Police Unit 38: Episode 7
by Saya
It’s never been clearer that Jung-do has his own private endgame, but it’s also never been murkier what exactly that endgame is, and how all the pieces and players fit together. But I’m acutely aware that we could be giving the show (and Jung-do) too much credit, as it walks the fine line between complexity that is clever, and complexity that is confusing.
Nevertheless, all the twists and turns and second-guessing are pretty thrilling, and you guys know how much I love an unreliable narrator! And smirky, rascally Jung-do is nothing if not that.
EPISODE 7 RECAP
Sung-il arrives mid-meeting at the swindler’s hideaway. He immediately takes in the profiles that cover a whole wall and asks Jung-do what’s going on. Jung-do looks to the others, and Mi-joo gives him a nod.
He turns back to Sung-il with a widening grin, and asks if the taxes of three hundred evaders would be enough to save his job. Touched by their team’s support, Sung-il blusters that he can’t be working with swindlers. But collecting taxes is his job, and he’s got time on his hands… “Let’s do it together,” he tells Jung-do, eyes crinkling into a smile.
Sung-il peers surreptitiously over the back of a car. Finding the coast clear, he pastes a bunch of posters to the rear window and runs away.
The car’s owner returns and notices the posters just as she’s about to drive off. Leaping out angrily, she tears them off and doesn’t notice Jung-do stroll up. He gets in and drives smoothly away, leaving her agog.
The tax bureau is buzzing, phones ringing off the hook with calls from defaulters now wanting to pay. Mi-joo contributes by using her talent for squeezing rich men to now get their taxes (and is that an uncynical smile on her face?), while Madam Noh and Ji-yeon go about it in the time-honored tradition of terrorizing their victims into compliance.
Hak-joo remains a master of throwing himself on cars, as he lands on windshield after windshield, to the hilarious shock of the occupants. Oh god, this is too funny.
Ja-wang, meanwhile, prints off fake parking tickets which Jung-do and Sung-il push into their targets’ mailboxes, while disguised as postmen. Hak-joo and Mi-joo do the same, and she snorts when he gives her a flirty wink. One by one, the defaulters pay up.
Sung-il strides the streets in shades and a snappy suit. Ohhh look at you! He reaches a crossing where Jung-do’s on the other side. Oh man. This is too good. He’s like a mirror of the younger man, and Jung-do laughs in surprise while Sung-il acts like this is perfectly normal, mouthing a defensive “What?!” at him from the other side.
Jung-do keeps teasing Sung-il over his new look. The men wave at Hak-joo in the middle of another “accident,” which he abandons to join them, limping and bleeding from the nose.
They pass Mi-joo, dressed up as a policewoman, and wave. She joins them and they find Ja-wang next. He runs to catch up with them, although Jung-do laughingly ignores him. They make a triumphant procession down the street, raising a hand to Madam Noh at a café. She, too, joins the cheerful parade.
The news of the sudden upsurge in tax payment reaches Mayor Chun, and even the news announces a radical increase in the city’s budget for children’s education.
It’s night when Jung-do sees off Madam Noh. He thanks her for her help, and she tells him she had fun. Jung-do very nearly giggles.
He rejoins the rest of the team in the little restaurant they like to frequent, where the news of the city budget plays on the TV. Jung-do asks the owner ajusshi why he looks so happy, and the ajusshi tells them that his little girl’s school books will be free from next month on — his taxes were good for something after all.
Sung-il greets the news with a private, heartfelt smile, and he’s lifted by the whole team’s warmth and camaraderie. He asks Jung-do what he’ll do now. What else is a conman to do but con, Jung-do responds cheerfully.
But instead of telling him to stop now, Sung-il tells him not to get caught: “If you don’t get caught, and I don’t get fired, we might meet again sometime.” Aww, not goodbye already? (Of course not, it’s only Episode 7!)
The next morning finds a rumpled Sung-il asleep at his gate, where his wife and daughter discover him. He makes out like he left the house early to go to work, but his wife sees right through him.
He tries to flee, but she seizes him by the ear and beats him for loafing about. But she finishes with telling him to just quit if it’s too much — she can be their breadwinner. Ji-eun passes Dad with a thumbs-up for encouragement.
He arrives to find City Hall abuzz with how much money’s been pouring in in tax arrears the last few days, and enters his office with a wide smile… which fades as he encounters Commissioner Ahn with his team.
Ahn remarks that Sung-il’s team has been doing really well without him, and turns back to them to warn them not to do “it” again. Departing, he advises Sung-il to dress smartly for his hearing tomorrow.
Sung-il asks his team what that was all about, and team maknae AHN CHANG-HO confesses that they went after Bang Pil-gyu. Alarmed, Sung-il suddenly notices Sung-hee’s absence and asks where she is.
Sung-hee hangs her head before Mayor Chun. He switches off the broadcast of President Bang’s (faked) apology when her team attempted to collect his taxes, and asks if she did it for Sung-il’s sake. Leaning back, he tells her that misusing governmental authority makes them little more than vigilantes.
Section Chief Kang tries to prevent Sung-il from going to get Sung-hee. Sung-il can’t understand why they went after President Bang at all. Increasingly distraught, he reminds Chief Kang what happened to his brother-in-law (who has a name, KIM MIN-SHIK). President Bang is out of their reach, and he asks why on earth Kang involved the kids, too.
“I did it because [I was afraid] you’d end up like Min-shik, you boor,” Chief Kang snaps, no less upset. The same thing had happened then — Min-shik had no one on his side and he ended up dead, Kang reminds him.
Blinking back tears, Sung-il says, “Hyung. Don’t worry about me, or you’ll end up hurt, too. You have to make your pension.” Patting him on the shoulder, Sung-il leaves.
Sung-hee apologizes to the the mayor and he offers her a solution: If she apologizes to President Bang and promises never to cause such an incident again, he’ll cancel Sung-il’s disciplinary hearing. She returns to her desk, silent in thought. Sung-il also returns, throwing her a worried look.
Cutting back to her meeting with Mayor Chun, we hear her assent. Satisfied, Chun makes a call and cancels the hearing. It’s finished now, he says, and warns her to keep this meeting to herself. Sung-hee half-smiles to herself at the memory. Sung-il interrupts her thoughts and asks for a word and she invites him along on her errand.
President Bang accepts a drink from Commissioner Ahn, who conveys Mayor Chun’s apologies for not being able to come. The commissioner confirms that the news about Ma Jin-seok paying his taxes is true, although he doesn’t know about any scamming.
Bang asks who ordered the raid on his house — the mayor? Or some upstart? Ahn laughs nervously that it was the latter, and vows that it won’t happen again. But President Bang isn’t placated. Though they couldn’t injure him, his feelings were hurt, he says. Ahn bows in contrition. The president cryptically remarks that although it’s been six years, “I just can’t forget what happened then.”
Ahn reports to the mayor about President Bang’s repeated references to the past, but oddly, it looks like the news worries Mayor Chun more than Commissioner Ahn. Ahn thinks that President Bang thinks they’re going after him on purpose. The mayor tells him to schedule a meeting between them quickly.
Sung-il gives Sung-hee sidelong glances as she drives, and finally says that he understands why she did what she did. She cuts him off gently, bringing up his partnership with Jung-do instead. She’s figured out that they scammed the defaulters into paying up, and Jung-do must have said that would save his job, right? She reveals that Sung-il’s disciplinary hearing’s been canceled now.
He’s shocked by the news and asks how it happened, but she just shrugs good-naturedly. She tells him that he has to stick it out to the end now, until they can champion the law without the help of a conman. He’s in as soon as she promises not to go after President Bang. Sung-hee agrees that he should aim at becoming commissioner. After all, Commissioner Ahn made it, and all he does all day is say “no” — he’s probably saying it right now, she snorts.
And he is. Commissioner Ahn can’t understand how Sung-il’s hearing was canceled, and talking into his phone, he says he’s about to meet his informant now. He approaches a hooded figure, and asks for all the information regarding the bribes s/he reported Sung-il as receiving.
The figure pushes back the hood and whaaaaaaat?!?! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? WHY IS IT JUNG-DO? A flashback shows First Division’s Baek Sung-il taking the initial report, which specifically named Baek Sung-il of Third Division as the recipient of bribery. Although Sung-il assumed it was Ma Jin-seok who made the false claim, Ahn had never said it was.
Ahn asks for some solid evidence that proves the bribery claim, but to his dismay, Jung-do breaks into helpless titters. Barely containing his LOLs, he apologizes, “But what to do? It was just a prank call.” Lost for words, Ahn gulps like a fish. Jung-do smiles innocently and says he only came today out of respect for an elder. Jung-do, you are a terrible person!
Before he leaves, Ahn confronts him for taking him for a ride. But Jung-do notes how quiet their meeting place is. His loud voice could do a lot of damage to the commissioner, he figures, and asks if he wants to end up like Sung-il. Ahn is trapped into letting him go quietly.
PARK SANG-HO, a feckless guy who was always hanging around the tax office, calls up Division Three for Sung-hee, who’s absent. He talks to Chief Kang instead. Apparently, he wants to meet now to pay his taxes, and Sung-hee also has to be there.
Investigator Park points out that Sang-ho’s penniless, and Kang agrees it’s unexpected. He shouts sleeping maknae Chang-ho awake to drive him.
Sung-hee hears from Chief Kang while she’s still with Sung-il, who also thinks it’s weird for Sang-ho to suddenly have money. She invites him along, but he’s got to be somewhere else, so he leaves first.
Jung-do visits Detective Jae-sung in prison and asks if he really accepted bribes. But if he didn’t, he should be released soon, right? “I believe in you, ajusshi,” he says fervently.
“That’s the kind of thing you said to my father, isn’t it?” Jung-do asks, tone switching abruptly. He knows the detective is innocent, but so is his father, so Jae-sung can keep rotting in jail, Jung-do says.
Jung-do brings up real estate consultant Mr. Noh reporting their scam, and reveals gleefully, “I told him to do it.” In flashback, we now see him opposite Mr. Noh while he made the call to the detective. Jae-sung sits up in shock and fury. That’s one down and two to go, Jung-do tells him.
At a subway station, Chief Kang makes small talk with Chang-ho while they wait for their man. Chang-ho’s contract with the bureau is nearly up, and after that, he plans to become a police officer. Kang advises him not to nod off on the job there: “Everything about you is good, but your problem is that you sleep too much.”
Chang-ho confesses that that’s just a ploy to put everyone else at ease. As a temporary intern, he’s something of an outsider with them. This way, he stays out of their hair, he smiles, and whenever they need him, they just wake him up.
Chang-ho takes off for a bathroom break — did he just pass a suspicious masked man? Someone approaches Chief Kang, too. Nooo this isn’t good! Sung-hee, meanwhile, just arrives overground and makes her way inside.
Whew, it’s just Sang-ho who approaches Chief Kang. But he looks a bit crazed. Clutching a paper bag, Sang-ho keeps asking for Sung-hee because he has to give the bag to her. From a distance, someone watches them.
Chief Kang tries to help, but eventually wrests the bag from him. He’s shocked when he finds it chock-full of large banknotes, while I’m shocked at the hilarious incongruity of the mustache design on the bag.
All cheer gone, Chief Kang asks sternly where he got that money. Did someone tell him to give it to Sung-hee? But like a broken record, Sang-ho just keeps on asking for her while getting increasingly fraught.
Chang-ho finally comes back, passing a man taking sneaky photographs. He looks back, and it’s the masked man. When Chang-ho realizes he’s capturing the scene between Sang-ho and Chief Kang, he calls it out to the chief right away, but the masked man breaks for it. Realizing the trap, Chief Kang confronts Sang-ho fiercely.
Sung-hee finally reaches them — the masked man zips past her, Chang-ho in pursuit. Ahead, Chief Kang tussles with Sang-ho for the bag, which splits all of a sudden, sending both men to the floor while millions of won fly into the air.
Sung-hee peers through the crowd and notices Sang-ho. He flees the moment he sees her, and downed Chief Kang urges her to go after him. It’s hilarious how people are just casually picking up the money and walking on, ha.
Chang-ho finally chases down the masked man, but gets a violent beating. He finally gets free when he knocks the masked man out with a rock and he quickly secures the camera. Nooo, don’t check it now!! While he does, a second man approaches from behind, and delivers a vicious strike to the head with a metal pipe. Chang-ho collapses.
Meanwhile, Sang-ho gives Sung-hee the slip, making it (while weeping) onto a train before she can apprehend him.
Sung-il barrels into the hospital where the others already surround Chang-ho’s bed. He’s still unconscious and Sung-il asks what happened. Faltering, Chief Kang says he thinks someone’s after him and Sung-hee.
Sung-il obtains Sang-ho’s address and heads there. Sang-ho’s holed up at home where his altercation at the station plays on TV. Distressed, he drinks and hugs his knees.
Sung-il flashes back to the time brother-in-law Min-shik conducted a raid on Bang Pil-gyu. Just like with Sung-hee, President Bang had asked his name, and vowed to remember it. Sung-il also remembers how he doubted Min-shik over the bribery charges.
Sang-ho’s wife calls him for food, but he doesn’t answer. She opens the bathroom door and screams: He’s lying on the floor, mouth foaming — dead?
Sung-il’s detective friend Deok-bae questions a bunch of suspects about (of all things) streaking through Gangnam. But the arrival of a mystery person shocks him to silence. He calls Sung-il to tell him that the guy who lynched his intern turned himself in. “But…” he trails off, staring at the figure. Sung-il spins his car around immediately.
President Bang sits across from a man he addresses as “Chairman” — this must be Woohyang’s Choi Chul-woo. President Bang chuckles to him that what’s great about their country is that the rabble stay busy fighting each other. It makes them easy to order around, too.
Sung-il storms into the police station and is shocked to find Ma Jin-seok there. He’s the culprit?! Sung-il stares at him in disbelief.
They get a moment alone in the men’s room, and Sung-il demands the truth from Ma Jin-seok. Did he really do that to Chang-ho (“our kid”)? Jin-seok’s nonchalant response enrages Sung-il, who slams him against the wall.
Jin-seok blames Sung-il — he should have been satisfied with ruining him, and not gone after President Bang’s money. The rich hate that, he explains, so Bang set up the trap to get them back. But Chang-ho found out, Sung-il concludes — so who did that to him? A flashback now reveals the true culprit: Bang’s vile son Ho-seok.
Sung-il comprehends that Jin-seok was ordered to become their fall guy. With a cynical smile, Jin-seok tells him that President Bang will reinstate him if he takes the fall for this. He’ll probably see him in a year or so, Jin-seok says — or not, since he became a tax-paying citizen, thanks to Sung-il.
“Hey. Is money really everything?” Sung-il asks Jin-seok, who just smirks in return.
Chief Kang calls Sung-il from the hospital. After getting them into this situation, the only way he can think of to resolve it is by stepping down, and taking sole responsibility. He’s already settled it with Commissioner Ahn. Sung-il protests, but Kang says that what the higher-ups want, they get. Instead, he instructs Sung-il to stick it out and make his pension.
Sung-il receives yet another distressing phone call, which sends him to a funeral — Sang-ho’s. The rest of his team is already there, as are Sang-ho’s wife and young son. Aggrieved, he pays his respects.
Sung-hee waits to be questioned at the police station about the subway incident, which Sung-il watches from afar. Joining him, Deok-bae sighs that the police are no different from the tax bureau and his hands are tied, too: Right or wrong, the higher-ups decide what goes.
Sung-hee finally comes out, and Sung-il gently asks if she’s okay. Voice trembling, she tells him that she keeps thinking of the last thing she told Sang-ho — to go out and work. She’s disgusted with herself that she was going to make the apology that Sang-ho deserved to President Bang instead. “I really regret it all so much,” she says, voice catching. Sung-il lets her go by herself.
Alone in a taxi, Sung-il turns over the memory of what President Bang told them six years ago. That ants like them lived, ate, and slept thanks to the largesse of people like himself. “So I have no obligation to the country,” he rants, “The country has an obligation to me.” If you say so.
Sung-il arrives at his destination, where a door opens to reveal Jung-do. Ohhh. Haggard and sad-eyed, Sung-il asks Jung-do: Does money really mean everything? Jung-do senses something’s wrong, and Sung-il tells him that his hoobae got hurt, and Sang-ho… he can’t even get the words out.
“I have to crush these fiends. Let’s work together one more time,” Sung-il asks.
COMMENTS
Aww, they keep hurting my teddybear ajusshiiii. And baby Chang-ho! I should have known that they were making us like him so much only to hurt him! But did anyone else get yet more Misaeng feels when Sung-il went around calling him “our kid?” I wonder, at this point, if there’s an element of conscious homage in those little touches and tonal similarities, even when it’s subverted, as on Sung-il’s first morning back at work where the sun was shining and life was good. It felt like an intentional exercise in perspective, offering Sung-il up as an unreliable narrator himself: He’s not alone, his folks support him, life needn’t be bleak and mechanical when there’s good all around him. We didn’t dwell on the moment for long, but I liked it.
So Jung-do. Right now, it looks like targeting our Sung-il wasn’t a mistake at all, but part of a more elaborate plan. Looking back, it all fits in, like how he deliberately showed himself to Sung-il after the car scam, as if setting himself up to be recognized again. And it wouldn’t make sense that someone as meticulous as him (as we continue to learn) would make such a basic mistake. So nope, it was all by design. It’s also much more characteristic of the kind of conman he is. Like he’s said, conning at its most skillful is manipulating people’s feelings, and it requires a different degree of finesse to make people’s behavior follow a pre-set course when there are so many variables at play.
I’m assuming his endgame at that stage had been to bring down Ma Jin-seok. And while we have an inkling that Bang Pil-gyu is also one of his remaining targets, I’m not sure he meant to yank that string yet. That was initiated by Sung-hee, and I don’t believe he’s premeditated any of her actions at this point — she’s an element who remains a blind spot in his machinations.
I felt bad for her this episode. If last time was a lesson in maneuvering, this time it was lesson in consequences. Without the benefit of being genre-savvy, she had no way of knowing what putting a mark on her back actually meant, or that it potentially put everyone at risk. She’s still too straitlaced to realize that she can’t take the promises of powerful people at face value — a thing both she and Sung-il tend to do, although the latter is trying to change. The thing is, she needs to grow, and tragedy is growth’s best agent. I also want to avoid the logical fallacy of blaming her for trying to do the right thing (her job) because it went wrong. That supposes the crime was inevitable, therefore, the criminals (President Bang, his son, etc.) are not to blame for committing it, but the victims are for not preventing it. And I just don’t jive with that (hello, rape culture). The burden of blame ultimately has to lie on the person committing the crime.
I would have said that the growing relationship between Jung-do and Sung-il was the best part of this episode, but I now feel compelled to reserve final judgment on that until Jung-do proves himself. I did love what Sung-il’s smile at the beginning of the episode signified, though. What’s different from the last time — when Jung-do said he would catch Jin-seok — is that this time, Sung-il believes him. He’s no longer an unknown quantity and it’s not an abstract three hundred, but a concrete promise. I’m also beginning to see the pattern in Jung-do’s altruism. I think his offer to help was honest, and his affection for Sung-il genuine, but he just can’t help mixing his honest feelings with dishonest motives. It was entertaining how that also reflected in the way the team carried out their mission. Although their purpose is now ostensibly noble, their methods and principles remain essentially unchanged. I found that quite a real and lovely touch, because it says (emphatically!) that they’re not bad, even if they operate outside the law.
Nevertheless, being around Sung-il is changing Jung-do. The older man might be imitating his style and following his dodgy teachings, but Sung-il remains fundamentally himself, while Jung-do demonstrates a deeper shift. We know he fully intended to shaft Sung-il after achieving his goal, but Sung-il himself is the reason he doesn’t. What the younger man learns from Sung-il, though, is not because he’s older, but because he’s kinder. And principled. And dependable. All qualities Jung-do lacks. Sung-il is the embodiment of the papa bear, and it’s clear that Jung-do, despite his sharp wits and keen insights into human behavior, carries a hole in his heart for his own absent father. Let papa bear in, Jung-do-ya. Also, give him back his money.
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Tags: featured, Ma Dong-seok, Police Unit 38, Seo In-gook, Sooyoung
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1 cookiemonster
July 17, 2016 at 2:03 PM
Loving this drama already~ ❤
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windsun33
July 17, 2016 at 11:21 PM
This and BM are my two favorite shows, both just keep getting better.
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2 redfox
July 17, 2016 at 2:25 PM
well I have reached ep 10 and my brain is deep fried, I miss ep 7 when I still had the false assumption that I am pretty good at guessing. can we just keep rewinding ep 7 ...
I can´t handle no more twists.
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Kdramaloverdee
July 17, 2016 at 2:30 PM
Tell me about it...ep 10 was a killer. Not sure who the writer is but hats off for tricking us at every corner!! Can't wait for the next episode!!
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redfox
July 17, 2016 at 2:37 PM
they dare tangle that and leave us hanging though...how am I supposed to deal with it? I want to howl from frustration.
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mianmian
July 17, 2016 at 5:51 PM
I know. I don't want to rush the recappers and I'm so thankful they decided to even recap this complicated yet wonderful show, but I'm so curious to see what beanies will say after watching ep10! No spoilers here, just... eager!
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redfox
July 17, 2016 at 11:55 PM
didnt mean the recappers, but the team making the drama. and the writer, mainly
Nameless
July 18, 2016 at 5:39 AM
I have only one thing that I wish that Saya would have captured today - the not so subtle reference to "Nameless Gangster" - street strut and music and all. That was really cool.
blnmom
July 17, 2016 at 4:18 PM
I believe the writer also wrote Vampire Prosecutor and Bad Guys, neither of which I saw. Were those as twisty as Squad 38?
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anabear
July 17, 2016 at 6:44 PM
as far as I can remember, Bad Guys has one major twist at the latter part of the show. it's satisfying, but not as good as the twists in Squad 38. :)
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anabear
July 17, 2016 at 6:46 PM
you know, at the back of my head, I was expecting that "twist", but I keep on dissing it until it finally materialized in episode 10 and I feel like I'm conned. hahahaha~
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mary
July 17, 2016 at 2:57 PM
You know I was gonna watch eps 9-10 today but all these comments... I'm just gonna save it for later this week so I won't have to wait THAT long. :P
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ObsessedMuch
July 17, 2016 at 9:05 PM
No no.. u gotta check out those episodes! They are really fun.
But obviously my real motive here is that I want others to experience the cliffhanger frustration as much as I am doing. U know the saying right- "misery loves company"? :P
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redfox
July 17, 2016 at 10:31 PM
yes, please suffer. At least one thing is sure: do not try to guess the next move. Do not assume anything. You are wrong. You can never win.
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riarallahssi
July 18, 2016 at 7:14 AM
Oh please join us. And don't trust even the quirky things and doubt-inducing miniature subplots. Apparently, they're quirky and doubt-inducing for a multitude of reasons. I went all critic and thought, oh that detail was just so dang dumb... but then of course, the victim of a con is always dumb, no matter how smart. Argh. Viewers are con victims for sure. It's a con drama after all. Annoying.
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KDnewfan
February 17, 2017 at 9:19 PM
You're right!
Throughout watching this drama... (BTW I'm writing way after the final episode)... I felt conned all the way. The writer is a great writer. I wonder how his/her mind works to come up with all the twists....
Thumbs up to the director, crew, everyone in this production. They should turn this into a movie... alas..SIG is enlisting soon... without SIG, Jung Do will not be real :(
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angieya
July 17, 2016 at 3:15 PM
Seriously, I don't know how many more mindf***s my brain can take. One minute I think, ha, gotcha, then the writer throws in another twist and I'm like WHAT?! How's that possible. O.o
How many episodes we got left, 6?
Geez, I wish I'd have chosen to marathon this drama after its run, how am I supposed to wait till Friday (or Saturday because of subs)?
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Rayn
July 17, 2016 at 3:20 PM
Couldn't agree more. Well, to be honest I somewhat saw Jung Do's "true plan" coming but Seo In Guk's masterful acting threw me for a loop. Just when I had finally put that possibility in the back of my mind ep 10 brings it right back front and center. I swear this show is going to be the death of me lol
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redfox
July 18, 2016 at 12:17 AM
at times, Jung Do seems so vulnerable and child-like that you start feeling compassion and then he shows another side of himself. it feels like they are not just letting him manipulate the feelings of other characters, but us as well.
why is he so controversial, I cannot figure him out.
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asmara
July 18, 2016 at 3:08 AM
So true on Jung Do! At first, I was thinking SIG is being inconsistent with his portrayal of Jung Do but oh my god, he is a con artist, of course he is being inconsistent, no one knows his true self, well maybe sung hee does. I love that Jung Do is being less calculating and off guard in front her. For a con artist, that is just sweet.
Writer-nim, this story, and SIG are really meant to be together. I appreciate more on SIG's choice of roles. He just never stop to challenge him self, from a country bumpkin in LR, nostalgic youth love in R1997, double roles in Savvy, a historical figure in TKF, a sociopath/psychopath in IRY, and now a con artist! How can I not love him more?
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riarallahssi
July 18, 2016 at 6:39 AM
Gah you're so right! See I never trusted Jung Do--- I just couldn't. He perfectly conned a perfectly trusting man who only wanted better things for his daughter and family. Who trusts the conman??? And then he goes all altruistic, and I'm like... gimme a break. And then he goes puppy, and I'm like "jinjja?" "jeongmal" are you really????? And then I think... well, maybe...
And then of course. Episode 10. And yet, episode 10. SIG nails it. Now he's a conman I like but am annoyed with but I like anyway even though I know he's a conman. GAARH. He Sung-Heed and Sung-Illed me. Grrrr.
Beanies, please hang on---keep hanging on. It gets better and better.
*Can't wait for recaps!!! :D
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bigmomma12345
July 17, 2016 at 3:37 PM
Wait, what? We are already past episode 8 on live tv? Dramafever only has through 8, so I thought I was caught up... Ahhhh!!! Reading these comments, I ought to be like Mary and wait, but I don't know if I am patient enough to hold out...
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Saya
July 18, 2016 at 8:05 AM
Guuuuyyyyyyyssss please stop talking about ep10! I haven't watched it yet and although you're not giving details, even the non-details are spoilery in their vague undetail! And I haaaaaate spoilers, like, more than I hate evil politicians with bad hair >:(
(okay, not that much, but nearly)
THANK YOU VERY KAMSA, I LOVE YOU ALL
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mary
July 18, 2016 at 8:35 AM
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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redfox
July 18, 2016 at 9:12 AM
sorryyyyy Saya, we´ll try, but please understand we are not smarter than you. how do I spoil when I can´t even name what I saw? I cannot trust what I saw, so it shouldn´t matter. it will not spoil, there will probably still be another twist that will turn what we think we saw upside down! do you get what I mean here?
TRUST NO ONE.
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riarallahssi
July 18, 2016 at 2:10 PM
Please forgive us! *I'm so excited for the recaps! Haha
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3 bigmomma12345
July 17, 2016 at 2:30 PM
First, let me say how much I enjoy your recapping style Saya. The way you inteject your own thoughts and reactions is an added bonus (and your reactions mirror mine a lot - it is like you are in my head!) Thank you, thank you for the time and effort you put into these! :)
Second, I just picked this drama up this week, binge watching the episodes whilst recovering from surgery. And other than the times it has made me laugh out loud (a still painful action less than a week post-op) it has been a very enjoyable experience indeed. I hope that we are not giving the drama too much credit and find out that it is, indeed, as clever as it seems. I accept all of the loose ends and confusing miments right now, fully expecting the writers to tie everything up neatly and logically by the end (please let this happen!). While I cannot venture a confident guess as to Jung-do's remaining targets (Bang is one but maybe the mayor? Or even creepy nay-saying Ahn?), I am anxiously awaiting the reveals and the journey to the end game. I love our little team of swindlers and hope we see Sung-hee joining (albeit reluctantly) very soon.
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4 Pat Munzer
July 17, 2016 at 2:54 PM
Just throwing this out there - what if Jung-do is an undercover (deep undercover) cop and this whole thing is one giant scam to get everyone, all the way up to the Mayor, who is dirty? What if his father is in jail unfairly, due to the fact that he was trying to bring down these guys and was caught doing so and sent to jai? What if the whole team that Jung-do are also undercover cops, working for the king pin in jail that he "saved" was also a cop, working the system from the inside. Finally, what if Jung-do and Co targeted Sung-il as a good candidate to help them out from the Tax Office since his brother-in-law was unfairly accused of bribery and as such killed himself?
Again - Just throwing it out there.....
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bigmomma12345
July 17, 2016 at 3:35 PM
Omo omo! That would be awesome! And mind-blowing...
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blnmom
July 17, 2016 at 4:06 PM
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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ObsessedMuch
July 17, 2016 at 9:14 PM
I think you have watched too much of "Heartless City". That was all that happened in that drama. It seemed the underworld was filled with undercover agents! :D
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redfox
July 17, 2016 at 10:33 PM
nope. because Ms. Noh. Cops are not rich.
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gamergal
July 18, 2016 at 3:29 AM
THAT...is an AMAZING theory. Kudos to you man. It would also save me a lot of heartache if this was all sanctioned by some authority figure and Jung-do wouldn't have to go to jail at the end of this.
But I'm not so down with the rest of the con team being undercover cops. I think it MAY be Jung-do, and that he may have lived as a legit con man for years in pursuit of his goal to take down the baddies. I can see him playing a long game like that. But I don't see the rest of the team putting in that kind of commitment. They simply lack the motive, and their personalities are too (awesomely) street. =)
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riarallahssi
July 18, 2016 at 6:48 AM
Hah. Theories like this. This is exactly how we're trapped in the Jung Do magic. Theories like this are proof of how we want Jung Do to be NOT Jung Do, or at least be better than the Jung Do that we think is just a conman. We hope for SOOO much more.
So maybe, he probably is (better). But we still don't know! He's that chemotherapy medicine to cancer and Sung il's the patient---we know it (Jung Do) will rip Sung Il's hair out but we know he needs it and yet we're sure he'll get hurt but we urge SI to take it anyway... And so we hope that the chemotherapy drug is a cure, but really it's just almost a symptomatic treatment that represses but doesn't cure, or will it NOT? Yep. Jung do is chemotherapy. We don't know what we'll get from him, but we're hoping it'll be good even though we know it will still hurt anyway.
(Do I even make sense?)
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5 mary
July 17, 2016 at 3:00 PM
I was bored watching episode 7 but your recap made me LOL
Thanks, Saya!
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6 mark
July 17, 2016 at 3:42 PM
I knew things were going too well in the beginning of the episode for them to continue that way. When they met at the underground station, and I kept screaming at my screen ITS A TRAP!!
This episode for me is:
Squad goals walk of fame
Jung-do switching to scary with Jae-sung
Jung-do pulling one over Ahn
Chang ho reason for sleeping
Great acting in the last shot
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mark
July 17, 2016 at 3:52 PM
Reading episode 7, I now remembered Hoseok clubbing Changho. I was dismissing him as a man-child in ep 9 & 10. However, no forgiveness for him now for harming Changho.
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blnmom
July 17, 2016 at 4:08 PM
Yes, Changho was my favorite tax minion. :-(
Hope he'll be back.
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growingbeautifully
July 17, 2016 at 5:16 PM
Ho Seok looks like a bear cub but he was the one who was doing the torturing in his father's office. And his father looked on dispassionately, 'letting the boy play'. Quite horrifying.
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bogoshipda
July 17, 2016 at 10:24 PM
Horrifying.
That's true. Hoseok keeps saying I Love You to his father (at that age, at such position) while hitting others like a pillow (not becos he needs to, not becos he is super angry, ...). I just feel like he was raised that he has authority to hit others and no need reason to start nor control to stop. All his facial expressions and minor comments scare me!!!
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bd5
July 18, 2016 at 1:31 AM
It's the old (seemingly weak) men that are the scary ones as criminals go (they didn't get to grow old for nothing).
Love the contrast in how ruthless President Bang’is everyone else, but seems to really care for his children (who, despite their own ruthless ways, also seem to care about each other) - Hoseok is certainly a man-child.
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angieya
July 17, 2016 at 6:25 PM
The Bangs family dynamics is just weird af and the relationship between father and son looks like they're still stuck in Ho-seok's childhood.
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7 blnmom
July 17, 2016 at 4:15 PM
Good point, Saya, that Jungdo is manipulating everyone's feelings more than anything else, since that's the most predictable thing about humans.
I really liked Sooyoung's scene at the police station. Very good. I've never seen her in anything before but am liking her in this.
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growingbeautifully
July 17, 2016 at 5:12 PM
I was quite taken with Soo Young in My Spring Day. Even the chemistry between her and the lead was great!
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blnmom
July 18, 2016 at 7:44 AM
I somehow didn't know this drama existed, but I just looked it up and started watching. It looks good, thanks!
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growingbeautifully
July 18, 2016 at 7:58 PM
You're very welcome! :)
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DoubleFault
July 18, 2016 at 8:47 AM
Sooyoung is good in both funny and emotional scenes. Hope to see her in more acting projects in the future.
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8 Chiisan
July 17, 2016 at 4:25 PM
I watch this show for Ma Dongseok strutting with a group of conmen in the street. Look at that beautiful squad.
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9 growingbeautifully
July 17, 2016 at 5:10 PM
Thanks very much Saya! I enjoyed your recap.
Wonderful show - nice pace, complicated plot, mind-flipping twists and characters that grow into each other and become lovable even as they are questionable. Love a show with camaraderie between opposing sides. Looking forward to the next episodes!
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10 goldeng
July 17, 2016 at 5:19 PM
Jung do oppa... I think I like you but I thought this would be the episode you would give Sung il his money but you doont! This ep. was so confusing.. like, idk what actually happened! It was all so sudden! Bang's logic is the logic nearly all rich people/enterpreneur have:I have a business, i create jobs so peopel pay taxes, the government should thank me for that and dont ask me for more! I just hope they win the bad guys in their own game.
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11 asmara
July 17, 2016 at 5:26 PM
Saya, I love you! Thank you for the recap. Ep 7 is awesome just as previous eps. Your first screencap is definitely the best moment in this ep. Love the gang!
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12 Jazz
July 17, 2016 at 5:42 PM
Awesome recap! Very insightful and entertaining. Even though I've already seen this episode and the episodes after it, I find myself looking forward to the recaps.
I find myself really liking this show. Can anybody tell me if the writer of this show has written other shows like this one?
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mary
July 18, 2016 at 12:49 AM
I think he wrote Vampire Prosecutor too but the one I loved most is Bad Guys. It's similar with the reluctant bromance-team and lots of comedy too with twists in the story but the show itself is much darker. I'm still waiting for season 2 of that show.
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13 angieya
July 17, 2016 at 6:30 PM
When I watched the meeting between the mayor and Sung-hee, I was left scratching my head because it seemed kind of weird to me. Then I saw some beanies discussing about the possibility that Sung-hee could be the mayor's daughter in ep.6 and was like "Duh, now everything makes sense!".
Their same surname is definitely a big indicator and the meeting reinforces the suspicion.
1. Why would the mayor want to see her in person, a low rank tax collector?
2. He makes an effort to explain to her what kind of effect her "show" had.
3. Knowing that she only did this to save Sung-il, he makes a proposal to let him off the hook. There was no reason for it. He could've just ordered her to stop going after BPG, reprimand her more severely or fire her (which would probably be the case under normal circumstances).
4. By making her apologize to BPG he's not only preventing her from taking further actions against that guy (which in return saves him a lot of trouble) but he's also trying to protect her, knowing BPG is a person who'll take revenge (proven by the set up later).
5. Then after her consent he cancels Sung-il's disciplinary hearing right in front of her as if he wants to prove that he keeps his word.
So why would he bother with all this if they weren't related? He could've gotten rid of two troublemakers easily. Or am I reading too much into this? :-P
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Namu 🐧
July 17, 2016 at 7:34 PM
omo.. omo.. omo.. mind blowing
what is major's full name?
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toni
July 17, 2016 at 8:51 PM
CHUN Gap-soo...OMFG
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bogoshipda
July 17, 2016 at 10:38 PM
I am also hopeful for the Mayor. Unlike Comm. Ahn, the Mayor seems to have unresolved past with Bang President. He seems to regret the mistakes of letting Bang hurts Minsik (Sung Il brother). I also notice the way he treats Sunghee... but not because they are related. I am rooting that the Mayor and Jung Do (and more secret agents) are planning for a final battle. Therefore he's letting go of Sung Il and Sunghee.
Btw Jung Do father may be framed to take the blame for Bang's fraud (he claimed that he lost all assets in frauds) so he was in jail....
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Angélina Eang
July 18, 2016 at 12:01 AM
That's exactly what I think about. It is just so weird how their meeting is so intimate and yet, full of tension at the same time. And at the end, when he said "Let's keep this deal between each other", it sold the deal for me. Why do they need to be so careful ? And yeah, they both share the last name "Chun" and even tho it may be common, in this drama, I dont believe it is a coincidence.
What I dont get tho is why they are hiding it ? Like, maybe he got her out of wedlock ? Because I am guessing that the Mayor's family gotta be a big deal with the whole heavy focus on family values for politics. So it is just weird.
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O_o
July 18, 2016 at 8:22 AM
"Cheon" is not a common Korean last name.
Last names Cheon-Bang-Ji-Chu-Ma-Go-Pi are rare and a long time ago were thought to be lower-class last names (not any more). And this drama has three of them already.
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bd5
July 18, 2016 at 1:35 AM
There probably is some time of hidden relationship btwn the 2 of them, but don't think it's father-daughter as Sung-hee grew up relatively poor and seems like the Mayor has gotten used to the "nicer things" in life.
Maybe a more distant familial relationship?
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angieya
July 18, 2016 at 4:50 AM
Yeah, I'm still sitting on the fence about a father-daughter relationship, more so because I'm tired of hidden identities, birth secrets et al and this drama has stayed away from typical kdrama tropes so far. He could just be her paternal uncle.
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riarallahssi
July 18, 2016 at 6:53 AM
What about brother-sister? It would make sense that she's not rich, given politicians are supposed to be humble, right? And the brother can get rich, but the sister can remain humble. Also, there's a sense of distance between them despite a seemingly obvious connection---it's almost a connection they're both only respecting but not exactly liking. So if they were father-daughter, then there's a deep gap between them. A deceased mother, perhaps?
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DoubleFault
July 18, 2016 at 8:53 AM
Yeah. Looking back to her first meeting with JD, it seems that both JD and MJ were trying to con SH. It could be because of who she is related to. JD ended up liking her for real and continued seeing her even if SH was probably of no use to him anymore.
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14 Albie
July 17, 2016 at 6:41 PM
Can someone explain how tax collection works in Korea? Why is it acceptable practice to meet anyone anywhere as a collector outside of an office to collect payment? Especially in the form of a bag full of cash?
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blnmom
July 18, 2016 at 1:46 PM
Hm, good question. I guess it would be OK to go to someone's home to get their taxes but meeting in the subway is weird. Although paying in cash seems OK. I've heard of people in the US paying in pennies, because they're mad at the government.
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15 August
July 17, 2016 at 7:07 PM
Thanks for the recap Saya. Awww the memories...as a big big fan of Heard It Through the Grapevine, so cool to hear the OST playing in the background as they strutted down the street.
Of course, the song was probably chosen to pay homage to Ma Dong-Seok in Nameless Gangster.
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August
July 17, 2016 at 7:11 PM
Heard It Through the Grapevine OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhqTa8NzCL4
Jang gi-ha and the Faces - I Heard Some Rumor (Nameless Gangster OST)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyrvZo2LEzs
23 I Heard a Rumor - Nameless Gangster Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtzDcDhZ14Y
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pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉
July 17, 2016 at 7:51 PM
I had the biggest squee inside when I hear the song too. That drama was amazing <3
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The other Kiara
July 17, 2016 at 8:03 PM
Teared up for Grapevine. Miss that show, Ko Ah-Sung and director An Pan-Seok. I want more.....
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pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉
July 18, 2016 at 1:18 PM
I love that we have a mini-Grapevine fan reunion here, all we need is Jon G. to make it complete.
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The other Kiara
July 17, 2016 at 7:59 PM
You read my mind with Grapevine and Nameless Gangster <3.
NG was a great movie pack with my favorite ahjussi(s).
Ha Jung-woo, Choi Min-shik, Ma Dong-seok, Jo Jin-woong, Kwak Do-won,Kim Sung-kyun etc.
tvN is not going to ever let go of their writer Han Jung-Hoon. He gets better with every project.
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16 Peach
July 17, 2016 at 7:32 PM
Please don't betray Papa Bear, Jung Do-ya! ?
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Rose is a scorpio
July 17, 2016 at 8:52 PM
Man, today's episode was the epitome of adrenaline, holy Lord.
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17 Happydramaland
July 17, 2016 at 8:25 PM
I'm new here and I don't really know about the recap rules of dramabeans, so please forgive me if what I propose is inappropriate. Could recappers make a combine recap from ep 8 to ep 10? Since this drama is full of twists, with recaps behind I can't fully discuss the most updated plot without any spoiler, which make me feel something is scratching my heart. So hard to hold it. I don't want to put pressure on recappers to do full recaps on each episode like now to catch up. So is it possible to do quick recaps for 3 episode in one go so that we can freely discuss up to date?
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The other Kiara
July 17, 2016 at 8:53 PM
I know what you are feeling Lily about holding it because I'm ahead and I don't want to comment and spoil it.
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mary
July 18, 2016 at 12:38 AM
Can't speak for the recappers but I'm just glad the PU38 beanies are so good at holding themselves off on spoilers. I know it's really hard and I'm amazed that there's no spoiler here at all. I haven't seen 9-10 yet but based on everyone's hints, it's a mindfook. O__O
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angieya
July 18, 2016 at 2:51 AM
Yeah, it's definitely challenging to comment on this drama without spoiling.
After two days I'm still trying to comprehend what happened in ep. 10 and have the urge to watch the drama again from ep. 1. Actually I feel like that after every new episode. lol
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pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉
July 18, 2016 at 2:41 PM
yeah, it's really hard to hold off on spilling future details especially when a drama is this edge-of-the-seat and loves its cliffhangers. Part of the reason why I haven't been around PU38 recaps as much as I would like :( But hats off to the recappers for doing it, and giving us the full recapping experience <3
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Saya
July 18, 2016 at 2:45 PM
Just a little longer, we're nearly caught up! And I can guarantee you that All The Sleep is being sacrificed to achieve it. Sob.
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mary
July 18, 2016 at 9:36 PM
I'm just reading comments to check for spoilers and also hoping to god no one posts a spoiler lol
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Happydramaland
July 18, 2016 at 3:06 AM
@javabeans hope someone can see my little advise
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gamergal
July 18, 2016 at 3:15 AM
Ah I know how you feel. It's really really hard not to squee over ep 10, when it ended on that mind blowing note.
But as a long-time recap reader I just wanted to explain why they probably choose to do each episode instead of several bunched up in a case like this, where they have so much catching up to do.
It would certainly be easier for them to do several eps together. And they've done that before when it was just JB and GF recapping and it wasn't practical to do all of them individually. But in this case:
1. they've already put in the effort to get out recaps of episodes 2 to 7 in just ten days
2. they'll probably be caught up before next weekend's eps are aired and subbed
3. there are a lot of readers here who never watch the shows (or sometimes give an episode a miss) but like staying updated with the plot by reading the 'caps
4. there are enough minions for them to attempt this kind of belated catching up now, where before they would have had to give up
5. People who watch PU38 in subsequent months or years will come to read the recaps and wouldn't like to see some eps bunched together when the joy of these posts are in the blow-by-blow coverage that they do.
Okay. That's all I got. =) These are the reasons I tell myself when I get impatient with slow covering of a good show. Also, in this case with eps 8-10, I really want the recappers to cover every minute and not skip any. I loved when ep 10 ended!
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redfox
July 18, 2016 at 4:25 AM
yes, especially the thing about reading recaps after the drama ended, you will want to go episode by episode, you will not ant a mash-up just like when watching the drama you dont just want the trailer.
and ep 9 & 10 need their own recap cause the server will crash if all the rant is thrown together in the comments
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PeepsLeAwesomePotato
July 18, 2016 at 5:43 AM
Eh, if it helps relieve your stress, I did full recaps for this show up till episode 8 and then Picture caps for episode 9. Another bloggers already done the recaps all the way till episode 10 at https://dramaswithdrinx.wordpress.com/
You can post all your "spoilers" there.
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18 ObsessedMuch
July 17, 2016 at 9:25 PM
I think Saya is my favorite recapper on Dramabeans. She just injects a present-ness in her recaps that makes me visualize things clearly. Plus the mid recap interjections of 'whaaat' make the reacp that much more lively. Thanks a lot for the lovely recap Saya.
talking about this episode, I was a little bored in the beginning with all the strutting. I mean don't get me wrong I love their struts and was impressed with how they looked (a la Ocean's 11), but I was like: 'we are almost halfway through the story dear show, don't u have to give us more con and a little romance. Why are u wasting it long drawn out sassiness'.
But yeah the show answered me back with the fast paced stuff later.
Anyway else love the OST? What is the song that starts playing at the end of the episodes?
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Pauline
July 17, 2016 at 11:14 PM
Up10tion - Run
Key & Doyoung - Cool
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ObsessedMuch
July 17, 2016 at 11:38 PM
Thanks :)
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redfox
July 18, 2016 at 12:20 AM
best theme songs after Auditory Hallucinations and Jaywalking
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ObsessedMuch
July 18, 2016 at 12:26 AM
@redfox are you my soul sister? I have auditory hallucinations as my phone's ringtone. Now my parents wonder why my phone starts rapping in an unknown language (they don't know about my kdrama addiction yet).
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redfox
July 18, 2016 at 1:56 AM
mine is still Gaksital, cause I tried and tried to download AH but it did not match my phones´ settings. But Gaksital and the guitar solo are good enough. then I can say to people, "Hey, do you know I can play a guitar solo?" and then I give them the ringtone
ObsessedMuch
July 18, 2016 at 4:08 AM
@redfox I haven't seen Gaksital. I tried the first 2 episodes and got a little bored. I have heard such rave reviews about it though. Maybe I should just pick it up and try once again.
redfox
July 18, 2016 at 6:55 AM
listen to the theme song at least, it is really cool. the drama gets exiting at ep 5-6 or something.
laurenne
July 18, 2016 at 12:48 AM
in terms of good osts, wanted to add
Kim Bo Kyung- Suddenly from CH
and not a soundtrack but reminded me of auditor hallucination:
Jieun going Crazy
epik high - One / and also Run
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doctors
July 18, 2016 at 12:54 AM
wow. epik high ref. on DB!!
fav song of epik high for me has 2 be Fan. ^^
pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉
July 18, 2016 at 2:48 PM
The entire Shut Up Flower Boy Band OST is so good. Wake Up remains one of my favourite OST tracks of all time, as does Nell's Run (from Two Weeks - a really unusual style of OST for a drama) and of course, Grapevine.
And of course, the Answer Me series absolutely kill it with their OST selections, both from the past and new music.
mary
July 18, 2016 at 12:30 AM
I was bored with this ep too. I'm glad to find someone who feels the same. It doesn't mean I stopped watching or hate the show. Just saying this episode was slow.
After the quick "scam 300 people" part and that "don't get caught" beautiful bromance farewell scene, the episode felt flat to me. I could see the fake bribery ruse from a mile away. That last-minute introduction to Chang-ho's "bright future police officer" story just to make us pity him when he gets stuck in the hospital was so obviously a ploy for us to care that my brain actively resisted it. I wish they gave him more to do in small moments in the previous episodes so we'd at least feel his loss.
I cared more about Severus Snape Tax Delinquent than Chang-ho. He was always in the background being "ignored" by the system so I expected more from his character. I honestly thought he'd bomb the train station. Too bad he died immediately after faking the bribe.
I feel like this episode was all set-up and episode 8 was where all the action went. It's just weird seeing it divided so neatly. I wish the writer mixed up the intro/set-up and action a little bit so it didn't feel too formulaic. Or at least make the setup entertaining to watch like he did in eps 1-4 to make the con in 5-6 worth it.
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ObsessedMuch
July 18, 2016 at 12:54 AM
"Severus Snap tax delinquent": finally someone who speaks fluent Harry Potter "P. I was moved by him too. And I wished we could actually get more out of the character, but they just killed him off (and in such a sad little way. I mean I would rather he would have been murdered just so his death could mean a little more).
I did not even get moved by the Chang Ho scene. He was shown as an after- though. Plus maybe I just missed his scenes in the earlier episodes, but I just did not notice him. Obviously, Sung Il's reaction to his accident in the hospital was priceless, but then Ma Dong Seok could just sit and stare at things with his soulful eyes and I would still watch the episode (though I would need a fix of SIG's smirks in between).
Obviously I love the show. But a little constructive criticism never hurt anyone. Episodes 8, 9 and 10 were wonderful. I can't wait for next week (though W- two worlds' premiere might just help with the whole waiting).
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asmara
July 18, 2016 at 3:22 AM
If there's one thing I could say as a critic to this wonderful drama is the editing. Sometimes the flaws is jarring, like the bgm stopped abruptly, some scenes were cut not nicely, then they prolonged a scene that should be much shorter, but they cut short a scene that should be much longer. Maybe that's why some find this drama/some eps bit boring.
For this kind of drama, the director and the editor should really work meticulously, like giving hints here and there during the set up episodes to raise curiosity and then hit it hard with the action/revelation episode.
I know they already work hard. Hope next episodes will be much more better. Fighting!
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ObsessedMuch
July 18, 2016 at 4:06 AM
@asmara You are quite right. If they edit it well, this could be an awesome show. But sometimes they emphasize too much on style. I don't want this show to turn into I Remember You part 2, where I am left feeling that we need more episodes because there was so much more to the story. I would rather they give me a complete package and leave us with an awesome show because till now no good show has come back with a season 2.
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19 Angélina Eang
July 18, 2016 at 12:11 AM
Sooyoung was greaat in this episode by portraying an emotional and really hurt Sung Hee. I just love her so much that her blaming all on herself is hard.
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20 riarallahssi
July 18, 2016 at 7:01 AM
"I think his offer to help was honest, and his affection for Sung-il genuine, but he just can’t help mixing his honest feelings with dishonest motives. "
The dilemma that is Jung-Do. Oh dear Saya, our dear recapper... it could be that we're giving too much credit to the drama, but I do think this drama is an ace in the making. At least, the actors are all amazing. I haven't seen this much impressive acting on a collective group of actors since Misaeng. Mi Joo, Sung Hee, Baek Sung il, Seo In Guk, Bang Pil Gyu, Ma Jin Seo, even Chang Ho! Everybody is doing great.
I wholeheartedly agree that the homage to Misaeng is conscious at this point. 10 episodes done and I'm convinced that this drama was almost built around the same universe as Misaeng was, except where Misaeng was languid and calm, Squad 38 was daring and risky... but both sit on enough realism to be relatedly heart-wrenching.
The list of my favorite dramas with Seo In Guk in it is getting longer and longer... It's almost an understatement when they say "we can't go wrong with this guy." But there are dramas of his I absolutely don't recommend. KK.
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redfox
July 18, 2016 at 7:10 AM
SIG had said that he prefers making a meaningful artsy drama to mediocre material with super high ratings. absolutely agree. only do things you are proud of. why waste your talent on something cheap
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riarallahssi
July 18, 2016 at 7:18 AM
That being said, I wonder how "Shopping King Louie" will fair in the artsy department...
But you see, it's because he treats the craft like a gem that it gets fairly competent ratings. So now the squad38 team gets to celebrate in phuket because they're awesome.
<3 <3 <3
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redfox
July 18, 2016 at 8:57 AM
I think it is another role where he can be creative. that´s his asset.
but next to SIG, Lee Sun Bin is really doing a great job as Mi Joo. Gosh, she was convincing. and I felt soooo bad for her in the last ep. and sorry, and then it turned out I didnt have to. go figure
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21 Pookie1
July 18, 2016 at 12:10 PM
Such a lovely summary, Saya! Thank you :D
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