10

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Our team is slowly coming together but with every attempt to gain leverage, the wall to climb is looking steeper and steeper. Despite the setbacks, they stand strong and are far from giving up, as things might take a turn in their favor moving forward.

 
EPISODES 3-4 WEECAP

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Sucking us right back in, we see the reunion between Yong and Jun-kyung. After Yong apologizes to Jun-kyung, we flash back to see Yong and Jun-kyung eating together at a pojangmacha in 2003. Yong is preparing to move abroad to make money and Jun-kyung is getting started with her job as a prosecutor. Yong gifts her a celebratory pen for her accomplishments and the two clash drinks before their split.

Fast forward to 2010, we see how Jun-kyung dealt with the wrongful conviction of her mother. Seeing Hye-rin being questioned for a crime she didn’t commit enrages Jun-kyung and she storms in to accuse Ki-seok of his wrong-doings when he calmly tells her Hye-rin’s fate falls on her. Jun-kyung ends up taking a deal for her mother’s sake and fabricates evidence for Ki-seok. While Hye-rin is found not guilty in her trial, a forgery of documents charge is pinned on Jun-kyung. We get to see the full story of Hye-rin’s death in the flashback. Her last message was sent to Minister Son, moments before running her car off the cliff, telling him that she was the one who forged the documents, taking the fall for Jun-kyung.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Back in the present, Tae-choon is sent to see Ki-seok. They head down to the first floor and are bombarded by the press after Assemblyman Baek has labeled their investigation of his son vindictive. Responding to the press, Ki-seok puts all the responsibility on Tae-choon’s shoulders, defending his diligent work in the process. He nudges Tae-choon to give his reason for the investigation and he does so, stating how he just wants to do everything he can to help his country.

As billboards everywhere show footage of Tae-choon responding to the press, he thinks back to when he was younger in high school. Talking with a teacher who consistently made rude remarks about Tae-choon’s mom, Tae-choon let his anger get the best of him. As the teacher abused his power and began slapping Tae-choon repetitively, Tae-choon waited until other teachers were holding the abuser back to beat him down with a chair. After getting arrested for the incident, Tae-choon is bailed out by none other than his Uncle Yong.

In the present, we find out that Tae-choon’s mom has alcoholic dementia and can barely remember who he is. Yong shows up, surprising Tae-choon and flipping the dreary atmosphere on its head.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Yong explains to Tae-choon Myung In-ju’s manipulation methods and how he drains people of all they have. In the past, Yong slowly started to see Myung’s concerning greed for money and lack of concern for people. After taking advantage of a CEO, tricking him into thinking he was helping him, that CEO jumps from a high building to commit suicide as he had everything taken from him by Myung. Despite the shock of seeing someone die this way right in front of them, Myung is unfazed while Yong begins to see the pure evil his boss is capable of. Myung tells Yong to grab a letter from the safe as he has already pre-written letters for CEOs he believes will end up dying by suicide due to his methods. Jeez, this guy is a menace.

That was the breaking point for Yong who went his own way after that. Back in the present, Yong asks Tae-choon not to take any of Ki-seok’s offers if he is willing to try to take Myung down.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Yong makes moves towards pulling CEO Oh to his side while Ki-seok learns of the family ties between Tae-choon and Yong. This isn’t looking good considering Tae-choon is right in the crossfire of it all. Tae-choon meets with Yong when Jun-kyung joins the table, introducing herself to him. She gets irritated quickly over his rigid rule-following demeanor, as she knows doing things by the book won’t take down Myung.

Yong brings Tae-choon outside and reaches out to him, telling him that he will make him the highest level prosecutor in the country if he works with him. With sincerity and an optimistic look in his eyes, Yong is able to get Tae-choon to accept and join the team. This trio could be a power team as Yong is very calculated, Jun-kyung is fiery but controlled, and Tae-choon is a hard worker who has a strong sense of justice.

Payback: Episodes 3-4 Payback: Episodes 3-4

Moving forward with his plans, Yong meets CEO Oh in person. The meeting starts off well, despite both of their predisposed ideas of each other. Yong offers to invest in CEO Oh’s company to undermine Myung’s shares, but Oh doesn’t budge as he is loyal to Myung. Yong then pulls out his bargaining chip — the stock purchase agreement that says he earned money through stock market manipulation – effectively blackmailing Oh.

Previously, Yong bought the document from a powerful woman in town. Myung, tracking Yong’s plans, finds the woman and scalds her with a hot iron for giving away the document. He transfers her assets under LEE JIN-HO’s (Won Hyun-joon) name. Jin-ho is Yong’s old friend from juvy who joined Myung’s enterprise with him. So many years later, it seems as though Jin-ho has risen to a high level within the gang.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Yong shows up to see CEO Oh at GMI Bank only to be followed by a bunch of Myung’s men through the lobby. After getting in the elevator, he fights off three of them and makes his way out to the parking deck where he gets hit by a car – again – and is down for the count. As all the walls start to fall down, Yong’s equity firm is also searched and seized, leaving HONG HAN-NA (Kim Hye-hwa), Yong’s partner at Change Equity Fund, up against the ropes.

At the same time, Ki-seok approaches Tae-choon regarding his relationship to Yong and things go south quick. Ki-seok belittles Tae-choon and threatens to discredit him with a load of charges against him, painting him as a corrupt prosecutor, and revokes his entry to Special Investigations. After this, Tae-choon might be more gung-ho about taking down Myung and Ki-seok.

Yong, meanwhile, has been sedated and thrown in a hole in the woods to be buried by Myung’s men. Myung calls to check in and Jin-ho tells him the job is done. Tae-choon gets back to his office to see the investigation team is already rummaging through his stuff. He and Jun-kyung panic when they can’t reach Yong.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Now that Myung has taken the upper hand, he meets with CEO Oh and gives him the stock transfer document back, which Oh burns. Myung has taken the reins, reading every move Yong has made and answered back accordingly. Myung and Oh are looking like impossible threats right now.

Despite their immense power, there is a rift between the two of them since Myung hasn’t been able to get Oh into politics yet. After burning the document, Oh bashes Myung in the head several times with a spoon, degrading him, and tells him to sort out the election moving forward.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

Yong wakes up in a car with Jin-ho driving. Jin-ho didn’t follow through with burying Yong, since Yong paid for his grandma’s hospital bills while he was in prison and he owes him one. Taking him to the aiport to send him on his way, Yong refuses and sees that Jin-ho has been doing drugs by the needle marks in his arm. He overpowers Jin-ho to crash the car, knocking him out, and then calls the police to help his friend while he escapes.

After making his way to a doctor to treat his shoulder wound, Yong is reconnected with Jun-kyung and Tae-choon. Back home Han-na pays everyone a surprise visit, introducing herself to Jun-kyung and Tae-choon. The team is just about complete. (I’m hoping for a Jin-ho crossover but I don’t know how viable that is.)

Yong briefs the group on the files Tae-choon sent him earlier in the episode. He found something of worth in the files that they can use as bait for Myung — something that can turn the tide back in their favor.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

To finish this week of thrills, Jun-kyung sets up for a press conference. She says she is a culprit in the bribery case involving her mother, and openly calls out Ki-seok, asking him what justice means to him. He watches from the TV in his office.

Wow, what an explosion of action this week. The pace hasn’t slowed down one bit since last week, and with less whiplash from flashbacks, we still got to see how the past has shaped our characters into who they are now, while the plot progresses quickly at the same time in the present.

The chess match between Myung and Yong is picking up, and Myung is proving why he shouldn’t be underestimated — despite Yong’s knowledge of how he works and the power and wealth Yong has amassed in Mongolia. The same goes for Ki-seok, as he’s putting the pressure on Tae-choon heavily. Aside from those two, Jun-kyung still hasn’t gotten much of a spotlight, but based on how this week ended I’m sure we’re in for a bombshell next week.

Payback: Episodes 3-4

 
RELATED POSTS

Tags: , , , , ,

10

Required fields are marked *

I realized this drama was 12 episodes and was surprised. We have already arrested the big bad(maybe) or it could be the prosecutor and we are only at episode 5. Also the two of them standing on that ledge gave me anxiety even though they were not high up on a ledge.

6
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

OMG, I felt exactly the same when I was watching them standing on that ledge! I swear I almost fainted...

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I like that the revenge plot is a game of rounds where sometimes Yong's team succeeds and sometimes Myung beats them to it. Making one team win all the time would make it too dull.
Park Hoon is slaying it as Ki-seok, a formidable foe that shouldn't be underestimated. The same can be said about Myung. Having that cutthroat battle makes the ride more enjoyable.
I am finding Moon Chae-woon acting a bit like a robot. I know that Jun-kyung literally lost everything when her mother died but she is so cold that I can't feel any bit of emotion from her. Be it guilt, regret, or grief. I could be wrong, though.

2
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I like the pace so far and since my brain had been hardwired for revenge stories lately, after Reborn Rich and The Glory, this is the best follow-up show to watch. What I like about this show (and the other two) is that there is no gratuitous violence for revenge , instead is all about outsmarting their opponent and setting them such gratifying traps of their own making. I hope Payback continues with this theme.

Oh, and glad that Eun Yong finally got rid of that hideous mullet hair!

5
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Ah, but I think they are not done yet with the flashbacks. So mullet hair may still make its appearance. Fortunately, LSK is so well styled in the current timeline that it more than makes up for the mullet.

2
reply

Required fields are marked *

I'm not convinced Tae-choon has a strong sense of justice actually. From the assemblyman's son's case to the Rambo one, I think he was driven more by ambition than by justice. He also didn't seem fully on Team Payback until Yong promised to make him the "highest level prosecutor in the country". I'd actually like to see Jun-kyung's sense of justice rub off him and make him a better prosecutor.

The plot is moving pretty fast. The bad guys have already pulled out all the big guns - trying to kill Yong, framing his company, framing Tae-choon, etc. - so I wonder what they have in store next.

Minor favourite bit of the 2 episodes was Yong's pettiness over the ramen. Man after my heart!

2
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I’ve been thinking about why revenge dramas are so popular in Korea and the U.S. Maybe that’s because there’s not just a resentment of the rich and criminal element, but also a sense that even though ordinary people are generally powerless, extraordinary individuals can succeed in punishing the powerful? But I think the problem with having 12-16 episodes based on revenge is that there are is a lot of non revenge time to kill. So you either have to go back again to the incident that is being revenged, and so watch Dong-eun be tortured over and over by a hair curler as in Glory, or you have a lot of rise to power flashbacks, as in this show.

I am struck, though, how even though there are a lot of conventional violent revenge fantasies in Korea, the last couple have basically involved complex financial transactions, which when you get right down to it, are not that interesting. But also, they seem to me in a way even more implausible than a lone gunman for justice escaping detection to shoot down the bad guys. I’m not talking about how Yong became a billionaire hedge fund owner, just because he had the ability to memorize numbers instantly. Not to brag, but I have a pretty good memory for poetry, and I've made probably 10s of dollars on the word future's market.

No, I’m talking about short selling occurring without drawing any scrutiny from authorities or other investors whose interests were hurt; or the ability to corner the local bond market and raise interest rates with just a phone call. I understand Korea’s stock market is more closed off from global influence than that of other financial powers, but I just can’t believe the big, largely government controlled banks would allow that amount of financial manipulation, even if the prosecution had been bought off. At the very least, wouldn’t other chaebols raise objections?

Anyway, speaking of implausibility, I’ll keep watching to see how Payback occurs, given that at any point the corrupt prosecution can have any of the good guys arrested and charged, and the gangster can kill anybody with impunity.

2
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Not usually in to revenge dramas, but this one is excellent: fast paced, excellent acting, and smart.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I was about to say I'm not into revenge dramas, but then I realised last drama I actually enjoyed was Reborn Rich and I was reminded on when I was saying I was not a sageuk person the year I watched six sageuks. Don't mind me.

So for someone who's not into revenge dramas (ahem) I am having so much fun watching this one. The pacing is correct, lots of thing happening and also making sense (most of the time). I'm having fun, and every time I hear the OST Money I know it's going to be funnier.

I'm buying all characters and the actors, but not TaeChoon/KSY, although I think it's more related to the actor playing the role than the character per se. I don't know if he is hiding something and it's not on team Yong, or it's just that the KSY is just too bland...

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yay! So happy you are watching, too.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *