Episode 2
At the beginning of episode 2 of Why Her, Gong Chan recalls meeting the Lawyer turned Professor, Oh Soo-jae in the past when he was in prison. Present-day, Soo-jae walks past him and Chan is relieved to see she doesn’t recognize him.
She is now in the Principal Director Baek Jin-ki’s cabin who was her professor and the inspiration behind her line – “Never let your client end up in prison.” Director Jin-ki recalls thinking Soo-jae would be the troublemaker from her batch.
Soo-jae laughs as she states she used to be naive in the past. She states that she drove So-young to commit suicide and was kicked out of her job, temporarily due to public opinion. Now she wants to return back by building a ‘favorable public opinion’ for herself.
Director Jin-ki tells her that the position she was interested in was already taken by someone else and Soo-jae leaves. At the end of the day, Chan is on his way back home from college when it starts raining. He recalls being younger when on a rainy day, he had been looking for his step-sister – Jeon Na-jung.
Chan asks the cashier of the departmental store about Na-jung but he states that he did not know where she was. He leaves the store but keeps looking for Na-jung. On the street, he spots Na-jung’s shoes and rushes to an abandoned construction site to look for her. He ends up discovering her unconscious body and tries to wake her up when someone hits him on the head and he faints.
Back to present day, Soo-jae asks her informants from Hansu Group to look through the documents and find her the unimaginable information that she needs. At TK Law Firm, Choi Joo-wan, the son of Tae-kook has replaced her as the new Managing Partner.
The security does not let her go in as she is supposed to be on a vacation. Choi Tae-kook arrives and asks Soo-jae why she was at the office when she was asked to take a break. Tae-kook asks security to let Soo-jae in and upon entering the office, she overhears all the employees congratulating Joo-wan and cheering him on.
An angry Soo-jae goes to the restroom and recalls Tae-kook and her conversation from the sashimi restaurant which makes her realize that the law firm owner was going to hand over the company to his son.
Soo-jae gets a call from the Teaching Assistant at Seojung University and states that the students are refusing to take her class. In class, Chan and Choi Yoon-sang are the only two students willing to take Soo-jae’s class. The two bond over discussing Soo-jae when Yoon-sang states that Soo-jae would never let her class get canceled.
An announcement on behalf of Soo-jae is released online that lures students to join her class again. Soo-jae hands the students their first assignment and states that she would only be taking lectures once in a while. She mentions that students would be graded on the basis of their assignments and written exams. The Teaching Assistant announces that Soo-jae would be the supervisor of Group 8 which consists of Chan, Yoon-sang, and three others.
Assemblyman Lee In-soo receives an envelope with some information about his finances that shock him. At the Hansu Bio headquarters, a similar envelope is handed over to Han Ki-taek and Chairman Han Seung-beom. revealing the chemical company’s financial statements.
Learning about the envelopes, Tae-kook rushes to Soo-jae’s cabin to find the Hansu Bio documents. Tae-kook finds comic books instead and realizes that Soo-jae had outsmarted him.
Seojung University is hosting a gathering of the freshers with Chairman Tae-kook as the keynote speaker who praises the University alumni Director Seung-beom as well as Assemblyman Il-soo.
Following his speech, Soo-jae is seated with Tae-kook as they discuss the documents but she plays two recordings making it evident that both Seung-beom and Il-su had spoken against Tae-kook behind his back.
The chairman states he understands why Soo-jae is angry about losing her hard-earned position. Soo-jae wonders if Joo-wan would really be able to handle a two billion dollar case. Tae-kook finally catches on to Soo-jae and states that she purposely manipulated the entire situation to make his own son the face of TK Law Firm in the event of a fallout between all parties involved.
She leaves but is followed by Professor Seo Joon-myung who tries to grope. Chan rushes and pushes the male professor asking her if she was okay. The professor is enraged when Chan threatens to call the cops with the security camera footage of him groping Soo-jae.
As Professor Seo leaves, Chan asks him to apologize to Soo-jae. The professor immediately slaps Chan and Soo-jae is reminded of her last interaction with him where she had struck Chan across the face at the sashimi restaurant.
Joon-myung leaves asking Chan to stay out of his sight. Chan and Soo-jae discuss why she let the male professor walk away without apologizing and Soo-jae ends up apologizing to Chan for slapping him twice.
In the lobby, Chairman Tae-kook runs into Yoon-sang it is evident that Yoon-sang is the son of Tae-kook. Yoon-sang dismisses his father but he asks Yoon-sang to join TK Firm now that Joo-wan was a part of the firm too but Yoon-sang declines the offer and walks off.
Outside, he meets Soo-jae and the two old acquaintances catch up. Yoon-sang mentions that Soo-jae was his tutor in the past. He asks her if she would join him at the after-party but she drives away.
At the Karaoke bar, first-year students, Na Se-ryun and Nam Chun-poong exit one after the other. Se-ryun is crying as she arrives at the university with a poster in her hand. The next morning, many students gather to read an anonymous post about Professor Seo Joon-myung sexually assaulting Se-ryun.
A recording is released online which reveals that she had confronted the professor but he had denied having any part in the assault. In the recording, Chun-poong claims he Se-ryun is assaulted.
Chan spots Professor Joon-myung asking the TA to take the defamatory post against him down. At the same time, Se-ryun talks to the student council about the incident who threaten her with being sued by Professor Seo for defamation. The three male council members state that Professor Seo’s had a clean reputation and was a prosecutor in the past.
The council members state that they had already fact-checked with the Professor and Chun-poong beforehand and the two had denied the assault. Professor Seo blames the incident on alcohol while Chun-poong is threatened of being by the student council.
The council members try to sway Se-ryun into changing her statement and apologizing to the Professor but she leaves the room. On campus, Professor Joon-myung confronts her publicly and claims that he was ready to forgive her but Se-ryun asks the professor to apologize to her instead.
Chan overhears the conversation between the two where the Joon-myung threatens Se-ryun claiming she was a low-life. A younger Gong Chan recalls Joon-myung, who was the prosecutor of his case, accusing him of raping and murdering his Na-jung by calling Chan a low-life.
Back to present time, an enraged Chan hits Joon-myung making a scene. The professor assaults Chan but Yoon-sang intervenes stopping the him. Group 8 members including Chan, Yoon-sang, Chun-poong, and Jo Gang-ja gather at Chan’s trying to get Chun-poong to confess.
Yoon-sang reveals that the professor was involved in a similar incident the year before and the girl involved ended up having to leave the University. Gang-ja confronts Chun-poong but he denies having any knowledge about the incident and leaves.
The next day, the Seojung University Professors discuss the issue. Soo-jae is the last professor to arrive. The professors conclude that Se-ryun should be dismissed from the university for making up the allegation.
Soo-jae states that the professors at the University were no different from her lousy colleagues at TK Firm and leaves the meeting only to meet Se-ryun on the way out. The student asks Soo-jae to help her but the lawyer advises Se-ryun to apologize to Professor Seo.
The lawyer states that South Korean laws do not protect women who are sexually assaulted. Chan overhears the conversation as Se-ryun walks off. Chan confronts Soo-jae and states that she is not being true to herself.
Chan continues to ask Soo-jae to help Se-ryun but the lawyer misunderstands that Chan is doing all this because he has a crush on Se-ryun. Soo-jae asks him to bring evidence to beat the professor. Chan walks off with a promise to bring evidence in support of the girl he really has a crush on.
Soo-jae meets with Professor Joon-myung’s wife and mother-in-law alongside the male professor as the women express their worries to Soo-jae and hire her to clear out the professor’s name.
Meanwhile, Chan gets video evidence from the Karaoke bar that reveals Chun-poong as a witness on the scene. The Karaoke bar owner states Joon-myung had asked for the video to be deleted. Despite seeing the video, Chun-poong remains silent out of fear.
Professor Seo’s wife accompanies him to a meeting at the University and pleads his case. Group 8 members join the meeting to defend Se-ryun. They play the video evidence making Joon-myung lose his temper. Group 8 members bring additional proof of Professor Seo’s past actions to strengthen their case against the professor.
Professor Seo’s wife asks to dismiss all the evidence as they are inadmissible according to the law. The wife asks Soo-jae to intervene. Soo-jae asks to discuss the issue privately but Professor Seo’s wife asks it to be an open discussion.
Soo-jae plays a video clip of Joon-myung groping and assaulting her exposing the Professor. His wife strikes Professor Seo across the face and leaves but he blames his actions on alcohol and continues to act guiltlessly. Director Jin-ki asks Joon-myung to resign from the university due to personal reasons. Soo-jae leaves but meets Professor Seo’s wife on her way out.
She calls Soo-jae out for not defending her client and accuses the lawyer of sleeping her way to the top at TK firm. Soo-jae drops photographs of her having an extra-marital affair and asks her to straighten Joon-myung.
From a distance, Chan sees Professor Seo being dragged away from the University by his wife. Chan recalls the case of his step-sister’s rape and murder where Seo Joon-myung, the prosecutor of the case reads out the report accusing Chan (named Kim Dong-gu in the past), of raping and murdering his step-sister Na-jung.
At the jail, Chan protests with his parents that he was being wrongfully accused but they do not believe him. He ends up being assaulted by his cellmates. In his cell, Jo-gab and Hyung-chil are the only two cellmates that defend and take care of him.
Back to the present day, Chan interrupts Soo-jae as she enters the elevator asking her why she decided to eventually defend Se-ryun. He then asks the lawyer out for a meal but when she does not respond, he takes his words back. Chan stops the elevator door from closing and enters it. He confesses his feelings for Soo-jae and holds her hand. As the doors open, he leaves the elevator first and Soo-jae is shocked.
Chan sees her walk away in silence from a distance as he recalls his court case from the past where Soo-jae was his defendant. He is wrongfully sentenced to 10 years in prison. Soo-jae holds his hand and consoles him, promising he would get through it.
Present-day, Chan says that he kept his promise to her. A year after Chan had been sentenced to prison, the real culprit of Na-jung’s case is caught and he is released. Having no family to go to, he changes his name from Kim Dong-gu to Gong Chan and starts working at the local fish market with the goal of becoming a lawyer. Meanwhile, present-day Soo-jae appears to be touched by Chan’s confession as she smiles softly.
The Episode Review
The second episode of Why Her seemed more entertaining than the first as it revealed how Chan is connected to Soo-jae. On the one hand, the meticulous Soo-jae finally finds herself thinking from her heart all thanks to Chan; he is trying to get the lawyer to fall in love with him.
As expected, Yoon-sang is the son of Choi Tae-kook but it is pretty evident that he hates the ways of his father and will probably end up siding with Soo-jae unless he turns out to be the bad guy. It is very odd to see that no one recognizes Chan, and his features have drastically changed over the years… but Soo-jae’s hasn’t.
The seems to be a high possibility that Hansu Bio’s Chairman and Assemblyman Il-soo are involved in the death of Na-jung. The episode reveals how Chan made it to the top despite being faced with hardships in the past, just like Soo-jae.
Even though the pace of the episode was slower and did make any pivotal revelations about Soo-jae, the audience got to see a lot about Chan’s present life and how he got to where he has.
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Episode Rating
(3.5)