Sweet Home episode 3 begins with another flashback to the car crash that killed Hyun-su’s family, but with a crucial difference this time — he’s present, and inadvertently causes the crash himself. Waking up in a hospital bed he experiences a series of visions and flashbacks, his fractured psyche pulling him in all directions.

In a busy, pre-plague version of the city, Hyun-su is confronted by a dark-eyed version of himself, but he’s knocked back into reality by the arrival of a hulking monster who is threatening the children. He clings to its leg and tells them to run. Jae-heon and Ji-su are able to save him and drag him to safety. He enlists them in helping him keep his promise to the kids, who’re at that moment only feet away from a returning Half-Head.

That proximity helps, though, since once the hulking monster catches up with them, Half-Head attacks it, and the giant creature is forced to waste valuable time smashing Half-Head’s face in. By the time he catches up with the kids, they have a new protector — the lady who pushes around the empty pram, who is forced to relive the painful memory of her child’s loss before giving her life to buy them time to get away. The infection, though, keeps her going, and she’s able to shrug off the punishment. The kids escape with Hyun-su while Jae-heon is able to lead Abomination upstairs and straight out of a window.

The show finally takes a breath in this episode, though admittedly not a very big one. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the frantic fight, there’s time for a meal and a quick discussion of the obviously pressing matter of what to do about Hyun-su, given that he’s infected. Elsewhere, a presidential address intended to reassure the populace goes a bit haywire when the obviously infected president starts bleeding all over the broadcast and telling everyone they’re going to die until he’s eventually shot and restrained by his own security team. With that and a thoroughly tragic ending, Sweet Home episode 3 is pulling no punches with its violence and misery. You just have to wonder how much worse things are going to get.



This recap of Sweet Home season 1, episode 3 contains spoilers. We recapped every episode — check out the episodes tag.