vagabond kdrama recaps

vagabond ep 1

EPISODE 1 RECAP

In a kingdom called Kiria in North Africa, a Korean sniper who goes by the call-name of “Monkey” sits high on a rocky outcropping. His Russian partner, on a nearby rock pile, calls out that their mission is crazy, complaining that he used to be the best but now he’s relegated to babysitting the newbie.

He decides to change the plan and make the person they’re after his target instead of Monkey’s, but Monkey doesn’t respond to the change or the insults. They’re notified that their target is three minutes away, and soon a black van and a white limousine approach on the road.

Monkey’s partner shoots one of the limo’s wheels, stopping the vehicles. A woman steps from the limousine, and Monkey lines up his shot. But when gust of wind strips the scarf from the woman’s head, Monkey sees her face. His eyes go wide and he gasps, then starts to shake as his leader’s voice orders him to make the shot. A gunshot rings out…

Thirteen years ago.

Our future sniper, much younger (and blonder!), introduces himself on camera as CHA DAL-GEON (Lee Seung-gi). He’s auditioning for a stuntman job at an action center, and he lists his skills which include taekwondo, hapkido, judo, kendo, and kickboxing. But when he tries to kick an apple off someone’s head, he knocks the guy out cold, whoops.

He nearly gives himself a head injury by failing to break bricks with his forehead, and at the sight of the blood, a little boy starts wailing at the top of his tiny lungs… awww, he’s Dal-geon’s nephew, Cha Hoon. Dal-geon explains that he’s raising Hoon after his brother’s sudden passing, and Dal-geon’s attempts to make him stop crying only make him sob harder.

Despite his nerve-wracking audition, Dal-geon’s earnestness lands him the job, and in his free time he teaches little Hoon’s martial arts class. It’s obvious that Dal-geon would do anything for his nephew, and Hoon is a sweet kid who takes care of Dal-geon when he’s badly injured on the job.

A woman gives a presentation regarding the future of fighter planes in Korea’s air force to a roomful of military experts. She’s JESSICA LEE (Moon Jung-hee), director of John & Mark Asia, and she and her company’s vice president look unhappy when a rival company, Dynamic System, presents their much cheaper plane.

Dal-geon quits his dangerous stunt job and takes a job driving a cab. He tells his friend that he’s worried he may be killed on set and leave Hoon with nobody to care for him. He gets a call from Hoon, who doesn’t know he’s not working for the action center anymore. Hoon says the water is cut off and they’re about to lose the gas, too, and Dal-geon has to make up some fancy lies to placate the smart little guy.

At home, Hoon sorts the recyclables, complaining that Uncle has been drinking again. He finds a box filled with Dal-geon’s martial arts movies, clippings, and study notes. Hoon starts to call Dal-geon again (who’s saved in his phone as “Uncle Stupid,” ha), but instead he calls the action center and learns that Dal-geon quit.

When Dal-geon gets home later, Hoon insists on ramyun for dinner instead of more expensive meat. He tells Dal-geon that he’s not going on the trip to Morocco with his taekwondo demo team next week. Dal-geon reminds him that the plane and hotel were paid for by the Moroccan government, who specially invited the team.

But Hoon argues that they have to pay for everything else. Dal-geon tells Hoon that at his age, he shouldn’t worry about the money. Hoon yells at him, “Then act like a grown-up!” and stomps off to his room.

The name is on the invitation for the taekwondo team’s trip is GO HAE-RI (Suzy), an intern at the Korean Embassy in Morocco. She’s cheerfully late to a meeting regarding the team’s upcoming visit, which is part of a fiftieth anniversary diplomatic relations event.