Two Cops: Episodes 11-12

by LollyPip

It’s time for our charming con man to make a decision—does he continue to live his life as he always has, or has the time come to step up and be a better man? He’s always taken the easy road before, but it’s becoming clear that just getting by isn’t enough anymore. He’s going to need to face the truth of the past and deal with it if he has any hope of getting his life back, and to do that, he’ll need the help of the one person he hates most in the world.

 
EPISODE 11 RECAP

Su-chang, still in Dong-tak’s body, prepares to take the money he conned from shady human trafficker Manager Park and leave everything behind. He thinks he’s arranged for Ji-an to be left somewhere safe, and for the other girls that Manager Park kidnapped to be found in his car by the police.

But Manager Park calls him and says that he knows Su-chang was conning him, so he conned Su-chang right back. Su-chang realizes that Manager Park must have done something to endanger Ji-an, and he breaks into a run.

Manager Park is stuck behind what looks like a car accident, but is actually the detectives searching for him on Su-chang’s tip. Sung-hyuk walks down the line of cars, surreptitiously looking inside each one, and Manager Park grows nervous as he recognizes Sung-hyuk from when the cops were watching him.

With a sneer, Manager Park mutters to himself that Dong-tak must think he’s an easy target. He calls his contact at the police station, Commissioner Noh, to call in a favor.

Su-chang goes back to the Dream International office, but now it’s just a hollowed-out building. He starts to look panicked as he recalls Ji-an’s easy confidence that he can just rescue her if anything goes wrong.

Sung-hyuk makes it to Manager Park’s van and starts to knock on the window. But Detective Lee calls him away, saying that they’ve been instructed to go help another unit immediately. Sung-hyuk tries to argue, but it’s a direct order from the commissioner, so they have no choice.

Su-chang calls Sung-hyuk as the detectives are leaving the scene, and Sung-hyuk tells him that they’ve been ordered to help another unit and that he’s supposed to join them. Su-chang just ends the call and tries to think of what to do next.

Ji-an wakes to find herself tied up on the floor of an old storage building. Manager Park comes in with a couple of minions, and when Ji-an asks where the other girls are, he just says they’ve gone to make money. He flashes her phone at her and asks about her relationship with Dong-tak, revealing that he spilled the beans about her being a reporter.

Ji-an doesn’t even try to lie to him, and she spits that she knows he’s been exploiting students, and even abducting some of them. She threatens to put Manager Park behind bars once she’s free, but he just smiles and asks, “Who says you can go?”

He calls Su-chang (saved in Ji-an’s phone as “Two Cops”), who’s relieved to hear from Ji-an, but hearing Manager Park’s voice deflates him. He tells Su-chang that Ji-an is fine for now, but may be in danger soon, and he lets her speak to him.

She tells Su-chang that she’s tied up in a storage room, and she asks why Manager Park is saying that Su-chang told him she’s a reporter. Su-chang goes quiet, and Ji-an knows from his silence that he’s guilty of ratting her out.

Deciding they’ve talked long enough, Manager Park has his minion cover Ji-an’s mouth with tape. Su-chang looks like her screams are physically painful to him, and he warns Manager Park darkly that if he touches her, he’ll kill him.

But then he adds, “I hope you weren’t expecting me to say that,” and Manager Park and Ji-an actually head-tilt at each other in confusion. Su-chang says to go ahead and kill her, and that he told Manager Park that she’s a reporter because he doesn’t care about her safety. He adds that if it were him, he’d do whatever brings in the most money.

After a long, tense moment, Manager Park laughs and says that he almost fell for it. He tells Su-chang that he has until 5 P.M. today to bring him double the amount of cash Su-chang conned from him, and that Ji-an will die if he brings the police or comes empty-handed.

After telling Su-chang that he’s prepared a gift for him, Manager Park hangs up. He rips the tape from Ji-an’s mouth, and she tells him confidently that Su-chang won’t respond to threats. He just laughs at her and leaves, then contacts Commissioner Noh for one more favor.

Before long, all of Su-chang’s “Avengers” find themselves arrested. Yong-pal and his gang, Doc, and even the bakery boys (who are trying to get more easy money by tossing themselves in front of cars, ha) are found and taken in. Su-chang calls Manager Park to ask if this is the “present” he mentioned, and Manager Park brags that he has some pretty serious connections.

After throwing a pretty impressive tantrum, Su-chang starts to think about how to get Manager Park’s money by the deadline. He can’t go to the police, since Manager Park’s connection is obviously high up in the police hierarchy.

He gets an idea and hits up his former con man friends for money, claiming that it’s for Su-chang’s medical bills. The pickpocket ajumma asks how a detective knows Su-chang, but he just says she’d be shocked if she knew.

From his car, Chief Prosecutor Tak watches Su-chang with the crowd of con artists. He murmurs to himself, “I saw a beast in a valley and thought it might be a tiger. I thought he had the stripes of a tiger, but he was just a dog with dirt on his fur.”

Su-chang is still short on money, so he’s forced to do something he really doesn’t want to do. He shows up at the hospital, where Bong-sook is planning to use the money he gave her to pay Su-chang’s bills, and says that he needs it back.

Bong-sook asks why he gave her the money, and he starts to tell her who he is. He stops himself and instead says that he has a more urgent use for it. He calls her by his nickname for her, Go Bong, then takes off with the money, leaving her confused.

Meanwhile, Manager Park texts Commissioner Noh that he’s leaving the country. Commissioner Noh goes to Superintendent Ma and confesses that through some rounds of golf, he’s gotten himself in debt to Manager Park, who abducts girls and sells them.

He tells Superintendent Ma that he’s done some small favors for Manager Park in the past, but that something is different this time. He begs Superintendent Ma for help, and the superintendent promises to sort this out.

Orders go out for Manager Park’s arrest, and Detective Yoo tasks the team with finding out where he is. They wonder where Dong-tak’s gone, since they haven’t seen him all day.

Su-chang contacts Manager Park to tell him that he has the money. Manager Park says there’s been a change of plans, and he needs Su-chang to find him a boat before midnight. He warns him again not to try anything funny or “someone” could get killed.

After making a call, Su-chang goes back to the police station and starts frantically going through the drawers in Dong-tak’s desk. The other detectives are alarmed when he demands to know where his gun is right now.

As she waits to be rescued, Ji-an wonders why Su-chang told Manager Park that she’s a reporter, and what money they were talking about. She decides to ask him once she’s free, then sets about trying to make her escape. Unable to walk, she drags herself toward the door.

She stops when she overhears Manager Park telling his minions that once the boat is ready, they’ll sell all the girls and go to Japan. His last instruction is to get rid of all evidence.

Ji-an tries to get back to where they left her, but she falls, so she pretends to be asleep. She watches as one minion goes through her backpack and gets an idea when she sees her phone in his back pocket.

A few minutes later, her reporter friend Mi-nam receives a video message from Ji-an. It’s a report suitable for airing, detailing how she’s been abducted by a human trafficker along with several other girls. Mi-nam takes the video to his boss, who orders him to call the police, then air the video on the news.

Someone calls Ji-an’s nemesis, reporter Na-mi, where she’s stationed at the courthouse. She complains that Ji-an is always causing trouble, and nearby, prosecutor Jae-hee overhears her and grows worried. When he can’t reach Ji-an by phone, he orders his assistant to track her phone and find out who she was with before she was abducted.

Su-chang agonizes over whether to tell the detectives that Ji-an is in huge trouble. He needs help, but they’re on the same side as Dong-tak, whom he no longer trusts. He checks out Sung-hyuk and Detective Yoo, wondering if they’re the one who’s working with Manager Park, but dismisses them almost immediately.

He narrows his eyes at Detective Park, who looks guilty and confesses that he only had a little. Su-chang grabs him by the collar, but Detective Park stammers that he was talking about oriental medicine, not bribes, ha. They nearly get into a fistfight, but a call alerts them that a car rented by Manager Park was found near the airport.

The detectives assume this means Manager Park is taking a plane out of the country, but Su-chang says it’s not possible. Detective Yoo tells him to get himself together, and they all file out without him.

He wanders the station, wondering what Dong-tak would do right now. Suddenly Su-chang realizes that he’s tried to get into Dong-tak’s body, but he’s never tried to get out of it. And if he could get out, then Dong-tak could help rescue Ji-an.

He remembers that the last time he was forcibly evicted from Dong-tak’s body was when he was getting beat up. He asks himself if that means he needs to get beaten up again so that Dong-tak can return.

Watch the scene

How do I get out of this body?

 
EPISODE 12 RECAP

Su-chang tries to force his soul out of Dong-tak’s body by repeatedly flinging himself at a wall, but nothing happens. He decides to try a head-butt, but he chickens out at the last second and nearly makes himself cry.

When Detective Lee wanders by, Su-chang tries to get him to punch him. Detective Lee is confused as to why Su-chang wants to get hit, so Su-chang rattles off that Dong-tak can probably figure out how to save Ji-an and arrest Manager Park, so he needs to get out of him.

Confused, Detective Lee has no idea what’s happening, but he agrees to hit Su-chang on the count of three. Su-chang counts one… two… and Detective Lee knocks him hard in the jaw. It doesn’t work, except to make Su-chang upset that Detective Lee hit him on the wrong count, HA.

Watch the scene

Hit me on the count of three!

He gets a call from Manager Park, who’s decided that he wants his boat by 7 P.M. That only gives Su-chang an hour to save Ji-an, so he jumps in a car to take the money to Manager Park. On the way, he answers another call and threatens to play jumprope with Manager Park’s innards if he hurts Ji-an.

But it’s actually Jae-hee on the other line, and he asks if Su-chang knows where Ji-an is right now. Su-chang begs Jae-hee to help him, yelling that Ji-an in in danger and he needs a gun. Distracted and frantic, he swerves to avoid hitting a car and jumps the curb.

The near-miss triggers memories of the accident from his childhood. Su-chang remembers lying in the overturned truck, begging his father to wake up. A boy had stopped and looked inside the truck, but he’d run off, leaving behind a necklace with a “J” pendant. Soon after, another boy had come by to help.

Head gushing blood, it’s Dong-tak who climbs from the car, while Su-chang’s soul celebrates finally getting out of Dong-tak’s body. Confused, Dong-tak asks how Su-chang got into his body without his permission. Su-chang tries to hurry him along, but Dong-tak is distracted by the fact that he can see Su-chang now.

Finally noticing Su-chang’s distress, Dong-tak asks, “What did you do while you were in my body?” Su-chang looks guilty and admits that Ji-an is in danger, but he says that there’s no time to explain, because Manager Park will kill her if they don’t get there in time. Irate now, Dong-tak tells Su-chang that he’ll kill him if anything happens to Ji-an, even if he is a spirit.

While Manager Park and his minions lead Ji-an and the other girls to a secluded area, Dong-tak orders Su-chang not to get involved, since he conned Ji-an. Su-chang accuses Dong-tak of conning him in the first place, and Dong-tak says he’s not sure what Su-chang means.

He gets out of the car at the designated spot, with one last admonition for Su-chang to stay out of this. He finds Manager Park and gives him the money, but when he asks for Ji-an and the girls, Manager Park says that their deal was only for Ji-an.

He leads Dong-tak to where two vans hang suspended from cranes high above the pavement. He says that Ji-an is in one van and the girls are in the other, and tells Dong-tak to choose who will live. He enjoys informing Dong-tak that he’ll have to live with the guilt of killing someone either way.

He gives Dong-tak one minute to make his choice, and hands him the buttons that will drop the van he chooses. Dong-tak stands frozen with indecision while precious seconds tick away. Just as his time is almost up, he hears Su-chang’s voice scream out to him, “They aren’t here! They’re empty!”

Dong-tak screams back that he told Su-chang to stay out of this. Undaunted, Su-chang runs over to say again that Ji-an and the girls aren’t in the vans, and as Manager Park tells Dong-tak that he has ten seconds left, Su-chang begs him to believe him just one more time.

Desperate, Su-chang reminds him, “You believed me that time!” That gets through to Dong-tak, and as Manager Park announces that time is up, Dong-tak hits both buttons, sending both vans plummeting to the earth.

Manager Park looks dumbfounded, but he recovers and congratulates Dong-tak for not falling for his trick. Dong-tak makes a counter-offer: Since it’s him that Manager Park wants, he offers himself in return for Ji-an and the girls.

Manager Park takes him up on it and brings out the girls. Dong-tak nearly runs to Ji-an but stops himself and asks if she’s okay, so she lists her bumps and bruises for him. She adds, “And because of someone, my heart was hurt too,” and Su-chang looks chastened.

Ji-an refuses to leave when she hears of Dong-tak’s trade, reminding him that he never negotiates with blackmailers. Manager Park notices that Dong-tak seems different, and he mocks his change from corrupt cop to protector of justice.

When Ji-an again balks at leaving Dong-tak, he asks her, “Did you forget who I am?” She’s convinced, and when he tells her to get as far away as she can, she tells him in turn to come back in one piece, because she has something to ask him. She goes, taking the girls with her.

Manager Park’s minions proceed to beat the stuffing out of Dong-tak, both so huge that he can’t compete with their brute strength. Eventually one of them gets Dong-tak in a chokehold, and despite his valiant struggles, he starts to fall unconscious.

Just as he’s about to pass out, a car comes screeching towards them, driven by Ji-an. The minions drop Dong-tak and run. Ji-an jumps out to check on Dong-tak as the rest of the detectives show up to arrest Manager Park.

Dong-tak recovers just in time for Jae-hee to show up and clock him in the jaw. Jae-hee says that’s for investigating on his own and putting a civilian in danger, though Dong-tak mutters that there seem to be some extra emotions behind the punch.

Jae-hee starts to drag Ji-an away by the wrist, but she protests. Dong-tak apologizes for putting her in danger, saying that he didn’t mean to, and he promises that she won’t get involved with him again. Ji-an snaps that she’s relieved, because she was afraid she’d have to see more of him, and leaves with Jae-hee, calling him “oppa.” Dong-tak looks crushed as he watches her go, repeating softly to himself, “Oppa?”

Off by himself, Su-chang grumbles that Dong-tak had no right to get so angry at him when he’s the one who didn’t keep his word. He finally has time to wonder how he got free, and he realizes that every time he leaves Dong-tak’s body, Dong-tak is bleeding.

Jae-hee walks Ji-an home, and she tells him not to fight Dong-tak again, because he’ll lose. Jae-hee argues that he never loses to anyone and warns her not to do things like she did today, and to avoid Dong-tak. Ji-an says that will be difficult since they’re fated, though she means that detectives and reporters often end up in the same places.

Once inside, Ji-an complains to herself about Dong-tak telling Manager Park that she’s a reporter. She thinks about how he acts very different at times, and she wonders if there are two Cha Dong-taks.

At the station, Superintendent Ma tells Commissioner Noh that he’s ensured that Manager Park won’t say anything about their involvement. He looks worried as he reminds Commissioner Noh that they’re still cops.

Thankful for the help and ignoring the admonishment, Commissioner Noh asks what they’ll do about Chief Prosecutor Tak. Superintendent Ma reassures him that he won’t find out, but Commissioner Noh says that he meant that they should find his weakness, because while they can pretend they’re his dogs, they need a hidden trump card.

While driving back, Dong-tak thinks about all the times Su-chang helped him when he didn’t have to. He remembers when they met as children, which doesn’t mesh with Su-chang’s anger at him now, as well as his having become a con man. To Dong-tak’s recollection, Su-chang should be living a happy life.

Su-chang visits his body in the hospital and thinks about Miss Bong’s warning that he only has 49 days to find a way to return. As he leaves, he finds Dong-tak waiting for him in the hallway, and they go to the river to talk.

Su-chang asks about Ji-an, calling her “Song” as usual, and Dong-tak asks if he’s been calling her that while in his body. Su-chang says that he has, and will again in the future, because he wants to live.

Dong-tak sighs that he shouldn’t even be talking to a con man. He says he was going to let it slide because of their old friendship, but now he thinks once a con man, always a con man, even as a soul. Su-chang loudly objects to Dong-tak’s reference to their “old friendship,” and he takes a couple of swings at him.

Of course, he just passes right through Dong-tak, which only makes him more frustrated. He kicks at a soda can on the ground, and in his anger he manages to send it flying at Dong-tak. They’re both shocked, and it excites Su-chang so much that he forgets to be angry.

Calmer now, Su-chang tells Dong-tak that he hates him because he broke his promise and ran away. He reminds Dong-tak that he said he’d help catch the guy who lied about his father cutting in front of him on the road, and Dong-tak says, “But we did catch the guy.”

Dong-tak had been hanging around the hospital after the accident and overheard a patient named Kim Jong-doo (the man who would eventually be killed while driving his taxi) on the phone. He’d been telling someone about the accident, and how he lied to the cops that Su-chang’s father was driving drunk and cut in front of him.

Dong-tak had agreed to help Su-chang when he gave him the pendant found at the accident scene. He’d pretended to be a priest and made sure he was in the confession booth when Kim Jong-doo had come to confession, and had recorded him admitting the truth.

Now he tells Su-chang that he gave the recording to a detective, then he suddenly goes still and breathes, “This is it. The reason you possessed my body.” He says that Su-chang’s father’s case was the first case they handled together, and Su-chang realizes that it’s also the only case that Dong-tak never solved.

Dong-tak points out that there are two cases—Su-chang’s father and his partner Hang-joon. Su-chang asks if this means Dong-tak plans to go after the culprit again, and Dong-tak says he will in exchange for Su-chang’s promise not to possess him again.

Su-chang grumbles that it’s not like he does it on purpose. Dong-tak asks how he does it, but Su-chang says he doesn’t know, and doesn’t mention his suspicion that blood has something to do with getting back out again.

He asks who the guy is that killed Hang-joon and got Su-chang blamed and put in a coma, and made Doo-shik take the fall. Dong-tak doesn’t know, but he believes that when they catch him, everything else will be solved.

They both agree that it’s no coincidence that Hang-joon was killed while investigating Kim Jong-doo’s death. Su-chang asks, “Then does this mean that you and I have to solve this case together?” Dong-tak just answers, “Let’s get him, that guy.”

 
COMMENTS

Yes, finally! I’m so glad that Dong-tak and Su-chang have figured out that they need to work together to solve the mystery from their past. Putting the clues together, I’m guessing that it was probably Ji-an’s father who took the recorded confession from Dong-tak, that he was killed when the truth threatened to come out, then was framed for taking bribes and his death ruled a suicide. And this is just speculation, but I’m also guessing that the boy in the white sweater who dropped the “J” pendant could be Jae-hee, and that his father, Chief Prosecutor Tak, arranged the whole coverup to protect his involvement in the accident, whatever that may be. That would explain everything, including why Dong-tak has thought all these years that he helped Su-chang, while Su-chang has assumed Dong-tak broke his promise. But who is the guy on the motorcycle, the one who killed Hang-joon? And what is his connection to the case from sixteen years ago?

I never made the connection between blood and their body-sharing, but now that Su-chang has figured it out, it should make it a lot easier for them to switch back and forth. Not to mention, they’ll have some control of when and how it happens. And I think it’s brilliant to link the blood back to their first meeting as children—I’m not exactly sure how it ties in, but the flashback to Su-chang’s accident right as he was thinking about the blood can’t be a coincidence. Generally I find stories where the protagonists have a childhood history together to feel contrived—not that I dislike the general idea, I just don’t usually like the way it’s executed. But sometimes a show manages to use the past to explain and enhance the present events really well, and I think that Two Cops is pulling this off nicely (another great example of this is Heart to Heart).

I think that Su-chang learned a very valuable lesson when he tried to con everyone and had it backfire in his face. Even though he’s been telling himself for years that he only cons those who deserve it, he’d probably never thought about the collateral damage he was causing to people who didn’t deserve to be cheated. When Ji-an nearly got killed because his plan went sideways, Su-chang realized for the first time that there’s no such thing as only conning the guilty, because someone innocent will always get hurt in the aftermath. It took almost killing someone to make him (hopefully) understand that there’s no justification for what he’s been doing to people for years.

It was a step in the right direction for Su-chang to be willing to step aside so that Dong-tak could come back and help find Ji-an. With the massive amount of resentment and anger Su-chang is carrying around for Dong-tak, it was huge for him to admit that he needed Dong-tak’s help, not to mention that Dong-tak is the one with the knowledge and training to actually do some good. Conning will only get you so far, and at some point you need good old-fashioned detective work to solve such a huge problem.

I continue to be amazed at how well Jo Jung-seok portrays Su-chang in Dong-tak’s body. He mimics Su-chang’s body language, facial expressions, even his vocal inflections so well that I actually have a harder time remembering who he is when Dong-tak is back in control. It actually feels a bit dissonant when Su-chang is in spirit form, because I find it so easy to accept the situation when he’s in control of Dong-tak’s body that it feels strange when he’s not. But I also love seeing the two working together, especially now that Dong-tak can actually see Su-chang, and I’m ready for some good strong bromance to start forming between them. It’s going to be really fun watching them heal from the past and learn to trust and rely on each other.

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