Mousetrap Ending Explained: Directed by Kim Hong-seon, the Netflix K-drama 들쥐 stars Ryu Jun-yeol as Je Moon-jae, Sul Kyung-gu as Noja, and Lee Kyu-hyung as detective Park Soon-yong, Park Yoon-ho as Yu-min, Moo Jin-sung as Soo-hyun, alongside Kim Sung-oh, Hyun Bong-sik, Lee El and others. The drama is adapted from Ludvico’s webtoon Field Mouse and has 10 episodes, each with a runtime of 50-55 minutes.
Mousetrap Ending Explained
How Did Soo-hyun Die?
Soo-hyun was forced to become one of the Rat’s pawns due to his affiliation with Moon-jae. He was aiding Moon-jae in covering his tracks and managing his financial matters, including laundering Noja’s money and planning their escape into the future. But around a year ago, the Rat confronted Soo-hyun and made known that he had knowledge regarding the stolen investment money of both Soo-hyun and Moon-jae. This is when the Rat intimidated him and made him get Moon-jae’s phone so that he could hack into it.
Everything became much more complicated when the Rat kidnapped Da-eun, the daughter of Soo-hyun, and made her his hostage. During the whole chase, Soo-hyun was actually caught between defending his family members and following the orders of the Rat. No matter what, even when Noja and Moon-jae started looking for Soo-hyun, he was still controlled by the Rat, who told him to flee when they approached. Soo-hyun finally took them to the lake.
However, when they reached the broken bridge, Soo-hyun told Moon-jae all the truth about the case. According to Soo-hyun, the man who has been pulling all the strings was known as the Rat, and the latter has been playing with him throughout the last several months. Soo-hyun also clarified that he did not betray Moon-jae of his own free will, since he did it being threatened by the Rat. Finally, the Rat gave him a difficult choice – to choose between his life and the life of his daughter. Soo-hyun decided to save his daughter.
When the life of his daughter was at risk, Soo-hyun crashed his car into the broken bridge and got out of the car. Standing there, over the river, he could not escape his destiny. The next day, his dead body was found in the river.
Why Did Yu-min Become the Rat?
Yu-min became the Rat because his connection to Moon-jae went much deeper than a simple case of stealing someone’s identity. This is because many years earlier, Moon-jae had hurt Yu-min deeply in a way that he lost everything. Moon-jae was jealous of the relationship between Yu-min and Min-yeong and wrote an untrue story about her that exposed her intimate affairs. This brought about great emotional distress for Min-yeong and put her in a deep state of depression to the extent of suicide. Yu-min had been taking care of Min-yeong when she was going through all of this, but Moon-jae had stolen Yu-min’s notebooks and taken credit for Yu-min’s writings.
It is because of this background that Yu-min finally decided to assume the identity of Moon-jae and turn his life upside down. Yu-min was aware of Moon-jae’s background of Moon-jae and also knew the fact that the man thought to be a prosperous novelist in the eyes of the world was not who he claimed to be. As the Rat, Yu-min could manipulate Moon-jae, reveal all the hidden truths of his life and compel him to face the lies of life that he had created. Therefore, his whole plan was based on revenge, and he wanted to make Moon-jae taste the same fear and helplessness that he had caused in others.
How Was Detective Park Soon-yong Connected to Je Moon-jae?
The connection between Detective Park Soon-yong and Je Moon-jae goes far back beyond the process of the investigation that connects them. At first glance, Park is presented as an orphan who had grown up without comprehending what a family actually meant. Not having a family also influences the detective’s life since, at some point, his wife is ready to divorce him because of their emotional indifference to each other. Nevertheless, in the course of the detective’s investigation of Moon-jae, an interesting connection appears unexpectedly. It turns out that Moon-jae’s uncle, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, becomes the only one who might provide irrefutable evidence in terms of Moon-jae’s true identity.
Park goes to the hospital to meet him and obtain his DNA, but during their meeting, the uncle calls Park by the name “Moon-jae.” The name triggers something in Park’s memory, making him realise that his own past is connected to the name he has just heard. Indeed, Park used to be adopted by Moon-jae’s parents of Moon-jae due to the fact that they could not give birth to their own child. Nevertheless, things turned around when the couple gave birth to their own child, which caused them to abandon Park. In this connection, it is quite understandable why the boy managed to keep all these memories about this family hidden.
In addition, in Mousetrap episode 10, it is also revealed that Moon-jae’s real name is Park Chan-u, and thus he had become the man known as Je Moon-jae some time ago, which proves that the identity crisis experienced by the hero did not start due to Yu-min’s arrival. The young man had lived for many years trying to hide who he really was, and this explains why he started to burn down all the evidence of his past, including setting a fire prior to the class trip.
Was Je Moon-jae Able to Get His Identity Back? What Happened to Yu-min?
From a legal standpoint and in terms of practicality, Moon-jae regains the life taken away by Yu-min. The climax of their battle occurs on a boat bound for Jeju Island, where Yu-min plans to disappear while revealing the true identity of the fake man. Moon-jae is aware that should Yu-min succeed in his plan, all he would have achieved till now would crumble. Moon-jae decides during their fight to defend his hard-earned reputation by pushing Yu-min into the water, and the latter drowns, and his body is not found. Moon-jae can say whatever he likes and tell everyone that he acted in self-defence. The police cannot locate Yu-min, and neither do they have any proof of anything.
What Happened to Noja in the End of Mousetrap?
Noja is able to survive the fierce fight with Seung-gyu, but he definitely is not the same person he used to be. Indeed, he receives quite a heavy injury to his right arm, which makes him reconsider his way of life. At first, Noja was heavily engaged in all kinds of criminal activity, including gambling, money laundering, and crimes associated with identities. In fact, Moon-jae’s problems appeared due to the money that he took from Noja. However, with the development of the series, Noja becomes one of those who are trying to help Moon-jae to find out the truth about the Rat.
Noja, however, takes up a totally new way of life, rather than falling back into his former life of crime. Although Moon-jae tries to give him some cash, Noja rejects it and opts to start anew by working in the fields alongside his mother. The ending for Noja is quite interesting and is very different from that of Moon-jae. Noja knows that he needs to accept the fact that his past life is done for and move on to create something new. Even though his arm might indicate that there is a price that he paid for his past life, he will have the opportunity to start a new chapter in his life.
Was Je Moon-jae Able to Publish Part 2 of His Book?
The plans that Moon-jae had in mind for the second part of book turned out to be another trap for him when Yu-min vanished. At the end of Mousetrap, the moment Moon-jae came back home, he found the manuscript left by Yu-min. However, the manuscript did not contain the usual continuation of the story; rather, it contained all the facts about Moon-jae’s criminal activities, plagiarism, and the truth about the identity that he had been hiding for so many years, in addition to the fact that Moon-jae was the true Rat himself.
In order to gain some form of control over the manuscript, Moon-jae tries to rewrite it and present Yu-min in such a way as to make him appear insane. However, this plan runs into an obstacle because, for Moon-jae, the very skill which has enabled him to succeed is based on the very same material that he has stolen from Yu-min. Without the stolen skills and material, he finds himself in the dilemma of not being able to write anymore. What this implies, therefore, is that although Moon-jae survives, the manuscript itself becomes a threat to him, because the story he had so much control over might very well become the one which ends up exposing him.
What Does the Ending of Mousetrap Signify?
The ending of Mousetrap k-drama has a lot to do with the concept of stolen identities, guilt and the inability to run away from the consequences of your own past. Initially, the play gives the impression that Moon-jae is a man whose entire life has been taken away by another person who looks just like him. But the climax turns everything around, exposing the fact that Moon-jae was not the victim in the end, but that he too has spent all those years deceiving others, appropriating Yu-min’s literary skills and making a successful career based on somebody else’s life and talent.
Mousetrap episode 10, scene serves to stress this point. In spite of all the events that have taken place, Moon-jae finds himself back in his apartment, but this is far from liberating. The young man needs to finish the book, but he can no longer do it since he has lost his abilities. Moreover, he is unable to give Yu-min’s manuscript as it will expose his identity as the true Rat. Furthermore, he is unable to leave as Seung-gyu is still on his track, trying to get his money back, and Moon-jae’s life would be in danger. The situation becomes too stressful for him, and Moon-jae even imagines things which do not exist.
He has recovered his house, his identity, and even the semblance of his previous existence; however, he is still ensnared in the web of lies which have enabled him to lead that life. This is why the title “Mousetrap” is so symbolic – Moon-jae tries throughout the whole novella to escape from the trap he has found himself in, only to discover that he has made another for himself.
Also Read: Mousetrap Review: Dark, Unpredictable and Compelling, but Not Without Its Flaws
