Seoul Busters: Episodes 17-20 (Final)

by lovepark

Loyalties are tested in these final episodes as our silly detectives tackle their last case together. Along the way, they learn more about their captain and the pain he carries, but rather than live in the past, our hero chooses to march forward. With the bonds they have forged, our once hapless group has become a dependable team worthy of their title as the charming violent crimes unit.

 
EPISODES 17-20

The time has come to say goodbye to this not quite strong but enormously charming violent crimes team. As our heroes wrap up one final case, we finally learn why the oddball captain joined this unit. The rest of the group, though, have no idea why their elite leader returned from his studies, so when they find a picture of his lover inside his wallet, their imaginations run wild. From a parody of Decision to Leave to an MV of Kim Gun-mo’s “Wrongful Meeting,” their stories get out of hand, and Yoo-bin ends up becoming John Wick in a lawless US where even dogs have guns.

The truth about Yoo-bin’s backstory turns out to be an unbelievable and tragic romance as the latest murder case reminds our captain of his lost love SONG JAE-IN (Han Dong-hee). They originally met in Korea when both parties missed the last bus to Seoul, and she suggested splitting the fare for a taxi. One year later, they had another meet-cute under the rain, and this coincidence blossomed into something more. Though Yoo-bin envisioned a future with Jae-in, that dream fell apart when he received a call one night and returned home to a crime scene. Someone murdered her, and Yoo-bin is out to catch the killer.

Like Jae-in’s case, the Songnae Mountain murder victim died of asphyxiation and was administered an anesthetic through the neck. The culprit was also left-handed, but the crime scene was staged as if they used their right. Too many similarities pop up to be deemed mere coincidences, but complicating the investigation is one small detail: the murderer discarded the body on the border of two jurisdictions. This means our heroes must share the case with a different team, including Yoo-bin’s professor friend who also makes the connection to Jae-in’s death.

Our detectives head out to gather intel, and Joong-ryuk partners up with Tan-shik to interview the victim’s classmates. Unfortunately, a bout of food poisoning sends Joong-ryuk on a toilet-finding mission, but mid-crisis his hunch radar goes off when he bumps into a disguised man leaving the women’s restroom. Clenching his cheeks, Joong-ryuk chases the pervert across campus and manages to arrest him before any accidents occur.

Meanwhile, Jung-hwan and Min-seo investigate the victim’s expensive apartment and discover that she had a part-time job at an exclusive bar. They learn about a customer who stalked her, but when our detectives question him, the stalker lies about his whereabouts that day. He becomes the team’s number one suspect, but in the midst of all their planning, internal strife threatens to break up our silly violent crimes unit.

During a bank errand, Jung-hwan noticed a suspicious man at the ATM who turned out to be a money mule for one of the largest voice phishing organizations in Korea. His heroic, off-duty arrest gains him media attention and the possibility of a special promotion. Having always been passed up for the team leader role, Joong-ryuk’s jealousy rears its ugly head, and his pent-up frustration towards Jung-hwan’s sycophancy finally explodes. Yoo-bin intervenes, treating his detectives like preschoolers, and forces them to make the world’s most awkward hug before sitting them on the thinking chairs to reflect.

Since the two eldest aren’t on speaking terms, Jung-hwan teams up with Tan-shik to monitor the stalker, and they follow their target to an illegal gambling den. They infiltrate as deliverymen to confirm that the stalker is inside, but their covers get blown as soon as they enter. Though Jung-hwan tries to bluff their way out, his lies are busted at every turn, and the only option left is to fight. As the camera cuts away, a gunshot rings out, and Jung-hwan subdues the situation at the cost of his career.

Feeling guilty about Jung-hwan’s predicament, Tan-shik confesses to Yoo-bin that it was all his fault. During the fight, Tan-shik lost his gun, and the ringleader picked it up. Before the ringleader could hurt anyone, though, Jung-hwan shot him in the foot. Thus, our father of four stopped Tan-shik from losing his gun which would have been an automatic dismissal from the force, and Yoo-bin tells their youngest that he cannot be punished for something Jung-hwan prevented.

While our team was busy chasing down the stalker, the professor’s side found evidence linking the murder to the creepy volunteer from Yoo-bin’s past. They found a burner phone in the creep’s home that he used to harass the victim as well as the correct shoes with mud on the soles. The case is closed thanks to the professor’s efforts, but something seems amiss about the arrest. Things, then, take a turn when Jung-hwan does some sleuthing on his own, but as he gets closer to the truth, he ends up stabbed in the very same spot the body was found.

The rest of the team rush to the hospital after they hear about Jung-hwan’s accident, and though the perpetrator missed his organs, the doctor tells them that he lost a lot of blood and remains unconscious. The thought of losing his oldest partner rattles Joong-ryuk, so when he hears from Jung-hwan’s wife that she recently lost all their savings in a voice phishing scam, he assumes this was an act of vengeance.

Taking the day off, Joong-ryuk marches into the scammer’s hideout by himself and one-hit KOs the guards as he ascends the stairs like an action movie hero. He plows through a hallway of thugs, unflinching as he takes hit after hit, and makes it to the final boss. As he stands before his last enemy, for the first time Joong-ryuk cannot calculate how many punches it will take to defeat his opponent. The other man is also an ex-boxer, and after exchanging blows, the undefeated Joong-ryuk falls to his knees.

On the verge of unconsciousness, Joong-ryuk remembers the time he had to find a culprit’s ring in the river or else be fired. Though Joong-ryuk gave up halfway, Jung-hwan never did and spent all night looking for it. Recalling his partner’s advice that they need to eat in order to have energy, Joong-ryuk grabs a bite from his enemy’s table and gains enough strength to get back up. No longer running on empty, Joong-ryuk takes down the scammer in five hits — one for each of Jung-hwan’s daughters and a final slap for good measure.

While Joong-ryuk was off doing a side quest, Tan-shik also goes on his own to fix Jung-hwan’s financial problem. Returning home to meet his grandma (cameo by Kim Young-ok), Tan-shik promises to quit the force and reclaim his title as the heir to The Tan Food Group if she can loan him some money. Though Grandma scoffs at his proposal at first, Tan-shik displays his impressive smelling skills and wins her over. The next day, he comes into work with his resignation letter in hand, but as soon as he hears about the scammers arrest and how all the money was returned (thanks to Joong-ryuk’s secret efforts), Tan-shik rips up his resignation.

Though Joong-ryuk was able to resolve the voice phishing issue, the scammers weren’t responsible for the attack. That mystery, however, is solved by Yoo-bin who has also been working alone and retracing Jung-hwan’s steps. He discovered a clue the detective left behind after he was attacked, and while he may not have any solid evidence to support his theory, Yoo-bin asks his team if they are willing to trust his hunch. Our loyal bunch joins in without a second thought, so Yoo-bin fills in all the blanks for them, starting from his lost love.

When Jae-in died, she left Yoo-bin a dying message — the necklace he gifted her that meant “friend” in ASL — and from the beginning, he was suspicious of the professor, not the volunteer creep who was simply a red herring. Yoo-bin figured out that the professor was secretly left-handed, Jung-hwan spoke with a “professor” the night he was stabbed, and the supposed evidence the other team found was fake. However, even with all this information, Yoo-bin still needs concrete evidence to make an arrest, which is why he needs his team’s help.

Each member gets a task, and Tan-shik’s duty is finding a scratch the victim’s cat left on the culprit. Following the professor to the gym, our youngest settles next to the target in the sauna and notices a mark on his arm. First mission cleared! Next up is Joong-ryuk who infiltrates the professor’s apartment, and using his hunch a la Inside Out, he finds the victims’ belongings in a book about modesty. Evidence procured!

The final step in Yoo-bin’s plan is to lure the professor to attack, and Min-seo acts as the bait. As she informs the professor about the CCTV footage they found in Jung-hwan’s pocket, he attempts to drug her, but our detectives are already well-aware of his schemes. Min-seo only pretends to sleep, and once the professor lowers his guard, she finds an opening and escapes. She leads him to the mountain crime scene, and the crew steps out of the mist, surrounding the professor. With his true colors exposed, the professor points his gun at Yoo-bin, but as he moves forward, he steps on a rubber chicken and triggers a trap.

After arresting the real culprit of the mountain murder as well as Jae-in’s cold case, Yoo-bin visits his old friend at the detention center and tells him that he finally figured out how to get revenge: he will make the professor face punishment for every single crime he committed. As our captain leaves, the professor asks how he knew Jae-in’s dying message, and Yoo-bin explains how the professor was his only friend. The professor mocks him for being all alone now, but Yoo-bin smiles since he made four new ones thanks to him.

Despite the overall negative publicity of the event, the commissioner congratulates the entire team, including a newly recovered Jung-hwan, for a job well done, and treats them to a meal. Min-seo finally gets her wish for a beef party, but their celebratory dinner is cut short when the smuggler from episode one shows up again. Like old times, our bumbling detectives screw up the stakeout as Tan-shik gets swept by a running group, Joong-ryuk is held up by some old men, and fake couple Jung-hwan and Min-seo mistakenly follow a different man into a cable car. Thankfully, there is one major difference from this operation compared to their last, and Yoo-bin catches the smuggler red-handed alongside his team.

As the show nears its end, Yoo-bin informs the unit that construction has finished which means they no longer have to work at the daycare. However, he won’t be joining them at the new office since he is being transferred to headquarters starting tomorrow. The rest of the detectives look crestfallen by the news, but in spite of the short notice, they all stay behind to throw their captain a proper send-off with smiles and silly dancing.

A year passes since then, and Yoo-bin now works in the financial crime investigation team. He gets an offer, though, from the commissioner to lead a special task force on a big case, but our captain informs his boss that he already has a violent crimes unit in mind. Cut to our charming detectives holding a special lesson for Dong-goo’s classmates, and as they fumble through the lecture, they receive a call from their old team leader.

The show ends with a long credit scene of the various actors, and I absolutely love the way the creators pay homage to not just the main characters but everyone. It’s this attention to detail that made Seoul Busters such an enjoyable watch, and though it was a sitcom, it had so much heart. Our cast of five, in particular, was amazing and acted as the glue to this zany story. Everyone played their part and added a wonderful color to the overall tapestry. No one held back in terms of delivery, and the matched energy created such a fun environment for the characters to mess up yet grow together.

I adored our aloof captain who was actually a goofball, our hunch man with a marshmallow center, our penny-pinching dad with an unwavering loyalty, our passionate detective who could connect with anyone, and our overzealous youngest with a canine nose. They all got to shine in their roles and infused their characters with such diverse yet complimentary personalities that melded so well together. Though the tone of the show was uneven at times, and it did take me a couple of episodes to get invested, once I was hooked, there was no turning back.

While the last week was grimmer than previous outings, I still found the episodes funny and thought the timing of the jokes were well-executed for the most part (the potty one was long, but that’s more of a personal preference). The creators allowed the characters to have their more emotional moments while still adding humor that did not undercut their feelings, and the juxtaposition made the sillier scenes feel even funnier. I’m glad our heroes finally received their flowers at the end without losing their charm, and though I doubt we’ll ever get a second season, I wouldn’t mind if the stars aligned in the future and brought this bunch back to my screen for more wacky adventures.

 
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