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The Fiery Priest: Episodes 19-20

The bad guys are only getting worse as they add to their ranks and start to fight amongst themselves, but our priest never forgets the reason he’s fighting against them – revenge and justice. As hard as he’s tried to hide his mysterious past, eventually he’s forced to call up old skills in order to discover the truth and redeem an old friend. Thankfully, new friends are cropping up in unexpected places, proving to Hae-il that he isn’t as alone as he thought he was.

 
EPISODE 19

Hae-il goes alone to rescue Yo-han and Ssongsak, but Chul-beom and his thugs overpower him. Chul-beom punches and kicks Hae-il, but Hae-il just lies on the ground and laughs. It angers Chul-beom, who picks up a bat and prepares to swing, telling Hae-il to say hello to Father Lee for him.

But the sound of sirens stops him, and animal control runs in with a net, saying that they got a call about a wild boar. HAHA, Hae-il weakly smacks Chul-beom’s shoe with his injured hand, unwilling to give up even now — he kills me. Chul-beom and his men calmly leave, and Chul-beom calls Dong-ja to report that the priest won’t be a problem for a while.

Chief Prosecutor Kang takes Kyung-seon to Pentagon and praises her for saving Dong-ja’s reputation. She says it’s easy to manipulate public opinion these days, because people will attack the truth because they’re embarrassed to believe a lie, so all they have to do is exploit that. But she seems concerned when Chief Prosecutor Kang tells her that Chul-beom beat that meddling priest so that he’s half dead.

Hae-il wakes in the hospital to a horrible sight — Yo-han’s bruised face leaning over him, ha. He and Ssongsak reassure Hae-il that they’re not badly hurt. Dae-young, who found Hae-il in the warehouse, tells Hae-il that he fractured two ribs and re-injured his hand, but otherwise he’s only badly bruised.

Hae-il apologizes to Yo-han and Ssongsak, and they both head back to work. On the way, Yo-han tells Ssongsak not to let Jang-ryong bully him anymore, but Ssongsak says that he won’t fight back, because if he gets hurt he can’t work and send money home to his family in Thailand.

He says that someone who doesn’t get angry is a fool, but someone who chooses not to get angry is wise, and he yells at Yo-han not to get hurt for his sake again. Yo-han grumbles that he’s the fool and yells at Ssongsak to just let them mess with him, then, and he stomps off angry. Awww, this bromance is the sweetest.

Kyung-seon goes home and thinks about Chief Prosecutor Kang’s offer for her to join their group, which would mean more freedom and higher pay. She’d asked for time to wrap some things up first, and Chief Prosecutor Kang had told her not to wait too long to make her decision. But she mostly can’t stop thinking about Hae-il and wondering how hurt he is.

Okay, Dae-young is hand-feeding Hae-il in the hospital and I can’t stand it, it’s too adorable. Hae-il asks what his deal is today — first he defended Seung-ah against Jang-ryong, then he saved Hae-il, and now he’s feeding him. Dae-young stammers that if he didn’t do something, someone would have been hurt, and Hae-il side-eyes him so hard.

He asks if Dae-young plans to keep this up, or if he’ll go back to being Chul-beom’s minion. Dae-young mutters that he doesn’t want to talk about Chul-beom, and Hae-il tells him that he can choose to atone at any time and return to the right path.

He asks for a wheelchair and they both go down to see little Eun-ji, who’s responding well to the new medicine. Hae-il says that looking at her makes Dae-young’s words feel real, and Dae-young asks if he means about them earning a half-point. Hae-il just grins.

Meanwhile, Seung-ah is at the station looking through the Wangmat Foods ledger for anything interesting, on Hae-il’s request. She sighs happily, thinking that Hae-il is cool no matter what he does. She sobers when she finds an entry that mentions a delivery to Chul-beom’s villa, dated the same day as Father Lee’s murder.

Sung-kyu and Sister Kim visit Hae-il in the hospital, and Sister Kim predictably yells at Hae-il for not being careful. Sung-kyu snarls at Dae-young for not being there to help Hae-il, but Hae-il defends Dae-young, crediting him for showing up just in time.

They’re surprised when Jang-ryong wanders in with his lackeys, and awww, all three of them try to stand between Hae-il and the thugs. Sister Kim even whacks Jang-ryong when he hands Hae-il a fruit basket from his boss — HA, she’s so tiny and fierce. Dae-young tells Jang-ryong to leave, but Jang-ryong says he’s here to pass on a message from Chul-beom… if he tries to play smart one more time, his friends will be attending his funeral.

Hae-il insists on being discharged immediately, and he promises Dae-young he’ll meet him later at the station. But first, he says there’s somewhere else he needs to go. Later, Chul-beom and Hoon-seok find that Chul-beom’s car has been keyed with the words “Coward who attacks from behind.” LOL.

There’s a new message from the Pope when Hae-il gets home to the church, which has alerted the archdiocese that Hae-il’s behavior is becoming a problem. He’s informed that the Vatican won’t help if he causes any legal issues, and he’s warned to watch himself or the investigation into Father Lee’s death will end. Hae-il promises to behave, but he growls Kyung-seon’s name under his breath.

Dong-ja and Chief Prosecutor Kang learn that Representative Park and Chief Nam have been meeting with a Congressman Seong behind their backs regarding Dong-ja’s job, so Chief Prosecutor Kang gives Kyung-seon a new assignment — to investigate Chief Nam and Representative Park and see if they’re really qualified to be part of the inner circle. He notices that Kyung-seon seems uncomfortable, so he explains that he likes treason but hates traitors.

Dong-ja tells Chul-beom that Kyung-seon will be joining their group as a new member. He asks if this is because they don’t trust him, but she says that Kyung-seon will be doing completely different work than he does, and for him to concentrate on filling the income hole left by Wangmat Foods.

He goes out to his car and asks Hoon-seok if he ever gets sick of doing the dirty work for other people and taking all the blame. Hoon-seok says he does it out of loyalty to Chul-beom, even if it means his life.

Daegakgyo leader Young-moon reads a crystal for one of his cult members (cameo by Jung Shi-ah), describing a woman that her husband is supposedly having an affair with. He even names the hotel they’re canoodling in, but he “loses strength” before the room number comes to him.

Naturally, a thick stack of cash renews his energy and he goes back to his reading. Chul-beom interrupts the session, wanting to know how Young-moon intends to make up for the mess his nephew made. He orders Young-moon to make a new foundation within two weeks, shaking him by the collar then tossing him across the room then hitting and kicking him as he screams.

When Dae-young returns to the station, Seung-ah is fast asleep on her desk. He wakes her up as Hae-il arrives, and she says loyally that if Hae-il looks this bad, Chul-beom must be in the ICU. Hae-il tells her gravely that Chul-beom is in bad shape, but Dae-young tattles that he attacked Hae-il from behind and he’s totally fine, lol.

Hae-il redirects Seung-ah back to the ledger, and she shows him the dates she discovered, and that Chul-beom’s villa is very close to where Father Lee’s body was found. Hae-il can’t stand it — he wants to go get the bad guys right now, so he tells Seung-ah to locate Wangmat’s President Ki (he does have a name!).

He tells Dae-young that he’s working alone until Dae-young reflects on his actions and decides which side he’s on. Dae-young lets him go, but he says that he’ll be at the church thinking, and asks Hae-il to call him if he needs him. Hae-il says, “Good,” flashing a proud little smile.

Hae-il finds President Ki in a restaurant, promising his girlfriend that they’ll move to Guam and disappear. Hae-il sits down and President Ki is instantly repentant, vowing to pay the rest of Eun-ji’s hospital bills even if he has to borrow from a loan shark. Hae-il dismisses the girlfriend and says he’s here for something else.

He asks President Ki why Wangmat delivered food to Chul-beom’s villa on February 5th, and President Ki says doesn’t recall. Hae-il intimidates him by sucking the flame from a lighter into his mouth (!!!) and asks who made the delivery. The girlfriend delivers his tea, which burns Hae-il’s tongue, so he threatens to make President Ki drink it in one gulp to jog his memory of that day.

He lets Seung-ah question the two deliverymen, who say it was a very small delivery for only a few people. They describe the villa as crawling with guards as if whoever was inside was someone important, but they say they didn’t see the faces of Chul-beom’s guests, they only know it was two men.

They report that a third person arrived as they were leaving, but again, they didn’t see his face. All they remember is that it was an older man with longish grey hair, which perfectly describes Father Lee.

EPISODE 20

Hae-il tells his makeshift team that there must be bloodstains or other evidence at Chul-beom’s villa. Seung-ah thinks they can get a warrant based on the Wangmat employees’ statements, but Dae-young says that Kyung-seon will just block it. Hae-il decides they need to get the evidence secretly, though Sister Kim reminds him of the Pope’s warning not to help them if they cause trouble.

They play a game to determine who has to go scout the villa (after bickering about the name of the game and making Hae-il yell at them, hee). Dae-young loses, and he looks like a swamp monster as he creeps up on the villa. He tells Hae-il that Jang-ryong and his goonies are goofing around outside so he can’t see anything, and Hae-il tells him to stay until sundown then come back to the church and he’ll treat him to the baozi.

Kyung-seon has lunch with Chief Prosecutor Kang, Dong-ja, and Chul-beom, and Chief Prosecutor Kang reveals that Chul-beom is the one who “took care of” Father Lee and Hae-il. Kyung-seon looks at Chul-beom sharply and says she’s impressed, then excuses herself to call Dae-young. She says she wants to talk to Hae-il, pretending to have no idea that he’s injured, which gets her the details of Hae-il’s condition.

Chul-beom joins her after she hangs up and mentions that he’s seen her at Gudam Church. She asks him exactly what he did with Father Lee, but he says that’s a trade secret. He asks why she let Hae-il go that time he was arrested, since keeping him in jail would have saved them all a lot of trouble. She just tells him to stop trying to look tough because she’ll never cower in front of a thug, and not to pretend they’re close, either.

Now that Dong-ja won’t be resigning, Chief Nam says it was a waste for them to approach Congressman Seong. But Representative Park wants to keep trying to get rid of Dong-ja,saying that he already has an idea. That evening, officers from the Corruption Investigation Office burst into her office with a warrant to investigate her for illegal hiring and favors. She calls Chief Prosecutor Kang, who hurries right over.

Kyung-seon hobbles home with a bad stomachache, and when she gets home, Chul-beom is waiting for her with a brand-new convertible from Dong-ja. Kyung-seon refuses the gift, but Chief Nam says that Dong-ja will just send him back with it every day. The threat of seeing Chul-beom daily makes Kyung-seon reluctantly take the keys, and as she gets in to check it out, she sighs that the car is comfortable, but her conscience isn’t.

Dae-young has set up a little camp on the hill overlooking Chul-beom’s villa, and he finally sees Jang-ryong and his men leaving. He calls Hae-il, who heads to a storage yard, praying that this is the last time he ever has to come here.

Inside a storage unit, Hae-il removes the trappings of his priestly status and replaces them with head-to-toe black leather. He takes out his spy suitcase, fires up his motorcycle, and speeds off towards Chul-beom’s villa.

Seung-ah is with Dae-young when Hae-il roars up like a badass… then can’t get his helmet off, PFFT. Hae-il finally yanks it off, then tells the others that he’s going inside. He gives Seung-ah a cool earpiece so they can communicate, and when Dae-young points out that the villa is armed to the teeth with security devices, Hae-il gives him a ski mask to hide his face.

Dae-young gives Hae-il the extra piece of seaweed that was in his ramyun packet earlier, calling it a good luck charm. Hae-il peers at it, then tosses it over his shoulder. Dae-young retrieves it and follows him, going hilariously overboard with the “spy” moves, and Hae-il rolls his eyes for the umpteenth time that day.

Hae-il uses a video signal jammer to knock out the CCTV cameras, and another high-tech device to override the electronic door locks. As they sneak inside, Dae-young asks if they teach this sort of stuff in theology school, and Hae-il deadpans that yes, you have to pick locks to get into Heaven, ha.

They make their way to a living room, which smells suspiciously like bleach. Hae-il notices marks on the floor that indicate a table once stood in the room. He imagines the table being made of glass, which would match the marks on the back of Father Lee’s head that the coroner said were caused by tiny glass chips.

Dae-young says that since the table is gone, they technically have no “murder weapon.” Hae-il sprays luminol, which is used to detect blood traces, on the floor, and Dae-young says that the bleach will have destroyed any blood traces, but Hae-il says that DNA is stable enough to survive (Dae-young: “You learned all kinds of things in theology school…”).

Sure enough, Hae-il finds a few droplets of blood still staining the floor. He takes a sample, and says that this is officially a crime scene.

Seung-ah alerts them that three cars are approaching the villa. Kyung-seon, Dong-ja, and Chul-beom and his henchmen are all there, but Seung-ah doesn’t recognize him Chief Prosecutor Kang. They all go inside, and Hae-il and Dae-young frantically find a place to hide.

They listen as Dong-ja asks whether Chief Prosecutor Kang or Kyung-seon have connections in the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, but they both say they’re not close with anyone don’t, which makes Chul-beom smile happily to himself. Chief Prosecutor Kang says they need to find out who’s behind the investigation into Dong-ja.

While they continue talking, Hae-il and Dae-young silently ask each other who the guy in glasses is, but neither of them knows. Dae-young motions that he wants to leave, but Hae-il replies that they’ll get caught. He shoves Dae-young and Chul-beom hears the thump, so he heads upstairs to “turn on the lights.”

Seung-ah warns Hae-il that they can’t leave through the window because Chul-beom’s men are outside. They’re stuck caterpillar-crawling across a walkway directly over the heads of the baddies, trying to avoid being seen by Chul-beom, and they make it to safety just as he flips on the lights. They sag with relief, then crawl back across the walkway.

Kyung-seon’s nervous tummy complains loudly, giving Chul-beom the giggles, so she excuses herself to the restroom. Hae-il and Dae-young are hiding in the bedroom she walks through, but luckily she doesn’t spot either of them. She comes back out looking for toilet paper, which is (for some reason) stored between the beds where Dae-young is lurking.

Dae-young signals to Hae-il to toss the lucky seaweed at Kyung-seon. It hits her in the foot, and when she stoops to pick it up, Dae-young tosses a roll of paper across the room. Kyung-seon is growing too desperate to question the odd appearance of the roll, so she just grabs it and runs into the bathroom.

Her tummy suddenly settles, so she exits again, just in time to catch Hae-il and Dae-young trying to escape. She lets loose a scream, so Hae-il chops her in the neck with his hand, knocking her unconscious and catching her as she falls.

 
COMMENTS

Hae-il and Dae-young working together is my new favorite thing — they’re hilarious! The silent discussions, slap-fighting, and eye-rolling is endlessly entertaining, so I hope they get more chances to do this sort of thing. Mostly I’m just happy that Hae-il isn’t angry about Dae-young tagging along anymore, even though Dae-young still isn’t much help, but at least now it’s just him being clumsy and not-too-bright as opposed to him actively trying to block Hae-il’s investigative work. I also liked seeing Hae-il pull out some of his old spy tricks, and managing to convince Dae-young that all priests learn this stuff in theology school.

I’m guessing that Dae-young is fully on Hae-il’s side now, since Hae-il let him come along to investigate the villa, and it makes me so happy. I was getting worried that Dae-young was beyond redemption, or that when he did switch sides I wouldn’t buy it, but I found his flipping very believable because it was based so much on his emotions. He just realized that he actually cares about Hae-il and Seung-ah, and he’s not willing to stand back and let Chul-beom hurt someone he cares about again. I love how Dae-young and Hae-il are slowly getting to be friends — it feels very natural, and it’s grounded in growing understanding and respect, plus it’s just the cutest when they make each other laugh.

I just wish I understood Kyung-seon as well as I understand the guys. I still like her in a general sense, because she’s funny and she does have a sort-of moral compass, though it’s pointed in the wrong direction at the moment. But I’m confused with why she’s so resentful towards Chul-beom over Father Lee’s death, because while it does make sense that she’d be upset to learn who killed the priest of her church, at the actual time of Father Lee’s death, she barely seemed to care. Not only did she not seem affected by losing her priest, but she actively worked against Hae-il finding out the truth and even reveled in teasing Hae-il about it.

So why the hostility towards Chul-beom now, when before, Kyung-seon didn’t really care? Probably it’s because Chul-beom also hurt Hae-il, but if that’s the case then I’m annoyed with Kyung-seon for being just fine with the death of a weak old man, then turning around and hating Chul-beom for beating up Hae-il just because she finds him attractive. Can someone get this woman a set of properly calibrated morals, please? She really needs to wake up and stop being horrible and making all the wrong choices. At least if she switched sides now, she’s on the inside, and could actually be a big help bringing down the bad guys.

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Yeah, I am still not on the Dae-young train. His interference with going with Hae-il was beyond awful. The fact that he wanted to go and be the center of attention means no matter what he does for redemption, I will always hate him and wish he will go away.

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I think Kyung-seon feels the need to be "morally superior" towards everyone. And in a way she does justify her actions by saying she is always right and the mindset of her can be described as this: "l'm prosecutor" thus I'm allowed to do this and that and because I'm on the side of the law there is no way I'm a bad person.
Of course that is only a fraction of her personality but that is the side of her that she shows to majority of the people she encounters with.

Kyung-seon disliking Chul-beom may come from the fact that he is well a gangster. And again it had to with feeling morally superior. At least that is what it felt to me or maybe she resents him also for being the culprit of Father Lee death. Could be both.
And I'm probably in the minority when I'm saying this but I still Chul-beom wasn't the one who killed him. Yes, I know all the fingers are pointed directly at Chul-beom being the one who did it. But it is I don't know too obvious? Something tells me someone else did it after all he wasn't the only person in the villa.

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That last scene was just pure comedy gold! So hilarious haha

But yeah concerning Kyung Sun I think maybe meeting the ''murderer'' & now collaborating with the whole group makes her realize how wrong it feels to be there? At least, I hope that's what it is! I mean everything Hae Il scolded her about is being unfolding right before her eyes...She's so hard to read I really dunno if we can count on her switching sides now...

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These two episodes were probably my favourite so far - so tense-driven but hilarious at the same time!
HI and DY team is the best, I hope this becomes a thing.
And ouch again - how does KNG film all the crawling and what-not scenes with his fractured ribs??
(I get the feeling that Fearsome Foursome could be the ones who killed Father Lee, maybe during a heated argument on that villa...)

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Watching these eps give a similar vibe when i watched Terius Behind Me; Father Kim reminds me of Bon (but with his skill and good fights and his temper, the priest definitely won me 🤣)

Oh yup im late and Fiery Priest is my first new kdrama this year. 😌

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