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Forest of Secrets 2: Episode 15

Now that our missing prosecutor has been found, our lead turns his attention to the shady behavior of his colleagues and the mysterious Kwang-soo case. He and his partner in crime (solving) are determined to get to the bottom of it all, but what they find puts them in a predicament. Can they handle the cost of exposing the truth?

EPISODE 15

Tae-ha meets with Yeon-jae at her secret residence, and she informs him he’s now one of her people. What’s his price for helping with the lawsuit? Tae-ha isn’t looking for money and observes that they’ve already lost a lot of time. She’s confused by his talking like he was involved back then, so he clarifies: he organized the meeting for Kwang-soo, his childhood friend. And he was planning the next steps, too.

Yeon-jae laughs when he admits he didn’t do it for money – he wants to go into politics. Kwang-soo asked to meet with him right after Tae-ha had learned he’d be leading the investigative authority charge which he deemed a lost cause. He saw Hanjo as his way forward.

Yeon-jae isn’t opposed to sponsoring him and plans to acquire Sung-jae’s assets to pay the bills. But she needs ammunition. Tae-ha correctly guesses she wants to make sure Sung-jae doesn’t pay his fines. Yeon-jae needs the Eastern Office and the National Police Agency out of the way.

She tells him they’ll meet at this residence from now on and asks one last question. Why did they fight, and why did he die like that? Tae-ha admits he left early that day because he and Kwang-soo argued, but he had no idea he’d never see him again. He assures Yeon-jae it’s all over, and Shi-mok will be busy with the committee now. She doesn’t look particularly reassured.

On the drive back, Tae-ha gets a call from Sa-hyun telling him to turn on the radio. Director Shin is giving a press briefing about how the prosecution framed the police using Ki-hyuk. He’s barely concealing his glee as he accuses the Criminal Legislation Division of orchestrating it.

In voiceover, Yeo-jin wonders which prosecutor it is, and Chief Choi responds whether it’s Tae-ha or Sa-hyun, they’ve won the investigative authority fight. Director Shin publicly challenges that their warrant for Ki-hyuk should be granted if the prosecution is truly innocent.

The Criminal Legislation Division releases a rebuttal statement wherein Sa-hyun tries to redirect attention to the possibility that Ki-hyuk is acting from a personal grudge. Tae-ha expresses disappointment in Director Shin for peddling the lies, all but calling him unfit for his position.

The prosecution denies the warrant, sparking more debate in the news about the accusations. Director Shin angrily orders Chief Choi to get dirt on Tae-ha and Sa-hyun. She looks conflicted, thinking back to that night when Tae-ha had panicked about not reporting “it” right away.

Things are tense at the Supreme Office where Shi-mok stashes a warrant in his desk before their meeting. Shi-mok is distracted during the meeting as he recalls his interrogation of Ki-hyuk and the shady behaviors of Sa-hyun and Tae-ha.

Tae-ha is still adamant that cannot lose their investigative authority rights, but there won’t be a third council meeting. Shi-mok updates them that Yongsan let Ki-hyuk go and is hoping he’ll contact his backer. Sa-hyun scoffs he’d be an idiot to do that.

Shi-mok counters that it shouldn’t matter, seeing as he doesn’t have anyone to contact, right? Like Sa-hyun speculated, he could be holding a grudge against a cop. Then again, how would he have known that very cop was being accused of the crime when Joong-gi’s identity wasn’t made public?

As is his specialty, Shi-mok ratchets up the tension when he bluntly states that Ki-hyuk was charged by Sa-hyun’s division in 2017. Sa-hyun argues it’s not like he can remember every case he’s ever had. He admits he doesn’t believe Ki-hyuk was acting on a personal grudge and is angered by Tae-ha’s calm. They need to find out who sullied the prosecution like this!

Tae-ha replies that if someone dirtied their hands as a last-ditch effort for the prosecution, he’s thankful. Sa-hyun scoffs at his referring to that person as a “hero” and asks Shi-mok to give them the room. Shi-mok retrieves the warrant from his desk and leaves.

Inside the office, Sa-hyun says that Dong-jae would be dead if the Segok cop had been framed according to Tae-ha’s plan. Ooh. Dong-jae would be dead, and an innocent man would be charged. He impassionedly argues that Shi-mok is the one deserving of thanks, not that “hero” who disgraced the prosecution. Well, this has taken an interesting turn.

If Shi-mok hadn’t caught Ki-hyuk, Tae-ha could have become a murderer, and two families would have been destroyed. Tae-ha argues that “someone” probably was worried and selflessly seized a rare opportunity despite knowing it could backfire.

When Tae-ha says no one died, as if that means no harm done, Sa-hyun storms out. He notices Shi-mok is missing and scoffs when the assistant informs him he went to the bank.

At the bank, Shi-mok requests Kwang-soo’s bank records. Ah, so that’s what the warrant was for. Shi-mok thinks back to all the times Tae-ha tried to discourage him from looking into the Kwang-soo case.

In a flashback, Shi-mok visits Kwang-soo’s wife again. She nervously denies that someone warned her before Shi-mok visited last time. Shi-mok guesses she didn’t trust Tae-ha, which is why she sent him to Kwang-soo’s former secretary. He reveals he doesn’t trust Tae-ha either, so she asks what he wants to know.

Presently, Shi-mok sends a photo of Kwang-soo’s bank statement to Yeo-jin. Two days before his death, Kwang-soo transferred 2 million won apiece to three women. Yeo-jin notes this feels familiar.

Shi-mok and Yeo-jin surreptitiously text back and forth, deciding they should look up the women. But thanks to the mood in both of their offices, they’ll have to be careful. Ha, she signs off with this goofy sticker that leaves him confused.

Later, Yeo-jin visits the club where all three women worked and gets the manager to admit that she sent them to Namyangju at the request of Kwang-soo. Shi-mok talks to one of the women and shows her pictures of Kwang-soo and Tae-ha. She claims she hasn’t seen Tae-ha since that night.

He calls Yeo-jin who repeats aloud for the manager’s benefit that one woman admitted her manager sent them to Namyangju. The manager slips up and says that she heard about what happened to Kwang-soo from the girls.

The woman tells Shi-mok that Kwang-soo received them at some vacation villa, and Tae-ha arrived later. When she says a third person showed up after that, Shi-mok shows her a picture of Sa-hyun. She shakes her head.

She mentions they were only there briefly, but it wasn’t because their service wasn’t enjoyed; Tae-ha was particularly handsy. She hesitates to answer Shi-mok’s question about Kwang-soo’s condition that night but decides to answer since it isn’t specifically what they were told not to talk about.

We flash back to that night. Kwang-soo had suddenly dropped his glass and fallen unconscious. The girls were terrified as Tae-ha checked for a pulse. It happened quick – Kwang-soo died less than a minute after asking for an antacid. They were all surprised to see the false news about his death the next day.

That night, Tae-ha drove Kwang-soo’s car, careful to not leave fingerprints. He’d even used Kwang-soo’s finger to dial emergency services from Kwang-soo’s own phone and deleted the villa’s address from his GPS.

Yeo-jin relays to Shi-mok that one woman remembers Tae-ha ordering them to clean thoroughly. Seeing as he had them clean and then had someone drive them away, Tae-ha must not have originally intended to move the body. But who was the third person who drove the women?

Shi-mok asks Yeo-jin to send him someone who’s never seen Tae-ha before. In the office parking garage, he takes of photo of Tae-ha’s license plate. He then confronts Tae-ha in his office, asking if Kwang-soo had time to tell him the meeting was about Hanjo before he died.

He shares that he’s already got confirmation that Tae-ha was at the villa that night with “busy hands.” Tae-ha grits out that Shi-mok should be grateful he hasn’t fired him. When Shi-mok continues that he and his companions are facing prostitution charges, Tae-ha has a tantrum and starts throwing stuff.

Shi-mok also accuses him of abandoning a corpse, but Tae-ha insists it wasn’t him. In the face of Shi-mok’s calm, unrelenting accusations, Tae-ha says he gets why Chang-joon died. Did he push him to the edge by accusing him like this?

Tae-ha says he didn’t kill him – Kwang-soo just happened to die in front of him. Shi-mok doesn’t see how he can claim innocence since he shouldn’t have been in attendance in the first place. Tae-ha yells that anyone would have done what he did.

Shi-mok isn’t about to let him pull that. He’s a prosecutor, so he has a duty regardless of what “anyone” else would do. Did Kwang-soo’s body walk itself to that spot and dial 119?

Tae-ha keeps yelling that it wasn’t him, but his eyes widen when Shi-mok asks who the third person was. We flash back to Tae-ha talking to another man at the villa: Director Kim. Oooh. He’d told Tae-ha to wait there while he drove the girls away.

In the present, Tae-ha sighs in defeat and gives Director Kim’s name. Shi-mok says he’ll officially investigate and charge those responsible. From his office, Sa-hyun watches Shi-mok leave as Tae-ha yells after him. He seems to be putting things together, recalling Tae-ha getting weird about a vacation home and Hanjo.

While Shi-mok calls Yeo-jin to share the most recent developments, Tae-ha unlocks a folder on his computer and pulls up the personal info on the three women. After copying down one of their numbers, he goes to visit the deputy prosecutor general to report that someone in his division found out about Kwang-soo.

The deputy prosecutor general is remarkably unconcerned and casually tells him to transfer or fire Shi-mok. He chides Tae-ha for not handling things better and instructs him to ensure that everyone keeps quiet.

Meanwhile, Shi-mok and Yeo-jin visit Director Kim at the prison, and he claims he didn’t participate in or know about Tae-ha moving the body. Yes, he went there and regrets it, but he left with the girls. He couldn’t bring himself to go back to the villa and immediately returned to Seoul.

Then who drove Tae-ha’s car that night while Tae-ha drove Kwang-soo’s? It was too far to walk back to the villa, so there had to be a second driver. Director Kim maintains that he didn’t go back, but Shi-mok says Tae-ha is claiming Director Kim is the one who called 119.

Director Kim angrily denies it and claims he only found out about the body later. Shi-mok can’t imagine Tae-ha telling him and speculates there was yet another person involved. Director Kim reiterates that he did nothing wrong that day, but he did ask a subordinate to go and take care of things.

Clearly affected, Yeo-jin asks, “Was it my chief?” He confirms it. She asks if this why Chief Choi got promoted to her current position. He thinks it only natural that she was promoted in that situation.

Yeo-jin blinks back tears as she recalls Chief Choi telling her that she knows nothing about what it’s like to get dragged into something and then asking if Yeo-jin would stand by and watch her be taken away. Shi-mok looks over at Yeo-jin concernedly.

As they’re leaving, Shi-mok and Yeo-jin both get a text from Tae-ha ordering them to come to his office. The office is empty save for Tae-ha when they arrive. He takes their phones and shuts them in his desk before beginning.

Tae-ha gets straight to the point. He threatens to turn Yeo-jin into a corrupt cop and indict her for covering up for Assemblyman Nam’s son. Even if he loses his job, he can destroy her. “Are you happy now, Prosecutor Hwang?”

Tae-ha says he’s only trying to protect Chief Choi who was dragged into this because her boss ran away. Chief Choi is the one who suggested moving the body and using Kwang-soo’s phone to call emergency services.

Shi-mok asks if he’s trying to get revenge on Director Kim. Is that why he got him arrested? Tae-ha argues he’s guilty anyway. Addressing Yeo-jin, Tae-ha asks if she has to bring Chief Choi into this. Yeo-jin asks if Chief Choi agreed to what he’s doing now, but he doesn’t really answer. Doesn’t she want to protect her boss?

Shi-mok can protect Yeo-jin, Yeo-jin can protect Chief Choi, and he’ll protect himself. All they need to do is keep quiet. There’s no reason to ruin people’s lives over such a minor thing. He’ll be fine even if they get him fired. But he can ruin the two of them.

He returns their phones, and Shi-mok asks if he was worried he’d be recorded if had the conversation via phone call. Shi-mok pulls up a photo of Tae-ha and one of the women in his car. He and Yeo-jin had Soon-chang and another officer follow Tae-ha and snap the photos (and take video).

Tae-ha yells at Shi-mok for spying on his colleague, making Yeo-jin scoff at his blustering and wonder how he’s been running things. She and Shi-mok walk out like the badasses they are.

Shi-mok says Tae-ha wasn’t bluffing about indicting her, but Yeo-jin is prepared. She surmises the higher-ups must’ve agreed to transferring Shi-mok since Tae-ha can’t do that without permission.

That night, after having several drinks, Yeo-jin goes to see Chief Choi who’s already met with Tae-ha. Yeo-jin blames herself for keeping quiet about what happened with Assemblyman Nam’s son, giving Tae-ha leverage over her. At the time, she’d thought Chief Choi was right about bending the rules, but she won’t make that mistake again.

Chief Choi says it’s Yeo-jin’s turn now, just like it was her own back then. She can pull Yeo-jin up—”Why?! Why are you doing this, seriously?!” Yeo-jin argues that Chief Choi would’ve earned her position in time, but now she underestimates herself because of how she got there.

Yeo-jin cries as she says, “I never imagined I’d be ruining the career of the first person I sincerely respected after becoming a cop.” Chief Choi realizes Yeo-jin doesn’t know her well and doesn’t believe Yeo-jin will ruin her. Yeo-jin leaves before Chief Choi can disappoint her further.

We flash back to that night when Chief Choi and Tae-ha first realized Director Kim had run off. She’d been the calm one who’d come up with the plan. But she hadn’t been unaffected and had called 119 because she didn’t want to leave Kwang-soo’s body like that.

Now press swarm the villa to report on the sensational story in which a cop and a prosecutor actually cooperated. The coverup of Assemblyman Nam’s son’s drug crimes has also been outed. Director Shin brings Yeo-jin to task for acting without reporting to him. He says he’ll claim the report as false, and Yeo-jin retorts that’s exactly why she acted first.

Meanwhile, Tae-ha frantically prepares a rebuttal statement, and Shi-mok approaches Sa-hyun with a warrant for Tae-ha’s arrest. When Sa-hyun hesitates to sign off on it, Shi-mok marches out to find someone who will. Frustrated, Sa-hyun chases after him.

Elsewhere, Tae-ha enters the press briefing room to find it empty. But Chief Choi’s press briefing is in full attendance.

COMMENTS

Tae-ha is a nasty piece of work, isn’t he? I never trusted him, but he’s turned out to be lower than I expected. I’d hoped there were some lines he wouldn’t cross, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. He’s willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals and save his own skin, even if that means dumping his childhood friend’s body by the roadside and lying about his death. He does seem genuinely concerned about Chief Choi though, but I think when push comes to shove, he’ll always choose himself. And I doubt she’ll have any problem throwing him under the bus if need be. I don’t imagine she’s the type to let sentiment get in the way, and it looks like she already beat him to the punch with that press briefing. Although it doesn’t absolve her, it is messed up that Director Kim involved Chief Choi like that. He had her clean up his mess without even telling her what she was walking into. Her choices are still her own, but I can see how she’d feel trapped in that situation.

I was surprised at how high up the Kwang-soo case goes. What does the deputy prosecutor general have to do with it? With so many people involved, it’s kind of amazing nothing has leaked before now. The police, the prosecution, and Hanjo all have major players in this, and they’ll all likely try to tear each other to shreds. For the police and prosecution, investigative authority hangs in the balance, and we know how seriously they both take that. With this latest scandal, the police’s claim to investigative authority will have weakened. The corruption in both institutions doesn’t make either of them look better suited to having that power, so I guess it could swing either way now.

Another thing that surprised me was that it looks like Sa-hyun had no part in the framing. Everything was pointing to him, but he seemed truly horrified by the idea of it all. I’m glad to see he does have a conscience. His fondness for Shi-mok and flashes of empathy made me hope he wasn’t corrupt – just entitled and sometimes problematic. It’d be nice if he’d back Shi-mok up in all this since Shi-mok could use some support within the prosecution. It probably wouldn’t help much, seeing as this goes so high up, but it’d be better than having no one on his side. I can’t see how Shi-mok will get out of this unscathed unless everyone involved is brought down, and that’s a tall order.

Yeo-jin is the one I’m most concerned about. She had it rough this hour. I’m proud of her for unflinchingly doing what’s right even though it’s costing her. Throughout the season, it’s been obvious that Yeo-jin respects and admires Chief Choi, and that emotional conversation between her and Chief Choi made that even clearer. Yeo-jin has been beaten down by the corruptness within the system over the past few years, and now the one person she looked to has turned out to be no different than the rest. All that’s bad enough, but both she and Shi-mok have more to worry about than just the discomfort of their situations. Their jobs are endangered, and in Yeo-jin’s case, much more than that. Since Shi-mok is a part of the prosecution, Tae-ha (and his superiors) will probably want to handle him quietly to avoid any public disgrace, but with Yeo-jin, there’s no reason to hold back. If Tae-ha has his way, she could even be charged and possibly imprisoned.

This season has really shown the way a single bad decision can snowball. That one meeting about helping Hanjo under the table has had such incredible consequences for a host of people. And in order to protect themselves, the unethical decisions just pile up. Even though the decisions are individual, the system allows for this corruption to go unchecked. Rooting out the corruption isn’t only about ridding the institutions of those abusing their power but changing the system that breeds and nurtures that abuse of power. Unfortunately, there’s no easy fix for that – it takes lots of time and effort. But so long as there are people like Shi-mok and Yeo-jin who stand their ground, there’s hope.

While we did get a lot of answers this hour, there’s still a lot to cover. We were so busy with all the corruption that we didn’t even touch on Dong-jae this episode. He’s clearly still alive, but I’m guessing his condition hasn’t improved. Between dealing with the fallout from our interconnected cases, the investigatory authority debacle, Hanjo, and Dong-jae, it looks like we’ll have a packed finale.

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I take back everything I said about the Choi/Woo relationship. They are nothing like Yeo-jin and Shi-mok. While YJ and SM came together in their pursuit of truth, it looks like Choi and Woo's connection was formed in secrecy and corruption. More importantly, they barely knew or understood each other at all. It's a nice touch that even a venal person like Woo seemed to genuinely appreciate Choi's character and capabilities, but unlike YJ he did so for all the wrong reasons, i.e. only because she cleaned up after him. As for Choi, I don't think she ever suspected that his notions of right and wrong were so much more elastic than hers. And like many capable women, she seems to have accepted that cleaning up after others (her bosses, her kids, even YJ's beer cans in this ep) is her main job. Maybe her connection with Woo was partly built on his taking her a bit less for granted than everybody else.

It;s entirely in keeping with the rest of Season 2 that Woo has turned out to be such a banal man. He doesn't plan nefarious deeds way in advance, or even think he is doing anything nefarious; he just believes that if something comes his way then he has every right to exploit it to the hilt - like using Dong-jae's kidnapping in the police-prosecution battle, or acquiring a Hanjo connection while ostensibly updating Lee Yeon-jae about the case. Guys like him are scarily common, and utterly convinced of their own rightness and superiority.

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Yes Choi and Woo really were the Dark Mirror to our Yeo-jin and Shi-mok. I really appreciate the way the show set up that contrast and executed it. I like the way you referred to Woo - a banal man. Bureaucratic evil is so mundane and so banal and yet so truly evil. He deliberately endangered a fellow prosecutor's life to achieve a philosophical objective and is blatantly setting up a post-law relationship with Hanjo while he goes about it. Truly a piece of gutter trash.

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TaeHa was that kind of bad person that doesn’t seem to be one. He’s the selfish kind, like a little boy who only cares for himself and would do anything to win, the main difference is that the little boy doesn’t know better and he does.
The way he told SaHyun that after all DongJae was alive after all, as it was non important the fact that he was barely alive when he was found!
The world is full of TaeHa thinking that they did nothing wrong with their pettiness because they didn’t kill anyone. Not only killers are the baddies.
And do you know what’s the problem? People like TaeHa never think about what they did wrong, and even more, they can only think of how unfair it is to have been caught.

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Your last sentence is spot on and so beautifully stated. How dare they catch him? He was just protecting the prosecution, at the expense of a prosecutor and a police man, but obviously it was for the greater good. Tae Ha is the worst piece of trash because he knows what he is doing and for him the ends justify the means. Disgusting.

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Some people were disappointed about the antagonist not as smart and charismatic as the previous season but that's the point. There are many like WTH who is sadly holding position of influence in our society. LCJ is one of the kind probably only existing in drama. Some even blamed the actor for not portraying the character the way they expected, the stereotype of the bad guy in kdrama.

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There will only be one Lee Chang-Joon, that's why Woo Tae-ha comparing himself to Lee Chang-Joon felt like a big insult.

"There are many like WTH who is sadly holding position of influence in our society", very true indeed. That's why Choi Moo-sung's acting is spot on I think, no? I wonder why people hate on him.

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Most of the complaints for CMS relate to his diction. It's not exactly the best, especially with LSY's already difficult to comprehend script and compared to his co-stars, the likes of Jo Seung-woo and Yoon Se-ah who are well-known to have excellent diction, his short-comings become blatantly obvious. I still appreciate his performance though and at times I could see flashes of an ugly beast inside what appears to be an inept man. I think that was the intended direction of the character, a fox inside a bear. So he's done quite well in that aspect.

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This right here is why season 2 is even better than season 1. The characters are so real.

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Kasumi, "why season 2 is even better than season 1."
<- I had a hard time getting thru S2, though I thought S1 was really good and recommended it to others, mostly because I thought the interactions between Si Mok and Yeo Jin were so flat and disconnected throughout most of it.
This season lacked the occasional "spark" that relieved the angst in S1.

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I loved YeonJae’s reaction when Woo said he wants to a political career. Her smirk perfectly captured both the banality of the man and the situation.

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Yeonjae's smirks might be their own character at this point

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I love it when she fake-laughs, the way Yoon Se-ah has always done it as Yeon-jae. It's so deliciously condescending. I must give the writer credit for giving all the characters realistic growth from Season 1, including Yeon-jae.

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Choi and Taeha are the epitome of end justifies the means

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I'm happy, I had a good instinct this time :p . I never liked Chief Woo, he never showed us he was an actual good prosecutor and always seemed doing shady things. In the opposite, I thought Sa-Hyun had the usual arrogance from prosecution but he looked professional and honest. I could have hugged him when he said that Shi-Mok was the real hero by finding the true kidnapper and saving Dong Jae. He really looked angry. He reminds me Chief Kang in the first season.

I'm scared for Yeo Jin, she looks tiring to fight against corruption in Police and Prosecution, because she knows these persons and she respected them. Shi-Mok doesn't really care to be the ennemy inside the prosecution (he just wants to do his job), but Yeo-Jin has a big heart and is sensitive and always acting like it doesn't bother her is exhausting her. She needs a hug! A big one!

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I’m enjoying how everyone is trashing the piece of shit that is WTH. My goodness!, I almost entered the screen to punch him.
I hate, hate those people who believe they’re doing the world a good by unfailingly ruining the life of others. Really, I could do with him getting indicted and imprisoned for a few years, cos wth WTH!

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Not sure if I missed something but did Sa-Hyun know Tae-ha was misguiding the police or did he guess?

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Poor Yeojin. Please swaddle her in blankets and give her plenty of cuddles because her confrontation with Bit was so painful to watch.

I still love Bit as a character. She'd just been dragged into things and as mercenary as she is, she is still a victim: there's a lot of parallels to her relationship with Yeojin, grooming and paying special attention to her, to Changjoon and Shimok's relationship before, which was why Shimok seemed so concerned about Yeojin taking that news badly. He understood, more intimately than most, how it felt to have someone he idolised and strove to be like become corrupt.

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“ I still love Bit as a character.” - me too. She’s not a shady but pragmatic person whose doctrine - like so many in her generation - is to follow the bosses’ order and solve/execute as best as she could. This is not to say what she did in the PGS case was right but she was asked without knowing any details to go there and clean up the mess. There are not many HSM or HYJ in this world (although I’m really interested in what those two would do in the circumstances).

I also agreed with the above observation of @kurama that the CB-HYJ’s relationship is more like that of LCJ-HSM in Season 1. CB at least has a conscience (as demonstrated in her decisions to call 911 in the PWS incident and come clean in the finale). Pegging her character as the same with WTH is not fair - there’s a huge difference between the two.

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I love Choi Bit as a character too, but I don’t think about her as a victim, because she’s not. She took her own decision to move the body and then she accepted a huge promotion she knew that came from that favour. She’s not a victim at all. Just think about this: if it had been YeoJin things would have been very different. Exactly like when in S1 she said she couldn’t let go the police abuse. No, Choi Bit has never been a victim.

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When Yeojin asked if CB accepted the promotion because she cleaned up the mess, the Ex director said “Who wouldn’t?” Not an easy decision for most people I think.

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That makes her so human. That’s what I love about her character. I could be her. I don’t know how I would react to a situación like that.

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I don’t see CB as a victim too but a pragmatist. I think she is clear eyed about what she has to do with the potential reward but at the same time, knowing the price she may have to pay down the track. That does come along and undoes everything.

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I disagree. She's a victim not of her own decisions, but of patriarchy. The way she moves and seems so used to cleaning up after men to the point where it's ingrained in her to do so, even if it's a difficult decision to make, shows how the system actively passes over people like her because she had the audacity to be born female. Her conversation with Yeojin about how it'd be for her to climb to her position of power (and also being one of the only women with that kind of power) shows a fundamental imbalance in matters. I won't say she's a victim of the decisions she's made, but like Dongjae, who's forced to climb the ladder despite his lack of credentials just to survive, she's a victim all the same.

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I get what you say, and like most women in the world, she’s a victim of patriarchy. I’m with you that she is a woman. But that doesn’t excuse her and that’s why I love her character.

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Yep! That I agree on, just that I wanted to go in a bit further on why I see her as a victim, but then again, all the characters in this are so compelling and ~fun~ that I don't have to be an apologist

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In this season and in the last season: a lot of the cops and prosecutors are men. Those in higher position are also men. So are the ones in the lower-middle positions (like Dong-jae).

I'm not sure if I agree with Yeo Jin about Chief Choi being able to earn her position in time without having done what she had done. With her ability, she would be thanked for her good work, but not recognized and awarded.

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I said it some previous episodes ago that Choi Bit could actually be a good person in disguise.
Yes, she made the horrible decision of staging the scene, but she also made the “humane” decision of dialing 911 just so the body doesn’t lie there without help. They could have left him on the highway, cold and lonely.
Anyways, that doesn’t absolve her of her crime. It’s just very heartbreaking that the newly breeding unnie relationship with Yeo Jin will be short-lived.

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I have some questions that I don't think are going to be answered in this season which gives me hope for a S3.

1. I'd like to know more about the vacation house meeting that Tae-ha organised. As you say @quirkycase, “one meeting about helping Hanjo under the table has had such incredible consequences for a host of people.” And apparently, this was about a lawsuit. I want to know more about it and what was at stake (or have I missed something?) I have hopes for a showdown between Yeon-jae and her brother.

2.On that note when is Sung-jae ever going to turn up?

3. In a new season, Tae-ha's political ambitions could come into play.

4. It also seemed, if we can believe anything he says, that he never believed in the investigative authority committee at all. Has he been so profoundly cynical all along?

Some random thoughts"
Tae-ha’s rationalisation re the framing of the police for the abduction of DJ took my breath away. So did his nasty comment about why Chang-joon died.

The Director Kim moment was a jaw dropper, also the deputy prosecutor general's lack of concern.

How ironic that YJ's covering up for Assemblyman Nam’s son would come back to bite her. But she dealt with it so well in confronting Choi. As she said, with lots of meaning, it was a mistake she would not make again.

I was puzzled that Tae-ha would be so inept to meet up with one of the women in his car, Had he been making a habit of it?

Just want S3 now

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My memory may fail me but Hanjo wanted PGS to involve in a tax avoidance case. We may finally see the brother LSJ in S3 if there’s one. I’m kind of disappointed that the newspaper owner had limited scenes in this season (who was great in “Life” by the same writer).

I think WTH is done and we’ll never see him again.

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The worst thing is that, for all his ineptness, Woo would have got away with it if Dong-jae hadn't been kidnapped, and SM and YJ weren't been the kind of people that they are. Stuff like that seems to be tolerated in the system as long as it stays out of the public eye, and you don't even need to be a genius to try your hand at it. If DJ hadn't been conked with a brick, I bet he'd have eventually become a member of Woo's Hanjo circle.

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It says something about the system that after he moved the body WTH simply reported it up the line. At that point, what he did was countenanced within the system because it protected the system. He probably made it sound like he acted to stop people knowing that a prosecutor was working with a corporation like Hanjo. But really he was just trying to protect his own backside. And it absolutely worked. His bosses were prepared to cover for him.

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And on and on it goes. It’s so sad that the higher ups care more about the appearance of impropriety than the impropriety itself. If he boss had take WTH to task rather than just worrying about the reputation of the prosecution branch this whole mess could have been avoided.

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Naive of me, I know, but I was shocked when it was revealed that the deputy prosecutor general already knew about Park Gwang-soo. His relaxed attitude suggested to me that he might even be ok with a bit of quiet collusion between prosecution and Hanjo.

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I think the whole Park Gwang-soo and Hanjo alliance can be traced to Season 1. The previous Hanjo Chairman, Yeon-jae's father, and her stepbrother Sung-jae, ran the company in a super dodgy way, with corruption, tax evasion and everything unholy. Then at the end of season 1, the Chairman got arrested and charged by the prosecutors, and Sung-jae was ordered to temporarily lay low to avoid arrest as well. This leaves Yeon-jae the only heir to the corporation, and hence she had to be in charge of the company. But the prosecutors and tax office are still continuously chasing her for unpaid taxes and fines. Now I think in her mind she has two strategies:
1. Hire as many powerful ex-government officials as possible and put them in Hanjo's service, to gain leverage against the prosecutor and tax offices. (This was made clear is an illegal practice in Korea, hence all the secrecy surrounding hiring Park Gwang-soo, and later lawyer Oh Joo-seon)
2. After all the above resources is exhausted, there comes a time when she has no choice but to pay the fines anyway. But rather than paying out of her own pocket, she wants to take control of her brother Sung-jae's assets (from Hanjo's subsidiaries) and use them to pay for the fines so that it does not affect Hanjo HQ's cash flow in any way. She thinks this is fair as the men were the ones who created the mess in the first place, and she's the one who had to clean it up.

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Thanks for this very detailed account of Hanjo's role in the mess. All this time I'd just been vaguely thinking: "Lee Yeon-jae is bribing or at least manipulating all these civil servants so that she can hold on to the Hanjo chairman position", but your explanation demonstrates very clearly that she is as much a part of the problem as people like Woo, if not more. In a nutshell, she believes that the ends justify the means, and her particular circumstances justify the ends

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Thank you for the explanation. I always wonder why while being described very capable, Lee Yeon-jae still tries to hire powerful people to put pressure on the prosecutor office in charge. I, too, would be mad to be asked to pay taxes and fines caused by others.

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Well strictly speaking it's Hanjo not Lee Yeon-jae herself who is being asked to pay. By "paying out of her own pocket", I assume @m3lon4 meant that she has to pay out of Hanjo HQ's pocket since she has taken charge of the company. IMO Hanjo HQ should pay up, since there's no doubt that the company is guilty of many financial irregularities. Just because Lee Yeon-jae has taken over doesn't mean Hanjo should escape punishment. Furthermore, Hanjo being fined will have absolutely no effect on Lee Yeon-jae's personal wealth, which is immense. So Lee Yeon-jae's machinations, IMO, are as unjustified as Woo Tae-ha's.

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Yes I got it. Not what she did is correct. Just that now I understand why she behaved like that, why she would want to use her brother’s money to pay the taxes and fines.

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@bewitched sorry I was just complaining in a very long-winded way that she had no right to be mad about having to pay the fines with Hanjo HQ funds, since it was Hanjo HQ itself, under Lee Yoon-beom, that had incurred the fines.

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Yes I meant paid the fines out of Hanjo HQ's pocket. I think prior to the shareholder meeting that involved Sungmoon Daily's CEO Kim Byung-hyun, YJ mentioned that Hanjo HQ itself doesn't have much money and that's why they can't afford to buy back any shares. The outstanding taxes and fines the tax office is hounding her amount to billions, which can definitely put a dent in Hanjo HQ's cash flow. They'd rather spend a small portion of that money hiring and bribing ex-officials to put an end to the lawsuits than pay it outright to the government. However I think it's also important to put into perspective how much money circulates around when running a Chaebol corporation like Hanjo and its multitude of subsidiaries. So realistically speaking, even when she said "I'm broke", it doesn't mean she'll go bankrupt anytime soon.

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Ah yes, and until you said this, I hadn’t really made the connection/parallel between Choi Bit and Yeon-Jae both stuck in positions of relative power and feeling like it’s because the boys made a mess they now have to clean up. Wow, that is bleak.

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Thanks for this.

Then I have a question about the involvement of the Police. I know WTH and Park Gwang-soo were colleagues and Kim must have been too - so at one level. it was an old boys get together, but what was the point in involving the police in doing Hanjo's dirty washing? I can see that WTH hoped to build his power base to eventually further his political aspirations, but what could Director Kim have hoped to gain from being there? Maybe that exclaims why he scooted out of there so quickly, but then involving Choi Bit was just plain stupid.

It maddens me that given the beleaguered state of Hanjo, especially after the blow delivered to it by Lee Chang-joon, the mendicants would still gather in the hope of some advantage (Park Gwang-soo, WTH, Director Kim). Why on earth would they scheme to prop Hanjo up and so incriminate themselves?

Also the nature of the gathering was mixed - it was an opportunity for men to meet hostesses. and yet it was also an opportunity to work out how to help Hanjo. Did these guys really have their minds on the job? No wonder Park Gwang-soo had a heart attack.

Thirdly, WTH spoke to LYJ about wanting to include more people, so by that I assume he was widening the net of influence on behalf of Hanjo and indirectly to further his own ambitions. Seems sloppy. The more people in the net, the greater the risk of something going wrong.

Finally, I imagine that the blunders by police and prosecutors will lead to a massive loss of confidence in both. I'd love to see how that plays out in a S3.

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At the start of the show, Director Kim was nicked for leaking information about an investigation being conducted by the prosecution, which suggests that cops, especially Intelligence Bureau cops, can help corporations by passing on useful info, e.g. what law enforcement knows or doesn't know about Hanjo, which part of Hanjo they are planning to target, etc. They'd also be pretty handy for covering up any crimes committed by Hanjo people.

As for why Director Kim or anyone else would help Hanjo at the risk of incriminating themselves: I think big private corporations have been pandered to and allowed to grow to such an extent that they are currently the reigning power in the world. That they can barely be reined in by governments is the main reason why Lee Chang-joon had to take such extreme measures in Season 1; and also why people like Woo, Oh Joo-seon and Dong-jae are literally clamouring to be in Hanjo's pocket, where they can profit whatever way they can, and be protected from the law by Hanjo's influence over multiple levels of government.

To me, what you've written about the meeting and Woo is a pretty good summary of Woo's ineptness. Judging from this ep, his incompetence is partly rooted in his entrenchment in old ways and customs. Making dodgy deals with lots of chums from the old boys' club, in the presence of pretty ladies plying you with liquor - as you say, so many things could go wrong in such a scenario, yet people still do that kind of thing. Another ruinously old-fashioned aspect of Woo's modus operandi is his belief that the council is a zero-sum game in which you either keep everything or lose everything. Instead of just giving up on it or planting fake witnesses, he should have seriously considered Shi-mok's arguments, made better use of Sa-hyun's National Assembly connections and thrashed things out properly with Team Cop.

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That's an excellent question. I remember CB describing to YJ how powerful and important Director Kim's position as the Intelligence Bureau Director is. He reports directly to only one person in the Blue House (meaning the President). Director Kim gets the first dip into the pool that consists of ALL of the intelligence and police investigation reports coming from all over the nation. Being in his position, he also gets to filter which information can get through to the President's ears. You can imagine how useful it is for Hanjo (and by extension shady prosecutors and lawyers who are in Hanjo's service) to have Director Kim in their inner circle. WTH also knows this, and in fact this is the way he used to take down Director Kim, by indicting him for telling his close acquintance details about an ongoing police investigation. WTH did this not for justice though, but rather out of petty revenge because Director Kim abandoned him the night Park Gwang-soo died.

On the other hand, what's in it for Director Kim? I bet it's money. Lots and lots of money. Even being the high-ranking official that he is, his government salary would be chump change compared to the money Hanjo can slide to him under the table (in a leather bag, or a fruit box, take your pick) in exchange for useful intel. Remember Manager Park and the Hanjo vault? There are two massive piles of money in there, one with 50,000 won bills and the other with 10,000 won bills. I thought it's very illuminating that he non-chalantly picked the 10,000 won bills to give to Oh Joo-seon, because that's how much his service is currently worth to Hanjo. I'd predict there are other corrupt officials out there who will get the 50,000 won bills, someone in Director Kim's position, for example.

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All of that makes total sense. I had not appreciated Kim's power, and the potential for personal payoff too. They all miscalculated though, thanks to the accidental heart attack and the relentlessness of SM and HYJ.

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Woo Tae Ha was not inept, but he always found a way to have things the way he wanted. This is not about not caring about being caught, it was more about no one ever would go after me because who I am. WTH is the prototype that would ask anyone who annoys him: “Do you know who you’re talking to?” as a menace, just the way he told YeoJin he would gladly ruin her life. He’s no inept. He’s corruption itself.

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After the finale episode, I came to the expectation that we may be getting a season 3. Heck, there are still a few unanswered questions!

Someone correct me if I’m wrong. Did we actually know the killer of Eun Soo from season 1? Mr Yoon clearly argued that he didn’t kill her. So, who did?
Plus the other questions from this season which you’ve outlined above.

I just want Hanjo to be brought to book- hook, line, and sinker! That corporation and its people are some nasty piece of rubbish. How one organization has so many devilish acts up their sleeves every time doesn’t even amaze me. It just hurts me that they keep getting away with it. Our only hope is the Shi Mok-Yeo Jin duo to serve them justice on a silvery karma plate.

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I think Lee Yoon-beom's secretary did

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Oh, that is true! Thank you for your reply.

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Yes it was.

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I agree there's a lot of scope for another season, and I'd be the first to tune in.

Eun-soo's killer was the henchman of the Hanjo chairman Lee Yoon-beum. If I remember correctly, he killed her cos she'd inadvertently caught him trying to retrieve some evidence against Lee Yoon-beum. Which is one reason why I find it hard to excuse Lee Yeon-jae in Season 2. As you've pointed out, Hanjo is a fundamentally corrupt organisation, and though I think Yeon-jae deserves to run it, I can't understand why she is using the same methods as her father and stepbrother - the very methods that Lee Chang-joon had killed and died to expose.

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I think Eun-Soo was killed because she digged in her father's stuff to find the evidences against Lee Yoon-Beum Shi-Mok and Yeo-Jin were talking about. She wanted to help them.

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It seems like her brother is trying to gain control of Hanjo and she has to seem like the stronger one (i.e. do any corrupt thing to keep shareholders wealthy and happy) in order to keep Hanjo. If I were her, I would just let them buy me out and move to an island somewhere. I don't think she was involved in growing Hanjo.

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And that was the challenge that Kang Won-chul issued to her and that upset her, and yet she went to Dong-jae's bed and whispered that threat to him. If we have another season, I'd expect to see her finding her way between being true to Lee Chang-joon and trying to maintain the advantage against her brother. IMO Jury's out where she's concerned, but heavily weighted on the side of her being evil, so far.

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That conversation between Yeo-jin and Choi Bit was so loaded with meaning, especially after the Ep 16 flashback makes it clear that CB did not meet Tae-ha prior to their meeting (and that YJ has misunderstood), but rather it was Shi-mok who, out of concern for YJ, went out late at night to the Police HQ to have an honest conversation with CB about YJ and her respect towards CB as her boss and mentor.

I love Sa-hyun's righteous anger at Tae-ha. That one speech has made it clear where he stands. Unlike Tae ha, he's a prosecutor first and foremost, and a protector of justice (just like Chang-joon's speech to SM in Season 1 about the distinction between judicial robes and prison uniforms). It also reminds me of CB's comment to YJ that any superior who plays dangerous games when lives are involved, does not deserve any respect. I hope SH would stick around if Season 3 is confirmed (fingers crossed!), because I enjoyed his exasperated expressions whenever Shi-mok and his sharp one-liners poke at him.

Who else is tickled by Tae-ha's seemingly iron-clad impenetrable password? but then out of curiosity I tried typing the whole damn thing into a Hangeul keyboard, and it just reads "Criminal Legislation Division Chief Woo Tae-ha". LOL, he's a lot simpler than he gives himself credit for. No wonder YJ and SM run circles around him.

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Ahahahaha that password bugged me! Thank you so much for figuring it out - because in the end, he did not seem such a subtle person to have such a complicated security password.

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I think one of the biggest takeaways from this season is that everyone works in shades of gray and it's pretty easy to commit terrible acts, even if there was no intention to do so

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That Red dress has a life of its own even in pictures! 😉

What the heck, Woo Tae Ha! Unscrupulous bastard. *ahem* I just needed to get that off my chest.

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Yey for Shimok and Yeojin! They have the best collaboration hands down. It takes a lot of guts to keep on digging until they find the truth particularly for YJ since it involves a boss she respected. That scene with Woo Tae Ha in his office.. 👏👏👏 nobody messes with Shimok and Yeojin!

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Is it just me, or does Shi Mok now expresses himself more as time goes? The way he looks at Yeo Jin melts me. Yeo Jin may not be thinking too much about it because she’s aware he’s not capable of expressing emotions. But hey, his eyes are beginning to give him away.

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ShiMok has always looked at YeoJin that way. Even in season 1 she’s one of the few people he “looks to” rather than “looks at”. He’s always looking at everyone and analyzing them or being suspicious of them but with YeoJin he’s always looked to her to see how she reacts to him or the situation. I think it’s a sign of his respect and trust in her.

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Exactly!

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During the press conference Choi Moo-sung was asked by Park Kyung-lim the MC to share a TMI tidbit from filming and he mentioned Yoon Se-ah's red dress. It must still be fresh in his memory as it's from the most recent shoot. He said "She wore this impressive red dress and looked very classy, and even though we were not shooting a melo or anything..." and the MC quipped "No one here would think that you were", he adorably turned red and quickly said "Anyway, you can look forward to it" and that's why I've been keeping an eye on Yeon-jae's outfits.

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Honestly, she looks stunning in every scene.

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She is all that. Yoon Seah is gorgeous and classy.

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Its cute that the red dress is also imprinted in his mind. 😄 I love her outfits this season.

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And when you think it can’t get any better, it does. FoS is not one of those dramas that you love but you feel that the last two episodes could have been a little more. Not here. This episode was an emotional rollercoaster. My heart felt for YeoJin and her disappointment for Chief Choi. That scene between the two of them was absolutely heartbreaking: it’s not easy being a woman in a men job. Police must be really hard, and YeoJin has this figure she admired and respected and that admired and respected her back. There was a profound bond there that was broken. When Director Kim told her that it was Choi Bit idea to move the body, you could feel all the pain in YeoJin’s body. Bae Doona is just such a great actress!!

I never trusted WTH. He always felt to me like a spoiled child in the worst way possible. I mean, to me SaHyun is also spoiled by his privileged position, but he’s never been a bully. TaeHa was a bully and a total jerk when he talked to both YeoJin and ShiMok: I have the power to destroy your lives and I will do it, and I will have no remorse. Fortunately he underestimated our team. I couldn’t help but to remember YeonJae smile when WTH suggested he had ShiMok under control, and her face when he told her he wanted to go into politics...

I am glad that SaHyun seem to clean. Thanks so much writer-nim, none of your characters is plain. Not a single one.

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I love BDN acting, so effortless and natural. I am not a fan of dramatic acting :) The well-developed senior-junior bond between CB and YJ, Chief Kang and SM is one of my favourite parts of this drama.
There is a quiet sense of confidence in the way the story is told. This team knows exactly what they wanted to do and executed it with a clear vision in mind.
I will follow this writer religiously because I know there won't be any nonsensical plot or 1-D character or unrealistic character development. Those alone are more than enough for me to watch her drama.

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I’m devoted to Lee Soo Yeon. Anything she writes I will watch.
Her three dramas are on my top ten list.

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Yeo-jin and Shi-mok casually commiserating about Woo Tae-ha's threat and Shi-mok's impending transfer is partnership at it's best. That they have to suffer the consequence for doing the right thing is just to awful for words. Somehow it feels harder for Yeo-jin because Shi-mok will just go on being Shi-mok while she got so much emotional investment. Her being angry for Choi Bit in their confrontation is so sad, it's so clear how much she respect her chief and how betrayed she felt. Thank goodness she's not alone in this, those worried glances are quite loud coming from Shi-mok.

That last scene from the confrontation showing Choi Bit picking up Yeo-jin's beer cans gutted me. It happened before when she met Woo Tae-ha and insisted on throwing away their coffee cups. It's like hammering the fact that it's ingrained in her to clean up messes...

And Woo Tae-ha as the villain, from his motive to his ploy, is kinda lame...

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WTH is kinda lame and cliche with his goals. I expected that he had a better motive than politics.

Its sad that people like them get screwed over for doing their actual jobs. I mean why should they be ostracized and bullied when they did the right thing. I am really baffled by their colleagues' twisted thinking.

What scares me the most is that its happening in real life and there will always be people gaming the system.

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Funny that I silently read WTH as "What the hell" which unexpectedly fits...

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Yep. Its synonymous. 😆 can also be WhAt the Heck.

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such a good observation about cleaning up messes

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This show, once again leaves me in awe. The utter mundanity of Tae Ha's reasoning for endangering two people's lives is believable. People do the worst things for the most basic of reasons whether it be money or power. The theme throughout this drama has been impact. How a single thing well meaning or ill meaning can impact lives. It is the butterfly affect on a larger scale. The impact of continuing bullying/abuse lead to murder, kidnapping, and attempted murder. The impact of moving SDJ from adults to kids lead him to see and understand murder in both the Tongyang case and the prosecutor case. (Also him wanting to be near power). Etc etc. Impact, it is a hell of a thing.

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Woo Tae-ha is not that smart, isn't he? Does he think he could threaten Shi-mok head on like that. Even Kim Sa-hyun has a better read of Shi-mok's personality. I was confused for a while when he kept referring to "someone" fake the evidence for a greater good. He would be fine with Dong-jae being dead and Captain Baek being falsely charged because that "someone" who orchestrated the fake witness and fake evidence is not him, in his very own mind at least.

I really like this episode, we got to see what really happened in the vacation home, which in turn shows Woo Tae-ha and Director Kim's rotten core. Yeo-jin and Shi-mok is just..awesome. My only complain is not enough Dong-jae. It's like his screen and dialog quota is already maxed out in the early episodes.

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Your last statement is why there’s hope for a third installment. We need more of the finely dressed Dong Jae on our screen scrambling to get higher in power.
I must say that I’m impressed at the arc this season took- very, very impactful. Not a scene wasted. Not even how Choi Bit cleared up Yeo Jin’s beer cans. It goes to show how she’s always cleaning up after others.
I’m utterly impressed by the writer, and I am certain that a 3rd season wouldn’t hurt the gem that this show is. It only gets better.

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What I find hilarious is that people With shady motives keep giving Shi Mok jobs, knowing his propensity for revealing the truth, and are then surprised and annoyed when he does!

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I knew the casting of Choi Moo sung meant the character would be up to no good.

He is one of those actors that play those roles well.

And this was just a great episode and it was so good I was disappointed on one more was after it.

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Speaking of villain castings, since they've gone through Dong-ryong's dad and Taek's dad, I'd love to see Deok-sun's dad (Sung Dong-il) or Jung-hwan's dad (Kim Sung-kyun) join the next FoS production. Both are extremely versatile actors that are no stranger (Heh.) to playing villains.

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That fills up our villain list for season 3 and 4. We need one more reply dad for season 5 lol

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Oof, poor Yeojin! She took emotional hits one after another these past few episodes. I had this really uncomfortable feeling in my stomach as I watched her realized her mentor was involved in the cover up. Her optimistic worldview is being chipped away this season. Choi Bit's motivation are really murky and I find it interesting that she tried to establish herself as a role model for Yeojin but I still wasn't sure what she'd do after this episode.

On the other hand Woo Taeha has really embraced the dark side. Throughout the whole series he was confident (perhaps, overconfident) in his ability to control Shimok but as he's learning here, Shimok will do what he wants. Kang Wonchul should really have given that warning about Shimok to Taeha instead. Also, did Taeha really threaten Yeojin in front of Shimok despite knowing his junior's well known reputation as a no-bullshit, do-gooder?? Rookie move

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Tae-ha thinks everybody would act like him. His experience and what we've seen so far have shown that the system is chock full of quid-pro-quos and that's just business as usual. I'm sure there are some folks who push back, but if you push enough, you could probably get them to bend. He thought Shi-mok would have a limit. But Shi-mok AND Yeo-jin showed him!

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Kang Won-cheol did tell Woo Tae-ha in no uncertain terms that Shi-mok wasn't right for the council, but Woo ignored him. Yup, he should have explained what kind of person SM is, but I doubt Woo would have listened either. Actually, at the start of this season, some of us here thought that Woo and Choi MUST have taken into account SM and Yeo-jin's whistle-blowing tendencies before letting them join their respective teams. My reasoning was, since Woo knew about SM and Lee Chang-joon, he must have wanted to use SM for a similar purpose. But noooooo, Woo's inclusion of SM really was based on the completely wrong assumption that SM wanted to get into politics. Sigh....

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Taeha might have made that assumption about Shimok based on his interactions with other prosecutors over his career. They all want to climb the ladder of success so as far as he's aware why would Shimok be any different. He failed to realize that Shimok took down Lee Chang Joon for a more noble reason instead of opportunistic ones...something Sa Hyun slowly caught on because he actually took the time to occasionally talk to Shi Mok

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He did it to because he thought he could manipulate Shimok emotionally when it comes to Yeo jin.

So it tells us that Woo did this before and that he is completely stupid to not look into Shimok to know that would not work. At all. And he would get destroyed as a result.

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I mean...maybe to a certain extent Tae Ha was correct because Shi Mok did go out on a limb and talk to Choi Bit about Yeo Jin. Although, I don't know if I'd call that emotional reaction on his part or strategic thinking.

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At first, I thought Choi/WTH have a secret relationship. As both had secrets and are shady af. After, this episode. I am not surprised at all. I do feel bad that Yeo Jin find out about her boss aka Chief Choi involved in it. To be honest, I know few people like Chief Choi and WTH. I would just smh and do not hang out with people like them. Other than that. I like the ShiMok and Yeo Jin duo. I do hope we have season 3 and complete the series. Stay healthy and be safe!!!

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That confrontation between Choi Bit and Yeo-Jin had so much meaning and it completely ties to what we all have observed about Yeo-jin this entire season. I remember many viewers, Bae Doona herself, and Shi-mok noting that HYJ has changed. And it's true, throughout this season we have been witnessing the crisis between the old Yongsan Detective Yeo-jin and new HQ Yeo-jin.

In Ep 8, Yeo-jin lamented how she rather be doing field work to find Dong-jae. And even Shi-mok noticed that and commented that's something a detective would've said. Furthermore in Ep 12, Shi-mok mentioned that Yeo-jin wasn't the type to postpone saying things. Now in this episode with that confrontation, Yeo-jin reflects that she thought she had to be more flexible and not be stubborn about the rules since she now worked at HQ/trusted Choi Bit. Because of that, she covered up for Assemblyman Nam's son. However now that we are approaching the end and we have reached a breaking point, Yeo-jin has realized herself how that she was wrong and that she would never make the same mistake again. Hopefully this will (and I do think it will!) lead Yeo-jin to go back to her righteous old ways.

I just love how the writer was able to scatter these small moments throughout the whole season, and then to tie all those scenes at the end to lead up to something deeply meaningful.

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It's been good to see the main characters reflecting on their mistakes. It makes them more human.

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I don't know if I see Yeojin going back to her old ways. At least not entirely. I think she will still retain the optimism and righteousness, but I think she has a more realistic outlook of what to expect from others now. That's one of the terrible things about this whole situations, good people like her are impacted

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Two scenes stood out for me in this episode. The one that Yeo-jin replied with the cute stickers and the 'duh' look on Shi-mok's face when he saw it had me bursting out laughing. This is really an unexpected funny scene for me.

The other is the scene towards the end where WTH confronted both YJ and SM to tell them how he can just bring them down easily as if they are nothing. I felt angry when I watch this scene because as much as you know that this is fiction, this is also happening in real life. It actually makes you wonder how many people out there who are willing to make a stand just because it's the right thing to do.

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That chat/sticker scene also had be laughing out loud. The music during the chat was one of those tense FOS soundtrack pieces. And the moment the music ended, the sticker popped up.

It helps that Yeo-jin and Shi-mok don't have any dependents. I feel like once you have people (kids, parents) depending on you for food and shelter and medicine, then the decision becomes harder. It makes you more vulnerable for vultures like Woo Tae Ha.

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Yes! That intense music followed immediately by the sticker was so jarring! Combined with Shi Mok's baffled look was comedy gold.

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I expected myself to feel such rage at the unfairness of everything. To feel disgust at the unbelievable display of normalized crime. But strangely, this episode only left me feeling empty. The world is just the way it always is. Petty and dirty. And being a good person would only ever get you into more trouble and force you to bear the burden of being decent in the sea of people who have stopped trying to do so a very long time ago.

There's an air of futility as our duo finally found out the truth. Somehow, the fact that the crime their superiors committed wasn't as horrendous as I thought it would be only made it even more terrible. Because they used the same exact reasoning to justify it. That it was just a little bit of cover up. That there's no harm done. And then I started wondering about how easy it would be to take the next step afterwards when it was deemed "necessary". And then the next... and the next... And where would that leave us??

It was especially hard to see Yeo-jin's reaction after their visit to the prison. She always has a speck of innocence left even after witnessing all kind of crimes being committed at her job. It was the one thing that allowed her to be the cheerful, kind, and optimistic person that she is. And to saw it being violently ripped away from her after she realized Choi Bit's involvement in the case wasn't easy. She took that betrayal personally, and I couldn't blame her. I just hope that this case doesn't left any more damaging, long-lasting effect on her afterwards. Or at least I hope she find another reason to still be the sunny, warm person that we all love.

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I can see this case really changing Yeojin's perspective in the long term. I feel like it would be pretty natural for anyone to lose their innocence after what happened. Not saying that she will be a bitter, jaded person but rather more prepared for the world.

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