Pokor

Yes. The two of them used to be neighbours(as far as i recall) and fellow boxers and Dong-ju caused the accident one day during sparring for which he tries to help with medical expenses. The mother used to try to intervene when Dong-ju's dad was abusing his mom and took care of him after his mom died which is why these two were like brothers till their relation became strained.

One of my theories too! If anyone, she fully deserves to have him killed for all the grudges she has against him, for breaking the contract and on behalf of all the ones she cared about he killed/affected.

Lee Sang-yi I think

True somethings feel so so vexing especially when it feels like am I the only one feeling it..?

It'll take me a week or so to get it out the system and I just know the small things wiIl keep niggling away about the contradictory and missing pieces.

And even how it felt like how Sergei and even Leo needn't have died...

I feel something similar, I actually liked Han-na's storyline more, it was regular. It felt like they used this typical kdrama crime tale as a sidestory to a shonen manga(more BnHA than One Piece) tale that was primary(hes like the Joker, for awe, while the story is about extolling heroic determination). Reason I handwave things being resolved behind the scenes its been done before like this anyway. The chief and her supervisor gave small help in the position they knew. As to the team, Man-sik did have the will to support his team but was in the dark. Jong-hyeon's reaction was muted. Ultimately it was a sideplot.

At the halfway point I was thinking theres so little they should have made this in less episodes but by the time they got to Han-na's two episodes and we finally got more on Min Ju-yeong it struck me that no, they had enough material to actually fill 16 episodes with but didn't bother fleshing much out. Theres so much they just push into the corner and rush through.

The Russian mafia, Leo and Sergei were pretty much plot device for the most part. I'd gone back to the older episodes because I was confused about Oh Dollar storyline and it struck me Leo's story is highly inconsistent. In these 17 years when did these two have a falling out? Initially it seemed like he had come to Korea with some grudge and didn't trust him much. But it was mainly plot devices. Like bringing Gwang-se to the meeting after changing cars, shooting Jong-hyeon which delayed the shipment indefinitely, messing up and it seems Sergei was a target for betrayal but no, turns out Sergei died by complete coincidence(Leo didn't know him at all and was looking for Han-na). Not to mention the subtitles(eng nd eng cc)don't match up for the Russians dialogues and I'm relying on the korean ones to know their real speech to understand the second time. Why keep the camera all these years(could have tried blackmail or as leverage over Min Ju-yeong and been more equal partners) or rather why did Min Ju-yeong not notice him take the camera? Leo died to make up for her dad's unfair death seems to be the end of things. Its a typical story like Voice where she sought closure but its in the background and she only collected all evidence for prosecution. It is there to bolster up Ju-yeong's crimes.

Also, other than Leo the other person who has known Min Ju-yeong since the beginning and much more about the shady side was Sergei. Who also knew Oh Dollar. And yet Han-na doesn't try questioning him separetely though he was on her list and she could have got information from him too considering he was now on their side.

I mean to me whatever Man-sik and the Commissioner were doing from the start was pretty much that, only missing the oil, and set the tone so yeah

Love this one. Initially I was going to say nah his mom sent his brother for revenge but him not dying would fit the plot armors for others(and I like him, I'd rather ignore plot canon to believe what I want to). All they had to do was splash some vodka on his face, he'd have regained conciousness. What seasoned hitman dies from that little for lack of plot armor? (I do find his death neat and in tune for his story with Han-na but still him being the only one dying as redemption... -_- I'd rather believe he lived since Baek said both Drugmon and he were dead and one definitely was alive)

The guard is taller than Ju-yeong who looks surprised to see him which by logic would be because Ju-yeong was expecting to escape. But its funnier if its someone he never saw coming.

I prefer believing Ju-yeong escaped after killing the guard if it was someone random sending a hit because a random enemy doesn't have the same impact and it undercuts Ju-yeong's thing. It is definitely not Drugmon(I'd have preferred to see this), the guard's a man(with big hands). She is still my main bet that she got a hit with a random guard done for her Dong-ju and the mom getting revenge for Gyeong-il, getting Dong-ju's poem planted on his wall as well as a message before he is killed the same way and it cuts away to her book after this scene.

Nah, I prefer your version for the karma of using Leo coming back from his past.

Oh Dollar's real son whose identity Min Ju-yeong stole who is now back from the US to take over Korea (I am absolutely serious about this joke answer. In fact, he was the secret superboss all along...nd had been using Min Ju-yeong to hide all this time. The end.). Or the mayor's son. Dude was fishy. Its the new season 2 villain open ending.

I personally prefer believing he changed clothes with the guard who was yet another underling, overpowered him and killed him and has escaped. Probably holed up somewhere abroad and tying to start a new venture.

If he has to be considered dead it'll be Drugmon. She managed to manipulate some guard(it was a man's hand) to replicate the way Gyeong-il died for Dong-ju and the mom's sake. The Yoon Dong-ju poem on his wall a message and her inscription in the poem book right after this scene the indication.

I chose to see it as an open ending left to preference. Like, he made so many enemies everyone wants him dead and the guard may have been any such person sent to kill him and its proper karma for his crimes especially the way he got a guard to kill Dong-ju's friend Gyeong-il in prison.
He seemed to react as if it was someone who was working for him and looked surprised to see who it was.
But Min Ju-yeong is written to be so invincible that he may have had a deal with this guard person or just stolen the uniform killed him to escape as he said they'll meet outside again. With Drugmon's 'See you again' note too, it's left open she's escaped too for future development.

Someone commented it reminds them of Boku no Hero Academia or Naruto and I feel it greatly. A lot of things are very shonen manga types, especially Bnha(which took inspiration for a lot of comics including Batman).

Ok...that was a fun ending. Happy for the team, Gwang-se and Geum-nam are all right and were MVP. Its an overall open happy ending with a closed feeling. Dong-ju with Dong-ju was cute. I want to believe Min Ju-yeong didn't die and will be out again. But I'm ambivalent on a season 2, everything has wrapped up well.

Its in the combined OST release. Full version link:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ywc_dj_Vk&list=OLAK5uy_mdgpF7Zdi0drCEHyKdDkDU4rXTB6VVrBU&index=10

Part of me is hoping they know and its a comic misunderstanding scenario

Jong-hun. He was the maknae of the RIU who respected Dong-ju from the start. Poor kid...

Also Han-na's dad(he gives me Signal vibes) and his pursuit of the Russian mafia and Leo and Min Ju-yeong's tangled past....the entire concept of Min Ju-yeong being a corrupted customs guy taking over the maritime smuggling world is genius.

The RIU Maknae(Lee Jong-hun) was not the informant(I couldn't believe it because he was always helping Dong-ju). For now the team did a sting where they busted one of the other no-name RIU guys phoning Min Ju-yeong. But I wouldn't put it past there being a possibility of a plot twist in the next episode about the RIU captain or all the RIU also being traitors. But for now its only this one random RIU cop and he has proven links to Min Ju-yeong due to money troubles. In the previous episode last week he had framed the maknae who was on leave as the informant by calling Min Ju-yeong from his phone. And he had actually killed the maknae for finding out about him so everyone thought the mole was dead.

I kinda like Baek too for his cartoonish yet total gansgter-ness. Glad a certain someone was not the traitor...
All I want is for Gwang-se and Geum-nam to get the best ending. They're the greatest!
Also Gwang-se's cat-patterned pants😂

I wish we got a Scarface-like movie with Min Ju-yeong as the main character about his foray into crime from being a customs officer...Oh Jung-se is crazy!

It does remind me a lot of BnHA- the vibe , the amount of beatings being taken every step of the way by the MCs, the way Dong-ju ignores his physical condition like Deku and the inspiration for their characters from a poet's ideal. Ngl by the end I was frustrated with Deku a lot...
Min Ju-yeong's a bit like AFO the way he is a do-it-all villain, Drugmon like Toga with her crush on the pure MC. And Leo, Twice...

I wonder about that since she also goes to shoot birds and vermin at the airport regularly...