This review may contain spoilers
Careful ! I talk too much.
Last year, Jung Kyung-ho played a lawyer who defended (dead) workers. Stuck in this role, he defends the needy once again, and he almost makes us believe that this is what justice is for. Of course, it's fiction. He's still a guy with bad intentions, but he does good, as does his team of marginal lawyers, none of whom had the means to go to university.
All those pro-LGBTQIA+ signs in the office, spotted. I would have liked to see this support for rights translated more concretely in the series than just a small scene during Pride and these posters. And so, the beginning of episode 3 with the reference to a sadly infamous mediocre saga about stupid little wizards... not very coherent. If we could all agree to erase this thing from popular culture, we would all be better off. Thank you in advance.
I was very enthusiastic at first. The trial with the dog was great. I loved it. And I hoped that the whole series would be like that, the poor against the rich. Justice triumphing over the stupidity of the law.
That being said, I must admit that I feel uncomfortable with the trial concerning the disabled child. Ultimately, it serves to justify the denial of the right to abortion. "No life would be better off without the right to exist." Who can argue with that ? Who ? But it is a deeply dishonest argument. It brings the right to control one's own body, the right to abortion, into the realm of eugenics, when in fact no one could have known whether this child would be disabled. His disability is not the issue. It is the refusal of doctors to respect a woman's rights. The debate is being manipulated. (and this is a rhetorical technique used by anti-abortionists)
Then they add that the child would prefer to go to a "specialised" school, which shows that this was written by people who are not affected by the issue. These schools are segregation, and don't anyone dare argue with me about it, because I won't accept it. We claim to care about disabled people, but we just want to get rid of them/us.
Anyway... What disastrous episodes. But the worst thing is that they mean well. The solution here : the rich old owner of the hospital in question, who refuses to allow abortion, becomes the saviour of this little boy. And we are asked to nod along, with tears in our eyes, while his foundation continues to misinform vulnerable teenagers and refuse to apply the law. What a nightmare.
Later, we learn how Judge Kang, the protagonist, sentenced a boss to prison after a serious accident at his company. And the boss killed himself. The series makes us believe that Kang is the real culprit in this story. That's the central theme of the series. Kang took revenge... and that's wrong... enforcing the law is wrong... For once, a boss has to take responsibility for endangering his employees, and we're supposed to feel sorry for him ! No, never. My eyes are dry. And then it will be nuanced and in the end, it wasn't so bad, the judge went too far but he wanted to avenge his mother, but still, it's not right. We respect the law. Blah, blah, blah.
It's sad, but I actually quite liked the series despite its objectively centrist discourse. It claims to defend positive values on difficult subjects, but when you look closer... not really. What we're really dealing with is a system that explains to us how bad it is, but that it's better than nothing. Even lawyers without degrees can join and help poor disabled people in court, just think about it! All we need to do is reform the justice system and everything will be fine in the best of all possible worlds.
It was written by a former judge: Moon Yoo-Seok. That explains everything. It's his third series, his third story about judges and attorneys. He wants to denounce the flaws in the Korean legal system, but he does so from his position as a privileged man. (a privileged man who denies women the right to control their own bodies, therefore)
The series manages to remain entertaining and light-hearted. I also appreciate the effort made to include a female autistic character (a tertiary one) without making this her main characteristic. She doesn't appear very often, which is probably what saves her. We also have a happy deaf couple who own their own bakery. I want more inclusivity like this. Disabled people exist. We exist.
Everything starts off so well, but then unfortunately gets bogged down. It tries too hard to please everyone and ends up saying nothing revolutionary. The comedy works like a charm, but the tragic parts are a failure, in my opinion. This is a series with many longueurs, like this pointless review of mine. It is saved by its actors as much as possible. As for the flashbacks, I say no, let's stop that. It must stops.
Last year, Jung Kyung-ho played a lawyer who defended (dead) workers. Stuck in this role, he defends the needy once again, and he almost makes us believe that this is what justice is for. Of course, it's fiction. He's still a guy with bad intentions, but he does good, as does his team of marginal lawyers, none of whom had the means to go to university.
All those pro-LGBTQIA+ signs in the office, spotted. I would have liked to see this support for rights translated more concretely in the series than just a small scene during Pride and these posters. And so, the beginning of episode 3 with the reference to a sadly infamous mediocre saga about stupid little wizards... not very coherent. If we could all agree to erase this thing from popular culture, we would all be better off. Thank you in advance.
I was very enthusiastic at first. The trial with the dog was great. I loved it. And I hoped that the whole series would be like that, the poor against the rich. Justice triumphing over the stupidity of the law.
That being said, I must admit that I feel uncomfortable with the trial concerning the disabled child. Ultimately, it serves to justify the denial of the right to abortion. "No life would be better off without the right to exist." Who can argue with that ? Who ? But it is a deeply dishonest argument. It brings the right to control one's own body, the right to abortion, into the realm of eugenics, when in fact no one could have known whether this child would be disabled. His disability is not the issue. It is the refusal of doctors to respect a woman's rights. The debate is being manipulated. (and this is a rhetorical technique used by anti-abortionists)
Then they add that the child would prefer to go to a "specialised" school, which shows that this was written by people who are not affected by the issue. These schools are segregation, and don't anyone dare argue with me about it, because I won't accept it. We claim to care about disabled people, but we just want to get rid of them/us.
Anyway... What disastrous episodes. But the worst thing is that they mean well. The solution here : the rich old owner of the hospital in question, who refuses to allow abortion, becomes the saviour of this little boy. And we are asked to nod along, with tears in our eyes, while his foundation continues to misinform vulnerable teenagers and refuse to apply the law. What a nightmare.
Later, we learn how Judge Kang, the protagonist, sentenced a boss to prison after a serious accident at his company. And the boss killed himself. The series makes us believe that Kang is the real culprit in this story. That's the central theme of the series. Kang took revenge... and that's wrong... enforcing the law is wrong... For once, a boss has to take responsibility for endangering his employees, and we're supposed to feel sorry for him ! No, never. My eyes are dry. And then it will be nuanced and in the end, it wasn't so bad, the judge went too far but he wanted to avenge his mother, but still, it's not right. We respect the law. Blah, blah, blah.
It's sad, but I actually quite liked the series despite its objectively centrist discourse. It claims to defend positive values on difficult subjects, but when you look closer... not really. What we're really dealing with is a system that explains to us how bad it is, but that it's better than nothing. Even lawyers without degrees can join and help poor disabled people in court, just think about it! All we need to do is reform the justice system and everything will be fine in the best of all possible worlds.
It was written by a former judge: Moon Yoo-Seok. That explains everything. It's his third series, his third story about judges and attorneys. He wants to denounce the flaws in the Korean legal system, but he does so from his position as a privileged man. (a privileged man who denies women the right to control their own bodies, therefore)
The series manages to remain entertaining and light-hearted. I also appreciate the effort made to include a female autistic character (a tertiary one) without making this her main characteristic. She doesn't appear very often, which is probably what saves her. We also have a happy deaf couple who own their own bakery. I want more inclusivity like this. Disabled people exist. We exist.
Everything starts off so well, but then unfortunately gets bogged down. It tries too hard to please everyone and ends up saying nothing revolutionary. The comedy works like a charm, but the tragic parts are a failure, in my opinion. This is a series with many longueurs, like this pointless review of mine. It is saved by its actors as much as possible. As for the flashbacks, I say no, let's stop that. It must stops.
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