Player: Episode 14 (Final)

by Regals

The finish line is in sight for Ha-ri’s revenge plot, and with fifteen years of justice riding on the line, what tricks could our team have up their sleeves that will finally shine some light on the villains that were hiding in the shadows all this time?

 
FINAL EPISODE: “Justice is served”

On the rooftop, the broker slips away to let his henchmen take care of Ha-ri’s team. Ha-ri manages to sneak past the henchmen in the chaos of the ensuing fight and chases after the broker.

Meanwhile, Jin-woong takes on the head thug and simply overpowers him, knocking him out cold with powerful blows to the head. Ah-ryung and Byung-min dispatch the rest of the thugs easily and the team heads off to catch up with Ha-ri.

Downstairs, the broker barely escapes the scene thanks to the help of a pair of policemen, and Ha-ri hastily tries to follow in his own car. His path is blocked, however, when Ah-ryung and the boys swoop in front of him.

Ah-ryung chastises Ha-ri for going solo, but he insists on doing it alone since he’s on the wanted list. Even when Byung-min and Jin-woong announce that they too are now wanted, Ha-ri still doesn’t want them involved.

Byung-min finally reveals that he planted a tracker on the broker’s car when they arrived at the building, and Ha-ri finally agrees to let the rest of the team help.

Ha-ri tells the boys to get in his car while Ah-ryung follows in the team van, and cagily stops Jin-woong from riding in Ah-ryung’s vehicle, ensuring she is the only one in it.

When Ha-ri gets in the car with the boys, he confirms that he intends to cut Ah-ryung out of the plan since she’s the only one not on the wanted list, and tells Byung-min to cut the power in the van once they get going.

As they’re driving, all three boys contemplate whether it’s really the right thing to do to cut Ah-ryung out, and Ah-ryung pipes up through their earpieces that she doesn’t mind going to prison. “Last time I was betrayed, but this time we’re in this together, so it’s okay,” she confesses, unaware of the boys’ plan.

The boys seem to realize the gravity of what they’re about to do to her, but Ha-ri takes out his earpiece and signals Byung-min to cut the power.

The car immediately decelerates, and Ah-ryung asks the boys to wait for her while she figures out what’s wrong, but they’re not listening any more. When she realizes what they’re doing, Ah-ryung cries for them to stop, but they solemnly continue, leaving her behind.

The boys arrive a bit later at the broker’s location, and Byung-min hacks into the building to help formulate a plan. Ha-ri asks one last time if they’re sure they don’t want to back out, but the boys hold firm, and they begin infiltrating the building.

Ha-ri poses as a guard and gains entry to the control room, where he quickly takes out the real guard on duty. With the control room secure, Byung-min searches the CCTV footage for the broker, and finds the floor where the broker is meeting the officials of Min Chang Party.

Ha-ri leaves to interrupt the meeting, and tells Byung-min to prepare the broadcast while Jin-woong heads out to cut the power in the building.

The broker convenes the meeting with the politicians, who all remove their cell phones before entering the room. Ha-ri finds the room and signals the boys to initiate the plan by cutting the power.

With the lights out, Ha-ri dons night-vision goggles and takes out the two guards outside the meeting room. He proceeds to enter the room and plants a camera facing the assembled villains.

Byung-min warns that the lights will be back soon as Ha-ri slowly makes his way to the exit. The lights pop back on and Byung-min broadcasts the video feed all over the internet, and everyone seems to be watching.

Prosecutor Jang finds out about the feed and gets a call from Jin-woong, who tells Prosecutor Jang to come clean up after them and texts their location. Prosecutor Jang mobilizes his team and he hobbles off to join them at the site.

At the site, Jin-woong notices that Ha-ri never actually left the room, as he is now standing in front of the politicians on the stream, having turned back at the last second to face them head on. When the broker notices, he just chuckles at Ha-ri’s persistence.

As Jin-woong and Byung-min flee the control room, the police also mobilize, though their focus is the team members on the wanted list. Meanwhile, Ah-ryung watches the broadcast, still locked in the van.

The broker introduces Ha-ri to the politicians as Chief Prosecutor Choi’s son, and Ha-ri confirms his identity to them. The alarmed politicians wonder aloud how Ha-ri knows about how they framed his father, but the broker assures them it doesn’t matter, since Ha-ri will not be able to leave alive.

Ha-ri continues to question the men about their meddling, and they confirm their plans, unaware that they are being broadcast to the whole country. Ha-ri finally shows them the broadcast, and the shocked politicians shrink at the realization of their exposure.

Ha-ri cuts down the broker, classifying him as only a tool that the rich use because they are obsessed with power. He reveals that his goal was to publicly condemn and ridicule the broker, since he got off on playing people while hidden behind the scenes. Now that he is exposed he’ll be useless to those in power.

The broker furiously takes a swing at Ha-ri, who skillfully dodges and retaliates with his own punch, sending the broker flying. The broker just laughs at Ha-ri’s plan, arguing that he’ll never be useless to these brainless politicians.

Ha-ri warns that even if that’s true, if someone like the broker returns, someone like Ha-ri will return too. He declares victory over the broker, and saunters out of the room. Outside, Byung-min and Jin-woong are waiting for him, and they make a run for it as the police arrive.

Other officials from the Min Chang Party arrive to help escort the politicians out of the room. But before they can make a clean escape, Prosecutor Jang’s team barge in and block their way, arresting everyone for their roles in the broker’s schemes.

Prosecutor Jang finally comes face-to-face with the broker and savors the moment as he presents the arrest warrant, finally locking up the man responsible for his mentor’s death 15 years ago.

Meanwhile, Ha-ri and the boys flee to the top of the building with the police hot on their heels. They manage to lock the door to the rooftop before the police can come through.

Still, they’re trapped on the roof, and Ha-ri and Jin-woong just burst out laughing at their predicament. They joke about how long they’ll each be in prison, but Ha-ri realizes they forgot something, and hastily grabs Byung-min’s phone to take care of it.

The police finally get through the door and find the boys fighting over the phone on the roof as Byung-min sends a file to someone, and the three boys are taken into custody.

In the lobby, Prosecutor Jang tries to stop the officers from taking the boys in. Ha-ri shakes his head to stop Prosecutor Jang from implicating himself, and the boys leave to face the repercussions of their actions.

In the team office, Ah-ryung finds the file Byung-min just sent. It’s a video the boys recorded on the rooftop where they take turns saying their goodbyes to her.

“We decided to live like this long ago, but you didn’t have a choice when you were younger,” Ha-ri tells her, “So from now on, you should live as you please and as you want; making your own choices. Okay? Listen to your heart.”

The boys sign off by telling her to be happy as Ah-ryung tears up watching them squabble for the last word.

Some time later, news reports on the incident reveal the broker’s name to be Yeon Je-suk, and that he has been implicated in crimes committed on behalf of the Min Chang Party dating back to 15 years ago.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor Jang watches the reports with his team, and solemnly thanks them for their work as he prepares to testify about his role in Ha-ri’s team.

In court, Prosecutor Jang takes the witness stand to confess, but the boys play it off that he just wants to take credit for all their work, refusing to let him go down with them.

But Prosecutor Jang hands over the phone he gave them when he first approached them, and the recording he made of their conversation that day.

The court plays the audio file, which starts normally, but before anything incriminating is said, the file switches to a pop song. Prosecutor Jang looks questioningly at the boys, and Ha-ri and Jin-woong both just shrug and point to Byung-min, who starts dancing to the song in his chair. Ha.

Prosecutor Jang just shakes his head disapprovingly at the boys, knowing they altered the evidence to keep him safe from punishment. The judge has heard enough, and sentences all three of the boys to lengthy prison terms for their crimes.

On their way to the prison transport van, Prosecutor Jang stops the boys and demands to know why they’re taking the blame for what he did. Ha-ri cheekily retorts that someone will have to arrest the scumbags of the world while they’re in prison, so they’re leaving it to Prosecutor Jang.

Ha-ri tells Prosecutor Jang to collect all the money they earned from the job from their hideout, legally of course, and Prosecutor Jang cracks a smile at their mindfulness of the law.

The boys are transported in the back of a police van, and they reminisce about their work together, as we get a montage of all of their best moments of the series.

The boys question whether Ah-ryung would look back as fondly on their time as they do, and Byung-min admits he misses her. But Ah-ryung’s voice responds, calling them out for talking about her like that after abandoning her.

The boys laugh it off thinking they’re hallucinating her voice, but the driver of the van pulls off her hat to reveal that it’s actually Ah-ryung and the boys scream in shock. She took out the actual driver right before departing the courthouse and commandeered the vehicle for herself.

Ah-ryung smiles that she’s just living as she pleases, just as Ha-ri told her to do. She’s chosen to save them, which solicits massive grins from all of the boys.

At the team office, prosecutors search for the money Ha-ri mentioned, and when they find the safe, Prosecutor Jang sees what’s inside, the grand sum of… 30 dollars. All he can do is laugh at the cheekiness of the con artists.

In the van, Ah-ryung tells the boys that she grabbed all their money before leaving, and the boys light up again at the news. “Does this mean we’re starting all over again?” she asks, and the boys agree. Ah-ryung happily steps on the gas and speeds ahead to leave the trailing police cars in their dust.

 
COMMENTS

Well that was easy. It’s kind of disappointing that the entire series featured interesting cons and then when it’s time to take down the villain behind it all they just… put a tracker on his car and follow him. It was effective, sure, but it certainly lacks the creativity of the previous work they did to get them to that point.

And while it was effective, it’s also not that satisfying either, as Ha-ri just gets the politicians in a room and they openly discuss everything with him without even thinking he might be recording them in some way? It’s kind of unbelievable that these men were the masterminds of a massive criminal conspiracy for 15 years and yet were too dumb to see this coming.

But they’re not the only ones that Ha-ri blindsided this episode, and I am struggling to decide if it was the right decision. I get where he’s coming from, with Ah-ryung not being on the wanted list, she wouldn’t automatically face the same lengthy prison stint as the boys when the job finished, and Ha-ri just wanted to help her avoid that.

But at the same time, the way they abandoned her is kind of messed up. You can even see the boys grapple with the weight of their decision right up until the moment they execute it. It’s especially heartbreaking when Ah-ryung essentially tells them that she’s willing to go to prison with them regardless.

So when they drop the hammer on her, it makes it even more brutal. All she wanted was to belong to a group, and I’m still not sure whether they made the right decision, even if it came with her best interests in mind. They managed to keep Prosecutor Jang out of prison without emotionally scarring him, so I imagine they could have come up with a more graceful way to let Ah-ryung off.

It kind of parallels the drama as a whole. You can see the thought process behind what’s going on, but you can’t help but feel there’d be a better way to execute it. It ends up leaving a lot to be desired, and I can’t exactly call it a satisfactory experience, especially since they toned down the trickery and shenanigans as we went along. The best moments were when the team were having fun and enjoying themselves with their ridiculous capers. But as those capers went away, so too did the fun factor, and we ended up with a much less interesting product as a result.

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