‘Butterfly’ Episode 6 Recap: “Annyeong”

Here we are with the Episode 6 finale of Butterfly (“Annyeong”), and maybe it’s the best one? This series began with action that lacked urgency, and then ramped up to a place that still felt kinda perfunctory. By Episode 3, it was cooking a little, having established a dynamic between Daniel Dae Kim as David Jung and Reina Hardesty as Rebecca, his daughter who grew up thinking her superagent dad was dead and gone. And by Episode 5, those two were acting as a tight-knit team, doing all the spycraft, besting all their adversaries, and making us wonder what was next for them – as a family, but also as ass-kickers in the murky world of global intelligence gathering. 

Right up until the end of Ep 5, when series sleeper star Kim Ji-hoon showed back up as Gun, the largely silent, heavily tattooed psycho who brought extremely necessary unpredictability to Butterfly by doing that killers-in-shows-and-movies thing where he moves slow but is somehow omniscient. And seemingly unkillable – previous to his abduction of Rebecca at the conclusion of last episode, Gun had been shot at least twice and literally had his body fished out of the sea. 

Rebecca is back with embattled Caddis boss Juno Lund as the Butterfly finale begins, and as is typical for our favorite character, she’s giving absolutely none of the fucks. Juno, trying to be tough, accuses her former top asset of trying to rip her family apart. But Rebecca, who has learned it was Juno’s meddling that caused her father to fake his death, just hits her with a cold, satisfied grin. She’s handcuffed to a table, but it’s Juno who’s flustered. “Feels bad, doesn’t it?”

Once Juno was taken, Jung turned to his smuggler in-laws for crucial aid. In one way, this speaks to the predictability that has at times plagued Butterfly. We met Eunju’s mom and crime boss dad once, in Episode 4, and then they conveniently disappeared. But in another way, which is way more fun for an action series, it’s super cool that Jung has a cadre of armed, well-trained men he can call on in situations like this. Jung will owe a favor for this assist, which as Eunju says is a risk. Her father is not a man you want to owe a favor to. It doesn’t matter. Jung is compelled. He came all this way, reunited with Rebecca, and their efforts exposed Juno’s bad dealings to Senator Dawson and the US government. He’s not gonna re-disappear without first freeing his oldest daughter. 

“I think it’s time you tend to your burning empire.” Rebecca! But her talk with Juno is more than just threats and put-downs. These two did have mutual affection for one another. Juno once acted as a mother-figure toward Rebecca. And so as Juno prepares to flee South Korea – with her son Oliver singing like a canary in US custody, Caddis Private Intelligence is over – she’s asking her captive questions like “Do you love me?” and “Will you go with me?” Even “captive” isn’t quite right. Juno hands her a key for the cuffs while Rebecca maintains a steady, calculating look. Even after everything that’s happened, it feels like it could go either way.

Rebecca is with Juno, Gun, and assorted Caddis thugs in a convoy to the airport when Jung and his men strike. They transform a cement production facility into a killbox, cut off the convoy vehicles, and flatten SUVs with cranes. Naturally, Gun exits to deal with Jung personally, while Rebecca takes action of her own, kicking Juno in the jaw with her cool Asics trainers and strangling the driver with his own seatbelt before getting ahold of a pistol. And using it. In classic Rebecca fashion, during all of this close-quarters violence, her features are full of nearly orgasmic release. We will say it forever: she loves this shit. 

The Jung vs Gun fight is a replay of their Episode 3 battle on the docks, this time in daylight, and both Daniel Dae Kim and Kim Ji-hoon give it their all. There are kicks, punches, knives, guns, props, chains, and cement dust caking everything. When Jung gets the drop on Gun, he hacks a gash into the killer’s neck with his own custom blade. Blood spurts and that’s it… 

Rebecca’s first question after it’s all over: “Where’s Gun?” And true to form, Juno doesn’t cower or flee. She stands there defiant. While we didn’t think a guy like Jung would kill her outright, he does seem tempted until Rebecca intervenes. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but she’s a part of me. I want her to live.” 

Later, we’ll see Juno again. While Oliver remains in custody, she’s on a private jet sipping a bourbon, planning her next move. “Caddis can burn. I’ll build something new, somewhere I don’t have to abide by American law.” And we believe her. Piper Perabo never seemed more sure in the role than in this final sequence. 

But what’s most interesting about the Butterfly Episode 6 finale is how it gets around to shedding blood again. Reunited at a roadside restaurant with Eunju and little Minhee, Jung and Rebecca full of joy talking about the future – the States? College? A life together? Who knows for this blended fam? – when Eunju and Rebecca head for the restroom. It takes too long, and Jung draws his weapon. He’s frantic when he finds Eunju, bloodied and dying, and screams Rebecca’s name. But she is nowhere to be found. 

Decider has absolutely no idea if Butterfly will get a Season 2. But in our opinion, the twist this finale ends with demands it. Over the course of the series, our issues with it were largely assuaged by the bond built between Jung and Rebecca, and Reina Hardesty’s consistent, fantastic performance. And now, in part because of that performance, we’re left to wonder: this whole time, was she plotting to hurt the father who left her to hurt on her own? We would hate to learn she took an innocent life, stole Eunju from Minhee, and left Jung to live as a sorrowful and single girls dad. But Rebecca was always reticent, and her own person.

Do you want to know our main theory? It all goes back to Gun. This guy was intrigued the instant he encountered Rebecca, during the train station fight in Episode 2. And it was never overt, but Rebecca did seem curious about a handsome, closed-off dude who lived a life as an independent assassin. That gush of blood we saw at his neck, back at the cement factory, was not necessarily a definitive death blow. As Butterfly wings off into the night, we’re wondering if Eunju just got in the way as Gun tailed the Jung family, either to abduct Rebecca for his own ends or to ask her to join him in the dark margins of contract killing. Maybe we’ll find out. 

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.