Who Is Michael?
Good Casting returns with an episode chock full of melodrama and lots of tension as Michael finally arrives but under the guise of a large, black coat. While his identity and voice remains a mystery for now, it looks like we’re finally getting closer to the truth. While exciting, that early season comedy has all but gone now and in its place, something far more serious and dramatic. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does feel tonally jarring compared to what we’ve seen before. Episode 12 of Good Castings begins 6 months ago as we learn Chan-Mi was actually recruited to root out the traitor working within the organisation. This cuts us back to the present where she agrees to meet Chief Tak. Ye-Eun meanwhile, ignores an incoming call from Chan-Mi and listens to the voicemail instead. Within that message, she decides to go it alone and catch Michael for Ye-Eun and apologises for what happened in the past. When she finishes listening, Ye-Eun immediately phones through to Dong and lets him know. Chief Tak and Chan-Mi meet at Yeongjung Marina where the two wind up fighting. After dropping the ledger and watching it catch fire, Chan-Mi manages to get hold of the incrimianting video on the phone and runs. Chief Tak follows but he’s struck by a mysterious hooded figure in a car and falls in the water, floating lifelessly on the surface. The hooded figure points a gun at Chan-Mi and forces her to hand over the phone. Only, Ye-Eun arrives not long after and holds her own gun up to the assailant. As the stand-off ensues, Chan-Mi puts herself in the way of a bullet and takes a hit for Ye-Eun as the masked figure races away. Chan-Mi passes out, just as Mi-Soon arrives at the scene too and sees what’s happening. When Chan-Mi closes her eyes, the ambulance arrives and races her up to hospital for surgery. Meanwhile, the group learn Mr OK is the one who hacked Ye-Eun’s laptop. As Bong deliberates over the next steps, Chief Seo phones his superior Hwa-Ran and informs her what’s happened, asking her for help. She refuses, scoffing at the notion and instead heading in to see Myeong at Il-Kwang. He tries to convince her to team up but she refuses too. CEO Yoon learns that Chan-Mi has been shot and races out the office. At the same time, Ye-Eun learns more about Chan-Mi’s character and how she saved Dong in the past. When Dong heads down to the reception area, Yoon arrives and after a brief confrontation between the two, Woo-Seok holds Dong back while Yoon rushes up to see her. At home, Ye-Eun looks over the item Chan-Mi left at Min-Seok’s grave and it happens to be a video of Min-Seok getting ready to go on his honeymoon with Ye-Eun. Heading back to work with a clearer head, she confronts Seo over what happened and he sneers, telling her that Chan-Mi had Min-Seok killed. After striking him, she leaves. When she does, Seo immediately phones Myeong and asks for his help, especially after what happened 3 years ago. We then cut back and see that Seo confronted him at a restaurant, calling him a murderer and storming out the room. Only, Tak ended up taking photos of the two together, making it look like he’s colluding with the enemy and the perfect blackmail material. It’s here Seo learns that Chan-Mi went off alone to catch Michael and hurries to the warehouse to stop her. In the aftermath of what plays out, he finds a phone on the floor with a scrambled voice message similar to what we heard earlier in the episode from the masked figure, agreeing to meet Myeong. While Woo-Won heads to the doctors and learns he may be bipolar (and just a little bit lovesick), Mi-Soon has a bombshell reveal of her own when she learns from the principal at school that her daughter isn’t the bully…she’s actually the victim. Back at hospital, Chan-Mi’s condition goes critical and the doctors rush in to try and save her. Only, the heart monitor flat-lines just as Yoon learns what’s happening and rushes there too. Chan-Mi suddenly regains consciousness though and, wide-eyed, claims to have seen Michael. At the same time, Seo is poisoned courtesy of Myeong and his soup. Only, the masked man who delivered it manages to slip away, just as Dong has the place locked down tight, which is where the episode ends. Who is Michael? It’s a question that’s been hanging over this show since its inception and this episode we get a good dose of action and thriller elements to keep the suspense and tension high. At the same time though, these crime drama elements have taken over from the quirky comedy that gave the show its unique tone too. There’s lots of melodrama here now and although the reveal with Mi-Soon’s daughter is a good one, it’s difficult to remember a time when the comedy was the dominant force of this rather than a simple 5/10 minute segment involving Woo-Won. Still, the show continues to offer enjoyable enough drama and quite what will happen next, remains to be seen.
