As for now, I'm content watching his manic smile as well as his downtrodden gloom, though I prefer a happy Lawyer Park over a sad one any day of the weak.
We continue where we left off, Lawyer Park sitting in front of President/CEO Nam who gets to the point: "I can help you. You can help me."
Lawyer Park smiles and notes that President Nam cuts right to the chase. President Nam rebuts that Lawyer Park was the one who came running at his call.
To that, Lawyer Park replies, "I came to convince you, President."
President Nam pushes back, "And not to be convinced by me?"
President Nam asks if he really thinks his video will be enough evidence to turn this case around. Lawyer Park agrees that the video may not hold up in court since it was recorded illegally but says if the court won't accept it, then he'll simply release it to the media, press, and internet. Using all his means, he'll make everyone watch that video.
"Will the trial flip? (laughs) There will be a sensation when the whole country learns what the heir to Il-ho Group committed."
President Nam asks how much he wants, and Lawyer Park tells him he only wants one thing: "Before the trial begins, tell your son to turn himself in."
Lawyer Park gets up to leave but says a few words as parting. He may have lived as a dirty rag but even he has a tipping point. Lawyer Park says he'll pay for the meal and leaves. YES! Even in front of an intimidating opponent, Lawyer Park neither flinches or succumbs. I don't think he's dumb enough to not realize what powerful opponents he's up against, but I do have a feeling that President Nam is about to retaliate... and it's going to be bad.
Back in the office, In-ah starts doubting Lawyer Park and speculates if he's hiding something, and speaking of the devil, he enters. Jin-woo and In-ah rush to him and ask about the video. Lawyer Park asks if he and the girl watched his expensive evidence and tells Jin-woo that he's going to release it tomorrow at the trial as well as bring the doctor as a witness. He reassures Jin-woo that the trial will turn in their favor.
Lawyer Park looks at Jin-woo and tells him he knows how he feels. Jin-woo must have wanted to rush to the stand and declare his father's innocence. It hurt him to see everyone point fingers at his dad and call him a criminal without knowing the facts, treating him like some animal. Lawyer Park tells Jin-woo that's what a trial is like, and from the way he says everything, I'm starting to get an inclination that Lawyer Park's father may have also been framed and his words come from experience.
He stares at Jin-woo and leans in close: "Trust me, you're father will be coming home soon."
Lawyer Park packs up his suitcase with a smile, and as he heads out of the office, Sang-ho comes in asking if he's leaving already. Lawyer Park says today's trial is important and that he's heading out early to doll himself up. The two laugh like goofballs until Lawyer Park gets a call from a prosecutor.
It's Tak! And are they eating at the same restaurant? Hahahaha, that should just be their hang out spot now.
Prosecutor Tak jokes at Lawyer Park, but the mood turns sour when a charity act by President Nam is showcased on television. Prosecutor Tak calls it all a show and says a senior of his has tried for eight years without success to bring him down. Lawyer Park is optimistic and says that people like President Nam fall hard when they do finally get caught.
They toast, and Prosecutor Tak asks if Lawyer Park will be able to turn the tides in his upcoming trial. Prosecutor Tak jokes if this means his success rate will now become tainted. Lawyer Park just asks if he knows a famous baseball saying: it's not over, til it's over. Then to sum up their relationship beautifully, Prosecutor Tak simply laughs, and the two toast again. Seriously, I love these two together even though it's technically only the second time we've seen them. I actually prefer the Park-Tak duo more than the Jin-woo & In-ah group because it doesn't feel like a trio with Lawyer Park for me. In-ah is too suspicious and really only cares about Jin-woo (which makes sense) but doesn't make me like them as a team. On the other hand, I really enjoy how Lawyer Park and Prosecutor Tak are hitting it off, and my prediction of an awesome relationship between the two seems to be coming true.
Lawyer Park dances down the hallway in the courthouse clearly in a good mood and is happily surprised to see Boss Suk there. I, on the other hand, am feeling a great dread. Boss Suk says he only needs a few minutes, and Lawyer Park dutifully follows though he does look pressed for time. Even though their fist bump greeting was so cute, I really, really, really don't want to see Boss Suk here right now.
On the roof, Boss Suk bluntly tells Lawyer Park to lose. He stares dumbfounded, and I want to punch Boss Suk in the face. Boss Suk tries to convince him that his career will be ruined if he doesn't lose, but Lawyer Park ignores everything and asks if he saw President Nam Il-ho.
Boss Suk continues his argument, but Lawyer Park finally yells at him to stop. He tells Boss Suk that he'll pretend to not have heard this and leaves. To Boss Suk's credit, he does look troubled by his actions.
Lawyer Park enters the courtroom and smiles at a beaming Jin-woo though it's clear that his mood has been soured.
The trial begins, and the doctor is at the stand. Lawyer Park asks about Papa Suh's condition, and the doctor lies that he's stressed but shows no signs of Alzheimer's. ARGH! It's such an obvious plot device, but I think that's why it makes my blood boil even more! That doctor better watch his back at night.
The sleazebag doctor continues to lie and even has the galls to say Jin-woo was the one who asked him to say his father has Alzheimer's. Lawyer Park yells at the doctor in frustration and notices Boss Suk sitting in the second floor. The look on Lawyer Park's face just makes me want to hug him.
Instead of a cross-examination, Prosecutor Hong requests putting Jin-woo on the stand, and though Lawyer Park tries to object, the judge allows it. They go into recess, and Lawyer Park is on the roof to have a word with Boss Suk.
Boss Suk says he's bound to lose the case, and revealing the video now would be futile. Lawyer Park asks if he's received a favor, and Boss Suk admits that Il-ho Construction has promised to hand over the project to build a mall to him. He pleads with Lawyer Park that this is his chance to finally escape the back alleys. Lawyer Park washes his hand and struggles with Boss Suk's words: After you father died, who took you in?
Flashback time. Teenage Dong-ho is with his father in his delivery truck. Up ahead is a check point with a slew of cop cars investigating every car. Dong-ho's father suddenly turns the car and drives off with the cops chasing after them. He tells Dong-ho to check the glove box, and there's a single plane ticket to America. He tells his son that if anything happens to him, Uncle Suk will be his father from now on. (I think we all know where this is headed...)
The truck slams into a white car, sending it tumbling. Dong-ho wakes up and desperately tries to wake his father, and over in the other car, a little Jin-woo does the same with his family. Really show? Everything has to be connected, doesn't it? Whatever.
Jin-woo is being grilled on the stand, and though Lawyer Park looks dazed, he still does his job and objects the prosecutor's questions. Suddenly acting brashly, Jin-woo gets up and says that Nam Gyu-man killed Jung-ah. He begs Lawyer Park to show the video now, but after a tense silence, Lawyer Park says he doesn't have a video.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Jin-woo runs up to Lawyer Park but is soon escorted out of the room. He screams at Lawyer Park and throws his words back at him: he said to trust him, that he would release his dad. Lawyer Park can't look at Jin-woo and stares down in defeat.
The news is busy reporting Jung-ah's father's death which the police have concluded as a suicide (though the coincidence that he happened to find a connection to Il-ho Group and died that same day points to foul play), and in the last day of the trial, the planted murder weapon is turned in and a fellow worker testifies that she saw Papa Suh hiding something.
Lawyer Park doesn't even bother to cross-examine and barely makes a final statement. It's finally time for the sentencing, and Papa Suh gets the death sentence. Jin-woo is teared apart from his father, reflected in the same way he was let go by Lawyer Park. As Jin-woo is dragged out, he calls out "ajushi", and Lawyer Park looks guilt stricken.
In-ah confronts Lawyer Park and asks how he can still call himself a lawyer, but he doesn't utter a single word as he leaves. Outside, Lawyer Park walks to his car completely out of it, and Prosecutor Hong calls after him.
He grabs Lawyer Park's hand into a handshake and says he'll schedule a meeting since he heard about how crucial Park was in this case. Jin-woo comes out then, still kicking and screaming, and sees Lawyer Park shaking hands with Prosecutor Hong. Crap.
Boss Suk buys Lawyer Park a drink, and neither of them look happy. In a flashback, we see Boss Suk in a car with President Nam. President Nam tells him that this case was finished from the beginning. Boss Suk scoffs that such threats don't work on his Dong-ho. He's about to leave when President Nam stops him: "Then how about I put it this way. Once he reveals that video, this will became his last case."
I should have known better. I really did believe Boss Suk was doing it mostly to move up in life, but until the bitter end, he was thinking of Dong-ho first. Their father-son relationship the show highlighted so well wasn't just for appearances, and I feel terrible for doubting Boss Suk's love for Lawyer Park now.
Lawyer Park tells Boss Suk that it wasn't just because of him. Boss Suk asks him to clarify, but Lawyer Park says to not ask him about it any further.
Lawyer Park sits alone in his dark office and stares at his contract bill with Jin-woo before placing it back into his wallet. Nam Gyu-man barges in and starts to taunt him mentioning Boss Suk. Lawyer Park asks if he came here to just say that, and Nam Gyu-man says he came to retrieve his life cost. Lawyer Park hands over the file, and Nam Gyu-man leaves with just as sleazy of an exit as his entrance.
Alone again, Lawyer Park chucks everything off his desk in anger. As he leaves his office, Jin-woo comes running towards him and throws a right hook, having just seen Nam leave and assuming the worse. He calls Lawyer Park worse than the murderer.
Lawyer Park tells Jin-woo that it's not over. His father is still alive, and the only person who can still save him is a lawyer. Jin-woo yells that he doesn't believe that anymore, and the one to save his father will be him.
Lawyer Park visits his father's ashes and says he only wanted to bring things that would make his father proud. However, he holds up his contract-bill and says this contract isn't over yet. He isn't going to give up on his client like this.
Final Thoughts:
There's a lot of hand symbolism in this episode. From Jin-woo's separation from Lawyer Park and his dad, the handshake between Lawyer Park and Prosecutor Hong, and even the shot of Boss Suk giving Park a drink, hands seem to portray how the relationships fall in into place presently.
Since the show has now caught up to the present, we'll see how Lawyer Park amends with Jin-woo, and how Jin-woo will get a retrial. I'm kind of sad to see the adorable relationship between Park and Jin-woo die, but I'm sure it'll be revived in the future. In the meantime, can't we have more scenes of Lawyer Park with Prosecutor Tak and some with Sang-ho. I love the friendly, confident Lawyer Park and hate to see him so beaten and dejected.
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