Drama Where I'm From: An Abridged History of K-drama in Jamaica
KONTENT GYEONGCHAL [Cold Case]
Case File #1.5
Partners for Justice |
Enraged the Best Boy releases his primal roar.
Case Log #1.5
The substation was a mess.
While forgotten by many, some three years ago a suspect virtually unknown and still relatively unknown today, went on a criminal rampage. Kontent Gyeongchals of the time remember it only in passing now, but upon the migration of some files from analog to digital (read this as updating my watch list) the case file was stumbled upon. Indeed, while the complaints to hotlines at the time were not many, the great passion with which they were delivered went criminally unanswered. Among the charges lodged against Partners for Justice: aggravated annoyance, noise complaints, and numerous assaults on logic.
Feeling that these crimes could not go unpunished, but being already previously disposed of with current cases, the Cold Case Unit was established. Rest assured that the infractions of the past will not go unpunished by the K-Law. A new investigation was launched into " Partners of Justice" and the results... as always, you decide.
IDENTIFYING THE SUSPECT
| Going by its description- given at the time by the MDL drama page informant, Partners for Justice chronicles the world of one newbie prosecutor, Eun Sol (Jung Yoo Mi), and a seasoned but humble human kebob maker, Baek Boem (Jung Jae Young). The warm, wealthy and bright personality of the young prosecutor must find a way to get along with the big meany face that is Baek Boem, the forensics expert. Now while that was what the informant proved, upon closer examination of the suspect an adjustment is necessary. More accurately it should read something like: Partners of Justice tells of the misadventures of Baek as he tries to corral the circus that parades around him as perfectly put-together people. It is a power only strong enough to surpass Metal Gear that keeps Best Boy Baek Boem's back straight was he carries this show. |  |
Joined by a class of clowns, in descending order: Park Eun Seok- King clown to Eun Sol's queen, Lee Yi Kyung, at the time fresh off Laughter in Waikiki- perhaps typecast for the role of dummy, Baek Boem's staff, colleagues and finally us viewers for having sat through the drama.
Production-wise not much was out of order, however, airing did have some hiccups. Multiple episodes were delayed and pushed back during its broadcast for various reasons. When it wasn't the Trump and Kim Jong-un summit, the Fifa World Cup was sure to kick a few episodes out of the way. This was mostly limited to the beginning episodes however and likely did little to soften the blow of other laughable aspects of the drama.
With that out of the way let's call in the Gyeongchals to rip this suspect apart.
Charge #1: Aggravated Annoyance with Constable Miles. A . Head
Now as we all know complaining about leads, particularly female leads, being annoying is a national pastime in these parts. Is it always warranted? No, but at the same time, it is not warranted sometimes either. If you have ever, however, thought that a character had been unfairly labeled as such, I can tell you with absolute certainty Eun Sol is not one of those circumstances.
Rookie prosecutor as she is, you would think that she would take her cases in stride, carefully analyzing situations and not jump to conclusions, right? WRONG. Prosecutor Princess (reference intended) Eun Sol operates at the heights of hubris with the very first case in the series providing a perfect example of this. While the evidence handily proved by Baek, an expert, consistently refutes her" novel writing" as he puts it, she all but insists that he reach her conclusion. Despite some eventual run around Baek's hypothesis is proven right for the most part. So it's over then, right? WRONG. Because immediately after the case is wrapped up, she proceeds to holler down Baek's ear canal about why he wasn't similarly emotionally incensed enough to see the nonexistent evidence to the contrary. And this doesn't just stop here, oh no it continues for quite a lengths into the drama with Baek,(while admittedly not the type to sugar coat anything) coming to a reasonable scientific conclusion and Eun Sol enraged as to why he doesn't find evidence to support her claims. |
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Of course, she backs up her claims on her superior "gut feeling". Yes, this isn't a joke- she says this multiple times. Her gut feelings (which are supposedly superior to even science itself), make for some of the most unintentionally hilarious moments in the show.
 What was said |  How it was received |
Even male Eun Sol tries to caution her unfounded trust in tummy rumbles. Here's how that played out.
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ONE SECOND LATER |
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As an officer I know screaming at characters through the screen won't work but at some point, I didn't care anymore. If it had just been her, it would not have been so borderline unbearably, but by God, almost all of the other characters seem to operate on this "Sol" wavelength.
Primarily there is Eun Sol's simp- I mean colleague, Kang Hyun. Sparing some details to avoid spoilers, he has a somewhat legitimate reason to be at odds with Best Boy Baek Boem. Sadly, for him, they are not supported by literally a whiff of evidence. Does that stop him raging an infuriated biased campaign against Baek? NO. He might honestly have been more annoying than Eun Sol. In a particular example, Baek and Eun Sol are trapped in the laboratory concerning a case. Never mind that Eun Sol gets into this situation because she again ignores Baek's famous "Get Out!", never mind that the reason she was trapped was easily avoidable by her and that they can be easily monitored. Male Eun Sol upon hearing this, blasts to the lab to raise hell: banging on doors, glass walls, and screaming obscenities at an annoyed and uninterested Baek. |  |
Charge #2: Noise Complaint with Officer Desi Bell
SOME PEOPLE HAVE NO INSIDE VOICE. SOME PEOPLE WANT TO BE HEARD AND SOME PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO SHUT UP.
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During the second case, the crew encounters a literal flock of makjang ahjummas; my ears have yet to recover. Add to that that the case included them literally digging up someone dead and the joke writes itself.
An angry flock of ahjummas sight their prey and initiate a sonar act.
Charge #3:Assaults on Logic with Sum Ting Rung
Fresh from my work on the Sisyphus suspect, I have once again been called upon to investigate suspected logical battery. It didn't take much digging to unearth issues, primarily thanks to the work of a previous investigation. Honorary Kontent Gyeongchal, Yume has already done a good job breaking down just a few of the issues regarding lab etiquette in the series. Primarily focused on the show's resident cool lab girl, Stella (Stephanie Lee), the lack of some easily executable professional standards in the production is questionable. An odd case of style over substance, especially when you have Baek- a character that works entirely by it, scolding Eun Sol for wearing heels to a crime scene in an early episode. Meanwhile, he seems entirely fine with Stella, a character far more involved with evidence, failing to abide by basic lab rules. It's a massive contradiction. | " Partners for Justice is probably the only one I’ve seen that consistently showed some laboratory work, in this case, Stella Hwang, a toxicologist played by Stephanie Lee. I think it’ll be easier to list the mistakes I spotted:
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The logical infractions don't just end there. While previously mentioned that Eun Sol is a rookie prosecutor, some things that happen don't need a professional to decipher the idiocy. My personal favourite involves a member of the NFS whose son is "killed"-or so says Eun Sol. Again with only fleeting and circumstantial evidence, she hounds Baek who has already made his forensic opinion at odds with Eun Sol's claims known. Mind you this is well into the show and yet Eun Sol persists with this attitude.
Eventually, she comes around to what she thinks is the solution for the case. That is that due to a cocktail of drugs leading potentially leading to hallucinations, the boy unwittingly committed suicide. Now how do you test such a hypothesis? Well, you take all the drugs he took and lucid dream up the solution to the case.
ಠ_ಠ
No. I am not joking. This happens. For real. In the show. I'm not joking
But to truly add insult to injury, Beak Boem suspecting that she has done this breaks into her apartment to resuscitate her. After he is successful..sadly-, one of the funniest things in k-drama history happens.
Baek reaches into his bag and hands her a medical book describing what would happen if those drugs were to be mixed.
ಠ_ಠ
No. I am not joking. This happens. For real. In the show. I'm not joking
So in conclusion, lock them up.
Given examples like this, you would find it immensely hilarious when the show tries and fails to exhibit Eun Sol's top-of-class intelligence. I certainly did. None however tops how upon the introduction of a new prosecutor towards the end of the series, Eun Sol must reestablish her intelligence. With an epic backing track and smooth camera work, Eun Sol rolls of the details of a just commenced case effortlessly to a stunned new prosecutor.
Truly a Yas Queen moment- in the eyes of the editors at least, everyone else was left rolling their eyes. Just take a look back at some of the older comments on the show's MDL page. Or better yet, check the comments on Kissasian for a laugh. It also ignores that good memory isn't either a marker of objectivity, which was what was being questioned, or intelligence making it doubly hilarious. |  （⊙ｏ⊙） |
Ascertaining a verdict
Regarding the original charges lodged against the suspect, the Cold Case unit hopes it has presented sufficient evidence of guilt. That being said, this is by no means an indictment not to watch the suspect. In fact, there may be reasons to watch it. Sure you'll lose a few brain cells and your voice from screaming at the screen but you will have had a good time doing it. The issues do also taper off somewhat towards the season's ending-yes there is a sequel season. In its case, it was horribly inoffensive and honestly worth the time only if you intend to ogle at the villain of the season. Having no interest in that, it was a boring affair.
As for the verdict? That now rests in your own hands. What say you? Will you be tuning in for more or are these issues your limit?
With the report finished this has been Kontent Gyeongchal. Signing out.
Editors: BrightestStar (1st editor)
