Gangnam B-Side – K-drama Episode 3 Recap & Review

Episode 3

Episode 3 of Gangnam B-Side begins with the cops finding Gil-ho’s blade near CEO Lee Gang-su’s corpse. Meanwhile, Dong-woo confronts Prosecutor Min for siding with the corrupt cops. In exchange, she asks for proof that Captain Ju Yun wanted Gil-ho killed. Frustrated, Dong-woo tells Commissioner Moon that he will set up his own team so that Chief Prosecutor Tak cannot stop him. He brings in Ji-su and they track down the empty arcade.

Meanwhile, Min tells Tak that they should pick another culprit but he insists on framing Gil-ho who has survived the jump from the bridge.

As for Noh Joon-seo, he has become the CEO of the club, HYENA. Min questions him about Gang-su’s murder and he feigns ignorance. Instead, he gives her Gil-ho’s secret texting account and tells her to catch him as Gang-su’s murderer. He also bribes her but she dumps the money.

Instead, she looks into Joon-seo’s track record and he has several charges against him. However, he has always been acquitted by Tak. Her subordinate, Mrs. Ryu also finds that the blade has Gil-ho’s DNA.

As for Dong-woo, he learns that the arcade was used as a base by Madam Baek who is now dead. He snoops around and finds a business card from Gangnam Trading Company. Ji-su finds Jae-hee and Jung-hwa’s social media accounts and sees that they were friends with Lemon. Dong-woo heads to his hideout, and right at that moment, Gil-ho enters the arcade.

He patches himself up and a flashback shows Baek, Gil-ho and their girls hanging around the base. They see Jae-hee and Jung-hwa beating up some clients who refuse to pay them. Impressed, Baek invites the two to work for her.

Gil-ho is Jae-hee’s driver and looks out for her. They bond after hours over drinks as she hopes to retire to a beach once she has enough money. She spots his wrist tattoo and asks for the same to cover up her cigarette burns. One day, Baek is killed over money. Jae-hee points out that all the girls will be forced to find other pimps. But they trust Gil-ho to keep them safe and she convinces him to continue Baek’s business.

Meanwhile, Min recalls Yun shooting at Gil-ho when he jumped. She also sees the subway CCTV footage and visits the site. She finds Jae-hee sitting on the bench with flowers and sweets. At that moment, she gets a call from Ryu who reveals Gil-ho’s DNA was also found on Jung-hwa’s body. On hearing their names, Jae-hee runs off before Min can stop her.

As for Dong-woo, he heads to the Gangnam Trading Company building with Jang-ho and finds that the location is the same as Akira, the club they raided 3 years ago. It has been turned into a hostess bar. Jang-ho finds drugs and some thugs and beats them all up. He is almost stabbed but Ji-su comes to his rescue. Nearby, Dong-woo finds Lemon filming drugged-up girls and Yun with an escort. 

Dong-woo takes them in and interrogates Yun who stays quiet. But Tak is annoyed by all the loose ends and wants Min to pin everything on Yun and wrap up the whole case. He lashes out at her when she suggests investigating the case.

She questions Yun who points out that Tak is the boss of all of them. But since the chief prosecutor wants him gone, she should contact Joon-seo. He somehow sends a text to Joon-seo for help but the boy ignores him. Annoyed, Yun agrees to cut a deal with Min.

Deciding to get to the bottom of things, Min approaches Dong-woo. She apologises for her previous blunder but shares that she wants to find the real killer. He tells her about Jae-hee and how he needs to find her for his daughter’s sake.

At that moment, she gets a call from Joon-seo. He has killed Yun and has Jae-hee who he is using to bait Gil-ho. He informs both Gil-ho and Min to arrive by midnight if they want Jae-hee. Gil-ho panics while Min tells Dong-woo about the secret texting app.

At the end of Gangnam B-Side Episode 3, Psyche sends Gil-ho proof – a girl with her face covered, she is wearing a red dress and has the same wrist tattoo. Joon-seo and his friends look at her gleefully.

The Episode Review

Episode 3 of Gangnam B-Side is getting further into the mystery. The Gangnam Trading company seems to be a money-laundering front for the elusive Mr. Choi’s clubs and dealings. We can gather that he is rich enough to have the chief prosecutor and most of the cops in his pocket. He possibly funded Gang-su’s K-pop agency which is how Joon-seo knows him. Jung-hwa and Jae-hee possibly filmed them which is why they want the girls dead and the videos deleted.

The captured girl is very likely not Jae-hee since she is wearing a different outfit from when we last saw her in the subway. It would be a real twist if they somehow get their hands on Dong-woo’s daughter who has the same tattoo. So far, a solid premise for the conflict even if it is nothing unique at the moment.

But it gets a little messy when we look at the good guys. Gil-ho is an errand boy turned pimp with a heart who cares for his girls. Said girls are targeted by Choi’s mafia, so of course, the clever and fiery Jae-hee puts herself at risk by running instead of teaming up with Gil-ho. Dong-woo is a bumbling, naive, old-school cop with a misogynist mindset who is 5 steps behind everyone.

And finally, we have Min who is corrupt but not fully corrupt, good for her, we suppose? She doesn’t mind being dirty as long as the story is set in stone. If they are trying to go for the corrupt prosecutor who is just pretending to be corrupt (popularised by Honey Lee), it is definitely failing. But we are only in episode 3, so hopefully the K-drama is able to iron out these wrinkles and focus on the characterization to give us strongly-motivated, steady personalities.