Mrs. Cop: Episode 13

by LollyPip

An old threat resurfaces, and it’s up to Young-jin and her team to figure out how to bring it back to heel without causing a nationwide panic. Not only that, but President Kang is involved yet again, though this time he just might have a weakness Young-jin can exploit. She knows he’s responsible for her father’s death, she just can’t prove it — but this new situation could very well give her the leverage she needs to finally dispense justice.

EPISODE 13 RECAP

Young-jin catches President Kang out on his previous lie that he didn’t know Boss Park when he kidnapped him, saying that she knows Park didn’t kill her father. Based on the evidence, she’s deduced that President Kang must have been the one to kill him, and Boss Park took the blame.

President Kang tells her to move on, since the statute of limitations is up anyway so he couldn’t be punished, and she pulls her taser on him. She zaps Secretary Yoon with it when he tries to interfere, and levels her gun at President Kang.

He refuses to kneel to her, and screams in her face, “SHOOT!” The next thing we see is Young-jin walking out of the restaurant dejectedly, leaving President Kang chuckling at his victory.

President Kang checks with Secretary Yoon to make sure nothing about Boss Park’s death can be traced back to him, and they discuss a replacement for President Kim (the man who was in charge of the drug ring part of their business). Next they go to visit his son in the prison hospital — apparently the lawyer has gotten Jae-won into treatment there (not surprising since there seems to be something intellectually wrong with him), and Kang tells his son not to make any trouble for now.

Chief Yeom pulls Jong-ho and Young-jin into his office to ask why they’re investigating President Kang, but “because he seems shady” isn’t a good enough reason for him to let them continue. He’s worried people will think they’re trying to dig up dirt to blackmail him with, and tells them to get back to active cases.

Jong-ho leaves, and Young-jin stays to tell Chief Yeom that President Kang was the man who really killed her father. She knows that Boss Park took the blame for the murder in return for something, though she doesn’t know what, and that Kang betrayed him. Park never told her the truth because he wanted to get revenge on Kang himself, only it all went wrong.

Chief Yeom is appropriately horrified to hear all this, and he believes her because of Kang’s shifty behavior after the incident. But since the statute of limitations is over, there’s not a lot he can do. Yeom expresses his sympathy on Young-jin’s behalf, but warns her not to get emotional and do anything impulsive.

Jin-woo approaches Do-young, adorably nervous for some reason, and asks if she wants to hear something fun. She doesn’t bite so he offers a quiz question instead — you have two criminals, but only one set of handcuffs. What do you do?

That’s an easy one, you cuff them to each other. But what if there are three? Do-young says that then you use your belt. Okay, four then. Do-young’s solution is to use your shoelaces. She’s right, and wins lunch on Jin-woo, who looks grumpy that she knew all the answers.

She makes him take the team out for a fancy lunch, and he pouts when Jae-duk and Se-won tell her that quiz is usually used to haze rookies. Apparently she was supposed to pretend she didn’t know the answer, HAHA. Later Do-young makes Jin-woo some apology coffee, and he tosses her the real reason he quizzed her — a pair of shoelaces he got for her.

They’re tied in an intricate knot that Jin-woo explains is a rock-climbing trick, and he shows her how to tie the laces around someone’s wrists in a way that they can never get loose on their own, by tying them on her wrists. Then he leaves her there. Awesome revenge, and it’s even funnier that nobody at the station will help her out of them.

Do-young is forced to go back to Jin-woo to ask him to set her free, and he takes her out in public to a coffee shop instead. He takes pity and unties her, and admits that he didn’t like her at first. He didn’t get her hazing over with sooner because of that, and now he feels badly about it, for doing it so late.

She asks if he didn’t like that she was a woman, or that she was ranked higher than him (she’s his rookie in experience, but her rank is higher), and Jin-woo sighs that it was both. But from now on, he promises to treat her as the rank she is, and protect her as his partner and equal. Further, he’ll be open and honest with her, and in return she promises to work hard, admitting that she likes him too.

Jae-won is carried off to the hospital again in an ambulance, acting like an ass to his guards the whole way. President Kang comes to see him again, this time in the same room where he himself stayed after his kidnapping. He tells Jae-won that he’ll delay his tests, and instructs him to pretend a nagging headache in order to stay in the cushy hospital room as long as possible.

Jae-won says he really is sick, being locked up all the time, and President Kang grumbles that this is all Young-jin’s fault. Wow, the delusion is strong in this family.

That night Jae-won uses a lockpick (probably supplied by Daddy Dearest) to slip his handcuffs and go on walkabout, and a friend picks him up in the parking garage. The two go out clubbing, and both of them mix some sort of drug in with their drinks.

When Jae-won staggers out to his car with his equally-drugged date, a couple of cops that are already staking out the place looking for the drug dealers recognize him. They try to stop him before he can drive away, but Jae-won guns the engine and hits one of the cops, who happens to be Young-jin’s old team member. Jae-won drives away leering at his unconscious date, ew.

Chief Yeom and President Kang both find out about Jae-won’s escape at roughly the same time the next day, and a meeting is held at the station to discuss a plan. Jae-won’s car was found but he’s long gone, and a country-wide warrant is issued for his arrest. Jong-ho wants to make a public announcement, but Chief Yeom is against it, otherwise they also have to take the blame for letting Jae-won escape in the first place.

Jong-ho argues that with a cop in the hospital, possibly permanently paralyzed, it’s more important to catch the attacker than worry about blame. Young-jin backs up Jong-ho, insisting that catching Jae-won before his powerful father has time to help him escape is the most important thing.

Chief Yeom is insistent, but the superintendent overrides him and says to make the announcement — he’ll take the responsibility himself. He wants the man who killed a young girl and crippled a police officer caught, no matter what it takes.

Jae-won is the worst ever at hiding, because President Kang finds him asleep in his bed with the girl from the previous night. He’s not at all happy to see his son, and he slaps Jae-won and screams at him for ruining their plans — all he had to do was endure jail a while longer and everything would have been fine.

Jae-won has no memory of hitting the cop with his car, and Secretary Yoon says that things have gone too far and there’s no way to fix this situation. Kang tells them to get Jae-won out of the country, punching Jae-won again when he whines at his father and tries to get up. Kang tells him his life in Korea is over — he has to leave the country for good, or spend the rest of his life in jail.

Jae-duk and Se-won visit their old teammate Jin-soo in the hospital, but Jin-soo doesn’t know yet that he’ll never walk again. His wife cries to Young-jin, but she assures her that he’s a strong man who will stand again.

Jin-soo freaks out when he hears the news, and he screams to his friends to help him up, that he can walk, but he eventually breaks down when the truth hits him. Jae-duk is especially upset on his friend’s behalf, being a man of action who can do nothing to help. His wife says that it might make her a bad person, but all she can think is that she’s glad it wasn’t him.

Jae-duk is surprised she would say such a thing, but she tells him that he and their children are all she has. If he does what he wants and puts himself in danger chasing Jae-won, she might lose everything. So she puts aside her pride and asks him not to go after Jae-won, for her sake. Without a word and unable to comply, Jae-duk walks away.

The public announcement is made but turns up no tips, and Jin-woo points out that with the national warrant, Jae-won will probably attempt to leave the country. With his access to money, he could easily escape and they would never know. Young-jin knows that President Kang will be helping his son, so she thinks they should be watching him.

The team argue that Kang wouldn’t try to see his son under these circumstances since he’ll know he’s being watched, but Young-jin is sure that he’ll be overconfident and think of a way to visit him. His son is his biggest weakness.

The cops openly stake out the KL Group building, though Jae-won isn’t there — he’s cooling his heels in a little seaside village, annoyed that he feels just as imprisoned here as he was in actual prison. Secretary Yoon brings him a gun and tells him angrily that the entire company is being observed because of him. Yoon implies that Jae-won will be going to the Phillippines, and that he’s leaving tonight.

The plan is to send him by private boat since he’s on the no-fly list, and predictably President Kang wants to see Jae-won one more time before he goes. Secretary Yoon says it’s too dangerous, because he’s being watched so closely, but Kang just tells him to figure out a way to get rid of the cops.

Young-jin pays Kang a little visit and asks if he’s worried about his son, calmly saying that she would like to grab him by the throat and demand to know where Jae-won is right now. But she holds it in, because she knows she’ll find Jae-won, no matter what.

President Kang apologizes to the injured policeman on his son’s behalf, but calls them mannerless when Jin-woo asks again where his son is hidden. Young-jin retorts that his son has no manners either, nor respect, and is crazy on top of all that — he learned it from his father.

Back in their van, Young-jin instructs the team to use a different radio channel since she’s pretty sure that Kang’s security team is listening in to the police’s communications. She sends Jin-woo and Do-young to the helicopter pad on the roof, guessing that’s where he’ll think it’s safe to leave from when he goes.

The police superindendent holds another meeting and decides to get social media involved, and when Chief Yeom again suggests a conservative approach, the superintendent reminds him that their pride isn’t what’s important. They must do everything they can to catch Kang Jae-won.

President Kang’s lawyer tries to convince him that it’s too dangerous to see his son before he sends him away, but he’s not listening, as usual. He heads out and the police go on the alert — but Kang has his own plan, and he’s replaced in the elevator with a lookalike. His staff all stay with the decoy and it fools the cops, while Kang himself goes to a different level and takes a more discreet exit.

Luckily Do-young and Jin-woo are right on his tail, and Kang doesn’t see them follow him out of the parking garage. Young-jin keeps up the ruse on the radios that they’re following the decoy long enough to fool Kang into thinking he’s home free, then switches to their secret channel to follow him for real.

She calls Jong-ho back at the station to update him, and he tells her to wait and he’ll meet them. The superintendent overrides Chief Yeom again when he tries to keep Jong-ho at the station, and Jong-ho rushes out to pick up Young-jin. All three sets of partners follow President Kang, sure he’s going to see Jae-won before his son leaves the country.

Chief Yeom slips into the restroom to text Secretary Yoon that Kang is being followed, and Yoon notifies President Kang’s bodyguard. Kang is mostly upset that he might miss his son’s boat and goes against advice to abort the plan, ordering his driver to lose the tail but get him to his son in time.

They get away from Jae-duk and Se-won, leaving Do-young and Jin-woo to try and keep up. Thankfully, President Kang thinks they’ve lost the cops, and he heads straight for the place where Jae-won is waiting.

The father and son embrace each other tearfully, and Kang tells Jae-won to settle down there and never come back, but he promises to visit often. Jae-won apologizes for causing all this trouble, and they hug again, unaware that they’re being watched by Do-young and Jin-woo.

The boat is getting ready to depart and Young-jin and Jong-ho are still on their way, so Young-jin tells Do-young to go ahead and arrest Jae-won if they don’t get there in time. Lucky for them, Jae-duk and Se-won catch up before the boat leaves. Jae-duk is ready to open fire if anyone fights back, and Se-won begs him not to resort to that, but he’s still got fire in his eyes over his friend Jin-soo.

President Kang and Jae-won say a final goodbye and Jae-won moves towards the boat, which is when they’re approached by Young-jin’s team. Kang orders his men to fight, and Jin-woo and Jae-duk engage them and manage to take most of the men down pretty quickly.

Do-young and Se-won fire shots into the air and everyone freezes, then Jae-duk moves towards Jae-won while Do-young holds her gun on Kang. But Jae-won pulls the gun he was given by Secretary Yoon and points it at Jae-duk, and Se-won and Do-young both aim back at Jae-won.

Nobody moves for a long tense moment, but Jae-won is freaking out and he cocks his gun, looking extremely unstable. President Kang calls out to him softly not to shoot, and in the moment he’s distracted, Jae-duk pulls his own gun.

Confused and scared, Jae-won shoots, then two more shots ring out — Do-young’s. We aren’t shown who, if anyone, has been hit.

COMMENTS

Okay, I’m a lot more interested now that President Kang’s disgusting toadlike son is back on the scene. He’s been the best villian this show has had, as gross and nasty and yet oddly childlike as he is. It makes him unpredictable in a truly frightening way, as he clearly sees nothing wrong with taking advantage of whomever he can as long as he gets what he wants, even managing to justify killing and just letting Daddy take care of it. There’s obviously something wrong with him beyond being a sociopath and a spoiled brat – he seems truly mentally ill, and that gives me bad shivers in a good way. He’s brought some life back into this show, which has seriously been flailing for a plot and a purpose for the past couple of weeks.

It’s very telling, by the way, that a simple thing like bringing back one character can make this show go from boring to interesting, just like that. It proves what I’ve been saying, that the show has all the ingredients to make a very good drama, but just seems to be weak in the storytelling department. What’s strange is that I think the writing is good enough, I have no complaints there, it’s just that the story that the script tells is so shaky. When you have a good solid story, your audience is willing to overlook a few weaknesses like a bad character or a boring case-of-the-week.

But I think that as hard as I’ve tried, I still haven’t fogiven the show for not delivering the story we were promised – that of a mother trying to balance her work and home life. And I suppose, at this point (the last episode showed her daughter for less than thirty seconds, and she was asleep during that time), we’re not going to get it, which is a shame. Disappointment is what happens when reality and expectations don’t meet in the middle, and my expectations were of this show being about a woman who struggled to be a good mom. I’ll always feel sad that we didn’t get that show, because that show would have been great.

But regardless, the show has picked up this week with the revival of gross little Jae-won, and if I were the writers, I’d stick with this direction for the duration. Seeing President Kang twisted up by his son’s idiocy is a lot more interesting than watching him cackle over gold bars, and I’d much rather see Kang and Young-jin clash over Kang’s son and Young-jin’s father’s murder than any more side cases, unless they involve more heart-tugging runaway situations. I find people-centric stories much more compelling than stolen cars and entirely-too-secret Mi Rae City plans, especially if we’re not going to be told what those plans are, and the show is much stronger when it’s focusing on the characters and their personal issues. This show can manage to be quite interesting when it sticks to what it does well, which is its characters, so I’m hoping it won’t stray again.

RELATED POSTS

• Mrs. Cop: Episode 12
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 11
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 10
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 9
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 8
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 7
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 6
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 5
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 4
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 3
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 2
• Mrs. Cop: Episode 1