My Perfect Stranger Episode 10 Recap & Theory & Review

---

My Perfect Stranger is a South Korean drama series produced by KBS2 and premiered on May 1, 2023. It is written by Bai Su-yan and directed by Kang Soo-Yeon, who previously worked together on “The Tale of Nokdu” in 2019. The story follows the strange yet beautiful time travel between two imprisoned men and women in 1987. A man searching for the truth behind a series of murders from the past and a woman trying to prevent her parents from getting married become aware that their goals are connected. 

My Perfect Stranger Episode 10 Recap

---

🚗Baek Yoon-Young wants to take Baek Hee-Seob to the hospital, but he insists on waiting for his brother. Yoon Hae-Joon calls a reporter who arrives and forces the brutal Seoul police to retreat. Baek Yoo-Seob is not injured, and both brothers are taken to the hospital. Baek Yoon-Young hopes that they can have a new beginning from now on – a life they truly desire.

🚗Yeon-Woo helps Yoon Hae-Joon fix his car while Baek Yoon-Young plans to save the third victim, Kim Hae-Kyung. Ko Mi-Sook told her how to describe the third victim because she knew that Hae-Kyung liked her. They both wear similar hair ties, even Chung-A has one too.

🚗Kim Hae-Kyung finds out that Ko Mi-Sook wants to frame Ko Min-Soo for the crime. Baek Yoon-Young thinks it’s because Ko Mi-Sook believes that Kim Hae-Kyung knows her secret and might expose it if left alone. When Kim leaves home, she threatens Ko Mi-Sook by saying she will reveal her as the real culprit unless she goes with her to Seoul.

🚗However, Yoon Hae-Joon thinks this conclusion should be reserved since Kim’s true reason for leaving home was due to her mother having an affair with their gym teacher which made Kim upset when their mom only prepared kimchi soup for him instead of spending time with them.

🚗The next day at school, after hearing classmates gossiping about their mom’s affair with their gym teacher, Kim gets angry and fights them before arguing with him then leaving school in frustration.

🚗However,Yoon follows after her and stops her from running away while also taking away a handwritten letter meant for their mother so as not hurt or sadden them further.Yet he understands why they don’t want go home and takes them out to relax. Yoon Hae-Joon reveals that he saw Kim’s mother searching for her daughter for 40 years in the future, which makes him feel sorry for her and himself as a bad mother.

🚗Baek Yoon-Young secretly brings Lee Soon-Ae to visit Baek Hee-Seob, who accepts it this time. Kim Hae-Kyung returns home and reconciles with their mom while accepting their relationship with the gym teacher.

🚗Yeon-Woo rushes off to watch a movie, but Yoon Hae-Joon remembers seeing his father’s stack of ticket stubs from when they went to the movies with his mom before she left town after giving birth because she considered him a stain on her life.

🚗At the cinema, he sees a girl sitting next to him wearing a pink hair tie – just like his mom used to wear. His grandfather had told him that his mother left town after giving birth because she thought of him as a blemish on her life. When the movie ends, he notices that both Ko Mi-Sook and the tea shop owner are also wearing hair ties.

My Perfect Stranger Episode 10 Theory and Analysis

---

Lee Joo-Young	Murdered in Woojung Village without returning to her hometown.
Lee Kyung-Ae	Met Baek Yoo-Seob at an abandoned cabin that night, but Baek Yoo-Seob didn’t expect to be pursued by Seoul police that day, so he fled to the abandoned cabin with his injured body.
Kim Hae-Kyung	Knows the secret of Ko Mi-Sook framing Ko Min-Soo for the crime.

Episode 10 of My Perfect Stranger, the focus is on Kim Hae-Kyung, the third victim. Ko Mi-Sook and Hae-Kyung had a strange eye contact near Lee Joo-Young’s murder scene. Let’s review what happened there:

After Lee Kyung-Ae pushed Ko Min-Soo off the bridge, Kim Hae-Kyung encountered him later (she may have saved him because otherwise Ko Mi-Sook wouldn’t know that Goh Min-soo’s hand was still injured).

The next day, Lee Joo-Young and Lee Kyung-Ae were found murdered. Near Lee Joo-Young’s murder scene, when Hae-Kyung saw Ko Mi-Sook, she joked: “Why do you look so serious? If someone else sees you like this they might think it was you who killed them. Relax or it will be too obvious.” (At this time Kim Hae-Kyung already heard about Ko Mi-Sook’s plan through Shadow Jing.)

At the bridge side, both Ko Mi-Sook and Hae-Kyung looked at Baek Hee-Seob wearing a blue hat nearby (Baek Hee-Seob probably thought that since both Lee Joo-young and her brother were red activists then maybe Baek Yoon-seop would end up like her). Later on,Ko Mi-suk privately told Baek Hee-seob that she could help his brother clear his name and get rid of Ko Min-soo, but Baek Hee-seob refused.

After being arrested and injured, Baek Hee-Seob’s release was seen as a good thing by Ko Mi-Sook because it would buy some time since Goh Min-soo’s hand wasn’t healed yet. In other words, Kim Hae-Kyung knew that Ko Mi-Sook wanted to frame Ko Min-Soo for the crime. (Ko Mi-Sook needs more time to let Goh Min-soo’s hand heal so that the police will believe he did it.)

Originally, Kim Hae-Kyung was supposed to be killed. Was the real culprit really Ko Mi-Sook? And was her motive killing Kim Hae-Kyung because she threatened to reveal the secret? If Ko Mi-suk is indeed the true culprit in Kim Hae-kyung’s murder case, did she also kill the other two victims?

Although Hae-Kyung wasn’t killed in this episode, based on past victim patterns I think there is a high possibility that she will be killed eventually. However,this case should be key evidence for Yoon Hae-Joon and Baek Yoon-Young to find out who is truly responsible for these murders~I think her case is probably the only important clue linking Ko Mi-suk with these crimes.

Therefore, Ko Mi-Sook “may be” the culprit of the Kim Hae-Kyung case. In My Perfect Stranger episode 9, all suspects have been cleared of suspicion, and now the biggest suspect left is Ko Mi-Sook. However, as Yoon Hae-Joon said, we should reserve our judgment on theories. It’s also possible that Ko Mi-Sook is not the culprit for all cases. This means that the culprit could be someone everyone knows but never expected.

In this episode, when the café owner appeared at the end, it seems like she will start to have a connection with the case since even matchboxes came from her shop~ The writer should give her some more scenes now. (Personally I still think Ko Mi-Sook is more suitable for Jung-eun because if suddenly it turns out that café owner becomes real killer then everything before would feel like a farce.)

As for Yoon Hae-Joon’s birth mother, I think it might be the café owner~ I sincerely hope so too; otherwise if his mother turns out to be Ko Mi-Sook then Yoon Hae-Joon would probably collapse…

In My Perfect Stranger episode 10, when portraying Yoon Hae-Joon saving Kim Hae-Kyung’s family with full emotions and tear-jerking scenes. Especially when he recalled feeling sorry for Kim Hae-Kyung’s mother who had been searching for her daughter for over ten years and used warm ways to save a family.

I think whether in Baek Yoon-Young’s view of Baek Hee-Seob and Baek Yoo-Seob in My Perfect Stranger episode 9 or in how Yoon Hae-Joon handled Kim Hae-Kyung’s family tragedy in episode 10 has something in common: “clearing up misunderstandings.”

Misunderstandings between people are what make emotions come and go, change unpredictably, and even leave regrets. I think the writer also wants us to understand that a small misunderstanding can cause heart-wrenching pain for a lifetime~