‘Jirisan’: Episode 8 Recap – Who Is the Killer of Mount Jiri?
Jirisan has become a riveting thrill ride for Korean drama fans as they watch the mountain rangers face dangerous situations. As they do their job protecting the mountains, Seo Yi-kang (Jun Ji-hyun) continues her investigation into uncovering who or what evil is responsible for multiple deaths. In Jirisan Episode 8, Yi-kang and her team battle a forest fire as her present self uncovers more clues.
Fans watch as Yi-kang starts to realize the mystery on the mountains might have a supernatural connection and the answers lie in the past. The iQiyi K-drama continues to hook fans with its murder-mystery storyline.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers about Jirisan.]
A forest fire threatens the local villages in ‘Jirisan’ Episode 8
The K-drama begins with a small recap of what occurred during the last episode. As Yi-kang ventures through the forest to assess the fire, she finds the charred body of Lee Se-wook (Yun Ji-on). Se-wook was one of the killers using poisoned yogurt drinks to murder hikers. The recap also shows Kang Hyun-jo (Ju Ji-hoon) getting locked inside a shed with Il-nam’s (Min Moo-je) children, as someone sets off a fire to kill them.
As the forest fire gets closer to the local towns, emergency services are dispatched to the mountains. Jo Dae-jin (Sung Dong-il) advises the firefighters to evacuate the residents, and he and his team will fight off the fire from within. Hyun-jo looks for an escape root before the shed is engulfed in smoke and flames but it is difficult with his injured foot.
One of the children tells him of a hole in the wall, and Hyun-jo helps them escape to get help. As he makes sure the children leave, he realizes his vision has come true. A local resident notices the fire spreading from the shed and calls for help. As Il-nam’s wife arrives in town from the mountain, she realizes her children are nowhere to be seen and panics.
The mountain rangers hurry to save the lost children in ‘Jirisan’
As firefighters stop the flames from engulfing the shed, Hyun-jo survives and warns them the children went toward the mountain. As Dae-jin and the rangers try to stop the fire, he notices the wind’s trajectory has changed. The wind shifts the fire’s direction toward Haedong village. Back in town, Il-nam’s wife begs the firefighters to save her children. She explains they are likely hiding at Gap Cave for safety.
Dae-jin overhears and decides to venture into the forest with his team to save them despite the danger. Hyun-jo talks to Jung Goo-Young (Oh Jung-se) and realizes Yi-kang never returned from the mountain. As the team hurries to reach Gap Cave, Hyun-jo uses a drone to look for an access point.
Yi-kang finally calls over the radio and explains she is closest to the children’s location. The team arrives, but she and the children are nowhere to be found. The fire has become too dangerous for the rangers, and they call off the search. But Hyun-jo notices the fire cabinet is open. Before the team arrived, Yi-kang and the children made their way out of the cave. But Yi-kang realizes the fire will soon erupt and uses a fire blanket to cover her and the children as flames engulf them.
Yi-kang realizes the supernatural connection to the mystery ‘Jirisan’ Episode 8
The following morning, the rangers bring back the children and an unconscious Yi-kang. At the hospital, Hyun-jo explains Se-wook’s dental records were a match. Hyun-jo questions why he started having visions after his friend’s death on the mountain. He deduces the killer is making the murders look like hiking accidents.
Jirisan Episode 8 then shifts to present-day 2020. Yi-kang and Lee Da-won (Go Min-si) continue to scour the mountain for clues. While De-won checks the motion cameras, Yi-kang is called to the police station to talk to herb collectors. One collector retells the story of Mount Jirisan’s ghost. A hooded figure covered in blood appears, and whoever sees him dies.
Fans’ theories after Episode 1 of the K-drama are true. Hyun-jo’s spirit stayed behind on the mountain after he was attacked and put into a coma. His spirit appears to the people who are connected to the killer. Yi-kang confirms the ghost another hiker saw before almost falling to his death was Hyun-jo. She soon realizes De-won saw Hyun-jo’s ghost and might be in danger. Up in the mountain, someone is following De-won.
As De-won runs in fear, she trips. The person is holding a broken yogurt drink and wearing a Mount Jiri ranger jacket. De-won looks relieved and asks what the person is doing in the mountain.
Jirisan is available to stream on iQiyi.
