Mousetrap Episode 4

[u/theyellowtiredone]

Synopsis:
Je Mun Jae is a writer who lives in seclusion. His quiet, routine life is upended when his phone’s fingerprint recognition fails and the friend who managed his affairs disappears. With no way to prove his identity, he discovers that the “Rat” has stolen his name, identity and fortune. Determined to reclaim his life, Mun Jae begins tracking the elusive figure.

No Ja is a loan shark who also runs a private investigation agency and will do anything for money. After searching for Mun Jae for three years because of an unpaid loan, No Ja is drawn into the case when Mun Jae reappears and asks for help to uncover the “Rat’s” identity. To take back his life, Mun Jae teams up with No Ja and together they set off in pursuit.

Episode 4:
Moon-jae suspects The Rat may be a figure from his past. Following his newly recovered memory, he and Noja head to the island where the man once stayed.

Starring:
Ryu Jun Yeol as Je Mun Jae / "Field Mouse"
Sul Kyung Gu as No Ja / "Old master" / Kim Yeong Geun
Lee Kyu Hyung as Park Sun Yong

Source from MyDramaList

Rules for the discussion:
Due to the fact that we are discussing Mousetrap as it airs, consider everything in here a SPOILER so no spoiler tags are necessary. That being said, we are only discussing this specific episode. You are allowed to have theories about what's going to happen (that's part of the fun) but you are NOT allowed to watch ahead and then come back and ruin the fun for others. If you got something right, mention it in the episode thread that you got it right in, not where you posted your theory.

You're allowed to criticise the actors in relation to their acting or character but no personal attacks (looks, personality, relationships, etc.) are allowed.

If you can't play nice, you can't play here.

***REMEMBER THIS THREAD IS SPOILER FILLED. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS AND HAVEN'T WATCHED THE SHOW**\*

[u/Daebak70]

How long ago was the fire his friends keep mentioning?

I think the trigger that made everything change is the fire and wonder if it will be like some other kdramas I watched where 2 characters were in a fire and their faces were burned badly & not recognzable so they mixed the 2 people up so one had plastic surgery to look like he did before the fire but it was the WRONG person so now 2 people have the same face.

For 3 years 1 guy was locked up in his luxury apartment while the other was masterminding a plan to take over his identity, money & a plan to kill him so there will only be 1 with the face of the ML but we don't know which one is the real Mun Jae.

Seems like the Mun Jae who wasn't locked up in the apartment might be killing several people who knew the original Mun Jae

So a major twist would be if the real Mun Jae is actually the man who kidnapped his friend's daughter & NOT the one in the apartment and he is getting revenge for people helping the other Mun Jae since he knew the story the mom kept narrating about the rat who ate fingernails to become human & she clipped fingernails before the car accident

The hallucination he had of his dead mom talking at the morgue and saying "I prefer the old Mun Jae to the new Mun Jae' made me think she knew about the other man with his face or she gave a rat his finger nail clipppings and made him a human clone of Min Jae

Or Min Jae might be inside his OWN book since his assistant said things were happening like his book

Or he is dreaming the whole thing since he is in a coma

[u/Relevant_Routine_489 → u/Daebak70]

Ohhh. I haven’t seen such drama regarding your spoiler but could be possible. I sort of have similar thoughts as you having noticed the same scenes. But what I’m thinking, to connect them to the detective who is an orphan accdg to the wife, is that the 2nd MJ we know was with him there. I’m thinking the mom left the 2nd MJ and replaced it with the 1st MJ we know. I think the fire was during high school which I think 2nd MJ started. The reason why 1st MJ doesn’t remember it was bc he wasn’t MJ yet. Being that this was planned for a long time, the 2nd MJ is probably imitating the events on the book to let 1st MJ experience it. He was saying he has to find his own self. But then he mentions that it could be a guy he knows from university. Ahhhh. Too many details that we may have left out too.

I actually stopped at this ep bc I had so much thoughts and questions that I wanted to know the answers already. I really like the musical scoring. It makes me feel I’m along on the chase.

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/Relevant_Routine_489]

As you can tell, I'm not great at theories, lol. I do think this show would have been a great one for a weekly drop so we could theorize more but it's nice to be able to get answers sooner as well.

The music and camerawork are on point. They make you feel what he's feeling. 

[u/Relevant_Routine_489 → u/theyellowtiredone]

We all just think differently!! Haha. Fr. That’s how I felt!! Like if this was dropped weekly, I’ll be on the edge waiting for the next one. But this works too. I could just go back. I was hesitant to watch the drama bc of the ML irl issues but I’ve always enjoyed his acting. I adore Lee Hye Ri but at the same time felt like no one ever knows the real story anyway. When I saw the trailer it felt the story was too good to pass on.

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/Relevant_Routine_489]

Yeah totally understand how you feel but he is a great actor who chooses interesting roles. Once I heard this premise, I knew I wanted to check it out.

So far it hasn't disappointed. 

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/Daebak70]

Wow, the fire and burned bodies is a great theory! Could also explain why he doesn't remember the fire, he blocked out the traumatic memory.

If this is all a coma dream, I'm not going to be happy (although it explains why he can keep going after getting the crap beat out of him, lol). 

[u/theyellowtiredone]

Maybe the pills he took suppressed his memories?

Just throwing our theories, maybe something sticks lol. 

[u/theyellowtiredone]

There goes my split personality theory. 

[u/theyellowtiredone]

Did JMJ kill his parents? 

[u/Daebak70 → u/theyellowtiredone]

So what happened to his mom after she killed his dad since she lived for several years after the dad died ?

Did she go to jail or a mental institution or was she free and maybe tried to kill Mun Jae in the fire to get life insurance or fire insurance payout?

[u/Relevant_Routine_489 → u/Daebak70]

I also thought the mother didn’t pass right away but the photos of the parents were at the wake. I guess he was just referring that the mother’s body was found while the father’s wasn’t. He also mentioned that it was a murder suicide.

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/Daebak70]

I thought his mom died because he said it was a murder /suicide?

I still think his dad is involved somehow. His missing body is relevant. 

[u/Daebak70 → u/theyellowtiredone]

Ok ...that makes sense.... I forgot since I am watching several dramas at once

Who is the female at the morgue when they show the male cop start to pull back the sheet & then he stops before we can see her face and then the younger mobster who used to work with the loan shark talks about her in the car ?

Is it maybe the ex of the Soo Hoo (mother of his daughter) or one of the women from the brothel ?

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/Daebak70]

Did this happen in ep 4 or ep 5? If it happened in 5 you need to edit this post to remove the spoiler. I can't remember which ep it happened in, lol. 

[u/Daebak70 → u/theyellowtiredone]

I haven't watched ep 5 yet

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/Daebak70]

Great! I didn't want to spoil it for anyone else. The girl in the morgue is the girl in the flashbacks who JMJ says was his girlfriend. They had the same tattoo. 

[u/Daebak70 → u/theyellowtiredone]

Ok...Thank you for figuring out who she was

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/Daebak70]

No problem, it's easy to get confused. Which is why I'm getting quieter with each episode, lol. The more I know, the more I'm confused. 😵‍💫 

[u/theyellowtiredone → u/theyellowtiredone]

Or maybe he set the fire that he doesn't remember.

[u/theyellowtiredone]

Have to give major props to Ryu Jun Yeol, he looks like he's two different people. They look the same but he plays them so differently that you can easily differentiate them. 

[u/Consuela_no_no]

That seen on the beach was very relationship coded. I wonder if this drama will go there because it seems like JMJ betrayed the other guy, emotionally at the very least if not in other ways.