Early Access: Confession E15 (Patreon)

All in all, I found this a solid penultimate episode - as long as you accept that Show is going to embrace its love for makjang, or at least, heightened melodrama.

The way doors get burst open with flair and flourish this episode stacks up, and depending on your lens, this could land as either eye-rollingly ridiculous, or enjoyably entertaining.

I personally found it enjoyably entertaining, because I've decided that Show is pretty fun, when it leans into the heightened melodrama, which kinda-sorta licenses it to throw things like logic to the wind, for a while. 😁

The decision to not sweat it, when Show does somewhat illogical things, is pretty key to enjoying this episode, I find. Like, when we open the episode with Chun Ho visiting Chairman Chu to basically alert him that they're investigating him.

I mean, in a story played more straight and less melodramatic, I'd complain that that's not very clever; that they should've investigated Chairman Chu secretly, without telling him about it.

However, with heightened melodrama with makjang lashings, it's the drama of confronting Chairman Chu that's more important, heh. Knowing that allows you to just enjoy the drama of the moment, instead of knitting your brows in consternation Chun Ho's lack of shrewdness.

Another thing I'd like to say is, I'm hugely relieved that Do Hyun is saved from the attack, at the top of the episode, and doesn't end up getting stabbed or something. AND, he doesn't get hurt in other ways either, like when those gangsters go to his office and prevent him leaving for the retrial.

Honestly, this is turning out to be one of my big asks of Show, as I get nearer the finale.

Just don't hurt Do Hyun; our heart transplant boy on a mission is pale enough from all the stress, exhaustion and related heart-strain. 🥺

This episode, I like the way we're slowly but surely shown that Prosecutor Yang is coming around to want to do right by his conscience.

From the way he saves Do Hyun from the attacker, to the way he quits his job and sends that hard disk to Madam Jin, it feels like his presence &/or involvement is going to help our quartet with their mission, much more than I'd dared to hope for or imagine.

Of course, that does also make me somewhat nervous for his safety, because we've seen how Chairman Chu and his cronies take care of inconvenient people who know too much; they all end up getting murdered, one after the other.

I wonder if that's perhaps the reason that Secretary Hwang insists on maintaining his silence, even though it's clear that Chairman Oh has turned away from him, along with all of his associates?

I'd thought that it was because Secretary Hwang still had hope that Jenny had his back (assuming he still thinks she's alive), but now I'm wondering if it's more just his last ditch at self-preservation. Like, if he can prove that he won't talk, maybe they'll let him live? Hmm.

The retrial gets underway pretty fast, this episode, and I hafta say, I was genuinely happily surprised, to see Han Jong Goo being wheeled into court to be a witness. Ahhh!!

I mean, when Han Jong Goo had first fallen into a coma, I'd been convinced that Show would have him up and about and ready to be useful, at some point in our story, in keeping with its makjang leanings.

But then I forgot all about him, with all the other goings-on in our drama world, and all the other morally dubious characters prancing around and doing their thing. Which is how Show took me by complete surprise, with that reveal. Very nicely done, I thought.

I love the drama of how Han Jong Goo points out Park Si Kang as having been the person to leave the annex at Hwaye the night of Lt. Colonel Cha's murder, and even makes sure to mention that Park Si Kang had looked like he was wiping blood off his hands.

Park Si Kang is such a hateful character, that it's very satisfying to see him get put on the spot like this.

Also, shout-out to Judge Na, for bringing such a grounded, well-reasoned presence to an otherwise chaotic courtroom. I like her a lot.

Another twist I liked, this episode, is that Do Hyun and the rest of the team, had made a copy of the Black Bear report, so that Chairman Chu's men take away the copy, while Do Hyun manages to retain the original.

Of course, I'm slightly disbelieving that the team manages to recreate the report, down to the aged paper, and I'm also wondering why they didn't just make color copies of it, rather than re-type the thing, but like I said, logic schmogic. It's the DRAMA of it all, that matters. 😅

As for Chairman Oh's suicide, I feel like there are two possibilities here.

One, he really did commit suicide, because he doesn't want to face jail time for perjury, AND he can't bear the thought of his company going under. And, he leaves behind incriminating evidence, to take down Chairman Chu with him.

The other possibility is that he didn't commit suicide, and Chairman Chu had him pushed off the building, to prevent him from taking Chairman Chu down with him, like he'd threatened.

I have no idea which of these actually went down; I'd believe either one, honestly. Chairman Oh WAS desperate enough to kill himself, and Chairman Chu IS vile enough to have him murdered, for being uncooperative.

I'm gonna take a wild stab, and guess that Chairman Oh did kill himself, in the hope that he does actually leave behind important evidence for Do Hyun and the team.

And last but not least, there's now also the final recording, that Do Hyun and Chun Ho find in the annex at Hwaye. Maybe there's important information there too, even though the recordings themselves can't be submitted as evidence.

So many possibilities, as we get into gear for the finale! I know our team's going to win (they have to!), but I'm curious to see just how they pull it off. Go, team!!

Final review will be up on the  blog on: Tuesday, 26 Apr 2022!