Slicing The Tail
Episode 10 of Again My Life begins with Tae-Seob publicly approaching Hwang and talking about the vacant spot for the Minister of Justice. Hwang bites back, telling him that if the person is truly qualified then it won’t be vacant for long. ..
Pandora’s box is opened, revealing a list of entertainers who have been accused of draft evasion. Assemblyman Park’s son is included on the list, and he is challenged on this by his father. The list also includes 50 drug offenders. ..
Hwang continues to read out the names of those who received sexual favours from the defendant. The court is in uproar as Hwang reveals the names one by one. Tae-Seob, who was watching on, seems to be stewing about this revelation. ..
As the prosecutor in hot water, Tae-Seob tries to work around the media storm and stay out of trouble. However, he knows that if he doesn’t take advantage of this opportunity, he’ll be outed and lose his power. So he works to build relationships with those on the list and try to get them to rally around him. Ultimately, Tae-Seob hopes to gain more power and control over the situation.
Meanwhile, Hui-Wu is tasked by Seok-Hoon to hold a press conference. They’re going to investigate the Entertainment Case themselves. Hui-Wu is also given the mission to investigate Assemblyman Hwang and find something dirty on him. Naturally, Hui-Wu immediately rings him and warns the guy what’s coming. He also tells him that this is Tae-Seob’s doing. The thing is, despite all the pieces falling under Hwang’s influence, Tae-Seob has used that to make himself stronger.
The disgraced officials head over to Tae-Seob’s place where he berates them for their actions. They beg for forgiveness so he decides to delete their names from the list – but only if they pledge themselves to him. Of course, not everyone will be saved; there will be some casualties.
Choi turns to Il-Hyeon or help in order to save his life. Il-Hyeon agrees to send him over to the one person who can save his skin now, Tae-Seob. This comes just in time too, given that Hui-Wu and the others have an arrest warrant and intend to take Choi down.
The prosecutor is not stupid though. He knows someone has leaked the list to Hwang and challenges Hui-Wu over how convenient all of this is.
The Assemblyman are going to start a “rumour”, spread from those inside the office to raise the price of taxes, including the cost of soju and cigarettes. It will cause the public to be in uproar but it won’t be an actual law. In fact, the parties even decide to make this one of their campaign pledges, to reduce down he tax for this fake raise. This would, in essence, distract from the Entertainment case.
The investigation into the coer-up begins quickly, with Yun-A quitting the entertainment industry and taking out their key witness. The doctor’s name is omitted from the report, and the most powerful names are removed from the list. ..
Hui-Wu apologizes to Hwang for what’s happened, who begins to despair about how impossible this task is to take out Tae-Seob. Hui-Wu uses the analogy of a small crack turning into a massive dam. They need to have hope, and he promises that this is just the beginning of their investigative efforts.
That evening, Choi turns against his own father and outs him to the press (which was Tae-Seob’s suggestion) Because of this, Choi is presented as a hero. In exchange, he agrees to get Il-Hyeon out on probation. He approaches Hui-Wu with this and suggests they work together, using some sort of legal loophole. If not, he should take a step back and let someone else do it.
As the sun sets, Seok-kyu arrives at the boxing ring to see Hui-Wu working out. He promises Hui-Wu that he’ll get another chance to take Tae-Seob down. For now though, he needs to be patient. The trouble is, everything is starting to unravel and Hui-Wu is in danger of losing everything he’s worked so hard for. ..
Hui-Wu goes right to the source and heads into the prison to see Chairman Sung, who is also behind bars. Through her, he gets Chairman Sung to give a press conference about his love for Il-Hyeon and how she’s actually pregnant with his child. From here, the press will spin this story in an unfavourable light and make sure he gets taken down no matter what. And it works! Il-Hyeon is sentenced to 7 years in prison. ..
After giving Tae-Seob the USB stick earlier on the episode, Tae-Seob works round the clock with his team to completely unravel about Hee-A’s brother. It’s all over the news and the tabloids. Because of this, Hee-A has no choice but to join the management team. She also says goodbye to Hui-Wu too, admitting what she’s about to do and bemoaning how she’ll never have a normal life again.
When Hee-A returns home, her brothers are surprised to find out she has been added to the management team. They scoff at this revelation and walk away. In fact, Yong-Jun drives all the way up to see Tae-Seob. He wants to stay in power and to shake off the corruption surrounding him. So naturally, he asks for help. Tae-Seob agrees, and ends up with yet another ally on his side. ..
The Episode Review
The pieces are moving on the chessboard and both Tae-Seob and Hui-Wu are starting to strike out important parts of the game. With Il-Hyeon well and truly defeated, the attention turns instead to Prosecutor Choi and those aligned with Tae-Seob. It almost feels like one step forward and two steps back, especially as Tae-Seob manages to find a useful ally in Hee-A’s brother. It’s fair to say he’s going to try and out Hee-A, especially with her father in hospital too. It wouldn’t surprise me if Tae-Seob has him killed too.
This episode definitely ratchets up the tension and drama, with a good deal of character development for Hui-Wu and a tentative game of cat and mouse that results in Tae-Seob continuing to come out on top. The ending certainly hints that next week’s double bill is going to be very dramatic, so we’ll have to wait and see what this one has in store for us next.
