The Good Wife: Episode 4

by odilettante

Tae-joon’s bail hearing draws ever near, and the deciding factor is Hye-kyung — does she really want her husband back in her life (and her home)? Chief Prosecutor Choi continues to do his best to muck things up for his nemesis, and Joong-won’s charmingly boyish face disguises his ruthless desire to win, no matter what the cost. Also, David Lee is delightful even when not dressed like the Devil.

EPISODE 4 RECAP

Hye-kyung visits Tae-joon in jail, and he warns her that will need her testimony for his appeal — his trial for bail is in just a couple of days, and the big question is whether or not she will welcome him back with open arms.

The Seo siblings are busy crunching numbers, trying to figure out who they can afford to keep and who they’ll have to let go. Myung-hee brings up their new hires, but Joong-won doesn’t answer. Watching from a distance is Joon-ho, who can recognize the signs of pending lay-offs. He’s confident they’ll keep him on, but Hye-kyung looks a little nervous.

She and Joong-won meet with Lee Eun-joo, a pretty lawyer working for a conglomerate of landowners, and basically everyone is fighting over a plot of land that is in a prime location for redevelopment. She represents the current landowners while M&J represents the development company. Hye-kyung has done her homework and knows the carefully calculated ways Eun-joo has managed to get the majority of landowners on her side — and on the side of getting a hefty profit.

But David Lee pops his head in, asking to see Hye-kyung. He’s working on a divorce case with a client who’s requested Hye-kyung’s support. Annoyed, Hye-kyung tells him she’s working on another case, but as convivial as his demeanor generally appears to be, he informs that he’s not asking for her assistance — he’s demanding it.

Yeon-joo is amused by the fact that Joong-won has hired Hye-kyung, whose age and reputation as Tae-joon’s wife will surely damage the firm’s reputation. Yeon-joo also clearly flirts with Joong-won, and it seems they’ve had a thing in the past, although he focuses on the business at hand.

Frustrated, Hye-kyung escapes to her office where she bemoans the fact that all her effort she put into the studying up on Yeon-joo’s case is wasted because the firm just wants to use her to console clients. Dan advises her to ask David to add her name as one of the lawyers on the divorce case. He probably won’t do it, but it can’t hurt to ask.

David’s in the middle of his spiel about how brutal the divorce court will be just as Hye-kyung arrives at the conference room. The previously uninterested client rises to greet her, introducing herself as Shim Eun-sook. She apologizes that it might be difficult for Hye-kyung to work with her, but she nervously tells her that she’s thankful for any help Hye-kyung can give.

Eun-sook admits that she’s thought about divorce before, and even met with lawyers. But then her husband would ask forgiveness and she’d decide to stay with him. Except now she’s decided to end things for good.

As the office consoler, Hye-kyung listens with a sympathetic expression, but she’s distracted when she sees Joon-ho take her spot on the real estate development case. Their client laughs at the price Yeon-joo is requesting, saying it’s impossible. Oh, and that CEO of the development company? None other than Cho Guk-hyun, the developer that Tae-joon was reported to have taken bribes from.

Hye-kyung is barely able to pretend to be interested in David’s divorce case until Eun-sook reveals that her husband is none other than Chief Prosecutor Choi. Well, well, well. That certainly changes things.

Of all the people at the firm, Eun-sook thought Hye-kyung would know exactly what she was going through — that’s why she asked her to take part. She begs Hye-kyung to help her find some leverage to use against him, since she knows she’ll lose if they don’t.

Speak of the devil — her husband suddenly arrives at the conference room, but he ignores his wife’s attempt to introduce everyone and instead orders Hye-kyung to meet with him in private. As she steps out, she murmurs to David that he had better put her name on the case. Ha!

Chief Prosecutor Choi assumes that Tae-joon is somehow behind Hye-kyung’s involvement in his wife’s request for divorce, but Hye-kyung retorts that he must be utterly clueless about how his wife truly feels. He threateningly advances on her as he warns her that there is no way he can divorce his wife — they have to stay together for his sons.

He forcefully grabs her wrist, warning her that he’ll make sure Tae-joon doesn’t make bail. He adds that the envelope he left at her door was just the beginning of the evidence he has that will tear her family apart, but of course Hye-kyung has no idea what he’s talking about.

Joong-won sees Yeon-joo out, and she’s in hardcore flirting mode as she tells him they should meet to discuss the case — privately one-on-one, of course. He pleasantly obliges, but he’s distracted by the sight of Chief Prosecutor Choi’s grip on Hye-kyung.

As soon as he bids Yeon-joo adieu, he enters Hye-kyung’s office, calmly informing that the prosecutor had better release Hye-kyung’s arm or he’ll be charged with assault. Chief Prosecutor Choi leaves, warning Hye-kyung to tell his wife that this time, he won’t go easy on her. She’s clearly rattled by the encounter, but reassures Joong-won that she’s okay.

Joong-won brings Hye-kyung to someone who calls himself her “fan,” and it’s none other than Cho Guk-hyun. He greats her pleasantly, reassuring her that Tae-joon’s situation will all be resolved in due time. Even though Tae-joon investigated his business at one time, he still respects the fallen prosecutor.

Hye-kyung can’t stop thinking about the fact that this was the man who bribed her husband, and even Joong-won and Myung-hee seem a little uneasy with his connections to Tae-joon. When he requests Hye-kyung join their defense team, Myung-hee reassures him that they have more experienced lawyers available. Nope. Guk-hyun only wants Hye-kyung.

Ji-hoon and his sister watch the mysterious DVD they found left by the front door. They don’t know who put it there since Ji-hoon forgot to set up his hidden camera. It’s secret footage of their father meeting with Guk-hyun. Ji-hoon tells his sister that they can’t show their mother — she might hate their father even more if she sees it.

Myung-hee isn’t thrilled to have Guk-hyun as her client, but Joong-won defends him, reminding her that they don’t really know anything about what happened with Tae-joon’s case. Besides, Guk-hyun is bringing in a ton of money to the firm, provided they can get Yeon-joo’s clients to agree to the settlement — which Joong-won promises he will make happen, no matter what.

Joong-won’s ultimatum worries Myung-hee, but it seems the settlement should be an easy conversation to have with Yeon-joo over a glass of wine in her apartment. She asks if he wants to see her new tattoo, then turns around so he can unzip her dress, revealing a tattoo that trails down her backbone. Joong-won asks if she’ll settle for a lower amount, and she flirtatiously tells him that he’ll have to find out after she takes a shower and then slips into something “more comfortable.” Uh-huh.

As soon as she disappears into the bedroom, Joong-won quietly and quickly opens her laptop, downloading her case notes onto a flash drive. Just then Myung-hee calls him, telling him to turn on the TV. The news is still reporting on Tae-joon’s scandal, and Joong-won assumes Myung-hee is worried about Hye-kyung’s notoriety affecting the image of their law firm.

But what he should really be worried about is who took the photos of him and Hye-kyung at the hotel (back when they were asking for the evidence in the rape case). Seems like there’s another potential scandal brewing, this time with him at the center of it.

Yeon-joo appears in her bathrobe, amused by the news report. She didn’t know he had a thing for “older” women. He pleasantly tells her he’ll have to take a rain check, and he’ll text her his client’s agreed-upon settlement amount. Then he calls Hye-kyung, apologizing for making her the subject of another potential scandal. She just rolls with it — she knows it will be forgotten in a few days, especially when Tae-joon’s bail hearing will distract everyone. Even so, Joong-won says it will be best if they keep their distance from each other, at least for a little while.

The next morning, he barges into his sister’s office, telling her that those pictures were innocuous. She’s still miffed that people will indelibly link their firm with infidelity — which might make David Lee happy, that’s not the image she wants for them. She orders Joong-won to fire Hye-kyung.

Joong-won stubbornly defends Hye-kyung, saying that those pictures implicate the both of them — if Hye-kyung has to quit, then he’ll quit, too. At least Myung-hee agrees to give Hye-kyung another chance, but she admits that as much as she’s concerned about the firm, she’s more worried about how this will affect her brother personally.

Dan is incredibly amused by the “scandal,” playing dumb as Hye-kyung desperately explains the true story behind the photos. But then she gives Hye-kyung a tip — don’t try to explain too much in detail. It makes her look guilty. Hee.

Chief Prosecutor Choi’s lawyer is there to meet about the divorce, and the lawyer smugly reveals that since Eun-sook signed what essentially amounts to a prenup, she has no property rights and no chance of alimony, and therefore it’s ridiculous to give her custody of the kids since she has no income. Eun-sook simply responds with: “Triton Fields.”

None of the lawyers know what it means, but apparently the threat of revealing the truth about it should be enough to get Chief Prosecutor Choi to actually attend the next meeting. If he has problems with her telling everyone about Triton Fields, then he can just sue her. After all, it’s what he does best.

Chief Prosecutor Choi arrives unannounced at Tae-joon’s prison cell, and orders the guards to confiscate all the “contraband” — primarily the books and case files that Tae-joon is currently studying. He warns Tae-joon that he should have left his family alone, but Tae-joon points out that he could say the same thing to the prosecutor.

He gets right up in Chief Prosecutor Choi’s face, chuckling as he tauntingly says that he can’t blame Eun-sook for wanting a divorce — it must be a nightmare living with him. Now, after all the years he’s made other people suffer, it’s time for the prosecutor to enjoy his own medicine.

Chief Prosecutor Choi warns Tae-joon that he’ll make sure Tae-joon doesn’t make bail and that any of his prison privileges will be revoked. Basically he’ll make his life a living hell. As he leaves, he hands Tae-joon a paper with the article about Hye-kyung’s “secret affair” at the hotel, smugly informing him that it seems Tae-joon’s wife is awfully busy these days.

Hye-kyung is busy — busy working. She stays up late working on Eun-sook’s case at home, but when her daughter Seo-yeon asks if the affair stories are true, she reassures her that it was just a misunderstanding. Seo-yeon’s worried her parents are going to get divorced, and Hye-kyung admits that she did visit a divorce lawyer when she was first angry with Tae-joon, but now she’s trying to accept things the way they are.

Hye-kyung visits Tae-joon in jail, where he fills her in on Chief Prosector Choi’s sudden power trip. The reason he called her down was to warn her that it might be more difficult to stay in contact with her now that his privileges have been taken away. He also wants to talk about her testimony for his bail appeal, especially considering what he’s read in the papers recently.

She tells him nothing happened, and even if it did, she’d inform him first instead of letting the news tell him. Unlike him, she’s not the kind of person to lie or hurt her family in that way. As she stands to leave, she hesitates for a second, then asks him if he knows anything about Triton Fields. That gets his attention, and he leans in, intent on finding out how much Eun-sook might know — or might be willing to tell Hye-kyung.

As she’s leaving the jail, she runs into Tae-joon’s lawyer who’s just arriving. They sit down to discuss the importance of her testimony in order to get him released on bail. She tells him about Cho Guk-hyun becoming a client of M&J, wondering if he had anything to do with it, but he denies any involvement.

He’s more focused on the importance of her testimony coming across as sincere. If her actions or expression belies her words, then Tae-joon has no hope for bail. She reassures him that she’ll only tell the truth, but the lawyer says that some truths may seem truer than others. Hye-kyung will be the one deciding what the truth his, however.

Tae-Join flips through photos of Joong-won and Hye-kyung at the hotel while his lawyer reassures him that it doesn’t look like anything they need to be concerned about. Tae-joon crumples up the photo as he tells his lawyer that no matter what, he’s getting out on bail.

Yeon-joo has gathered her landowning clients together to discuss the settlement, however she’s irate when Joong-won hands her the amount he’s willing to offer — and it’s market rate. That’s because he just got confirmation from Joon-ho that one of the elusive landowners, currently living in Japan, sold them his large parcel land at a reasonable rate. Yeon-joo’s clients no longer have the leverage they used to.

Joong-won walks the defeated Yeon-joo to the elevators, and she asks if he went through her laptop — it’s the only way they could have found the Japanese landowner’s contact info. Joong-won apologizes, but he had to win this case, no matter what. She wonders if Hye-kyung knows what he’s really like — no matter how he tries to hide it, she’ll find out eventually. And then she’ll come to despise him, just as Yeon-joo does.

Once again, the divorce lawyers meet, but this time Eun-sook is much more in command of the meeting. Chief Prosecutor Choi keeps trying to bring up the agreement Eun-sook had signed previously, but every time he does, Eun-sook brings up details about Triton Fields. It’s a most effective bargaining chip, because Chief Prosecutor Choi would rather acquiesce to his wife’s settlement demands than have her reveal anything more about the mysterious Triton Fields.

The divorce papers are eventually finalized, and the M&J lawyers and Eun-sook are left alone to sign the paperwork. Chief Prosecutor Choi has agreed to all of of Eun-sook’s demands, provided she signs a non-disclosure agreement. Eun-sook hesitates a second, realizing that today is Tae-joon’s hearing for his bail. Then she sets down her pen, asking David to step outside for a moment.

Aw, he looks genuinely crushed to be kept out of the gossip loop, but as soon as he leaves, Eun-sook tells Hye-kyung that her husband tapped Tae-joon’s phone, and she saw the files saved on his computers. All she knows is that it has something to do with Triton Fields. With a final wish that everything will turn out well for Hye-kyung, Eun-sook signs the divorce papers — and the NDA.

Tae-joon waits for his hearing in the courthouse VIP room, and Prosecutor Park stops by to greet him. He warns Tae-joon that Chief Prosecutor Choi will be doing everything he can to stop Tae-joon’s bail request. It seems a little odd that a prosecutor is revealing information to a supposed criminal, but Prosecutor Park says he can tell which way the wind is blowing, and Tae-joon is sure to gain back his position and power.

He then leans in, asking if Tae-joon has been meeting with Guk-hyun. But Tae-joon just lunges towards him, yanking the phone from the prosecutor’s pocket and revealing that it was a set-up to record incriminating evidence.

Prosecutor Park apologizes, explaining it wasn’t his idea. But Tae-joon knows that Chief Prosecutor Choi is the one behind it all. He warns Prosecutor Park that he’d better be prepared in case Tae-joon wins his trial, since he can make life difficult for the prosecutor once he’s a free man. But he’s willing to let bygones be bygones if the prosecutor does him a small favor.

Guk-hyun congratulates Joong-won on winning the settlement, adding that they’re similar in that way. I’m not so sure that’s a compliment.

When he runs into Joong-won in the bathroom, Guk-hyun’s bodyguard/drver/assistant tells Joong-won that he hasn’t seen his boss look that elated before. Joong-won says he’s heard that the man used to know Tae-joon, and he admits he did, way back when. He was actually a main factor in bringing Tae-joon and Hye-kyung together fifteen years ago.

Tae-Joon’s bail hearing is closed off from the public, but that doesn’t mean a crowd of reporters don’t hang around in the hallways. Chief Prosecutor Choi reiterates that Tae-joon is a flight risk and shouldn’t be released on bail, but Tae-joon’s lawyer insists that his client is innocent, so there’s no reason for him to flee. Besides, Tae-joon wants nothing more than to return to his wife and children.

It’s time for Hye-kyung’s testimony. Up until this moment, she’s been unsure of what she’ll say, and once she’s in the witness seat, she affirms Tae-joon’s lawyer’s statement that she wants her husband to return home to be with his family.

Chief Prosecutor Choi asks her if it’s true she’s met with a divorce lawyer. She snarks back that of course she has — she’s a lawyer herself, and in fact, she just met with a divorce lawyer this morning, as the prosecutor should well know. But Chief Prosecutor Choi repeats himself, specifically asking if she met with a lawyer with the intent of divorcing her husband.

Hye-kyung admits that when her husband was first arrested, she met with a lawyer to see what her options were. But does that mean she’d consider getting a divorce? Does she still love her husband after his sex scandal?

She confesses that she loved him, and if he’s asking if she still loves him as much before the scandal, then the answer is “no.” But she can’t give a definite answer whether or not she’ll divorce him over it. Is it possible to define one’s feelings?

She loves her husband, but she also hates him. Her feelings for him may fluctuate each day, but what is certain is that she wants her husband to return home to her and her children. That’s all that really matters when it comes to determining whether or not he should be released on bail.

Once the judge releases her from the witness stand, Hye-kyung strides confidently out of the courtroom without once looking at Tae-joon.

Joong-won finds Hye-kyung sitting outside the courthouse, waiting for the judge’s verdict. She just wants it all to finally be over so she can move on without being constantly in the press. Joong-won’s been researching into what happened to bring Hye-kyung and Tae-joon together fifteen years ago, and he carefully asks her how they met.

It was when she was at the training institute — Tae-joon was giving a special lecture about the prosecution department, and she was annoyed that he gave her a low grade. That just brings up memories of all the times she and Joong-won spent together trying to study and survive their years in the training institute, and soon they’re laughing and joking about old times.

Joong-won wonders if she wishes she could return to do those days. Of course she does — she wishes that this was all a dream and that when she wakes up, she’s a student once more. But she can’t go back, can she?

Just then her phone rings. It’s Tae-joon’s lawyer, ready to tell her the judge’s decision about Tae-joon’s bail.

That night, Hye-kyung and her kids nervously await Tae-joon’s arrival. Il-joon happily greets his father at the door, but Seo-yeon can barely look at him.

Joong-won stays late at the office, still looking into what happened during the car accident fifteen years ago. Joon-ho knocks on his door, happy to reveal that he’s working late on the negotiations Joong-won assigned him — although the wind gets slightly knocked out of his sails when Joong-won off-handedly tells him that he only picked him because Hye-kyung was busy.

But Joon-ho knows how to manipulate the situation, bringing up the fact that unlike Hye-kyung, who has to focus on her family since her husband is now released on bail, he can work late to make sure everything is finished. He then makes a few “innocent” remarks about the photos that were taken of Hye-kyung and Joong-won, and how they’ve known each other since college.

Joong-won sees straight though him, though, warning him that Hye-kyung is a gifted lawyer who doesn’t have to stay as late and work as hard because of her innate abilities. After Joon-ho leaves, Joong-won focuses on his research into the car accident that happened fifteen years ago, when Hye-kyung hit Guk-chul’s now-assistant Kang.

Hye-kyung’s son studies the footage of the hidden camera he placed in the plant just outside their front door, in hopes of figuring out who’s been leaving them the mysterious packages. When a cleaning lady bumps the plant, the camera shifts and the front door is no longer in the center of the frame. Assuming the footage is a lost cause, Il-joon leaves. But the camera manages to pick up the image of man who looks like he’s trying to sneakily — and professionally — break into their front door.

COMMENTS

I feel like admitting how much I love this show is already getting repetitive, but I don’t think it’s a sentiment that is going to change any time soon, so: I love this show.

Each episode makes me more and more excited to see not only how the deeper corruption is unraveled, but also how Hye-kyung tries to keep a grip on her outer life even though she may have no clue what to do with her inner life. I was going to say that I could watch an entire show of just her tearing apart the prosecution and making them pay for any pain and frustration they’ve caused her — but that’s basically what I’m already getting, anyway.

I just love how in command she is, even when we know that her inner world is filled with doubts and insecurities. She loves her husband, yes, maybe. Or she did at one time. And maybe she does even still, to some degree. But surely having to build a metaphorical shield around herself to deal with the daily barrage of gossip has forced her to wonder if he’s truly worth it — or if she even really knows him.

I’m still conflicted about Tae-joon. He’s a corrupt, lying, cheating bastard, yet it seems like he does genuinely care about Hye-kyung. I’m not exactly sure what happened with the car accident fifteen years ago, but clearly he made it so she wouldn’t take the fall for injuring a man, and managed to earn the man’s loyalty in return. Or is he merely continuing to pay for that loyalty. Are all his years of corruption and taking bribes just so he could protect Hye-kyung? It certainly seems as though some of it was, but I don’t buy for a second that the sex scandal can be somehow pinned back on Hye-kyung. That’s all on him.

This is also the first episode where I really felt the connection — and unspoken longing — between Joong-won and Hye-kyung. Watching her face when they meet up and talk, seeing how she relaxes and how genuinely she smiles, I can’t help but hope that somehow they’ll be able to rekindle their law school romance. Buuuuuuuut then I’m reminded that Joong-won, in his ruthless quest to win at all costs, may not be all that much better than Tae-joon. And Hye-kyung definitely deserves the best.

Which is why the show seriously needs to spend more time with Dan and Myung-hee. I’m glad Myung-hee is getting a little more screentime, but I just really want the ladies to be friends and solve cases together because Hye-kyung needs friends she can trust. And I think I can trust them. I think. Then again, I’m not sure of anyone in this show. Everyone has their morally grey depths — some darker than others, perhaps, but no one is pure and perfect — not even Hye-kyung.

 
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