Early Access: Confession E13 (Patreon)

E13. Y'know what, with my makjang goggles on, this worked out to be a pretty great episode. Key words being: makjang goggles.

Without the makjang goggles, you might find this episode frustrating, in the way that it requires you to suspend disbelief so much. With the makjang goggles on, however, little things like logic taking a beating, becomes par for the course, instead of a source of frustration.

See how important lens adjustments are? 😁

My two big asks at the end of the previous episode, were that, 1, we get an explanation for how Do Hyun comes to be in the warehouse, holding a gun, and 2, that Show make it clear that Do Hyun is innocent of Jenny's murder.

Show does great on both those points; even better than I'd hoped for, in fact.

I was thinking that the explanation that we'd get for the warehouse situation might be nonsensically makjang, but actually, the explanation makes a lot of sense.

If Do Hyun had been knocked out, that would explain why he'd be in that chair, holding the gun. And, if he's had only had a little time to see the warning photo, it makes sense that he'd look disorientated, as he surrenders himself to Chun Ho and his colleagues.

I'm also glad that it doesn't take long for Chun Ho to conclude that Do Hyun is, indeed, innocent, and for Do Hyun to reveal the warning photograph to Chun Ho, because that allows them to work together, all episode long.

After all, it only took me a few minutes to conclude that the only reason Do Hyun would admit to a murder that he didn't commit, would be to protect his father. Therefore, I'm glad that Show didn't drag out this reveal, because that would've felt kinda stupid and insulting.

I mean, yes, there is a good amount of suspension of disbelief required, especially around the way Chun Ho's able to give Do Hyun that much freedom, when he's supposed to be in detention.

Do Hyun practically is only behind bars, just for good measure, since he spends so much of his time out and about, discussing things with Chun Ho, and even going to Hwaye, with Chun Ho.

Honestly, I'd much rather have this, than a whole episode of Do Hyun doggedly insisting that he's guilty, and Chun Ho tearing his hair out and going in circles, trying to prove that Do Hyun's innocent.

Keeping that in mind every time Show expects me to exercise some suspension of disbelief around the laxity around Do Hyun's detention, helped a lot - as did my makjang goggles.

On a tangent, I tend to believe Mark Choi, when he tells Jenny that her death had been ordered by the company.

I conclude this, because of the way Mark Choi shows photos of Jenny's bloody body to Chairman Chu, along with the MOU, for his signature.

This tells me that Chairman Chu had likely made Jenny's disposal a condition for signing the MOU (with Do Hyun being framed, as a side bonus), and the company had agreed. Gah. That's cold.

Also, what makes Mark Choi think that the company wouldn't one day turn around and order his disposal, by someone else? Shudder.

Even though it's heavy-handed, I do actually enjoy the mirror effect that Show employs, around Do Hyun being framed for murder, in a manner that echoes so strongly, the way his father had been framed for murder.

The fact that Do Hyun's case leads Chun Ho to reconsider the details of Do Hyun's dad's case, is also pretty great.

For example, the reason Chun Ho's so invested in proving Do Hyun's innocent, is because of his personal relationship with Do Hyun, and that's why he's actively chasing down the results of the ballistics residue test - which leads him to remember that he'd never received the same test results, from Do Hyun's father's case.

I thought that was a nice tie-up.

I also like the idea that Do Hyun's playing along, and allowing himself to continue to be framed, in order to lead the enemy on. It makes me feel like Do Hyun's in control, rather than a helpless chess piece that's being tossed around by our bad guys.

On another side of things, despite the suspension of disbelief required, I kinda love the idea of Dad breaking out of jail (more or less), out of concern for Do Hyun. Given that Dad's withheld himself for so long, from Do Hyun, this feels like such a huge display of care.

Of course, it made me giggle to see how Dad's got some slick moves up his sleeves, despite never having been in the special forces, and despite having spent the last 10 years in jail (like, how did he learn, and how did he train?), but it's all good, with a makjang lens on.

In fact, I am rather fond of Dad's hidden ninja moves; it makes my watch feel quite exciting, heh.

In a similar vein, I was happily entertained and quite thrilled by how Dad shows up as Chairman Oh's driver, and takes control of the conversation, to find out who's dared to mess with Do Hyun.

Ooh. I love that Papa Bear is angry and protective, and will defy all authority, to protect his son. 🤩

I also love that scene, where Do Hyun's about to leave the police station in a hurry, in order to search for Dad, and Dad comes walking right into the station, on his own, because he knows that that's where Do Hyun is.

Sure, it's double the suspension of disbelief, what with Do Hyun AND Dad walking around like free men, and Chun Ho managing to get his colleagues to turn a blind eye to SO MUCH stuff, but it's thrilling and emotional, and it works, in a makjang context.

The whole thing about Chief Prosecutor Yang giving Prosecutor Lee the task of getting to the truth of Do Hyun's case, landed a bit weirdly for me, for a while.

What I mean is, the way Chief Prosecutor Yang phrases it, it made me think that he wanted Prosecutor Lee to prove Do Hyun's innocence, and also, to reveal the connection between this case, to Do Hyun's father's case.

At the same time, the way Prosecutor Lee goes about it, barging in on Chun Ho and his colleagues, and insisting that they hand over Do Hyun, lands as the opposite of friendly or helpful.

After some thought, however, I figure that the only way Prosecutor Lee can officially start his investigation, is to get Do Hyun over to the Prosecutor's Office, and that's probably why he's applying so much pressure on Chun Ho and his colleagues, to hand over Do Hyun quickly.

If that's correct, then that's kind of unfortunate, that Prosecutor Lee's efforts land as an interference, more than anything. I'm actually quite curious to see where Prosecutor Lee's efforts go.

I'm also curious to know what Chief Prosecutor Yang had said to him in that phone call, that caused Prosecutor Lee to withdraw from the police station - thus allowing Do Hyun and Dad to have the momentous conversation.

Sure, there are very logical questions that one might ask, in this situation, like, how is Do Hyun supposed to defend Dad in a retrial, if he's busy being framed for murder? And, is it even ok, for a son to defend his own father? Like, wouldn't it be considered a conflict of interest..?

Putting those pesky questions aside, though, the emotional beats of the scene land very nicely, to my eyes.

Dad's been withholding the truth from Do Hyun for so long, that it feels like a Huge Deal, that he would now agree to open up to Do Hyun, and even request that Do Hyun represent him, during his retrial.

That's a complete turnaround from his hard, distant stance, these past 10 years, and I can see why this is such an emotional moment for Do Hyun. It's all he's worked for, ever since Dad had been incarcerated.

It's such a great moment, with tears welling up noticeably, in both of their eyes, as they lock gazes with each other, finally on the same side again.

I know it doesn't make complete sense, but I love it anyway.

Next episode notes will be out on: Saturday, 16 Apr 2022!