Name: Castaway Diva season 1 episode 9
Director: Oh Choong-hwan
Released: 2023-11-25T22:32:45

In the ninth episode of Castaway Diva, Bo-geol comes face to face with his father after years of hiding from him, and Mok-ha signs with RJ Entertainment. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

When Bo-geol pays Mr. Jung a visit, Mr. Jung immediately finds out that Bo-geol has come to make him confess to abusing his family. Mr. Jung gets angry and beats him up. Bo-geol lets his father hurt him because he is there to collect evidence.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Jung, Bo-geol is carrying a recorder as well. He then warns Mr. Jung to stay away from his family and Mok-ha. If Mr. Jung tries anything, Bo-geol will report him. Apart from this recording of Mr. Jung hurting him, he has several pieces of evidence that he has collected over the years.

Bo-geol had touched a used can at Mr. Jung’s house. Mr. Jung gives the can to a policeman. He tells him that this is a case of identity theft and asks him to run the fingerprints through the database.

After informing President Lee that she is ready to terminate their contract, Ran-joo tells Mok-ha that she is giving up on her because Mok-ha is too weak. Years ago, Ran-joo had a mentee just like her. The boy eventually gave up on himself and disappointed Ran-joo.

This time, Ran-joo is going to give up before her mentee disappoints her. While parting ways, Mok-ha gives Ran-joo a key that Ran-joo’s mother had given her. She had asked Mok-ha to pass the key to Ran-joo.

When Woo-hak sees Bo-geol’s bruises, Bo-geol tells him that he got drunk and fell down the stairs, but Woo-hak figures out that he is lying. Bo-geol then tells Woo-hak and Mok-ha about his meeting with Mr. Jung.

Woo-hak wants to report Mr. Jung immediately, but Bo-geol believes that threatening him is enough. Bo-geol promises that he will take responsibility if something bad happens. He then admits to Mok-ha that he is scared, and Mok-ha assures him that he will not have to see Mr. Jung again.

Ran-joo takes her mother back to the nursing home. Her mother recognizes her for a minute and asks her not to let President Lee find something out, but she does not clarify what. Ran-joo is left as confused as she was when Mok-ha gave her the key.

It turns out that Yong-gwan was the mentee who gave up on his dream and disappointed Ran-joo. She fought with President Lee for him and even paid for his albums, but when Yong-gwan failed to make a name for himself, he gave up.

Ran-joo broke up with President Lee in the past only because he allowed and encouraged Yong-gwan to give up and become a manager. In the present, Ran-joo is moving in with President Lee again, and it is Yong-gwan who drives her to his house.

Ran-joo thinks that Mok-ha needs to be more like Mo-rae and stop putting others before her. She fears Mok-ha will end up like Yong-gwan. Ran-joo fought with and hurt Mok-ha only because she wanted her to focus on her own career rather than selling Ran-joo’s albums.

Ran-joo’s efforts bear fruit. Mok-ha calls President Lee to inform him that she is ready to sign with his agency. There is an upcoming showcase, and Mok-ha will be performing. President Lee recruits Mok-ha, but he does not care about her career.

Instead of getting a new song composed for her, he asks her to choose one of the archived songs that have been rejected by all the other artists. Mok-ha falls in love with a song that Yong-gwan produced in the past.

Initially, Yong-gwan refuses to let her sing his song. More than failing, Mok-ha is scared of not trying at all. Mok-ha changes the lyrics, and her resolve to make her dream come true convinces Yong-gwan to let her sing it.

On top of that, Bo-geol gets Ran-joo to make some changes to the song. Ran-joo does not let Bo-geol tell Mok-ha that she is the one who arranged her song, as she does not want to distract Mok-ha now that she is focusing on her own career.

Mok-ha’s performance on the day of the showcase brings tears to Yong-gwan’s eyes. Ran-joo has still not signed the form that will terminate her contract with President Lee. She wants to make some changes to it. After Mok-ha’s performance, Ran-joo asks President Lee to let her produce Mok-ha’s album.

Woo-hak has been investigating Dae-woong’s accident. On the day of the accident, Woo-hak was following Mr. Jung. His dashcam had caught Mr. Jung placing hornets in Dae-woong’s car to cause his accident. When Woo-hak sees the footage, he takes the evidence to the police.

Woo-hak’s father, Lee Uk, had overheard Bo-geol telling Woo-hak and Mok-ha about meeting Mr. Jung. Since then, Lee Uk has been going somewhere secretly, claiming that he is taking flower arrangement classes. However, Woo-hak discovers his father’s lie.

After getting the policeman to run Bo-geol’s fingerprints, Mr. Jung finds Bo-geol’s house. He meets Ms. Song and Mok-ha there. Mok-ha tries to keep Mr. Jung away from Bo-geol, but Bo-geol finds out about Mr. Jung’s visit and rushes home.

Review

The beginning of this episode is very distressing. Bo-geol meeting his father after 15 years and experiencing the same trauma that he experienced as a child makes for a scene that is too graphic and unsettling.
Through Yong-gwan’s story, the episode shows that not every talented person makes it big as a singer. His story is a contrast to Mok-ha’s story. He failed, but Mok-ha will succeed despite facing several challenges.
Witnessing Mok-ha’s performance makes Yong-gwan think about the life that could have been his if he had not given up. The scene has a touch of sadness that makes one feel for Yong-gwan, even though he has been one of the good guys until now.