Yangtze River Dolphin
Kim Hyeon-Jeong is a decorated employee at her life insurance firm, but when she’s called in to a meeting with her boss, she finds out that her company is changing and that she has to resign. If she doesn’t do this voluntarily, then her husband could go without his pay. Mr Moon, the Head of HR, tells her this is when she should support her husband. Ms. Kim is shell-shocked and unsure how to take this news.
Hyeong-Jeong is speaking to her husband outside the company. He tells her that the company wants to get rid of all the female employees. This makes Hyeong-Jeong feel shocked and upset. She kneels down and holds her hands together as she tries to process this news. ..
Hanbada is a small town in South Korea. Police officer Myeong-Seok is investigating an old case involving a dangerous man called Jang Jae-Jin. Jang Jae-Jin has been released from prison and is believed to be planning to kill Myeong-Seok. Myeong-Seok becomes paranoid and jumps at every sound, even when he’s alone. ..
The discrimination case at this life insurance firm is still the focus, even though most of the women have already resigned. The argument that this firm is “not sexist” doesn’t quite hold weight given the husbands being held hostage by their bosses during these negotiations.
The Hanbada lawyers are actually defending the company’s interests this time, given that’s who they’ve been hired by. The opposing lawyer is Ryu Jae-Sook, who is well versed in these sort of cases. In fact, she’s well known to jump all over these social issues, even if she doesn’t have the best win-rate. Our Hanbada lawyers actually find her protesting outside prior to the courtroom meetings.
Myeong-Seok immediately brings this up as ammo before the judge, pointing out that it could undermine the fairness of the trial. The Judge though is more preoccupied by Ryu’s family name, given it’s the same as his own.
In court the next day, Mr. Moon is on the stand and is forced to face the words he’s said to each of these women; sexist remarks about how they need to be housewives and support their husbands. Apparently these were his “personal opinions and irrelevant to the company policy.” Ryu throws this back in his face and unfortunately, as her name matches Judge Ryu’s, he allows leniency in the courtroom and for her to continue this line of questioning. ..
When it comes to the women who testified on behalf of Mir Life Insurance, there’s a lot of drama going on. One of the women, Choi, was given a pretty generous amount of money from the company when her husband fell ill and couldn’t work. But when Ryu asks her whether this is connected to her being in the courtroom, she can’t answer. There are also questions about whether or not Choi was actually given a bribe by Mir Life Insurance.
In the hallway though, she ends up hugging Hyeon-Jeong, who points out that this who ordeal is unfair on them all. As for Hanbada, Young-Woo ends up having another lightbulb moment as she connects an ad for Huiman Women’s Hospital on the side of a taxi, to a keychain worn by one of the plaintiffs. Alas, the plot thickens.
Young-Woo is surprised and upset when Min-Woo reveals that he was involved in Mir Life Insurance’s restructuring plan. He points out that Hanbada were instrumental in the plan and that their firm was even suggested by their firm. Oh, and he even has the consulting forms from Hanbada too so she can read them herself.
Young-Woo is not happy with the way things are going and confronts Myeong-Seok about it. He doesn’t deny it, but Young-Soo sees this as a shameful thing to do. She continues on about how she wants to be an honorable lawyer but Myeong-Seok shrugs that off, pointing out that they have a job to do and sometimes that includes taking on difficult projects and clients. Myeong-Seok tells Young-Woo that her attention should be on defending Mir Life, given that’s who their clients are.
In court, Young-Woo brings up the hospital and its connection to the victims. Now, it turns out that this is actually a maternity clinic specializing in infertility treatments. In order to get these treatments, one must visit the hospital three times a week for a month. This would mean the women need to leave work early and frequently for IVF. As a result, this is spun by Young-Woo to suggest that the women are happy for the voluntary resignation given it’s beneficial for them. The Judge sides with Young-Woo, allowing the questioning to continue. ..
Young-Woo’s confliction with Ryu Jae-Sook is only made worse when she speaks to him outside. She brings up how her law firm is different to Hanbada in the way they support people rather than clients. This throws even more confusion Young-Woo’s way, who finds herself unsure what to do.
Su-Yeon catches Min-Woo off-guard that night by mentioning that Jun-Ho is dating Young-Woo. However, Min-Woo’s gameplaying has only just begun. Remember those forms Min-Woo gave Young-Woo? Well, Min-Woo breaks into her office after-hours and puts her business card inside, addressing it to Attorney Ryu to take it seem like they’re in collusion together.
Jun-Ho tells Young-Woo that this has really hurt him. He says that he’s been trying to make things right for her, but she just won’t listen. Jun-Ho says that he’s sorry, and they part ways.
In court the next day, Ryu presents the “anonymous” envelope sent to her including damning documents about Mir Life Insurance’s plans. Min-Woo watches in interest, hoping to see Young-Woo’s name pop up. Only…it’s not her documents. This is something else entirely and actually excerpts from Moon’s personal notebook one of the employees snatched up.
Myeong-Seok fights back though, claiming that it’s been obtained illegally but that won’t fly given this is a civil case, and the judge even allows it to be used as well.
After all this drama and claims of gender inequality, the verdict comes in. The litigation costs are also to be paid by the plaintiffs too. Hanbada and Mir Life Insurance win. The judge points out how this isn’t gender inequality given it’s acceptable from a socioeconomic perspective. Not only that, but as they didn’t specify that this restructuring wasn’t only for women to resign, it’s isn’t seen as gender inequality.
Despite Mir Life Insurance winning, Mr. Moon isn’t exactly over the moon with joy. It turns out he’s on the verge of being fired. Given he was unsuccessful in his attempts at restructuring, the company are going to let him go. The trial and the rallies are too much for the firm to ignore. After firing around 100 employees, Moon claims that it’s karma if he doesn’t manage to get another job. ..
Ryu Jae-Sook throws an after-trial party for her client, Young-Woo and Su-Yeon. They show up at her firm, and Young-Woo comments how Ryu is like a river dolphin – and hopes a lawyer of her class doesn’t go too far. Ryu also shows off the envelope and her business card too. Ryu never used this in court as she knew Young-Woo would have gotten into trouble. So thankfully Min-Woo’s plan goes awry… for now.
As for Young-Woo and Su-Yeon, they listen to Ryu’s poetry while on the rooftop together. Naturally, Young-Woo ends up fantasizing about that dolphin floating by behind her. It’s a beautiful way to end a bittersweet and tough case.
That night, Myeong-Seok heads to his office determined to take down a shadowy man following him in the lawfirm. However, he receives a message confirming that Jung Jae-Jin has been caught so he has nothing to worry about. However, this little panic attack has an adverse effect on Myeong-Seok, who begins coughing up blood. ..
The Episode Review
In a case that really tests Young-Woo’s limits and asks an awful lot of our attorney, Attorney Ryu decides not to submit the evidence that Min-Woo planted. Although Ryu lost the case, she does manage to save Young-Woo, which is a big bonus. Sooner or later though, Attorney Woo is going to run out of luck.
It’s crazy to think there are only four more episodes left in this drama. This has been a really solid series and there’s certainly a lot to like with this one. The acting across the board has been excellent, and Park Eun-Bin’s acting has been next level here. ..
It’ll be interesting to see where this one goes next, but right now, Attorney Woo delivers a very compelling episode that leaves everything wide open for next week’s follow-up.
