Abhiroop Das
The first season of Prime Video’s ‘Butterfly‘ takes its protagonist, David Jung, on a roller-coaster ride through the depths of South Korea, with numerous hurdles on the way. The former US intelligence operative leads a quiet life after having faked his death, but chaos erupts when he discovers that one of the assassins at his former organization, named Rebecca, is someone from his past. This makes him a direct enemy of the organization’s leader and his former colleague, Juno Lund. Her son, Oliver, serves as his right-hand man, and soon these two factions find themselves at each other’s throats. While David and Juno duke it out, Rebecca and Oliver fight a battle of their own, and all these threads come together in the season finale, leaving both the young operatives’ fates up in the air. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Oliver Survives a Traumatic Series of Events
While Oliver makes it out of the first season alive, his troubles are far from over. After being tricked by David and Rebecca into divulging the secrets of Juno’s secret businesses at Caddis, Oliver returns to the organization with a target on his back. His mother is first in the list to suspect him of joining hands with the enemy, but her love for him comes in the way, creating a complex palette of emotions. Sensing his opportunity, David fans the flames of distrust by blowing up Oliver’s car and pinning the blame on Juno. Sensing that he is not safe, the young operative flees, and the protagonist makes sure that he falls right in the lap of Senator Dawson, who has quietly been leading an investigation on Cadiss. Having run out of options, Oliver becomes a CIA witness in the case in return for complete immunity.
Prior to the ending, Oliver has seen his share of death scares, the most prominent one being at the end of episode 3, ‘Busan,’ when David nearly kills him out of rage. Upon learning that Juno was behind the circumstances that led the protagonist to fake his death, he demands equivalent revenge, and points the gun at Oliver’s head. The scene then cuts to black right when a gunshot is heard, and the audience assumes the worst. However, he is confirmed to be alive in the following episode. David and Rebecca kidnap the young operative and let Juno run on a wild goose chase. The duo then manufactures the idea of Oliver contacting Senator Dawson, and then returns the former to Caddis on a silver platter, letting him know how this might be a death sentence. This threat takes root in his psyche, leading to his act of betrayal.
Oliver’s actions are largely driven by his fear of dying at the hands of his own mother, as Juno has established a pattern of eliminating traitors at the first chance she gets. It does not help that Oliver has felt an inferiority complex his entire life and believes that his mother is not satisfied with him. Their final phone call seeks to challenge that notion, with Juno trying to convey that her love for her son is not dependent on any external circumstances. Ironically enough, this part of the conversation is inaudible to Oliver, who by then is already in the homeland. Although he is presently in one of the safest possible locations, the threat to his life continues to exist, as Caddis’s connections run deep, with many parties objecting to his decision to come clean.
Rebecca’s Fate is Firmly in the Dark
Unlike Oliver, Rebecca’s fate is the subject of the first season’s big cliffhanger ending. By the time the curtains drop on the finale, Rebecca is missing, while Eunju, who was with her, is gravely injured. Although the scene immediately points to the grim possibility that Rebecca is the one who attacked David’s wife in cold blood, it is also possible that the assailant has kidnapped her as well, or worse, she is injured and has been forced to distance herself from David and Minhee. In either scenario, the common factor is the possibility of her demise. The deuteragonist is no stranger to close calls with death, as from her first appearance in the show, we see her go toe to toe with multiple armed operatives at a time, often narrowly making her escape. It could be that she was not as fortunate this time, and her luck has finally run out.
However, given that we do not see Rebecca’s body, nor a trail of blood leading up to her, it is more likely that she survives this ordeal. However, this pulls her into the unknown, with no way to accurately predict her present status. The only clue in this appears to be the serving staff at the restaurant where David eats with his family. Prior to the tragedy, Rebecca makes a special note of one of the servers, and given their relative absence in the establishment, it is possible that the entire scene has been engineered by a powerful enemy. Nonetheless, Rebecca still has a lot to contribute to the narrative, both on a plot and thematic level. Actor Reina Hardesty, who portrays the character, stated in an interview with TV Insider that she wants to see Rebecca carve out her own path, away from her two parental figures, adding, “I’m really interested to see who she would be without her reactive tendencies.”
Read More: Butterfly Episode 3 and 4 Recap: Busan and Pohang
