Saying and Doing The Right Thing
Extraordinary Attorney Woo begins with a guy called Jin-Pyo who works at Raon. He leaves the office late that night after receiving an email from a colleague regarding a covering letter. Unfortunately, he learns too late that the attachment he’s just opened is actually malware and he’s compromised the financial records of millions of users. For those unaware, this is called Spear Phishing. ..
Young-Woo, a lawyer at Hanbada, rushes to the hospital to see Myeong-Seok, who is about to go into surgery. She meets his mother, who is dumbfounded to find the attorney there. “Please come back alive!” Young-Woo calls as he’s taken into the theatre.
Young-Woo is called to the office and Su-Yeong tells her that they have new clients. This links back to the earlier opening we saw, as this corporate case gets underway. Raon is a huge company and over 40 million users across Korea use them.
A malware attack was targeted through the computer, undetectable by anti-malware software, due to its file format being a .doc file. The police believe that the hackers could well be part of North Korea’s RGB, as the word “program” is spelt incorrectly. This seems to hint towards this being the case. ..
However, this also means it will be nearly impossible to find the culprit inside North Korea. Not only that but the company are facing a 300 billion won surcharge on them due to not safeguarding the personal data of customers. ..
After the morning meeting, Su-Yeong and Min-Woo sit together at lunch, but Jun-Ho is sitting by himself… for a couple of minutes anyway. He’s still the heartthrob of the office and he’s surrounded by women. As for Young-Woo, she ends up eating in her office. ..
Su-Yeong heads up to see her, berating Young-Woo for not giving Jun-Ho a proper reason for breaking up. Young-Woo deflects her questions and counts down the seconds to the end of lunch so she doesn’t have to discuss it further.
Young-Woo contemplates what to do to try and win this. She even seeks counsel from her colleague Myeong-Seok (who survives his surgery thank goodness!) He simply tells her to talk to her colleagues.
Jang starts his testimony by discussing the basics of spear phishing, but quickly gets into more detail about how this type of attack works. He also explains that there is no real danger involved with this type of attack, and that it’s just a way for criminals to get your personal information. The judge is not convinced, and orders Jang to continue his testimony.
The 300 billion won penalty charge for the phishing scam is a significant amount, and Raon should be punished for its role in the matter. The company made a lot of money last year, and financial information for 40 million Korean residents was leaked. This justifies Raon paying this fee.
Raon is squabbling with its users over how much it needs to pay for service, and the media outlets are running with stories discussing how out of touch Raon actually are. Naturally, the comment sections of these articles are even worse.
The Hanbada company has been caught red-handed with a larger penalty surcharge than usual, and Jang’s decision to pick on it is clearly a bad move. This puts Hanbada in a difficult position, as it could be seen as an attempt to discredit the company.
In court, Su-Yeon is chosen to lead the charge against Young-Woo. She argues that there is no causation between not setting up an idle timeout and the hacking.
Apparently, a keylogger was found within the malware that was installed on the victim’s computer. This means that the hacker would have been able to figure out the victim’s ID and password sooner or later. The defendant claims that this is irrelevant due to changes in legislation and data protection laws, and shrugs it off as unimportant. ..
In-Cheol, the CEO of Raon, gives an impassioned plea but the stress of it all is just too much for him to bear. Instead, he brandishes a cyanide pill and swallows it. As he passes out and begins foaming from the mouth, Young-Woo panics. Jun-Ho sees but decides against interjecting, given what’s going on between them.
The Raon CEO being rushed to hospital like this is big news, and as a result, the attorneys are hounded outside by a flurry of reporters. Thankfully Hanbada survive but there are additional points to note here, courtesy of Young-Woo’s latest lightbulb moment.
Now, it has been revealed that Mr. Choi checked his email and downloaded the file on January 18th at 11:48pm. This means the hacking started a day before the Act on the Information and Communications Network (the one the defendant was mentioning is irrelevant) was revised. Young-Woo brings this to Jang but he loses his temper with Young-Woo given how brash she is and kicks her off the case. Young-Woo is flustered and hurries out the door. ..
“Young-Woo, I know you’re trying to be a good friend and colleague, but sometimes you have to put down your politics and tactics for a bit. You’re really good at what you do, and I think we could be better together if we just focused on the things we’re good at.”
Jun-Ho, the man Young-Woo was waiting for, shows up at her home. “Why can’t we be together?” Jun-Ho asks her. Young-Woo finally speaks the truth and says she’s not ready for a relationship yet.
Jun-Ho is left in shock as he listens to his sister describe how she believes that he will be lonely without her. He can only watch in disbelief as she tells him how she feels and how they can’t be together.
The next day, Su-Yeon takes Young-Woo’s idea about the revised act to the courtroom, completely going against Jang’s argument. Jang is not happy with his colleague and promises to kick her off the case if she continues. So Min-Woo stands up and speaks instead, finishing Su-Yeon’s argument and gaining the good graces from the Judge. The Judge promises to take all of this onboard in his final decision. Jang is angry at his subordinates going against him but swallows his pride all the same.
After the Raon TV show aired, it was revealed that the hacker was Tae Su-Mi’s son. ..
The Episode Review
The penultimate episode of “Attorney Woo” saw Min-Woo’s redemption arc almost come full circle, albeit in a rather rushed way and a bit of a cliched reason (trying to get the girl.) However, his character has been flawed from the beginning and understanding more about him and what’s driven Min-Woo to try and succeed in this field is certainly welcome. ..
I’m a little concerned that the rushed and wrapped up nature of this drama will affect everything else we’re currently juggling. ..
We’ve got the latest on Myeong-Seok’s cancer, Young-Woo and Jun-Ho’s relationship, Gwang-Ho’s father woes, CEO Han’s scheming, Su-Mi’s son’s hacking and Su-Mi’s upcoming promotion, not to mention Young-Woo’s potential sabotage at Hanbada at the hands of Min-Woo.
This is then mixed in with individual cases each chapter, setting up for one of two possibilities. We either rush through and resolve all these plots hastily or we’re on course for an open ending and a possible second season.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo has been an enjoyable watch up to this point and this case was easily one of the best of the whole season. Let’s hope tomorrow’s ep is an extended one and everything is wrapped up nicely. We’ve been burned quite a lot with bad endings this year, fingers crossed Extraordinary Attorney Woo doesn’t follow suit!
