97
Episode 4 of Law School starts in March 2020. We’re at Hankuk Law School and the Entrance ceremony is about to begin. All the students sit together awaiting Byung-Ju’s arrival. He’s about to donate over 5 billion won to the university. Meanwhile, Sol-A rushes up to the school while little Byeol wheels her suitcase there. She’s late, as it turns out, with the ceremony already beginning. In the toilets an interesting chat between Assemblyman Ko Hyeong-Su and Yang takes place. There’s obviously no love lost between the two, and the latter is still unwilling to accept that the donation is anything but a bribe. Back in the present, Man-Ho betrays Joon-Hwi and gives his blood to Yang after all. When Sol-A finds out, she’s sitting with Joon-Hwi and relays the message on. With Yang now recovered and lucid enough to read, he receives the second autopsy report. It’s still indecisive in truth, and now there are two possible causes. It could be a drug overdose but also a hemorrhage brought on from the fall too. The first medical examiner quit and left the country, now unable to be reached. This means they’re unable to chase up why the brain damage was left out the first time around. Could he have been killed? Well, speaking of killed Yang speaks to the man who shanked him inside the prison. He suggests paying off his public defender and striking up a deal that will suit both of them. Ji-Ho is unhappy with his test results and heads in to see Professor Kang. However, he notices a book for December 2016 and heads to the library to find the same copy. This happens to depict Human Right laws. Out in the hallway, while he discusses this with Sol-B, they’re both interrupted by Byung-Ju’s wife showing up. She sobs after slapping Joon-Hwi several times. She wants to know just why he killed Byung-Ju. Well, all the evidence seems to be mounting up against Joon-Hwi – but of course there’s also evidence against Yang too. Yang is eventually freed from prison and decides to sue Prosecutor Jin Hyeong-U for publicizing facts about his alleged crime. Right on the back of this, he’s wheeled into the classroom and starts his lesson. The other students struggle to meet his gaze, eventually leaving it to Sol-A to step up and try to explain away the scenario presented. After failing to do so, they’re instead given a new assignment. The students need to put themselves in the prosecutor’s shoes and determine who’s more guilty – Yang or Joon-Hwi. As we jump back in time once more, we see the moments with Byung-Ju and Joon-Hwi on the day of the incident. They wrestled with Joon-Hwi’s phone, eventually leading him to fall down the stairs. The brutal camera angle shows Byung-Ju’s face falling and slamming into the steps. This is where the nose paid came out. Byung-Ju managed to get back up though after Joon-Hwi phoned 911. He claims he’s okay and refuses to see a doctor. However, he does have a headache – which explains why he was clutching his head before. Back in the present, class reconvenes as all our students go over the different facts and figures relating to Yang and Joon-Hwi. It turns out Joon-Hwi actually had a hand in helping Yang out from prison. Yang is approached by Man-Ho and here he learns that he was the one who donated blood and is the sole reason he’s still alive. Yang is nonchalant in reply though, slapping him on the shoulder and telling Man-Ho he must have had a reason. The exam results come in and Sol-A gets a 97! She’s not impeded for bringing the paper in late and actually ends up with the highest grade in class. Unfortunately this also means Sol-B has come second. Just to add more fuel to the fire, in class the next day Sol-A is told she would have got a 100 if she hadn’t handed it in late. It turns out she noticed a single comma that her other classmates didn’t. The result sparks concern among the faculty, especially Sol-B’s Mother who’s outraged that a “criminal” can mark exam papers. Vice Dean Kang has other ideas though, telling her she can confront him about this next time if it’s really a problem. Well, more damning news comes in as Prosecutor Jin gets his own back for Yang speaking out of line earlier in the day. He confirms that Yang and Joon-Hwi are both now going to stand as joint principal offenders in the murder. On the back of this, Joon-Hwi hands in his letter of resignation. Well, Yang and Joon-Hwi both wind up visiting Byung-Ju’s grave. However, his wife appears and admits that she’s decided to cremate her husband. This seems a little suspicious, and even more so when it’s revealed that she had a hand in the autopsy reports being tampered with. Yang even has evidence of her phone conversations too. On the back of this, Joon-hwi has been let off the hook while Yang is dismissed. As they head out together, Joon-Hwi tells Yang he knows he didn’t kill Byung-Ju. In fact, he outright admits that he’s happy the Professor survived. It turns out Joon-Hwi manipulated Man-Ho with a clever bit of reverse psychology, knowing he would give the blood over. As the episode closes out, Yang checks his mail and notices a read message reading “RE: Your Copyright Inquiry”. Furthermore, Sol B’s dissertation appears to have been plagiarized – if the documents on Yang’s laptop are anything to go by. Professor Yang’s name is also signed at the bottom too. Yang messages the Vice Dean and asks him to hand over the laptop. As he closes the laptop lid, Yang shows up in his office.
The Episode Review
Law School returns with another slice of law drama that highlights the inconsistent editing in this show. If there’s one rule of film school it’s that editors should be invisible. It should be so seamless you don’t even notice. The series is such a “showy” law drama, with lots of artistic camera angles stitched together across these different timelines. I know some of that is also on the Director but it’s an editor’s job to put this all together in a way that makes sense, avoiding confusion and drawing attention to the technicality involved. There’s also a really horrible and quite jarring cut between scenes here, with music suddenly and abruptly chopped up rather than a smooth transition. Plot-wise though Law School definitely has some intrigue. There’s some good moments peppered in this series and the twists and turns are enough to keep you watching to find out what happens next. So far though we’ve got two possible suspects and the show doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon to offer up any other credible suspects. I’m sure we’ve got more to come though but four episodes in, the jury is still out on exactly whether Law School will become one of the best K-dramas this year or not.
