A Tale About Sodeok-Dong 1
The committee decides that the best way to handle the situation is to have a public hearing to discuss the potential impact of the highway. The townspeople are outraged, but they eventually come to understand that this is something that needs to be done in order for the town to grow and prosper.
Residents of Gyeonghae-Do are protesting the construction of a new garbage incineration plant and the subway because they believe that these projects will cause more pollution and noise in their town.
Residents of Sodeok-Dong are frustrated after years of waiting for compensation from the city. They’ve made hundreds of calls to the city, but have yet to receive a response. The only solution is to go to trial and seek justice.
Hanbada Law Firm is asking for revocation of the road zone decision. They’re not experts on road construction, so they need some time to think this over and look at the logistics of the case.
Experts agree that this road is a tricky situation. Myeong-Seok organizes the troops to talk to different experts in order to learn more. ..
There doesn’t seem to be a good solution to the problem of going around and looping the road. An underground road is not cost effective, and all other options are not particularly favourable. Unfortunately, this leaves a lack of alternatives and means that a lawsuit may not be possible. ..
The Hanbada gang is encouraging its members to travel to Sodeok-Dong in order to see the beauty of the city.
After they leave, Young-Woo points out that the “good looking couple” should sit next to each other in the car. That being Su-Yeon and Jun-Ho! ..
Sodeok-Dong is a beautiful town with charming residents, farm land, and a quaint way of life. The group meets a number of characters, including Heung-Min the football player and President Teresa who helps out the old ladies. Not only that, but the town has a natural monument in a large tree. ..
As the gang head up to check it out further, Young-Woo slips over and rips her cardigan. Without missing a beat, Jun-Ho takes off his jacket and lets her wear it instead. There are no more incidents on the way up, although it’s clear Young-Woo’s high-heeled footwear is not hiking appropriate.
The main point of this article is that Park Eun-bin was given a special Easter egg by the show’s producers.
This trip has the intended purpose of helping Myeong-Seo organize the troops, and renewed fire in their bellies to tackle this in court. Unfortunately, the sheer amount of details about this case are massive, with stacks and stacks of papers that occupy the whole of Myeong-Seok’s office.
Young-Woo ends up working an all-nighter, while the other workers try to look through the details over several days. ..
Su-Yeon is confused by Jun-Ho’s attentiveness to Young-Woo and asks her coworker why she seems oblivious to the situation. “Jun-Ho likes you, Young-Woo,” Su-Yeon says. ..
Jun-Ho hurriedly changed the subject when Young-Woo interrogated him last episode. Young-Woo also brings up her autism and how Su-Yeon is a good looking woman so it’s difficult for Young-Woo to compete. Su-Yeon tells her to stop being weak-minded and walks away.
The Hanbada team is in for a treat when they see Attorney Tae Su-Mi. She’s known as the “king” and is going to be the prosecutor for this case. She’s also in line to become a candidate for the Minister of Justice and has arrived at court to oversee proceedings.
The prosecution brings up the different routes for the trial, but the defense has a number of handy animations, including the judges dressed up and heading out for a drive through town. All three routes are animated, exaggerating the issues and turning everything into a bit of a joke. ..
Tae Su-Mi then brings up regional chauvinism, which entices the residents to suddenly stand up and hit back. Unfortunately, Su-Mi catches them out and brings up how it seems like a monetary issue for them given they could get compensation. Despite being the opposition, Young-Woo can’t help but be impressed. ..
Construction is proceeding as scheduled, and the townspeople are outraged. Myeong-Seok agrees to try and speed up the court to make a decision, but it appears the suspension of activities hasn’t actually been filed yet. ..
Young-Woo brings up how they’ve violated the process of the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment. It would seem that Gyeonghae-Do have made a mistake and as such, Myeong-Seok believes they should lead with this argument. Given Tae-Su’s presentation, Myeong-Seok decides to use an emotional strategy instead, rather than flashy visuals.
Woo Gwang-Ho is worried about his daughter, Young-Woo. He visits CEO Han to express his concerns. He’s unsure whether Young-Woo has a job there specifically because of Tae Su-Mi. Seon-Young is incredulous, and their conversation is eventually broken up.
Young-Woo and Min-Woo are discussing Gwang-Ho’s departure from the CEO’s office. They realize that he may have gotten the job because of his connections.
The court reconvenes and Myeong-Seok brings up the environmental act. Unfortunately, Tae-Su is ready for that too and brings up how it’s not illegal, given there’s a clause involving finding the best route for roads. Young-Woo suddenly realizes that’s not right and stands up, pointing out how there’s a piece of evidence to contradict that. ..
Young-Woo’s brilliance leads her to bring up the statement that “The Basic design and the implementation design have already been completed, thus the decision of the road’s route cannot be changed.” This seems to impress Tae-Su, who is certainly impressed by Young-Woo’s work. ..
Jun-Ho and Su-Yeon are driving home from a night out when they spot Min-Woo’s car in the lot. Jun-Ho offers to take her home, but Su-Yeon declines, wanting to stay with Min-Woo. When they get home, Jun-Ho asks Su-Yeon if she’s okay and she nods before getting up to go into her room. Jun-Ho follows her and sees that she’s been crying. He asks what’s wrong and she tells him that she was just thinking about Youg-Woo and how he has always been there for her. She then reveals that she also has feelings for him, but is too shy to say anything. Jun-Ho decides to take the opportunity while Su-Yeon is still upset with herself for not being more open about her feelings.
Meanwhile, at the office, Young-Woo wants to test whether her heart races when she touches Jun-Ho and whether she likes him. So Jun-Ho gets close to her in the office and as they stare into one another’s eyes…the episode comes to an agonizing end. ..
In the epilogue, Young-Woo heads back to see her father. He brings up how CEO Han Seon-Young is his friend and they were close in school. He also brings up how she got the job at Hanbada because of his connections. Young-Woo is absolutely crushed and tells him to stop.
This is a developing story that is causing concern among the Hanbada community. Min-Woo has decided to write about the corrupt hiring processes at the law firm in order to raise awareness and help improve the situation.
The Episode Review
As the drama reaches its midway point, things are heating up. What’s particularly interesting about this is how deep the drama is and how defined all the characters are. The idea that Young-Woo is self-aware of her autism and isn’t sure whether Jun-Ho would favour her over Su-Yeon is a really nice inclusion and seeing these two women grow closer is certainly welcome in the midst of this. ..
The antagonist of the show is Min-Woo, who is self-centred and frustrating.
Young-Woo is not aware that Min-Woo perceives him as having preferential treatment, but from Min-Woo’s perspective, Young-Woo does have preferential treatment. ..
Min-Woo may be acting deceptively, but he’s already made it clear that he wants this job no matter what. I do hope though that we see more of his past and understand why this job is so important to him that he’d go to these levels to undermine Young-Woo. ..
The cases in this series are largely secondary, but they’ve still been enjoyable to watch play out. This two-parter involving a road being built through a small neighbourhood reinforces that whole underdog story that we all love so much, and leaves everything wide open for tomorrow’s follow-up episode.
This year’s extraordinary attorney Woo has certainly been one of the more extraordinary dramas this year, and if this continues, we could be looking at a best show of 2022 contender!
