Player 2 – Master of Swindlers: Episodes 11-12 (Final)

by mistyisles

At long last it’s time for our swindling team to take on their biggest foe and either send his empire crumbling to its knees or go down swinging. True to form, this finale holds plenty of twists, tricks, and close calls — with a few extra stabbings and time bombs to spice things up. Will our heroes ride off into the sunset once again, or has their time finally run out?

 
EPISODES 11-12

Between the attack on Prosecutor Jang (he pulls through, but it’ll be a long recovery) and the truth about President Choi’s entanglement with Jeffrey Jung, our little team has a lot to process. But they don’t get much time to do so before Jeffrey’s semi-disgraced minion Mr. Song raids their hideout. Byung-min isn’t much use in a fistfight, but when one of the men aims a knife at Jae-yi’s back, Byung-min jumps between them, just like Ah-ryung jumped in front of the bullet meant for him. Jin-woong helps Jae-yi get Byung-min to the car, and that’s when Woo-young arrives to help them fight off the last of Mr. Song’s men and speed to safety.

Woo-young also provides a place for them to hide and recover, so Ha-ri turns his attention to getting in touch with Soo-min, who has holed herself up to wallow in miserable disillusionment. She’s no longer sure who or what to trust, but Ha-ri is nothing if not persuasive. He convinces her to trust him, even if she can’t quite believe that President Choi is playing the long game to take Jeffrey Jung down.

Speaking of the devil, Jeffrey Jung continues to amass private control of various public sectors. The workers who inevitably get screwed out of their jobs take to the streets in protest, so Jeffrey Jung has his people call in a bomb threat and frame the protestors as terrorists. But that’s just the appetizer — why stop at a threat when he can plant a real bomb at a huge festival, harm hundreds of innocent people and frame his enemies for it, and also potentially take out Ha-ri and his friends in one fell swoop?

And so, our team splits up to search the venue, only to find themselves fighting decoys. After evacuating the crowds, Ha-ri locates the bomb. But with less than two minutes to spare, Byung-min has to talk him through defusing it over the phone (“Which wire do I cut?” “The red one.” “Which red one???”). The day is saved, but Jeffrey Jung’s plan was airtight: Ha-ri is immediately arrested and accused of planting the very bomb he just stopped from exploding. Jeffrey Jung’s corrupt prosecutor orders him to confess and name a core group of protestors as the masterminds backing him if he wants to see the light of day ever again.

Ha-ri complies. But as soon as he gets in front of a swarm of reporters, he throws all the blame on Jeffrey Jung instead. With suspiciously impeccable timing, a video goes viral wherein President Choi accepts a bribe — not from Jeffrey Jung, but from Ha-ri on Jeffrey Jung’s behalf. President Choi holds an immediate press conference to 1) admit he’s been taking bribes and obeying Jeffrey Jung’s orders and 2) resign from office. Jeffrey Jung can do nothing but fume as his crimes are exposed to the world.

President Choi is promptly assassinated by his own driver. Or, rather, a lookalike decoy is murdered in his stead, because Ha-ri and President Choi planned it all and knew Jeffrey Jung would retaliate somehow. Then it’s easy as pie for Director Hwang, with help from Prosecutor Kwak, to sneak Ha-ri out of police custody.

But, of course, Jeffrey Jung isn’t finished. He has Soo-min kidnapped and uses her as bait to capture President Choi. Then he stabs President Choi in front of Soo-min and sends Ha-ri a video of the whole thing. Now Ha-ri has to choose between trying to find them before President Choi bleeds out or intercepting Jeffrey Jung at a harbor before he flees the country for good. Ha-ri chooses the former, which is just what Jeffrey Jung wanted — he left behind yet another bomb, and by the time Ha-ri realizes they’re locked in, there’s only about a minute left before it blows. And then it does blow.

Too far away to help, Byung-min, Jae-yi, and Jin-woong pull themselves together as best as they can and race to the harbor. There may only be three of them left against Jeffrey Jung’s dozens of minions, but they’re ready to end him or die trying at this point. But come on — this is Kang Ha-ri we’re talking about. Did we really think he’d just stand there watching the clock run out? Of course he didn’t! He made a makeshift bomb of his own and blew the door off the warehouse before the big bomb went off, and they all got out just in time. While Director Hwang takes care of President Choi, Ha-ri and Soo-min head straight for the harbor to join the final showdown.

The battle beautifully showcases what makes this team so much fun to watch, because everyone has their distinctive role and fighting style. The ladies team up two-on-one against tougher fighters, Byung-min brandishes a taser (occasionally requesting a breather so it can recharge, ha), Jin-woong oils up ahead of time so he quite literally slips out of his opponent’s grasp, and Prosecutor Kwak brings in reinforcements. And Ha-ri? He skirts the main fight to pursue Jeffrey Jung.

They start with guns aimed at each other’s heads, but Ha-ri quickly dispenses with those. There’s something oddly satisfying about watching these two masterminds, stripped of their clever tricks, teams, and even words, ending their final confrontation in a scrappy, undignified brawl. Of course, Jeffrey Jung carries a hidden knife, with which he repeatedly stabs Ha-ri in the gut. But Ha-ri isn’t even fazed. He ties up Jeffrey Jung with a nearby rope and cheerfully assures the rest of the team his wounds aren’t fatal. Once Jae-yi overcomes the urge to kill Jeffrey Jung where he sits, the whole team walks away triumphant and free.

A year later, everyone has settled into a new normal. Prosecutor Kwak proudly sports a gray-colored suit and practically waltzes around the office. Ex-President Choi quietly serves his prison term, and Soo-min — now an attorney — visits often (aw, she even calls him “Dad” now). Director Hwang goes into acting. Byung-min tries (unsuccessfully) to start a career as a webtoon artist. Jin-woong returns to work at the orphanage. Jae-yi works as a driver for her idol friend, and it’s hinted they may soon become a bit more than friends.

But just when it seems they’ve truly gone their separate ways, Jeffrey Jung is murdered in his prison cell by a woman who’s even more cruel and unhinged than he is (a fabulously terrifying cameo by Lee Sung-kyung). Next thing we know, the team receives self-destructing cassette tapes (lol) from Ha-ri inviting them to join him for a new mission. The game is once again on!

I won’t try to pretend this finale was flawless (I counted three stabbings that our team basically walked off, for starters, and was there a sale on time bombs that Jeffrey Jung just couldn’t resist?), but it was so much fun I don’t even care that it didn’t always make sense. It gave me exactly what I wanted and then some (all the little callbacks to the first couple of episodes were just icing on the delicious cake!).

And that’s pretty much how I feel about the whole show. It was fun and easy to watch, even when it technically could have been better, and I looked forward to it every single week. Best of all, though, I loved the characters and enjoyed watching them get in and out of trouble together, bickering all the way. I’ll miss them all a lot, and you can bet I’ll be first in line if they decide to make a third season!

 
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