The previous episode of “Trolley” had ended with Joong-Do’s bills getting shot down by the opposing party as his life got tangled with Assemblyman Kang’s family. Seung-Hee, Kang’s niece, pays a visit to Hye-Joo after she recognizes her from the news as the harbinger of chaos in Hye-Joo’s life. Episode 4 ends on a haunting note as the two estranged friends meet after a long time.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Episode 5: Recap And Ending Explained – Did Kim Hye-Joo Really Kill Seung-Ho? Is Her Past Catching Up To Her?
The fifth episode of “Trolley” begins with a flashback to Hye-Joo’s past, where a bruised and battered Hye-Joo seemed to be running away from something and to the police station. It then shifts to a sequence of her running away after graduation and also changing her name to begin a new life. It ends by connecting “Trolley” Episode 5 to the previous one, where Hye-Joo meets Seung-Hee after a long time, and Seung-Hee leaves Hye-Joo with a chilling greeting as she takes her number and calls her a murderer. Hye-Joo was on her way to visit Ji-Hoon with Soo-Bin before Seung-Hee came over. This, in turn, made Hye-Joo pale and anxious to get away from her. Seung-Hee texts her later with an address at Youngsan so that they could meet there, not forgetting to call her a murderer at the end of her texts to unnerve her. Hye-Joo, disturbed, locks herself in her room, trying to gather her thoughts on how to process what is going on while she is constantly reminded of how her husband had almost stumbled upon her past due to their houses being under their names. Seung-Hee starts plotting Hye-Joo’s downfall because her own life is being dragged to the dredges. Soo-Bin starts getting concerned about Hye-Joo and tries to form a little bond with her. Soo-Bin brought the porridge made by Yeo-Jin to Hye-Joo after Hye-Joo had skipped her meal because of appetite loss due to Seung-Hee’s visit. Hye-Joo’s emotions are in disarray due to the incident, and she shouts at Soo-Bin as Soo-Bin touches her phone because it is ringing. She later regretted yelling at Soo-Bin after she realized that the phone call was from her husband, not Seung-Hee as she had assumed. She also feels guilty, as she knew that she would lie to Joong-Do on the call and not divulge the exact reason behind her worries. Hye-Joo went through a barrage of emotions all at once. As Yoon-Seo rushed to comfort her mother after learning that she wasn’t feeling well through Yeo-Jin, Soo-Bin slowly closed the door to her room as she felt the distance widening between her and the family.
Meanwhile, Joong-Do meets up with Ki-Young to discuss the disputed property as well as Lee Yoo-Shin. Joong-Do appeals to Ki-Young’s nostalgic memories of Youngsan by talking about Hye-Joo so as to fish for information; however, as Ki-Young was familiar with Hye-Joo, the tactic did not work. Joong-Do’s staff, on the other hand, were trying their best to cheer up Joong-Do and also make sure the bills regarding sexual crimes pass during his tenure because of the respect and love they have for him as their Assemblyman. However, Joong-Do’s problems appear to have just begun, as Seung-Kyu’s mother attempted suicide as a result of her son’s death and the backlash he was still receiving. It is also revealed that before committing suicide, Seung-Kyu uploaded the intimate videos he was withholding to commit digital sexual crimes against Gwi-Soon’s granddaughter. Although Seung-Kyu’s death had brought peace to the grandmother, his antics would surely leave her even more distraught if the news caught wind of them; therefore, Joong-Do tried to do away with the videos behind the scenes. Joong-Do still blamed himself for the death of Seung-Kyu and could not hold off visiting his parents in the hospital; here, Woo-Jae’s actions in capturing the whole altercation between Joong-Do and Seung-Kyu’s father were a little puzzling. The video could be used to gain more PR, but it is still puzzling as to why he did that. Woo-Jae had indeed warned Joong-Do earlier to stay professional and not get involved with Seung-Kyu’s matter anywhere due to public sentiment against the deceased boy, yet Joong-Do still blamed himself for the matter. Therefore, it was up to Woo-Jae to handle the later situations and be ready for any mishaps. Joong-Do returned home with the medication for the cold because she had told him that she had a cold when he had called her. He also hid the pain from the wounds he had received from the altercation in the hospital, as he thought he deserved it. That night could be marked as the beginning of a huge storm in their married life as Hye-Joo’s past started unraveling. It is also revealed that Yeo-Jin and Joong Do had actually known each other since childhood, as Yeo-Jin takes care of his mother’s store, keeping her customs alive, and making sure kids, pregnant ladies, and teenagers come back for free food regardless of their circumstances.
As these incidents continue, Seung-Hee’s life takes a miserable turn due to her mother’s fixation on her deceased brother and her mother not treating her well. Yoo-Shin constantly snarks and mocks her daughter as well as her husband, and she also threatens her with her death to suit her purpose. Seung-Hee had moved to Australia to escape this absolutely claustrophobic life with her mother and is now looking for retribution, which would make it a little easier for her to live. She wanted to make it a little better and was jealous that Hye-Joo lived a guilt-free and happy life after Seung-Hee’s brother committed suicide due to Hye-Joo reporting him to the police. Ki-Young also tries his best to be a better husband and keep their relationship going; however, their relationship is too broken to be fixed. It is then revealed, as the fifth episode of “Trolley” ends with a flashback before Hye-Joo travels to Youngsan to meet with Seung-Hee, that Seung-Ho had sexually assaulted Hye-Joo. Due to the power and financial support, Yoo-Shin had after she learned about the incident, she tried to bribe Hye-Joo with a scholarship and money to keep her from reporting him, as Seung-Ho had gotten into SNU, one of the top colleges in Seoul for lawyers. Hye-Joo had to accept the scholarships because, with her words, Yoo-Shin had made her understand the implications behind those offers. However, Seung-Ho’s pride was hurt as Hye-Joo had constantly rejected him, and thus he admitted to having fun with her because he could, and he also hurt her by implying that she could have let him buy her if she needed the money. All of this made Hye-Joo go straight to the police and report him, which led to Seung-Ho killing himself because he could not let his image be tainted. Seung-Hee accused Hye-Joo of indirectly murdering her brother, and Hye-Joo left Youngsan to escape from the whole ordeal. She had initially thought of not meeting with Seung-Hee; however, the news of Assemblyman Ko Ji-Seop’s wife being involved in a hit-and-run case that became the cause behind the ruin of his political career made her put herself in that position, and she arrived to meet Seung-Hee only to find her husband and Ki-Young present there as well.
Episode 6: Recap And Ending Explained – Did Nam Joong-Do Find Out About Hye-Joo’s Past?
“Trolley” Episode 6 begins with the conclusion of the Digital Sex Crime Countermeasure seminar at Chungju City Council, which was attended by Joong-Do, Daehan Party Chairwoman Woo Jin-Seok, and Assemblyman Son Yeong-Gyun. The event ended with the members of the Daehan Party unanimously agreeing to Assemblyman Ko Ji-Seop handing his resignation to smooth over the situation, after his wife found herself amidst a hit-and-run case that had the public’s opinion turning away from the Daehan Party. They also discuss how their political careers always place them under constant surveillance and how they are questioned about every choice they make or don’t make. After the seminar, Nam Joong-Do sets out for Youngsan, where he asks Ki-Young for a meeting over dinner, and unintentionally on Joong-Do’s part, their place of meeting coincided with the place Seung-Hee had asked Hye-Joo to meet her at. This is where “Trolley” Episode 6 picks up from where Episode 5 left the viewers. The four of them share a dinner together, and Joong-Do notices how uncomfortable Hye-Joo is throughout the dinner and how she comes out positively pale after a conversation with Seung-Hee in the washroom. He also notices how Ki-Young’s eyes follow Hye-Joo, which betrays the unrequited feelings Ki-Young seems to have for Hye-Joo. Joong-Do notices that something is not right between all of them, and thus he makes up his mind to investigate the situation. He sends Woo-Jae to gather information about his wife’s past from Younsan, her husband, as he worries that Seung-Hee and Ki-Young might be up to no good. Woo-Jae goes under the disguise of Hye-Joo’s husband to ask about her past from the sister at the children’s home where Hye-Joo had lived her past life. The sister hesitates at first, but after a little coaxing, she reveals Hye-Joo’s past and what had gone down. Woo-Jae then reports this to Joong-Do.
In the restroom, Seung-Hee threatens to ruin Joong-Do’s career by posting or handing out flyers about Hye-Joo killing Seung-Ho, as she accuses both Hye-Joo and Joong-Do of being murderers. Seung-Hee tells Hye-Joo to meet her mother the next day and apologize for what she had put the family through and for breaking up the entire family. She also accuses Hye-Joo of lying and framing Seung-Ho for tuition money, and her reasoning for this accusation was that if Hye-Joo had been really assaulted, she would not have been able to fall in love and marry Joong-Do in such a short period after she went through that ordeal. This reveals the attitudes and mentalities that South Korean citizens have toward women. Even though South Korea is believed to be developed and seems to have a lot of equal opportunities across genders, sexism and outdated mentalities still persist amidst it all making it very difficult for women to battle the patriarchal influence. After the conversation ended with Hye-Joo insisting that Seung-Hee not involve her husband in this as she did not want his career to suffer like Assemblyman Ko’s did, Seung-Hee went home to reveal to Ki-Young what Seung-Ho had told her in the last moments of his life. Ki-Young seemed to be unofficially on Hye-Joo’s side, as he believed that Seung-Ho had assaulted her. However, Seung-Hee had already been emotionally manipulated and was under the notion that Hye-Joo was the sole reason behind her broken family, as her mother had also led her to believe. In the flashbacks, it seemed that Hye-Joo was uncomfortable with even a little mention of Seung-Ho in the past, which meant that Seung-Ho had been stalking and harassing Hye-Joo for quite some time; however, on that day, he took it even further by assaulting her, and then as he realized that Hye-Joo had reported him, he manipulated Seung-Hee into believing that he had nothing to do with the situation and that it was all Hye-Joo who was after money. It was cemented by his committing suicide and Yoo-Shin running with the same storyline. This made Seung-Hee accuse her once best friend of murdering her twin brother, and now Seung-Hee is exhausted, and she simply wants Hye-Joo to kneel down and apologize for her crimes so that there could be some peace in the family. Thus, she told her to meet at 3:30 pm while convincing her mother to be there at 4 pm to put an end to this fiasco once and for all.
Hye-Joo had been hesitant to meet with Seung-Hee at first, however, she loved her husband a lot, and she did not want to inconvenience him and his career with her troubles. She made up her mind to keep all of this out of the media and was even ready to be called a liar as she made her way to her car. However, as she contemplated her actions, she received a distress call from Gwi-Soon, who had found out about the news of the video, even though Joong-Do had gone to such an extent to delete it. Hye-Joo quickly called Woo-Jae, who was at the Children’s Home at that point investigating her past, to get a read on the situation. She then called back Gwi-Soon; however, her phone was unreachable, which could only point to the fact that the old lady must have taken some action due to her distress after the news. This is what Joong-Do had feared would happen, which is why he was taking care of it behind the scenes. As the clock ticked by, Hye-Joo had to make her way to Youngsan so that she could help her husband and keep her past from affecting him as well. “Trolley” Episode 6 ends with Seung-Hee and Hye-Joo waiting for Yoo-Shin’s return, but instead, they get a surprise visit from an enraged Joong-Do, as he had learned about what Seung-Ho had done to Hye-Joo from Woo-Jae.
The sixth episode of “Trolley” revealed that Yeo-Jin had also raised a son who is still unknown, and she divulged this to Soo-Bin under the notion that Soo-Bin was in the clinic for a check-up. Hye-Joo tries to smooth things over with Soo-Bin later before visiting Seung-Hee but Soo-Bin, after being hurt by Hye-Joo’s cold behavior towards her, has closed off and returned to being rude. She contemplated abortion and had gone to the clinic to learn more about induced abortions in secret. The doctor she consulted was none other than Hye-Joo’s friend from “Trolley” Episode 1, Ji-Soo, therefore, there is a chance that Hye-Joo might learn about this later.
Final Thoughts
Of course, “Trolley” runs quite closely with reality; it offers a glimpse of what goes down in real life and what happens to people with no money and power if they are victims. Unless somebody with power takes pity on them and helps them out, no justice is really served, which is why monsters roam the cities absolutely guilt-free with no redemption. It is a cruel and harsh world that simply sides with the person with more power, and although social media and increased public awareness are providing such people with the punishment they deserve, ultimately, it is a daunting task to put them into custody. The series highlights those criminals who simply commit suicide after ruining the lives of their victims, and their measures ruin the victims’ lives even more. The entire blame rests on the victim, and instead of getting justice, they’re blamed more. Seung-Ho emotionally manipulated his sister into believing him so as to condemn Hye-Joo further, and his mother didn’t want to accept her son’s wrongdoings and decided to condemn Hye-Joo further as well. In the case of Gwi-Soon’s granddaughter, Seung-Kyu uploaded the intimate videos out of spite and took the easy way out to condemn the family further. “Trolley” relays the complexities and psychotic tendencies that humans display over time.
In “Trolley” Episode 5, Kim Bit-Na told Joong-Do that it’ll be difficult to pass the bills on sexual crimes because there needs to be a bigger event that would affect the country more and effectively pass the bill, which is quite true in reality as well. Because unless and until there is a big event that occurs and jeopardizes the life of a really important person, not a single amendment is made before that. Unless and until the news really shakes the world and brings attention to it, life goes on. Therefore, even though Joong-Do would probably not want to use the situation his wife went through as her husband, as a politician, he would have to use this situation to amend the bills and protect the rest of the citizens from going through the same events.
