With two episodes left until the finale, can 'Shin I-rang' deliver a satisfying finish as it sets a new peak in viewership?
Yoo Yeon-seok announced the birth of a 'god hero' as he updated his career-high filmography in the SBS Friday-Saturday drama Shin I-rang Law Office, which airs every Friday and Saturday at 9:50 p.m.
In Shin I-rang Law Office (directed by Shin Jung-hoon, written by Kim Ga-young and Kang Cheol-gyu, produced by StudioS and Mongjakso), Shin I-rang (Yoo Yeon-seok), who opened a law office and had not experienced a calm day, faced repeated rejections at law firm interviews because of his father Shin Gi-jung's (Choi Won-young) past corruption as a prosecutor. Although the law office was started almost by default, it always contained the joys and sorrows of the living and the dead. As he listened to the stories of ghosts he saw after lighting a strange incense burner and awakened as a 'ghost-specialized lawyer,' the process delivered to viewers moments of comic relief, heart-pounding crises, and ultimately warm consolation.
In this work, Yoo Yeon-seok delivered challenging performances by being possessed by a variety of souls regardless of gender or age — including gangsters, idol trainees, elderly people with dementia, and children — fitting the unique premise of a lawyer who sees ghosts. Beyond merely imitating speech patterns, he perfected the gaze and small habits as if inhabited by each character's soul, leading to the appraisal that Yoo Yeon-seok himself is a genre.
A particularly chilling aspect for viewers lay in the meticulous detail. He captivated attention by perfectly reproducing the heavy voice and gait of the dementia deceased Kang Dong-sik (Lee Duk-hwa), then immediately transformed into the 8-year-old deceased Yoon Si-ho (Park Da-on), who performed a cute dance to the 'Heartsping' theme song, prompting exclamations. Also, to capture the trait of a left-handed father, he naturally used his left hand to use chopsticks while eating egg kimbap. Viewers who noticed this reacted explosively, saying his acting was like riding a cutting board (i.e., razor-sharp).
Thus, the 'Shin I-rang' Yoo Yeon-seok completed departs from the typical hero of genre works. His actions, which prioritize the grievances of the dead and the suffering of the living over his own well-being, fully convey the drama's core message of 'respect for people.' Although his career began involuntarily because of the fate of seeing ghosts, his warm heart — unable to pass by an old woman selling vegetables on the street — ultimately made it impossible for him to ignore the deceased's heartbreaking sincerity.
And finally, the tearful confession in episode 14, when he told the deceased father Shin Gi-jung, whom he had been avoiding, "You are my father," sent shivers through viewers' hearts. Even though everyone in the world condemned his father as a 'corrupt prosecutor,' he chose to believe the father he had experienced and loved rather than others' testimony. Shin Gi-jung's words — "Even if everyone in the world doesn't believe, if there is that one person, I can be brave. Dad is that person for I-rang" — were faithfully carried on by Shin I-rang, who decided to become that 'one and only person' for his father, raising expectations to a peak for his actions in the remaining two episodes.
The production team said, "Yoo Yeon-seok analyzes and internalizes even the subtle habits between the lines of the script and acts them as Shin I-rang," adding, "Yoo Yeon-seok's overwhelming acting, which moves freely between comedy and mystery, humanism and romance, completed the hero called Shin I-rang. Please look forward to the moving finale Yoo Yeon-seok will portray as Shin I-rang faces the final truth and makes his choice."
[Photo] StudioS, Mongjakso
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