Doctor Lawyer: Episodes 13-14

by solstices

Our hero and his allies begin to conquer the chessboard, one move at a time. The time is up for their enemies, whose underhanded dealings are now spelling their own downfall. Still, there are more secrets lurking in the dark, and some revelations will shake our hero to his very core.

 

EPISODES 13-14 WEECAP

It looks like the gang attack is the work of Guk-gwang, who sneers at Yi-han and yanks the oxygen mask off Yoon-seok. All seems lost, until a car pulls up — omg, it’s Jayden and his aide!

Guk-gwang pulls a gun on them, but it doesn’t faze Jayden, who gets into his car and accelerates straight towards Guk-gwang. A bullet lodges itself in his windshield, but Jayden’s crazed grin simply grows wider.

His car doesn’t hit Guk-gwang, but his roundhouse kick does make quick work of the thug, and Yoon-seok gets taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Yi-han and Seok-young appeal to Assemblyman Im, asking to be put on the list of witnesses for Chairman Gu’s hearing (for the position of Minister of Health and Welfare). Still under Chairman Gu’s thumb, Assemblyman Im refuses, but they persuade him — they’re working to expose Assemblywoman Yoon’s illegal deeds, which would ensure Assemblyman Im’s presidential candidacy.

Thanks to Soo-hee, the planned assault by Guk-gwang makes it onto the news, raising questions about Assemblywoman Yoon’s involvement. Detained in custody, Guk-gwang asks to make a call to prosecutor Kang-ho, but his call goes unanswered.

There’s just one day left till Chairman Gu’s hearing, and Jayden instructs his aide to sell off their Banseok stocks while the prices are still high; he’ll reclaim them all once the hearing goes awry and the prices drop. As usual, it’s high risk and high reward with Jayden, huh?

Of course, Jayden’s confidence isn’t conjured up from thin air. Yi-han plans to reveal Ki-tae’s recording during the hearing, so as to expose how Chairman Gu instigated Ki-tae into committing perjury. Seok-young will then indict him publicly at the hearing.

Jayden is surprised that Yi-han’s sharing his plans so openly for the first time, and Yi-han admits that he didn’t trust him before. After all of Jayden’s unwavering support and help, though, he’s inclined to believe him.

Do-hyung seeks out Yi-han, imploring him to represent him as his lawyer; it seems Banseok intends to cut him off and have him take the fall for its crimes. He reveals that the removal of Seok-joo’s heart was wholly Chairman Gu’s doing — though Do-hyung did assist in the cover-up, of course.

Yi-han agrees to represent Do-hyung, though on one condition. We don’t hear what it is, though, and Do-hyung reports back to Chairman Gu that Yoon-seok is brain dead. (I suppose he’s going to walk into the hearing tomorrow, healthy and well?)

The three medical staff who participated in the cover-up of Seok-joo’s death — Do-hyung, Jung-hyun, and medical examiner YOON-JUNG (Kim Yoon-seo) — meet up. The ladies are determined to reveal Chairman Gu’s crimes at the hearing, even if it means implicating themselves.

Do-hyung takes this in, and then he makes a call. The Banseok security team enters the room, trapping the ladies inside for the duration of the hearing; turns out Do-hyung’s been lured by the promise of a directorial position at Banseok.

In the carpark, Do-hyung thanks Chairman Gu for his generosity, and Chairman Gu is smug as always — too smug, in fact, to notice the black box camera that’s recording their meeting.

The hearing begins, and Jayden orders the short selling of their stocks to commence — but he’s stopped by SUSIE YOON (Park Mi-sook), chief director of Honours Hand. She’s determined that the move is too risky, and she refuses to let him gamble with their stocks.

Yi-han reveals Ki-tae’s recording at the hearing, accusing Chairman Gu of murdering Ki-tae once he’d outlived his purpose. Chairman Gu denies it all, of course, and then a video goes viral on the internet.

It’s the black box recording, in which Chairman Gu accosts Do-hyung and stabs him in the neck. Ohmygod. Banseok’s stock prices plummet, and Jayden grins in satisfaction.

We find out that Jayden had offered Do-hyung a large sum of money to backstab Chairman Gu, handing him a fountain pen with a hidden camera. In the carpark, Do-hyung attempted to nudge Chairman Gu into talking about Seok-joo’s case and revealing his crimes, but Chairman Gu noticed the fountain pen recorder in Do-hyung’s pocket.

Incensed, he’d stabbed Do-hyung on impulse, then ordered his aide to cover up the bloody scene — completely unaware everything was filmed by the black box camera.

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Yoon feeds honeyed lies to the reporters, denying her involvement in illegal activity and pinning all blame on Yoon-seok. Of course, that’s exactly when Seok-young shows up with Yoon-seok in tow.

Yoon-seok had kept a ledger of Assemblywoman Yoon’s illegal political funds over the years, and Seok-young brandishes it for all to see. The name at the very top of the list is Chairman Gu.

Seok-young orders the emergency arrest of Assemblywoman Yoon, and she’s taken into custody, right in front of the reporters. Chairman Gu is arrested by Seok-young, too, and the two are driven away in a police car.

Yi-han soon notices that Chairman Gu’s gaze was trained on Do-hyung’s fountain pen, and he meets with Jayden to ask him about it. Jayden readily admits to giving Do-hyung the fountain pen, as well as tempting him with money.

Even in the wake of Do-hyung’s death, Jayden isn’t remorseful over his decision; Do-hyung would’ve gotten away with a slap on the wrist if he’d been left to the law to deal with.

Yi-han asks why Jayden is so hell-bent on revenge against Banseok, almost as if he has a personal vendetta against Chairman Gu. Inviting him to find out, Jayden officially breaks their partnership — Yi-han’s too unwilling to get his hands dirty in the name of vengeance.

In the interrogation room, Chairman Gu readily admits to all his charges, all so that he can quickly wrap up and move past Seok-joo’s case. Seok-young refuses to let that slide, though, and she gets increasingly worked up questioning Chairman Gu — until a sharp pain in her chest has her doubling over to catch her breath.

Oh no, it looks like she has the same hereditary heart disease that Seok-joo suffered from. Kang-ho, who had a mini redemption arc after Yi-han convinced him to right his wrongs and testify against Chairman Gu, offers to take her off the case. However, Seok-young’s determined to finish it herself, and she asks Kang-ho to keep her condition a secret from Yi-han.

Banseok’s shareholders convene in a board meeting, where Jayden outlines his plans to restructure Banseok and remove the cardiothoracic department entirely. He frames it as a logical response to all its scandals, and Hyun-sung’s protests hold no weight against that argument.

There’s one person missing at the meeting, though, and that’s Jayden’s aide MICHAEL (Kim Tae-gyeom). Upset by the monetary loss caused by Michael’s refusal to follow instructions and sell the stocks, Jayden’s chosen to discipline him by shutting him out.

Of course, that opens up an avenue for Yi-han and Seok-young to probe into, in order to find out more about Jayden. Betrayed by Jayden’s cold dismissal after everything he’s done for him, Michael reveals what he knows.

Five years ago, Jayden came to Korea to invest in the Banseok Foundation, but he was involved in a car accident. He underwent emergency surgery at Banseokwon, and Yi-han flashes back to that fateful night — when Chairman Gu had informed him that the patient on the operating table had just been in a car accident.

At a press conference regarding his presidential candidacy, Assemblyman Im suddenly begins displaying symptoms of Alzheimer’s. As they watch the televised broadcast, Yoo-na admits to Jayden that this is the reason Assemblyman Im can’t cut ties with Banseok.

She reveals that she’s been swapping out her father’s medicine for health supplements, so that his symptoms will recur and prevent him from becoming president. This way, she can remain just as Jayden once told her — not a president’s daughter, or Hyun-sung’s wife, but simply Im Yoo-na.

Yoo-na offers Jayden a pill, downing one herself; it’s the same drug he offered her back then. She wonders if she’d passed out back then due to an honest mistake by Jayden, or if it had all been part of his plan. Before he can take the pill, though, Hyun-sung barges in.

Angered that he’s been made a fool of, Hyun-sung attacks Jayden with a golf club, but his clumsy moves are no match for the evasive Jayden. Yi-han and Seok-young arrive just in time to break up the fight, and Jayden laughs that Yi-han should have let Hyun-sung kill him; that’s the only way he can get revenge.

Yi-han doesn’t rise to the bait — instead, he reaches out and tears Jayden’s shirt open. There’s a surgery scar running straight down his chest, clear as day, seemingly confirming Yi-han’s suspicions that Jayden has Seok-joo’s heart.

Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Yet again, this show’s predictability is its biggest disservice, which makes it feel like the characters — and the viewers by extension — are simply being led along by the plot.

Take Michael for example; you’d think that someone as well-versed in the art of manipulation as Jayden is wouldn’t simply cast aside his aide without a second thought, regardless of how materialistic he is. But of course the plot needs an insider to reveal information, and what’s more convenient than having a right-hand man betray his master?

There are so many more innovative ways that Jayden’s past could have been brought to light, but of course the show chooses to take the easy way out and tread the path of least resistance. It isn’t terrible, by any means, but it’s bland and uninspired storytelling.

I’m also not a fan of how Seok-young’s illness was shoehorned in at the last minute, simply to throw another wrench into the works and manufacture a brewing conflict between her and Yi-han. Perhaps it’s because I’m barely invested in their relationship, but I wish the show didn’t employ such a melodramatic and overused trope.

In any case, it’s clear our final faceoff will be between our steadfast hero and his capricious frenemy. As we move into our finale week, all I can do is hope that the show has a few tricks up its sleeve; I’m looking forward to a tense battle of wits, not a cliche facsimile of it.

 
RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Doctor Lawyer, Why Her?, Cleaning Up
• Doctor Lawyer So Ji-sub returns in new promos with Shin Sung-rok and Im Soo-hyang
• Im Soo-hyang joins Shin Sung-rok, So Ji-sub in Dr. Lawyer
• News bites: May 28, 2022
• News bites: May 21, 2022