Seoul Busters: Episodes 11-12

by lovepark

Love is in the air, but so are scams. As our detectives work on a new case, we get a glimpse into their past relationships from the tender moments to the ugly ends. While our heroes might not be so lucky when it comes to romance, the bonds they share with each other grow stronger by the day.

 
EPISODES 11-12

The theme this week is love, or more specifically, the crazy things people do for it like sending millions of won to a person you’ve never met. The latest victim is a woman caught in a romance scam whom the detectives found breaking and entering into someone’s home. The case strikes a nerve for Min-seo and Joong-ryuk, in particular, so Yoo-bin makes them work together to solve it.

Our hunch-based detective and his junior hothead know the woes of a broken heart since they both experienced a failed relationship. In fact, Min-seo recently bumped into her ex-boyfriend in the men’s restroom and learned that he was getting married. He asked if she was seeing anyone, and in order to save face, she lied about having a boyfriend who may or may not be a fellow detective. As for Joong-ryuk, he was breaking another heart one floor down, claiming that love was like snow: only beautiful when it first falls.

As our two detectives grab a late-night meal after working on the case, they reminisce about their first encounter which happened to involve her ex. While on traffic duty, Min-seo witnessed her then-boyfriend celebrating his 50-day anniversary with her friend (the one he is marrying in the present). Rather than apologize for cheating, the jerk yelled at Min-seo that he tolerated her all these years even though she was the one financially supporting him. Enraged, she shot her taser at him, but Joong-ryuk managed to block it in time, saving her career in exchange for his dignity.

One bottle of soju turns to five, and an inebriated Joong-ryuk shares his love story as well. While chasing a culprit through the streets, he locked eyes with a shop owner and fell for her at first sight. He then crashed a local event to serenade her, but as we all know, their relationship didn’t last, either.

While their romances might have been a bust, at least their latest case goes better for them as our detectives uncover the scammer’s pattern of money withdrawals. They go undercover on the streets as restaurant owners, an evangelist, and a yogurt lady — but some of their disguises are bit too convincing as a group of children and adults demand free food as advertised on the fliers.

Word of the romance scam gets out, and Yoo-bin’s old classmate, who is now a professor at the police academy, wants to feature the case for an upcoming segment on his TV show. Though our captain isn’t thrilled about the idea, he allows them to film his crew, but I doubt any of the footage is useable since all the detectives either stumble over their words or recite them in a staccato voice. The worst offenders, however, are Yoo-bin and the professor who argue nonstop using technical jargon that puts everyone in the room to sleep.

Since their previous undercover plan failed, Min-seo attempts to scam the scammer by creating a fake dating profile, and their target falls for the bait. After a heated debate over texting “haha” or “hehe” — in which old-timer Yoo-bin is overruled — Min-seo catches their prey within a day. They schedule a face-to-face meeting for the hand-off, but at the café, a lackey shows up instead, blowing Min-seo’s cover.

The team hit another roadblock, but undeterred, Min-seo suggests looking into the burner phone the scammer used to contact his lackey. Teaming up once again with Joong-ryuk, they disguise themselves as homeless people to trap the middlemen, but as fate would have it (or in this case, the sitcom overlords), our still-employed-and-not-penniless detective crosses path with his ex-lover.

The reason they broke up all those years ago was because his girlfriend’s mother met a child shaman who foresaw ruin in Joong-ryuk’s future. Despite enduring cold snow for their approval, his girlfriend eventually relented and broke up with him. From that moment, his heart was forever torn in two and sexy Joong-ryuk was born.

In his current state, it appears as if the shaman’s prediction came true, and while his ex-girlfriend expresses a mix of sympathy and relief — her parents weren’t wrong after all — our forlorn detective maintains his ruse for the sake of the case. She hands him some money to buy himself a warm meal, and Joong-ryuk loses his one true love a second time.

At the phone scammers’ hideout, Joong-ryuk knocks everyone out, including their thuggish boss, and then buys the other homeless people a meal while looking through the many stolen ID cards for their target. Thankfully, our detective’s sacrifice paid off since they find a name and a location, but by the time they arrive at the culprit’s office, he closed down his operations. At first, it looks to be another dead-end, but Yoo-bin notices a wedding invitation, the scammer’s to be exact.

The team crash the wedding hall, saving the unsuspecting bribe from losing another billion won to this scammer, and with some impressive plate throwing skills by Yoo-bin, they arrest him and his accomplices. As the crew wrap up the case, they bump into Min-seo’s ex, and he assumes that she is here for his wedding. She tells him that it was a coincidence and introduces her team, forgetting the little lie she told him before about having a boyfriend.

Though Min-seo turns down her ex’s invitation to grab a meal, the rest of her teammates accept since they plan to eat until he files for bankruptcy as revenge for what he did to her, and even logical Yoo-bin joins in on their unrealistic goal. However, eating mountains of food isn’t enough for our crew, so when our loyal detectives each run into the groom, they pretend to be Min-seo’s boyfriend. It’s absolutely glorious and embarrassing all at the same time.

Only Yoo-bin doesn’t lie about dating Min-seo, and instead, he shows her support in his own quirky way. Using his observation skills, he analyzes her ex-boyfriend as an alcoholic with tennis elbow who is cheating on his bride and tells her that she dodged a bullet. Embarrassed, Min-seo pretends to not care, but as she watches her teammates turn food stacking into an art, she finally laughs.

As the episode ends, the show teases a future plot line with Yoo-bin watching his friend’s TV segment on cold cases. It reminds him of his ex-girlfriend — a doctor he dated while studying in the States — and the creepy volunteer who hit on her back then is in Korea, taking non-consensual photos of minors.

This week was about love — heartaches and all — but the true standout was the love between our ridiculous detectives. The camaraderie on the team has always been the highlight of the show, and the way they each tried to cheer up Min-seo, which somehow failed and succeeded at the same time, captured their charm perfectly. Tan-shik’s “I’m her much younger boyfriend” declaration, Jung-hwan’s inability to hide his marital status, Joong-ryuk’s schoolyard note threatening to beat up her ex, and finally Yoo-bin’s scarily accurate observations were all hilariously in-character and such a wonderful way to show how much they care for her. I also like the more throwaway moments like the filming scene where the detectives compliment each other for acting so “natural” because while the audience can laugh at their antics, the characters, themselves, are supportive of each other and unaware of their general silliness.

They’re a wacky but endearing bunch, and with each passing episode, I find the jokes funnier and the characters more lovable. The case solving was fun (still ridiculous but not egregious), and the less violent nature of the crime definitely helped balance the tone. The character driven through lines also kept the plot cohesive, and the delivery of the jokes in these two episodes were more assured creating a tighter pace overall. At this rate, Seoul Busters may actually be more than a decent sitcom. It’s surprisingly heartfelt and witty with a strong sense of its characters’ charms, and somehow, despite my misgivings, the show has found its footing.

 
RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Seoul Busters
• Kim Dong-wook becomes the new leader of the Seoul Busters
• Kim Dong-wook’s Seoul Busters are exiled to preschool
• News bites: September 3, 2024
• News bites: September 1, 2024
• News bites: May 22, 2024