SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Shin I-rang Law Office' Yoo Yeon-seok delivered mesmerizing fun from an opening where he sees ghosts to an ending involving possession in the courtroom, putting on a proper grand opening that stunned viewers from the first episode.
On the 13th (Fri), the first broadcast of SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Shin I-rang Law Office' (directed by Shin Jung-hoon, written by Kim Ga-young·Kang Cheol-gyu, produced by StudioS·Mongjakso) swept viewers up with the courtroom genre's thrill and a unique worldview ensemble, from the unjust death of the deceased to the first trial and a possession ending. As a result, episode 1 recorded a nationwide rating of 6.3% and a peak minute rating of 6.6%, shooting up as a spellbinding signal and immediately taking first place in its time slot. The key 20-49 rating indicator also recorded first place with an average of 2.0% and a peak of 2.5%, proving once again that SBS's refreshing courtroom fare worked. (Provided by Nielsen Korea)
Above all, Yoo Yeon-seok's diverse expressions, into which he poured the soul of his acting, were a key point that never let viewers take their eyes off the screen. His warm heart that cannot pass by a vegetable seller grandmother on the street, his pitiable charm as he trembles before a suddenly appearing ghost, and his firm creed that immerses himself in the deceased's grievance and holds the hand of the weak—he brilliantly alternated between the human warmth and cheeky comic acting of the possessed lawyer "Shin I-rang," greatly enhancing viewing pleasure. In addition, Esom as the cold-blooded elite lawyer "Han Na-hyun" tightened courtroom tension with sharp arguments, and Kim Kyeong-nam as "Yang Do-kyung," the head of law firm Taebaek, built up the villain's backstory behind the case. Kim Mi-kyung, Son Yeo-eun, Jun Suk-ho and other 'Shin I-rang family' members and the special-appearance deceased Heo Sung-tae added everyday humor to fill the drama without gaps. It was truly an avengers-level ensemble of performances.
The episode opened with an introduction of Shin I-rang, sitting at the defendant's table in a stylish black suit wearing a tie embroidered with a talisman pattern and waving a bell-shaped fan that did not suit the sleek look. Although the dead do not speak, Shin I-rang could see and hear them. He was a lawyer who listened to the unjust "too-much talking" of the deceased who had neither the power nor the means to seek revenge and secured appropriate punishment for them. Only a year earlier, Shin I-rang had been an ordinary law firm job seeker, but he repeatedly failed hiring because of the scarlet letter of his prosecutor father's "that incident" from 10 years ago. At a law firm Taebaek interview, when ace lawyer Han Na-hyun (Esom) meted out cruel scorn, Shin I-rang vowed revenge and decided to open a law office under his own name.
With immediately limited funds, the only office he could afford was the shabby Okcheon Building room 501. Blinded by the view overlooking the courthouse, he hastily signed the lease, but after finding a mysterious incense in a desk drawer and smoking it, a dazed Shin I-rang woke to see a male ghost (Heo Sung-tae) floating in the air. In fact, the place had been a shaman's house where rituals were performed and people ended up in the afterlife. Terrified, he hid under a desk and even tried praying at a church, but the ghost chased him everywhere, begging him to reveal his identity because he had no memory. Then, smelling samgyeopsal and becoming excited, the ghost entered his body, driving him crazy.
Mateo (Jung Seung-gil), who said he had once been a shaman but became a priest by God's grace, offered an explanation that was even more astounding. He said that when a ghost is excited by something it likes or dislikes and becomes possessed, it commits absurd acts, yet Shin I-rang could not remember what he had done. However, Mateo advised that if one knows the name and date of birth, the ghost's memory can return. While checking CCTV footage to find people who had previously visited the shaman's house, they discovered that Kim Min-ju's (Kim Si-eun) husband was the ghost "Lee Kang-pung" who had been tormenting him.
Along with memories of a once ordinary family's happy life with a wife and daughter, memories poured in of Lee Kang-pung dying during surgery due to a doctor's negligence. Although Shin I-rang hesitated to take on a ghost case that would not even pay legal fees, he could not ignore Kim Min-ju, who cried that her daughter had shut herself off from the world. He knew better than anyone the pain of no one listening to his father's wrongful death. Just as the truth was being covered up and Kim Min-ju was about to sign a lowball settlement, Shin I-rang stepped in. Based on clues Lee Kang-pung provided, he exposed the collusion of her lawyer, Byeon Seung-jun (Lee Kang-wook), and turned the tables, filing a lawsuit against the hospital and the doctor.
Shin I-rang's opposing counsel in the first trial was Han Na-hyun, who had insulted him. She brought up Lee Kang-pung's violent past in organized crime and even raised false allegations that he abused his daughter, using any means necessary to win. At that moment, as Lee Kang-pung's rage watching this reached a peak, he once again possessed Shin I-rang. Red-faced, Shin I-rang spewed rough dialect and curses and charged forward, only to fall after tripping over Han Na-hyun's foot and be splashed with water, which brought him back to his senses. Lying spread-eagled in the middle of the courtroom, he sobbed out an ironically funny line—I really hate lawyers who see ghosts—an ending that foreshadowed a thorny road ahead, but it raised expectations about how Shin I-rang would resolve Lee Kang-pung's grievance to achieve his first victory.
Episode 2 airs today (14th) at 9:50 p.m.
[Photo] StudioS, Mongjakso
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