Brain Works episode 9 begins with a new case. Along with a small gift, this week’s case gets our Doctor Brain back on the team. Despite all the evidence pointing to the suspect being guilty, our neuroscientist has an inner feeling he is innocent. Also, as usual, our detective helps his neuroscientist partner connect the dots in the weirdest way ever.

Picking up where we left off, Myung-Se falls off a cliff after Se-Jung confesses her feelings for him. At first, I thought it was just in Se-Jung’s head, but Myung-Se indeed fell off. Luckily, Myung-Se sticks his landing on a rock beneath, which isn’t how Ha-ru hoped for the confession to go.

The question now is why Se-Jung developed feelings for Myung-Se despite their differences, having a teenage daughter and his clingy ex-wife. Se-Jung’s answer was the last thing I expected her to say. She likes Myung-Se because of his “smell.” 

While Se-Jung was unconscious before, Myung-Se took care of her, and although she couldn’t speak or see anything, she recalls the smell of warmth she sensed from him.

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Brain Works episode 9: A strange case is heading our way

Se-Jung gives Myung-Se a week to give her an answer to her confession, but it looks like our recent case will keep them from addressing their feelings for now.

 A middle-aged woman, Jung-Yoon, was found dead on a hiking trail after getting stabbed in the neck, thus passing away because of excessive bleeding. 

Jung-Yoon’s son, Joon-Young, is the one who called the case in, confessing to being the culprit who murdered his mother. It looks like a typical violent case, so why assign it to our neuroscientific team?

The catch is Joon-Young keeps insisting that he is 17 years old even when he is 22 this year. It doesn’t seem like an after-effect of staying recluse in his room, playing computer games for the last five years. Instead, it looks like Joon-Young’s brain keeps resetting itself to a specific moment, which happened when he was 17.

Myung-Se and Se-Jung might have CCTV footage capturing Joon-Young (or someone who looks like him) on his way back home, but the murder weapon is missing. Also, with the possibility of Joon-Young suffering from a brain condition, it becomes more complicated. Only one person can solve that mystery, but how can we get that specific neuroscientist back on the team?

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Brain Works episode 9: Ha-Ru is back on the team

To persuade Ha-ru to change his mind and return to the team, only one thing does the trick, giving him a chance to study more brains. 

Since Ha-ru is already eager to know how his detective partner’s altruistic brain is wired, it doesn’t take long for Ha-ru to take his resignation back after Myung-Se gives him a small gift, promising to donate his brain for Ha-ru to study. Hooray, our team is back to three again.

The results of Joon-Young’s brain scan show he suffers from a rare condition where his brain can’t form any new memories, as if time stopped for him after a specific incident. This way, Joon-Young’s brain keeps getting reset every 30 minutes, and the only thing he remembers clearly is his younger brother, Ho-young.

Considering that his brain keeps resetting itself, it is understandable that Joon-Young locks himself since he can’t recognize his family members as they look different from how he remembers them, but why does Joon-Young keep mentioning Ho-young whenever he comes to? We also learn that Jung-Yoon isn’t Joon-Young’s birth mother but his stepmother, which makes Joon-Young and Ho-young stepbrothers as well.

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Brain Works episode 9: A debate between our team members about who is the real culprit

When questioned about the last memory his elder brother remembers, missing a swimming lesson, Ho-young feigns ignorance. Neither does Ho-young recall a memory of Joon-Young being hit on the head or pushed to a wall which might have caused his condition. 

Not only that, but also Ho-young has a strange scar on his hand, which he claims he got while cooking noodles. With all those loopholes in Ho-young’s statement and other nonverbal clues, Ha-ru can’t help but suspect him.

The murder weapon is still missing, and the footage doesn’t reveal the suspect’s face. What if Ho-young is the one who killed his mother and framed Joon-Young for the murder since he wouldn’t remember anything, anyway? 

While Ha-ru believes Joon-Young is innocent, Myung-Se and Se-Jung believe Ho-young has no motive for killing his mother, who he, according to the neighbors and the swimming coach, got along with.

On the other side, Jung-Yoon and Joon-Young fought the day before the murder since he kept locking himself in the room, skipping his meals and even his father’s funeral. Jung-Yoon even cut off the electricity to make him come out. Who knows, perhaps, this incident triggered all the outrage he felt toward her and got him to murder her.

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Brain Works episode 9: A strange scent leads our team to the killer

Ha-ru argues that the murder happened at half past 5 while the police got the call at half past 6, so how could Joon-Young still remember what happened despite his condition? Although a small test proves that some memorable memories stick in Joon-Young’s brain, unlike his usual uninterested self, Ha-ru still believes something feels off and Joon-Young is innocent. 

Further, the witness statement didn’t give them any notable information. Despite going through hypnosis, all the witness remembers is that the culprit was a tall man wearing a hoodie. Yeah, she turned around after smelling an unusual scent of the culprit. However, no matter how hard she tries, the witness can’t remember its source.

With all the evidence pointing towards Joon-Young, Ha-ru can’t protest when the chief turns Joon-Young over to the prosecution. But a chitchat with Myung-Se about how Se-Jung still remembers the smell of warmth she felt from Myung-Se sparks a light bulb in Ha-ru’s mind.

Unlike other senses, smells are directly connected to our emotions and memories.

Hence, our team hypnotizes the witness again, making her believe that the cup in her hand has the same scent as the one she smelt before, although it is just water. We end the episode with the witness remembering smelling a bleach scent from a swimming pool and spotting a scar on the culprit’s hand. Cue: Ho-young checks on the murder weapon he keeps hidden in a locker.

This time, Ha-ru’s inner feelings have proven true in the evidence face. Who knows? Ha-ru’s continuous bickering with Myung-Se got him to develop compassion toward others, which led him to keep believing in Joon-Young’s innocence to the end. Still, we have yet to see how the rest of the case will unfold and why Ho-young did a cruel thing.

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