Pro Bono is a K-drama that feels quite heavy now that it’s drawing closer to its end. With only 2 episodes remaining, the series has suddenly ramped up what’s going on, and everyone is eager to find out why Da-Wit and Jae-Bum have this rivalry going on, but we finally have the answers. Episodes 9 and 10 were both action-packed and a little bit silly. It seems the big mystery has been solved, but there are still some answers we need. Additionally, Da-Wit’s promise to his mother is not exactly fulfilled after everything that’s gone down now. But now we have a little bit more insight into that as well. There’s more of a connection here than we imagined, not only between Da-Wit and Jae-Bum, but Gi-Ppeum as well. With that said, though, let’s jump straight into episodes 9 and 10.
Spoiler Alert
What Does Jae-Bum Want From Gi-Ppeum?
Episode 9 begins with Jae-Bum telling Gi-Ppeum to take on his case as his pro bono lawyer. While Gi-Ppeum only wanted to talk to Jae-Bum to yell at him for ruining Da-Wit’s life, he dumps a bunch of papers on her, making sure she takes his case, which means she can’t say a word against him as a lawyer and also that she learns the truth about Da-Wit herself. Turns out, Jae-Bum isn’t after Da-Wit for no reason, his father had died from anger issues in prison, all thanks to Da-Wit’s ruling. Only, Jae-Bum claims it was a false accusation, and his father was never guilty, but Da-Wit manipulated evidence against him and gave him a harsh sentence. Now, Gi-Ppeum learns that Da-Wit used false evidence, or rather, leaked false information to the media to get Jae-Bum’s father arrested. Knowing him for so long, when Gi-Ppeum tells the team about what she’s found out, it doesn’t take long for them to realize that this might be very true, because that’s the kind of man he is. However, on the other hand, he’s rejoicing and buying a new Nespresso machine because Oh has agreed not to disband the “Pro Bono” team, which leaves his daughter a little bit suspicious.
What Happened to Da-Wit’s Mother?
Da-Wit wore the title of “The People’s Judge” with pride, and it’s not like he didn’t earn it. But what drove him to champion the rights of the oppressed so strongly? While he’s certainly got a good heart, though it’s hidden under the persona of a charismatic know-it-all sometimes, the roots seem to lie in his tragic backstory. We find out about this side of him when the pro bono team confronts him and asks for his side of the story, given Oh is now basically forcing them to take on the case and sue him on Jae-Bum’s behalf. Turns out, Da-Wit’s mother, or what happened to her at least, is the reason he pursued a career in the legal profession in the first place.
Da-Wit’s mother used to work at a paper mill owned by Jae-Bum’s father, a ruthless capitalist who never hesitated to cut corners and squeeze every penny out of his workers that he could. And she did it to support Da-Wit as best as she could, being a single mother trying to put her kid through school. One day, Da-Wit came home to see his mother lying in bed and wrapped in bandages. To his horror, he realized her left hand had been severed at work, and the paper mill had sent her home without proper medical treatment or any compensation outside of a box of peaches. Furious, the young Da-Wit had run to her boss to confront him for overworking and mistreating her, but he’d just called him disrespectful and sent him away.
That kicked off a long legal battle, and though the Kangs couldn’t afford an attorney, Da-Wit spent his nights staying up reading legal documents and doing everything in his power to bring justice to his mother, even skipping college. Eventually, his mother’s health declined, and she made her dying wishes very clear to him: she wanted to be cremated and have her ashes scattered over a river so he’d have no place to mourn, and she wanted Da-Wit to climb to the greatest possible heights and do good things. He ignored that first wish, but with the limited compensation they finally got after his mother died, he went to law school and ended up becoming a judge, standing up for the voiceless and making sure nobody ever found themselves in the same position he and his mother did.
After he tells the pro bono team this story, he initially has their sympathy, and it almost feels like they’re not going to agree to represent Jae-Bum. But then Gi-Ppeum’s instincts go off, and she sees how his mother’s fate was the perfect motive for him to have mishandled the trial, yet he didn’t recuse himself. She also recalls how oddly specific his denial was when she asked him if he was guilty earlier. It looks like the cat’s out of the bag, and all Da-Wit can do is smile as he tells them he taught them well. For now, they’re going to be enemies, at least in the courtroom.
How Does Jun-U Get His Hands On The Court Records?
Once the court proceedings actually start, it’s almost a farce. The pro bono team does land a good strike right at the beginning, taking a cue from Da-Wit and bringing in the judge’s father-in-law as a representative (they didn’t even have to pay him, just bribe him with some lion’s mane mushroom), setting him off balance and ultimately forcing him to recuse himself. Da-Wit doesn’t play fair either, using a number of excuses to delay the trial, even showing up in a wheelchair on one occasion, claiming the pro bono team’s betrayal has caused a sudden and severe illness that leaves him unable to sit still for extended periods of time.
But when things do get going, Jun-U is the one who comes up with inspirational statements that sound nothing like him and court documents that he should not have been able to access. This sets off Nan-Hui’s instincts, and she can tell there’s something going on that he’s not telling the others. Jun-U ends up using the court records to show that Da-Wit had initially sought a posting near where the original paper mill was, but when they opened a newer, bigger paper mill in Seoul, he changed his mind and applied for a posting in South Seoul, even though the workload there would be much higher, making it a less desirable post.
When the pro bono team meets up for drinks later to “celebrate,” Jun-U’s the only one doing any celebrating. Nan-Hui starts to put together that he’s been acting differently ever since Attorney Bae took over as CEO and took charge of the pro bono team. Finally, after going undercover as a cleaner and eavesdropping on a urinal conversation between Jun-U and Dr. Oh, she realizes that Jun-U’s been leaking information about the pro bono team to Oh and Bae and getting assistance on the case in return, including the court records. They expect Jun-U to help them make an example of Da-Wit and send him to prison. In exchange, Jun-U will finally get kicked a step or two up the career ladder.
Why Does Oh Jung-In Step Down As CEO?
There’s always been an imbalance in the dynamic between Jung-In and her father. Dr. Oh always treated her as someone who didn’t know what she was doing, despite her being the CEO of the company. When Jung-In was eager to keep the “Pro Bono” team, he let her do it for the time being, but he set harsh conditions that would make it too hard for them to keep up. However, Jung-In went a step ahead and took Da-Wit on her side. But, this is the last straw for Jung-In after how things panned out with the Da-Wit case. Jung-In realizes Oh was the one who forced Gi-Ppeum and the rest to take on Jae-Bum’s case and fight against Da-Wit.
This time, Jung-In decides to resign, and it’s not just revenge for the present day when she’s 40, but for her 4-year-old self, because he used to lock her in a storage room until she’d stop crying if she ever disobeyed him. Clearly, that’s why she’ll never be the daughter her father wants, which we love. But I don’t think he’s realizing what he’s lost right now, really. Anyway, this is good for Da-Wit, because the next thing we know, she shows up as his attorney for the trial, clearing all the fuss around the court documents and shutting the investigator down by bringing up his past.
Does Da-Wit End Up Being Proven Guilty Of Abuse Of Power?
Gi-Ppeum’s mother receives a letter one day, and it seems like a debt collection notice, which freaks her out. She and her husband have already lost one bakery to a business partner cheating them; if the banks came for this new bakery, which they put so much work into, it’s unlikely they’d ever be able to recover. That’s why, when her daughter comes home, she asks her to look through the documents and tell her what’s going on. To Gi-Ppeum’s relief, she finds that they’re still exempt from debt collection, but going through the documents, she sees that Da-Wit was the judge who granted them that exemption in the first place.
She asks to meet with him because she needs to ask the most important question in the world right now: did he do it? They meet up, and she tells him the debt exemption story and how he was the reason she joined the legal profession in the first place. In a way, what Da-Wit’s mother was to him, he was to Gi-Ppeum. At the end of this moving monologue, though, when she expected a sincere answer from him, Da-Wit brushed aside the sentiment, saying the only truth people care about is their own truth, or the truth that can be proven in court, and asked her to defeat him in court if she really did want the truth. At this, Gi-Ppeum takes on the challenge for real.
At the end of episode 10 of “Pro Bono,” Gi-Ppeum decides the time for half-measures is over, and she immediately attacks. She ends up using the story of Da-Wit’s mother to talk about how he clearly had no business making an unbiased ruling on the case. She pressures him on several points, clearly stepping over some lines in the process, which leaves Jung-In an opening to object to Gi-Ppeum’s line of questioning for trying to lead the defendant. The judge sustains this objection, but then Da-Wit shocks everyone by confessing that he did have a conflict of interest and that he did it all for revenge. The episode ends with him seemingly giving up altogether, even saying he doesn’t deserve to be a judge. Is this the end of Da-Wit and, by association, Jung-In? Will the pro bono team be rewarded for winning the case? We’ll have to wait till next week to find out.
