Falsify: Episodes 9-10

by tineybeanie

Now it feels like things are finally coming together. Before, the plot seemed to be sending our three main heroes in wildly different directions, despite their ultimately common goal of finding the truth behind a tragic murder. But, this hour, it felt satisfying to see them start to form alliances with each other, no matter how tentative. So cheers to the beginning of our underdog un-Falsify team!

 
EPISODE 9 RECAP

As Moo-young is about to close the van door and leave the framed (and now recently escaped) Seon-woo to be hidden by Boss Yang, Seon-woo hesitantly says thanks to Moo-young. To reassure him, Moo-young alludes to his own experience of being framed and tells Seon-woo that he’s here to take care of everything.

The van drives off with Seon-woo inside with the rest of the Patriot News Team, and Moo-young heads to the next place on his agenda.

Meanwhile, Seok-min stands in front of the locked doors to the room that contains the Splash Team servers. Chief Editor JUNG HAE-DONG is there to destroy them on Chief Gu’s orders, but Seok-min begs for one last chance to see Chief Gu.

So-ra arrives at Daehan Daily, presumably to search the servers to see if they contain Chul-ho’s incriminating article that was written before Seon-woo’s arrest (indicating that Daehan Daily had a hand in framing Seon-woo before the cops even had a chance to interrogate him).

At the same time, Seok-min gets his audience with Chief Gu and gives him one last chance to tell the truth. Seok-min remembers his conversation with Chul-ho’s supposed hit-and-run driver’s fiancée, and how she sent all the information to Chief Gu.

So Seok-min already knows that Chief Gu has covered Chul-ho’s death up, but he says he’s giving him the benefit of the doubt just one more time.

However, when Chief Gu doesn’t fess up, Seok-min demands to know how far back this scheme goes, and whether Chief Gu was the mastermind behind all of Chul-ho’s falsified articles. Fed up, Chief Gu stands and yells at Seok-min, and with emotions high, Seok-min uses Chief Gu’s given name (referring to an elder/superior by their given name is highly disrespectful, so by doing so, Seok-min is showing that he no longer respects Chief Gu as a person).

Calming down, Chief Gu reminds Seok-min that he’s been a useless reporter for five years now, having done nothing in the intervening period after the disbandment of the Splash Team. Seok-min acknowledges that it’s true, but he says that he has one advantage over Chief Gu: He has nothing to lose, so he’ll do anything to get to the bottom of this case.

Then, Seok-min slams down a USB that contains info on all of the Splash Team’s old articles, including Chul-ho’s falsified one that framed Seon-woo. He threatens to release all of it the following day, unless Chief Gu allows him to restart the Splash Team. But at that moment, a secretary announces that the prosecutors have arrived.

So-ra is one of those prosecutors, and as she takes a look around the office, she sees the door to the Splash Team server room pulled from its hinges and all of the servers inside physically destroyed. Editor Jung arrives all out of breath and introduces himself. Seeing how he already knew her name, So-ra suspects something is up, but she exchanges greetings with him in that fake-polite way—the way you greet people you know are your enemies.

Editor Jung claims that Daehan Daily has nothing to hide and are perfectly willing to cooperate with the police. Additionally, he implies that it was impolite of her to barge into their company with a search and seizure warrant without first inquiring with them unofficially.

At that moment, So-ra holds up her visitor pass and says that the warrant hadn’t come out yet, so they came in as visitors. Then she continues to speculate aloud that if Daehan has already destroyed their servers upon learning that there was a mere request for a warrant being processed…

Then her boss, Head Prosecutor IM JI-TAE, comes running in, clearly huffing from his exertion. He asks what she’s doing by investigating Daehan Daily. So-ra continues with her speculations, adding that seeing how the lead prosecutor in charge of Seon-woo’s first trial (Prosecutor Im) came in a rush to stop a potential re-investigation, it definitely looks suspicious.

Seok-min waits in front of Moo-young’s house, and the two go out for drinks (but Moo-young does so begrudgingly).

Seok-min asks Moo-young whether he is the one giving Seon-woo a place to hide. Obviously, Moo-young is suspicious of Seok-min after seeing his brother’s ex-friend years later after a falling out, so he asks him if he has a recorder on him. Seok-min says that maybe he does, so Moo-young doesn’t give a clear answer on Seon-woo.

Because his gut instinct tells him that Moo-young is behind Seon-woo’s escape, Seok-min tells Moo-young his worries: He thinks that Moo-young has grown too confident after taking Boss Park down successfully, and warns him that Seon-woo’s case won’t be the same because Moo-young is now going after powers that are much greater than himself. If Moo-young throws a pebble, Seok-min says, his shadowy opponents will hit him with a rock.

Moo-young says he doesn’t care, because the only thing he fears is doing nothing—he doesn’t want to end up suffering without knowing why, like his brother. In reply, Seok-min asks him if he plans to use Seon-woo’s shrimp-fry small case to go after the big kahuna (aka the shadowy corrupt group that seems to be linked with all these murders).

Moo-young insists that since they have evidence, they’ll be able to get the truth out, but Seok-min doesn’t think Moo-young has a snowball’s chance in hell. Moo-young says that it doesn’t matter because at this point, he has nothing to lose. It reminds Seok-min of his own conversation with Chief Gu, and he chuckles, liking that they have at least have one thing in common.

Seok-min tells Moo-young that as delves deeper into the case, he won’t like what he finds. However, Moo-young shrugs it off, deciding that he’ll deal with it when the time comes.

At a luxurious Japanese sushi dinner with Lawyer Jo, Chief Gu reveals that he’ll acquiesce to Seok-min’s bargain and restart the Splash Team, but he adds that it’ll probably only be a temporary reinstatement because he’s using the team to just distract Seok-min from digging any deeper. Chief Gu recites the old proverb: One should keep his friends close, but his enemies closer.

When his meeting with Chief Gu is over, Lawyer Jo heads to the next room over, where Seon-woo’s friend, SONG TAE-JOON, is waiting for him. Wooing him over with a magnificent feast and hidden promises of favors and wealth, Lawyer Jo appeals to Tae-joon’s greedy side by telling him to think about his own future.

The front page of the next morning’s papers describe Tae-joon’s interview about Seon-woo’s escape. Tae-joon claims that he created Chul-ho’s article, which would have been the clinching evidence to show that Seon-woo was innocent and had been framed. But now Tae-joon claims the article was fabricated at Seon-woo’s request, because Seon-woo wanted to leave prison at any cost.

Seeing his friend on TV spreading these absurd lies, Seon-woo begins throwing up from emotional shock. Fellow Patriot colleague Yong-shik, who’s been keeping an eye on him, leaves the house momentarily to buy medicine—but when he returns, Seon-woo is no longer there.

So-ra sees Tae-joon entering the prosecutor’s office for questioning, and he’s swarmed by a flock of reporters. From afar in the other direction, Seon-woo watches as well, looking sad but understanding.

Although So-ra’s subordinate, Paralegal PARK JIN-WOO, is glad that they finally have a solid witness for their case, So-ra seems conflicted about whether Tae-joon is actually speaking the truth.

After having his last glimpse of Tae-joon, Seon-woo heads to a bridge over a deep river and calls Moo-young. He says that he doesn’t have the will to fight anymore, and tells Moo-young that he’s thankful anyway for his efforts. Knowing that Seon-woo plans to commit suicide, Moo-young worriedly speeds to Seon-woo’s location.

Seon-woo carefully takes off his shoes and puts down the phone to prepare himself to jump. Moo-young drives up, sees Seon-woo teetering on the rail, and swiftly jumps out of the car. Moo-young yells Seon-woo’s name, holding out his hands and gesturing for him to stop, and Seon-woo glances back at him with a hopeless expression before leaning forward over the bridge.

While she’s questioning Tae-joon, So-ra’s paralegal interrupts and announces that Seon-woo has committed suicide. And at the police office, Moo-young confirms that he witnessed Seon-woo jumping to this death.

In the interrogation room, Tae-joon literally falls off his chair in shock and guilt. So-ra tries to comfort him and gently tells him that he should tell her everything because they’re the good guys trying to help, but Tae-joon is in so much grief that he can’t even talk.

Paralegal Park surmises that maybe Seon-woo’s death might have been for the better, since they can close up the case quickly now. But So-ra wants to dig deeper and find out the real truth, because someone just died for it.

Lieutenant Jeon calls Prosecutor Im, concerned because it seems like no floating corpse has been discovered in the river. Prosecutor Im tells Lieutenant Jeon that he should just announce that Seon-woo committed suicide, and that it shouldn’t be a problem even without clear evidence of death because there was a motive behind the suicide and there were witnesses who saw it happen.

However, Lieutenant Jeon is hesitant to announce it as a death because Seon-woo’s body has not been recovered, and if Seon-woo is discovered alive, then he’d have to take all responsibility. But at the prosecutor’s prodding, Lieutenant Jeon grits his teeth and braces himself to face the reporters. (Hm, so did Moo-young save him at the last minute after all?)

In front of the blinking cameras, Lieutenant Jeon says that according to circumstantial evidence, Seon-woo definitely died via suicide. He makes it clear that he thinks Seon-woo was just an attention-seeking criminal who manipulated the media into feeling sorry for him, and he paints the hardworking police—like him—as the true victims of this case.

Chief Gu and Prosecutor Im have a phone chat as well, because Prosecutor Im wants to share the good news that a loose string (Seon-woo) has now been tied up due to recent events (Seon-woo’s suicide). However, Chief Gu doesn’t seem too excited by the news and tells Prosecutor Im to get rid of So-ra, because she’s complicating matters by sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.

Hearing this, Prosecutor Im thinks that Chief Gu is crossing the line a bit by telling him how to manage his own employees. Chief Gu tells him why he wants So-ra gone, and in a veiled threat, he tells Im to become someone he needs.

Seok-min goes back to the Splash Team room, where everything is in ruins. He glances up at their motto that says: “If one has the courage to ask righteous questions, it’s not too late for anything.”

On purpose, Moo-young bumps into So-ra’s paralegal and starts a conflict. But then Paralegal Park’s gangster-like dongsaengs show up and drag Moo-young by the arms all the way to the prosecutor’s office.

Only, that was a part of Moo-young’s plans all along: He wanted to interrogate Tae-joon himself, so as soon as he sees Tae-joon in the waiting room, Moo-young quickly goes in, locks the door, and barricades it.

Moo-young introduces himself to Tae-joon as a vigilante aiding the law to achieve real justice. He asks whether Tae-joon wants to know what Seon-woo’s last words were before his suicide. He pulls out the recording as Tae-joon makes to ignore him and leave. Seon-woo’s voice can be heard saying: “I thought I could do anything once I got out, but now I don’t have the strength to fight them anymore.”

While intensely staring at Tae-joon, Moo-young tells him that from this point on, he’s the warrant, the prosecutor, and the law, so it’s in Tae-joon’s best interests to answer truthfully.

Having his attention now, Moo-young asks why Tae-joon did what he did to Seon-woo despite being his friend. Tae-joon’s eyes grow wide with guilt, but he instead lashes out and calls Moo-young crazy.

 
EPISODE 10 RECAP

Seok-min and So-ra have coffee together, but the atmosphere is awkward. It seems that Seok-min hadn’t contacted her since the incident five years ago, when his information on Chairman Min led her to her downfall as well. He apologizes and said he was too embarrassed to face her since their last time working together. And although she seems okay now, So-ra does lets him know that she did have a hard time after that.

He admits that he knows he’s being brazen, but he wants to work with her again, and asks if she’s still willing to put her life and career on the line to pursue justice. Then, the scene turns monochrome, and it’s shown to be a recent memory, as Seok-min lights a cigarette on the rooftop thinking about the conversation in the present.

Then, we’re back with Moo-young and Tae-joon, who asks why Moo-young is guilting him for Seon-woo’s death when it was a suicide. Plus, Tae-joon adds that it was Seon-woo’s fault in the first place for landing in jail.

When Moo-young demands that he tell the truth, Tae-joon stands up suddenly with tears streaking down his face and says that he lied on national television because Seon-woo’s life was effectively over anyway—he had already lived five years as a convict, while Tae-joon still had his future in front of him.

Disappointed, Moo-young asks if that was the only reason he betrayed his friend. Then, Moo-young pulls up a profile picture of Lawyer Jo, and asks if he was the one who coerced Tae-joon. Subsequently, Tae-joon breaks down and begins telling Moo-young the entire story: He needed money for his parents’ hospital bills and his tuition fees, and so he did what the lawyer told him to do.

Moo-young asks Tae-joon how much he received, but Tae-joon admits he only received a measly 20,000 won. Trying to lessen his guilt, Tae-joon rationalizes that since he didn’t receive that much money, his sin against his friend isn’t such a big deal. Outraged, Moo-young tells him not to calculate his sins in money when there’s life or death on the line.

So-ra finally gets the master key to the interrogation room, but there are still boxes blocking the door. Moo-young quickly goes up to the window between them and wordlessly looks at her. After their nonverbal communication, she makes the decision to give him more time with Tae-joon, a key witness in Seon-woo’s case.

Moo-young reveals to Tae-joon that he’s been recording his confession all along, and that if he releases the tape to the media, Tae-joon’s life will be over. When Tae-joon bows his head hopelessly, Moo-young presents to him with another option: If he ends everything now before his confession goes live, the truth could remain hidden.

With that, Moo-young takes off his belt and puts it down on the table, indicating for Tae-joon to take it (and hang himself). So-ra, seeing the belt and its implications, grabs a chair and starts smashing it against the window in an attempt to break into the room.

Tae-joon looks to Moo-young’s right as if he’s seeing the spirit of the dead Seon-woo, and he asks whether he’ll be forgiven if he goes through with this. Then, Tae-joon reaches for the belt, and Moo-young, satisfied with the extent of Tae-joon’s guilt and his commitment toward Seon-woo, quickly takes the belt back and gives Tae-joon one last chance: If he aids Moo-young in his quest to prove Seon-woo’s innocence by becoming an unfaltering witness, he’ll be redeemed. On those conditions, Tae-joon agrees.

So-ra finally breaks through the window and tells Moo-young that he’s gone too far—now, it’s the end for him.

Back at Daehan Daily’s headquarters, Seok-min wonders what Moo-young is up to, half-predicting but mostly hoping that Moo-young won’t do something reckless like barging into the prosecutor’s office. He dismisses the thought then, thinking that that action would be even too rash for Moo-young to consider.

On his way out, he takes a handful of flyers in his hands and starts throwing them at his colleagues, encouraging them to apply for the newly revived Splash Team.

In a darkened interrogation room with a one-way window, Moo-young thinks back to his conversation with Seok-min at the street stall. We go back to the memory, and Seok-min tells him despite the fact that Daehan Daily’s article by Chul-ho indicated that Seon-woo was being framed, it wouldn’t change anything.

Seok-min added that the article could be easily refuted, but says that there is a chance to change the status quo. Seok-min says that if Moo-young were to change the narrative of the story by finding the real murderer and the reason why Seon-woo was framed, he would be able to change public opinion.

Moo-young doesn’t think he’s capable of tracking down a murderer, because he has neither the resources or the skills, and because he thinks that’s what prosecutors and cops are supposed to do. But Seok-min tells him that So-ra is the one in charge of Seon-woo’s retrial case, and since they already know each other, they can help each other out.

Moo-young is still under the impression that So-ra abandoned him in order to save her own career during his doping scandal. However, Seok-min tells him that it’s not true, and that he’s fixating on So-ra as the cause of all of his troubles instead of logically looking at the situation and finding the real reason she turned him away.

Moo-young considers his words, and proceeds to ask what Seok-min’s plan is. With a wide grin, Seok-min reveals that he plans to be the bait by acting like a fool whose only concern is bringing back the Splash Team.

Then we come back to the present, where So-ra watches Moo-young from the other side of the one-way window, thinking deeply about how she’ll deal with him.

At Daehan Daily, Seok-min looks up at a television screen blaring Lieutenant Jeon’s announcement regarding Seon-woo’s death, and he remarks that he’s acting more like a gangster than a cop.

The junior intern approaches Seok-min and asks with avid interest about the Splash Team. However, as their conversation continues, Seok-min becomes a bit frustrated at her when her thoughts on Seon-woo’s case mirror what’s on the news. He thinks that as a reporter, she should be more discriminating about her facts, adding that she’s naive for blindly believing everything she reads.

However, the intern is still admiring Seok-min when Reporter Na comes up from behind her. She admits to him that she wants to be part of the Splash Team, but Reporter Na tells her she should think about her career and support Chief Gu instead of Seok-min if she knows what’s good for her.

The intern doesn’t agree, and seeing a sign of dissension in a hoobae, Reporter Na grumbles that maybe he shouldn’t have written all those raving recommendations about her. Hearing this, she quickly changes her attitude and begins to flatter him again.

Editor Jung briefs Chief Gu on how the Seon-woo story is being portrayed in the public sphere along with some basic info on Patriot News, especially going into detail about Chief Yang’s profile. When the editor suggests that he could write news articles directly targeting Patriot News, Chief Gu gives him a look. Then quickly, Editor Jung catches himself and says maybe he should try targeting Patriot News a different way.

As if mentoring him on How to Be a Shady Exec 101, Chief Gu patiently guides the editor through the thought process of how to make the public distrust Patriot News without having anything linked back to Daehan Daily. He advises Editor Jung that even if one uses a sword, one must not draw blood that would trail back to them. Closing their conversation out, Chief Gu tells the editor to carefully watch over both the Splash Team and Patriot News.

Seok-min invites one of his former Splash Team members, a sunbae, to join him over soju to get him back on the team. However, the sunbae tells Seok-min that he now prefers expensive liquor over soju, adding that he wants to be able to pursue the truth without having to sacrifice his well-being. He tells Seok-min that Daehan Daily is only keeping him on their payroll to control him, not to give him support, and throws money down on the table as he leaves. Seok-jin’s expression turns sour, and he thinks about how things have changed since five years ago.

The sunbae runs into Yoo-kyung on his way out, and also warns her about rejoining the Splash Team by telling her to think of her children. But she brushes him off before arriving at the soju-stew restaurant to give Seok-min support. They end up eating the rest of the meal together in bittersweet understanding.

At the prosecutor’s office, Prosecutor Im sees the gangster-like dongsaengs of Paralegal Park cleaning up the glass So-ra shattered when breaking the window. Figuring that something happened in his absence, he begins to look around for her.

Both So-ra and Moo-young are in the dark interrogation room now, and she begins the conversation by asking what he’s doing there, and whether he’s doing all of this just to lessen his own guilt for taking Seon-woo out of prison and creating this situation.

Firing back, Moo-young says that if they’re talking situations and guilt, they should talk about the initial situation that the prosecutors created by falsely convicting Seon-woo. So-ra says that this shouldn’t be any of his concern and that it’s the jurisdiction of the prosecutor’s office, but Moo-young disagrees, saying that he has a right, as a reporter, to change public opinion if one prosecutor’s actions can’t make change happen.

As they continue talking, So-ra realizes mid-discussion that Moo-young believes that she was at fault for not pursuing his insider report on his team’s illegal doping. Taken aback and angry, she asks whether his report was made in order to cover up his own involvement in the doping scandal. Moo-young says that it’s a moot point right now because he has no reputation to uphold, and all that he’s concerned with now is proving Seon-woo’s innocence.

He then goes on to say that he and she both can’t do it alone, so he proposes an alliance. She asks why he’s offering his help, even though he clearly doesn’t trust her. He tells her that he wants to confirm whether his suspicions about her from five years ago were true, and asks for her to not turn away from him this time.

 
COMMENTS

It amazes me the how deep Moo-young is sometimes. On the surface, it seems like he’s your average brash, reckless hero, who’s out for justice without considering the consequences. And to some extent this is true, especially when Boss Park died as an indirect result of Patriot News’s influence in creating a mob to chase him. However, this time around, Moo-young has shown that he has the ability to look at his own faults critically. When Seok-min approached him for the first time in years, Moo-young could have easily turned away, and through the caustic biting remarks during the beginning of their conversation, it could clearly be seen that he was still hurting from Seok-min’s betrayal during his time of need when Chul-ho died. However, when Seok-min pointed out that Moo-young might be making So-ra a scapegoat because he was blinded in his grief and just wanted someone to blame, Moo-young didn’t disregard his words entirely.

That fact alone shows that Moo-young is willing to grow; he’s willing to change his position, given new information. This maturity in Moo-young is mightily refreshing, in a dramaland populated with heroes that just seem to insist upon their own view and keep to their beliefs despite any shakeups along the way. I think I’ve also grown to like him as a protagonist more and more because he seems to be the only one who really empathizes with the people in need. At the beginning of the ninth episode, Moo-young tells Seon-woo that he knows what he’s going through, and that speaks a lot about Moo-young. Because he understands what the victims are feeling, that just motivates him further to pursue his brand of justice for them.

If Moo-young’s primary motivation is getting justice for the victims and their loved ones, then I think Seok-min’s motivation would be finding the truth. Sure, he lost all his credibility and a good hoobae due to the Chairman Min incident five years ago, but Seok-min comes at this case from a cerebral rather than emotional place. His core identity is so intertwined with being an investigative reporter, that he can’t stop before he learns the truth behind a story. Five years ago, he was also blinded by external factors when it came to Chul-ho’s situation, but now that he’s finally gotten some new information, it looks like he’ll tear Daehan Daily apart from the inside if that’s what it takes to learn the truth.

While Moo-young truly seems to empathize with Seon-woo and the victims of injustice, So-ra, who really ought to be thinking like Moo-young, comes to them with sympathy, not empathy. For instance, even when Moo-young himself was reporting the doping case in his team, initially So-ra was sympathetic to his cause, but at the slightest hint of shadow in Moo-young’s integrity, she turned her back on him. In a similar way, she tried to be sympathetic with Tae-joon this episode to get him to confess what he knew about Seon-woo’s case. However, ultimately she wasn’t the one who got him to confess; it was Moo-young. I think that’s because he was thinking from Tae-joon’s level and understood the situation emotionally before asking his questions, rather than just stating his own point of view, like So-ra did by merely telling Tae-joon that the prosecutors were the good guys.

I’m glad they’re working together now after being at odds this entire time, because the lack of authority and credence in Patriot News’s reputation would definitely hinder any efforts for them to make headway into a large corruption case such as this one. I’m just wondering whether we’ll have any more dead bodies by the end, although the killer didn’t make an appearance this time around. Could he be one of the people we’ve already been introduced to? My bet would be on Lawyer Jo, but then again, he doesn’t seem like he would like to get his hands dirty with that line of work. So maybe we’ll get more information next time.

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