Diary of a Prosecutor: Episode 3

by quirkycase

A crisis hits our team this hour, sending everyone panicking. Each person involved feels responsible in their own way, wondering if a different course of action could have changed the unfortunate outcome. But it’s not always that simple. There’s never only one side to a story, and viewed from another’s perspective, the situation can look quite different.

 
EPISODE 3

Ambulance sirens blare. We see Jung-hwan carrying an unconscious elderly woman on his back through the office with everyone in tow. Seon-woong narrates that during times of crisis, everyone wonders where to place the blame. Outside, they load the woman onto the ambulance.

Seon-woong contemplates whether the incident happened due to the tension between him and Myung-joo. They’re in a tenuous truce since their blowup days earlier, but it’s clear neither has put it behind them. “Part 1: Prosecutor Lee’s War and Peace” flashes on the screen.

Over a peaceful lunch, Myung-joo suddenly suggests Jung-woo move to her office, which Seon-woong takes as an act of war. Jung-woo preens as they fight over him and quickly jumps ship to Myung-joo despite Seon-woong’s look of betrayal.

Jong-hak pulls Seon-woong aside and asks him to be more understanding. Sure, Myung-joo’s full of herself, but that’s just who she is. Thanks to their constant tension, Jong-hak has even started taking medicine again.

When Seon-woong gets back, a chipper Jung-woo is packing since Myung-joo wants him to come right away. Jung-woo momentarily pauses when Seon-woong gets irritated over him leaving so soon, but he happily resumes when Seon-woong sighs and tells him to go.

A woman comes in with a screaming baby (who oddly keeps yelling “mom”) right as Myung-joo comes to collect Jung-woo. Seon-woong holds Jung-woo hostage, though, since he’s the one who handled the woman’s case originally. Amid the baby’s screams, the woman begs for them to lower the amount of the fine—that’s an entire month of her husband’s salary.

Myung-joo comes up and starts asking about the wailing child. She doesn’t resemble her mom at all. What’s her name? How old is she?

In private, Myung-joo tells Seon-woong that woman probably isn’t the baby’s mom. She hasn’t referred to the baby by name once and can’t get her to stop crying. She probably just borrowed a baby to earn sympathy. Wait, so does that mean someone just rented out their baby?

Even if that’s true, Seon-woong thinks they should let things slide since she’s obviously desperate. Myung-joo counters they only have her word for it—maybe things aren’t that bad. Myung-joo leaves, gesturing for Jung-woo to follow.

As he’s walking the woman out, Seon-woong passes the protester whose case was transferred, but the man doesn’t acknowledge him and goes straight to Myung-joo’s office bearing gifts. Seon-woong heads back to his office to see staff packing up Jung-woo’s computer.

At the general meeting, Chief Kim is impressed with how effective Myung-joo has been in dealing with unsolved cases for Team 2. He mentions an official who’s been accused of tax evasion or stock fraud and is doubly impressed when Myung-joo already has a report prepared. He throws Seon-woong a haughty better-luck-next-time look.

In the elevator, Seon-woong decides to offer an olive branch and invite Myung-joo to join them for dinner on him. Jung-woo has on odd, uncomfortable look as he boards the elevator with the elderly woman (from the opening scene). Myung-joo waits until everyone gets off the elevator to refuse the invitation and makes Jung-woo and the elderly woman go back upstairs with her.

At dinner, Jong-hak plays peacekeeper since Yoon-jin and Seon-woong are both fed up with Myung-joo. Seon-woong declares this is now the second time she’s refused a meal from him. It’s war.

We’re back at the opening scene where the elderly woman is rushed to the ambulance. Seon-woong and company run up as they’re returning from dinner. Jong-hak collapses due to stomach pain and “Part 2: Prosecutor Hong’s Story” starts.

The morning prior, Min-ho had called Jong-hak to his office to berate him for not managing Seon-woong and Myung-joo better. He’s the most senior prosecutor, after all. But he emphasizes how important Jong-hak is to him, even bursting into song (a school anthem, I’m guessing), and Jong-hak is forced to join in. Outside Min-ho’s office, he grabs his stomach in pain.

Stage two of his cramps started at the lunch where Myung-joo had poached Jung-woo. The third was caused by listening to two women fight over their sons in his office. And stage four had started as a result of Min-ho getting on his case about Seon-woong and Myung-joo again, telling him he’s responsible for anything that goes wrong while he’s at the main office.

In his office, Jong-hak vents his frustrations regarding Seon-woong and Myung-joo to the empty room. Of course, that’s when Seon-woong enters and catches him scolding thin air.

Jong-hak entered stage five at dinner when Seon-woong declared war. Seeing the unconscious woman and recalling Min-ho’s words that he was responsible for anything going wrong while he was away was the final straw that led to his collapse.

Seon-woong narrates that it was probably Jung-woo who went through the most emotionally, though. And with that we head to “Part 3: Prosecutor Kim’s Lucky Day.”

For Jung-woo, the day prior to the incident was one of those days where everything goes right. In the office, he oh-so-casually places his phone on the desk near Man-ok who oohs and aahs over the hot flight attendant he has a date with that night. Seon-woong interrupts to scold him for not working but then caves and asks to see the photo (even Mi-ran sneaks a peak). Disbelievingly, Seon-woong asks, “With you?!” Ha.

Later, Jung-woo successfully gets a real estate agent to rightfully return a tenant’s rent deposit by getting authoritative, to everyone’s shock. He threatens to indict if the money isn’t returned. “I’m a rookie, so I can be reckless.” Jung-woo glances at Seon-woong who is looking on like a proud parent.

Jung-woo’s day gets even better when Myung-joo calls him a “competent junior” prosecutor over lunch. He can barely contain his excitement as he moves to her office. On top of the world and munching on an apple, the wall calendar catches his eye. They have a 5:00 PM interview, which does not bode well for his hot date.

When they receive a text about Chief Kim calling a meeting that evening, Myung-joo guesses it’s about the Seoul prosecutor who was caught manipulating stock prices. She asks Jung-woo to look into cases of stock donation and tax evasion by Jinyeong officials and tells him to stay behind to handle the 5 o’clock interview.

He hasn’t read the case files yet, but his worries evaporate when she calls him smart, saying she trusts him to figure it out. She certainly knows how to manage him. Jung-woo reasons if he can finish the interview within an hour, he’ll still make it to his date on time.

To Jung-woo’s delight, the interviewee happens to arrive early, so he finishes with time to spare. He leaves a note for Myung-joo and spritzes himself (with a whole lot of shoulder action) on his way out. Ha! Mi-ran’s face.

With his hand on the doorknob, the elderly woman walks in, crying. Seon-woong recaps her life story for us. Her husband died young, leaving her to raise their troublemaker son. He’d finally learned to be responsible, got married and had a steady job.

The woman explains to Jung-woo that she agreed to put her name on a loan for her son’s friend, and now she’s being summoned by the prosecution. She cries that her son bought her a trip abroad, but she can’t go since she isn’t allowed to leave the country. Mi-ran wordlessly drops a huge pile of documents on Jung-woo’s desk.

After quickly considering the possibilities, Jung-woo allows the woman to go on the trip, thinking she’s not a flight risk. But he emphasizes she must come when they summon her. The elderly woman agrees and thanks him profusely.

On his way to his date, he runs into everyone in the elevator. When Myung-joo enquires about the woman, he vaguely says she’s planning to travel abroad. Looking thoughtful, Myung-joo turns down dinner and drags Jung-woo and the woman (who now looks uneasy) back to her office.

“Part 4: Jung Bok-rye’s Criminal Disguise.” Seon-woong narrates that like a cone snail, Jung Bok-rye may look harmless, but she’s deadly. She conducts high-dollar fraud by trade and has the power to bankrupt small businesses. Her operation involves setting up a puppet CEO and buying out small but dependable distribution companies.

She starts by building trust and then strikes by faking a large order of products worth millions. She then sends her people to collect the order and vanishes with the merchandise. Naturally, the company that sold the products never gets paid and realizes they were conned.

But no one manages to catch her. All the prosecution can do is put out an APB and a stay of indictment which is then archived.

Jung Bok-rye informs her minions she needs go abroad for a meeting. They worry she’ll be caught if she tries to leave, but she assures them there’s a way around it. Two hours later, she shows up to the prosecution office in her cute grandma disguise.

Since it’s a Friday evening, most prosecutors will have rushed out. Only the newbie prosecutor is in the office. Everything goes according to plan. That is, until Myung-joo gets suspicious and calls her back in.

“Part 5: Prosecutor Cha’s Ups and Downs.” In her office, Myung-joo sits down to go over the case. Glancing through the pile of documents, she asks Jung-hwan to order food since this will take a while. Bok-rye’s appeals to Myung-joo’s sympathies have no effect.

Myung-joo sees something concerning in the prosecution database. Multiple prosecution offices throughout the country have suspended prosecution, so she quietly asks Jung-hwan to call them for info. She can barely hold in her smile when she realizes that means this woman is a con artist on a national scale.

Choral music plays as Myung-joo basks in the splendor of a case with this kind of import hidden among the plethora dull unsolved cases. She could personally hold a briefing or even get named Prosecutor of the Year. She might even shed a happy tear as she drives away from Jinyeong and returns to Seoul.

Bok-rye asks to see a doctor as she claims to feel nauseous and have cold sweats. When Myung-joo tells her to sit back down, Bok-rye says she has a heart problem and hands her an old medical certificate. Assuming it’s fake, Myung-joo isn’t swayed.

As Bok-rye stumbles to get water, clutching her chest, she pleads for an ambulance and drops to the ground. They all assume she’s acting, and Jung-hwan goes to pick her up. When he turns her over, she’s frothing at the mouth and seizing. Mi-ran acts fast and calls an ambulance while Myung-joo stares in shock.

We’re back to the opening scene again with Jung-hwan piggybacking Bok-rye outside. Min-ho gets back from the main office and runs up as the ambulance pulls in. Chief Kim demands answers from a shell-shocked Myung-joo who almost passes out. She is well-aware that she’ll get publicly blamed for this. If Bok-rye dies, everything is over.

Seon-woong senses something off and… starts sniffing the air? He yells out, “Just a minute!” and stops them from shutting the ambulance door. He narrates that people’s sense of smell are different. He happens to love the scent of detergent.

Inside the ambulance, Seon-woong tells Bok-rye to go ahead and get up now. “When should I add the fabric softener?” Ha. Realizing the jig is up, she gives him a dirty look and rises, perfectly fine. Chief Kim gives Seon-woong a thumbs up and Min-ho laughs.

Bok-rye had made a detergent pill that foams when it comes into contact with water. In the office, Seon-woong smiles and gestures to Myung-joo as they mix the pill in water and watch it foam.

Bok-rye is sent to prison, and Myung-joo gets her name on the front page of the local newspaper. Despite his best efforts, Jung-woo never made it to his date. Seon-woong narrates that many prosecutors shed tears over this case.

At a team meeting, Min-ho is on cloud nine, praising both Myung-joo and Seon-woong as his aces. Somehow his picture was used in the paper rather than Myung-joo’s which he apologizes for, although he doesn’t look particularly sorry. The rest of the team fishes for flattery from Min-ho asking what about them? He calls Yoon-jin the Queen and Jong-hak the Joker.

On his walk home, Seon-woong sees Myung-joo eating ramen outside a convenience store. He buys them both beer and sits. He asks if it isn’t difficult having three times the workload of everyone else, but she claims it’s manageable. Seon-woong suggests splitting the work—he feels bad drinking beer while a colleague stays late working. She tells him to enjoy his beer and gets up.

Seon-woong stops her to say he was too harsh before. She smiles. He’s not giving up on his war already, is he? Even if he didn’t declare war directly, it was clear from the time he flaunted that carpenter’s ruler as if to say, “I have something you don’t.”

He blinks in confusion, making Myung-joo ask in disbelief if he really just uses it as a bottle opener. He finally gets what she’s talking about, but she gives him no time to respond. Although it was a childish move, it did make her wonder if he was worthy of the ruler and if he’s the type who’d just use it to open bottles. “Well, I guess I’ll soon find out.”

Myung-joo heads back to the office, leaving Seon-woong baffled and indignant. Myung-joo suddenly turns back to say, “Oh, right. The detergent… thank you. Isn’t that why you stopped to talk to me?” Seon-woong stares after her, lost for words, and scoffs.

Min-ho frames the newspaper article with his picture and sits admiring it. He remembers going to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor’s officer earlier and seeing the carpenter’s ruler in a glass case. Well, that seems excessive.

Prosecutor Nam explains to Min-ho (who went to a different university) that this is the famed ruler Professor Park gives to his prized pupils. He rarely ever gives it out; sometimes he goes years between giftings.

Min-ho recognizes it as the one Seon-woong had and wonders how he got it. Meanwhile, Seon-woong sits in his office, holding the infamous ruler.

Epilogue

We flash back to when Seon-woong had run into Myung-joo in a coffee shop. The woman at the counter had asked if she wanted a membership card. Myung-joo had responded, “It’s okay. I won’t be around here much longer.”

After she left, Seon-woong had asked for the most expensive drink and told the employee he and the woman who just left are colleagues. “So, can I get a stamp for her drink?” Pfft.

 
COMMENTS

The seriousness, even reverence, with which everyone talks about that ruler cracks me up. But even though I find it a bit ridiculous, I’m genuinely curious how Seon-woong ended up with it. Is it really that strange that he received it? In a time where most dramas integrate a life-or-death mystery in the plot, it’s kind of refreshing for the mystery element to be how someone received the Ruler of Acknowledgment.

I think it’s safe to say at this point that this really is a character-driven drama without a strong plot. It’s more of a day-in-the-life kind of thing where we get to watch the inner workings of a single office, which I’m actually finding pretty interesting. There’s no big case tied to a lead’s traumatic backstory or a glamorized portrayal of office life—it’s just a bunch of people doing their jobs. It might not be everyone’s cup of low-key tea, but I’m enjoying it.

One of the things I like is that it’s truly an ensemble drama. Even though the focus is primarily on Seon-woong and Myung-joo, the other prosecutors aren’t there simply as sidekicks or to support them in their journey. They each have their own roles and well-defined personalities, which I appreciate.

The theme of the day was responsibility. It was interesting to explore that through a single event replayed from various perspectives, showing how each piece came together to influence the outcome. Each person had a reason to blame themselves. Seon-woong blamed his self-declared war on Myung-joo, Myung-joo blamed her own carelessness, Jung-woo blamed his selfishness, Jong-hak blamed his inability to manage things and Min-ho… yeah, I think he just shifted blame onto Jong-hak. No one had the full picture, especially since they were all played anyway.

This episode made me see Min-ho in a different, less flattering light. When it’s positive, he’s just dying to take credit and praise his underlings. When it’s negative, he foists responsibility onto others. Poor Jong-hak had no idea how to manage Myung-joo and Seon-woong, which Min-ho could see, but he didn’t step in. Additionally, from the look he gave Jong-hak by the ambulance, he seemed to blame him for that incident too without any idea what was going on. Not what I’d call a quality superior.

As for Myung-joo and Seon-woong, I like that they both have their flaws. Neither is unequivocally right or “good.” She can be condescending, and he can be petty. But neither seem like “bad” people—they’re just different. If they would put in the effort to understand each other better, they could potentially make a great team. They’re both smart and competent, and their different perspectives complement each other. If only they could each get past their own need to be right and learn to compromise. Because war… what is it good for?

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Diary of a Prosecutor, Black Dog
• Different approaches to justice in Diary of a Prosecutor
• Jung Ryeo-won, Lee Seon-kyun take a stand in new teaser for Diary of a Prosecutor
• First script read for slice-of-life legal drama Diary of a Prosecutor
• Lee Seon-kyun, Jung Ryeo-won to co-star in new JTBC drama Prosecutor’s War