Even though it’s the 11th episode of Beyond The Bar, I’m still a little bit confused about whether the show is telling us what Seok-Hoon’s ex did was okay or not. I mean, in my eyes, this shouldn’t be a discussion at all, because if a woman decides she doesn’t want children, then that’s that. Having an explanation for why just makes the show feel a little bit insincere in the point it’s trying to make, even if it may be well-intentioned. With just one episode left in the show, it almost feels like we’re back to square one, but on the other hand, there does seem to be progress in the lawyer-y love story. Though I think, based on the age gap, the show is going to glide over anything romantic without delving too deep into it. In this episode, we get to see a lot of Hash, a favorite character for a lot of us, so that’s a bonus. But I do not appreciate the fact that this episode was an hour and 17 minutes long, especially because the rest of the episodes have kept themselves to an hour. With that said, though, let’s jump straight into episode 11.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does The Man Kidnap Hash?
Beyond The Bar episode 11 begins with Seok-Hoon meeting up with his replacement, i.e., Jung Won-Jun, Yeon-A’s current partner. Won-Jun tells Seok-Hoon that they plan on moving to Singapore after their baby is born, and they plan on taking the dog, Hash, too. But the problem is that Seok-Hoon and Yeon-A have joint custody of Hash. Additionally, Hash means the world to Seok-Hoon, so how could he be okay with him living away from him in a whole other country? Things escalate so quickly with Won-Jun that Seok-Hoon says he’s going to take this to court. When Seok-Hoon tells Jin-Woo about this case, the latter volunteers to take on the task of representing him by himself. Hyo-Min overhears the conversation, though, and offers to pitch in.
At work, a man shows up to meet Seok-Hoon about a privacy violation case. Turns out some personal videos of his were shared, and an employee of the place he bought a phone from used the videos as evidence to report the man to the authorities. The man thinks Seok-Hoon is the only lawyer who can defend him, but he’s grossly mistaken. Turns out the man abused animals and made videos of it. He even shows them to Seok-Hoon and Hyo-Min, who are both visibly shaken by the content of the videos. Seok-Hoon sends Hyo-Min out and tells the man he can’t take his case. Additionally, he asks his team to work to represent the employee who brought the story to light, because the law isn’t well-equipped for a case like this one involving animals, even though they’re living beings too. On the other hand, Ho-Yeon needs Hyo-Min to look after her sisters (the twins) because she’s fractured her leg doing a part-time gig. Hyo-Min agrees to do it, and even makes a call to Seok-Hoon, who plans a weekend for the four of them and Hash at a fancy camping spot. They obviously look like the picture-perfect happy family, but it’s a reminder of how eager Seok-Hoon is to have children.
The man who hurt animals even acts creepily towards Hyo-Min in the elevator until Seok-Hoon shows up and physically pushes him against the wall. The man had taken a picture the second he met Seok-Hoon, and it seems it might’ve been specifically so he could kidnap Hash from his day care. The man kidnaps Hash, hurts him, and then sends a video to Seok-Hoon. Hyo-Min goes with him to find Hash, thankfully. Hyo-Min controls the whole situation, despite the man holding a taser. Hash is rescued for the time being, when Hyo-Min lawyers up and tells him that Seok-Hoon will represent him if he returns Hash to her. He only agrees because she says that if Seok-Hoon is insincere in court, then he won’t be able to win the case. Hash’s ribs are found to be broken, and Seok-Hoon is completely out of it. He goes after the man, who is about to hurt a stray cat, and beats him to a pulp. Interestingly, the police are already there, but they let Seok-Hoon (in a mask) nearly kill the man. Turns out he hurt an elderly person who isn’t going to make it, so it looks like the police were just trying to rid the world of a terrible person like him.
What Happens With The Hynic Core Case?
At the same time, Na-Yeon calls Seok-Hoon to the hotel room where she’s been meeting Yun-Geun. The man tells Seok-Hoon that he was the only person who ever believed in him and evaluated him based on merit, rather than just test scores and the university he went to. To make money to go to law school, Yun-Geun worked in an entertainment establishment. Ha Du-Sik is blackmailing him with that and also promised to promote him if he got Na-Yeon demoted by seducing her and leaking evidence of it. Seok-Hoon tells Yun-Geun that Yullim will keep him safe as long as he helps them, and there will be no blackmailing or bias.
Turns out, the company bought Hynic Core for its NPU-based technology, but they can’t copy it because the software core is encrypted, and the core logic is undocumented. It turns out that the owner of Hynic Core is so smart, he remembers everything in his head, so in truth, there’s nobody who can copy his work, even if they bought their company. Seok-Hoon and Na-Yeon are going to help him get his company back.
Why Is Hyo-Min Away From Her Twin?
In the meantime, Hyo-Min’s father has to move away for a little bit, and worries that his wife will have nothing to do, so he suggests they get a pet for her. They decide on a cat because they need less affection and attention than dogs. She’s reluctant, but she goes with her husband to see the cats. There’s a fire alarm at the shop they visit, and all the cats go into hiding except for one little kitten. Turns out this kitten is deaf, and Hyo-Min’s mother is immediately drawn to it because of obvious reasons. Though this kitten isn’t actually up for adoption, she chooses it anyway. Earlier in the episode, in a flashback, we see that when Hyo-Min and her twin sister were just babies, their mother had dropped a plate, but only Hyo-Min had reacted. The mum had picked up Hyo-Min because she was crying, but when she noticed her other daughter, she couldn’t help but pick her up instead, wondering what was wrong. It seems this became a common thing, because Hyo-Min’s mother started focusing on her deaf daughter way more, and coddled her to the point that her development was stunted.
To make matters worse, Hyo-Min’s mother told her own sister that she shouldn’t have a kid if she’s going to end up deaf anyway, and then Hyo-Min’s aunt turned out to be infertile. The whole point of us learning about this story is the fact that Hyo-Min heavily misunderstood her mother. It’s not that Hyo-Min’s mother didn’t love the other daughter; she loved her so much that she ended up neglecting Hyo-Min. Turned out the infertile aunt and the deaf daughter ended up understanding each other much better, so the difficult decision to separate the sisters was made.
Why Did Yoon-A Not Have Seok-Hoon’s Baby?
At the end of Beyond The Bar episode 11, Seok-Hoon meets Yoon-A, who tells him that she didn’t feel ready to have a kid at the time, but had second thoughts when she was at the clinic. However, she found out that there were some difficulties in that pregnancy, which was enough of a sign for her to know that she shouldn’t go ahead with it. Additionally, she can’t imagine a kid who would’ve been born after all of that would’ve been happy. Seok-Hoon asks her why she never told him about this or made him understand, but she tells him he never gave her a chance. This is very true, because he was too busy thinking about his own feelings and what he had lost. After everything he’s just been through, Seok-Hoon goes to a bar, and Hyo-Min calls him to check on him. She’s worried sick when she sees him, and applies ointment to his wounds. In the end, he looks at her with great pain in his eyes. From the previous episode of the final episode, it looks like Hyo-Min will try to get a date with Seok-Hoon, but I don’t know if it’ll go any further than that. The final episode is about marriages, so let’s see how that one turns out ultimately.
