'Tale of the Nine-Tailed' Episode 15: Lee Yeon, Imoogi jump into Samdo river, can Ji-ah and Lee Rang move on?
'Tale of the Nine-tailed' starts with Imoogi in the form of Ji-ah (Jo Bo-ah) taking the life of the servant who had taken care of the Imoogi for centuries. After all, he had made the mistake of taking Lee Rang's (Kim Beom) word for it and attacked Ji-ah to get a chance to live longer. Instead, he screwed up all of Lee Yeon's (Lee Dong-wook) plans. Ji-ah ends up becoming a murderer, something that she had tried her best not to. She also runs the risk of killing her junior and best friend from work. One of them has already been infected by the Imoogi and if Ji-ah doesn't return to her senses soon, one of her best friends Jae-hwan might die. It is Sae-rom who interrupts at the right time and stops the Imoogi from killing.
In the meantime, Lee Yeon is forced to sit down and negotiate with the part of Imoogi that is in its human form Tae-ri (Lee Tae-ri). Lee Yeon tells Imoogi that he plans on getting Hyeonieong, Taluipa's husband, to poison her and this is how Imoogi would take control of the Samdo River. While Lee Yeon hopes to take Imoogi to the Samdo River by trapping him, what he is not aware of is the fact that the Imoogi is smarter than he gives Imoogi credit for. Also, just as we had expected, Taluipa's son is in someway connected to the Imoogi and we know this when he enquires after him to Lee Yeon. Things are going too smoothly feels Lee Yeon, and he is wary of Tae-ri as well. However, there is not much else that he can do at this point and so he goes forward with his plan anyway.
Meanwhile, Yu-ri who has been taken away by Tae-ri in return for Lee Rang's life overhears the entire conversation. So it is not too far-fetched to believe that she would reveal Lee Yeon's plans to Lee Rang. Surprisingly, however, Lee Rang finds himself hosting Ji-ah. She thanks him for sending her president to her, and she also learns the truth about Lee Yeon's plans from Lee Rang. Ji-ah and Lee Rang come to a truce, where Ji-ah tells Lee Rang that if she were to hurt Lee Yeon at any time, she wants to kill herself. However, if she cannot kill herself, she wants Lee Rang to finish the job for her. So the two of them shake hands on wanting to save Lee Yeon, while Lee Yeon himself is hell-bent on saving everyone around him.
As the Imoogi blinds Lee Yeon to his own plan and finds everything that he needs to thwart the traps that Lee Yeon is setting for him, Lee Yeon tells his friends and Ji-ah goodbye in his own way. He gives Shin-joo a parting/wedding gift, he has a naengmyeon with Lee Rang and gives him the last piece of egg that Lee Yeon usually treasures for himself and finally, he goes on a date with Ji-ah that she can remember and cherish in his absence without being hurt.
While Taluipa is convinced by Lee Yeon's sincerity and love to try another route to trap the Imoogi, all of their plans are wasted. Taluipa is turned into a stone, we also learn that Tae-ri, the human Imoogi looks just like Taluipa's son Bok-gil who had died by suicide after Taluipa had killed his wife for the world's safety. Turns out the one who gave Bok-gil's wife the plague was the Imoogi because he didn't like to see his "friend" being too happy. He uses the mirror of the moon that he had procured after attacking the Governor of the Afterlife and he turns Taluipa into a stone.
Lee Yeon hears of all of this from the Imoogi inside Ji-ah while he also is forced to fight Lee Rang, Snail Bride and Shin Joo all at once as they are all under Imoogi's spell. He manages to wake them up from under the spell and also drags the Ji-ah Imoogi along to take her to Afterlife Office. What no one notices is that Lee Yeon before taking off gets ready for the worst possible outcome and so he swallows the primrose flower petals which is considered poisonous for gumihos and then, he also swallows the chip that he had of the Imoogi.
In Taluipa's absence, Lee Yeon has no other go but to go with his original plan to ensure everyone's safety and that's why see the episode ends with Lee Yeon and Tae-ri getting stabbed by Lee Rang after much convincing and then the two of them jump into the Samdo River. Does this mean this is the end for Ji-ah and Lee Yeon?
'Tale of the Nine-Tailed' will be aired on tvN on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 pm KST and can be streamed on Viki Global.