Your Honor: Episodes 3-4

by lovepark

One bad decision leads to another as our judge tries to hide his son’s mistake. However, just as a person cannot cover the sun with their hands, neither can our protagonist bury the truth when his opponent is a ruthless gangster out to avenge his son. As these two fathers engage in a back-and-forth chase, things become more complicated as others get involved and try to exploit the situation to their advantage.

 
EPISODES 3-4

In a forest of lies planted by Pan-ho, only Kang-heon remains eerily calm as he wades through the fabrications to unearth the truth of that day. He neither falls for Pan-ho’s subterfuge nor his family’s meddling, and in the days following his son’s death, he keeps his focus on uncovering the identity of the murderer. Every plan has its flaws, and our calculative chairman finds each and every breadcrumb Pan-ho dropped in his attempt to hide the accident. From the auto shop Pan-ho visited to erase the CCTV footage to the junkyard where he took spare parts, Kang-heon catches everything and slowly pieces together what happened.

Despite his suspicions, Kang-heon does not act until he is certain of the facts, and instead, he makes his presence known to his enemy as a warning. Trespassing into Pan-ho’s house, Kang-heon takes note of the man who killed his son, and then smokes a cigarette, leaving behind his trace — signifying not only his knowledge but his strength as well. No matter how hard his foes hide, Kang-heon will always find them because there is no place in this city his power does not reach.

While Kang-heon creeps closer and closer to Pan-ho, our once-honorable judge finds himself trapped in a web of his own making as he desperately tries to sustain this ruse. He enlists the help of Assemblyman Jung once again, and the latter convinces Boss Jo to side with them since it is much too late to jump ship. This flimsy alliance built on blackmail and betrayals threatens to collapse when their plan to smuggle Sang-taek out of the country turns sour, and an unexpected entity changes the entire script.

After Sang-taek receives a hefty sum from Pan-ho as payment for his silence, he agrees to meet up with Boss Jo’s men to escape the country with his son, Cheong-kang. Though he knew it was a trap, Sang-taek had no other choice if he wished to save his last remaining family and sacrificed himself for Cheong-kang to run away. Right as Boss Jo’s second in command goes in for the kill, a bullet hits his head, and Sang-hyuk steps into the knife fight with a gun. He shoots everyone there, including Sang-taek, and from a distance, Cheong-kang stifles his cries as he records the entire scene on his phone.

Satisfying his thirst for revenge, Sang-hyuk attempts to flee the country, but unbeknownst to him, the police already know of his involvement. From the very start of this case, Detective Jang has been investigating Woo One Group, and her failure to charge Sang-hyuk of his crimes two years ago has made her keen on righting that wrong. Though everyone from Kang-heon to Boss Jo try to catch Sang-hyuk first, Detective Jang beats them and works outside the law to ensure his arrest remains a secret.

In the midst of all this violence, Kang-heon’s youngest daughter KIM EUN is left to fend for herself, and in her traumatized state, she becomes an easy target for Ho-young to manipulate. After crossing paths with Ho-young coincidentally at her brother’s memorial, Eun grew attached to him, and he used her crush on him to extract information about her family. Compared to all the other heinous crimes committed thus far, Ho-young’s actions could be seen as minor, but there is something unnerving about his sheer callousness towards one of the victims his mistake created. It seems, just like his father, Ho-young was never as pure and just as the world made him out to be, and his depravity contrasts starkly against Eun’s innocence.

Though Pan-ho feels guilty for what happened to Sang-taek, another part of him is relieved since his lie also died with him… except it did not. The mechanic who fixed Ho-young’s car that morning realized that he was the hit-and-run culprit and blackmails Pan-ho, hoping to strike it rich. Since he already lost a large amount of money the first time around, Pan-ho takes a different route with the mechanic and waits outside the shop to confront him in person. Alas, the mechanic notices Pan-ho’s poor attempt at tailing him and easily gives him the slip.

Believing himself safe, the mechanic returns to his hideout, but our crafty judge finds his scooter parked outside the warehouse. However, neither of them noticed the second car following behind, and as the negotiations between Pan-ho and the mechanic go south, Kang-heon and his right-hand man intervene and sort things out with brute force.

As Kang-heon points a gun to Pan-ho’s temple, the latter scrambles for a way to survive and sells out Detective Jang. He informs Kang-heon of his son’s arrest and lays out all the evidence the police have acquired, including Cheong-kang’s testimony. Pan-ho claims that Sang-hyuk would receive the death penalty for killing all those men as well as causing the house explosion, but if Kang-heon spares his life today, then Pan-ho will return the favor by giving his son a favorable verdict.

Kang-heon knows that Sang-hyuk is not responsible for the deaths of Sang-taek’s family — his wife was the one who ordered it, and he permanently silenced the witness to that crime already — but this fact means very little in this moment since the rest of Pan-ho’s statements may be true. Having lost one son, Kang-heon cannot afford to lose another, and tamping down his fury, he joins hands with the very man he wishes dead. However, his temporary leniency comes with a condition, and Kang-heon orders Pan-ho to prove his promise has merit.

He hands over his gun to Pan-ho, and all eyes turn to the mechanic who realizes what this means. Begging for his life, the mechanic reminds Pan-ho that he is a judge, and when that argument fails, he offers to never speak of his son to anyone. Alas, the moment Ho-young’s name escapes the mechanic’s lips, any sliver of doubt keeping Pan-ho from pulling the trigger vanishes. Even as blood splatters across his face, Pan-ho does not flinch as he kills the mechanic and the truth along with him.

If last week was about Pan-ho’s meticulous efforts to hide Ho-young’s tracks, then these two episodes were all about Kang-heon unraveling it. While our unscrupulous gangster’s investigative skills are unmatched, it is Kang-heon’s confidence in his own power that makes him a dangerous opponent and demonstrates the sheer immensity of his strength. He commands a room with his presence alone and the mere fact that he made himself known to Pan-ho before even meeting him shows just how much he stands above the law. In contrast, Pan-ho starts to flounder as the situation gets murkier, revealing the difference in resources between our two protagonists. However, our fallen judge’s strength lies in his newfound wickedness, and while Kang-heon is aware of the lengths he will go for his goals because he already exists in this morally abject world, we don’t know the depths of Pan-ho’s corruption and what he’ll do to protect his son.

 
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