Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho: Episode 1

by hanshimi

Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho began its run earlier this month on KBS, and it’s a heck of a lot more fun than the standard underdog lawyer story that the synopsis let on. Despite a couple of flaws, I was pleasantly surprised at the well-written twists and turns, the smart directing, and interesting characters—not to mention some lovable performances by Kang Sora and Park Shin-yang. As long as it holds onto its strengths, I think this show will more than satisfy the craving for a lighthearted, wacky legal drama—with just the right amount of social commentary to mean something more.

EPISODE 1 RECAP

We open to a public trial for Chairman Jeong Geum-mo, CEO of the conglomerate Dae Hwa Group, who was released on bail due to a sudden illness. Chairman Jeong is to testify to the Seoul District Court today, and the prosecution—among which is our hero, Prosecutor Jo Deul-ho (Park Shin-yang)—must prove Chairman Jeong’s charges of embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Unfortunately, the opposing counsel isn’t making it easy. When the Chairman arrives, it’s in a wheelchair and blanket, perfectly dolled up to look like a sick, elderly man in pain. His arrival is greeted by sympathetic minions who shout encouragements at him (“Be strong, Chairman Jeong!” “Hang in there, Chairman Jeong!”) and he seems so fatigued that he can just barely swear the oath between short breaths.

Deul-ho, however, will have none of it. He interrupts Defense Attorney Kim (Jo Han-chul) before the defense can request a postponed trial, assuring the judge that he can finish his examination in just a few questions, and stalks up to the witness without court approval.

He’s breaking a lot of rules already, but brushes off what could be an awkward situation with humor and respect, gaining the audience’s favor. Hm… smart, or overconfident? Either way, the judge begrudgingly grants approval, and Deul-ho begins his questioning.

Deul-ho sarcastically thanks Chairman Jeong for coming in despite his sickness, but then asks how he isn’t ashamed: the whole nation knows this is all an act. He reveals photographs of the chairman taken just yesterday, when he was standing healthy and energetic outside Dae Hwa… and then begins provoking him, both verbally and physically.

The coup de gras comes out in the form of a vibrating spider toy, which he “accidentally” drops it on the chairman’s head. The effect is immediate: Chairman Jeong screams bloody murder and jumps out of his wheelchair for a hot second, dancing around in panic and fury. Point proven: Chairman Jeong was faking his illness.

A flashback shows us that Deul-ho is in dangerous territory here. Chairman Jeong is extremely powerful, and Deul-ho is here against the warnings of his superior, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Shin Young-il’s (Kim Kab-soo). The Deputy Chief had who warned him to leave Chairman Jeong alone—Dae Hwa is large and influential, and trying to sink it could ruin the entire prosecutor’s office. Despite the risk, however, Deul-ho is set on taking any opportunity to ruin the chairman.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Shin, however, won’t chance the ruination of their whole office for just Deul-ho. He orders another prosecutor, Shin Ji-wook (Ryu Soo-young) (his son?) to get rid of Deul-ho before he does something irreparable. Armed with a warrant, Ji-wook and an army of minions raid Deul-ho’s office while Deul-ho is still in court. His assistant, Hwang Ae-ra (Hwang Suk-jung!) is helpless to stop them.

Meanwhile, Deul-ho makes his opening statement against Chairman Jeong, accusing him of embezzlement and of directing those funds toward improper and immoral conduct. He ends with a plea to the court: “This is our chance to prove that everyone, rich or poor, is equal before the law.”

Not if the defense can help it. As Attorney Jang Hae-kyung (Park Sol-mi) gets up to deliver the direct examination, we flashback to see the opposing counsel’s unexpected plan: Chairman Jeong should confess to his crimes.

Unfortunately, it’s not the crime we expect. As Hae-kyung questions him, the chairman bursts into tears and just barely manages to say between choked-up sobs: “This is a company I raised with my blood and sweat for forty years. I never embezzled anything. The only crime I committed was giving a bribe to a prosecutor because I was under duress…” When asked who that bribed prosecutor is, of course, Chairman Jeong points an unwavering finger at Deul-ho. Oh shit.

Ae-ra storms into the courtroom, desperately motioning to Deul-ho to get out of here, while Ji-wook and minions seal all the building exits. Meanwhile, the court erupts in commotion at the defense’s shocking accusation—even more so when Hae-kyung displays incriminating evidence against Deul-ho. The defense reveals photographs of Deul-ho with Chairman Jeong, followed by copies of the bank statement showing that Chairman Jeong sent money to Deul-ho. What’s going on? Are these faked?

Deul-ho, for his part, is just as shocked. In his panic, he turns tail and leaves the courtroom with Ae-ra. His only chance now is to meet with Chief Prosecutor Shin and beg to be saved. As Ae-ra tries to hold off Ji-wook and minions, Deul-ho sprints down the hallways, running to his saving grace…

Unfortunately, the corruption runs further than we thought. Chairman Jeong is in Deputy Chief Prosecutor Shin’s office, complaining about that “crazy Jo Deul-ho.” Prosecutor Shin assures the chairman that the chairman will be free in two weeks, and that he’ll take care of Deul-ho. Ugh. Meanwhile, Hae-kyung rips up a photograph of Deul-ho, herself, and their young daughter. Hm, so they’re divorced?

Deul-ho finally catches up with Jang Shin-woo (Kang Shin-il), Hae-kyung’s father and Deul-ho’s (former?) father-in-law, and begs for a chance to make a phone call. But Shin-woo only says: “My entire family is in danger because we accepted you. I really misjudged you.”

As Shin-woo drives away, Deul-ho is apprehended by Ji-wook and minions. “If you have something to say,” he says, handcuffing him, “you can say it to the court. Jo Deul-ho—you’re over now.”

In jail, Deul-ho meets with Hae-kyung, who negotiates with cold, unfeeling competence despite their relationship. She bargains for custody of their daughter, Soo-bin, in exchange for a slightly shortened sentence. When he calls her out for her heartlessness, she says, “We didn’t marry each other out of love. We didn’t fit from the very beginning. Go back to your place.” Man, is anyone on this guy’s side?

Deul-ho is found guilty of taking a bribe and is sentenced to six months in prison and one year of probation, with a $25,000 fine. The news paints Deul-ho as a pathetic criminal who took a bribe while investigating Dae Hwa’s embezzlement case, and coupled with photos of him sprinting out of the courthouse, he looks pretty damn guilty. The Prosecutor’s Office swears to reform the organization, taking Deul-ho as a failed example.

THREE YEARS LATER. Attorney Lee Eun-jo (Kang Sora!!!) is an eager, bright-eyed newbie at Geum San law firm. She is clumsy but hardworking and optimistic, and despite being assigned petty jobs, she deeply believes in the strength of the law and her law firm.
One of her superiors, Attorney Kim, assigns her a job: Go find a man named Kim Yong-tae, who lent his name for someone to open a bank account under a false identity. How to find him? Well, she’s got two working legs, ain’t she?

So, Eun-jo finds herself wandering the streets of Seoul, asking homeless ajusshis whether they’ve seen a Mr. Kim Yong-tae. Lol. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she stumbles upon a grumpy, sleeping man buried in cardboard boxes, firing questions at him until he snaps at her. When he sits up, we see who it is: Deul-ho, looking filthy, dirty, and apathetic.

Still, Deul-ho isn’t doing too shabby, as far as the homeless life goes. There are rumors about him even among the homeless circles that he was a former prosecutor. He’s approached by a couple of the homeless men asking for his help: there’s this awful, horrible loan shark named Bae Dae-soo who was never there when he went to pay back his loan, and suddenly demanded a fortune in interest one day—it’s so awful, Deul-ho has to help, oh won’t he please?

They nag at him for so long that he finally gives in and goes to Bae Dae-soo’s loan office. Dae-soo (Park Won-sang) is there snapping at a pair of minions, including a kid named Kim Yoo-shin (Kim Dong-joon), on their way to collect their loans.

When Deul-ho calls out to him, Dae-soo runs over to him, all respectful—an old legal acquaintance, perhaps? Dae-soo gives Deul-ho the telling once-over, and Deul-ho says casually, “I hear this style is trendy these days.” Uh, I don’t think so.

Deul-ho drags him off to talk over a cup of tea, and when he questions Dae-soo’s interest policies, Dae-soo feigns ignorance like “Who, me?” Except it’s done in this series of grunts and noises that get increasingly high-pitched, hahaha. With a few casual threats of digging up Dae-soo’s past crimes, Deul-ho manages to get Dae-soo to cough up the stolen wages.

As Deul-ho leaves, followed by the two dancing ajusshis, Yoo-shin asks who he is—to which Dae-soo replies: “Seocho-dong’s menace, who will find the crimes from even your past life.” Apparently, Dae-soo owes him one, which is why he gave up the money so easily—if you became homeless overnight, he tells Yoo-shin, you’d want a little allowance money, too.

The ajusshis take Deul-ho to a night club, where they are promptly rejected and forcibly kicked out—into a pile of trash, no less. In the middle of a trash bag, Attorney Kim recognizes him and laughs to himself. Meanwhile, Eun-jo has finally found Kim Yong-tae—except when she calls Attorney Kim, they’ve already found him, and just didn’t bother to tell her. Rude.

She complains about it to her mom over the phone, who seems to have remarried but still has a good relationship with Eun-jo. As they talk, she spots a thief stealing a wallet from a helpless drunken man. She hangs up in shock and begins following the thief, chasing him through the subway station when he breaks out in a run.

In his tunnel, Deul-ho talks to a picture of his daughter, telling her he did a good thing today, and asks permission for just one glass of soju. Aw. In his desperation to get away from Eun-jo, however, the thief runs straight past Deul-ho, kicking Soo-bin’s photo right out of his hands.

Deul-ho takes one look at the soju-soaked picture of Soo-bin, furious, and then chases right after the thief like he and Eun-jo are already a tag team. They run through alleys until Deul-ho finally catches up, tackling him to the ground—and recognizes him. “Kang Il-goo,” he stutters. “What are you doing here?!”

As Eun-jo and the police approach, however, Il-goo thrusts the stolen wallet into Deul-ho’s pocket before he runs off. Oh no, don’t do that! Sure enough, when Eun-jo suggests that Deul-ho might be an accomplice, they find the drunkard’s wallet in his pocket. He’s taken straight to the police station for questioning.

At the station, however, Deul-ho remains silent to all of the police’s demands. When the officer erupts at him, Eun-jo is the one to leap to his defense, insisting that “all people are innocent until proven guilty” and that if he needs it, “everyone has the right to an attorney”—like she’s reading straight from her law textbook. Aw, she’s cute.

In jail, Deul-ho thinks back to the olden days when he was a hotshot prosecutor, when he first met Chairman Jeong with Chief Attorney Shin. Interestingly, he initially tried just as hard to impress Chairman Jeong as Chief Attorney Shin, singing and dancing like a comedian to get the chairman to laugh, promising him to serve well. He seems conscious of his hypocrisy, however, speaking through gritted teeth even as he wins the chairman’s approval.

Later, Chief Attorney Shin gave him another case—a petty criminal, just small fry in Deul-ho’s future of big fish. He praises Deul-ho’s dancing—but, says the Deputy Chief, “We are prosecutors of Korea. We can’t look like fools, can we?” You tell me, Mr. Corrupty-pants.

When Deul-ho looks over the case given to him by Chief Attorney Shin, he realizes it’s a charge of arson against a twenty-year-old named Kang Il-goo. When Il-goo is brought in for questioning, we see that the two know each other from a long time ago. Deul-ho demands to know what he’s doing here, and whether his sworn testimony is true—how could Il-goo set fire to a construction site? Didn’t he know people would be there? “People have died because of you!” he yells. “Tell me why you did it so I can help you!”

Il-goo is furious right back: “You’re the one who left. You’re the one who left me for a better life—how could you, of all people, help me?!”

That hits Deul-ho hard, and he goes to track down Chief Attorney Shin. This time, he’s done his homework. He demands to know whether his suspicion is right—whether Il-goo is the scapegoat in a larger crime, covering up for a crime actually committed by Chairman Jeong’s son. Il-goo, an orphan, took the blame in exchange for Chairman Jeong’s promise to donate generously to his orphanage in the future. Chief Attorney Shin’s response: “So what?”

Ugh. Desperate, Deul-ho begs for just one thing—to have the charges against Il-goo withdrawn. He’ll do anything, keep silent forever, and erase all evidence without a trace if the Deputy Chief will allow this one thing…

Unexpectedly, Deputy Chief Shin says: “Do as you want. You should do as you wish for once.” Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Probably because that choice landed him in jail. Back in the present, Deul-ho’s assistant Ae-ra shows up to bring him out, yelling at “Oppa” to wake up—the security camera caught everything, and Deul-ho was proven innocent—why didn’t he just say so earlier?

She tells him to stay in his place while she goes to apologize, and he does—for a second. He waltzes straight out of the police station, and promptly runs into Eun-jo, who recognizes him and apologizes for accusing him last night. In response, he rattles off a legal code, stating that what she’s done to him is defamation. LOL, a taste of her own medicine. Still, she feels really bad, and she’d really like to take him out for a meal—isn’t he hungry?

Well, of course he is. Deul-ho and Eun-jo find themselves at samgyupsal, where Eun-jo once again offers to be his attorney if he ever needs one—she works at Geum San, where the best lawyers in the country gather. He looks at her business card and asks, “Why did you become a lawyer?” She responds, awkwardly: “Um… so that the innocent aren’t wrongly accused of being criminals.” LOL.

Deul-ho isn’t satisfied with that, calling it a fairy-tale answer, and asks for a better one. But when Eun-jo asks what he does and why he looks so familiar, he avoids her, orders a fifth serving of meat, and calls her stingy for not buying him any more. What a charmer.

Meanwhile, the same arson case from three years ago—the one involving Il-goo—has resurfaced, as the police have found another suspect: a man named Mr. Byun. According to the charges, Byun set a fire in order to hide the body he’d murdered.

Understandably, the resurfacing of the arson case gets Chairman Jeong all jittery. He calls Deputy Chief Shin, who assures him that the Prosecutor’s Office will take care of what Jo Deul-ho failed to do three years ago when he withdrew the prosecution’s charges against Il-goo. Now, Deputy Chief Shin hands the case over to Ji-wook to supervise the case from start to finish.

On the defense side, meanwhile, Attorney Kim gives the same case to none other than Eun-jo, who can’t believe how lucky she is to get such a big case. She thanks Attorney Kim in excitement, and then greets the defendant, Mr. Byun, with a huge smile on her face. Haha, she’s adorable. Naïve, but adorable.

Mr. Byun denies all of the charges, saying he’s completely innocent, which means he’s denying everything he’s written in his affidavit. He can’t remember the events of three years ago that well, but when the prosecutor kept asking question after question, he might have slipped up here and there on accident. Eun-jo assures him that Geum San will do everything in its power to help him, and not to worry so much.

That night, Deul-ho tracks down Il-goo, who is living in the streets with a bunch of delinquent youths. Il-goo, as expected, is not psyched to see him, but Deul-ho just wants to talk.

He demands to know why Il-goo is living like this, picking pockets and attacking people. Il-goo: “Of course I’m living like this. What else would I do? Did you think I would study really hard and become a prosecutor, just like you?” Il-goo accuses Deul-ho of being just as pathetic as he is, having accepted bribes three years ago. “I knew it the moment you stopped coming to the orphanage—that you’re garbage!”

Oh boy. Deul-ho grabs Il-goo by the collar and yells at him: “If I had just done as I was told three years ago, I wouldn’t be here, at rock bottom. Because I saved you, my life is ruined—what did you do that’s so great, huh?! Tell me, you punk!”

Before Deul-ho can do anymore damage, one of Il-goo’s friends cuts in by knocking Deul-ho out with a baseball bat. The other delinquents are ready to go to town on him, but Il-goo stops them, and they back off. Phew.

Flashback to years ago: Il-goo was a sweet boy who looked up to Deul-ho like he was the sun. When he went to Deul-ho’s office to deliver some homemade kimchi that the orphanage priest made, however, Deul-ho had been anxious to not look like a loser in front of Deputy Chief Shin, given Il-goo a few bills to buy snacks, and told him not to come back. Ouch.

Il-goo had been pissed, of course: “Do you think we’re beggars or something?” he’d said, throwing the bills back in Deul-ho’s face. From there, it’s easy to see how it got worse.

In the present, Deul-ho is back in his tunnel, sitting alone with his head bowed. Unexpectedly, it’s Il-goo who tracks him down this time, and they sit outside over a couple of bowls of convenience store jjajangmyun. Within moments, they’re back to bickering and swiping at each other like brothers, chasing each other around the table and eating ice cream. So sweet.

Il-goo suggests that they go back to visit the orphanage, and they tell each other to start living properly, insulting each other. “Hyung!” calls Il-goo, as Deul-ho walks away. “I’m sorry about last time!”

And then a rushing truck smashes right into him.

Okay, I saw that coming, but still, dammit, show. Deul-ho runs back to Il-goo, screaming for help, but it’s too late: Il-goo is dead.

At Il-goo’s funeral, the kids from the orphanage mourn for him. The orphanage priest comforts him: “Deul-ho, Il-goo was really grateful for you.” Deul-ho can only watch in silence, remembering what a good kid Il-goo was.

At a park, he overhears the news of the resurfaced arson case, and the newly accused Mr. Byeon. Suddenly, he realizes that this is his fault: if he hadn’t buried the truth three years ago, withdrawn the charges and hid all of the evidence, this wouldn’t have happened.

He leaves the park, shedding his tattered clothes and walking with a new fire in his step. He gets a haircut, a new suit, and a new pair of shoes, and off he goes to the Seoul District Courthouse, where Mr. Byeon Ji-shik is being accused of murder and arson.

Deul-ho storms right into the courtroom, much to everyone’s shock. When he’s stopped by the judge, he says: “Sorry I’m late, Your Honor—I’m the defendant’s counsel, Jo Deul-ho.” Whaaat?

COMMENTS

Okay, so that was a final five minutes I wasn’t expecting. Since when is homelessness an issue you can just drop? Did he really choose to be homeless for three years? Was it just cost-effective to not have to pay for rent and showers? Is this a suggestion to save money on rent?! Explain yourself, show!

I mean, I do understand from a narrative perspective why the show would want Deul-ho out of the homeless scenario as soon as possible—the story of Prosecutor Jo Deul-ho is probably more interesting than the story of Homeless Ajusshi and Occasional Prosecutor Jo-Deul-ho, after all—but I wish they had come up with a more believable, or at least a less ridiculous way to do it. Of course, the drama is an adaptation from a webtoon (which I haven’t read), so maybe they were reluctant to twist the source content? Whatever the reason is, I kind of want to meet whomever was in charge of that decision and tell them, “No more storytelling decisions like this, y’hear?”

I mostly wish that the show had handled the issue of homelessness with more sensitivity, especially since it seems the theme is going to be about the modern extreme division between the rich and the poor and their power before the law. The show had quite a few chances to think about poverty and unequal opportunities, which it did very well with Il-goo considering the time constraint. I loved Il-goo’s speech by the river, when he demanded to know why Deul-ho expected him to live a better life than as a hooligan. For people of disadvantaged childhoods, life has a familiar trajectory of limited opportunity; with what must have been a bevy of hardships for Il-goo, he needed guidance and help from people who believe in him, not a homeless, apparently failed prosecutor snapping at him to just do better. Since the show skimped out on the struggle of poverty, I hope that the show will continue to investigate that same struggle for opportunity for Deul-ho, just as it touched upon it for Il-goo.

Of course, if it doesn’t, and if I don’t ask too many questions about in-world realism, I think this drama has got a lot going for it. Willfully ignoring the last makeover scene (seriously, it was like some kind of Miracle Gro Out of Homelessness commercial) I have nothing but accolades for the rest of the episode.

I love all of the characters, which has to do very much with the incredibly talented cast. I feel like each one has great motives, with their own backstories contributing to their current decisions, but there is much more that we don’t know about them: Deul-ho’s life at the orphanage, for example, or Eun-jo’s deal with her mother and her stepfather, or Deul-ho’s relationship with (ex?)wife Hae-kyung, or the deal with Deputy Chief Shin and Ji-wook. The show has been great at showing why each character does things, with the promise that there is more to come, which is especially impressive in a first episode.

I don’t necessarily think that Il-goo had to die for Deul-ho to be motived, of course, but I think the show did a good job of setting up Il-goo’s character enough to see why it hit Deul-ho so hard. In a sense, it feels like the only things Deul-ho cares about are people (Il-goo, Soo-bin, Dae-soo, and even the homeless ajusshis that he didn’t really have to help), which explains why he’ll later become an attorney “for the people”, as the show’s taglines suggest.

In fact, that very detail promises a really satisfying outcome for the drama. We’ve already seen so much corruption that it makes my head spin. Although I wish Chairman Jeong himself weren’t so two-dimensional and reliant on others to solve his problems, I can appreciate an underdog story where our hero has to fight his own—members of the law—to emerge victorious. Similarly, I hope that Eun-jo won’t have to lose that spark in her eyes and that optimistic worldview to understand that the law isn’t all-powerful. Kang Sora is so sweet in this role that I can practically see bunny ears on her head, but she isn’t so naïve that it’s a crippling bane to her (yet). It’s funny to see her in an innocent role that directly foils her jaded, experienced one in Misaeng, where she was also brilliant.

In fact, I’m most excited to see how the show will deal with that issue—the idea that the law is perfect and can solve everyone’s problems. Eun-jo likes to recite legal articles like they’re her multiplication tables, and I don’t necessarily want to see that faith break down. It’s interesting to think about the law from this lens, where the law isn’t evil in itself, as long as one don’t follow it blindly, but think about its purpose, its use, and the people before a bunch of words written by old people.

Ji-wook hasn’t been as interesting, but it is the first episode, and we’ve barely seen Hae-kyung at all. But based on what we’ve seen of him, Ji-wook is (hopefully) just misguided and able to be redeemed, not totally evil, which will make for interesting character development—what will it take for him to find his own sense of morality, rather than follow orders? After all, Ji-wook is almost a reflection of Deul-ho’s own self before he withdrew the arson case, back when he did whatever he needed to gain Chairman Jeong’s approval. Will Ji-wook follow the same path as Deul-ho? Or is he in for a different sort of moral path?

As for the acting, Park Shin-yang is doing a great job. I don’t necessarily obsess over him, but I think he’s added some great flavor to Deul-ho, who is turning out to be a great character. Good people don’t tend to make interesting characters, so I love that Deul-ho so often ignores the rules to follow the spirit of the law, not necessarily the mechanics. It’s fantastic that his first appearance is immediately seen in rule-breaking—he interrupts the defense, moves without the judge’s permission, and proves Chairman Jeong’s faked illness with a toy spider, which is totally not allowed in any courtroom I’ve heard of. I also loved how easily he made the audience in the courtroom laugh, gaining their favor, which only contributes to his character as a man of the people. Park Shin-yang has immersed himself in this role with both enthusiasm and flair, just as he usually does. I don’t remember exactly where, but I remember watching an interview or a talk show years ago with him as a guest. The MC asked Park Shin-yang whether he thought he was a great actor, and he’d denied it—“I think I’m a hardworking actor.” I always remember that when I see him act, and it always proves true.

All in all, this was a damn impressive first episode—fast-paced and lighthearted with loads and loads of potential for character growth. I love that it doesn’t seem to be episodic procedural but one big baddie that they’re going to take down. With a goal like that, there’s a ton of potential to say something important about the state of privilege in Korea—I can only hope that they’ll follow through.