Lookout: Episodes 17-18

by TeriYaki

Lookout promises to keep us riveted as the team edges ever closer to exposing the corruption that plagues both the police force and the prosecutor’s office. There’s no room for mistakes, so of course that means that we can’t just sit back and enjoy the ride. Get ready, the journey to justice is about to get very bumpy.

EPISODE 17 RECAP

Do-han drives his car through traffic and gets the feeling that he’s being followed. He’s right, because Suji has his car in sight while Kyung-soo and Bomi run a search on his background. When Do-han stops at a high end store, Suji parks on the street to keep an eye on him.

Kyung-soo unearths that Do-han’s mother died when he was in high school, killed by her common-law husband. Suji asks Kyung-soo if Chief Prosecutor Yoon was connected to the case, but he finds nothing. Suji watches as Do-han walks out of the store, convinced that his reason for revenge against Yoon is well hidden.

After Suji drives away, Do-han steps out of a driveway. Now that he knows who’s been following him, Do-han recalls the priest’s phone call about Suji’s request to meet him. The priest wanted to take her into their confidence, but Do-han protested because they just managed to produce a witness. When the priest asked Do-han about the other person, Do-han answered that he found a clue. The priest sensed his lead was connected to the detective who tortured Do-han’s father, a man only known to them by his nickname.

When Suji stops at a light, she sees a televised news broadcast in a storefront that reports on her being shot and still at large. Eun-joong sits at his desk, puzzled over the video chip with evidence that Do-han helped Suji when she was injured, when he gets a call from Soon-ae.

Soon-ae and Eun-joong watch over Suji’s mother, who’s resting up after having collapsed. When Mom wakes up, Soon-ae guesses she collapsed in shock after hearing of Suji’s shooting, and asks why Mom believed the news instead of calling her. Mom answers that she couldn’t turn to the police who shot her daughter, but she perks up when Soon-ae lies that Suji didn’t get hit by the bullet and is fine.

Soon-ae gets a call and steps out of the room. It’s from Suji, and Soon-ae asks about her injury, relieved that she’s all right. Soon-ae says that Detective Nam claimed that Suji broke out of the handcuffs and attacked him, but Suji just warns her to keep an eye on him. Suji asks after her mother and Soon-ae insists that she’s fine, tough like her daughter.

Although Soon-ae takes care to speak quietly and away from the room, Eun-joong catches a glimpse through the cracked doorway and overhears as Soon-ae urges Suji to take care of herself until she catches her.

Do-han approaches Detective Nam and proposes that they share information. Detective Nam isn’t interested, but Do-han persists and asks if he’s been at work behind the scenes all along. We see in flashback that Detective Nam was the one who slipped Woo-sung notes while in custody and helped him escape.

Do-han tries to determine how long the detective has worked for the chief prosecutor, but Detective Nam ignores the question. Instead, he wonders pointedly how a badly injured Suji could have escaped, asking if Do-han knows the answer since he was the last person to see her before she disappeared. Detective Nam faults himself for her escape because he allowed Do-han to interfere.

They return to the joint team headquarters for a meeting. Soon-ae confirms that Bomi lived at the apartment where Suji was arrested and Do-han suggests that she was the one who helped Suji to escape. Prosecutor Park reminds the team that there’s another person in the mix, the one who sent the photos to her apartment.

Eun-joong stares at Do-han closely as they hear that the courier never met the sender of the envelopes and picked them up from spots without cameras. Prosecutor Park orders the team to make Bomi’s wanted status public and discover how she met Suji.

Do-han approaches Eun-joong and asks the reason for his laser eyes. Eun-joong admits that he has lots of questions but can’t depend on Do-han to give him real answers. He’s determined to find out those answers wants on his own.

Kyung-soo and Bomi are adorably awkward as they set up a monitor in the hideout. After their hands touch and Bomi pulls away, she agrees to let Kyung-soo finish the job. Bomi reaches for a can that she mistakes for food, surprised to see that it contains a pair of men’s underwear. She throws them at Kyung-soo, flustered, and her eyes betray her. Ha!

When Suji joins them, Bomi checks the surveillance on Shi-wan. Kyung-soo determines that one camera was moved or turned off, so Suji asks Bomi to check the footage from the chief prosecutor’s house. She’s surprised when she sees Do-han run across the screen.

Suji wonders why Shi-wan didn’t change his phone or computer once the camera was discovered. Kyung-soo and Bomi reason that Shi-wan must not be aware that he’s being watched, but Suji diagrees. She runs out with the excuse that she needs an answer.

At school, Shi-wan is suddenly very interested in Soon-ae’s outcast daughter Se-won. Kyung-soo and Bomi watch onscreen as Shi-wan runs to help Se-won carry gym supplies, but she rejects his help and continues alone. When a jealous girl questions his attention, Shi-wan explains that it isn’t Se-won’s fault her mother is a detective.

Eun-joong rewatches the footage from the video chip, when Do-han carried Suji to safety. He thinks of Do-han’s suggestion that Bomi assisted her and wonders what he’s after. Then he gets a call that a reporter he wanted to find has been located.

A team from the Seoul Prosecutors’ Office serves Lawyer Oh with a search warrant, based on a report that he received illegal shares from a businessman when he was a prosecutor. Chief Inspector Yoon gets a call that Lawyer Oh’s investigation is underway.

Do-han visits a dejected Lawyer Oh, commiserating with him and expressing shock that a friendly exchange got twisted out of proportion. Lawyer Oh asks if Yoon is behind the investigation and thinks it curious that the share transfer was reported after so many years.

Do-han reasons that the Miseo-dong case caused a change in Chief Prosecutor Yoon’s mood. Acting surprised that Yoon went after Lawyer Oh, Do-han adds that Yoon believes Oh met with members of the opposition party. Do-han reminds Lawyer Oh that Yoon is the type to strike first, and it’s not long before Assemblywoman Chae gets a call from Oh.

Do-han returns to his car in good spirits and tells himself, “I have my first witness. I just need to find one more.” He glances at an envelope on the passenger seat and then looks into his side mirror, seeing Suji parked down the street. She mutters, “I can’t wait any longer,” just as Do-han notes that she’s impatient.

Suji follows Do-han’s car to the abandoned public bath that serves as the trio’s hideout. Do-han pronounces, “This is the last mission. Please make the best of it, Detective Jo,” and makes sure Suji can see him drop the envelope out his car window.

On the road, a dark sedan swerves in front of Assemblywoman Chae’s car, screeching to a stop and forcing Chae’s car to halt as well. She’s been summoned by Chief Prosecutor Yoon and calls his action proof that he’s unfit to be attorney general. They toss threats back and forth until the assemblywoman asks Yoon what he wants.

Suji presents the envelope to the team, and Kyung-soo’s eyes widen when he takes out a photo of his mother. Meanwhile at a hospital, Eun-joong meets with Reporter Jung, who is curious about his interest in a seventeen-year-old case. Eun-joong clarifies that he’s interested in the culprit’s son, Jang Do-han.

Reporter Jung explains that Park Ji-sook had another son, Lee Kwan-woo, who was brought into the relationship by her partner, Lee Shin-hyuk. Even though they never registered their marriage, they lived together as a family and their sons were very close. Eun-joong notes that the incident turned one child into a victim’s son and the other into the perpetrator’s son. But Reporter Jung says that everybody was a victim, because the reason Lee Shin-hyuk became an alcoholic and a schizophrenic was because he’d been tortured.

A desperately frightened older man is dragged into a room by a guard, where he accepts blame for anything and everything. Do-han looks on wordlessly as the man rubs his hands together and begs, “Save me.” Do-han leans forward and says, “Dad, it’s me,” and that calms his father’s frenzy. When his father looks up, a tear escapes from Do-han’s eye.

Kyung-soo explains to Suji and Bomi that the police believed his mother killed herself due to depression, but the Boss explained that she went missing—Kyung-soo’s mother tried to correct a mistake from her past, but became involved in something dangerous.

Suji reads their mission: “Find the torture detective, Venom. Then you can catch Yoon Seung-ro.” Bomi notes that the link to Chief Prosecutor Yoon means that the mission involves all of them, but Suji adds that it involves their leader as well.

Kyung-soo shows Bomi and Suji all the research he’d collected about his mother’s case. Suji asks about a series of letters and numbers written on some paper, but Kyung-soo explains that he already tried using it as a password on all of his mother’s registered websites, but it hadn’t worked.

Bomi thinks the code could be both the user ID and the password, while Suji suggests that Kyung-soo’s mother registered an account under someone else’s name. Kyung-soo argues that his mother was an ordinary ajumma with no secrets, but Suji explains that she may have needed to do so in order to correct her mistake from the past.

Eun-joong scans the articles on Lee Shin-hyuk’s conviction for espionage and concludes that Jang Do-han didn’t know who to blame when his mother was killed by his stepfather, a victim of torture. Reporter Jung relates that after his mother’s death, Do-han considered Lee Shin-hyuk and his son his enemies and beat his stepbrother so badly that he ended up in the hospital.

Moreover, Reporter Jung adds that Lee Shin-hyuk claimed that the espionage case against him was fabricated.

Using his mother’s written code as ID and password (rather than just password), Kyung-soo successfully accesses a website registered under another name. The mailbox is empty, but Suji suggests that he check the draft folder, where they find a message dated the day his mother disappeared.

Dear Lawyer,
I got a call from Venom. It’s the detective who threatened me. He must have found out that I’m a witness in the retrial. If I don’t leave now, my Kyung-soo will be in danger. Please tell Kwan-woo. He introduced himself as Jang Do-han, but I remember his face as a child, so I recognized him. Please tell him that I will find out the identity of the Venom that Kwan-woo is trying so hard to find.

Suji reads the message in shock and asks, “Jang Do-han is who?”
 
EPISODE 18 RECAP

A visitor signs in as Lee Kwan-woo to visit Lee Shin-hyuk. Inside the visiting room, Do-han sits with his father and shows him a photo of Detective Nam, asking if it’s the man who tortured him. When his father doesn’t answer, Do-han raises his voice and Lee nods fearfully, confessing that he did everything and begging to go home. Do-han promises that next time, they’ll go home together. Do-han’s tears fall again as his father weeps.

Eun-joong walks out to the lobby of the same building, and doesn’t think much of seeing Do-han’s familiar silhouette walking away. But when he sees the name written on the sign-in sheet, he’s suddenly alarmed and runs outside after Do-han.

Out front, Do-han sits with the priest and says that he wasn’t able to confirm that it was “that detective” (Detective Nam). Do-han explains that his father still doesn’t recognize him, but the priest shares that he does have some good days. He’s quick to explain that he doesn’t necessarily come to see Do-han’s father, and that it’s just part of his ministry work.

Unseen behind them, Eun-joong overhears Do-han say, “Thank you, Do-han… You’ve always gotten through to Dad better than I did.” Eun-joong’s head snaps up to hear Do-han call the other guy Do-han. The priest just replies solemnly, “Kwan-woo, I don’t want to remember the time when we were family.”

Do-han asks the priest to wait just a little longer. The priest urges him to find the detective, catch Yoon, and retake his name.

Kyung-soo’s in shock over his mother’s message, and Bomi breaks it down for him: His mother was threatened by a detective nicknamed Venom when she planned to testify at a trial. They’re all surprised at the name Jang Do-han being involved, but Suji points out that he’s actually Kwan-woo. Kyung-soo wonders if he forged his identity.

Kyung-soo asks Suji why she asked them to look into Do-han’s background and she admits that she thinks he’s the Boss. Bomi and Kyung-soo are horrified, given that Do-han is Yoon’s lackey now, but Suji argues that Do-han fits their profile. Bomi is curious why he was mentioned in an email from ten years ago.

Suji asks for Do-han’s address, wanting to discover his plan. She instructs the others to find the attorney who received that message and figure out which trial it referred to.

Suji breaks in to Do-han’s place, while Kyung-soo finds the attorney in question at a cafe. He grabs the man’s pass card, copies it and returns it undetected. Bomi monitors Do-han’s place and the attorney’s office as her teammates search for information.

Suji tells the others that Do-han’s place reveals nothing—it’s clean of any helpful information, and even his computer’s browser history is empty. Kyung-soo can’t find out anything at the attorney’s office either, until he looks around and discovers a safe. Kyung-soo uses tape to lift fingerprints from the four keys that make up the code and gets ready to try all possible combinations of numbers, but Bomi immediately rattles off the correct code. He’s amazed that she knew, but she calls him a dummy because those were the numbers written along with his mother’s ID.

Inside the safe, Kyung-soo finds a notebook with articles and case files about an espionage case, as well as a retrial petition for Lee Shin-hyuk’s case. Suji is surprised to hear that he was tried for espionage while Kyung-soo wonders how his mother was involved. His father never mentioned anything about it.

Kyung-soo is shaken that his mother isn’t the woman that he knew, but Suji explains that there was a reason she couldn’t confide in her family. Bomi points out that his mother planned to testify in spite of the risk, and reminds him that this isn’t the time for complaining.

Kyung-soo pulls himself together and takes photos of the pages in the notebook, leaving just before the attorney returns. Unfortunately, Do-han is also on his way home, and Bomi urges Suji to get out of there. Suji starts to leave but decides to look through his desk drawers, where she finds a piece of paper with a familiar pattern.

She’s thankfully nowhere in sight when Do-han enters his home, but the open window tips him off that someone was there. He checks a pen that holds a USB and removes a clock from the wall, which holds a chip. Plugging the chip into his computer, he watches video of Suji looking around his place, upset when he sees that she took the special paper from his desk.

Armed with his new information about Do-han’s identity, Eun-joong sits at his desk and recalls his many exchanges with Do-han. When Prosecutor Park calls to ask if he figured out how to eliminate Chief Prosecutor Yoon and Do-han, Eun-joong informs him that he already found it.

Prosecutor Park orders Eun-joong to give him the evidence without delay. Park then reports to Assemblywoman Chae that Eun-joong found something, and she asks him to send it to her as soon as he has it. She wonders out loud if Chief Prosecutor Yoon will like the gift.

Suji returns to the hideout, where her teammates are eager to discuss the discovery that Do-han is really Lee Shin-hyuk’s son, Kwan-woo. Suji ignores them as she arranges the papers that their missions were written on. When laid out border to border, Kyung-soo notices that the pieces make up a large sketch of a butterfly.

As Suji adds the paper that she found at Do-han’s place, we see the priest in his room, sketching another butterfly. Bomi recognizes that the image is one-of-a-kind because it’s hand-drawn, and Suji offers it as proof that Do-han is their leader.

Kyung-soo concludes that Do-han released Shi-wan so that he could recruit Suji for his revenge, and vows to never forgive him for using them like that. Bomi cautions the others not to jump to conclusions, reminding them that the Boss’s information on her family’s case and Woo-sung’s case was accurate.

Kyung-soo is upset that Bomi can defend Do-han, but she argues that they need him. Suji counters that they need his plan and intel and intends to force him turn over what he has.

Bomi joins Suji that night on the roof and asks about her plans for Do-han once Chief Prosecutor Yoon and Shi-wan are caught. Bomi concedes that Do-han is guilty of using them, but the email from Kyung-soo’s mother made her feel sympathy—it shows that Do-han hid his identity and planned his revenge for over ten years, and that he felt a lot of pain, just like them. But Bomi adds that she just wanted to have her say, and says that she thinks Suji is always right.

Suji remembers the priest’s explanation that the leader wasn’t so different from her, and how Do-han urged her not to die when she was shot. While she mulls this over, Do-han stares at the video footage of Suji finding the paper from his desk.

At the high school, Se-won gets pushed to the floor by the mean girl who likes Shi-wan. Shi-wan offers to help her to the infirmary, but Se-won asks him to ignore her. She explains that the mean girl is picking on her because he paid attention to Se-won the day before.

Shi-wan claims that he understands Se-won because knows how it feels when rumors take over your life and apologizes for ignoring her before. He helps Se-won into the infirmary, then helps cleans the cuts on her hands. Swayed by his kind gestures, Se-won apologizes for doubting him and says that from now on, she will only trust what she sees. Shi-wan gives her a smile.

Bomi exits the priest’s church and reports that he’s in Mass, which allows Kyung-soo to let himself into the priest’s room. A brief search turns up his second phone, which we’d seen him using to communicate with Do-han.

Do-han exits the joint team headquarters and finds Eun-joong waiting for him. Eun-joong encourages him to stop using people and lying to them, but Do-han wonders how he could manipulate an upright man like him. Eun-joong promises, “If you don’t stop, I’ll force you to stop.” He cautions Do-han to think carefully and walks away.

Do-han gets a text on his phone, “10 p.m. outside the church. We must talk.” Kyung-soo is pleased when Do-han texts back, “See you later.” He tells Bomi with satisfaction, “We hooked the Boss for real this time.”

Bomi and Kyung-soo are finished checking the church’s CCTV cameras when they notice a lost little girl. Kyung-soo runs to comfort her, but Bomi sternly orders the child, “Quiet,” and then hands over one of the cute stuffed animals on her pack to stop her from crying.

The mother runs up and thanks Kyung-soo, and the little girl points to Bomi and says she saw her on television. Uh-oh. Nervously, Kyung-soo says that Bomi may be pretty but she’s not pretty enough for TV, and they run to their car. Bomi checks her phone and sees that she’s been added to the most wanted list.

Kung-soo assures Bomi that they won’t have to be careful much longer. Once they get Chief Prosecutor Yoon and find Kyung-soo’s mother, they can live like everyone else. Bomi reminds Kyung-soo that his mother may not be alive, but he refuses to lose hope and says that he’ll find his mother and live happily.

The priest is surprised when Do-han enters the church and asks what he wants, both men thinking they were called by the other. That’s when Suji walks up and tells them both, “I called you here because I have something to tell you.” She addresses the priest as Father Jang Do-han, and Do-han as Prosecutor Lee Kwan-woo.

Suji smiles as she tells Do-han that even though they met often, she didn’t know his real name. Do-han plays dumb, but the priest wants to end the lies. Suji admits that it must be difficult for Do-han to tell the truth after he worked so hard to hide himself, but insists, “But you can’t run away today.” With that, she calls the Joint Investigation Team Headquarters to turn herself in.

COMMENTS

Nope. Not good. Suji is about to take matters into her own hands and there’s no way that will turn out well. Instead, I think Suji is about to throw a wrench into Do-han’s plan in the worst way. There are so many alliances that Chief Prosecutor Yoon has developed throughout the years and Do-han’s best protection was his anonymity.

If Suji reveals Do-han’s duplicity, his life will be at risk because, as we already know, Yoon won’t let anyone stand in the way of his ambition. Suji may have legitimate reasons to despise Do-han, but how can she justify that the team can use him, but Do-han can’t use them, especially when she puts him at risk? No matter what the team holds against Do-han, he did protect them.

Suji’s decision to expose Do-han is too personal and she shouldn’t make that decision without more information. She’s so fixated on Do-han that she’s become reckless. Suji thinks that she can bring down Yoon without Do-han’s help, but she doesn’t even know about his plan or understand just how powerful the chief prosecutor really is. Foolish girl.

I’m getting a bad feeling about Assemblywoman Chae and Prosecutor Park. I think they’ve both gone to the dark side, and that means that Eun-joong will indirectly be aiding and abetting Chief Prosecutor Yoon. Poor Do-han, if Suji doesn’t take him down, Eun-joong just might.

Se-won is falling for Shi-wan’s charms and his attention just proves how deliberate he is when he pursues someone for his purposes. He pointedly left his computer and phone unchanged so that he can continue to be monitored. He’s trying to leave a trail of some kind, I’m just not sure why. I do know that Se-won should be very scared, but like any smitten teenager, she’s flattered by his attention.

Luckily, the episode didn’t just focus on betrayal, betrayal and more betrayal. Thank goodness for Bomi and Kyung-soo, who make quite the cute pair. Bomi’s reaction to holding Kyung-soo’s underwear was hysterical, and Kyung-soo had too much fun with her reaction. Poor girl, she goes from living alone to sharing quarters with a man who thinks she’s pretty. Who wouldn’t get flustered?

Kyung-soo finally gets his chance to delve into his mother’s case, and it shakes his confidence to realize how little he knew her. But Kyung-soo is never down for long, and his dream of a reunion and the chance to live happily with his mother is both inspiring and heartbreaking. What if Bomi is right and she is dead? I would like to see him back together with her because Bomi and Suji can’t get their loved ones back, and it would be great to see one member of the trio with a family to return to.

The backstory on Do-han and Kyung-soo revealed how closely their cases were entwined with one another. It’s been seventeen years since young Do-han (well, Kwan-woo then) watched his father wrongly convicted of espionage, and ten years since Kyung-soo’s mother disappeared, before she could testify in Lee Shin-hyuk’s retrial. That’s a long time to live with a permanently damaged father, or to grow up without a mother. No matter if they exact revenge from the ones who hurt them, Do-han and Kyung-soo can never have those years back with their parents. Suji can never get Yoo-na back and Bomi’s family is gone forever. What this team can do is prevent Chief Prosecutor Yoon and his son from ever hurting anyone else again, but that’ll be difficult if Suji doesn’t accept that Do-han may be the key to their success. She may not like what he’s done, but he’s their best shot at taking down an unchecked Yoon and the murderers he protects.

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