With how episode 4 of Beyond The Bar ended, I was expecting at least a hint of romance this week, but episode 5 gave us zilch, which is quite a shame. While I didn’t love the trope that the show follows, I’m still excited to see these actors together, because I quite enjoy their chemistry. Yeah, I’m also not an outspoken fan of the mentor-mentee trope, but there’s no denying we kind of love it at the end of the day (if done right, of course). Episode 5 certainly has an interesting case at the heart of it, and we should’ve realized earlier on that the show is going to bring a lot of disabilities (for the lack of a better word) to the forefront so that the population is more aware. Episode 5 highlights intellectual disability, how it doesn’t hamper creativity, and how people can take advantage of it. It’s especially impactful because we know Hyo-Min herself has dyslexia, which makes her fight for people two times harder because she can understand their perspective on things. But anyway, with that said, let’s jump into episode 5.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Hyo-Min Fail at Defending Her Client at First?
Beyond The Bar episode 5 begins with a group of girls admiring some paintings. They’re clearly rich and have some ego clashes, but one of the girls starts laughing when a famous artist’s painting, titled “Fiesta,” is revealed. She says that she bought the same thing 6 months before “Fiesta” was purchased, and it cost her 1/3rd of the price. This makes the woman who owns “Fiesta” upset, and she files a lawsuit against the famous artist, Ryu Gwan-Mo. While the duo have their own debate about who has the knockoff, the person who has the famous artist’s painting clearly believes she’s got the upper hand, but what’s next?
Meanwhile, Seok-Hoon finds himself face-to-face with his ex-wife, who is now 6 months pregnant. I really don’t know what the show is trying to do with these two characters because there’s nothing wrong with a woman in her mid-30s changing her mind about wanting kids (or not). Seok-Hoon’s ex is straightforward about that and even admits that if he had stayed by her side, the kid in her belly might’ve been his (I feel like she’s going to get some terrible writing). He just walks away when she says she can’t make the perfume he likes because the baby doesn’t like it, and it gives her morning sickness.
At the hospital, we see Hyo-Min’s friend, Seol-A, helping some people using sign language. It shocks her colleague, and we see a flashback in which Hyo-Min asks her to learn sign language and teach it to her so she can communicate with her twin. Hyo-Min’s own dyslexia wouldn’t allow her to read the book she gives Seol-A, so they both learn it, only to find out that Hyo-Min’s twin sister could lipread and understand people with ease. Hyo-Min had always wanted to be close to her twin, especially knowing their mother basically abandoned her.
In the present day, Hyo-Ju, Hyo-Min’s twin, sends her a picture of some legal documents. Ryu is suing Hyo-Ju’s friend, and Hyo-Ju just wants Hyo-Min to take a look to make sure everything is okay. The first issue is that this is a big case considering the artist’s lawyers are from Lee & Seo, i.e., Hyo-Min’s ex. Hyo-Ju didn’t know what the case was, just that her friend was young and she wanted her sister to help, because it would make things easier. The case is of copyright infringement, and suddenly Hyo-Min has to defend Moon Jeong-Hye in a week’s time. Turns out she was given the document on the last day for the defendant to respond.
Hyo-Min instantly gravitates towards Seok-Hoon for guidance and help. He tells her he can’t help much, but she should take it up, and she’ll have to defend the girl herself. Suppose it’s a good challenge for her anyway, considering how big the case is. Jin-Woo is mad at Hyo-Min at first, but because she has to make an argument by herself for the first time, he discusses with Seok-Hoon giving the kids practice sessions. They play a game of sorts, and Hyo-Min ends up losing, but she doesn’t understand why. Later, she goes to Seok-Hoon for help again, and he tells her to practice with him. The thing he notices is that, despite being a lawyer, she’s a little bit biased, in that she has many prejudices and she lets them hijack her arguments. So, in the game, when she knew there was a mistake in the file that Seok-Hoon prepared, she ended up faltering in her argument, but on the other hand, her colleague was so positive it was perfect, he had no trouble making an argument. This is especially important with this case, too, because just like everyone else, Hyo-Min is also inclined to believe that the famous artist must be in the right, and his artwork has to be the original.
But this is still not enough for what’s coming for Hyo-Min. Unfortunately, the truth is that there’s one big secret that her client has hidden from her. When she’s called up into the stand and questioned, Jeong-Hye struggles to answer and is noticably uncomfortable. She’s pushed so hard, she ends up saying yes to everything, then wanting to go home and hug her mother. This is when Hyo-Min learns that she has an intellectual disability, so her brain is that of a 13-year-old, but her body is that of a 22-year-old. Jeong-Hye’s mother never had her registered because she wanted her to lead a “normal” life. I understand this sentiment, but morally, a lot of this is wrong in many ways.
How Does Hyo-Min Win The Case?
While Hyo-Min is determined to keep Jeong-Hye’s mother’s secret, Seong-Chan is eager to use the newfound information to their advantage. On top of that, Ryu is quite the prick, and it makes sense Seong-Chan would be leading his side, but since he’s a senior, a subordinate of his does his bidding. In the recess, there’s a brief moment when Tae-Seop, the senior lawyer, grabs Hyo-Min by the wrist, and Seok-Hoon comes to her rescue. He then whispers something in Tae-Seop’s ear, and I can only assume it was about the new partner at the firm, but it calms the other guy down. When Hyo-Min has a word with her client next, she truly speaks to her in an understanding manner. She tells her that she’s her attorney and that she should trust her with anything. This is what helps her get through to Jeong-Hye.
In court, Ryu continues to call Jeong-Hye a fraud and belittle her, just because she’s not famous and didn’t go to a fancy school like him. But none of this matters, because she’s clearly the better artist. Ultimately, it’s revealed that Jeong-Hye had a hidden message in her paintings, one that nobody could see with the naked eye. Hyo-Min asks Ryu if he had something hidden in his painting, and he says no, but Jeong-Hye has secretly hidden her father’s drawing in all her paintings. Turns out, she was hiding them in fluorescent colors, which she can see because she is tetrachromatic, which means she can see more colors than the average person, so she can paint with those colors without needing darkness around her. She was hiding the images of her dad because her mother didn’t want her to talk about her father after he abandoned them when she was age 12. Finally, at court, Hyo-Min makes the room dark and shows everyone the hidden drawing of Hyo-Min’s father. Ryu admits to being a fraud and copying her painting, but Hyo-Min asks him to apologize for insulting Jeong-Hye, which he refuses to do because of his big ego. But this helps Hyo-Min’s case further, and she tells him he won’t just be apologizing but compensating the girl as well. However, this victory alone isn’t the big payoff in this episode.
At the end of Beyond The Bar episode 5, Hyo-Min has a word with her sister and wants to tell her that her mother regrets having let her go too. But her sister says she’s in a similar position to Jeong-Hye, because she doesn’t want her mother (Hyo-Min’s aunt) to be upset by the fact that she misses her biological mother (who is now her aunt). But the big twist at the end of episode 5 is at the firm, where Kwan Na-Yeon returns as the new partner. Seok-Hoon and she share a knowing smile and nod, so I definitely think that has something to do with the whispering from earlier. Tomorrow’s episode is surely going to be super interesting. What do you think he whispered about? Could just be a regular old threat too.
