'Taxi Driver 3' Lee Je-hoon perfectly succeeded in the first revenge-for-hire service, fully showing the long-awaited taste of "noon-noon-ee".
On the 22nd at 9:50 p.m., SBS's Friday-Saturday drama 'Taxi Driver 3' (written by Oh Sang-ho, directed by Kang Bo-seung) aired its second episode, which depicted Kim Do-gi (Lee Je-hoon) cracking down on the global illegal private lending organization "Neko Money," which trafficked people, delivering a thrilling catharsis. As a result, 'Taxi Driver 3' recorded a peak rating of 12.2%, metropolitan area 9.5%, nationwide 9.0%, ranking first in its time slot, taking first place among Saturday mini-series and weekly mini-series viewership. In addition, the 20-49 viewer rating averaged 3.3% and rose to a peak of 4.41%, claiming first place among all broadcasts aired that week and driving explosive buzz from the first week. (According to Nielsen Korea)
The episode began with the revelation that Neko Money was involved in missing and murder cases that produced victims across Asia, delivering a shock from the start. Also, Japanese police officer Suzuki (Mori Yusaku) and Interpol inspector Michael Chang (Ethan Ruwei) were cooperating internationally to expose Neko Money's crimes. Previously, the opponent Do-gi fought at the Neko Money gym had been an undercover agent planted by the joint team, and if he had not met Do-gi, he would have been selected as bodyguard for Neko Money boss Matsuda (Kashamatsu Sho). With the plan disrupted, Michael asked Do-gi to approach Matsuda as part of the cooperation.
Matsuda called Do-gi to his office intending to eliminate him, but after realizing Do-gi's fighting ability he instead began to take an interest in him. On the other hand, Do-gi, through their brief meeting, deduced that Matsuda did not even trust his closest aides. Believing that gaining Matsuda's trust was important to find evidence of Neko Money's crimes and the whereabouts of client Lee Seo (Cha Si-yeon), Do-gi began to act as the "most loyal man of honor." Matsuda, who liked Do-gi, heatedly tried to recruit him as an organization member, saying "become my man," but Do-gi deliberately rejected the offer to drive Matsuda crazy.
With his guard down, Matsuda hired Do-gi as a part-timer at a human trafficking site. There, the "Rainbow Heroes" were outraged after witnessing horrific human rights abuses, and Do-gi, President Jang (Kim Eui-sung), Ahn Go-eun (Pyo Ye-jin), Chief Choi (Jang Hyuk-jin), and Assistant Park (Bae Yoo-ram) raided the site and succeeded in rescuing the kidnapped people. But during this process, Do-gi and Michael clashed, causing a rift in the cooperation. Michael could not understand that Do-gi rescued only the victims without sharing information with the joint team, and Do-gi expressed resentment toward Michael, who seemed interested only in arresting criminals.
However, Lee Seo was not among the rescued hostages, and Do-gi began the final plan to completely destroy Neko Money and save Lee Seo. President Jang, Chief Choi, and Assistant Park disguised themselves as yakuza and clashed with the Neko Money organization, during which Do-gi put on an act pretending to save Matsuda's life. Also, the "Rainbow Heroes" provoked retired yakuza's sense of humiliation to incite war with Matsuda. Meanwhile, Matsuda, believing Do-gi had saved his life, proposed to become sworn brothers with Do-gi, saying "become one of my family," and confident that Matsuda had completely fallen for him, Do-gi finally accepted Matsuda's offer.
All the plans were complete and the "Rainbow Heroes'" lesson time began, maximizing immersion. During Do-gi and Matsuda's "sworn brother ritual," retired yakuza staged an ambush and the scene became chaos. With the police also storming in, Do-gi took Matsuda to a hideout and, seizing a moment of carelessness, stole the key to Matsuda's secret safe. Do-gi finally revealed his true identity, and Matsuda trembled with betrayal. Matsuda, who had never trusted humans and treated them like objects, was brought down by trust.
Afterwards, Do-gi mercilessly beat and punished Matsuda, delivering satisfaction. Matsuda made a final desperate attempt by pointing a hidden gun at Do-gi, and at that moment Michael, who had just arrived on the scene, subdued Matsuda and the situation ended. The final cooperation with Michael had also been part of Do-gi's plan. Thus, Lee Seo, who had been trapped at Matsuda's hideout, was safely rescued, and Michael's cooperation team dismantled the Neko Money organization, successfully completing the first revenge-for-hire service. Afterwards, Do-gi's welcome voice saying "5283 operation ended" decorated the ending, sharply raising expectations for the next revenge-for-hire service of the returned "Rainbow Transport."
[Photo] SBS broadcast screen capture.
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