MBC / 2018 (Season 1), 2019 (Season 2) / 16 episodes (32 parts)
Genres: crime, legal drama, medical drama, thriller
Written by Min Ji-eun (Series 1-2), Won Yeong-sil (Series 1-2) Jo Won-gi (Series 2)
Directed by Hyun Ra-hoi (Series 1), Noh Do-cheol (Series 1-2)
More information: Wikipedia / HanCinema és HanCinema
Partners for Justice:
Uncovering the Anatomy of Crime
Season 1
Rumors are already circulating about a third season of the series Partners for Justice, which is no surprise given that after a somewhat sluggish start in the first season, the second practically took flight.
The foundational figure of the series is a character type we have seen before: the incompatible professional who disregards rules and bosses alike, yet possesses excellent skills and is indispensable—in this case, forensic pathologist Baek Beom, brought to life with chilling authenticity by the renowned actor Jung Jae-young (whom we may remember from the lead roles in G-Love or Castaway on the Moon). We never quite know where we stand with him, because just as we might find him sympathetic, he is certain to give us a fright. We spend the majority of the series' time in his autopsy room, observing how he reveals and interprets the information guarded by the bodies. His colleagues are permanent characters: the always-hungry Jeong Seong-joo (Ko Kyu-pil) and Ha Soo-yeon (Noh Susanna), who is raising her young daughter alone. The team also includes the pretty Stella Hwang (Stephanie Lee), who performs the laboratory analyses.
A new, young prosecutor, Eun Sol (Jung Yoo-mi), arrives at the criminal division of the prosecutor's office; although she is an inexperienced beginner, she immediately receives a significant case from her boss, No Han-sin (Ahn Suk-hwan). The defendant in the case is the powerful managing director of the Seongjin Group, Oh Man-sang (Kim Do-hyun). According to prosecutorial experience, everyone loses their first case; therefore, her colleague Kang Hyeon (Park Eun-seok) rushes to the prosecutor's aid against the difficult opponent, yet even so, they are unable to prove the defendant's guilt.
The series follows roughly the same pattern, which repeats across the different episodes: police investigators, prosecutors, and the forensic expert with his team arrive at the reported crime scene. Wherever Baek Beom appears, he immediately appropriates the entire area, lecturing everyone in his none-too-subtle style. The events continue in the autopsy room, which is his second home—so much so that he regularly sleeps there on the autopsy table. His arbitrariness continues here as well; he shuts off the microphone used for communicating with those in the observation room without a word. He performs every single examination with painful thoroughness, cross-checking the obtained results multiple times, as a consequence of which he regularly arrives at unexpected findings. The series itself is geared toward how he can overturn opinions fed by preconceptions or even the standing of court proceedings, preferably at the last moment.
In the first season, we progress case by case, in each of which one of the official characters is involved. Either one of their loved ones is the victim, or they become suspects, or the perpetrators attack them as well; therefore, as viewers, we always have someone to worry about. In the individual cases, we encounter parables that confront us with domestic violence, the exploitation of the elderly by their money-hungry children, or the driving to death of an adored but overworked, talented child.
Beside all this, a very strong conflict stretching far back into the past also emerges between Baek Beom and Kang Hyeon. Alongside the official investigations, we learn the story of the two men, as well as the true background of the events that caused their hostility.
Despite the interesting cases and the revenge motif, the series moves forward slowly, which is not helped by the constant repetition of routine procedures. There is a faint intention to lead the grumpy professional and the young, kind, sensitive prosecutor toward each other, but no appreciable steps are taken in this direction; a professional alliance of mutual defense and defiance remains between them.
Poor Baek Beom is not only denied a romantic thread, but for some reason, he cannot experience the revelation of the reality of his burdensome past with cathartic power either, even though there is no question that Jung Jae-young would be capable of playing it. But he is only allowed to continue grumbling; therefore, the feelings missing from the series—which would connect the viewers to the protagonists—are replaced by the increasingly wild dissections in the autopsy room. Of course, we need not be too alarmed; he has a heart as well, of which he gives signs in extremely peculiar but nevertheless numerous ways. And exactly how sensitive and wounded a soul he is, we learn from the unfolding story of his private life.
While Baek Beom is condemned to emotional inactivity by the creators, the young prosecutor thirsting for revenge against him is in high excess, performing such theatrical rampages that he evokes not our sympathy, but rather our antipathy. Though he would fundamentally be a sympathetic character, Park Eun-seok is simply not strong enough for this role; therefore, he can only display raging inner impulses at the level of hysterics, which is insufficient for authenticity.
Fortunately, the police investigators also see action while pursuing the culprits, so we see car chases and fistfights as they should be. We find great characters among them as well; a case is even built around one of them, Cha Soo-ho (Lee Yi-kyung).
From all this, it may be perceptible that the first season is not lacking in excitement and interest—especially in the investigations of individual cases, which naturally cannot be detailed here—but the drama is still not coherent enough; the leaven is missing that would melt the interesting elements into the unity of the series as a whole. A fortunate change occurs in this regard in the second season.
Season 2
In the first season, we saw the acquittal of Oh Man-sang (Kim Do-hyun), the
heir to the conglomerate, whom we now learn died a year earlier in a car
accident, burning to death in the ignited vehicle. In the autopsy room,
however, Baek Beom examines charred bones, as he doubts Oh’s death.
Seemingly, the series continues much like the previous season. However, already in the first episode, a peculiar figure mentioned as Doctor K appears; his task, received from criminals, is the local dissection of two dead smugglers in a container to access the drugs hidden in their stomachs. The man does not hesitate much upon hearing the task.
The series is also colored by Dr. Sally, who arrived at the laboratory from Miami to replace Stella. The punk woman clings to Baek Beom with a definite intent of conquest, which finds little reciprocity from him, though it allows her to play out an imagined jealousy drama with Prosecutor Eun Sol. With this, we have already received something we missed from the first season.
Life also becomes more eventful in the autopsy rooms; following the trail of corpses, first a mob of gangsters barges in, then in a later case, an enemy appearing to be the MERS virus.
One victim of a strange, simultaneous double car accident is transported to the hospital, where we meet a bold, though somewhat peculiar, young doctor, Jang Cheol (No Min-woo). Later, it is also this doctor who treats the daughter of Baek Beom’s colleague, Ha Soo-yeon.
Hardly have they solved the complicated case of the car accidents when they encounter cases suggesting an extremely aberrant perpetrator. While attempting to interpret what they see, they arrive at surprising conclusions. The investigators' work, however, is hindered not only by the increasingly deep intervention of the media but it also seems that their bosses are constantly throwing obstacles in their way. Despite this, the heir of the Sungjin Group and the case of the drug smugglers come into focus again. While suspicion turns toward the unknown Doctor K, we also run into the young doctor more and more often, and we slowly gain insight into his life.
* SPOILER ALERT *What he finds evokes Hitchcock’s Psycho. The young doctor received an incredible character from the drama’s writers, whose traits perfectly match the psychological description of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality). Jang Cheol’s different personalities developed as a result of the trauma of childhood abuse; he hides behind these, being aware of some and unaware of others. Attention was paid even to such details as the conversation between two personalities, the difference between right- and left-handedness in the case of different personalities, or the memory loss in the case of the non-conscious personality.
I wrote about No Min-woo specifically in connection with Full House 2, mentioning that he has a "mad" look in his eyes. It is as if that unfolds in this role, as he plays the young man struggling in his private life with a wounded soul, the professional and upright surgeon, the mentally disturbed perpetrator of aberrant acts, and his own mother, whom he believes he is nursing at home. Meanwhile, he appears playing his younger self and, naturally, in both male and female roles—lending a truly feminine-sounding voice to the latter.
This in itself would be a massive feat, but No Min-woo knows something more. While throughout his "normal" appearances he keeps us in uncertainty regarding his sanity, and we see him during his abnormal acts as well, he nevertheless achieves that this completely broken character evokes our empathy. I dare not write "sympathy," as that would be an exaggeration, but one cannot (or at least I could not) look at him as a villain or with horror. Pity was awakened toward him much sooner than we learned the actual facts about him.
* END OF SPOILER *
The other memorable figure of the season is Prosecutor Do Ji-han. Oh Man-seok’s masculine appearance is paired with noble personality traits, commitment, courage, and perseverance; thus, we eagerly await meeting him again.
Because this is promised by the second season’s cliffhanger, the like of which we have rarely seen for such a "punchline." Not only does the private organizational setup of the investigators leaving the prosecutor's office promise renewed strength in the struggle against corrupt figures, but so does their third companion stepping out of the shadows. I can hardly wait for the third season.
Finally, word must be said about the excellent music of the series,
particularly successful pieces being the tension-building compositions
Red Signal and
Official by Park Yun
Seo, but the music of Gae Mi and the others does not fall behind either. Among
the music, there are two curiosities related to No Min-woo, who, besides his
brilliant acting, is also a professional musician. Among the songs linked to
his character, he is the performer of the song titled
Dr. K, while the track
Poison is his own
composition—he wrote the lyrics and even did the mixing. He is also the
drummer in the track, while we hear his brother, No Jeong-hun (stage name
I'll),
singing.
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