Unjust Justice
Nam-Gyeong’s attorney, Hee-Jin, is confident that they can prove that Do-Seok was responsible for the coma and death of his son. She’s convinced that he was the one who pushed him too hard and that he didn’t have enough rest.
Tae-Ju, of course, has a personal stake in this case given how much time he spent helping to reform Do-Seok. While Tae-Ju cries at his desk, Eun-Seok listens from the doorway. ..
According to Nam-Gyeong, Do-Seok was driving recklessly and they thought he had a valid licence. Do-Seok’s mum though claims the kids were bullying Do-Seok and forced him to drive in order to avoid another beating. So who’s telling the truth?
Do-Seok’s probation officer claims that Do-Seok stopped coming to the training sessions after a few weeks, however, the officer is also quick to point out he’s a Taekwondo black belt and over 6 feet tall too. Was he really being bullied? ..
Something doesn’t sit right with Tae-Ju, and she’s been trying to piece together what’s going on for the past few days without much success. She’s heard that Do-Seok is being investigated by the police, but she can’t seem to find any clues about it anywhere. Tae-Ju starts asking around at the car rental place and even goes so far as to ask people at work if they’ve seen him, but no one knows anything about him.
Geun-Hee is angry when she finds out, and tells Eun-Seok to teach Tae-Ju a lesson when she finds him. When she shows up, Tae-Ju confirms there was someone else there with him when Do-Seok showed up to rent a car.
It seems like this girl could be a key witness in the trial of the accused, but that’s going to be a lot harder given that all of the kids have scrubbed their social media channels, deleting absolutely everything to make sure they can’t be incriminated. ..
Do-Seok’s mother’s claims seem to be true.
Eun-Soek implores Tae-Ju to stay calm and level-headed, reminding him that getting emotional right now is not going to help anyone.
Eun-Seok studies the footage and learns that this is not fabricated. It would appear that the kids were blackmailing Do-Seok, as he mutters “you said you’d delete the photos.” With this footage, Eun-Seok plays this in court for the different kids.
The group of girls in question had some incriminating photos used against them by Nam-Gyeong and the other kids.
Do-Seok tried to help, but the group of students started to bully her. The situation escalated and she was left feeling helpless.
Mi-Ju showed up at the rental place to stop Do-Seok who remained dead-set on helping her photos be deleted. He did all of this for her, but now – with the photos actually deleted – it could have cost Do-Seok his life. However, it’s already cost a life. ..
Do-Seok and the kids hit a motorcyclist. O Gyu-Sang has passed away, so this is no longer a protection case and has escalated to the Prosecutor’s Office. This means it could be tried as a criminal offence. ..
Geun-Hee, the South Korean president, sees this as a “trivial case” and implores the judges to start rocketing through this given that juvenile cases are all about speed. ..
Do-Seok is taken into custody and the kids are left to deal with the consequences. Geun-Hee fronts the court case as the kids decide to team up and implicate Do-Seok for the driving. However, photos of bruises hint at a sustained period of beating while the footage of Do-Seok being beaten up only reinforces this.
According to Sergeant Kim, the kids at the checkpoint were tense and especially the girls. Sergeant Kim says that he noticed that the girls were particularly anxious and seemed to be on edge.
As Geun-Hee calls a recess, she decides to wrap up the case completely. In doing so, she goes easy on the kids and claims there’s not enough evidence and decides that they’re all innocent.
There is no justice for Do-Seok or the poor man who died as a result of this. EUn-Seok calls out Geun-Hee’s attitude and motivations later on, specifically over her nonchalant attitude and how she’s rushing through these cases.
After the all-clear is given, Tae-Ju feels sick to his stomach as Eun-Seok reminds them that they’ll carry this with them for the rest of their lives.
Mi-Ju is clearly upset and can’t seem to get over what happened. The other kids are casual about it, but she starts to cry outside court.
Tae-Ju is also upset about the outcome, while Eun-Seok bitterly reflects on the cold, hard truth of law. After all, evidence is what makes or breaks cases and without that, there’s not much to go on. ..
When Eun-Seok shows up at work the next day, there’s a new case to work on – a gang rape case. However, the boy in charge of this is called Hwang In-Jun and Eun-Seok has history with this boy. She’s shocked, and stumbles backwards from the table, eventually passing out.
The Episode Review
It seems like Eun-Seok’s past is coming back to haunt her and maybe now we might actually get some clarity over what’s happening with her and what’s shaken her to take such a cold stance to juvenile cases. ..
Although the episode showed that there are not always happy endings to cases, it also showed that evidence is the most important part of gaining a conviction. Geun-Hee’s cold, impassioned look at cases and trying to speed through them is indicative of everything wrong with the law. ..
The Do-Seok family is in a state of shock after their son, Do-Seok, was stuck in a coma and all the kids cheering and shaking hands managed to get away without so much as community service. Mi-Ju, the girl who did what she could to help, has to carry the guilt of what she’s done for the rest of her life.
Although perhaps a tad overlong, Juvenile Justice continues to deliver decent drama, with a really shocking and well written episode.
