Meet Me in Daegu

**Meet Me in Daegu** is the sixth episode of the first season of Lovecraft Country, and the sixth episode overall. This episode aired on Sunday, September 20, 2020 on HBO.

## Synopsis

In the throes of the Korean War, nursing student Ji-Ah crosses paths with a wounded Atticus, who has no recollection of their violent first encounter.

## Plot

Fall, 1949, Daegu, South Korea. Ji-Ah watches a film in the local movie theater. Once the only other couple in the theater leave, she jumps to her feet and sings along with the film. Ji-Ah returns home, where her mother, Soon-Hee, explains her plan to cook with pumpkin broth in an effort to prevent the kimchi from souring so quickly. Ji-Ah believes that when she graduates from nursing school that she’ll be able to afford so much cabbage that her mother could make all the kimchi she’d like. She then says that they could always ask the neighbors for more, but as Soon-Hee points out, they haven’t been invited to a gimjang in years. Not since her husband’s death. The only way for their family to be whole again is for Ji-Ah to bring home men.

Ji-Ah attends class, during which time, the other ladies discuss how Young-ja Unni went out with Hyun-tae. They inquire about her night spent with him, and Ji-Ah eavesdrops from afar. Young-ja reveals how they skipped over formalities. However, she still intends on continuing her studies.

Ji-Ah attends the mee-ting in hopes of finding a man to bring home, but she is unsuccessful. Young-ja invites Ji-Ah to join her as she's going to get some coffee with one of the men she met at the mee-ting. However, Ji-Ah doesn’t wish to be in the way. Young-ja explains that her date is boring and that she doesn’t want to be alone with him. Ji-Ah can’t return home without a man, but Young-ja doesn’t believe her expectations are realistic. She tells Ji-Ah how sometimes mothers want what’s best for themselves with no concern for anyone else.

Ji-Ah meets a man named Byung at a bar. She brings him home to have sex. After Byung climaxes, nine tails emerge from Ji-Ah’s body and penetrate Byung. She sees his every memory before killing him — his body completely exploding, leaving nothing behind but a pool of blood. Soon-Hee enters and says "Ten more."

Summer of 1950, Ji-Ah is startled by the arrival of the American army in South Korea. They arrive in tanks and repeat over and over that they’ve come to fight for their freedom.

Soon-Hee makes tteokguk in celebration of Ji-Ah’s birthday. The meal is made with anchovies, which was Soon-Hee’s husband’s favorite. Ji-Ah knows this because when she absorbs a soul, she sees their entire life before they die. All of their memories are in her. Soon-Hee asks that she never speak of him again and then scolds Ji-Ah for not bringing anyone home within the last month. She suggests that Ji-Ah lure an American soldier over. All Ji-Ah has to do is absorb two more souls and the memories she’s collected will be gone forever. This is what the shaman said when Soon-Hee asked her how to summon the kumiho spirit. Should she absorb 100 souls, the kumiho spirit within her will leave and Ji-Ah will be human again.

Ji-Ah goes to work at the hospital alongside Young-ja. They are given an unruly patient; a soldier whose leg was badly wounded during an attack. He fears they’re going to cut his leg off and twists Ji-Ah’s wrist. Young-ja injects him with a sedative and frees Ji-Ah from his grip.

Ji-Ah and Young-ja walk home together. Ji-Ah inquires about II-sung, who she saw Young-ja whispering to. Ji-Ah reveals that she knows he’s a communist, as well as Young-ja. She heard the two of them speaking about war, though she accepts that they’re different and has no intentions on exposing them. Suddenly, a lynch mob gathers and hangs a man for public display after outing him as a communist. Young-ja is horrified as she doesn’t believe that being different warrants a death sentence.

Ji-Ah brings an American soldier home and does with him as she did the 98 men before him. Afterward, Soon-Hee cleans up the blood and says that all Ji-Ah has to do is absorb one last soul. The kumiho spirit inside Ji-Ah is unfamiliar with the different types of loves and inquires why Soon-Hee’s husband’s love for Ji-Ah was wrong. Soon-Hee explains that her husband raped her daughter. And that’s why she went to the mudang, otherwise known as the shaman, and had her summon the spirit possessing Ji-Ah to kill him. Soon-Hee says that the spirit can’t understand why that love was wrong because it can’t feel love due to the fact that it’s a monster. Ji-Ah reveals that she has no intentions in taking another soul, much to Soon-Hee’s disapproval. Ji-Ah has seen the lifetimes of 99 men. All more bad than good. And she doesn’t want to be a part of that, but Soon-Hee wants her daughter back. She only wanted to protect Ji-Ah. The shaman said there would be a price, but she didn’t know the kumiho spirit would possess her daughter. Soon-Hee believes that her daughter's memories are buried deep within, but Ji-Ahi insists that there is nothing left of her. All of her memories are of the 99 men she killed, none of Soon-Hee’s daughter. However, from Soon-Hee’s husband’s memories, Ji-Ah learned that he targeted Soon-Hee as she was a pariah. A woman with a daughter out of wedlock. He knew she would allow him to do all in effort to restore her family’s name.

Ji-Ah, Young-ja, and a small group of nurses are taken to a checkpoint by the military. One of them has been leaking information to the Communists. When no one comes forward, a nurse is killed — shot in the head. The leading officer’s gun jams, and so he calls Atticus over to kill another nurse. Her blood splatters all over Ji-Ah’s hair and face. As they’re about to kill Ji-Ah, Young-ja confesses to being a communist spy and is taken away.

By Fall of 1950, the movie theater had been shut down, leaving Ji-Ah without the means to enjoy herself. She arrives at the hospital and notices that Tic has been brought into the ER and for injuries he sustained. She glares at him from across the room before heading outside into the rain to calm her nerves. Later that night, she watches Tic as he attempts to read his book, but his glasses are broken.

Ji-Ah changes the sheets on Tic’s bed. He offers to help her in an effort to keep himself busy, though he struggles to stay up on his feet as he has not yet recovered from his injuries. He tells her how his glasses broke during the bombing and asks if she can read the last few chapters of *The Count of Monte Cristo.* Ji-Ah spoils the end for him, though she had only seen the movie. Tic explains that the book differs and offers her a chance to read it herself, but Ji-Ah turns him down.

Tic introduces Ji-Ah to his friend, Sung. He jokingly asks if she’s seen any new flicks that she wants to spoil for them. Ji-Ah hasn’t seen any movies lately. The only movie theater had been shut down. She was hoping to see *Summer Stock.* She then asks if either of them has met Judy Garland. They laugh as she’s a famous white woman while they’re minorities and made out to be enemies in their own home. Sung reveals that he was drafted to the war unlike Tic, who volunteered. He reasoned that the books he read to get away from the real world no longer filled the void so he sought actual adventure.

Ji-Ah reads the last few chapters of the book to Tic and asks why he chose it. He explains that it’s his father’s favorite, though they don’t talk much anymore. Ji-Ah sympathizes as she has a strained relationship with her mother. Ji-Ah says that they have to stop letting their parents’ fear shape them.

Sung escorts Ji-Ah onto the base and leads her to Tic. He explains that Koreans aren’t allowed on base except if they’re comfort women, which he uses to sneak her in. Tic has arranged for him and Ji-Ah to watch the film *Summer Stock* in a tent. He got the idea from his uncle George. After the film ends, they return to her house, where Tic reveals that he’s a virgin. He simply wished to be honest with her. When he’s with her, he feels his best as she sees the good in him. They start to kiss, but Ji-Ah has developed actual feelings for Tic and tells him to leave as she no longer wishes to kill him. Soon-Hee enters, and Ji-Ah explains that she has genuine feelings for the man. She questions how Ji-Ah can have feelings for someone that killed her best friend and spits in her face.

The following day, Ji-Ah confronts Tic and reveals that she was among the group of nurses that were taken and that his unit killed her best friend. Tic replies that he was following orders, but there’s no book that will allow Tic to escape what he’s done, Ji-Ah replies. He questions why she agreed to go out with him. She admits that she initially had plans to kill him, but she’s began to develop feelings for him. And the more she got to know him, the more she saw that the war was tearing him apart. They don’t have to be monsters. They can be the people they see in each other. Tic is brought to tears and kisses Ji-Ah. They head onto base, where they proceed to have sex.

Ji-Ah tells Soon-Hee that she loves Tic, but given her nature, the fact that she’s a kumiho, she will kill him eventually, Soon-Hee believes. Ji-Ah argues that she can control her tails. Soon-Hee is disgraced as her daughter was made into a monster and a whore. Ji-Ah was told that she couldn't have feelings because she wasn’t human nor could people love her, but she’s come to learn that isn’t true as both Tic and Young-ja cared for her. Soon-Hee retorts that Tic only loves her because he doesn’t know the truth about her.

Tic and Ji-Ah’s relationship has lasted into the winter. She reads him a tale about the nine-tailed fox spirit named kumiho that lived deep in the mountainous forest. The spirit can be summoned into the form of a beautiful woman to avenge the wrong done by men. Tic then reveals that he’s earned enough points to rotate out and go home. But he can also choose to stay, however, Ji-Ah would never ask that of him as he hates the war. He asks her to come home with him, but Ji-Ah admits there is so much he doesn’t know about her. Tic replies that nothing she says could change the way he feels about her, so they start to have sex, during which time, Ji-Ah’s tails emerge and latch onto Tic, allowing her to see his past and future. Fortunately, she manages to stop herself from killing him, though she did see his death. She tells Tic that he will die if he goes home, but he is freaked out from the encounter and rushes out.

Soon-Hee finds Ji-Ah sitting on the floor with just a thin blanket hanging off her body. She comforts Ji-Ah that night, and the following morning, they head up into the mountains to speak to the shaman. While up there, Ji-Ah makes eye contact with a fox. She and Soon-Hee then approach the shaman as they are in need of her help. Soon-Hee is willing to accept whatever price she has to pay for coming to the shaman. Ji-Ah wants to know if the vision she had of Atticus’ death will come true. The shaman tells Ji-Ah that her mortal concerns are meaningless. She then sets a piece of paper on fire and holds it in the air. She tells Ji-Ah that she has not yet become one with the darkness and that she will see countless deaths before her journey is done.

## Cast

* Jonathan Majors as Atticus Freeman
* Aunjanue Ellis as Hippolyta Freeman (credit only)
* Wunmi Mosaku as Ruby Baptiste (credit only)
* Abbey Lee as Christina Braithwhite (credit only)
* Jamie Chung as Ji-Ah
* Jada Harris as Diana Freeman (credit only)
* Michael Kenneth Williams as Montrose Freeman (credit only)
* Prisca Kim as Young-ja Unni
* Richard Jin as Third Mee-Ting Date
* James Kyson as Byung-Ho

Co-Starring* Cindy Chang as Soon-Hee
* Alexis Rhee as Mudang
* Tia Jin as Nursing Instructor
* Sharon Mae as Hwa-Ja
* Olivia Park as Chun-Ja
* Jennifer Chung as In-Sook
* John J. Shim as Mee-Ting Date
* Jon Lee as Second Mee-Ting Date
* John Yoo as Mee-Ting Announcer
* Eric Jepson as American Soldier
* Dior Choi as Korean Soldier
* Ben VanderMey as Injured American Soldier
* Daniel Chung as Sung
* Kevin Savage as American Sergeant
* Jennifer Yun as Triage Nurse
* Michael Rub as Base Soldier
* Daniel Lim as Shouting Crowd
* Corey Jung as Shouting Crowd
* Caitlin Lee as Shouting Crowd
* Marcus A. Griffin Jr. as Pre-Teen Atticus
* Rachel Butera as Judy Garland

## Notes and Trivia

* The episode title, Meet Me in Daegu, is a reference to Daegu, South Korea, where the entire episode takes place and a reference to the movie *Meet Me in St. Louis* with Judy Garland, an actress dear to the main protagonist of this episode.

## Gallery

### Promotional

* Photos
* Videos

Lovecraft Country Season 1 Episode 6 Promo HBOLovecraft Country Radio Meet Me in Daegu Episode 6 HBO