Player: Episode 13

by Regals

With the events of fifteen years ago seemingly set to be recreated, Ha-ri decides to take matters into his own hands. It’s up to the rest of the con team to keep pace with him if they want to help their friend.

 
EPISODE 13: “I’m the evidence”

In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Prosecutor Jang, Ha-ri pulls the driver out of the car and beats him to a pulp to get information from him, though this is ultimately fruitless. Ha-ri rushes over to check on Prosecutor Jang, who miraculously starts breathing again.

At the same time, Jin-woong escapes the thugs and holds them back from pursuing the team. He manages to hold them off long enough for Ha-ri to flee with Prosecutor Jang and for Ah-ryung to get the van so that she, Byung-min, and Jin-woong can escape together as well.

In the shadowy broker’s office, word arrives of Prosecutor Jang’s rescue, and the broker affords Chairman Cheon one final chance to take care of the con team for good. To set things in motion, Chairman Cheon initiates the staged suicide of an unnamed official.

After the escape, Ah-ryung and the boys wonder aloud what their best course of action is, and Byung-min argues they should lay low until things calm down.

When Ah-ryung asks why Prosecutor Jang was targeted, Byung-min speculates that the events of fifteen years ago are repeating themselves, this time with Prosecutor Jang as the scapegoat.

Ah-ryung mentions that the shadowy broker must be behind everything, and Jin-woong finally reveals to them that he was unwittingly hired fifteen years ago to catch one of the broker’s targets — and that Ha-ri was secretly investigating the case all along.

Byung-min then explains why Ha-ri is so obsessed with the case and reveals that Ha-ri is actually Chief Prosecutor Choi’s son. The rest of the team reel in shock at the revelation, as they realize Ha-ri not only planned everything from the start, but also knew of each member’s involvement in the past events.

At this point, Byung-min reveals that he used to work directly under the broker, and that he deleted all of the files on the case, openly regretful of what he did.

Meanwhile, Ha-ri takes Prosecutor Jang back to the team office and explains that Byung-min hacked and passed him all of the broker’s files. This includes the files on the murder of Chief Prosecutor Choi fifteen years ago and the attempt to kill Prosecutor Jang while disguising it as suicide.

Ha-ri also explains that former deputy chief, now Chief Prosecutor Yoo, conspired with the broker as part of the plan. Prosecutor Jang refuses to believe Chief Prosecutor Yoo would do that, so Ha-ri snaps at him to see the reality and let Ha-ri take care of the case alone from now on.

Prosecutor Jang sees reason, but wonders what Ha-ri can do by himself. After all, Prosecutor Jang speculates, the reason Ha-ri approached Prosecutor Jang in the first place was because he needed someone in the prosecutor’s office to help.

But Ha-ri rebuts, “I didn’t approach you because you’re a prosecutor. I chose you because of who you are.”

Prosecutor Jang is further confused when Ha-ri tells him that Prosecutor Jang was the one who initiated their work together, not the other way around. It finally clicks for Prosecutor Jang, and he realizes Ha-ri is actually Chief Prosecutor Choi’s son.

Ha-ri leaves Prosecutor Jang to process the news, and he takes one last look around the office, remembering the good times he had working together with the team.

The next day, Chief Prosecutor Yoo holds a press conference to announce bribery allegations against Prosecutor Jang from an aide to Candidate Kim’s opponent in the election. The aide was the man whose suicide was staged by Chairman Cheon the night before.

Prosecutor Yoo promises a full investigation into Prosecutor Jang, and he disbands Prosecutor Jang’s team. Afterwards, however, most of the other prosecutors in the office are skeptical about the charges, not believing Prosecutor Jang would ever do such a thing.

Chief Prosecutor Yoo, it turns out, was threatened by the shadowy broker’s lackey into cooperating with them in exchange for giving him the Chief Prosecutor job.

Back at the con team office, Ah-ryung and the boys return to find the place empty, save for Prosecutor Jang passed out in Ha-ri’s secret room.

The team consider their options with Ha-ri now missing, and they agree to go find Ha-ri on their own. The problem is they have absolutely no leads as to where he went, and they sit back down in frustration.

At the prosecutor’s office, Prosecutor Jang’s subordinates plead with Chief Prosecutor Yoo to end the investigation, but he rebuffs them coldly. On their way out, they openly complain about the injustice, and are overheard by the senior staff members who were openly skeptical of the charges.

Meanwhile, Ha-ri drives to a remote warehouse and plants Prosecutor Jang’s phone so it can be GPS tracked. Chief Prosecutor Yoo quickly learns about the phone, and personally leads the team to the site of the signal to check it out.

At con team headquarters, nobody can come up with any ideas for tracking down Ha-ri. As they struggle for ideas, a news report announces Byung-min, Jin-woong, and Ha-ri are wanted by the police for assisting Prosecutor Jang.

Suddenly, Ah-ryung has an epiphany, and argues that instead of trying to figure out where Ha-ri went, they should think about what they would do if Ha-ri were with them right now. Therefore, they decide to take out the broker’s underlings one-by-one to catch up with Ha-ri.

As they start to leave, Prosecutor Jang climbs down the stairs to interrupt, but he doesn’t have the strength and passes out again. The team stop to take care of Prosecutor Jang, then leave to take down some bad guys.

At the warehouse, Chief Prosecutor Yoo sends his underlings to search the warehouse, but Ha-ri watches them all from a distance, with his sights set specifically on Chief Prosecutor Yoo.

Ha-ri manages to sneak behind a cop and incapacitate him; taking the officer’s gun for himself. Shortly thereafter, Ha-ri makes his way to Chief Prosecutor Yoo’s vehicle, and abducts the now defenseless prosecutor using the gun.

Ha-ri takes Chief Prosecutor Yoo to a nearby lake and interrogates him at gunpoint over his role in the conspiracy, and Chief Prosecutor Yoo confesses to helping in order to avoid getting killed like Chief Prosecutor Choi. Ha-ri records the confession to use as evidence later.

Back at con team headquarters, Prosecutor Jang wakes to find Doctor Jo there to take care of him at Ah-ryung’s request. Doctor Jo provides him with a note from Ah-ryung with directions for their new plan.

Elsewhere, Byung-min hacks into Chairman Cheon’s operation again, and Chairman Cheon immediately sets out to track the source of Byung-min’s hack.

Meanwhile, Jin-woong greets the prosecutors who are on Chief Prosecutor Yoo’s side, and leads them on a chase through the streets when they recognize him as Prosecutor Jang’s supposed accomplice.

Chairman Cheon finds Byung-min’s computer and Ah-ryung and Byung-min bait him into chasing them as well.

The broker, in his office, berates Chief Prosecutor Yoo for failing to catch Prosecutor Jang. Chief Prosecutor Yoo snaps back that it’s not his fault that the broker’s men failed to kill Prosecutor Jang in the first place, and that he has done everything asked of him.

Chief Prosecutor Yoo also warns that the public don’t seem to buy the story about Prosecutor Jang either. He also argues that he can’t just claim Prosecutor Jang killed himself if there’s no body to prove it.

The broker menacingly asks if all they need is a body then, and walks threateningly toward Chief Prosecutor Yoo. At the last second, though, he turns on one of his lesser henchman and strangles him instead, and orders Chief Prosecutor Yoo to announce that they now have a body.

Just then, the broker’s top lackey gets a text — it contains a video of the broker strangling his henchman seconds earlier. Ha-ri, it turns out, planted a camera on Chief Prosecutor Yoo during the abduction.

The broker then receives a call from Chief Prosecutor Yoo’s phone. It’s Ha-ri, who tells the broker to come meet him alone to talk if he wants the video to stay secret.

At the prosecutor’s office, Prosecutor Jang’s subordinates come together and resolve to clear his name. But as they start to leave, Prosecutor Jang calls and confides the plan to them.

Meanwhile, Ah-ryung leads Chairman Cheon through a storage yard, but eventually ends up in a dead end, cornered. Jin-woong is right behind them, but the corrupt prosecutors are on his tail too.

It’s a standoff between the corrupt team of prosecutors and Chairman Cheon’s men on one side, and our con team on the other. It looks bleak, but Ah-ryung and the boys burst out in smiles, and tell the bad guys to check behind them.

Sure enough, another team of police and prosecutors swoop in behind everyone, led by Prosecutor Jang’s team members and the skeptical senior prosecutors from before. They’d agreed to help when Prosecutor Jang’s team asked for their cooperation.

The corrupt prosecutors and Chairman Cheon’s men are all arrested, and while Chairman Cheon protests, Ah-ryung gets his attention long enough to give him a swift kick in the crotch. Byung-min follows up with a wild uppercut that sends his former boss flying.

Prosecutor Jang’s team agree to let Ah-ryung and the boys go free, and they run off to try to track down Ha-ri.

Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor Yoo returns to his office and calls a press conference to announce Prosecutor Jang’s suicide. But just then, Prosecutor Jang rolls into the office with several other prosecutors in tow.

Prosecutor Jang reminds Chief Prosecutor Yoo of his words not long ago that prosecutors should speak with evidence. Prosecutor Jang says that now he is the evidence, and orders the arrest of Chief Prosecutor Yoo.

At the same time, the broker arrives at the top of a skyscraper, and Ha-ri sneaks up behind him, gun pointed at his back, to interrogate the broker.

The broker agrees to be honest with Ha-ri, and argues that all people are the same as him, manipulating others to the best of their ability for their own gain. The broker argues that he took that to its logical extreme, manipulating the country instead of just the people around him.

Why? Because he can, the broker says. With the sense of power from the entire world moving at his will, and all the lesser people begging for his help, how could he refuse such a life?

Ha-ri is horrifed by the brazen answer, and the broker admits he is a bit disappointed that Ha-ri doesn’t understand that way of thinking, since he thought Ha-ri might be different than everyone else.

The broker then pulls Ha-ri’s gun directly to his own forehead, and dares Ha-ri to pull the trigger, taunting him over his father’s death fifteen years ago. But Ha-ri can’t do it, and the broker laughs that this is the difference between them; Ha-ri’s pathetic conscience.

The broker argues that this is why he always wins, and as Ha-ri continues to hesitate, the broker’s lackeys arrive behind Ha-ri and quickly overpower him.

The broker picks up the gun and aims it at Ha-ri. But before he can pull the trigger, Jin-woong shouts from behind them, as he, Byung-min, and Ah-ryung show themselves, ready to save Ha-ri.

The broker turns to fire at them, but Ha-ri grabs him and stops the shot as a full-scale brawl ensues, with Ha-ri and the broker fighting over the gun.

The head lackey pulls Ha-ri off the broker, and Jin-woong intervenes to pull the lackey away from Ha-ri again. Both sides collect themselves, and engage in a stand-off with each other, ready for round two.

 
COMMENTS

Ha-ri’s decision to go lone wolf is a little bit baffling all things considered. On one hand, sure, he just wants to make sure that the rest of the team don’t get themselves hurt for what is ultimately his revenge, and casting them aside is a noble way of doing so.

But generally when we’re using the word “noble” to talk about characters, there’s typically a noun attached afterward and I’m pretty sure we can apply that here too. Because Ha-ri thinking he can take down this mysterious broker (who masterminded all of the previous cases Ha-ri worked on) completely on his own after needing the team’s help at every other step along the way certainly qualifies as idiotic.

Surely he didn’t think he could just lure the broker into a one-on-one showdown so easily, because look how easy it was for Ha-ri to be overpowered. He immediately lost control of the situation and were it not for his team being able to catch back up to him eventually, Ha-ri would surely be killed atop that building and the revenge plot would end swiftly and decisively there. It strikes me as an extremely poor plan considering how well-planned the rest of their operations were.

On the other side of things, I kind of understand why Chief Prosecutor Yoo did sell out Prosecutor Jang. He saw very well what the broker could do fifteen years ago, and when threatened with the same outcome, I don’t think it’s particularly shocking he would choose to save himself.

So I don’t think it’s fair to consider him that bad of a person for doing so, even if in the aftermath he suddenly turned into a cold-hearted bastard who gave up on the pursuit of justice. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place and made probably the only choice he really could, given what he knows about the broker’s past.

But it’s a stark contrast to Prosecutor Jang, who consistently refused to bend his morals, and that ultimately is what let him win out in the end. His peers knew that the allegations against him did not match his character whatsoever, and therefore, they were willing to cut through all kinds of red tape to help clear his name, and go against orders to do what they believed was right. Prosecutor Jang’s team, ultimately, just followed the example that he set for them to pursue justice above all else.

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