, and decides to take it with him.
Yeong-u’s death shocks Yeong-ro and Soo-ho, who stop her from running down the booby-trapped stairway in her grief. Grief turns to anger, which has her striking Soo-ho, blaming him until she passes out from the shock.
A commotion can be heard in the cafeteria, and the matron, fearing for her safety, hides her radio in a sanitary bin. Comrade Joo then escorts her back to the room. ..
Gang-mu listens in on conversations around the dorm to learn more about what is going on. He finds out that Soo-ho is ordering Comrade Joo to set up a bomb in the cafeteria in case the ANSP decides to retaliate for Yeong-u’s death.
Gang-mu rushes back to 203 and slips the key to the hidden door in his boot. He’s shimmying back into the ropes when Soo-ho bursts in, gun raised. Soo-ho confiscates the scalpel and transfers Gang-mu back to the cafeteria.
Yeong-ro has been taken to 202 and Chung-ya has given her a sedative. When Soo-ho checks on her, Chung-ya warns him not to let his personal feelings ruin their mission. Soo-ho insists that he’s never had any.
Yeong-ro wakes up in a panic after seeing Soo-ho leave. Chung-ya takes notice of Soo-ho’s necklace and has a flashback to when Soo-ho refused to sell it to her and called it more precious than his own life. ..
Not content to stay put, Yeong-ro finds Soo-ho and begs him to let her go to her brother’s funeral. Soo-ho drags her back to 202 but sees Chung-ya there and thinks better of it. Back to the cafeteria Yeong-ro goes.
Yeong-u’s death leaves Chang-su drowning in his sorrow, too far away from the election to give much thought to how it has worked in his favor. With a son dead on the front lines and a daughter taken hostage, Park Mu-yeol (Aemin Party’s number one) acknowledges Chang-su’s patriotism. It doesn’t escape Tae-il that Mu-yeol will align with Chang-su to garner sympathy votes in the election. ..
Soo-ho finds the scarf Yeong-u gave Yeong-ro when he last visited her. Soo-ho offers it to Yeong-ro as a sign of comfort. ..
The matron’s departure is a major topic of conversation among the staff. It’s a mystery why she leaves and some believe that she may be taking advantage of the free food. Gang-mu, who is usually the most level-headed of the group, suggests that maybe the matron is getting old and needs some time away from the office.
Ms. Song, a matron at Man-dong, was upset after being told that the woman who was to be her replacement had been proposed to by her cousin in Munich. She threw down the file of the woman in question and killed herself that same night. ..
Han-na learns that Chief Ahn will announce during his upcoming press conference that there are seven spies in the dorm. She is furious that he would risk putting the hostages in more danger, but he just vaguely alludes to the agreement happening behind her back. ..
“I have a story that will make your day,” Han-na says. “I know you’re busy, so I’ll just give it to you straight: the president of the United States is going to be in town for a few days and he’s going to be staying at the presidential palace.”
Chief Ahn’s exaggerations on TV have Soo-ho’s doubts about the ANSP. Chung-ya advises him to release half the hostages so that word about the true number of spies is leaked. Soo-ho notifies Tae-il – who is directing the dorm operation while Chang-su grieves – and demands supplies to be delivered by Han-na in exchange for the hostages.
Bun-ok finds the dead drop goods under the stove in the kitchen. Sang-beom comes in and stuffs wads of the cash into his jacket along with a gun.
Joo catches Sang-beom red-handed as he tries to steal money from the cafeteria. Joo takes back the money and shoves Sang-beom back to the cafeteria, before realizing that the gun is not loaded. Sang-beom pulls the trigger, but nothing happens because he does not have experience with firearms. ..
As Comrade Joo delivers blows, Sang-beom shields himself with his own body. Gang-mu urges Comrade Joo to take the attention of them, but almost gets himself shot. Soo-ho appears just in time to diffuse the situation and has Comrade Joo relocate Gang-mu, Sang-beom, and themselves to the dorm chapel. Hearing this, the matron gives Man-dong a meaningful look.
Gang-mu quickly unties the ropes around his waist and steps out of the chapel. He knows that he’s in for a long journey, but he’s determined to find the other two men and free them from this cursed place.
Gang-mu uses the SWAT team to leave the dorm. He finds a SWAT team idling outside and calls for them to follow him in. Instead, they fire warning shots at his feet and herd him back in on Tae-il’s order.
Gang-mu narrowly avoids Soo-ho and Comrade Joo as they run towards the sound of gunfire. He then enters the surveillance room to check what footage has been recorded since he left. Gang-mu discovers that Chung-ya is a North Korean spy and alerts his comrades. ..
Tae-il contacts Soo-ho through the field phone, wanting to know about the gunshots. He isn’t reassured to hear that Soo-ho sent his own agent back into the dorm to silence any fuss.
Gang-mu finally sees all the pieces in the puzzle and believes that everyone in the dorm is in danger. He leaves the surveillance room and tries to appeal to Soo-ho’s reason, explaining that Aemin Party is likely to kill everyone in the dorm to utilize the public’s anger for the election. Soo-ho doesn’t bite, confident in his Party’s plans.
Gang-mu, Man-dong, and Sang-beom are brought back to the cafeteria. Yeong-ro discreetly asks Gang-mu how she can help them escape. He tells her to sit tight, warning her about the detonator in Soo-ho’s back pocket.
Yeong-ro and Soo-ho share a moment of sincerity and understanding before Yeong-u leaves for the bathroom. Yeong-ro asks Soo-ho to help her go to the bathroom, but Soo-ho instead helpswrap her bandages. The moment rewinds them back to the sincerity they used to share, and Soo-ho apologises for Yeong-u and assures Yeong-ro that he wants to leave in nine days without hurting anyone else. He also admits that he wants to release her, though he cannot.
When Soo-ho starts to leave, Yeong-ro embraces him from behind, telling him not to go. He turns her around and hugs her properly. Guard down, he’s unprepared when Yeong-ro snatches the detonator from his pocket and jumps away.
The Episode Review
Episode 5 of Snowdrop was not able to capitalize on the momentum created by Episode 4, allowing the past three episodes to stagnate into a set of repetitive patterns, broken only by a few revelations/developments that seemed like game changers but plateaued disappointingly.
The dorm’s two most interesting characters, the matron and Chung-ya, have been underused. At least, in the matron’s case, a little more of her mystery shrouding her has been lifted. Ms. Song’s suicide is looking more like a cover-up and the matron’s connections link her to Germany, where Soo-ho and Gang-mu had been playing cat and mouse. ..
This episode left us on a cliff-hanger, promising a break from the monotony. It was fun to watch Yeong-ro play Soo-ho at her own game – let’s see if she’s smart enough to make it count. ..
