Two Weeks does a good job of balancing the high-lows, the action scenes come in waves while the story line progresses on the slow information trickle that adds to the layers. It’s a coincidence of timing that Two Weeks shows us its central love story as flashbacks much like Who Are You is doing, and this one is starting to look like it might actually have a second chance. Whatever hardships and emotional pain In Hye endured to carry and raise Soo Jin without Tae San, she ultimately remember him as a good person. A decent person with no ulterior motives in life. As she sees him running to stay alive to save Soo Jin, once she realizes he broke up with her to save her and sacrificed himself, I’m having a hard time seeing her pick Seung Woo over Tae San. Especially if Tae San survives and clears his name, and Soo Jin desperately wants her real daddy back. I think Seung Woo deserves In Hye, but it’s no longer so cut and dry how the ancillary love story will get resolved. But the central plot of Two Weeks is about Tae San’s fight for survival and Jae Kyung’s fight for justice, and the two plot threads have finally dovetailed.

Sadly the Super Duo tag-team of Jae Kyung and Tae San isn’t formed simply because they met, but at least each other knows that there is someone out there who knows more to this story than a simple murder investigation. I laugh at the totally ineffectiveness of Team Baddie, who has resorted to hilarious shrieking freak out from Jo Seo Hee and some serious stupidity on the part of Moon Il Suk to not kill either Tae San or Jae Kyung when he had the chance. I’m amused by how the drama keeps Tae San on the move using motorcycles, bicycles, his feet, cars, trucks, vans, smuggling ships, and now even a ferry and speed boat makes its appearance. He better hijack a helicopter soon, and maybe hitch a ride on a 747 jetliner. This drama continues to power on at a well-measured pace and even when some elements are patently unrealistic, at least its entertaining and nicely presented. I’m looking forward to the second half of the drama when Tae San keeps upping his escape abilities along with his backbone, intelligence, and creativity.

Episode 8 recap:

Moon Il Suk offers Tae San the devil’s bargain – if he shoots Jae Kyung right now and gives him the camera, he’ll let Tae San live and send him out of the country. Tae San takes the gun, tenses for a moment, and then points it at Jae Kyung and pulls the trigger.

Jae Kyung flinches but of course there is a catch – the gun is empty of bullets. Il Suk laughs at Tae San’s stupidity, like he would hand Tae San a gun with bullets. He takes out another gun ready to shoot Jae Kyung himself until Tae San tells him that if Jae Kyung dies, then it’s all over.

Tae San knew the gun was empty because Il Suk would never give him a gun with bullets. He pulls a giant game of chicken with Moon Il Suk by claiming that he has the camera and already made arrangements to have the contents released should anything happen to him. He says whatever shady dealings were captured on the camera of Il Suk and that powerful person, Mi Sook told Tae San already.

Il Suk isn’t that quick to buy Tae San’s bluff, wondering why he would try to smuggle himself out of the country if he has the camera. Tae San bluffs back, asking how Il Suk knew he was smuggling, what if he was there to meet someone, or he wanted to release the camera contents from outside the country?

Il Suk acknowledges that even a mouse will bite a cat if cornered, even Jang Tae San. Il Suk points a gun at Tae San and demands the camera. Tae San warns him that he’s about to kill a prosecutor and there are other witnesses here. Will Il Suk’s other lackeys be like Tae San and keep quiet when caught by police? How much will he have to pay them or threaten them to get everyone to stick to the story. If he’s so sure, then go ahead and shoot now.

Il Suk chickens Tae San back that he doesn’t have the camera and is bluffing. Tae San tells himself to stay firm and tells Il Suk that he can carve him up but he’ll never get the camera. If he takes Tae San down, then he goes down as well. Does he want to take that chance?

Il Suk orders Tae San and Jae Kyung taken to the side and starts to pace around thinking of what to do next. His minion is starting to fret.

Tae San notices another minion using a throat spray and later he manages to distract them with conversation, and then beat them use and use the spray to incapacitate them temporarily so he can slip away.

Tae San grabs a car key and goes to one warehouse where he finds the cars are parked inside. He gets into a car and takes off his shirt to mop up a bit of blood. He’s ready to drive off but then remembers Jae Kyung still trussed up and scared. He stops and then makes up his mind, backing the car up in reverse and smashing through a wall.

The car enters the part of the warehouse where Jae Kyung still trussed up and deposited. He hesitates and then opens the passenger side door. Jae Kyung hurries up and gets in.

Tae San and Jae Kyung drive off, dodging bullets as Moon Il Suk arrives and starts shooting at them. Tae San drives the car out of the warehouse and Seung Woo just so happens to arrive on the scene having tracked the car Jae Kyung drove. He makes a quick turn and follows that car.

Tae San drives and tells Jae Kyung that he’ll untie her when he gets to a safe place. He sees Seung Woo on his tail and manages to evade him when another car blocks Seung Woo’s path.

Il Suk’s minions are freaking out now that Jae Kyung and Tae San got away. They usher Il Suk out knowing that Jae Kyung will be summoning the cops here soon. The head minion wonders if they need to leave the country immediately.

Tae San tells Jae Kyung, who is still trussed up, and he can’t trust anyone until he gets the camera and that he’s also sorry about what happened to her dad. Jae Kyung thinks to herself that she was the one who planted the camera and she knows he didn’t harm her dad.

Tae San pulls into a secluded tunnel and unties Jae Kyung’s hands. She immediately asks him where the camera is? Tae San tells her to switch with him so she can drive. The moment Jae Kyung gets out of the car, Tae San drives off. Jae Kyung furiously pounds on the window for him to stop and she’s on his side, but Tae San says that he can’t be captured yet.

Tae San drives off and Jae Kyung runs after him for a bit until she runs out of breath. Seung Woo drives up and picks up Jae Kyung. He vaguely recalls seeing her in Tae San’s getaway car but she doesn’t admit it, ordering him to keep chasing after Tae San.

Moon Il Suk calls Jo Seo Hee with the bad news that both Tae San and Jae Kyung got away. She screams at him for being an idiot and reminds him that they have 9 days until the auction. If Jae Kyung escapes then it’s all over for them.

Il Suk says not to worry, even if he’s arrested she isn’t involved because she was never present. He tells her that he will handle it. Seo Hee screeches into the phone that he has to capture Jae Kyung and kill her! Il Suk tells him minions to erase surveillance footage and dummy up an alibi for him that he never left the office.

Tae San ditches the car by the river and boards a ferry. Tae San tries to hide but a boy recognizes him. Il Suk’s minions catch up to the ferry on their speed boat and board it to search for Tae San.

He manages to climb out the window and jump in the water. He climbs on the minion’s speed boat and speeds off. The minions give chase in another speed boat but during a sharp turn they all tumble off.

Tae San steers the speed boat to shore once he loses his pursuers. He lost a shoe earlier and now that foot is injured from stepping on something sharp.

Seung Woo is talking with his captain and they are discussing how the bad guys knew they had gone to Busan to capture Jang Tae San and knew their whereabouts to intercept.

Jae Kyung wakes up in the hospital with Sang Hoon by her side. Jae Kyung learns that Tae San got away and tells Sang Hoon to contact Moon Il Suk’s company to find out his whereabouts. She’s told that Moon Il Suk has already produced an alinit that he was there the entire day. Sang Hoon is pretty shaken that Moon Il Suk tried to kill Jae Kyung.

Seung Woo arrives and goes up to the roof to have a private conversation with Jae Kyung. He wants the truth from her but she has nothing to share. He knew she saw Tae San but she counters that he has no evidence she was in that car with him. She tells Seung Woo to take her own personal feelings out of it and consider that Jang Tae San might have been framed.

The news reports are all talking with the people Tae San met along the way who helped him. The new mom says he saved her otherwise she would be died in a field. And he cooked seaweed soup for her, too.

Soo Jin’s doctor and In Hye are watching this news report and the doctor says Tae San is quite compassionate. In Hye tells the doctor her story with Tae San. After he gave her a ride, she went to the docks to return the helmet and offered to take him out to a shrimp feast as a thank you.

They sit down to eat and Tae San murmurs that In Hye must really like shrimp…. She thanks him for the ride and wonders why he’s not eating. Tae San quickly starts to eat and slowly chews a shrimp.

He’s really quiet during the meal and In Hye wonders why he doesn’t talk much. She asks if she really looked so much like a statue that day? Tae San quickly ends the meal and leaves.

In Hye goes back to look for Tae San the next day and hears from his buddy that Tae San got sick from eating shrimp that he was allergic too. He chides In Hye for feeding him shrimp.

In Hye goes to Tae San’s apartment and finds him laying on the floor resting. She calls him an idiot for not saying anything about the allergy and eating the shrimp. People can die from such allergies. He tells her to leave but she’s brought him medicine.

In Hye tells the doctor that Tae San was always a simple guy who was actually quite earnest. The doctor wonders why Tae San would abandon In Hye and Soo Jin and In Hye thinks people change and a person can never truly know what is in another’s heart. The doctor thinks Tae San should be on the boat by now and In Hye will get a call when he lands.

Moon Il Suk talks with his secretary about how all the video has been altered so it looks like he was in the office all day. Il Suk wonders what is happening with Jae Kyung since the cops haven’t arrived to arrest or question him.

Jo Seo Hee is also wondering why Jae Kyung hasn’t sent someone to arrest Moon Il Suk either? She makes a call to ask for some surveillance videos.

Jae Kyung talks with her boss who thinks that Moon Il Suk can’t get away that easily just by manufacturing an alibi. Jae Kyung says that without Tae San as an eyewitness, there is nothing they can do. Her boss is furious since Moon Il Suk tried to kill Jae Kyung. She’s fine waiting because she wants to arrest him once she has more evidence so she can investigate all his other crimes. Tae San will be at the hospital in 9 days no matter what for his daughter’s surgery, she’s waited 8 years so she can wait a few more days.

Killer Kim is asking around all the pharmacies in the area where Tae San got shot to find out who got the antibiotics for him. Oh noes, Chairman Han is in danger!

Tae San is running through the forest but he’s exhausted and in pain and finally just lays down. He starts thinking about poor dead Man Seok.

Man Seok’s girlfriend is with her friend looking at pictures of Man Seok taken on the camera before he died. She remembers Man Seok introducing her to Tae San and her friend says that Man Seok never knew he lived with such a scary evil man. The girlfriend wishes they had filmed some videos together before Man Seok died. Her friend wants to delete the pictures so the girlfriend can stop grieving.

Jae Kyung and her boss ask to conduct an internal investigation to find out how information is leaking to the bad guys.

The cops are finally acknowledging that maybe Jang Tae San is involved in an even bigger conspiracy and Seung Woo orders all the files on Jang Tae San pulled up. He remembers Jae Kyung telling him that Tae San may have been framed.

In Hye remembers the news report interview of the daughter and deaf mom and the daughter says that Tae San told her he might have beaten people up before but he has never stabbed anyone. Tae San insisted that he did not kill Oh Mi Sook. In Hye sits by Soo Jin’s bedside looking at her cellphone, telling herself that Tae San will call her. He will call her to say that he’s alive. He must be alive.

She gets a call from Seung Woo and lies that Soo Jin is asleep and now is not the time to talk. After she hangs up, Soo Jin wonders why her mom lied and it’s because In Hye is waiting for a very important phone call. Soo Jin asks from whom? In Hye says that she will tell Soo Jin after the surgery.

We see Tae San asleep in the forest floor and then the continuation of the flashback to when In Hye came to take care of an allergy ridden Tae San. She introduces herself as Seo In Hye and asks if his name is Tae San? She hands him the food she cooked and he silently eats it.

Tae San is awoken by his fantasy Soo Jin, who tells her dad to wake up. She knows it’s hard and wishes that he just went with the unni yesterday. She believes Taer San is innocent and she also wants to capture Moon Il Suk.

Tae San can’t go with her yet because he needs to get the camera back. Soo Jin thinks the camera is with Man Seok’s girlfriend. Tae San remembers her know and realizes that the frugal Man Seok would never misplace such an expensive item. If it’s not in their apartment, it must be with the girlfriend. He needs to find a way back to Seoul. He remembers to take his antibiotics even without any water around because it’s that important to him.

The next morning, Tae San waits for a home owner to leave before sneaking into the backyard to snatch some clothes and shoes, and then grab a bag of rice. He goes to the forest and shovels the rice into his mouth, taking care not to choke.

Tae San then waits for a truck heading to Seoul and he climbs into the undercarriage to hitch a ride.

Jo Seo Hee tells the other politician that she’s not qualified but is willing to throw her hat in the ring to run for the next mayor of Seoul.

Jae Kyung goes back to the office and asks about the investigation into Jo Seo Hee’s lifestyle. She’s told that Seo Hee is very frugal and regimented, she even turns her lights off shortly after entering her house every night. Jae Kyung orders the hospital to remain under surveillance since Jang Tae San will surely try to contact Seo In Hye.

Jae Kyung is called to the chief prosecutor’s office and she walks in to find Jo Seo Hee sitting there. They fake greet each other politely. Seo Hee is here about the Jang Tae San case and asks if Jae Kyung is concealing information about it. She shows Jae Kyung a street camera surveillance footage that shows her clearly sitting in the passenger seat as Tae San drives.

The cops also hear that Jae Kyung was captured on surveillance in the same car as Tae San and wonders what Jo Seo Hee wants to do with this footage.

Tae San stops at a phone booth and calls up the Seoul police station. Maknae cop Il Do picks up the phone and Tae San identifies himself as the person they are looking for – Jang Tae San. Soo Jin marks off yet another day, this time looking rather down after seeing her mom look so worried earlier and likely putting two-and-two together.