Crash – K-Drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Catching a Car Thief

Crash Episode 5 begins with So-hee and Yeon-ho driving home after meeting Pyo Myung-hak, the deputy commissioner. Yeon-ho says he had met Myung-hak once before but doesn’t elaborate. Meanwhile, So-hee’s mind is on the other detective who was with Myung-hak — Lee Tae-ju. Currently, Myung-hak, Tae-ju, and a team including Chief Gu discuss a major rape and robbery case.

Yeon-ho and So-hee then investigate the case of the drunk old man who was run over by two cars. They search and find the one taxi that was found in the area but the dashcam has been wiped. Back at the precinct, Myung-hak tells Tae-ju to not waste time trying to woo So-hee.

Yeon-ho and So-hee then find the taxi driver drinking at a bar. He tries denying it but then admits he ran over the man after dropping a customer. His daughter is getting married in the following month, so he just fled. Yeon-ho reveals that the old man was already dead when the taxi ran over him.

Back home, So-hee looks in on her father who wakes up and sets dinner out for her. So-hee makes him promise that if he ever runs someone over by accident, he’ll call the police. Elsewhere, a man in a black bucket hat breaks into a car.

The next day, So-hee continues training Yeon-ho but he passes out in the process and they have to revive him. They then look at the recovered footage from the taxi dashcam. In the footage, they also spot a silver car that was one of their suspects. Inside, they can see the silhouette of the man in the black hat. Yeon-ho concludes that he ran over the man and then waited till another car passed by.

Just then, someone calls and tells them the silver car has been found. They go to the scene, where a policeman tells them the car was reported stolen ten days ago. What’s more, another car has been stolen now. The car’s owner, a woman, tells them she forgot her wallet inside the car. While looking at CCTV footage, Yeon-ho sees the man in the black hat throw a cigarette on the ground. The team then collects all the cigarette butts from the ground.

Back at the police station, So-hee berates another team’s detective for not taking the report of a car thief seriously. When things get heated, Tae-ju interrupts. Tae-ju then tries to make conversation with So-hee. He mentions his offer for So-hee to join the major crimes division but she flatly refuses and says he shouldn’t give it to someone as a favour. She also insinuates he’s just using his position as a stepping stone to success. Yeon-ho asks her about it later and she admits she doesn’t want to be indebted to someone for being given the opportunity.

Elsewhere, Chief Go has dinner with Tae-ju and another man. Tae-ju asks them who Yeon-ho is. Sometime later, Yeon-ho goes back to Tae-ju’s office to return some files. He gets a glimpse at the map of the burglary and rape case when he does.

Meanwhile, the man in the black hat watches the footage from the dashcam of the car he stole. He watches the woman on the screen and smiles. In the morning, So-hee gets a call from the woman who says her wallet has been returned. On Yeon-ho’s hunch, he and So-hee go to the woman’s house.

Yeon-ho finds a still-warm cigarette outside the house, though no one responds inside. They break in to find the culprit attacking the woman, although he runs away when he sees them. So-hee stays with the woman while Yeon-ho chases the man. They fight but the man ultimately gets away.

Afterwards, Lee Tae-ju arrives at the woman’s house and says he has to take over the case because it might be related to the serial rape case. There is a joint briefing between departments where Yeon-ho explains that their car thief might just be the serial rapist. He shows everyone that the dates and locations of the thefts and the rapes are almost the same. He suggests they compare DNA from the cigarette butts to know for sure.

Later, the TCI has a meal together and So-hee tells Yeon-ho he should have shared his suspicions with her. Hyun-kyung then advises Yeon-ho to make up with So-hee. She tells Yeon-ho about a case where So-hee discovered a team of illegal taxi services and found the phone of a gang boss, with proof of drug deals with the children of many high-ranking officials and policemen. Tae-ju took over the case and kept the high-rankers out of it, earning himself a promotion. That’s when she broke things off with Tae-ju.

Later, So-hee and Yeon-ho practice their fighting again. He asks if she’s mad at him but she seems to have forgiven him because it’s his first time. Elsewhere, Pyo Myung-hak also gets a news clipping of the death of the young couple that Yeon-ho was involved in.

The two boys from Yeon-ho’s accident case, Jae-young and Jung-wook are driving around, with Jae-young steering the car very recklessly. They discuss how Jung-wook’s father is angry because of the blackmail. They then meet with a truck driver named Kyung-soo, their old friend.

They accuse him of blackmailing them. He insists it wasn’t him but says that someone else who knows what they did. Kyung-soo then accuses the other two of being the reason for that young woman’s death. After they leave, we see that Kyung-soo also got one of the letters. He looks at it and laughs hysterically.

Back home, Yeon-ho gets a message from So-hee. She’s sent him a link to a police bulletin board where someone has revealed Yeon-ho’s past at the end of Crash Episode 5.

The Episode Review

Crash Episode 5 brings together the car theft case with that of a serial rapist and seeing the connection take form is quite interesting. The case develops gradually, slowly turning from one thing to another in a way that’s quite fascinating. So-hee and Yeon-ho do a good job leading the investigation.

At the same time, the relationship between all the police officials creates an interesting dynamic. Additionally, the TCI is already in a precarious situation in terms of their reputation. We learn more about Tae-ju and So-hee’s past and get an understanding of what’s happening there. Along with the mysterious blackmail letters, this series has enough meat in its multiple storylines to keep viewers hooked.