Episodes 1 and 2 of Jung Kyung-Ho’s new K-drama, Pro Bono, are out, and it’s exactly what you’d expect from him. The actor is great at playing serious roles in comedic shows. What I mean by this is, even in Hospital Playlist, he was a funny doctor, but never a clown when it came to work. I think you could consider his role as Da-Wit something similar. The guy is clearly a comedy superstar, and it makes sense that he gets to headline so many Netflix ones. The show also stars some other familiar faces we haven’t seen in a while. It’d be interesting to see how they work all together. Also, interesting how Sung Dong-Il is just making cameos in Netflix weekend dramas lately. I mean, he was even in Typhoon Family, and now he’s here. Very interesting. Anyway, I can’t stop thinking about the beautiful golden retriever in episode 2, so let’s jump straight into the recap.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Da-Wit Join Oh’s Firm?
Pro Bono episode 1 begins with an introduction to Judge Da-Wit. He’s a famous judge who is beloved by everyone and seems to be quite the public figure. He sits on a case that concerns a corrupt CEO, and the man is quick to point out the CEO’s atrocious ways, ultimately giving the guy a 10-year sentence, something most people couldn’t imagine a judge giving a “chaebol heir.” On the surface, Da-Wit appears to be a really good judge who doesn’t fall for anything unjust. But it turns out he’s being extra nice to people specifically because he’s standing to be nominated as a Supreme Court Justice. So much so that he’s willing to pretend that the blood on his forehead from trying to impress some corrupt judges is gochujang (yikes).
Now, just because Da-Wit is being extra nice doesn’t mean he’s a bad person otherwise. Sure, he’s been nominated, and that’s what he wanted really badly, but it’s not like he’ll suddenly side with corrupt CEOs. This is proven through a flashback of the guy with his mother, who died when he was a teenager. Her dying wish was for him to become successful, and that has been his only goal so far. Also, he likes apricots because he and his mom tried apricots when he was young, and she found them sour. So, as I said, Da-Wit isn’t a bad guy; he’s just eager to fulfill his mum’s wish.
Now, Da-Wit gets a random call about an old school friend named Kim Ju-Seop. The latter asks to meet him, and when he does, he looks like an entirely different person. Da-Wit doesn’t pay much attention to it, though, because it’s not abnormal for people to look different in their 40s. However, the next thing you know, Da-Wit’s got a box full of cash in the boot of his car. Certain it’s a trap, Da-Wit goes straight to his boss, but after 5 minutes of writing an article about the incident, Da-Wit’s boss gives him a tight slap, wondering if the guy thought him a fool. There’s video evidence that Da-Wit took the money himself, but the guy he’s with isn’t even the real Ju-Seop; he’s a con artist, because the real guy died 10 years ago.
But Da-Wit’s career is saved when an old crush, who he claims had a crush on him, invites him to join her father’s firm. But unfortunately, Da-Wit had no idea what she was planning to have him do. After showing him her lavish office, Oh Jung-In quickly takes him to the basement, where he joins the pro bono team. This isn’t anything like the life he was expecting to have.
How Does Da-Wit Orchestrate a Win in the Dognapping Case?
In episode 2 of Pro Bono, Da-Wit is humiliated after a dog suddenly shows up and starts licking him. He tries to tell Jung-In that this is not what he’s meant to be doing, but she reminds him he doesn’t really have a choice. Da-Wit then proceeds to learn that the dog is actually their client. Well, not exactly. There’s an old couple who have adopted this dog named Byeol, but it turns out she was abandoned, and now the original owner is trying to get her back. But it’s curious because it’s been over a year since the dog was abandoned, and the procedure is all done. This case shows how inefficient the animal protection laws in Korea are.
Now, Da-Wit is the kind of guy who will use any information he has about a person to his advantage, even if that means trying to get the judge of the case to side with him or getting some information from somebody. The judge they’re initially assigned doesn’t seem inclined to side with Da-Wit and their team. This is when Da-Wit plays a trump card, bringing in an experienced attorney, Lawyer Park, a friend of the judge’s, as an advisor, forcing the judge to recuse himself and get them assigned a second judge, Judge Choi. But this case is pretty simple, until there’s a new witness who claims to have seen the woman who works for the elderly couple take off the dog’s collar and throw it into a river. She admits to having done so after some coaxing from Da-Wit, who is quite ruthless, but then she also says the collar was an unethical training device that would shock the dog every time she barked. Moreover, for the old couple who lost their granddaughter in an accident, Byeol is literally an extension of Ha-Byeol (the granddaughter).
Da-Wit’s clearly disappointed with the state of the pro bono team he’s working with, and he quickly surmises why it even exists. Every law firm in Korea apparently has to dedicate a certain number of hours to pro bono cases per attorney every year, but Oh realized that putting together a dedicated pro bono division would mean that they could dedicate all their hours to pro bono cases, freeing up all the other attorneys for more profitable work. Only the least promising people get sent here, and so Da-Wit’s inclusion in the pro bono team must have seemed puzzling to him until he realized that Oh wanted to raise the esteem of the pro bono team and uplift her firm’s reputation. To this end, he makes her a deal: he will only work with her for one year, but he will raise their case win rate from the current measly 20% to a respectable 50%, following which he expects her to use her contacts to get him a Supreme Court justice nomination. Oh agrees, but she says a prize like that needs a little more effort; she asks him to get the team to 70%, and he agrees.
Now, the case seems hard to win because the judge is an angry one, and none of Da-Wit’s colleagues have enough skill to make this work. Additionally, they even get in trouble over the witness, who stole some from the household, making it seem like her testimony is fake. But Da-Wit has some tricks up his sleeve. He ends up using the woman’s father as leverage. Essentially, she’s the daughter of an assemblyman, and if she gets caught for the animal abuse allegation, his career would be ruined. So, ultimately, she cancels the appeal and says the dog isn’t hers. And this is proven when Byeol barks, unlike Chloe, who couldn’t bark after being traumatized by the collar.
At the end of Pro Bono episode 2, Jung-In is also at court during this trial and then walks out with a smile on her face. But, when she gets into her car, she says, “It’s been a long time, Yoo Jae-Beom.” However, this man is the same con artist who pretended to be Ju-Seop earlier, so does that mean he’s after Da-Wit specifically? But it was Da-Wit’s boss who tried his case, so why would he still be targeting him? We’ll have to wait for next week to find out.
