The Final Case
Episode 16 of Law School begins this finale with Assemblyman Ko in the police station. He’s been arrested and is awaiting trial. We then jump back several days prior with the group all working together to incriminate Ko. This comes from using Ko’s enemies he’s gained over time – and the integrity of Judge Kang too. As we all know, this includes dressing Sol-A up as Kang Dan which catches us up to last week’s reveal. Sol-A reveals herself and this inevitably leads to the Erica Shin concert being cancelled. After finishing up, Yang and Sol-A head out for food together – although Yang is careful not to tell her she did a good job. Ko meets Prosecutor Jin after the incident at his office and tells him to do whatever he can to destroy the evidence that can be used against him. With Jin aware of Ko speaking to Ki on the phone, Yang tells him it’s time to let go of the rotten rope and plays the audio evidence he has against Ko. Upon hearing what he has, Ko’s face drops completely. Following her own experiences in domestic violence, Ye-Seul helps out a girl called Seong-Hui going through the same thing she was. The girl sports a swollen eye, leading Ye-Seul to promise to help her find a way and that she’s not alone. With the kids passing the preliminaries, attention turns back to Ko who’s escorted to the police station and arrested. Jin asks the officers outside to turn the cameras off, as he decides against supporting Ko any longer. Given the evidence against him – including solicitation to murder – Jin bows out and decides to wipe his hands of this. Eun-Suk decides to represent Ko instead though, while Joon-Hwi reflects on his Uncle’s words “The law is not just.” Well, Assemblyman Ko’s first trial begins. As it does, Sol-A’s mock trial takes place too. She’s of course nervous but a last minute prep with Joon-Hwi helps While she heads in, Ki is questioned over his part in all this. When he mentions “the job” it seems to incriminate Ko more. In fact, Erica Shin is then brought in to testify! This is, of course, Sol-A in disguise… or is it? Well, Sol-A is the one whose audio evidence they hold and it confirms Ko’s “jobs” which include those aforementioned murders. As Ko questions the validity of the witness, Sol-A shows up to confirm it’s really her sister after all. It’s just what Sol-A needs as she eventually heads back to the law school for her mock trial. Now it becomes clear that Kang-Dan was involved in this too. Anyway, the mock trial goes ahead, but after Kang-Dan rings her sister to say bye. They thank each other and patch up their differences as assemblyman Ko is arrested. While Kang-Dan flies away again, Sol-A learns that Ji-Ho’s team has won the competition. Although they got eliminated in thee semi-finals, Yang wishes Sol-A congratulations. We then jump forward 1 year later. The results of the constitutional review are requested by Prosecutor Jin. Despite losing the suit, he decides to throw a “golden rope” and asks Ji-Ho if he wants to help catch Cho. Instead he likens it to straw and walks away, much to Jin’s bemusement. Sol-B attends therapy with her parents, trying to work through their problems, while Joon-Hwi and Sol-A work with those who need it in the courtroom. Yang meanwhile bursts into the classroom dramatically, ready to teach again. And then we have another time jump forward because why not I guess? Anyway, this one is a few years later. Sol-A is an attorney at law and has her own office, Park and Yang. Joon-Hwi is now a prosecutor too while Yang is still a professor. As the drama closes out, they all walk dramatically to the courtroom.
The Episode Review
And that is that. Law School bows out with a finale that wraps everything up while making sure there’s not really any scope for a second season either. A lot of the loose ends were hastily tied up while Ko’s obvious arrest is completed after a long chase. The trouble is, the show has had so many twists and turns and false starts, red herrings and subplots that by the end of it, it all feels quite hollow and indifferent. Don’t get me wrong, I know this show has a lot of followers but for me, it’s not one to remember. The whole Professor Seo story – the actual driving plot for the show – is completely wrapped up with an indifferent shrug to focus on a cliched and tired trope of taking down the big bad Chairman. We’ve seen this so many times that it just doesn’t have enough oomph to drive it home. It also doesn’t help that Ko is nowhere near as antagonistic as some of the other chairmen we’ve seen over the years. That’s to say nothing of the editing here which has been borderline horrendous at times. The sloppy audio cuts and numerous other technical hiccups mentioned along the way really cheapen the effect of this show too. In the end, Law School loses sight of what this could have been. The kids and the Ye-Seul case are by far the highlights of this whole endeavour. It also doesn’t help that we get two hastily cobbled together time skips at the end. Really JTBC? We couldn’t have had a story set across this time following Sol-A and the others as they rose up the ranks to pass their exams? What began as a murder mystery soon fizzled out to become a more formulaic law drama and I think a lot of the issues here stem from the lackadaisical way all these cases were handled. Each time a case is wrapped up the show is quick to abandon everything and move on. Perhaps I’m in the minority, and I’d love to hear from you guys to see whether you enjoyed this one, but beyond some bright sparks, Law School has felt far too mediocre for its own good. It’s certainly been a roller-coaster ride of emotion though! Read More: Will there be a Law School Season 2?
