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One Dollar Lawyer: Episode 9
by missvictrix
After our drama within a drama, we return to the present day where our one dollar lawyer is still his zany self. This week in another standalone case, our band of good guys takes on a fraudulent car dealership network, which is fertile ground for laughs, cameos, and PPL.
EPISODE 9 WEECAP
First things first: in one of the strangest turns of drama fate yet, One Dollar Lawyer has been cut to a 12-episode drama (instead of 14). Yes, you read that right. We’ve seen episodes cut from currently airing dramas before, but that’s always been because a drama was tanking hard; obviously, the opposite is true here, with One Dollar Lawyer getting super high numbers. The production stated they were doing it to wrap up the story with greater impact, but honestly, I’m left wondering if there’s more going on behind the scenes than we’re privy to. Either way, we get Episode 9 this week, Episode 10 next week, and then the finale episodes back to back the following week.
Jumping into Episode 9… well actually, that’s exactly what we do — jump right back into the drama after our foray into Tragic Backstory. I wasn’t quite sure how the drama would handle its tonal shifts, and now I know the answer: it doesn’t. We just go right back to the wacky and comedic tone from our first five episodes and that’s that.
Prosecutor Na ties up Ji-hoon’s tale, and Mari is a drunken sobbing mess after hearing it all, especially since the story behind the one dollar lawyer office has been colored in for her. Ji-hoon comes to pick her up, and she stares at him with this maudlin gaze and the music comedically shifts to a surge of sad strings only to jerk off just as quickly as it came.
She’s a little less sympathetic and emotional when she’s sober the next day, but Ji-hoon can tell something’s up. Why is she being so nice? Why is she offering to make him his PPL coffee? He decides that she’s brown-nosing and he says he won’t fall for it. Mari denies it but doesn’t tell him all that she knows; still, I think we can assume that Ji-hoon knows what’s up. But it doesn’t really matter for the plot — at least not yet.
Meanwhile, Moo-jang gets himself into a load of trouble when his little van breaks down and he needs replacement. He finds a real beaut online and goes to a lot to check it out and meet with the seller. And, for some reason, this turns into our case of the week. It’s also prime territory for a ton of cameos from The Veil (where Namgoong Min and Kim Ji-eun and Park Jin-woo previously starred), so that was definitely the highlight for me.
The case itself consisted of Moo-jang first getting scammed, and then Ji-hoon finding out about it. But, in true Ji-hoon fashion, instead of going about it in a straightforward method, he plays their game, and even goes so far as to get him and his “cousin” Mari jobs there. So they can investigate. Because they’re not suspicious at all.
Not too coincidentally, Prosecutor Na and Min-hyuk are investigating the case, and in the end they sync up with Ji-hoon and coordinate an epic takedown of the organization, which gets more gangster-y every second that Ji-hoon and Mari are there.
This case had absolutely zero that was interesting about it for me — except the comedy. The drama really goes all in, and from the screaming and carrying on, to the engine “knocking” sound and the rest, it was definitely worth giggling over. But at the end of the episode, there’s not much we have gained for the plot, and I found myself a bit frustrated that we went on a wild goose van chase just for the fun of it. And for the chicken PPL. And then later for the health drink PPL. (There was lots of PPL, which I probably wouldn’t have minded if I wasn’t so aware that the drama was cutting itself short; we usually see PPL dumps like this in a final episode, so it feels like they’re trying to cram it in now while they can).
My favorite bit of non sequitur plot has been Prosecutor Na’s daughter, who we’ve seen a few times for longer than you’d think it was necessary. I’m not sure if she’ll have some purpose later, or if it’s just a fun detail, but seeing Min-hyuk turn into a puddle around her and babysit was probably my favorite thing ever, although I do enjoy him and Ji-hoon’s kooky scenes together.
Still, am I the only one that feels like the drama has some ‘splaining to do? The ratings for Episode 9 were still sky-high (almost 15%), so viewers for sure love the characters and the comedy. But… but… what about the story? I don’t want to jump around all higgledy-piggledy anymore; I want the story to take what it’s built — present day zaniness and tragic backstory that needs resolution — and blend it into a plot smoothie.
Well, we get a peak at what might be coming down the pike as our episode ends. Mari and Moo-jang are entertaining a new ~mysterious~ client, and when Ji-hoon walks in and they stand face to face, it’s clear he’s holding onto his persona by a thread. The clenched fist doth tell all, for this is dramaland.
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