GOLDEN CROSS EPISODE 3

In the last episode, we saw the wheels of the conspiracy in motion: what happened, why it happened, and how this leads to Joo Wan accepting responsibility for the murder of his only daughter.

The official story, the one they tell the media and our hero, Do Yoon, is that Joo Wan found out his daughter was a mistress and killed her in a fit of outrage.  The media now comes to interview Mom, celebrating her new restaurant. It's the first she's heard of it.

Everyone who can starts to investigate the incident.  Attorney Park is consumed with finding every bit of evidence and shredding it, metaphorically speaking. He kills the private investigator who was working with Ha Yoon, our murder victim. Note: They call him a "reporter" in the subtitles, but his actions, including sending a picture of Ha Yoon to Dong Ha's wife, mark him as a P.I.  Attorney Park appears to be a character who will do whatever it takes to achieve results, and most often his methods turn to murder.

Sa Ra reports to Michael Jang her belief that Dong Ha killed Ha Yoon. Jang is outraged, deeming it attention-grabbing behavior. Sa Ra goes to Park and Dong Ha with the "official" news (the media version that implicates Joo Wan) and they visibly relax when they get the report -- Dong Ha is now off the hook. Park gets assured that Dong Ha will be in the clear.  Sa Ra and Jang try to find the P.I. to put pressure on Dong Ha, but by the time they find him, he and his car are getting dragged from the lake.

Do Yoon tries to figure out who the murderer is as he now knows his father could not have done it. He tries to gain access to the building he saw Ha Yoon in, but fails. He confronts the police as they drag his father to the prosecutor, but Joo Wan screams at him to mind his own business. When Do Yoon talks to Yi Re, she asks if she's supposed to buy him that cup of coffee, but it is not a social call; Do Yoon tells her that he is the brother of the girl who was murdered.

We see much more of our hero here than simply his investigations. He is relentless, pursuing one avenue after another only to run into walls that he can't get around. He screams and cries in frustration. He is slowly breaking down, and we see the beginnings of a man who will eventually have his vengeance.

Head Prosecutor Yi Re thinks the murder case is odd, and elects to get to the bottom of it. She has no idea her father is involved, and they share touching moments together. When talking with her colleagues, she professes her belief that Joo Wan is not the culprit.

Meanwhile, Joo Wan goes about collecting information that might clear him. He asks about Attorney Park, whom he only knows as the man that threatened his family. The arresting officer simply reiterates that he will die if he says anything wrong. Brought before Prosecutor Yi Re, Joo Wan simply repeats what he has been coached to say. She pokes holes in his story as she believes he is taking the blame for someone else, but he still breaks down and yells that he killed Ha Yoon.  

Dong Ha is consumed with guilt and fear. Guilt over what he has done, and fear he will be found out. Worry constantly creates new lines on his face. He tries to stop Park from murdering the P.I., but Park tells him it's necessary. He is visibly relieved to find there's nothing tying him to Ha Yoon. When he hears that his daughter, Yi Re, has taken the case, he freaks out. He knows she does not stop until she finds out the truth. I mentioned how he is a compelling character last episode, and he continues to be one here. He's scum, but he's scum caught up in a web of events that are beyond his control, and that frightens him.   

The Golden Cross seems to be concerned with money, but in this episode they are merely doing damage control. Jang thinks Dong Ha is a loose cannon, Sa Ra wants to make sure the paperwork is clean, Attorney Park tries to do what he can to maintain the status quo, and Dong Ha just wants it all to be over. It seems like there are cracks in this mighty organization that boil down to dissension in the ranks. Will this be enough to tear them apart?

This just keeps getting better and better. Now that many of my questions are answered, now I can just watch it without scratching my head. The show is very tightly plotted, it moves from one sequence to the next seamlessly. Each character's emotions are convincingly portrayed, even the mom who appears to suffer a breakdown. Bear with me you guys, there's way more to this than meets the eye.

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