For the second episode in a row, Lovecraft Country begins with a non-black character on screen. While last episode it was Hillary (Jamie Neumann), this episode it’s Ji-ah (Jamie Chung), Tic’s (Jonathan Majors) suspected romantic fling from Korea. The episode provides a deep flashback of their relationship during the war, adding context to Tic’s deciphering of “D-I-E” in the last episode and ultimately, establishing the remainder of the season.
On the surface, Ji-ah is looking for romance. The show starts with her sitting alone in a movie theater, watching reruns of Judy Garland’s 1944 classic, Meet Me in St. Louis. She dances, sings and obviously longs for the romantic narrative of the old American film. This is driven into the audience’s skull as her mother (Cindy Chang) demands that she bring a man home to bear honor to the family. Her mother’s husband has left in the past.
Quickly though, this premise is shattered after a speed-dating round. Just like Garland in Ji-ah’s favorite film, she’s awkward when it comes to romance, as she struggles to bring a guy home. Soon, she brings a man home, however the sex scene ends not in love or satisfaction, but instead with a nine-tailed tentacle fox spirit coming out of Ji-Ah’s body parts, attaching to the man’s body, exploding him into a pool of blood. Weird, right?
Turns out, Ji-Ah isn’t just a poor nursing student and her mother doesn’t need her to find Prince Charming. Alternatively, she’s possessed by an evil spirit called a Kumiho, which needs her to do the same thing to 100 men, in order for her to no longer be possessed by the evil spirit and conclusively return to her humanity.
In the past, the spirit was summoned by her mother to kill Ji-Ah’s father who was sexually abusing their daughter. This engaging concept was inspired by the same mythology that created Naruto’s Nine-Tailed fox spirit.
Ji-Ah not only has to worry about stealing souls, but also the beginning of the Korean war. In 1950, American soldiers poured into the city, and conflict between communists and Americans began boiling over. The soldiers who arrive are often anything but heroes, raping the women they’ve sworn to protect and committing war crimes due to command.
One such soldier who eventually ends up there, is none other than Tic. But before, Ji-Ah and the nurses are taken into a private sector, because they’ve intercepted communist notes being sent to the hospital. A black soldier then shoots a nurse at point blank range as he continues to question them, but before he shoots another, he runs out of bullets. Following, Tic walks up and executes her with cold indifference.
Before they can kill another nurse, Ji-Ah’s friend, Young-Ja (Prisa Kim) admits to being the spy and therefore, they take her away.
Thus, Ji-Ah was only one soul away and decided that Tic would be her last victim. As Ji-Ah gets to know Tic though, she falls in love with him and sees how the war is tearing him apart. There’s a really beautiful monologue from her on how neither of them are monsters, though, they’re doing monstrous things.
Romance in this episode was expected, but it never shows Tic apologizing for killing his lover’s best friend right next to her. A bit odd, it’s as if Young-Ja’s death was just a tool for Tic’s character development. This episode shows him feeling bad about it, but never apologizing. What a shame.
We learn that Tic’s relationship with Ji-Ah is so close because he lost his virginity to her, but on one occasion where they have sex, the nine-tailed fox spirit attempts to take his soul. Instead of absorbing all of the memories of Tic, like she did with previous guests, she actually sees Tic’s future.
In these visions, his death is revealed. It looks as though Leti is trying to help him but he’s stuck on some machine-like contraption. Ji-Ah tries to warn him not to go back, but the experience is too traumatic for him.
He runs away and she goes to see a shaman who warns her that her journey of darkness is nowhere near done.
The episode was engaging, though the first half of the episode was terribly slow. “Meet Me in Daegu” showcases the horrors of Lovecraft Country aren’t just confined to demons of English-speaking lore.
