Face Me – K-drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

Episode 2

Episode 2 of Face Me continues from the last episode, but this time Jeong-woo’s fiancé is shown bloody inside the apartment room. His reputation has taken a hit after his refusal to perform a less profitable reconstruction surgery led to criticism following a patient’s suicide attempt.

The hospital soon experiences a rapid decline in appointments, and cancellations rise. To fix their brand image, the chief director of KSH Cosmetics organizes a press conference, forces Jeong-woo to attend, and announces that the earlier reconstruction was part of their gratis surgeries, where the brand provides medical support to crime victims.

Elsewhere, Min-hyung, while investigating the suicide case of the poor father, notices that he’d made several appointments for his daughter’s burn scar consultations and finds the sudden suicide suspicious in this context. Later, his daughter confesses that the scar resulted from her father’s alcoholism after her mother left them, and she wants the case to be wrapped up quickly.

Meanwhile, a new case emerges in which a man, Yoo Min-soo, is accused of sexual harassment. The police find him bleeding from a cut on his face. The couple claims that Yoo Min-soo attempted to harass the woman inside the bathroom of an internet café. Min-soo is taken to a plastic surgery clinic, which turns out to be Jeong-woo’s. After stitching him up, Jeong-woo notices his discomfort and arranges for another surgery, while Min-hyung notices blood spots on the boyfriend’s shoes, who had claimed he arrived after his girlfriend defended herself with a knife against Min-soo. At the hospital, it’s revealed that Min-soo is actually a trans woman undergoing gender transition.

Since they cannot disclose Min-soo’s medical records, Min-hyung pursues the blood spots on the boyfriend’s sneakers. She and her officer partner chase the man until they arrest him. We find that Jeong-woo had helped by telling them that whoever struck Min-soo should be taller than him, which became another point of contention in the case.

The truth is finally revealed: the boyfriend had lost a game because Min-soo insisted on cleaning a food stain while working at the café. This enraged the man, who dragged Min-soo into the bathroom, attacked him with the knife, and fabricated a story with his girlfriend.

Later, Min-soo thanks Jeong-woo and promises to return for her breast implant surgery. Elsewhere, through a neighbor, Min-hyung learns that a man with taped shoes was seen on the day of the father’s suicide. They deduce that this man has a grudge against Jeong-woo, who is being followed by a suspicious person elsewhere. The episode ends with a car rushing toward Jeong-woo.

The Episode Review

It’s quite refreshing that the show tackles themes often missing in K-dramas. It’s rare to see a trans or queer character portrayed in these shows, so that’s a welcome addition, adding an unexpected twist to the plot.

Beyond that, the overall plot seems somewhat bland. Jeong-woo and Min-hyung are commonly recognized stock characters often seen in K-dramas—the apathetic man who doesn’t seem to care about others but secretly does, and the sassy female police officer. Jeong-woo is quite similar to Lee Min-ki’s role in Because This Is My First Life.