InspectorMegre

Yes I agree, the real clean slate would include real fixes, not just turning around.
But I think he somewhat tried that by having his law firm.
I agree with you that "He wanted to walk away with moral superiority, ignoring the damage he'd done for YEARS." He was weak. But to condemn him as that, I would wait to see what kind of clients he would serve. If he served small powerless people, then I would say that he redeemed himself.

How do you think he would pay for his past actions? The only way imo is to have his own law firm and represent small people and have them win.

Did you think he should expose his ex-partners? I dont think he was capable of that. He has no proof. He never kept evidence.

How can you know what you are getting into, unless you watch it... ? First episode or two gives you the feel and then you decide if you are staying or leaving. Kdramas tend to have super twists and U turns, and mix various genres just like the real life is a mix of everything, so you can never predict what exactly you are getting into, you just have to enjoy watching is along.

Sometimes I read a post and wonder... The usefulness and horror of free online reviews is that ANYONE can write them, so we get to see a very wide range of opinions and approaches... anything from rednecks to hippies... Some ppl (in a significant minority) are saying this drama is weird black humor, some (in majority) are saying it is great drama and acting.

The global audience includes lots of western audience.... which is used to majorly senseless dramas and movies, where the plot is just violence and s.x..... so ppl lost the ability to follow the plot and dialogue and watch the nuances. Esp since over 60% use mind-altering substances like pot, opioid painkillers and even more use sleeping pills and antidepressants. so their brain is turned off to begin with. They do not read, they are not educated on history and culture, .... It ended up pretty much looking like movie Idiocracy from 2006.
If kdramas try to appease such audience, the art is lost, real fast. Chinese short verticals are doing a good job pleasing such audience.... and destroying chances for creative artsy, meaningful, more complex projects with great acting. I really wish that kdramas continue being the leaders in the entertainment industry, because they are most sophisticated and able to address heavy grime subjects in a warm, light, humorous way that is realistically heavy yet also realistically and positively resolved, hopeful and uplifting. That is master storytelling.

It has black comedy for sure, and ML is a master of it....

Why do you call this entire drama stupid... ? ..... perhaps your sense of humor is not refined enough bc definitely this is not an ultra-hyper satire by any means...

The drama addresses some common real-life situations... It is a mix of thriller, melodrama and some comedic moments

I found myself mostly in suspense, cussing, or crying rather than laughing in this drama... Some scenes made me smile... nothing made me laugh but yes there is that comedic sense still, the drama is light enough to leave a positive and uplifting impression. It is very masterfully orchestrated with plot, acting and music. The acting is AMAZING. ML is a master of adding comedic feel to it. Like sitting on the sofa next to the evil father-in-law and rolling his eyes around LOL You can tell it is a naive lazy good guy in trouble...

Some moments are sheer makjang, like jumping off the judge's podium and accosting the defendant... but ML is a master of adding such crazy absurd comical situations... So I roll with it... It is not how the whole drama is. It is just a little bit of spice added to the drama.

Imo it is super well done and very interesting

if you want to see some really hillarious crazy behaviors, then watch Kill me Heal Me drama

He was way too naive, not understanding that there was a LOT more behind just judicial orders... he didnt understand that this inlaws ran a CRIME RING.
And, he was out of it .... His mother died, his father died, so many ppl died, he caused/helped with it, .... he should have gone on a retreat/vacation to regain composure and grieve his losses first

I think he fell apart and wanted to be 100% clean state instantly. He certainly did NOT think it through

well now he is different LOL he is mean and determined LOL and I can see him bsing well LOL

and yeah I do not have a good idea what bs he could use, but I am sure he can :) Let us see what the writer came up with LOL My ideas are lame, like - oh we just drove around and he ran into our car himself...

Unless that last scene was just his fantasy :)

This drama (TJR) might look similar to Again My Life (AML) or Lawless Lawyer (LL) or Devil Judge (DJ) dramas , but it is very different.

AML, LL, and DJ are about always-good guys chasing bad guys.
TJR is about a guy who was both good and bad... He is an ordinary "good" guy who willingly became a bad guy, caused death and destruction, his conscience nagged him, he willingly turned good and went against his former accomplices.
The common thing in all 3 dramas is that a woman helps the ML.

>>>> Again My Life and Lawless Lawyer are revenge dramas about low status, righteous lawyer/prosecutor without power connections, going against high ranking officials who run crime to keep climbing up to the top government positions.
In AML, ML is naive, and he is given a chance to try it again. In LL, he is not naive LOL he was raised by thugs and uses all kinds of dirty tricks to revenge his mother.
TJR resembles AML bc a naive fighting-for-good person has a chance to come back to life with all memories intact and do it right the second time around; and resembles LL bc this "good person" uses dirty tricks to win. But:
TJR ML intentionally became a high ranking government official - a judge - who helped major evil do significant damages, so he is a deep, self-made crook. AML and LL heroes are always good guys. They use dirty tricks but never too dirty, they never were crooks, never did major bad stuff, never harmed anyone; they are just slightly mean
You can say that all three male leads somewhat resemble each other after TJR ep 2 :) But TJR hero is a LOT meaner and more criminal LOL if the end of ep 2 is not a fantasy. AML and LL heroes would never do that. They resolve everything legally.

>>>>Devil Judge is a thriller about fighting and exposing a well-camouflaged evil judge who is loved by the public but runs a crime ring and has grandiose evil goals about seizing control (like the villains in Lawless Lawyer and Again My Life, who are sooo well camouflaged sociopaths/psychopaths, it is chilling to meet them on the screen. Judge Cha and assemblyman are sooo creepy, esp. Judge Cha is a villain whom you will remember... !!!!! totally horrifying yet always 100% polite).
In comparison, TJR ML is an amateur... he tries to look good but his corruption is very obvious and known by everyone for a long time...... .... You can say that TJR ML resembles Devil Judge and LL and AML villains in ep 1 bc he pretends to be good but is doing bad :) but TJR ML has conscience and is a lot smaller scale crook that those three.

>>>>The Judge Returns drama is about cleaning up bad karma, about the redemption arc of a basically good ordinary person who succumbed to greed and INTENTIONALLY AND WILLINGLY became the slave of the corrupt power circles. His only intent was to gain a cushy life, but it came with a price he was not willing to pay.... As he climbed high and went far .... too far... .... did sooooooooooo much bad... he WILLINGLY experienced remorse and WILLINGLY started anew in good way .... but he was naive... and was given a chance to came back to fix his misdeeds and do the good stuff.

i am sure a judge can bs some excuse

Thank you!

Wow ML actor is better than ever! Assuming the drama continues so well, he should get an acting award, he is amazing! And FL is written well and the actress is awesome too.

wow ML got some *heavy* karma to clean up

Can someone please put a post into Discussions with all the names and who is who and how they are all related. This is copied from Wikipedia, so you can use this as the start for your post:

Hong Eun-jo = A female physician and thief, known as Hong Gil-dong in the shadows, leads a double life. A skilled healer by day at Hyeminseo, she treats the sick. A thief by night, she steals the granaries from corrupt officials to help her people, using her cunning to help them.
Hong Dae-il = Eun-jo's older brother.

Prince Dowol / Yi Yeol = he loves having fun. He likes to solve crimes like a detective and tells stories about it to the palace people. They think he's just joking around, but actually, he's keeping everyone safe. Then he meets Gil-dong, a thief, and falls for her.
Daechu = Yi Yeol's bodyguard.

Shin Hae-rim = A noble family's daughter who has a secret love affair. WITH WHOM???

Im Jae-yi = Yi Yeol's rival. WHY? WHO IS HIS mother?
Im Sa-hyeong = Jae-yi's father - what title is his father?

King Yeonsan / Yi Gyu WHOSE FATHER IS HE?

There was a young dude with some concubine who was also going to marry Queen's niece. What are all their names?

Then there was an older dude with some whore next to him untyng his clothes, he was brother of Prince YW. Who is his father/ mother and position?

First impressions after ep 1: This looks like Knights Flower but better bc the FL is not brainwashed into believing the trash. (However, when that grandpa dies and she becomes a widow... hm... !!! she could be killed etc). I like that the drama is real and shows how it was - totally entitld spoiled men and totally cruel nobles, and our FL navigating it skillfully. Bc of women like her, change is possible.

It is definitely totally different than Moon River bc MR was so emotional and melodramatic. This drama so far (ep 1) is really a business drama LOL the FL is so smart and calculated and the whole feel of everyone is very business-like . I like that they communicate quite clearly

The ML is a spoiled brat. I am looking forward to seeing him become real

And I wanted to write down what I know on self pity and taking oneself or another with that victim mentality... it is extremely dangerous. I learned the hard way. So I put it in writing what I know on the subject :)

All things happening in my life make me really really really want to clarify and understand EVERYTHING.

Of course you deserve everything. I don't think of you or anyone deserving or undeserving .. I wrote my reply bc you got me thinking and then I had to figure out what is going on, FOR MY OWN SAKE :) If you get something out of it, that's a bonus.

Happy new year!

Well it is not about you deserving a reply.... or not!!!! it is rather strange to think like that... I never thought about it that way LOL . I dont write like that :)

What you said got me thinking.... So my post is about me thinking aloud on this subject ... and if you read it, great, thank you for your patience :)

I have to deal with my mother and myself, and I am supposed to wrote a pro se federal lawsuit bc Hawaii judges are going to steal my condo and more on Jan 22, they do not follow the law, Hawaii is a corrupt MESS all the way to the top, so perhaps I am very sensitive to being very clear on everything :)

So.... I have this need to really be crystal clear about what is going on :)

Also, I am a drama nerd and I really want to know what works and what doesnt and WHY.
I am really worried about many things going on in the drama world, like cheap Chinese short verticals, etc so I am very interested to get kdramas be successful.

Bc of what is happening to me with the lawsuit, and bc of the DARK COLD WINTER lol that the Hawaiian me is not used to, I am more indoors and just clarifying and writing
I feel like a film / writing student, a psychology student, someone on a very very long retreat about my entire life as these guys want to take all I own and totally botch entire USA law and constitution - the USA has become a country where some lawyer can sue you for FAKE NOTHING and then have the judge condemn you and then you owe them your condo to pay for their attorney fees!!! it is an epidemic in the USA!!! and nobody is doing anything about it! only maybe Florida attorney general ..

So all those things make me really really really want to clarify and understand EVERYTHING.

And I had the time bc I was procrastinating writing the lawsuit :) But I must...
Pray for me :)

"just reheating Again My Life nachos anyway" LMAO love that so funny

YES.

Yes of course, a flawed condition is necessary for the START of a story. Without it, there is no story.

The story is then created by MOVEMENT, by further growth and CHANGE, by trying to move forward, failing, and trying again, until there is success.

if the starting flawed setup drags too long and the hero does not grow, then it is not a story, it is just a repeat of the same old same old.... and that is boring. It is how life goes for many ppl LOL but such narratives are unfit for a story to tell to others.

A good story shows how the hero fails, how the hero tries wrong ways and right ways, figures out what works, and how to eventually succeed.

A good story is a moving SPIRAL UP. There are major breakthroughs to the next level and everything changes.

The catch 22 is that the faults never totally go away but they get less and less frequent, less severe and less impactful, until one day ... one day! who knows when... .... it all disolves.

For example, for JW, her skeleton in the closet is feeling sorry for herself and then justifying her greed etc by that, and blaming others.
Once she breaks out of this stage of being a small entitled child in a tantrum, she will be a calm and productive adult. Notice that she is rotten spoiled. She is able to act as a small entitled child in tantrum all the time because she can, she is loved and SPOILED - there are so many ppl who truly care and love her, and unfortunately never stand up to her and thus keep her stuck in this silly tantrum state.
If there was nobody taking care of JW, she would have been a quiet wallflower, like the FL in The Glory; or would have turned into an addict, or a violent cold criminal.
Traumatized children who were loved turn into these socially acceptable raging toddlers.

Therapy might or might not be good, depending on the therapist LOL but I dont think therapy is a part of JW's world... Someone like her might have to discover ... painting ... meditation in a temple or church ... helping orphaned children.... something!!!! but our JW is super self centered and never ever helped anyone. She is focused on how SHE will get ahead bc she thinks she had nothing and feels bitter. SHE IS TOO MUCH OF A COWARD TO CHASE HER DREAMS.

So one day, she might grow out of this childish tantrum phase. That day when she starts feeling GRATEFUL for what she has - and she has a lot - all the people who love her, her design talent, etc.

The catch is that the inner urge to feel sorry for herself and keep finding excuses is going to haunt her, always, most likely... but if she is diligent, she will learn to recognize it and deal with it before it causes chaos.
So ... she might ... go shopping to get some nice stuff, or have some tea with ppl who love her, or go volunteer in a soup kitchen, whatever will bring her back to herself and feeling GRATEFUL for what she has and inspired to chase her dreams in productive ways, instead of being bitter and violent about what she does not have and essentially stealing it by lying.

It is a growing process.
Obviously, the script writer has no idea about the growing process... and thus this mess of a small entitled child in tantrum as a permanent state of being.

JW gotta grow up, fast, or else she will just kill this drama.

Our darling JW has not grown one iota from the start. Her reckless poking around has caused death of her father and she has not learned one single lesson so far. Now she caused nearly death and/or permanent disability of herself, by recklessly standing near a rooftop edge and leaning over it, while taunting a serial killer who just told her in plain simple Korean that HE IS GOING TO KILL HER RIGHT AWAY.
JW behaved like she is above the laws of the Earth. Like she is above God. Like a spoiled entitled IGNORAMUS. Of course she is gonna be eaten.

JW is just an entitled dumb whiney angry CHILD. The script is dumb for her and the actress is not really making it alive in any way. I do not see any change in her acting from ep 1 to ep 68. Script writer needs to wake up, and the actress needs lessons in acting, desperately, asap.

My 2 cents worth :)

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

See my reply there.
In summary:
JW had no character growth from ep 1 to ep 68. She is still a whiney angry blaming blind child. And the actress is acting in the SAME way from ep 1 to ep 68.

There is absolutely no change between episodes 1 to 68.

JW is made incredibly dumb and weak

It is a failure - the script writer's failure and actor failure.