"The utopia you dream of. I'll turn it into a complete hell"
TV CHOSUN weekend miniseries 'The Confidence Man KR' Park Min-young sent chills with a "solemn laugh" ending, heightening curiosity about the final villain.
The 9th episode of TV CHOSUN weekend miniseries 'The Confidence Man KR' (written by Hong Seung-hyun and Kim Da-hye, directed by Nam Ki-hoon, produced by TME Group), which aired on Saturday, Oct. 4, ranked in Coupang Play's top 2 popular works this week following episode 8, taking the highest position among dramas in the top 10. Episode 9 depicted 'Team The Confidence Man' — Yoon Yi-rang (played by Park Min-young), James (played by Park Hee-soon) and Myung Gu-ho (played by Joo Jong-hyuk) — staging a con using a film, targeting Ha Jeong-ho (played by Park Myung-hoon), the head of the corrupt seafood distribution company Ha Ha Jeong-ho, fulfilling a dream Ha Jeong-ho could not achieve.
First, Yoon Yi-rang and James monitored Ha Jeong-ho, who had purchased a painting by Yu Gang-il that had recently disappeared from the black market, to lure the real culprit who had kidnapped young Yoon Yi-rang (played by Ki So-yoo) in the past, but they were frustrated when the painting was nowhere to be seen. Ha Jeong-ho, who bought Yu Gang-il's painting, is the head of the large-scale seafood distribution company Ha Ha Jeong-ho, which distributes 32.9% of the domestic seafood industry and is the top franchise owner, but he habitually passed off farmed products as domestic wild-caught ones and secretly used croaker, which is now banned for consumption, among other tricks to amass wealth. When controversies arose, Ha Jeong-ho, backed by figures in politics and business, skillfully engaged in media play to shift blame to negligent intermediary companies, attempting to scapegoat others and forcing innocent factory owners to close their factories. In particular, after watching factory owner Oh Chang-dae (played by Kim Byung-chun) kneel and beg Ha Jeong-ho in tears, Yoon Yi-rang and James teamed up with Myung Gu-ho to launch their con.
'Team The Confidence Man' devised a tailored operation for Ha Jeong-ho, a fanatical movie man who reluctantly gave up his dream of filmmaking to inherit the family business, creating "Cafe Soransorans" loved by filmmakers to lure him in. When Ha Jeong-ho appeared at the cafe, director Kang Yoon-seok of The Outlaws and The Roundup greeted him warmly as cafe madam Kim Hwa-ryeon, the transformed Yoon Yi-rang, which caught Ha Jeong-ho's attention. Yoon Yi-rang then introduced James posing as Lee Seok-jin, president of the production company Dragon King, and Myung Gu-ho disguised as rookie director Kim Hong-pyo, stoking Ha Jeong-ho's interest; when James and Myung Gu-ho left a script behind, Ha Jeong-ho seemed spellbound as he read it and expressed amazement.
But then James and Myung Gu-ho returned to the cafe looking for the script, and a flustered Ha Jeong-ho admitted he had glimpsed it. When James and Myung Gu-ho asked him to read the confidential script, he was moved and said, "I think a work like this is exactly the kind of film needed in this era," but when told that of the 20 billion won investment needed, only 4 billion won was required from him, he replied, "Me, invest?... That's out of the question," rejecting them and leaving 'Team The Confidence Man' in a bind.
'Team The Confidence Man' hit obstacles as Ha Jeong-ho seemed like he would give in but didn't, and a pondering Yoon Yi-rang announced a change of plan, saying, "If he was startled by a sudden approach, maybe I'll tease him a bit romantically. Then he might find himself signing the contract without realizing it," raising curiosity.
The next day James invited Ha Jeong-ho to a film set and introduced him to veteran actor Kim Bo-seong (playing Kim Bo-seong), letting slip that the script had a good reputation, unsettling Ha Jeong-ho. But when an actress suddenly collapsed and left the project, and the tense staff pressed him, "Would you invest if it were you, sir?" Ha Jeong-ho still refused to invest, frustrating 'Team The Confidence Man'.
Eventually, despite James and Myung Gu-ho's strong objections of "absolutely no honey traps!," Yoon Yi-rang transformed into the continent's goddess Maryu and distracted Ha Jeong-ho by appearing in a fake film magazine created by 'Team The Confidence Man.' Excited, Ha Jeong-ho called Myung Gu-ho to ask if an actress had been found, and when told one had not yet been secured, he smiled brightly, drawing attention to what would happen next.
Meanwhile, episode 9 revealed the case in which Yoon Yi-rang, James and Myung Gu-ho first met, sparking curiosity. Yoon Yi-rang and James visited Seonyeoldo to meet Myung Gu-ho, the son of Myung Jin-su (played by Kim Jung-gi), who had reported the April 2002 kidnapping, received 3 billion won in compensation and was found as a skeleton the following year. Myung Gu-ho, who ran "Gu-ho's guesthouse," told the two while drinking that when he was young his father said the uncle would come to pick him up while he was playing, which made the two tense.
Suspicious of Myung Gu-ho's mention of an uncle, Yoon Yi-rang and James searched his house and noted that Myung Gu-ho also had an Aniworld free pass for the exact day Yoon Yi-rang was kidnapped, that recent calls in Myung Jin-su's phone were to pay phones, and that a doll in a childhood photo sent in a text message matched a doll found at the place where Yoon Yi-rang had been held.
They also pointed out that the text message was sent on Apr. 1, the day Myung Jin-su reported the kidnapping and Yoon Yi-rang was rescued, and suspected Myung Jin-su was not the culprit or an accomplice. Instead, they predicted the real culprit had kidnapped Myung Jin-su's son, taken the compensation money and murdered Myung Jin-su. Feeling sorry for Myung Gu-ho, who sleep-talked drunkenly calling "Dad," Yoon Yi-rang and James left after handing him a business card and saying, "Contact us if you come to Seoul," remarking, "Not knowing might be a blessing" and "It won't be too late even if we find out who it is and tell you," showing a tender side. Months later, however, Myung Gu-ho, who said he would close the guesthouse and go to Seoul, appeared before Yoon Yi-rang and James, and the two coolly welcomed him.
In the final scene, sitting before a chessboard in the secret room, Yoon Yi-rang responded to the hooded man, the real culprit in the past kidnapping, who asked, "All right. Then what game do you want to play? What kind of play do you want?" by retorting, "It's a bit cruel to call it a game. The utopia you dream of. I'll turn it into a complete hell," and laughed solemnly in a chilling-laugh ending that shattered the tension.
Viewers reacted strongly: "I couldn't take my eyes off it for a moment!" "Yi-rang really is a genius leader! Maryu I can't wait" "Park Hee-soon's consummate acting as a con artist is the best! I was completely immersed" "When will Joo Jong-hyuk learn the truth? I'm curious" "Weekends are 'The Confidence Man KR'" and more.
Meanwhile, 'The Confidence Man KR' is being released simultaneously on TV CHOSUN and Coupang Play, and globally it is available in 240 countries and regions excluding Korea through Amazon Prime Video.
[Photo] TV CHOSUN
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