Kim Nam-gil of SBS‘s Friday-Saturday drama ‘The Fiery Priest 2’ collapsed, bleeding due to worsening multiple sclerosis.

Episode 8 of SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama ‘The Fiery Priest 2’ (written by Park Jae-beom, directed by Park Bo-ram) aired on November 30 recorded a peak of 14.3%, 12.6% in the metropolitan area, and 12.1% nationwide according to Nielsen Korea, ranking first in its time slot and first in viewership ratings for all miniseries aired during the week. The 2049 viewership ratings were 3.9%, ranking first among all Saturday programs in 2049 and first among all programs broadcast in the week in 2049.

In episode 8 of ‘The Fiery Priest 2’, Kim Hae-il (played by Kim Nam-gil) and Kim Hong-sik (played by Sung Joon) find out each other‘s true identity and have a showdown. As a result, Park Kyung-sun (played by Lee Ha-nui) finds out that Kim Hong-sik is the boss of a drug organization and suddenly proposes a date to Kim Hong-sik.

While Kim Hae-il and Kim Hong-sik are having a showdown, the SWAT team is dispatched and arrests Kim Hong-sik on charges of assault, drug manufacturing and sales, and murder. Kim Hae-il is surprised to find out that Chief Gomarta (played by Heo Soon-mi) of the Uma Police Station, who had been hiding in a rubber barrel, had called the SWAT team. Kim Hae-il asked Gomarta to investigate Kim Hong-sik using the information she had, but Gomarta, fearing the backlash, refused to investigate, saying that she was only trying to save Kim Hae-il. Kim Hae-il received new information about Kim Hong-sik from his senior Jung Seok-hee (Shin Eun-jung), the head of the National Intelligence Service’s intelligence team, but Kim Hong-sik was ultimately released due to insufficient evidence. Kim Hae-il snapped at Kim Hong-sik, saying, “Why would I fly? Umagu is my country, it will be my heaven,” and saying, “If only the priest would stay still, I wouldn‘t have to cause trouble. Or else, the priest should sacrifice his life. Then he provoked her by saying, ”Then I will cancel all my insurance.“

After that, Kim Hae-il met with Park Kyung-sun at the yoga studio and told her that when the value of the area where Kim Hong-sik was active had dropped or when everything had been discovered, he had blown up a ship and spread a powerful toxic gas called PF2X to massacre people, and he emphasized that they must find the bomb and gas tank in Busan now. Kim Hae-il then told Park Kyung-sun to ask Gu Dae-young (played by Kim Sung-kyun), Gu Ja-young (played by Kim Hyung-seo), Oh Yo-han (played by Go Kyu-pil), and Song Sak (played by Ahn Chang-hwan) on the ship to find the bomb, so he asked her to approach Kim Hong-sik and uncover the secret about the gas. Kim Hae-il then told Park Kyung-sun, ”I think we have an unexpected new ally on our side,“ showing his intention to recruit Gomarta by persuading her. However, Gomarta asked Kim Hae-il to pretend not to know that she saved him from being kidnapped by Kim Hong-sik’s men, raising curiosity about the hidden story.

The next day, Kim Hae-il heard from Chae Do-woo (Seo Beom-joon) that the seminary students had embarked on a campaign to eradicate drugs in Umagoo and persuade the elderly in nursing homes, and he told them to be careful. At this time, Park Kyung-sun, upon confirming that the gift Kim Hong-sik gave her on their first date was ridiculously expensive, deliberately returned the gift and told him to stop seeing her, making Kim Hong-sik feel sorry for her. At this time, Nam Du-heon (Seo Hyun-woo), who urgently called Kim Hong-sik, said that the seminary students who had participated in the drug eradication campaign were like Kim Hae-il‘s clones and that he was worried, so he suggested that he would act as a blackout curtain and threaten them.

Meanwhile, Goo Dae-young, Goo Ja-young, Song Sak, and Oh Yo-han, who had transformed into ‘Ssagripa’ and were on the ship, relied on Oh Yo-han’s upgraded hearing that could detect even high frequencies to find where the bomb was. However, the moment the four of them started preparing to open the door, Team Leader Park (Yang Hyun-min) and Bbal-rak (Choi Hwan-yi) appeared and said, ”What are you looking for? Are you guys playing an escape room or something? Team Leader Goo Dae-young?“ causing goosebumps. Moreover, at the same time, Park Kyung-sun, who was standing in front of Nam Du-heon‘s honey pot room, was trying to open the door using a hammer, but was attacked from behind by someone with an electric shock device and fell.

Finally, Kim Hae-il secretly rode his hidden bike and chased after the van carrying Kim Hong-sik’s subordinates, the Gecko gang, and felt ominous as he looked at the abandoned LPG gas station where the Gecko gang had done some work and left. However, at that moment, Kim Hae-il received a tearful phone call from Chae Do-woo saying that Kim Hong-sik‘s subordinates had attacked the school and were making a mess of it. He became enraged and immediately went back and defeated Kim Hong-sik’s subordinates. However, Kim Hae-il suddenly attacked him from behind with a club and he bled and said, ”Run away. The sense of imminent crisis was heightened as the ‘fainting ending’ unfolded, where Chae Do-woo collapses without even hearing Chae Do-woo‘s words, “Father.”

Meanwhile, Kim Hong-sik found out that the place where his information was leaked from the Thai DSI was a bookstore run by Jeong Seok-hee, Kim Hae-il’s senior at the National Intelligence Service. Jeong Seok-hee took out the gun that she had been hiding because Kim Hong-sik, who visited the bookstore, asked her unusual questions, saying, “I heard there‘s valuable information here,” and “Aside from rare things, there’s something that no one knows about,” feeling strange. But in the end, he was suddenly attacked by Kim Hong-sik and collapsed, creating an ominous atmosphere.

Episode 9 of ‘The Fiery Priest 2’ will air on Friday, December 6 at 10 PM, and Episode 10 will air on Saturday, December 7 at 9:50 PM.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com Reporter jhj@donga.com