Lookout: Episodes 5-6

by TeriYaki

Lookout is a crazy show full of crazy characters, which makes them highly unpredictable. It’s anybody’s guess as to what’s going on and who’s in charge, but one thing is certain: Suji is not someone to be ignored. Pair that with a prosecutor who has a flair for drama (and social media), and there’s never a dull moment.

 
EPISODE 5 RECAP

As Suji sleeps, Yoo-na calls for her mother to wake up. Suji sits up in Yoo-na’s room and rushes to the door, but when she opens it, she sees herself with her daughter at the hospital. Tearfully, Suji apologizes that she couldn’t keep her promise to catch Yoo-na’s attacker, and when the room begins to spin around her, we transition to seeing her asleep on a couch.

Suji wakes up from her dream and notices that she’s been bandaged. The second thing she notices is a strange man seated with his back to her, so Suji grabs a nearby pair of scissors and stealthily approaches the man.

Suji places the scissors against the man’s throat and demands to know why she’s there, but resident hacker Kyung-soo is too engrossed with a computer game to notice. A woman’s voice alerts him to the danger as Suji looks around for the source of the voice.

The voice belongs to hermit Bomi, who wonders if Suji remembers her. When Suji stares blankly, Bomi uses the voice manipulator, and Suji finally recognizes the person who sent her the video of Yoo-na and her alleged killer, Shi-wan.

Bomi bluntly informs Suji that she’s aged a bit since then, and Kyung-soo yells out to silence her. Kyung-soo promises to explain everything if Suji will just put down the scissors, but she doesn’t move until he claims to know where Shi-wan is.

After a few clicks on his keyboard, Suji can see that Shi-wan is in his hospital room, but she’s surprised that he’s under police protection. Bomi blurts out that Suji turned him into a victim who was lucky to escape a bullet shot by a crazy detective.

Alone in his room, Shi-wan scrolls through the articles about his attack and tosses his phone in annoyance. He hears voices in the hallway and pretends to sleep, but he opens his eyes and greets his father when his parents walk in. Shi-wan’s mother fusses over him, but Chief Prosecutor Yoon insists that the incident was partly his fault.

When prompted, Shi-wan recites what he was taught, “I am your son, so I’m always at the center of attention.” Chief Prosecutor Yoon explains that that’s why Shi-wan must act with caution before pointing to the reporters outside as proof of what it’s like to be linked to leadership.

When his wife reminds him that Shi-wan was hurt, Chief Prosecutor Yoon looks him over and flatly says it’s a relief that he wasn’t hurt badly. Shi-wan asks his father if he was worried, but is assured that he wasn’t, because he has faith in his son. As his parents leave Shi-wan’s room, his mother asks her husband, “He didn’t do it, did he?” But Chief Prosecutor Yoon only laughs at the question before meeting the waiting reporters to play the role of a concerned father.

Suji watches the chief prosecutor on television, but Kyung-soo suggests that they watch something else. Every other station is focused on some angle of Shi-wan’s attack, and Suji is heartbroken that not a single report mentioned Yoo-na and how she died.

Bomi explains through a speaker that no one will ever know the real Shi-wan because Suji’s attack made him appear sympathetic. Desperate to smooth over Bomi’s harsh words, Kyung-soo insists that it’s still possible to catch Shi-wan thanks to his hacking skills and Bomi’s ability to monitor people around the clock, not to mention their incredible leader.

Our mysterious priest enters the confessional where Do-han waits. He wants to know what Do-han has planned for “that woman,” and he admits that he wants her to eventually arrest Yoon Seung-ro.

The priest reminds Do-han that Suji just lost a child, but Do-han explains that he understands what it’s like to lose a loved one and feel powerless while the culprit is right in front of you. The priest regrets that he didn’t stop Do-han, but Do-han knows that he couldn’t do that because he hasn’t forgiven the ones who caused it all — Do-han, his father and Yoon Seung-ro.

Kyung-soo and Bomi tell Suji about their leader: He helped them to get revenge, and they now obey his orders in return. Bomi makes it clear that Suji has been given a final chance to get Shi-wan, and Suji escapes to the roof to think as Do-han strides out of the church.

One year later. Do-han drives his car as news hits the airwaves that the Blue House named Yoon Seung-ro as the next attorney general. At the same time, a black sedan enters a parking garage, followed closely by Suji on a motorcycle.

After the driver exits the car, Suji creeps up to wedge a coin in a door handle and explains into her headset that it’s a trick that she learned from a car thief. She worries about the penalty for car theft, but Bomi wonders instead about the penalty for attempted murder and flight.

While Suji downloads navigation data, she notices Chief Prosecutor Yoon’s photo on the front page of a newspaper and breathes that he should be their target. Suji asks Bomi and Kyung-soo if their leader really exists since they haven’t heard from him in over a year, and though Bomi advises Suji to wait, she can’t help but wonder if they aren’t curious about him.

Bomi is adamant that she doesn’t need to know anything about their leader, and she expects Kyung-soo to agree with her. Kyung-soo is surprised when Suji asks if there’s a way to contact their leader first and shoots a worried look at the camera that monitors him when he admits that it may be possible. He encourages the women not to argue, but they bark at him to stay out of it.

Do-han runs over to Prosecutor Oh on their way to a large meeting to gush about the chief prosecutor’s selection as attorney general. Prosecutor Oh assures Do-han that Chief Prosecutor Yoon can’t forget about him even though he’s not loyal, because he has something important. Prosecutor Oh cautions that it’s crucial that everything go well until the chief prosecutor is confirmed into his new position.

Suji rides away as her target returns to his car and selects his next destination. Kyung-soo forwards the location to some clients, and we see three angry women burst into a room and catch the man in bed with another woman.

Kyung-soo tallies up the tracking fees, and it turns out that this is the way the team earns money to bankroll their revenge assignments. Kyung-soo reassures Suji that their leader will contact them soon, and she compliments everyone on a good job before hanging up.

Suji looks out a window as Shi-wan comes home with both of his parents. She tosses her headset onto a bed and turns around to study the walls, which she’s plastered with surveillance photos of Shi-wan. Suji stares at his house and vows, “No matter what you do and where you are, I’ll be watching you. Once you show your true self, I’ll be the first to know. I’ll be the first to catch you.”

While an inmate pens a letter as his cellmates sleep somewhere in a prison, prosecutor Eun-joong is awakened by a coworker after spending the night asleep at his desk. When he stands up, he tosses aside a newspaper with a photo of Chief Prosecutor Yoon and uncovers a letter addressed to him from HAN DONG-HOON.

A familiar courier delivers an envelope to Bomi’s apartment and she opens her door as soon as he runs off, still frightened from their last encounter. Bomi informs the team that their leader has finally contacted them.

The envelope contains a photo of Woo-sung and his social security number, along with the instructions, “Put him back where he belongs.” Suji parks her motorcycle outside of an abandoned storefront in a rundown neighborhood and runs inside to join Kyung-soo, who has photos on his laptop of the envelope’s contents.

Suji recognizes Woo-sung from her investigation the year before. She wonders how much Kyung-soo can discover with a social security number, and he smiles at the chance to show her what he can do.

A news crew enters the restaurant where Suji’s mother works to ask about her daughter’s whereabouts. In spite of her protests, the reporter grabs her arm so that she can’t escape. Just then, Eun-joong walks into the restaurant and threatens a lawsuit if they air any of the footage.

After the crew reluctantly leaves, Eun-joong is surprised that Suji’s mother is still bothered by reporters, but she reassures him that the incidents are fewer these days before offering him lunch. One of Yoo-na’s drawings hangs on the wall, and it reminds Eun-joong of happier times.

Eun-joong is there to meet with Suji’s old team leader Soon-ae, and he shows her the letter from Han Dong-hoon. He explains that Han Dong-hoon claims he’s in prison for a crime committed by Woo-sung. When Soon-ae admits that she was forced to release Woo-sung the year before (as well as close Yoo-na’s case), Eun-joong asks for more details.

Chief Prosecutor Yoon watches televised comments from a detractor just as Prosecutor Oh enters his office. As the woman on television cites his dealings with powerful figures and corporations, Chief Prosecutor Yoon tells Oh that he summoned him to ask about the prosecutor who was demoted. He wants Prosecutor Oh to check on Eun-joong and cautions, “Please don’t let me down again.”

Do-han starts to enter Prosecutor Oh’s office, only to make a hasty retreat when something is hurled his way. Prosecutor Oh takes Do-han to task for not keeping Eun-joong under control and sends him away to take care of business.

Holding a large umbrella, Do-han peers through a coffee shop window and waves at Eun-joong as he sits inside with a woman. When Eun-joong exits the shop, Do-han enjoys a laugh when he asks if Eun-joong is dating. Certain that the woman is linked to Woo-sung’s case, Do-han urges Eun-joong to stop his dangerous investigation.

Eun-joong wonders if Prosecutor Oh is behind his visit, but Do-han encourages him to think a bit higher (on the power ladder). He insists that he worries about Eun-joong, because even his affluent family can’t protect him against such a powerful man.

Eun-joong considers Do-han’s warning as proof that Chief Prosecutor Yoon is somehow involved with Woo-sung’s case. After Eun-joong walks away, Do-han notes, “You really are righteous, courageous, and… easy to exploit.”

Suji arrives at a hospital and fills Bomi in on the details of Woo-sung’s case as she walks: He stabbed a man over twenty times for a couple of dollars and has been free for thirteen years. Bomi adds that another man sits in prison, and in flashback, we see that while making a delivery, Han Dong-hoon ran into Woo-sung as he fled the scene. Han Dong-hoon had then picked up a dropped dollar dotted with the victim’s blood.

Kyung-soo details that Han Dong-hoon had no one but his grandmother, and another flashback shows that Han Dong-hoon was brutally beaten during questioning. Han Dong-hoon insisted to a younger Prosecutor Oh that he was innocent, but he shoved a confession in front of him to sign on his way to another case. Kyung-soo is indignant that Han Dong-hoon was framed when the prosecutors knew the truth, but Suji reasons that the case was unimportant because it wouldn’t lead to a promotion.

Suji finds the room that contains Dong-hoon’s grandmother, the same woman she had met a year earlier when the woman delivered files on her grandson’s case and insisted that he was innocent.

But then, Suji turns around as a priest walks by, and the two make eye contact.

 
EPISODE 6 RECAP

We find Suji at a golf course asking Kyung-soo if she’s at the right place. Thanks to a major hack of an online store the year before, Kyung-soo can check Woo-sung’s credit card account to verify his reservation. Once Suji finds him, she watches him play and comments on the good life that Woo-sung enjoys in spite of what he did.

When Suji adds that Woo-sung had a wife a year ago but now has a girlfriend too, Kyung-soo calls the man talented and quickly finds himself in trouble with his two female colleagues.

Kyung-soo explains that sometimes his mouth isn’t connected to his brain, and Bomi dubs it “idiot disease.” But the team gets back to business when Suji informs them that Woo-sung is on the move.

After he drops off his girlfriend, Woo-sung drives to his apartment, so Suji asks Kyung-soo for the unit’s location. She uses a tactic that she picked up from a burglar and places a hidden camera in front of Woo-sung’s apartment door so that when he punches in his passcode, Suji has a perfect view of the keypad.

Suji needs Woo-sung out of the apartment so that she can look around, and Kyung-soo jumps at the chance, prepared to use a lame and likely unbelievable excuse. Bomi considers Kyung-soo ill-equipped for the job and volunteers, but Suji interrupts to announce that Woo-sung just left on his own.

Once inside the modest apartment, the mess and empty soju bottles tell Suji that it’s been a while since his wife and child lived there. Kyung-soo guesses that his family could be overseas, but Bomi suggests that he could have killed them. Suji scans his bills and takes note of his lavish spending, which explains why he’s broke.

Bomi tracks Woo-sung’s movements, but loses him because Kyung-soo only hacked the cameras on major roads. Suji finds Woo-sung’s business cards in his jacket and is certain that he’s on his way to his shop, so she sends a photo of the card to the team. Examining it, Bomi finds footage of him in front of his golf shop with a visitor.

Bomi forwards the camera feed to Suji, who recognizes the man as Choi Myung-hoon, the friend who knew that Woo-sung was guilty in the Samil Supermarket case. Suji wants to eavesdrop on the men’s conversation, so Kyung-soo sends a sexy spam text to Woo-sung’s phone as bait to hack him, but he deletes it.

That means that someone has to go onsite to get access to Woo-sung’s phone. Suji would be recognized, and Bomi can’t leave her apartment, so Kyung-soo steps up. When Bomi wants to know what he has planned, Kyung-soo explains that the key to pickpocketing is distraction, and Suji is surprised to learn that he spent time in a juvenile detention center.

Woo-sung asks after Myung-hoon since they haven’t talked in a year, but he wants to know about the job that Woo-sung has for him. Woo-sung knows that Myung-hoon stopped dealing drugs and now works hard to make a living, a change that Myung-hoon blames on Woo-sung.

Woo-sung protests that he didn’t know Myung-hoon would get caught because of him. He knows that Myung-hoon’s father has been ill and offers to help him earn some money — but just then, the power goes off.

When Kyung-soo shows up to fix the power outage disguised as a maintenance worker, Woo-sung is near the breaker box. Kyung-soo shines his flashlight into Woo-sung’s face to obscure his vision and then makes a fuss over his eyes in an unsuccessful attempt to get close to his phone. When Myung-hoon appears, Woo-sung gets distracted long enough for Kyung-soo to do what he needs to do.

Suji joins Kyung-soo when he gets back to his car, and they prepare to listen in on Woo-sung’s conversation. When Woo-sung explains to Myung-hoon that he has a delivery that involves a person, Myung-hoon tells him that he doesn’t do that kind of work anymore. Woo-sung promises that it’s the last time and offers Myung-hoon a cut of the insurance money. Before the team can hear who the target is, Woo-sung moves the conversation to a spot away from phones and CCTV.

After Suji and Kyung-soo return to their hideout, Suji explains to Bomi that Woo-sung plans to kidnap someone. Suji reasons that if Woo-sung is the beneficiary, the target must be someone close to him, so she suggests the girlfriend while Kyung-soo nominates Woo-sung’s sister. When he checks the sister’s phone, they discover countless calls and texts from Woo-sung that have gone ignored.

After a few clicks on his keyboard, Kyung-soo learns that Woo-sung’s sister’s name is KIM WOO-JIN. A check of her social media shows many photos of Kim Woo-jin with her niece, but no family photos. Another search shows a family photo taken just days before Woo-sung turned himself in the year before.

Suji realizes that something went wrong between the siblings. Kyung-soo is horrified to think that Woo-sung would kill his own sister, but the ever-cynical Bomi argues that humans can be cruel. Suji asks Kyung-soo to scour Woo-sung’s phone and make a short list of likely victims, a task that will take him all night.

Bomi reminds Suji that she’s no longer a detective and that their objective is to have the police capture Woo-sung. Suji suggests that they call the police right away to prevent a crime before it happens, but Bomi argues that they have no evidence.

Kyung-soo suggests the hacked recording of Woo-sung’s conversation with Myung-hoon, but Bomi knows that illegal footage can’t be used in a trial — plus, they could get caught. Suji knows that it takes at least five minutes for the police to reach a scene and proposes that with proper timing, the police can respond in time to catch the crime in progress.

Suji asks Kyung-soo to find out who the target is. When Bomi protests, Kyung-soo puts an end to their fighting with a promise to stay up all night.

Suji snaps photos of Myung-hoon and his crew as they load a van for their job. Bomi monitors the girlfriend and Kim Woo-jin, who has just boarded a bus. A weary Kyung-soo continues to search Woo-sung’s phone when his eyes suddenly widen at something. While Suji follows the van on her motorcycle, Kyung-soo informs her that Woo-sung hired a private detective three months ago.

The last communication with the detective was the day before Woo-sung hired Myung-hoon, so Suji asks Kyung-soo to find out why he was hired. Bomi informs Suji that Kim Woo-jin is headed straight for Myung-hoon’s crew. When Suji sees how close her bus is, she instructs them to call 911.

Kyung-soo turns on a police scanner as Bomi calls 911 and screams, “I’ve been kidnapped from in front of Hyesung Elementary School!” She ends with an earsplitting scream that causes Kyung-soo to wince in pain.

Suji watches as Kim Woo-jin exits the bus and walks to the corner, right past Myung-hoon’s van. It’s then that Kyung-soo discovers that Woo-sung hired a private detective to find his wife and daughter, who had run away. Suji looks up as Kim Woo-jin waves to her niece, who waits on the other side of the street for the light to change.

Too late, Suji realizes that the target is Woo-sung’s daughter, but before she can react, the van pulls up in front of the girl before speeding away. Kim Woo-jin calls out for her niece, SAE-BOM, who has disappeared. Suji weaves through traffic as she chases after the van and manages to pull up beside the vehicle, where she sees Sae-bom in tears.

Suji recalls Yoo-na’s broken body and her inability to help her before she smashes in the driver’s window with a telescopic baton in a badass sequence. She stops her motorcycle just in front of the van and fearlessly walks towards the vehicle. Sh even manages to open the sliding door to get the girl out, but a man in the back shuts it as Myung-hoon orders the driver to move.

Suji grabs onto the luggage rack and hangs on as the van speeds away. It turns around while the man in the back opens the sliding door to push Suji away. He manages to kick her off the van when they make a sharp turn, and Suji is sent rolling onto the pavement. She comes to a stop just as a truck honks and appears to drive over her.

Bomi covers her eyes and Kyung-soo grimaces, but they can hear Suji breathing. Miraculously, the truck managed to stop in time before hitting Suji, who lies right next to the truck’s wheels. After limping back to her motorcycle, Suji turns her bike around and drives off as Bomi and Kyung-soo breathe in relief.

Do-han checks his reflection as he tries on a new and very expensive suit. He hands his phone to a salesman for a photo and instructs him to take it from an angle that will make him look rich.

But before he can post his photo, Prosecutor Oh calls, so Do-han pants heavily as he answers and claims that he has a high fever. He drops the act when he’s ordered to the police station and asks if it has something to do with Woo-sung. Do-han is shocked at some news and demands, “Who appeared?”

Do-han runs into the traffic center where Soon-ae and fellow officers Nam Byung-jae and Ma Jin-ki are already reviewing camera footage. Byung-jae reports that at two o’clock, a kidnapping was reported and a familiar face showed up — it was Suji.

Do-han laughs when he asks if they still consider Suji a detective and cites it as the reason she hasn’t been caught. Do-han labels Suji a fugitive and yells as he asks Soon-ae why they haven’t gone to find her.

When Soon-ae yells right back, the detectives run for the door. She starts to follow them but pauses briefly to vow to Do-han that they will do their job, adding that she hopes that Do-han can be counted on to do his job as a prosecutor.

Once Soon-ae is out the door, Do-han glares at the video footage of Suji and thinks, “What on earth are you trying to start?”

 
COMMENTS

Whoa! That time jump was unexpected, but I like how it propelled the story forward and gave us even more backstory for our characters. For now, Shi-wan and his father are enjoying a life free of consequences, unaware that Suji now lives just a stone’s throw away from their front gate. Chief Prosecutor Yoon’s appointment as attorney general just proves how those with power become more powerful, and I wonder what exactly Do-han has planned for his rabidly ambitious superior.

Now that we know that Do-han is the mysterious leader who brought Bomi, Kyung-soo, and Suji together, why has he allowed Chief Prosecutor Yoon to continue his rise? My guess is that he plans for a fall so spectacular that there is no chance that anyone will help Chief Prosecutor Yoon or Shi-wan when the time comes, and that they will both be finished for good. At least I hope that’s the case.

With the addition of Suji to the “private detective agency,” Kyung-soo finds himself with the uncomfortable responsibility of maintaining the balance between two very strong, opinionated women. He had his hands full before with just Bomi, but now he’s the peacekeeper when the two women clash, which looks like it happens often. Bomi serves as the cool detached brain and Suji is definitely the brawn, but Kyung-soo is the heart of the team. He has that youthful energy and enthusiasm that makes him everyone’s little brother. Of course, that makes me fear for his safety and longevity going forward, so I’m putting in my wish early that nothing tragic befalls our endearing hacker. We’ve already lost the adorable Yoo-na, let’s leave it at that.

Based on the many tricks that she’s learned from the criminals that she pursued as a detective, Suji is now pretty adept on the other side of the badge. She makes the already impressive team even stronger, which is what Do-han must have had in mind. I don’t think he was quite prepared for someone like Suji, who definitely has a mind of her own. After learning that she revealed herself, he looked none too pleased, but he has to admit that she’s an impressive member of the team.

Do-han is proving to be the most intriguing character. I can’t figure out how much, if any, of his posturing is meant to be a cover for his real persona. He’s such a dandy and is absolutely ridiculous. We haven’t really seen him much when he’s alone, so there may be another, less dramatic side to him, but for now, he’s over the top. Kim Young-kwang is making the most of this role and I appreciate the flair that he brings to Do-han. I just love the way he bends himself whenever he has a scene with Prosecutor Oh or stands tall for his social media poses. I can’t wait to see the look on Chief Prosecutor Yoon’s face if he ever falls from grace and realizes who orchestrated his undoing.

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