Aahana Swrup
‘Mousetrap’ season 1 presents a riveting story that explores the precarity of self through the unnerving threat of identity loss. The story revolves around Je Moon-jae, an author with a penchant for isolation. Whether it is behind a pen name or the walls of his cushy apartment, the protagonist has a preference for hiding. However, he’s forced out of his comfort zone when an imposter infiltrates his life and overtakes his identity in the blink of an eye. As it turns out, there are certain sins in the writer’s past that demand near-impossible penance. By the end of season 1, Moon-jae manages to get his old life back through a hard-won path that he walks alongside a shady loan shark named Noja.
Even so, by then, he had been forced to confront parts of his identity that he would have rather kept hidden in the darkest recesses of his mind. As such, despite conquering the odds, Moon-jae finds himself faced with a doomed demise. Despite ending on an obscure note, the series finds a well-rounded conclusion for its story, successfully tying up every narrative thread with exhaustive clarity. Thus, the show, ordered as a limited series, may not possess any real opportunities for a second season.
The Conclusive Ending of Mousetrap’s Season 1 Doesn’t Support a Potential Continuation
‘Mousetrap’ follows the story of a harrowing revenge plot, which ends with the protagonist learning a maddening lesson. Throughout the story, Moon-jae is fighting for the ownership of his identity in light of the Rat’s successful attempts to steal his life. However, the ending reveals that the life the author had found for himself was never his to begin with. As it turns out, the books that made his career are actually stolen and belong to the Rat, who is revealed to be Yu-min, Moon-jae’s former friend from college. In fact, the protagonist has not only stolen Yu-min’s work. Instead, in order to live with the shame of his deceit, he has also deluded himself into believing a different version of reality, where he is the gifted writer and the other is the failure filled with envy.
In the end, even though Moon-jae manages to defeat Yu-min and regain control over his life, he chooses to do so in a way that forces him to step back into the reality that the Rat had constructed. As such, he takes credit for the third book, which the latter published as Moon-jae, the author, and shoulders the responsibility of writing the follow-up sequel. Yet, it’s too late by the time he realizes that the latest book is a story about himself, revealing the gritty details of his deception, plagiarism, and overall fraud. Since he can’t admit he isn’t the one who penned this novel, he is forced to work on the sequel despite his insufficient talent. Furthermore, constant exposure to the novel forces him to reckon with the reality of his disappointing and shameful existence.
Eventually, this ends up driving Moon-jae mad right around the same time that gangster Seung-gyu knocks on his door to collect the debt Yu-min had incurred. Although we never get to see the resolution of this final confrontation, the season ends with the blatant implication of insanity that arrives as karma for a life built on theft, lies, and self-deception. This offers an ending that is complementary to the themes explored throughout the narrative of the series. It maintains the moral ambiguity of Moon-jae, offers some satisfaction to a departed Yu-min, and compels the viewers to contemplate the nature of self-identity. Since ‘Mousetrap’ is supposed to be a limited series, it’s no surprise that the story wraps itself up so definitively at the end of season 1. However, this also ensures that there’s not much scope for the possibility of an expansion in the series’ future.
Mousetrap Season 2 Could Follow Moon-jae in His Descent to Madness
Even though ‘Moustrap’s’ limited series tag makes it unlikely for the series to have a multi-season run, the idea of the same isn’t entirely impossible. Over the years, many titles have started out as limited series, destined for one season, only to eventually get picked up for multiple seasons. If this ends up being the case for the K-drama as well, the story could venture down a fascinating, albeit slightly more novel path. The show ends with the conclusion of Yu-min’s revenge plot. Even though things don’t work out exactly as he would have liked them to, Moon-jae’s corrupt choices corner him into a damning fate. In the end, the protagonist, who excelled at lying to everyone, even himself, is forced to face the truth.
In turn, the truth, which defines Moon-jae as deceitful, backstabbing, and thieving, drives him to the edges of insanity. However, psychological anguish isn’t his endgame. Instead, he is also visited by Seung-gyu, a gangster who is known for taking lives when his enemies fail to pay off their debts in cash. If the show is renewed for season 2, the narrative could shift its focus from the exploration of identity loss to its consequences. Now that Moon-jae is forced to accept and internalize the harrowing truths about the kind of person that he is, it is bound to have a transformative effect on him. From the looks of it, this transformation likely won’t be for the best. Thus, a future continuation could potentially dive into the horrors of self-actualization for the plagiarist author.
Read More: Mousetrap Ending Explained: Who is the Real Moon-jae?
