After a lot of intense, hard-hitting episodes, we get a breezy finale that ties up loose ends and sees our lawyers in a better place than they started. We leave all our characters more self-assured, contented, and supported. In a job that can be tough and emotionally taxing, it’s important to know you have friends and colleagues who have your back. But before all that, we have one last case to tackle, and it’s quite personal for our new CEO.
EPISODE 16
While most of the main issues have already been resolved, there are a few things left to handle. First up, Daejeong has seen a lot of change with Woo-jin taking over and the divorce team losing both Eun-kyung and Eun-ho. To fill that void, Woo-jin hires enthusiastic junior attorney LEE HANA (the delightful Go Ah-Sung). Now it falls to Yuri to be the sunbae, and she’s thrown when the newbie fangirls over her thanks to Yuri’s newfound public image.
She gets a taste of her own medicine when the newbie turns out to be direct, assertive, and idealistic. Eun-kyung gets a kick out of Yuri struggling to mentor someone just like her, but she’s sure Yuri can handle it. Not only has Yuri come a long way as a lawyer, but she’s happier and less pessimistic when it comes to her personal life too. She and Eun-ho are getting serious in their relationship, and Yuri finds herself open to the possibility of marriage for the first time.
Last week, we left off with Woo-jin’s father Dae-gyu asking Eun-kyung to represent him, and it turns out he only did that after his wife PARK AE-YEON beat him to signing Daejeong as her representation. Ae-yeon hopes retaining her husband’s former firm will be embarrassing enough he’ll agree to settle quickly. This is sure to be messy, particularly for poor Woo-jin who is put in an awkward position. He can’t personally represent his stepmom, but he lets Yuri represent her, making his father angry.
Feeling awkward around his parents is nothing new, though, for Woo-jin who didn’t come to live with them until he was a teen. His father hadn’t even known he existed prior. Thankfully, his stepmom is a kind person and has always treated Woo-jin as a son – they’re closer than Woo-jin and his father are.
Thanks to the family dramatics, Eun-kyung and Yuri once again are on opposing sides at court. The first court appearance ends in a screaming match between spouses, leaving Woo-jin, Yuri, and Eun-kyung to wrangle them and convince them to express themselves like adults. Ae-yeon feels taken for granted and ignored, while Dae-gyu feels like he was only ever appreciated for his money.
The solution turns out to be surprisingly simple. More than truly wanting a divorce, the two are hurt and terrible communicators. All Ae-yeon wants is to be thanked and acknowledged for her sacrifices over the years. Dae-gyu’s sincere apology, on his knees no less, and thanks goes a long way, and they decide not to get divorced. In fact, the attitude shift goes a long way for the whole family. Woo-jin comfortably refers to his parents as “mother” and “father” for the first time as the family atmosphere softens and becomes less tense.
As for Eun-kyung, while her divorce has been long concluded, there’s still Jae-hee’s relationship with her father to resolve. Jae-hee is struggling with missing her father yet not being over her anger or hurt enough to move forward. She turns to her unnie Yuri for guidance – I love how these two have forged such a bond – who helps her realize that she can still see her father without fully forgiving him. Yuri encourages Jae-hee to prioritize her own needs and not punish herself in the process of punishing her father. That combined with her mom’s support helps Jae-hee decide she’s ready to start seeing her dad again.
Meanwhile, Eun-kyung continues growing her business, which includes poaching the office manager from Daejeong and building up her clientele. Yuri continues her journey of learning how to be a mentor and gaining confidence as the lawyer in charge. The drama comes to a close as Yuri and Eun-kyung have another friendly bout in the courtroom, partners and friends no matter if they stand together or on opposing sides.
A lovely ending to a solid legal drama! Good Partner makes the third legal drama I’ve loved, and it’s no coincidence that all three were written by professionals in the field. Having a writer who intimately knows the ins and outs of the job truly does give it a different feel. This drama did exactly as I’d hoped and gave us a variety of interesting, nuanced cases which tied in well to our characters’ lives. The themes were well-executed and often complex. While I enjoyed it from the start, Good Partner is the rare drama that got better as it went. (Episodes 12 and 13 were standouts in their highlighting of domestic violence.) I appreciated that we ended on a lighter, hopeful note that didn’t veer into a simplistic happily ever after. Life and relationships will always be complicated, but our characters find their own versions of happiness and balance.
Speaking of characters, that was a definite strong point of this drama. Yuri and Eun-kyung were great leads and perfectly cast. They had compelling individual arcs but were also great together. I loved the natural way their relationship developed and evolved. The drama took its time having them find common ground and bridge their gaps, leaving us with an easy-to-believe connection that felt genuine. I’m always up for a good female friendship, especially one with a mentorship component.
Not only were the women at the heart of the drama great, but we got a strong cast of side characters too. Everyone, down to the case-of-the-week characters, was given nuance. Eun-ho and Woo-jin were likeable second leads with their own arcs and served as good foils for Yuri and Eun-kyung respectively, rounding out our colleague group nicely. And a special shoutout to Yuna who did a fantastic job as Jae-hee, bringing an unexpected depth to her character. It’s the second role I’ve seen this young actress in, and both times she’s impressed me. With strong writing, acting, and overall production, Good Partners made for a surprisingly memorable legal drama that introduced interesting legal dilemmas and never lost sight of the people behind the cases. Let’s hope we get more similarly well thought out workplace dramas in the future.