Melodramatic Confrontations
Good Casting returns this week with a surprisingly melancholy episode. There’s a lot of melodrama throughout too and as secrets are revealed and the identity of Michael remains a mystery, it looks like we’re gearing up for a dramatic finish to this tonally disjointed Korean drama. Episode 11 of Good Casting begins with Mi-Soon slipping away from the Director while he looks in the hidden safe and screams to the heavens when he realizes the ledger isn’t there. Unfortunately Mi-Soon doesn’t have much luck either when she finds out the book is just an empty ledger. Ye-Eul however has an idea and puts a lighter up to the paper and sees the hidden writing. As we soon see though, she’s still being blackmailed and tasked with bringing this back to its rightful owner or else. Meanwhile at Il Kwang, Woo-Seok reveals to CEO Yoon that he wasn’t able to get the ledger as he was attacked. Outside, he comes face to face with Chan-Mi and as they look over one another’s various cuts they realize who they were fighting that previous night. As Chan-Mi slips away, Woo-Seok phones through to his contacts and requests a check-up on Chan-Mi to find out just who she is. Ye-Eul walks home and receives a call from her contact, who gives her an hour to bring the ledger to the blackmailers or she’ll never see her daughter again. She sneaks into the van and takes the ledger, subsequently handing it over to Chief Seo and the others as they drive past. However, Bong watches her standing outside and follows Seo into the office, immediately proceeding to arrest him. As we soon see, Ye-Eul admitted everything to Bong outside by the van and they worked together to bring him to justice. After keeping him captive and bemoaning that he may just be a pawn in this whole game, Chan-Mi heads in to interview Seo but he simply brushes it off, telling her to bring evidence in order to prosecute him. Storming off, she speaks to Mi-Soon instead and they decide to bring the video evidence Chief Tak has. Alongside this, Woo-Won struggles to get Ye-Eul out of his mind and brushes it off by shouting to the heavens, telling himself he doesn’t need her and enjoying the gifts left on his table. Ye-Eul starts going through the old files where she finds evidence that points toward Chan-Mi feeding Min-Seok to Michael as bait to get away herself. At the same time, Woo-Seok follows up his leads and heads into Chan-Mi’s house where he sees the files, target notes and pin-up board first-hand. He immediately heads back to the office and feeds this back to Yoon. Yoon confronts her about the lies and they talk openly as the truth is revealed. The truth is also revealed at Mi-Soon’s house too, as she confronts her daughter about what she’s been up to but she bites back, blaming Mi-Soon for working so much and not being there for her. On the back of this, and with Woo-Seok now knowing the truth, Chan-Mi faces the music at work the next day and she’s fired from her role. She speaks to Ye-Eul on the roof before she goes and they discuss Min-Seok. She tells Ye-Eul that most of the file she read is correct and she blames herself for not being able to catch Michael. As she hands over the ring, Chan-Mi regrets she wasn’t able to do it after catching the killer but despite the guilt she feels, now is the time to hand it over. Unfortunately it’s not enough for her to forgive what her associate has done and as she heads home, she starts weeping and curses Chan-Mi. After winning the top prize at the shooting gallery, Chan-Mi heads in to the shop and sits drinking beers with Dong by the window. He berates her for not being able to keep her emotions in check and tells her, in no uncertain terms, to get it together. When he leaves, Chan-Mi receives a call from Chief Tak and they agree to exchange the ledger for the video in order to bring Chief Seo down. With lots of character drama and secrets revealed throughout the episode, Good Casting loses sight of what made it so endearing to begin with. There’s barely any comedy here aside from a really random scene involving Woo-Woon and with no epilogues now either, the flashback sequences have abandoned the cinema reels that made these so fun. The scenes with Ye-Eul and Chan-Mi are certainly highlights but the original Charlie’s Angels feel and lighthearted vibes have almost completely disappeared in the wake of a more formulaic crime drama and melodramatic tone. It’s a shame too because there was a lot of potential with this one early on but despite some decent acting throughout, Good Casting feels very run-of-the-mill and fails to effectively stand out next to other dramas of its kind. Hopefully this one can turn it around but for now Good Casting is struggling to stand out. Published: 02 June 2020 at 9:45am on TheReviewGeek.com
