There are many dramas that are like old locomotives— they run out of steam as they progress. Law School is proving to be the opposite. It just keeps getting better and better! Episode 8 is explosive, and triggers a roller coaster of emotions that culminate in awe and excitement on my part.
The episode continues with Professor Yang’s trial where Lee Man-ho is cleared of murdering Professor Seo, because his ankle monitor can confirm his alibi. Prosecutor Jin also decides to spring a mystery witness on everybody at the last minute. And it’s someone who supposedly saw Yang kill Seo. When said mystery witness is revealed, things get crazy and my blood boils for the rest of the episode. The storyline for this new development is so intense, it almost overshadows the new information we learn about Seung-jae.
To sum it all up, a lot of big things happen (especially in the last ten minutes), so let’s get into what we learn.
What we learn this episode
- Prosecutor Jin points out to the courtroom that Professor Yang also wore an ankle monitor the day of Seo’s death. He then implies Yang let the battery run out, so he could murder Seo without being tracked.
- Ko Yeong-chang (Assemblyman Ko’s son) tells Ye-seul she has to be the mystery witness who saw Yang dump meth in Seo’s coffee. He wants to get back at Yang for embarrassing his father during the lecture. If Ye-seul refuses, Yeong-chang will release their sex tape. (Vile, vile, vile!!!)
- Joon-hwi reveals his uncle’s glucometer is missing to Professor Yang. (A glucometer is what people with diabetes use to monitor their sugar levels).
- Seung-jae hacks into Professor Kim’s computer, and steals the questions for the upcoming final. In fact, he was trying to install spyware on Yang’s computer the day Seo died, but Yang returns to his office unexpectedly, and that’s why Seung-jae had to hide in the closet.
- Professor Yang and Kim figure out Seung-jae was hiding in Yang’s closet that day, and also took his laptop. Kim confronts him.
- Lee Man-ho tells Professor Yang that Kang Dan volunteered at the orphanage he left his son at. He was told that they were close and probably still keep in touch, so he wants to ask her where his son is. Yang says he’ll give Man-ho her phone number if he reveals who convinced him to help Prosecutor Jin. The professor adds insult to injury by revealing that Kang Dan is the one who came up with the Lee Man-ho Act.
- At the end of the episode, Yeong-chang tries to upload the sex tape, him and Ye-seul struggle over his phone, and she pushes him. On the way down, his head hits a metal railing and he starts bleeding profusely on the ground.
Yes to finding out Seung-jae’s a cheater
Because it disrupts the drama’s formula, and I like that. It’s what I wanted. I didn’t want to sit through more episodes examining if another member of the study group murdered Seo, so this whole episode is a welcome change. And I have a feeling the next one will be too. Instead of viewing Seung-jae as a suspect, we’ll probably see him as a witness struggling with whether to come forward or stay silent.
During the episode, we see him hacking Professor Kim’s laptop to get the questions/answers to the finals. And we also discover the reason he’s in Yang’s office the day Seo died is to install spyware on Yang’s computer. I have a feeling he desperately needs to pass the classes because of his wife, but I hope he does the right thing and confirms Yang’s alibi.
Yes to learning why Lee Man-ho is after Kang Dan
So, right now I guess he really does want to find his son. I’m waiting for a clearer timeline of events, and maybe some flashbacks of Kang Dan at the orphanage before she runs away to the U.S. My theory is Man-ho’s son doesn’t want to be found. He’s probably ashamed of him, and who wouldn’t be? Who would want to claim a child predator as their father?
One thing I’m curious about is why Man-ho’s working with the prosecution. According to Yang, he hates Prosecutor Jin for putting him in jail for a previous crime, so who convinced/bribed him? Assemblyman Ko? If so, I won’t exactly be surprised.
Yes to Ye-seul’s stunning act of bravery
We find out pretty early on Yeong-chang has set her up to be Prosecutor Jin’s mystery witness. He demands that she take the stand and lie about seeing Yang dump the meth in Seo’s coffee. When Prosecution asks why she didn’t come forward earlier, she’s to say Yang threatened her.
Ye-seul doesn’t want to do it, but Yeong-chang threatens to release their sex tape if she doesn’t. I already abhor this man, but it’s at this point that any empathy for him as a fellow human being bleeds out of my body. I no longer care what happens to him next. Anyway, Ye-seul spends the whole episode agonizing over it, and at first she does lie on the stand, but then she takes it right back and apologizes. She can’t send Yang to jail, and the perjury bothers her as someone who’s studying law. It’s a powerful scene, and I’m so proud of her for being brave. Yeong-chang put her in an impossible situation, but she stayed true to herself in the end.
Unfortunately, Ye-seul and Yeong-chang meet up after the trial. He’s still fuming about her defiance, so he tries to upload the sex tape right then and there! Ye-seul lunges for his phone and knocks it out of his hand. They struggle, she pushes him, and he hits his head on a metal railing! The episode ends with Yang appearing, and stopping her from calling Sol-A. Meanwhile, I’m biting my nails down to nubs. What an ending! This is the last thing Ye-seul needs right now.
In conclusion, this was such a phenomenal episode, I don’t even have a “no”. It was suspenseful, and it handled the subject of domestic violence responsibly. It highlighted the extreme manipulation abusers resort to, and it didn’t try to victim blame Ye-seul. I also thought it was great that most of the abuse happened off screen. I don’t need to see explicit depictions of it, and I’m sure survivors don’t either.
In the preview for episode 9, it looks like Yeong-chang’s not dead, but in a coma he may never wake up from. As horrible as he is, I’m glad he’s not dead for Ye-seul’s sake. That would be too much on the poor girl’s conscience, and harder to defend in court.