A law firm that serves the elite and that would do anything, right or wrong, to save and keep its clients and political supporters? Perfect recipe for odd cases. Still, it is far more watchable than One Dollar Lawyer.
Song & Kim becomes Song fighting Kim for Song & Kim. Song Pil-jung (played by Lee Geung-young) is rather extreme in his ambition and manipulation. You would think that as a lawyer and an intelligent person, he would know when to stop or at least have a breather but no, he just marches on with all his wrongdoing. I still found him more palatable than Jang Geum-ja, though.
I didn’t like her swagger, didn’t like her fashion (especially the Squid Game-tracksuit look), didn’t like her mannerisms, didn’t like her personality, didn’t like her methods, so yes, I just didn’t like this character at all. She’s good at thinking up crooked ways to find info and get things done but I didn’t consider that being genuinely good at lawyering, while I liked that Hee-jae (Joo Ji-hoon) grapples with ethical issues and emotions. Kim Hye-soo is an ok-ish actress, whom I know some people felt was the queen of this show. Not so for me. Perhaps I’d cast her as a mother of substance. I think that might give her room to use her skills better. Here, I particularly disliked all the open-her-eyes-very-big moments, with the camera lingering on her for more seconds than necessary. They were awful, especially since she has big eyes. She should be able to carry off surprise, amazement and what not in more subtle ways, so why didn’t they let her? On the other hand, Joo Ji-hoon, with his small eyes, is very expressive.
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| her pretending to be bratty and cutesy was quite terrible -- should be someone like Boo doing it |
Several dynasties after Goong, here is the 40s Ji-hoon, looking more or less the same and still bearing a princely air. I’m glad there wasn’t much of an attempt to bury his milia and slight pigmentation with makeup.
I thought he did a wonderful job bringing out Hee-jae’s different sides – serious, cute, angry, angsty, despondent, flummoxed, loving, arrogant and everything else. Hee-jae made me laugh as well as feel sorry for him, especially having to be blindsided by all the people who were important to him.
Couldn’t understand why he was besotted with Geum-ja but I liked him. Also liked their nicely composed scenes and loved how he jumped when the team popped the party favours – scene-stealing scene.
Their team was very likeable as well.
This was like lawyers Boo (Park Se-jin) and Na’s (Jeong Ji-hwan) coming of age story! Boo learns to be ruthless and to lie, while Na is told the truth is not what’s important. Despite learning sneakiness, I was happy to see he retains much of his innocence and earnestness at the end. And he liked Ji-eun (Oh Geong-hwa), didn’t he? I liked her very much! Such a clever girl, so quick to jump at the right conclusions. Joong law firm should send her for law studies and watch her come back a star.
Nice role for Hyun Bong-sik, as wise and hardworking Kim, possibly the only lawyer with his integrity intact throughout the show. A proper role with a proper character for him, after a rather pointless turn as Hong-jo’s boss.
It was also Gi-hyuk’s (Jeon Seok-ho) coming of age, learning what really counts by the show’s end, and what a revelation of Seok-ho’s comic and emotional sides after a rather plain showing in Misaeng.
He and Hwang Bo-ra are a crazy couple. Always happy to see her but I’m not sure of the purpose of her character. Time to stop typecasting her.
Well, what kind of legal drama is this, when almost everyone is unethical, personal and devious? After it is revealed that even Hee-jae’s dad is guilty of manipulation and being manipulated, there are practically no upright characters left. Perhaps just lawyer Kim, Hee-jae’s brother (Kim Young-jae) and Prosecutor Kwon (Lee Ki-chan), whom I found amusing.
The cases were, of course, exaggerated and I found the Issume nonsense insane. It spanned so many episodes, with Ha Chan-ho (Ji Hyun-joon) steadily getting crazier, Seo Jung-hwa (Lee Joo-yeon) looking prettier and prettier, and Chairman Ha (Lee Do-kyung) becoming increasingly annoying. You just feel like whacking the man for stubbornly insisting that the company must be run by one of his inept sons and for handing the decision-making to bad ol’ Song. With Kevin Jung (Kim Jae-chul) and his M&A machinations thrown in, it becomes even more obtuse. Geum-ja was clearly responsible for Jung-hwa’s tragic end, and should have been held accountable and made to make amends. If not for her foolish idea for our pretty lady to stay with unhinged Chan-ho, Jung-hwa would be happily alive with useless other son Joon-ho (Kim Han-soo), who then would be taken out of the picture, leaving the only business-minded person in the family, the cold-storaged Hye-won (Kim Young-ah), to run the business. There, I’ve solved one of the plot problems.
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| Hee-jae's idea would have saved her life |
In general, I hated the soundtrack but at least the cases were interesting and the pace was acceptable.
What kept me in the show were Joo Ji-hoon and the rest of Team H, who entertained me very well, and I would like to try that corn pizza they were eating.
16 episodes, SBS
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