Murder in Mujin: Psychic Veterinarian Solves Crimes
Paid for by the Mujin Tourist Association
Tags: #BehindYourTouch #KDrama #Series #CrimeDrama #SpeculativeFiction
*Contains Major Spoilers for Behind Your Touch*
KDramas often have wild or supernatural premises, but Behind Your Touch (JTBC 2023) is a speculative fiction wildcard that we didn’t see coming. Bong Ye-bun, a struggling rural veterinarian, is making a house call to look at a cow during a rare meteor shower when the cow is struck, presumably by a piece of a meteor. Ye-bun is sent flying and wakes up three days later with the mysterious power to see into other’s memories. However, as she was touching the cows flank at the time of the accident, Ye-bun needs to touch the butt of her target to access her powers. When the town’s newest detective, Moon Jang-yeol, discovers her powers, he enlists her help in solving local crimes. As they work together, Jang-yeol and Ye-bun uncover both a political conspiracy and a serial killer. Yes, they solve a decades old embezzling plot and eventually stop a serial killer, arresting a local drug lord along the way. The drama takes an unexpected turn from light-hearted and goofy throughout the first half into a serious noir series in the second half and it is as jarring of a switch as you might expect.
Not only does the tone vary wildly throughout the drama, but the antagonist, the local shaman, is arrested and released several times, while the detective spends at least two episodes stalking a convenience store worker because he can’t believe he might have the wrong suspect. Maybe he deserved his demotion from Seoul into the rural town of Mujin, because he does not display any outstanding detective skills; his biggest asset to the team is his ability to run fast and chase down their suspects.
The shaman, Park Jong-bae, believes he was ‘possessed’ by the spirit of General McArthur, but has lost his powers and is mostly a conman. He was also present in the barn when the meteor struck, this is a big spoiler by the way, and has also gained the power to see into people’s memories. It doesn’t really make sense how he gained these powers, as he was not touching the cows eyes, but that’s the least of our concerns at this point, because this power has driven him to become a psychopathic serial killer to see the last memories in all of his victims eyes. And he is bad at hiding it, because the police do suspect him several times, and had anyone done actual police work instead of just relying on these psychic abilities, maybe he would not have managed to kill so many of his victims.
The characters spend at least a full episode suspecting each other and everyone around them, with good reason. We’ve put together some differing options as to who the killer might have been and why these alternatives have stronger motives (unless because he’s a psychopath is sufficient for you, then you can probably skip this article all together).
Before we get into the motivations, we should give a brief dossier on the victims and who they are around the town:
There is the popular influencer, Kim Si-a, who is kidnapped in an early episode, which is one of the first crimes Jang-yeol and Ye-bun solve together. She is lying to her fan base, as per uzhe, and not a very nice person once the camera is off.
Next is Park Seung-gil, Jang-yeol’s sort of adopted younger brother that got involved with a drug crime ring and caused the detective to be sent to Mujin in the first place. Seung-gil seemed remorseful before ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The third victim is Lee Ji-suk, a woman that ‘works’ at a ‘coffee shop’ (aka a sex traffic ring) that betrayed her friend who faked her own death to try and escape their madam. We never really get too far into this whole fucked up situation, but Ji-suk may have just been trying to survive in a bad place.
The only double homicide is corrupt assemblyman (and crook) Cha Ju-man, and Ye-bun’s grandfather Jung Eui-hwan who unfortunately interrupted the assemblyman’s murder and was killed as a result. Can’t leave any witnesses behind, can ya??
Fellow psychic farmer Jeon Gwang-sik was close to uncovering the case and fell into the killer’s arms, well legs, as he tried to touch them to confirm his suspicions. Not sure what he expected from touching a killer's legs in the dead of night by himself without telling anyone about his plan. What was the plan here?
Lastly, Kim Seon-woo, the aforementioned convenience store worker, who is just trying to catch the crooked assemblyman that killed his mother and improve his woodworking skills gets killed defending Ye-bun from the shaman, after also figuring out who the murder is, but in typical mystery fashion, tells no one before alerting the suspect that he has been made.
The Vet Did It
Ye-bun is portrayed as a mild-mannered country vet, who just wants to care for animals and date the local hotties, but what if she was also a serial killer and unreliable narrator? This would have been an amazing narrative choice. She has more motive than the shaman for most of the attacks as well:
Si-a tried to hit on Ye-bun’s man when she stopped by the convenience store.
Seung-gil was attempting to save his brother from the gang when he stabbed Jang-yeol, but all Ye-bun saw was her cop buddy being attacked.
Ji-suk betrayed her friend/coworker at the coffee shop and disclosed where she was hiding to their madam. Ye-bun seems big on friendship and loyalty.
Assemblyman Cha murdered her mother.
Ye-bun’s grandfather was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he also basically ignored her for most of her childhood. Teenagers have strong emotions and who’s to say she was ok with how she was treated?
Gwang-sik was getting too close to the truth and as the only other confirmed psychic, someone had to get rid of him.
Seon-woo figured out her secret, and she might have loved him, but he never confirmed if he was in love with her, so what else could she do to keep him quiet? And who would suspect her of murdering her very obvious crush?
She played the detective like a fiddle. She was the one helping him solve the crimes around town. He was just relying on the information she provided to him. After the first one or two cases, he trusted what she said she saw.
The shaman as an antagonist was a pretty crazy choice, because he was arrested at least twice and the police let him go both times. But the town’s new vet, that was shorter than all of her victims? That would’ve been the wildest choice they could have made and would have fit in better with all the other unusual choices throughout the show.
The Detective Did It
Jang-yeol was pretty upset to be sent to Mujin after being kicked out by the Seoul Violent Crimes Investigation Unit. His plan was to solve a big case and get back to Seoul as quickly as possible, and what bigger case than a serial killer? And what easier crime to solve than your own?
And while he could have chosen his targets at random, the ones who got killed served a dual purpose:
Si-a was rude and annoying to everyone. She ‘betrayed’ her audience, didn’t thank Jang-yeol for rescuing her, and tried to milk her story for profit.
Seung-gil did cost Jang-yeol his job in Seoul, and then came to Mujin to stab him in the stomach. They may have been brothers, but that would stress any relationship.
Ji-suk was a sex worker and maybe the detective really hated sex workers… at least there is a long tradition of police not caring for members of a certain workforce.
Assemblyman Cha did murder his psychic girlfriend’s mother, and was just a shady dude. Jang-yeol didn’t lose money in the embezzlement scheme, but he has strong feelings about criminals.
Ye-bun’s grandfather witnessed the murder so there is really no need for a motive beyond that.
Gwang-sik was getting too close to the truth which could have ruined the masterplan so the detective had to get him out of the way.
Seon-woo irritated the detective from day one. Was it jealousy? Was it love?
Since he set the entire thing up from the start and has extensive knowledge of crimes and crime scene investigation, he could have pulled off the perfect murder. With the psychic by his side, and knowing how her powers worked, he could have avoided suspicion from the only other person originally looking for the killer.
He would have been another choice straight out of left field, but it could have been set up really well, and the vet and detective did not trust each other at first. Bringing that suspicion back at the end of the series would have felt more natural than the weird almost relationship thing they did instead.
They Both Did It
Introducing the new Bonnie and Clyde? Burke and Hare? Vet and Detective. She really wanted to get rid of him and he really wanted to get out of there. It would have been a win-win for both of them. If Ye-bun and Jang-yeol teamed up to get revenge and get promoted, who in Mujin would have been able to stop them?
Ye-bun and Jang-yeol saved Si-a together, and did she thank them or acknowledge them for it? No. Instead she hit on Ye-bun's man and lied on livestream.
Seung-gil still stabbed Jang-yeol seriously enough to send him into the hospital for several days. Either one of them could have wanted to get revenge for that. The detective is a bit of a hot head, and Ye-bun saw the whole thing.
Ji-Suk really might have only been in the wrong place when they needed to keep the mystery going, but she also was a little bit rude, and who could blame her with a huge fake debt hanging over her head?
We established enough that Assemblyman Cha was not a good person; an eye for an eye, his life for Ye-bun’s mother.
Ye-bun’s grandfather, again, he just walked into the office during the Assemblyman’s murder and unless you want to be caught, leave no witnesses.
Gwang-sik keeps getting in the way, regardless of who the murderer was. He really freelanced the investigation there at the end.
At this point, had Ye-bun and Jang-yeol been a criminal duo, Seon-woo really might have been in the way of their relationship. He was also the smartest person in the whole town and definitely would have caught them, even working at the convenience store everyday for a 12 hour shift.
A duo fooling the audience from the start. We really are just pointing out that the audience is smarter than the media is giving us credit for these days, and having twists like unreliable narrators would be a refreshing change.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this show was wacko. The tone shift in the middle of the season was abrupt and jarring. The semi-love angle towards the end felt forced because the detective and vet had about as much chemistry as a rock and a feather. The constant and unwavering suspicion the detective had for Seon-woo was annoying to say the least, and there was not enough evidence to support Seon-woo even being a suspect for that long. They arrested the culprit twice and both times convinced themselves to let him go for no good reason, but the vibes. Seon-woo was too good for the people of Mujin and there was also that whole strange bit in the middle where he taught Ye-bun Arabic? She spent weeks studying to solve one case of petty theft, not even grand larceny. The shaman was creepy though. He did a good job at that. But he also had a son for two episodes and then the kid disappeared again.
Watch it, if you want, but ONLY for Ye-bun’s bestie Bae Ok-hee and her budding relationship with Kim Yong-Myeong, the brother of one of her gang members. We didn’t even get into this whole subplot, but it is by far the best part of the show. And the music is pretty good too.
Image Credit
Han Jimin [@roma.emo] (2023) “🙌🏻 사이코믹스릴러 #힙하게 #behindyourtouch #HIP 🍑 8/12 첫방송 🔜 #jtbc #Netflix #TVING” 11 July, https://www.instagram.com/p/Cuiq0qALUeA/?igsh=M2pxYXAzcmswOW1s