The Star Witness
Episode 8 of Law School begins in court, with Seung-Jae arriving fashionably late to court. Given he was there the day of Seo’s death, he could shed light on what happened. For now, Yang speaks to the court and tells them he still stands by his earlier ideas about Seo’s death being a suicide. Now people are starting to doubt Yang’s credibility as the killer too. Next up is Man-Ho, who takes to the witness stand and mentions what happened the day of the incident. It turns out he was on campus and serving as Professor Seo’s driver. With his ankle monitor attached, Man-Ho’s movements are accounted for and he wasn’t near Seo’s office during the times mentioned. However, Prosecutor Yang was wearing an ankle bracelet at the time. His conveniently ran out of battery though. Here we learn that when an ankle bracelet starts to run out of juice, the monitoring center call and ask for it to be charged. They don’t stop, which would be a crucial clue. Even worse, Yang’s lawyer has nothing to add. Now it comes time for a new witness to take the stand. This witness apparently saw Yang kill Professor Seo but for now this smoking gun is being kept secret until the following day. Is it Seung-Jae? Could this be a fake witness statement? Meanwhile, Yeong-Chang confronts Ye-Seul and tells her she saw what happened the day of Seo’s death. Grabbing her arm, he tells her they should get married after he enters law school. Before that though, he wants her to help take out Yang and incriminate him. Ye-Seul is shocked and when she returns to school, she collapses outside from the stress of it all. Joon-Hwi sits with her though and admits that he told the truth on the witness stand. He also warns that they can’t rule out Yang as the potential murderer just yet, especially with a new witness about to take the stand. Just as he leaves, Joon-Hwi hands over the written confession Yeong-Chang wrote last episode promising not to hit her. Meanwhile, Joon-Hwi reveals he’s recorded the conversation with the reporters in the bathroom. On the back of this, Ji-Ho meets with them too and they all agree a deal. Yang catches wind of this and reminds his student that they can’t use this as evidence. Interestingly, Joon-Hwi also mentions how the glucometer was missing from Seo’s belongings. Back at school, the Vice Dean confronts Yang about his outburst and making a scene on account of Assemblyman Ko. Yang refuses to apologize for his actions though, eventually learning that if he does get a guilty verdict in court, he will be fired. Meanwhile, Joon-Hwi agrees to help Sol-A with her studies. As they study, Seung-Jae looks decidedly distracted in the distance, no longer wearing his ring and looking weary. On the day of the incident, Yang suspected someone was in his closet but he didn’t bother to open it. However, now we find out it was definitely Seung-Jae and he too was the one who opened Yang’s laptop. As Eun-Suk questions him, he claims it’s all her fault. Yang heads over to Man-Ho’s house that evening and they share a drink. On his phone happens to be a picture of a young boy who’s apparently his son. Man-Ho left him at the orphanage when he was a child and – according to him at least – Kang Dan was the only one whom his son confided it. She’s also the reason Man-Ho moved into the neighbourhood. It doesn’t excuse his creepiness toward Sol-A’s sister though so it’s difficult to know if he’s telling the truth or not. With a phone number at hand, Kang Dan then rings Yang. It’s a brief call, but one that sees Yang then reveal what most people will have figured out yesterday – Kang Dan was the one who proposed the Man-Ho act. After rigorously studying, Sol-A attends the exam with everyone else but she begins to feel dizzy and blood oozes from her nose. As she wobbles about, she eventually passes out. When Sol-A awakens, she finds herself in the ward with Seung-Jae watching over her. Thankfully she managed to finish her exam before being taken to the ward. The situation regarding the witness is finally revealed after Sol-A recovers. It’s Ye-Seul. She claims she saw what happened with the coffee cup but of course she’s being manipulated by Yeong-Chang. She’s definitely not a credible witness. Anyway, Yeong-Chang walks her in and tells the girl to rehearse exactly what they’ve practiced. Now it’s time for the third day of the trial. Ye-Seul is nervous and the Judge allows her to take some calming pills. Yang even helps calm her nerves by wearing sunglasses so she can’t look directly in his eyes. As the questions begin, Ye-Seul claims she saw Yang and the drugs. Eventually she revokes her statement, the pressure too much for her to stand. She apologizes profusely and admits she is being blackmailed into this. Yeong-Chang leaves the courtroom absolutely furious while Ye-Seul is taken back to her room. Only, Yeong-Chang rings her and demands she heads outside. There, he decides to post the sex video after all. As the two wrestle for control of the phone, Ye-Seul pushes her boyfriend backwards and he smacks his head before passing out. Blood begins to ooze down the rock. With her partner bleeding, she looks set to phone Sol-A…until Yang snatches the phone off of her.
The Episode Review
Law School returns with another hour of drama as we find out – to the surprise of very few – that the new witness is actually Ye-Seul. Given the scenes following this announcement shows Ye-Seul and Yeong-Chang conspiring, most people will put two and two together to figure this out before out characters do. Predictably, she has been coerced into this confession by her controlling boyfriend. Coupled with the reveal (again) that Seung-Jae was the one with the laptop, all of this confounds into a melodramatic episode that doesn’t really do a whole lot to move the plot forward. Even worse, it presents material we already knew as a big revelatory moment. Sure, we get a new murder at the end of the episode and there’s a few tidbits about Kang Dan, but beyond that there just isn’t a whole lot else worth getting excited about here. Law School feels like a thinly veiled law drama mashed up with the worst elements of Love ft. Marriage and Divorce and an attempt to hit the hierarchical ideas in Sky Castle. The midway point does allow for a extra drama to seep in though and the scenes between Joon-Hwi and Sol-A are definitely the highlight of the whole show. Hopefully we’ll get more scenes like that in the episodes to come. For now, Law School bows out with a cliffhanger ending, one that leaves the door wide open for where this may go next week.
