Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Lee Chang-min, Netflix’s ‘Cashero’ bridges the struggles of a superhero with those of an ordinary person, through a unique power system that doubles as a societal critique. Kang Sang-ung is a civil servant trying his best not to end up like his father, who has been perpetually broke his entire life. However, one sudden encounter between the two reveals that all of this had a very specific and peculiar reason: Sang-ung’s father was a superhero. Even more unbelievable is the fact that Sang-ung has inherited superstrength, as well as the downsides that come with it. Thus, he is thrust into a world full of supernatural conspiracies, one where he has few allies and one too many enemies. To that end, the ending of this Korean superhero comedy drama, adapted from the eponymous webtoon by Team Befar, brings a fresh perspective to the question of powers and responsibilities that is a staple in this genre of stories. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Cashero Plot Recap
‘Cashero’ begins with Kang Sang-ung, a regular civil servant, narrating his life from the start. Having grown up in a poor household, where his eccentric father fought for even pennies, Sang-ung understands the value of getting rich a little too well. With him and his partner, Kim Min-suk, setting their sights on a lavish apartment complex, their need for money is at an all-time high. Just then, his father calls him to his village, only to ask him for more money. This cash, however, has a very specific purpose, as Mr. Kang reveals that he possesses superhuman strength and healing, and that these abilities are now to be inherited by his son. While Sang-ung initially finds the idea ridiculous, he quickly realizes that he really does have powers. Worse, his abilities run on cash money, meaning that he is almost destined to lose any money he can accumulate, so long as he chooses to use his strength.
Alarmed by this new reality, Sang-ung discusses the matter with Min-suk and ultimately decides to never use his strength and save as much money as possible. However, his heart tugs away from that idea soon enough, and he burns through a whopping 30 million wons to save a bus from falling into the river. Videos of this act go viral, drawing attention from both his allies and enemies alike. The Mundane Vanguard, a society that wishes to extract and abuse superhuman abilities, targets Min-suk to get to Sang-ung, but the duo is rescued by Attorney Byeon Ho-in and Bang Eun-mi, fellow superhumans. As the members of the unofficial superhero association, Byeon, who can pass through solid surfaces, and Eun-mi, who converts calories to telekinesis, both train Sang-ung into a fine superhero.
After repeated close encounters with the Mundane Vanguard, Sang-ung gradually gets the hang of his powers and proves to be a tough opponent. Vanguard’s leader, Jo Won-do, removes his daughter, Jo Anna, from the operations lead and instead employs his son, Jo Nathan. Immediately, Nathan begins a devious drug operation, using the superhuman extracts to drive people crazy. The only way to defeat him is to destroy the company itself, and while Sang-ung nearly succeeds at the operation, Nathan kidnaps Min-suk as his grand move. Sang-ung, penniless by this point, chooses to kill Nathan in a suicide charge, saving the lives of Min-suk and his team. However, Min-suk refuses to give up and takes the help of Detective Hyun-seung, who secretly has the power to rewind time. As the dial spins back to seconds before the explosion, Min-suk hands Sang-ung with just enough money to heal, giving him another chance to bring down the Mundane Vanguard.
Cashero Ending: Is Jo Nathan Alive? How Did Sang-ung Defeat Him?
‘Cashero’ ends with Sang-ung defeating Jo Nathan and dismantling the Mundane Vanguard for good. After facing his second defeat at the hands of Cashero, Nathan realizes that he cannot win against superhumans with his regular arsenal. Instead, he decides to fight fire with fire, completely flipping the modus operandi established by Vanguard so far. Fittingly, his first move in this new plan is to dispatch his entire family, starting with his sister, Jo Anna. While his father survives the scene due to a coincidental intervention by Jeongja, this still leaves Nathan with no further obstacles. Emboldened, he heads straight to the lab and injects not one, but all the superhero serums into his body. We have seen the devastating toll the serums can take on a person’s body, but paying no heed to that, he grants himself strength, speed, and the ability to channel lightning.
In many ways, Nathan’s final fight with Sang-ung is more than just a rematch, as it pits two different ways of using superpowers against each other. For the former, gaining new abilities only furthers his existing vicious nature, whereas Sang-ung undergoes a moral metamorphosis, learning the true value of life. Thus, the battle is defined not just by the exchange of kicks and punches, but by how the world reacts to it. Nathan’s upgraded physical prowess initially does lean things in his favor, as not even a classic combination of moves from Sang-ung, Bun-mi, and Byeon is enough to bring him down. By the end, all three members of the superhero association lie injured and depleted, with no money, sweets, or alcohol left to fuel their abilities.
At the most dire moments, Sang-ung and company find support from the most unlikely of places, the very civilians whom they are trying to save. As it turns out, Cashero’s unique abilities are now household knowledge, and realizing that he needs help, the entire neighborhood begins throwing money onto the street. The little girl Sang-ung saved at the start also adds her piggy bank to the mix, in a scene that perfectly recalls Sang-ung’s own childhood, when his dad took away his piggy bank, only to never use it out of a moral calling. In this case, however, Cashero has more than earned the money around him, and this boost in strength coincides with Bun-mi fining a packet of buns, and Byeon getting alcohol from none other than Detective Hyun-seung, paying off several plot threads in one go.
By now, Nathan is already feeling the brunt of his superpower overdose, but that doesn’t stop him from abusing the abilities further. Unfortunately for him, Bun-mi has a plan and ties electrical wires to his hand, drawing out all of his charge without harming herself or others. At the same time, Byeon creeps up from under and pins Nathan in place, and that perfect teamwork allows Sang-ung to land the finishing blow. While the scene cuts to black right there, it is implied that Nathan is knocked out by that punch and thoroughly defeated. Although Sang-ung has previously taken Nathan’s life once, it is likely that he will let the criminal be arrested by Hyun-seung this time.
How Did Jo Nathan Come Back to Life?
While Sang-ung’s coming back to life can be explained by Hyun-seung’s time rewinding ability, Jo Nathan’s surviving the explosion comes as a shock. The explosion takes place in the same manner as before, and only Sang-ung has the ability to heal himself, but in the aftermath, we see that Nathan is not even in the building anymore. Based on the clues sprinkled before and after the scene, it can be surmised that he was saved by none other than Hermes AKA Su-yeon. Given that her ability is super-speed, it’s possible that she blitzed him out of the elevator before it could explode. That also explains why she is with him in the later sequences, where she once again saves his life from a bullet. Nathan, however, doesn’t exactly repay the favor and brutally kills her the moment he unlocks superstrength.
Notably, Su-yeon’s rescue mission is foreshadowed in an earlier scene, when Min-suk meets her at the police station. While there, Su-yeon helps her out against an army of goons, but it is only because their real missions are aligned. When Min-suk rewinded time, it was not just she who stepped into the liminal state, but also Su-yeon. It is likely that she used her ability in that short span of time, and that is what saved Nathan’s life. Still, he is not immediately out of danger, as a piece of shrapnel is still lodged in his body by the time he is out of the elevator. Fixing it is one of the many reasons she agrees to inject him with superhuman abilities, not knowing that she is essentially signing her own death warrant.
Is Min-suk Pregnant? Do She and Sang-ung Buy the House?
At the end of ‘Cashero’ season 1, Min-suk is confirmed to be pregnant, and the family celebrates this news at their newest home, the same one we saw at the start of the show. It is implied that the couple collected enough money for the down payment, especially now that Sang-ung is publicly recognized as a superhero. However, this is not exactly a happy ending, as we know that Min-suk’s lifespan has been shortened by an unknown amount due to the time-bending ability. To that end, her remaining lifespan is now an enduring mystery by itself. It is also possible that Sang-ung will now be targeted by even more factions, meaning that his house and family are effectively endangered for life. Still, their resilience in the face of trouble is what led to their victory in the first place.
The other big news for Min-suk and Sang-ung is that they are about to become parents. While this is partially foreshadowed in the previous season, with Byeon suggesting that Sang-ung’s powers are about to be inherited, the news still comes as a major surprise. However, the plot thread about inheriting abilities is now all the more relevant, as it is possible that his child may have to face the same monetary and familial difficulties that he himself faced at one point. How Sang-ung chooses to do things differently as compared to his father makes for an engaging arc for his future. Perhaps the biggest change in all of this is that Sang-ung has the support of the entire world, and that, coupled with his determination to work even harder, is likely to manifest a healthier future for his loved ones.
What Happens to Jeongja and the Mundane Vanguard?
While the Mundane Vanguard is effectively destroyed with the fall of Jo Nathan, there are still huge sums of Beohma money stored in safehouses, and that means that Nathan’s father, Jo Won-do, can easily rebuild the group. However, Jeongja’s last-minute intrusion into this saga puts that idea to rest, as the final sequence reveals that she now has custody of all the Beohma money we saw in earlier episodes. Not just that, but Won-do still has a lot left to pay, as his father took quite the hefty loan from Jeongja’s father, and no one can quite escape her hefty interest rates. Thus, while Vanguard is officially no longer a thing, all of their resources have simply had a change of ownership, with Jeongja now leading the scene.
While Jeongja and her team do not bear any ill intent, particularly towards the superheroes, that doesn’t mean that she is any less of an antagonistic presence. In particular, she has her eyes set on Sang-ung, not just because of his mounting debts, but also because she wants him to be her son-in-law. While there are many possible reasons for this demand, including her grudge against Sang-ung’s father, one potential explanation is that she wants to introduce his superpowers into her family line. Given that Jeongja has even more money than Beohma, the power gap between her and Sang-ung is even more apparent, and in the future, we might see her spin an even more elaborate scheme than before, trapping Sang-ung and his family in both a literal debt trap and an existential one.
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