Two Worlds Collide
Hyena returns with another slice of legal drama, entwined with the growing feud between Geum-Ja and Hee-Jae. Their chemistry is enough to keep things interesting but the show itself feels pretty slow moving, balancing out the characters and focusing strongly on the legal side of things. While the show is unlikely to ignite the Korean drama scene this year, there’s just enough here to make for an enjoyable enough watch. Episode 2 of Hyena begins with Geum-Ja dropping the brick and instead phoning the police. As the man is brought in, they’re shocked to find him in a worse state than her, needing weeks of intensive surgery. Afterward, Geum-Ja stands outside, looking up at the towering office skyscraper before looking at her messages and noticing Hee-Jae sent her a message about the mugger. It happens to be Hee-Jae’s father’s birthday and despite sitting with the group outside, he realizes that one among them is a judge and he becomes a little uncomfortable at the idea of blurring the line between work and play. Hee-Jae heads off alone to drink in a bar but Mr Ma shows up and immediately things get awkward. His boss encourages him to drink with them and eventually he agrees, downing several glasses in a row before heading back to the bar. Meanwhile Geum-Ja parties with Jung-Hwa until coming face to face with Mr Ha, who berates her for beating him in court. As he sits stewing in his anger, Geum-Ja gets on the microphone and sings a karaoke song to him, hustling to get in his good books. Although he applauds her efforts, he remains steely-eyed and staring her down. At work, Hee-Jae returns and finds himself pushed out of the meeting for the Issume Case. Mr Ma tells him to focus on his other cases for now and drop this high-profile issue. That evening, things become even more disturbing when Hee-Jae’s date goes awry by the sight of Geum-Ja being in the stall opposite. He marches over to her and they immediately start verbally sparring until she leaves him high and dry. Angry, he calls off his date and phones work, determined to knock her down. At Issume Holdings, Mr Ha arrives and Hee-Jae stands stiff, giving his former client advice and staring straight ahead while Mr Ha hounds him. Eventually, the man has enough and tells him to leave. As Hee-Jae heads back to the bar, he talks to Ki-Hyeok and they discuss what angle to take in the upcoming case. Geum-Ja meanwhile receives an urgent phone call and as she arrives at the Ha household, she finds Jung-Hwa passed out on the floor with alcohol and drugs around her. After recording the incriminating conversation with Woo-Seok, she phones 911 and heads downstairs to speak to Mr Ha, who’s also passed out from drugs. She snatches him up with the others and bundles him into the car to leave. Back at the hospital, Jung-Hwa awakens to find Geum-Ja infront of her. She calls Mr Ha a lunatic but Hee-Jae has even more issues when Mr Ma tells him to head over and apologise to him for what happened earlier in the day. He refuses, instead looking set to punch him in the face until he stops himself at the last minute. More determined than ever, he sets to work trying to regain the upper-hand in the divorce case – that upper-hand coming from using Jeong-Hwa. As the episode closes out, Hee-Jae speaks to Woo-Seok while Geum-Ja heads to the hospital to see Jeong-Hwa. Only…Hee-Jae is already there and he’s snatched her from under her nose, proceeding to tell her he’s convinced her to file a lawsuit against Mr Ha…and he’s going to switch sides and defend her now! Much like the previous episode, Hyena does well to add a few weel-timed twists and the end to this one is no different. There’s some really good chemistry and tension brewing between the two lead characters here and that’s enough to keep things interesting across the hour. Although both of these lawyers are giving off tough exteriors, it’s clear now that both of them have a soft spot and ironically, may well find that from their opposite number. For now though, the sparring continues between these two but this time it’s Hee-Jae who’s taken a win in this round. With the case left open and plenty of unanswered questions, Hyena bows out this week with some promise to come in the upcoming weeks.
