My Beautiful Bride - Episode 15 (A ThisKicksAssCap)

(Almost) Time toooooooooo say goodbyeeeeeeeeee. The penultimate episode is here and this drama is still good. It's still good! Hooray, KDrama can still do it! Actually, the scene between the two elders was phenomenal and as penultimate episodes go, this one is perfect. Never have I seen a more optimal way of preparing us for the final episode.
There's still a chance they could pull a surprise extension.
You think so? 
No, not really.

Episode 15

Attempt 193 at catching up on foot to a speeding car: failed. Banker looks disappointed and a bit out of breath (and probably thinks "I must train harder! Harder! Harder") when a car stops next to him. The window is lowered and reveals: Joo-Young, the Beautiful almost Bride. She offers her help and her car to get Seo Jin-Gi, but he does not want her involved. Ooookay, anybody else get really nervous here and screamed "GO ALREADY!" at them?!
The wisdom of the ages whispers to me that if the writer throws them together a lot toward the end, they will be alone AT the end. I begin to prepare for ranting.
And there are gangsters watching them!!! Secretary Kim's guys. Tracksuit Chairman is surprised to hear a banker is after Seo. Now I'm quite certain Tracksuit Appa has heard of Banker before, but never mind. Anyway, the whole story is so interesting to him, he wants Mr. Banker brought before him.
Has he? I'm trying to remember. No one ever really got a chance to tell Tracksuit WHY they failed in a mission before he tortured them with dinner, and generally Banker was the reason they did.
In the meantime, Do-Hyeong has gotten into the car with Joo-Young. He comments on how much she has changed and she promises to change even more in the future. Good. It's like she is saying those words again that she said so many years ago when the met at the bank. This time, Do-Hyeong cuts her short though. "I know you", he says. "And you know me too". That's all he needs. And they cry.
Can they PLEASE just PLEASE get a happy ending?
AND THEY SHOULD HAVE MOOOOOOOOOVED! Because here come two gangster cars, blocking their car from the front and the back. Ah, but it's no problem for Bank Guy. He gets out, makes his way past the gangster in the front, gets behind the wheel of their car and back out onto the street. The path is cleared for Joo-Young to drive off.
I wonder if his wife watches this drama and when he's all bad ass and sexy or sad and sexy or cute and sexy she says 'he doesn't look like this at home' or hopefully she says 'there you go, that's my guy!'
They say goodbye to each other where there are no gangsters. Just think about yourself from now on, he tells her. (Now here is what I would have done: taken a short time-out at a motel). It hurts him to send her away, but he is thinking to himself that it's more dangerous next to him right now. But soon, they will be together. And she is thinking to herself that it's all her fault, but she will become someone useful to him now. You know what? We won't stop you, darling. Her new fierceness (yes, I see it) is also praised by Lee Jin-Sook when she debriefs.
The world's first crime-fighting supercouple? Real life Incredibles? A season two, perhaps?
Beautiful Banker's escape only makes Tracksuit Chairman more interested in him (wait until you see the exercise video!!)
It'll put some pep in your step, that's for sure!

Back in his own car, Do-Hyeong calls The Bore - who is sitting in an empty hospital room again. She is even more non-energetic than usual, which tips Banker off that something is wrong. Kind soul that he is, he goes to the hospital and learns of Park Hyeong-Sik's demise from Detective Oh. When he joins Yoon-Mi in the empty hospital room, she breaks down crying. It's okay, hon. It's okay.
I do feel sad for her.  It's a double loss, when you think about it.  And she has no one else, either.
Park's death causes all the police officers to go wild about catching the Shadows. Mass-arrests of loan sharks follows. Yoon-Mi swears to her dead lover that she will catch Seo Jin-Gi and kill him. The name that pops up the most is S Loan Sharking, which therefore becomes the center of their investigation. 
I'm not even going to comment on how ridiculous their sudden energy and wisdom and effectiveness is. Or that a business which has been in existence for all of a two weeks has suddenly become THE worst offender of all.
But where is Big Bad Jin-Gi? At a luxury hotel room, looking swell in a new suit. Lee El is with him, but there is no lovey-dovey-ness between them ... none at all. He threatens to kill her if she isn't useful to him and she cries in frustration. Yeah, you might have dreamt of a big life, Lee El, but in the end, your character just sucked.
BIG TIME. What an incredible waste.
Seo Jin-Gi is looking better than ever, wow, great suit! He is going to see Tracksuit Boss who ... isn't eating. And isn't happy, either, maybe because he isn't eating. Seo claims Park's death was a mere accident. Of bigger interest to Chairman Kang is the loan though. Which isn't there. Which makes Chairman Kang FIRE Seo Jin-Gi (he must have been watching "The Apprentice"). "Study a foreign language for a few years", is his command. Hahaha, I love that phrase. 
Is anyone else thinking about how much like a pyramid scheme the whole money bit is? They want the money, not to do something with it like construction, but just to get rich. But loans have to be paid back. Do they borrow more money to pay that loan?
It's money laundering. I don't understand how it works in detail though
Me neither - what little I know of money laundering entails running dirty money through clean businesses...but they are borrowing money, not lending.
Hasn't he heard?! Back at the hotel (beauuuutiful room), he calls Branch Manager and tells him to hurry up. Well, Branch Manager promises to speed things along, but he also grows quite suspicious. Jin-Gi doesn't register anything amiss, though - he's primarily thinking about that Song Hak-Soo account he wants to plunder. Stupid Seo ... Secretary Kim is at the bank and the two men laugh at the "psychologically disturbed" Seo Jin-Gi, right before Kim tells Manager to put all the money Seo handled into another account (that HE handles, I guess).
Remember when Kim looked like a wimpy guy, afraid of everything? 

Ohhhh, this is going to be good! Do-Hyeong hears from his Banker friend that a new guy is representing Seryo; and because Do-Hyeong is a man of action, he storms right into the office and asks the new Kim whether Chairman Kang sent him and where Seo Jin-Gi is. Actually, Secretary Kim has always scared me. He has a dead kind of smile, which is super creepy. I'm sure he tortures animals off-screen. Secretary Kim denies any knowledge of Kang and says Seo has disappeared, but Do-Hyeong isn't finished: "There won't be an additional loan", he says. 
Because this is definitely how underlings act in front of their bosses, yes.  You are right about Kim.  I said something last night about his face giving me the creeps because it looks like a mask.
Well, too bad they already got the approval from the headquarters, as Branch Manager informs him. And who filed for it? Branch Manager ... and Kim Do-Hyeong. Cling together, swing together! You mean but smart little toad. Or not? He claims he never approved this loan and storms out.
The whole thing between him and the Bank Manager is kind of weak, I think. The back and forth between them is odd, the power shifts feel strange. Do you know what I mean?
I have thought about it too! Yes, it is a weird type of relationship. My explanation: Branch Manager knows exactly whose son this is.
To follow Secretary Kim. He is getting quite good at that car-chase stuff, right? Uhm, no. Cause Secretary Kim notices him immediately and stops the car. He goes into a shop and buys two ice creams, one of which he offers Do-Hyeong. Unfortunately, he has no mind for ice cream right now. How impolite. He demands to see Chairman Kang and when Secretary Kim does not budge he threatens "to visit him soon". To which Secretary Kim says: "Hwaiting". I crack up. Do-Hyeong is SO PISSED.
It's not wise to poke the lion in the cage.
Luckily for everybody, he gets a phone call then from Park Tae-Gyu, who has located Hammer Head. Only, Hammer Head refuses to work with him, since he has S Loan Sharking to back him up. But he gets a word of warning: Stop looking for Chairman Kang. He is like a legendary being, if you see him, you die - or at least pretend you never met him. ... and Do-Hyeong misses another opportunity to come clean about Mi-Sook.
That begins to feel significant in a way I can't ignore.
Because all his accounts have been suspended, Seo Jin-Gi pays a CREEPY visit to Branch Manager. People, always check whether someone is on the backseat before you get in!!! He gets Branch Manager to swear he will unlock his accounts and keep quiet about it, because otherwise, his daughter will suffer next. Well, it seems Branch Manager cares nothing about his daughter, because he immediately calls Secretary Kim after Jin-Gi has left the car.
Immediately. Like did not even wait for Seo to go around the corner immediately. He might as well have been dialing the phone while promising not to call.
Do-Hyeong seems to pay Shin Gook Bank's Headquarters and its "Inspection Team" a visit? But then, Lawyer calls him - he's waiting for him in front of his apartment. Yeah, of course he heard about the visit to Headquarters. So what ... does this bank belong to his mother?! Anyway, Lawyer tells him to not only look at Seryo but also at the developers. There's a company called Kyung Woo Residential, it seems, behind it Kyung Woo Corporation. And there's the link to his mother. WE KNEW IT! But Friendly Lawyer actually tells his young master to ask his mother for advice before continuing his crazy vendetta. He cannot win without her.
She's their lawyer, did I get that right? (Oh, she is? I always thought she was a CEO) Basically, she's like the dad in Grapevine. A move and shaker, a President-maker, that kind of thing.
There's the rub, though ... there are conditions attached to her help. Go to law school, marry the woman she wants and inherit the family business. That's the only way Joo-Young can live. YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT?! Do-Hyeong just sits there, suppressing his anger, and "Friendly" Lawyer goes down to the parking garage to tell his mother that he's in agreement. That's bullshit, Lawyer. He didn't say a thing.
I wasn't quite sure I understood his intention there... I think he wants Do Hyeong to succeed so he gives him hints, and I guess he thinks he can jolly the mother along for a while?
Anyway, it's enough for Powerful Omma to go see Chairman Kang. She tells him subtly off for causing such "noise" while he is working. He says it's under control - but for that annoying manager at the debt financing department over at Shin Gook Bank. "I see that your son takes after you", he adds. They joke and they laugh, but the tension is off the charts and she tells him hands off her son cause "he'snot the type to listen to strangers". And if she hears his name mentioned again, she will be very offended.
You can just tell Kang is wishing he was cooking dinner right now.
Woah, Omma. There is a lot of you in your son, it's true.

Well, all those masked threats have made Chairman Kang even more curious for Do-Hyeong ... and he is smart enough to realize he will just have to wait for Banker to come looking for him. And in addition, it's time to end the relationship with Seo Jin-Gi. Uh-oh.
Maybe he will be suffocated with a live octopus or something.

That guy is spending his last hours on this earth in a gigantic bath tub which I ENVY. And then, he's summoned to Chairman. Jin-Gi knows exactly what that means - he arms himself.
I find that whole set up (the bathtub) very impractical and wasteful.  And I don't like the room at all. It irritates me.  Do you think I'm just looking for targets to relieve my anxiety?
Lee El isn't there because she is at the bar. Coming to see her: Joo-Young. A ghost coming to get her, she says. The point of the visit? Joo-Young wants to know where Seo Jin-Gi is. So she can kill him. His days are numbered. To drive the message home, Lee Jin-Sook joins them, slaps Lee El (though rather gently) and orders her to lead them to Jin-Gi.
All her silly little dreams of riches, crumbling into nothing. I still can't figure out if she cared about either guy somewhere in her tiny, shriveled heart. She seemed genuinely upset at Park's death. I could see a scenario where she loved Park but chose Jin Gi because he gave her a better shot at wealth and power. Sadly, we'll never know; apparently she was only here to model dresses. Or perhaps (your GIF gave me the idea) she serves as a counterpoint to Joo Young. Speaking of (not really, but go with me) whatever happened to Joo Young's cute little hooker friend?
 
Only, when she does, he is no longer at the hotel. He is sitting in his car, in front of Chairman's restaurant ... and then, he calls Yoon-Mi. He wants to turn himself in, he claims, and will provide evidence for all of Chairman Kang's wrongdoings. Well, Yoon-Mi calls Banker who immediately springs into action, suspecting a trap. Yes, of course it is!!!! Seo Jin-Gi is now at his old office, emptying the safe. But somebody has found him! Gangsters with iron bars. Behind them, Secretary Kim.
Why did he go to the restaurant?  He needed that time at his office, the idiot. But what do I care, actually? I don't, other than it was stupid of him.
Fighting like a dog for his life is not enough: Seo Jin-Gi is taken down and stabbed to (almost) death. When he is quasi finished, Chairman Kang steps in and insults him, until he draws his final breath. Not a pretty death. He must have suffered. Justice is served.
Man, he went down fighting hard. That guy was determined, wasn't he?
Yoon-Mi is in the parking garage when two guys from internal affairs ask her to step out of the car. We don't learn why because right at that moment, a car rolls in behind them, with a corpse at the wheel. Well, that's too bad. And this is why Yoon-Mi is under investigation: Because Park disclosed internal information.
I laughed my ASS off at that slow roll. And what IA officer would show up at a LOCATION to question a cop? None, that's who.
At her place, after learning of Seo Jin-gi's demise, Lee Jin-Sook asks Joo-Young to work together with her to get more power. She never wants a nail against her head again. That power she wants? Sounds a lot like Chairman Kang's power.
Wasn't that always what she was after? Didn't we know this already?
A worried Do-Hyeong receives a phone call as he waits at the police station. From Chairman Kang himself. Come see me, boy.
Okay, Dad. Oh wait, we've ruled that out.

Comments

Not a lot of Banker in this episode once again, but a lot of Chairman Kang (I like him), Secretary Kim (I fear him) and other side characters that are important. Very little Yoon-Mi, too, which is crucial for my enjoyment of this drama. At this point, her ever-same face makes me aggressive.
You made me spit out my coffee!

Omma: We knew it, didn't we? But this drama is clever: She is not a gangster queen or anything. She is just a super powerful business woman in a corrupt world, using the likes of Chairman Kang to get even more powerful and richer. I kinda respect her, even though she has done unethical things, I'm sure of it. She is making one mistake, though; she thinks she can break Do-Hyeong and make him follow her wishes. NEVER! He'd rather die than live in her world. The sooner she realizes that the better because this son of hers won't stop before he has refashioned the world into a place for Joo-Young and himself to live their lives happily.
His sort of dedication ends in death, every time.  I am not resigned!  I am not ready!

Seo Jin-Gi: I'm satisfied with how this character ended. A painful, meaningless and miserable death. Well-deserved. 
Yep.  Bye-bye.  What a great portrayal, though, huh?  I love Ryu Seung Soo.

And we get another MV from cass! This is an inspiration to all non-athletes among us, I'd say. My Beautiful Banker, will you train with me, please? 
You train with him.  I want to be his masseuse...Also:  great job, Cass!