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Punch: Episode 13

This episode will make you want to punch the screen, but not in the way you’ve likely wanted to physically harm other drama characters before. It’s infuriating for all the right reasons, weaving a narrative so fraught with tension that there’s no way to watch without feeling a righteous surge of anger when Jung-hwan gets taken to school by human-shaped monsters. It’s a battle of wits and wills, but when one’s wits and will is evenly matched with their opponent’s, no victory is ever assured.

Ratings-wise, Punch saw some higher numbers and managed to stay on top this week with 12.2%. Shine or Go Crazy is experiencing a much faster increase and got close behind with 10.2%, while Healer remained in third with 8.9%.

SONG OF THE DAY

Na Yoon-kwon – “나윤권 (If Only)” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 13 RECAP

Even amidst the whirlwind of media coverage surrounding Minister Yoon the day before her confirmation hearing, she makes sure to get all the details from Ho-sung regarding his search and seizure of all Dr. Mechanic’s possessions. She wants to make sure his father left nothing behind regarding the enlistment fraud case.

She has to smile and act upright for the cameras, hypocritically promising that she’ll hide nothing during her hearing. Only when she’s safely in her car does she call Ho-sung to tell him to meet with Dr. Mechanic in person and bring her anything regarding the enlistment case if he has it.

When Ho-sung notes how much she’s changed, Minister Yoon replies without losing her camera-ready smile, “I have to change in order to change the world.” You just keep telling yourself that.

But all isn’t lost for Jung-hwan, since Dr. Mechanic calls him to say that his father left behind a dossier listing all the people he wrote false diagnoses for in order to get them out of conscription.

Jung-hwan darts out the door to get to his shop, but Ho-sung beats him to the punch after overhearing the phone conversation. With a menacing air, he asks to be given the information promised to Jung-hwan.

Ye-rin calls her mother to tell her she’s changed her dream job from idol/ballerina to prosecutor, and that she and her crush are going to sign up for a program to become “honorary” prosecutors on the official office website.

Ha-kyung realizes belatedly that Ye-rin might see news articles about her father there, but not in time to stop Ye-rin from curiously clicking on a headline blaring that her father has two months left to live.

“Ye-rin-ah?” Ha-kyung asks uncertainly, knowing what’s happened when there’s silence on the other end. Ye-rin slowly puts down the phone as she reads the article, her initial shock giving way to tears. Oh no.

By the time Jung-hwan reaches the mechanic shop, he finds it looking like it’s just been robbed. He calls Dr. Mechanic knowing he’s with Ho-sung, unsurprised to hear that Ho-sung offered to give him back his medical license and place him in a prestigious hospital for the dossier.

“I have nothing to offer you,” Jung-hwan says. He doesn’t have the time to outdo Ho-sung’s offer, nor is he willing to give his blessings for Dr. Mechanic to date his sister just to save his own skin.

The only thing he can appeal to is Dr. Mechanic’s sense of decency, countering Ho-sung’s claim that the dossier was left behind by his father to give him a new lease on life by asking him if he wants to disappoint his father’s memory by ending up just like him. Will he do the right thing or opt for a secure future?

After a pause, Dr. Mechanic tells Jung-hwan to look to a framed poem by Robert Frost on the wall—the data is in the frame. To Ho-sung, Dr. Mechanic explains that he’d rather spend the rest of his life smelling gasoline than blood in a hospital.

Jung-hwan finds pages and pages of incriminating documents in the frame, with Lee Sang-yoon’s name included among the list of people who received false diagnoses.

He’s eager to tell Ha-kyung about what he found, but she calls with some sobering news: Ye-rin found out about his tumor and is understandably inconsolable.

Tae-joon has been doing his best to pave the way for Minister Yoon’s confirmation hearing to go off without a hitch, but hints that he wouldn’t exactly be opposed to taking her position as Minister of Justice when she moves up to Prime Minister.

But she’s not in the mood to humor him after she gets a call from Ho-sung telling her about the documents Jung-hwan got ahold of. She’s worried that all her carefully laid plans will go to hell in a hand basket if her son’s enlistment fraud is revealed during her confirmation hearing tomorrow.

At least she knows enough to realize that targeting Jung-hwan would be useless when he’s got one foot in the afterlife already, causing Ho-sung to list his family members, all of which are squeaky clean.

It’s when he mentions that Jung-hwan’s daughter was accepted to a prestigious international school that Minister Yoon finds something to latch on to. “Was his daughter’s name Ye-rin?” she asks. Uh oh.

Speaking of, Jung-hwan returns home to the sound of Ye-rin’s sobs. She grabs onto him the second she sees him and tearfully begs him to promise her that he won’t die, because that way he’s sure to live—he never breaks his promises to her.

He can’t make that promise, but he does promise to spend the time he has left with her. He’ll watch every sunrise and sunset with her and teach her how to ride a bicycle, that way she’ll always remember him whenever she rides one.

The only thing he asks for is one more week for him to finish his work, and then he’ll devote all his time to her. “What if I miss you?” Ye-rin cries. Jung-hwan’s expression falters as he tries to stay strong for her: “I’ll be watching you. I won’t be able to talk to you or hold you… but I will always be watching my Ye-rin.” Oh god. I can barely see through these tears.

Jung-hwan should know something’s up from the way Ho-sung grins at him before his meeting with Minister Yoon, but it doesn’t stop him from factually informing her about the detailed transaction her mother-in-law made to get her son out of military service.

Minister Yoon mentions that Jung-hwan will be leaving the world and Ye-rin will remain, which I’m guessing is only the beginning of where she’s about to go with this, but Jung-hwan replies, “You acted like a princess in the world I live in. I can’t let you become a queen in the world my child will live in.”

Even though he could just take the enlistment fraud case to the media and get rid of her, he’s giving her a choice: she can go down alone, or expose the NIS chip and at least take Tae-joon down with her. Isn’t that what she always promised to do anyway?

Minister Yoon is unfazed as she presents Jung-hwan with another choice. She has proof in her hands that he suspended an embezzlement case for the president of the international elementary school Ye-rin got accepted to shortly after (despite the fact that Ha-kyung already decided she wouldn’t be going there).

At the time, even Ha-kyung had asked if he made some sort of deal, and now he’s being threatened with it. Minister Yoon throws back the same intonation and words Jung-hwan just used to threaten her back at him with a smirk.

It’s his choice to make—if he doesn’t go public with the enlistment case, she won’t go public with news that would shatter his daughter’s world. Especially when he won’t be around to protect her. Ouch.

Minister Yoon’s confirmation hearing is able to go off without a hitch, and Ha-kyung bursts into his office after figuring out what happened. She’s gritting her teeth with anger, but Jung-hwan calmly tells her to defer punishment for later. Right now, they have to think of Ye-rin.

Luckily he already took care of deleting the admission files from the school, which leaves Minister Yoon as the only person with any evidence. As for finding a way to get into her home safe and get rid of them, Jung-hwan claims he has a plan—he won’t leave this world without making sure they have no way to harm his daughter.

His plan involves Tae-joon, since he approaches him by saying that he used to be the one in the palanquin but now carries Minister Yoon’s. “I’ll also carry your coffin,” Tae-joon retorts.

At least he hears out Jung-hwan’s proposal to remove the leash Minister Yoon has on him, as long as they work together to bring her down. Even though freeing Tae-joon could be bad for him, Jung-hwan is willing to make that sacrifice for now in the service of the only common goal they share.

He’s planned for news of Minister Yoon’s son’s enlistment fraud case to break the morning after her inauguration as Prime Minister, and needs Tae-joon’s cooperation to organize an immediate search and seizure of her house and office. That way, she won’t have time to move the documents he needs from her safe.

When Tae-joon expresses doubt in his ability to get a search and seizure warrant just like that, Jung-hwan calmly replies that he’s welcome to keep carrying Minister Yoon’s palanquin for the rest of his life. Since that’s not what Tae-joon wants, they agree to join forces. Temporarily.

The next morning, Minister Yoon practically runs to the office where Jung-hwan and two other prosecutors are holding her son on suspicion of enlistment fraud. She’s quick to threaten him with his daughter, but is stunned into silence when Jung-hwan flips on the TV, where news about her son is already breaking.

That’s also how she finds out the search and seizure going on at her home and office, thanks to Tae-joon coercing (to put it mildly) the Chief of Staff into granting the warrant.

The search team, headed by Ha-kyung and Detective Oh, finds both the NIS chip and the incriminating admission documents with ease. I absolutely love the look Ha-kyung shoots one of the many press cameras with the folder in hand, meant for Jung-hwan to be sure that she got what they needed.

Now that he’s taken away Minister Yoon’s barganing chip, her only recourse is to try and evoke pity from him. She’ll step down in order to stop the investigation against her son.

But the room they’re in is the exact same one where, seven years ago, Minister Yoon had coldly thrown him to the police. Standing in the same spot she once did, Jung-hwan parrots the words she said back then with a few changes, but one part stays the same: “We abide by the law. The law is equal to me… and to you.”

Minister Yoon can only sink down into a chair when her son is escorted out, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

She tries turning to Tae-joon for help, only to realize that he had a hand in her son’s current situation. While she’s counting on the fact that Jung-hwan is in possession of the only evidence against her son, Tae-joon assures her that he’ll get the best prosecutors on the case to make sure her son gets the harshest punishment possible.

He brings up the inauguration ceremony she made it a point not to invite him to when she tries appealing to him as something-like-but-not-necessarily-a-friend, and is all to happy to tell her that he’ll escort her to the interrogation room when she receives her summons.

While Minister Yoon gets hounded by the media for all the wrong reasons now, Ha-kyung hands over the admission files she swiped from Yoon’s safe. Jung-hwan shreds them, sure now that no dirt will exist on Ye-rin after he’s gone.

Little does he know that Ho-sung—who remembered that copy machines are a thing—has a duplicate of the admission documents. Stop looking so tortured, Ho-sung. We all know you won’t take the high road.

Jung-hwan has a lot to think about by the time he crawls into bed that night, waking little Ye-rin up. She seems to sense her father’s racing mind and is the one to sing him a lullaby, only allowing herself to cry when he’s fallen asleep. Awww.

Since Jung-hwan set her up with a sponsor to fund her journey to become an assemblywoman, Yeon-jin reciprocates by giving him internal investigation files on the Chief of Staff.

She can’t help but worry when she looks at Jung-hwan now, and comments that he’s losing weight. She’s clearly bearing her true feelings when she tells him that though she’s always welcomed spring, she’s afraid of its arrival this year since he’ll be gone. Jung-hwan decidedly stays away from indulging her emotions, as per usual.

He pays a sneak visit to the Chief of Staff during a pee break, letting him know that they’re looking into the people who used their wealth to help him get to his political position.

You know the guy’s guilty when he instantly asks Jung-hwan what he wants, only to balk when Jung-hwan suggests that Prosecutor Jung fill the recently vacated Minister of Justice seat. But his choice is easy—either Jung gets the spot or he gets publicly humiliated.

The reason the idea is so scandalous is because Prosecutor Jung’s appointment at his comparatively early age would upset the strict ranking system and age-related hierarchy that exists among prosecutors. Namely, Tae-joon is older than him and should be up for the spot first, which is precisely why Jung-hwan subverted him.

Even Prosecutor Jung was shocked to hear he’d even be considered, until Jung-hwan told him it’s part of his plan to oust Tae-joon from office. So now in his meeting with Tae-joon, Jung refuses to do as he says and say no to the position. I love this ajusshi.

Tae-joon brings his grievance regarding Prosecutor Jung to the Chief of Staff, even though he’s not able to argue against Jung’s character, since unlike the rest of them he’s got a squeaky clean, bribe-free history. His argument is that Jung is too young and inexperienced to take the position. (By Korea’s standards, age in political circles is rewarded more than merit.)

To his surprise, the Chief of Staff agrees with him regarding Prosecutor Jung’s appointment, but insinuates that a “part” of the prosecutor’s office wants him there.

Tae-joon picks up on what he means very quickly, and guesses that Jung-hwan’s behind it—and if they were to get rid of him and thus his dirt on the Chief of Staff, then Jung’s support for the position he wants will disappear too.

Of course, the second Tae-joon tasks Yeon-jin with finding out what Jung-hwan is threatening the Chief of Staff with, she calls him straight away to let him know. Jung-hwan isn’t concerned, having guessed Tae-joon would try something like this before Prosecutor Jung’s official inauguration.

No sooner does Yeon-jin say that she’ll tell Tae-joon there’s no dirt to be found that Ho-sung passes her en route to the prosecutor general’s office with a folder. He hesitates only briefly in front of the door. (Why do I hate you most of all, Ho-sung?)

Even Tae-joon seems impressed when Ho-sung hands over the admission documents on Ye-rin as a tool to bring Jung-hwan down. Then again, he realizes he shouldn’t be so surprised that Ho-sung is selling a friend out that he’s already sold out once before.

“I don’t like the merchant, but the goods are quite nice,” is how Tae-joon expresses his dislike for Ho-sung, which only makes me like him more. He’ll take the documents, but notes how much Ho-sung’s changed.

Ho-sung remembers saying that exact same thing to Minister Yoon and replies, “If the world doesn’t change, then I must.”

Tae-joon and Jung-hwan meet at their chilly spot near the Han River again, and after some small talk, Tae-joon asks him to stop threatening the Chief of Staff. “I can’t fall,” he adds emphatically, going into his rags-to-riches life story and how he struggled every step of the way to get where he currently is.

“Are you the only one who’s ever lived?” Jung-hwan responds sarcastically, coming this close to playing the world’s smallest violin for him. “It’s nice to be alive,” Tae-joon bites back.

But then he softens in an attempt to level with his old buddy: Does Jung-hwan really hate the idea of shouldering some blame in death, when it shouldn’t matter? Yes.

He knows that “Park Jung-hwan Gate” would be such a huge scandal it’d make it into textbooks of modern history, and that’s not the textbook he wants to leave his daughter with. Tae-joon tries again: “Jung-hwan, must you take my position away from me?”

On this, Jung-hwan won’t budge, since he’s determined to see Tae-joon in a prison cell before he dies. He leaves after telling Tae-joon his earmuffs are stupid (hah), and that he lied about the weather getting warmer.

Tae-joon apologizes after he’s gone, but not about the weather as much as the call he places to Ho-sung to release the admission documents tomorrow. He at least does the small favor of blurring Ye-rin’s face.

Of course, Ye-rin can recognize her own blurred face when her father’s face is crystal clear in the picture that makes the papers the next morning, though she thankfully doesn’t understand what the article is about.

Jung-hwan, to his credit, is genuinely horrified by the article—he must’ve been so sure he destroyed all the evidence that he didn’t think anything when Tae-joon mentioned his daughter the night before.

He calls Tae-joon up to demand a meeting, and Tae-joon directs him to a private room at a restaurant. But Tae-joon’s in his office, leaving Yeon-jin to wonder who’s waiting for Jung-hwan as Jung-hwan opens the door…

…Only to find Kang-jae inside. Kang-jae as a free man. Holy crap.

Ye-rin doesn’t understand why her friends have suddenly stopped talking to her, forcing Ha-kyung to gently tell her daughter to spend a few days indoors and without television.

She gets the call that a search and seizure warrant is being executed at her house while Kang-jae, not humbled by his prison stay in the least, morbidly teases Jung-hwan while wearing his shittiest of shit-eating grins.

He tells him how Tae-joon managed to clear away his sponsorship charges, and that he now works at a law firm. “Should I look into a job for you? The annual salary is…” He literally has an oh wait moment intentionally meant to drive home the fact that an annual salary can’t matter to someone who’ll be dead in a month. (Grrrrr.)

At least he answers truthfully that it was Ho-sung when Jung-hwan asks him where Tae-joon got the records from, which doesn’t change Kang-jae’s intention to return the favor Jung-hwan gave him by forcing him to waste what little is left of his life being hounded by the law.

And just in case he wasn’t getting his utter hatred and derision for Jung-hwan across, Kang-jae even has his plate taken away so that Jung-hwan can only watch him eat. It’s then that he tells his enemy that he better go help his ex-wife clean up her house…

The place is already in shambles by the time he arrives, with Ha-kyung quietly informing him that they found some questionable money behind the apartment in Gangnam he gave her, and used that to get a search and seizure warrant.

“It’s fine,” she says a few times, forcing herself not to blame him even if it means she’ll lose her position as a prosecutor. She can deal with all of that. But the people who messed with their daughter? “Let’s get them. Together.”

Ho-sung has been responsible for writing all the smear articles on Jung-hwan, and knows that the public just needs a tiny push to wholly turn their backs on him. For that, he’ll take some of Tae-joon’s scandals and make them Jung-hwan’s. “‘Park Jung-hwan Gate’ has begun.”

Meanwhile, Jung-hwan and Ha-kyung make their way through the media mob together in silent solidarity. On their elevator ride up to work, Jung-hwan takes her hand and squeezes it.

Ha-kyung squeezes back without a word.

 
COMMENTS

Amendment to yesterday’s recap: This really wasn’t Jung-hwan’s week, was it? Literally everything bad that could’ve happened short of his death did happen, and if I thought he’d been backed into a corner before, then the only way to describe his situation now would be if a brick wall was erected around the corner he’s been backed into. By all the worst people this show has to offer, no less.

What surprises me most about Jung-hwan is his indefatigable will, his absolute refusal to allow himself to fall into despair, which is all the more commendable when the trials he’s faced would break most men like a twig. Not only is he dealing with one hell of an uphill battle against enemies who are just as resilient as he is, he’s fighting a ticking clock that won’t stop winding down no matter how much stronger the opposition becomes.

And as of right now, he’s losing, which has to be frightening for him on some level. But I have a newfound respect for him now that we’ve seen how strong his determination is and how that’s morphed from a selfish (but completely understandable) desire to keep living no matter the cost to a slightly less selfish—but by no means selfless—desire to protect his family and ensure their futures. He made the very adult realization that nothing he does now will be of any help to him in the afterlife, since not even the hardest-working men in history could take any of their accomplishments with them when they died.

The only thing he can leave behind is his legacy, and though it’s way too late to undo all the wrongs he’s done in his life, who can blame him for not wanting to take on all of Tae-joon’s heavy baggage even in death? Their riverside meeting was a hotbed of character revelations, mostly regarding Tae-joon’s inability to understand why Jung-hwan won’t just give up and relent. But even in Jung-hwan’s darkest hour, he had a conscience to answer to in the form of Ye-rin, and that’s exactly who he doesn’t want to let down. Which made Tae-joon’s press release afterward all the more cruel, knowing that hurting Ye-rin would be Jung-hwan’s Achilles heel.

Where it gets a little more complicated is that neither men are blameless, since that conversation was a pretty even exchange—both got to say to each other what they value more than anything, yet neither of them were willing to honor those values in each other. Jung-hwan didn’t care an iota for Tae-joon’s familial sob story, so Tae-joon wasn’t left with a whole lot of options if he wanted to keep the position he worked so hard for. I both can and can’t blame him for what he did.

I bought Tae-joon’s apology and honestly believed he was actually sorry for what he was about to do to Jung-hwan, but that good will all but vanished when he tricked his old buddy into meeting his most hated rival. Even that wouldn’t have been so bad if Jung-hwan hadn’t worked so hard to put Kang-jae behind bars, and his freedom couldn’t have been more of a middle finger to all of Jung-hwan’s efforts. He’s practically back to square one now, but at least he’s not going back into battle alone. I better see some scorched earth from these two next week. Scorched. Earth.

 
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I just watched this episode, so it was nice to see a recap up already, thank you Heads.

But, to hell with you HoSung. Shit just hit the fan and he really became Minister Yoon 2.0. The upgraded, more hateful version. Minister Yoon was deluded while HoSung is completely aware that what he's doing is particularly cruel, highly backstabbing and in YeRin's case, is unparalled underhandedness. How dare he touch a child. And all the while, he convinces himself that he feels bad (but is not necessarily so). The thing that makes him worse than Minister Yoon is that he feels that he's a lost cause and hence, essentially, he feels no guilt whatsoever in continuing to carry out dirty deeds.

He's a loose cannon. And a deluded one. JungHwan's gonna have to step up real fast.

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YES YES and YES

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JungHwan, i give you permission to burn everything down. That is all

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Totally agree. They attacked a child who had not even started school. Flame them all!

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I expect some hell next week......they should both raise hell on those who hurt their daughter......God i felt so bad for Jung Hwan this week.....

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Stop watching at ep 9 because of school, but i love this drama so i'm thinking on catching up with it. I believe the bad guys have gotten a space reserved for them in hell and i hate Ho-Sung for all his self proclaimed righteousness, he is totally delulu. Go get em bad guys Jung Hwan and Ha Kyung. Fighting

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My back hurts from all the back stabbing, double dealing, triple reversals, etc..

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Aren't children everyone's Achilles' heel?
We saw it in episode 1 where JH got Jung's son arrested on fake drug charges forcing him to give up on Prosecutor General position. Later in the SAME episode, he silenced Ha Kyung by threatening to take sole custody of Ye-rin. Now he is on the receiving end.

In Ho-Sung's case, I am struggling to understand why he would do it? He is tired of being the good guy? He is embracing his dark side? But what does the dark side have to do with JH? Ji Sook is gone (I hope).

I think he jumped to LTJ's side to escape the fallout of Ji Sook's investigation. Or maybe he is going to cut a deal with LTJ on Ji Sook's behalf - get her out and in return he will pile LTJ's dirt on JH. I wish the show had explained it.

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I guess Ho-Sung's motivation is simply that he doesn't want to go to jail. Being a helper and supporting Minister Yoon in covering the enlistment fraud case, will bring him straight to jail. He did that too 7 years ago when Minister Yoon asked him to blab about Jung Hwan's resources.

Since this drama seems to specialize in reversal moments, Minister Yoon would be come back in later episode. I'm kinda waiting for that, what will Ho-Sung do after the return of Minister Yoon? Will he stay in LTJ's side or not?

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At first I thought Ho Sung had a crush on Ji Sook but it seems to have been more like idolatry. And now...to see his idol fall.i guess he needs another idol to lean on. It feels so crappily evil and so pathetic.

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@RedSunShine,
He should have teamed up with JH then. What better way to atone? If at all he wants to atone. JH is desperate enough to make deals with anyone and everyone. And even though he ratted out JH 7 years ago, according to the law he didn't do anything wrong. He just revealed underhand investigation techniques.

@Carole
I see Ho Sung as pro-JiSook rather than anti-JH. She is his mentor just like how LTJ was JH's mentor. I haven't noticed any jealousy towards JH. But I am glad the show has kept the focus on JH and not done (yet) a melodramatic flashback of how tight HS and JH were. That is standard KDrama trope.

I am pretty sure next episode he will try to cut a deal with LTJ to get Ji Sook out.

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Oh my goodness what a tragic turn off events. Is there depth they are willing to sink to?

On the upside can't wait to see what havoc the husband and wife duo can unleash.

I know violence isn't the answer but can't jung-hwan just reach across the table and !@$/^&*?

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HO SUNG YOU BLEEPING BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEPER!!
I echo Yeo-jin when I say that I have absolutely no clue how Jung-hwan is going to beat this move, but I have faith that he will. Scorched AND salted earth please.

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Ho Sung revealing that psycho nature we ALL saw in him all along...from the very first episode I didn't like him and I'm glad (even though at the time I couldn't understand why some of the bad guys were likeable).

SCORCHED EARTH IS THE WAY TO GO...no reason to hold back since they attacked their child right. Take the entire prosecutor's office down

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Thanks for the recap!
wow I loved the ending scene- I am glad to see the bond between Ha-kyung and Jung-hwan. They are really mad, mad, now that they touched their precious daughter. Yes, it is about time he teams up, since Jung-hwan is running out of time and still has yet to take down his opponents. Can't wait for the next episode.

Tae-joon is such an interesting character. I can't really hate him, because rather than just being greedy, his ambition is rooted on the fact that he feels he owes to his mother, father and brother who made sacrifice for him. I miss his relationship with Jung-hwan in the beginning- how tightly bonded to each other.

And yay, Another Jjajangmyun eating scene. Since when eating Jjajangmyun became such a powerful scene- I guess it is all in acting.
And Kang-jae came backkkk-I was happy he was in prison. I just want to slap him whenver he picks on JH's impending death.

I was so happy Minister Yoon is out of the picture (But why not Ho-sung went with her?). She was so impossible. It seems that she actually believes that her actions are for the better world.

This show is amazing in that they manage to find something new (with same people) and maintain the intensity for every episode. Just when I think it is the end of the rope, they still find something new and turn the table. It is great(and frustrating) to see how Jung-hwan gets out of mess every time and get into another one.

And I am amazed at the acting of Kim Rae-Won (and Jo JeHyun of course) because it is not an easy job when most of acting is carrying coversation and face or body expression is all you can show. KRW is absolutely killing it.

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For all their anger at each other it's evident that there is still some weird wacky love and respect between our hero and our big bad. I'm hoping that in the end, when the pesky idea of power is out of the picture, there'll be a bittersweet reunion between them. Call me a wuss but...there is still some part of the friendship to be saved. I so loved how Tae Joon "didn't show the daughter's face" only to have Ho Sung get internet pics. When good guys go bad, they really go baaaaaaaaaaad. ...even so much that bad guys are ashamed to hang with them. Thanks for the recap.

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JungHwan and HaKyung! I've been waiting for them to team up from the start.
They strike a perfect balance when they're together and in sync.
I not only want them to scorch, I want them to raze, destroy, annihilate and singe their enemies. Starting with Hosung ang Kangjae. They get an extra helping. grr.
Its a testament to how good the show is when you can actually understand the reasoning behind the resident baddie being one.
Taejoon is at times contradictory in his sayings, wavering in his feelings, and willing to ignore them when he feels like it. But, his motivations have always been his family and the background he came from. And had his moral compass been a bit more stable, I would've cheered him on all the way.
Which is why I find it curious that Taejoon can't grasp why Junghwan can't stop when their motivations are more or less the same. Junghwan is much like Taejoon in his grit-your-teeth-and-barge-on determination and resilience and his love for his daughter much like teajoon's love for his hyung.

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"I not only want them to scorch, I want them to raze, destroy, annihilate and singe their enemies. Starting with Hosung ang Kangjae. They get an extra helping. grr." YESSSS

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Could Ho Sung be doing this because he has nothing to lose as in he has no one to protect? So he's just jumping ships and steamrolling everything because he doesn't have a child or a precious someone to protect like Jung hwan, Ha kyung, Kang Jae, Tae Joon (his brohoho), Minister Yoon
Or is a subconscious flawed sense of identity whereas Yeon Jin has a strong sense of identity with a strong goal and solid 'role model'/'mentor' to follow --> aka junghwan. Ho Sung is just fa-la-la ing around I feel
Dunno, thats what I see :(

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Wow, that's so true about Ho Sung having no family. So he is neither protective nor protected. Which...makes having a mentor/friend/ally in the prosecutor's office even more important. He seemed to have a son-mom relationship with Ji Sook.

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I think we all can agree that Ho-sung is the worst person!!! I'm still trying to figure out what he has against JH. Why does he want to see JH go down so badly?! And hopefully Minister Yoon doesn't come back from jail like JKJ did!!! There are just too many enemies against JH!!

Yay for that ending!! No words are needed! Just looking at the expressions on their face, I could understand how they are feeling!! All I can say, watch out Ho-sung, JKJ, and LTJ, y'all are about to get taken down by the husband and wife duo!!

I absolutely love this show!! Every single actor and actress are amazing in acting out the expressions and the silent dialogue!! This show is absolutely my favorite and it shows no signs of slowing down!! Can't wait until next week and see JH-HK wreak havoc on everyone!!

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The real war officialy begin.
Welcome back Jo Kang Jae. Ha. I hate him but the war will bland without him in it, right? Next will be epic, it will HK-JK vs Lee Tae Joon and his minion.

Ho sung-ah, watch your back! The duo definitely will destroy you.

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I honestly felt like punching the screen (much like Jung-hwan did last episode) after watching this episode and especially after Ho-sung's deed and Kang-jae's reappearance. But I love the last scene: it's about time that they really join forces and fight against enemies that never really go out of sight. Bring it on, show.

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So they are taking the gloves off for a 7 year old. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! Even a 7 year old is not beyond limits? Ho Sung be damned. I can't figure out his motivation, either he has some vendetta against Jung hwan that is personal, or he's looking for a way to stay relevant. Even Tae Joon as slimy as he is, still looks down on Ho Sung as a worm. At least Tae Joon showed some consideration to the child by blurring her photograph, much good it did.

So, Minister Yoon, payback's a bitch, ain't it? You can dish it, but you can't take it? Glad you had the opportunity to learn that other people's lives and their children are as precious to them as your own. And the law is equal to everyone. LOL.

One good thing that came out of this episode is that Jung Hwan and Ha Kyung are more united than ever, though I'd like to see more than just hand holding between them. I kept waiting for Jung hwan to give Ha Kyung a hug when it was clear that she was distressed, but none was forthcoming. And when Jung Hwan broke down in front of his ex-wife a few episodes ago, I had hoped for a hug then, but didn't see one. Does this drama have something against skinship? I know it's a taut political thriller but still....they are exes after all.

One little thing that bothers me about this drama, which I hope another viewer can comment on, is Jung hwan's mother's adulation of her son. She was willing to let her granddaughter cry herself to sleep, just so her son wouldn't be bothered. I found this disturbing on many levels. It was the same attitude she showed when Jung hwan was lying in the hospital, and she forbade her granddaughter from visiting because she didn't want Jung hwan to find out Ha Kyung was in jail. I know Jung hwan is dying and is a pillar to her, but still...her granddaughter's feelings ought to count, right? Or is she one of those women who idolizes the males in their family and treats their female relatives as secondary?

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the real war began, jung hwan burn down the prosecutor office, please. minister yoon, ho sung, kang jae tae joon and blue house staff chief, you all must go the hell. 6 episodes to go, i think jung hwan will come up with good plan. by the way jung hwan you must rest you look worn out, it looks like you are really ill, you have to stay alive to give us a good acting like this in next projects as well.

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Thanks for the recap HeadsNo2.

Punch (2015)
“For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy." ― G.K. Chesterton

“Maybe there is no justice, just different degrees of injustice.” ― Marty Rubin

“The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.” ― Friedrich Schiller, Maria Stuart

“Right isn't always legal.” ― J.S.B. Morse, Gods of Ruin: A Political Thriller

“Thus I assume that to each according to his threat advantage is not a conception of justice.” ― John Rawls, A Theory of Justice

"Many remark justice is blind; pity those in her sway, shocked to discover she is also deaf." ― David Mamet, Faustus

“Vice may triumph for a time, crime may flaunt its victories in the face of honest toilers, but in the end the law will follow the wrong-doer to a bitter fate, and dishonor and punishment will be the portion of those who sin.” ― Allan Pinkerton

Shin Ha-Gyung: It may take you (or seem like) 40 years in the wilderness before justice prevails, but the day will come.

“Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.” ― William Penn

(Psalm 94:15) ― For justice will prevail, and all the morally upright will be vindicated.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” ― Elie Wiesel

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Park Jung-Hwan: Now he is the victim. Jung-Hwan sees firsthand the effects and results of his activities. Forced to face the consequences of his mistakes and bad deeds.

The sins of the fathers ― the sins (or iniquities) of one generation passing to another. Does the child bear the sins of the father or not?

Chickens have come home to roost.
Paybacks a bitch!
What goes around, comes around.

“The law is simple. Every experience is repeated or suffered till you experience it properly and fully the first time.” ― Ben Okri, Astonishing the Gods

“Like gravity, karma is so basic we often don't even notice it.” ― Sakyong Mipham

“Karma comes after everyone eventually. You can't get away with screwing people over your whole life, I don't care who you are. What goes around comes around. That's how it works. Sooner or later the universe will serve you the revenge that you deserve.” ― Jessica Brody, The Karma Club

Lee Tae-Joon: Constant survivalist. A cat with 9 lives.
It's true that some people are extremely motivated to succeed in life; carry on despite the hardships & a trail of tears; and in order to create & secure a sustainable legacy on behalf of family members who couldn't or never got the chance too themselves. For whatever reason, whether due to: the society & times of the era; the natural, geographical, or political enviroment: the generation their forefathers grew up in; etc.

“The man who passes the...

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Exactly! Great quotes. Especially karma for JH. As much as his impending death and his familial concerns move me, I can never forget that his actions have caused these consequences. Only now is he coming to realize that those actions could affect not only his daughter, but the rest of his family.

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Continued...

Lee Tae-Joon:
“The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

"...a ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Yoon Ji-Sook: Hypocrisy. Authentic (True) Virtue vs. False Virtue
“Ladies who play with fire must remember that smoke gets in their eyes.” ― Mae West

“No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

“If thou wouldst seek justice, thyself must be just.” ― Stephen R. Lawhead, Hood

“One who abuses his power, unaware that one day will be the victim of his own abuses.” ― Michelangelo Saez, Zori 2ª Parte

Lee Ho-Sung: Two wrongs don't make a right. A second misdeed (or mistake) does not cancel the first.

“To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.” ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others.” ― Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

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two words: Scorched. Earth.

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After a long time i feel i'm watching a really good korean drama. PUNCH

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This drama is so aptly named. I've never had the urge to punch drama characters so bad until Punch came along.

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where is episode 16??!!

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No fury like a mother's fury. Touch her child, she will come and get you.

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