These 2 episodes set up the characters and story, so it was a little difficult to follow at first. I had to watch them a second time. By ep 2, everything started to fall into place and grab my attention.
Corrupt cops and prosecutors is nothing new in Kdrama land. Once again, Joo Woojin plays a grey character and his chemistry with Ji Changwook is good. Many actors from The worst of evil are in Gangnam B side, so it’s a nice reunion for them. I’m enjoying the story so far. With everything laid out in ep 1 and 2, I don’t know how they are gonna wrap it up in the next 6 episodes though. I wish it was at least a 10 episode show.
A summary of these 2 episodes is in the comment to avoid spoilers.
Three years ago Detective Kang Dongwoo raided a night club and uncovered the involvement of his Major Crime Unit in the drug business. He was demoted to Pocheon Bukbu station in the countryside under the so-called promotion.
Three years later, i.e. in the present, in that same night club, we see a girl named Kim Jaehee (also called Jenny), after seeing a text on the phone of a guy she was drinking with that says to get her and someone named Junghwa, trying to call Junghwa and say they both need to leave. Jaehee manages to run away and hide but Junghwa couldn’t. It looks like the two of them have a video that contains the wrong doings by the night club boys. A guy called Psyche catches Junghwa, but he couldn’t find the video on her phone, thus they are determined to get Jaehee. Meanwhile, Jaehee is contemplating deleting that video on her phone (10’26″ long) but she ends up keeping it.
Yoon Gilho is a pimp who manages the girls and delivers them to customers. He seems to be protective of the girls and doesn’t want them to do drugs. Junghwa and Jaehee are his aces. While Jaehee is staying at a hideout place, trying to get in touch with Junghwa, Gilho finds her and she asks him to find Junghwa.
Dongwoo, now in Pocheon Bukbu, is asked by Commissioner Moon Chulsung, his mentor, to take on the Gangnam missing persons case. Dongwoo’s back story: He has a daughter named Kang Yeseo who is still in therapy after an incident that happened at her school when someone was pushed from a rooftop to death. Yeseo appears to have suicidal thoughts, and Dongwoo and his divorced anchor wife take care of their daughter in turn.
Yeseo has a tattoo of a crying girl on her left forearm, the same as Jaehee’s and some girl involved in a spy cam case. Yeseo is friend to Jaehee. She asks her dad to find Jaehee for her, because “I can’t live without her” (At this stage, I have no idea about the nature of Yeseo and Jaehee’s relationship yet). One year ago, Dongwoo met Jaehee through Yeseo, who asked him to help Jaehee, but they ended up accusing each other, Jaehee told Dongwoo that he wasn’t a good dad, while Dongwoo told Jaehee that she used his daughter.
Back to Gangnam missing persons case, it turns out that Dongwoo knew Gilho from three year ago when he witnessed Gilho fighting against some guy to protect his girls. In the present, when Seo Jisoo, the female officer in Dongwoo’s Gangnam team, shows him the video related to the spy cam case, Dongwoo recognises Gilho from the video. But for some reason, the police is blocked from accessing the Gangnam missing persons data by the prosecution.
In Gangnam, Gilho beats up the delivery boy to get info of Junghwa’s location, which the delivery boy reveals to be Grand Business Hotel. Junghwa is forced to go to Room 2705 by Psyche, where she meets a group of boys, among which there is the guy that did drug next to Jaehee the previous night, and a guy wearing snake skin boots. His name is Noh Joonseo, he is also called Jyuni boy. He is an idol under a company called Gangnam Trading. Joonseo needs to get that video from Jaehee, or he and the company will be doomed.
Ep 1 ends with Gilho coming into Room 2705 to find Junghwa’s dead body in a bathtube. So, Junghwa was killed by Joonseo and his group, wasn’t she?
Next thing, Hangil cleaning service comes into that hotel room and found no body. A CCTV camera shows Gilho putting her body at Gangnam subway station. That’s to trigger the police and prosecution to investigate, otherwise it would have beeen covered up, isn’t it?
Dongwoo joins a special investigation unit formed to investigate the Gangnam missing persons case. But he is sidelined by the team. Is it to set up why he would be working alone and team up with Gilho?
Kim Jangho, Dongwoo’s former colleague, left the force three years ago after his involvement in the drug business was uncovered by Dongwoo. He is now CEO of some company seemingly working in the Gangnam night life. Dongwoo asks Jangho to find intel on Gilho. Meanwhile, Jaehee, upon finding out about Junghwa’s dead, runs away from the hideout without Gilho’s knowlege.
On the prosecution side, Prosecutor Min Seojin is assigned the Gangnam case, but she is instructed by the higher-ups to indict Gilho for Junghwa’s murder without investigation. Prosecutor Min doesn’t seem to be on the same side as her boss, Prosecutor Tak, and the Major Crimes Unit Chief, Joo Yoon, the one involved in the shady business with the night club 3 years ago. Apparently, Yoon covers up all Joonseo’s wrong doings, in exchange of money to afford his son’s education overseas.
Psyche gives Chief Yoon info about him meeting Gilho that night, when Gilho is supposed to take Jenny with him. When Gilho comes to meet Psyche empty-handed, Joonseo’s team beat him up while Yoon’s team is coming to arrest him. They will pin him for Junghwa’s murder. Gilho is stabbed when going looking for Joonseo, but Joonseo is elsewhere watching the fight through Psyche’s livestream. Dongwoo comes in time to rescue Gilho when Joonseo’s men are about to finish him off. Psyche picks up the blood-covered knife Gilho used in the fight. Meanwhile, Joonseo meets his CEO, Lee Gangsu, talks about the old days then leaves, then his hitperson comes in and stabs the CEO in the neck. So, the CEO character is a short cameo by Ji Seunghyun? Joonseo then calls a Mr. Choi from the CEO’s phone to tell him to get a new CEO.
When Gilho and Dongwoo are running away from Psyche’s and the police’s cars that are chasing after them, Dongwoo asks Gilho if he knows who killed Junghwa, which means Dongwoo knows it wasn’t Gilho. But he gets no answer from Gilho.
Dongwoo’s car is finally stopped by the cops. Ep 2 ends with Dongwoo aiming his gun at his colleagues (the cops in Yoon’s team) and covering for Gilho, when Prosecutor Min arrives in her car. During the chaos, Gilho manages to jump into the river.
Thank you Claire for all your hard work in recapping the drama so beautifully. Well done!! As usual the gifs are just perfect.
While we all knew it is going to be a dark drama it did take me a bit by surprise.
The “shady broker” turned out to be a bit more than what we imagined but I am sure he has an elaborate backstory. Not sure the drama has enough time to delve into the past.
The relationship hinted at between Lee Gangsu and Noh Joonseo is intriguing and a lot is hinted at. Wonder if we will get some more background information.
Dongwoo is as awesome as we expected. The ex-cop who was caught by Dongwoo also seems an interesting character. I like his network. The girls were pretty resourceful. 😂
Prosecutor Min is a strong lady. Hope she gets lot of good scenes to showcase her prowess.
Psyche seems to be a wildcard. I think he is most likely to switch sides.
In these two episodes, the pieces seem to have been put in place. So now waiting for the “story” to begin. 😅✊🏻 I think we will see all threads are interconnected. Hopefully we will get an engaging show.
I have not had the chance to start this show. Im very glad I read this recap first. It sounds like there is so much going on, and because of the short number of episodes the pace seems to be very fast. Thank you Claire for this. I’m sure I would have been lost but now will be able to feel more confident and engrossed in my watch. Can’t wait until next week!
Thank you, Cera. I hope to be fully invested by the next episode, and hope there will be less bloody fight that involves Wookie. I have almost formed a physical reaction to his onscreen fighting by now.
I was startled by the fact that the idol needs to be in the “high” state for his public activities. It’s like an alarm to us fans about what is really beneath the surface that we don’t get to see.
Joo Woojin, as usual, portrays an almost depressed father/professional so well that I’m worried for his character’s mental health.
While that fight was really awesome given the quiet confidence with which he took on a whole bunch of people I too vote for less fighting less and preferably no blood.
Given the punishing schedules our actors and idols follow I can’t say I was surprised but it was saddening. I really felt bad for Jyooni Boy.
I confess to being very prejudiced against Joo Woojin for a very long time because of his role in Goblin. 😱😂 But is too good an actor. He absolutely nails all his roles. Here we really feel for him, let down by the very colleagues he trusted, almost betrayed by the system and struggling to connect with his daughter. Obviously there is something more going on than mere high school bullying. 🙄 Maybe Gangnam Trading supplies drugs to high schoolers too. How scary. The company is definitely too shady.
Oh I didn’t know Joo Woojin was in Goblin because I haven’t watched that one. I had no idea he was in Empress Ki and Chicago Typewriter either although I watched both. But he was in Collectors with Lee Jehoon, Hard Hit with Wookie, and then Happiness, all of which left me with a very good impression of him. He was in an interview with Lee Jehoon, which was really fun. And his face always seemed to say “It’s such an inconvenience to be with these pretty boys (i.e. Lee Jehoon, JCW)” in a hilarious and benign way, like a hyung who is amused by the trouble his brothers get because of their beauty.
It was because of all the bts that I finally warmed up to Joo Woojin. 😅😂 I didn’t even like the fact that his name sounded similar to Joo Won. 😭 But he does seem like a good guy.
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Healer’s
November 10, 2024 at 6:27 PM
Gangnam B side
Episode 1 & 2
Yoon Gilho, 45 years old. Oookkk, if you say so!
These 2 episodes set up the characters and story, so it was a little difficult to follow at first. I had to watch them a second time. By ep 2, everything started to fall into place and grab my attention.
Corrupt cops and prosecutors is nothing new in Kdrama land. Once again, Joo Woojin plays a grey character and his chemistry with Ji Changwook is good. Many actors from The worst of evil are in Gangnam B side, so it’s a nice reunion for them. I’m enjoying the story so far. With everything laid out in ep 1 and 2, I don’t know how they are gonna wrap it up in the next 6 episodes though. I wish it was at least a 10 episode show.
A summary of these 2 episodes is in the comment to avoid spoilers.
Healer’s
November 10, 2024 at 7:13 PM
Comment was deleted
Healer’s
November 10, 2024 at 10:50 PM
Comment was deleted
Healer’s
November 10, 2024 at 7:14 PM
Comment was deleted
Healer’s
November 10, 2024 at 11:54 PM
Three years ago Detective Kang Dongwoo raided a night club and uncovered the involvement of his Major Crime Unit in the drug business. He was demoted to Pocheon Bukbu station in the countryside under the so-called promotion.
Three years later, i.e. in the present, in that same night club, we see a girl named Kim Jaehee (also called Jenny), after seeing a text on the phone of a guy she was drinking with that says to get her and someone named Junghwa, trying to call Junghwa and say they both need to leave. Jaehee manages to run away and hide but Junghwa couldn’t. It looks like the two of them have a video that contains the wrong doings by the night club boys. A guy called Psyche catches Junghwa, but he couldn’t find the video on her phone, thus they are determined to get Jaehee. Meanwhile, Jaehee is contemplating deleting that video on her phone (10’26″ long) but she ends up keeping it.
Yoon Gilho is a pimp who manages the girls and delivers them to customers. He seems to be protective of the girls and doesn’t want them to do drugs. Junghwa and Jaehee are his aces. While Jaehee is staying at a hideout place, trying to get in touch with Junghwa, Gilho finds her and she asks him to find Junghwa.
Dongwoo, now in Pocheon Bukbu, is asked by Commissioner Moon Chulsung, his mentor, to take on the Gangnam missing persons case. Dongwoo’s back story: He has a daughter named Kang Yeseo who is still in therapy after an incident that happened at her school when someone was pushed from a rooftop to death. Yeseo appears to have suicidal thoughts, and Dongwoo and his divorced anchor wife take care of their daughter in turn.
Yeseo has a tattoo of a crying girl on her left forearm, the same as Jaehee’s and some girl involved in a spy cam case. Yeseo is friend to Jaehee. She asks her dad to find Jaehee for her, because “I can’t live without her” (At this stage, I have no idea about the nature of Yeseo and Jaehee’s relationship yet). One year ago, Dongwoo met Jaehee through Yeseo, who asked him to help Jaehee, but they ended up accusing each other, Jaehee told Dongwoo that he wasn’t a good dad, while Dongwoo told Jaehee that she used his daughter.
Back to Gangnam missing persons case, it turns out that Dongwoo knew Gilho from three year ago when he witnessed Gilho fighting against some guy to protect his girls. In the present, when Seo Jisoo, the female officer in Dongwoo’s Gangnam team, shows him the video related to the spy cam case, Dongwoo recognises Gilho from the video. But for some reason, the police is blocked from accessing the Gangnam missing persons data by the prosecution.
Healer’s
November 10, 2024 at 11:54 PM
In Gangnam, Gilho beats up the delivery boy to get info of Junghwa’s location, which the delivery boy reveals to be Grand Business Hotel. Junghwa is forced to go to Room 2705 by Psyche, where she meets a group of boys, among which there is the guy that did drug next to Jaehee the previous night, and a guy wearing snake skin boots. His name is Noh Joonseo, he is also called Jyuni boy. He is an idol under a company called Gangnam Trading. Joonseo needs to get that video from Jaehee, or he and the company will be doomed.
Ep 1 ends with Gilho coming into Room 2705 to find Junghwa’s dead body in a bathtube. So, Junghwa was killed by Joonseo and his group, wasn’t she?
Next thing, Hangil cleaning service comes into that hotel room and found no body. A CCTV camera shows Gilho putting her body at Gangnam subway station. That’s to trigger the police and prosecution to investigate, otherwise it would have beeen covered up, isn’t it?
Dongwoo joins a special investigation unit formed to investigate the Gangnam missing persons case. But he is sidelined by the team. Is it to set up why he would be working alone and team up with Gilho?
Kim Jangho, Dongwoo’s former colleague, left the force three years ago after his involvement in the drug business was uncovered by Dongwoo. He is now CEO of some company seemingly working in the Gangnam night life. Dongwoo asks Jangho to find intel on Gilho. Meanwhile, Jaehee, upon finding out about Junghwa’s dead, runs away from the hideout without Gilho’s knowlege.
On the prosecution side, Prosecutor Min Seojin is assigned the Gangnam case, but she is instructed by the higher-ups to indict Gilho for Junghwa’s murder without investigation. Prosecutor Min doesn’t seem to be on the same side as her boss, Prosecutor Tak, and the Major Crimes Unit Chief, Joo Yoon, the one involved in the shady business with the night club 3 years ago. Apparently, Yoon covers up all Joonseo’s wrong doings, in exchange of money to afford his son’s education overseas.
Healer’s
November 10, 2024 at 11:55 PM
Psyche gives Chief Yoon info about him meeting Gilho that night, when Gilho is supposed to take Jenny with him. When Gilho comes to meet Psyche empty-handed, Joonseo’s team beat him up while Yoon’s team is coming to arrest him. They will pin him for Junghwa’s murder. Gilho is stabbed when going looking for Joonseo, but Joonseo is elsewhere watching the fight through Psyche’s livestream. Dongwoo comes in time to rescue Gilho when Joonseo’s men are about to finish him off. Psyche picks up the blood-covered knife Gilho used in the fight. Meanwhile, Joonseo meets his CEO, Lee Gangsu, talks about the old days then leaves, then his hitperson comes in and stabs the CEO in the neck. So, the CEO character is a short cameo by Ji Seunghyun? Joonseo then calls a Mr. Choi from the CEO’s phone to tell him to get a new CEO.
When Gilho and Dongwoo are running away from Psyche’s and the police’s cars that are chasing after them, Dongwoo asks Gilho if he knows who killed Junghwa, which means Dongwoo knows it wasn’t Gilho. But he gets no answer from Gilho.
Dongwoo’s car is finally stopped by the cops. Ep 2 ends with Dongwoo aiming his gun at his colleagues (the cops in Yoon’s team) and covering for Gilho, when Prosecutor Min arrives in her car. During the chaos, Gilho manages to jump into the river.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
November 11, 2024 at 6:05 AM
Thank you Claire for all your hard work in recapping the drama so beautifully. Well done!! As usual the gifs are just perfect.
While we all knew it is going to be a dark drama it did take me a bit by surprise.
The “shady broker” turned out to be a bit more than what we imagined but I am sure he has an elaborate backstory. Not sure the drama has enough time to delve into the past.
The relationship hinted at between Lee Gangsu and Noh Joonseo is intriguing and a lot is hinted at. Wonder if we will get some more background information.
Dongwoo is as awesome as we expected. The ex-cop who was caught by Dongwoo also seems an interesting character. I like his network. The girls were pretty resourceful. 😂
Prosecutor Min is a strong lady. Hope she gets lot of good scenes to showcase her prowess.
Psyche seems to be a wildcard. I think he is most likely to switch sides.
In these two episodes, the pieces seem to have been put in place. So now waiting for the “story” to begin. 😅✊🏻 I think we will see all threads are interconnected. Hopefully we will get an engaging show.
23new2kdrama 🌱🎄🎅❤️
November 11, 2024 at 6:41 PM
I have not had the chance to start this show. Im very glad I read this recap first. It sounds like there is so much going on, and because of the short number of episodes the pace seems to be very fast. Thank you Claire for this. I’m sure I would have been lost but now will be able to feel more confident and engrossed in my watch. Can’t wait until next week!
Healer’s
November 11, 2024 at 8:08 PM
Thank you, Cera. I hope to be fully invested by the next episode, and hope there will be less bloody fight that involves Wookie. I have almost formed a physical reaction to his onscreen fighting by now.
I was startled by the fact that the idol needs to be in the “high” state for his public activities. It’s like an alarm to us fans about what is really beneath the surface that we don’t get to see.
Joo Woojin, as usual, portrays an almost depressed father/professional so well that I’m worried for his character’s mental health.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
November 11, 2024 at 9:09 PM
While that fight was really awesome given the quiet confidence with which he took on a whole bunch of people I too vote for less fighting less and preferably no blood.
Given the punishing schedules our actors and idols follow I can’t say I was surprised but it was saddening. I really felt bad for Jyooni Boy.
I confess to being very prejudiced against Joo Woojin for a very long time because of his role in Goblin. 😱😂 But is too good an actor. He absolutely nails all his roles. Here we really feel for him, let down by the very colleagues he trusted, almost betrayed by the system and struggling to connect with his daughter. Obviously there is something more going on than mere high school bullying. 🙄 Maybe Gangnam Trading supplies drugs to high schoolers too. How scary. The company is definitely too shady.
Healer’s
November 12, 2024 at 12:33 AM
Oh I didn’t know Joo Woojin was in Goblin because I haven’t watched that one. I had no idea he was in Empress Ki and Chicago Typewriter either although I watched both. But he was in Collectors with Lee Jehoon, Hard Hit with Wookie, and then Happiness, all of which left me with a very good impression of him. He was in an interview with Lee Jehoon, which was really fun. And his face always seemed to say “It’s such an inconvenience to be with these pretty boys (i.e. Lee Jehoon, JCW)” in a hilarious and benign way, like a hyung who is amused by the trouble his brothers get because of their beauty.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
November 12, 2024 at 1:32 AM
It was because of all the bts that I finally warmed up to Joo Woojin. 😅😂 I didn’t even like the fact that his name sounded similar to Joo Won. 😭 But he does seem like a good guy.