Ghosts from the Past
Eun-Seok wakes up in hospital after a long night of work. She’s suffering from burnout syndrome, which is essentially being malnourished and exhausted.
Eun-Seok, discharged from the hospital, returns home to find her apartment empty and devoid of personal belongings. Except for books that have been wrapped up and water bottles that are nearly empty, she has very little. Tae-Ju, who had followed her home, notices this and decides to stay with her. ..
Eun-Seok wakes up to find Tae-Ju gone, and decides to go out and get some food and water for her. ..
Eun-Seok is determined to find Seon-A and bring her home safe. He starts by interviewing the victim’s friends and family, looking for any clues that may lead him to her whereabouts. He also reaches out to the community leaders in the area, asking for their help in finding Seon-A. Meanwhile, the police are doing their best to find Seon-A as well. They have released a description of her and are asking anyone with information about her whereabouts to come forward. ..
A woman named Seon-A shows up some time later, passed out on a mattress at a construction site. She has bruises covering her like a grotesque, purple blanket. It appears that the boys forced her to drink.
DNA collected from her incriminate two of the men who later confess, but Seon-A’s statement is inconsistent, with her unsure whether there were 3 or 4 men involved.
The situation then turns to Hwang In-Jun, which certainly riles up Eun-Seok. Geun-Hee makes the decision for Eun-Seok to be the lead judge for the two boys accused of raping Seon-A, while Tae-Ju is assigned the In-Jun case. Eun-Seok is not happy.
Eun-Seok is deeply invested in the outcome of this case. He knows that In-Jun was responsible for the death of someone close to him and he wants to find out who did it. Tae-Ju does some research into In-Jun and learns he actually killed someone back in high school. He dropped a brick off the roof, which hit the victim, killing then instantly. Geun-Hee was the judge in charge at the time.
This has a personal connection to Eun-Seok, but the case itself already has audio evidence of In-Jun admitting to being “roped into” joining the gang rape.
In-Jun, the suspect in the Seon-A case, showed no remorse or regret when he was interviewed by police. He even laughed about what he had done, making it seem like a joke. Unfortunately, despite his confession, In-Jun’s father assaulted Seon-A, meaning there is no physical evidence that can be used in court. ..
In-Jun has been on probation 7 times and for a litany of different reasons, including assault and murder. When Eun-Seok tells Geun-Hee she abhors young juveniles, she decides to switch the case over and allows Eun-Seok to front the case after all.
It’s soon revealed that Eun-Seok’s son was the kid hit with the brick. Eun-Seok is determined to show him how scary the law can be and wants to make sure he’s sentenced for a long time.
In-Jun, the 17-year-old accused of raping Seon-A, testified in court that he was not at the scene of the crime and did his best to stop the attack. However, Eun-Seok, a detective investigating the case, has found evidence that In-Jun was involved in helping to plan and carry out the rape. ..
The dash-cam footage from a car across the street shows a man in a white T-shirt and blue jeans walking into the mosque just before the shooting. ..
In-Jun has been found to be lying in court. Based on this, In-Jun is going to be further investigated, with another trial coming in 3 weeks time. If there’s more evidence or he’s found guilty in that time, it will be sent to the prosecutors. ..
After the court is adjourned, Tae-Ju meets Eun-Seol and claims that there is another boy involved in this case – Baek Do-Hyeon. This boy happens to be the same one who was involved in the brick incident. Tae-Ju tells Eun-Seol that he knows this boy and that he is the one who should be investigated for this crime.
I-Hwan’s mother shows up to court and slaps Eun-Seok in the face after he was found guilty of the death of her granddaughter. She blames him for the death and makes a scene in front of everyone. When Eun-Seok leaves the courtroom, I-Hwan catches up to him and apologizes for what his mother did. Eun-Seok shrugs it off and tells him never to show up again. ..
The Episode Review
In-Jun is on the run from the law and Eun-Seok is determined to bring him to justice. She has a personal stake in this case and she’s determined to see In-Jun go down for his crimes.
Eun-Seok’s investigation into the case has led her to learn more about her past and how it has influenced her current situation.
There is a lot of drama surrounding all this, and Kim Hye-Soo has done an excellent job bringing her character to life.
The final episode of the show is very uncertain, with many things resting on a knife-edge.
