9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 South Korean legal thriller with 16, 60 minute episodes.

After witnessing his mother’s murder, Bong Sang-pil (Lee Joon-gi) goes to live with his uncle Choi Dae-woong (Ann Nae-sang) who despite being a gangster has a sense of morality and raises his nephew as his own. Sang-pil’s mother was an attorney and was in the process of exposing criminally corrupt officials when she was murdered to silence her. Determined to avenge his mother, Sang-pil learns fighting skills from his uncle. He determines that gangster skills are not enough though and becomes a lawyer then blending his lawless/gangster style with that of a smart, tough lawyer to seek justice against evil doers. Ha Jae-yi (Seo Yea-ji) is unaware that her and Sang-pil share a connection through their parents and the dark events that occurred in the past. Sang-pil has been watching Jae-yi from afar and finds her strong sense of justice combined with a fiery spirit , very compelling. When Jae-yi returns to her hometown after being suspended and fired for standing up to a corrupt, judge, Sang-pil who was back to seek revenge, sets up “chance” encounters. He gets Jae-yi to work at his law firm where he can utilize her skills while being able to keep a close, protective, eye on her. As the two people work together unraveling the past and working to bring the powerful and elite of the city to justice for their many crimes, love blossoms between them. Can the two use a combination of street justice and law to topple a nearly impermeable corrupt power structure? Can they survive and pursue a brighter future together?

I am a fan of Lee Joon-gi as I find that he selects intriguingly complex plots with action packed scenes that are also sweetly romantic. Those that I have seen him in have well written endings and the female roles are typically a good foil for the male lead. In this one I loved his character who was nearly super hero like in his pursuit of justice. He and Seo Yea-Ji were a couple I could easily envision together as they had great chemistry and just looked really good together. I have been putting off watching “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” but now that I watched Seo Yea-Ji’s performance in this I am eager to see her in other roles. I watched this at a time when our government has similar layers of corruption and where many are experiencing feelings of hopelessness because of it so seeing good overcoming evil was particularly compelling at this time. The action scenes were exciting and you could tel that Lee Joon-gi is an accomplished martial artist. The end started just a little slow and there is an element where her dad does not believe her and when the truth comes to light the never show the father’s light bulb moment. This is one of my new favorites and I highly recommend it.