Lovecraft Country: Jamie Chung's Pivotal Character Revealed

The sixth episode of Lovecraft Country, "Meet Me in Daegu," was unlike anything we've seen on the series so far. The episode took a break from the current storyline happening in Chicago and went back a few years to the war in South Korea. We finally got a glimpse of Jamie Chung (Gotham, The Gifted) who plays Ji-Ah on the HBO series. Not only were we immediately enamored with the character, but she has a shocking secret that fits in perfectly with the themes we've seen on the show already. Here's how Ji-Ah fit into the show and her connection to Atticus (Jonathan Majors). Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

"Meet Me in Daegu" opens with Ji-Ah in a movie theater watching Judy Garland's Meet Me in St. Louis. We learn quickly that she's a shy nurse-in-training and her mother is determined for her to bring home a man. After a failed attempt at speed dating, it appears Ji-Ah is just unlucky-in-love, but a shocking twist reveals there's more to the character than meets the eye. She is actually a Kumiho spirit who must absorb the souls of 100 men before returning to her human self. However, we learn that she has no memories of the girl she was before, so she fights with her "mother" about taking one more life because she doesn't want to lose the person she's become.

When we see her absorb one of the men, it's quite brutal. Tentacles come out of her body during sex and tear the man apart, and she then absorbs all of his memories. As the war rages on, Ji-Ah's best friend is captured and killed for being a Communist spy, which is how Atticus comes into play. He shoots one of her fellow nurses while they're searching for the spy and is ultimately the one who drags her friend away.

When Ji-Ah sees Atticus again at the hospital, she decides he will be the 100th man she kills. However, things get complicated when they fall in love with each other. During their last sexual encounter, she accidentally lets the monster out and absorbs not only his memories but sees visions of his future. She gets glimpses of Leti (Jurnee Smollett) and sees Atticus tied up, about to die. Ji-Ah tries to stop him from returning to America, but he's took freaked out by the monster and leaves.

What did you think of the introduction of Jamie Chung? Tell us in the comments!

Lovecraft Country airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max.