Detention is a Taiwanese supernatural drama TV series which is based on the video game by the same name by Red Candle Games. The series is directed by I-Hsuan Su, Shiang-An Chuang and Yi Liu.
Detention episodes 7 and 8 recap
A horror show truly touching a very different chord, I did not expect Detention to end the way it did. If you’ve watched the show till now, you’d probably be able to guess that Jui-hsin’s past plays a very important part in all of this. However, I was truly not expecting what we got to see.
Detention episodes 7 and 8 are nothing less than heartbreaking. Some might even call this is a love story. However, it’s filled with gut-wrenching revelations that might just make you cry.
After the last episode, Yun-hsiang is still stuck reliving Jui-hsin’s life. Every time she messes something up, she is forced to go back to the start and live that time frame again. On the other hand, Jui-hsin, living in Yun-hsiang’s life, is wreaking havoc on the people’s lives who had betrayed her. However, when Yun-hsiang realises how she and Jui-hsin are connected and why she is reliving her life, she makes a difficult decision. Not wanting to live a lie anymore, she forces herself to face her truth and also makes Jui-hsin face the truth.
The truth, however, is anything but pleasant. 30 years ago, jealous over Mr Chang’s friendship with another teacher, Jui-hsin something unthinkable, breaking her friend’s trust. When the island is strictly controlled by the government due to martial law, this decision proves fatal for Jui-hsin’s love and friends. She realises the betrayal she faced at the hands of her teachers too late, and unable to accept the outcome, she decides to end her life.
This revelation is hard to accept because Mr Chang is a good character and Jui-hsin’s teenage jealousy cost her her love, her friends and her own life. Still nothing supernatural in Detention episodes 7 and 8 in sight, the episodes successfully send a shiver down your spine when you realise that freedom was not something that the people got back then in Taiwan.
Yun-hsiang tries her best to make Jui-hsin see and accept the truth. And when she finally does, there’s a tearful goodbye which is heartbreaking. Detention ends on a positive note, where we see what came over Greenwood after the deaths of their heads and without the teachers. Wei Chung-ting also becomes close to Yun-hsiang and the latter’s relationship with her mother improves. It’s a load of positivity all around and honestly, I’d love to watch a second season of this. However, even without the second season, it’s a great watch and ties up all of its loose ends.
If you’re wondering where the horror element is in all this, it’s important to understand the political and social climate of Taiwan during Jui-hsin’s time. Constant checking and people getting killed for reading certain books is horrifying and the sheer lack of freedom is shocking. In the end, you don’t feel scared of or angry with Jui-hsin. You feel bad for the lost girl who just wanted to be loved and accepted.
Additionally, does the post-credit scene hint of something to come? Only time will tell.
Detention episodes 7 and 8 are streaming on Netflix.
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