The Good Detective: Episodes 5-6

by solstices

One murderer is apprehended, but another is still at large. Our detectives dig deeper into the anomaly amongst the string of murders, and they finally manage to make some headway — it looks like the connections to the past run a lot deeper than they seem.

 
EPISODES 5-6 WEECAP

Our detective pair rush to the airport to catch Sung-gon’s younger sister LAURA CAINE (Park Ye-ni). Her flight’s already left, but by some stroke of luck they just so happen to walk past her. It turns out she didn’t get on the plane after all, and she reveals the truth of her childhood.

When she and Sung-gon were kids, their abusive father slit their mother’s throat right in front of them, incensed that she dared to wear red lipstick, and accusing her of wanting to seduce other men. She’d been wearing a white dress, and its bloodstained visage had haunted the two siblings ever since.

Despite being taken into custody by the Seoul team, Sung-gon staunchly denies the accusations. That is, until our detective pair arrive with a video for him. Unable to bear the burden of her brother’s murders, Laura filmed a confessional video revealing the full truth of Sung-gon’s motive.

Do-chang informs Sung-gon that Laura has committed suicide, and it’s the breaking point for him. Sung-gon hurls the laptop to the floor, and he seems to be in genuine distress for a moment, but it soon morphs into anger. Blaming his sister for all his crimes, Sung-gon gloats that she’s finally dead.

We get a little more insight into our seasoned detective this week, and it’s almost heartbreaking to see Do-chang’s trajectory from the steadfast passion of his past to his current disillusioned state. Do-chang is someone who even ran out in the middle of his own wedding ceremony to catch a culprit, effectively ruining his relationship with his fiancee, yet now he’s questioning the very convictions he’s built himself upon.

When Hee-joo’s grandfather pleads to be told who his granddaughter’s murderer is, Do-chang finally loses his cool and blurts out that he doesn’t know — he can’t know for sure. No matter how much the circumstantial evidence points to Sung-gon as the murderer, without having actually witnessed the crime, he simply can’t assert the identity of the culprit.

Last week, Hee-joo’s grandfather offered Do-chang’s adoptive daughter LEE EUN-HYE (Lee Ha-eun) shelter after she was terrorized by people from her past, giving her a new pair of shoes to replace the one she lost while running away. This week, Eun-hye returns the favor, going to his shoe store to give him oranges and check up on him in the wake of Do-chang’s outburst.

Eun-hye only brought one umbrella, so Hee-joo’s grandfather urges her to take it back with her instead of walking home in the rain. She does, but she returns to give it back to him, having bought another at the convenience store. Aww, she’s such a thoughtful kid. It’s clear that Hee-joo’s grandfather sees Hee-joo in Eun-hye, and I like their developing bond; they find comfort and safety in each other, and I hope it’s the road to healing for both of them.

During a prison visitation, President Cheon explicitly favors Sang-woo, openly stating that he wants to revamp TJ Group’s image with Sang-woo as the figurehead. Na-na puts on a strong front, but she breaks down in private, and Tae-ho comes home to her binge-eating sweet desserts even though she’s diabetic.

Na-na pleads with Tae-ho to reassure her that she’s not alone and that she doesn’t have to be, and he pulls her into a tender embrace as she cries. It’s a rare moment of vulnerability from Na-na; for all her sly manipulation and aloof bravado, she’s still affected by the loneliness of the path she’s chosen to take.

Since Hee-joo is the only victim who never boarded Sung-gon’s bus, Do-chang and Ji-hyuk start investigating deeper into her case. They obtain her work belongings from her grandfather, and amongst them is a planner with a suspiciously ripped page. Squinting at the page beneath it, they figure out that the torn portion contained a password to Tae-ho’s safe, though they don’t know what Tae-ho told Hee-joo to take from it.

Furthermore, Hee-joo’s call log contains several suspicious numbers. One is Min-ji, and another is a burner phone. Ji-hyuk tries calling the unknown number, and we see that the burner phone belongs to Sang-woo. By tracking the location of the call, Ji-hyuk discovers that the burner phone was inside the TJ building.

Anxious that the detectives may be onto him, Sang-woo drives out to a secluded lake and tosses the burner phone into the water. He thinks he’s in the clear, but his actions were witnessed by Na-na, who arrives at the lake after he leaves.

Tae-ho pays a visit to Hee-joo’s grandfather, offering TJ’s legal services in case the detectives smear Hee-joo’s name in their investigations. It’s clear he’s anxious that Hee-joo’s grandfather could be a loose end or maybe even a loose cannon, but he doesn’t manage to glean much information before he’s sent on his way.

Afterwards, Hee-joo’s grandfather visits the police station to give Do-chang and Ji-hyuk an envelope of photos that were sent to Hee-joo. They capture Tae-ho and Hee-joo, enjoying a private meal together after work and looking much too cozy for a mere superior and subordinate relationship.

Do-chang understands how much courage and integrity it must have taken Hee-joo’s grandfather to submit evidence that could tarnish his precious granddaughter’s reputation, and he thanks him sincerely.

Na-na meets with Ji-hyuk at a hotel, to Bo-kyung’s annoyance (since she has a crush on him, aww). Sending Bo-kyung away, Na-na cuts straight to the chase and asks Ji-hyuk if he knows who committed the assault from two years ago. Ji-hyuk deliberately reveals that he has his suspicions about the culprit of Min-ji’s assault case, though he doesn’t say who.

Clearly fishing for dirt on Sang-woo, Na-na offers to cut a deal with Ji-hyuk once he obtains conclusive evidence. She plays coy, refusing to reveal the terms of the deal until he has something to offer in exchange.

Since Ji-hyuk is still limited by his restraining order, Do-chang meets Min-ji alone to ask about Hee-joo. Warily, Min-ji admits she was friends with Hee-joo, but she denies any further relation. She grows defensive when Do-chang brings up her assault case from two years ago, noting that the first witness was Tae-ho, the leader of the TJ legal team where Hee-joo worked.

Min-ji reiterates that she doesn’t want to talk about that case, but Do-chang corrects her. He’s not here to dredge up the past, he’s here to investigate Hee-joo’s case, and Min-ji is a prime suspect because of how frequently she appears on Hee-joo’s call log.

It turns out that Min-ji has an infant daughter, who is currently in Sang-woo’s custody. He’s holding her as leverage over Min-ji, who has no choice but to do TJ’s bidding in order to keep her daughter safe.

Min-ji asks Sang-woo if he had something to do with Hee-joo’s death, calling him an evil bastard, which angers him enough to strangle her. Glaring at him, Min-ji dares him to kill her, threatening to make him regret it if he doesn’t.

Sang-woo leaves her alive, but he sends gangster Ki Dong-jae to Min-ji’s apartment and gives him the passcode. Sneaking in, Dong-jae fiddles with Min-ji’s laptop, plugging a USB in. When Min-ji arrives home, Dong-jae threatens her with a knife and forces her to act like everything’s fine when our detective team comes knocking on her door.

By the time our detective team figures out Min-ji is in danger and breaks into her apartment, she’s unconscious, having been knocked out with a flowerpot. They send Min-ji to the hospital, while our detective pair remain behind to examine the crime scene.

There’s a video open on Min-ji’s laptop, and Ji-hyuk quickly realizes that it’s the CCTV footage from the night of her assault. They play the video, and a man walks through the hallway, then turns around to face the camera — it’s Tae-ho.

Well, that’s obviously a set-up, given Dong-jae’s break-in and how the video was deliberately left open for our detectives to discover. I doubt Do-chang and Ji-hyuk will be taken in that easily, but I suppose we’ll have to wait till next week to know for sure. Ji-hyuk certainly doesn’t seem like someone who would take things at face value; I like how insightful and level-headed he is despite what his lackadaisical attitude seems to suggest.

On the other hand, I’m surprised by how incompetent Sang-woo is shaping up to be as a villain, LOL. I mean, did he really think tossing an intact phone into a river was the best way to get rid of damning evidence? Not to mention sending a hired gangster after someone who clearly has ties to him and is a key person in a murder case. Perhaps that’s why he needs Tae-ho to clean up his messes, but I really do hope Sang-woo steps up his game.

Anyway, moving on to our other characters — I like how smart and perceptive Bo-kyung is. Rather than naively accepting her sudden promotion, she recognizes that her value lies in her connections, since her father is the police chief. Bo-kyung’s bold enough to directly ask Na-na if this is the reason she was added to the legal team despite having zero legal experience, and while I do worry that her forthrightness will land her in hot water sooner or later, I find her initiative refreshing.

She’s in a precarious position, now that she’s situated close to the heart of the TJ schemes, but that also means she has the ability to take them down from within. One thing I like about this drama is how capable and nuanced Na-na is as a character, and I hope Bo-kyung is given similar depth.

In that vein, I’m also looking forward to finding more about Hee-joo. Given what we’ve seen of her so far, she seems like a competent young woman with a sensible head on her shoulders, so I wonder what prompted her to enter an affair with a married man. It could just be a red herring, especially given how many people likely have it out for TJ Group, but Tae-ho did seem to display a genuine fondness towards Hee-joo in the flashbacks we’ve seen.

Tae-ho’s as interesting as he is enigmatic; he’s allied with Na-na, and he does appear to sincerely care for her, yet he also does Sang-woo’s bidding. He’s caught between the two, and it’s yet unclear where his loyalty lies. Is Tae-ho merely looking out for TJ Group’s best interests, or does he have an ulterior motive that has yet to be uncovered? I can’t wait to find out.

 
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