Penultimate Problems
Hyena has definitely saved the best for last. Ever since our main duo discovered Chan-Ho at the crime scene, this law-drama has really turned up the tension and managed to deliver a really well written and interesting couple of cases to end things on a high. Given tomorrow is the finale it feels like the drama is just starting to kick into high gear and it’s definitely going to be a shame to leave these characters after tomorrow’s inevitably climactic finish. Episode 15 of Hyena begins with Geum-Ja and Hee-Jae arriving back at the hotel together. Hee-Jae nd Geum-Ja play the role of a couple well, with the hotel staff believing every word fed to them while Geum-Ja sports a brilliant red dress and gorgeous platform shoes. Inside the familiar hotel room, Geum-Ja encourages Hee-Jae to re-enact the scene from that night. Together they realize it can’t have been involuntary manslaughter as the force required to knock her down doesn’t match the scene. Even more so, it fails to explain the alcohol and blood on the rug. Getting the hotel staff involved again, Geum-Ja plays up the clean-freak angle to perfection, incredulously declaring that the hotel room is too dirty and they need to move immediately. After bribing the hotel staff, Geum-Ja and Hee-Jae manage to talk their way into Chairman Son’s room – which happens to have the exact same layout as the previous room. Even more alarming, the rug has been replaced with a brand new one very recently, backing up their theories. The pair continue to hound the hotel staff, this time surrounding the ring and in doing so, find out there’s no CCTV in the hotel rooms. Instead, they threaten to phone the police surrounding the missing ring (which isn’t really missing given Geum-Ja has stashed it in her purse) so the hotel staff cave and show them the CCTV footage from the hallway instead. It’s enough for them to try and use this as a way of figuring out who went in and out of that room. Outside though, Geum-Ja makes a quick getaway and leaves Hee-Jae who heads back to Law Office Choong. Song happens to arrive, scouting out where they are, and discuss the Chan-Ho case with him. They discuss Hee-Jae’s father and Song tells him he hasn’t neglected Mr Yoon despite refusing to defend him. As he mentions being Hee-Jae’s mentor, our lawyer takes offence and tells him to stop thinking in that manner. Geum-Ja heads back to Song&Kim and recruits Hyeon-A to join them on Hee-Jae’s Father’s case, especially given they’re short on manpower. Together, they head in to have dinner and drinks together, toasting to the future success of Choong. Those toasts ultimately finish with the entire group deciding to get wasted and enjoy their evening. In the morning, Chang-Hook and Joo-Ho team up together to try and track down Detective Lee. While they do, Geum-Ja and Hee-Jae attempt to try and obtain the CCTV footage which could swing the case in their favour. Geum-Ja meets Kim soon after who implicates Song and tells her she believes he intentionally killed his wife. Song however, meets up with the Chairman who tells him he needs to get rid of the paintings as soon as he can and give as much money as possible to Congressman Lee to make this happen. With his instructions clear, Director Na gives Gi-Hyeok his orders. Dissatisfied with the work he’s given, Gi-Hyeok instead is encouraged to visit Hee-Jae by Yu-Mi. He visits Hee-Jae at his apartment and reveals what he discovered at the pier with the freighters. Hee-Jae thanks his friend for his help but as Gi-Hyeok gets up to leave, he tells Hee-Jae he doesn’t know where things went wrong but tells him he will always be there for him. Although they’re in rival firms, it’s a touching moment and one that sees them back on good terms, at least for now. In the bar that night, Geum-Ja and Hee-Jae drink together, where Geum-Ja finally admits that she loved him in the past. It’s a big moment and just the bright spot Hee-Jae needed before his Father’s dark case begins. Despite them initially believing he won’t show, Song arrives fashionably late to the court of law and brushes over all the questions, until the focus turns to Issume. After a couple of scathing character examinations, and further allegations against Song, the Judge decides not to allow them to continue the questioning. Song steps up though and deflects the attention back on Mr Yoon, who stands up and tells the court he hasn’t done the things he’s accused of. It’s something that goes completely against what Hee-Jae has been fighting for and instead, admits to being guilty without implicating Song or the Chairman. With the case a bust, the group instead focus on Chan-Ho while Hee-Jae speaks to his Father about him staying loyal to Song when he abandoned him. Down on his luck, Geum-Ja tries cheering Hee-Jae up with the evidence she’s found. It turns out the licence plate of the car that night belongs to Song’s wife, meaning he can be implicated in a different case, and for good this time too. As the episode closes out, Geum-Ja gets distracted by a text message she receives and tells Hee-Jae she’s heading off to finish what she started. Only, Hee-Jae realizes it’s to do with her Father and decides to ring Ju-Ho with information on how to find Geum-Ja, whose text message was from her Father. As she arrives at the door, she notices a shadowy figure with a knife, who pounces at her. With a cliffhanger ending and plenty of scope for an exciting finale to boot, Hyena finishes things off in dramatic fashion this week. While Geum-Ja will of course survive this attack, it does raise big questions around just who this man with the knife may be. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s Kevin but the mystery surrounding this will almost certainly have you come back for the finale. In the meantime though, Hyena bows things out with a wonderful penultimate episode, one that sets the scene nicely for what’s to come. Whether Chan-Ho will be found guilty or not remains to be seen but one thing’s for sure – this story is far from over.
