The Ugly Face Of Domestic Abuse
Episode 3 of Juvenile Justice saw the protestors continuing to push for the Juvenile Act being abolished. Kang took to the TV stations and compromised, suggesting it should be increased to 5 years rather than 2, but vehemently refused to entertain the idea of abolishing the act completely. ..
Eun-Seok, the office’s newest employee, is left with a shock when Yu-Ri, the company’s former employee, stumbles through the doors. She and Tae-Ju quickly phone an ambulance to bring her in for a checkup. ..
Eun-Seok is worried about Yu-Ji and asks Tae-Ju to keep him updated. Tae-Ju tells Eun-Seok that Yu-Ji is currently on probation for theft and prostitution, and that she hasn’t been picking up her phone or showing up to work. This has Eun-Seok very worried. ..
Tae-Ju heads home after her interview with Eun-Seok. When she gets there, Eun-Seok is waiting for her. He asks her some questions and when she notices the wounds on her arm, Eun-Seok offers to pay for the hospital bill. ..
Eun-Seok is a judge who believes that domestic violence is a result of domestic violence. This is something she echoes during a big seminar with all the other judges, pointing out how stifled the current system is to dealing with domestic violence – and how that needs to change.
Eun-Seok decides to follow up on the girl’s behaviour and head to her workplace. ..
The woman at the salon tells Eun-Seok that a strange man used to come to the salon and take her away. Could this be the person responsible for the abuse?
Eun-Seok returns to see her friend Yu-Ri but she’s discharged from the hospital. She seems pretty flustered when she wheels her away, seemingly knowing more than she’s letting on.
Eun-Seok quickly realizes that Yu-Ri visits the care home almost every day. Despite being rude and smelling of cigarettes, she would still make an effort to be there for her grandparents. Her resentment towards her grandmother is partly because of her excuses for the abuse Yu-Ri suffers from, which she’s well aware of. ..
Eun-Seok soon realizes that the abuser here is actually Yu-Ri’s father, which also reinforces who the strange man who showed up at the salon was. As he shows up at the police station to file a report, Tae-Ju believes Yu-Ri should be protected. When he relays these concerns on to Eun-Seok, she decides to charge Yu-Ri and lock her up. ..
Meanwhile, Kang meets with Assemblyman Eom to discuss the upcoming by-elections. The Assemblyman believes he would be a great fit for the National Assembly, and this leaves Kang with a difficult decision to make, given he has served 22 years at the courthouse. ..
Yu-Ri, a patient at the hospital, disappears that night. Yu-Ri and Tae-Ju, her husband, start a wild goose chase to try and find her. The thing is, Yu-Ri is actually meeting a boy named So-Hui, who’s part of a runaway gang. She wants to try and make a fresh start but she’s blindsided and beaten to the ground after having her money stolen by these kids. ..
When Yu-Ri is found and taken to the Convalescent hospital, Tae-Ju shows up and tries to convince her to take out a restraining order against her father.
Eun-Seok is a harsh judge who is not as forgiving as she seems. She orders Tae-Ju to be arrested again for breaking probation, even though he has also been through abuse. Tae-Ju is angry because he too has suffered from abuse and is not as forgiving as Eun-Seok seems.
On the next day, the court case for Yu-Ri goes ahead. Interestingly, Eun-Seok actually spoke to Yu-Ri prior to this and locked her up on purpose. She wanted this to go to trial so she could prosecute the abuser and allow Yu-Ri to go home. ..
Detective Ko investigates Won-Sik, Yu-Ri’s father, which includes audio footage of him beating Yu-Ri down with a baseball bat. Tae-Ju listens to all of it, complete with white knuckles.
Won-Sik pounces on his mother when he learns her confession is what started all of this, prompting Tae-Ju to jump in too. Given his history, Tae-Ju pins Won-Sik down and begins choking him. As Won-Sik struggles to breathe, Eun-Seok shouts his name to make him stop.
The Episode Review
Domestic violence is one of the most under-reported crimes and it’s also the most difficult to prosecute, as evidenced in this chapter. Yu-Ri has been through an absolute hell and seeing her plight makes for a really tough watch.
The flashbacks were incredibly difficult to sit through near the end of this story, while the case is woven nicely through the 50 minute chapter, zigging and then zagging through various different theories and ideas. ..
In that respect, Juvenile Justice is a great system and it brings up some difficult topics and ideas that should be more of a focus in the conversation than they currently are.
This episode was excellent. The cast is great and the acting is top-notch. This drama looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. ..
