Let It Burn
Episode 9 of The Devil Judge begins with Ga-On making his choice and sticking by Yo-Han’s side to win against the corruption rife across the Social Foundation. Elijah suddenly rings though, urging Yo-Han to show as she’s in big trouble. That trouble comes in the form of Soo-Hyun. She tries to stop a gang from going on a rampage but they doctor footage to make it look like she’s the oppressor. When Yo-Han shows up, he’s beside himself with rage. He grabs this gang leader, Juk-Chang, by the throat and begins choking him out. Soo-Hyun manages to stop him, pointing a gun at the judge’s head, but all of this is seemingly being recorded by the gang. Could this come back to haunt them? It doesn’t take long before more corruption rears its ugly head. Everyone from Jukhang TV has been released on orders from the police commissioner. Sun-A finally makes it and ascends up to Board Chairman. However, she’s very clearly lonely and ends up ringing Jae-Hee asking if she wants to drink champagne with her. When she refuses, Sun-A contemplates whether to call out models or not. It’s a brief respite before things start to heat up with the judge. Sun-A wants to do promotional material to increase media presence for them. In other words, she wants to turn the judges into celebrities. Meanwhile, Kyung-Hee despairs over the clownish antics of President Heo. After all, he was their choice to control and manipulate. Although Seo fronted as the ringleader, in reality he was just another puppet for Sun-A. Well, while Kyung-Hee remains desperate to take her out, Yo-Han uses his contacts to dive in deep to Sun-A’s past. He leaks all of it to Kyung-Hee anonymously, helping to tip the scales back in their favour. After trying some interesting food from Ms Ji, Ga-On and Elijah organize a big meal for the evening. There’s smiling and everything is relaxed. On the back of this, Yo-Han decides that now is the time to go after Young-Choon and those who have hid him away. Thanks to some very persuasive action against a crooked lawyer, Ga-On and Yo-Han obtain an address. Eventually they find Young-Choon on a farm. He’s happy, smiling and laughing with his family. Ga-On is angry and wants to go after him but Yo-Han stops the emotional lawyer. He wants to use Young-Choon to go after Kyung-Hee. After a bit of persuasion, Ga-On agrees to ease up. In fact, Ga-On takes the day off and visits Soo-Hyun. While they eat ice cream together, he casually asks what she would do if he did something bad. Well, Soo-Hyun doesn’t skip a beat and tells him she’d arrest the man, no question. That evening, Ga-On heads over and confronts Young-Choon. He immediately drops to his knees and apologizes. His money was apparently seized by Kyung-Hee, but as we soon find out that’s not true. Yo-Han rocks up, grabbing Young-Choon and throwing him outside. In doing so, Yo-Han unveils all of his money. He grabs gasoline and pours it over the notes and Young-Choon’s workshop. He drops a lighter on both the workshop and the money, letting them both burn. All of this is to show what’s truly important to Young-Choon – which is the money. His true colours are revealed as he tries to extinguish the flames. He suddenly begins laughing as he realizes the money is actually fake. However, he also loses his family too, who see his selfishness first-hand. They were saved from the workshop prior to this thanks to Yo-Han’s contacts. After a swift slap to the face, they walk away from Young-Choon, who is now left with nothing. The actual money happens to be dished out to all the victims of Young-Choon’s despicable schemes. Ga-On is selfless and returns it, satisfied after doing the noble thing.
The Episode Review
The Devil Judge returns this week with another solid episode, one that helps to show how far Yo-Han’s character has come. The first half of the episode essentially shows just how much of a positive influence Ga-On as had on the mansion and its residents. Eljah is much more open and confident now, and the meal with her laughing and smiling seems to bee the turning point for Yo-Han to realize how good Ga-On actually is for their family. This then subsequently paves way for the Young-Choon situation – and Ga-On’s choice. Whether Yo-Han knew that his comrade would make this choice or not is up for debate but either way, he chooses the noble option. The ending with all the victims receiving their money is a really nice touch and as mentioned previously, leans into those Taxi Driver vibes. However, it seems like Sun-A is going to get her just desserts soon, especially if Yo-Han’s leaks about her past are anything to go by. Either way, Devil Judge has been a really enjoyable watch and everything here is left wide open for the next episode.
