Early Access: Sisyphus E2

E2. This show is turning out to be quite the rollercoaster, in a really good way. This hour flew by, and even though my head is still swimming with questions, I'm having a good time.

So far, I'm really enjoying the fragments of information that we glean about our characters, as we see snippets of them in the various timelines. We don't have a full picture yet, but I feel like I'm starting to get a sense of both Tae Sul and Seo Hae.

In all the flashbacks, it's clear that the bond between Tae Sul and Tae San was very strong, before things went wrong. I find it very bittersweet to look at their interactions through Tae Sul's flashbacks, seeing how warm and supportive their relationship was, and knowing how things ended. But now, it seems that Hyung didn't die back then after all.. but could he have survived after flying into the engine of the plane though? I feel like if he did survive, he'd have been seriously injured. Yikes.

Also, what an interesting glimpse of the future, when Tae Sul develops the film that he finds in the suitcase. It makes my mind spin, to think that Tae San had been at Tae Sul's various life events that haven't happened yet, and had managed to take photos and slip away unnoticed. And how curious, that there's a picture of Tae Sul at his wedding - where his bride is Seo Hae. I'd thought that there would be no loveline in this story, despite this being a kdrama, because of the nature of the story. I figured we wouldn't have time for romance, with our leads busy trying to save the world. But perhaps I was wrong and Show will manage to make time for it anyway? I'm curious to see how this works.

I hafta say, I am growing very fond of Bong Seon. He's all big and burly and fiercely loyal to Tae Sul, and he's seems just a little dim, at the same time. I find him endearing; he's obviously fond  of Tae Sul, and I like that he doesn't judge Tae Sul in spite of all the apparently erratic and strange behavior that Tae Sul's displaying.

I'm curious about why Seo Hae's suffering from nosebleeds. Is this a side effect from having lived in a toxic environment in the future? Coz those Control Bureau guys do put on gas masks when in pursuit of her. This doesn't bode well for her health and her future? I also wonder about the times that she glitches and kind of fades out with the static. Is that an indication of her personal state of wellbeing, or is that some kind of.. connection problem with the people who sent her to Tae Sul's time? I'm really curious about that.

For someone whose body might be compromised from a toxic environment, Seo Hae sure can fight! I have to admit I felt quite thrilled at how she singlehandedly trashed those Control Bureau dudes who busted into Sun's apartment. This reminds me of the initial badassery that Park Shin Hye showed in Doctors, and I love it.

A fair amount of suspension of disbelief is required for sure. I mean, these Control Bureau guys swarm Sun's apartment, and the supervisor guy just reminds them to put on silencers because people are watching? What about the fact that an army of men in black are breaking into an apartment? And what about the violent fight sounds coming from that apartment? Where are the neighbors, and why aren't they freaking out?

I admit that I giggled at Chae Jong Hyeop's shirtless scene, when Sun gets the clothes taken off his back. I mean, Sun looks unnaturally ripped for someone who works at a Chinese restaurant, struggling to make ends meet? Where would he find the time to work out to get that ripped? 😆This feels like a stretch to me. But of course, I can understand Chae Jong Hyeop and his management wanting him to make a lasting impression, heh.

Also, poor boss of the Chinese restaurant. He doesn't seem like such a great guy, but he is essentially innocent, and he gets killed off by the Control Bureau, when he didn't even see Seo Hae. That's terrible. But it does effectively impress on me that these Control Bureau guys are not to be messed with.

I love that Tae Sul's such a smart guy that he can basically rig a makeshift bomb to throw off the Control Bureau guys, from random items that he finds in his old shed of a lab. I mean, that's not something I'd expect most people would be able to do, and he does it in a very stressful situation, with very little time and resources. That's cool.

It's a bummer that he gets caught anyway, but that means that we get a glimpse of the Control Bureau, and it's futuristic and cold. And I have to say, I'm rather impressed at how confidently and casually Tae Sul tells the Control Bureau guys to do whatever they want, when they threaten his reputation in exchange for information. I mean, I'm slightly worried about what they might do to him, but I just like the fact that he's not easily intimidated.

Seo Hae's been quite demanding of Sun, but she's not without conscience. When he keeps telling her that he can't afford to die, and that he needs to support his family, she opts to leave him behind at the train station - after giving him the winning lottery numbers that he'd asked for. That's compassionate of her. I just wonder what kind of ripple effects might occur, with her changing the winner like that. Or is that an area of concern at all, with this story?

Finally, it seems that Show working towards merging Tae Sul's and Seo Hae's paths, since they are both headed to Busan. I'd definitely like to see how they work together, since they each have information that would help the other. Also, that feels like the point at which our story will really take off, and I'm very curious to see how everything unfolds.