The Closing Statements
Episode 10 of Law School begins in court with Professor Yang dropping the bombshell about the jury. Both he and the prosecutors argue about whether to allow this. With Assemblyman Ko overseeing things, this is Yang’s way of balancing out the power – especially with a self defence plea. Sol-B leaves court and runs into her sister, with the pair deciding to have an ice-cream outside together. The exams are stressing her out though and Kang Byeol can sense it. She mentions how their father used to gamble money and implores Sol-A to keep studying and working hard. Meanwhile, Ye-Seul decides against pressing charges against Yeong-Chang. Only, in doing so this will seriously dampen her chances at winning her court case. Meanwhile, Joon-Hwi shows up and heads over to Man-ho’s house. He questions Man-Ho about Professor Seo’s blood sugar levels and asks whether Seo kept a glucose log book. We then jump back to the day of the incident as we see Joon-Hwi take this very book from Seo’s car. When he heads back inside, we cut back in the present. We’re not actually told this though, and it’s taken this reviewer a good 10 minutes to actually realize this while watching! Anyway, Joon-Hwi notices Sol-A drinking what’s supposed to be water but is very clearly soju. Joon-Hwi sits with her where she confirms her grades have reached 2.1. Heading back upstairs, drunk, Sol-A passes out. We then skip to the pre-hearing for Kang Sol-B’s plagiarism case. Sol-B faces the council and pleads her innocence. In fact, she backs it up with a strong argument, telling them to ask Ji-Ho since he saw her writing. Joon-Hwi eventually heads off with the blood glucose book to find Yang. Only, he’s already out and about, tracking down a suspicious car that could well be linked to the man who tried to kill Yang. Well, as they get moving the pair realize that Seo’s pen is missing. Back at Yang’s office, Sol-A bursts in and raises the stakes. Ko is dangerous and this time he’s colluding with all the big lawyers to create fake news and take Ye-Seul down. He seemingly paid off Kang-Dan in the past and looks set to do this again. Sol-A implores Yang to be ready as they need to get this self-defence case solid. Some of that stems from a flash drive Ye-Seul has, given to her by Seung-Jae. The only trouble is, her bag is stolen by a random motorbike driver as she arrives at court. This throws Yang’s possibility of getting out of this unscathed in serious jeopardy. Heading back inside the court, Ye-Seul is breathless and shocked that the flash drive has gone. We’re on Professor Yang’s final day and the logbook is the one big piece of evidence everything is resting on. This, coupled with the mock trial being moved and the glucometer, sees the balance of power swinging in Yang’s favour. Man-Ho is also called on as a witness given he was Seo’s driver. Prosecutor Jin breaks the fourth wall with a cheeky glance at the camera before questioning the credibility of Man-Ho’s evidence given he’s a sex offender. Eventually it comes to the closing statements and both Jin and Yang put out an impassioned plea to the courtroom. The latter wins everyone over with his methodical deductions. The statement presented from Jin does not match what seems to have happened and Yang uses a number of pictures and related incidents to piece this together. He then reveals a flash drive which Yang uses as a bluff. This, coupled with the closing statements, are enough for court to adjourn and the final verdict left hanging in the balance. Later that day, Assemblyman Ko shows up with his lawyers, hounding Ye-Seul and claiming she needs to apologize. Word of Yang’s trial reaches him, as the Vice Dean shows and breaks things up. The Judge still has to pass his ruling of course but things are left wide open. She turns her back to Ko and asks the kids to join her in helping to find Ye-Seul not guilty. As they all walk away, Sol-A tells Ko that she’s not going to fall for his scam the same way Kang-Dan did. As the episode closes out, both Man-Ho and Yang receive a call and head out to investigate.
The Episode Review
Law School returns with a bit more urgency this time, delivering some impassioned speeches in court that help to add some much-needed spice to this law drama. The situation involving Man-Ho is still a bit of a wildcard and the show seems to be reluctant to actually pull the trigger on this Joon-Hwi/Sol A romance too. The editing is still pretty confusing at times, with an intentionally obfuscated way of jumping between the different timelines. One example is Sol-A drinking, with it spliced up with Joon-Hwi grabbing the glucose book from Seo’s car. The way this is cut makes it seem like it’s the same timeline. These little moments undermine what’s otherwise a much more pacey chapter. The verdict is still out with this one though and with the attention now turning to Ye-Seul’s case instead, it looks like we’re gearing up for quite the dramatic showdown to come.
