When last we left the cop and the witness, a brave Thup was alone with dozens of ghosts.
Thup chants, and the ghosts back off
Now he’s only facing the ghost shaman, who demands an offering. Thup cuts his hand open, dripping blood. In return, the ghost shaman confirms it’s a life-extending ritual.
The first time it happened was 25 years ago. A cop chased a thief into the shaman’s house and was stabbed by an enchanted blade. The wound didn’t heal, and he was going to die. Also, his son was sick and dying. So, the cop learned the ritual to save them both.
We get a flashback of the cop cutting open the face of the woman who would become the split-mouth ghost.
The ritual enslaves the ghosts, and they can’t be reborn. The eyes and mouths are stitched so the ghosts can’t search or curse anyone. The shaman says he’s destined to find the cop. Otherwise, everyone will die. Is that really destiny?
Thup comes out, and Sing wants to shoot the ghost that hurt him
Meanwhile, Darin isn’t sleeping well. Sey makes more noise about taking care of him, but doesn’t even offer to shoot the ghost. Mek suggests he make merit, which is something he can do at least.
Unfortunately, Darin decides to make merit with Aisoon. This is… clearly a bad idea.
At the same time, King’s Dad still sucks and tells his son he’ll take over the case.
Back with Thup and Sing, they’re at the hospital being cute and flirty. But also realize they can check with the hospital about the cop’s sick son. Finding that info will take time, so they need to spend the night.
And here to ruin everything again is King.
Later, Thup keeps using his injured hand while giving Sing the quiet treatment
Sing cuddles the unhappy Thup, who promises to try to be more mature. Considering King, I’m not sure Sing is attracted to maturity. Sing proves this by forcing silly kisses on Thup.
The next morning, King and Thup maturely fight over who knows Sing better.
At the hospital, they search through paper records until King finds the file for the sick son, Anuphap Boonprim, who had SLE, an autoimmune disease.
A staff member remembers a nurse, Chaba, who had the same last name. She left town twenty-five years ago because she had a large debt. Twenty-five years, you say? Thup sees the picture in her personnel file and recognizes her as the split-mouth ghost.
Her husband was a cop, but the staff member doesn’t know anything about him.
Thup’s Aunt has been hospitalized
Very maturely, he tells Sing to keep working while he checks on her. She blames a ghost for her fall down the stairs, and confirms from Thup’s picture that it’s the split-mouth ghost.
Sing and King find the one cop who remembers Chaba’s cop husband, Atikun. He confirms that Atikun got stabbed and the wound never healed. Chaba told everyone he’d died.
Later, Sing and King use alcohol to get the cop to talk more. He says Ta Khuean supposedly killed his wife and went on the run. No one cared about the wife, so that was that.
Supposedly, Khuean was having an affair with Chaba, and he figured they ran off together.
Thup calls Sing, but the split-mouth ghost is after him again
She drags Thup into the room, tells him that he’s coming with her, and reaches out to strangle him. But she can’t get him, because the mother ghost appears between them.
As split-mouth strangles her, the mother ghost tells him to run, and he does! Into Sing’s arms!
Oh great, King is waiting for them in the hotel, and wants to have an “important” conversation with Sing at the bar. There, he promises to protect Sing from his father. I’ll believe it when I see it. Sing has the same attitude.
King tries to use a watch as proof of his undying love and claims transferring Sing was to protect him from his father. He hugs Sing, who stands there. None of this wins Sing back, but King isn’t ready to give up yet. He loves Sing, why doesn’t Sing get that?
Sing points out that King could have handled things differently, together, in the past. Now, Sing’s moved on, and they can only be friends.
FINE, King will be his friend! It’s better than nothing!
Sing has his cute Thup waiting for him in bed. Thup has chilled out and says he trusts him. Sing promises that he’s taken care of everything. He trusts King more than I do.
Mek questions Ta Khuean about his past. He says his wife died on her own, after he hit her a little too hard because she thought he was cheating. When they ask about Atikun, Ta Khuean sees the split-mouth ghost. Then he wonders who said Atikun died.
Sey is just now questioning how the killer kept the bodies intact despite killing them over a week. He and Darin speculate about cold storage.
Aisoon has convinced Darin that he’s putting those around him in danger. He lets Aisoon perform a ritual on him, but Sey shows up to stop it. Darin thinks it was fine because Ta Khuean is the guilty one. Darin doesn’t understand investigations.
Sey says Darin is letting his fears lead him to be reckless. I think Sey could have done more to reassure him.
Thup shows his Uncle a drawing of the mother ghost
And yes, she is his mother. She was the mistress of a police officer, who did not take care of them.
Thup cries as his Uncle explains that his mother was part of the sacrificial ritual. His Uncle doesn’t know if his father was involved. But his father is Atikun, who Uncle thinks is dead.
Except, based on Ta Khuean’s reaction, Mek doesn’t think Atikun is dead. He call Sing to tell him.
Sing notices that Thup is out of it, and Thup immediately shares that Atikun is his Dad. He’s not sure how to feel about a serial killer father, who killed his mother and tried to kill him. Sing says he’s not his father, but Thup can’t deny that Atikun is his family.
Sing feels family is people who love each other and are bonded together. Atikun is not his family. His family is Sing. Good job, Sing!
Thup cries with relief, and Sing reassures him that he’s trusted him this entire time. His father doesn’t matter.
Thup wants real couples’ rings, because their matching Phirot rings aren’t appropriate. Sing thinks the uniqueness fits them. Kisssssssing! Hugging!
Meanwhile, at Santi Tham
Aisoon’s followers throw a big stink and won’t let Mek and the police take DNA samples from anyone. On their way out, they run into Sey and Darin. Sey and Sarin have discovered a strange, large cold storage. But. Whatever. They’re done here now.
King’s Dad announces to the news that he’s personally taking over the case and that they have arrested Ta Khuean. Meanwhile, Ta Khuean is violently murdered by the split-mouth ghost.
But Sing and the press think King’s Dad was involved in his death.
Back at work, King’s Dad dismisses Sing and King. According to him, the police’s job is to keep people from worrying. He is wrong. Sing points out that more people will be murdered.
Sing tells Thup he’s not going to stop investigating. He’ll use Thup’s DNA to find Atikun.
Back with the ghost streamers, the one who was ranting at the hospital is itching and scratching like someone with an autoimmune disease. Then he murders one of the other streamers. This is not a symptom of an autoimmune disease.
Sey gets DNA results. Thup is related to Bom, the ghost streamer we just saw murder the other streamer. They might be related. Like, siblings.
You win some, you lose some
So Thup is not Ta Khuean’s son, but Atikun-who-is-almost-certainly-Aisoon’s son. I’m still pleased that this mystery has details that connect and specific steps the investigation is taking. No vague hunts for “evidence”. I’ll forgive Sey for being way too slow about the cold storage angle.
I liked the older, disgraced cop who got drunk to get information. It’s more proof of how these cases ruin the lives of anyone who comes into contact with them.
Also, old ghost shaman was awesome.
King’s stubborn refusal to take no for an answer is the worst. Well, worse is knowing people like this really do exist. Still, I wish we could see him even pretend to be charming, to see what Sing fell for in the first place. Where’s the love bombing, King?
King’s father is a drag, but it looks like we aren’t looking at a larger conspiracy here, just the usual casual corruption and misconduct of the powerful.
Outside of the serial murder, Sing and Thup’s relationship has very little conflict. Sing has his stubborn, arbitrary delay in labeling them, and Thup has his petty jealousy. There’s already a lot going on with the story, but I think it wouldn’t hurt to have just a little more tension between the two of them. Even just Thup hesitating a little longer before telling Sing about Atikun being his Dad.
That said, if Sing’s going to be a jerk about the “boyfriend” thing, I’m glad he’s kind to Thup about discovering his biological father is a serial killer.
So, Thup and Bom are siblings. One sees ghosts, and the other is a ghost-hunting streamer. Or does Bom see ghosts, too? I guess I’ll find out soon.
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