'Honor: their court' exposed a prostitution scandal that could shake the nation to the surface, delivering a fast-paced development from its first broadcast.
On the 2nd, the ENA Monday-Tuesday drama 'Honor: their court (written by Park Ga-yeon, directed by Park Gun-ho, abbreviated as Honor)' premiered. At the center, Lee Na-young, Jung Eun-Chae, and Lee Chung-ah delivered fierce performances and completed the narrative of determined female lawyers with a charisma that would not collapse even if broken. Viewers responded to the birth of 'wannabe' characters and stories they can trust and watch. The first episode aired on the 2nd recorded nationwide ratings of 3.1% and metropolitan area ratings of 2.9%, marking the highest premiere ratings for an ENA Monday-Tuesday drama and showing early signs of commercial success. (Provided by Nielsen Korea, based on paid households)
Episode 1 of 'Honor' opened with the female victim forced into silence and tepid legal responses highlighting the reality of sexual crimes in Korea, as the lawyers of the women's crime victim–specialized law firm L&J (Listen & Join) — Yoon Ra-young (Lee Na-young), Kang Shin-jae (Jung Eun-Chae), and Hwang Hyun-jin (Lee Chung-ah) — took bold steps. 'Celebrity lawyer' Yoon Ra-young appeared on a broadcast debate and criticized the horrific reality in which victims are treated like criminals in court because the juvenile sexual crime victim video testimony was ruled unconstitutional, pointing out that even juveniles could hear such 'nonsense' defenses. 'Law firm representative' Kang Shin-jae forcefully argued at the board of the parent company 'Haeil' that was pressuring them to drop the case that L&J was contributing to Haeil's image laundering by realizing social values, the public interest, and human rights. At that moment, 'fiery lawyer' Hwang Hyun-jin stayed by the side of the juvenile victim who had to appear in court at the perpetrator's request to keep her from being swayed and drew out her testimony.
The reason these three moved so swiftly inside and out was that L&J had taken on the case of the nation's son-in-law candidate actor Kang Eun-seok (Lee Chan-hyung), accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Public opinion branded the victim, an 18-year-old high school student Jo Yoo-jung (Park Se-hyun), as a gold digger, and trucks of protesting fans and condolence wreaths supporting Kang Eun-seok surrounded the law firm. Despite L&J's fight that refused to give up under such external pressure, the trial took an unexpected turn. It was revealed that the place where Jo Yoo-jung met Kang Eun-seok was not a club, undermining the credibility of all prior statements. Ultimately, Kang Eun-seok was acquitted in the first trial and strode out of the courtroom, but Jo Yoo-jung suffered horrific secondary victimization as her personal information was leaked online. Still, for some reason she did not reveal how she met Kang Eun-seok.
When the prosecution was about to give up on appeal amid negative public opinion, Kang Shin-jae, who always has a plan B, turned the case around. Hwang Hyun-jin learned through former boyfriend reporter Lee Jun-hyuk (Lee Chung-ju) that behind the case lay a prostitution scandal that could overturn the nation. But Lee Jun-hyuk remained tight-lipped about its details. While Yoon Ra-young and Hwang Hyun-jin were investigating another victim, they discovered that Kang Eun-seok had also been involved with drugs. Kang Shin-jae handed decisive footage of Kang Eun-seok's drug transactions to the commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency, and he was urgently arrested. Reducing the nation's son-in-law candidate to a 'drug addict' turned the headwind into a favorable gust — a thrilling, decisive move.
But the fate of reporter Lee Jun-hyuk, who held the key to the case, elevated the drama's tension to a peak. After being attacked by unidentified assailants and gripped by fear, he promised Hwang Hyun-jin he would hand over his reporting materials. What Hwang Hyun-jin found at his home, however, was Lee Jun-hyuk's horribly murdered body. The shock did not end there. Jo Yoo-jung, covered in blood and barefoot, walked into the banquet hall celebrating L&J's 10th anniversary. The blood-soaked ending, a declaration of war revealing the brutal and vast prostitution cartel, exploded curiosity for the next episode.
In this way, 'Honor' delivered an immersive experience that kept viewers from taking their eyes off it for a single moment with continuous reversals and shocks that turned the tables. This signaled the birth of a well-made genre drama that has been hard to find recently on home screens. Above all, the flawless acting of Lee Na-young, Jung Eun-Chae, and Lee Chung-ah was the primary reason to look forward to what comes next. Rather than soothing a victim who said she wanted to die, Yoon Ra-young lifted her up again, saying, "If you want to die, then die; live stubbornly to spite them with that mindset." Kang Shin-jae drove off as if it were nothing even after seeing profanity scrawled on the car's windshield.
In particular, she coolly burst through by saying, "I will go to the end even with a club. And I have never lost." Hwang Hyun-jin, who reportedly subdued Yoon Ra-young's stalker with a roundhouse kick, also became a strong support for victims, saying, "Our side is tough; we're unfazed by cheap tricks." Though they have different characters and skill sets, the commonality of these three — Lee Na-young, Jung Eun-Chae, and Lee Chung-ah — is that their charisma gave powerful vitality to their fierce will and zeal to never yield in any situation. Their strong will to fight for victims pushed to the edge and their close solidarity inspired both confidence and anticipation that they will expose the hidden great evil and restore ruined reputations.
'Honor' airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. on ENA.<
[Photo] Provided by ENA.
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