I’m not quite sure how I feel about episode 9 of Beyond The Bar, which focuses on a case where morals and ethics come into play. This episode is a little bit all over the place because there are two cases involved, and then the whole relationship between Hyo-Min and Seok-Hoon. But to add to that, this episode is especially filled with jargon, and not just law-related, but medical as well. So it felt a bit boring in bits and didn’t go down as smooth as the rest of the show has so far. I really hope it doesn’t get worse with just 3 episodes remaining; such is the K-drama curse. I did enjoy the quiet moments shared between Hyo-Min and Seok-Hoon, though; however, I’m not sure how much more children-focused the episodes need to be for Seok-Hoon to show his “real” self to Hyo-Min. It’s a bit out of control now. With that said, let’s dive into episode 9.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Dr. Choi Refuse To Treat Byeong-Su?
Beyond The Bar episode 9 begins with a man falling unconscious on a flight. A doctor is on board and immediately offers help, but when she sees the man’s face, she realizes she knows him from before. This man is Kim Byeong-Su, the perpetrator of the rape of a 7-year-old back in 2015. The girl, Min-Sol, was treated by Dr. Choi back then, and years later, in 2020, she refused to treat him when he came in in a critical condition. As a doctor, you swear the Hippocratic oath, which prevents you from refusing treatment to any patient in need. Back then, Dr. Choi was able to say no because her boss elected to treat the man instead. However, Kim’s mother and wife saw that she clearly wanted the man dead. Fast-forward to the present day, Kim dies despite Dr. Choi trying to save him on the plane, and his family wants to charge her with murder.
Dr. Choi comes to Yullim for advice, and the first thing Seok-Hoon asks her directly is if she killed Byeong-Su on purpose. This becomes a question of ethics, but when she says no, everybody believes her and moves forward. While discussing the case, attorney Choi talks about how she has a pair of twin sisters, who are currently 7 years old, so she wants to be assigned to this case, too. Everybody feels the need to defend Dr. Choi, mainly because Byeong-Su committed such a heinous crime. On the other hand, it looks like Min-Jeong is completely avoiding Jin-Woo because she likes him back too. When he gets tired of seeing her walk away every time she sees his face, he decides to confront her and admits he has feelings for her. This doesn’t go down as well as he’d hoped, and she walks away from him yet again. She thinks he’s into her because he pities her after learning about everything she’s been through. She obviously likes him back, but we’ll get a slow-burning romance and will have to wait till the last moment. Meanwhile, the partners are furious because Na-Yeon has changed the company structure, which means they don’t have salaries but get paid according to the work they do. As you can imagine, a lot of these people don’t do any work and become “salary thieves,” because they expect it to be a cakewalk once they’ve made partner. If they don’t perform now, their contracts will not be renewed.
In the main case of the episode, there’s an underlying genetic factor that can help Dr. Choi’s side. If Hyo-Min can prove that Byeong-Su was already dying before Dr. Choi performed emergency surgery on the flight, she can’t be charged with negligent manslaughter either. She’ll essentially be set free. On the other hand, Na-Yeon meets with a paralegal, who is eager to talk to her because his educational background wasn’t good enough for him to get into a firm like Yullim. I’m not quite sure why we had to see this, but I guess it’s to show us that Na-Yeon is fair, and even if someone may have been bad academically, if their work proves otherwise, she’ll approve of them, something rarely seen in Korea, considering everything revolves around whether you studied at a top school and if your grades were fantastic.
What Happened With Mr. Lee?
The other case touched upon in this episode is that of Mr. Lee, who had a company of his own that worked in AI. He too an investment from Bluestone Fund, but there was a poison clause that allowed them to sell the company off. Mr. Lee never wanted to sell his software, nor did he want to give anybody the right to acquire his software. However, when Na-Yeon tried to help him back in the day for an embezzlement case against Bluestone, she was demoted from her position, and things got very messy, so she was taken off the case. She was sure the company was cheating Lee, but she couldn’t do anything to help him. I guess this case will be expanded on further in the last few episodes, and Na-Yeon will get her own kind of justice.
What Happens With Dr. Choi’s Case?
Turns out Byeong-Su has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is a genetic condition and the reason the man died on the flight. This makes it much easier to prove Dr. Choi’s innocence. It’s a bit hard for the team tosort through the medical papers, so Hyo-Min brings her bestie to work, and Sol-A proves that Byeong-Su’s family has a history of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, so they’ve got a solid case. But there’s one problem: since the hospital Choi worked at before was where he got treated, if they knew about his condition, it could be proven that she also knew about the disease and did the wrong thing on purpose. But, in the end, it’s proven that she didn’t know. That means everything goes well for the doctor, and the prosecutor tells Dr. Choi that he’s not going to press any charges against her, which makes Hyo-Min curious because it’s just been too easy, and she didn’t even have to make any arguments.
Somewhere in the middle of this episode, attorney Choi Ho-Yeon, who has the twin sisters, was called in for questioning because of some fraud that happened in her name. Hyo-Min and she have become close over the course of this case, and Hyo-Min has even told her about her twin sister. Ho-Yeon told Hyo-Min earlier that they’re her half-sisters and they don’t have parents, so she looks after everything. So, when Ho-Yeon gets caught up at the station, she asks Hyo-Min to help out with the girls, because their aunt is also away. I wonder if this was just to get Hyo-Min and Seok-Hoon to spend more time together, or if the Ho-Yeon case will become something major in the next episode.
At the end of Beyond The Bar, episode 9, Hyo-Min tells Seok-Hoon that she needs to be dropped off at Ho-Yeon’s place. She suggests she’ll take the bus, but Seok-Hoon tells her it’ll be too late and goes with her to Ho-Yeon’s. As soon as he sees the girls, the paternal instinct in him takes over, and he’s ready to do anything for these two girls. The first thing they do is take them out to eat, because they haven’t eaten all day. At the restaurant, they talk about how Ho-Yeon doesn’t eat enough, so they want to pack their own plates for her; however, Seok-Hoon promises he can get them another plate for her. They know him as the scary boss, but he takes them grocery shopping and is very sweet, which makes the 4 of them look like a family. This leaves a warm, fuzzy feeling in Hyo-Min by the end of the night, especially because it’s clear the girls have become attached to Seok-Hoon.
When they’re in bed, Hyo-Min and Seok-Hoon have a discussion about the case, and it becomes clear to Hyo-Min that nothing was coincidental. From the prosecutor to the lawyer and even the doctors who did Byeong-Su’s autopsy, everyone knew what he did to that little girl, so ultimately they all worked together to help Dr. Choi. Hyo-Min talks about how they look for justice even after the man’s dead. I think the show tried to play things emotional in this situation, but it didn’t handle this case very well. Anyway, Choi was innocent at the end of the day, so justice would’ve been served, but I guess the show wanted to be more dramatic. What did you think of this case?
