“Strangers From Hell” Ending Explained

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Strangers From Hell” has wrapped up its run on October 6, however, its ending left many fans wondering what just happened, so we’re here to explain “Strangers From Hell” ending.

NOTE: the below is a spoiler recap and discussion of “Strangers From Hell” episode 12.

“Strangers From Hell” Episode 12 Recap

“Strangers From Hell” ending was shocking but the buildup sort of gave it away. There remain some fans who have not fully understood the ending and today I am going to explain what exactly happened and my thoughts on it.

“Strangers From Hell” is one of those dramas that can be seen as a cultural study, the way I understood it at least. Our protagonist, Jong Woo, comes from a humble background, his brother is sick as the drama implies and his mother relies on him. In previous episodes, she calls him to ask for money for his brother’s hospital bills. There is no father figure to take care of the family as implied in previous episodes as well. This all plays to shape Jong Woo’s character and be the reason for his eventual meltdown.

In Korean society, superiority is a huge part of the culture; however, it also gets bent if you’re from a wealthy family or from a prestigious background. Otherwise, you’re considered a punching bag at entry-level and you must suffer until you build your way up. Jong Woo struggled with that and seems to harbor hatred towards society and to certain people that he deems below him. His sunbae who finds him a job is only interested in connecting with his girlfriend; he mistreats him and steps on him whenever he gets the chance.

He is also left feeling isolated, misunderstood by his peers, and neglected by his girlfriend who refuses to take him seriously or even listen to him. He has no figure to rely on because of his family’s difficult circumstances, he’s left to deal with it all alone and it broke him.

It is hinted throughout the show that Jong Woo has mental issues that he seems to brush off or be entirely unaware of. In certain scenes of the drama, you see him imagining beating someone to death before snapping back to reality. This shows a glimpse of his troubled mind.

There is the incident that happened during military service that deeply affected him and shaped his character, while on the exterior he can be considered quiet and timid, when he’s pushed to a corner, he snaps. Instead of expressing his anger or frustration as each situation comes along, he suppresses it. He suppresses his true emotions as a form of respect for elders/those in power or because snapping would cost him dearly. Due to that, he’s considered the type of character that doesn’t often get angry but when he does, he wreaks havoc.

If you’re asking how all of this plays into the fiasco that is the ending, it’s because it’s a combination of things that led to the ultimate showdown, it is what explains why Jong Woo snapped all of a sudden and killed four people when he’s never killed before.

“Strangers From Hell” ending explained

The environment, the pre-existing mental health issues, and the drugs that the ahjumma gave him all led to this moment, he was a ticking time bomb. Moon Jo found out he’s on the verge of snapping and groomed him to basically snap.

To answer the first burning question, yes, Jong Woo killed the four of them, and yes, the doctor, Moon Jo (played by Lee Dong Wook) was real and he’s now dead.

Moon Jo was a cannibal dentist that enjoyed killing people with cold blood and he did it with the help of people at that dorm. He’s a psychopath who can spot one in the making and take advantage of them, he saw himself in Jong-Woo.

Moon Jo had been planting ideas in Jong Woo’s head this whole time knowing how hard he was trying to suppress everything inside him, you can say that he basically groomed him to become a killer before getting killed by his ‘creation.’

I truly believe that deep down Moon Jo thought he could groom him to become his sidekick and that they’d go on killing sprees together. You can also see that he deeply understands his character and his struggles because he’s always watching from afar.

Jong Woo’s hidden persona killed Eom Bok Soon, Yoo Ki Hyeok, and Byeon Deuk Jong, when he snapped out of it, he can’t recall what he’s done. It could be a form of dealing with the trauma of knowing he snapped and killed all those people. He pictured himself as if he just broke free from the chair and held on to a knife to kill Moon Jo with in self-defense. You can say he also dissociated himself from his crimes because he can’t fathom having ever done them.

His facial expressions while killing the three others differ from his expressions as he’s fighting Moon Jo, I assume his other self is the killer that Moon Jo helped groom, while the humane part of him has always been the timid Jong Woo who only killed in self-defense.

After he kills him, he starts hallucinating again thinking that he’s talking to the dead person he had just killed which helps his humane side cope with what he’s just done. That’s when his girlfriend hears him mumbling to himself.

From now on, I would assume Jong Woo’s alter ego which is personified by Moon Jo, will make casual appearances to go on a killing spree, he has become Moon Jo. Moon Jo might be dead but he lives on inside Jong Woo’s mind.

For the last scene where Jung Hwa sees Moon Jo it’s only part of her own imagination, she could be suffering from PTSD due to the traumatic experience she’s been through. She previously noticed that Moon Jo was stalking her as well and to find out who he truly was would terrify her even more.

Some people seem to believe that the detective reaction to this doesn’t make any sense, while I will not try to justify their stupid actions, in retrospect, it’s not like every day you’d stumble on a dorm filled with people who’d slaughter others, this type of goishwan attracts the struggling members of society that many really don’t care deeply about, hence, if they’d gone missing, not many people would care.

I personally believe the detectives concluded that Moon Jo killed his men before having a showdown with Jong Woo because it wouldn’t make sense to think someone like Jong Woo would snap and kill all of those people.

When fighting for your life, you’re not thinking about not harming the person in front of you, your survival instincts kick in and all you want to do is survive. This is why detectives will likely rule Jong Woo actions against Moon Jo as self-defense.

While we, the viewers, knew what happened and how Jong Woo mentality deteriorated throughout the drama’s run time, it’s not easy for the average human being who has no insight into this whatsoever to conclude that Jong Woo killed them all.

There are many ways to go about explaining the ending of “Strangers From Hell,” these are my personal thoughts and conclusions. If you have you other theories to share, please let me know in the comment section below.

“Strangers From Hell” is a drama that’s filled with metaphors; everyone will interpret it according to their own understanding of the plot. Regardless, I think it’s an interesting take on human nature and how circumstances can break or make a human being.

If Jong Woo didn’t have those tendencies, to begin with, or if he had been in better circumstances that allowed him to leave without having to sacrifice his pride, he wouldn’t have ended up the way he did.

What did you personally think of “Strangers From Hell” ending?

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86 Comments

  1. Wow now I understand. Thank you so much. When I saw the ending, I thought Lee Dong wook was still alive. But if he’s alive, how could police found the four bodies. Now I get it, why Jong Woo saw Moon Jo at the ending. Thank you so much for your analysis. You enlighten me :))

        1. It cant be moon jo (lee dong wook). Police said that they foud moon jo’s body, and jongwook killed him. Its not about4 body. But the police mntion his name

          1. Yup. This is exactly how I interpreted the ending. I love the fact that was not easy to guess and require a bit of thinking and guessing. What a brutal yet clever ending!
            Well done OCN!

          2. I’d name this drama “The Makings of a Murderer”. The reason why there was no story about the lives of the people in the dorm is bacause the focus is only on Jong Woo, his life, his situation and circumstances. In here, we witnessed how he transitioned from a normal guy to a psychopath in a world with strangers.

            What made this drama a lot more interesting was that all of them possess strong characters that would either scare you and make you sick while watching. The events are unimaginable, but watching it convinces the viewers that yeah, it may happen in real life.

          3. Pero entonce ella y el protagonista se volvieron ro como locos al final no van al psicólogo nadie sabe su enfermedad termina sonriendo como enfermo

        2. Your explanation makes a lot of sense.I am very afraid of how complex at the same time simple,the human mind can be.This drama just made me remember a movie “Stanford Prison Experiment”.Every human actions can be highly influenced by environment,Jong Woo was already a ticking time bomb but his environment made him explode and reveal his image nature.OCN did a good job on this one.The actors did an amazing job.

        3. I also think like that because the scene where lee dong wook dies: he was wet and Jong Woo not but they showed the scenes where jong woo kills erveryone, so he was on the rooftop and get wet because the rain and not lee dong wook, so it was jong woos imagination that he killed him but he is not dead.. I think it was someone else who died there because jong woo stabed the person on the face, so no one could see the face.. lee dong wook was not an amateur

          sorry for my bad english

          1. I’m really sure, that Jong Woo was only imagine to kill Moon Jo.. the knife is fallen from his hand, and mumbling “Don’t kill me” coz Moon Jo has threatened to kill Jong Woo if he don’t obey Moon Jo’s command, and we can see in some snap of the episode that Moon Jo was very dangerous if there’s something wrong or not goin in his rule (his command must be obey).. no one can refute her command except they choose to killed by Moon Jo’s hand..

        4. Who is stupid enough to conclude this? They positively identified Seo’s body. He was a dentist in the community who many people knew, they wouldn’t have confused someone else for him

      1. But then again they never said Mun jo is dead. They said ” jong woo said that he killed him and judging by the state of the dorm we’ll rule it as self-defense. ” And eun ji heard jong woo fighting with himself, which makes me think maybe he never had that final showdown. And maybe mun jo is actually free and that’s why the cop saw him. I don’t think she would see him if she suffered from ptsd either because he was the one who she associated with the case but never really went head-to-head with. And we see mun jo hammer jong woo in “the showdown” but while in the hospital it didn’t look like he had any broken ribs. He was moving way too fluidly. So I think that Mun Jo saw to it that jong woo killed them all told him he was a masterpiece and probably disappeared. Maybe he was visiting(stalking) jong woo when the cop saw him.

        1. This is so ridiculous! They DID say Seo Moon-Jo was dead, they said several times that he was killed in self-defense and police (incorrectly( concluded that he was the only person who Jong-Woo had killed. How did so many people watch it and still not follow what was going on?

      2. i believe most ppl are curious and confused abt whether moon jo is still alive. i found the answer when i rewatch the part jong woo choked himself.After choking himself they play the scene whr moon jo neck is not bleeding and is still alive while jong woo is still talking to himself,then the next scene show the jong woo in a stretcher seeing mun jo afar that means the show want to show that moon jo is still alive

        1. but in this conclusion, isn’t the show suppose to continue? i mean both of them are not dead, and jong woo is now a serial killer as well. moon jo said they will do a lot of things together, it would be so absurd for him to just run away after all the efforts that he did to jong woo to become the person he wanted him to be. idk aghhh

          1. The show is over, it was never supposed to continue, and Moon-Jo is dead as was stated clearly by the police several times. It’s called a hallucination, how in the world would he walk away from the crime scene surrounded by police completely unscathed, and why would the police not be searching for him? Regardless, they said Jong-Woo killed him. They don’t just assume that without a corpse.

    1. The show is over, it was never supposed to continue, and Moon-Jo is dead as was stated clearly by the police several times. It’s called a hallucination, how in the world would he walk away from the crime scene surrounded by police completely unscathed, and why would the police not be searching for him? Regardless, they said Jong-Woo killed him. They don’t just assume that without a corpse.

    1. this drama was really good, with characters who build up in first episode till the end and plot was really to the point. at the end i have same conclusion with this article that Mun jo has been alive inside Jung Woo’s mind and that was so tragic. so we have to learn this drama that we have to caring each other. i wondering if jung woo’s girlfriend not abandoned him or in office the officemate not disturbing him with annoying things maybe his not gonna be “metamorphosis” subject.

    2. Right? Me too because if i am not wrong that man who smiles all the time said there were two persons and not one to jong woo so there’s a possibility moon jo has a twin

  2. Shouldnt there be 6 bodies? Moon Jo, landlady, the intellectually challenged guy, the singlet guy, Jong Woo’s friend and the lady Jong Woo saw when he was dragged up by Moon Jo at the beginning of the last episode.

    1. So, that lady was actually Jong Woo’s friend. Suk yun, yun suk. Not sure. But if you look at it again. They show that “she” is wearing white and then it goes to his friend who was wearing a white bloodied shirt and his hands in the same position as the lady. I actually thought that it was jong woo’s girlfriend because his hands looked so pretty lol and I think Mun Jo never had that final showdown with jong woo. Jong Woo’s gf remembered him fighting himself, maybe he imagined it all and mun jo disappeared.

    2. But there should be 6 bodies actually, landlady, mentally challenged guy, the newest tenant, Jong Woo’s army friend, mun jo and the pervert guy. Assuming Mun Jo is alive, there should still be 5 bodies. So maybe it was a mistranslation or we’re not talking about either the army friend or newest tenant because they were’t directly involved.

    1. I have been thinking bout that since then , at that very moment I thought he is also a psycho so i had been always suspicious of him but i dont know, btw his couldn’t be broken as he was charging his phone with it and he only put the one down he got from Jong Woo

    2. Yee that’s what looks strange because there were 2 chargers working so I don’t know why he borrowed Jung-Woo’s charger, but then when he returns him his charger at 1st he gave him the wrong one and says that his doesn’t work

    3. He probably wanted to see his reaction and get a guess at what type of person he’s going to be living beside. Also, he probably had the intention of trying to become friends. Seok-Yoon never did anything to hurt nor betray him. As we all know, the one scene of him in the hall was set up by Mun-Jo.

  3. Jong woo didnt actually kill Moon Jo, the small knife or whatever it was fall….and His Girlfriend saw him talk alone.
    There’re 4 corpse, yep its the new guy (may be should be 5)

    I still believe Moon Jo being alive, nevertheless who’ll deliver the book then?

    1. When the police lady gave Jong Woo the book, she said that they found it on the 4th floor. But there’s another question, when did Jong Woo give Monn Jo the book?

      1. I think it was a subtle hint that it was Moonjo himself that was breaking into the room as there was a scene of a shadow hovering over Jong woo when he was sleeping.

    2. I also think Moon Joo is still alive and Jung Woo just imagined killing him. I think that’s why the policewoman saw Moon Joo in the elevator.

      Another is if Moon Joo is dead, maybe the policewoman sense Jung Woo as Moon Joo.

    1. He literally answered that question in the show… He said he was covered in scars, and it’s insinuated that Ms Um saved him from the fire at the orphanage so he would have had burn scars.

  4. Because Jong Woo was writing a crime novel that was mentioned throughout the drama, I thought that perhaps the story that took place was Jong Woo’s story that he was writing about himself as the main character and that the strangers in the studio were all fictional.

    However, I believe that Jong Woo really did snap and attack his superior at work and that the cannibal dentist existed as well but was always an enigma that Jong Woo never really understood.

    I like your explanation better though, and that the novel was merely a distraction so the audience would wonder if what was happening was real or not.

  5. I agree with a lot of things you said, but there are two things I disagree with you. First, I don’t believe the dentist is dead, but that the entire showdown scene was merely an illusion in Jong Woo’s mind. Here’s why:
    1. (I also only noticed this after someone else pointed out) when the cop girl visited Jong Woo in the hospital, the teeth bracelet was not on his wrist and only appeared AFTER she saw the dentist in the hospital elevator and ran back to check on Jong Woo
    2. the overall lack of injuries on Jong Woo despite being so brutally beat up by the dentist during their showdown, together with the scene of Jong Woo choking himself that his girlfriend witnessed, it is more likely that the entire showdown did not actually take place but a fragment of Jong Woo’s imagination
    3. when the thug was asked about who killed who, there was one picture short: the rapper boy, plus the body count was also one short…judging from the angle of Jong Woo’s final blows he was probably aiming for the dentist’s face, so there was one body whose facial features were completely destroyed…it’s not impossible that the “body of the dentist” was actually the rapper boy’s, switched out by the dentist while Jong Woo was out cold
    As for the second thing, even if Jong Woo did kill the dentist, I’m pretty sure the dentist meant for his most perfect creation to kill him, with the end of his life acting as the final sacrifice to awaken Jong Woo’s inner devil completely, and his spirit living forever on with Jong Woo. The only evidence I have are the satisfied smile on the dentist’s face as he was killed and the fact he lost to Jong Woo at all…I mean the drama showed again and again that Jong Woo is physically inferior to the dentist AND he just fought+killed four people, so if the dentist meant for Jong Woo and him to live happily ever after, there’s no way Jong Woo could’ve overpowered the dentist the way he did.
    I’d like to hear your ideas on this:)

    1. Yes this is so true I thought the same ting plus how Jong Woo was a writer he made up
      the whole thing so that no one would search for Moon Jo.

  6. Moon Jo isn’t dead because it showed the replay of what actually went down that night. It was all staged because Moon Jo told Jong Woo to kill all the rest of people in there so that Jong Woo could live and the part where his girlfriend heard him mumbling to himself is when he got himself loose from the chair that was before we went to kill them. In the end Jong Woo and Moon Jo is now a two men team of Psychotic Killers. TBH the police officer wasn’t hallucinating in my opinion because even Jong Woo saw him when he was in front of the Ambulance smiling at him. As far as I can see it had a chilling ending something is telling you that, that wasn’t the end of it. If Moon Jo’s body was found they would have been about 6 bodies so I think that’s actually it.

  7. Yes this is so true I thought the same ting plus how Jong Woo was a writer he made up
    the whole thing so that no one would search for Moon Jo.

  8. I think you summed it up perfectly, it was a hell of a ride.
    Absolutely one of the strongest series I’ve seen and the best series out of South Korea in my opinion.
    There are so many layers to the shared psychosis that all of the residents feel, or rather that Jong-Woo enters when close to them and how Moon-Jo creates that “reality” for him.
    It was a nail-biter and reminded me a lot of Oldboy, which is my favorite movie, with a sort of vengeance themed “What is real and isn’t? Was this me all along or was I created to be this?”-feel.

    The thing they created with characters that you dispise yet cannot help but feel some remorse for.
    In the end, the creator of them all and their mentality was a cannibalistic serial killer who fostered them to be what they were.

    Can’t help but feel the strong criticism that leaked out against Korean society structures and the polices incompetence. The fact that a female police enforcer was brushed of so easily by her male colleagues even tho she had stringed it all together for them but they were blind to it just because of that.

    Great read anyways.
    Thank you.

  9. I don’t think Moon Jo is dead, here the theories.

    1. Jong Woo couldn’t keep the bracelet in the ambulance bc it’s evidence, and he don’t have it after the police saw Moon Jo in the elevator. We don’t know if Jong Woo have the bracelet in the ambulance, we know he have it in the building.
    2. The camera focus that only belong to Moon Jo when he was stalking somebody and was the same camera focus when the police was out the hospital, and the feeling of the girl, of course could be for the shock, i’m not sure about this one.
    3. His friend could be part of his imagination bc the police says that only has direct connection with the periodist and his boss and only mentioned 4 bodies, in total we have 6, the landlady, the stutterer boy, the pervert, Moon Jo, the old friend, the new tenant, with the old friend out we have 5 (now explain the other).
    4. When the police queries the gangster and show the pictures of who tried to kill him and they’re all the tenants, they don’t show the newest (who became friend of Jong Woo) and I think by formality they should show the picture bc he still alive when the newest came, and the police says “Jong Woo stabbed and punched to a dead” so I think that could be that boy, and became the body dead of Moon Jo.
    5. I didn’t see this until the Lara comment, Jong Woo has wet his hair when Moon Jo without wounds says “You’re my masterpice” (something like that lol), so that scene is real and Jong Woo didn’t killed Moon Jo
    7. A lot of people says that the police saw Jong Woo like Moon Jo in the elevator but I think if Jong Woo was him the police should imagine with the clothes of hospital and the reflection of him in the wall of the elevator should be Jong Woo (just my opinion, I don’t think has a lot of support).
    8. The wounds of Jong Woo are nonexistent, for a fight like that he should be full of wounds and broken bones.

    Sorry for my bad english, that sucks lol.

  10. First sorry for my english. If the boy really killed all of them, why de police girl said that she heard the old lady killing the pervert?? She wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true.

    1. She realized that she was wrong when she said that. The sound she heard of the killing was actually the tooth bracelet. She didn’t realize til the end when she heard and seen the bracelet on his Wrist. 🙂

  11. I loved this drama, but I was completely confused by the ending. I saw Jong Woo as a sweet young man, that I, as a middle-aged lady, would love to have for a son. I almost cried for him, wanted to reach through the TV screen and give him a comfortable room and find a good job for him. Anyone who would buy cat food for a stray kitten and buy a rose for a lady in memory of his mom is a hero in my eyes! The other characters were despicable and I felt so sorry that he had to deal with them. I was really cheering for Jong Woo! I can’t believe he was driven to the edge. Not a good ending!

  12. There’s a few thing that doesn’t make sense to me. If Jong woo did all the kills in the end, why isn’t it showing in detective’s investigation? a fingerprint, a hair, something has to give them the answer, clearly in the shots Jong Woo is barehanded/without a glove. Also body count at the end is missing at least 1 or 2 people, and bracelet is evidence… why would Jong woo have it? or it’s from the ptsd that Jong Hwa is suffering?
    Anyway I loved the show, great acting and camera/ambient work.
    Sorry for bad english

  13. i thought the person who post this explanation would include it but since he didn’t, i would like to add that when Moon Jo (Lee Dong Wook) was dying and said to Jong Woo ‘Honey, now you and I will always be together forever’, (remember Moon Jo always calls Jong Woo ‘honey’) Moon Jo knows that he has finished creating Jong Woo into a killer and has developed Split personality disorder as evident in the ending scene, so even though he’s dead it was as if they live together in one body and i think that’s why Jong Woo sees Moon Jo looking at him again while he was in the ambulance

  14. Tbh, I believe the show portrays the characters of the motel of what happens in his mind. It’s like an escape from reality of what he goes through life and at work so it’s a sense of release for him. Because he’s a psychopath murderer and the doctor is his true self. Idk.. many interpretations but it’s was crazy good

  15. Guys Moon Jo did die, that y they mention self-defense. The landlady only knock the pervert out. Jong Woo finish the job after he kill the landlady. He went to the basement after because she mention the police officer in the basement. He saw the pervert down there. Then he went to the roots. The laughing guy probably saw Moon Jo on the fourth and ask if he kill the landlady. Moon Jo probably said it wasn’t me but it was Jong Woo and told him where Jong Woo At. So the laughing guy went to the roof. Jong Woo then went back to the fourth floor and decided to kill Moon Jo. Moon Jo let Jong Woo kill him so they can become one. But Jong Woo have mental issue so that why u see that scene. All the scene with his friends all just his imagination. He put it in his novel. It never happen in his real life. That also why it wasn’t in the police report. Also all the scene that replace Jong woo with Moo Jo is just for Jong Woo novel. Cause he want to put the person that help bring out his dark side in his story. The police woman suffer some health issue at the eden residence after she was assaulted so she thought someone that look like they from the residence was stalking her. She probably also didn’t notice the bracelet at first. The police also probably didn’t take the bracelet from Jong Woo because they thought it was a personal belonging. Now for the last important thing that I don’t see anyone committed on, the die die die line. Jong Woo first found this in the notebook under the bed in his room that was left behind by the person that committed suicide. I think this person was part of the pension murder case that they mention at the ending. He was probably the first one that Moo Jo groom. He was probably was part of their group too that took part in the pension murder case. He couldn’t take it anymore and committed suicide. Jong Woo ended out in the same room as this guy which is next to Moo Jo room. Moo Jo probably use hole he created in the to spy on Jong Woo. He see potential in him. That y he targeted him like he did with the guy that committed suicide. He obviously succeeded with Jong Woo, not to mention he stalked Joon Woo everywhere he go. Jong Woo put this line in his novel toward the end of the episode too. I don’t think he will committed suicide though like the previous guy, cause Moo Jo successful groom him and even let Jong Woo kill him. One more thing that I forget, the body count. I think the body count is correct base on my ending theory of this episode. There only 4. The landlady, the pervert, the laughing guy and the mastermind himself Moon Jo. Not 6 because I believe his two friend was just his imagination for his novel. There should another body though which usb the gangster that was in the basement with the police women. I think Jong Woo got rid of it when he went to the basement after he kill the pervert. I don’t know why maybe to hide the evidence that he is actually the one that kill the pervert. The police women was still unconscious so she didn’t notice. He also left the wrench near the pervert body so that she can use it to destroy the monitor ankle bracelet so the police can be notified and rescue her. Jong Woo is a genius after all. He also wouldn’t kill her or his girlfriend cause they helped him through this journey. He have to kill Moo Jo though to put the blame on him. Well guys this my theory to the ending of this show that make sense to me. I also come up with this theory after reading everyone else.

    1. The guy who “committed suicide” was killed by the people in the studio at the beginning of the drama. They showed it. He was the foreign worker whose wife asked for help from the police officer. He was murdered by those people. And also the thug didnt die. They show him in the hospital in the last episode. Hes not able to talk and is severely injured. The detectives take his statement and asks him who tried to kill him, by showing him some photos. These are some things you have misunderstood

    2. You are wrong about the foreign guy and the gangster guy. Those people killed the foreign guy, he didn’t commit suicide. The gangster guy was alive in the end; the detectives spoke with him in the hospital.

  16. Can i know who kills the recent cats case by mixing the cat foods with poison? Is it jung woo cuz he did give foods to the cats. I dont think the latest dead cats is done by the twin hyung though

  17. Maybe all of this was just a lie and part of his imagination. Like maybe all the people living in the dorms were all normal people but because of all the stress in jong’s woo’s life, he made this delusional world where he believed that his tenants were all weird people who killed for fun and ended up killing them all. Maybe he might be the only monster in the show. Just my theory tho.

  18. I believe the murders happened as depicted prior to the supposed plot twist ending. Moon-jo killed Bok-soon, who had killed Nam-bok earlier, he then killed Deuk-jong. Since they considered themselves a family, these were acts of matricide, filicide and fratricide. Moon-jo and Jong-woo did fight to the death with Moon-jo losing and telling Jong-woo that he was his greatest artistic creation. We had already seen Moon-jo kill Gi-hyeok, his previous attempt at creating the perfect killing machine and his murder of Deuk-soo, both of whom were killed because they had not met Moon-jo expectation of perfection. All the other killings were left at the hands of family. Some of these killings were due to perceived slights or other minor issues, Moon-jo’s killing always seemed to have a purpose. Jong-woo appears to have a mental collapse and in order to become what Moon-jo said he was, had to believe that he had killed all the others. I don’t believe that Moon-jo escaped death or else there would have been a reference during the discussion with the police detectives and Jung-hwa. Jong-woo’s wearing of the bracelet made of teeth only helped to push him into his madness. Whether or not he actually becomes a killer remains to be seen, his killing of Moon-jo, even though it was in self defense may have set the stage for him to become the killing machine Moon-jo created him to be.

  19. I think Jong-woo didn’t kill anyone. All the killing scene was just happened in Jong-woo’s head. It is his hallucination and imagination, Moon-joo really want Jong Woo to believe that he killed all of them including him (Moon-jo). Moon-jo is the one who kill all his ‘teammates’ because they didn’t follow his instruction and some of them do challenge him (e.g the ahjumma). So he killed them one by one starting with room 302. He don’t need them anymore since he believe now he has Jong-wo, his perfect successor. So I personally think, Moon-Jo is still alive, and he will keep on psycho’ing’ Jong-wo to be his serial killing partner. I really hope that Jong-wo will keep on fighting and being a normal and nice person like he was before.

  20. Late to the party, but fresh on the insight, because I just finished it and honestly I was wondering how many people think Moon-jo died. To me it’s obvious that he didn’t and people in comments make excellent point for it. My main give away is the body counts (my immediate thought was that they used the newcomer’s body as Moon-jo’s), the camera focused in the exact same way when Moon-jo was actually stalking people and the fact, that Jong-woo did not have the teeth bracelet talking to the policewoman, THEN she sees him going up in the elevator, THEN Jong-woo has the bracelet on his wrist. And while he was disturbed talking with the policewoman and didn’t really want to think about the situation, after Moon-jo visited him, we see a difference in his behavior, letting his other side to shine as he is still grooming him, so when he’s out, they can be together doing what Moon-jo wanted from the start. But I do get how people can interpret it as you did, because you can treat his presence metaphorically. And in the end, any piece of art is for the “reader” to make their own interpretation, even if a true one (the one intended by the author ).

  21. Well I don’t think moon Jo is still alive I believe because of the situation jong woo and the cop passed through made them see things like moon Jo being in the crowd or at the hospital.
    And also jong woo wasn’t the one who killed the teams according to the cop’s imagination it’s was all moon Jo doing cos the landlady made a statement before been killed that she knew he would do that when he found out about the woman at the basement. The cop was just imagining it to be the hand work of jong woo because according to her she nevered saw the killing taking pass she was unconscious and only heard sounds, so maybe she heard the sounds of the tooth bracelet on jong woo hands and imagined jong woo killing the team.
    As for jong woo’s girlfriend she was also unconscious so due to the situation she was only hearing things.
    And I believe that was the manipulations of moon Jo. He was a dangerous man who plays with emotions that is he uses ones emotions to hurt them that was the game he played on jong woo, the cop and jong woo’s girlfriend.
    Because of that he was able to put fear into the cop and jong woo’s girlfriend mind and also bring out the devil inside of jong woo and I believe he now lives in jong woo’s heart even when he is dead. Using moon Jo explains went he was asked while he was killing people I believe he was hurt in his passed life because he made mention of the weak and was also raised by the landlady meaning he has no parents so he decided to invent his anger on the society.

  22. Excellent analysis. Disappointing that the majority of people commenting didn’t follow it and are just inventing their own endings… But your explanation is spot-on. I think people should just rewatch the last episode and it would be clearer because everything is explained.

    Thank you for a very insightful perspective on this profound and thought-provoking series.

  23. It’s weird, shouldn’t police have had found fingerprint of Jong woo in the weapon he used. if his persona killed the pervert , landlady and the dumb guy ?

  24. The core reason i dont think his dead aside from other reasons
    Is.he said he wants him to die in the most horrific way, so he let him live , so when he grows stronger hell killllll him

  25. All the characters were already psychos in the drama I know!!! but it’s more frustrating for me to see REAL LIFE PEOPLE always giving pathetic excuses to a crazy cannibal about his obsession or so-called love for Jong Woo. I know this can be controversial for many… NOT THE ACTOR, but dong wook’s character is worth engraved alive for his inhumane mindset and the horrible actions he’s done!! He is not even worth living. He turned a timid and innocent boy into whatever $hit he wanted. No human has always a completely good side, every person comes with a variety of personas, I agree he evoked the hidden dark side of Jongwoo, but think for a moment, the given circumstances Jongwoo is in, anyone can be that frustrated and especially when people around are nothing but pieces of trash like his company and the STUDIO, I don’t even need to tell!.!.!.!. the way people find ways to just support the dentist disgusts me the most. What is so good about being handsome when your humanity is dead and you are a monster!?!?! The ending or let me say the whole drama was an open one for everyone to interpret their own meanings and every is valid to it! But why the hell did everyone emphasise he loved him?? It’s called OBSESSION my guys that probably ruined his life. Love is the purest emotion to exist and not a craving that psychopaths are deprived of! Can anyone remain sane when hell-worthy people just make you believe what they want and not the reality? This was a worth-watching drama mostly focused on ” ” That might be the reason they never told us why the studio residents are this way. The focus was how an exhausted guy slowly almost turned into a crazy like them. I won’t argue about why I believe he didn’t actually killed the 3 in the end, but Moonjo’s death is literally controversial! He might and might not be dead because the police lady saw him stalking before when he was shopping with her dad. Maybe she was traumatized of all the events, but it’s a 50/50 for me. Of course this analysis and debate is never ending cause I think I should stop here cause I doubt if any have reached here. I am really a weak and sensitive person at heart even knowing it will make me disturbed, I still watched because the plot seemed just so intriguing and cast especially <3 I enjoyed it too maybe but yeah now I've to suffer the aftermath of course! if any words hurt, here's my apology

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