SBS 'Taxi Driver 3' actor Lee Je-hoon faced the risk of his identity being exposed to Jang Na-ra, creating nail-biting tension.
On the 19th broadcast of SBS's Friday-Saturday drama 'Taxi Driver 3' (writer Oh Sang-ho, director Kang Bo-seung), episode 9 thrillingly unfolded with Do-gi (played by Lee Je-hoon) coercing a girl group trainee into meeting a sponsor and disguising himself as "Manager Do-gi" to secretly take a job at the entertainment agency to give them a lesson after they drove her to attempt suicide. According to Nielsen Korea, episode 9 of 'Taxi Driver 3' recorded a peak rating of 13.3%, 11.2% in the metropolitan area, and 10.0% nationwide, ranking first not only in its time slot but also among mini-series broadcast that week, continuing its box-office run. The 2049 rating averaged 3.4% and rose to a peak of 4.2%, showing the strength to maintain the No. 1 spot among all programs across all channels in December.
While driving the taxi, Do-gi picked up an idol trainee, Romi (played by Oh Ga-bin), who looked precarious. The moment Romi got out of the taxi she jumped, and Do-gi, without hesitation, plunged into the river to save her and took her to the hospital. From a suicide note among her belongings, he suspected Romi was in trouble. When Romi woke up, despite the hospital's objections she urgently left with manager Song (played by Choi Seung-joon). But Romi refused to return to her agency, and Song shocked everyone by assaulting Romi when she begged, saying she didn't want to go back. At the critical moment, Do-gi, arriving again in the Taxi Driver, rescued Romi once more.
Romi was preparing to debut in a girl group at Yellow Star entertainment with her close friend Jian (played by Yoon Ha-young). Romi and the debut team members underwent harsh practice and weight management under CEO Kang Joo-ri's (played by Jang Na-ra) training, but they willingly endured it in pursuit of their dream. Just before the debut, an incident occurred. Late at night, answering Song's call, Romi left the dorm and later woke up unconscious at an adult entertainment venue; someone then sent a video from that venue to the agency to blackmail her. With no memory of that day, Romi had no way to explain, and when she panicked and sought help from the head of headquarters, he urged her into a sponsor relationship with the blackmailer. Worried about massive penalties and her ruined dream, Romi agreed to meet the person, but upon realizing the meeting place was the club in the troubling video, she fled in confusion and fear and attempted to take her own life while bearing everything alone.
To clear Romi's injustice, it was crucial to uncover what happened the day she lost her memory. Representative Jang (played by Kim Eui-sung), chief Choi (played by Jang Hyuk-jin), and assistant Park (played by Bae Yoo-ram) tricked the agency into a search by prosecutors to thoroughly ransack the CEO's office. Among the files found on a computer was decisive evidence in Romi's video. The villain who filmed the video turned out to be the head of headquarters. It was necessary to confirm whether CEO Kang Joo-ri was an accomplice, and Do-gi, resolved to become an insider, eliminated manager Song to create a vacancy in the manager position. Then, deliberately approaching Kang Joo-ri, who needed reliable help, he strongly displayed unwavering loyalty and succeeded in taking the manager position.
As Elementz's manager, Do-gi self-proclaimed himself a 'devotee of the CEO' and observed Kang Joo-ri, and soon he began to reveal his cold true nature. Under the pretext of 'mental coaching,' he slapped members' faces and said, "Don't try to be sincere. Who really wants to know how you feel?" practicing fake smiles, instructed Do-gi to treat members coldly, and even carried a wiretap. He went so far as to charge trainees enormous debts under the guise of investment and training.
As suspicion toward Kang Joo-ri ripened, Rainbow Heroes identified the club from Romi's video, and Do-gi immediately infiltrated it. On the club's day off, Kang Joo-ri was drinking secretly with a man. At that moment, Kang Joo-ri sensed a suspicious presence outside the room, and the hidden Do-gi faced imminent exposure, raising the tension. Viewers' curiosity soars about whether Do-gi will escape the crisis and what Kang Joo-ri's inscrutable true nature is.
Meanwhile, in the broadcast, Jang Na-ra's special appearance delivered an intense presence that was hard to look away from. She delicately portrayed the duality of a successful female CEO who is strict but nice and an evil boss who, under the pretense of 'training,' normalizes verbal and physical abuse and financial exploitation. Toward the end of the episode, her ice-cold gaze sent chills, heightening curiosity about the end of the ugly secret she harbors.
[Photo] SBS 'Taxi Driver 3' broadcast capture
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