Phantom Lawyer: Episodes 9-10
by lovepark
Grief is a complicated experience that can cause families to break, but it can also be a source of connection and understanding as our two attorneys learn this week. Given the rare opportunity to reconnect with a loved one, our heroine gets a chance to say goodbye before jumping back into the world of ghostly courtroom shenanigans alongside her new partner.
EPISODES 9-10
Now that So-hyun is here, Na-hyun spends every possible moment with her sister. They ride roller coasters, play games, wear hanboks in the park, and watch the sunset on a hot air balloon. One by one, they cross off items on So-hyun’s bucket list, and seeing Na-hyun with Yi-rang acting like sisters is cute, funny, and heartbreaking. One rain shower could destroy the illusion our attorney desperately clings to, and without Yi-rang as a conduit, living with a ghost is just another form of loneliness and longing.
So-hyun knows that it is time to say goodbye if Na-hyun is to heal, but before she leaves, she has one last task for our phantom lawyer: help her mend her family. Using the excuse of wanting to eat their mom’s food, So-hyun gets Na-hyun to return home, and once face-to-face, Mom finally gathers the courage and apologizes for what she said that day outside the operating room. She foolishly thought time would solve their problems, not knowing that Na-hyun blamed herself for her sister’s death. As both parents rush to their youngest’s side, the years of silent suffering burst as they cry in each other’s arms.
Thanks to So-hyun and Yi-rang’s efforts, the family is back together, and to celebrate, Na-hyun invites them to her mom’s birthday dinner. They even have So-hyun’s favorite kimchi stew… with lots of pork. Yi-rang, the sweetheart that he is, pops an allergy pill, and So-hyun digs in with gusto. Though they cannot see her, So-hyun spends the day with them as they happily sit around the TV, and for a moment, it feels like the family is whole again.
With her unfinished business taken care of, So-hyun gets ready to leave and texts Na-hyun farewell. She was afraid seeing her sister at the end would make her departure too difficult, but when Na-hyun arrives just in time to send her off, both sisters are relieved they can say their final goodbyes in person. Na-hyun thanks her for coming back to be with her and hopes that next time she gets to be the older sister so she can protect her. So-hyun chuckles since Na-hyun will always be her little sister, and they promise to live happily until they meet again. (*sob* Sibling stories will forever be my kryptonite.)
Meanwhile, Do-kyeong displays some serious only-child vibes when daddy dearest, aka Chairman YANG BYUNG-IL (Choi Kwang-il), returns from his overseas medical procedures. He immediately takes his son to Kyeong-hwa’s butcher shop and apologizes for not visiting sooner. Apparently, he was Yi-rang’s dad’s boss, and according to Kyeong-hwa, the only one who tried to help their family. The chairman even offers a job at his firm for her son, but when Yi-rang hears about the other man, he points out that no one from his dad’s workplace paid their respects at his funeral. Very suspicious.
Moving on to our next ghost, the vegetable seller from episode one drops by Yi-rang’s office, and our phantom lawyer gasps, assuming that she died. (She is very much alive.) The cherry on top of all this misunderstanding, though, is when Yi-rang’s new office-mate Na-hyun arrives and declares that she must have enhanced ghost-seeing powers because she can even touch the dead! (She’s going to fit right in with this group.)
The vegetable seller, CHAE JUNG-HUI (Gil Hae-yeon), is actually the co-founder of a large shoe company, and gathering from the older man hovering near her shoulder, Yi-rang guesses her husband KANG DONG-SIK (Lee Deok-hwa) must be dead. She explains to the others that he died a year ago after battling dementia and left behind a will that her son is contesting. However, to really understand the crux of the problem, we need to go back to the start of this story in 1979.
A young and starry-eyed Jung-hui dreamed of opening up her own shoe business and, like fate, ran across the hardworking shoemaker Dong-sik. He introduced her to the brilliant leather worker Ryeo Sun-hwa, and the three of them went into business together as the designer, creator, and supplier. Business was booming, but then tragedy hit when Sun-hwa was unfairly arrested for espionage just because she was a North Korean defector. Though they tried to plead for her innocence, the government threatened to shut down their business, and unfortunately, Jung-hui and Dong-sik chose the latter over their friend. Eventually, Sun-hwa died in prison, and Jung-hui lived the rest of her life in atonement by quitting the company and forgoing her riches.
To make it up to Sun-hwa, Jung-hui and Dong-sik sought out her one-year-old son she left behind. Alas, they were never able to locate him, so before he died, Dong-sik wrote a will that bequeathed a third of his company to Sun-hwa’s son in perpetuity. Then a year after his passing, they found him. While the couples’ wishes make sense, their son is not as magnanimous about the whole ordeal and hires Taebaek Law Firm to take the case, which means another battle between Do-kyeong and our duo.
As Yi-rang and Na-hyun research this case, everything they come across is a trigger for a possession. A picture of the past? Possession. Bong-su’s terrible shoes? Possession. Na-hyun and Yi-rang flirting? Possession. Clearly, Dong-sik is a fan of fashionable shoes and love. The bad news is that ghost grandpa still has dementia even after death, so Na-hyun quickly picks up some tips and tricks to keep Yi-rang safe. (Even the ghost knows these two are falling for each other!)
By the time the first court date arrives, our two attorneys are ready for anything Do-kyeong throws at them… except for the truth. While the will was, in fact, written by Dong-sik, he did not write it in 2019 but after his dementia progressed. The one who actually dictated the contents of the will was his wife, and the reason for her lies was guilt. A quick flashback shows Jung-hui preparing a love letter for Dong-sik, but when she went to deliver it, she saw him making a pair of shoes with Sun-hwa. The very same pair that Dong-sik recently finished while borrowing Yi-rang’s body and have the embossing “to my beloved H.”
Do-kyeong then hammers the final nail into the coffin: the one who reported Sun-hwa to the authorities was Jung-hui. As soon as the truth is revealed, Jung-hui leaves the courtroom in distress, which then angers Dong-sik. Suddenly possessing Yi-rang’s body, Dong-sik announces to the room that he did write the will, but to everyone in attendance, it seems like Yi-rang just made an absurd statement. Thankfully, Na-hyun and Bong-su are there to bring him back, and Yi-rang returns to his senses, albeit soaking wet and dazed.
The shoemaker case was cute, until it wasn’t, and personally, I am not a fan of this twist. I guess I really wanted the founders to be decent people because their friendship seemed genuine, and I really don’t like it when women fight over men. Especially in this case where I feel like there’s a misunderstanding going on about the situation, and rather than communicate, Jung-hui (the smart, open-minded businesswoman who said she doesn’t need a successful man because she will be the successful one in the relationship) chose the most extreme option. The betrayal stung because it felt almost antithetical to the core of her character. The show introduced her as someone with ambition — someone who would choose her company over a friend — but in reality, it was all for a man. Instead, she gives up the company because of guilt, but if she really felt guilty, why didn’t she give up Dong-sik, too? What I particularly dislike about this twist is that the initial dilemma and consequence should have been enough guilt (it clearly was for Dong-sik), but they rather have Jung-hui be a backstabbing, jealous woman, instead.
On the other hand, I absolutely adored watching Na-hyun and So-hyun because every happy and comedic moment was tinged with grief which made their relationship feel fragile and precious. The show did a good job portraying Na-hyun’s longing and almost delusional hope as she tried to spend time with her sister because all those moments were merely a visage of a future taken away from them. She could never get back that lost time nor could she build a life with So-hyun. In the end, it was a fleeting encounter, and the real impact of So-hyun’s visit was not about living out her wishes but to make sure her loved ones could move on together without her there. Even in death, So-hyun still cared more for Na-hyun’s life than her own, and I loved how their bond was such a heartwarming depiction of sisters and women in general.
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