Another opponent comes tumbling down, but our heroes are not done until every villain meets their end. As they gather evidence for their new investigation, they realize how broken the world is and work tirelessly to uncover the truth. Fortunately, their efforts are not in vain as they figure out this new case and manipulate their foes into fighting each other.
EPISODE 19 RECAP
Prosecutor Jang slinks out of the room as the fight between Sam-soo and Tae-yong intensifies. Sam-soo accuses his partner of siding with the enemy for his own gains, but Tae-yong tells him that he’s far from the truth. In fact, he forfeited everything—money, career, fame—to beat their enemies… with him.
The sudden confession startles Sam-soo, and he mumbles out his thanks. Despite realizing the lawyer’s intentions, Sam-soo refuses to cast out his doubts and forges ahead with publishing his article pertaining to the backdoor court dealings. Try as he might, Tae-yong’s warnings fall on deaf ears as Sam-soo tells him that the prosecutor is as much a foe as he is an ally.
Irked by his encounter with Yoo-kyung, Legislator Kim calls Prosecutor Jang and orders him to get rid of the three pesky meddlers once and for all. Rather than humor his request, Prosecutor Jang informs him of the documents he procured and asks what he might get in return.
The legislator reminds him that he still holds the mayor’s files, but the prosecutor repeats the old man’s advice: in order to succeed, one must be able to cut their own family. Prosecutor Jang wishes to reach even higher heights, and the legislator grimaces at the hefty demand. They agree to meet in the morning and discuss his plans to run for president.
Bursting into the office, Yoo-kyung tells Tae-yong that their hunch about the legislator was correct, and he gives her an update about what happened during her absence. She voices her reservations about the prosecutor as well, but in the end, she trusts Tae-yong.
At home, Sam-soo stares at his article, and Jin-shil wonders why he is still up at this late hour. Though he acted as if he was against the idea, Sam-soo mulls over the repercussions of his writing, conflicted over his own intuition and Tae-yong’s truth.
With a smile plastered on his face, Sam-soo dances around the office as he informs the others about the search and seizure. Tae-yong quickly turns on the news, and soon, the whole team is jumping around and cheering. As they watch Prosecutor Jang on the television, Tae-yong brags about his brilliant plan and how the prosecutor follows his every order.
Prosecutor Yoon and his team read through the mountain of evidence they acquired when Prosecutor Jang stops by and tells them to take a break. Once everyone but Prosecutor Yoon leaves, Prosecutor Jang finds the mayor’s file and takes it with him.
In spite of their big victory, the team looks glum while reading the news about the search and seizure. The public is calling Prosecutor Jang a hero, and Sam-soo questions whether or not Tae-yong empowered their opponent a little too much.
Sharing what he heard from the prosecutor, Tae-yong tells the team that they need to tackle the school foundation which is the mayor’s source of money and power. Sam-soo demands a clear game plan, so Tae-yong explains how they will manipulate the prosecutor’s ambitions once more—in the end, their enemies will bring each other down.
Their initial investigation yields no results about the school which arouses more suspicions from the team. They suspect the foundation for covering up any bad press and head out to uncover the truth.
Tae-yong meets with Grandma at her home, and she tells him that both the school and the company claim that Seung-taek died after sleeping on the streets. She misses him terribly and hearing Tae-yong drink the carton of soy milk reminds her of Seung-taek.
Holding back his tears, Tae-yong looks over the documents Grandma kept and notices that the compensation money came from a different source. He tells her to rest while he investigates from here on out, and Grandma thanks him.
Sam-soo tackles the issue from the students’ side of things, which means treating Da-young and her friends to a meal. The hungry students devour a serving of grilled pork belly each while Sam-soo munches on a pepper and orders them more food.
One by one the students reveal their stories, starting with Da-young. As part of the engineering track, she wanted to go to college, but Teacher Heo berated her for being selfish and not filling the employment quota. After the school forced her to work, she lost her fingers while handling a machine.
The others have similar experiences with the school sending them off to random locations unrelated to their field of study. These companies violated safety guidelines, and the students found themselves sleeping in greenhouses and fixing bridges without proper equipment. After hearing their complaints, Sam-soo asks if they will investigate the school with him, and they eagerly accept.
Teacher Heo scolds the students for coming back to school, and when they defend themselves, he only yells louder. Tae-yong witnesses the scene and comes to the students’ defense. He calls himself a parent, but Teacher Heo says that their school doesn’t have any bold parents.
Tae-yong keeps up the lie and threatens to report the teacher to the Board of Education for harassing students. That gets Teacher Heo to relent for now, and Tae-yong slips out of the school to rejoin Sam-soo outside.
Having seen everything, Sam-soo chastises the lawyer for nearly blowing their cover, but Tae-yong could not sit by and watch the teacher mistreat his juniors. While they walk to the car, the alarm blares, and the two of them wonder why all the teachers are lining up outside the school.
Chae-eun passes by Tae-yong and Sam-soo as she enters the school, but she isn’t the only one to recognize the other. As soon as Sam-soo spots her, he ducks behind the car and tells Tae-yong that she is the chairperson. They waddle away, and once they drive out of the gates, they sigh in relief.
Tae-yong shows Sam-soo the fabricated employment certificate, and Sam-soo whips out the record of financial awards. Along with these newly attained evidences, they have two people to testify, but Tae-yong wants to convince a couple more individuals in order to guarantee the safety of their current witnesses.
Mi-young hands Yoo-kyung a list of fifty people who were employed through connections, but Yoo-kyung asks for evidence to prove the charges. She says that her word is truth, and if that is not enough, then Yoo-kyung should look for proof at the police station or prosecution.
Remembering Sam-soo as one of her husband’s acquaintances, Chae-eun calls the prosecutor to ask about the smelly man, and Prosecutor Jang tells her that he is a reporter. Her odd question alerts the prosecutor to something wrong, and he realizes that the duo must have been at the school.
Prosecutor Jang calls Sam-soo, and the two of them freak out when they see his name pop up. Sam-soo answers with gusto, but the prosecutor is in no mood for his shenanigans and wishes to speak with Tae-yong.
He asks the lawyer if they are still friends and wonders why they went to the school. When Tae-yong can’t answer, he says that he will figure it out himself. Taking a chance, Tae-yong goads the prosecutor, implying that Sam-soo’s latest article about the school will put him in a tight spot. His bluff seems to work as Prosecutor Jang clenches his teeth and sighs.
Teacher Gu joins the team at Tae-yong’s office that night and is shocked to hear about the school possibly swiping Seung-taek’s money. Tae-yong lists all their findings which include forged employment records, inflated employment rates for award money, and countless illegal hires.
He offers to take all these things to Prosecutor Jang since partnering with him will protect the students and Teacher Gu. While he meets with their potential ally in the morning, the two reporters will gather more evidence while Teacher Gu will continue talking with her colleagues.
COMMENTS
Out of all the evildoers, I find Prosecutor Jang the most interesting because of his similarity to our heroes. Unlike the rest of his team who grew up with power and money, Prosecutor Jang came from nothing, and as a result, he constantly strives to prove his worth. Everything he does is to further his career and station in life. His goals are no different from Legislator Kim or Mayor Kang, but because of his background, the others view him as inconsequential and naïve. He started off kneeling on the floor, pouring drinks for the rest of the group, but now he stands at the top, dethroning all those who stood in his way. It’s almost poetic how the prosecutor brought down the den of evil alongside Tae-yong and his team, but in the end, the prosecutor’s greed will be his downfall just like the rest of them.
With two of the main villains now disposed of, that only leaves Mayor Kang, Prosecutor Jang, and Partner Kim (I hope he gets his comeuppance as well). I’m glad the show did not cram everything into the last second, but the stakes oddly feel underwhelming now that Legislator Kim is out of the picture. Kim Gab-soo really was the driving force on the antagonist’s side, and the gravitas he brought to the screen elevated the tension even if the actual substance was lacking. In fact, both Justice Jo and Legislator Kim were the truly imposing opponents (thanks, in part, to the actors’ performances), and in comparison, the others lack that menacing aura. I still enjoy the mayor and prosecutor much more as characters than the other villains, but since the more comic relief individuals are the last ones standing, I don’t feel as much danger for our team in spite of their exaggerated worrying. While this was the penultimate episode, it felt like any other episode in the series. It also didn’t help that the team’s plan of action is the exact same as their previous one: use Prosecutor Jang to take down their enemy. At this point, it feels like the creators have finished conveying the message of the story and are reusing plot points in order to take down the final bad guys.