This entire time I’ve been curious about the significance of Professor Yang’s elephant puzzle, and the piece he always carries around. Aside from Lady Justice, it’s the second inanimate object with the most screen time. Fortunately, episode 13 has made things clear. Yang uses the puzzle to illustrate what reasonable doubt is to the jury at Ye-seul’s trial, but I think it also applies to the drama itself. The scattered pieces of the puzzle represent Professor Seo’s case, and we as the audience have been trying to put the picture together. We’ve been going through the suspect list along with Yang and the study group to find who fits beyond a reasonable doubt. Several times I’ve thought it could be Lee Man-ho, but now I’m starting to see the complete picture. I’m starting to see the elephant. Again, I have to give credit to Law School’s screenwriter, because it’s an awesome metaphor and it’s been right in front of us this whole time.
The rest of the episode is mostly good things. Lee Man-ho doesn’t inject Yang with meth, because Joon-hwi (who’s become Yang’s guardian angel at this point), bursts into the apartment with cops. Lee Man-ho is then arrested. The jury also comes to the conclusion that Ye-seul acted in self-defense! All is well. Loose ends like Sol B’s plagiarism case get tied up, and we learn a ton of pertinent information, including how Man-ho removes his ankle monitor. The only thing that’s not so good is: Assemblyman Ko’s a bigger villain than we thought.
What we learn in this episode
- The guy Joon-hwi snapped pictures of outside the prison is named Choi Jae-cheol. He worked for an ankle monitor manufacturer, but went to prison for embezzlement. Het met Lee Man-ho there, and they’ve been working together ever since. Jae-cheol helps Man-ho remove his ankle monitor whenever he needs to do something shady, puts it on, and wanders around to create Man-ho’s alibi. The day of Seo’s murder, CCTV caught him where Man-ho was supposed to be.
- Jae-cheol is doing this to get half of Man-ho’s settlement money from suing people for defamation.
- When Man-ho’s about to inject Yang with the meth, he admits to killing Seo.
- It’s confirmed that Sol B plagiarized her dissertation. Joon-hwi figured out her mom must’ve made her do it. She later admits this to the Dean and Professor Kim.
- Joon-hwi suspects Man-ho told Ki Du-seong to kill Yang through Choi Jae-cheol, and is therefore the person who killed his uncle.
- The woman in the Bad FaMa case is found innocent.
- Toy Good Toy had a rival toy company named I-bit. The CEO is named Cho Tae-yeong, and Ji-ho finds out he’s Assemblyman Ko’s biggest supporter. That means Prosecutor Jin leaked the news of Toy Good Toy’s investigation under his orders.
- Man-ho gets rushed to the hospital with a stab wound (Gee, how familiar).
Yes to the jury ruling self-defense on Ye-seul’s trial
I’m so relieved they did the right thing! Part of it is thanks to Sol A’s brilliant depiction of how Yeong-chang’s harassment continued even after he dropped his phone. It was easy for the jury to believe that Ye-seul shouldn’t have done anything after that, but once Sol A turned the phone into a knife in her example, it became clear to them. Yeong-chang’s phone was indeed a weapon, and he was picking it up so he could upload their sex tape. If Ye-seul hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve ruined her life.
It’s both a funny and clever scene, and Sol A really shines. She makes rash decisions that exasperate me sometimes, but it’s undeniable she’s a smart girl. I truly like her as a character.
After the verdict, we also get a hilarious scene of Yang doing some light flirting with Prosecutor Bae to ensure she doesn’t file for an appeal. Aside from Joon-hwi and Sol A’s banter, it’s the only other flirting we’ve witnessed, and it’s amusing seeing Yang in this context. I bet there were tons of girls after him in school. As for Bae, she actually ended up being a decent human being. And kind of cute. She plays things fair, and didn’t let Prosecutor Jin do anything shady during the trial, like bribe the jury. It’s this kind of nuance in the characters that makes Law School superior.
Yes to learning exactly how Man-ho got his ankle monitor off
The dude had a whole industry professional helping him! I never would’ve guessed. Since Ko is clearly behind Seo’s murder, and has a ton of connections I thought he was bribing a police officer (or whoever’s in charge) to manipulate the ankle monitor. But I guess not. Choi Jae-cheol is a connection Man-ho made himself. It’s a little convenient, but I’ll allow it. Now it’s even more understandable why Man-ho got so mad at the Bad FaMa bill. It was going to ruin all his plans, and he wouldn’t have had a way to pay Jae-cheol, thus tempting him to snitch.
Yes to all roads leading to Ko
Man, the show really wants to make Ko the ultimate bad guy. And it’s working. Not only is he responsible for Seo’s murder and causing Kang Dan to run off, he’s the reason Ji-ho’s dad set himself on fire! I’m also betting, he’s the one who ordered Ki Du-seong to stab Man-ho so Man-ho couldn’t tell Yang the truth.
Now that all of this has been brought to light, I’m even more eager to see Ko get locked up.
No to Man-ho’s convoluted reason for keeping Yang alive
As much as I like this drama, it’s hard to ignore Man-ho’s logic and treatment of Yang so far. If Yang is correct about Man-ho pinning Seo’s murder on him to stay out of jail while looking for his son, but keeping him alive as insurance against Ko by giving him his blood, then…why would Man-ho ask Ki Du-seong to kill Yang in the first place??? Why try to kill a man you hope stays alive in order to become your insurance policy? Did Man-ho only think of this after getting Yang stabbed or was he not the one who ordered the hit? Was it Ko again? I hope episode 14 clears this up.
This was another great episode that tied up loose ends and introduced new information. Ye-seul is found innocent, Sol B confesses to her plagiarism, and the true culprit behind the Toy Good Toy fiasco is revealed to be Assemblyman Ko. Now some of the big mysteries that remain are Lee Man-ho’s son James, and Professor Kim’s relationship with him. Everything else is pretty much out in the open, and it’s just a matter of gathering enough evidence to put Ko away. I’m hoping we get to officially meet Kang Dan, but I’m starting to worry she’s going to stay a voice on the phone. We’ve still got three episodes left though, so maybe she’ll show up at the last minute with the final puzzle piece.
More Law School Posts
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 12
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 11
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 10
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 9
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 8
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 7
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 6
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 5
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 4
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 3
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 2
- REVIEW: Law School Episode 1
I swear this is one of those dramas I’m willing to write a 10-page analysis essay. 🤣 It really makes me think, make connections, and theorize non-stop. I’m just so invested in the series that I watch the bts, listen to the ost, read blog reviews, and ship the heck out of my fave characters. Yeah, def obsessed. 😅
Oh, and this show is motivating me to study Korean just so I can understand and (maybe, someday) help translate those unsubtitled law school bts and interviews for us fans.
Author
That’s awesome! You’ll be an asset to us all 😀
Author
I’m really impressed by how the screenwriter has weaved certain themes into the story, like Yang’s elephant puzzle. The whole James/Ko/Kang Dan connection is really interesting too. I’m wondering if Ko met James in the orphanage (around the same time as Kang Dan) when he was doing community service for his campaign, and took a liking to him. That would explain why Man-ho doesn’t realize why Ko doesn’t really need to “find” James, because he already knows where he is. I also have a feeling Man-ho isn’t really dead, and it’s one of Yang’s elaborate plans.
I haven’t watched episode 15 yet though, so we’ll see.