We are back! After a three-week hiatus, we return to our ragtag team of lawyers, reporters, and one retired detective as they deal with their latest crisis. Though the solution to the problem is straightforward, it doesn’t make the decision any easier for our heroes. However, if they wish to win their upcoming retrial and their battle against the corrupt justice, then they will need to make some sacrifices.
EPISODE 13 RECAP
In the middle of the night, Tae-yong marches up to the courthouse and comes face to face with Chief Justice Jo. He introduces himself to the justice for the first time and asks if he maneuvered the press into slandering his name. Justice Jo tells him that he doesn’t have the free time to bother with a neighborhood lawyer, but Tae-yong purposefully cuts him off, saying that he’s busy, too.
Justice Jo seethes at the slight, but Tae-yong isn’t finished. He vows to work until the justice apologizes for his mistakes, and Justice Jo asks if he’s threatening him. Tae-yong chuckles at the absurd accusation since he was merely stating his goals. Justice Jo points out that it sounds like a declaration of war, but Tae-yong corrects him: “The war started a while ago.”
In his office, Justice Jo chucks items across the room, fuming over Tae-yong’s insolence. At the same time, Tae-yong calls Yoo-kyung to vent about the justice, but when she hears about his reckless confrontation, she scolds him. Remembering her own clash with the justice, Yoo-kyung apologizes for her comment just then, and instead, returns the encouragement he once gave her. She promises to support him as they work together to catch Justice Jo.
Meanwhile, Sam-soo walks home after his disastrous meeting with Doo-shik and blames his new clothes for bringing him bad luck. He finally gets in contact with Tae-yong and warns the lawyer to protect their funds no matter what the prosecution may do.
Behind the scenes, Justice Jo’s plans start taking its first steps as the chief judge in charge of Osung calls in Judge Choi to personally assign him the retrial. Judge Choi points out that case assignments are supposed to be randomized, but the chief judge scowls, advising the younger judge to play along if he wants to succeed in this field.
The news surrounding Tae-yong gets worse by the day, and the stress is slowly pulling the team apart. Tae-yong’s latest stunt with the justice puts even more strain on the group, and Sam-soo calls him crazy for attacking the third most powerful person in the country.
When Yoo-kyung comes to Tae-yong’s defense, Sam-soo gawks at the pair and tells them to date since they both like causing trouble. She quickly disparages his remark since they’re at war, but Tae-yong flounders for a counterargument since he believes love can blossom in any environment.
Sang-man asks Tae-yong what his goal is, and he shares with the group his intentions to bring down Justice Jo. Since Tae-yong has neither money nor connections, Sang-man tells him that his only weapon is public support. In other words, if Tae-yong intends to win this case, then he needs to give up the funds besides Doo-shik’s share.
Though Sang-man’s ultimatum is clearly the path Tae-yong needs to take, memories of his past hold him back. He promised Sam-soo to make justice a lucrative business but in the end, it seems they need to find justice first. While it pains him to say it, Tae-yong announces his decision to give up the money.
Celebrating their win early, Mayor Kang brags to Prosecutor Jang about his days in Africa and laughs at Tae-yong for failing to steal such a meager amount. Not having learned his lesson, the mayor wears his criminal offenses as badges of honor, and Prosecutor Jang plasters on a smile for his father-in-law.
On his way out, Prosecutor Jang calls Sam-soo to gloat and warns him to make better friends in the future since he might take the fall for everything. His threat unnerves Sam-soo, but one look at his contract with Tae-yong calms him down for now.
Yoo-kyung hands Tae-yong a poetry book which includes a note. It states, “I love the objects that are weak and resemble me or that I resemble.”
She thinks of him whenever she reads that line and explains how he is a kind person walks besides those who resemble him. He finds a renewed energy in her words and smiles.
At home, Sam-soo crumples up the contract with Tae-yong since it’s nothing more than a scrap of paper now. He grumbles about his destroyed dreams, but the more he complains about money, the more Jin-shil feels disappointed in him. She likes money, too, but she believes that if they can’t have it, then they should at least act cool.
She wonders why accepting what is rightfully due to him be seen as greed and wishes they could enjoy what others have. He tells her that it would be too sad if they lost their conscience and says that he will show the kids that there are things better than money in this world.
Though Tae-yong says all this to his sister, he also shares her worries as he thinks back to their father. He warned young Tae-yong about being thoughtful when profiting from other’s misfortune, but Tae-yong argued that his father should be nicer to his mother instead of the dead. After all these years, it seems Tae-yong has found himself in his father’s shoes.
Assemblyman Tak drops by Tae-yong’s office unannounced and marvels at his office “concept.” He says that poverty is a hot commodity and offers Tae-yong a spot on their party’s ticket for the next general election.
He describes Tae-yong as socially disadvantaged and lists off all his hardships such as his poor family background and near-bankruptcy. The more the assemblyman rambles, Tae-yong’s smile disappears, and his interest in politics seems to dissipate.
A sudden call from Doo-shik puts their conversation on hold, and all his tears dry up as soon as Sam-soo hears from their client. He shouts at Doo-shik to repeat what he just said and flings the phone to the couch for Tae-yong to answer.
Once Tae-yong grabs the phone, Doo-shik informs him that he’s canceling the attorney appointment, and sitting across from his is Boss Kim and Partner Kim. Back in the office, Sam-soo screams at Tae-yong, asking if this is what he wanted, and storms out of the room.
The other major source of trouble for our characters was the funds and what to do with them. The solution might have been simple, but as the show does best, it complicates matters by looking at the situation from different perspectives. Though it is hard for him as well, Tae-yong gives up the money because it would bring back public support for his cause. However, his sister makes a valid point when she argues that he’s merely accepting his fair due. The fact that even charging a lawyer’s fee is seen as “greedy” seems narrow-minded, yet the public still views it as such. As the head of his household, Tae-yong has multiple mouths to feed, but as others continue to scrutinize him and misconstrue his acts of kindness, Tae-yong is forced to clear away all these misunderstandings. Though their occupations are different, Tae-yong finds himself in a similar predicament to his father, and just like him, he ends up making the same choices. Rather than treat his family to a “flowery carriage,” he chooses to care for his clients.
The funds also concern Sam-soo, and his side of the story is different from Tae-yong’s. For our lawyer, it was a decision between his conscience or comfort, and in comparison, Sam-soo’s complaints came across as his typical materialistic behavior. However, when he confronted Tae-yong at the end, the show portrays his struggle as much more than greed. To Sam-soo, the funds were representative of his worth and validity as a reporter. Unlike Tae-yong, Sam-soo doesn’t have the credentials to justify his title of “reporter” and has no other way to make an income from his writing. Thus, in Sam-soo’s eyes, the funds were not only donations but a rightful payment for his work. As a result, when Tae-yong decided to donate everything without consulting him first, Sam-soo naturally becomes enraged and feels cheated because Tae-yong broke their promise about forging a partnership. In a sense, the contract Sam-soo cherished wasn’t just about money but representative of his position in the team. He considered himself a partner, but Tae-yong’s recent actions showed him that he was nothing more than an expendable piece whose input did not matter. Even if Tae-yong’s decision was the right one for the team in the end, the way he went about it was unfair to Sam-soo.