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Mad Dog: Episode 2

It’s time to dive deep into our hero’s tragic past and find out what drove him to become the Mad Dog that he is today. His loyal band of supporters will follow him to the ends of the Earth, but will the mysterious intrusion into their group provide them with a new ally, or is there more to his story than meets the eye?

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EPISODE 2: “Family”

In the Mad Dog office, mysterious insurance investigator Min-joon wants to collect his prize for proving Mad Dog team leader Kang-woo wrong about the building collapse and asks for the agency. When Kang-woo won’t budge, Min-joon offers a new bet, this time with their families on the line.

We rewind to two years prior, as Kang-woo and his family shop for shoes while he gripes about not needing to shop just for a quick vacation. The store doesn’t have the shoes Kang-woo’s son wants in the right size, so they decide to wait until next time, and his son leaves disappointed.

Elsewhere, a police officer interrogates a young man who is parked illegally. The man, Park Jae-soo, says he is a claims examiner for Taeyang Insurance, and Kang-woo arrives to defuse the situation, forcing his younger colleague to bow respectfully to the cop.

Kang-woo’s coworker Manager Park (who is just an assistant manager at the time) arrives soon after and he laments over having to keep the young investigators in line. Kang-woo stops him with an impassioned speech about a manager’s job being about teaching the new kids how to be proper investigators, and Manager Park relents.

When Jae-soo arrives back on the scene, Kang-woo swings his arm around Manager Park and tells Jae-soo to take a picture of them together, but it’s all a setup to get a picture of a couple biking together in the background.

Back at the Taeyang office, Kang-woo’s faithful team member Ha-ri introduces the team to the man in the photo, Go Jin-chul, who doesn’t seem to be defrauding the company at first glance.

Manager Park points out, however, that Go Jin-chul’s scheme involves making himself the beneficiary in his girlfriends’ policies. Ha-ri explains that each of the women who applied for said policies mysteriously died in car accidents, leaving Go Jin-chul to collect a fortune in benefits. The group speculates that the woman Go Jin-chul biked with earlier is his next target, and they brainstorm ways to intercede.

They detail Go Jin-chul’s scheme, which involves first taking out insurance on himself, which pays out a relatively small amount to his would-be victims after he sets up a minor accident for himself, earning their trust. Swayed by the payout, the women then sign themselves up for insurance and name Go Jin-chul as the beneficiary.

Knowing his scheme, the team readies for a thorough investigation, and Ha-ri adds one more wrinkle, noting that all of the policies Go Jin-chul applied for were granted by the same insurance planner, a Taeyang employee who is highly regarded for her work. They’re doubtful that she would be an accomplice, but agree to look into it.

As the rest of the team heads out to investigate, Kang-woo receives a text calling him to the 20th floor to meet with Chairman Cha. When Kang-woo arrives, the chairman offers him an envelope of money as a bonus, and though Kang-woo initially rejects it, he eventually caves at Chairman Cha’s insistence.

Elsewhere, Kang-woo shows the file on Go Jin-chul’s scheme to his policeman buddy Detective Jo, and asks him to investigate the previous victims again.

Back at Taeyang, rookie investigator Jae-soo notices that one of the victims was three months pregnant when she died, and this triggers a flash of anger in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Kang-woo returns home with a shopping bag from the shoe store he visited earlier, but finds Go Jin-chul’s possible accomplice at his house, going over a new policy with his wife.

Just as Kang-woo is about to ask about Go Jin-chul, he gets an urgent call from Ha-ri—their rookie is currently tailing Go Jin-chul and his new girlfriend without backup.

Kang-woo holds the call for a moment to ask the planner if Go Jin-chul signed up for any new policies today, but she quickly denies it, looking a little shifty as she answers.

Kang-woo tells Ha-ri to forward him Jae-soo’s location and rushes out to track him down. Ha-ri and Manager Park, meanwhile, are stuck in traffic, so Ha-ri shifts the car into park and switches seats with him so she can take over the driving. She proceeds to ignore all traffic laws, as usual.

Jae-soo follows Go Jin-chul to a service station and watches from afar. Inside, Go Jin-chul grabs a soda and covertly pours some kind of drug into the bottle.

In the car, Jae-soo finally picks up his phone and tells Kang-woo about one of Go Jin-chul’s victims being pregnant when he killed her, saying that he had to do something.

Rather than tell him to back out, Kang-woo warns Jae-soo to just follow Go Jin-chul from behind and keep a safe distance, and tells him that the rest of the team is also on the way. Kang-woo offers one last warning, “Just do one thing. Be careful.”

Inside the station, Go Jin-chul spots Jae-soo tailing him as he receives a text from Taeyang informing him that his life insurance contract is now official. Immediately afterwards, he gets a call from someone (presumably his accomplice, the insurance planner) and sighs that the investigators shouldn’t be working on a holiday.

Go Jin-chul forebodingly tells his accomplice not to worry and hangs up just as his next victim catches up to him, and he offers her the drugged soda as they leave together.

Not long after, as Go Jin-chul drives along a winding road, he clocks Jae-soo following him in the rear-view mirror. His victim is unconscious in the passenger seat, and he chillingly sings to her as they drive along.

As Jae-soo struggles to keep up, he fumbles for his phone to take Manager Park’s call. He takes his eyes off the road to figure out his current location so the rest of the team can find him, but when he looks back up again, Go Jin-chul’s car is stopped in the middle of the road, and quickly turns his car right into Jae-soo’s path.

Jae-soo’s car flips right over the top of Go Jin-chul’s and comes crashing down on the other side. Ha-ri and Manager Park arrive on the scene to find all three inhabitants unconscious in their vehicles, and they hurry to call an ambulance to the scene.

Later, Kang-woo joins the rest of the team at the hospital, and they wait outside the operating room for the results. A distraught and heavily pregnant young woman arrives soon after, and Kang-woo realizes it must be Jae-soo’s wife, and that his overzealous chase of Go Jin-chul after learning about the pregnant victim stemmed from his own wife being pregnant herself.

Sometime later, the surgeons emerge from the operating room and inform everyone that the surgery went well. Kang-woo calls Chairman Cha to report on Jae-soo’s successful surgery, and when Chairman Cha hangs up, he makes a call to someone named Hong-joo.

In the hospital room, Jae-soo regains consciousness to find Kang-woo watching over him. His first concern after waking up, though, is Kang-woo’s trip to Jeju, not wanting him to miss his family vacation. Kang-woo gratefully tells Jae-soo he’ll scold him later for his recklessness.

As Kang-woo leaves the hospital, he notices Jae-soo’s wife worrying about the hospital fees at the front desk, and uses most of the bonus money Chairman Cha gave him earlier to pay the bill for her. He hands some of his own cash to her as well so she and her baby won’t starve, and she tearfully thanks him.

Just then, Kang-woo recognizes another young woman nearby, and pulls her aside for a private conversation. She is Chairman Cha’s daughter, DIRECTOR CHA HONG-JOO (Hong Soo-hyun), and she informs Kang-woo that the company will be closing their investigation of Go Jin-chul for the time being, at Chairman Cha’s request.

Hong-joo urges Kang-woo to go catch his flight to Jeju and calls his wife to say she already sent a car for her to meet Kang-woo at the airport. (Hong-joo is very familiar with both of them and calls him “sunbae” and his wife “unni.”) Since Chairman Cha is also visiting Jeju right now, she says, if Kang-woo really wants to raise a stink about Go Jin-chul, then he can do it in person when he gets there.

Kang-woo finally arrives to check in for his flight, but he just missed the final check-in deadline, so he has to take the next flight out instead. His wife and son, however, are still taking the original flight, and he catches up to them waiting at their gate.

Kang-woo tries to cheer up his son, who grumpily starts to leave, trudging away in the new shoes his dad bought for him (in the way-too-big size mom insisted on). Kang-woo stops him to tighten the shoes for him, and teases that he’ll soon be even taller than his dad.

Kang-woo continues to playfully tease his son, and his mood lightens as his dad swings him around and kisses him on the cheek affectionately. Kang-woo hands over his bonus money to his wife as she prepares to board their flight, and they wave goodbye to Kang-woo, who assures them he’ll follow them soon.

The flight crew prepares for takeoff, and the pilot downs a tranquilizer pill, unbeknownst to his co-pilot. Mom and son take in the sights from the plane, but after flying for a short while, the pilot suddenly drops the plane into a full-on dive.

The co-pilot tries to stop him, but the pilot rams him with a fire extinguisher, knocking him out cold. With a manic, determined look on his face, he continues the descent of the plane at an alarming speed. Oxygen masks come down, and Kang-woo’s wife and son clutch each other tightly.

At the Jeju airport, air traffic control tries to get the pilot to pull up, but he steadfastly pushes the plane forward into nose-dive, an unreadable expression on his face. At the very last second, the pilot closes his eyes and lets go. Air traffic control watches in horror as the plane slams down on the tarmac, splitting in two giant halves and lighting up in a fiery explosion.

Back at the airport, the airline begins boarding for Kang-woo’s flight, but suddenly all flights switch to standby. As confused travelers look on, a breaking news report reveals the crash of Flight 801 to Jeju.

Kang-woo flashes back to watching his wife and son wave goodbye as they boarded that flight while he tries to comprehend the news report. He manages some confused gasps before the full realization hits him, and he wails in despair as he finally registers the truth.

Elsewhere, Manager Park and Ha-ri watch the news report together, and Ha-ri learns that while Kang-woo missed the flight, his wife and son were onboard, and they reel in shock.

Meanwhile, Hong-joo watches the report from her car, face full of tears. Her companion, Juhan Airlines’ Vice President JOO HYUN-GI (Choi Won-young), ridicules her for being too soft-hearted. He coldly tells Hong-joo to pay out a large insurance settlement as compensation for the victims’ trouble.

Hong-joo is upset, though, because she was the one who put Kang-woo’s family on that plane, so she feels partially responsible. But Hyun-gi advises her to pull herself together and take care of everything with money.

Hyun-gi even complains about how unlucky he is that he has to go on camera to apologize on behalf of the airline.

At the airport, Hyun-gi and the rest of the airline’s investigative committee arrive to give their press conference, and a shell-shocked Kang-woo stands in the back of the room as all the other families of the victims clamor to hear from the airline.

Just as the conference starts with Hyun-gi’s bow of apology (while scowling to himself), news breaks that the first body was recovered, and everyone rushes out of the room to find out more.

Outside, Kang-woo checks his text messages to see if his wife or son responded to his desperate attempts to contact them. A medical worker pensively approaches and calls Kang-woo inside.

He leads Kang-woo through the crisis center to a covered gurney, and Kang-woo can’t bring himself to accept what must lie under that sheet, refusing to go near it. He wails, “I missed the flight! I couldn’t go with them!” Another doctor removes the sheet, and there lies Kang-woo’s wife and son, holding each other in their arms.

Kang-woo completely breaks down in tears, sobbing beside their gurney in disbelief, asking them both to wake up so he can take them home. He spots his son’s too-big shoe dangling off his foot, and this triggers another set of flashbacks for Kang-woo, repeatedly promising his son that he’ll grow tall in no time. He clutches his little boy’s hand, overcome with grief.

A few days later, Kang-woo mourns at their funeral service, seeming a shell of a man, and all of his colleagues stop by to support him. Afterwards, Kang-woo wanders aimlessly through the streets, and when he passes the shoe store, a man bumps into him and apologizes brightly.

He looks up and comes face-to-face with himself in the past, happy and busily on his way after shopping with his family. Kang-woo turns back in the other direction to see his wife and son waving at him from the doorway, and it prompts a new wail of grief from him as he collapses in the street.

One month later, Ha-ri still can’t get a hold of Kang-woo, who does nothing but lie on his couch in despair. In the office, she inquires about the ongoing airline investigation with Manager Park, who is on the investigation team.

Manager Park is cagey with his answers, but does cryptically mention the accomplice in the Go Jin-chul case before launching into a tirade over the newbie ruining their case by going after Go Jin-chul himself.

Ha-ri reminds Manager Park that the newbie is going through his final surgery today. Manager Park admits that he has been so busy with work that he forgot about it, and finally asks if Jae-soo is okay, which earns a scolding from Ha-ri for not leading with that.

Just then, Ha-ri gets a call from Jae-soo, though we don’t see why. Back at home, Kang-woo dismissively ignores his text messages, but bolts upright when he gets another one.

Kang-woo finds Ha-ri at the funeral hall, and she explains that there was a blood clot from the initial accident, and during the final surgery, Jae-soo went into shock and died.

Kang-woo remembers the concern Jae-soo had over Kang-woo missing his family vacation because of him, and Kang-woo angrily tells Ha-ri to bring him Go Jin-chul’s phone number.

Kang-woo heads to a phone store and storms into the back room to find future Mad Dog hacker Noo-ri hacking away. Calling him “Pentium,” he pleads for Noo-ri to find the location of Go Jin-chul’s phone, and Noo-ri tells him there’s no need to ask for favors because he’ll always do what Kang-woo asks of him.

Elsewhere, several candidates interview for a nursing position. Among them is future Mad Dog member Soon-jung, who argues that it’s discrimination to only hire young and pretty nurses. But his phone rings in the middle of the interview, and he leaves abruptly to collect “his kids” for Kang-woo.

Noo-ri leads Kang-woo through the airport to find Go Jin-chul. Meanwhile, Soon-jung has already caught up to Go Jin-chul (who happens to be with a new woman, unfortunately for her), and the collection of thugs surround him.

Kang-woo barges past everyone and kicks Go Jin-chul square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He climbs on top and delivers a well-deserved beating, muttering that since Jae-soo died, Go Jin-chul should die too.

Security finally pulls Kang-woo off, but Soon-jung, who was watching Kang-woo’s outburst in disbelief, runs in to take Kang-woo’s place and spouts, “I don’t know what’s going on, but die first!” as he delivers more blows.

More security officers pull Soon-jung off as Ha-ri arrives on the scene to pandemonium. She heads to the police station to testify on their behalf.

In their holding cell, Soon-jung offers to kill Go Jin-chul for Kang-woo, but Kang-woo insists on doing it himself. Soon-jung won’t budge though, and argues, “I’m an ex-convict with a record. You should abide the law like you always have.” To hammer home his point, Soon-jung adds, “Don’t change. If you do, it’ll break your wife and son’s hearts.”

Ha-ri gets a call from Taeyang and surmises that Go Jin-chul must have called the company to sue Kang-woo. Kang-woo yells at her not to get involved and dismisses her.

Just then, a news bulletin airs regarding the plane crash, and Kang-woo jumps out of his seat to hear it. The report claims that the pilot intentionally crashed the plane to commit suicide for insurance money.

Worse, the 3.4-billion-won policy he took out was through the same Taeyang broker who was Go Jin-chul’s accomplice, and that she killed herself not long after the crash.

Enraged, Kang-woo heads straight to Chairman Cha after his release, and hands in his resignation from Taeyang. Chairman Cha tries to pacify him with details about the ongoing airline investigation.

But Kang-woo’s only question is whether Taeyang plans to pay out the pilot’s insurance policy. Kang-woo knows the plan covers suicide as well, so the pilot’s brother will get that 3.4 billion in exchange for all of those lives.

Kang-woo affirms his decision to resign, and when Chairman Cha asks him what he plans to do next, Kang-woo answers, “I’ll continue to play with mad men like a mad dog.”

Back in the present, Min-joon’s bet offer irks Kang-woo, and he asks who Min-joon really is. Min-joon laughs and insists that he gave his real name, but the Mad Dog group dismisses him and begins to leave.

But Min-joon catches Kang-woo’s attention when he claims, “Two years ago, we almost met. Don’t you remember?”

We flash back again to the press conference at the Jeju airport, and this time we see that Min-joon was also there, standing behind Kang-woo looking just as lost and confused.

Min-joon had wandered the halls behind the crisis center, and overheard someone talking about how the pilot crashed the plane on purpose, and Min-joon stumbled at this revelation.

In the morgue, Min-joon confirmed his brother’s remains, and we see that it was in fact Min-joon’s brother who was the pilot that caused the crash.

Police held back an angry crowd of people as Min-joon was alone in the morgue with his brother’s body, but Kang-woo slipped past and tried to slam through the locked door to get to Min-joon and his brother, before police finally pulled him back away.

Back in the present, Min-joon reveals who he really is: the man who took the 3.4-billion-won insurance payout and fled to Germany. He steps away from Kang-woo to finish his solemn introduction: “Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Min-joon, the younger brother of Kim Beom-joon, pilot of Juhan Air Flight 801.”

 
COMMENTS

Well that complicates things. I’m still not exactly sure what Min-joon is plotting at this point, and I can’t imagine Kang-woo will be too eager to entertain Min-joon’s machinations at the moment. There’s not really any reason for any of the Mad Dog team to trust Min-joon right now, so for him to come out after completely fooling them in the building collapse case and say, “Oh, also, my brother was responsible for the deaths of your loved ones and I took all the insurance money from that” is, well, let’s call it bold.

But the fact that he is taking such a bold approach, I think, makes his own motives even more intriguing. If this is how he feels he needs to act to provoke Mad Dog into joining whatever his cause may be, it probably has to be a pretty significant undertaking. I doubt he’s trying to clear his brother’s name completely, but perhaps there was more to the crash than a simple suicide.

It’s certainly suspicious that the broker who helped Go Jin-chul secure insurance payouts for all the women he murdered also happened to issue the policy to Min-joon’s brother. Not only that, but she signed up Kang-woo’s wife for insurance the day before the plane crash. I’ve got a bad feeling that’s not a coincidence, and it will be interesting to see how deep this goes.

The person I’m most worried might be involved is Manager Park. Curiously, in the past he seemed very friendly with Kang-woo, and showed a great deal of respect for him (though that definitely wasn’t the case for his juniors). In the present, though, their relationship seems more antagonistic, which is odd because they both ostensibly have the same goal of weeding out fraud, albeit with different methods. Still, there shouldn’t be enough there for Manager Park to turn so fiercely against his former colleagues, so I’m worried that his work on the airline crash investigation team led him to some nefarious decisions in order to advance his career.

Whatever Min-joon’s goal may be, he needs to build trust with the rest of the team first, and he’s on thin ice right now, so he’ll need to do something to prove his righteousness. It’s an interesting juxtaposition between Kang-woo and Min-joon, the former commanding absolute loyalty from the Mad Dog crew (Soon-jung beating up Go Jin-chul just because Kang-woo was doing the same is a perfect example of this), while the latter garners almost loathsome reactions from them. Hopefully he manages to gain their trust quickly, because I want nothing more than to watch them all get back to fighting the fraudulent criminals out there.

If the first two episodes are any indication, we’re in for some heart-pumping action throughout. The pace of these first two hours was absolutely torrid, with hardly any breaks in the action to compose your thoughts and process what happened, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Take me on a prolonged adrenaline-fueled ride, show, and I’ll be happy wherever we end up. And if they happen to also pull off the smart caper-y side of it too, then we’ve got a recipe for gold.

 
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The second episode was plain plain tragic and gave us such an insight into the life of Kang Woo before the tragic event and how all the team players gathered to form Mad Dog we see now in the present,even without knowing indeed the full backstories of our members yet only knowing that at some point in their lives were helped by Kang Woo and in return wanted togive back that favor and that he bacame a friend to them....Aside from the more likely fraud behind that plane crash till we see the whole picture the fact still is that Kim Min Joon's brother(if they don't twist it and say he isin't) did kill all this people and did sign for whatever reason an insurance to give his brother money,that if it wasn't made up....I might say it takes longer than anticipated to warm up to Min Joon and maybe because he comes off too arogant especially in the way he treats Kang Woo even more attacking him with such a sensitive and painful topic,his lost family...He lost a brother as well and he should very well know that this things can't be touched upon...At the time he was a victim as well but my heart really went to all those people and Kang Woo who lost his family in matter of minutes just like that and the pain took over all the other stuff,even more when he heard the Pilot made insurance and included all things even death etc for his brother...My point is, i can't take his arrogant way of entering the team and thinking that he did something great and that Kang Woo is a evil one when the fact still is his brother killed all those people,what happend behind the scene after is on second plan,he killed them and we saw the scene and how he did it clealry...He should be more humble approching that topic no matter what he is planning...If i was in Kang Woo's shoes i would seriously punch him right there seeing his attitude mentioning one's family...

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Oh my god I agree with you so much! Even if there was more to the suicide than meets the eye, I can't stand Min Joon's arrogant attitude towards Kang Woo and him carelessly mentioning betting on family when he KNOWS it's a touchy and upsetting subject. Of course I'm going to sympathize with Mad Dog and Kang Woo bc even if Min Joon's brother was depressed and something drove him to commit suicide, how does that justify taking the lives of so many innocent people who had no part in any of this? If I was Min Jooon, instead of being on a high horse, I would be so sorry and ashamed towards all the people like Kang Woo who lost their family members for no reason. Like be sad that your brother died but don't be an arrogant bastard towards Kang Woo and Mad Dog. Really hard to like Min Joon's character right now because of this.....

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I believe that MinJoon was overwhelmed with grief and guilt over his brother and what he's done but for some reason, he strongly believes that his brother was forced into it and he wants to find the mastermind.

So he overcompensates and comes off across as arrogant because he's not going to apologise for something he didn't do. And because that's the only way he could live without crumbling when so many people are pointing fingers at him like he's the criminal when he's not.

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Right on,at the moment like said he comes too arrogant and whatever big plan he has in mind doens't explain the way he acted all the while esp. towards Kang Woo,who was a victim and will have that scar all his life...I would be way too ashamed to even look at him even if i wasn't the one who did it not to mention barging in and treating them like he is some kind of King that they must obey,high and mighty and treating Kang Woo like he did something bad...Maybe that's why he comes off really bad to me right now to like him and somehow i don't think we are to like him yet...

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Why did they let a depressed guy be the pilot of an airplane? The company who hired Min Joon's brother are as much to blame as the pilot is (maybe even more because they took the risk), that's how I felt anyway. But there is definitely something fishy about this crash. Completely agree with everything you say especially the part where Min Joon is so arrogant even if in a way I can understand him, he probably was affected a lot by his brother's death. I just look forward to understand this character more and more

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A super emotional episode - as far as "entertainment" goes, this episode delivered perfectly, despite its heavy subject.

For anyone more familiar with insurance, I have a question - any guesses as to what the 3.4 billion won insurance is even for? The pilot committed suicide, taking a whole plane and nearly 200 people with him - and the company gave his brother a 3.4 billion won insurance payout?? This seems wrong on so many levels.

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I was about to ask the same question. I was expected to see that his dead brother was promised secretly for some money if he caused the plan crash. It's interesting to see life insurance covers for suicide too based on what I read, maybe this also explain about the high numbers of sucide cases in Korea?

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The general plans cover suicide after a year.

Because stats show that people who buy insurance for the sake of the pay out usually commit suicide within a year. After a year, the insurance companies just give the benefit of the doubt. I mean, insurance is supposed to protect those left behind after all. If a breadwinner commits suicide due to depression, isn't it unfair and miserable if they don't pay out? You could argue that the death was due to illness. (But if within a year, really, that's just fraud.)

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Thanks @peeps - "If a breadwinner commits suicide due to depression, isn't it unfair and miserable if they don't pay out? You could argue that the death was due to illness." This is quite a nice way to explain it. Since suicide is an intentional act, one would not automatically think it would be covered in life insurance policies.

Oh! I learnt something new thanks to ep 2 of Mad Dog! :D

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Yup - I also looked this up after the episode and surprised to learn that many countries do indeed allow suicide to be covered in life insurance.

Good question about the high suicide rate in South Korea and this policy. Will have to look this up as well.

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I was surprised too about the insurance payout for suicide. I also thought that the pilot must have been paid off secretly, perhaps by the airline (there's something fishy about that executive). I always thought that suicide wasn't covered by life insurance policies, but after doing some research was surprised that it is covered by some policies. It all depends on the life insurance policy. Some policies do have an exclusion for suicide, but others will cover it after a certain period of time has passed since the policy was purchased. In my country, the time period is usually 2 years after the policy is purchased, although sometimes it can be 3 years. There is also the incontestability clause which is also usually in effect for 2 years after the purchase. It came out that the brother had a history of depression, right? If this wasn't disclosed when applying for the life insurance policy, then the insurance company could have denied the benefit using the incontestability clause.
I don't know the life insurance rules in South Korea, but looking at this article, it seems that insurers are just as reluctant to pay out for suicide as everyone else until forced by the courts:
http://www3.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article?id=38019&Type=eDaily

So the fact that the Chairman is willing to just give the huge death benefit out so easily is suspect.

Also, I guess Go Jin Chul's scam of multiple policies has basis in reality:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2851474/Korean-man-takes-TWENTY-SIX-life-insurance-policies-wife-worth-millions-dies-car-crash.html

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Whatever the cause of death of the insured as long as the life insurance is already in effect (meaning the first payment is already submitted and the papers/application is already with the insurance company) the insurance company must pay the beneficiary the amount of the policy. If i am insured at 3.4m and i put my brother as a beneficiary.. he gets all the money regardless how i died.

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"regardless how I died"

Not all. You gotta read your contract. Most ordinary plans state that for suicide within a year, or death while in the act of a criminal offense, they won't pay out.
For the pilot, he bought an all-risks covered plan with a high premium, which is why his brother got his pay out. (Still sounds fishy to me though.)

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"Most ordinary plans state that for suicide within a year, or death while in the act of a criminal offense, they won't pay out" - and hence my question. The circumstance doesn't seem to fall under any legally enforceable contract - particularly the criminal offense bit. In its essence, the contract covers within its scope an "illegal object" and would thus be void under most jurisdictions.

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Also, 3.4 billion won seems to be quite a large amount of money. Over 3 million USD. It seems too high an amount for a pilot. But then again, I'm not familiar with insurance premiums and payout in South Korea - maybe its reasonable?

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They don't pay according to your job. They pay according to the Sum Assured, which is the amount of money that the insurance company agrees to pay the insured in exchange for a certain amount of premium.

Well, the insurance company can look into why he's buying such a high coverage and they may reject his application/proposal but I guess they decided that it was reasonable, both in the premiums' affordability for him and the coverage.

Actually, given his young age and his job, $3.4 million isn't an excessively high amount, especially if you factor in that he might have been planning for his future family too. It's just that premiums for Sum Assured at that high amount usually turn some people off. It could be anywhere between 2-5 thousand dollars a month depending on what kind of plan he got. (The most expensive one I think.)

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The "HOW" is possibly the most important part of life insurance. The wrong "how" will void the policy.

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My money is on that old guy who heads the insurance firm YJT used to work for..

he knew plane would crash and manipulated his daughter to force YJT into boarding that flight.. his luck he got late by 5 min

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Yeah, i am sure he has a hand in that accident.

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There's definitely sth fishy about the "accident"....not sure if it's about that old man....also like someone else said before, it can't be just a case of a pilot suicide. There's more to this story...

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I agree with you. The fact that he was late for his plane was a mistake. There seems to be something afoot that had planned to get his whole family killed together. I don't know who the beneficiary to Kang Woo's wife's policy would have been but it does seem really suspicious. I guess we'll all have to continue to watch to find out. So far the show has me very interested!

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In the scene where the insurance agent came to Kang Woo house, I think it says that the beneficiary is Kang Woo's son.

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and WDH is charming as ever.. the man is pure talent... even if i compare him to some of the big names in the industry (of the <30 ones).. he is so so much better than them all. including likes of LJS

Versatile actor..

And, do the heroine and park shin hye look so so so so similar

But unfortunately the story did not hold my attention :(

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Thanks Regals! That was a pretty fast paced episode and I was wondering if I was mistaken. The collusion seems to be not against the insurance company, but by the insurance company itself, making use of pawns who conveniently die/commit suicide and with Juhan Air. Why it is so willing to pay out the money and what is being gained with so many lives lost has caught my interest.

That, and the strong emotional pull of Kang Woo's story and of his team, plus the mysterious Min Joon.

I was not originally planning on watching this show on top of so many other lighter ones, but this episode has piqued my curiosity and the weightier tone is balancing out the lighter fare of this new crop of dramas, so it's on with this show!

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" Why it is so willing to pay out the money and what is being gained with so many lives lost has caught my interest." - and mine.

"That, and the strong emotional pull of Kang Woo's story and of his team, plus the mysterious Min Joon." - this too.

I agree so much a simple "like" wasn't enough. :D

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LOL! Thanks, Double Like!!!

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Hmmm...

I know I'm supposed to feel bad for them... but I don't. I don't know whether it's the pacing or the style they're doing it in that makes everything feel fake or if it's their dialogue. That's not how people talk...

Also, even though I said that the acting is good. In this episode, it felt like everyone was acting... if that makes any sense. It didn't feel like Kang-Woo was grieving but Ji-Tae was grieving. Everything felt so forced, the only actress that really nailed the grieving scene was the lady who gave Kang-Woo's family the plane tickets.

I feel like this show is trying to be too slick while balancing the emotional side of it and it's coming off as fake and doesn't make me root or sympathize with these characters. Also I don't understand how Kang-Woo formed Mad Dog, why everyone has sworn loyalty to him. What makes him so different from the others?

This sucks because this director's last drama Awl was a masterpiece.

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I agree with you, I didn't care about the tragic crash, i wish they chose another incident, a plane crashing because of a depressed pilot is ridiculous, why every hero motivation in dramaland has to be a dead wife or a dead family member, it's overused cliche, can't just ne his sense of justice!
I am with you about the team how did he know the two men he's working with! i will asume it's during one of his investigation if the writer didn't exceplain that part.

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Episode 2 was absolutely heartbreaking. Heartbreaking to the levels of Leverage's intro episode (his son dying because his insurance firm refused to fund the experimental medical procedure that would have saved his life). I love it because Kang-Woo's reasons for turning into this world of capturing insurance fraudsters is more personal and in a way stronger than Jung-do's (Police unit 38), especially because something tells me that the big bad will probably be the one who had something to do with that crash. Min-Joon's brother was crying when he crashed the plane and Min-joon's flashback scene to their last conversation showed a man who was trying to forge a relationship with his baby brother, and who was in a way saying goodbye. There's just something sad about that memory, juxtaposed with his brother's expression seconds before the plane crashed that just gets me. But yeah, Min-joon will more than have to work to get Mad Dog to trust him. We've seen the lengths Kang-woo would go to for his team, the level of care and concern (and that was just for one man. Imagine what he's done for each of them to be willing to follow him headlong into a world of crime. And you know he probably tried to send them off and do it alone but they wouldn't budge) he has for them and that they have for him in turn. That level of loyalty is earned and I am very interested in them making sure that Min-Joon works to earn it. But I hope it happens quickly because Mad Dog as we have seen is already formidable in itself, but they will become even more ferocious with Min-joon on their team and I can't wait!

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I find Kang Woo's crusade very similar to that of Oh Gu-tak's in Bad Guys as both went through a very traumatic and soul crushing tragedy. I was planning to drop this drama after the first episode but decided to give the second one another try and now I'm hooked. YJT is such a talented actor that he is able to convey a lot of emotions without having to say anything.

Min-joon is more like PU38's Jung-do to me, albeit on the quirkier but darker side. I'm guessing that his brother may have been manipulated into crashing the plane, which is why he probably wants to work with Kang Woo.

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I like your comparison with Jung Do from Police Unit. I had the same feeling

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Oxygen masks come down

Traditional in TV & movies. It's almost like you can't crash without masks coming down.

But why? Aren't they supposed to deploy (only) when the cabin loses pressure?? I don't see how flying down too steeply should make them come down. It's not like the plane broke up at high altitude.

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A sudden drop in altitude would cause a change in cabin pressure.

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Min Joon saying "Let's bet our family" absolutely breaks my heart BECAUSE HE DAMN WELL KNOWS THEY BOTH DONT HAVE A FAMILY.

I went into this show expecting laughs, action and spy-esque scenes. I didn't expect to be crying my heart out multiple times.

Choosing to show the backstory in the second episode instead of the first is a very neat tactic. It gets viewers invested in the first episode since we're dropped in the middle of the action. But at the same time we get to know more about our characters. I haven't been this excited for a show since Lookout so I can't wait to see how the rest of the episodes play out.

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I don't know... I just feel like the next episode needs to open with Kang Woo beating the s*** of of Min-joon. Nothing else makes sense in this situation except for physical violence.

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LOL. I think that while Min Joon may be joining the good guys, a major ass-kicking seems to be in order nonetheless.

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Thank you, Regals, for your recap and commentary. I believe this is the first time I've had the pleasure of reading one of your recaps. ;-)

MAD DOG kept up its rapid pace in episode 2. Choi Kang-woo's family tragedy, like Park Jae-soo's, was too sad for words. I honestly did not foresee a connection between his family and that of his young frenemy/nemesis, Kim Min-joon. The latter is aka Jan Gebauer after he was adopted at the age of 7 and presumably grew up in Germany. Fire up the Birth Secret(s) and Long-Lost Siblings tropes. Now I expect that the two investigators and their colleagues will join forces to unravel the reason for hyung Kim Beom-joon's flying the airliner into the ground. Was he depressed, blackmailed, or otherwise manipulated?

Smoldering Question: How, where, and when did Min-joon meet up with his hyung the pilot?

Scammer/murderer Go Jin-chul continued to be a frightful piece of work as he stopped his car on a sharp bend and positioned it to straddle the center line, thereby ensuring that his pursuer would T-bone the passenger side of the car. He thought of everything, including how to pin the blame on examiner trainee Park Jae-soo.

In keeping with the Kdrama Highway Safety Administration's iron-clad policy, not a single airbag or side curtain deployed in the three autos involved in the accident on the blind curve. ;-)

Juhan Airlines Vice President Joo Hyun-gi's facial gymnastics made me think he was having a stroke or becoming demented at the meeting with crash victims' relatives. Or maybe possessed. When he was riding in the limo earlier with Taeyang Insurance Director Cha Hong-joo, I concluded that her company is the insurer of record for the airline. My antennae immediately twitched at potential collusion occurring between the two companies, perhaps at the highest levels.

I'm enjoying the show as it unfolds. The degree of tension is bearable for me, and so far the gore is not distressing.

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I've noticed that when the plot calls for it, air bags never go off, no matter how new and well-maintained the car happens to be.

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I'm convinced that airbags and side curtains do not deploy for two reasons:

(1) obstruction of the view into the cabin,

(2) the cost of replacing airbags that have deployed (and the resulting spurious records of a vehicle's having been involved in an accident.

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For now, I like this drama. Like all the ensemble cast.

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I'm one of the minority that finds Min Joo more interesting than Kang Woo. All these emotional stuff is getting tiring and draggy. Wish they'd hurry up and start with the action.

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Didn't expect bro to do that though, the moment he let goes of the handle 'WOAH'. How can someone risk hundreds of lives for the sake money? I've only seen those fake neck pain in dramaland but not to this extent. Damn, insurance when used in horrible ways can be scary.

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