A heartbreaking case takes center stage this week, as our vengeful protagonist moves on to his next target. It brings him one step closer to the truth — and one step closer to our spirited heroine.
EPISODES 3-4
Since a leak has sprung on their boat, making it uninhabitable, Han-soo and his assistant DONG-CHI (Lee Gyu-sung) end up moving into a room in the merchant house, oh-so-kindly provided by Yeon-joo. (She’s very delighted about this, of course.)
Han-soo’s hilariously innovative solution nets him an easy income from his first client, but it doesn’t make him any more receptive to Yeon-joo’s wish for him to take her under his wing. In the face of her persistence, Han-soo presents her with a test.
Holding up his coin pouch — a keepsake from his late mother, though he doesn’t reveal that — Han-soo proclaims it his reason for becoming an attorney. He challenges Yeon-joo to make her own pouch and determine what she wants it to hold, leaving her baffled. Neither Yeon-joo nor Lady Hong are particularly good at needlework, ha.
Han-soo pretends to be intimidated by Commissioner Park’s status, acting subservient and enduring a dinner table full of misogynistic husbands. Plying Commissioner Park with a steady stream of alcohol, Han-soo plants a seed of doubt in the cheating man’s mind. Is Myung-wol truly as trustworthy as he thinks? Why, just the other day, he saw her with Lady Yeon’s attorney!
Han-soo’s words successfully incite fury in the drunken man, and Commissioner Park lashes out at Myung-wol, inadvertently choking her to death. In the face of Han-soo’s horrified shock, Commissioner Park insists on covering up the crime scene and disguising it as a suicide — inadvertently revealing the methods he used on Han-soo’s late mother.
In the wake of this incident, the spy lawyer finally strikes, running off with all their painstakingly collected evidence. This, coupled with the tragic death of Myung-wol, pushes Yeon-joo to her breaking point. She’s realized that her idealism is no match for this cruel world — Han-soo had simply been playing by its twisted rules all along. Realizing that she and Lady Yeon need his help, Yeon-joo releases paper lanterns into the sky in a bid to call Han-soo back.
In the wake of the trial, Lady Yeon and Myung-wol have a touching moment of forgiveness and closure. Myung-wol also expresses her gratitude to Yeon-joo, since it was ultimately Yeon-joo’s sincerity that swayed her over to their side.
Sure, Han-soo’s strategy may have saved her life — it turns out that the fake blood had been a ruse suggested by Han-soo, and her “death” had awakened her to the awful nature of her lover. However, what truly inspired Myung-wol to testify was Yeon-joo’s gift of a business permit. Yeon-joo had urged Myung-wol to pursue her passion and open a cosmetics business, so that she could be self-sufficient rather than relying on a fickle and disloyal man. Aw, I like that Myung-wol’s story ended on a note of empowerment, validating Yeon-joo’s earnest idealism.
Afterwards, Han-soo pays Commissioner Park a visit in prison, but he’s one step too late. Commissioner Park is already dangling from the rafters, in an eerie echo of Han-soo’s mother.
Once again, a member of the Evil Triumvirate meets his demise. It may seem a little morbid to say this, but I’m enjoying how poetic their deaths are, mirroring the atrocities they committed on Han-soo’s parents. Having beaten Han-soo’s father viciously, Master Jang was bludgeoned to death; having staged the suicide of Han-soo’s mother by hanging, Commissioner Park dies with a noose around his neck. It’s a visual representation of their crimes causing their own downfall, and I’m eager to see what else karma will bring.
