Confession: Episode 1

859 March 25, 2019March 25, 2019

by lovepark

There’s an air of mystery permeating the show, and it’s fueled by enigmatic characters all hiding their intentions. While events may seem straightforward at first, the show adds small twists which forces the viewers to reevaluate a character’s motivation and behavior. At the center of this tale is a smart attorney who overcomes barriers and fights for his clients… but is that truly who he is?

Note: This is just a first episode recap.

EPISODE 1 RECAP

An inmate receives a visitor request but refuses to go, asking the guard to pass along a message: “Don’t come back.” The rejected visitor is his son CHOI DO-HYUN (Junho).

As heavy snow falls down on a construction site, a construction worker suddenly shouts in fright at the sight of a dead woman inside a sack. The police arrive at the crime scene and find the victim’s clothes burned in a barrel along with a broken bottle. The only thing left unscathed is a purse found away from the rest of the items.

The chief of the violent crimes unit in charge of the case is Detective KI CHOON-HO (Yoo Jae-myung), and he sits lost in thought as the rest of his team grumble at the news report criticizing the police’s lack of progress on the murder case. Despite fifteen days passing, the detectives still have no leads and impatiently wait for the forensic report.

As Choon-ho decides to ask about the results in person, their division receives a call, and all the detectives anxiously hover by the phone. However, the caller is a young man who taunts them for their sluggish pace and inability to catch him. It’s already the fourth call they received from the presumed murderer, and their patience wears thin.

Luckily for the team, the next caller is from the forensic department bearing good news. The fingerprints found on the bag belong to a man named Han Jong-gu, and from the suspect’s age and birth year, it seems the current timeline is around 2014.

The detectives swarm Jong-gu’s home, but he’s outside and notices the officers first. This gives him a head start, but the detectives quickly chase after him. As the chase leads them down a narrow alley, Choon-ho comes flying out from a side path and tackles Jong-gu to the ground, successfully apprehending him.

As the new attorney at the law firm on his probationary period, Do-hyun sits at the end of a table and quickly bolts up when the head of the law firm asks him about his new case. He’s just been appointed as the public defender for the recent construction murder suspect which sends a ripple of murmurs down the room.

During the first trial, Do-hyun states the defendant’s admission of guilt to all charges, but Jong-gu shoots up from his chair and professes his innocence. Due to their conflicting statements, the judge grants Do-hyun more time to settle matters with the defendant, so they adjourn for the day.

Do-hyun meets one-on-one with Jong-gu who claims to have been pressured into signing the confession during the police interrogation. Do-hyun refuses to accept his words at face value and asks him to tell him the truth so he can believe.

Jong-gu recounts the evening of the incident and tells Do-hyun that in his drunkenness, he stopped by the construction site to relieve himself and happened to find the purse on the ground. He admits to stealing the cash inside, but that’s it. Do-hyun wonders why he called the police on multiple occasions then, and Jong-gu confesses to prank calling the police because they seemed so pathetic.

Armed with a different account of the story, Do-hyun visits the crime scene despite his superiors’ ridicules, and once he’s gone, they talk about how he placed first in the exams but can’t be a judge because of his father who’s on death row. At the site, a worker stumbles across Do-hyun fumbling with the door, and after hearing that he’s the attorney, he tells Do-hyun that Jong-gu easily opened the sliding doors during the reenactment which surprised everyone.

Do-hyun stops by Jong-gu’s workplace next, and the guard on duty recognizes Jong-gu, even remembering that a group of detectives came asking about him before. He shows Do-hyun around and slides open a door, much like the one at the construction site.

The trial resumes, and Choon-ho sits on the witness stand. He tells the prosecutor the three pieces of evidence that pointed at Jong-gu as the murderer: 1) his fingerprints found on the victim’s purse, 2) the phone calls made to the police, and 3) his reenactment where he opened the door without hassle.

Do-hyun cross-examines Choon-ho and puts up a photo of Jong-gu’s workplace. According to the guard, Choon-ho and his team came by and after noticing the sliding doors, expressed disappointment. Do-hyun deduces from their reaction that they must have realized their circumstantial evidence was now null. As for the evidence concerning the purse, Do-hyun points out how far it was found in relation to the body.

The next witness is the forensic scientist, and Do-hyun asks him if Jong-gu’s fingerprints were found anywhere else at the crime scene besides the purse. Since everything, including the suspected murder weapon, was burned, no other fingerprints were found, and Do-hyun points out how odd it is that the purse with the fingerprints was left alone.

For his closing statement, Do-hyun calls into question all the evidence laid out by the prosecution and argues that none of them definitively prove Jong-gu is the murderer. He tells the judge that the defendant admits to stealing money and prank calling the police for which he feels remorse, but as for murder, he believes the suspect should be found not guilty.

Choon-ho returns to the station, and the rest of his team fret over the case because if Jong-gu is let go, then the repercussions might fall on them. Their worries become reality when the judge declares Jong-gu not guilty of the murder charge, and in the crowd, the victim’s family cries in frustration.

The news relentlessly attacks the police for their poor investigation of the murder case, and Choon-ho packs up his things since he’s the designated scapegoat for this mess. Though the courts may believe Jong-gu is innocent, Choon-ho disagrees and confronts Do-hyun about letting the murderer go.

Do-hyun calmly tells Choon-ho that he merely did his duties as an attorney, but Choon-ho accuses him of never considering the pain of the victim’s family. He questions Do-hyun’s sense of justice, so Do-hyun retaliates, mentioning the fact that if Jong-gu truly is the murderer as he claims, then the blame should fall on the police for failing to prove his crimes.

Choon-ho brings his face inches to Do-hyun’s and warns him about Jong-gu, but Do-hyun remains expressionless. Choon-ho realizes the futility of his pleas and exasperatedly tells Do-hyun that it’s wrong for him to be able to release a murderer so easily with just a few words.

Five years later. Do-hyun sleeps inside his one-man law firm, but someone knocks incessantly at his door. He gets up to check on the noise and finds Journalist HA YOO-RI (Shin Hyun-bin) outside. He closes the door in her face, but she continues knocking until he lets her in.

Once inside, she plops down on the couch and fetches two beers from her bag to share. Do-hyun refuses since she’s already roaring drunk, but Yoo-ri bargains with him: if he figures out what she just did, then she’ll leave. As soon as she finishes her sentence, Do-hyun correctly guesses that she turned in her resignation letter. Though he tries to kick her out, Yoo-ri buries herself into his couch and falls asleep.

A woman in a yellow coat walks alone down the street when a stranger suddenly appears behind her. Sensing the presence, the woman hastens her pace, ending up in a run, and only stops for a brief moment to call the police. Before she can dial, the stranger attacks her from behind.

The woman in yellow is found dead the next morning, and the crime scene is so horrific it causes the officers to grimace and throw up. The detectives in charge of the new murder case is Choon-ho’s old team, and Detective Seo is the new chief.

Detective Seo talks with the forensic scientist who tells him that the murder happened recently but the amount of blood at the crime scene is strangely low. However, the more peculiar thing is how similar this case is to the one five years ago at the construction site, and the implication dawns on Detective Seo.

The violent crimes team investigates the murder and finds a familiar face caught on camera near the crime scene: Jong-gu. Moving fast, they barge into his home to arrest him and discover a pair of blood-splattered shoes hidden in a drawer.

The detectives interrogate Jong-gu back at the station and show him photos taken of him at the crime scene the morning after while the police were investigating. Jong-gu claims to have merely followed the crowd there and didn’t know about the murder. Detective Seo throws down photos of the victim and forces Jong-gu to look at them and remember the woman from five years ago.

While the interrogation remains fruitless, Detective Seo receives a call from Choon-ho who stops by unexpectedly. Detective Seo meets briefly with his old chief and happily informs him of Jong-gu’s arrest. Noticing how busy Detective Seo is, Choon-ho lets him go and doesn’t explain the reason for his sudden visit.

Yoo-ri packs up her desk, clearly stating her departure as a resignation and not a termination, but her senior doesn’t believe her. He wonders aloud about the recent murder case since the police have kept the suspect under wraps, and Yoo-ri looks at him curiously.

She ends up drunk and asleep on Do-hyun’s couch again, and is still there in the morning when he gets a call. A mysterious woman parks outside Do-hyun’s law firm, but when she enters the office, she only finds a snoring figure on the couch and mistakes it for Do-hyun. Glancing around the room, she notices garbage strewn everywhere.

Do-hyun meets with Jong-gu as his attorney and asks him what’s going on. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor appoints Prosecutor Lee Ki-hyu to the case, and he just so happens to be from the same class as Do-hyun.

Jong-gu explains to Do-hyun that he was near the crime scene coincidentally, but Do-hyun seems skeptical. He asks Jong-gu if he thought he could escape this time, too, which riles Jong-gu. He wonders if this means Do-hyun always thought he was guilty but got him released regardless. Do-hyun denies saying such things, but Jong-gu presses him to answer truthfully. When he refuses, Jong-gu bangs on the table and glares at him menacingly.

The mysterious woman tidies up Do-hyun’s office and is surprised when Yoo-ri wakes up from the couch. She explains to Yoo-ri that she’s here for the job opening for office manager, but Yoo-ri tells her that the position is already filled because she’s just hired herself. Heh.

Yoo-ri comes up with excuses of how the mysterious woman might be too old for the position, but the mysterious woman, MADAME JIN (Nam Ki-ae), whips out her certificates and spews her knowledge of the law. Do-hyun arrives, confused by the scene in front of him, and Madame Jin repeats everything for a second time to show her qualifications.

Recognizing defeat, Yoo-ri congratulates Madame Jin on getting hired and looks forward to working together in the future. Do-hyun wonders who this us refers to, and Yoo-ri explains her plans to rent the empty desk in the corner for her one-person media company. Do-hyun sends Madame Jin away for now, and adding to the mystery, she gets into a car with a chauffeur.

Do-hyun works through the night and falls asleep at his desk. He wakes up when Madame Jin opens the curtains, and before he can register what’s happening, she cheerfully goes about her first task as his office manager. Do-hyun mumbles about never calling her and just sighs when he sees Yoo-ri sleeping on his couch for the third time in a row.

Do-hyun visits Prosecutor Lee’s office to get the case report, but Prosecutor Lee barely acknowledges his presence and throws the file on his desk rather than hand it to him. Ignoring Prosecutor Lee’s rude behavior, Do-hyun flips through the report, but crucial pieces of information are redacted.

He finds Detective Seo to fill in the missing parts, and even Detective Seo shakes his head at the cheap tactic used by the prosecution. He tells Do-hyun about the similarities between this case and the one from five years ago, but unlike last time, they have conclusive evidence against Jong-gu. However, that’s all Detective Seo will share with Do-hyun and tells him to figure out the rest on his own.

Yoo-ri installs a new lock for the office, and Do-hyun just accepts his fate rather than resist. While the rest of his team leave for the day, Do-hyun continues working, and remembering Detective Seo’s words, he brings out the case file from five years ago to compare with the current one. However, the current file has so little information that Do-hyun decides to investigate the crime scene in person.

Do-hyun makes his way to the dilapidated house, unaware of someone following him. After examining the eerie crime scene, Do-hyun leaves, and Choon-ho emerges from the shadows, watching Do-hyun the entire time.

Do-hyun takes a taxi and shuts his eyes in exhaustion. When he wakes up from his nap, he finds himself in an unfamiliar place. The taxi stands idly in the middle of an intersection, and not a soul can be seen in any direction.

He asks the taxi driver where they are, but the driver remains tight lipped. Suddenly, a truck blares its horn and blinds him with its headlights. As Do-hyun turns his head, the truck rams into the taxi and sends it spiraling in the air.

COMMENTS

The show starts off with a horrendous murder, and as Do-hyun digs deeper, it seems like a case of police misconduct and an obstruction of justice as an innocent man is framed for a crime he didn’t commit. However, as the story unfolds, it seems that the initial interpretation of the case may have been wrong. The thing I found most fascinating, though, was Do-hyun’s reactions (or lack of) throughout all these events. He doesn’t express a lot of emotions and only shows subtle differences across his face. Even when he wakes up in a deserted intersection with a truck barreling towards him, his reaction is subdued in relation to the magnitude of the situation. There are also moments when Do-hyun looks almost sinister, and it’s hard to pinpoint him as a character. Though he’s the hero, he doesn’t portray a lot of the stereotypical hero qualities usually associated with attorneys in dramas.

One particularly odd moment from Do-hyun was his expression when Jong-gu was announced not guilty by the judge. One would expect him to be happy or at least content since he saved an innocent man’s life, but he looks grave, instead. Then during Do-hyun’s second meeting with Jong-gu, he says, “again,” which may imply that he thought Jong-gu was the culprit the first time around and may explain his reaction back then. However, this only raises more questions about Do-hyun and the intentions behind his actions. Is he truly a man who is okay with letting a murderer go free, and if he is, what does this say about his character?

With that question, though, is the larger question of whether Jong-gu really is the culprit. Everything points to him being the murderer, and so many characters seem convinced that Jong-gu is guilty. Personally, it seems that the logic behind Choon-ho and the detectives’ conviction is based more on instinct than logic which, frankly, can be dangerous since it could easily cloud their judgment. However, it’s only the first episode, so I suspect there will be more secrets as the plot moves forward.

In addition to Do-hyun, all the characters are shrouded in mystery to some degree. Choon-ho’s sudden visit to Detective Seo and his stalking of Do-hyun hint at something brewing in the distance, and I can’t tell if he’ll be friend or foe. As for the two female characters introduced in the episode, Yoo-ri feels like a strange ray of sunshine who brings out a different side of Do-hyun, but her past and future role are just as murky as everyone else. Madame Jin is also a huge question mark, and I wonder why she suddenly appeared since she’s clearly overqualified and doesn’t need the job at Do-hyun’s tiny firm. The show barely scratches the surface in this first hour which keeps the characters at a distance from the viewers, but in exchange, it raises a lot of questions and piques one’s curiosity. Overall, it’s an interesting introduction that ends with a bang (quite literally).

859

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101 cheekbones

April 29, 2019 at 7:09 PM

What I love about the drama is that the foursome leads are cool-headed and try to be rational without being emotionless. And they talk honestly to each other, being open to each other, telling each other what they're doing.

K-dramas often have leads who keep important secrets from each other causing misunderstandings and missteps that frustrate me. For a moment I thought this was what happening with Yuri going after Park Shi-kang alone. I thought she was doing this without telling the others and it annoyed me. I was glad that wasn't the case.

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102 growingbeautifully

May 1, 2019 at 12:19 AM

As I mentioned somewhere up thread, I'm doing a FFDing rewatch of the earlier episodes, while waiting for the subs (@ordinaryguy92 where are you?!?).

Re-Watch of Ep 8 - After Ep 6, my next favourite episode is Ep 8, because at this stage we get answers galore. Since this show is not meant to be an arty show, but an investigative-courtroom drama, we want and are entitled to answers. Therefore I'm pleased to say that I particularly like this show for giving us the answers to most questions by this episode.

This is the Episode of Flashbacks.
1) We get to see Sun Hoo in his car looking drugged and the ToD and how he was aware of the immediate aftermath of the crash.

2) We get the meeting between Warrant Officer Choi Pil Soo reporting to Commander Oh about the faulty helicopters, when they were still in DSC.

3) We see Jong Gu's flashback about CKT's crazy violence during which JG seems to have been traumatized himself.

4) We find out from Sun Hee/Seol Hwa's boyfriend that she planned to get money from someone she saw on the News.

From early on, I had a bunch of questions ... so at this stage, (now that I've re-watched and have hindsight), I'm taking stock to see if we have the answers yet.

We now know the reasons why everyone died and how they were killed, except for why JG killed his mother. (Ep 12 reasons of Jenny's death not included here).

We take it that CKT was given free reign as Oh's private assassin, to get the killings done by any means necessary and to make it look like an accident, suicide or to frame someone else for their murders.

One of my first questions kind of gets an answer. At least, my best guess!! : Why did DH started getting the nightmares after being assigned Sun Hee's case when he'd had the heart for 10 years without any trouble? (this sounds ludicrous but …) it was entirely possible that Sun Hoo was driving away from Hwa Ye after having met Sun Hee (his informant), and maybe he'd also met with the bad guys to question them and had been drugged there. The mention of Sun Hee's name (and maybe her murder by No Sun Hoo's killer, now recognised by the heart as the same culprit!!) triggered the heart of Sun Hoo to recall the accident and pass that memory to DH in a dream. :-D Told you it would sound ludicrous! But some rationale is better than none!!

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103 dany

May 1, 2019 at 4:05 AM

Subs are sooo late this week, it is Wednesday already and nothing yet.... Maybe @ordinaryguy92 celebrated Easter last weekend, then happy Easter, we really appreciate your hard work !

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104 strawberry

May 1, 2019 at 6:50 AM

Thoughts on ep9-10 and early ep 11 (I decided to stop watching raw and wait for sub since it’s already Friday): I’m glad Confession is a drama with mature and understanding lead characters. Madam Jin accepted DH’s decision to defend CKT and Det Ki support DH even though he is against it. And one of the best part of the story is that DH stayed to his principle that by making a confession the truth is revealed.

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107 growingbeautifully

May 3, 2019 at 6:03 PM

@melanie @almond @neener @thequiet1 @hebang @lmcamargo

@kx kindly sent me a link to someone who does not mind sharing her link to Ep 11 and 12 with English Subs. If you want to try to ask for her links, you can email me at growingbeautifully88@gmail.com. I'll be going out soon but will be back hopefully in time to check on email. :-)

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thequiet1

May 3, 2019 at 8:46 PM

i've just realized i havent watch ep 11 n 12. Turned out no subs are out yet.

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108 kx

May 3, 2019 at 6:15 PM

The acting speaks for itself, but is multiplied with understanding what they are saying. As expected of a veteran actress, Nam Ki Ae is the standout for me especially when it comes to expressing mourning and sorrow over a lost family. Also, with minimal amount of flashbacks, her son Noh Sun Ho in the scene where he speaks on the phone with his "friend" prosecutor comes across as such a good man, I myself feel that it's such a shame someone so commendable was taken away so soon.

I think in these episodes the strong connection, trust, respect, and feelings that our Dovengers have for each other really shone. These two episodes were theirs, imo. The very predictable pair ups are very nice too and I wouldn't wish it any other way, with Madam Jin being there for YuRi and Captain Ki for DH. It is great to see how much Captain Ki has started to care for Do Hyun although he's not straightforward about, even when they don't see eye to eye. I like how he called Madam Jin for DH, asked him out to eat, and etc. I like how straightforward and truthful DH is with the rest of the Dovengers, especially his long-time friend YuRi, and her towards him in return. That's one of DH's charms and the greatness behind their friendship. Their approach to face things head on doesn't prolong any unneccessary misunderstandings. Also, it reveals one of the qualities about DH that makes him so dead set on finding out the truth about his father's murder case. Moving forward despite all the pain, our leads turn out to be very strong. I wish Captain Ki would get his share of development though. It's the acting and prowess of Yoo Jae Myung that is pulling this character through and not making him flat. I really like Captain Ki and I think he's a good character, but despite being a lead he doesn't get much of a background story (which is understandable since his family isn't personally connected to the case, but I want more even if it's just giving him personal issues or a present problem in the story to resolve). Although I really enjoyed him taking his time to get the handcuffs off Chairmon Oh.

Do Hyun in court just gives me chills. He's just so badass. I fall in love with him harder every time. I find it ironic and awesome by the smarts of our Dovengers to realize when they getting close and pressuring the higherups just because of the reactions of our messy bad guys. The gang have very little to go off on, but I like how they know how to push buttons and run with it - for instance that Jenny Song met with CDH. Of course, this may have backfired in the end as an intimidation, which caused the bad guys to move into trapping Jenny and DH, but we're still getting movement that hasn't happened for the last 10 years.

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kx

May 3, 2019 at 6:16 PM

Cont...

Though our two female leads frustrate me sometimes with the things they do - or don't do. Madam Jin approaching her son's friend's prosecutor and throwing not only the files but pictures at him, alerting him to the fact that they do have evidence of him being at Hwaye! Then when YuRi met CTK visiting him in prison - the whole scene was frustrating although her pain and confusion was understandable.

The bad guys aren't friends and they are just itching to turn on each other. It's what I wanted, and saw coming, and I'm loving it. I still don't care much for Chairman Oh. He's probably the most two-dimensional boring villain of the lot. It's bad enough that I still feel quite indifferent towards him. Several notches up on a different part of the spectrum, I really hate the Assemblyman Park to the point that even the way he looks makes me annoyed and I keep having to remind myself it just means this actor is really good. That's why seeing him behind the scenes and in stills is a blessing to appease some of these feelings for me, lol.

I wonder, maybe it wasn't that Jenny Song was present at Hwaye 10 years ago but that the mystery recorder actually belonged to her! I guess Choi Pil Soo saving Seol-hwa's life is what made her feel pity for Do Hyun at the trial even though she didn't personally know father and son.

So did I miss something? No one is giving the updates on that young policeman that was stabbed by CTK. I thought he survived? CTK who was stabbed is out of jail and walking around, so where is this guy?

May 4, 2019 at 1:55 AM

@cheekbones BTW, I didn't see you looking for the Ep 11 n 12 subs ... if you want a link, please email me. See comment 105 for my email address.

cheekbones

May 4, 2019 at 2:35 AM

@growingbeautifully thanks for the offer, but I watch Confession on a cable station here. It"s aired 24 hours after the Korean broadcast. 😃

growingbeautifully

May 4, 2019 at 12:19 AM

I absolutely loved the foursome together in the most emotionally difficult times. Having to face each other when their pasts and their losses are all intertwined. It was so good that they had everything out in the open, that they shared how they felt and all was accepted and understood.

And the come away stronger because of this. The fact that the baddies doing their worst in terms of giving them the most painful information, possibly to bring them down, did the opposite and made them come together and decide to fight it out hand-in-hand, makes this such a great 2 episodes for me!!! I wanted to stand and cheer.

Props to the director who interspersed the tense scenes of YR and Park with those of DH and CKT to bring on the most stress for our characters at the same time. I liked the shaky camera effect on poor DH when he was floored by the infos or lies of CKT. I agree with Det Ki that CKT cannot be trusted entirely, and he could be lying.

Jenny Song suggests that CPS was not able to kill anyone, afterall. I've got to watch the ending with subs now ... it was even more tense than the reveals/lies of CKT and Park. 🙃

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109 growingbeautifully

May 4, 2019 at 8:35 PM

Episode 13 Raw

SPOILERS
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I didn't think I'd like another episode as much as I liked Ep 7 and 8 when Det Ki became friends with DH and 4 got together.

However I absolutely love the turn of events in Ep 13. I'm so glad that Choi Pil Soo is not just a sorry character, stuck in jail, but a man of action and determination.

There's just that little plot hole about how he managed to take over the driver's place in Oh's car and get around so well in Seoul, knowing exactly where to go, ... but his boldness and courage in getting to his son got me cheering.

I wished I knew Korean to know what they said to each other, but I certainly liked the way the conversation ended, with hope and a smile. I think DH as lawyer agreed to take on his dad's case of 10 years ago.

I guess they've finally figured out that the same baddies game is played where father is used to protect the son and son is used to protect the father. They've finally decided not to play that baddies game anymore. I'm sooooo happy!!

Other moments that I'm sure all of us who watched loved: Det Ki and police harbouring criminals and keeping them from being taken by the Prosecution, Det Ki trusting DH and bringing him out of the station to investigate together, their having a meal together in the police station, the fact that they were still investigating together even when DH was behind bars and Det Ki was running around outside.

I did say I wanted a bromance between these two, and my wish has been more than granted. How much more wonderful is the understanding they have for each other now, in spite of the earlier incomprehensible decisions made and even after being on the opposite sides of the law (so to speak) ... that they still trust each other and Det Ki has DH's back. Ki never had a doubt that DH was a person of integrity and that they were after the same goal. And it's so cute that Ki now finds himself in the position where he probably has to also protect CPS whom he arrested 10 years before, and work towards helping to prove his innocence.

Thoughts on villains
I've been thinking that show has given us 2-4 great good guy characters, so maybe it can be forgiven for the one-note top-guy villains. Maybe I've watched too many shows where the villains always seem smarter and twistier and one step ahead, so that the good guys are sorely challenged to find new solutions on the fly.

We don't get that in this show. In fact we have pretty tame, boring and unimaginative top level villains. But the lengths to which they are prepared to go to prevent their nefarious deeds from becoming public is the start for our story. Fortunately the continuing source of conflict does not rest on the bigger baddies but on the decisions of the minions and the good guys' sense of right.

When compared against their bosses, Jong Gu, CKT and even the cameo character of Jenny are more interesting.

It might be true for the military types, but there's a total dearth of creativity in how the hushing up is done. In every case, the steps are 1) kill 2a) frame someone else for it or 2b) make it look like suicide or 2c) make it look like an accident.

But on the whole, they go for 2a. Hence our baddies cause themselves a whole load of trouble and we have so much interesting conflict coming through Do Hyun who seems to be the conduit for past and present cases and all who are considered guilty! (Even for himself!!!)

SPOILERS
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That said however, I'm hoping against hope that there's ... well, hope for Pros Yang In Bum. He was never too happy in his position of knowing , abetting and playing informant. He has something hidden in his safe that belongs to No Sun Hoo ... a hard disk?

And If my understanding of that Ep 13 scene with Park (and lousy Lawyer Ji) is right, he is refusing to play along with Park this time. It might also have been his call to Pros Lee that pulled Lee out of the police station and which gave CPS a chance to talk to DH.

My wish is that Pros Lee gets a good put down for his arrogance and resentment and that his boss Pros Yang (does not get killed but) comes around to revealing what he knows about No Sun Hoo's death and helps the good guys. 

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growingbeautifully

May 5, 2019 at 12:31 AM

One more thing about the total lack of imagination of our resident baddies ...

They basically rehash the same-old way of setting up a kill and the framing of an innocent person, with barely a change in the MO in the Choi family's cases. This speaks of just sticking with what worked before. It was practically a mirror image with even the threat to get the innocent party to Confess to murder being the same kind of threat, as in "Confess to the murder or your son/father dies."

So Oh (with CKT) sets up killings and CPS confesses, JG gets framed, the ToD driver gets blamed and now they want to do the same with DH, but this time he's got Det Ki on his side.

Where CKT is concerned, he did repeat using drugs on his victims at least a 3 times, bashed females on the head + stabbed with broken bottle twice,… but at least he got a little creative with trying to hang JG after strangling him. JG, himself, was just a copycat killer in the end.

From this, I find that the Baddies are their own worst enemies. If they'd left DH well alone or ensured that he never met Jong Gu, they would probably have stayed safe. But allowing (or engineering) DH to meet JG and of course in the process, Det Ki, meant the beginning of the end for our bad guys. I'm glad they were so dumb for DH's sake, but I wish they were a little more creative for storyline's sake! LOL.

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kx

May 5, 2019 at 5:53 AM

Same! The top brass and Chairman Oh are boring. I can't even muster enough feelings for them. On the other hand, among them Assemblyman Park makes my blood boil and he's the equivalent of CTK and HJG in a suit. I guess flamboyant villains are my thing.

I called the villains messy and they are. They are unimaginative. Understandable because their inflated egos are so high and they have people in power, also have gotten away for 10 years and the list of deaths keep building since. So it makes sense of course they have been and continue to be careless. They don't come across as very smart, honestly, and very apparently muscles everyone and throws their weight around. The biggest thinkers on the show are the Dovengers who have to compensate for being 10 years too late.

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111 cheekbones

May 5, 2019 at 8:03 AM

Ep 13 subbed.

We have some answers indeed. Some important ones for me :

So DH does have a plan, and he is playing along with the scenario laid out by the baddies from the beginning.

Jenny was at the fateful meeting 10 years ago.

Chairman Chu's official title is Chairman of Songil Foundation. I'm really curious about who he is. So he's not in the legislative nor executive branch. He's a plain broker ?

The baddies really stab each other at the back, it's a wonder their alliance lasts this long. From the very bottom HJG, slowly going up to Chairman Oh. Chairman Chu is throwing away Chairman Oh, but I'm sure Oh wouldn't go down quietly.

Pros Lee is blinded by jealousy of DH but I still have hope that his heart is in the right place. Pros Yang seems to be weighed down by his conscience, and I'm optimistic that he would come around.

Ep 13 is indeed a good episode. Let's cross our fingers Confession delivers until the last minute.

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112 shach

May 5, 2019 at 12:45 PM

Finally subs for 11-12, a lot new information, and predicted shocking news. But his whole time I was so worried for our trio of civilians, and Jenny Song too, who keep waltzing into bad guys dens and announcing that they know about that misdeeds, whyyyyy. Have a little self preservation instinct guys, and Yuri, why she didn't live her home address, when she left message for that psycho, assemblyman. It was very stressful, I was waiting for something bad to happen.

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cheekbones

May 5, 2019 at 2:27 PM

I also think Yuri is a bit reckless. She's now in the bad guys' radar. She might be used to pressure DH, too.

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shach

May 5, 2019 at 2:45 PM

Reckless bordering on stupid, she already knew that at least three people were killed because of that report, and she let the guy who ordered the killings know, that she has it, left him her name and phone number.

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113 growingbeautifully

May 5, 2019 at 7:23 PM

Episode 14 Raw
Random thoughts.

Partial SPOILERS
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I liked this one for the many reveals that come tumbling out. Finally confessions are being made to air the truth of 10 years ago. There's still more to be revealed and another assassin who's running around.

I like that threads are being tied up and that my wish for more Courtroom scenes that showcase DH's intelligence and gets the culprits to eat their words have returned.

I loved that the courtroom interrogation scenes were cleverly interspersed with each witness' questioning and answers helping to answer (or block the answer of) the questions posed to previous witnesses. It saved us from the long-drawn out parade of witnesses and compressed the scenes that should have taken days. Most of all I liked that DH got to question his father and the truth was out in the open court and in front of the media.

I liked that while Oh's arrival takes away the reporters' attention from DH, DH's exit from the courts took their attention away from Pros Lee. I wonder if he'll ever learn to be cooler and more level-headed.

Glad that Det Lee is back and that CKT got what he deserved over No Sun Hoo's murder. But I wonder how Hwang is (how come they don't check prisoners who are walking around with knives? How do they get knives so easily?) Bribery in the prisons must be common.

It's also great that YR gets into action as a reporter again and has more to contribute.

Can I hope that at least the police are exempt from this spate of corruption and will allow Det Ki a fair investigation? It looked like he was being trusted to continue to take on the big baddies.

Remaining questions: What riled up the killer of Cha so much that he shot him (from the front). Or it's just because he's a spoilt, stupid, pompous ass. It looked like Cha was still alive, so was it Oh who finished him off by shooting him from behind?

Who left that recording device in Hwa Ye?

Jong Gu should have recovered, so his case over his mother's murder has been KIVed? DH no longer has to continue with the deal to defend him, so will he ever see with JG again? Maybe he still has some info that might be useful?

Is Mark Choi and the German Marco Kauftmann the same person? The name has similarities but the way Mark Choi acted was as if he was a lackey and not a 'President' of some European organisation.

So this week we get another proper cliffhanger... and we have to wait the interminable week for the last 2 episodes.

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kx

May 5, 2019 at 8:41 PM

Musings about some of your random thoughts and etc. Next week is the last. T_T

I think HJG's case might just be a last minute epilogue. With so much happening and the momentum lost, I don't mind because I need all the lose ends from the 10 year old case tied up first.

I thought I heard Choi Pil Soo name Assembly Park in court. I wonder what that was. Did he have a hand in the murder? Will have to wait for eng subs to figure out what that's about.

I kind of think the old recorder belongs to Jenny. She wasn't present in the flashback but knows so much, so it could make sense unless she just heard all from Seol-hwa. Thank goodness she seems to have given DH something that doesn't make her character and death pointless.

I had a few gripes with the empty police station and empty overnight cells, honestly. And no one is working on anything else. Unless they explained it once we get subs, it really takes me out and in this show is my biggest use of suspension of belief, aside from the TOD nightmares. Mostly everything else I reasoned away.

Det Ki despite how much he does and pull his weight on the team it still suprises me how little the baddies care about stopping him or getting him out of the equation.

I keep saying this and must say again after this episode, in tune with you, I love DH in court so much. I hope we get a lot of him in the last 2.

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growingbeautifully

May 5, 2019 at 8:54 PM

I just posted a link to a Soompi recap on Ep 13 ending, but because I tagged so many people, it's in moderation. It may answer some of your questions. So do look out for it ... it should be posted below. :-)

As for Park in Hwa Ye, that's answered in Ep 14.

Yes, we have to suspend a lot of disbelief, but since the arc is compelling enough and I do not like too much distraction, the emptiness of the police station and their freedom to just concentrate on the cases that DH is involved in does not bother me. Also the fact that there's only that we see only one judge for all current cases, or that Pros Lee is the only one continually handling DH's clients is an eye-roll thing. That, and the prevalence of knives in prison among hardened criminals. :-)

I do hope we get a little epilogue of JG... the culprit who started it all. He has more character than many other villains.

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FlyingTool

May 6, 2019 at 12:46 AM

I personally think the lack of a fully populated environment, e.g. empty police department, empty holding cells, empty roads (anywhere near Seoul, really?) etc all come down to cost, and cost, and time which translates into cost. And possibly maybe an inability to see how a populated background could enhance dramatic effect vs emptiness.

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bewitched

May 7, 2019 at 5:56 PM

Det Ki usually has the lead to solve the case, like he found out the case HGJ copied 10 years ago and Kim Sun Hee’s case were done by the same person (after he took HJG out of the equation) and when he obtained insight for Black Bear report.

@bebeswtz @bewitched @neener @larelle79 @boughtabride @linda-palapala @hebang @myheartisomg @sooyi @kafiyah-bello @scifiwritir @sparks121 @pakalanapikake
@shach @yyishere @radily @catstreet @mango @gopal @sibel @onssam @sukstan

Hi Folks, I don't usually visit other blogs to look for stuff, but because the subs are slow with this show, I ended up a little bit in Soompi, and got myself notifications for this show.

For those of you who caught the Ep 13 raw and don't mind reading a recap (of course full of SPOILERS) for the ending of that Episode, you can visit this place. Click on 'Reveal hidden contents' to read the very thorough recap. Thanks and credit goes to @ktcjdrama on Soompi.

korfan

May 7, 2019 at 5:52 AM

Don't worry, me too!

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115 Melanie

May 5, 2019 at 10:06 PM

I stayed up until 1am to finish episode 12. It was worth it! Jaw dropping would be the correct adjective. No one could have seen that coming. This show just keeps getting better and better.

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116 growingbeautifully

May 7, 2019 at 5:33 AM

Our Soompi friend has come through for us again! Email me if you want to get the Episode 13 subs. I have not watched with subs yet, but I think the link should be OK.

BTW, I received only a few replies after I sent out the links, did only very few of us get my emails? Went into spam folder?

Once again my email is growingbeautifully88@gmail.com :-)

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FlyingTool

May 7, 2019 at 11:22 AM

Got it, thanks!

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PakalanaPikake

May 10, 2019 at 2:11 AM

Thank you, @growingbeautifully. I did see your message, but I've been under the weather, and am only now going to try to catch up with the subtitles. Thanks for thinking of me. ;-)

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growingbeautifully

May 10, 2019 at 3:21 AM

Hi @pakalanapikake I trust that you are feeling better now. Heh! I do think about you, every time the military are mentioned, because you were so sure that they were involved!

I'm all psyched up for the finale. I'm expecting great things of DH and our team of trusty good guys, although with 2 episodes, there's just room for one more scary cliffhanger, but I'm confident that show will give us much to cheer about come Sunday /Monday!!

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PakalanaPikake

May 10, 2019 at 4:48 AM

Thanks so much, @growingbeautifully. I'm still feeling a bit mentally fatigued, so I'm not as sharp as usual when it comes to following the plot twists. I'm also watching DOCTOR PRISONER, which is also seriously convoluted in a good way, and am behind on NOKDU FLOWER, which is challenging because of the huge cast.

Re: military involvement, I had a feeling that CONFESSION might involve perversion of the chain of command. I didn't realize that following orders could be a defense, so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. I'm still wondering what's going on with Han Jong-gu. Is he still comatose? Why the heck wasn't he rubbed out 10 years ago? That has baffled me for a long time. -- Must get caught up on the subtitles.

Ep 13 and 14
PARTIAL
SPOILERS
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I really don't mind being spoiled ... I can watch the raw or read the recap and enjoy it all over again with subs ... and now knowing what to expect, I spent most of the end of Ep 13 and almost all of Ep 14 smiling or chortling in advance, in anticipation of the utter shock and incomprehension of Police and friends alike, and the most reasonable turn of events and their satisfying consequences.

I love how DH worked the evil things that were done to him for his own ends and for the good, and it was no longer just for his dad, but for all victims and to end the evil.

Loved the court scenes and dad speaking up on his reasons why he chose to confess. It was so affecting.

Oh and I love the fact that DH laughed out loud for that brief moment with Det Ki. What a lifting of tension, at least for a while.

The CKT case is over but I feel he really should be called in as a witness too for the case 10 years' earlier since he was instrumental in getting that heart that was promised to DH.

Poor Yoo Ri and Mdm Jin had to relive the pain of their loss, but it's good that they are together. And I think I outright cheered when Det Ki told DH that he too felt a little responsible for not checking beyond CPS's confession, so DH should expect him to be helping to the best of his ability, and DH should not to go it alone.

If I'd done a little checklist (I know I mentioned it in bits here and there) on what I wanted out of this show's ending, I'm happy to report that I'd be able to check off quite a few of the points.

I'm also so glad that: the judge is so impartial and fair and not afraid, the Police Big Chief is above the corruption and the doctor who took care of DH is alive and well and can give testimony.

I'm so looking forward to the last 2 episodes as the baddies continue to betray each other and DH takes them down. :-D

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kx

May 8, 2019 at 7:14 PM

I'm also so glad that: the judge is so impartial and fair and not afraid, the Police Big Chief is above the corruption and the doctor who took care of DH is alive and well and can give testimony.

Spot on. This is what made Confession breathable. That although there is corruption in some places, the good ones are also in power and the balance isn't so overwhelming to be frustrating.

The CKT case is over but I feel he really should be called in as a witness too for the case 10 years' earlier since he was instrumental in getting that heart that was promised to DH.

Same, I was thinking that Choi Pil Soo's motives for taking the blame can be solved easily with this. But that's it. Choi Ki Tak actually had no contact with any of the higher ups, he only knew Secretary Hwang (who is keeping silent) so CTK is pretty moot otherwise. Do Hyun isn't dwelling (he didn't actually re-question Oh after the prosecutor did) and is moving forward by calling on Assemblyman Park. Very apparently, he's done with CTK and wants to nail the big fish. Besides CTK's torture of Hwang in jail, his part is most likely over.

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growingbeautifully

May 16, 2019 at 10:31 PM

Comment was deleted

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119 growingbeautifully

May 8, 2019 at 5:22 PM

The OSTs have been hardsubbed and another kind person on Soompi has left the links. The first link should lead you to the playlist for the currently 3 OSTs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXr2uKNGGPw&list=PLIDckZuI0IdWgyXyrk7yOi5N0PlwGTV6V&index=2&t=0s

Aside from the suspenseful / tension-filled background music, which gets me so stressed ... I like the OSTs. These sound so soulful and of course the lyrics are totally appropriate. I think I'll be listening to them at work!!

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120 kx

May 8, 2019 at 7:36 PM

Ep13-14

Still a few questions unresolved and might never be (like in Jenny Song's background), but for the bigger 10-year story of the murder in Hwaye, the threads are coming together so it's just time to sit back and enjoy how it all comes together next week.

Reiterate, episode 13 remains my favorite and might be depending on how this show ends. I have a bad feeling father and son might not get their happily ever after. If not CDH, then a CPS sacrifice could be probable.

I'm going to miss CDH in court. I will be very sad if the case is resolved out of it, with Assembly Park or Chairman Chu going crazy for a dramatic climax causing a public commotion whereas the truth comes out and then the arrest, to conveniently skip the preceding court scene to the epilogue and concluding statement. Feels very likely that this will happen.

For this show, I feel like the pacing is perfect. Every episode, something is happening. Except, I wouldn't have minded an extension where we slowed down a bit to get to see more the human side of the characters (remember long ago in Ep3 the scene where DH and YuRi tasted Madam Jin's food?) and some crucial conversations that I want to happen. But that would have totally changed the entire vibe or tone of the show, and most likely not what the director or writer aimed for.

I do wish Do Hyun getting framed and acquitted wasn't brushed over so easily. Would have loved to see Chu's reaction, but I guess the retrial is too big a deal that DH's is buried, which I guess is understandable. Either way, Mark Choi did a bad job of setting it up, so can't believe Chairman Chu is still going through with working with the Germans.

So I don't watch a lot of kdrama in this genre, but Confession is just full of serial killers appearing in an assembly line from Han Jong-gu, CTK, and potentially Mark Choi.

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121 MeSaya

May 9, 2019 at 1:00 AM

I couldn't suppressed the smile while watching ep 11 & 12, bring it on! I mean bring it on the good satisfying ending, heh...

I couldn't stop wondering though, if this drama represents a small wish of how the authorities (police, government, etc...) should handle the real case of the Burning Sun and the death of former artist Jang Ja-Yeon. No one should be above the law. I wish, really wish, the real cases also wrap up successfully.

I also love how they, the Scooby-Doo gang, showed a lot of personal development. What is the better word for 'personal development', if any? Even Cho Ki Tak. I get that he is from a military background where everyone should follow order and so on, and he only cared for his sister. At least, when DH wished CKT to accept his verdict, he did so. I really wished the chief prosecutor would give his secret agenda/evidence to redeem himself, after he heard Madame Jin one question, and only one important question, 'Why did you become a prosecutor?' Nice, very nice, madame, hats off.

And I really wished those bad guys would never change too. I want them to taste their own medicine, if they were curable of course (pun intended). People are not toys. Even if you believe you have greater reason(s), like Hitler.

After this, I will go back roam the C-historical/fantasy drama. Kdrama hasn't been great lately.
Oh, I just found 'Misty', think it great, too...

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122 growingbeautifully

May 11, 2019 at 5:32 AM

My Wishlist for this show:

1) Teamwork between the good guys and gals, and DH not being so alone and in the dark (literally and figuratively) - check
2) Coherent plot especially as to the whys behind the crimes - check
3) Bromance between DH and Det Ki, with Ki trusting DH - check
4) Father and son get together and sort out the first confession - check
5) Father gets out of jail and starts a new life with DH - pending (keeping fingers-crossed)
6) Yoo Ri getting to publish her dad's article - pending?
7) Stronger friendships between YR, Mdm Jin and DH despite the loss of family members leading up to DH getting the heart - check
8) A proper resolution for our villain minions Jong Gu, CKT and Hwang - more or less check
9) A fitting bad end for baddies Chu, Park, Oh and Mark Choi - pending.

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growingbeautifully

May 11, 2019 at 8:00 PM

Ep 15 - SPOILERS

SPOILERS

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Yay! Jong Gu reappears as I'd hoped he might. So another one on my extended Wishlist - check.

Chairman Oh committed suicide. But I think he left something incriminating Chairman Chu. We don't know for sure though at this point.

FlyingTool

May 12, 2019 at 8:29 AM

“Committed suicide” which I take to mean Chairman Chu had him killed.

growingbeautifully

May 12, 2019 at 9:58 AM

Thanks @cheekbones I kind of thought that I heard suicide, but I wasn't sure.

@hebang FlyingTool when Chairman Oh was drinking in his office, I already had the feeling he was contemplating suicide and trying to gear himself up for it. I gather he had staked everything on getting the deal that he found out Chu was giving to Embite instead, and his name and company were going to be trodden in the mud. He was always too proud to apologise or admit mistakes. I assumed that if he wasn't killed off by Chu, he'd have killed himself rather than face the consequences.

cheekbones

May 12, 2019 at 11:08 PM

Chairman Oh was also having a financial crisis with the announcement that Embite got the deal, so he had crisis on multiple fronts.

But, in the phone convo with Chairman Chu, he did say that he wouldn't go down alone.

cheekbones

May 12, 2019 at 7:37 AM

We finally know to whom the recording device belong ! Did anyone guess that it"s Pros Noh's ? It didn't come to my mind at all.

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growingbeautifully

May 12, 2019 at 10:12 AM

@cheekbones No, I didn't think of Pros No. I thought he'd only had that one meeting with the baddies and then was killed immediately ... not that he'd already been going to Hwa Ye and was gathering data (I think illegally if he recorded them without their knowledge?) over a period of time.

I'm glad his trust in Pros Yang was well-placed, finally.

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growingbeautifully

May 12, 2019 at 11:50 PM

Heh! By the time it occurred to me that it must have been Sun Hee who put the recorder up there in Hwa Ye, the Ep had already confirmed it!

123 growingbeautifully

May 11, 2019 at 5:45 AM

I just realised that this is going to be comment 666... significant? I'm just whiling away my time and putting thoughts down while waiting for tonight's episode!!

The Confessions:
1) Choi Pil Soo's - to get DH's life saved with a heart. Inadvertently led to death of YR's father ... indirectly connected to death of Pros No Shun Hoo.

2) Jong Gu's - to get out of being indicted for Sun Hee's murder. The sensational case where the confession of murder did not result in being indicted for it because of double jeorpardy.

3) Nurse Cho's - to lighten her burden and the burden of her friends.

4) Cho Ki Tak's - in order to point the finger at Hwang who gave him the order.

5) Hwang's - To point the finger at Oh who instigated him.

6) Do Hyun's - to appear to have failed, to get baddies' guard down and to get his father to finally stop being silent and to talk to Det Ki or himself.

7) Choi Pil Soo's - To retract his first confession, obtain a retrial and get the true culprits named, shamed and hopefully punished. DH and father realised that they had been played because they were protecting each other.

8) Choi Pil Soo's again - in order to get to the bottom of the Black Bear project from which the killings started.

In between, I think. Sort of on indirect admission that she was involved in the nefarious stuff, because how else did she manage to get the documents. Plus it was a reveal about Black Bear ... not sure why ... in order to get Oh into trouble so that the Embite people get the deal for sure??

Or maybe by this time she's sure that Oh engineered Sun Hee's death so she was getting revenge?

I can't think of the connection if she's helping DH to get evidence to clear his dad, why she should bother. He had already gotten Sun Hee's killer into prison.

She seemed to be still working for the 'company', so she should not have been trying to bring down Embite an the rest with the Black Bear reveal.

Why Jenny sent the stuff or wanted to see DH - These are the questions that I have not figured out the answers for. Only have guesswork.

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FlyingTool

May 12, 2019 at 8:26 AM

The way I saw it, she knew she had been betrayed by her “body guard” and had only seconds to live (gun pointed to her head in an empty warehouse, etc.)...so she sent the clue that pointed to the whole corrupt gang. Only thing she could do given the time constraint.

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growingbeautifully

May 12, 2019 at 10:08 AM

Her phone call to DH seemed to have been made voluntarily by her. Only when she turned around, did she realise that Mark Choi had a gun pointed at her.

So I'm taking it that she intended to tell DH something and get something in return. I just don't know what. Mark Choi took that opportunity to kill her and frame DH.

The other mystery is what did Mark Choi want her to do on her phone before she handed it to him. I'm kind of surprised that he didn't check what she'd sent to DH!?!? Which seems very remiss of him. Did he really not know?

I wonder if the last 2 episodes will answer these questions. 😐

124 LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 11, 2019 at 9:04 PM

I have now picked up this show and it is certainly interesting. I really like Junho - even if I'm one of about three people who didn't like Just Between Lovers - and the case is interesting enough to grip me. Since the comments relate to multiple episodes and I'm quite a bit behind, I'm going to use this as a placeholder to put my thoughts as I move through it episode by episode.

115

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 11, 2019 at 9:07 PM

Episode 1: As I said in an earlier comment, I really hate when defence lawyers get blamed because of bad police work. The police had flimsy evidence, beat a confession out of somebody and then hoped to use that confession to overcome the weakness of the case. Whether Han Jong-goo did it or not is irrelevant - the police were lazy and rushed and didn't prove their case. The lead detective's gut is irrelevant here.

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latebloomer

May 12, 2019 at 3:12 PM

Yes, the police captain's rant seemed a little contrived. Because actually the judge herself said that there was no direct evidence linking the defendant to the crime. It seemed like the show needed to set up a motive for the police captain to hold a grudge against DH. Actually, why would an experienced cop move forward with such a flimsy case, and why would the prosecutor allow it?

Overall, this episode seemed dark, intense, but well done. I did have to pause it in the middle just to take a break from that. Questions, questions. Like: Did someone set the same guy up twice for similar crimes, or did he really do it? Did he rob the women both times and then someone else came along and murdered them? Does he have an identical twin? Because he seemed to be trying to say that was not him in the photo. Why was this super competent secretary planted in DH's office? Who is she really working for? Did she steal the photos? Who would have set up the truck-of-doom? And why? That takes more than average coordination, since he had to get in the right taxi to start and end up in the right place to finish. Obviously, DH had to survive or the story would be over? What taxi driver would be willing to sit there and take the hit? Not to mention, why was DH dumped from the big law firm and is the fact that his father is in prison the only reason he is working as a PD? And since we're on that subject, why is his father on death row? Whatcha wanna bet that his father was a prosecutor and was set up by some corrupt politicians/businessmen for trying to catch them, and now they're after his son.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 11, 2019 at 9:16 PM

Episode 2: I have to admit that I was going to take a break after this episode but, damn, that ending had me pressing play on episode 3.

#1 - I agree. So far. I've been so burned by back halves.

#2. I agree also. He's a good guy. He's so good he's willing to defend people he doesn't like to the best of his ability.

#3. I really don't know and I don't want to speculate. But considering the cost of medical care in Korea, it's highly likely he was willing to do anything to pay for whatever the operation was (big hints as to heart transplant).

#4/#5. Not if he's not the murderer or chose DH to defend him because he already knew about him. As for Captain Ki, I'd welcome a different motivation because at the moment I think he's a really bad cop who's self-righteous to boot.

#6. I'm not sure where they're going with this but they may have murdered her in the same way for the express purpose of framing him, knowing the police would jump at the chance to get him

#7. A big enough trial would have had all the newspapers reporting it and the journalism field is actually really small. This is no surprise.

kx

May 12, 2019 at 8:39 AM

I'm glad you picked up this show! A few of us have camped here since the beginning but discussions and reactions have been sparse. Looking forward to your thoughts for each episode.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 12:37 AM

Episode 4: I'm not even going to bother trying to list what we know because at this stage I suspect that what we know is not what we know.

However, I was reminded through all the conversations between DH and JG that JG clearly wanted to be caught for the first murder. He left his fingerprints on the bag, he made the phonecalls to the police. I have suspected from the beginning that he didn't actually do it, although the show seems to be saying I'm wrong. He certainly killed his mother so he's capable.

If there is a serial killer, it would make sense that they would target JG for a framejob - but that implies there isn't something bigger going on here and I think we can guarantee there is.

So, we have four murders in total - the one that DH's father was framed for and the three women. And then the possible mysterious (?) death of whoever DH got his heart transplant from.

The question is whether DH's involvement is a spanner in the works or part of the "plan".

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 12:41 AM

As for the second case - that of the nurse - this was too telegraphed for me. I knew almost immediately what had happened and wasn't sure what it added to the show.

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growingbeautifully

May 13, 2019 at 4:53 AM

That last question still stands ... I've asked again and again, why was DH the one assigned the Jong Gu case. Maybe @leetennant Chingu can discover the answer to this question. I may have missed some clues.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 5:00 PM

Not yet but I'm not even halfway through. It seems an odd decision to give him the case if it meant he might stumble onto the connections that seem to be here.

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growingbeautifully

May 13, 2019 at 9:29 PM

That's exactly what I've been saying from many episodes back. I'd think that knowing DH would definitely have his father's case as a top priority, and that he would never stop digging, Lawyer Ji should have ensured that DH should never have gotten near Jong Gu to learn of the connections to the DSC. So it was Lawyer Ji's 'foolishness' in either assigning to DH or not stopping the assignment to DH of JG's first case, that started the unraveling of the baddies' plans.

FlyingTool

May 13, 2019 at 9:30 PM

If you’re talking about the original JG case when DH was at the big bad law firm, my read on it was 1, DH hid the fact of who his father was- many years later even the cops had to do a background look see to figure it out, and 2, he was the new junior lawyer being given an “open and shut loser of a case” ... the short end of the stick for the new junior guy without any backing... 3 these kinds of assignments are handled at lower levels, not by the big bad guy at the top, and 4, none of the bad guys knew JG was the driver for their pet assassin.

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 9:37 PM

I thought he got the case as a public defender because Jong-gu asked for him.

But, as you say, he was working in a large firm at the time so they could have assigned it to someone else. I think you can name a preferred public defender but that lawyer isn't obligated to take the case.

I think the answer we have to accept is that it was Jong-gu who wanted him to be his lawyer and that's why he got assigned.

Obviously, I'm only up to episode 6 so Jong-gu's motives or the intricacies of the conspiracy are still unclear to me.

growingbeautifully

May 13, 2019 at 9:47 PM

@hebang FlyingTool @leetennant Chingu

I'm thinking that FlyingTool probably has it right. DH when he began was only known as placed second in the Law exams or whatever and a new recruit. So he was 'blindly' given whatever public defender case was on. It may even have been considered a sure fail case since the 'evidence' against JG was quite strong.

His colleagues/sunbaes seemed to know about DH's background, that his father was on deathrow, but unless anyone cared to check, no one put together the facts that the Jong Gu case and the 10-year old murder could have been connected.

So how DH got involved in case after case that led to the denouement was fortuitous!!

FlyingTool

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 1:19 AM

Episode 5: Yeah I haven't finished it yet but I'm stealing the 700th comment. This is naughty of me. Mianhamnida.

I'm really enjoying the slow reflective pace of it, actually. And I can finally see what (may) be the parallels between the nurse's case and the current cases.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 1:51 AM

Wow that was some quietly powerful stuff.

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latebloomer

May 14, 2019 at 11:45 AM

I'd like to know who YR's father was and what he did for a living. Did someone just get him out of the way to expedite DH getting the heart transplant? Or was DH's turn a side effect of getting rid of YR's father?

So far, I can understand that the nurse's story has given us the back story for DH and YR and opened up this question. What I'm not sure about is whether this case is in some way supposed to mirror what happened with DH's father. I don't think so, because I think it's clear his confession was bought with the money for DH's operation.

As for the ending, I'm getting a little tired of the way this self-righteous detective is written. If DH wants to find out the truth about his father's case, who is he to object? And since he's not even a cop, who is he to be so invested in DH's relationship with JG? What, have all his years as a detective really not taught him that he cannot single-handedly right all wrongs, capture all criminals, and control all characters? And did he really come away from that experience feeling that he himself is infallible? I would think an experienced detective would be a lot more jaded and humble.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 14, 2019 at 1:00 PM

He was so butt hurt by being called incompetent. No I don't like him either.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 2:23 PM

Episode 6: So here is a problem I have with a lot of these shows. The subtle hints and wafts of a deeper conspiracy, the quiet revelations, the sense that something is afoot: all this is often much more compelling than the conspiracy itself. Once you have old men sitting in rooms scheming then it risks losing what makes it interesting.

I found Forest of Secrets dealt with this in the best way - it made the problem systemic. It wasn't men sitting in a room scheming, it was the product of corruption so fundamental that it was normalised.

Not to say that this will kill the show, but it risks making it generic.

As soon as it was about a secret cabal of kingmakers my interest dropped. And I'm getting hints that Yuri is being set up to be fridged and if that happens I'll throw something. I'm already tired of being female characters being fridged. It was one reason I was tired of American TV in the first place.

In contrast, everything to do with DH and Madame Lin was just lovely. I love what Junho is bringing to DH. It reminds me of the quiet kindness he brought to Poong. And now that I think about it, quiet kindness is my favourite quality.

To everyone who's ahead of me - I really dislike Detective Gi Choon-ho. Really dislike him. Does this change? Am I supposed to like him? He really rubs me the wrong way. He's incompetent and self-righteous. This is the worst combination.

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mugyuljoie is preciousss

May 13, 2019 at 3:24 PM

I'm waiting for your next comments because I dropped it when they brought in the weapons connection. As much as I love Junho, I find the old men sitting in rooms scheming a big NO. Let me know if it manages to overcome this. I suppose I could ffwd.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 13, 2019 at 4:59 PM

At least no sashimi was harmed in the making of these schemes?

I won't get to episode 7 till tomorrow unfortunately but I'm hoping it stays grounded in the personal. So many shows last year were killed by Sashimi Scheming.

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bewitched

May 13, 2019 at 6:03 PM

@leetennant I didn’t like him in the beginning. I think most of us did not as well. My turning point to warm up to him was around episode 7-8. For me, I’m thankful DH has him.

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If I understand it correctly, Cho Ki-tak was the suspect for murder #1, which he committed but he got off because the military faked an alibi.

Han Jong-gu then committed murder #2 but tried to make it look like murder #1 (I'm still not convinced he did it tbh because he seemed to want to get caught).

CKT then committed murder #3 in the same way as murder #1 (which HJG had copied for murder #2) and tried to frame HJG.

HJG then confessed to murder #2 as part of the strategy to clear him of murder #3.

May 15, 2019 at 1:41 PM

@lindag
Yeah they asked him what his relationship to her was and he launched into this long-winded explanation about how he they had known each other since they were young and she had no family and he was a slightly older male who was close enough to be her family - and I'm sitting there going, "Korean literally has a word for that. Why isn't he using it?"

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 14, 2019 at 2:33 AM

Episode 8: I feel like this show is expecting us to believe everything is just a cosmic coincidence. Like all these people just fell into place at the same time for no reason. It's a vaguely supernatural concept that's mirrored in the mythical 'organ memory'. I don't like it, it's warring with the otherwise pared-back verisimilitude.

So Madam Jin wasn't concerned about her son's case, in fact it never occurred to her that his death was mysterious. So why did she suddenly appear and inveigle a job at DH's firm right around the time JG was framed for murder?

Nurse Cho just happens to murder somebody at the right time for people to notice the parallels between the transplant case and DH's case and she happens to be the sister of ?one? of the murderers. The coincidences are out of control.

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 14, 2019 at 7:53 PM

She was his heart surgeon and she would have known that he got her son's heart.
I have no problem with this theory. It's the convenient timing, the way the show put emphasis on her ulterior motives, and the fact that the show hasn't dealt with it directly (yet).

FlyingTool

May 14, 2019 at 8:49 PM

There was a short sequence where doctors are discussing DH and talking about how critical the ten year period was for heart transplant patients. Medical nonsense, but as far as I can tell it’s the only justification in the show for Heart Surgeon Jin to appear next to DH at the 10 year mark.

latebloomer

May 15, 2019 at 10:06 AM

While we're talking about stretching reality, I thought it was stretching reality for a prisoner to be able to take down a guard, make it to a pay phone, be strangled by another guard, then hung, then be observed hanging until he dies -- with no one else on the scene and no video monitors. Are you kidding me? In Korea? When everything that happens on the street is taped by at least 3 CCTV cameras and 2 car dashcams, how can there be no live monitors at a prison?????

I'm kinda sorry to see HJG die. I wonder if the actor's performance in this role will get him more roles in the months to come.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 15, 2019 at 1:18 PM

Also that payphone was apparently on a roof. A PAYPHONE. On A ROOF. That no one goes to and so it's unmonitored and unpatrolled.

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latebloomer

May 15, 2019 at 2:13 PM

Right!

PakalanaPikake

May 17, 2019 at 4:48 PM

@leetennant ChinguMode,

A payphone. On a roof. And a caller without means of payment. I didn't see him plunk in any coins, so how did his call go through? Maybe Writer-nim was hoping viewers are not old enough to know how to use payphones. ;-)

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 17, 2019 at 4:51 PM

@pakalanapikake
I think I was supposed to be upset and horrified at the attempted murder but mostly I was just going to work out how and why a payphone was put on a secluded place on the roof, could be used without payment - and how HJG knew it was there.

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 17, 2019 at 4:52 PM

*trying* to work out

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 14, 2019 at 1:15 PM

Episode 9:
You guys! What I really liked about this show was the courtroom manoeuvring and Junho's quiet, enigmatic stoicism.
It's losing me....
I actually found episode 9 kind of... not that interesting.
Nooo...

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FlyingTool

May 14, 2019 at 8:52 PM

Think of it as the drama committing an act of noble idiocy, setting you up for your dramatic reunion with DH doing his thing in the courtroom.

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latebloomer

May 15, 2019 at 11:01 AM

I'm wishing this was not a 16-episode drama. I think they might have been able to do a better job with 10 or 12 episodes. They started off so strongly, but now have to stretch the story to the end. How are they going to fill up 7 more episodes with nailing the bad guys and freeing Dad?

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 15, 2019 at 2:21 PM

The first three or four episodes were great. It would have made a great film actually. I hope they turn it around. People who've seen the whole thing seem to love it and I want to too! I was in the mood for a decent thriller, especially after Kill It, which was... not.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 15, 2019 at 12:28 AM

Episode 10:
If I had been live watching it, episode 9 and 10 would have been the ones that led me to drop it.

The story underpinning this show just isn't that interesting. What is interesting is the way in which it impacts the people we care about and they were far too underused in this.

Instead of concentrating on the human aspect, they've opted to fill the episodes with overly-convoluted plotting and even more characters for us to not care about. Swapping HJG out for CKT was not a good move. HJG was a multi-layered and interesting antagonist. CKT is boring.

In many ways, this show is reminding me of Doubtful Victory (although I'm not suggesting it's going off the rails to the extent of that train wreck).

An interesting premise, a few tightly-written episodes, some really great performances of characters we care about, people brought together by tragedy... and then a middle that falls down from insipid smirking antagonists, unconvincing coincidences, convoluted plotting, too many characters, and a hefty dose of stupid.

May 15, 2019 at 7:20 PM

Haha, not yet! I'll watch it tonight and hopefully ep 12 as well.

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latebloomer

May 15, 2019 at 7:35 PM

Actually, I have a few more words: the lie and the reaction remind me of a lie and a reaction from a different drama last week -- I'm just remembering how the liar said to the person who believed her, "I guess you believed me more than you believed in him." And that's what's happening here. He's believing this psychopath over the person he knows and loves.

latebloomer

May 15, 2019 at 8:25 PM

As for ep. 12 ending, I think this was a dramatic way for her to show him what happened that night 10 years ago. I think we're going to see her stand up and walk away from that chair.

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 16, 2019 at 12:49 AM

@lindag
Hmm... I'm not sure they're lying. If they made a deal with Choi Pil-soo to save his son and they wanted the journalist dead it would make sense to kill two birds with one stone.

Now I'm sure that they are lying because kdramas never get that dark.

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 16, 2019 at 2:03 AM

@lindag
LOL I just realised that comment of mine made no sense.

May 16, 2019 at 10:58 PM

Just Between Lovers was my Junho's eye-opener. I didn't watch Chief Kim. I tried to but couldn't stand Namgoong Min's over-the-top portrayal.

I watched the movies Cold Eyes and Twenty long before JBL, but didn't quite feel him then.

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bewitched

May 17, 2019 at 6:20 AM

I was soooo happy when I saw the first episode recap I did not pay attention to first episode recap notice. I was miserably waiting for episode 2 and after that realized that first episode recap is literally what it is. Junho is like comment and thoughts specialist in DB. JBL thread has 2000++ comments and Confession has already 800++. That shows how much we all love his acting.

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 16, 2019 at 3:45 AM

Episode 14:
I wasn't going to watch this tonight but I have so many other dramas backing up behind this one that I needed to. Also, now that the flabby frustrating middle is over, the show has regained its momentum, for which I'm grateful.

That's not say that the plot isn't ridiculous. It kind of is. And the antagonists are poorly drawn and snooze-worthy - (I mean, what was Jenny's plotline about in the end? Are we really seeing nothing more of Han Jong-goo?).

But I am really enjoying this back half and that's entirely because of Junho's Choi Do-hyun. He really brings something to his parts that's difficult to articulate - kind of like an urbane facade covering complexity. He's not the world's greatest actor but he gives his character's layers and I like the layering he has going on here.

May 16, 2019 at 6:26 PM

I don't think they are the same person. If he was the former president, I don't think he would have gotten the title of the "shadow leader" behind the blue house and it being such a mystery, since the president even a former one would be very obviously in the public eye and well-known.

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latebloomer

May 17, 2019 at 4:27 AM

You're right. Also the first name is only partly the same. It would have been nice to know a little more about how he became the shadow ruler.

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 16, 2019 at 4:28 PM

Episode 15 and 16:
My overall verdict is that this was an enjoyable show with some good performances and some interesting ideas in it. I'm glad I watched it, although in the end it didn't rise above other, similar shows in the same genre. I'm afraid Forest of Secrets has set a standard that few will reach.

The ending was good and the final two episodes were satisfying. The bad guys were punished, the good guys won, there was no romance (thank God).

Until I saw this I would have said that Junho is most capable taking roles where his character is slightly manic and a bit unhinged. I enjoyed him in Chief Kim and Greasy Melo but found his performance in Just Between Lovers confused - something I was willing to put down to the direction and writing because I found everyone's characters, motives, behaviours and reactions in that unfathomable.

Although his performance wasn't perfect, this showed me he can do restrained and I think he could really stand in the A-League with a bit more experience.

It's a shame the underlying plot in this just wasn't that interesting and the antagonists were one-note. We've jokingly said the Kdrama Law of Genre is whether the scheming chaebols are evil, cute or tortured (Thriller, Romcom, Melo). This show would have been far more interesting if it didn't involve "corruption that goes all the way to the Blue House".

Yes that's a good point too. I know that Choi Do-hyun was protected by the deal his father made but Det Ki could have been targetted. I'm just glad they never fridged Yuri, which I was genuinely concerned about for a while.

Midnight

May 28, 2019 at 8:08 AM

Briding the judge would have been quite the way to go 😆

Joking aside, I would have dropped this show if the judge was corrupt too, no matter how much I LOVE LJH and YJM. I have a very low tolerance for corruption. Actually I have a low tolerance for thrillers, unless we have a perfectly good smart lead, making constant headway, with helpful good guys sprinkled all around.

I agreed so much with your sentiments on this show, on Junho and DH, and the villains. Basically everything you said. Down to JBL. Unlike you I finished it, and I disliked all of it.

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125 bewitched

May 12, 2019 at 8:51 AM

Thoughts on ep 15-16 raw while waiting for subs:

Such a satisfying and rewarding ending. I felt stupid for ever considering DH as a grey character. He is the perfect example of how a person without power, money, nor connection strive to succeed with intelligence, perseverance, and hard work. And I’m glad that along his journey, DH found a new reliable makeshift family in addition to Yoo Ri that has been by his side unconditionally.

Overall I like the drama. I would probably put it in the 2nd tier of my best k-dramas list.

The ending is pretty satisfying although I have some reservations. As usual there's a rushed feeling in the last 2 episodes. I thought we would end with the expose of the dirty Yurion helicopter deal and the viewers being assured that Park Si-kang and Chairman Chu would get the punishment they deserved.

But instead, the drama stretched into the formation of a special investigation unit to look into possible corruption by the former president (Park Si-kang's uncle). I thought that wasn't necessary, but I guess the show wanted to show DH interrogating Chairman Chu.

Other things I thought rather unnecessary were the organ memory thing and Jenny Song. It seemed like the writer wanted to convey certain bond between DH and Madame Jin, so voila! the organ memory trope being thrown in. Then, the writer needed a way for DH to get the MOU about the Yurion deal, so s(he) created Jenny Song. Why did Jenny decide to meddle after 10 years ? I thought she was Seolhwa's close friend and wanted to get justice for her. But, no, she was already a lobbyist 10 years ago. I didn't think she knew Seolhwa even.

I would much prefer if the special bond between DH and Madame Jin was conveyed in other ways more organic, as also how DH got the hard evidence. Or, at least make Jenny Song's background story more fleshed out.

What I like best about the drama was the courtroom scenes, and how DH calmly played out the scenarios to get what he wanted. And I like how Junho played DH. I also like the teamwork our lead characters showed, especially I like the scenes where there were only DH and Det. Ki discussing things and working together.

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ash27

May 15, 2019 at 4:35 PM

Thanks for all your hard work!

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128 growingbeautifully

May 14, 2019 at 9:08 AM

Ep 16 Subbed

SPOILERS

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Funny bits that struck me.

Chu in the car, on hearing that Oh had committed suicide, had the music turned on and it was playing 'My Way' with the appropriate words, "And now, the end is near, and I must face the final curtain" - He was listening with a smile, not knowing how apt the lyrics were.

I liked the bookending: In the earlier trial, the 3 Baddies met each other in the courtroom and were still confident in their suits. They stood together and stared at DH who just entered the room and he turned and looked at them. ... At the end the 3 of them in prison garb stood side by side, no longer arrogant, and faced DH as Prosecutor this time.

It made me burst out laughing when Chu refused to admit his guilt and later on Det Ki said: 'They are not going to confess so easily.' Finally we get confessions that start to put the Baddies away, however unfortunately Chu can only be indicted for Sun Hee's murder and corruption, but not for the other deaths. I was so pleased that childish Park blurted out that he shot Cha but he was still alive. His confession ended his career.

And the best thing ever was seeing the laughter and broad smiles on the faces of Do Hyun and Det Ki. What a contrast this last time we get to see them together on the steps of the courthouse compared to when they first met there and Det Ki was angry that DH had got JG off free after killing Ae Ran.

These smiles and seeing DH in Prosecutor robes facing Chu made the ending even more satisfying than it already was.

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129 kx

May 14, 2019 at 9:35 PM

Finished T_T. A lot of thoughts. On Episodes 15 + 16:

Random aside, Mr. Chu gets some really nice stalkerish photos of Do Hyun.

So many unanswered questions (Jenny Song and Mark Choi, for example) but I'm glad they showed why HJG wasn't dealt with for 10 years. The baddies knew nothing about HJG's relation to the crime 10 years ago (he was there as the driver, even I was a little shocked because I had forgotten this fact) so that's why he wasn't accounted for. It was really just coincidence that DH landed his case. And then their killer for hire CKT becoming pissed off at the copying and thus CKT who had to kill Seol-hwa anyway probably was the one who pulled HJG into the mess by trying to frame him, thus pulling DH in. Anyway, the biggest highlight/takeaway from episode 15 was HJG's re-entrance and giving his witness account.

Who thought the recordings belonged to Prosecutor Noh? I did and also didn't, but out of everyone it makes sense and I'm glad they finally referred back as to why Seol-hwa was in fact one of the last callers on Pros Noh's phone, which I had forgotten about, and it was because she had helped him with his recordings.

Prosecutor Yang's flashback with Pros Noh really hit home to me their friendship this week and I understand why Madam Jin had trust in Pros Yang by going to him and then inducing him to do the right thing. The character growth may have been late, but at the pacing that this drama went at for me it did not feel out of place.

On the other hand, I wanted to see Prosecutor Lee get some of that growth, but unfortunately it did not come. Felt like he was the biggest pawn and fool in the entire show because he hadn't fallen into the dark path far enough to be doing what he did (or least he could feel conflicted about it), but he went along with the ride just to get in CDH's way with no remorse. In a way, his character experienced a downward spiral, especially apparent if we compare him at the end to his outrage in the beginning at DH for getting HJG, a murderer, free with the double jeopardy principle.

YuRi's best moment was when she told Park Si Kyang, "You're finished." He was in a way, her opponent. When it came to joining his party as a supporter during the election, to meeting him and him revealing the truth of her father's death, uploading articles on him and making sure he went to the trial, and pushing the media.

Det Ki also had his own faceoff as his counterpart was Mr. Chu. One of his highlights was shackling up Mr. Chu and telling him when he rejected it, "It's not up to." Being the one to confront Chu various times, he worked on and got the evidence from Hwang, as well as got the talks in.

Madam Jin did her part in turning Prosecutor Yang around.

Thus the baddies in suits were a bore, but at least the setup and story development was unique in that before the final showdowns, our male lead CDH didn't actually personally meet most of these men face-to-face. They...

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kx

May 14, 2019 at 9:36 PM

Cont..

. They were that high up the chain that he didn't get access to them easily, something very emphasized. Aside from Chairman Oh who went out offscreen. Not until Do Hyun called them to testify in court and that makes the Dovengers getting them to that hot seat as a witness to a face to face confrontation with CDH all the more glaring.

Of course, in the end the Dovengers dipped their hands in everything and they all came together to make it happen. I like the one scene where Chu and CKT met in prison. The web was so big and there were so many people in the middle, killer for hire and the one who ordered it did not even recognize each other. It's a miracle the Dovengers started from the way bottom and fought their way to get to the brass at the top. (Although, I do wonder why the writer/director had CKT even see CDH's white board with all the faces and names when he broke in, esp if CKT was never going to do anything about that. I thought at least he would use that information to find out who the men that called the shots were.)

I am a bit underwhelmed at the fact that, despite Do Hyun being really smart and very good at his job, at the end he had to rely on using illegal evidence and the judge's generosity instead of greater clever maneuvering. It fell a bit short after all he did for HJG and getting CKT to call out Hwang. Although, I guess this was perhaps the way to go to with the big baddies and have the public play their role in the final nail in the coffin, since that it is a stronger force than the law. At least CDH knew he couldn't pin them and just got the it rolling.

For some people, it felt like episode 16 dragged. For me, I was glad that all the big evidence for the murder 10 years ago was gathered all in episode 15 and 16 was mainly spent in court and displaying evidence/piecing things together for the judge to make a verdict, as well as get the baddies in cuffs. The unintentional funniest part of this final episode for me was the judge's reaction to CDH going off topic on the trial, Pros Lee's objections, and her overruling it. She was watching the kdrama unravel right in front of her. Props to the judge though for being sane and dependable throughout the whole show.

I don't understand Secretary Hwang, why he turned himself in and then decided to keep silent on everything else. Maybe he feared Mr. Chu. Seemed like he just didn't gaf, but either way his character was underdeveloped and portrayed (like the random scene with CKT stabbing him and it going nowhere) and his motivations are still unclear at the end for me.

The writer didn't dupe me at all about the men searching for and taking away the BB report from CDH's office, but at the same time when the flashback came I did appreciate Madam Jin's reasoning for making the copy. Seems CDH at least told them about being followed but didn't process it further and its implications. Guy didn't even realize his life was in danger. Stressful moment was...

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kx

May 14, 2019 at 9:36 PM

Cont...

Stressful moment was when the gang-looking men came to stop CDH from going to the trial and questioning Assemblyman Park. When Det Ki burst into the room, I couldn't be any more happier.

Oh, that eating scene between father and son was even more touching with subs, especially when CPS said he just wanted his son to pour him a glass to drink, reminding me that he was incarcerated was CDH was a minor.

Final thoughts:

All the theories I had about YuRi and leaving her job came to nothing. Well.

Also, that officer who released the list and committed suicide came to nothing. Sad guy still being a nobody.

Season 2 would be nice because we still have some loose ends with Mark Choi and Jenny Song's murder, plus CDH had actually met the guy twice, framed and almost killed by him and yet never really saw him properly face to face as the sleaze hid himself, and I would love to see their confrontation.

Of course, maybe they can also check on CDH's health instead of not bringing it back up again. The buildup kind of went nowhere, and while I appreciated that the writer didn't bring in any unnecessary melodrama at the end, but an acknowledgement and perhaps even CDH making a visit to get his health checkup would have been nice.

What happened to HJG and his case about murdering his mother? My favorite villain needed at least a small mention.

Very little chance of season 2 happening though.

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kx

May 14, 2019 at 9:38 PM

Det Ki remains steadfastly righteous and stubborn to the very end. Although he can get tiresome, honestly it's not that bad to have someone like that on your side when you've been wronged. He provided a lot of unwavering strength in the gang, especially when he had no personal familial connection to the big corruption in the story and just wanted to do what is right. I also like how he has his own loyal team in the force and those guys who had each other's back makes me proud. In a story about corruption, at least these small folks believe in doing what's right. The final salute for Det Ki in the end was touching.

Madam Jin remains a pure soul who gives out her heart freely and so it hurts when her trust is broken, so I'm glad Pros Yang turned around. I wished we would have gotten a little throw-away about her going out of her way to work for CDH. She also had her own quiet strength and I'm glad she grew a friendship with YuRi as well as will stick around to provide support for CDH in his office. Her cooking will remain a highlight.

YuRi, aside from Det Ki, was the other lead that had to grow on me and for me she grew the most. Her commitment is next to none in the group. I love how reasonable and strong she is, and that she is a great friend to both Madam Jin and CDH. And yet her reporter friend just disappeared and was never mentioned again. I love how CDH upgraded her desk to having her own full-blown station in his office.

As the only two leading ladies in this show, the bond and friendship between Madam Jin is very underrated compared to the bromance between CDH and Det Ki. They are two very lonely souls and I'm glad they found each other.

CDH is my favorite. He's smart but not a straight up genius and needs help, he's physically not strong, but he has his own quiet and unwavering strength like the rest of the gang. CDH's growth was learning to open up to other people and ask for help, and it started when the Dovengers became a team, and became very apparent by how much he depended on everyone else (and not just YuRi) in the end. Like his father he is reserved, his heart is as open on his sleeves in the same way as the passionate Det Ki, and yet he is still an open book. Also, he really does seem to have only one set of clothes to wear inside casually.

My final rating would have Confession fall between 7-8 out of 10. The opening was very strong, the middle was okay, the ending picked up a bit although it didn't reach the same heights as the opening. Yet, I think the pacing was great as we always got a little bit to move along the story. The team actually did some work to get to their villains. The tone was consistent. I would've wished for more, but it would have pushed this drama into minor subplots which aside from Nurse Cho's case I'm glad we didn't go any further into it. Acting was stronger in some actors than others, but very watchable. I really like the 4 leads working together and after the strong...

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kx

May 14, 2019 at 9:40 PM

final cont...

after the strong opening they were the biggest reason to hang onto this drama. I feel like their acting also made the characters more than we would've got with just the writing. For instance, reading that Junho's abrupt tears when hearing about who his heart belonged to was his addition to the script. I like the minimal use of music with lyrics and adore the bgm and OST, it elevated the drama and was very fitting.

Anyway, a drama well done. A big thanks to the cast, production team, and everyone here who made the experience fun.

cheekbones

May 15, 2019 at 12:45 AM

If there were ever a Season 2, I would prefer to have a totally new story. Actually the drama could be made into multiple season format, but it would be too much like American dramas.

Anyway, isn't it time for Junho to enlist ?

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kx

May 15, 2019 at 5:37 AM

Perhaps and with a new attorney we can have guest appearances. I still want Mark Choi and HJG's cases to be resolved though.

Yep, Junho is enlisting this year and once he comes back I preferred him to move on and work on other projects and characters instead, but it'd just be nice to get a special where some things gets resolved. :( just wishful thinking

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

May 16, 2019 at 4:44 PM

Nice analysis, I agree with most of it especially around how the whole case was resolved.

This show demonstrated how good will engendered by a few great first episodes can keep you watching a show even as it fails to fulfil its earlier promise.

I never really liked him. But at the same time, the back half was almost entirely plot-driven so it's not like he had much to do other than investigate and support CDH.

Even from about episode 7 or 8, very few characters had conversations that weren't just plot exposition. The exception was some of the conversations CDH had around his heart transplant with Madame Jin and Yuri. I really could have used some of that convoluted plotting to be replaced with strong character moments in the back half.

So, the short answer is that he stopped annoying me but he wasn't given any real character development either. The one conversation I really liked was the one they had about how much he regretted lying in court during the original case. He could have used more moments like that.

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130 faraway

May 15, 2019 at 12:31 AM

It finally came to an end. My weekend gonna be so boring now. I'm gonna miss the days where I keep checking on subtitles everyday.

This drama although not perfect but I think it managed to make viewers stay tuned till the end. Every episodes ended with a cliffhanger. The master of ending indeed. The acting of the leads and supporting actors complete the drama too.

Just finished final episodes 15 & 16
Aaaaaaaaaaa... I am glad this series wrapped up beautifully.
It was a slow burner series, not without flaws, but with a satisfying characters' development.
No, they didn't change the main character of the person. But, they would be more open and be more understanding. Plus point is they did that personally & organic-ly (is that a word? Please tell me the better term for that, thank you :)). So, each one, DH, Det Ki, Madame Jin, Yu Ri, and extend that to Chief Prosecutor, and to - although a bit far-fetched - CKT & JK, their changes (to the better) was different from one to other.

And the bad guys, as my wish, they didn't change. Good! CKT, although still crazy to the end, at least accepted that he done wrong on many level to many people. He might or might not hurt CMG at the prison one of these days (if we have continuing cinematic universe).

I really like that the drama ended without the bad guys admitted their wrong doings. We can play and continue with what would happen to them in their universe. I really wish that DH somehow carries on working as government's DA or consultant to DA even after this case finishes.

Again, how closely this drama mimics what really happens there with the case of the 'Burning Sun' and how they tries to cover a government's scandal with idol's scandal. It happens. I don't know if we have DH, Det Ki and the good judge for the BS's case there.

Now... what should I watch after this?
Finding a good one really hard nowadays.

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132 growingbeautifully

May 15, 2019 at 6:29 AM

Episode 16 - Thoughts about the Bad Guys

Conversation between the 3 Baddies in Chu's office
I hate to admit it, but Chu really was smart. I was intrigued by his returning to Korea sooner than expected and wanting to go to the court as witness. While Lawyer Ji was still hung up on keeping CPS in jail as 'guilty', Chu had already decided to get him acquitted, thinking that DH would not keep digging if that happened, and so they would be able to keep their evil buried.

Ji then makes it even sweeter for them when he says even Park's perjury would be forgiven if he went to court to tell the truth, and put the blame all on dead Oh Taek Jin, and helped to get CPS's acquittal.

I'm not sure if Oh killed himself in the end. If he did, it was a pity, since it is his death that gave these 3 Baddies the perfect scapegoat. If he had lived, he would have gone down, dragging the 3 of them with him.

What I'd have also liked, was to have had Mark Choi apprehended. There should have been a travel ban order to prevent his getting away.

Fortunately, these Baddies did not know DH well, or they'd have realised that he was not only out for his own personal gain, but even after having gotten his father acquitted, he would not stop working to reveal the truth and the corruption. In that way he was similar to Det Ki and even Pros No Sun Hoo. To these Baddies who only knew of self-aggrandizement, the thought never occurred that anyone would work to bring them down, when there was nothing to be gained.

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kx

May 15, 2019 at 7:37 AM

Glad you said it. Honestly, it would have been so easy for DH to let it go. Especially when Pros Lee said he justed wanted the truth, and it was satisfying when DH followed up with the same line and questioning PSK. I don't think previous DH is bad at all, but think he might not have pushed on like this new DH who grew after all the relevations and what happened. When at the end he told his promise to Pros Noh to Mdm Jin, it was great.

May 15, 2019 at 9:11 PM

Very good drama....
Laugh out loud moment when the super-villain was driving away listening to the classic 'I did it my way'.
I may never again be able to hear that song the same way.

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growingbeautifully

May 15, 2019 at 11:37 PM

Especially since the lyrics are telling him that "The end is near ..." :-D

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kd6606

May 16, 2019 at 8:41 PM

Yes! Ha!

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kd6606

May 20, 2019 at 1:35 AM

I agree with your assessment of attorney Choi Do-hyun, @growingbeautifully. It was refreshing to see a realistic protagonist who was honorable, humble, and pretty normal despite his life circumstances. He was motivated by the desire to uncover the truth and to prove his father's innocence, rather than revenge. And while he didn't have the greatest living arrangements, had practically no life outside of work, and could have taken better care of his health, he wasn't self-destructive, nor did he compromise his morals or commit criminal acts to achieve his ends. (I'm looking at you, LOOKOUT and KILL IT.) That makes him one of the more memorable Good Guys in my book. ;-)

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136 PakalanaPikake

May 18, 2019 at 7:08 AM

Part 1 of 3

In Ep. 12, the classical music that plays while Jenny Song relaxes in her fancy-schmancy hotel suite is Gabriel Fauré's “Sicilienne, Op. 78.” Beautiful and relaxing.
http://www.dramabeans.com/members/pakalanapikake/activity/782158/

Thanks for identifying it for me, @wishfultoki!

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